The Protagonist of a Novel Becomes a Veteran — Chapter 13

I stared at the scroll in Choi Jiyoon's hand.

I played dumb and asked, "What's that?"

"It's a scroll that can remove curses," Choi Jiyoon explained.

Yoo Seolha, who had been listening nearby, went wide-eyed and grabbed my arm.

"Ian!"

"We'd have to run a grade appraisal to know the details, but since it came out of an anomalous dungeon, it should be able to handle something like your mana-regen curse," Jiyoon said, sounding fairly confident about it.

I scratched my head. "How much do you think this thing... goes for?"

Jiyoon tilted her head, lips pursed in thought. "Hmm, what was it again? I think a B-rank scroll sold for around a billion won at an auction house recently."

"A b-billion?"

While I was blinking at her in shock, Jiyoon stuffed the scroll into my backpack. "Let's use this to remove the curse. Get that curse lifted and get back up to S-rank."

"I'll have to grind out some serious money to pay you two back."

"Don't be ridiculous. What are you talking about, paying back?" Seolha smacked my arm.

Jiyoon smiled. "You don't even have to give me my share."

I scratched my head again. "Still..."

Conscience demanded I at least pretend to take less than my cut.

Seolha smacked my ass this time. "Hey. We're alive because of you, so let us do at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least this much. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of your life going around all smug, like, ah~ I'm the one who saved them in that dungeon."

Jiyoon smiled warmly. "She's right, Ian. A hunter mustn't incur debts. Take a fair share and nothing more. That's the virtue every hunter needs. If word gets around that you don't, you'll get a weird reputation and no one will want to party with you later."

Truly, S-ranks were big spenders.

Just then—

Grrrrrrrrk—

The dungeon exit opened.

"Whoa! Outside!"

Seolha dashed out. When we emerged, we were on a wooded hillside.

Jiyoon quickly pulled out her phone. "Guys, we're in calling range. Internet works too."

We had cleared the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dungeon and made it out safely after two weeks. As I breathed in the open air, it finally hit me that we were really out.

"Huh? What the...?"

Seolha, checking her phone, turned pale with confusion. "We definitely entered the dungeon on a Friday afternoon. It's Sunday now? Only two days have passed? Is my phone broken?"

Jiyoon shook her head. "No. Mine says the same."

"So does mine."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pretended to check it too. I'd seen this in the novel before—rare, but there were dungeons that warped time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like this. There had even been an episode where the protagonist, Kim Seonghyeok, caught a villainous hunter who used one of these dungeons to commit murder and manufacture an alibi.

"Let's return to the academy first," Jiyoon said.

A satellite map confirmed our location: near the academy, not far from the dungeon entrance.

Once we were back, Jiyoon immediately tried to contact the 'Professor,' but I stopped her.

"Doesn't it seem strange? Are you telling me the exploration division really didn't know it was an anomalous dungeon? That even the 'Professor' didn't know? My gut says we should report to the Hunter Association first."

Kim Seonghyeok and Jang Suhyeon hadn't returned to the academy. Getting an investigation team sent into the cleared dungeon to find the two of them took priority.

"You're right, Ian," Jiyoon agreed.

While Jiyoon handled the aftermath, Seolha and I returned to our respective dorms.

I found my room in the dormitory and flopped face-down onto the bed. "God, I'm dead."

The moment the tension drained away, exhaustion crashed over me all at once.

I blinked.

And in an instant, everything went black.

When my vision returned, the place felt familiar. I had arrived in Goddess Rhea's space.

Tap. Tap. She came toward me.

Wow. Her side-boob is insane.

A thin silk dress, the areolas just barely veiled along the center of her chest. Her nipples looked like they might come into view at any moment.

Let them be seen.Clairvoyance!

Nope. Not visible.

Rhea looked at me like I was pathetic. "Good work."

"Rhea."

"Yes?"

"Can I finally ravish you now?"

Her expressionless face squeezed shut, eyes closing tight. "Pick your time and your audience before you joke around, Ian."

"Why did you call me? I was just about to get some rest."

"Your escape from the dungeon has changed the flow of the story. The heroines' love for you has also grown very deep."

"Don't tell me... a reward?"

Rhea wiggled her finger lightly in the air, and buttons materialized before my eyes.

"Gacha?"

"If it were up to me, I'd simply hand you the exact skill and item you need. But that would bend the narrative logic far too much. Honestly, with Holy Explosion, Mana-Regen Incapacitation, and Mana Absorption all handed to you at once, weren't the heroines a little too easy to capture?"

"...That's fair."

"It was your first time, so I gave you custom loadouts to make things easier. I pushed it too far. From now on, you'll have to work with random skills. Skills drawn from gacha don't damage the narrative logic as much."

"I see."

"Oh, and one more thing. I'll be taking back the Mana-Regen Incapacitation curse and the Mana Absorption skill."

Oh? You're only reclaiming that stuff?

Good for me, honestly. "You're letting me keep Holy Explosion, right?"

"That much you can keep using. It'll come in handy."

"Thank you. It's definitely nice to have."

So I don't even need the Curse Removal Scroll anymore. That simplifies things.

"You don't need that D-rank spear anymore either, do you? I only gave it to you for the sake of plausibility."

"Would getting rid of it make your life easier, Rhea?"

"Wouldn't it?"

"Then get rid of it. I don't care."

"Good."

The skill window had been wiped clean. Hidden skills aside.

My mana seemed to be exactly as before. With the mana-regen curse gone, it had filled back up to a perfect 100.

"Then shall we spin—skill or item, pick one?"

"How many spins can I do?"

"You saved Choi Jiyoon and Yoo Seolha and won their love, so you get one gacha ticket of each. Two total."

"Can I spin both times on the same one—either skill or item?"

"Sure."

"...Um."

"Yes?"

I scratched my temple. "Is there any, like, first-spin guaranteed bonus or anything?"

"Ian. This isn't some video game you used to play."

"Anyone with eyes would call it a video game."

"What are you spinning for?"

"Can I at least see a probability chart, the grade tiers, or what could come out of a spin..."

"I'd love to tell you, but it's under the jurisdiction of the 'God of Gacha.' The pool changes every time, so even I don't have the information. And besides, randomness is what keeps the narrative logic intact when you enter a world."

"So it's random in the truest sense."

"Yes."

"The skills and items I obtain—I can carry them with me to other worlds later, right?"

Rhea nodded.

"Then let's spin."

I mentally pressed the [Skill Gacha × 1] button in front of me.

Helicopter? What the hell is that skill.

Cooking... Stamina Recovery... reasonably normal, I guess.

No idea what Hehe Piss Explosion is, but if that comes out I swear—actually, if it does, I'll just use it on Rhea immediately.

Oh, Vajra Body's in the pool too.

The slots slowed, and slowed, and—

Ding.

The skill was decided.

I stared blankly at the screen in front of me. For a moment, reality refused to compute, so I massaged my brow, closed my eyes, and opened them again.

The description is lazy as hell.

Hmm... but I do kind of want to try it.

I looked at Rhea.

"What are you staring at."

I locked on. Leered, lecherously, at her chest and her ass.

Rhea, arms crossed, snorted. "You really think a skill like that would work on a goddess like me?"

"Doesn't it?"

"Spin one more. Skill or item, doesn't matter."

With so little information, anything's probably fine. I'll go for a skill.

From the look of that pool, the odds of getting something good weren't great. Skills are intangible, so whatever—but if I pulled some utterly useless item, I figured I'd have an existential crisis every time I had to carry it around.

Remote Ravishment?

Holy crap. Yeah. If Gaze Ravishment can come out, anything can.

As long as I don't get the Floor-Jerk Off one, we're fine.

Tiriririririk. Tik. Tok.

The slot stopped.

My eyes went wide. Disbelieving, I turned to Rhea.

"Hmm?"

She looked surprised too.

I dropped to my knees and cheered. "AAAAHHHHH!"

This is actually fun. A dopamine hit that isn't sex, for the first time in a while.

Yes. THIS is what a game—no, what LIFE—is all about.

I immediately activated Vajra Body, then fixed my gaze on Rhea with Gaze Ravishment.

Ahh~ I want to ravish Rhea with my Vajra Body cock.

Rhea sighed and shook her head. "It's a pointless gesture. Give it up."

"Rhea."

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Huh? ...Why? Tw-twenty."

"Wait, so we're the same age?"

"Could you not speak casually to me? Are you my equal? I'm a goddess."

"Hmm. Fine. Got it."

"That's not dropping the casual speech."

"Quick question—if I use Vajra Body and then Gaze Ravishment at the same time, does it feel any different from just plain Gaze Ravishment?"

Rhea's face flushed red. "I wouldn't know. Go try it on normal humans."

"Oh, right."

"Now what."

"About this Gaze Ravishment skill. Could you make it [Hidden] like the others? It's so damn embarrassing. Honestly, I bet it's only C-rank because of how humiliating the name is."

"I can do one for you."

"Not Vajra Body too?"

"Two would be a stretch. I'm already keeping three hidden for you—adding Gaze Ravishment makes four."

"No way around it?"

"As you keep rescuing heroines and winning their love, my power grows as well. Once that happens, I'll be able to manage it."

"So saving Seolha and Jiyoon already made me stronger, then?"

"That's the only reason I'm letting you keep Holy Explosion. And the reason I'm hiding one more skill for you."

Ding.

Two S+ skills. I might actually be pretty strong now?

Rhea spoke up. "Skills without grades are boons I personally embedded in you, so they don't count. But graded skills—you can hold a maximum of five. Keep that in mind for future gacha spins."

"I can hold onto drawn skills and swap them out when I need to, right?"

"Yes. So you've fully committed to the casual speech now, huh? Swapping comes with a cooldown, by the way. Once you replace a skill, you can't swap anything for 24 hours, so remember that."

"Okay."

"Then shall we choose your next novel?"

Rhea smiled. It was the kind of smile that ensnares men.

"There are still two heroines left in So-A-Ka, though?"

"You can keep going with So-A-Ka if you'd like."

"I'll at least hear you out."

Rhea recited web novel titles one by one.

"Mudang Gangrim. The Black Knight Swore to the Blind Saintess. Became an Extra at a Magic School. Regressed Girl Group Manager. Skill Level-Up Hunter..."

Somehow it felt like my wife of an alternate life—no, like someone reading out the list of porn videos I'd secretly watched, none of which I'd ever told anyone about. I gave an awkward laugh.

"Well, I've read every single one of these. Heh heh."

"If you know the plots, then you know why I picked them, don't you?"

She was right. Every last one was a story where the heroines never got the treatment they deserved.

"I have to pick one right now?"

"I'd appreciate it. You may think you're the only one doing the work inside these novels, but I'm watching over you and helping you from here. Knowing your choice in advance makes my preparations easier too."

"The Blind Saintess one would be the fastest to clear, I'd say. It only has two heroines. I'll go with that one."

"Good. I'll have it ready. From tomorrow on, you can enter whenever you set your mind to it. Just remember: once you switch worlds, there's a 24-hour cooldown."

"When I leave, the other worlds stay frozen, right?"

"Yes. To be precise, you'll be back within an instant. But if you'd rather have no interaction with the heroines at all, time skips are possible too."

"Got it."

"Off you go, then."

Rhea flicked her finger, and in an instant my vision flashed blinding white.

Rhea sent Kim Ian back into the So-A-Ka world.

"Nnh—haah."

Her legs gave out beneath her, and she had to clutch the railing of the stairs to stay upright.

"Th-that's impossible..."

Beneath her silk dress, clear droplets fell one after another to the floor.