NTL????? [The Fate of a Harem Male] [1]

"Ohh... a wish? If you hit C-level within a week, you want me to grant you a wish??"

Jo Yu-mi had thrown out the proposal on a pure surge of impulse, and even Geum Tae-yang could feel the competitive fire rolling off her in waves. His eyes went round.

"What, you scared? Guess the only thing that got bigger is your body — deep down you're still that soft little kid from back then, huh?"

Yu-mi piled on the provocation even harder. She remembered their first meeting as kids all too well. Yes, Tae-yang had kept treating her like a boy — but before that, it was Yu-mi who'd dismissed the scrawny pretty-boy as nothing special. That had been the spark. The two little brats had gone at each other with pure, gleeful violence.

In other words: puberty and a rough home life had forced him to keep a lid on it, but Geum Tae-yang's innate competitive streak was anything but ordinary. And unlike Kim Min-jung and Park A-young, who had only ever seen the gentle house-puppy version of him, Jo Yu-mi knew that side of him cold. So she was deliberately poking the sleeping PTSD of his competitive fire, stoking it awake.

"Scared? As if. I'm just worried you'll push yourself too hard and get hurt, that's all. Okay — one week. You hit C-level in a week, and I'll grant you a wish. Anything."

Tae-yang took the bait hook, line, and sinker. Under normal circumstances he never would have folded that easily. But he was still riding the high from his call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with Ye-eun — and in that elevated mood, he went and made a promise that was anything but ordinary.

"Whoa!!! This is your Status Window, A-young????"

After savoring the traits and special skills he'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unlocked at Level C, and finishing his call with Jo Yu-mi, Geum Tae-yang had returned to the bunker. He was resting in his room when Park A-young came looking for him — to share the details of her awakening.

Her awakening had actually happened the day before, but given everything that had been going on, A-young had barely glanced at her Status Window. Beyond telling Tae-yang she'd awakened at all, she hadn't even followed up on the subject. Only after things settled somewhat did she print out her Status Window on the computer and bring it to him.

"Yeah, pretty much. I started at G-level. But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there were a full thousand points sitting in the Unapplied Points slot."

"The second I applied all of them, I shot straight up to E-level."

Watching Tae-yang's eyes go huge with pure excitement, A-young spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. The two of them were perched on the edge of the bed. Her voice was calm, but her whole demeanor had clearly shifted from before. Ever since their teenage years, the usual picture when Tae-yang sat on a bed was A-young standing in front of him with her arms crossed, every thorn of her pride bristling. Now she was glued right to his side — quietly declaring that he was the husband who had taken her virginity.

"At first I only had the base stats, the traits, and Alchemy Level 1. When I hit F-rank it upgraded to Alchemy Level 2."

"At E-level it rose to Alchemy Level 3, and Large Capacity Inventory got added."

The way she walked him through every stage of her Status Window's evolution felt almost like a formal briefing — respect for her husband, and something close to dependence showing through.

"Two ranks in one shot! That's incredible, A-young!"

Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze.

Tae-yang's attitude toward her had changed just as dramatically. He gently took the shoulders of the girl still earnestly explaining everything and gave them a proud little squeeze — the look of a man thoroughly impressed by his little wife, who had become a powerhouse overnight. The old same-age childhood-friend rivalry simply no longer existed for him where A-young was concerned.

"You're overdoing it..."

A flush of pink crept into her cheeks. It felt like her husband's affectionate squeeze — but it also felt like a good kid getting praised by her dad. Park A-young was a young life that had been starving for exactly that kind of warmth. She blushed and went shy.

"Ajumma's stamina is relatively higher, but your mana's a full rank above hers..."

"And with alchemy as the special skill —"

Tae-yang settled in to properly savor his little wife's Status Window.

"I'd call this a mage class. An alchemy-specialized mage. The Engineer Master class fits that perfectly if you think about it."

The concrete identity he assigned to A-young's awakened power was mage — specifically, a mage specialized in alchemy. It was the most reasonable reading.

"An alchemy mage?"

A-young's eyes went round. For all her sharp mind and the sheer volume of books she'd read, fantasy had never been her hobby. Mages were already unfamiliar territory; alchemy mages were even more alien.

"Honestly, the whole concept of a mage is fiction from novels, so there's no hard standard. But our Status Windows and awakened abilities fall into that same category anyway, so connecting them that way makes sense."

As a fantasy-novel maniac, husband Geum Tae-yang launched into filling his little wife's curiosity.

"Mages usually have specialized fields, depending on how the author classifies them. One of the common splits is attack-magic specialists versus alchemy-magic specialists."

His mouth was running like it had a motor attached. His little wife Park A-young was the type who usually knew everything, so he'd almost never gotten a chance to show off knowledge to her. Now that he finally had the opportunity to teach, he couldn't hide how much he was enjoying it — eager to cram in every scrap of information he could.

"So like an engineer-mage. In a way it lines up perfectly with my major. They said awakened abilities have some connection to the Awakener's personality and tendencies — looks like that was true."

Nod. Nod. Nod.

His little wife Park A-young listened carefully and gave a slow, thoughtful nod.

"Think you can try using alchemy magic? The skill image probably dropped into your head the moment you recognized it."

Tae-yang immediately pushed her to demonstrate.

"I think it works like this. You put your hand on an object and concentrate."

Thud.

Ssslick.

A-young set her hand on the bed they were sitting on, then closed her eyes slightly. As a complete beginner at alchemy magic, she needed extra focus to make it work.

Shwooooooooooooooo...

Blue mana energy bloomed from the left hand resting on the bed.

"Ohh! Mana energy!"

Tae-yang's eyes went huge and he fired off an enthusiastic reaction — only for the situation to escalate past even that.

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!!!

Blue mana energy enveloped the entire bed. A-young's alchemical mana had transferred into it.

"Ooooooooooooh!!!"

Tae-yang lost his mind completely.

"Information's coming in. The bed's materials, structure, everything."

Still with her eyes closed, A-young calmly described what she was experiencing through the alchemy magic.

"And I can reshape it however I visualize it in my head. The knowledge I already have seems to have a huge effect on the detail of the transformation... so for example..."

Her power wasn't limited to simply reading a target. The scan existed so she could reshape the object as close as possible to what she wanted, as efficiently as possible. Having fully scanned the bed, A-young moved to the next stage.

"Like this?"

FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!

The bed wrapped in A-young's alchemical mana erupted in a massive burst of light.

"Whooooooooooa!!!!"

Thump!!

Tae-yang stared at the bed in even greater shock — and his massive frame jolted with it.

"It upgraded into a double bed!!! Holy shit, that's insane!!!!"

Through Park A-young's alchemy magic, Tae-yang's small single bed had transformed into a double.

"Oh. Not bad. The shape came out pretty close to the image I had in mind."

Opening her eyes after casting, A-young assessed her own handiwork with a completely flat expression.

"Wow... that's actually amazing..."

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Looking at it roughly, I'd say this is about the basic level. Separate from mana consumption, of course."

"This is the basic level????"

"Yeah. It's bigger, but the structure is simple. Something like a car or firearms would feel a lot more complex."

"A-young, your ability is basically broken?????"

From A-young's perspective, the calm reaction was only natural. The power she could intuitively sense in herself far exceeded the result sitting in front of them. Tae-yang, still marveling as he ran his hands over the bed, stuck his tongue out in disbelief the moment he heard that.

"Hmm... so if we use your ability right, we can fortify the bunker way harder, and self-produce all kinds of daily supplies!"

"That's the idea. Expanding the camp should be possible too."

"I've been starting to think about pushing outward — this is more than enough to lay the groundwork for that..."

Tae-yang and A-young kept chewing over the alchemy magic from every angle. With a new ally in the picture, they began planning not only the purge of Do Min-chul's crew, but also moves to support Jo Yu-mi's camp. Strictly speaking, they'd already shared supplies with Yu-mi once. More allies meant they needed more resources and more territory than they currently had. Tae-yang had already felt that necessity building inside him — and now the answer to that massive problem had landed right in his lap.

"Anyway, you got a thousand points right at the start and rocketed up, but your growth method is Catharsis... I've got zero sense of how that mechanism even works???"

Even so, the Status Window of an alchemy mage like Park A-young was no simple thing. Kim Min-jung's Growth Motivation — Happiness — was abstract, but at least you could roughly figure out how to feed it. A-young's was Catharsis, and Tae-yang's brain simply could not get a grip on it.

"I... think I might have some idea?"

The person in question, on the other hand, seemed to have something in mind.

"Tae-yang. What do you think about NTL?"

The word Park A-young dropped next was truly, spectacularly outrageous.