Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Thief's Main Stat Isn't Luck (4)
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Park Jungwoo threw himself onto the sofa the moment he got home. He passed out almost immediately. Considering everything that had happened that day, even his fainting spell made sense.
His face was twisted in a deep frown, as if he were having a nightmare. He mumbled something under his breath, his fingertips twitching in front of his face.
Oroji sat by his head, gazing down at him quietly. She murmured,
"Millennium Shock..."
The gates that had appeared out of nowhere twenty years ago. The status windows that suddenly popped up. The five years of chaos that followed until society stabilized.
The whole world had ground to a halt. Mountains burned. Monsters swarmed the seas. Oroji was talking about those days when people survived day by day, clinging to old radios.
Park Jungwoo was twenty years old. He had been born right at the start of the Millennium Shock and the chaos. His childhood must have been wrapped in that miserable history of upheaval and turmoil.
Not just Park Jungwoo. Moon Hayeon, Yang Jihee, Chae Seoah—even Oroji herself. Countless events and tragedies that couldn't be summed up as "those were tough times" still cast dark shadows over their lives.
Oroji slowly reached out. Her fingertips traced the reddened corners of Park Jungwoo's eyes as she gazed at his sleeping face.
"That's enough from the players..."
She quietly recalled the expression on his face that morning—the mix of terror, relief, and tangled emotions. The way his tension melted the moment he saw her, tears finally spilling out.
Gazing at the man who might be the most twisted among those bound under the name "Hwarjeon," Oroji carefully placed her hand on his cheek.
Park Jungwoo twitched in his sleep. Like a small animal feeling a human touch for the first time, his eyelids fluttered. He rubbed his soft cheek against her palm, as if talking in his sleep.
Time passed like that for a while. His anxious breathing finally settled back into calm.
Oroji let out a small smile and picked up her phone. Yang Jihee. Moon Hayeon. Chae Seoah. She pulled up the numbers she'd saved grudgingly, figuring there was no need to call.
"Yeah, it's me, Oroji. No big deal. Just wondering when you'd get back today... Oh, really? Come back earlier then. It's tough watching the kid alone."
Yang Jihee's voice protested from the phone that Jungwoo wasn't a kid, but Oroji ignored it and firmly ended the call. She set the phone down quietly and patted the deeply sleeping Park Jungwoo's cheek.
She pictured him waking up to see the others there, his face lighting up with joy. A gentle smile bloomed on her lips.
"If anyone's gonna torment you, it's me."
Their reunion had been messy, but he'd accepted her so easily. Everything she'd been holding back was out in the open anyway. Now it was her turn to accept him, even just a little. That's what Oroji thought.
She sorted through her tangled, ambiguous feelings. With her hand still on Park Jungwoo's cheek, Oroji closed her eyes for a moment.
Life sucked.
"...Why's Jungwoo acting like that?"
"Leave him be. Probably having a bad dream."
The whispers from the women gathered at the dining table carried over to the sofa. Even though I'd just finished eating and my stomach was full, my mood was still in the dumps.
They say sugar lifts your spirits. But even that has its limits. The exhaustion I felt couldn't be fixed by a sugar rush. The cause floated right in front of me—a translucent window.
General Skill: Submission (B) → Submission (B)
They say the first skills you get and your unique skill determine a hunter's growth path. One of the sturdy pillars on my road to becoming a cum dispenser had even evolved. How could I not be thrilled?
Evolution doesn't always mean a rank up, and this seemed to be one of those cases. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, just knowing that vile skill had gained something extra made a hollow laugh escape me.
"Haha, insane..."
I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. Of course, closing my eyes didn't make the status window vanish or change.
Instead, it glowed faintly in the darkness, asserting its presence as if urging me to check it out.
"Ugh..."
I sighed again and shifted my gaze, pulling up the skill details.
In less than 24 hours, you made a decision and broke.
Showing no resistance in the process is a lifelong shame, but in a way, it was wise.
You feel less aversion to forced acts imposed by others.
Amid an experience that would traumatize an ordinary person for life, you found pleasure in the humiliation.
You feel less aversion to shame and pain, and become more sensitive to pleasure.
Every word dripped with meticulous malice. More sensitive to pleasure? As if I wasn't already?
I tentatively lowered my hand to my crotch with a tense expression. I pressed down on my dick through my pants. Thankfully, I didn't suddenly cum my brains out.
Sensitivity 3000x (S) or something might do that. I didn't know if such a skill existed, but I hoped it stayed far away from me.
I prodded my pants with my fingertips. It felt a bit more sensitive, but not so much that my nerves were on fire. That was a relief.
...Though realizing how low my bar for "relief" had sunk was depressing. I decided to ignore that.
"Um, Jungwoo? What's wrong? Do you wanna... do it?"
Moon Hayeon sidled up next to me. She placed her hand over mine on my crotch and gazed at me with her purple eyes.
As I opened my mouth to protest, Oroji spoke coldly from right behind me.
"Hey. It's still Sunday."
"Huh? B-But we said during the draw that substitutes were okay..."
"Yeah, that was then. Hands off anyway."
From across the room, Yang Jihee muttered something about it being unfair. For the record, she'd drawn the one-day slip. Her shift was just Saturday. Five days left for her.
Seeing her hoist by her own petard should feel satisfying, but my crotch being managed by schedule didn't change. No joy there.
Chae Seoah sat in the empty spot next to me. She slyly pressed her stocking-clad thigh against my leg and leaned in.
"Oh, right. I had something to tell you about the Hunter Management Bureau. I'd forgotten for a moment."
"Yeah?"
"Why do you look so surprised?"
Because I figured since tomorrow was her turn, she was here to grope me early.
This time it was legit business. Chae Seoah's pink eyes stared blankly at me—perfectly normal. If only she were always like this.
She reached into her pocket, pulled something out, and handed it to me.
"What's this...?"
It was a pitch-black envelope. Stamped with the Hunter Management Bureau's gold foil seal, it looked quite luxurious.
"The Black Wyvern we met last time. Remember?"
"Of course..."
"As I mentioned then, black-skinned variant monsters have been appearing a lot lately. Not just here, but abroad too."
"Ah... But what does that have to do with me...?"
"All those black monsters showed similar behavior. Gathering other monsters and launching attacks. But there was one more common point."
I sensed this was leading to the main point. I waited tensely for Chae Seoah's words.
"Every place those monsters appeared had an A-rank—or even S-rank—unique skill hunter. And specifically ones who had awakened recently. They were picking them out and kidnapping them."
My eyes widened in disbelief.
How did those monsters even know who had A- or S-rank skills? How did they predict which gate they'd enter? Killing them would be one thing, but kidnapping?
No way that was normal monster behavior.
"So, the Hunter Management Bureau is holding a party as a warning and to gather people for precautions."
"A party? Is that really okay?"
"They're combining it with a regular event. They usually invite promising hunters, but this year they're specifically gathering those who unlocked their status windows within the last three years and have A- or S-rank skills..."
"I'll go."
Instant response. It slipped out like a reflex. Chae Seoah blinked slowly, looking a bit flustered.
Of course I'd go. A-ranks, S-ranks—future powerhouses I'd dreamed of meeting even once in school. There had to be some celebrities mixed in.
Just thinking about it cheered me up. My lips curled into a grin. Worried about sweating on it, I carefully set the invitation down on the glass table.
"...Understood. Still, be careful."
"Careful?"
"Yes. Per policy, we can't attend with you. They'll station high-rank hunters for security, but... we'll be waiting nearby. Call if there's danger."
Solid reassurance. With even one of them arriving on time, it'd be like a heavenly army. For a second, Chae Seoah almost looked cool.
The "almost" was because the moment our serious talk ended, she slapped her hand on my crotch and started rhythmically kneading my dick.
"...What are you doing?"
"Well, tomorrow's my shift. What's the harm in a head start?"
How did she always veer off-script the second dicks got involved?
"Damn. Can't that week hurry up..."
I watched Oroji grumble back to the table. That's when I truly felt it.
My two dick rest days a week were gone. The industrial revolution of the cum management system had begun: 7 days, 4 shifts.
Life was truly arduous.