Ch.96Will You Marry Me or Would You Rather Die? (1)

“What… Why are you here, miss?”

I asked, completely dumbfounded.

In this second exam, she was supposed to be just an evaluator.

So why was she now witnessing my erection in the middle of this chaotic testing ground?

“There are actually two rules for this second exam.”

“Two rules?”

Miss Hoshino continued her explanation while tapping the hilt of her sword, maintaining her sharp gaze.

“The first one… you already know, right? Only examinees who make it to double digits survive.”

“I already knew that…”

“And the second is that until we reach that number… an S-class hero will personally begin hunting.”

“…What?”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

Miss Hoshino whispered softly with a smile on her lips.

“So. I’ve come to personally dispose of examinees from now on. And my first target is…!”

Swoosh.

A sharp blade flashed as it cut through the air.

“This lizard who’s been eyeing my man.”

“Eek?!”

Eclipse cowered with her hands tied behind her back, tears welling in her eyes.

Miss Hoshino, as if no more words were needed, walked toward her and suddenly raised her sword high.

“Die.”

“N-no! Not ‘die’!! M-miss, please calm down! An evaluator saying she’ll kill an examinee is… a bit…!”

I rushed in to stop her.

But her sword… that blade tip…

“…You too.”

“…Pardon?”

“…You’re the same kind of lizard as her—a ‘male’ who once tried to mate with this lizard.”

She pointed the tip of her sword at my lower body.

“From now on, you can only get erect when I allow it. Understand?”

“Wait a minute?! Isn’t that just… a violation of human rights? No, before that, that’s castration?!”

“It’s love.”

What the hell kind of electronic bracelet is love supposed to be?!

This was just… the madness of a fox in heat.

Her eyes were piercing through me.

No, since she was actually holding a sword, she could physically stab me too.

I looked to the side with tearful hope.

“Z-Zero! At least you try to stop her! You’re an S-class too! You’re a hero! Don’t you think this is dangerous?!”

But.

“I refuse.”

“What?!?!?!?”

“I was taught that it’s proper etiquette not to interfere in lovers’ quarrels.”

That damn AI seemed to have taught him too well.

Swish—!

Eventually, she gripped her sword with both hands and lowered her stance.

The S-class hero shrugged her shoulders, ready to strike with her blade.

Am I really going to die?

…Just then.

“Whoa, whoa, that won’t do~ If Janghun gets eliminated now, it’ll be trouble for me too.”

“Simhae…?”

With her blue hair flowing, a familiar voice appeared.

The sea monster naturally took my arm and stood in front of me.

“Hey, Kang Janghun. This ‘miss’ you’ve been following around is tougher, prettier, and more vicious than I expected, isn’t she?”

“Vi-vicious?! No! Miss isn’t like that! She’s just… a bit of the jealous type…”

“…Huh. And who are you? Who do you think you are to be so rude?”

Hoshino’s eyebrow twitched.

Simhae chuckled and dropped an even bigger bomb.

“Me? I’m his ex-girlfriend.”

“…What?”

“Hey, Simhae?! What are you suddenly saying…!”

“By the way, he lost his virginity to me.”

“Lost his virginity… to your hole?”

Miss Hoshino’s gaze wavered.

In an instant, all human emotion vanished from those golden eyes.

All that remained was 100% pure animal instinct mixed with anger, possessiveness, and jealousy.

I shuddered at the sight and took a step back.

But then.

“Yes. Janghun was mine that dawn. Didn’t you know?”

Her blue hair fluttered in the wind.

Simhae subtly pulled me closer, linking her arm with mine.

And with a gentle smile, she delivered the final blow in a sweet voice.

“That was the best night of my life. I still can’t forget it.”

“…”

“……”

“No, Simhae? Why do you keep talking nonsense…?”

“Shut up. Seriously, die.”

I instinctively realized that one more wrong word and I could end up with my groin torn apart.

And that’s when it happened.

Parting the black cloth.

Eclipse, who had been shrinking back, timidly raised her head while her hands remained bound.

“S-so… was that woman your first, male sir?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then can I at least be your second?!”

“No, that’s…”

“I’m really wet right now!”

Eclipse was squirming and rubbing her thighs together.

Her body was trembling, but her expression was like an elementary schooler about to burst into tears. That contradiction made her even more dangerous.

“E-Eclipse… this isn’t the time to…”

“Just a little bit! I’m ovulating! It’s the perfect time for mating and genes!”

“Fuck…”

I grabbed the back of my neck as I watched this scene.

One was holding a sword, one was spreading her legs, and I was caught in the middle—was this heaven or hell?

“Oh my, oh my. Already in heat… aren’t you being quite presumptuous?”

Miss Hoshino approached slowly.

A momentary step with her sheathed sword. The tip was aimed right above Eclipse’s chest.

“You want to mate with Janghun that badly?”

“Yes! I want to!”

“Then do it after you die.”

“Eek?!”

“Miss, please calm down!”

I stood between them, blocking Hoshino’s sword with my body.

And at that moment, Siljongi and Simhae, who were peeking from behind, spoke simultaneously.

“Pfft~. So this is what they call a love triangle.”

“Haha, that’s our Janghun. Still as popular as ever~”

“Both of you, shut up!!”

I shouted with all my might.

This was truly a harem explosion love comedy.

I have no idea who’s writing my life like this, but all that’s left now is to somehow survive this savage harem hell.

***

The artificial city of the second exam site.

A VIP room of the Hero Association overlooking the entire area.

On the giant screen, the positions of examinees, their battles, and even conversations were being broadcast in real-time.

Watching the screen while swirling a wine glass was Avanka, a member of the Progressive Party.

She was the mastermind behind the rule changes for this exam.

“Oh my God~. Janghun, at this rate you might get dismembered?”

She clicked her tongue familiarly while listening to someone’s moans, screams, and suggestive dialogue.

Just then.

Creak.

“Hm?”

Without even a knock, the VIP door slid open.

With a cocktail glass in hand, she turned around without much thought.

At that moment.

“Ugh… urk…”

“Wow?”

An A-class hero who had been guarding the room was dragged in, covered in blood.

With broken legs, nearly unconscious.

The one holding the hero with one hand was a woman who entered with flashing red eyes.

Blamashu.

The representative of the Social Party and Avanka’s longtime political rival.

And the only politician who had openly stated that she “wanted her death.”

Covered in the smell of blood, she was literally wrapped in killing intent.

Under the hotel’s luxury lighting, the blood dripping over her suit matched strangely well.

“Congresswoman Blamashu…? Don’t tell me you…?”

“…What if I did? Are you going to beg for your life?”

Blamashu dragged her blood-soaked shoes with a crazed look in her eyes.

Her pupils trembled, and her breath was sharp.

But despite such threats, a smile never left Avanka’s eyes.

“Hmm~. Well, if that’s your intention, I’ll play along. But either way, you’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Ohoho~! Then before you kill me, tell me. Why did you do this? Even as a party leader, killing three A-class heroes makes you just a terrorist, doesn’t it?”

Avanka slowly tilted her cocktail glass, looking at Blamashu as if evaluating her.

Her tone was relaxed and even intrigued, but Blamashu across from her had almost lost her sanity.

Crazed eyes, blood-stained fingertips.

As if she had made a contract with a monster on the verge of breaking, there had been no human ethics left inside her for a long time.

“Shut up…! I-it’s all your fault…! You’re the one who made it possible for Marna to fail the exam!”

“Hmm~. I actually quite liked that child Marna? I was planning to pass her and raise her as a hero, but to think you’d be so suspicious.”

“I’ll kill you… Avanka, I will definitely kill you!”

Blamashu, who seemed to have lost her mind.

Taking violent steps toward her political rival, she finally shouted.

“Appear here now! And give that woman the most hideous death!! ‘Monster of Death’!!!”

And the world distorted.

Darkness covered Avanka’s vision.

It wasn’t a shadow.

It was literally a void that devoured existence.

And simultaneously, her limbs were torn apart.

Not cut, but as if flesh were being torn by bare hands—bones crushed, flesh twisted and peeled off, and internal organs burst out like inverted flowers.

Not even a scream was allowed.

All sensation melted away in an instant.

In that terrible moment, Blamashu unconsciously took a step back.

The contract with the Monster of Death.

That fatal strike had succeeded too perfectly, too cruelly.

But…

“W…ow.”

“…?!”

It was she who was surprised instead.

A blood-covered face at the spot where the neck was broken, limbs gone, and intestines scattered.

Even in such a horrific state, Avanka was smiling with a strange gleam in her eyes.

“Death… it’s truly S-class, isn’t it?”

A look of wonder appeared at the corner of her mouth.

“How despicably must you have lived to be able to contract with that thing…? You’re amazing, Congresswoman Blamashu!”

Her bones were shattered, but her mind was still alive with unceasing madness.

“Blood for your daughter, and death for yourself~. I think this is true leadership by example! Bravo! Excellent!”

In the desperate darkness.

There were only two emotions a human facing death could show.

Fear.

And reverence.

Avanka chose the latter.

Even as she disappeared, bleeding, she wore a politician’s smile at the corner of her mouth, “savoring” death as she welcomed it.