Ch.9Chapter 9. The Commonality Between Virgins and Fruits

Yes, this world is a dark fantasy.

Unlike fiction filled with convenient plot developments, it’s not kind to people who cross over from other worlds.

Of course, even in such a world, playing it safe can feel stifling, but risking danger to pursue romance is something that requires serious consideration.

For someone like me, meeting Vivian was both a stroke of luck and an opportunity that had been long overdue.

While my life lacked excitement, it was stable, and serving someone who didn’t despise me meant significantly less stress.

That feeling grew stronger as I reflected on my experiences over the two years since arriving in this world, working as a porter…

***

“…Are you the new porter who’ll be working for me?”

It was about a year ago, I think?

At that time, after gaining some experience as a porter, I used that experience to join a rising Hero who was building up achievements.

A beautiful woman with blonde hair and greenish eyes.

Perhaps because her position as a sniper required stealth in the rear, she wore no adornments, but her undisguised haughty charm left a strong impression.

“Hmm, a man.”

But the reason I still remember her wasn’t just because she was beautiful, but because she, like all the Heroes I’d met before, was a terrible woman…

“Ah, um. Yes. I’m a man.”

“Sigh, why are all the people joining my party men?”

The female sniper had a particularly strong reaction to me being male. In fact, everyone she glared at, including myself, was male.

In a way, it was an expected outcome.

Unless you were born with power like a Hero, adventuring isn’t easy for women.

“Um, is there a problem with me being a man?”

“Oh, it’s not that there’s a problem with you specifically. I just have a phobia of men. Just being near them makes me feel nauseous and gives me goosebumps…”

“Ah, I see. If that’s the case, I understand.”

“Yes, good. So don’t get any ideas while we’re traveling together. We’re forced to be together while I do my work as a Hero, but you guys are just mercenaries hired for money.”

Stay within boundaries when dealing with the only woman in the party.

At first, I didn’t take her warning very seriously.

The world is full of diverse people, and to live in such a world, one must maintain a minimum level of respect for others.

“What’s this? A man can’t even handle that? How pathetic.”

But such consideration can only be maintained when others show respect toward you.

When I expressed my struggle with the unexpectedly heavy load, her response made me feel my understanding of her rapidly disappearing.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that there’s so much luggage…”

“Hmph, if you applied to be a porter, you should be able to carry this much. Especially as a man, not a woman, you should know how to endure hardship.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”

“Is ‘I’m sorry’ all you can say? Pathetic for a man.”

“As a man,” “for a man,” “a man can’t even do that much,” and so on…

Claiming to have a phobia of men and keeping her distance, she assigned all tasks to the men in the party while mostly just giving orders from behind.

This attitude persisted not only during expeditions but also during monster subjugations and dungeon conquests, even in dangerous situations…

“Hmph, what’s this? You collapsed after just doing this much? How pathetic for a man.”

When the vanguard was in mortal danger due to a reckless advance.

Far from expressing gratitude or apology to the one who had exerted himself for the party, she only hurled abuse at him.

In reality, he had taken on so much risk to protect her, the sniper providing rear support.

“Um, Hero, do you have any potions left? This friend will really die if we leave him like this…”

“This is for me to use in case of emergency.”

“But the vanguard is…”

“Sigh, why should I give my potion that I bought with my own money to that guy? If a man can’t even endure this much…”

Man this, man that.

After hearing such words repeated constantly, I realized that her self-definition was fundamentally wrong from the start.

This woman didn’t have a phobia of men, but hatred toward men.

After gaining power as a Hero and becoming intoxicated with her superiority over men, her tendencies had become extremely biased.

“Ha, so he died after all. How annoying.”

When such a distorted mindset crossed the line in a world that reveres Heroes, she eventually withdrew even her sympathy for those who fought for her.

As if to say that men who joined her party were merely consumables.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be the one to step up?”

She would assign the vanguard role to someone who wasn’t even a vanguard, and when that person died, she would pass the role to another party member.

As party members disappeared one by one due to such reckless orders until the party was wiped out, only I remained in the end.

The reason I remained was simple.

If I disappeared too, she would have to carry all the luggage herself.

Despite our situation, she had her eye on a subjugation quest circulating in a city we stopped at on our way back from exploring a dungeon.

“Um, excuse me. Now that all the party members are dead, wouldn’t it be better not to push too hard? We should return to the institution first to regroup…”

“Hah, talking about pushing too hard? Do you think I would lose to a mere vampire?”

“No, but without a vanguard…”

“Shut up. Who are you, a man, to lecture me? A weak porter who doesn’t even have the courage to step forward.”

“…”

“Nothing more to say? Then just carry the luggage and quietly watch from behind. I’ll take care of one vampire right away.”

Ah, well. Let whatever happens happen.

Reluctantly, I followed her as she went to subjugate a vampire that appeared in the city at night, and the result followed my initial anxiety.

Of course, even a Hero in a sniper position can’t properly use their power without a vanguard.

“Hehe, you came to capture me so confidently, but look at you now?”

“Th-this can’t be. I’m a Hero, so why… Kuhak!”

“Hahaha! A sniper coming alone? Where did you leave your companions? Don’t tell me they all left because you treated them poorly?”

“Sh-shut up. Be quiet… Kuhak!”

The arrogant vampire kicked her as she fell and violated her.

Despite her resentment, as the vampire’s eyes began to glow with an ominous magical power, she started to spread a sinister aura.

“Well, it seems you need some discipline.”

“Ah, aah…! Aah!”

Her body convulsed as soon as it was exposed to that magical power.

Along with her flushed cheeks, it indicated a significant change in her mental state.

Fascination.

A vampire’s trademark ability to capture the mind, remove resistance, and make it easier to suck blood.

“Ugh, haah. M-my body is h-hot… Hngh♥”

“Khuhuhu, has the fascination worked well?”

The vampire laughed and approached her trembling body, bringing his face close to hers.

A face that was extremely handsome even to another man.

As soon as she faced that face, her face turned even redder, and her eyes began to fill with ecstasy.

Damn, for someone with male-phobia, she ends up being swayed by a man, unable to resist fascination.

“Let me ask you something, are you a virgin?”

An absurd question that came while I was feeling irritated about this terrible woman.

In 21st century South Korea, such sexual harassment would immediately lead to a lawsuit and 5 years in prison, but this terrible woman swallowed her saliva and answered while reaching for her body.

“Y-yes, I am a virgin…”

Slowly, she began to remove her clothes one by one, disarming the protection of her body.

Even in her half-naked state, she revealed an ecstatic smile and begged for the vampire’s affection.

“I’ve never allowed a man to have my body before, I’m a pure virgin~♡”

“Huhu, I see. A virgin, you say?”

The vampire extended his hand, satisfied with her answer.

Having already disarmed herself, there was no way she could stop the vampire’s predatory hand.

Yes, whatever happened after that.

“Then die!! You filthy virgin!”

-Slash!

Sharp claws swung with full force at her disarmed body.

“Ugh, uek…?”

Her body was split into several pieces, spraying blood everywhere, and the dismembered body parts fell messily to the ground.

Of course, a sniper who only uses her power for rear attacks wouldn’t have regenerative abilities.

The terrible woman who had constantly poured out hatred and mockery toward men ended up being killed by the vampire.

“Filthy, impure virgin!”

Still not satisfied, the vampire violently clawed at the body parts on the ground.

While vampires are known to be obsessed with virgins, he was expressing that desire in a distorted way.

“The very fact that someone like you exists in this world makes me incredibly angry! So die, no, disappear, you cursed existence!”

Damn, a vampire who can’t resist virgin blood hating virgins.

Is the world going to hell that such subspecies are appearing?

“Hey, young man. Come over here for a moment.”

“Ah, yes. If you say so.”

But someone like me with no power had no choice.

So I turned my gaze away from the meat chunks that were once the terrible woman who died as a virgin, and quietly approached the vampire who was elegantly wiping the blood from his body with a towel.

Towards the vampire who had returned to a very gentlemanly appearance, unlike his angry demeanor when facing her.

“What do you think about virgins?”

“Virgins, you ask?”

“Yes, what do you think about those stuck-up bitches who have never allowed their bodies to anyone?”

…This guy is definitely not normal.

But even if he’s a loose screw, it’s fortunate if I can somehow keep my life.

“Um… I don’t have much experience with women, so are virgins bad?”

Still, if I make a slip of the tongue, he might go berserk and dismember me too, so I decided to pretend to be ignorant while responding to him.

“Oh my. So you’re a friend without experience?”

“Ah yes. That’s true, but…”

“It seems you might have trouble with women later, so it might be good for me, as a senior in life, to give you some advice. Since we’ve met by fate, you should hear at least one life maxim, shouldn’t you?”

As I played along a bit, the vampire sat across from me and began to recite his philosophy.

Virgins are bad. Virgins shouldn’t be trusted. And so on.

For some reason, he spouted a series of statements that strongly expressed hatred toward female purity.

“Ah, yes. So what you’re saying is that virgins don’t know love?”

“Of course, physically, they might not have experience depending on circumstances. But don’t you think there’s something wrong with a full-grown adult maintaining purity without ever harboring passionate love in their heart?”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“Yes, the same goes for that woman you worked for as a porter. A woman who has never loved someone directly from her heart inevitably awakens as a selfish bitch lacking consideration for others.”

Hmm, that’s true.

The woman killed by this vampire was certainly beyond redemption.

Thinking about it that way, this vampire doesn’t seem all bad. Good riddance to that bitch.

“Finally, let me emphasize: if there’s a virgin near you, never trust her. All virgins in this world are just potential bitches who are merely pure.”

By the time I found myself unconsciously agreeing with his illogical nonsense, the vampire was preparing to leave without laying a hand on me, but still offered some advice out of concern.

“If you really want to trust them, either kill them while they’re still virgins and be satisfied with reminiscing about their pure past, or take their virginity with your own hands. That’s the only way a man can trust a virgin!”

“Ah, yes. I’ll engrave that advice in my heart. Thank you for sparing me, and may you live long and prosper!”

“Remember this! Virgins and fruits will rot if you don’t pick them quickly!”

After the vampire who had recited his own theory of virgins left.

I immediately turned my back at that spot and took time to engrave my evaluation of him in my mind.

That person, he’s handsome and quite articulate, but why did he end up like that?

Did his girlfriend cheat on him after he came back from the military or something?

***

Well anyway.

As he said, fruits will rot if not picked quickly, and buses that have passed won’t come back my way.

Even if it seems a bit distorted, I deeply sympathized with him on the point that opportunities must be seized when they come.

“Well, if an opportunity comes, it’s best to seize it firmly.”

In this harsh world, opportunities to earn stable income while doing work are rare.

If I can also feel satisfaction from it, it might be a good choice to give up the dream I’ve been chasing and reach out for this instead.

So if possible, I’d like to extend the contract period that ends today, and take more time to get to know her and think about it…

“Vivian. I’m back…”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

A scream erupted just as I entered the residence with such thoughts.

I immediately recognized the voice as Vivian’s, but what bothered me was that the sound came from somewhere other than her room.

“What on earth…”

Feeling anxious that something serious might have happened, I hurriedly headed toward the source of the sound, and soon realized my prediction was correct.

The sound came from the basement.

The place she had emphatically told me not to enter when we first made the contract.