Chapter 10: A pervert who like the smell of a classmate

“I’m going to train, so study hard!”

My voice was unnaturally high-pitched, excited about having a legitimate excuse to leave the house.

Seung-ah had left first so we wouldn’t be seen together.

I now understood why married men sometimes took days off and went to PC cafes instead of going home.

Ha-yeon was cultivating the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and Liera was still asleep.

Estelle, the only one who saw me off, narrowed her eyes, sensing my excitement.

“Oppa… you seem very happy. Are you… glad to be away from me?”

Gulp

I swallowed hard.

I recognized this pattern from Estelle’s world.

I had even given it a name: the Head-Smashing Pattern.

One wrong word in response to this type of question, and her mace would come crashing down on my head.

She might be unarmed and powerless now, but once she regained her strength, she might remember this and decide to give me a mace-induced head massage.

“Of course not! I’m just excited to work up a sweat. My heart aches at the thought of being away from you, Estelle…”

Her expression softened slightly, but she wasn’t fully convinced.

“Then… should I come with you? You said your heart aches without me.”

‘…!’

I was speechless. I had tried to appease her, but it backfired spectacularly.

I had no idea how to get out of this.

“The… the training grounds aren’t mine…”

I tried to make an excuse, but Estelle interrupted.

“I’m just kidding. I still have a lot to study. But you’ll answer my texts if I have any questions, right?”

She knew exactly why I was so eager to leave, but she was letting it slide.

Decades of married life had honed her intuition.

“Of course. I’ll check my phone and reply.”

I could easily do that while training.

I had bought smartphones for all three of them, and Estelle was the most adept at using it.

She had practically mastered the internet.

Liera was next, and Ha-yeon struggled the most.

Smartphones and the internet were probably foreign concepts in the martial world, which lacked technology like magical engineering.

“Okay, have a good time, oppa.”

She stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes, tilted her head up, and offered her lips for a kiss.

Our usual morning goodbye kiss.

I leaned down, placing a hand on her waist for support, and kissed her.

It felt natural, having done it countless times.

Smooch.

Smack.

The sounds of our tongues tangling, our saliva mixing. Her kiss tasted like sweet apples, just like her scent, if I remembered correctly.

After a few minutes, we broke apart, breathless, our tongues severing the string of saliva.

“Haa… don’t come home too late.”

Her expression was much brighter now.

“I’ll be back before dinner.”

I stepped out the door.

Even without the emotions, reenacting the actions I shared with them brought back fleeting glimpses of those feelings.

Was this something I could do without love? Was I deceiving them, relying on their feelings while feeling nothing myself? I didn’t have the answers.

Cursing the god who had given me this troublesome Trait, I hoped my emotions would return.

‘But I wouldn’t have met them without the Five Lives Trait.’

I had been a virgin until 30 in my first life.

If I hadn’t awakened, I might have died a virgin, never experiencing marriage.

‘If my emotions had carried over…’

Would I have been unable to move on from Ha-yeon, never forming relationships with Estelle and Liera? I wondered.

It was a pointless thought now, but my life could have been a pure love story.

Perhaps the loss of emotions was also part of the god’s plan.

If I ever met that god, I would have many questions.

Why did he give me this power? What did he expect of me?

It was strange, now that I thought about it.

How had I been so lucky to encounter Ha-yeon, Estelle, and Liera in each of my reincarnations? All of them among the most talented individuals in their respective worlds?

It was too much of a coincidence, happening not once, but three times. It was likely that someone had intentionally placed me in their paths.

If their suffering after losing me was also part of his plan, I would be… furious.

I had another reason to become stronger.

Lost in thought, I arrived at the alley near Seung-ah’s house.

“You’re here?”

Seung-ah was waiting for me outside. I forced a smile, not wanting her to worry if she saw my troubled expression.

“Yeah, I managed to escape.”

Despite my smile, her reaction was strange.

“What’s wrong…?”

I couldn’t fool my childhood friend of 17 years.

She saw through my facade, sensing my troubled mood.

“I had some things on my mind. It’s got me feeling down.”

“If you don’t mind sharing, I’m happy to listen. Maybe we can figure things out together.”

I hadn’t intended to tell her, but since she asked, I saw no reason to keep it a secret.

I valued reciprocation and never refused goodwill.

I would be grateful just to have her listen to my worries.

And if we found a solution, even better.

“Well…”

As we walked towards her house, I shared my concerns.

“The being who gave us the system and Traits… Oh! Maybe your master knows something!”

Seung-ah had mentioned training under a master during her four-year disappearance.

Considering that master had raised her from E-rank to near A-rank in just four years, they must be incredibly powerful.

Without that training, Seung-ah wouldn’t be aiming for the same academy as me.

“But you said there’s no way to contact them right now?”

I knew from our conversations that she currently had no way to reach her master.

“They said I could meet them again once I reached a higher realm and accumulated enough karma to break free from my shackles, but I don’t know how… So I guess that’s not helpful right now.”

Seung-ah looked dejected. I placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

“No, it was helpful. You now have a concrete goal instead of chasing something vague.”

To become stronger. And to help Seung-ah break free from her shackles. I had a new purpose.

‘I’ve heard many stories like that in the martial world.’

Zhang Sanfeng, Lü Dongbin, and others who had broken free from their shackles and ascended to a higher plane.

They were known for their transcendent power and earth-shattering achievements.

Perhaps I could find a way using the knowledge I had accumulated over 120 years, combined with the information from the ancient texts found in dungeons.

“Yeah… let’s work hard together.”

This was a long-term project, spanning at least a decade, and I would explore other options as well.

As I continued to comfort Seung-ah, we reached her front door.

When I removed my hand from her head, her hair seemed to stick to it for a moment.

Like a magnet.

“Are your parents home?”

“Probably just Mom.”

“Phew…”

That was a relief.

Her father always looked at me with disapproval, which made me uncomfortable. Although, her mother was also… intense.

“Mom, I’m home!”

Seung-ah called out, and a voice responded from inside.

“Oh, my daughter, who spent a few nights at Yu-won’s, is back! Did you manage to seduce him?”

‘?’

I think I just heard something shocking.

“Mom! It wasn’t like that!”

Seung-ah yelled at her mother, who came to the door and looked slightly surprised to see me.

“Oh… Yu-won’s here too?”

“Hello, Mrs. Yoo.”

I decided to ignore her previous comment and greeted her politely.

“When are you going to start calling me ‘mother-in-law’?”

She continued as if nothing had happened. Her current comment was just as unsettling.

I couldn’t imagine how chaotic it would be if both her parents were here.

Seung-ah grabbed my wrist.

“Stop teasing Yu-won! Anyway, we’re going to train, so don’t come into the training grounds!”

She dragged me inside without waiting for a response.

“Sorry about my mom. She’s a bit… much.”

She apologized as we headed to the training grounds.

“It’s fine. She’s… fun.”

I wasn’t one to tolerate things I disliked.

If I had truly been uncomfortable, I would have told her to stop.

I could handle a friend’s mother’s teasing.

“But… ‘seduce’… ugh…”

She blushed, embarrassed. She looked so innocent and youthful.

“Is this the training grounds?”

I changed the subject to spare her further embarrassment, pointing at the door she stopped in front of.

“Yeah. Wait inside. I’ll change into my training clothes.”

“Okay.”

She placed her finger on the door, and it opened, recognizing her fingerprint.

‘Cool…’

Inside, there were numerous exercise machines and training equipment designed for Awakened individuals.

“Seung-ah’s been using all of this by herself?”

As expected of a wealthy heiress.

‘If she’s the only one who uses it, shouldn’t her scent be all over the place?’

I picked up a piece of equipment and sniffed it.

Sure enough, I could smell Seung-ah’s scent.

As I was sniffing the equipment, Seung-ah entered the training grounds.

‘Uh oh…’

This looked bad. I tried to explain, but she wouldn’t listen.

“Why are you sniffing that?! Are you… a pervert?”

I had just become a pervert who enjoyed the scent of his classmate’s exercise equipment.