Chapter 208: Retired Colleague Sunbae: Reckless Seduction (1)

『Current Expected Acquisition Points: 80』

“…….”

Originally, I had just opened Hwayoung Sunbae’s Hunter information with the thought of looking into what her awakening ability was, but…

As soon as I confirmed the unexpectedly displayed 80 in expected acquisition points, I felt considerable confusion.

Clearly, 2 weeks ago, even before she had her first experience, she seemed to have had the figure of 80 displayed beside her, but…

Why is it that even now, after relieving her sexual desire once, she’s still displaying the same figure?

The fact that Hwayoung Sunbae’s real name is Miner has become relatively unimportant information.

Normally, demi-humans naturally have a real name that only those of the same race can recognize, not the name registered by Earth nations’ laws, so it wasn’t a particularly special case.

In the first place, this wasn’t the first time I had unintentionally glimpsed a real name through Hunter information.

However, even though I didn’t particularly intend to look, the expected acquisition points of 80 were too large a figure to just pass by.

The possibility of a system error… probably doesn’t exist, right?

Even if it were an error, the entity giving me awakening points was also the system, so strictly speaking, it wasn’t a problem.

“Perhaps….”

Perhaps it’s because the elf race itself is originally a race with strong sexual desire?

It was already known knowledge that the elf race tends to get interested in things easily and fall deeply into them, but whether that also applied to Hwayoung Sunbae required a bit of serious consideration.

Because, the her I met 2 weeks ago, no matter how I thought about it, was a woman addicted to something other than sexual desire.

Recalling Hwayoung Sunbae, who defenselessly exposed her body as if she didn’t care if I, a man, saw her, and was heavily puffing away on tar cigarettes like an addict, made it even more so.

Didn’t she even come directly to find me, a C-class Hunter, because of that, to ask for a material collection request?

Even in the messages exchanged today, I didn’t feel any sign of romantic feelings from Hwayoung Sunbae towards me.

“…Is that necessarily not the case?”

Opening the KakaoTalk window and checking the conversation content once more, I could confirm that she had certainly sent a slightly kinder reply compared to before.

「ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ」

…At least compared to the past when she used to send just a single 「ㅇ」 curtly, her attitude has become much friendlier.

Of course, just because the number of consonants increased doesn’t mean she likes me more than six times compared to before; that’s a bit of a stretch, but…

Conversely, it wasn’t impossible to interpret it as her sending a slightly kinder reply because she wants to receive something from me.

…Or perhaps, I might be assigning too much meaning to just one text message.

In the first place, for whatever reason, becoming closer after engaging in physical contact like sex is a natural phenomenon, so in the end, it was unreasonable to try and figure out her true intentions solely through KakaoTalk messages.

Because I couldn’t be sure yet that this subtle change in attitude, altered to this extent, necessarily indicated a reaction showing she wanted physical relations even in the next meeting.

If that’s the case, then how about the possibility that Hwayoung Sunbae’s ‘usual sexual desire’ state is 80, as a final hypothesis?

In my personal opinion, for some reason, this hypothesis felt the most credible.

Because, even before, Hwayoung Sunbae had a precedent of normally greeting me while holding the expected acquisition points of 80 within her small frame.

At that time, I had pushed forward with a slightly far-fetched excuse to somehow create a situation leading up to sex, but actually, Hwayoung Sunbae at that time had a composed appearance that made it unbelievable that she had any sexual desire accumulated.

Therefore, if the current her were hypothetically in the same state as then, using the same method to woo her again would become a bit difficult, right?

In other words, it meant I had to seduce her in a completely different way than before, so that Hwayoung Sunbae would be the one to bring up wanting to have sex with me.

“…This isn’t easy.”

Rather than waiting for the other party to approach, it was much more comfortable for me to make a move, so this was somewhat tricky.

I never expected that after Eunyoung Noona, I would find myself having to seduce an older woman again.

Moreover, compared to Eunyoung Noona, it turned out to be a somewhat awkward situation where I had to appeal my masculinity to a senior who was practically a stranger.

…Even so, I had no intention of avoiding it.

“Hwayoung Sunbae, did you have lunch?”

“Not yet.”

“Then, shall we eat together at your place, Sunbae?”

“Sure. Just hurry up and come.”

“Okay.”

As soon as I received Hwayoung Sunbae’s reply, I nonchalantly devised a few plans in my mind that could seduce her.

Because, even if not particularly appealing something sexually, there were plenty of ways for a man to seduce a woman in this world.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Even in the previous world, the fantasy about domestic men was certainly one of the elements that worked on women.

Words like ‘weak by day, strong by night’ or ‘cooking sexy man’ were nicknames meaning the fantasy about domestic men, because…

In this world where gender roles had mostly changed, the domestic aspect was rather often considered a virtue that a man should possess.

Of course, just as not every housewife in the previous world was diligent in housework, not all male househusbands in this world were serious about housework either, but…

In other words, just by showing a very simple ‘manliness’ while doing things like cooking or cleaning was enough to make a considerable romantic appeal to the women of this world.

Especially for me, who had lived alone for quite a long time since childhood, housework like cooking or cleaning was already a proficient area, so…

Just by nonchalantly showing such aspects would probably be enough to appeal with masculinity, right?

Of course, if I intended to show full cooking skills, it would be better to stop by the mart and buy groceries before going, but since I wasn’t thinking to that extent, I didn’t detour from my destination heading towards the lakeside pharmacy.

It’s only the second visit, and showing up abruptly carrying ingredients would not only look strange but could also make it seem like I was leaving behind trash that would be difficult for me to dispose of myself if things went wrong.

Therefore, I strictly had to utilize only the cooking ingredients that were already at Hwayoung Sunbae’s house.

“…Even so, there should be at least rice or eggs, right?”

If even that isn’t there, regrettably, I would have to look for another method, but…

Even if she’s a half-elf, she probably doesn’t live just by eating dew, so I could only hope that at least the minimum ingredients were stocked.

As I was thinking that, the taxi carrying me had already arrived at the lakeside pharmacy building, which was Hwayoung Sunbae’s home and store.

After finishing the payment with cash, I immediately tried pulling the door once in front of the darkened shop with the sign ‘Lakeside Pharmacy’.

Even though it was still midday, the shop building was tightly locked, as if having no intention of doing business at all.

Even though today wasn’t a holiday and it was a weekday.

“I’ve arrived. I’m in front of the shop.”

As soon as the number 1 on KakaoTalk disappeared, the lock on the 1st-floor entrance door opened with a click sound.

“Come in.”

As soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, I heard the sound of the shop entrance locking behind me.

I then moved directly to the 2nd floor of the commercial building via the stairs behind the pharmacy’s counter.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Come in.”

The moment the sound of the 1st-floor entrance door opening faintly reached her ears, Choi Hwayoung was engulfed in a strange, incomprehensible emotion for some reason.

Clearly, until just a moment ago, my sexual desire seemed to have calmed down to some extent, but…

As soon as I thought of Sungchul Hubae’s face coming up the stairs, a strange excitement seemed to make her chest pound, so…

Her sexual desire, which had been suppressed for a moment, began to peek out as if it never happened.

Her mind, which had been filled with various thoughts and plans, was engulfed in a white and blurry sensation, as if covered in fog.

If I’m going to be consumed by instinct in this way even before facing each other, I wonder what emotion exactly will dominate me the moment I truly face Sungchul Hubae.

Whether I can properly show the image of the composed Guild senior I had imagined.

Unable to be sure of that, her pupils immediately began to tremble in various directions.

Every time the creaking sound of the old stairs informed her that someone was coming up, Choi Hwayoung suddenly fell into the feeling of wanting to escape this situation.

Somehow, I felt like the moment I faced him right now, I would throw away all dignity and everything, throw myself into his arms, and blurt out vulgar words.

It was because anxiety arose, wondering if I wouldn’t fall into self-loathing because of the shameful act I had committed once my heart calmed down after the act was over.

If he showed even a hint of losing affection after seeing my pathetic attitude… at that time, I might just be buried in the emotion of truly wanting to die.

Whether he knew or not of her anxiety, Hubae’s footsteps climbing the stairs were getting closer little by little.

Finally, when he revealed himself from behind the wall where the stairs were, she deliberately turned her gaze away and greeted him without meeting his eyes.

“Wow, you’re here…?”

“Yes, Sunbae.”

Choi Hwayoung, realizing she had barely suppressed the feeling of almost pouncing, intoxicated by his scent, with reason, quietly praised her own patience in her mind.

“Sunbae, do you have a fever? Your face looks red for some reason.”

“…Isn’t it just because the lighting is dim that it looks that way?”

“Hmm, is that so.”

Quietly relieved by the oblivious Hubae’s reaction, Choi Hwayoung slowly turned her gaze towards the direction of the voice.

As soon as she saw Sungchul Hubae’s face, which had already approached right in front of her, she showed a startled reaction.

“Whoa, fuck, you scared me!”

“Aargh?!”

At her reaction, where she almost fell off the chair she was sitting on, Kim Sungchul was rather more flustered.

“W-what is it, suddenly? I thought my heart was going to drop.”

“S-suddenly, out of nowhere, shoving your face so c-close?! What are you doing?!”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? I came to give you the materials I collected this time.”

“Materials…?”

“Black Slime materials. Since they’re commissioned items, you need to check them, right?”

“……Ah, yeah, right. Yeah….”

Because the errand had already become secondary, Choi Hwayoung couldn’t bring herself to truthfully reveal to the Sungchul Hubae in front of her that she had completely forgotten.

“10 fluid sacs and 10 cores…. You brought them well this time too.”

“Right?”

“Uh…, yeah….”

Because of Sungchul Hubae, who had already approached her side emanating his male scent, Choi Hwayoung began to feel like all her bodily senses were gradually numbing.

A feeling of freedom and helplessness felt simultaneously, as if floating in space.

Really, in this situation, Choi Hwayoung couldn’t think of any way at all to seduce him.

Kim Sungchul thought her attitude like that was a bit strange and raised a small question.

“Sunbae.”

“Uh, yeah, okay….”

“You went to the trouble to get it, but aren’t you going to smoke it right away this time?”

“……Huh?”

“Last time, you seemed to be smoking hastily like you had withdrawal symptoms, but somehow today, you don’t particularly seem to be.”

Only after hearing those words did Choi Hwayoung barely realize that doing nothing like this looked strange.

“I, I just intended to smoke a little slowly.”

A beat late, after taking out the pipe from her gown pocket, she mixed tobacco leaves and Black Slime fluid and put it in the bowl.

With a click, white smoke rose from her pipe after flicking her finger once. After taking a puff and exhaling, she deliberately avoided Sungchul Hubae’s eyes looking at her and shifted her gaze to a distant place.

(The in-story time period is daytime, but the existing illustration has been attached to help understand the scene.)

“Th-then the payment….”

And the moment I was about to continue speaking regarding the subsequent business, trying to act composed at least.

At the sight of Sungchul Hubae suddenly moving his steps towards the kitchen, I had no choice but to cut off my own words.

“…What are you doing?”

Choi Hwayoung was starting to feel flustered at his appearance, nonchalantly holding a frying pan and rummaging through the refrigerator as if it were his own kitchen.

“You said you hadn’t had lunch yet? I’ll make something simple.”

“…………What?”

“I’ll make it quickly, so please wait reasonably.”

At Kim Sungchul’s strange attitude, unable to know what he really expected from her.

Choi Hwayoung could only watch his back, unable to say anything.