Chapter 36: A Preference for Strong Men (2)

「Tomorrow, are you free?」

As soon as I read the short KakaoTalk message, which clearly conveyed her personality even through text, there was one thing I needed to check first.

Therefore, before replying to the message, I launched the Hunter Lust Management app and navigated to the ‘Current Lust Management Hunters’ menu on the main screen.

Then, I went into the information for Cha Yuri, the second one from the top, and checked the value in the ‘Current Estimated Point Acquisition’ field.

『002.

Name: Cha Yuri

Awakened Ability: Sylph’s Blessing

Current Estimated Point Acquisition: 50

……』

50 points.

So, the point when Cha Yuri contacts me first is approximately when 50 points have accumulated?

It wasn’t that I wouldn’t meet her just because the estimated point acquisition was low. I simply wanted to confirm at what level of lust she would contact me.

Of course, there would clearly be a difference between the estimated point acquisition and the actual level of accumulated lust, and since I had just been inside the dungeon, checking the KakaoTalk message a bit late, there was also a sufficient possibility that the number had fluctuated in the meantime.

Even if it wasn’t a perfectly accurate number, it was good enough just to grasp the approximate value of when she contacts me first when this much lust has accumulated. Even for the purpose of truly ‘managing’ the lust of the women I’ve been involved with.

If, by any chance, Cha Yuri contacted me asking to resolve her lust on a day I was scheduled to meet Kang Hye-eun or Do Sihee, there was a possibility of troublesome complications arising in many ways to adjust the schedule.

Not only would I miss a precious opportunity to earn Awakened Points with each of them, but if things went wrong, the situation could get tangled, potentially leading to an unwanted three-way encounter for everyone.

While it might be manageable if it were Do Sihee, who is from the foundation with flexible working hours, on days when the requests from Kang Hye-eun and Cha Yuri, who are from companies, overlapped, it could become difficult to postpone them to another day.

To prevent that, I need to proactively understand the degree to which their lust accumulates.

If I can figure out at what level of estimated point acquisition they contact me first, it would be helpful in scheduling sex with others using that information.

After confirming Cha Yuri’s current estimated point acquisition was 50, I immediately opened KakaoTalk and sent her a reply message.

「Yes, I have time.」

The read receipt disappeared almost simultaneously as soon as I sent the reply. It was a reaction as if she had been waiting with the KakaoTalk message window open.

The time Cha Yuri sent the KakaoTalk message shows as about an hour ago. Could it be that she was staring at her smartphone screen the whole hour until I replied?

My first impression was that she was a strangely cool and cute woman, but perhaps she might be quite passionate in aspects like this.

「I thought I had sent it to the wrong number because there was no reply」

「I’m sorry. I couldn’t check right away because I was inside the dungeon」

「No. I contacted you too early」

「How is your magic condition since returning?」

「No problems. It’s thanks to you」

「That’s a relief」

It seemed my effort in satisfying her lust wasn’t in vain; since returning to the company, her magic wasn’t acting up, so she didn’t seem to be struggling.

「Having time means you can meet me tomorrow, right?」

「Has it become difficult to endure your lust again?」

「It’s not to that extent. Can’t it be that if it’s not that?」

「Of course not. Where shall we meet? How about the hotel we went to last time?」

「The Guild Union.」

「Huh? The Guild?」

「The Guild Union. The Grave of the Ancient Tree. Let’s meet there, where we met last time」

「There?」

If she had suggested meeting in front of or inside the Guild Union, I could have understood it reasonably well, but the proposal to meet inside the dungeon was quite novel.

「Okay. Around what time is good?」

「Ten AM」

「Understood. Then I’ll see you there tomorrow」

「Yeah. See you tomorrow」

After vaguely ending the text conversation with Cha Yuri, with whom I had agreed to meet tomorrow, I left her KakaoTalk chat room and thought quietly.

Why are you suggesting we meet in the dungeon, not outside?

If the goal was simply meeting and having sex, booking a nice hotel and spending all day mixing bodies would be much more efficient.

‘Is she trying to go on a date?’

Even if it were substituting as a date course, the dungeon wasn’t a particularly good choice.

I, being the only awakened male hunter, am an anomaly; for ordinary male hunters, dungeons were always places where they had to risk their lives.

It was the limit for male hunters, who lacked awakened abilities and had limitations in strengthening their bodies.

Even a male hunter who barely received a C-rank rating could easily find themselves in danger against a D-rank monster.

Of course, the strongest creature appearing in the Grave of the Ancient Tree would be around a Woodrello, and I could defeat it alone now, but even considering that, a C-rank dungeon was clearly the worst choice for a date location.

‘As for me, I welcome a dungeon date, though.’

A combat date, fighting back-to-back inside a dungeon, was personally one of the dates I most desired.

Of course, considering Cha Yuri’s and my awakened abilities, it would likely be a battle where I’m the vanguard and Cha Yuri provides rear support, but the thrill itself of engaging in battle together inside the dungeon was important.

Maybe she wants to loosen up her body by sweating refreshingly through battle, and then release her lust.

Thinking like that, it roughly made sense.

Just as I desire a dungeon date, perhaps a considerable number of ordinary female hunters probably long for a dungeon date with a male hunter.

‘I’ll know the details when I meet her tomorrow and ask.’

Regardless, where we met wasn’t particularly important. What was important was that Cha Yuri sought me out first, and that meant an opportunity to gain Awakened Points arose along with it.

The fact that I had gained the opportunity to earn Cha Yuri’s favor and acquire Awakened Points was the most important thing for me right now.

“…Ah.”

Now that I look, there was a missed call too.

Because it was a missed call from a familiar name, not one of the occasional spam calls, I immediately pressed the call button to call back, and before the second ringtone even finished, I heard the receiving sound of the call being answered on the other end.

「Tae, Tae, Taekyung?」

“Uh, Hye-eun.”

「W-w-what’s the matter all of a sudden? Why the call?」

“What? You called me first.”

「Ah, r-right? Oh, me…」

Although I didn’t know the reason, listening to Kang Hye-eun’s strangely flustered voice from the other end of the phone, I naturally began to wonder why she was making such a fuss.

“Why does your voice sound so rushed? Is something wrong?”

「Ah, it’s nothing. I had something to bring you today, Taekyung, but you didn’t seem to be home. I was wondering where you might have gone.」

If I told her honestly that I had gone into the dungeon through the Guild Union, it would probably cause a 100% uproar, so I made up a suitable excuse about being outside.

“I was just outside for a walk and some exercise. Are you at my house right now?”

「Ah, y-yeah, that’s right.」

‘Miss, may I place this item here?’

「Ahh, w-well, just a moment! Let me move that over here and put it on this side….」

…Huh?

I think I just heard a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize from the other end of the receiver.

That meant a woman’s voice other than Hye-eun’s was heard in my house, so I couldn’t help but naturally question this unfamiliar situation.

“Hye-eun? Whose voice was that just now?”

「A f-furniture store employee….」

“You said you were at my house? Why is a furniture store employee at my house?”

「B-because I have to keep the promise I made last time….」

“A promise? What promise did I make?”

「Last time, I… uh… soiled Taekyung’s bed… So, I said I’d buy you a new bed last time….」

Come to think of it, I did mention something like that in passing.

“Didn’t I say it was okay?”

「Y-yeah, but! A-anyway, it’s an old bed, and it seemed like it wouldn’t be bad to change it this time….」

“Changing it would be good. Still, it would have been better if you had told me in advance.”

「S-sorry, Taekyung…. Actually, I naturally assumed you’d be home today, so I asked them to install it…. It just turned out unnecessarily like I called other people over to your house….」

“You said they were furniture store employees, right? I don’t really mind that much.”

There wasn’t anything in particular that needed to be kept hidden inside the house. Furthermore, for her to replace furniture that wasn’t cheap, far from complaining to Hye-eun, I should have been grateful, and even that wouldn’t have been enough.

「Tae, Taekyung!」

“Yeah?”

「F-firstly, the bed has been replaced with a new one. Wh-what should I do with the old bed?」

“Just leave it. I’ll report it as waste and dispose of it later.”

「N-no, that’s not it! The employees said they would collect the old furniture too….」

“Oh, really? Then can you ask them to collect it?”

It’s not that I couldn’t use it if I really wanted to, but having two beds in a house where I live alone would just be an unnecessary waste of space. It would be much more convenient to have someone else dispose of it than to go through the trouble myself.

「Yes…! Ah, okay! Then I’ll take responsibility and tell them to dispose of it for you!」

“Alright, I’ll ask you to do that.”

「A-anyway, it’s almost finished, so they’ll be leaving soon….」

‘Then, shall we collect the bed that was in the original place?’

「Collect it? W-wait a moment! Please leave that for now!」

“…Hye-eun?”

「S-sorry, Taekyung! Th-that, I-I’m not asking in a weird way…. B-but, when will you arrive home?」

“It seems like it will take about 30 minutes. Is it because you want to do it today?”

「Ah, no, it’s not like that! Anyway, then come slowly! D-don’t come quickly unnecessarily? Got it?! I-I’m going home today too once this is over! Because I have things to do!」

“I understand that, but what on earth does ‘don’t come quickly’ mean….”

「Just a moment! Don’t collect that mattress, give it to me….」

-Click.

Something noisy seemed to be heard from the other end of the phone before the call with Kang Hye-eun ended just like that.

She’s not telling me to come quickly because she misses me, so what on earth does telling me not to come quickly mean?

『001.

Name: Kang Hye-eun

Awakened Ability: Warrior of the Guardian Shield

Current Estimated Point Acquisition: 15

…』

For now, looking at Kang Hye-eun’s current estimated point acquisition, it seems her lust hasn’t accumulated much. After the multiple consecutive sex sessions we had last time, it’s impossible for her to even think about dick for a while, right?

For now, there was no benefit in arriving early and running into Kang Hye-eun, so I deliberately slowed my pace and walked leisurely, as if taking a stroll along the riverbank. Although I had roughly cleaned off the blood splatters from hunting monsters with spray sold at the guild, Kang Hye-eun might interrogate me about what I had been doing upon seeing my clothes covered in sweat and dirt. While it was unlikely she would recall that I had visited the Hunter Guild, there was no need to unnecessarily stir up trouble and take on risks.

Moving slowly along the riverside path towards home, taking nearly an hour, when I leisurely returned, the small single-size bed in my room had been replaced with a queen-size, two-person bed in just one day.

“What on earth is this?”