Chapter 948: Side Story – The Door That Doesn’t Freeze Unless You ?? (2)

It wasn’t long before President Seo Ok-hee, upon hearing ‘So cute I want to kidnap and lock you up’ as the first merit, furiously raged at me.

As written on the scoreboard, if we didn’t mention three merits of each other, the door leading to the next room wouldn’t open, so for now, the President and I continued a conversation in the style of mentioning each other’s merits to one another.

“For now, I’ve done one, and it’s your turn, President.”

“…Did you call that a merit?”

“If it’s judged not to be a merit, the door won’t open, so we can just say it again then. For now, let’s take turns talking until we reach three.”

“…Sung Taekyung, your merit is having a clear sense of purpose. When it comes to the dream you mentioned before, you have the drive to never stop and keep moving forward. Seeing as how you didn’t hesitate to betray the guild the moment you saw a chance to achieve your dream, your clear sense of purpose is definitely your merit.”

“Huh?”

“That makes one. Now, it’s your turn.”

“…….”

…Should I consider this as being told a merit?

Somehow, for something called a merit, it feels like you’re subtly badmouthing me in a roundabout way.

Still, looking only at the result, it meant I never stopped moving towards achieving my goal, so it was indeed a merit.

My goal of creating a world where hunters don’t die from monsters had been achieved somehow within my reach, and all of this happened in less than three years after awakening as a hunter.

Thinking that the President probably didn’t mean it with ill intentions, I nodded and immediately mentioned the next merit.

“Another merit of yours, President… is definitely charisma, right?”

“…….”

“You’ve been running a major guild called Eun & Ok Co., Ltd. for over 20 years, haven’t you? It’s almost as old as I am, in terms of years. It’s a major guild where it wouldn’t be strange if the CEO changed several times, yet you’ve maintained and operated it for 20 years, so you’re definitely unmatched in terms of charisma, President.”

“…What? Why are you suddenly praising me normally?”

“Huh?”

“No, well… No, never mind.”

Although she said the first compliment had a bit of playfulness mixed in, the second compliment was sincere.

Upon hearing my praise, President Seo Ok-hee showed a slightly embarrassed expression and continued with her second compliment towards me.

“Y-yes, another merit of yours is that you have leadership.”

“…….”

“Last year’s monster wave incident in the abandoned village, solving the dungeonization problem of a region that had been neglected for over 10 years with just a few A-rank hunters, not even S-rank, was truly shocking. And you were at the center of resolving that incident. If I had been in that situation, I might have been able to handle it as well as you… but regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that you did what you needed to do in your position, so your leadership definitely deserves praise.”

“For something you call shocking, you sound surprisingly like you could have done it yourself.”

“That’s right. If I were in your position, it would have been entirely possible to achieve the best outcome through information gathering. But just because I could do it doesn’t negate your merit, Taekyung?”

“…Well, that’s true.”

“Right. And that brilliant leadership of yours ended up poaching the core personnel of our guild, the Sky Blue Shields, entirely for your guild, so you’re practically the embodiment of leadership, aren’t you?”

“…You’re not angry, are you?”

“Forget it. It’s already in the past.”

…In a situation that felt strangely like a diss battle rather than a compliment session, I decided to get serious and mentioned President Seo Ok-hee’s final merit.

“The greatest merit President Seo Ok-hee possesses… is definitely your strength.”

“…….”

“It makes sense, considering you are currently the strongest person among all hunters in Korea, someone no one can even compare to. In fact, it’s an undeniable, clear merit that anyone can see. In the first place, the standard for the ‘world’s strongest hunter’ that I aimed for was President Seo Ok-hee.”

“…R-really?”

“Of course, that’s still the case now. I don’t know how many years it will take, but someday I plan to become as strong as you, President, and build the guild I run into a solid one, just like Eun & Ok Co., Ltd.”

“…R-right. That’s a good goal. Work hard.”

Perhaps due to the lingering effect of receiving compliments, President Seo Ok-hee averted her gaze with an awkward expression as she replied.

Now, only one compliment from the President remained, so I waited for her response with some anticipation, and her final compliment to open the door cautiously followed.

“Being confident and bold in any situation is one of your greatest merits.”

“Huh?”

“Look at you now. Even though you left our guild, I was once your guild leader, and you’re probably the only one who could approach me so shamelessly.”

“…Are you sure you’re talking about a merit?”

“Of course. As far as I know, there are only two people, including you, who can remain this bold even knowing my mind-reading abilities. It also means you’re so transparent that your outward attitude doesn’t mean much, so you can be confident.”

“…….”

“…And, Sung Taekyung, I don’t particularly dislike that side of you either.”

In the end, President Seo Ok-hee replied in a barely audible whisper, perhaps out of embarrassment, but her final words were clearly imprinted in my ears.

Anyway, it’s these kinds of things that make her truly cute. It wasn’t for nothing that I mentioned ‘cute’ as the President’s first merit.

-Clack.

Although the compliment session felt a bit awkward, it seemed like all three points were recognized as merits, so the door opened thanks to Belle. As soon as we headed to the next room, a phrase much more unfamiliar than the previous condition greeted the President and me.

“The Door That Won’t Open Unless You Roleplay”

“Roleplay?”

“I’m curious about this too. Roleplay all of a sudden…”

Roleplay, and with just the two of us?

While I was wondering if it meant we had to confirm our love for each other by filming some melodrama, the text on the door changed, starting to explain the details of the ‘roleplay’.

“For the smooth progression of the roleplay, please fully comply with the following instructions from now on.”

“Instructions…?”

“It seems like here too, the President and I have to do something to proceed.”

“…Sigh, they’re making us do annoying things again. If it were just kissing and taking clothes off like we usually do, fine, but why keep making us do things like this…”

“Huh? Like we usually do? Have you perhaps entered this dungeon before, President?”

“…Ahem. Ah, it’s nothing. More importantly, let’s just see what they’re asking us to do. If we miss something midway and fail to comply with the instructions or whatever, we might be trapped here forever.”

Although President Seo Ok-hee seemed displeased with the dungeon suddenly assigning various tasks, she appeared willing to at least check what the dungeon was asking for.

Since Belle could read the President’s mind and knew all about her sexual fetishes, the instructions here probably wouldn’t involve actions she’d dislike.

As I was thinking that, a hole suddenly opened in the ceiling, and a single rope dangled down from above.

“…Are they asking us to climb up the rope or something?”

Saying that, President Seo Ok-hee naturally reached out towards the rope hanging from above.

I also thought it was a rope of suitable thickness, not too thick and not too thin, as the text displayed above the door began to change into the next instruction.

“From now until this door opens, one person will become the ‘Doll’, and the other will become the ‘Puppeteer’.”

“…What?”

“…….”

Doll? And Puppeteer?

Both the President and I couldn’t hide our surprise at the role assignment, which was completely different from the romantic drama starring a male and female lead I had expected from the term ‘roleplay’.

“The ‘Doll’ must carry out all commands from the ‘Puppeteer’ without exception, and each time the ‘Doll’ refuses instructions or the ‘Puppeteer’s’ commands, a penalty will be imposed on the ‘Doll’.”

“…Penalty?”

“Instruction: The two of you must designate a ‘Doll’ and a ‘Puppeteer’ according to your roles. The person designated as the ‘Doll’ must clasp both hands behind their head, and the person designated as the ‘Puppeteer’ must securely tie the rope hanging from the ceiling to the ‘Doll’s’ hands.”

“…….”

“…….”

…So, this was the kind of ‘roleplay’ it was.

Looking at it now, it was practically a declaration that they intended to make us do bondage play, merely calling it ‘roleplay’.

The doll, with tied hands, couldn’t resist the puppeteer during the subsequent play and ultimately had to complete all commands and instructions as directed by the puppeteer until they left this room.

Moreover, judging by the text on the door, penalties are only given to the doll and not the puppeteer, it was clear who the doll and who the puppeteer would be from the moment the roles were divided like this.

“…….”

-Swoosh.

President Seo Ok-hee stood before the rope, clasping her arms behind her back to make it easier to tie them with the rope descending from the air.

It was the moment the roles of doll and puppeteer were decided without any discussion or persuasion.