Chapter 77
Dawn broke.
Han-byeol sighed as she once again stood in front of her capsule.
Though she logged in daily to maintain her ranking, today she particularly dreaded entering the game.
She could already predict exactly what sight would greet her when she logged in.
"...Sigh."
But after only a brief hesitation, she logged into the game with a deep sigh.
She had to at least log in to do anything, after all.
Crunch...
As she entered the game, the familiar sensation of confinement greeted her.
The ropes chafed against her skin, sending faint stings of pain through her Synchronization Rate.
Well, at least... it wasn't as unpleasant as she'd expected.
She planned to pause streaming for a while. She knew she'd never hear the end of it if people saw her like this.
Looking around the cave, Yor was nowhere to be seen.
Given the early hour, he might still be sleeping. Or perhaps he'd gone hunting.
Han-byeol tried twisting her body just in case, but of course the ropes wouldn't budge.
She'd need to find another way out.
And naturally, her first thought was suicide.
When Otherworlders die, their bodies temporarily reconstruct at an Otherworld sanctuary before respawning in the nearest town.
In other words, death meant freedom from here.
Though dying would set her back a few days.
So Han-byeol focused on this option, spending the previous night searching the internet for various methods.
Seriously, looking up suicide methods just to escape a game...
She let out a bitter laugh, figuring she must be the only person searching for such things for this reason.
Anyway, she'd come up with three possible methods.
Biting her tongue, thirst, or starvation.
Biting her tongue was immediately ruled out.
Despite what movies might show, it's not some foolproof escape method.
It would just hurt like hell with little chance of actually dying. Plus Yor definitely wouldn't just stand by and watch.
He seemed dead set on keeping her captive until he got his information. He'd surely stop any obvious attempts. For the same reason, other physical methods were out.
Next she considered thirst and hunger.
Surprisingly, this game even simulated such basic needs.
Without food, your HP drops and movements become sluggish. Severe hunger even makes your mind go fuzzy.
In other words, complete fasting might eventually produce results.
"...Ugh."
But that option gave her pause too.
For one, there were no recorded cases of players dying that way. What player would deliberately starve themselves to death anyway?
And personally, Shin Han-byeol wasn't too keen on the idea either.
The process would surely be agonizing.
She wasn't particularly patient to begin with. And she had quite an appetite.
Back in her athlete days, she needed lots of energy to sustain her intense training regimen.
That habit stuck with her, leaving her with a much bigger appetite than most.
So none of the options really appealed to her.
She let out another deep sigh.
"Haah..."
...... There was one more option, actually.
The easiest and simplest solution. Just give Yor what he wanted. Hand over the Holy Water and reveal its source.
'Ugh, no way...'
But that thought was quickly dismissed as she shook her head.
That option was just as unappealing as the others. She'd rather die. Though even that wasn't really working out right now.
Lost in these thoughts, she had a gut feeling.
That as time passed, she'd probably end up giving in about the Holy Water.
*
"Happy, time to eat~"
Time passed and mealtime arrived.
Once again, Yor brought a plate of food without fail. Even though she hadn't touched any meals, he kept bringing them three times a day.
It almost seemed insane from a certain perspective.
What could he possibly gain from going this far?
Han-byeol couldn't understand it at all.
As the plate arrived before her, she immediately spat on the food.
"Ptui!"
"Ah, no! I worked hard on that!"
Yor looked quite flustered at her behavior. Han-byeol snickered internally at his reaction.
This was the best resistance method she'd come up with while being tied up.
'Yeah, might as well make him angry.'
She had to resist somehow, right?
Even if she got hit, that was fine. No, that would be better actually.
Not because she enjoyed being hit. Really.
Just... because there was a chance she might die from it!
That would actually work in her favor if it helped her escape.
Again, definitely not because she wanted to get hit. Really.
"... Looks like someone needs punishment."
Indeed, that seemed to have angered Yor, as he shot her an icy glare.
The contempt in his eyes made something flutter in her lower regions.
'Perfect.'
Han-byeol smiled triumphantly.
She might get slapped again like before, or maybe even kicked. Whatever came, she was ready to take it.
But what she received was... a rather disappointing punishment.
Just a forehead flick.
Thwack-!
"Ow...!"
Though a forehead flick wasn't something to be taken lightly.
It made her head snap back from the force. A throbbing pain spread across her forehead.
She typically kept her Synchronization Rate around 30% minimum.
As someone who relied on technique in combat, sensory feedback was crucial for her. She'd even raise it higher when danger seemed low.
Perhaps this habit was why she obtained Sword Energy faster than anyone else.
Anyway, the point is, it hurt quite a bit.
"Owww..."
But this still wasn't enough. This definitely wouldn't kill her.
'Should I provoke him more...?'
The thought crossed her mind, but she decided against it.
She was still human after all, with normal fears.
Though sometimes she found a strange thrill in that fear... anyway, now wasn't the time. That had hurt more than expected.
Besides, Yor didn't seem likely to engage further.
"I'm going hunting, so stay put until I return, Happy."
"It's Shin Han-byeol...!"
With those words, Yor left the cave.
Time passed...
*
Night fell on the next day.
Still dead set against putting her face in the plate, she had no choice but to go hungry again.
Even though she logged out to eat during mealtimes in reality, an empty feeling hit her as soon as she logged back in.
What kind of crazy technology could simulate that...
At least he gave her water freely so thirst wasn't an issue, but dealing with hunger wasn't easy.
To make matters worse, she had to sleep in-game too.
With her Fatigue Potions all used up, she needed proper sleep in-game to make it through tomorrow.
Why did they even make such a system? Shin Han-byeol cursed the game developers as she drifted off to sleep.
Three days had passed since Han-byeol's captivity began.
Once again she skipped breakfast and lunch. Her pride still wouldn't let her put her face in that plate.
But her hunger only grew stronger because of it.
Evening came, and Han-byeol turned her head away from the food again in disgust.
Then night fell again.
"Ugh, uuugh... so hungry."
She'd managed to fall asleep briefly but woke up unable to bear the hunger any longer.
Growl-
Her stomach was screaming for something to eat.
Even with lowered Synchronization Rate, it couldn't completely eliminate hunger.
After all, this kind of thing had a psychological component too.
'What kind of torture is this...'
She rose from her spot irritably.
She was here to level up, not experience starvation simulation.
While grumbling, something caught her eye.
It was the dinner plate Yor had left.
Though she hadn't eaten, the plate hadn't been cleared away.
Dinner plates stayed until the next morning.
Which meant she'd been sleeping with food right by her head.
Normally she wouldn't have given it a second glance but... three days of fasting was starting to make it look tempting.
...Gulp.
Her throat moved involuntarily.
Though the food had gone cold, that wouldn't affect the taste.
In fact, the savory aroma of meat was starting to reach her nostrils.
Yor had made the same fried rice she'd seen before.
"......"
Han-byeol silently surveyed her surroundings.
The dark cave was silent. Not a hint of movement anywhere.
Given the late hour, Yor must be sound asleep.
Various thoughts raced through her mind.
'Maybe just one bite?'
'If I just taste it and spread the rice back out, he won't notice.'
'No, no way. How could I put my face in the plate...'
Different thoughts warred within her.
Desire versus pride.
Her eyes grew darker as she stared at the dinner plate......
*
"......Hm?"
Early morning.
While switching out Happy's food plate as usual, I suddenly noticed something odd.
For a moment I thought I was seeing things, but no.
The fried rice from yesterday had definitely decreased. By almost half.
More surprisingly, the rice was spread out evenly, just like yesterday.
As if someone had eaten hastily then tried to cover it up by arranging what was left.
I silently looked at Happy before me.
"...... What are you looking at."
Sure enough, she just glared at me irritably.
But I sensed something different there. Like a dog growling to hide its guilt.
"... Hmm, nothing."
I considered confronting her but decided against it.
A good fisherman knows when to be patient for a bigger catch.
I'll be honest.
Lately I'd been feeling sexual desire.
Not that I planned to take advantage of her. No matter what, she had tried to kill me - how could I do that?
But think about it.
A beautiful woman had been tied up in my home for over 3 days. It was hard not to be affected.
Watching her squirming in the corner of the cave stirred up some strange sadistic urges.
So I formed a small plan.
To witness with my own eyes the moment she puts her face in that plate.
A completely pointless and stupid goal, but that made it all the more worth pursuing.
Though she seemed to have eaten last night, it wasn't enough.
What I wanted wasn't just an empty plate, but to see the actual eating.
'I will definitely see her eating with my own eyes.'
With that thought, I quietly moved away from her.