Chapter 59
It was an incredibly vivid dream.
That smell, that sensation, that pleasure…
Even though several days had passed, the memory of that day still lingered in Lee Hyun-ah’s mind.
So she began to have doubts.
‘What if thinking it was a dream was just my mistake, and it actually happened?’
So she tried throwing out some bait.
‘If I recreate the same situation as that day, maybe I can find out.’
But contrary to what she’d expected, he didn’t touch her while she was drunk.
Instead, he comforted her with sweet words.
The words telling her that he would always be on her side and that she could indulge herself as much as she wanted…
They were exactly what the lonely, anxious her had truly wanted to hear,
yet for some reason, she didn’t want to hear them.
What she wanted wasn’t mere verbal comfort like that.
What she truly wanted was for him to pounce on her like he had in that day’s dream.
“What a shame… I went to all that trouble for nothing.”
Because if he had, she could have been bound to him forever.
***
Upon waking up, Lee Hyun-ah immediately got up and checked the camera she’d installed yesterday.
On the screen, Gam Deokbae laid her down, finished cleaning and washing the dishes, then approached her and stroked her head.
She’d hoped he might have done something shady, like steal her underwear or take secret photos of her, but unfortunately, nothing like that had happened.
“Of course Mister wouldn’t do something like that. Sigh… Stupid, stupid…”
If anything, she was the shady one.
She’d installed the camera intending to create irrefutable evidence in case he pounced on her like in that day’s dream.
And she planned to use that evidence as leverage to keep him from leaving her.
But since the premise that the dream was reality was wrong from the start, there was no way her plan could work.
“I’m seriously such trash… I’m sorry, Mister…”
After letting out a deep sigh, Lee Hyun-ah set down the camera and collapsed onto the bed.
Then she recalled what had happened yesterday.
Mister suddenly reawakening,
Mister soloing a D-rank dungeon with his cheat-level ability,
and Mister clearing it even faster than when the two of them had cleared it together…
Seeing how he’d changed, she instinctively realized that if things continued this way, she would grow distant from him.
They were both D-rank hunters—a damage dealer and a healer, a woman and a man—
so naturally, she’d thought she and Mister would stay together for a long time, but reality was different.
He’d grown stronger, and before long, he would become a C-rank hunter. He would almost certainly set his sights on an even higher rank as well.
And if that happened, it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to stay with someone like her, who was staying behind.
Once she realized that, she grew anxious.
It was a hard-won connection.
He was her first precious companion.
He was a valuable person who had restored her self-esteem.
He was the only salvation she could rely on.
So she didn’t want to lose him.
If she parted ways with him, she felt that this time, she really would collapse.
That was why she wanted to be with him forever.
“But did I really have to install something like this? I wasn’t in my right mind yesterday…”
Anxious, she resorted to every means at her disposal to hold on to him.
Using parking her car as an excuse to slip away, she quickly installed a security camera in her home.
At the drinking party, she deliberately pressed closer to him than usual.
She pretended to be drunk and maneuvered him into taking her home.
And then, at the convenience store…
“Ugh…! I’m a regular there… How am I supposed to go there now that it’s so embarrassing?”
She’d even pretended to be crazy and tried to buy condoms.
It was a sexual come-on directed at him.
But she’d been stopped immediately.
Once they arrived at her home, she pretended to fall asleep right away.
Mindful of the camera’s position, she cleared away obstacles, went to the bed, and lay down.
She undid the buttons on her clothes, muttering that they were too tight so it would be easier for him to undress her.
But he didn’t pounce on her.
He was the same kind Mister as always.
“Sigh… But is Mister really impotent? I practically laid myself out for him…”
“Or am I not good enough?”
As far as she could tell, there were only two possible reasons he hadn’t pounced on her.
Either he wasn’t interested in women, or he didn’t see her as a woman.
She suspected the latter.
Thinking about it, he had a warm, handsome look. He just didn’t bother with his appearance, and whenever she saw his serious expression in battle, her heart fluttered before she knew it.
On top of that, he had a good personality. He rarely got angry and always put himself in the other person’s shoes. He was completely different from lust-crazed men.
She hadn’t noticed because she’d spent over a month constantly by his side and had become thoroughly accustomed to him, but taking a step back and looking at him, he was a sufficiently attractive man.
Could someone like him really never have had a woman? Of course not.
Although he didn’t seem to be in contact with any women now, his usual behavior made it clear he wasn’t someone who had never been with a woman.
“Then of course he must have high standards when it comes to women…”
There must have been plenty of women around him who were far prettier and more accomplished than she was. Thinking that, she understood his attitude toward her.
He treated her more like a younger sister or niece than a woman.
“Phew… That won’t do.”
She had to hold on to him before he left her.
But no matter how she thought about it, the only things she could use to hold on to him were her appearance and body.
She had always hated men who hit on her based on those two things alone,
yet now she had to use those same two things to seduce a man…
The absurdity of her changed circumstances made her let out a hollow laugh.
“But… how am I supposed to do that?”
The problem was that she’d never seduced a man in her life.
She had always been the one being pursued, so when she tried to make the first move, she had no idea what to do.
It wasn’t as though she had anyone around her she could ask, either.
“I wasn’t planning to go this far…”
In the end, the only thing she could do was use the internet.
[Search: How to seduce a man]
====
The number of D-rank dungeon clears required for the C-rank promotion exam was 30.
And the maximum number of D-rank dungeons that could be cleared in a day was three.
Therefore, mathematically, the requirements for the promotion exam could be met in ten days, and Hyun-ah and I actually met them in exactly ten days.
Clearing three a day might sound difficult, but in reality, it wasn’t.
Since the two of us took less than an hour to clear one, we spent more time waiting than actually running them.
As the promotion exam happened to be scheduled for the end of this month—in other words, this weekend—I registered right away.
Normally, I would have needed to prepare separately for the promotion exam, but I didn’t feel that was necessary.
I was that confident in my abilities.
Hyun-ah, on the other hand, gave up on taking it.
Since she’d essentially just been carried through the dungeons, passing the promotion exam didn’t seem easy for her.
So in a way, it was only natural that she didn’t attempt it.
But… Hyun-ah…
She had changed a lot lately.
Over those ten days, she’d shown a completely different side of herself.
She had always worn drab suits that revealed no skin, but at some point she’d started wearing hot pants that exposed her thighs and sleeveless suits that laid her cleavage completely bare.
Then she clung to me as much as possible and engaged in intense physical contact, acting as though she were my girlfriend.
It was obvious to anyone that she was seducing me.
And the fact that she no longer wore the matching ring she always had on made it certain.
But I didn’t accept her advances.
Because I knew that a relationship based solely on pity would not end well.
What Lee Hyun-ah needed wasn’t ‘me.’
She simply needed ‘someone’ she could rely on.
If I’d accepted her in this situation, it would definitely have ended in disaster.
When I kept her at arm’s length, she changed tactics.
Instead of seducing me with her body, she emphasized her loneliness.
Every night, Lee Hyun-ah called me and put on a plaintive voice: ‘I can’t sleep, I’m so lonely and miserable, I wish I had someone by my side.’
This method was fairly effective.
Seeing the dark circles under her eyes grow more pronounced each morning made my heart ache.
On top of that, I had a feeling something bad would definitely happen if things continued this way.
Like her hurting herself or meeting some lowlife man, for example.
In the end, unable to bear watching her like that, I told her,
“If you pass this promotion exam, I have something to tell you.”
“Y-yes?”
“It’s something really important, both to you and to me.”
“Really…?”
Fortunately, it worked.
After I brought it up, her displays of loneliness disappeared, and the dark circles under her eyes faded as well.
Her revealing outfits stayed the same, but since they were easy on the eyes, I didn’t say anything about them.
For a while after that, we returned to our usual relationship and happily ran dungeons,
and at last, the day of the C-rank hunter promotion exam arrived.