Chapter 11
#11. Return
The human mind is more fragile than one might think.
Even if it appears firm, it often collapses because of some trivial trigger, and when that happens, one is forced to choose between two options.
Either become a wreck or become dependent on something.
Overseas, people apparently often become dependent on drugs made from monster blood and flesh, but since such things are difficult to obtain in Korea, it was more common to become dependent on games, the internet, or religion.
At the earlier stage, things were still relatively manageable. With proper counseling and medication, one could recover quickly.
But if the mind became ill and then festered further, things grew complicated.
“You won't leave me here alone, will you, Mr. Hyunwoo? Right?”
“...”
[13:24]
‘But I have to leave soon?’
Even someone who was normally oblivious would regain their senses when their life was in danger.
That was simply the nature of the survival instinct.
Iris, clutching my wrists with both hands and quietly looking up at me, was insanely beautiful.
Since Iris and I differed in height by roughly one head, I naturally found myself looking down at her.
Perhaps because of that, the valley between her breasts, clearly visible despite her modest dress, drove me crazy. If I stayed like this, I felt as though my lower body would stiffen and I would cause a setting-breaking contradiction by bringing a mortar into another world.
Of course, however awkward the situation was, it was unquestionably one that any man could only smile at. Still, my back was drenched in cold sweat.
My instincts had been screaming at me to run away from this place immediately.
‘...This is driving me crazy.’
To reiterate, I was a mage.
Although I was merely a pathetic 1st-Circle mage, I could now sense nature's mana and other people's magical power thanks to that.
In other words, I had awakened what people commonly called a sixth sense.
Being able to sense something ordinary people could not meant that I was no longer an ordinary person, and putting it optimistically, if I returned to Earth and continued growing steadily, I could seize wealth and honor with my own hands—things other people could work their entire lives without ever obtaining.
However, if you asked whether this was entirely a good thing, I could firmly answer NO in my current situation.
The distance between Iris and me was close enough that I did not even need to reach out.
Thanks to that, I could view and experience her insanely beautiful face, the breasts I could touch again, and even her fragrant scent from a box seat, but on the other hand, Iris's magical power had felt strange for a while now.
It was fluctuating like an active volcano that could erupt at any moment.
It was fluctuating so violently that my skin, which was close to her, prickled as though needles were stabbing it, and the lingering traces of magical power made my brain ache.
‘That's what she looks like while her magical power is being suppressed...?’
This was completely out of nowhere, but it was time to review what I had just learned.
Basically, mages accept mana from nature and convert it into magical power through the process of making it their own.
The magical power converted in that way gathers in the fuel tank known as the heart and becomes fuel for casting magic.
Perhaps because of the special nature of its location in the heart, magical power was affected rather directly by a mage's emotions.
Sadness, regret, hatred, resentment, self-reproach, jealousy, anger.
The stronger the negative emotion, the more violently magical power fluctuated.
Just as a sea with powerful waves was more threatening than a calm lake, stronger negative emotions did have the advantage of increasing magical power's output. However, because they also caused rapid magical-power consumption and made it possible for an opponent to discern one's magic, the most fundamental principle of magic was for a mage to maintain an unshakable mind at all times and in all places.
This was something Iris had emphasized several times during the lesson.
“Mr. Hyunwoo. What are you thinking about?”
Iris was dangerous right now.
The 8th-Circle archmage was so consumed by negative emotions that she had forgotten even the most fundamental basics.
In a situation like this, nothing that happened would be surprising.
“Nothing in particular...”
“Liar. Whenever you're troubled or want to change the subject, your voice sinks strangely, Mr. Hyunwoo.”
Her green eyes, shining as clearly as though a light had been turned on even inside the dark cavern, were fixed on me.
As her gaze swept from head to toe, I felt as though everything inside my head were being exposed.
At that moment, Iris's left hand passed over my cheek as though brushing against it.
“Like now.”
My feelings at that moment were extremely concise and simple.
'...I think I'm going to piss myself.’
If I had still been an ordinary person, I probably would not have been trembling this badly. At most, my legs would have been shaking.
This was all because the creation of my mana circle had allowed me to sense magical power.
To someone like me, who could sense magical power, Iris right now was like an eight-ton truck with a broken engine.
It meant I had no idea when she might ram into me.
Of course, Iris would not do anything that violent... but no one knew what might happen in life.
'She's clearly misunderstanding something...'
It was a problem that could be solved if I explained things properly.
I did not know exactly what she had misunderstood, but since her condition had worsened when I said I was going back, I assumed that was probably it.
This was certainly an awkward situation, but if I looked at it from another angle?
It meant Iris did not like the idea of me going back.
'...I shouldn't smile.'
The corners of my mouth kept trying to rise.
Still, if I smiled in such a serious situation, I could genuinely ruin the mood completely.
Even I, despite my lack of tact, had enough sense to realize that.
"Ms. Iris, that's not it—"
“You don't have to say anything.”
I had just resolved to explain the situation properly and break through this thin ice, but the response I received was a slender index finger pressing firmly against my lips.
“I understand. You have your own life, Mr. Hyunwoo. I can't keep forcing you to stay here, either.”
At that moment, the magical power surging within her grew quiet, as though it had fallen asleep.
“Instead.”
Iris leaned closer, thrusting her face toward me; it was flushed bright red and looked ready to burst.
“...Please kiss me.”
***
According to a post I once saw on an online community, a first kiss was apparently like the sensation of hot pollock roe entering your mouth.
Honestly, my reaction had been that I did not understand what that meant at all.
Hot pollock roe? I had never even eaten ordinary pollock roe, let alone hot pollock roe.
It was such a strange metaphor that it sounded as though it had been written by a science major.
The reason I was suddenly thinking about this was simple.
“...”
I thought I was about to experience that first kiss.
Iris came into view, her entire face covered in a bright-red blush that looked ready to burst, her eyes squeezed shut as she offered her lips to me.
I don't like repeating myself, but this really was...
‘She's fucking beautiful...’
When I was in high school, there had been a guy in my class who was so obsessed with an idol that he skipped class and followed her to concerts, autograph signings, and even her schedules.
Back then, I had thought, Is he seriously insane? But now I understood him a little.
I could guarantee that most idols would not even dare stand beside Iris.
Just as a particularly attractive squid does not become a fairy merely by standing beside one.
“I will...?”
She did not give any particular reply, but the fact that she did not pull away was answer enough.
‘...Wait a minute.’
Huff, huff. I secretly checked whether I had bad breath, and fortunately, I did not.
Just as I thought I was truly ready, another concern suddenly passed through my mind.
‘...But how far is this allowed to go?’
I was at least certain that I absolutely could not suddenly launch into the kind of deep kiss seen in porn.
If so, what about the most basic bird kiss?
But considering that Iris had even allowed me to touch her breasts, wasn't a bird kiss between us a little too childish?
No, resolving the more fundamental question came first.
Was I allowed to put my tongue in or not?
‘Iris was the one who asked me to kiss her first, so it should be all right to use my tongue too, right?’
That thought dominated my mind, but the more carefully I considered it, the more I realized that a woman's heart was not necessarily so simple.
As the saying went, 'Ah' was different from 'Uh'; there was a maxim that one should never take a woman's words and actions completely at face value.
‘...Let's not take any risks.’
It was disappointing, but I shouldn't ruin things just because I was impatient.
After all, time was on my side.
If I suddenly stuck my tongue in and started sucking, only to chill the mood, it seemed there would be no ending except drowning myself.
“Phew...”
Flinch! Iris reacted excessively to the small sigh I let out because I was nervous.
As anyone could tell from her reddened face, Iris was extremely tense.
Iris looked about 170 centimeters tall, but since I was around 190, I had to bend slightly at the waist to meet her eye level.
With my eye level lower than usual, I could see Iris biting her lips together.
‘Her eyelashes... They're really long.’
Thump, thump, thump.
Strange.
Even when I had touched Iris's breasts, my heart had not made such a racket.
Right now, it was pounding so hard that it would not have been strange if it burst out along with my mana circle at any moment.
As the distance between us narrowed until we could feel each other's breath, I carefully took hold of her chin with my hand.
Then, just as the fragrant scent coming from her made me feel as though my nose were going numb, I—
Smooch.
Lost my reason.
·
·
·
·
“Mmwah, smooch, hng... M-Mr. Hyunwoo...”
Red flesh intertwined.
Sticky saliva that neither of us had managed to swallow stretched out like a strand of yarn before snapping.
It was like a honey jar that never ran dry no matter how greedily I drank from it.
It was actually sweet.
I felt dazed, as though my head were full of fog.
The small concerns from moments earlier had long since been forgotten.
Squeeze!
“Hngh...?! M-Mr. Hyunwoo??”
When I grabbed her buttocks, Iris seemed startled and let out a shrill sound.
But she did not push my hand away.
“...Mmph.”
Her returning to the kiss without offering any particular resistance felt like tacit consent to me.
Even as our tongues tangled frantically, my hand never rested, roughly kneading and teasing her buttocks. Her firm yet soft rear was truly large.
The flesh beneath her thin dress was intensely stimulating, just as it had been when I touched her breasts, and far too large to grasp with one hand.
“Hwaa, hng, mmph...”
As time passed, my touch grew increasingly unrestrained.
I did not stop at merely kneading her buttocks; I stroked her waist like a lover and even deliberately gathered the area commonly called the underside of the buttocks, enjoying its jelly-like, springy texture.
Each time, Iris merely flinched and once again did not stop me. Instead, she clung to me more insistently, as though asking for more.
Then, suddenly, I grew greedy.
No matter how thin the dress was, wouldn't touching bare skin directly be much softer and more pleasurable than touching it through clothing?
My hesitation was brief, and my action was swift.
While stroking her thigh, I slowly lifted her dress along with it.
The dress that had completely prevented any exposure rolled upward, revealing her snow-white ankles, then her shins, knees, and pale thighs to the outside world.
“M-Mr. Hyunwoo, that...”
Iris, who had seemed as though she would remain still no matter what I did, called out to me in a faintly trembling voice.
I understood. Her dress had already become a miniskirt.
If it went any higher, the entrance to the secret garden that no woman should show anyone would be exposed.
‘Tsk... Is this as far as I go?’
It felt a little wrong to force myself on someone who was saying no.
No, if it had been another woman, I probably would have pushed ahead anyway, but Iris's innocent eyes stirred the last remaining corner of my thoroughly worn-down conscience.
Perhaps it was because of Iris's voice as she held on to me, but I felt the feverish atmosphere cool abruptly.
It was not only me; Iris's expression reminded me of that as well.
“I... I'm sorry...”
“N-no, it's all right!”
I briefly lowered my head.
Just as when I had touched her breasts, I had suddenly launched into a deep kiss and then touched her buttocks however I pleased.
It had clearly been a mistake.
“...Please raise your head. I really don't mind.”
The way she magnanimously forgave me for my mistake
Gave me an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
As I looked into kind Iris's eyes, my lower body, which had been painfully swollen for a while, began to act up.
“Then can I touch you again?”
“N-not now...!”
Tsk, what a shame.
Still, “not now” meant she would allow it later, so I could take it as a relatively positive response, right?
Just as I was lost in a solitary fantasy of joy, I suddenly remembered the time limit and hurriedly took out my phone.
[00:03]
“Ah.”
[00:02]
We had done nothing except kiss and engage in a little physical contact, yet we had somehow spent more than ten minutes on it.
[00:01]
“B-but next time, all the way to the e-end...!”
[00:00]
[Returning to Earth]
Just as though the power to a monitor displaying a dazzling screen had been cut, I found myself back in my room the moment the timer reached zero seconds.
“...I didn't get to say goodbye.”
Although I would be able to see her again soon, I was still deeply disappointed that I had not been able to say goodbye properly.