Star of Destiny

"Han Sohee? Why aren't you heading over? Hurry up and go."

With flames blazing before her, Han Sohee stared intently at Gang Minjun.

'What? He could keep having his way with me, so why is he going out of his way to send me away?'

The contract she had made with him was unfair and unjust, yet she had been forced to sell her body to survive.

First her mouth, and then her breasts.

'He hasn't gotten my pussy or ass yet, but….'

It was only a matter of time.

The environment here was horribly vicious, and from Gang Minjun's perspective, all he had to do was drag things out until she grew exhausted, then wave the accessories in front of her and demand that she offer him both holes as well.

Then why was he letting her go?

Even though only moments ago he had been scheming because he couldn't have his way with her.

'Has he already gotten tired of me?'

No, that couldn't be it.

Even now, whenever his gaze fell on her breasts, it briefly turned greedy.

He was definitely not sending her away because her charms had diminished.

'Then why?'

Once her suspicions began, the conclusion was very simple.

"You want to stay here and farm like you did during the tutorial. Don't you?"

Gang Minjun let out a laugh.

He was smiling, but his smile was sly enough that others would never have noticed; having been taught and trained since childhood to read people's psychology and expressions, she was certain.

She had hit the nail on the head.

"I will stay too."

So the words she would say were clear.

"Regardless, part of me already belongs to you, does it not? As the owner of this body, take me with you as well."

"……"

I will stay.

This time, somehow, I will stay.

She had seen it during the tutorial.

She had seen him constantly hunting foxes and farming in the snowfield.

And she had realized that the gap between them at that time had led to the situation they were in now.

'We judged it wrong. This trial isn't about rushing through it. It's a survival game where only those who prepare thoroughly and keep the snowball rolling can survive.'

Only after suffering terribly in the first trial had she realized the truth behind it.

Their arrogance had been the cause of their defeat. If they had judged the situation a little more calmly, they might have avoided ending up like this.

They all might have avoided leaving like that.

'Anyway, there is something about this man.'

It wasn't merely that he had an excellent eye for people. There was something even more fundamental than that.

'So this time, I will follow him.'

I will find out what makes him special.

Even if I can't find out, I'll join his farming efforts and his ranks, climbing to the summit alongside him.

'I will use every means at my disposal to rise to the top first.'

***

'Honestly….'

I let out a short snort and lowered my gaze slightly.

At a distance where our noses nearly touched, an impossibly noble, doll-like woman was staring straight at me and demanding that I take her with me too.

'What a greedy woman.'

A woman who had discovered the secret of the [Snowfield Accessories] yet skipped the tutorial to grow quickly.

A woman who had rested only one day in the shelter where everyone else rested for two or three, then rushed into the trial area to get ahead of them.

And a woman who seemed to have chosen to enter this [Lair of Evil Spirits] of her own accord as well.

That chaebol heiress, so full of greed, was now looking at me with curiosity in her eyes.

"Why are you not answering? Will you not take me with you?"

If she leaned forward even slightly—just slightly—our lips would touch, and she was pestering me to take her along already. Haha, I must have smelled as sweet as honey to her.

'She's quick to catch on. And from my perspective, there is no downside to bringing along a woman this exceptional.'

Intelligence, status, looks—she belonged to the top 0.01% in every respect.

It was especially difficult to find breasts that were both so large and adorable.

"……"

But I couldn't answer hastily.

Instead of answering, I turned my gaze slightly aside and examined her information with [All-Seeing Eye].

<Unique Ability>

Name: Sword Master

Grade: Epic

Description: The moment the user grips a sword, they can wield it along the optimal sword paths without any formal training. All sword-related abilities receive a 100% bonus.

-What do you think is the best ability in the Selection?

I remembered someone bringing up that topic while we were drinking at a bar in the past. The conclusion at the time had been this:

-'It has to be a complete-type ability, I suppose.'

A complete-type ability.

An ability that allowed someone to instantly rise to the ranks of experts without any separate training, as though it had belonged to them from the beginning.

[Sword Master] was the same.

Even without learning how to use a sword, its owner instinctively knew how to wield one.

The wielder's mind kept pace, and the body moved on its own.

'For humanity, which has to fight for its life right now, there is no better ability.'

It could unquestionably be called the best among the Epic abilities.

'But even so, it is still only Epic.'

Common, Advanced, Epic, Mythic, Transcendent….

Each grade had a clearly defined ceiling.

No matter how exceptional an Epic ability was, the reality was that it was usually inferior to most Mythic abilities.

What was more, abilities could neither be changed nor overcome through effort.

'It isn't exactly some revelation.'

I had already experienced the same thing while living on Earth.

Being born with a diamond spoon in one's mouth, for example.

Or being born with an innate talent.

…However, the reason I was hesitating over my decision wasn't because Han Sohee's ability was ambiguous. Instead, I focused on the lone sentence written beneath her status window.

[Trait: Star of Destiny]

'Of all things, she has this trait?'

Star of Destiny.

A divine blessing granted to only a small number of humans, and one of the few breakthroughs that could allow someone to overcome their limits in this damned Selection.

'The Sword God, ranked fifth, awakened and grew while possessing precisely that trait.'

In other words, Han Sohee possessed the same potential as an S-rank hero.

'But….'

I found it difficult to answer.

There were no rewards without a price in the Selection, and I knew what it took to awaken that trait. I also knew the tragedy contained within it.

"You are the man who possesses Han Sohee, the eldest daughter of Cheongseong Group. Do not hesitate to take me with you."

Perhaps she was growing impatient as she waited for me to answer, because Han Sohee urged me again.

Or perhaps she had read my gaze, sensed something strange, and made the first move before I could act.

I gave a quiet chuckle and asked,

"Honestly, why would I? A girl who won't even let me properly touch her?"

"Ngh. If you want… you may do so anytime."

As she said that, Han Sohee took off her clothes one by one and neatly folded them on the floor. When she removed her panties as well, her cute pussy came into view, tightly pursed into a straight line as if she had never even masturbated.

"I ask you like this."

After removing even her underwear and becoming completely naked, Han Sohee prostrated herself flat before me.

"Please take me with you too."

"……"

The heiress apparent to Korea's number-one company.

A chaebol among chaebols.

A noble being so exalted that ordinary people like us could scarcely even meet her face-to-face.

'And now she is doing a naked dogeza.'

What terrifying success genes. The moment she calculated that she might be able to rise high, she threw away her pride without hesitation.

Even I, a mere commoner, would hesitate if someone told me to lie naked before another person.

'…What should I do?'

I sank into thought.

Should I take this chaebol heiress with me or not?

Rustle.

The fire died down, and the last smoke billowed up in a flurry. Then it gradually faded, growing smaller and smaller. Just as the smoke had thinned to a thread, I finally opened my firmly closed lips.

"Well, fine."

She flinched.

"Get dressed. Let's go up."

Han Sohee, who had been pressing her forehead against the floor, cautiously raised her head.

"Does that mean you will take me with you?"

"Yes."

"Then what did you mean when you said it was fine just now…?"

I crouched down to meet her eyes, wearing an expression that suggested it was nothing important.

"I asked why I should take a girl who won't even let me touch her body, and you said I could do it anytime if I wanted to."

I picked up her panties and handed them to her as I spoke.

"There is no need to go that far."

"Why? Didn't you do it plenty with the other two women? Is it perhaps because my body is unattractive?"

She asked with a rather serious expression, so I shook my head and told her that wasn't it.

"Then what is it?"

"You're a companion who will travel with me and watch my back. When we should be building trust with each other, using threats to force you into bed would be ridiculous. So I'm saying that I retract what I said earlier."

"!!"

Han Sohee stared blankly at me with a stunned expression.

Her face was filled with incomprehension, as if she had just witnessed one of the greatest mysteries of the century.

But I was being sincere. A flower inside one's own fence isn't meant to be plucked carelessly.

And even if it wasn't this particular woman, there were plenty of women around I could sleep with.

There would be plenty more women to have my way with in the future, and more importantly, I had our beautiful Saintess too.

I waved the panties in front of Han Sohee's eyes, then slightly furrowed my brow and said,

"Instead, throw these panties away. They smell pretty strongly of urine."

Her face immediately turned bright red.

Wow, this was the first time I'd seen her look so embarrassed.

"Th-that was because I lost my luggage…!"

"That's what I'm saying. Throw away this smelly thing. What would people think of the young lady of Cheongseong Group going around wearing this?"

As I gently waved the panties in front of her, Han Sohee's face turned completely red, and she floundered helplessly, stammering.

'Haha. I think teasing our rich young lady is going to be fun from now on.'

Actually, I didn't know how carefully she had maintained herself, but the smell wasn't all that strong.

Nevertheless, the mere fact that they smelled of urine was apparently humiliating enough. Han Sohee now kept her head bowed and couldn't even meet my eyes.

I took a new pair of panties from my backpack and handed them to her.

"Take these."

"What are they?"

"I brought them from Earth. I brought them thinking I'd give them to my girlfriend when I got one someday."

"……"

The shelter sold underwear too, but compared with those from Earth, much of it had plain, unattractive designs.

Things had even progressed to the point where some people made a living by buying store-bought underwear and modifying it professionally.

'I originally meant to give them to the Saintess, but our Saintess's butt is just as big as her breasts.'

She didn't have much excess fat, but the size didn't fit anyway.

As for giving them to Shin Seoyeon….

'No, she won't do.'

If I gave her a gift, she would definitely become conceited and start getting uppity with me. So I ruled her out.

I had considered giving them to Isera too, but unfortunately, she was too small for them.

So Han Sohee was the only person I could give them to at this point.

Of course, I could have saved them and sold them for money later….

'But the resident benefits have already solved my money problems.'

So there was no need to sell even women's underwear just to make money.

…Yes, that was the intention behind giving them to her.

"Ngh. B-but we've only known each other for three days! How could you…!"

"Hmm? Ah, was it too soon to exchange underwear as gifts? I only did it because nothing could be more appropriate for this situation."

"No. Thank you. As you said, it is something I truly need."

Right. I had given it to her after taking the trouble to choose it, so it would be discouraging if she complained that she didn't like the gift.

"However, I am not that easy a woman. I have many affairs to attend to as well, so I shall give your proposal some thought."

"Huh? Proposal?"

What was she talking about? Weren't we talking about panties? Was I the only one who wasn't following?

Han Sohee hugged the panties tightly, then carefully put them on. She twirled around in front of me and asked,

"How do they look? Do they suit me?"

"Yeah, they suit you really well. They're incredibly pretty."

"Thank you."

Her face turned rosy with shyness. After the panty incident, Han Sohee walked right beside me.

She even took my arm and wrapped it around her waist, then intertwined her fingers with mine and occasionally glanced at me with a heated gaze.

"Hey, why don't we walk separately, with a little distance between us?"

"Escorting a woman is a man's basic etiquette. I shall teach you all sorts of things from now on, so follow quietly."

"……"

And then the chaebol heiress began nagging me to shorten my stride.

…Something seemed terribly wrong here, but that was probably just my imagination, right?