*
Tears flowed endlessly.
I was really okay.
I felt nothing.
But still, the tears kept coming.
“Shinwoo, are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not… but why…”
Despite my will, they wouldn’t stop.
I shook my head in denial of Hyeji’s words.
Yet, the tears showed no signs of stopping.
Elcia and Ayeon, noticing my strange state, approached with worried expressions.
“Master? Are you okay? Want me to touch your chest?”
“Sure.”
“I have my thighs too, so stop crying already.”
Lying on Ayeon’s thigh like a pillow, I caressed Elcia’s chest beside me.
It felt luxuriously soft.
“What’s going on? Is it not working? You really seem sick!”
“I think I caught a bug from drinking. Must’ve gotten hit by that juhwaimma (???).”
Still, the tears wouldn’t stop.
Meanwhile, Hyeji watched the scene with hollow eyes, stroking her own chest and hips.
“Damn it.”
Still, Hyeji was a heroine, after all.
Ignoring just her wouldn’t be allowed in a harem story.
Moreover, I needed Hyeji’s help, so I quickly called out to her.
“Hyeji, can you lie on top of me?”
“Of course!”
Beaming at the thought she could help, Hyeji lay flat on top of me, pressing her body against mine.
Thanks to that, the situation got a bit better than before.
“How are you, Shinwoo?”
“Not bad.”
“So why do you want me to lie down? Is it because I’m your direct consort?”
Hyeji asked with excited eyes.
“Of course, a Korean needs some pressure. Thanks to that, Ayeon’s thigh feels even better.”
“Affinity means mortality (?? death).”
Hyeji started to slam me down with a vacant stare.
SMACK!!! SMACK!!! SMACK!!!
“Wait a minute… I got hit!”
“Break it while you’re at it.”
“I-it hurts!!! Stop!!!”
Though Ayeon and I showed our intense pain, Hyeji didn’t care and kept attacking.
Like a king refusing such petty things.
Finally, when Ayeon and I were a mess, Hyeji’s attacks stopped.
Yet, I was still crying.
Hyeji sighed seeing me.
“Ugh… well, I’ll let the mobile game slide. Just don’t erase it.”
“Really?”
Then, my tears instantly stopped.
The heroines started gazing at me with pitying eyes, but I didn’t have time to care.
Restoring the deleted mobile games was my top priority.
There’s a saying that you must lose something precious to know its value.
The moment I uninstalled and reinstalled the mobile games, I finally realized.
This is what true life is.
“Accept me back as your teammate!!!”
After reinstalling the last mobile game, a genuine smile came across my face.
Once again, tears flowed, but this time it was for a different reason.
It was the tears of reunion.
Tadaima!!!!
[Okaeri!!!!]
Of course, the gazes of the heroines watching in real-time were now icy cold.
“Damn, I shouldn’t have allowed it.”
“At least it’s not fishing, so that’s a plus.”
“…I’m genuinely worried about the future.”
Anyway, with everything sorted out, Elcia suddenly approached me and spoke.
“Master! It’s time for our promise!”
“What promise?”
I tilted my head, and Elcia made a pouting expression.
“You said once everything is settled, we’d spend the whole day together!”
“Oh, right.”
It finally clicked that I had promised Elcia that during the craziness when we first arrived at the Beastman Kingdom.
Once everything ends, we would spend the whole day together.
“Right now?…”
“We’ve eaten a lot of delicious food, so we need to exercise now!”
The thought of facing an energetic beast child made worry bubble up.
[So it turns out, it’s not a funeral for Caressy, but rather for you.]
“Damn.”
At that moment, as Elcia finished speaking, Hyeji and Ayeon rushed in franticly.
“You and Shinwoo are too close. There needs to be a wall between you two, so I’ll join in too.”
“A wall would hurt, so I’ll be your cushion.”
“Stop it! Do you have any idea how damn awful it was?!”
Elcia coldly rejected the idea.
Her fierceness made Hyeji and Ayeon back down.
“While you and your sister escape reality, I damn saw that awful thing in person!”
“…But it’s not really that awful. Stop overreacting.”
“I’ve never escaped… I just went to see if the Mahomaho Kingdom existed.”
“Whatever, this time it’s definitely not happening!!!”
In the end, Hyeji and Ayeon stepped back.
“Then, Master! Let’s do it right now!”
“…Okay.”
Just as Elcia was about to take me to another room…
“Um… the Saintess is looking for Shinwoo-kun. Is that okay?”
“No, damn it! It’s not okay!”
The Eagle Beastman who had left the room appeared again.
Saying that Caressy was looking for me, a memory surfaced of what she said last time.
[Isn’t it because of the last confession?]
“Ah… that’s right.”
Specifically, Caressy’s last-minute confession to me.
Naturally, I didn’t share this with the heroines.
Because I could’ve easily torn Caressy apart right then and there.
Meanwhile, Elcia revealed her teeth as her eyes glared.
“Shut your mouth before I make sure your hair doesn’t grow back!”
“I-I’m sorry! But they said it was urgent!”
Despite looking terrified, the Eagle Beastman didn’t back down.
At this moment, he seemed determined not to yield.
Since I had to end things with Caressy anyway, I reassured Elcia.
“It won’t take long. Just wait a bit.”
“If you’re late, you’ll really die.”
“…I understand.”
As I was about to leave with Elcia’s threatening words behind me,
“Shinwoo, what do you think about the number 4?”
“4?”
“Yeah.”
Suddenly, Hyeji spoke to me.
Hearing her, I began to think seriously.
In the Eastern world, the number 4 is often associated with negative connotations.
It symbolizes death.
Even now, in a world crawling with monsters and hunters, many buildings still label the 4th floor as F for this reason.
Moreover, there are superstitions that the 4th place doesn’t get awards, and other terms related to 4 in China like “saji” (四) and “sahyoong” (四).
There’s even a rumor about a baseball team that has ranked last for four years in a row like a total idiot.
So a lot of people view the number 4 negatively.
[Is there really such a baseball team?]
“Must be a joke. No way there can be such an idiot team.”
Still, I viewed the number 4 a bit differently.
“4 is a good number.”
“Really? Why?”
Surprisingly, the number 4 has a deep positive significance in our lives.
It’s greatly influenced fantasy worlds.
The powerful 4th batter in baseball.
Imaginary creatures like the Reaper (死).
In fortune symbolism, the four-leaf clover is also a symbol of luck.
And during exams, there’s the saying to pick number 4 if you don’t know.
But the most important reason I valued 4 is something else.
“There’s the 4th level.”
“Ah.”
The highest level in military service determination.
Numbers 1, 2, or 3 can’t save anyone.
Only number 4.
In other words, only a grade 4 supplementary soldier can save a deserving person.
[With your mental level, 4th grade should be no problem for you, right?]
“Damn it.”
That’s why I had a positive view of the number 4.
Coincidentally, Hyeji seemed to understand because her father was a soldier.
However, just as Hyeji agreed momentarily…
She suddenly grabbed my shoulder and spoke in a chilling voice.
“Shinwoo.”
“Yeah.”
Feeling like I might end up in a nasty situation, Hyeji slowly opened her mouth again.
“I can handle three.”
At that moment, I felt pressure on my shoulder as if it would get ripped off.
As my bones and muscles screamed, I hurriedly spoke to Hyeji.
“Hyeji? This really hurts. Can’t you let go?”
Yet, Hyeji’s grip only tightened further.
I was about to protest more forcefully than before, but upon hearing Hyeji’s next words, I couldn’t help but maintain silence.
“Four (四) means death (死).”
At that moment, Hyeji’s eyes were dark as night.
Much like the future of this story and that of this author.
Damn it.
As I’d said earlier, I hadn’t mentioned anything about Caressy to the heroines at all.
Therefore, I thought Hyeji would consider Caressy calling for me something trivial.
It should have been just that.
“You’re gonna die. Got it?”
“…Got it.”
However, Hyeji was warning me right now.
As if she already predicted the upcoming situation.
Without any number rising over her head.
“Four… so, I guess four-way split would be good!”
“Dividing them. Fair for all, I’d say.”
What’s worse, the other heroines were giving off a serious vibe too.
They were smiling, but it wasn’t genuine.
The eyes of the three looked like they might pierce through and crush me at any moment.
[Three will come.]
“Damn… oh, Almighty Lord, please protect me with your eternal light.”
At that moment, suddenly, the bottle of alcohol I was holding shattered.
The glass shards formed letters, sending me a message.
“Give up.”
“Shinwoo, what’s that? It seems like the Lord is saying something.”
“…I don’t know. Seems like he’s got dementia.”
“Damn you.”
Hyeji pointed at the letters, but I hastily erased them with my foot, mumbling excuses as I maintained a calm demeanor while quickly leaving the room.
“Anyway, I’ll be back. See you later.”
Though I said it calmly, I moved with urgency.
It was time to meet Caressy.
*
