Chapter 200 – Are You Insatiable?

Two time extensions.

All day long, even after staying up all night.

Having gone that far… Even the hunter Lee Se-Young must have reached her physical limits. I repeatedly filled her up, released it once, and filled her up again.

– Grrrumble.

“I’m hungry.”

“…Truly a beast.”

If Lee Se-Young, who has been perfect until today, is a monster, then she is indeed a monster. It was a scene that demonstrated how vastly different the physical capabilities of the hunters in this world are compared to the civilians of the previous world.

“…What are you really trying to do? Are you insane? When I asked if you were coming, you really…”

Lee Se-Young clenched her fists and shouted at me with a flushed face.

Somewhere along the way, she sobered up, yelling that she could get pregnant, and to hurry up and pull out. It was noisy, so I did it once more inside her, and she calmed down like a docile puppy.

I hugged Lee Se-Young, who lay on the bed, and giggled.

“Ah… Please, don’t hug me… really….”

Even though he said that, he seemed secretly pleased not to push me away. As I caressed Lee Se-young’s soft body beneath the blankets, she sighed and spread her chest, making it easier for me to touch her.

“…What will you do if you get me pregnant?”
“Well, wouldn’t there be one more person to take responsibility? Both you and me.”
“…”

At my words, Se-young shivered, her eyes wide.

“…No way. You did this on purpose…?”

Deliberately.

“You… You crazy bastard!”

-Whack!

A massive fist slammed into the top of my head.

“Why would you do this… I knew Lee Si-heon was a madman, but not an ordinary one. Are you really insane? This is an accident, an accident!”
“I know I’m a madman, but it hurts. Stop hitting me.”
“I don’t know, you jerk! Ugh, seriously! I thought you’d only rot inside.”

Why am I being treated like a middle-aged husband who came home late at night?

I had clearly received permission. And at some point, if I didn’t finish inside, I would be strangled.

-…Don’t pull out. Don’t let go… Just keep being connected.
-It seems like I’ll climax soon.
-What’s there to know… You’ve already released so much.

“Ah! Seriously.”

Doesn’t she remember?
She must be feigning ignorance.

Traditionally, men were blamed for women’s unintended pregnancies, so I felt I would have to follow in the same footsteps.

“If you don’t do that, it seems like you’ll keep taking advantage… What should I do?”
“Well, that doesn’t mean you should-“
“That’s how sincere I am.”
“Ah, I don’t know, you jerk!”

– Bang!

I rolled off the bed.
I couldn’t even cover myself with a blanket and miserably collapsed onto the floor.

Is this the mindset of a couple using separate rooms?
I haven’t done anything wrong, but I’m shaking and sad because I’m in a position to be criticized this much.

As I was spacing out, the lady spoke from the bed.

“Come on, what’s taking you so long, you little shit!”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Talking back? Lee Si-heon?”
“I apologize.”

As I hesitantly got up and climbed into the bed, Lee Se-Young reached out with her arms and embraced my face.

– Smooch.

Our lips met just like that.
She rested her head on my neck and gave me a tight hug.

“Hey. Answer me.”
“Yeah.”
“…What were you planning to do if we had a baby?”
“I told you that was my intention.”
“…Ah, damn it. I don’t know. Fine… do as you please. But if you leave me like this, know that I won’t let you off easy.”

Permission was granted.

Though it wasn’t confirmed whether the two lines had appeared yet, Lee Se-Young must have realized how sincere I was. She brought her lips to mine and met them with an unstoppable expression.

– Smooch.

– Grrrroowwl.

As we kissed, my stomach let out a rumble. Lee Se-Young, amused by the sound, let out a hearty laugh and poked my cheek.

“Hehehe. Let’s go eat something. How about a nice bowl of soup?”

“Call.”

I’m famished, probably because we’ve been at it all day.

I rose from my seat, and Lee Se-Young hurriedly began to dress. Now, what to do with these acorns scattered around like a spilled sack of rice in this mountainous landscape? I asked Lee Se-Young.

“What are you going to do with the acorns?”

Lee Se-Young looked at me while putting on her outerwear and casually replied with a nonchalant expression.

“Eat them.”

Oh.

Quite the joke.

“Eat them.”
“Yes.”

I sulked and started gathering the acorns using magic. When will we eat all of these? Acorn jelly? Jelly rice? I wonder if it would be alright to cool them down and serve them in a jelly bowl with cold noodle broth.

‘It’s good to improve one’s aptitude for wind magic.’

I’m confident that my wind magic is already at the level of a prodigy’s ideal. Of course, that’s just my aptitude, and I’ll have to learn the rest.

Given my innate potential is so high, I hardly notice when one or two aptitudes increase.

“Why the somber face? Smile.”
“Haha.”

Regardless, I still had to consume this mountain-like pile of acorns.
Since I caused them to bear fruit… it’s my responsibility to eat them.
As the time passed, Lee Se-Young’s body became more sensitive, so indulging twice could truly plunge us into acorn hell.

“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“…It felt good.”

Acorn hell.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I pushed the thought aside by popping an acorn into my mouth.
A pleasantly bitter taste filled my mouth.

“…Damn, it’s bitter.”
“What did you just say?”

* * * * * * * * * *

After dining with Lee Se-Young and seeing her off, I returned home.

When I revealed that I was living with Azalea, she made a fuss about wanting to visit, but I managed to persuade her otherwise.

‘If the two of us meet and have an argument now, it would be absolutely draining.’

An instinctive choice. Eventually, we’ll have to live together anyway, but shouldn’t we focus on living in the present rather than worrying about the future?

Baekyang also advised living in the present rather than the future.

With that in mind, I rationalized my decision and opened the door.

– Squeak.

Inside the house, Azalea, with a sullen face, sat in the kitchen waiting for me.

“…Ah, you’re here?”

As soon as she saw me at the entrance, she jumped up from her seat and greeted me warmly. She approached me and adjusted the area around my clothes with her hands.

“Did you not sleep?”

“Hehe, of course not. I did sleep.”

Tap tap. She patted my shoulder and then narrowed her eyebrows in a gentle manner. Azalea had a sulky expression for a moment, and then her face softened as if she understood something.

“The smell of another woman.”

“…You know me well.”
“Professor?”
“Yes.”

Acknowledging that they knew everything about each other and there was no need to hide it, he spoke. Azalea yawned, extending the clothes and towel she had draped over one arm.

“Have you eaten? Should I prepare something?”
“No, I already ate… I need to wash up now… What about Shiba?”
“She’s sleeping. She’s been sleeping a lot lately. I guess it’s because she’s a child.”

It was a well-known fact that Shiba was a sleepyhead. Perhaps it was because she had developed the habit of waking up and expending all her energy when her father was around, and then falling asleep when he wasn’t. She always tried to fall asleep when he wasn’t there.

And as if to confirm his hypothesis…

“Beep beep!”

A wake-up trumpet sounded from Shiba’s bedroom.

“Thump!”

The continuous sound of small footsteps followed. Her legs were short, so they came in quick succession. Azalea laughed in disbelief as Shiba, her face mirroring Azalea’s expression, rushed toward him.

“Daddy!”

With all her might, Shiba jumped into her father’s arms. Her impressive leap carried her as high as her own height before she nestled snugly in his embrace.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Why are you here now?”

“Dad had a lot of work to do.”

Although he simply had someone to meet, he didn’t need to worry because Azalea was there. And even without Azalea, there was the nanny, Shin Hye-yeong.

“Would you like to take a bath together with Dad, after a long time?”

“Beep? Great!”

Shiba beamed brightly, loving any activity that involved her dad. He couldn’t help but worry if she would still act this way even in high school. Then again, if it were truly Shiba, it might be possible. After all, she would cry pitifully when he wasn’t around… perhaps even bathing with her dad wouldn’t be out of the question.

“The bathtub… I did warm it up, but some time has passed, so it might be tepid now.”

“…You even heated up the bathtub?”

“Hehe. About once every two hours.”

Wasting water… but with magic at their disposal, it wasn’t a concern. If the water was cold, they could simply warm it up with magic and then step in.

I had gathered clothes and towels for Shiba and immediately entered the bathroom.

“Here we go, hooray.”
“Beep!”

Shiba raised her hands. I undressed her quickly, as if peeling off cabbage leaves. Since she’s young, simple clothes are easy to put on. However, clothes adorned with many ribbons are more complicated than adult garments.

“Let’s go in.”

I scooped Shiba into my arms and stepped into the bathroom, turning on the shower first. I adjusted the water to a suitable temperature and sprayed it onto Shiba’s head. Startled by the water, Shiba let out a high-pitched shriek.

“Beep! Beep hehe.”

The sound resonated as her hair became slightly brighter. It was evidence that Shiba was drinking the water.

Perhaps because she’s part tree, she couldn’t distinguish between water for washing and water for drinking.

“Don’t drink that.”
“Tetae?”
“You should drink tastier water.”

Now that I think about it, what would happen if I fed her more tree pills like this? Would she grow into an adult all at once?

‘Will there be some points accumulated for a while?’

With that in mind, I covertly opened the status window to check, and indeed, there weren’t many points. Naturally, it made sense. A Woodman’s favorability of 1 was worth 10p, while the World Tree’s favorability of 1 was 100p. I had only met around 7 people, maybe 8 at most, so it was no wonder there weren’t many points to be earned.

I needed to plan for the future. Even without a romantic relationship, it was possible to increase one’s favorability. Moreover, if it was the World Tree of Purity, it wouldn’t matter how many trees were added.

I could always discard it anyway.

【The World Tree of Purity is startled as it releases the shower.】

The response came as quickly as my thoughts. The World Tree of Purity… I had no idea what it looked like, but it had a higher favorability than anyone else I had encountered so far.

‘What on earth is this thing?’

There was no way to know for sure. While washing Shiba’s hair, I stealthily drenched my body in the warm water.

“Byaaaaaa~”

With her mouth wide open, Shiba received the water and her Adam’s apple moved. She was drinking water again.

The water from the shower isn’t that dirty, so it’s not a big deal. I thought that perhaps ingesting a bit of dirt could help boost one’s immunity, and that always consuming clean water might be a problem in itself.

I squeezed out some shampoo and applied it evenly to Shiba’s hair. The white foam lathered gently. Shiba, looking in the mirror, noticed her hair and her eyes sparkled.

“Abba! Head, head.”
“Yes, what about your hair?”
“It’s white!”
“It is white. But don’t eat this, okay?”

Shampoo is toxic to trees. It seemed as though Shiba instinctively knew this, for her hair didn’t shine as it did when she watered it.

– Swishhhh.

I gave Shiba a rough wash and then stepped into the bath. I gently held her armpits, making sure not to startle her sensitive skin.

Shiba, submerged in the warm water, shivered.

“Beep.”

– Splash.

Once she floated, she began to play in the water. She was having a good time all by herself. I stretched my legs out in the spacious bathtub and picked up the cellphone I had brought with me.

It’s astonishing that one can use their cell phone underwater as a matter of course, thanks to the marvels of Ma Engineering.

‘I was planning to have drinks with Sansuyu as well.’

Azalea, Lee Se-Young, and Sansuyu. Next week, I have a rendezvous with the stars.

-Me: When should we schedule our drinking date?

I send a message and wait for a response. Submerged in the warm water, I chuckle as I watch Shiba play in the water. When I check my phone again, the anticipated reply has not arrived.

There’s no ‘read’ sign next to the message.

‘I guess they’re busy.’

There probably isn’t anything serious going on. As I wait for a response once more, my phone vibrates.

-Whoo! Whoo!

Did I finally receive a reply? When I pick up my phone, someone else’s message has arrived, rather than the response I had been expecting.

– Byeo-ri is dancing: Hahahaha
– Byeo-ri is dancing: I heard.
– Byeo-ri is dancing: Se-Young’s pregnancy attack.

– Dancing Grain: ……A genius, perhaps?
– Dancing Grain: (Star emoticon with a thumbs up)

Somehow, inexplicably, I received praise.