In Seo Ji-yeon’s mental world, I was having a rare tough time.
No matter how hard I tried to work her over, she wasn’t giving in.
"Yes, I’ve been targeting you from the very beginning."
"Are you saying you really like me?"
I really do like her. To be honest, while my feelings for Reyna or Han Suji grew gradually after returning to this world, Seo Ji-yeon was a character I’d adored since my office worker days.
"Yes, that’s why I need you even more. I like you so much that I’m laying everything bare for you. And also..."
"Huh?"
"You could use me as a replacement for your brother."
The implication being, she could do whatever she wanted—bite, suck, or otherwise.
Not that I wouldn’t enjoy doing all that to her even more.
But seriously, Seo Ji-yeon was my absolute favorite. It couldn’t be helped. At the end of the day, I want to claim every woman who turns me on.
"No, I’m not that desperate!"
Seo Ji-yeon waved her hands furiously in front of her, as if to dismiss the idea entirely.
"Just think of me as a female version of Yoo Jin-seok."
"A female Yoo Jin-seok?"
"Exactly. The same blood flows through me as it does him, so I’m half Yoo Jin-seok."
To be fair, Yoo Jin-seok is undeniably handsome.
That youthful face that still looks like a teenager—if he cross-dressed, he’d easily pass for a tomboyish girl.
If he dressed up, he’d probably look halfway similar to me.
Seo Ji-yeon gazed at my face with a lingering stare, clearly mulling over the thought. Her murmur of, "If Yoo Jin-seok cross-dressed... No, no matter how you spin it, this isn’t right," betrayed her confusion as she finally turned her eyes back to me.
"Is that how it works? No, I’m not falling for it!"
Seo Ji-yeon pointed her finger at me, her voice rising in frustration.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
So close, yet not quite there. Still, I’m satisfied for today—I’ve shown her a glimpse of a new world. Judging by the look on her face, she’s at least intrigued. Slowly, over time, I’ll draw her in with more skinship and let her soak in my color.
"Tch. So, will you at least consider my request? If you agree, I’ll even let you see the place where I live."
After all, Seo Ji-yeon is a hunter affiliated with the Association. At her core, she’s a righteous woman. My proposal will probably pique her interest.
Right now, the Association’s main goal is to identify regions where survivors still exist. Ideally, they want to integrate those survivors into Seoul.
Curiosity alone will likely pull her in.
For all her sharp words, she’s the kind of person Choi Chul-sik considers worthy of being the next head of the Association. In essence, she’s one of the pillars holding up Korea.
As for Yoo Jin-seok? When asked if he’d take over as the next leader, he just brushed it off, saying it sounded like too much trouble.
Anyway, Seo Ji-yeon is that upright and dependable of a woman.
"All I have to do is join Baekhwa Cult?"
"Yes."
"Only until we deal with that Sin, got it?"
"Sure."
She has no idea how long it might actually take to deal with that Sin.
But a deal is a deal, and I’d succeeded.
Feeling cheeky, I subtly reached out a hand toward Seo Ji-yeon’s backside.
Or at least, I tried—only to be coldly and mercilessly swatted away.
"Keep your hands off my butt!"
"Why are you like this? We’re on the same team now. It’s normal for women to touch each other’s butts, you know? So, can I?"
When I tried to sneak another touch, she swatted my hand away again, just as mercilessly.
"It’s still a no!"
"In Baekhwa Cult, stuff like this is totally normal."
"Absolutely not!"
Tch. Isn’t she being way too uptight? Letting me touch her butt just a little wouldn’t hurt, would it?
"Anyway, we’re agreed for now that you’ll go along with my plan, right?"
"Fine, I’ll do it—but keep your hands off my butt!"
Playing hard to get is no fun either. Still, forcing myself on my favorite character isn’t an option, and if she decided to fight me seriously here, it’d just be a hassle.
"Haha, how adorable. Are you sure you don’t want to be mine? I could treat you much better than that stone-cold brother of yours."
For a moment, Seo Ji-yeon froze.
It looked like she hesitated, just a little. Well, it made sense—Yoo Jin-seok is the textbook indecisive harem protagonist. Wishy-washy to a fault.
The problem is that in this reality, the "textbook" doesn’t apply, and he’s still alone.
Maybe, just like how I managed to survive, something about Yoo Jin-seok has also changed.
"No matter what, you’re just a monster villain to me now!"
"Oh, so you’ve figured out I’m a monster?"
Damn, she even caught onto that?
"So, how did you end up as a monster villain?"
"It happened on the day of Kim Jae-soo’s attack. That bastard tried to get revenge on my brother and ended up shoving a core into me."
It’s the truth, after all.
At my words, a shadow fell over Seo Ji-yeon’s face.
Turning into a monster means having your worldview twisted, and if word got out, you’d be branded a villain on the spot. Once that happens, your social life is essentially over.
"Oh... sorry. I didn’t realize you’d gone through something like that. I should have been there."
She muttered, her voice subdued and regretful.
Even though I willingly let it happen, she was now blaming herself, bowing her head like it was her fault.
"My brother doesn’t know yet, so let’s keep it our little secret, okay?"
"Fine. So, no one else knows about this, right?"
Well... not exactly. Should I lie here? If I make her think she’s special by saying it’s our secret, her affection might grow. But wouldn’t it be a problem if she finds out later that I lied?
It’s better to be honest for now.
"Um, Reyna, Rachel, Han Suji, Choi Si-woo, Rosemary... and a few others."
"That’s not exactly what I’d call a secret, is it?"
"Could it be? Why are you trying to bring me down like this?"
"So, are you going to check it out?"
"No, I’ll trust you on this. Besides, Heung-bu might get suspicious. I’ll come by sometime soon, so be ready to show me around."
Fine, I’ll show her. But after all this, shouldn’t I at least get some kind of reward? After putting up with her this long, it feels like she should at least allow me her lips, if not anything lower.
"Then how about a kiss?"
"What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly so aggressive?"
She says that, but with a face like hers, how could I not be?
And let’s not forget, she’s technically positioned as one of Yoo Jin-seok’s heroines, thanks to how the original story ended. If I don’t push a little, it might be dangerous.
Basically, if Yoo Jin-seok makes even the slightest move, Seo Ji-yeon would fall for him. That’s why I want to claim at least a kiss now.
"I’m being serious," I pressed.
"Are you really? No joke?"
"Yeah, I’m serious. Honestly, stop wasting time pining after your blockhead brother and just... let’s have a go."
Do you think it’s easy to find a woman like me? I’m one of a kind, someone you’d never find anywhere else in the world.
"...Fine, but let’s see how you handle things first."
"Oh, really?"
"Honestly, you seem way too easy. And I need to get going. Heung-bu might notice something, and that’d be a problem."
"Wow, that’s harsh. Fine, I’ll back off for today."
I don’t want Heung-bu catching on either.
Still, calling me “easy” stung. Am I really that easy?
...It’s a little exciting, though. Who would’ve thought I’d get a thrill out of my favorite character calling me a lightweight?
With a snap of her fingers, Seo Ji-yeon shattered the mental world.
"Alright, I’ll take Heung-bu with me now."
"Sure. Travel safe. Oh, wait—this is proof of being a Baekhwa Cult executive."
I handed her a dragon-shaped badge. I’d made it on the spot by refining my mana stone.
"This...?"
"Just take it. It’ll help me persuade the survivors to let you in later."
Soon enough, when Baekhwa Cult becomes infamous across the world, that badge will mark her as an executive of the group. She won’t have a choice but to leave Seoul.
In other words, she’ll eventually have to come to me.
For now, she innocently pinned the badge to her chest. If things don’t work out later, I can just set things up to expose her to the Association myself.
Whatever it takes, I want her. For both strategic and personal reasons.
"Anyway, just remember—I’m keeping an eye on you!"
"Still no kiss?"
"Absolutely not!"
Sticking out her tongue at me, Seo Ji-yeon vanished in the blink of an eye.
"That’s why I like her even more," I muttered.
She’s more than just a pretty face. Her physical capabilities alone are enough to handle most A-rank hunters with ease.
In short, her body strikes the perfect balance between combat skill and raw ability. Who wouldn’t want her?
"Anyway, Heung-bu must’ve backed off from fighting Choi Si-woo by now. Guess I’ll head back."
My heart was still racing, refusing to calm down.
Honestly, I was relieved we didn’t end up fighting.
If we had, in this mental world, I might’ve seriously tried to consume Seo Ji-yeon, just like in the past.
She’s my favorite character. There’s no way I could just leave her alone.
Even if writer Yoo Eun-ha pretends not to notice, I haven’t entirely abandoned my old habits.
Feeling heat rise in my lower body, I reached down and touched the area. It felt slightly damp.
"Maybe Ji-yeon was right. I might actually be the easy one."
Thinking back to my days as an office worker, there’s no way I would’ve let a woman like her go.
The idea of pinning her down, grabbing her hair, and forcing her to her knees—just imagining it was exciting.
But it’s all just fantasy. I’d never actually do that to a character I love.
Just a little longer. I’ve already planted seeds of chaos in Ji-yeon’s mind.
Chaos doesn’t always mean killing each other. It can also mean the growth of doubt, denial, and emotions that influence relationships.
It might seem underhanded, but that’s Ji-yeon’s weakness.
She needs to live for herself, even a little. From what I’ve seen, Yoo Jin-seok isn’t pursuing any romantic routes, which means Ji-yeon’s future looks barren.
So why not let me have her?
It’s not NTR from Yoo Jin-seok’s perspective, and from mine, it’s not NTL either.
The immediate issue, though, is something else entirely.
"Where the hell is Choi Si-woo and what’s she doing?"
That damn woman hasn’t been answering my calls through the Magic Gear.
***
Seo Ji-yeon frowned as she watched Heung-bu limp toward her.
"What the hell happened to you? Who did you fight to end up like that?"
"It was some kind of monster who claimed to be Baekhwa's companion. Wore a smiling mask. Even though I didn’t manage to unmask them, they fought me to a standstill."
Someone capable of going toe-to-toe with Heung-bu? Looks like Eun-ha has some impressive allies.
Seo Ji-yeon couldn’t help but be impressed. It wasn’t just youthful recklessness on Eun-ha’s part; she genuinely had the power to back up her actions.
‘Come to think of it, when Yoo Jin-seok and I were chasing each other around, there was someone using a bow who fought alongside her.’
Yoo Eun-ha is taking this seriously. But that seriousness poses a threat to the Hunter Association, whose mission is to protect Korea.
No matter her noble intentions, what Eun-ha is doing violates the law. She’s leading Baekhwa Cult, a villainous organization, and she’s classified as a monster.
The Association is already murmuring about formally designating Baekhwa as a villain group.
Seo Ji-yeon could report her to the Association right now, but that would be playing her hand too soon. For Eun-ha to trust her this much, it was clear she believed in Seo Ji-yeon’s integrity.
"So, you lost?"
"Who said I lost?"
"Was your opponent a woman?"
"Yeah. It was the one who partners with Baekhwa on their TV broadcasts."
Heung-bu was shouting indignantly, but Seo Ji-yeon tuned him out. She didn’t care that he’d fought a girl on equal footing. What mattered was that the opponent was a woman.
"Come to think of it, that woman was around, too."
Eun-ha claims to like her, but she’s clearly entangled with all sorts of other women.
Seo Ji-yeon could understand why they’d be drawn to her—her looks and figure were enough to captivate anyone—but wasn’t this crossing a line?
It was as if Eun-ha wanted to have fun with others while still keeping Seo Ji-yeon to herself.
"Haha. How adorable. Are you sure you don’t want to be mine? I could treat you much better than that stone-cold brother of yours."
"I must be crazy," she muttered.
Honestly, she’d been tempted for a moment. Eun-ha really did resemble Yoo Jin-seok, after all. If Jin-seok were just a bit slimmer, grew his hair out, and had softer features, he’d look a lot like Eun-ha.
When Eun-ha offered to satisfy her as a stand-in for Jin-seok, Seo Ji-yeon had felt a genuine pull.
"This is all Yoo Jin-seok’s fault," she grumbled.
She prided herself on her looks, confident that she could outshine most other women.
The brutish, clueless types had zero charm, and seductive women like Rebecca, with her illusion magic, felt utterly repellent. The other guild masters weren’t even worth mentioning.
"I’ve been patient for long enough. Honestly, what am I lacking? Even Yoo Eun-ha is after me."
Her chest was more than ample, her figure enviable. Surely, Jin-seok wasn’t actually indifferent. Could he really be that dense?
"I might have to do something about this," she mumbled to herself.
"What are you mumbling about? Did you find anything or not?"
"Nothing."
Even if she had run into Eun-ha or her allies, she wouldn’t have mentioned it. Why make things worse? Reporting it would only bring the Blue House and its cadre of stuffy, self-righteous hunters, including Nol-bu, into the mix.
"Ha! While I’m out here battling some brat, you’ve been strolling around without a care. You young folks need to fight harder!"
"Alright, boomer."
Fighting Eun-ha was out of the question. She was the younger sister of someone Seo Ji-yeon cared about, after all.
As she followed the path along the barrier, she suddenly felt a warmth in her lower body.
"Oh... I’m actually wet," she murmured.
Could it be that she really had a thing for this sort of thing? Maybe Eun-ha’s words had aroused her after all.