#129
: What aspect are you worried about?
“Well, think about it… How can I like both of them at the same time? But right now I…”
Hadn’t I been thinking too naturally about liking both of them simultaneously?
It’s scary how something can seep into your daily life like this. Before coming to this world, I was obviously someone who thought it was nonsense to like two people at the same time. Moreover, I hadn’t even had a first love, so the current situation just felt surreal. I had never thought I’d come to like men, let alone two of them.
‘I’ve become dissolute…’
But it didn’t feel bad. Even though it turned out like this, I felt relieved that both of them liked me back.
The only thing I was worried about was whether it was okay to freely like both of them when I still had the desire to return to reality.
‘Should I… obviously go back?’
It’s not like my situation would improve if I went back. If I return to the real world, I’d immediately fall into an even worse position than now. I probably would have already been fired, with only a miserable life waiting for me – the company that bullied me and no friends. The only thing left in the real world are my deceased parents.
As I’ve been taking medication and receiving counseling here, there were quite a few times when I wavered about whether my decision to die under the same sky as my parents was right.
In the end, I felt pathetic for not being able to make up my mind.
: I don’t understand why Yeonsoo-nim is worried.
“Huh? Isn’t it strange?”
: Everything Yeonsoo-nim does in this world is right. You can do whatever you want.
Everything I do is right? I burst out laughing. Nine is always on my side. Somehow, all my worries started to feel meaningless.
: This is a world inside a novel anyway, right? The moral standards from reality don’t matter here. All the worries and troubles from reality have disappeared. Yeonsoo-nim just needs to think about your own happiness.
Hearing Nine’s words, I chuckled and replied.
“Listening to you, it sounds like I’ve fallen into some kind of paradise.”
: I’m on Yeonsoo-nim’s side, so I’ll make this world into one for Yeonsoo-nim.
“That’s reassuring.”
A paradise for me. If it weren’t for the author who’s constantly trying to torment me, it certainly wouldn’t be wrong. I have people I like by my side, I’m enjoying a much more affluent lifestyle, and I’m receiving support from many people. It’s probably the life everyone dreams of at least once.
: So, Yeonsoo-nim, how do you plan to become more lovey-dovey with those two?
Nine suddenly returned to the first question. Come to think of it, I was pondering over this before we got sidetracked. I returned to the original topic and thought seriously.
‘What… can I do to maintain a better relationship?’
I should have dated someone to know. I frowned deeply and sighed. The humid air in the bathroom, full of moisture from the warm water, felt stuffy.
Perhaps finding me unreliable, Nine immediately presented a new quest.
: *Love Love Grand Operation*
Quest Rank: C
Nine presents a path for you, the love novice!
Date outside for more than 8 hours – Not achieved
(Must include watching a movie in the theater, having a meal, and taking a walk)
Hear the words “I like you” or “I love you” during skinship – Not achieved
(Skinship for Guiding is not recognized)
Have your date exposed in the media – Not achieved
(Personal blogs, SNS not recognized. Only public broadcast/daily newspapers accepted)
Reward: ???
It felt very awkward to have the quest act as a dating coach for me.
‘Skinship without Guiding?’
Until now, I had justified skinship under the pretext of having to Guide the two espers…
Except for when I was dating Shin Haejun, I had never had skinship without directly Guiding.
Nine’s quest seemed to be telling me to confront the two more directly. Both the instruction to go on a date, which I’ve never properly done before, and to have it exposed in the media – isn’t this telling me to make it public to everyone? To prevent the author from pushing me out of my position.
My already warmed body suddenly felt even hotter. It was because I felt embarrassed.
Looking at Nine’s quest items, I didn’t feel bad at all. Imagining doing each one, I thought it might be unexpectedly enjoyable.
I just felt a bit embarrassed and pathetic that I couldn’t honestly answer my own feelings without Nine pushing me.
‘This is C-rank.’
Suddenly, I noticed the quest rank. Come to think of it, there was something I wanted to ask Nine, but I got sidetracked with checking the quest first.
“Ah, right. Nine, I have a question. Why is this C-rank, and why was the previous quest E-rank? It was too difficult for an E-rank. How are quest ranks determined?”
: There was a bit of… a mistake with the previous quest!
I tilted my head at the word “mistake,” and Nine continued the explanation with an embarrassed expression.
: It was originally supposed to be a much easier quest! But because the author intervened…
“So it really was the author’s intervention! But I felt something was a bit off? The dungeon was… it felt strange, like two completely different dungeons were combined. And one of them was very similar to a dungeon I’ve done in Limitless Nine.”
At my words, Nine spun around in the screen with a surprised face.
“No, it wasn’t just similar. To be honest, it was identical. Why is that? Has the author played Limitless Nine? Or is there some connection with you, Nine, coming to this world with me?”
: That’s probably… not it?
“Why do you think so?”
In response to my question, Nine’s face twitched before answering that it didn’t know.
: For some reason, I don’t think that’s it.
It was the most inaccurate answer I’ve ever heard from Nine. Well… I guess even Nine can have things it doesn’t know.
“The author’s behavior pattern seems a bit strange. During the last kidnapping, they seemed unnecessarily kind to me, but in this dungeon, they targeted Han Nari instead of me, and a dungeon identical to the game appeared… It feels a bit odd.”
As I muttered my thoughts, I suddenly noticed Nine staring blankly at the screen with this expression. Nine stared at me for a few more seconds before answering with a cheerful face.
: …Ray appeared as a new number, right! To gain favor with readers, he shouldn’t do bad things from the first scene. Maybe that’s why he was kind?
Nine’s words certainly made sense. I nodded, saying, “I see.”
: And in the dungeon, not targeting Yeonsoo-nim… maybe it was to touch on Yeonsoo-nim’s guilt about worrying for those around you?
Well… targeting Han Nari does feel worse than targeting me. I nodded again.
: And the dungeon being identical to the game… couldn’t it be a coincidence?
“A coincidence? The tunnel-like dungeon concept, the design with ore attached, the shape and weaknesses of the monsters, even the secret route – they’re all exactly the same.”
: Isn’t a tunnel-like underground concept common? It’s only natural to have ore underground! And worms are naturally weak to salt! Worms live in the ground too!
After explaining this, Nine worried about my mental health, saying I seemed to be overthinking. While the identical secret route was unexplainable, it didn’t seem to be a dungeon that only the developers of Limitless Nine could think of.
Hearing Nine’s words, I thought maybe that was the case. Perhaps I was overthinking. I sighed softly.
: Rather than that, please think more about achieving the next quest! There’s no use in digging into what’s likely a coincidence.
I nodded at Nine’s advice. Although it was an unsettling coincidence, it certainly wasn’t that important…
“Jaeha, don’t you think your bath is taking too long? Are you okay?”
Just then, Shin Haejun knocked on the bathroom door and called out, so I dismissed all thoughts as mere conspiracy theories, wrapped my phone in a towel, placed it on the shelf, and prepared to leave.
After washing, I felt completely refreshed. While I was bathing, the other two must have washed in different bathrooms as well, as they looked fresh with slight traces of moisture.
“Let’s replenish some sugar,” Hyun Dowoon said, putting a knife to a fruit. I sat down next to him, and Shin Haejun followed, sitting next to me.
Somehow, we ended up sitting in a line. I thought it was fortunate that we couldn’t see each other’s faces, but at the same time, I felt embarrassed that we couldn’t see each other’s expressions simultaneously.
‘It’s my first time… asking for a date.’
I felt my cheeks getting hot. How would they respond if I asked for a date with all three of us together? They wouldn’t say no, right?
“Um…”
As I gathered my courage and opened my mouth, Shin Haejun stabbed a melon with a fork and popped it into my mouth.
“You wanted to eat some fruit, right? I’ll feed you.”
It was very kind, but that wasn’t what I wanted…
I blinked my eyes, chewing the sweet fruit that had entered my mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
