I couldn't just take this lying down.
Seeing Choi Tae-soo standing at the entrance with his arms crossed, his expression practically screaming, "You shall not pass," made my blood boil.
'Ungrateful bastard.'
I considered turning off the stream and telling him about the past, but that would just make the situation even weirder.
A secret meeting with a sex offender? Wouldn't that look strange? Besides, there was no guarantee he'd even believe me.
And since I felt partly responsible for him being falsely accused like this, I had to clear his name while I was at it.
'Right, it wouldn't be a bad idea to say it now.'
"Everyone, the truth is, I have a 'Daddy-Long-Legs' that none of you know about."
- ????
- What's this all of a sudden, you crazy bitch
- Are you confessing you have a boyfriend?
- Fr? A boyfriend?
- Boyfriend coming outㄷㄷ
- The simps are gonna be sobbing lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
I hadn't planned on revealing this so soon, but it was something I'd have to say eventually. I needed to raid the treasure vaults I'd set up in the neutral zones every ten floors, and it seemed better to drop some hints now than to make excuses later.
"No. A boyfriend... it's not like that. I can't say who it was, but he has passed away..."
In reality, that person is me. But I couldn't just say that, so if I just set up the relationship vaguely, they'd imagine the rest on their own.
Whether they thought I was his disciple, a blood relative, or someone he saved—I'd let them decide freely.
- Huh?
- Gasp
- Um...
- Erm;;
- My bad...
The viewers who were just chattering about a boyfriend instantly shut their mouths.
"Hey, who are you talking to? Are you streaming right now?"
The reason I was speaking loud enough for Choi Tae-soo to hear was to send him a signal. A signal to catch on and play along.
As long as he wasn't a complete blockhead, he should be able to piece it together.
"And before he died, he hid an inheritance for me."
This time, I wasn't talking to the viewers. I continued, looking straight at Choi Tae-soo.
"Hmm???"
Choi Tae-soo glared at me, his expression asking what the hell I was talking about.
"Mr. Choi Tae-soo... I've come for Irene's Secret Manual."
Flash!
Upon hearing those words, Choi Tae-soo's eyes flew wide open.
Only he and I knew the name of that secret manual.
An S-rank Training Secret Manual was a treasure among treasures, something you couldn't get no matter how much money you had. I never told anyone about it, worried that someone might harm Choi Tae-soo if I spoke carelessly.
"You.... How do you know that name!! That's....."
Realizing the stream was on, Choi Tae-soo stopped himself from mentioning Lee Do-hyun's name. The moment his name was spoken, the Six Great Guilds would take notice.
"So, could you let me in now? My legs are getting tired.... Hahaha!"
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, I knew I'd succeeded for now.
"H-how....."
"I need your help, ahjussi. You'll help me, right?"
By now, he should have gotten the gist of it. He'd probably assume I was one of Lee Do-hyun's disciples, someone he saved, or a relative.
"Hoo....."
He stared into the distance for a moment, lost in thought.
His eyes, once filled with regret and longing, now shifted to hope and courage.
What a difficult time it must have been for him...
His long-time comrade died under mysterious circumstances, and when he tried to investigate the cause, all Six Great Guilds turned against him. Most of his close colleagues, fearing retaliation from the guilds, distanced themselves from him.
For someone like him, a person who knew of Lee Do-hyun's existence must have been like rain in a drought.
"Come in..."
'About damn time.'
- ????
- What the fuck is going on
- Streamer, explain before I kill you
- What is this situation lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
- ?
- Is the streamer crazy??
- But Choi Tae-soo is still a dirty sex offender, right?
A quick glance at the chat showed they were on the verge of rioting. No need to suppress it yet. They'd see for themselves and eventually come to their own proper conclusions.
"Ahem... Everyone? You'll understand if you just watch."
- What the fuck are we supposed to be watching?
- All I see are your tits, you perverted bitch who's dying to be sexually harassed!!!! (This message has been deleted)
- Lmaooooooo
- Let's just watch for now?
- This bitch is so damn stubbornㅋㅋㅋ
- Wow, look at that ass~
- Someone needs to massage that stubbornness out of her.
- Guys, calm downㅋㅋㅋ
Ignoring them was the best option in times like these. As expected, the viewers were subjects in need of enlightenment.
*
A small office inside the training center.
It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time; the messy state of the room seemed to reflect Choi Tae-soo's current situation and state of mind.
"You're here for the director's personal training, I assume?"
The director, of course, was Choi Tae-soo.
"Of course."
The secret manual was one thing, but this guy's Golden Hand buff was truly broken. That alone increased training efficiency by nearly ten times compared to anywhere else.
"Hoo... Alright, I'll explain the precautions."
He played a video of one of his PT sessions on his laptop.
In the video, Choi Tae-soo had placed his glowing hands on the thighs of a man doing squats.
During chest exercises, he touched the chest; for bicep curls, the biceps; for back exercises, he placed his hands on the back.
"My trait was already revealed during the trial. It's a half-assed buff that only works with near-complete physical contact. That's why the efficiency increases the more I press my hands against the target. So? Are you still sure you want to go through with this?"
"Of course. I don't care about that at all. Touch me as you please."
In my past life, we spent nearly ten years together, calling each other 'hyung-nim' and 'dongsaeng' and roughhousing all the time. Why would I feel weird about it now?
- Huh? That was a thing?
- Damn, a true Tower-addict is built different.
- Wait, so then...
"Can I ask just one thing?"
"What is it...?"
"You explained all this to the other women too, right?"
".....Of course. I didn't just tell them. We even drew up contracts. You should sign one too."
"Ahem... Understood. I'll sign it right away."
- What? So he explained all that and still got sued?
- Huh, something's weird here?
- But there's irrefutable evidence, isn't there?
- That's because she agreed to it and then sued him, you idiot.
- No, signing that and being sexually harassed are two different things, right? The woman involved must have felt he was touching her in a lewd and perverted way.
- Heh;;; I'm staying neutral on this one.
- The victim's tears are the evidence~ I knew it, this is fucked-up Korea for you, goddammit.
- Hmmm...
This alone wouldn't clear up everything. But at the very least, they'd now taken off the colored glasses someone had intentionally put on them. The final judgment would be up to each individual.
In truth, even if you dug into this case, the names of the Six Great Guilds would never surface. It would just become another case of a man being falsely accused in the #MeToo movement, sparking a fight between men and women.
Besides, they never intended to completely eliminate Choi Tae-soo in the first place. If he were a real nuisance, they would have just sent an assassin. Why bother with a troublesome sex scandal? He was even found innocent in all five trials.
Of course, they might have considered his reputation and influence among the neutral Awakened, but the Six Great Guilds had already achieved their goal long ago.
It was a warning to those who questioned Lee Do-hyun's disappearance: "This is what happens when you defy us."
If they had killed Choi Tae-soo, fierce resistance groups might have formed. But seeing him slowly worn down, his reputation eroded in such a tiresome way, people would lose the will to resist.
Still, this was the first stone I'd cast since being reborn in this body. The first small pebble I'd thrown into the sea that is the Six Great Guilds, who rule Korea from the shadows, to create a ripple.
They might not even realize it, but my revenge had already begun.
'This Republic of Korea that you've ruined. I will set it right.'
*
"Kuaaaargh!!!"
A woman's agonizing scream echoed through the middle of the training center.
"Come on, one last rep!!"
"Wait, I'm gonna dieee!!!"
A barbell weighing dozens of kilos was resting on my shoulders.
"It's fine. I'll heal you if you get hurt."
'Agh... Forget the pebbles and ripples, this is killing me.'
I'd forgotten. That he was a complete lunatic when it came to working out.
That he was a brute who, despite having a support-type trait, would run to the front lines and beat monsters to a pulp with his bare fists...
His thick, massive hands, like a bear's paws, wrapped around my thighs. A golden light emanated from them, creating a ticklish sensation.
It felt like I was receiving low-frequency physical therapy.
But before I even had a moment to register the feeling of his palms, the next exercise began.
"Alright, down for one!!!"
"Kuaaaaaaaargh!!!!"
"And up for two~~!"
"Nnghhhhhh!!!"
- This is supposed to be sexual harassment?
- Fuck, they're just working out like crazy.
- I think I get why she told us to just watch lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
- Not hot at all.
- It's not like he's subtly touching her to get her aroused or anything?
- Lee Do-hee is kinda hot, but the situation isn't, fuck.
- I'm jealous he gets to touch her thighs, though.
The difference between an Awakened and a non-Awakened.
It's determined by whether or not one's body can contain an energy like mana.
A normal human body has a physical limit, but becoming an Awakened allows one to break through that limit.
Mana causes cellular transformation. When muscles are trained, they tear and heal, and during this process, mana seeps in, rebuilding the muscle tissue stronger than before.
That's why consistent training creates a growing gap between those who do it and those who don't.
And Choi Tae-soo used his Golden Hand buff to amplify that effect, using traits like
And he didn't just have buffs that increased training efficiency.
"Haa... I can't anymore. I'm really gonna die...."
As I let out a groan,
- Vwooom~
A white light shone from his hands, restoring my depleted stamina back to 100%. Although the mental fatigue remained, the physical exhaustion was completely gone.
Normally, receiving a heal negates the effects of training. But his method was unique; he dramatically amplified natural recovery to heal you. After being healed by him, your strength increased in an instant, accompanied by a slight pain.
"Ah, shit..."
- You can't escape lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
- Uh-uh, where do you think you're going?
- You're the one who chose Choi Tae-soo lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
*
The sun had already set.
A few men who came to Choi Tae-soo's training center were staring at us curiously, muttering, "Choi Tae-soo took on a female client?"
"Looks like your natural recovery is reaching its limit. Let's stop the basic training here for now. How about we check out that secret manual? I was curious about it myself."
The secret manual.
Actually, as soon as I received the manual earlier and checked its contents, I changed the subject, saying I couldn't use it right now.
- The secret manual, finallyㄷㄷ
- I'm so damn curious, what is it that you're hiding it so much?
- Doki doki
- Finally!!
- Basic training (8 hours)
- Let's gooo~
- Tell us properly this time, the suspense is killing me.
- Fr, if there's no problem, just share it.
"..."
"Hm? Is there a problem?"
The inevitable had finally arrived...
Yes, there was a problem. There was a reason I'd been deliberately avoiding the topic.
Most training manuals don't have any restrictions on their use.
However, not all manuals are like that.
I only found out after opening it and reading the fine print. That's why I just vaguely brushed it off earlier.
'Irene, you crazy whore...'
Usage Condition: Can be used during a sexually stimulating relationship, or when there is semen inside the uterus.
"..."
I seriously wanted to throw it in the trash. To make matters worse, that information was hidden until it was bound to me and opened.
'Why the hell is something like this S-rank? I don't get it.'
Didn't she say something about being the first empress? Don't tell me she became the empress by sucking out men's vital energy?
'What kind of fucking bastard would leave something like this...'
Ah.
I was the one who left it.
Fuck...
I was so dumbfounded I was at a loss for words.
I was scammed by my past self. No, maybe it was a good thing I was the one who got it? If Choi Tae-soo had gifted this to someone else, it would have been used as actual evidence of a sex crime.
- Share it
- Share it already, go go go
- What is it? If you stay quiet again, I'll seriously kill you.
- If you really don't say anything, I'm gonna lie down in front of your house.
- Hurry, it's urgent.
- You're
- Ignoring us again? This bitch is something else lmaoㅋㅋㅋ If you ignore us this time, I'm unfollowing.
- Done
- Unsub in 1 minute.
- You're
- For
- Just share it, right? It's not like it's a letter from your dead boyfriend, so what's the reason you can't?
- You're
It was a riot.
The viewers had started a riot, demanding their right to know.
"Haaah....."
My standing with the viewers was already bad from ignoring them earlier. Ignoring them only works when you can later prove they were wrong and you were right. This kind of pointless stubbornness would only grind away my reputation and viewer count.
"Fine. I'll share it. But let me say this first: I didn't know about this either. The usage condition was hidden until it was opened, so the person who gave it to me probably didn't know either... I want to make that perfectly clear beforehand."
I squeezed my eyes shut, went to the settings window, and switched the manual's contents to public.
.
.
.
For a brief moment, the chat went silent as the viewers read the manual's description.
A few seconds later...
- Wtfㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Is this for real?
- This is...
- How the hell is something like this an S-rank manual?
- It's not body training, it's pussy training.
- Start training with the manual now!!!!
- I feel bad for the person who gave it to her, but... that's just... lmaoㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Lmao
- How is that S-rank?
- This is totally a manual made for a whore to use.
- S E X N O W
- I'd love to see you use the manual soon hehe
"Khmm..."
Next to me, Choi Tae-soo, who had been watching my stream on his phone, turned his head away.
"Hey, I'm innocent. I didn't know that bastard was such a pervert either."
Wait, does Choi Tae-soo think Lee Do-hyun gave this to me on purpose?
His wording was a bit strange, but that wasn't it.
"He... he probably didn't know either!!"
"Ah, right. The information was hidden until it was bound and opened... Heh... Well, that's a shame."
"This is driving me crazy."
The problem wasn't Choi Tae-soo.
It was the chat, flooded with teasing comments and demands for me to start training with the manual.
"Train with what? I'm not using this!! Never! I'm never going to use it!! How could I possibly use something like this!!!"
- Just try it once
- Fr, things with a ton of restrictions like this are usually super effective
- Let's use it right now
- Aren't you serious about the Tower? You need to train and raise your stats!
- Even the Tower-addict is shaking her head lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
- Daddy-Long-Legs (Child Molester)
- Let's try it
- That statement
- Daddy-Long-Legs... why did you do this to me?
My past self was being treated like a sex offender. No matter how many times I said he didn't know, these guys wouldn't listen.
And what were they thinking, telling me to do such vulgar training? This ridiculous chat was going to make me lose my mind.
"Ugh... That's all for today... Stream ending!"
- ?
- Where are you going, you have to train with the manual lol
- She's runningㅋㅋㅋ
- Ah, that was fun at the end
- Look at her face turning all red lmaoㅋㅋㅋ
- Lmaoooooo
[Lee Do-hee's stream has ended]