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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Taming
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"What are you planning to do with it?"
Im A-rin approached cautiously and peered down at the harpy as she asked.
A typical monster would snarl like a stray dog and bare its teeth if a player got too close...
But this one was trembling all over.
Tremble, tremble.
This harpy had fully switched into coward mode.
That was a sign of high intelligence.
Think about it. Would an amoeba tremble in fear? Would an earthworm shiver in terror, piss itself from stress, and quake?
Even at a glance, this was a pretty smart specimen. You couldn't tell just by looking at its body, though.
'That's why it was such a pain to track this one down.'
Anyway, just as Im A-rin said, it was time to decide what to do with it. Hmm. I stroked my chin.
"Well... maybe keep it as livestock."
"Pardon?"
"...There's such a thing. Anyway, you're really not hurt anywhere, right?"
She looked fine at first glance.
"Yes!"
Im A-rin nodded with a bright smile. Then she suddenly held out the letter envelope to me.
"Here, Min-jun. Returning this to you."
"You didn't use it after all."
"It's transcendent-grade. It seemed precious... And most importantly, you told me not to use it until things got truly dangerous."
I nodded.
I'd given it to her to use, but if she had, we would've missed catching this harpy.
Of course, quite a few people died because of that... Sigh. It was just frustrating. If they'd only been a little more careful, so many could have lived.
"I'm sorry. Should I have used it after all?"
"No, as long as you're unharmed, it doesn't matter."
What happened to others wasn't my concern. As long as my people survived, that was enough. Besides, I'd done what I could.
'Being humane and nice is fine, but only in moderation.'
I'd warned her to be careful and advised her not to look down on things.
Despite that, this mess happened. That just meant incompetence.
In the selection process, incompetence was... a sin worthy of death. All of them.
'Above all, Kim Jong-ho ignored my words, while Im A-rin followed mine to the end. That's what matters.'
Situations I couldn't predict were dangerous.
But ones I could predict? No matter how risky, they were fine. Why? Because I could prepare and respond in advance.
"Keep doing what you're doing. That's truly how you help me."
"Yes!"
Im A-rin nodded like she understood. But recalling her free-spirited self from our first meeting, she'd probably show some flexibility when needed.
'Then the human hunter business is wrapped up nicely.'
"More importantly, Min-jun, you were amazing earlier!"
Im A-rin sidled right up to me, her eyes sparkling.
"You didn't flinch against those dangerous bastards at all! You even risked your life to save me...! Aaah, please, let me show my gratitude right here with some service!"
With that, she rubbed my crotch with her hand and made a lewd face. I snorted in response.
"Well, I don't mind, but I've got baggage right now."
I raised my hand and tapped the harpy's head.
The harpy, which had been watching Im A-rin's naughty handiwork with wide eyes, flinched in panic and covered its head with its wings, begging for mercy as if saying it was sorry.
"Ah..."
Im A-rin looked disappointed. I smacked her ass and asked,
"By the way, where'd that woman go? She vanished suddenly."
"Huh? Now that you mention it, where is she?"
We looked around. She wasn't near Im Man-gil's beehive-riddled corpse. But following her footprints led us right to her.
"Ah, there!"
The woman was staggering toward the cave entrance, one shaky step at a time. Her unsteady gait made her intentions clear.
'Suicide's one way out. Dropping out of this fucked-up world.'
I had no intention of judging her. At least, I was a witness who'd been through everything ahead. I was certain: without power, it might be easier to close your eyes early.
If I'd known in advance I'd crawl through ten years like that, I never could've endured.
'I'd have given up a hundred percent midway.'
I'd just lived day by day, holding back tears with the hope that this hellish life would end tomorrow. That's how I reached the final trial.
...Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
"No!"
Unlike me, Im A-rin—who didn't know the future—rushed over and grabbed the woman just before she tumbled into the cave below.
"Let go! Let me go!"
"Please calm down! You have to live!"
"What's the point of living?! Now... not a single person I know is left...!"
Im A-rin grabbed the woman again as she tried to fall once more.
"I'm the same! Just like you! How many in this world aren't? I lost everyone in my first trial too!"
"!!"
Im A-rin pulled the woman inside and made her look straight at her. Then, with an unusually serious and mature expression unlike her usual self, she said,
"We're all the same. But we keep living. Thinking that tomorrow... at least tomorrow will be better than today."
'Tomorrow will be worse than today.'
Things would only get more brutal.
But if you survived, you'd toughen up. Enough not to break easily.
That was the true 'first trial' participants in this fucked-up place had to endure and overcome.
"Your boyfriend sacrificed himself to save you. So don't die easily. Survive somehow, make his sacrifice worthwhile."
"Sob..."
"If you have no one to lean on, lean on me. Come with me. I'll be your acquaintance."
In the end, the woman broke down crying and clung to Im A-rin, who stroked her back with a pitying look.
Honestly, it was unexpected.
As far as I knew, Im A-rin was the youngest in the bitch pack. Yet this mature behavior... Was that her true self?
As I thought that, Im A-rin met my eyes and grinned like nothing happened, back to her usual bubbly, curious face.
Then she glanced at the woman's state, slid her hand down from her back to grab her ass, and mouthed to me,
'Wait just a bit. I'll soothe her good so you can taste her.'
Wink.
What a piece of work... Even that maturity was a mask? I chuckled helplessly and nodded that I got it.
'Feels like I picked a great vice-captain.'
A true sovereign knew how to wear multiple masks like an actor to hide their nature.
Once the two had calmed down somewhat, I said,
"Then let's get out of here."
The cliff, now free of harpies, lay in peaceful silence.
With clouds below our feet, the vast blue sky stretched out, naturally soothing the mind.
'Love this. Never thought a trial zone could feel this serene.'
Ah, from my perspective, anyway.
"Urk."
Kim Jong-ho's girlfriend—what was her name? Baek Yeon-ah? Anyway, the woman with the alluring wavy perm clutched her mouth, her eyes darting left and right.
Im A-rin, peering over the cliff beside her, spoke for her.
"...It's incredible. Now I get why you couldn't come right away despite the commotion in the cave. What a horrific sight."
The [Crimson Sea Cliff], where ancient gods fought and bled.
As if that myth had become reality, the cliff was dyed red with blood. And it didn't stop there—blood trickled down the face in steady streams.
Unlike the blood from just a hundred in the cave, this was from nearly massacring two thousand harpies. The scale was on another level.
Urk. Im A-rin patted Baek Yeon-ah's back and continued.
"I can't believe it even seeing it. Taking down that many harpies alone... You did something huge. Now people coming up won't have to worry about harpies."
"Even if they don't, it'll respawn by tomorrow and be back to normal."
"Pardon?"
The two women blinked, confused.
Ah, right—they might not know about respawns.
Most parties like ours wouldn't know mob farming; they'd be too busy running during trials.
Even if they'd seen resets in the tutorial, there weren't enough cases yet to generalize.
"We'll talk later. You must be getting tired and hungry, right? The others are waiting ahead."
"Oh, yeah."
I climbed up to the rock outcrop that marked the trial's end first, then lowered a rope to the women and hauled them up one by one.
The women who reached my spot covered their mouths with their hands, tears welling up.
"F-Finally..."
"Sob."
Im A-rin was thrilled to escape this hellhole at last. Baek Yeon-ah was sad to move on alone.
"Sniff. Th-Thank you. I survived thanks to you."
She didn't seem like a bad person; Baek Yeon-ah bowed deeply to me.
"No need. When you get to the rest area, don't stay alone—meet up with A-rin right away. Being alone in your lodging might make you mopey and lead to bad thoughts. Eat, get some air, talk to people."
"Yes..."
Baek Yeon-ah nodded, and Im A-rin smiled reassuringly.
"I'll take responsibility for Yeon-ah forever, so don't worry."
"A-A-rin...!"
Baek Yeon-ah looked touched.
Already toasting one more bitch pack member... Yeah, great vice-captain pick.
"See you in the rest area."
With that, the two moved on to the next zone.
Alright, bitch pack all sent off.
"Just us two left now?"
I patted its head, and the harpy sitting quietly beside me, head buried under its wing, lifted it trembling violently.
As if dreading the inevitable, it fidgeted noticeably.
"I've been thinking about what to do with you."
Honestly, I was intrigued. This was the smartest specimen I'd seen.
Sure, it might've been here in my first run, but after the monster capture system unlocked, I'd never seen one this intelligent among lower creatures.
'Guess that's sparking some possessiveness.'
Then Im A-rin returned the unused letter envelope... and I made my decision.
'Might as well take it to the lodging.'
I'd brought monsters from other trial zones with this envelope before. Probably works on this one too. Of course, I'd have to test it...
'If summoning works, raising it will be no issue.'
The lodging was my personal subspace.
Zones passed and their monsters faded with time, but the lodging wouldn't as long as I lived.
Even after the next trial and rest area, it'd be fine there.
'Problem is taming it first.'
There were various taming methods and tools, but I had none now. Related systems weren't unlocked.
Only one way left.
'A bit classic and clichéd, but it'll have to do.'
I took the harpy back to the cave, released its neck, and dropped my pants.
It rubbed its neck, hopping joyfully at freedom—then its eyes went wide at my sudden cock.
As my massive dick throbbed and grew before its eyes, it backed away with a kya, kyaang...?
Maybe it sensed what was coming.
「Kyaang...!」
It whipped around and bolted in terror.
But it was comical.
Legs too weak to fly, it flopped on the ground like a seal.
"What are you doing?"
「?!」
I'd positioned myself ahead; as it approached, I asked. Its eyes bulged, and it flailed.
Then it switched directions, flopping away like a seal again.
Flop, flop.
Step, step.
Like a dog crawling desperately, wiggling its cute ass.
Each flop spread its cheeks, flashing pussy and asshole before clenching shut.
'Aside from limbs, their bodies are fully human, so harpies become hot commodities for sexual release later.'
I still remembered when they first hit the rest areas. Prostitutes struggled to make money for a while from the hype.
「Kyaat. Kyaaat...」
Panting, exhausted, catching its breath.
I squatted over it, grabbed its ass firmly.
It flinched.
As it tried fleeing again, I smacked its cheeks.
"Stay put. Unless you want to end up like that. You know what I mean?"
I showed it a tribeswoman's corpse, fucked raw and neck snapped by another player. It meekly obeyed.
I gripped my cock and pressed it to her pussy.
'Tight.'
The hole squeezed my glans.
The strong inner resistance was clearly a hymen. Never been through heat—or if she had, no male had touched her.
'Either way, I'm her first man.'
I mounted the shaking harpy fully and leaned my weight into the glans-pierced pussy.
"One thrust."
As it looked back questioningly, I grinned and slammed my cock in deep.
A rip echoed, and the harpy's eyes ballooned like saucers.
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