Currently...
Keara and I are eating.
Well, I am... Keara still has her head lowered.
"You should eat... The food will get cold."
I said.
Then looking at , Keara picked up a spoon and took a bite from the at in front of her.
Her eyes widened.
"This is so good!"
Then she exclaid.
Keara's honest thought made smile. I'm a human, so it's normal that I like getting complints.
"Really? That's good to hear."
"You cooked all of these?"
She asked, taking a bite of every food on the table.
"Yes, I did."
I replied with a light nod.
"You're..shoo...gooshd..at cooking!"
Keara's cheeks expanded, her mouth was full of food.
She's really cute.
"Slow down, there's enough for the both of us."
At my words, Keara got embarrassed and lowered her head again.
And after she cald down, Keara looked at ...
She was fidgeting.
"What?"
I asked her.
She was pretty hesitant to talk, but in the end, she opened her mouth—
"Are you going to leave now?"
She asked.
My hand stopped moving, and I looked at her.
She's serious about this. You can feel her worries and fears through her wavering voice and watering eyes.
Keara can't do anything if I decided to just leave her after a one-night stand. That's because she's a half-blood, and half-bloods' words are often ignored by societies.
But just thinking of the idea disgusts .
So with a calm voice, I asked Keara a question.
"Do you want to?"
Keara, who had her head bowed, tightly closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Then, why would I leave you?"
I asked and drank so water, acting casual and cool.
Though Keara's reply caught by surprise.
"Because you already got my first ti?"
"Keouk!"
I choked at what she said.
I cald myself and looked at Keara again.
"I will not."
I declared, looking at her in the eyes with a frown.
'I'm not that kind of scumbag... At least.'
After letting out a sigh, I spoke again.
"But you can leave whenever you want."
"Why would I do that?!"
Keara got agitated by my words. She stood up and slamd her hands on the table.
Not minding her actions, I replied while shrugging my shoulders.
"Because I'm not that good of a person."
Keara looked at and frowned at my words.
"I'm a very greedy person."
I added.
Greed is normal to humans, and I'm no exception. I want to get everything I want, and I don't want to let go of what I have.
So it's better if the opposite party knows your greed...
So with a sly smile—
"What would you do if I suddenly started creating my own harem?"
I jokingly said that.
But Keara's next words almost made choke again.
"Isn't it fine?"
She said casually.
My mind got complicated, but shaking my head, I rembered what I did to the story.
In this world, polygamy is normal. Many high-ranking heroes and important people have more than two wives and husbands. I did that for the protagonist—Alec.
But now thinking about it... It's weird.
'If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have put that in the novel...'
I just did it before because harem was a popular genre back then.
"If you got your own harem, would you neglect ?"
Snapping out of my thoughts was Keara's question.
Glancing at her, I let out my honest thought.
"Well, no."
"As I said, I'm greedy... Once I have sothing I can call mine, I'll never let go of it."
"So if I do have a harem, I'll love them with all my heart and give them my best so they'll never leave m–"
In the middle of my proud and stupid speech, I suddenly frowned.
'It's like declaring I'm planning to have my own harem.'
Now I'm cringing at myself, frowning.
"Then it's fine. I'm just a halfling anyway... Worst case is soone will force to be their concubine."
Keara then said while smiling bitterly.
Seeing her lowering her value with a bitter smile beat the shit out of my conscience.
Things like that do really happen, and it's a common occurrence.
In so of Keara's cases, they were forced into marrying soone by making their parents go into debt or by pushing them to the edge where they couldn't do anything else but agree.
And just knowing that that was happening sparked an overwhelming anger deep inside .
But I cald down when I heard Keara's voice again.
"The fact that you are considering my feelings and you didn't discriminate against ans that you're already a good person."
Her words were too kind for , it's hurting .
So I rebutted.
"But there are a lot more better people than I am. More handso, more kind, more—"
"But it's you that I want."
But my rebuttal was cut by Keara's words.
She blushed at what she said.
Her words were genuine and sweet.
'This... You're just not used to being cared for, that's why you quickly got attached to ...'
I thought as a complicated expression ford on my face.
Though, I'm blushing a little too. I'm hiding it from Keara though.
Normally, I'd call this cringe, but when I heard it from Keara, and knowing that her words were directed at —
The corner of my mouth twitched and threatened to rise.
Acting annoyed, I grabbed my spoon and spoke.
"Suit yourself. Let's continue eating."
Keara did as I instructed. She happily ate while grinning ear to ear.
*****
After we finished eating...
I placed the dishes in the kitchen sink.
As I was about to enter the bathroom to take a bath, Keara pulled my hand and stopped .
Looking at her—
"What?"
I asked.
"Umm... Emm..."
She seems hesitant to speak. So I urged her.
"What is it?"
But her face just reddened.
Seeing this, I kinda got an idea now what's on her mind.
Not to brag, but I'm pretty observant and can roughly tell what people want based on their actions and the atmosphere.
So lightly scratching my cheek...
"Look... Tomorrow, I'll go back to the Academy."
Keara's expression worsened at my words.
I smiled at her reaction, this just confird my assumption.
I slouched down near her ear—
"So, do you want to take a bath with ?"
And then I whispered that softly.
Keara suddenly looked at and got embarrassed.
But shyly, she slowly nodded her head.
And with that... We both entered the bathroom.
Today, it took much longer to take a bath than usual.
*****
"So, is it safe to say that we're lovers?"
Keara asked .
She's about to leave for work at the City Hall.
I was also dressing up because I had sowhere to go.
"Well, the developnt is indeed fast. If my life was in a novel, many readers would be complaining."
I said, looking at Keara. She was confused.
"But I don't really care. So, yes."
Even in the past, I just ignored the negative comnts about my work. They just annoy .
Being affected by them will surely alter the way I write, making the story in my head go bad.
Anyway...
A relationship with Keara wouldn't affect the story. She's an extra just like after all.
Keara smiled.
And when she was about to exit the room—
"I'll wait for you tonight, take care."
I suddenly mumbled that.
Keara halted for a mont, but she didn't say anything and just left.
Though, I can see her ears being rosy-red.
'Cute.'
After a while, I stood up from the bed and dressed up formally.
I now possess 2 black rings. One is the [Ring of Gluttony] and the new one is the [Celestria]. I reford it into a ring.
I thought of putting it in the spatial storage at first but decided against the idea, as I wouldn't be able to take it out imdiately in case of an ergency.
So with that, I also left the hotel.
*****
Not far away from the hotel that I was staying...
I arrived at another hotel.
[Sunshine Hotel]
There are a lot of people already, and I'm not even inside yet...
I actually planned to rent a room here, but I didn't because it's expensive.
I don't have a stable inco yet to just use large amount of money unnecessarily.
But, that's why I'm here right now—
For my stable inco.
Anyway, I entered the hotel with an envelope in my hand.
And as soon as I entered, a staff mber greeted .
"Welco to the Sunshine Hotel!"
I just nodded in response and walked toward the receptionist.
Looking around, the inside is as luxurious as it was outside.
Everything was sparkly, it made squint my eyes.
I like that it's clean here, but this is just too much...
I can see a lot of colorful things everywhere I look. I personally like things more simple.
It's also crowded with people, and it's noisy!
Moving on, upon arriving at the reception table...
"Hello Sir, how may I help you?"
The receptionist asked that.
"I'm here to do business."
I replied imdiately, as I didn't want to be in this noisy place for long.
"Business?"
I nodded and whispered only for the receptionist to hear.
"Yeah, I have a business proposal for the [Paradise]."
[Paradise] is a black market...
The receptionist remained silent. He just tilted his head like he knew nothing about what I was talking about.
And seeing him acting clueless annoyed .
I scratched the back of my head...
"Look, I don't know the [Paradise]'s secret code, I'm new."
I said with an annoyed tone.
Anyway, the reason I don't know the secret passcode is because I didn't put what it was specifically in the novel.
To be exact, in the novel—Alec can enter the black market because he has a VIP card that lets him in freely. He got it after killing a majin.
Majins are people who made contracts with demons. By contracting with a demon, they will be able to utilize a bit of the demon's power, and their stat will also greatly increase.
Anyway, the problem is that I don't know the secret code to enter the black market, but I know there's one.
I made it like that after all.
[You're the author but you don't know the code? Are you stupid?]
The system appeared, mocking .
'Shut up, how the hell would I know that I would be transported inside my novel?'
I inwardly said to the system, it would read my thoughts anyway.
Looking back at the receptionist. He's just looking at blankly.
I frowned and activated
I'm a little taller than him, so I looked down at him.
And with a cold stare and voice...
"Contact the owner, I don't have that much ti to waste."
I commanded him.
The receptionist flinched and unconsciously grabbed the phone.
But that's all he did. He imdiately stopped moving and frowned at .
"What did you just do, Sir?"
He asked , intimidatingly.
Looking at his stat, he's rank—not too high, not too low.
Though... He's 8 ranks higher than .
'He just unconsciously obeyed because he was caught off guard, but now he can hold himself without any problem under my skill.'
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue.
"I know a location of a dungeon that the [Heroes Federation] doesn't know yet."
"If you guys don't want it, then I'll just call the federation and make the proposal with them instead."
I declared. I really let him see that I was frustrated.
However, when I ntioned about the dungeon, the receptionist's eyes opened wide.
He remained motionless for a brief mont. But then, he made a call in the end.
[Heroes Federation] is an organization filled with heroes that aren't part of any guild or clan.
They are what you can call the governnt among the heroes. They exist so the balance can remain.
If they didn't exist, guilds or heroes might start doing cris, and no one would be able to stop them openly.
As I said, I can make the business proposal with them instead, but the process would be annoying, considering my age and identity.
Anyway...
The receptionist is still talking on the phone.
And when the call ended, he looked at and bowed his head.
"The master is waiting for you, please follow ."
His attitude changed imdiately.
This annoyed even further, but at least we're done here.
The receptionist started to walk away.
"What a fucking waste of ti."
I muttered to myself.
Then I took a deep breath and followed behind him.
We entered a VIP-only elevator.
There's no button to press inside that would bring us to different floors. Instead, there's a card scanner.
The receptionist pulled out a card from his pocket...
Then he montarily placed it in front of the scanner.
Beep-
Click-
Shhhhhhhhhh–
After that, the elevator's door closed and we started to descend.
"Is it okay to leave the reception table just like that?"
I asked while the elevator was still moving.
"A new staff will naturally fill my spot."
And the receptionist answered without looking at .
"Cool."
I'm not really interested. It's just that I'm bored so I'm making small talks.
*****
After a while...
The elevator stopped and the door opened.
"Follow ."
Following the receptionist, we went out of the elevator...
Then entered a small room, and in the middle of the room... There's a huge-ass portal.
Portals are rare, so I looked at it with amusent. I was getting excited, it's my first ti seeing one.
Anyway, we entered that portal.
...
I frowned as a familiar nauseating feeling enveloped my whole body.
However, after a few monts, the discomfort was gone.
And fortunately... I didn't vomit.
Opening my eyes, I found myself in a completely different place.
And just by glancing a little, I can already tell...
The place is beautiful.
It's like I'm in an underground city. Luckily, I maintained my calm while being amazed by my surroundings.
A lot of individuals are scattered everywhere.
There are a lot of structures and stores too.
It was exciting.
It's not called [Paradise] for nothing.
But not long after looking at the sa place for about 5 minutes...
I got bored and just followed the receptionist quietly.
"..."
"Are you sure it's your first ti here? First-tirs tend to admire this place."
This ti, it was the receptionist who asked a question.
"I did admire it at first. But I got bored after looking at it for a while."
I answered in a calm voice.
"Why so?"
"I just easily lose interest in things that aren't mine."
"Hoh?"
The receptionist looked at weirdly. I just shrugged, and we continued walking.
I don't have a reason to explain things to him. I just answered because he answered my questions earlier.
Anyway...
I'm currently on my guard. Majins are also here, after all.
This place is filled with heroes and majins.
There are also different races. Heck, so demons might even be mixed in the crowd.
But fighting here is prohibited, and in case a fight breaks out, all the individuals connected to it will be attacked.
Not just by the guards, but also by the custors and bystanders.
Why? Because you'll get a reward if you catch a rule breaker.
But even though I knew that rule, I didn't put my guard down... Even a little bit.
And a few monts later, we reached a house.
'Nothing bad happened, good...'
I thought to myself.
Then, looking at the underground house in front of .
"This is good."
I whispered that to myself. The house was simple but stylish.
Well, the whole [Paradise] is really impressive... But this house just gives off a comfortable vibe.
And I like it.
We entered thst house.
And just like on the outside, the inside was also simple and comfy looking.
Anyway...
I don't see any person, but I can sense soone's aura.
And they're incredibly strong.
After that, we entered a certain room. It's where I could feel the aura coming from.
Creak-
And stepping inside the room—
"Welco."
We were greeted by a foxy woman sitting on a blood-red sofa.
She has silky blood-red hair and ruby-like eyes. Her body has the right curves, and her big bosoms... Unconsciously attract my gaze (I'm fighting it!).
Her lips are rosy, and her whole figure is alluring.
She also has a unique aura, which makes her more seductive.
And the woman I'm looking at, I know her...
She's an rank hero.
She's also known as the most beautiful hero—Ruby Skye.
Well, that's her English na.
I made her character a mystery and planned to slowly reveal it as the story progressed, but in the end, I couldn't. So even for , she's sowhat mysterious, as I don't know her past and future.
I just know so basic details about her and her habits.
And that currently... She's a professor at Lunar.
Looking at her not wearing a mask, she's not even trying to hide her identity.
It looks like she doesn't know that I'm a student in [Lunar], or she doesn't care and just sees as a possible business partner.
Maybe, as Keara said, I do give off a mature aura that makes people think I'm older than my actual age.
Well, I'm actually 29 years old...
And this situation works just fine for , so I don't care.
Looking around the room... There are plenty of people dressed as maids and butlers. Each of them ranges from rank to .
'I should behave myself...'
Then, the receptionist I followed approached and stood behind Ruby.
My eyes t Ruby's.
Her gaze made want to hug her, but I just looked at her calmly.
Maintaining my poker face.
"May I sit down? Walking was such a pain."
I said.
Ruby then smiled with a hint of interest in ...
"You may."
Then she said that.
"Thanks."
Sitting opposite her. I crossed my legs and relaxed.
And looking in the front, I can see Ruby still staring at .
I frowned.
"What?"
I asked her.
And her smile grew larger.
"Nothing, just that all n usually get flustered just by looking at ."
"Look at the n in this room."
Ruby stated.
Looking around again... I noticed all the n—no, even the won—were all blushing.
So what though?
With a shrug, I spat out my honest thoughts.
"That's because you're beautiful. When I saw you earlier, my heart raced and my body grew hot."
I don't like to hide what I'm feeling, so if possible, I always let out my honest thoughts.
"Hmm, so, are you saying that you like ?"
Ruby asked in a playful tone.
"Well, not really."
Which I replied in an uninterested voice.
"You're indeed beautiful, but I'll never like or love you just because of that."
I declared. All the people in the room displayed a shocked expression on their faces. Ruby just widened her eyes and smiled.
I don't know but... The people inside this room are all weird.
(Raven doesn't want to admit it, but when he said 'all', he's included.)
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