Chapter 102
“Must’ve enjoyed making fun of me, huh?”
Taechang stepped in close, his gaze shooting almost vertically down at Donghee.
The sudden closing of distance left Donghee flustered. She gave an awkward laugh while hastily wiping Taechang’s damp face with her sleeve.
His gray eyes demanded an answer, locking relentlessly onto hers, but Donghee only sneaked glances at him before quickly looking away.
“Teasing you? Of course not. I’d never!”
“After putting me in this state, you say no?”
Taechang glared and grabbed her wrist. Their faces were now so close their eyes reflected each other. In the brief silence, the only sound was their mingled breathing.
Seeing his pale cheek with wet strands of hair sticking to it, she felt a pang of guilt. On closer inspection, it wasn’t just his hair that was wet. His shoulders, chest, and neck were all soaked. It must have felt disgusting.
Donghee tried to recall where the pack of wet wipes was displayed in the convenience store, preparing to make an excuse. But she couldn’t shake the image of Taechang grimacing when the beer had sprayed up. He could have tossed the can away, yet he’d stubbornly kept hold of it.
“I didn’t think it’d spray that much when I shook it.”
She said it and quickly bit her lips to stifle a laugh, lowering her head. That was when—
Pssshhhht!
Right under her face, Taechang lifted his finger from the beer can’s opening.
“Uwaaahhh!”
Beer splattered right into Donghee’s face. She shrieked, flailing her hands. But it was too late—the spray drenched her hair, face, and left stains across her clothes.
“Hey!!”
She yelled, wiping dripping beer from her head with her sleeve.
“Oops, guess my finger slipped.”
Taechang replied with a face showing no hint of remorse. A faint smile lingered in his eyes and at the corners of his lips.
Congratulations, user! For achieving the rare feat of making Taechang smile, you’ve earned 100 hidden points. We look forward to more of your great efforts.
A bright blue window suddenly popped up from nowhere. Taechang scowled at the message, waving his hand to dismiss it, but it remained floating until Donghee finished reading.
The reward was as random as the beer attack. Donghee stared dumbly at the message, then back at Taechang. His lips had already straightened again, and the coldness in his gray eyes was back—like someone who had never once in his life smiled.
All that for a faint smile? 100 points?
She’d had to grind through quests and pour effort into raising favorability to earn hidden points before. Yet now, one fleeting, barely-there smile had granted her a hundred.
If that tiny smirk is worth 100 points… how many would they give if I made him laugh out loud? Could it be that the system’s real goal is to make Taechang happy? Is that why it gives me MP to summon him, and hidden points when he smiles? What does that have to do with me? Maybe if the territory prospers, Taechang becomes happier too?
Hints flickered in her mind, but the pieces wouldn’t fit together. She felt like she was on the verge of something, but there was no time to think it through.
Her time with Taechang as an assistant was dwindling fast. Not that she planned to exploit it—she only wanted him to stick by her side while she ran errands to the gold shop and the market.
Ever since Taechang had warned her not to eat anything in dreams, stepping outside her studio apartment had become scarier. She worried the line between dream and reality might blur.
“Shall we go? Today I’m hitting the market and the gold shop. Gold Rich should be due for a visit soon.”
It would be nice to have rare, dazzling gems that could knock Gold Rich off his feet. But the jewelry shop she’d opened wasn’t stocked with anything that precious yet. Luckily, since local craftsmanship wasn’t advanced, she could still sell pieces at a decent profit.
Opening the apartment door, she was met with the same white, misty staircase, rising like a stairway to heaven. Though familiar, it made her tense.
“You’re keeping up, right?”
She asked, pausing after a few steps.
Right behind her, Taechang stopped too, startled by her sudden halt. Though he was three or four steps lower, his tall height meant their eyes were still nearly level.
This time Donghee looked slightly down at him, but not at a steep angle. Their gazes collided briefly again before breaking apart.
“Just go.”
He urged, and she nodded solemnly, climbing higher. But the real issue came once they stepped off the staircase.
“…Can I hold your arm, or your hand?”
Donghee asked, eyeing the long path ahead. Taechang wanted to say no, but he knew she understood the mechanics of points all too well.
“Ah, right. You can’t refuse. Forgot about that. Hand, please.”
With a sigh, he offered his hand. Donghee clasped it eagerly, grinning in relief.
Her hand was much warmer than he expected. Taechang stared at their linked hands—she clutched his like a lifeline—before facing forward again.
It wasn’t his first time here with a user, but never before had one held his hand, teased him, or figured out MP so quickly.
“Let’s go.”
Donghee urged, and they started down the long path, hand in hand. It was nothing more than walking, but her touch made him acutely aware of every step. He could feel her anxious breathing—irritating, yet also concerning.
“Slow down. This isn’t a dream.”
He pinpointed exactly what she feared. She beamed at his reassurance and nodded.
“Yeah. I know it’s real. And your hand’s so warm. I thought it’d be cold.”
Buoyed by courage, she lifted their clasped hands a little and replied cheerfully.
But even after saying she was fine, Donghee never let go of his hand at the market or jewelry shop. Even when she needed both hands to lift something big, she kept him close, grabbing his hand again the moment she was free.
Taechang sighed inwardly. He hadn’t expected her to be this frightened of a dream. This was the same Donghee who had fearlessly fought a snarling Culen, yet now she clung to him like a child over a nightmare.
It only showed how deeply Grace had rooted itself in her heart.
Taechang was glad, but he forced himself not to expect too much. Users who’d shown even more devotion to Grace had abandoned it in the end, returning to their original lives when the chance came.
The moment of choice might come for Donghee too, and then who knew? No matter how attached she was, the rewards awaiting her in reality might easily outweigh everything Grace meant.
He suddenly remembered another user—one who had opened the front door without hesitation, wearing the same face as Chloe. Hanseo, was it? Or Hyeonseo? That user had hurt him the most, but now even their name was blurry in his memory.
Taechang’s gaze lingered on Donghee as she carefully stowed fertilized eggs into her inventory while still holding his hand. Feeling his eyes, Donghee gave an awkward smile and explained:
“The batch I took last time all failed to hatch. I’m hoping this time they’ll do better so I can start a poultry farm.”
She rambled explanations he hadn’t even asked for, stacking the cartons neatly. For all her talk about only wanting him nearby, she never once asked him to actually help.
“Want me to give you a hand?”
He asked.
“What? But I only paid 20 points. Today your job’s just to stick by me. If I make you do more, don’t I have to pay more?”
“This one’s my offer. Doesn’t count.”
“Really? That’s possible?”
Her eyes lit up with greed at the discovery. But Taechang, weighed down with mixed feelings, failed to notice the glint.
