NOVEL NEXT chapter 14
Woo-woong, woo-woong -
"Ugh..."
Awakened by the irritating vibration of her smartphone, Seo Jin-ah opens her eyes.
"Ah!"
Regaining consciousness under an unfamiliar ceiling, she looks around. Dirty wallpaper and worn-out furniture. Realizing she's in a motel, the memories of last night flood back.
"Sob...sob, sob, sob."
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but maybe it was because she couldn't control her sexual desires and ended up rolling around with another man in the motel. Overwhelmed with guilt, she continues to cry.
"I'm sorry... Byung-joo."
Even though she had screamed in pleasure with another man, the thought of desperately wanting to see Byung-joo made her loathe herself.
[Psychological Message]
Love for Lee Byung-joo - Amplification Activated
Anxiety about married life
Desire for Lee Hyun-woo and a sexual affair - Amplification Activated
However, like the [Psychological Message] from the work system, her love for her husband continued to amplify as well.
"What do I do, what do I do... Missed calls, 20..."
The calls from her husband Lee Byung-joo throughout the night, due to his wife's absence, weigh heavily on Seo Jin-ah with guilt.
"Yeah. Byung-joo. No, it's okay, nothing's wrong. I told you, I was with old classmates. Yes, yes. I'll be home soon."
"Phew."
After finishing the call with her worried husband, Seo Jin-ah lets out a sigh of relief. However, she then looks down at her naked body and is horrified. Her once pristine skin is marked with red stains here and there, lasciviously imprinted everywhere. Especially on her breasts, nape, and thighs, the marks clearly from a clingy sexual encounter.
"What do I do, what do I doooo."
Between her thighs, the semen Lee Hyun-woo had recklessly spurted the previous night is clumped white. Seemingly out of strength to be shocked anymore, Seo Jin-ah struggles to get up. Her thighs wobble, barely able to take each step. With superhuman effort, she erases the traces of last night's Lee Hyun-woo and steps out of the motel room.
"Oh my."
The middle-aged man sitting at the motel counter ogles Jin-ah's body as she checks out. The tight dress she wore on Hyun-woo's command draws his gaze irresistibly. The vigorous lovemaking of the previous night had crumpled and stained the dress with semen and love juices, doubling its lewdness.
Trying to pull down the dress doesn’t help much; her ample breasts make the dress's length too short, exposing most of her thighs. Naturally, more than half of her breasts are also exposed.
"Wow, damn, huff huff."
Seeing Jin-ah staggering, her legs weak from last night's fervor, the motel owner rubs his stiffened penis through his pants.
"Eek."
Sensing something off, Jin-ah hurries out of the motel. The lewd gazes of men follow her until she reaches home. Between the guilt over her husband and her own disappointment, the sticky looks from men make her cry in shame all the way home.
****
[User: Seo Jin-ah]
[Age: 25] [Height: 163] [Weight: 48]
[Stamina: 8/10] [Charm: 7/10] [Sexual Desire: 8(+2)/10] [Mental: 1(-7)/10]
[Satisfaction: 10/10] [Favorability: 1/10] - new!!
[Psychological Message]
Love for Lee Byung-joo - Amplification Activated
Anxiety about married life
Desire for Lee Hyun-woo and a sexual affair - Amplification Activated
[Satisfaction level for Seo Jin-ah has reached its peak. An Employment Contract is issued.]
[Remaining Employment Contracts: 1]
[Favorability opens up.]
[If Favorability reaches maximum, you can renegotiate the relationship with the target.]
[Relationship with Seo Jin-ah: Workplace colleague]
"Oh? Ohhh!!"
Having thoroughly enjoyed Seo Jin-ah last night and returned home, Hyun-woo receives another gift. His sexual desires relieved, Seo Jin-ah’s satisfaction had reached its maximum. Now, the Favorability rating had also unlocked.
"Umm... currently, it's just a workplace colleague relationship."
Hyun-woo isn't sure why Favorability is rising but guesses it must be because having sex seems to increase Satisfaction and collect [Employment Contracts], and Favorability also rises.
"Could it be possible to make her a sex partner or a slave?"
As Hyun-woo plans the next [Private Meeting], he suddenly remembers Eun-seol, who had outsmarted him before.
"Right, Eun-seol!"
[User: Eun-seol]
[Age: 28] [Height: 168] [Weight: 54]
[Stamina: 7/10] [Charm: 7(+3)/10] [Sexual Desire: 5/10] [Mental: 3(-6)/10]
[Satisfaction: 0/10] [Favorability: Locked]
[Psychological Message]
Desire to be promoted within the company
Desire to appear attractive to colleagues - Amplification Activated
Craving for attention from colleagues - Amplification Activated
Sorrow over breakup - new!
"Hehehe, serves her right."
From the psychological message, it was instantly clear she had broken up with her boyfriend. Hyun-woo amplifies Eun-seol’s [Sorrow] with a light touch.
[Psychological Message]
Desire to be promoted within the company
Desire to appear attractive to colleagues - Amplification Activated
Craving for attention from colleagues
Sorrow over breakup - Amplification Activated (new!)
While he cancels the amplification of the [Craving for attention], amplifying [Sorrow] would crush Eun-seol's mental state faster. Thinking of having both women under his control, Hyun-woo couldn't help but smile.
****
Having broken up with her resident boyfriend Jaehyun for a trivial reason, Eun-seol was suffering from the dual pains of the breakup and being ostracized by her coworkers.
"How could this happen to the reputation and achievements I’ve built up?"
She had sacrificed relationships with female colleagues and charmed her superiors with a mix of flirtation and solid performance to secure her position. It was all for a spot on the publicity team directly under the president, a role that would make her the public face of the company. It had been part of her strategy for promotion.
But overnight, her hard-earned status crumbled. A graduate of a prestigious university, attractive, with excellent job performance—Eun-seol’s pride, which was always high, could not endure seeing herself fall within the company.
Working late, night after night, she tried to manage the work that had been dumped on her by various departments, but she couldn't return to her former state. The indifferent looks from male colleagues, which had grown colder, persisted. The colder their gazes became, the more Eun-seol craved the same level of attention she used to receive.
Normally, she might have given up and focused more on her relationship with her boyfriend Jaehyun. However, the psychological states amplified by Hyun-woo through the work system—
Desire for promotion within the company
Desire to appear attractive to male colleagues
—were ultimately the main reasons for her breakup with doctor Jaehyun.
"Sigh... What’s the problem?"
"Who’s been talking behind my back?"
Unable to determine who it might be, Eun-seol found herself suspecting each of her female colleagues one by one. Caught in an increasingly untenable situation both personally and professionally, Eun-seol’s [Mental] was gradually deteriorating.
[User: Eun-seol]
[Age: 28] [Height: 168] [Weight: 54]
[Satisfaction: 0/10] [Favorability: Locked]
[The subject's Mental has reached a critical low. Now you can change the target of her psychological state.]
“Ah! Strip down and scream!!!”
Eun-seol’s mental state, as resilient as her pride had once been, finally broke. The collapse of her position at the company and the sorrow from her breakup had taken a toll, both professionally and personally. Her expression as she passed through the corridor recently was indeed a sight to behold.
‘She was keeping up a brave face, trying to look unbothered.’
Despite her mental state being shattered, Eun-seol tried to maintain a poker face due to her pride. The thought of crushing that great pride excited Hyun-woo. With just a few touches on the work system, he had twisted Eun-seol's life and felt a slight pang of conscience, but then thought:
‘That’s what she gets for what she’s usually done.’
Recalling how she used to harass other departments for her promotion, Hyun-woo dismissed these thoughts. Now that Eun-seol’s [Mental] had hit rock bottom, he changes the target of her psychological message from:
Desire to appear attractive to male colleagues → Desire to appear attractive to Hyun-woo
The target of [Desire] is changed to himself. While he can’t change it to someone else yet, Hyun-woo speculates that more options might unlock as his administrator level increases. He also cancels the amplification of [Sorrow] related to the breakup. Amplifying [Sorrow] to lower the Mental state no longer makes sense.
[Psychological Message]
Desire for promotion within the company
Desire to appear attractive to Hyun-woo - Amplification Activated
Craving for attention from colleagues
Sorrow over the breakup
“I wonder how Eun-seol, who’s nothing but a corpse without her pride, will act.”
Hyun-woo, who normally treated Eun-seol like she was invisible, started looking forward to going to work again, imagining the flattery she might offer.
‘I must be crazy. Excited to go to work because of this.’
Filled with anticipation, Hyun-woo tossed and turned in bed until dawn before finally falling asleep.
****
Contrary to Hyun-woo’s expectations, Eun-seol did not exhibit any special behavior. He intentionally passed by the publicity team’s corridor to brush past her, but her indifference remained the same as before.
For the first time since gaining administrative rights in the work system, Hyun-woo seriously doubted its effectiveness. It was only after two weeks that he finally believed the work system was functioning normally.
Ding -
A message from Eun-seol popped up on the company messenger during work hours.
Hello, Deputy Lee. This is Eun-seol from the publicity team. I heard you helped with the recent promotional activities. I’d like to thank you by treating you to lunch, would you have time?
“Oh!”
Lunch as a thank you for work collaboration was a routine gesture of appreciation. It was only unusual because it was Eun-seol making «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the offer.
Hyun-woo had never heard of her treating anyone to lunch before as a thank you for work cooperation. There was no reason for the proud Eun-seol to suggest having a meal first. There were plenty of male colleagues lining up to buy her meals.
Yes, hello, Deputy Eun. Unfortunately, I have a prior appointment today. Sorry.
Hyun-woo didn’t actually have an appointment but decided to play hard to get. Since he had amplified her [Desire] to appear attractive to him through the work system, the control was in his hands.
‘Sometimes, she needs to be turned down.’
“What?”
Eun-seol was neither angry nor puzzled by Deputy Lee Hyun-woo’s blunt refusal. She had never made a meal proposal so politely before, and to be rejected so flatly scratched her pride.
‘What the heck, he doesn’t know his place.’
Deputy Lee Hyun-woo of the administrative support team. A junior by one year. Average face, average physique. As far as she knew, his background was also average. Competent enough at his job but otherwise unremarkable. In the company, there were plenty of male colleagues with better looks or backgrounds than Hyun-woo.
Yet, funnily enough, recently Eun-seol found herself increasingly concerned about Deputy Lee. Outwardly, she was as cold as ever, not even sparing him a glance.
Ah, I see. Then, would tomorrow work for you?
Barely suppressing her anger and annoyance, she pressed the keys firmly and sent the message. For some reason, she wanted to look good in front of him and talk to him. Eun-seol, who had never had any interest in men like Hyun-woo all her life, was now the one clinging.
Yes.
Eun-seol felt a mix of annoyance and relief at the nonchalant note from Hyun-woo, which arrived much later.