Minji POV:

“Kiss me again… Mm…”

Thin lips failed to intertwine with my husband’s. The only way to break past his hot defence was to use… Offence! Several kisses crashed against a solid barrier; they ignored the blank expression staring at the relentless assault until an opening… arrived!

“Honey, please go to work.”

By the time I moved in to capitalise on it, Uri’s mouth was already closed. This defeat wouldn’t deter me in the slightest, so I stepped back and spread open my arms. Heat flashed across the bridge of my nose before I utilised my ultimate trump card: cuteness!

“Minji needs a big hug to face the day ahead.”

Uri’s facade vanished with an outburst of laughter. His firm arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into a huge hug. I held the love of my life as close as I could, squeezing my sizeable breasts against that sexy chest of his.

‘…’

Past the warmth was light: a young woman sat on the right side of the sofa in the living room. I watched her head turn toward me, illuminating the area with a bright smile that shone through yellow irises. Her mouth opened; she asked me how my day at work was before dispersing into sun-coloured particles of light.

A soft voice echoed in my mind.

“Sister.”

That was the only word Byeol said, but it made my eyes narrow and head fall. I didn’t let the tears gather. I didn’t let them look for a way to spill over because this was how I chose to remember my younger sister.

“Be careful, Uri. I can’t lose you too.”

My grip around his toned body tightened. We decided not to have a marriage ceremony. Maybe it was childish, but I couldn’t bear to walk down that aisle, knowing Byeol never had a chance to do the same. I still wore a wedding dress. I still said my vows. The registry venue was empty, yet Byeol sat in the front row with a radiant smile.

“Honey, I’m not your average Grandmaster.”

A heat spread over the room; it accompanied Uri’s voice that contained bottomless power. His strength defied what I thought was possible for a Ki Practitioner to achieve.

“Exactly… You’re too strong, and that scares me.”

Uri caressed the back of my head. I had spoken to him about this issue multiple times but losing Byeol only made the anxiety increase. I also didn’t know if my older siblings were even alive at this point; it had been that long since I last saw them.

I felt afraid.

I felt alone.

Then a hand tapped my bum.

“We should have kids soon, don’t you think?”

The fear evaporated in front of the heat.

A fire consumed the loneliness.

My eyes lit up at Uri’s suggestion, and my cheeks burned with the desire to turn that ‘soon’ into a ‘now.’ We were newlyweds, according to law, but in reality, we had been together for almost a decade. So having children wasn’t a new topic for us.

“How many? Mm… Tell me… Oh~ Let’s start now, hone—”

A delicate finger pressed against soft lips. A hand ran through curly hair.

“Minji, go to work.”

His eyes weren’t as dark brown as his hair, but the range of hues revealed a dancing flame whenever the sunlight was drawn toward them. My heart almost exploded from Uri’s demeanour that became a tad bit serious. It made my head bob up and down but also made me forget how to walk; that’s how darn sexy he was.

“Seriously though… How did I catch your attention?”

“…”

Uri folded his arms.

“Hold on. Give me a few seconds.”

A few beads of sweat began to gather on his forehead when my eyebrows twitched before furrowing.

“Ah! Your personality!”

“….”

I picked up my bag and slammed the door shut behind me. It was the only way to control myself—to hide the passionate face, paired with eyes arching towards the stratosphere.

‘Tonight… Mm…’

I knew Uri liked making jokes; it was another aspect of his character that I loved. The new red nightdress I bought wasn’t a joke though. I imagined wearing it. I envisioned sitting down on our bed, waiting for his gentle fingers to lift my chin up an—

“Go to work, Minji!”

I shifted my gaze to Uri, leaning out of the window. A chuckle left my mouth before several kisses tried to travel through the air to reach him.

“See you later, Honey.”

Our 6 bedroom house was at the end of Sangsin Street in the East of Chunhae Village. We had a large front and back garden, equipped with several Ki Artifacts that secured the property when we weren’t home. Uri offered to buy it for me, but it was a house I wanted to purchase before I even met him.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

It took 5 years of working at the guild, but only 2 years after I entered a relationship with Uri, until we started living together.

I passed by the largest park in Chunhae: Hyoksin Park. Uri had taken me there on several dates; he wasn’t the luxurious type—he preferred simplicity. We went camping, stargazing, hiking, horse riding, archery, and did dozens of other natural activities together. Despite not being home as often as I wanted him to be, he made the effort to organise our dates.

We slept together in the 5th year of our relationship.

‘…Mm.’

I was nervous. I admit it, but once we connected, that bedroom door remained shut for two whole days. Uri wasn’t the reason for that decision though.

‘Tonight…’

“Minji?”

I clicked my tongue at the middle-aged man, disrupting the fantasies I needed to engage in. He undid the top buttons of his shirt and let out a sigh before adjusting his top hat.

“Woori isn’t going anywhere, so listen to my troubles about Yeongyeol for a minute. I came back from admiring the beautiful wome—cities in Ramroon when I hear there was a big commotion involving Lady Chloe!”

Sang-hoon’s deep eyes squashed together. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead with a handkerchief but still had his priorities twisted.

“You should be more worried about your wife finding out what you’ve been up to in your spare time, Mr Sang-hoon.”

“…”

I walked past his stiff frame and continued on to the guild I worked at. Receptionist jobs were competitive: we were dealing with the lives of Adventurers and the citizens of Sharir; it was an important job that required a specific set of skills.

Every application needed a cover letter explaining why they should be hired. If you made it past that stage, then you’d have to take a physical exam. The environment at guilds can be stressful, so those working the front desk had to be capable of defending themselves and de-escalating situations. After that was the interview stage, where the Guild Manager would assess your character in person before observing you work in a simulated environment.

Juri passed on her first try. I passed on the second attempt, but most needed three or more to succeed.

I put my bag in an assigned locker with my name on it. The latch closed on its own before sealing the contents behind several powerful barriers. I walked through a few more doors, heading deeper into the building until I reached a large lounge.

Several of my colleagues were already relaxing and conversing amongst themselves.

“Ah, great! Here comes the show off again.”

A dark blond man grumbled while shifting his gaze to the side. I don’t know why Poyol did this to himself, but one day he would learn.

“You’re still upset that Juri rejected you?”

His cheeks went dark red, and the chatter died down. Everyone stared at him, bewildered by the fact he had that much confidence to approach Juri alone.

“She never… rejected me! She said, we’ll see!”

“Oh? And you’re still waiting?”

Poyol’s mouth dropped open but failed to notice the others wincing at the heat that just left mine.

“…I hope your marriage fails.”

“So you can have a chance?”

He picked up his coffee, ignored the laughter, and stormed out of the lounge without saying another word. I wasn’t like other women Poyol had dealt with; if he was going to try me, he better be ready for the consequences that decision came with.

“Minji, you’re way too much.”

I shrugged my shoulders at Jujil’s remark before joining her conversation. Once the clock hands reached 8:30am, I adjusted my composure and sat behind the front desk to start my shift.

Guilds were open 24/7 and hired Scouts to enter Dungeons on a rotational basis. This was reflected in the workload that never seemed to decrease: a constant influx of information that required continuous updates to the manual logs receptionists needed to keep track of. I heard that some Ki Artifacts could automate this process, but we didn’t have access to them in Sharir.

I organised the dungeon reports, responded to Imperial Soldiers requesting verification for Arcane Dungeons through a Ki Artifact called LongCom, while handling Adventurers at the front desk.

The morning came and went.

“Okay, okay. So I was watching the sunrise alone in Hyoksin Park when the most beautiful man I had ever seen appeared. His flaming orange eyes were fierce, like a feral dog, and his skin was as pale as the moon. The air around him was both cold and hot.”

Jujil’s long eyelashes fluttered.

“Then he approached me. In my head, I was screaming, HOLD IT TOGETHER, JUJIL! HOLD IT TOGETHER! DON’T MESS THIS ONE UP!!”

A few female co-workers chuckled.

“So I asked him what such a sexy gentleman is doing alone on a morning as fine as this? If it’s company you wish for, I happen to be available. Shall we go for a stroll?”

“….”

“…You know I speak weird sometimes when I get embarrassed, so don’t give me that look! Anyway, he smiled and took my heart at the same time. The door closed after that.”

A few coughs echoed around the silent lounge. Jujil stared off into the distance; her cheeks darkened with time until a tongue ran across her lips. She was envisioning a… fantasy! I was proud. Proud to call Jujil my close friend.

“He proposed first, though. I’m not no easy woman, gurls.”

“Jujil, I know you like telling stories, but you expect us to believe he proposed before… you know.”

She lifted her thin fingers to show a small gold and silver ring. The metal was shaped like fur tails, interwoven together around the diamond.

“Then would you believe me if I said I woke up alone in bed and have no idea where he lives or what he does for a living? All he left behind was a piece of paper with his name on it.”

“…You got played.”

“Hic… Jujil, I’m so sorry you always go through this… Come, come. I’ll give you a hug… Hic…”

“What a shame… Better luck next time, Jilly.”

Jujil stood still. They ignored her blank expression and continued to hug her. Dark eyes swivelled toward me, signalling that I do something about them, but my lunch break was over.

“She didn’t get played. Her fiance is a busy person like my Uri.”

They stepped back, giving her room to breathe. If that man wasn’t serious about Jujil, he wouldn’t have left behind his name or given her a ring that seemed bound to her. I wiped my hands with a tissue, left the lounge, and took a seat behind the front desk.

‘What is this?’

My eyes narrowed at the new reports delivered. I flipped through old dungeon reports from the last 6 months until I found what I was looking for.

‘!!’

It wasn’t several dungeons; it was hundreds. Each of their difficulty had increased by anywhere between 1x to 3x in such a short time frame that our previous estimations were off by a concerning amount.

‘This isn’t normal.’

I pressed a red button underneath the desk to activate Ki Arrays that only allowed Adventurers to see the middle of the reception area. The chair swivelled to the side, and fingers typed in the guild branch’s passcode on a black keypad.

The small monitor flashed before three options became available: Logs, Transmissions, and Registration. I rushed to compare what I discovered with LongCom’s data on the number of Dungeon Breaks transmitted and soon found the cause behind our delayed reaction to this change.

‘This one was originally Rank C, but the moment it reached A+ and crossed the Arcane threshold, the monsters broke out.’

The casualties numbered around 1000, with no deaths.

‘…That’s low. Were the soldiers on standby enough to hold the monsters back? Or were there Adventurers nearby as well?’

LongCom could only store basic information from transmissions, so Imperial Soldiers were required to write an additional report. I examined the Dungeon Break report, but it didn’t contain any strange comments about what occurred at the scene. No territory was created in the surrounding area either.

‘Does the Will of Independence change based on the Boss Monster?’

The data said otherwise, and the Guild Manager hadn’t informed us of any significant changes in other parts of Sharir.

‘These Dungeons must be exceptions to the rule for some reason.’

A deep sigh left my mouth. It was standard protocol to continue working on any outstanding administrative or data collection tasks up to 4 hours after a shift was over. Judging by the scale of this, I would be working overtime tonight.

‘Nightdress… Nightdress…’

Tears slid down my cheeks at the mere thought of missing out on a night full of bliss and love. I excused myself from the front desk and gave a report to the Guild Manager, who kept questioning why I was crying. He wouldn’t understand just how much I sacrificed for this darn job!

‘Ahem… Let’s just get on with it.’