The Artifact Was Me

When I pulled back my collar, I found thick black scorch marks smeared across my arm, though I had no idea when they’d gotten there.

On a hunch, I checked my chest as well, and it was the same there.

[TIP! A memory artifact has been discovered! Please remove the scorch marks from artifact ‘Go Doya’.]

Me? I’m the memory artifact?

What the hell is this…?
So what, am I supposed to jump into the pond or something?

Well, it’s not like I couldn’t…

Before I could even finish panicking, the system started spewing messages like it had lost its mind.

[Scorch marks attached to the body can be removed through bodily fluid exchange.]

Bodily fluid exchange? What bodily fluid?

If it’s liquid, do I just drink the pond water or something?

No, wait, it said exchange, so should I spit or—

Tilting my head in confusion, I watched as the system practically mocked me with another message.

[‘Bodily fluid exchange’ refers to genital insertion between members of the opposite s*x.]

[[TIP! In a 19+ romance simulation, entering a Hidden Field will frequently open (19+ Events)!
If you do not wish to open (19+ Events), it is recommended to avoid entering ‘Hidden Fields’.]]

[[TIP! **** ** *]]

What is this, can the system glitch too?

Staring at the system tip that looked like corrupted text, I suddenly let out a sound of realization.

“Ah. You’re messing with me, right?”

Obviously it’s lying. Yeah, there’s no way something this absurd would actually happen.

[[TIP! The scenario does not interfere with the target character’s actions.
The player must induce bodily fluid exchange through their own actions.]]

Wow….

Reading the next message, I let out a hollow, unenthusiastic sigh of admiration.

It was irritating enough to make my temples throb.

“You’ve got to be kidding…!”

I knew perfectly well that the system wasn’t lying.

It might refuse to tell me who the bunker’s owner was, but it never lies.

That much I’d learned through experience.

Which meant I really did have to do ‘that’.

I breathed out harshly, grinding my teeth.

‘Today is literally the first day I’ve ever seen this guy awake…How the hell am I supposed to have s*x with someone like that?’

You do it then, huh? Why don’t you demonstrate? What kind of game doesn’t even have a tutorial?

I screamed internally in despair.

Fine, I could concede a hundred times over that s*x itself wasn’t the issue.

What mattered was that this would be completely unconsented.

I know I have to do it. He doesn’t.

That means I’d be the one forcing myself on Hyeon Jaeyul.

“No way!”

Honestly, it’d be faster if I were the one getting forced.

How am I supposed to take down a huge slab of muscle like that with this fragile body?

He looked like the type whose brain was made of muscle too.

The kind of man who, if asked to choose between strength training and s*x, would pick strength training without a second thought.

A man with the face of a strict ascetic.

If this were Jeong Iheon from the real world, we could probably reach a clean, mutual agreement and be done with it.

But this man would just stare at me blankly.

He wasn’t even interested in my looks to begin with.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I was supposed to have s*x with him.

“Maybe it’d be better if he just… forced me instead….”

I muttered in a defeated tone.

That was when I belatedly remembered that the system here, unlike reality, responded to my voice.

As if it had been waiting for me to say that, the system window sparkled cheerfully.

[[TIP! Unlike reality, within a ‘Hidden Field,’ the system can reflect the player’s requests to the greatest extent possible.

If you have a desired condition, try asking the system directly like this! We will grant almost anything!]]

…Huh?

[[TIP! A ‘Heat’ debuff has been applied to all characters in the ‘Hidden Field’ except the player.
(Duration: 5 hours 59 minutes)]]

Hearing Hyeon Jaeyul’s ragged heartbeat beyond the system messages, I weakly clasped my hands in front of my chest.

Oh.
Oh no.

I think my mouth just summoned a disaster.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound of his heart echoed, heavy yet fast, transmitting his arousal straight to me.

Trying not to stimulate him any further, I quickly turned my head away.

“…?”

Hyeon Jaeyul’s face was full of confusion.

One large hand pressed against the back of his neck as he frowned, the skin around his eyes flushed red.

His expression openly showed that he found his own condition strange.

His heart was pounding, blood rushing violently through his body.

I hadn’t expected the system to go this far, and seeing his bewildered expression made guilt creep in.

‘Does he… maybe not have any experience?’

One thigh was visibly tensing, swelling slightly, yet Hyeon Jaeyul just stood there rubbing his neck with a vacant expression.

It wasn’t how an aroused man normally looked.

Whether he didn’t realize his groin was hardening or simply felt no shame, he made no attempt to hide his erection in front of me.

I forced my voice to stay calm as I asked,

“What’s wrong?”

“N-no…It’s nothing….”

He muttered hazily, his breathing uneven.

A glossy sheen of moisture gathered in his dark eyes as he stared into empty space.

‘…His reaction is seriously strange.’

Watching his unfocused gaze, I tilted my head.

His eyes slid after my movements.

From my forehead, to my brows, down the bridge of my nose, to my lips.

His gaze traced my cheek and slowly lifted until our eyes met.

Staring blankly at me with unfocused eyes, Hyeon Jaeyul lowered his hand.

‘…Wait, is he about to just start touching himself?’

Because of the word ‘heat,’ I reflexively looked at him with faint contempt.

But the place his hand moved toward was unexpected.

His other wrist.

The wrist where I had tied the balloon.

Without breaking eye contact, he slipped his thumb into the gap between his wrist and the now-loosened string.

I could faintly sense the tension in his thick forearm.

In contrast to his pounding heart, he let out a slow breath and pushed his fingers deeper beneath the string.

When his thumb slid all the way in, he exhaled languidly.

After steadying his breathing, Hyeon Jaeyul spoke to me with eyes that were a little clearer.

“…Sorry, but could you dress properly?”

“Huh?”

“Your arm. Pull your sleeve down.”

He gestured toward my exposed arm.

It sounded like an order, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

Because I realized then that he was restraining himself in his own way.

Following his gaze to my soot-stained arm, I thought.

How much did this ‘Heat’ debuff actually affect a person?

Was it something you could endure with enough self-control?

I watched the fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead, then lowered my gaze to the handkerchief I’d used to wipe away the soot.

Even though I’d dipped it in water, only the scorch marks were gone.
The cloth itself wasn’t wet at all.

Seeing that, I recalled the system message.

Memory artifacts are excessively ‘realistic’ or ‘unrealistic’.

The handkerchief was excessively realistic.

Cloth that didn’t get wet was excessively unrealistic.

Holding the handkerchief, I realized that this moment, too, was nothing more than part of a dream.

‘To get out, I either erase all the scorch marks…
Or kill Hyeon Jaeyul.’

Those were the two options.

Killing him didn’t seem like it would be difficult.

Because he was too obedient.

If someone had to die to end this dream, Hyeon Jaeyul looked like the type who would offer his own life without hesitation.

Even if it was at the request of someone he’d just met.

Watching him get tossed around by the system without ever making a move on me, I was sure of it.

Maybe that was why.

I didn’t want to see him die.

It was better to mix bodies with him than to watch him die.

The handkerchief, now free of soot, had a childish, cute design.

Small yellow chicks were printed all over it at even intervals.

Holding the chick-patterned handkerchief, I walked toward Hyeon Jaeyul.

As I approached, he tightened his grip around his wrist.

Snap.

At the same time, the sound of the balloon string breaking rang out.

The jarringly bright yellow balloon floated up into the sky.

But neither Hyeon Jaeyul nor I spared it a glance.

Just like when he first met me, I approached him with extremely careful steps.

The closer I got, the more he bent at the waist.

It didn’t look like he was trying to hide his erection.

Rather, it seemed like he was adjusting for our height difference, trying to keep our eyes aligned as the distance closed.

By the time I stopped in front of him, he was nearly crouching to meet my eye level.

I didn’t know why he was doing this, but it felt natural.

Which made me think that perhaps he’d once had someone he’d met like this before.

“I actually know what I need to do to wake up from this dream.”

Standing close, I lifted the corners of my mouth and spoke softly.

He tilted his head toward me to hear better.

I wiped the sweat from his forehead with the handkerchief and looked straight at him.

“…What do you have to do?”

He asked quietly, allowing me to touch his forehead without resistance.

The damp, heavy atmosphere between us didn’t match the cute handkerchief at all.

I folded the out-of-place cloth and lowered my hand.

When I slipped Hyeon Jaeyul’s memory fragment into his pants pocket, his body jerked violently.

I’d deliberately avoided the direction of his groin, yet his reaction was still intense.

The image of an abstinent man who’d probably never even masturbated was now being stained by a lust he himself couldn’t comprehend.