Ubermensch – Chapter 28

Chapter 28

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The next morning.

Mason woke up with a dazed look on his face and glanced at the space beside him.

“…”

There, Eun Yuri, naked with her white and delicate body, was sleeping soundly.

‘I knew this would happen…’

He knew this would happen from the moment he suggested going to the bar. He knew that once they stepped into the bar, they would end up waking up in a bed.

However, there was something he hadn’t anticipated.

The night itself.

Eun Yuri’s body was smaller and softer than Mason had imagined.

It was so delicate that he was afraid he might break her if he touched her wrong.

But Eun Yuri, with a passion he didn’t know where she hid in that small body, pressed herself against him.

She even led the way, guiding Mason, who was flustered and cautious.

“…”

Mason brushed a strand of hair from Eun Yuri’s cheek and tucked it behind her ear. As his touch reached her, Eun Yuri smiled even in her sleep.

She was a truly lovely woman.

Mason carefully got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

As he was brushing his teeth, Eun Yuri, still half asleep, came up to him.

She leaned her head against his arm and smiled.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I slept well.”

Eun Yuri reached out with both arms and cupped his cheeks in her hands.

As if asking him to lower his head, Mason bent his knees.

Then, Eun Yuri whispered in his ear.

“It’s morning, right? It’s… tomorrow morning, right?”

“Uh, uh-huh. It is.”

“Can I like you, Mason?”

“What if I said no…?”

“I’ll report you to the police. For fraud.”

Mason chuckled.

“How can I fight against the law?”

“So, can I like you?”

“Of course.”

Eun Yuri smiled and kissed his cheek.

As she walked out of the bathroom, she asked,

“Should I order breakfast?”

“Hmm… I’ll just have some scrambled eggs and a couple of pieces of toast.”

“Okay.”

Eun Yuri sat on the bed.

Just then, her phone rang.

“Huh?”

She answered the call.

“…Yes, I understand.”

Mason asked,

“What is it?”

“Uh… um… Mason.”

“Yes?”

Eun Yuri said with a hesitant expression,

“Eric filed a police report, they say?”

“…”

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South Korea was a nation of players.

Due to the wave of monsters pushing down from North Korea, everything north of Gangnam and Gangwon Province had been lost.

After a nightmarish week of fighting, the Ministry of National Defense had lost most of its soldiers.

This meant that a large number of Korean men in their early to mid-20s were gone in an instant.

With 70% of its land being mountainous, South Korea had no choice but to rely on infantry warfare. And those hundreds of thousands of soldiers they had lost…

But they couldn’t sign a truce with the monsters.

They had to maintain the defense line and somehow cultivate forces for a northern expedition.

From that point on, all of Korea’s systems became tied to the player system.

If you can’t win with numbers, you lose.

They had to change the very system of the country to train enhanced infantry, the players.

One example of this was the Inner Circle.

The fact that they, a mere healer’s union, had become one of the most powerful groups in South Korea was due to the current reality of the country being held hostage by the player system.

Players were treated as being above the law.

Their problems were to be resolved amongst themselves.

For the authorities to intervene in a dispute between players?

It meant the victim had personally filed a report and demanded punishment.

“A man with no pride but a long memory, it seems.”

Sung Kijun summed it up briefly.

He looked at Mason and said,

“And you lack self-control.”

“Could you stand by and watch while that bastard hit Eun in front of me?”

“No. If someone hit Jina, I’d smash them too.”

Sung Kijun said in a calm voice,

“That’s why we try to end it with just grumbling.”

“So what do we do now?”

“We reach a settlement.”

Mason frowned.

“You’re not telling me to bow my head to that bastard, are you?”

“That’s the easiest thing to do.”

“No, it’s the hardest thing to do.”

Mason crossed his arms.

“I can laugh off being mocked. I can overlook someone challenging me. But you want me to bow my head to someone who touched my woman? I can’t do that.”

“…My woman?”

“…”

Sung Kijun narrowed his eyes.

He glanced at Eun Yuri, whose face had turned bright red, and said,

“The reason you stayed out last night was…”

“…Ah, let it go.”

Sung Kijun coughed.

“Your private life is your private life, so I won’t ask any further. Given the circumstances… I understand how you feel.”

“What do we do?”

“If they play dirty, you have no choice but to play dirty too.”

At that moment, Mason realized.

“Oh.”

That there was someone beside him who held power beyond the law.

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When Mason went to see her, Yekaterina was dressed casually in a sweater and jeans, sipping tea.

“I was wondering when you’d be dropping by.”

Yekaterina offered Mason tea with an elegant gesture.

“Have some. It will calm your emotions.”

Mason picked up the cup.

“It smells good. What kind of tea is it?”

“Mandrake. The real deal, grown from the brain of a corpse.”

Mason put the cup down.

“You know, I don’t think I’m thirsty anymore.”

“It’s good for your stamina.”

Mason picked up the cup again.

A pleasant fragrance filled his nose, and a rich flavor lingered in his mouth.

The comfort of a cup of warm tea calmed him down.

“You know why I’m here, right?”

“Yes.”

Yekaterina gave a calm smile.

“The KPC Middle Level Champion, Eric Yoon. You’ve touched a celebrity, haven’t you?”

“Can you take care of it?”

“I can.”

Before Mason could breathe a sigh of relief, Yekaterina crossed her legs and asked,

“But why should I do that for you?”

“Consider it as me owing you a favor.”

“Giving another debt to someone already in debt isn’t a wise investment.”

Mason swallowed a groan.

“What do you want me to do?”

“The problem started because of a date, so it should end with a date.”

“Huh?”

Yekaterina stood up.

“Want to grab a cup of coffee?”

Mason looked down at his teacup with a hesitant expression.

“I already had tea…”

But Yekaterina was already getting up.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“…”

Mason sighed and stood up.

The place Yekaterina took him to was, surprisingly, an ordinary chain coffee shop.

Standing in the queue to order, Yekaterina and Mason talked.

“This is unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you were going to take me to some hidden members-only specialty coffee shop or something.”

Yekaterina smiled.

“My tastes are surprisingly common.”

“…Saying ‘surprisingly common’ means it’s not common, isn’t it?”

When Mason grumbled, Yekaterina said with a smile,

“Still, it’s not a lie that I’m common. I’ve spent ten times longer living in hiding than living a wealthy life.”

“Is that so…”

A long life has many stories. Her life was longer than that of an ordinary person, so she must have many more stories than an ordinary person.

Things she wants to talk about.

And also… things she doesn’t want to talk about…

Yekaterina simply ordered two Americanos and sat at one of the tables.

“And… I haven’t been to a public place without a security team in a while because of Seo Yeonhee.”

“Seo Yeonhee? What did she do?”

“Really want to hear about it?”

“…I think I’d rather not.”

Yekaterina smiled. It wasn’t her usual enigmatic smile, but a genuinely happy one.

She had a charm that captivated those around her. It wasn’t simply about physical beauty, but the innate charisma of a leader or a monarch.

Sitting in a regular cafe wearing ordinary clothes, Mason felt her charm even more strongly.

Because even in this ordinary moment, everything seemed to fade in comparison to her.

Mason emptied his coffee cup and said,

“So, anyway, I had coffee. What do we do now?”

“We date. Eat, drink.”

“Sleep too?”

“We’ll see how the mood is.”

After saying that jokingly, Yekaterina spoke in a calm voice,

“Look around.”

“Why?”

Yekaterina didn’t answer, and Mason looked around. It was a popular coffee shop with more than half the tables occupied.

“What do you see?”

“I don’t know?”

“That’s because you don’t know what to look for.”

Yekaterina took a sip of coffee and said,

“Look for the men among these people.”

Mason looked around and made a subtle expression.

Among the dozens of people, he was the only man.

“It’s just me?”

“What do you think that means?”

“Is this a shop men don’t like very much?”

“It’ll be the same wherever you go.”

Yekaterina said in a calm voice,

“The sex ratio has become that unbalanced.”

South Korea was an army-centric nation, an infantry-centric nation.

And above all… it was a nation with mandatory military service.

When they lost Seoul, they had already lost most of its citizens.

Furthermore, the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of soldiers meant that a significant portion of young men in their early 20s had been wiped out.

South Korea, which was already approaching a demographic cliff… Until now, they had been coping with the labor shortage by importing workers from overseas, but after the monster outbreak, the global population had plummeted.

This was the reason why South Korea was clinging to the player system.

Because the expendable manpower for the battlefield had run out.

And the lack of men implied another problem.

“So… the concept of dating is also changing a lot.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that monogamy is practically broken.”

The loss of the 20-something generation also meant the loss of the population 20 years later.

The generation that should be most actively dating and getting married.

If things continued this way, the country would have no future.

South Korea itself had received a terminal diagnosis.

Many policies were implemented to overcome this.

Numerous policies were announced regarding childbirth and childcare, including an aggressive policy that promised the state would take care of any child born, regardless of whether a marriage certificate was registered.

Cultural changes were also significant.

Polygamy and lesbian relationships, which had been taboo, were coming into the open, and adoption by unmarried individuals was being encouraged.

“I’ve lived a long life and experienced many different cultures and systems. Polygamy, polyandry, levirate marriage, and many other types of relationships… but the problem wasn’t the system, it was the people. People were always the problem.”

“People?”

“Yes, people.”

Yekaterina spoke calmly.

“I was once one of many wives, but there were times when I was happy. I also had many husbands, but there were times when I was unhappy. A good husband is a good husband regardless of how many wives he has, and a good wife is a good wife regardless of how many husbands she has.”

“…”

“Perhaps someone like you, Mason, could make as many people happy as you wish if you wanted to. Whether it’s a few, or even dozens.”

“Why are you telling me this?”