Transmigrated into the Gacha Game I Abandoned for 10 Years

Eastern Clan Alliance Office.

“…This.”

“I told you, you’ll only be receiving.”

Durandor stared at the black gemstones Loria had given him in his office.

These weren’t just ordinary black stones; they shimmered ominously, emanating a dangerous aura.

“…Is this Void?”

“That’s right.”

“Huh.”

Durandor let out a hollow laugh as he picked up one of the stones scattered across his desk.

Durandor absentmindedly gazed at the Void, a power from the Abyss that erases everything it touches, a twisted, malevolent force from another realm.

“Well, I’ll be going.”

“…There’s really no price for this?”

“I’ve told you several times~ You’ll only be receiving from me.”

“……”

Durandor gave Loria a disbelieving look, but she just smiled nonchalantly as if it didn’t bother her at all.

“Whether you believe it or not doesn’t really matter, but make sure you use it well. I don’t have much of it myself. You do know how to use it, don’t you?”

With those words, Loria vanished as if she had nothing more to say.

“……”

Durandor frowned slightly as he looked at the Void stones scattered below his desk after Loria disappeared.

‘What is she thinking?’

Although Durandor had accepted Loria’s offer, he still couldn’t understand why she was helping the Celestials to this extent.

‘And with the Void too.’

Durandor looked down at the Void stones scattered on the floor.

There were at least dozens of Void stones, which Durandor knew were frequently used by beings from the otherworld and were a source of their power.

In other words, having these stones meant one could use the power of the otherworld beings, albeit in a limited way.

Of course, since the power was contained in the gemstones, it couldn’t be used freely, but transferring that power to a weapon was still entirely possible.

In short, if the Celestials weren’t destroyed, Loria’s actions would ultimately give them extra strength for future battles.

Once the Outsider was gone, the Celestials and the beings of the otherworld would have to fight for control of the Middle Realm, leaving Durandor perplexed as to why Loria was helping them.

‘…Well, whatever. For now, I’ll play along.’

Gripping the Void stone tightly, Durandor made his decision and grabbed the blue stone as well.

After lifting the restriction, Kim Hyunwoo became fully aware of the emotions that all the heroes of Lartania held toward him.

However, just because he understood those emotions didn’t mean he intended to accept them as they were.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

No matter how blatantly the heroes of Lartania expressed their feelings, Kim Hyunwoo had no intention of reacting to them.

The reason was obvious: before entering Arteil, there were many players who had failed by acting that way. But more than that, Kim Hyunwoo knew too well the dangers of such personal relationships.

Of course, he hadn’t thought there would be problems from the beginning.

If Kim Hyunwoo had simply accepted the heroes’ feelings without ignoring or avoiding them, things might not have seemed bad at first.

In fact, if he actively managed the situation between the heroes, it could have turned out decently.

However, the problem was that this was only the case at the beginning.

No matter how much Kim Hyunwoo tried to share his affection equally among all the heroes, it was impossible, and that would inevitably lead to discord.

Once discord began, no matter how hard Kim Hyunwoo tried, he wouldn’t be able to control it.

After all, he couldn’t control the hearts of the heroes.

Of course, he could choose to marry one of the heroes and free himself from this situation, but that wasn’t what Kim Hyunwoo wanted either.

With Loria’s schemes and the Celestials preparing to attack Lartania, losing any of the recently returned heroes was not a good idea at this time.

In short, from Kim Hyunwoo’s perspective, maintaining the current situation was the best choice to preserve Lartania’s strength.

Whether it was while playing the game Arteil,

Or after entering Arteil itself.

“……”

Kim Hyunwoo looked at Merilda.

Her red eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, gazed at Kim Hyunwoo.

Her face was flushed, contrasting with her pale skin, and her lips twitched between relief and anxiety. Her hands, gently folded near her chest, were waiting for his response.

As he looked at her, Kim Hyunwoo could hear the sound of his own heart beating.

His heart was pounding so wildly, he couldn’t remember if it had ever raced like this before. It was urging him to reach out to her right away.

It was signaling him repeatedly to kiss her, touch her, and act on his instincts.

But what kept Kim Hyunwoo from moving was a single thread of rationality.

His reason fiercely reminded him that if he took action now, things would never go back to the way they were before, and that’s what was holding him back.

“I…”

Kim Hyunwoo tried to speak but instinctively closed his mouth again.

In just a few seconds, his mind raced, questioning whether it was right to say what he was about to say.

And then.

“…Mi-”

Just as Kim Hyunwoo was about to say something, desperately holding on to that last thread of rationality, Merilda gently placed her finger on his lips.

Kim Hyunwoo looked at her in surprise.

But Merilda had already moved closer to his face.

“I know, Master… It’s hard for you to talk about this right now, isn’t it?”

She spoke softly as she wrapped her tail gently around Kim Hyunwoo’s waist.

“You don’t have to give me an answer, Master.”

Chup-

Merilda’s lips covered Kim Hyunwoo’s once again.

Unlike her earlier tense kiss, this time Merilda explored Kim Hyunwoo’s mouth slowly and leisurely.

“Haa…”

She pulled away again, looking into Kim Hyunwoo’s eyes.

Her gaze was filled with undeniable affection.

“You know, Master, no matter what happens today, we’ll still be the same.”

“There’s no way we’ll stay the same…”

Kim Hyunwoo spoke in denial.

“No, we will stay the same. Master, we’ll remain the same… We’ll still have our relationship. I don’t want to see you suffer.”

But Merilda answered with unwavering eyes.

“So, let’s do this.

…Master, you have to take good care of your pet, don’t you?“

Merilda took Kim Hyunwoo’s hand and placed it on her chest, then gently touched his face.

“I’m in heat today…so I’d like you to relieve it, Master.”

After saying that.

“…Meow ♥”

She looked up at Kim Hyunwoo and murmured softly.

And then.

Kim Hyunwoo couldn’t hold back any longer.

The next morning.

“…Ugh…”

Kim Hyunwoo woke up feeling like all the energy had been drained from his body.

He felt utterly exhausted and, in a daze, started recalling the events of the previous night, like a device loading up data.

“Oh.”

After a moment, once he fully recalled everything that had happened the night before, Kim Hyunwoo turned his head to the side.

“You’re awake, Master?”

There, Merilda was looking at him with eyes full of pure happiness.

“…Merilda.”

“Yes, Master.”

“…You seem lively. You stayed up until dawn last night.”

“That much is nothing for me…!”

Merilda smiled and hugged Kim Hyunwoo as he woke up.

…Her tail naturally wrapped around his waist, just like when she was asking for something last night.

Then, looking at Kim Hyunwoo, who had a guilty expression, Merilda spoke.

“Don’t worry too much, Master. You just helped satisfy my needs, right? Our relationship hasn’t changed.”

Merilda playfully bit Kim Hyunwoo’s collarbone and spoke with loving eyes.

“So, I’ll try a little harder. I’ll make my way into your heart.”

“……”

Kim Hyunwoo, who had been looking at her with a complex mix of emotions, was about to speak.

Bang—!

Unfortunately, Kim Hyunwoo’s words were interrupted by the sudden entrance of a person-

“Ahem, don’t misunderstand. I just came to check because you weren’t in the office and it’s so late.”

“Why have you been making such useless excuses since earlier?”

“…As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in charge of assisting the Lord, so I could have just come to check myself…”

Not just one, but three people had opened the door – Rin, the Hero King, and Elena.

-And, because of them, Kim Hyunwoo’s words were completely cut off.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Oh…”

“Wha…?”

“♥”

Rin, the Hero King, and Elena, who had come to check on Kim Hyunwoo because he hadn’t reported to the office on time, were frozen in place as they took in the scene.