Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 66
When I confirmed Marvis’s face, my body’s organs, which had been in disarray after nearly dying, finally started working properly again.
‘Did I transmigrate again?’
It’s not like there’s a dimensional door somewhere in my room, and since when could I freely travel between the game world and reality like this?
Well, it wasn’t exactly by my choice, though.
I clutched the abundant black feathers touching my palm. This is Marvis’s summoned beast, right? Dig was its name, if I remember correctly.
“Shin Joo-ah, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, no. I’m just still a bit dazed.”
I shook my head to clear my mind and stroked the man’s arm wrapped around my waist. Upon recognizing those thick arm muscles with protruding veins, my scattered desires quickly consolidated. The speed of convergence was faster than light. A modern person suffering from lethargy indeed needs dopamine.
“Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Did you hit something while rolling?”
Marvis examined me, turning my head this way and that with his large hands. Though his hands were strong, surprisingly, his movements weren’t rough. Unexpectedly gentle.
……As soon as I had that thought, the dark red affection window that appeared beside his face dumped cold water on my head.
[Marvis’s current affection: -63]
‘Whoa, one wrong move and I’m heading straight for the bad ending?’
I thought I had come back from death, but it seems I’m still walking the line between life and death. A chill ran down my spine.
Just at the start of my third playthrough, I’d rather not revisit an ending where I bid farewell to this world right from the beginning. I curled up my body, trying to avoid his gaze.
“What’s wrong, Shin Joo-ah? Tell me if something hurts.”
“It’s not that I’m hurt.”
“Then what?”
I was too proud to confess ‘I’m a bit scared because your affection level is too terrifying.’ I mean, I’m the player, so why should I be frightened of a character I’m supposed to romance?
I swallowed hard and gathered my courage to look at Marvis. When I saw his fair, handsome face, the fighting spirit I’d mustered melted away like snow, and something warm began to well up in my chest.
Indeed, handsome men are destined to save both the world and me.
“Marvis.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
“……”
When I gave my honest thanks, his affection window flickered, and the number changed.
[Marvis’s current affection: -59]
As expected, being generous with gratitude never hurts. It works on Marvis, not just Kaint.
If I handle this carefully, getting out of negative affection shouldn’t be too difficult. I even got to the brink of s*x when his affection was still in the single digits, so seduction might be worth considering.
‘Honestly… his body is tempting.’
Witnessing that obscene body naturally made my lustful thoughts grow wild. I really want to get thoroughly entangled with him this time.
Marvis doesn’t seem particularly opposed to starting with the physical either, but it’s better to connect hearts first before bodies to avoid complications. Better not get greedy and stick to the proper strategy.
‘This time, I’ll take the opposite approach from my previous playthrough.’
I exhaled lightly and adjusted my position on Dig. Since Marvis was supporting me to prevent falling, our bodies naturally pressed together, but I leaned my head against his chest as if completely unbothered.
His heartbeat was still calm.
‘Since Marvis called my name, this must be our second meeting? I wonder what point in time this is.’
I couldn’t figure it out no matter how much I thought about it. Rather than risk running into strange situations by overthinking, it’s better to just ask about what I don’t know.
“Marvis. How did you know I was here?”
“The sky gate opened.”
“Sky gate?”
“If you can’t avoid the dawn sky, you can only observe it.”
Dawn sky… something seems familiar yet not quite. My head was throbbing, making it impossible to recall properly.
Anyway, just like when he attacked immediately when the portal opened in the temple sky, it seemed Marvis could detect when doors to places beyond the barrier opened. Maybe it’s a trait of the Demon Race.
While I was deep in thought, Marvis suddenly asked me.
“Shin Joo-ah. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Something to say?”
I already thanked him earlier. Though he did save my life, should I have shown more active gratitude?
When I looked at him with a puzzled expression, his face turned sulky.
“You haven’t thought about me at all, have you?”
Ah, I get it. He’s being sulky, isn’t he? Maybe I was too indifferent since we hadn’t met in a while.
Even though his affection was drilling through the floor into the basement, Marvis’s attitude toward me remained friendly. Just like dealing with a long-time friend.
In that case, I should respond accordingly. I spoke plainly.
“I missed you too.”
“……”
[Marvis’s current affection: -54]
This works well. Does Marvis’s affection increase when I express things honestly?
Well, except for those with abnormal s****l desires, few people dislike it when others approach them with goodwill.
“Did you realize how precious I am after losing me?”
Does he mean the time apart was long and lonely after we separated?
Come to think of it, Hexion’s affection suddenly hit the ceiling when I kept my distance. Maybe Marvis is similar.
“That’s right. When we were apart, I thought about you.”
Though I hadn’t really thought about him much, there’s no harm in saying nice things, so I carefully wrapped my words in pleasant packaging.
“Then don’t abandon me this time.”
He means don’t run away and leave him, right?
Despite having negative affection, he’s quite possessive, this guy.
“Well, that depends on you.”
“…How pitiful I am, being tied to you.”
Anyone watching would misunderstand that Marvis is one-sidedly in love with me while I’m leading him on.
‘This guy, how dare he talk like that when I can clearly see his affection level!’
I felt a bit annoyed, but remembering Soo-young’s advice, I decided to maintain a friendly attitude. It would be silly to have a battle of pride with a game character anyway.
“We’re going down now, hold on tight.”
As Marvis gripped Dig’s feathers, the summoned beast’s body tilted forward. I hurriedly hugged his waist and asked in a whining tone.
“Can’t we go down a bit slower today? I’m scared.”
“……”
[Marvis’s current affection: -51]
‘Oh?’
Marvis cleared his throat with a “hem” and stroked Dig’s feathers.
“Alright. But you might get motion sickness, so try to breathe deeply.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Contrary to his warning, Dig descended to the ground surprisingly steadily.
Without the feeling of my heart dropping, the summoned beast came down in a very smooth curve, and like before, reached the dark sea that seemed to contain the night sky, let us off, and folded its large wings.
Poong. The summoned beast’s form, transformed into sparkling light, disappeared into the water. Still beautiful.
“Shin Joo-ah. Don’t you think it would be a waste to destroy it?”
“What would?”
“This world, it’s beautiful.”
Marvis suddenly started praising nature out of nowhere. Living in an underground city more developed than the Holy City, why this sudden worldly appreciation?
I nodded along appropriately and got into the elevator with Marvis. Like before, he naturally pressed the button for the lowest floor, and the elevator began descending with a rattling sound.
Seeing the large cogwheel meshing and turning brought an inexplicable sense of relief. I heard some people feel stable when experiencing regular patterns – maybe I’m that type.
The City of Darkness was still dark, still emitting warm steam, and still full of strangely-featured people busily pulling carts through narrow alleyways.
While I was taking in this scene that seemed straight out of a foreign novel, the elevator soon arrived at the lowest floor.
Clank. Rattle-rattle.
As the elevator doors opened and we stepped out, a round artificial sun visible in the distance caught my eye.
Last time we had to walk quite a while to reach the square, but whether they’d built new roads or not, the already wide main street was now incredibly clear.
“Did you do some city maintenance while I was gone?”
“I researched how to make it more comfortable for you to live here.”
Ah. Did he misunderstand that I ran away last time because it was difficult to live here? I felt a bit sorry thinking that I’d caused them to do such major construction work.
I gently stroked Marvis’s arm with feelings of apology and sympathy. Still an arm that makes my mouth water with how sensual it is. What kind of training creates a body like this?
“Thank you, Marvis. Thanks to you, I think I’ll like it here more.”
[Marvis’s current affection: -48]
Oh, the negative numbers are dropping quickly. This guy seems pretty weak to praise. Indeed, there’s nothing that feels better than having your efforts recognized.
I tried to link my arm with Marvis’s while grinning, but he smoothly pulled his arm away and walked ahead.
‘Was the skinship too rushed?’
I shrugged and followed him with quick steps, and soon the street full of stalls I’d seen before appeared.
I followed slightly behind Marvis while looking at the items displayed on the stalls. Though not as fascinating as the first time, it still feels good to look at pretty things.
But I just looked without buying anything, knowing the system would charge another crazy fee if I tried to purchase something.
“Joo-ah, here.”
Marvis, who had been walking ahead, stopped and picked something up from a stall to show me.
A headband with black furry cat ears.
Small bells were even attached under the triangular ears.
Last time he offered me rabbit ears, and now that I rejected those, did he think I might like cat ears instead? What narrow thinking.
‘Does Marvis like animals? Well, he does say his summoned beast is his best friend.’
After thinking for a moment, I accepted the headband Marvis handed me.
If he wants me to wear it, I suppose there’s no harm. Nobody here knows me anyway.
“How is it, does it suit me?”
When I looked up at Marvis while wearing the cat ear headband, he put his hand under his chin, gazed at me intently, and then smiled.
“Cute.”
[Marvis’s current affection: -31]
The dangerously flickering dark red affection rose to bright red.
Seeing such a big increase, I guess this guy really wanted to see me wearing animal ears.
Both the rabbit ears from before and these cat ears are actually quite poorly designed compared to real animals.
These days, even props for kids’ school performances are better quality than this. I wonder why he chose something like this.
‘Does Marvis perhaps like cute things?’
I suddenly remembered Soo-young once telling me 50 reasons why men like bunny girls.
I’ve forgotten most of the details, but I remember one point. People try things even when they can predict the outcome because they enjoy the satisfaction of having their predictions come true.
“Marvis, Marvis!”
I deliberately called his name twice and raised both fists next to my face to make cat paw gestures.
“Meow♥”
“Oh.”
Marvis’s eyes widened.
[Marvis’s current affection: -31]
Blink. Blink.
[Marvis’s current affection: 36]
‘What the hell.’
One meow raised it by 67 points. One more time and I might break through the limit.
Is there even any point in looking for strategy hints? Are you kidding me?
