Chapter 61 – Dating Expert (2)

[Where should we go now?]

1. Just a little longer… Can you stay with me?
2. Want to come over for some ramen?
3. It’s late today, so I’ll call you tomorrow.

I had chosen option 3 before. But it said I failed to win over the character.

“Team Leader, I’m telling you, you have to go for ramen!”

“No, why do I have to eat ramen?”

“Have you never played a dating sim before?”

I never had.

“Isn’t it something every man is supposed to try at least once?”

It is? Is this really that important?

This time, I chose option 2.

[Hehe. I make great ramen.]

[You go to her house.]

Suddenly, the 2D character says she makes great ramen. I didn’t know what was so special about ramen, but I could feel the excited atmosphere around me.

“Team Leader, this syncs online, so you have to think carefully.”

Syncs? What does that mean?

No, more importantly, why am I even playing this?

[I’ll make some ramen for you right away. I’m not sure if there’s any cold rice left.]

[Why don’t you sit there and wait?]

[You sit in a chair and wait for the ramen. Soon, she brings over a bowl of perfectly cooked ramen.]

1. Why are you eating ramen at this hour?
2. This will cause muscle loss. Get lost.

This time, there were only two options.

I could see Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho behind me, clutching their stomachs and laughing.

I felt option 2 would hurt her feelings, so I chose option 1.

[You said you wanted to get ramen… Were you just kidding…?]

[She runs out of the house.]

1. Good, let’s go home and blast some biceps.
2. No, wouldn’t it be better to blast triceps than biceps?

Again, only two options.

I chose option 1, and the game ended with my character going home to work out.

“Pffft.”

“Pfft.”

Kim In-ho and Kim Tae-yang started laughing.

What the hell? This is so boring. Honestly, a game should have some suspense or thrill.

Like overturning the tide with strategy and tactics. Instead, you just get a few dialogue boxes, make a choice, and she gets upset or runs out.

“Ah, so there is something our Team Leader can’t do.”

Kim Tae-yang sneered, his lips twitching.

“I guess even the Team Leader can be bad at something.”

Even Kim In-ho, who was usually quiet, was provoking me.

“Team Leader. Let me show you.”

Kim Tae-yang switched seats with me.

The guy skipped through the dialogue, making his choices. He was incredibly fast.

Was he always this quick with his hands?

The ramen option appeared again.

He likewise chose to eat ramen, and his character went to the woman’s house.

[You sit in a chair and wait for the ramen. Soon, she brings over a bowl of perfectly cooked ramen.]

1. This looks delicious.
2. I should eat it quickly.
3. More than the ramen, ▦▦ ▦ ▦▦▦
4. You’re ▦▦. Won’t you ▦▦▦?

Huh? The dialogue options are different from mine.

But why are the choices censored?

[You’re such a prankster, aren’t you?]

[Gameplay is changing to 27+.]

“…”

I have no idea what’s going on. Not 15+, not 19+, but 27+?

What the hell is the standard? And why is that Tae-yang guy looking at me with such an arrogant expression?

“This is how you do it.”

“So the dialogue options are automatically generated based on the player’s judgment.”

“That’s the core of the strategy. Previously, it was just the same choices from the same algorithm, but the Dating Guru Simulation uses an augmentation effect to make it more realistic…”

So, it’s incredibly useless, is what you’re saying. Fine, I admit I was thinking about the muscle loss option.

But so what?

What changes if I’m good at this? It doesn’t earn me money or honor.

“Let’s just do one more set of weights in the time we’re spending on this.”

“Are you running away?”

Has he lost his mind…?

“Team Leader. There are times when a man shouldn’t back down.”

This is absurd.

Honestly, this is a huge waste of time and completely pointless.

Doing a set of weights in this time would be a far more enriching use of my life.

“To be honest, I always thought something was a bit off about you, Team Leader.”

Kim Tae-yang smiled with a look of understanding.

“I heard you’ve never had a girlfriend…”

It was so ridiculous I couldn’t help but laugh.

I crossed my legs in the chair, shrugged once, and let out a scoff.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

How did he know?

I was dragged to another world, living life on the edge of death. Where would I have found the time to leisurely date someone?

If I set my mind to it, I could meet someone right now. It’s just that I have too much to do, so I choose not to.

“Wow, you got it all wrong. Who do you think you’re talking to? The Casanova of Suwon, Lee Hyunbin the Playboy King.”

“Team Leader, this thing automatically syncs with your SNS.”

“I don’t use SNS.”

There’s a saying that SNS is a waste of life. I agree with it.

“You do have a synced SNS account, Team Leader.”

Impossible. I don’t use SNS.

Kim Tae-yang showed me his phone, and there it was—an SNS account in my name.

[Lee Hyunbin’s Dating Guru Simulation, 1st Attempt. 12+ Rating Achieved]

A post had been automatically uploaded.

“Lee Seo-yeon…!”

There was only one person who would create an account in my name.

└Oh, looks like the delivery man is playing Dating Guru too?
└Dating Guru is trending these days. Bragging about your romance score is what all the cool kids are doing.
└But a 12+ rating for the delivery man? For real? LMAO
└LMAO
└Dude, don’t you get at least an 8+ just for holding hands?
└Maybe he’s a monk or something?

Hey, this is starting to make me angry.

If I actually tried, I’m confident I could get a 19+ rating.

“Hmph, this won’t do.”

I made Kim Tae-yang get out of the chair.

Pushed aside, Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho watched the monitor with tense gazes.

I put on the VR goggles, went through the biometric authentication again, and logged in.

Nothing was impossible for me.

I was the one who went from being a high school senior to a hero who traversed an entire continent.

.
.
.

[Lee Hyunbin’s Dating Guru Simulation, 2nd Attempt. 8+ Rating Achieved]

└LMAOOOOOOOO
└At this point, we need to check if he was playing a fighting game instead of a dating game.
└imgettingdizzyimgettingdizzyimgettingdizzyimgettingdizzyimgettingdizzyimgettingdizzy
└I believe it now. You’re one of the forever alone army.

***

I beat up Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho, who were rolling on the floor clutching their stomachs.

Ah, don’t misunderstand.

I was just worried they might have suddenly gotten sick, so I gave them a ‘massage’.

This isn’t my fault.

I mean, honestly, isn’t it standard procedure for heroes who go to another world to end up with a harem?

But the only ones by my side were muscular macho men.

There wasn’t a single woman to be found. It’s not my fault. The environmental conditions were just unfavorable.

[Lee Hyunbin’s Dating Guru Simulation, 14th Attempt. 10+ Rating Achieved]

Dammit.

└LMAO how do you even get a score like this?
└Maybe he actually hates women?
└I’m the king of getting dumped. Is there any woman who *hasn’t* dumped me?
└That comment above is just sad.
└Are you insane LMAO

Hah. I let out a sigh. And looked at the screen again.

On the screen were many silhouetted characters. Only one was unlocked for me.

The first date partner. Kim Hyo-jin.

Also known as the Ramen Girl.

I think I’ve been misunderstanding something all this time.

Thinking it was just some dating simulation game. That the person in front of me was just 2D.

Looking at things with a prejudiced view is dangerous.

Because you fail to grasp its essence and cling to illusions.

I opened my eyes.

And in a true sense, my eyes were opened.

[Isn’t your training schedule busy today?]

My lovely girl is speaking.

I can understand now.

There was warmth in her cautious question.

[I’m fine. We can go next time.]

She says she’s fine, but she’s not. She doesn’t want to go next time; she wants to be with me now.

The me of the 15th attempt is different from the 14th.

It felt as if the gray-scale background was slowly regaining its color.

1. Let’s go blast some biceps together.
2. What’s your big three total? Under 500 is a bit…
3. Kim Hyo-jin, a dumbbell suits you more than a handbag.

[Lee Hyunbin’s Dating Guru Simulation, 15th Attempt. 11+ Rating Achieved]

└God exists, and he just left a game log.
└Sir, there must be a reason you’re doing this…
└This is driving me crazy hahaha

I’m going to lose my mind.

The truth is, I have no interest in these dating games. But hearing Kim Tae-yang say I couldn’t do it keeps echoing in my ears.

Honestly, I opened my heart this time. And the character did feel more alive, more human. But there was another problem.

“What do you even say on a date…”

I’ve never done it. That kind of thing.

I’ve gone around slaying monsters with women, but I’ve never been on a date. So I have no idea what to say.

It would be one thing if the examples were good, but this damn game displays messages based on the user’s biometric responses. So there’s no right answer.

I wanted to just quit, but that would be like admitting I couldn’t do it, and I hated that.

“Ajeossi, are you still playing?”

“No, I was just bored with nothing else to do.”

Hearing my words, Katrinne gave me a dumbfounded look.

“You’re just playing because you’re bored?”

“Yeah.”

“Ajeossi, you’ve been playing this game for two days straight.”

“Huh?”

That can’t be right.

I checked the date and realized that sometimes, it could be right.

I had already been playing for 26 hours.

“Anyway, you really hate losing, Ajeossi.”

“Hey, who do you take me for? I’m not interested in this stuff. I just wanted to check out the benefits of modern civilization.”

It’s not a lie. Really.

I was in another world for over ten years, so I need to react keenly to modern civilization.

Dammit.

“Hey.”

“Yeah.”

“When you go on a date… No, don’t get the wrong idea. A younger Hunter I know was asking.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you know what people usually do on dates? Oh, wait, you’ve never dated either. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Come to think of it, isn’t this kid in the same pitiful boat as me?

“What was that? Are you looking down on me, Ajeossi?”

“You know?”

“Hmph, you think I’m like you, Ajeossi?”

She knows about dating? A little kid like her? Well, I guess kids these days do date.

Still, was there something I didn’t know?

“A dinner date is a given, isn’t it?”

“What do you eat?”

“Uh, um… Someplace with a nice atmosphere and big portions?”

Something sounds suspicious.

“And then?”

“And then?”

“After that.”

“Uh, d-dessert, you have to get dessert?”

“And after that?”

“N-now we go for dinner?”

Forget it. I won’t say another word. I was a fool for expecting anything.

At that moment, something flashed through my mind.

I didn’t know about other women, but for this Katrinne kid, just giving her food would make for the best date ever. And nobody hates food.

Kim Tae-yang also used ramen to win her over.

That night, I achieved the best ending.

***

“Good morning!”

“You’re here?”

Early in the morning, Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho arrived at the training ground.

Usually, Team Leader Lee Hyunbin would wake them up at dawn, and they’d have to rub the sleep from their eyes, but yesterday and today were different.

“You think the Team Leader isn’t coming in today either?”

“I saw him playing Dating Guru all day yesterday.”

“Don’t you think we went too far?”

Kim In-ho said worriedly.

There was a big raid coming up soon. One where the pride of two guilds was on the line.

The reason their training had been so intense was to prepare for that high-rank dungeon raid.

The difference in difficulty between mid-rank and high-rank was that great.

Unlike the worried Kim In-ho, Kim Tae-yang was gleefully scrolling through SNS when his eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“The Team Leader finished the game.”

Kim Tae-yang felt a shock as if he’d been hit on the back of the head.

In just a day or two.

The very same team leader who always got the 12+ or 8+ bad endings, when others would normally finish with a 19+ episode.

[Congratulations. Lee Hyunbin’s Dating Guru Simulation, 52nd Attempt. 99+ Rating Achieved!!!]

└Hey, hey, is this for real?!
└We need to hear the character’s side of the story.
└Sir. What on earth brought about this change of heart?
└From 8+ to 99+ in one day? Wait, a 99+ rating actually exists?

Kim Tae-yang couldn’t hide his bewilderment at how their completely clueless team leader had managed to get not just a 19+, but a 99+.

Just then, the door opened and Lee Hyunbin walked in.

“Oh, Team Leader.”

“Ah, you’re both here.”

Just in time?

Kim Tae-yang and Kim In-ho watched as their team leader sat right down at the computer and put on the VR goggles.

The two of them saw him skipping through the dialogue with a familiarity that was completely different from a few days ago.

He certainly looked more comfortable than at the start, and the dialogue options seemed normal.

[She asks you out on a dinner date.]

“Ooh.”

Kim In-ho was impressed by the reaction of Kim Hyo-jin, the game’s target character. This was definitely not the same team leader from before.

But then the dialogue options suddenly turned strange.

1. Do you desire sustenance?
2. How much of today’s training have you completed?
3. Since when did you dare to make requests?

“Uh…?”

The Kim Hyo-jin displayed on the monitor was different from the character Kim Tae-yang had played.

With arm muscles so thick you couldn’t tell them from legs and a hulking frame.

A Kim Hyo-jin with the V-tapered, muscular physique you’d see in an American comic book appeared, striking a bodybuilding pose.

“Good. It seems you’ve smashed it again today. You may eat.”

[Thank you. Master.]

[She chugs a protein shake.]

She sat with her legs crossed, smugly chugging the protein shake.

Kim In-ho’s and Kim Tae-yang’s pupils began to tremble as if in an earthquake.

The scene was nothing like the dating simulation atmosphere they knew.

The growth process of a heroine becoming a warrior. And that’s how it reached a 99+ ending.

Finishing the game, the Team Leader took off his VR goggles and gave them a faint smile.

“Games and reality are the same, you know. When you think about it.”

The two Kims started to tremble.

“Love. All you need is love. Just like how I train you because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Something was wrong.

“Now, you’ve rested for a few days, haven’t you? Shall we begin our love anew?”

The S-Rank became an S.