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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Bound Items
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*Flinc—*
Shin Suyeon woke up, her brows furrowed by a strange, stifling sensation.
Soon, the last scene she remembered resurfaced in her mind.
Violence had been relentlessly poured upon her, and having no experience in one-on-one combat, she had been utterly helpless.
And the mana absorption artifact had been destroyed…
And then.
Shin Sehee's eyes.
*Trembling—*
Her body began to tremble.
'N-no… No. No… That Shin Sehee bitch found out… W-what do I do? I need to… I need to contact the family…!!!'
Shin Suyeon snapped her eyes open.
Then, with a blank expression, she looked around.
'Where… am I?'
A foul, musty smell, a dim space where light barely penetrated.
Various gruesome training tools hung on the walls.
Seeing this, a sense of relief surprisingly bloomed within Shin Suyeon.
'…Did I return to the family?'
This was Shin Sehee's room.
The space where the family educated her.
'It seems the family rescued me in time…'
She had gone to monitor Shin Sehee alone, so she thought the family might be late, but fortunately, they seemed to have arrived without delay.
However, strangely, the stifling sensation in her body did not subside. She looked down at herself with questioning eyes.
'…Huh? Why, why am I…?'
She was currently bound to a chair.
And her mouth was tightly gagged, preventing any sound from escaping.
She was sitting in the very spot that had always been Shin Sehee's. A heavy, ominous premonition began to rise in her chest.
It was then.
—Yes, Mother. I met her.
Shin Suyeon lifted her head and turned towards the source of the voice.
—But I'm going to live at Shin Sehee's house for a while.
Someone seemed to be on the phone outside the closed door. To Shin Suyeon, the voice sounded strangely familiar.
—No, she got too arrogant after being apart for a while, so I couldn't just leave her. And anyway, even if I brought her back to the family, I couldn't keep her confined for long. The academy would eventually come looking for her.
'Wait… That, that's! My voice…!?'
Shin Suyeon's eyes widened.
Someone was imitating her voice and talking on the phone.
—Rather than that, I thought it would be better if I lived at Shin Sehee's house and managed her directly.
—Huh? Did the academy not stop you?
—Hmm, they said family members could live together if there was consent. And it was easier because Shin Sehee doesn't live in the dorms.
Shin Suyeon couldn't understand the current situation, so she even held her breath, listening intently to the conversation.
—And well, there's no way Shin Sehee could defy me, right? I just said I wanted to see where she lived. She trembled and showed me around, you know?
Gradually, Shin Suyeon's complexion hardened.
'This place isn't… the family manor…?'
Looking around the room again, she noticed subtle differences.
She twisted her body, trying to scream.
"Ugh!!! Ugh!!!"
But no sound came from her tightly gagged mouth.
And the restraints on her body were too strong to break free.
—What was that noise? Oh, Shin Sehee must have woken up. Yes, yes. I have to give her the education she's been putting off. Yes, I won't be in contact for a while.
—I'll resume family activities after absorbing enough mana, so don't worry. Yes, alright. Goodbye.
With those last words, the voice cut off.
*Click.*
*Click.*
*Creak—*
The tightly closed door opened.
And the one who appeared was Shin Sehee.
Her own younger sister.
"…Hehehe, a magic tool that can imitate someone else's voice… I get to use Jin Yuha's gift right away."
Shin Sehee gazed at the beautifully decorated, butterfly-shaped red brooch.
"Jin Yuha, really. How did she know my taste and think to give me such a gift? Did she give me a butterfly because my nickname is 'Heavenly Flower'?"
As she stared at the brooch, her eyes became hazy and unfocused.
"Jin Yuha's embrace, it was so warm and wonderful… It's such a shame I couldn't hold onto it forever. Will there be another chance later…?"
Shin Sehee held the brooch with both hands and brought it to her face.
She took a deep breath, as if inhaling a lingering scent.
*Haa—*
After burying her face in the brooch for a long time, Shin Sehee lifted her head.
"Hmm, well, I have to do what needs to be done, right?"
She turned her head.
And then met Shin Suyeon's eyes.
"Sister, did you sleep well?"
"…Ugh!"
Shin Suyeon twisted her whole body.
"Hehehe, you know better than anyone that it won't come off. Sister, this place is familiar, isn't it?"
Shin Sehee looked around the room and spoke.
"That's right. I recreated the exact same space where you always confined me and taught me various things with 'affection' when I knew nothing."
"Ugh!!!"
"It was a bit lacking at first, recreating memories I wanted to forget, but I've already improved it in many ways after going through one person. You'll be satisfied."
Shin Sehee said with a radiant smile.
Now, Shin Suyeon could understand the entire situation.
Shin Sehee had imitated her voice and contacted the family.
The family believed she was educating Shin Sehee at Shin Sehee's house.
But in reality, she herself was the one being educated.
In this space, where no one would rescue her, an endless period of 'education' would continue.
'Am I, in turn, being done to by Shin Sehee…?'
All the things she had done to Shin Sehee flashed through her mind.
It had started with jealousy towards her younger sister, who possessed superior talent.
The past where she had severely mistreated her from a young age, thinking that the family could replace her with her younger sister at any time.
The family, too, had initially put Shin Suyeon forward, deeming someone with weaknesses easier to control than someone with talent.
Emotions she hadn't recognized when she was doing it.
A profound terror seized her mind.
'I-I have to apologize…'
"Huuu… Ugh."
But only muffled sounds escaped, as if to deny her any semblance of excuse.
"Sister, did you have fun all this time…?"
Shin Sehee's face was devoid of expression as she asked.
"Was it all an act? How could you act so shamelessly when you were so afraid of me?"
"Ugh!!!"
"Hehehe, everything I endured. I'll 'educate' you with it, Sister."
Shin Sehee gently stroked Shin Suyeon's cheek.
Shin Suyeon's eyes filled with regret and despair.
* * *
The next day.
I attended the swordsmanship major class taught by Baek Seolhee.
"Hmm? You want to take an additional class after finishing today's allocated amount…?"
Baek Seolhee furrowed her brows at my request for an additional class, which I made to learn grappling to teach Kang Dohee.
"Yes, I want to learn grappling in case my sword is gone."
"…Today's class will be quite difficult to endure."
"I'm fine."
Baek Seolhee, uncharacteristically, tried to dissuade me, but I spoke resolutely.
There was a reason I could so confidently request an additional class from her.
'Because I used an item from the Alice Box.'
The items I originally used from the Alice Box:
「Moonlight」 and 「Moonlight Earrings」.
These two items are not inherently bound items.
They are items I could hand over at any time after using them.
Of course, even if I couldn't help but use the swordsmanship book or the trait recommendation letters, I had always intended to hand over the usable items to Alice at any time.
It wasn't out of so much affection for Alice, but because I thought Alice would be far more helpful in clearing the actual game than I would, which made me hesitate until the end.
But now, there was no hesitation.
'It will help me properly digest classes that can raise my stats. Stat increases are far more important than Alice right now.'
I was currently wearing two items.
「Bracelet of Experience」
And
「Ring of Ability」
These two items cannot be removed once equipped.
In other words, they are bound items.
But their performance is guaranteed to match.
First, the 「Bracelet of Experience」 is a starter pack item designed to reduce the gap between a newly drawn character and characters who have already been drawn and fully spec'd out.
It applies a whopping 30% bonus to experience points gained from all processes, including training, subjugation, and story rewards.
Second, the 「Ring of Ability」 is an overpowered item that allows you to choose one stat and increase it by 10%.
This is a permanent effect, meaning the higher your base stats, the more dramatic the effect.
For example, if your base stat is 10, you get an additional 1.
If your base stat is 100, you get an additional 10.
Among them, I chose Spirit.
Based on my experience in her class, I believed that a mental armament that wouldn't break was essential for this lecture, more so than any other stat.
It wasn't a class that the soft minds of modern people could endure.
"…Even two classes a week are absolutely not enough time to properly teach swordsmanship."
"Yes."
"So, I chose a teaching method that increases the density of the classes. But what you are asking for now is to teach you another field on top of that."
"…"
Baek Seolhee stared at me for a moment, then let out a sigh.
*Haa.*
"Are you truly sure you won't regret it?"
"…Yes."
Though my voice wavered slightly at her blatantly intimidating remark, I looked into her eyes and nodded.
Baek Seolhee stared at me for a moment, then let out a small laugh.
"Goodness, you truly are an ambitious one. As an instructor, it's a pleasant thing, but if you ever feel you can't do it, just tell me."
"Yes, understood."
"Then, let us begin the class."