66 [Retention]
After forcing himself on Hee-Young, Alex returned to his penthouse, where he found that the Queen of Hearts was waiting for him in his room with another prize wheel. She was dressed in an overtly skimpy "prisoner" outfit, with handcuffs around her wrists. There was a slight smirk on her pretty face as she made fun of Alex.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite criminal? I suppose you are quite happy with yourself, aren't you?"
Alex nodded his head and was quick to ask to spin the wheel. Ignoring the Queen's comments about his unruly behavior that if he were living in a just world would have landed him in jail.
"Quite... Now, are we going to do this or not?"
The Queen of Hearts, however, shook her head before lecturing Alex about his recent actions.
"As you know, you are free to use any means you can think of to claim the heroines... But there is one important matter I may have neglected to mention. You were a very naughty boy when you decided to turn off your birth control. If not for my interference, you would have knocked up Hee-Young!
I didn't think I needed to say this, but pregnancy is off limits! You are not supposed to have children in your backstory! So if you touch that setting again, and turn it off, I'll be forced to punish you! Luckily for you, I acted fast and prevented you from losing four inches...."
Alex simply scoffed and rolled his eyes. He was starting to feel as if the Queen of Hearts was imposing too many limits on how he did things. But he supposed it was for the best. His horniness had gotten the better of his rationality, and he almost made a big mistake. Thus, he responded to the Queen's words with a slightly thankful tone.
"Thanks for that... I mean, I want kids eventually, but I have my whole life ahead of me! The last thing I need to do is knock some bitch up at the age of 19...."
Upon seeing that Alex was truly reflecting on his actions, the Queen of Hearts nodded her head before spinning the wheel where she did her normal dance and song. Alex stared with fierce intent, hoping he would get something good this time around.
While the wheel contained luxurious properties, cash prizes, and other expensive items, he was more interested in skills at the moment. Which helped him navigate the world in a way that wealth could not. Luckily for him, the wheel landed on a particularly useful ability.
[Retention]
Alex looked at this result with curiosity, while the Queen of Hearts sighed heavily, her large bosom heaving as she explained what exactly [Retention] was.
"[Retention] is an ability that increases your learning rate. So long as you are actively engaging in the process of learning something, whether that is academic knowledge or a physical skill, you will naturally get the hang of it on the first try! Although I would recommend applying this skill to your studies, I have a feeling you are more concerned about using it to increase your fighting prowess...."
Alex could not deny that indeed his mind immediately went to such a thought when he heard that his learning abilities had increased substantially. He wanted more than anything to watch a few videos on Judo and train with his grappling dummy. Because until now he had not figured out how to win Nari's heart, whose favorability rating was practically at the bottom of the meter.
Realizing that he had just been given a golden ticket, Alex picked the Queen of Hearts up and swung her around in the air as he kissed her before tossing her onto his bed.
"You're absolutely amazing!"
The Queen of Hearts simply blushed in embarrassment before disappearing from Alex's sight, not willing to entertain his lust, which was clearly increasing with each passing second. Realizing that the mysterious beauty had abandoned him to himself, Alex could only sigh before going out and searching for Jung-Hyun, who would be happy to help him relieve some stress.
---
The next day, Alex went to university as per usual, where he found himself in the Judo Club again. Interestingly enough, Nari was on the mat alone with a young man, who Alex recognized from his fight. Where Nari and this boy had gone together. This caused Alex to smirk as he announced his presence.
"Afternoon, lovebirds. Do you mind if I get a workout in?"
Nari scowled when she saw the blonde-haired man enter her dojo. After he had shamelessly groped her during randori, she had immediately put him at the top of her shit list. And was just about to say something when the boy she was with stepped forward to defend her honor.
"You again! You have a lot of nerve entering our dojo after what you did the last time!"
Alex, however, smiled cruelly, as he stepped forward, and ignored the man entirely, while addressing the Judo Captain, who was a beautiful young woman in her own right.
"Nari, we got off on the wrong foot. How about you allow me to apologize properly? I'll take you out to any place you want, on my dime, of course. Whether it's dinner, a movie, or even my body! I'll repay you however you like!"
After that last remark, Nari stared at Alex as if he were an absolute scumbag. She simply rolled her eyes at the mere suggestion. She was just about to tell the man off when she saw how her friend was seething, and thus she came up with a devilish notion, as her lips curled into a sadistic sneer before making a wager with Alex...
"Alright... I'll tell you what, if you beat Chunho here in a Judo match, and I mean a pure judo match, none of that wrestling bullshit, or any of your other tricks, then I will agree to go out with you! How does that sound?"
Nari did not expect for one minute that Alex was capable of beating Chunho in a pure judo match. After all, the man came from a family of Olympic Judokas, and had even gotten a bronze medal in the last summer Olympics. Alex may be a good wrestler, and a capable ground fighter, but without being able to grab the legs, he didn't stand a chance. Or so Nari thought.
Alex, of course, did not know any of this, but accepted the match anyway. After all, he had spent the entire night watching Judo videos and practicing the techniques on his grappling dummy, until he had mastered pretty much every technique there was in the art. Thus, he simply smirked and nodded his head with a confident expression on his handsome face.
"Alright you're on, just don't cry after I drive your boyfriend's soul through the mat!"
Nari blushed and looked away when she heard this, before muttering her thoughts aloud.
"He's not my boyfriend...."
This caused Chunho to become even more determined to win, because if he beat the shit out of this asshole who had groped Nari, then maybe she really would consider him to be her boyfriend. Thus he stepped forward onto the mat, and bowed before Alex, who simply assumed a fighting position that was common in Judo.
Immediately, Nari knew something was different. During their last encounter, Alex had taken a low wrestling stance, but now he was standing up straight and reaching for his opponent's gi, like a proper judoka. There was no way he could have learned enough judo to properly counter Chunho's skills in such a small amount of time. Could he?
The answer to this question revealed itself in the next moment, when Alex quickly snatched hold of his opponent's gi, and threw his opponent onto the ground with a perfect ippon. Nari's jaw practically dropped to the floor when she realized it was Alex who had effortlessly thrown Chunho and not the other way around.
Chunho managed to get to his feet, but not after losing all the breath in his body. He stared at Alex as if the man had done the unthinkable. Within thirty seconds of grappling, Alex had secured an Ippon and won the match. How he had done this against an Olympic Judoka, neither he nor Nari knew. But once Alex had done this, he walked over to Nari and grabbed hold of her dainty chin before whispering something in her ears.
"I'll pick you up tonight. Give me your number. You're not going to go back on your words now, are you?"
Nari looked over at Chunho for support, but the man did not say a word, and simply stared at the ground with shame. He had been so easily beaten by a man who was supposed to have very limited knowledge in Judo and its many techniques. Perhaps he had carelessly underestimated his opponent, but a loss was still a loss.
As for Nari, she ground her teeth in irritation before pulling her phone out of her gym bag, where she then sent Alex her contact info. With a hideous expression on her face, she agreed to his demands.
"A deal is a deal... But if you are late by a single moment, you can fuck off!"
Alex simply smirked in a way that made Nari want to rip his guts out and strangle him with him. He then walked out of the room with a victorious stride in his step, but not before leaving his parting words.