Chapter Text
A man sat hunched in his seat, the stark pallor of his face sought only to pale with each discarded paper bowl of instant ramen stacked in his small, unlined bin. Kim Dokja’s ashen countenance was illuminated by the glaring pink values emitted from his computer screen as he eyed his game store. Ways to Seduce the Male Lead . At first glance, a person would naturally assume this was a romance game; to be specific, a run-of-the-mill otome consisting of a variety of handsome males to charm. Otome, meaning its target demographic were women . So why was Dokja’s cursor lingering over the buy button? Embarrassment flushed his already pink face in a deep scarlet as he thought of what his coworkers would think: a 28-year-old loner salaryman buying an otome game. No. Absolutely not. He simply wanted to have a go since it was popular, of course.
He willed his shame away then scanned the description, and to his delight found that there were a variety of both female and male characters, as well as one who was… neither? He must’ve been getting old, or maybe he was holed in his room far too much; he didn’t quite understand what ‘neither’ meant.
He’d never admit it, but his delight may have occurred the moment he laid eyes on the drop-dead gorgeous male lead.
The characters were unique, each with strikingly realistic dispositions and comprehensive, functional, yet still stunning, designs. As part of a gaming company, he couldn’t help but wonder what the budget of this otome was. There seemed to be more to the game than simply captivating a suitor, or the endgame of seducing, well, the male lead. It offered complex game mechanics and even an unlockable free-play mode. Without a doubt, this game had more to it than just romance, so Dokja decided to make the purchase.
In the corner of his mind, he knew he was just grasping for a reason to play free of shame.
Upon opening the game, he was guided through a tutorial by a clumsy white-haired male. By hovering over his name, a character box would expand and the player was given a quick description, alongside their species and birthday.
***
Bihyung
Species: Dokkaebi
Birthday: N/A
Modifiers: N/A
Although clumsy in both his dokkaebi and human form, Bihyung has access to libraries of information and is ready to help at all times. He is your guide who will lead you through tutorials and is sometimes accompanied by his daughter Biyoo. You can ask him questions by clicking on the phone icon located in the top-right corner and send him any questions you have. Be warned—the dokkaebi are mischievous and sly—once you access free-play, he need not be so helpful.
❧ Expand
***
The translucent blue screen displayed an expand button beneath the text, which Dokja promptly clicked on.
***
❦ Collapse
Affection: N/A
Likes: N/A
Dislikes: N/A
***
Ah, wasn’t he one of the suitors listed though?
After completing the tutorial, Dokja was immediately thrown into the game. His in-game phone (such an anachronism irked him ceaselessly) beeped with a notification, lighting up with a pulsing exclamation mark. He clicked on the phone button and was met with a singular message from Bihyung.
***
Bihyung 17:43
Hi Salvation! Once you’ve finished exploring, you should head to the capital first. You might befriend some people or seek out resources and equipment to upgrade your own stats. I’ve provided you with a map to navigate your way there. When you meet a romanceable character, you will be able to view them on your phone with a heart next to their names. Don’t forget though! You cannot unlock all suitors in free-play mode.
[Is there anything else I should know?]
[Heading there now]
Salvation 17:44
Is there anything else I should know?
Bihyung 17:44
Rumour has it a foreigner is selling rare artefacts from a small store in the market. Maybe you’ll find some useful items there. I’ve marked the location on your map.
[Is there anything else I should know?]
[Heading there now]
Salvation 17:44
Is there anything else I should know?
Bihyung 17:44
No, nothing important at the moment.
[Heading there now]
Salvation 17:45
Heading there now, thanks for the info.
***
A red arrow materialised on Dokja’s map, pointing to the heart of the town, and he began to walk.
Taking into account the ‘stats’ Bihyung mentioned, it would be plausible to assume the game had fighting aspects, so it was likely there were quests to be completed. He flipped his phone open to check his character summary and was disappointed by the zero accompanying each category.
Along the dusty dirt track there was an abundance of low-level equipment and resources littered around, all of which he pocketed in his handy Infinite Dimension Space Coat, gifted to him in the tutorial by Bihyung: ”this’ll be useful for your travels” . By the time he arrived at the capital gates, he was fully equipped with covertly armoured clothing, not strong, but it would do for now. Within the gates, the lively market—situated right at the entrance—was bustling with people musing over items and clutching their coin. Dokja quickly reached the foreigner’s stall as indicated by the map, and peered at some of the weapons on sale.
Clicking on each weapon and zooming in, they seemed to be created carefully by hand, and even ones of the same name each had their own unique attributes. Dancing beneath the metallic surface there were a variety of ores that glimmered when they caught the sunlight. One specific sword caught his eye. Broken Faith .
The sword was snapped in half, but it still intrigued Dokja. The dark-haired man running the stall scoffed at him when he realised what Dokja was so enraptured by.
“That sword’s got no use, I jus’ have it there ‘cause no one wants to buy it and I got nowhere to put it,” the stall owner drawled.
Kim Dokja piped up, selecting ‘Broken Faith’ and a simple sword to the side of it, “I’ll take it with that other sword there, how much is it?”
“Uhhh, maybe five thousand coins? Or was it ten thousand…” the owner pondered, scratching the scar that ran across his neck.
A slider appeared on his screen.
[Make an offer from 5000 to 10000 coins]
He set it to the minimum and watched as his avatar took out the coins he received from Bihyung as a starter and pushed five thousand towards the man.
“Don’t be such a cheapskate…” he grumbled.
He slid the button up slightly higher.
“Hmm… still a bit cheap but I’ll take what I can get for this trash.”
Walking away from the stall with his newly acquired weapons, Dokja had a skip in his step. He felt satisfied with his purchase and pulled out Broken Faith to examine its stats, but to his chagrin, the floating box was devoid of any text below the name. He sighed, unsure of what to do with the sword and simply stuffed it into his coat.
What could he do now? Bihyung’s quest seemed to be once-off, with no follow-up, so he supposed he could wander around for now. Maybe he’d find an NPC to interact with?
He lifted his hand from the keyboard to think, wondering if there was a bookstore in this town. A small twinkle kindled in his eye: would the developers have made an effort to incorporate actual novels? He unfurled his map and attempted to locate the bookstore, or even a library, but to no avail. He assumed they’d only be marked once he discovered them, like the newly labelled town— Kaizenix —and market. Pivoting around, his eyes landed on a young woman seated stiffly on a small wooden bench, with kind but discerning eyes of amber wholly immersed in a book.
Upon hovering his cursor over her figure, two options emerged before him.
[Approach her]
[Don’t do anything]
He chose the former, and began walking towards the lady, stopping in front of her and gingerly tapping her shoulder. She tore her gaze away from the thin, foxing pages before her, slightly startled.
[What’s your name?]
[Where did you get your book from?]
As he made his decision, the camera panned into a cutscene.
“Hello miss, I’m sorry to bother, but where did you get your book from?”
She cleared her throat and tucked the chestnut locks that curled around her face behind her ear,
“Oh, I purchased it from a bookstore down the road, and don’t worry, you’re not a bother at all—in fact,I’m not too busy right now, I can take you there.”
“Thank you! My name’s Salvation, I just arrived in Kaizenix, everything’s so distractingly unfamiliar,” Dokja replied, making small talk.
“I’m Yoo Sangah,” she introduced herself, the corners of her lips slightly upturned as she rose from her seat, “You chose the right person to ask, I always visit the bookstore—there’s just so many new things to read about!”
[I don’t read that often…]
[Exactly!]
“Exactly! Reading books is so relaxing, I could do with a short novel right now,” he grinned. A small unlocking animation played before a pink heart lit up in the corner of the screen as Sangah flashed him a warm smile.
♥︎
So the suitors were manually unlocked? It wasn’t like he had a quest directing him to speak to her, it was purely on a whim. Wouldn’t that make it a bit… annoying to play?
The two chatted on their way there and Dokja glanced at the writings she was reading. Greek mythology, huh? They really put effort into these characters.
Now that Dokja had a clear view of her entire face, he could see that she was very beautiful and on top of that, had an amiable attitude towards others. Since he’d unlocked the affection system, he hoped to reach a status of friendship soon enough, as she seemed rather knowledgeable, throwing in bits and pieces of subtly important advice and details throughout their conversation.
“Ah, we’ve reached the bookstore,” she announced, stopping in front of a cosy vintage building, “Don’t forget! You can always visit the library if needed, it’s just further down this road.”
A swinging metal flag-mount sign creaked as the laughter of children running by floated on the passing zephyrs. The faint tinkle of a wind chime twirled in the air as they entered the quaint store.
Despite its deceivingly small exterior, the interior looked as though they’d stepped into a palace library—likely the same spatial magic lingering on his coat—with light filtering in through the skylights. The scent of new books shrouded the store, comforting and warm. There was such a variety too, with potion-making tomes and mysterious grimoires to fantasy novellas and sci-fi fiction crowding the shelves that reached to the ceiling like great sequoias.
Dokja watched as his avatar filtered through books, each presenting him with a buy option.
Eventually, he left the shop with multiple—a couple on potions and elixirs, another three on fighting and magic, and two for simple entertainment—and stored all but one in his coat. Such useful magic!
He waved goodbye to Yoo Sangah after exchanging contact information and quickly became immersed in a large handbook on basic magic. He could enlarge it and view the pages himself! They were crammed with diagrams and paragraphs of description, it honestly felt as though there was enough instruction to carry it out in real life. His mind started to wander as he kept his fingers pressed down, letting his avatar continue to walk whilst he thought about what the main storyline could possibly entail, and perhaps what small easter eggs were scattered around the game, waiting to be uncovered. The setting was beautiful as well; a mix of old-fashioned mediaeval with specific modern aspects. Without watching where he was going, another cutscene triggered and he was brought out of his daze.
***
It was as though he’d walked into a brick wall. His forehead ached sharply as he held it and looked up, locking eyes with a man who, despite having the strong physique of a disciplined soldier, also looked an awful lot like a kicked puppy.
[Angrily insult him]
[Apologise]
[Apologise profusely]
“I’m sorry, I was rather focused on my book here”, he gestured to the magic handbook, “And, well, didn’t quite see you… Sorry again.”
“Oh no, it’s completely fine! You seem more hurt than me…” the burly man trailed off, rubbing his neck as he sheepishly looked up and down his thin body.
Dokja’s eyes trailed to the decently tall woman standing next to him. She exuded an imposing aura and though she was shorter than him, glared down at him.
***
As the cutscene ended, he quickly brought up their character lists and browsed their information.
Jung Heewon
Species: Human
Birthday: July 9
Modifier: N/A
A travelling mercenary with a strong, rather feisty, character. Despite her line of work, she upholds an unwavering sense of justice and will readily go out of her way to protect the weak and misfortuned.
She has made a name for herself with her impressive fighting skills, and even though it costs quite some coin to hire her services, she has never once disappointed and many continuously rely on her to get difficult jobs done. After becoming well-acquainted with this incarnation, she will display a fierce and protective affection.
❦ Collapse
Affection: N/A
Likes: Fighting, ◼️◼️◼️, ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️
Dislikes: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️
***
“Who are you,” she questioned with a low tone.
[That’s none of your business]
[My name is Salvation]
“Hello, my name is Salvation, I’m a traveller,” he responded honestly, not wanting to stumble into her bad books. She nodded almost imperceptibly, deeming his response somewhat satisfactory (he hoped).
“Nice to meet you, I’m Jung Heewon, a mercenary,” she said, extending her hand to shake Dokja’s, “Better known around these areas as the Judge of Evil. This over here is Lee Hyunsung, a royal knight, also known as The Greatest Shield.”
The knight bowed, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Salvation.”
“Strong with cool aliases?” Dokja admired, “Looking closer at their designs, you can tell what they are without opening their descriptions. A job well done by the designer and money well spent by the developers, I suppose.”
The knight donned gleaming steel armour—decorated ornately by what he guessed was the royal sigil—with the exception of his head, his helmet tucked in the crook of his arm. On the other hand, Jung Heewon sported a recognisable red tie, beneath that, a collared shirt, ironed out smoothly, with a black vest over it. A leather garter was wrapped around her thigh, lined with sheaths and pockets. Streaks of white tousled her inky hair which was swept back into a bun. Her muscles were not as defined as Lee Hyunsung’s, but she was evidently athletic.
[Converse with them]
[Leave]
The trio chatted for a while, the mercenary shared stories of some of the odd jobs she’d taken up whilst Lee Hyunsung reminisced about his days as a squire, tacking horses and sharpening his master’s weapons. Unfortunately, there were not many options for Dokja to speak, except for a couple remarks and reactions. Throughout the conversation, the same pink heart he saw whilst talking to Yoo Sangah appeared once again, this time in a pair. The character list he’d forgotten to close updated.
***
Jung Heewon
Species: Human
Birthday: July 9
Modifier: Judge of Evil, ◼️◼️◼️, ◼️◼️◼️
A travelling mercenary with a strong, rather feisty, character. Despite her line of work, she upholds an unwavering sense of justice and will readily go out of her way to protect the weak and misfortuned.
She has made a name for herself with her impressive fighting skills, and even though it costs quite some coin to hire her services, she has never once disappointed and many continuously rely on her to get difficult jobs done. After becoming well-acquainted with this incarnation, she will display a fierce and protective affection.
❦ Collapse
Affection: ♥︎♥︎♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Likes: Fighting, ◼️◼️◼️, ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️
Dislikes: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️
***
Dokja closed the box as Jung Heewon grabbed his phone and started furiously punching in numbers, contrary to Yoo Sangah’s gentle manner.
“I’m adding in Hyunsung’s contact too.”
She handed the device back. Dokja clicked on the phone icon and pressed on the manual, now three of the twelve love interests were lit up. In alpha order: Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah.
As he progressed through the town, searching for any interaction he could possibly make, Dokja eventually met most of the suitors—Han Sooyoung, Nirvana Moebius, Lee Seolhwa, Anna Croft, Sun Wukong, Secretive Plotter, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon and Uriel—alongside some side characters. There was the pair Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung, two impressionable teenagers who clung to Dokja and bickered all the time, and Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon, who seemed to have their own unrequited love story on the side. He had to admit, he hadn’t experienced much of an inclination towards any of the characters yet, though he had to appreciate the depth of their individual personalities.
Han Sooyoung, so far, was, unfortunately, his favourite: she had an annoyingly likeable personality, a rather inflated ego for such a short stature, and was an author (plagiarist). His least favourite had to be Anna Croft, a prophet, and Nirvana Moebius, the leader of the coincidentally named Salvation Church , a religious group. Anna was cunning and mysterious, with a dignified appearance, yet she was simply not to Dokja’s liking. Nirvana, however, was a character verging on a crazily obsessed cult leader (he wasn’t sure who’d like him, but he supposed there would be a couple).
Lee Seolhwa was a beautiful woman with porcelain skin, and was known as the Immortal Doctor. Despite her elegance, she was busy and rather detached. The rest of the suitors seemed to be less human, donning wings or other appendages.
Sun Wukong—definitely based on the mythological character—had the tail of a monkey and the actions of a trickster. He was a playful flirt through and through.
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon was, embarrassingly (he reminded Dokja of his teenage self), a chuunibyou, and Dokja has stumbled across his slumbering dragon form sprawled across a forest clearing bordering the vibrant town.
Uriel had an angelic face and snowy wings she tucked neatly into her clothes. She was talkative, sometimes overwhelmingly so, with bright green eyes that sparkled with each word.
Secretive Plotter was, more than Anna Croft, mysterious. He’d appeared once, in an alleyway barely illuminated by the light of a lantern abandoned on the ground, then promptly disappeared. Yet the little interaction they’d had was apparently enough to unlock the affection bar.
There was only one character left to meet: Yoo Joonghyun. The Crown Prince, and the suitor Kim Dokja had been most excited to interact with.
The sun was now blinking lazily, eyes drooping with the weight of sleep. A full day had already passed and the sun scarcely peeked over the horizon when Dokja finally met the last of the twelve.
Seeing him in the promotional art was nothing compared to this. He was taken aback by his beauty, unable to believe any person could look like that no matter whether they were real or not. How the hell did the developers even design him? The planes of his face were sharp and defined, thick eyebrows framed his deep eyes that appeared to convey emotion despite his inanimacy. His handsome features were perfectly shaped and aligned in a way that should’ve been impossible to capture. Dokja’s computer seemed to be on the cusp of overheating simply trying to render his character.
Yet, such a blessed man had to have his shortcomings: he was even scarier than Jung Heewon, displaying close to no emotion as he grabbed his avatar’s neck and dangled him off a bridge, pulling him into a cutscene.
He could now understand why no one who played the game had managed to romance him yet.
“Name.”
[Stay quiet]
[What?]
What?
“What is your name?”
[Salvation]
[Yoo Joonghyun]
The Yoo Joonghyun option would have been funny… But it wouldn’t be good to provoke him here. Maybe another playthrough; he wanted this one to be perfect.
“Salvation.”
“A strange name.”
“I've heard that a lot.”
The prince’s right eye began to shine gold, shimmering with whorls of gilded rings.
[Yoo Joonghyun has used the skill: Sage’s Eye]
[Exclusive skill, 'Fourth Wall', has activated!]
[‘Fourth Wall’ has detected the use of the detection skill, ‘Sage's Eye’!]
Dokja was stunned, his hand hovering over his mouse. Since when did he possess this skill? Wouldn’t he have received a notification upon receiving it? He’d never heard of anyone in online forums mentioning it either, was it a bug?
The taller man’s eyebrows furrowed together, a glare of underlying bewilderment being cast towards him.
"You… What are you, really?"
[Exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’, has blocked ‘Sage's Eye ’!]
[Keep quiet]
[I’m… simply a traveller]
“I’m… simply a traveller,” he said hesitantly.
The beginnings of a smile graced Yoo Joonghyun’s face as he set Dokja’s character down on the cold stone. A familiar heart appeared on the screen following the usual unlocking animation.
♥︎
“Really now?”
Kim Dokja had never seen this happen. What was going on?
“You’re an interesting traveller. Give me your device.”
The phone icon on his screen disappeared.
What in the world was going on?
Yoo Joonghyun threw the phone into his lap and the icon reappeared.
“There. Don’t contact me for irrelevant reasons.”
And with that, the man strode off leaving him alone on the bridge, confused and unable to process the event that had just unfolded.
He immediately took a screenshot of the prince’s character list, quit the game, and opened a forum dedicated to it, frantically typing in what had just taken place.
***
r/WaysToSeduceTheMaleLead
u/DK_Salvation 10 min. ago
Bug Concerming tge Game
HELLO? HE IDDN’T THROW ME INTO THE ICHTHUOSAUR’S MOUTH? IS MY GHAME BUGGED?
⇧ 1863 ⇩ 💬 327
u/huqjahjds19 9 min. ago
someone was able to seduce him?? WTF? wait maybe try like restarting your game and checking the level again???
⇧ 59 ⇩ 💬 2
ㄴu/903kdasioj 2 min. ago
Ikr what’s going on???
⇧ 5 ⇩ 💬 0
ㄴu/DK_Salvation 1 min.ago
alrd did that so confused rn
⇧ 20 ⇩ 💬 0
u/nkhasdkhn 4 min. ago
proof??
⇧ 174 ⇩ 💬 1
ㄴu/DK_Salvation 4 min.ago
[1 Attachment]
⇧ 205 ⇩ 💬 1
ㄴu/iloveyoojoonghyuk 1 min. ago
r u kidding me rn? I spent so much time trying to unlock that and you get it out of sheer dumb luck. omfg
⇧ 5 ⇩ 💬 3
+ 5 more replies
***
Before he could unfold the next few replies, his nightly shot of espresso began to wear off. A sudden wave of lethargy swept over him and Kim Dokja dozed off in front of his computer screen.
♥︎