Welcome the New Recruit
Late at night, a person stood in the gym holding a square-shaped kicking shield. They were trembling violently, terrified of what was about to happen to them.
"Here I come, you bastard!"
*Thwack!* The person in front kicked the shield with all her might. Unable to withstand the impact, the one holding it fell backward onto the floor.
"Not even close! Get back up!"
"Yes, senior..."
The junior scrambled to their feet, desperately raising the shield again to brace for the next kick. Only after they had been knocked down dozens of times did the grueling training finally come to an end. Or rather, from the perspective of the one holding the shield, it was less of a training session and more of a brutal hazing disguised as one.
"Ah, how refreshing! That totally blows away the stress from losing money on crypto today."
The woman who had been using her junior as a human punching bag, kicking them repeatedly under the guise of training, was Kwon Jiseon. She muttered to herself as she wiped her sweat with a towel. Her shoulder-length hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her slender build was toned with the lean, defined muscles of an athlete. Though she was a sharp-featured beauty, Jiseon had no interest in grooming herself and barely did more than slap on some basic toner. Even so, her natural looks were more than enough to turn heads. In fact, when she was first selected for the national team, some had even whispered that she was chosen for her face rather than her skill.
However, the rotten personality hidden behind her pretty face was completely unknown outside the gym. Jiseon's favorite pastime was gathering her juniors and forcing them to act as her personal stress-relief punching bags. Today was no different; she had summoned a junior, made them hold the kicking shield, and relentlessly battered them like a piece of gym equipment.
The junior holding the shield cursed Jiseon in their heart. They desperately wished someone would drag her away—this woman who used her status as a national athlete and a senior to abuse and torment them and everyone else. But speaking out was impossible. In the past, a junior had tried to expose Jiseon's cruelty, but the accusation was quickly buried by other news, and the whistleblower vanished from the gym overnight without a trace. Because of that, everyone here had no choice but to endure her abuse, utterly unable to resist.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Clean this place up. And don't do anything to piss me off."
Jiseon ordered her junior to clean up the gear she had scattered across the floor and headed to the showers. After washing away the sweat she had worked up from tormenting her junior, she stepped outside, feeling thoroughly refreshed, and began her walk home.
"Ah, dammit. Why is this dropping even more?"
As she walked, she checked her phone and saw that the cryptocurrency she had invested in had plummeted even further. Her refreshed mood instantly soured.
"Looks like I'll have to relieve some stress on those little shits tomorrow. Ugh, why does every single goddamn coin I touch turn to shit? I am never investing in anything that bitch Eunji recommends again."
Disgusted by the sight of her dwindling portfolio, Jiseon shoved her phone into her pocket. She was just about to stop by a convenience store to buy some alcohol when—
"Hey!"
A man's voice suddenly called out, making Jiseon spin around. A short distance away stood a well-built man, his athletic frame suggesting he worked out quite a bit. He was wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. Between the dim streetlights and the shadow of his cap, Jiseon couldn't make out his face in the late-night gloom.
Just in case, Jiseon glanced around. Perhaps he was calling out to someone else. But a quick scan of her surroundings confirmed that there was no one else on the street besides her and the man.
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
Jiseon pointed a finger at herself, asking with an incredulous look. It was both surprising and amusing that this random guy had addressed her—a famous national athlete—so casually. To her, he felt like a stray dog barking without knowing its place.
"Who else is here besides you? Has all that exercise rotted your brain so much that you can't even figure that out?"
"What? You crazy motherfucker! Do you have any idea who I am?! You want to die?!"
The man snorted at her outburst.
"Heh, of course I do. In fact, I probably know you better than anyone else. I'd even wager I know you better than your own parents."
"What? Cut the bullshit. I don't know who the hell you are, but you'd better keep walking. I'm in a terrible mood today, and I might just beat the shit out of you right here."
Jiseon had a history of getting into street fights and absolutely destroying her opponents. Back then, with Eunji's help, she had paid off the victims with hefty settlement fees, allowing her to sweep the incidents under the rug without any major scandal.
"You don't know who I am... Why do all of you say the exact same thing? Meanwhile, I haven't forgotten a single one of you for even a second."
"What are you babbling about? I said I don't know who you are."
"Is that so? I wonder if this will jog your memory."
The man took off his baseball cap, suddenly turned his back to her, and lifted his shirt to expose his bare skin. Jiseon was startled by his bizarre behavior, but then her eyes caught a scar near his lower back, just above his hip, illuminated by the streetlight. It consisted of several small, dot-like marks that, if connected, would form the five vertices of a perfect star. The moment she saw that scar, a jolt of recognition flashed through her mind.
"Huh? That scar... I've seen it somewhere... Wait, are you...?"
"Finally remember?"
Realizing Jiseon had recognized him, the man pulled his shirt back down.
"Ha! Look at this bastard. You actually had the balls to come talk to me? You've grown up quite a bit, haven't you, piggy?"
"Oh, I grew... a lot... thanks to you guys."
Jiseon strode confidently toward the man—Kim Dohyung. Her mood instantly soared at the realization that her favorite old toy had returned to her.
"Wow, I thought you died in a ditch somewhere. Look at you, still breathing."
"Heh, did you think I went and killed myself?"
"Well, you vanished right after we had some fun with you, so I figured you couldn't take it and ended it."
Jiseon smirked playfully at Dohyung. There wasn't a single shred of guilt in her expression for any of the horrific things she had done to him in the past.
"I don't know what the hell you've been up to, but this little piggy actually worked out and built some muscle. What? Did you bulk up to try and get revenge on me?"
"Even a brainless idiot like you gets it right sometimes, I guess. Well, they do say even a broken clock is right twice a day."
Seeing Dohyung smirk and talk back so calmly made Jiseon's brow furrow. She absolutely loathed how confident he was acting—this was the same loser who used to tremble like a leaf whenever she so much as walked past him.
"Is that so, you motherfucker? Then go ahead and try. You think I'm just going to stand here and let you?!"
Jiseon closed the distance, and the instant he entered her striking range, she whipped her right leg around in a fierce roundhouse kick. She fully expected Dohyung to be unable to even react before her foot smashed into his face, sending him sprawling onto the pavement.
"Whoops!"
But Dohyung simply leaned his head back with effortless grace, letting the kick graze the air before stepping back slightly. Jiseon's eyes widened in brief surprise as she watched him evade her strike. But a smirk quickly returned to her face.
"Oh... is that what this is? The classic trope where the victim trains hard to get revenge and beat up their bully? I've seen plenty of webtoons like that lately."
Jiseon fell back into a fighting stance.
"But that only works in cartoons, you dumbass!"
She whipped her left leg up, launching another roundhouse kick. Dohyung casually dodged it by tilting his head back again. Anticipating his evasion, Jiseon didn't stop there. She immediately launched herself into the air, spinning to deliver a powerful right-foot back kick. She was certain he wouldn't be able to react to such a rapid combination.
Yet, Dohyung simply twisted his torso, letting her foot sail harmlessly past him once more.
"You dodged that too?!"
"Who would actually get hit by something that slow?"
To Dohyung, who had survived a fantasy world's battlefields where lethal weapons could claim a life in a split second, Jiseon's attacks were so slow they made him want to yawn.
"You're dead!"
Infuriated by how easily he was dodging her, Jiseon lunged at him recklessly. She unleashed a flurry of every Taekwondo combination she knew, but Dohyung slipped past every single strike as if he were taking a casual stroll.
"Huff... puff... You... you bastard... all you're doing is dodging..."
Jiseon felt her stamina rapidly draining, but she forced herself to charge at Dohyung one more time. She aimed a high kick straight at his head.
*Thud!*
"Urgh!"
This time, Dohyung didn't just dodge. He countered, burying his fist deep into Jiseon's abdomen. The sheer force of the blow folded her in half, and she collapsed to her knees, clutching her stomach.
"Cough... hack... What... what is this...?"
"What else? Revenge. Now, shall we play like we used to in high school? That punching bag game you loved so much. Except this time, you're the punching bag."
"What kind of bullsh—"
*Smack!*
Before Jiseon could finish her sentence, Dohyung's fist slammed into her face. The impact sent her crashing sideways, her head bouncing off the hard pavement.
"Ugh!"
"What are you doing? I said we're playing the punching bag game. Did you forget the rules after ten years?"
Back in high school, Jiseon had subjected Dohyung to relentless beatings under the guise of her "punching bag game." The sole rule of this game was that no matter how hard she hit him, Dohyung had to stand back up like a roly-poly toy.
"If you got hit, you're supposed to stand back up like a toy, you bitch!"
"Gah!"
Dohyung brutally kicked Jiseon in the ribs as she lay writhing on the ground. Gasping and coughing from the agonizing pain radiating through her abdomen, she couldn't even begin to push herself up. Watching her struggle, Dohyung grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head up. Jiseon thrashed wildly, trying to break free from his grip, but it was entirely futile.
"You... you son of a bitch!"
"You're the punching bag! Stand up straight so I can hit you properly!"
Dohyung drove his fist into her stomach once more.
"Ah... ugh..."
Unable to withstand the overwhelming agony, Jiseon's vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
"What? Passed out already? How disappointing. Out of everyone, you were the one I wanted to beat with all my strength."
In truth, Dohyung hadn't used anywhere near his full strength. If he had, Jiseon's body would have literally exploded from the impact. He had carefully metered his power, holding back just enough to inflict maximum pain without killing her.
"Well, it doesn't matter. We have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. Now, let's go."
Dohyung slung Jiseon over his shoulder and vanished into the pitch-black alleyway.
"Ah... hahn...!"
Since Dohyung had granted her some free time, Lee Jia had nothing better to do. She was currently masturbating while watching her laptop, thrusting the dildo Dohyung had given her deep into her pussy as she chased an orgasm.
"Is that... really that pleasurable?"
The video Jia was watching was an extreme BDSM porn film. On the screen, a woman was bound tightly with ropes, suspended helplessly in midair. A vibrating dildo was stuffed deep inside her pussy, secured so it couldn't slip out. Her nipples were pierced, with heavy weights dangling from them, stretching her breasts downward. Soon, a man holding a whip appeared on screen and began to lash the bound woman. Despite the agonizing look of the whip, the woman cried out in apparent ecstasy.
"Ah! Ahn! It feels so good! More, please give me more!"
Hearing her pleas, the man put down the whip and brought over a candle, dripping hot wax all over her body. The woman writhed and screamed with every drop of hot wax, but to Jia's ears, those screams sounded thick with intense pleasure.
"Ah... Is that... really that good? Hahnn!"
Jia unconsciously began to project herself onto the woman in the video. The moment she imagined herself being subjected to those torments, her body flushed with a sudden, intense heat. Her hips began to thrust faster and faster against the dildo, and in no time, she was pushed over the edge into a shuddering climax.
"Haa... haa..."
Jia was still catching her breath from her climax when the door clicked open. Dohyung stepped into the basement. However, he didn't enter fully; he only poked his head and torso in, keeping his right hand hidden behind the doorframe.
"Haa... Ah, Master!"
Spotting Dohyung, Jia quickly bowed her head and assumed Position One, prostrating herself on the floor.
"You can stand up, Nabi. I have some good news today. Want to see?"
"Yes? What is it, Master?"
At her response, Dohyung stepped fully into the room, revealing what he had been holding in his right hand.
"Welcome the new recruit!"
Before Jia could even process what she was looking at, Dohyung tossed the object across the room. It slammed against the wall and slumped onto the floor.
"M-Master... Is that...?"
"Do you recognize her? She's the newbie who'll be living here starting today."
Jia stared at the crumpled figure of Kwon Jiseon, her eyes wide with utter shock, unable to look away.