The True Way to Apologize
After hanging up the phone with Min-a and setting a time to meet, Dohyung immediately set out to enact her revenge. The targets of this vengeance were four of Min-a's high school classmates: Kang Sujin, a wealthy heiress much like Eunji; Park Hyemin, a flight attendant; Nam Dongeun, a housewife married to a department manager at a major conglomerate; and Do Ara, a nurse at a university hospital.
Dohyung felt a profound sense of gratitude toward the god who had summoned him to the otherworld, all because he could now use magic. Without it, realizing his own revenge—let alone Min-a's—would have been an nearly impossible task. While his own targets lived relatively close by in Seoul or the Gyeonggi province, Min-a's tormentors were scattered all over the place.
Furthermore, in an era saturated with CCTV cameras and dashcams, kidnapping someone without leaving a single trace was practically impossible. Even abducting just one person required meticulous, organized planning to avoid detection; pulling off a mass abduction like this was unheard of. Yet, Dohyung's magic was a power that made the impossible trivial. Within a matter of hours, he successfully abducted all four women from their beds in the dead of night, transporting them straight into The Basement.
When he had captured Jia, Jiseon, Taehyun, and Eunji, he could have taken them all at once, but he had chosen not to. His goal then had been to prevent them from ever thinking they could band together. If they were kidnapped at the same time, they might find solidarity in their shared plight and put their heads together to find a way to resist him. But when taken individually, those captured first would react entirely differently from those brought in later—just as Jia had demonstrated.
A rift inevitably formed between someone like Jia, who already knew that resisting Dohyung was utterly futile, and the newcomers who still harbored foolish hopes of rebellion and escape. This difference in perspective naturally bred conflict. In a normal environment, a clash of opinions might lead to a constructive debate and a positive outcome. But in an extreme, high-pressure situation, such healthy discussions were impossible. Instead, they would turn on each other, fighting tooth and nail to prove their own way was right—much like how Jia had sided with Dohyung while Jiseon and Taehyun desperately ambushed him in a futile bid for freedom.
This time, however, Dohyung deviated from his usual method and snatched all four women at once. He wanted to make them suffer slowly, but his burning rage left him with no patience for gradual isolation. He simply wanted to throw them all together into a searing, agonizing hell.
Using his magic, Dohyung sealed the sound between the chamber holding Eunji and the other two girls, and the new chamber housing Min-a's four tormentors. He even blocked their line of sight, ensuring neither group could perceive the other's existence. There was no need for them to mingle, and keeping them isolated maximized the terror of believing they were utterly alone.
When morning came, Dohyung set up a new game for Jia, Jiseon, and Eunji before heading over to the room containing Min-a's bullies. He needed to break these bitches in first. He stood over the four unconscious women, quietly waiting for them to wake.
"Ugh..."
After a while, Kang Sujin was the first to groan, slowly lifting her head.
"Where... where am I...?"
Dohyung glared down at her. Back when Min-a was being tormented, Kang Sujin was the one who hung out with Eunji the most. She had acted as the ringleader of this particular pack, taking the initiative to inflict the most sadistic pain on Min-a.
As Kang Sujin regained her senses, she looked around the unfamiliar space with a dazed expression. Her eyes widened in shock when she spotted Dohyung sitting in a chair, staring coldly at her.
"H-huff! W-who are you?! And... who are these people...!"
She gasped, realizing she wasn't alone. Other women were slumped on the floor around her, though they were face down, making it impossible to recognize them yet.
"Finally awake, are we?"
"Who the hell are you?! Do you think you'll get away with doing this to me?! Let me go this instant!"
Hearing Kang Sujin shriek with such venom reminded Dohyung of when he first brought Jia here. A smirk spread across his face at the memory of her identical reaction. Seeing his amused smile, Kang Sujin felt a chill run down her spine. The fact that he had abducted multiple women at once proved he was no ordinary criminal.
"Ugh... what?"
"Where on earth..."
Shortly after Kang Sujin woke, the other women began to stir. The moment they looked at one another, recognition flashed in their eyes.
"Wait, are you... Kang Sujin?"
"What? Hyemin, Sujin... and Dongeun too?"
"What is the meaning of this...!"
Clap!
A sharp, loud clap echoed through The Basement, instantly drawing their attention to Dohyung.
"I didn't kidnap you bitches so you could have a noisy high school reunion, so I suggest you shut your mouths."
Hearing him casually admit to the abduction, the four women instinctively huddled closer together. They had no idea what he was planning to do to them.
"W-why did you kidnap us?! Do you really think you can get away with this?!"
Dohyung snorted at Kang Sujin's empty threat and stood up from his chair.
"Why did I kidnap you? If you think long and hard about what you all have in common, the answer should present itself pretty quickly. You fucking cunts."
The four women looked at each other, trying to find a common thread. But the answer didn't come immediately. They lived in different areas and had vastly different lifestyles now. But slowly, the pieces began to fall into place. It was a painfully simple answer, after all.
"Are you talking about... us being high school classmates? But why?!"
"Ah!"
As Kang Sujin glared and yelled, Ara let out a sudden gasp of realization. The other three turned their eyes toward her.
"Did you figure something out?"
"Uh... well..."
"Don't keep us waiting, just spit it out!"
Under Kang Sujin and Hyemin's pressing glares, Ara spoke in a trembling, barely audible voice.
"Don't you remember? Back in high school... that girl we used to torment..."
"What? Oh... Oh! Why would she suddenly..."
"Wait, are you doing this to get revenge for her?!"
At Ara's words, the long-buried memories of Min-a rushed back into their minds, one by one.
"Bingo. I brought you here for Min-a."
"W-what?"
Hearing Min-a's name sent a wave of panic through them. They had all been living successful lives since graduation; they never dreamed that a ghost from their past would return to haunt them like this.
Dohyung pointed a finger at Kang Sujin, who was trembling in shock.
"Kang Sujin. You were the ringleader of this pathetic group, the one who spearheaded the bullying. You spent every waking hour brainstorming new, creative ways to make Min-a's life a living hell."
Next, he pointed to Hyemin.
"Park Hyemin. You used Min-a as a guinea pig under the guise of 'beauty research,' forcing her to ingest all sorts of untested food concoctions and sketchy diet pills."
Then, he pointed to Dongeun.
"Nam Dongeun. If you were so greedy for money, you should have earned it yourself. Instead, you stole Min-a's belongings and cash, wearing her clothes as if they were your own like some pathetic beggar. And now, you're leeching off a husband who works at a conglomerate, sucking him dry like the parasite you are."
Finally, he pointed to Ara.
"Do Ara. You wanted to be a nurse, and what you did to Min-a was truly spectacular. You deliberately cut her open just so you could practice your suturing skills on her. Unbelievable. It makes me sick to my stomach."
The four women gasped. Every single accusation was entirely true. These were dark secrets they had never shared with anyone outside of Eunji's circle, who had participated in the torment. To hear this stranger recite their sins in such vivid detail was terrifying.
"How... how do you know that...?"
"It doesn't matter how I know. Unless you're complete idiots, you should know exactly what's about to happen to you."
Dohyung drew a large, wicked knife he had been concealing behind his back. He swung it through the air with practiced ease, the blade slicing with a sharp *whoosh* as he took a slow step toward them.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Please, just spare my life!!"
Ara was the first to break. Terrified by the approaching blade, she threw herself to the floor, pressing her forehead against the cold ground as she wailed. Her desperate plea snapped the other three into reality. An unknown man, holding a massive knife, cornering them after bringing up their past sins against Min-a—anyone with half a brain could see he intended to slaughter them right here.
"P-please spare us!"
"It was my fault!"
"W-we were so young back then! Please forgive us just this once!"
Dohyung wanted nothing more than to swing his blade and sever their heads right then and there. But death was too easy. It was a merciful escape. Just as the bitches in the other room were paying for his own suffering, these cunts had to endure a living hell equal to the agony they had inflicted on Min-a.
"Forgiveness... Do you really think you did something wrong?"
Dohyung asked, stepping back and sinking into his chair with the knife still in hand. Seeing him retreat, the women let out silent sighs of relief, realizing they weren't going to be executed immediately.
"Yes, yes! We deeply regret what we did to Min-a back then!"
"Oh, really? Pfft... hahaha!"
When Kang Sujin eagerly chimed in, Dohyung burst into a fit of amused laughter. It was hilarious how she could lie so boldly without even blinking. But his dark, mocking laughter only heightened the women's anxiety as they stared at the knife in his hand.
"So you truly believe... that what you did in the past was wrong...?"
Dohyung slowly rose from his chair and walked to the side. The four women followed his movements with their eyes, finally noticing an object they had missed in their initial panic. It was a strange mechanical device. A large panel displayed a glowing analog number—10—and beneath it lay a thick, black iron plate.
Required Pressure: MAXIMUM
"You see... I don't believe in verbal apologies. If you're truly sorry, you have to show a corresponding level of sincerity."
Dohyung pressed a button on the side of the machine, starting it up.
"So, I prepared this. A machine that measures just how much you regret your actions, and whether you're truly capable of apologizing to Min-a."
The four women stared blankly, unable to comprehend what was happening. They had no idea what the device he had just activated was. Dohyung found their clueless expressions so comical that he could barely hold back his laughter. If they had any inkling of what he was about to make them do, their faces would be pale with sheer horror. Instead, they just looked lost.
"Now, what constitutes a sincere apology? I took inspiration from a certain manga I read. If someone is truly sorry... if they can truly empathize with the victim's pain! I believe they should be able to endure at least this much discomfort."
Dohyung reached into a plastic bag next to his chair and pulled out a raw slice of meat. The moment he dropped it onto the iron plate, a violent sizzle erupted, juices splattering as the meat instantly began to sear. The four women gasped in horror. They hadn't understood what the iron plate was for, but seeing the meat cook in a split second made them realize it was heated to a blistering, scorching temperature.
"Let me explain the rules. You are going to press your foreheads against this iron plate. And you will hold it there for ten seconds! Surely, you can manage that much to prove your sincerity to Min-a, right?"
"F-for ten seconds?!"
The women shrieked. Pressing one's bare flesh against a scorching hot grill voluntarily was terrifying enough, but holding it there for ten agonizing seconds seemed utterly impossible.
"I'm actually being incredibly generous here. Originally, I was going to strip you naked and make you lay your entire bodies flat on the grill... but that felt a bit too harsh, don't you think? Hahaha!"
The women were dumbfounded by how casually he spoke of such horrific torture. How could he act like pressing their foreheads to a plate hot enough to sear meat instantly was some minor inconvenience?
"Oh, and just touching the plate isn't enough. You have to press down with all your might for the timer to start ticking."
Dohyung pointed to the number 10 on the display.
"If your pressure weakens, the timer will pause instantly. You have to press hard to keep it running. Once the number hits zero, you pass. If you can't do it... I'll have to assume you have no real desire to apologize to Min-a."
With those parting words, Dohyung opened the heavy door of The Basement.
"I won't be coming back until every single one of you successfully apologizes. As for food and water... well, you'll have to figure that out yourselves."
"W-wait! Hold on!!"
Terrified of being left behind, Kang Sujin scrambled to her feet to chase after him. But Dohyung slammed the door shut and locked it before she could even take a step.
"Ah... fucking hell..."
In the silent room, only the searing, red-hot iron plate remained, waiting to welcome them.