The Nymphs' Training Methods #6
Late at night, the nymphs gathered one by one, drifting toward some shared destination. The place was a spacious basement room, yet so pleasant and cool that you'd never guess it was underground — a space brimming with fresh, crisp air. The lighting was ample, the air conditioning even more so. The floor, carpeted in plush red, was soft enough to sink into. Every painting on the walls was a premium piece, and the water purifier dispensed ice water in generous, glugging streams.
“Mwehehe, a nymph-friendly place every single time I visit, I must say…! This Illinoi would like to christen this location the ‘Nymph Meeting Hall,’ I do declare…!”
Illinoi dragged out a chair that looked enormously expensive and settled into it with a scrape. Soon after, Oinoi and Coris pulled out chairs of their own and took their seats as well.
“Let us begin today's regular report, I say…! The master of the house has safely entered upon the training of the ‘Hero's Way,’ I say…! And Hyper Evolution has been achieved for the honey ant Ang-ang-i as well, I say…!”
With that declaration, Oinoi puffed out her chest as if bursting with pride. Whenever the nymphs gathered, one of them inevitably claimed the title of Chief Nymph — and Oinoi had appointed herself to the role. In Oinoi's mind, the fact that her bonded human Ha Ildo was becoming a famous hero was more than enough qualification for her to be the Chief Nymph of them all.
“This Coris has heard of the ‘Hero's Way’ as well, I have…! The road walked by so many heroes — Heracles, Theseus, Odysseus, and more, I have…!”
Coris placed both hands on her cheeks and marveled extravagantly. She was a nymph who knew a great deal — and, in equal measure, did not. Then, for a moment, she furrowed her brow.
“More importantly, it seems we have forgotten today's duties, it does…! Now that I think of it, we have forgotten to beat the owner of this place senseless, we have…!”
“Mwehehe, this Illinoi was thinking the exact same thing just now, I was…! Beating him senseless — let's do it, I say…!”
The nymphs sprang to their feet, fists clenched tight. In an instant, Lee Jeonghun — who had been watching TV in his secret underground base — found himself under a ferocious assault, with no chance whatsoever to adopt any sort of dignified posture before the nymphs' fists came raining down.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—.
“AAAARGH~.”
By the time the beating finally ended, Lee Jeonghun was utterly spent. It was only after his cherished Ki Dog-Squirrel Binnari trotted over and barked — Arf! Arf! — that he managed to come back to his senses.
These nymphs barge in and out of my secret base whenever they please, and on top of that they beat me up every single day! How did I — of all people — end up like this—?
Lee Jeonghun could no longer pinpoint where exactly his life had gone off the rails. Not that the nymphs cared one whit about such things. They pummeled Lee Jeonghun to their hearts' content, then resumed chattering away about whatever happened to be on their minds.
“Mwehehe, as great as it is that the Housemaster has entered the ‘Hero's Way,’ the Kore Yerim whom this Illinoi has practically raised on her own back has also stepped onto the ‘Path of Kore Prime,’ she has…!”
Kore Prime. Core Prime. The world held many Kores, but every Core Prime was a woman so extraordinary that her name was guaranteed to be written forever into history or myth. Illinoi spoke with immense pride, and Oinoi marveled along with her.
“Truly, Kore Yerim's ‘Kore Secret Art: Side Pinch’ was absolutely flawless, it was…! Raising a Core Prime and marrying her off well is one of the nymphs' greatest joys, it is…!”
Nymphs were a long-lived race, outlasting palm trees or larks by many times over. Across their long lives they delighted in all manner of amusing pursuits, and nothing entertained them more than raising human women like princesses and marrying them off to princes and heroes — or, conversely, forging men into heroes and kings themselves.
That held true even here in the twenty-first century.
“The battle of the Kores will end in victory for Kore Yerim — the Kore whom this Illinoi has carried, fed, and raised as if she were her own — and it will be ‘the end,’ it will…! And then all the nymphs of the world will sing and song the achievements of this Illinoi, they will…!”
Illinoi predicted her own victory. Oinoi nodded along in admiration, declaring, “If Kore Yerim reaches Kore Prime completely, the game is as good as over, it is…!” Soon Coris let out a “Mwehehe—” of her own and chuckled.
“This Coris taught Jina a ‘Kore Secret Art’ too, she did…! The mighty ‘Arrow of Passion,’ she did…! An arrow of Eros capable of ensnaring absolutely anyone, it is…!”
“The Arrow of Eros…!”
“Truly excellent, I declare…!”
Oinoi and Illinoi gasped in admiration. Every “Kore Secret Art” was a tremendously powerful technique — and a tremendously difficult one to master. It was said that even the legendary Kores ‘Helene’ and ‘Psyche’ had only ever learned two at most.
Only Persephone, the “Ultimate Kore” from whom all Kores were said to descend, was rumored to wield five or more such arts — including “Kore Secret Art: Pomegranate Gobbling,” “Kore Secret Art: Getting Abducted Safely,” and “Kore Secret Art: Claiming the Master Bedroom”—.
—Though, being a goddess who carried the blood of the gods in her very being, she was rightly excluded from all such comparisons.
“The ‘Kore Secret Art: Arrow of Passion,’ I say…! That is a supreme art which even this Oinoi has never witnessed with her own eyes — heard of only in legend, I say…! On the rank scale, it would be an S-Rank technique, like the master of the house himself, I say…!”
Most Kore Secret Arts were ferociously powerful, but they varied wildly — some easy to learn, some widely known, some feeble in effect, with results ranging across every possible flavor. The nymphs ranked these arts in three tiers: Ditch Water grade, Brook Water grade, and Sea Water grade — and the “Arrow of Passion,” alongside the “Narcotic Smile,” was rated a Sea Water grade technique of the highest order.
“This Oinoi has no idea how this battle will end, she does not…! Should the master of the house be ensnared by the ankles of so many women, he may fail to walk the ‘Hero's Way’ and sink instead, he may…!”
Oinoi was genuinely worried about Ha Ildo, master of the house. If things went on like this, he might find himself surrounded by women, never becoming a hero at all — just an ordinary house-husband living off the women's money, lazing about at their expense.
At that moment, someone clicked their tongue.
“The Hero's Way is completed by women — and by the muddy-water troublemakers who fight over them, it is…! Death and downfall at the hands of women is the very essence of a hero, it is…!”
“AAH! That's the wicked muddy-water nymph Troublemakeroi, it is…!”
“A very wicked nymph, she is…!”
Oinoi and Coris scowled at the brown-haired nymph who had appeared without warning. Illinoi, meanwhile, remarked, “Oho, a muddy-water nymph, is it…? Looking at a muddy-water nymph is a very long time ago for this Illinoi, it is…!”
Naturally, the muddy-water nymph Moralis corrected her.
“Not Troublemakeroi — Moralis, it is…!”
“I don't know what you are, but let's beat her senseless, we shall…! Muddy-water nymphs are supposed to be beaten senseless as a rule, they are…! Even this Coris knows this, she does…!”
“A fine idea, it is…!”
“Let's do it, I say…!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—.
“HIIIK…!”
And so the nymphs beat the muddy-water nymph Moralis senseless. Moralis shed a few tears at the shunning and pummeling from her nymph sisters, while Lee Jeonghun — forced to watch the whole spectacle — felt the future go black before his eyes, unable to grasp what this situation even was, or what on earth was going to happen next.
One thing, however, was certain: tangled up with these bizarre nymphs, with the equally bizarre women those nymphs attended, and with bizarre animals besides, Ha Ildo's future was going to be stickier, murkier, and far more chaotic than any mud pit.
Hang in there.
Stroking Binnari's back, Lee Jeonghun resolved to at least cheer for Ha Ildo's future.
“Muah─♥.”
Wink.
The moment Lee Jina winked at me, my heart lurched violently, as though it had taken a bullet. Granted, I'd never actually been shot, but if I ever were, I was pretty sure this was exactly how it would feel.
“Ugh!”
The world swam dizzily before my eyes. My body felt as though it had slipped free of my control and was swaying wildly, like a reed tossed about in the wind!
“The ‘Arrow of Passion’ is a technique that maxes out the target's affection toward me for a set period of time. In video game terms, think of it as Charm.”
Lee Jina's voice boomed and echoed in my ears. I had no idea what was being done to me — the only thing I could manage to register was that I'd been hit by a very powerful attack.
“The effect is brutal, trust me. You're experiencing it firsthand right now, Haildo, so you know exactly what I mean. So? Powerful, right? Feels like you're losing your mind, doesn't it?”
Drunk and roaring with laughter — Gyahahaha! — Lee Jina swayed where she stood. I gaped at her, stunned. Her presence had grown impossibly more intense than usual.
“Haildo, I had a drink and now my throat's dry. Go buy me strawberry milk. Strawberry milk. I'll give you a thousand won, so buy the strawberry milk and bring me back fifteen hundred in change…!”
In the late-night light, her silhouette seemed to glow with a halo, her face shining like a goddess or angel out of some ancient myth, and every gesture and posture struck me as impossibly graceful and elegant.
Under normal circumstances I would have snapped at her — how the hell do you buy strawberry milk with a thousand won these days, and what do you mean bring back fifteen hundred in change?
But right now, all I felt was an overwhelming conviction that I had to do absolutely anything for Lee Jina. She looked at my flushed, drink-addled face, then burst out giggling.
“Look at your face, you punk. If you don't wanna buy the strawberry milk, get over here and massage my feet instead. Congratulations — as of right now, you're Slave Number One. Come on─.”
Swish. Swish.
Lee Jina settled into a chair, crossed her legs, and swung her slipper-clad foot back and forth. Watching that slipper dangle precariously off the tip of her toes, I felt my pride take a direct hit.
“Nnngh…!”
So I tensed every muscle in my body, resisting furiously against the urge welling up from somewhere deep inside me. But still, slowly, inevitably, I was drifting toward Lee Jina — and if this kept up, I really might end up kneading her feet like some henchman of hers!
“Release.”
Snap.
At that moment, Lee Jina flicked her fingers. Goosebumps rippled up my whole body, and the blood that had flooded my face drained away all at once.
“What… was that?”
“Well? I've got one more technique besides that one, but─. You get the picture now, right? How powerful I actually am, I mean. Huh? I wasn't just sitting around doing nothing all this time, you know.”
Astonishing!
It was an extraordinarily powerful technique. Charming an opponent outright — a skill like that could be applied endlessly, in rift subjugations and in every corner of life besides. It finally hit me why Lee Jina had been considered a prodigy on par with the S-Ranker Cha Yura and top-tier A-Rank Han Juryeon back in their trainee days. She simply hadn't put in the effort — the girl was a natural-born genius all along!
“My kid's smart as a whip, she just doesn't apply herself—” — the star of that timeless parental lament was Lee Jina herself. How unfair could this world possibly be?
“Anyway, it's seriously hot in here. Global warming is so annoying.”
Flutter. Flutter.
Drunk Lee Jina had now shed her shirt entirely, baring her white shoulders and arms. Now that I looked, her whole body was slick with sweat — apparently her complaining about the heat hadn't been just drunken nonsense.
“It's hot…!”
And then she didn't stop at the shirt — she started working on her tank top and the dolphin-print shorts she was wearing too! My heart began hammering in sheer alarm, and I had no choice but to stop her.
“Hey! You're way too drunk!”
“Says who? I'm not drunk at all! You punk─. You keep going ‘you're drunk, you're drunk’ and then trying something. You're just trying to get me to sleep over, aren't you!”
“No, you're drunk, so obviously you can't drive and you have to sleep over. There's a spare room — sleep there and go home in the morning. If you drive right now, something terrible will happen!”
“You sneaky little pervert─. People like you, who pretend they're not interested at all, are exactly the dangerous ones.”
With that parting shot, Lee Jina flopped over and crashed down. Before long, a steady rhythm of breathing filled the room — she seemed to be out cold.
How does a grown woman just pass out at a man's place like this? If you were my little sister, I'd have set a five p.m. curfew and given you a proper noogie every single time you stumbled in late. Bam. Damn it.
I wrapped Lee Jina in a blanket, waited for her to fall fully asleep, and carried her to the spare room — at which point she mumbled something that was either drunken whining or sleep-talk: “One kiss per coin I drop when I die….” Then she kicked off the blanket I'd tucked around her with one long leg — fwap! — and sent it flying.
“…….”
There was nowhere to look, in every possible sense.
“I can't believe she's the same age as my little sister.”
My sister Ha Irae still had her baby fat and seemed like a total child, while this woman was… well. No. I turned my eyes away, as if in denial of my pounding heart.
After all, it seemed the effects of the Arrow of Passion hadn't quite worn off yet.