Sweet Revenge
Having lost his abilities, Min Hyeokju could do nothing.
Dodging only works once or twice. Faced with my relentless assault — fearless, unhesitating, and utterly without mercy — he finally started taking the hits.
Thud. Thud. Thud....
I swung my clenched fist again and again with everything I had, smashing that bastard's face in. I don't think I'd ever felt this good in my entire life. No matter how hard I threw the punches, my fists felt no pain at all — while his face had long since turned into a bloody pulp.
Adrenaline boiled through every inch of my body.
"Stop.... Please stop, oppa."
Shin Haneul tried to hold me back. I didn't even pretend to listen. Once Min Hyeokju was face-down on the floor, I kicked him and drove my heel into his back. I might have been out of my mind. Even if he died right there on the spot, I didn't think I'd feel a shred of guilt.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Oppa. At this rate he's really going to die!!"
What finally stopped my kicking was Shin Haneul throwing herself over Min Hyeokju's body. Jumping in without a second thought — did she really like this bastard that much? She even clung to my leg, bawling and pleading. At that point, even if I wanted to keep stomping him, there was nothing I could do.
I forced my ragged breathing under control and spoke.
"Hey, Min Hyeokju. You're a piece of trash. Recognize?"
Honestly, I'd wanted to scatter some bills on him for medical expenses, but I didn't have any money, so I dropped the idea. He was trembling violently and giving no response whatsoever. He still seemed conscious, but he was going to be stuck in a hospital for a while. At least a few ribs had to be broken.
Haa.
I was feeling two emotions that rarely coexist — bitterness and pure exhilaration — at the same time. The thing under my hotel robe, loosened from the excitement, was fully hard. I wanted to have sex with someone right then and there, but I still had enough self-control to hold it in.
Looking at Shin Haneul still hovering protectively over Min Hyeokju, I even felt a twinge of pity. I wanted to ask her how things between us had ended up like this, but I didn't. There didn't seem to be any point.
Why the hell had I called that bastard to this room? Regret was starting to set in. What a thoroughly awkward situation.
I pulled on the clothes I'd worn yesterday — still stained with my blood and potting soil — and fled the room where he lay crumpled on the floor. All I wanted was a cigarette, and fast.
The hotel lobby was in an uproar over the sudden arrival of an ambulance. Several guests looked uneasy, asking what had happened. The one silver lining was that it was past nine in the morning, so there were no Diamond Guild people inside the hotel — aside from Yoo Dajeong, Shin Haneul, and Min Hyeokju, of course. That made it easy enough to talk my way through.
Min Hyeokju couldn't speak, and Shin Haneul didn't go around announcing that I'd done it. Since it was an ambulance that showed up rather than a police car, nothing particularly troublesome came of it either. The front desk staff, having witnessed last night's events, kept glancing my way and whispering among themselves — but because they mistook me for an Awoken, nothing serious came of it.
What would happen once Min Hyeokju came to his senses was another matter, but I'd deal with that when the time came.
Even after the ambulance left, I smoked every last cigarette left in my pocket before finally heading back up to the room. I hadn't wanted to go back up at all, but I had a reason I couldn't avoid it.
Yoo Dajeong, still buried under the covers, latched onto me in tears.
"Honestly, where did you go? Do you have any idea how hard it was staying under the covers completely naked the whole time?"
According to her, she'd woken up to find Min Hyeokju collapsed on the floor and Shin Haneul crying, which had startled her half to death. Then people who looked like doctors had suddenly burst in, and I'd vanished without a word — so she'd pretended to be a pillow and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket. She kept whining about how miserable it had been, lying there naked like that.
"After everyone left I tried to call you, but then I saw the phone you'd left behind and finally calmed down enough to wait."
"I'm sorry."
"For what? You're back, so it's fine. Ugh.... You reek of cigarettes."
She smoked herself — what was she even complaining about?
"So why are you still under the covers? Why haven't you put any clothes on? Everyone left ages ago."
"I don't know. I just don't want to come out from under the blanket."
What was wrong with this woman? Had a whole night of being worked over scrambled her brain?
I more or less ignored her and checked my phone. There were several missed calls from Senior Kim Chan-il. I checked to see if he'd sent any messages — sure enough, dozens of them had piled up. Most were snide remarks about how thoroughly I'd enjoyed myself last night to skip work entirely. Apparently he'd left me alone and was waiting by himself in front of the Hwaseong Gate.
Had the rescue team re-entered without Min Hyeokju?
Checking Senior Kim's messages meant I was opening the chat app for the first time in ages. Ever since things went south with Shin Haneul, I'd left the notifications off and let it sit. So there was quite a backlog.
Huh?
An insane volume of messages. Dozens had also come in from Kim Isol and Lee Donggeul. Looking at them, it seemed they'd been trying to reach me since yesterday afternoon.
Didn't these kids watch the news? Our company being a victim in the Hwaseong Gate incident had already been publicly reported — all they had to do was call the company and ask. Then again, those boneheads would never watch the news.
Kim Isol had even sent dozens of voice call requests. She'd been the first one whose mana I'd cut off, so she was probably losing her mind right about now. Different gender, but Kim Isol had a temper every bit as fierce as Min Hyeokju's.
Sorry, but I had no intention of replying. Let her stew in frustration until Monday, and then we'd see how she came at me. A smile crept onto my face without me realizing it.
"What's got you so happy?"
Yoo Dajeong, who had only just managed to put on a bra, asked as she looked at me. I answered casually.
"Nothing important. By the way, Dajeong-ssi — do you put on your bra before your panties?"
Her lower half was fully on display. From last night's activities, the area around her sex was still flushed red.
"No. I need to go to the convenience store and buy some panties. The ones from yesterday are too soaked — I can't put them back on."
"Why not go without? What's wrong with that?"
"I'm already sore enough as it is.... Stop staring, you pervert."
Aware of my gaze, she hastily clamped her legs shut, covered herself with her hands, and turned her back. It was pretty cute.
"Looks like Dajeong-ssi has more confidence in her ass."
"Eek — seriously, stop looking!"
This woman really knew how to handle a man. Bold as hell when it counted, but shy like this the rest of the time. Hard to believe she was the same woman from last night — but she clearly understood that this kind of gap was one of the secrets to keeping a man around for the long haul. Whether it was instinct, calculation, or just her nature, watching her got me hard all over again without meaning to.
Usually, after sleeping together a few times, the mutual embarrassment fades and you get comfortable. You change clothes right in front of each other, show your naked bodies, and it stops mattering. That was how cohabitation with Shin Haneul had gone — growing familiar, until seeing each other naked barely made either of us flutter anymore. Well, even then a man still gets hard from pure instinct every now and then.
If Shin Haneul had kept covering up and acting shy about her naked body even after we'd slept together, the way Yoo Dajeong was doing now — would our relationship have lasted longer?
Why was I suddenly thinking about this? I felt a little bad toward Yoo Dajeong. Then again, once she got used to living together day in and day out, who knew how she might change. I myself had changed as cohabitation dragged on.
I'd always blamed it on our poverty — on the hardscrabble life. If we'd had money, we'd have kept our dignity and treated each other with more respect. Becoming an Awoken would have solved everything. In the end I never became one — but I did gain this strange ability. Now I was going to make a fortune.
Please, just let me forget Shin Haneul already. The revenge had been thoroughly, satisfyingly finished.
"What are you thinking about instead of looking at my ass?"
"Ah — nothing. Just wondering if you like anal."
Yoo Dajeong's expression went ice-cold.
"Junghyeok-ssi, if you let me open up your ass first, I'll consider letting you do mine."
She clearly had zero intention of ever allowing it. Reaching 100% Synchronization Rate with her might take quite a while.
I had a late breakfast-slash-early lunch with Yoo Dajeong, finished some shopping, and only then arrived at the Hwaseong Gate. Since we were already late enough to get chewed out, we'd mutually agreed to just write off the morning.
The moment Senior Kim spotted me, he came running.
"Hey, you bastard. Why are you only getting here now? Uh.... Hello. I'm Kim Chan-il from Cool Support. We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves properly yesterday."
He'd started chewing me out, then cut himself off to greet Yoo Dajeong. I ignored the exchange and got a situation report first. It almost felt like I'd become the boss — and the feeling wasn't half bad.
"Is that so? They found them?"
"Yeah. Turns out most of the monsters had already been taken down yesterday. They held off last night because of the rescue team's mana issues, but the moment they went in today they found them. Looks like there are survivors... and a lot of dead, too."
"So what's happening now?"
"Monster cleanup's done, so the transport company people who arrived today and the soldiers went inside too. They'll probably bring out the survivors, the wounded... and the bodies."
I couldn't tell if this counted as good news. The fact that a selfish thought like at least I hope our company people are alive crossed my mind made me realize I'd become just another ordinary human being. Telling myself that was simply what it meant to be a grown adult didn't quite work — not when I still remembered the childhood dream of being a hero.
Yoo Dajeong left to handle her own company's work. Since she managed equipment rather than participating in dungeons directly, she looked extremely busy right now. Meanwhile, Senior Kim and I — the ones who actually did Awoken support — had nothing to do except watch other people work.
"Are our people okay?"
"How the hell would I know? You think I can just go ask the Diamond Guild rescue team that?"
"Ah. Then what should I be doing? Anything I need to prepare?"
"Beats me. I already told the company you showed up on time and are busy gathering intel from the other companies."
"I appreciate it."
"Whatever. Just deposit the five hundred thousand on time."
"I'll give you that money on payday."
I thanked Senior Kim for keeping faith with me. Keep this up, Kim Chan-il. You never know when I might awaken you too. Keep sucking on my toes diligently and maybe one day the sun will shine on your life as well. I looked at Senior Kim with fond, appreciative eyes.
We waited like that for a good while. At last, the people who'd gone into the dungeon began emerging through the Gate. Shouts rang out from every direction; everyone was scrambling. The reporters who'd shown up without fail once again started firing off their camera flashes, and the furious Awoken yelled at them.
"You here to gawk!? Get the hell out of the way! Our company people — put up the screens, now!"
A familiar voice. Lee Daeman's booming shout carried across the area. Looking at his tense, urgent expression, it seemed there was a critically wounded person beyond what healing could fix. Dislocation? Or maybe an amputation? The training materials listed all kinds of cases where healing was useless.
Hearing Lee Daeman call out "Heesu, Heesu," I figured the injured one was the little sister he'd been so desperately searching for. At least they'd found each other alive — that was something. Not that this was the moment for words of comfort.
I swallowed dryly and started checking the people coming through the Gate one by one. I needed to find our company people. Everyone was focused on their own jobs. Other companies would look after their own — this was enough for me.
"Huh? Senior An Sora!"
And then, at last, our company people started to appear. The moment I spotted Senior An, I bolted forward.