The Hypnosis of the Broken Heart Heroine
At the heart of the inner courtyard, where crisis and opportunity intertwined, stood the Crystal Pavilion. While most buildings of the Golden Dragon Battlefield were grand and ornate, this one was small and modest. Its awkward, unpolished appearance might lead first-time visitors to mistake it for a storage shed. Yet it housed the leader's office. It was a storied structure, Imbued with the founding leader’s resolve to never lose the humble spirit of those impoverished early days.
The door to the leader's office in the Crystal Pavilion burst open with a rough bang.
Thud!
"Eek!"
Bang So-un recoiled in exaggerated surprise, shoving his chair back a bit as he signaled Jang Il, who stood beside him. It was an order: act when the chance arises.
"Well, if it isn't the left protector. What brings you here so abruptly?"
"How brazen."
Yeon Su-rin didn't sit. She strode forward with heavy steps. She halted at a distance where a single sword draw could sever his neck. Even Bang So-un, who suspected she'd been hit with San-gong Poison, felt a chill crawl up his spine at her aura. Reflexively, he gripped the sword at his side, ready to draw at any moment.
"Sul—what did you do to that girl?"
Yeon Su-rin's voice carried a cold edge laced with suppressed killing intent.
"W-what do you mean, what did I do? Why would I, your husband and leader, do anything to my own wife?"
Damn it. He faltered, tongue-tied under the pressure. The aura of a peak expert was no trifling thing for a third-rate hack like him.
"San. Gong. Poison."
Yeon Su-rin spat each word like chewed gristle. Bang So-un, caught off guard by her bluntness, panicked inwardly. She knew she'd been poisoned and still came here? Bold or reckless—he couldn't decide. Well, if she hadn't come, they would've hunted her down anyway. Still, a nagging worry crept in: had the poison not spread fully? Next time, he'd need something stealthier and more potent.
"...San-gong Poison? What's that?"
"Why would that good child use San-gong Poison on me? Hm? You know, don't you."
Bang So-un gritted his teeth. No choice now—might as well go all in.
"Haha, yeah. I ordered it. To devour you, I ordered it. What're you gonna do about it?"
"You thought San-gong Poison would let you devour me, Yeon Su-rin?"
Shing!
Yeon Su-rin drew her sword in a flash of lightning. Bang So-un toppled his chair and rolled backward. He'd been braced for it; otherwise, his head would've been gone.
"Huff... what the hell, Jang Il!"
"Her internal energy hasn't fully dispersed yet. We need to make sure."
With that, Jang Il retreated to a corner. So... he was telling him to stall until her power fully scattered?
"Damn it all!"
From Yeon Su-rin's hand unfolded the Flying Swallow Sword Technique, the swift style that had earned her fame by slaughtering countless fiends. She ignored Jang Il entirely, targeting only Bang So-un relentlessly. He rolled like a donkey in the dirt, parried with his sword when he could, barely enduring five exchanges. Normally, he'd never last three. Only because she couldn't fully channel her internal energy did he hold on by a thread.
Riiip.
"Urk..."
On the sixth clash, his left shoulder sliced open, blood spraying. Dizziness hit; his breaths grew ragged.
"I'll kill you."
She'd used Hwang Bo-seol to cowardly slip her the poison, then showed no fight, just scurried like a rat—rolling in that despised donkey evasion without shame. Pitiful, that Hwang Bo-seol had fallen to such a wretched man. He had to die. A human scum like this deserved death right here.
Her sword unleashed the Flying Bird Dives into the Forest, the first form of the middle three styles in the Flying Swallow Sword Technique, infused with illusory swordplay. She meant to trap the fleeing Bang So-un in a cage of phantom blades.
"Gah!"
As Bang So-un realized her intent and panicked before the wave of sword shadows, Jang Il finally moved. He hurled his sword with all his might.
She withdrew her blade and leaped back two steps. No need to injure herself just to take his life.
Thunk!
The sword buried deep in the wall, quivering. In that instant, Jang Il blocked Bang So-un's front.
"Oh? Right, you're that man's bodyguard. But what now? You threw your weapon—think you can beat me?"
Yeon Su-rin smirked mockingly. One exchange had shown her: big frame, worthless skill.
Jang Il clenched his fists tight.
"Young master."
"Yeah?"
"Hurry and channel your internal energy into me."
"Uh... right."
He got it now—Jang Il's plan. If one person's energy wasn't enough, what about two? It might work on her current state. Their heart methods matched perfectly, allowing seamless transfer without resistance.
Bang So-un pressed his palm to Jang Il's back and poured in his internal energy.
"What madness is this..."
Yeon Su-rin looked incredulous. Channeling energy with an enemy before you was begging for death. Yet that's what they did. She could kill them with a single thrust. But she held back. The impulse to crush their last sliver of hope and slaughter them cruelly felt... satisfying.
That impulse saved Bang So-un and Jang Il—and doomed Yeon Su-rin.
The transfer complete, Jang Il's eyes flew wide.
"Look into my eyes, Yeon Su-rin!"
"What...?"
Reflexively meeting his gaze, Yeon Su-rin showed true shock for the first time since entering. Even for the bold heroine called Iron Heart, the eerie depth in his eyes was unnerving. An endless abyss of black, choked with ghostly yin and demonic qi. She felt herself being sucked into that darkness.
"You're afraid. Terrified. You fear and dread this Jang Il utterly. Of course— you're just a tiny, fragile woman. You fool yourself into thinking you're strong, but women are creatures whose instinct is to submit to a powerful man. To a man like me."
"Bull...sh..."
She couldn't finish. She jolted in terror. Her legs shook. No—her whole body trembled. She fought to resist, but the venomous fear eroded her mind bit by bit, relentlessly. And that fear stemmed from the man before her.
Something was wrong. This was all wrong. This petty sorcery...
"I-I'm not... a-afraid of anything. You think I'd f-fear a third-rate p-peon like you? R-ridiculous..."
Her tongue, seized by terror, stuttered idiotically. She forced strength into her arms for a sword strike. But her Azure Frost Longsword, once light as a feather, felt impossibly heavy. Her arms quaked like aspen leaves. The blade extended slower than any blunt sword.
"Stammering like an idiot, spouting cute nonsense, little bitch. Why deny your instincts? Didn't I say a tiny, fragile thing like you is born to submit to a man like me? Your endless fear and terror come from resisting me. Why fight? Submit quietly, and those awful feelings vanish—you'll know peace."
"B-bullshit... s-stop..."
She barely spat it out, but extreme dread consumed her utterly. Tears streamed uncontrollably. She wanted to hurl her sword away and hide where no one could find her. Standing before Jang Il terrified her that much.
Jang Il smirked at her state, then bellowed in a voice like it emanated from a ghost's belly.
"Drop your weapon now!"
Clang!
The sword slipped from Yeon Su-rin's hand. She sobbed, trembling in abject terror.
No one who knew the Iron Heart Heroine would've believed it.
"Kneel!"
Thud.
Her legs gave out completely; she dropped to her knees. Unable to hold it, urine trickled between her thighs, soaking her undergarments. An indignity unimaginable in her normal state.
"You see nothing. Feel nothing. Your will fades. Your emotions fade. Your thoughts fade."
The moment her knees hit the floor, her mind already half-conquered by his power, Yeon Su-rin lost all resistance to the suggestions. Her eyes turned vacant, stripped of emotion. The fear drained from her face, leaving it expressionless. Her lips parted limply. In an instant, the vitality fled her body; she resembled an exquisite doll.
"How's that?"
With Yeon Su-rin kneeling in total hypnotic submission, Jang Il turned to Bang So-un, grinning in satisfaction.
"Incredible. You can do this too?"
Bang So-un's face showed genuine awe.
"Haha, you think I've been slacking? To survive in the martial world, a man needs tricks up his sleeve. Besides, this bitch has a suggestible constitution. Extremely high hypnotic susceptibility. Girls like her break quick."
"People vary in hypnosis resistance?"
"Of course. Everyone's different. Exploiting that is basic training."
Jang Il explained, then continued seamlessly.
"Shall we give our first Jeolhwadae recruit a proper mental reeducation from her captain? Heh."
He approached the blankly rigid Yeon Su-rin and whispered into her ear with gleeful relish.
"I'm Jeolhwadae Captain Jang Il. And you're the glorious first recruit chosen for Jeolhwadae. But you can't join just yet—you need thorough mental training. And that's exactly what you're getting now. Look forward to it."