Iron Tower #096
Iron Tower #096. The guy seemed to have completely ignored her words and simply stared at Cheon Mari in a daze. It was the exact look a man gives when he sees a woman with stunning beauty. Reactions like that toward Cheon Mari were surprisingly common. The real problem always came afterward.
“Whoa…… You’re an aspiring actress, right?”
“What?”
“I knew it! Which agency are you with?”
It was blatant sexual harassment if you considered what he was implying. Kang Sian was about to step in, but Cheon Mari held him back. He had no idea what she was thinking. In the end, the verbal diarrhea began.
“If it’s an agency in southwest LA, I know a few. Is your sponsor—”
“Sponsor, my ass. I’m the one giving sponsorships, not receiving them.”
“Huh?”
“And some flounder-faced bastard is running his mouth at someone he’s meeting for the first time. Did you learn your manners in a dungeon?”
“W-what, what?! Flounder?!”
“Yeah, flounder. Your face looks exactly like one. A pathetic, tasteless, low-energy piece of shit flounder. Be honest—can you even function as a man?”
She sneered, looking the guy who was about her height up and down before letting out a derisive snort, radiating endless malice.
“You fucking—”
“Ah, so you can’t? Figures. Unlike my friend here, you’ve got that vibe like you’ve never even touched a girl’s bare ass.”
She casually glanced at Kang Sian as she said it. Kang Sian’s eyes widened at suddenly being dragged into the spotlight.
“Me? When did I—?”
“During that drinking game on Christmas. As punishment, you had to stick your hand in my and Sua-noona’s panties for thirty seconds, remember?”
“Oh.”
It was that drinking game with himself, Cheon Mari, Sua-noona, and his cousin. It had started out fun, then turned weird, and by the end he’d been left cleaning up something that was half filth and half human. Kang Sian shuddered as if the memory physically disgusted him, clearly never wanting to experience it again. Still, facts were facts, so he accepted it with a resigned nod.
“Anyway, he’s clearly all talk. Nothing to worry about.”
“Y-you……! You motherfucker!”
“Mother? Mine’s already dead, you pathetic little shit. Learn some context before you speak.”
A regressor’s scorching verbal barrage that refused to lose even a single exchange. Cheon Mari’s eyes burned with intensity, as if to prove it.
“Your dad’s dead too, you bastard!”
“Tsk tsk. What impact would that have when he’s already dead? Besides, with a mother who got knocked up after being raped, it’s no wonder you lack basic awareness.”
They say three “endure”s can prevent bloodshed. This, however, was three “scram”s that actively provoked it. It was shocking on multiple levels. She wasn’t just provoking him—she seemed deliberately trying to start a fight.
Naturally, Kang Sian’s face went pale at Cheon Mari’s sudden outburst. But if that had been the end of it, he wouldn’t be a twelve-year consecutive winner of the “Worst Personality” award.
“Ah, so trying to solve everything with money without any manners is something you learned from your dad? Well, they do say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Where do your parents live? From what you said about southwest California earlier, I’m guessing that’s the place.”
“Why do I ask? Because I’m going to send my bodyguards over and have them gang-rape your whole family. Looking at your face, your mom’s probably fucking delicious.”
“What? Want a go? You itching for a fight? Does my face look like shit to you? Well, yours looks even worse, you fucking bastard.”
“Shut your mouth while I’m still being nice and get that ugly mug out of my friend’s face. No? Want to get smacked first?”
Abnormal, future-ruining statements began pouring out one after another. Kang Sian belatedly tried to cover Cheon Mari’s mouth, but it was useless. She resisted and raged that she couldn’t let someone who dared talk back to her friend get away with it. The ridiculous situation continued.
“You bastards! I won’t let you off even if I have to borrow my parents’ hands!”
Shring! A sword was drawn from his waist. It was a curved Middle Eastern blade—a scimitar. The blond, tanned thug trembled as he pointed it at Cheon Mari, spouting nonsense about how someone like her could easily be had around Hollywood. Just how powerful must his family be to act with such arrogance? Just how successful must his guild be? It was truly baffling.
Even though Kang Sian considered himself a frog in a well, he’d picked up enough information here and there. But he’d never heard of or seen the Kankon Guild before. It hadn’t even appeared in the game.
‘Small to mid-sized? Maybe mid-tier?’
A place that would vanish without a trace once the currents of the era shifted. It wasn’t even worth comparing to Nartika—Cheon Mari’s personal wealth alone far surpassed it. In other words, the guy was throwing his weight around using a worthless guild as a shield. Compared to Cheon Mari, who threw her own weight around, he was practically a nobody. In a way, it was an admission that he lacked the ability to crush the person standing right in front of him.
Because of that, Cheon Mari openly mocked him, telling him to go commit seppuku with that sword.
“Kekeke, what are you gonna do with a pathetic guild like that?”
“You crazy bitch!”
The situation was on the verge of exploding, yet the guards simply stood there watching blankly. They probably figured they could clean up after the incident rather than prevent it. The academy’s policy of permitting duels under school rules was truly bitter. Of course, to people with bottom-tier personalities, duels were nothing more than a childish card game ritual.
The scimitar was thrust against Cheon Mari’s neck.
“Kneel and apologize right now, or I’ll make an example out of you!”
“Oh, really?”
With that, Cheon Mari grabbed the blade between two fingers. Her protective barrier slowly chipped away where it touched the sharp aura.
“Last warning. Shut your mouth and get lost.”
It was a ridiculous notion. After all the insults he’d suffered, there was no reason to back down now. The blond thug, enraged, tried to swing his sword—only to find it completely immovable despite being held by just two fingers.
“Is that all a man can do?”
“Y-you bastard!!!!”
Unable to move the blade in any direction, he yanked it backward with force. Then he swung. But the motion was so exaggerated that everything was visible.
‘Damn it!’
Even to Kang Sian, whose senses were heightened, it looked slow. In that slowed world, he drew his sword with practiced ease. The moment the blade rose, he released the hilt and grabbed the tip instead. The inverted sword now resembled a blunt weapon.
The strike came like a natural disaster. He swung the inverted sword in a swift arc. Before the scimitar could reach Cheon Mari, Kang Sian’s blade smashed heavily into the thug’s face.
Clang!
The overwhelming impact sent the blond thug flying into the air. As he crashed backward, Cheon Mari’s kick followed, striking his neck. Even with protective barriers, the two consecutive attacks were devastating. He rolled across the floor in a miserable heap.
A despairing future flashed before his eyes. He tried to get up immediately, but Cheon Mari kept stomping on him until he was finished. In the end, under the watchful eyes of many bystanders, the blond thug was completely knocked out.
“Y-you insane…… low-class bastards……”
“Do I really have to spell it out for trash like you? Just take the hint and scram. Got it?”
Those were the last words. No one said anything more to him. The sheer oppressive violence of the scene had left everyone terrified. His teammates only dared to approach and help him up after carefully reading the room.
“Still not leaving? Keep standing there and I’ll do the same to you.”
They didn’t leave smoothly. Faced with the reality of their comrade lying powerless, they fled in panic.
“W-we’re sorryyyyy!!!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Everyone, run!!!!”
They moved so fast it could have set a record in the history of fleeing. Their speed was unmatched, comparable to Germany’s blitzkrieg or their ancestors’ mobile warfare tactics.
Thus, in the fight between a madman and a madwoman, the madder woman emerged victorious. A dark cloud had settled a little deeper over the academy’s future, but Cheon Mari didn’t care. She simply laughed, saying that winning as an idiot felt refreshing and that this was the perfect medicine for idiots.
And where there is someone laughing, there is always someone crying. Kang Sian smacked Cheon Mari hard on the back.
“You crazy bastard! What the hell are we supposed to do now!!!”
“Ow, ow! What do you mean, what are we supposed to do?! Ow!”
“We fought in front of all those drones! We’re definitely getting disciplined!!”
“Nah, this place is always like this. Live by your pride, die by your pride! That’s America for you.”
“That’s not the point!! We finally got here ahead of everyone else!!!”
In truth, Kang Sian had been the one to strike first physically. Pretending otherwise didn’t change the fact that he was just like Cheon Mari.
Just as Kang Sian was wallowing in despair over the incident, a guard’s hand landed on his shoulder. A chilling moment. He thought the hammer of discipline was about to fall.
“I don’t think we can keep the gate open any longer. I’m afraid you’ll have to head up now.”
Instead, what came out was an instruction to go up. Kang Sian blinked in confusion at the lack of any mention of punishment.
‘……They saw it as self-defense?’
Whatever the case, he felt relieved that it hadn’t been brought up. He decided to let the previous incident slide. No, it wasn’t important enough to remember anyway.
Kang Sian and his group followed the guard’s guidance and climbed the iron tower. Gripping ladders and stepping on stairs, they headed toward the top. From there, the vast landscape of Puerto Rico spread out before them. The view was nice, the air felt refreshing, and the wind was cool. Everything was pleasant except for the fact that there was nothing there.
“So…… what do we do now?”
“……Good question.”
This was supposed to be the right place. So why was there nothing here? Confusion flooded their minds for a moment. The group stood bewildered by the lack of anything happening. Just as they concluded they would have to go back down, the sound of fabric flapping reached their ears.
“Huh?”
“Uh?”
Everyone turned toward the sound. They approached the section where the railing had been removed—a perfect spot for jumping off.
“What is that?”
A humanoid figure. It was faintly visible, with about 5% opacity. All eyes focused on one spot. Kang Sian slowly parted his lips.
“……Is someone there?”
“Ah, busted.”
The figure gradually became clearer. Along with a thin voice, the opacity increased.
“Ahem~ Hello, kids.”
A woman who had been hidden by a high-level illusion. Uniquely, she was riding a brilliantly shining magic carpet. Just who was she? As they glanced over her, a name tag on her chest caught their attention.
Palaestra Academy - Mental School Professor
Fernanda Zapata Alejandro
“Dett?”
For some reason, she was a professor.