The Scoundrel Himself

"By any chance... are you a knight?"

"Pardon? No, I'm not. Why do you ask?"

"Well... just the fact that you sliced a person clean in half with a sword..."

Is that even possible? Even for a master swordsman, cutting someone in half like that? It's not like they were a bundle of straw.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. The sword is the greatest weapon in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all of human history. Of course it's more useful than a gun."

"..."

Something feels... off about her common sense.

...I thought I'd put on a bit of a show.

I felt a twinge of disappointment. I'd upgraded to implants far superior to the cheap police-grade ones from my stinking cop days, and I'd been looking forward to really cutting loose—but it was all over before I could have any fun.

Here I was, thrilled over killing just six guys. What an idiot.

Sigh.

But I shook it off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quickly. It'd only been a few days—why complain already? Levi and Sua weren't even comparable to begin with. Im Sua had been a police squad leader for years and had only recently become my chief secretary, while Levi had been honed under Min Ji-ah's thumb, even if she was from a side branch running a massive corporation. In terms of combat power, Levi was overwhelmingly superior, obviously.

"More importantly, clean up."

"Ah."

Sua snapped back to attention. No time for this—we had to tidy up the Nokono-go Girls while they were still nice and fresh and deliver them to the master.

"Load all the bodies into the cars and send them into the sea."

"Yes, sir."

"Laser."

She mobilized the Red Team to haphazardly stuff the gruesomely slain corpses into the vehicles and set them on autonomous drive along the designated route. The four cars would plunge into the ocean on their own, disposing of the bodies.

"Everyone, withdraw."

+++

"..."

"..."

The inside of the car was deathly silent. The vehicle boasted excellent soundproofing, but the nearby battle had pierced right through it, delivering the carnage straight to their ears. No one could speak.

Especially the manager in the driver's seat, who could peek out the window at the horror—her face had drained to a sickly blue, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

M-m-m-m-manager, w-we're g-g-gonna d-die...!!! L-like th-this!!!!

With shaking hands, she barely managed to grab her phone and try calling the police. But the screen was dead. No touch response, no voice recognition, no gestures. It wouldn't even turn on. Trying the car comms yielded the same—total blackout. No controls worked at all.

"S-sis... wh-what's g-going on...???"

The terrified members asked. The manager glanced out the window. A corpse split perfectly from crown to crotch, entrails spilling out like seasoned crab innards overflowing from the shell.

"B-blurgh...!"

Unbearable nausea. She dry-heaved repeatedly, turning away from the window.

"!!"

Seeing that, the Nokono-go members grew even more frightened. What the hell was happening out there...!!

"Th-this... this is that, right?"

"A-are we g-gonna d-die too?"

The gal girl shuddered, then suddenly came to her senses and yanked at the door. It wouldn't budge.

"Aaaah! Aaaaaah!!!"

She shoved with all her might, but nothing. Mashing the unlock button did zilch. Then, suddenly—vrrrm.

The car started moving.

"Wha? Wh-what???"

The manager frantically tried controlling the vehicle, but still nothing. It just drove toward some unknown destination. The car filled with screams and terror.

+++

Nokono-go CEO Na Tae-hee was bustling even late at night. She planned to squeeze out profits just through this week before fleeing to Free America—no time for rest. And it wasn't just her; the whole company was the same. Those who couldn't hack it had no choice, but most were grinding late into the night to maximize earnings.

And honestly, it wasn't even that hard. Seeing daily record-breaking revenue and skyrocketing popularity melted away even a decade's worth of fatigue.

The money they'd raked in so far was insane. With a bit of exaggeration, enough to live off forever without working. Sure, starting fresh in Free America might make it a tad tight, but...

Sh-should I... do one more week...?

The temptation reared its head again. If trends were dipping, she'd cut and run easy—but everything was on an upward curve. Revenue was great now, but next week it'd be better, and without some freak incident, the week after even more so. Plus, ad deals and variety show gigs were booking weeks out—she'd have to turn those down. Factoring that in, projected earnings were...

Haa... I shouldn't...

She slyly checked her email. One from Goryeo Entertainment popped up. She'd read it a dozen times already. On the surface, a polite offer—but the subtext was ice-cold.

'Join Goryeo Entertainment, or we'll take separate measures.'

It was run by Ko Mu-yeol, Goryeo Group's worst scoundrel and notorious pervert. What he'd do was obvious. But...

N-not yet... no big moves... it'll be f-fine, right? Beef up security a bit more...

Then—knock knock.

- CEO, it's Im Mi-yeon.

"Come in."

The woman handling the second-most workload entered with a deeply troubled face. Na Tae-hee felt unease stir unbidden.

"What is it?"

"The girls... we can't reach them!"

"What? Can't reach them? What do you mean??"

"Exactly that—no contact with the manager, security, or the girls themselves! Can't even track the car's location..."

"!!"

Na Tae-hee's heart plummeted. Of all times, now?! Even normally it'd be shocking, but with Goryeo Group's threats hanging over them?!

"Ch-Chae-r-yul...!!"

+++

"We're back, Master."

Sua and the Red Team returned in the AV. The Nokono-go Girls would come separately in a van, per my special order. I wanted to stage something... tastier.

"Weren't there over 20 guards? Guess the implants are paying off. You've gotten a lot stronger, huh?"

"Ah... well."

As I praised Sua, she glanced sideways.

"Truth is, the Red Team leader here handled most of it."

"Her?"

I turned my gaze. Levi, with her long straight hair cascading to her waist, met my eyes and bowed slightly.

"Yeah. Took out 16 in one second? With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sword, no less."

One second for 16? That all?

"I made her team leader 'cause she looked the tastiest, but she's this strong?"

Eh? Wait, did I see that wrong? Rubbing my eyes, I checked again.

'A demon??'

Sure, this world had demons, great demons, monsters, even ghosts... but isn't this sudden? Why's a demon here? They don't show up till mid-game, with monsters and demons proper.

No way...

Then it hit me—the "(Bound)" after her name. Same as with Baekseol. Meaning absolute obedience to her master.

She's been mine for a while, but affiliation's still Min Ji-ah. That means... Min Ji-ah's the true master. Can't change it normally.

How'd that happen? Demons are humanity's enemies, right? A demon bound to a human as master...

Set... demon...? No way it's some half-baked tale that Goryeo Group created demons and monsters???

I hadn't done the great demon route, so details were fuzzy—but if true, that's horrifying.

When I mentioned having Levi before, Min Ji-ah didn't even remember her. Meaning, to her, Levi's just some disposable nobody not worth recalling.

A full demon, and disposable?

Let's game this out. Scenarios where Min Ji-ah doesn't even know Levi's name.

1. She doesn't know Levi's a demon.

2. She has so many like Levi they overflow.

3. She can straight-up produce demons.

Those are the obvious ones. 1's unlikely—if Min Ji-ah was clueless, Levi chose to serve a human on her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own. Why would a demon? It's not some casual contract; it's literal binding of fate. Insane. Scratch that.

Leaves 2 and 3...

Either way, insane.

Methods to capture and bind demons, in numbers—or produce them outright. Both bombshells.

Goryeo produces knights and demons? Like an onion? Peel and peel, more layers.

Just speculation, of course. Maybe Levi's super rare and precious, and Min Ji-ah's just too airheaded to remember. She's kinda dumb.

Hmm...

I grabbed Levi's chin, turning her face this way and that. Visually, no different from human. Even popping her cherry before, nothing stood out.

Whatever. Demon or human, as long as she tastes good.

She's bound to Min Ji-ah anyway, and Min Ji-ah's basically my fuckhouse slave. Complicate later—enjoy the ripe fruit now.

Screeech.

"Master."

Right on cue, a black van and the Red Team vehicles pulled into the parking lot.

"Levi."

"Yes."

"Good work. Turns out you're useful beyond your pussy."

"Thank you."