Beyond ☆ Brothel
After that whole mess, those of us who’d been involved—including Man-bok and Ms. Gaeun—were dragged through hearings at the hospital, the police station, and the association.
We naturally turned over almost everything we’d learned, brainwashing included. The authorities didn’t even bat an eye at talk of supernatural phenomena. They just took careful notes and left. Given how this world worked, they’d probably seen similar cases plenty of times before.
Something’s making my nose itch.
Achoo.
“Uncle. Do you have a cold? You can’t give it to Mom.”
“It’s not a cold. Feels like someone’s talking shit about me behind my back.”
Two days later, we were in the bathroom.
The people who’d come in with me were obviously not Ms. Yumi. It was Taeyang, Man-bok, and me.
“Hey, Man-bok. You planning to stay pissed off forever?”
“……….”
Ever since the incident, we’d been living together with Man-bok. School had given him temporary leave once we explained the situation. It was the obvious move when a global evil syndicate might be targeting a kid.
Weird. He only did all that because he was brainwashed. It wasn’t even his fault, so why is he acting like this?
The kid must have his own reasons. He’s at a sensitive age.
Are you calling me insensitive?
If you’re genuinely asking, go ask the princess instead of me.
Ehh~?
Taeyang and I sat side by side in the same tub, letting the hot water cook us. It should have been a heartwarming father-and-son scene, but Man-bok clearly wasn’t used to the vibe. He was furiously scrubbing his shampooed head like he wanted to finish and bolt.
“Hey, Man-bok. There’s no one else here. Even if it’s just your uncle, why don’t you open up and tell us what’s eating you?”
“He’s right. We fought a lot, but nothing that should’ve hurt your feelings. The brainwashing’s gone, Locust tripped over their own feet—why are you still sulking?”
We tag-teamed the question nicely, but Man-bok stayed silent. His big frame just twitched while he kept scratching his scalp.
His back looked strangely lonely, like he’d fallen headfirst into self-loathing.
“Kid’s drowning in melancholy.”
“What’s melancholy?”
“Means he’s carrying a mountain of worry. I don’t know why he’s like this, but if we leave him alone, something else is definitely going to blow up.”
It was exactly like an RPG. When an NPC tied to the main quest has an exclamation mark floating over their head, an event is coming. Leave the current Man-bok alone and he’d get dragged into another Locust mess for sure.
“Man-bok. You think you’ll stay sulky forever? This arrangement won’t last more than a week anyway. What are you going to do if another incident happens while you’re still moping?”
“What does me being sulky have to do with the next incident?”
He finally spoke.
“You think I wouldn’t notice? You didn’t tell the police or the association people everything. It’s probably connected to the heart of this whole thing.”
“…Really?”
“You’re his friend—how could you not know?”
Technically they were more like rivals, but I dumped a bucket of water over Taeyang’s head and kept pressing Man-bok.
“Look at Ms. Gaeun. No matter how much she scolds you, a parent is still a parent. You saw how hard she cried when she found out you’d been brainwashed. You’re really going to keep your mouth shut and hide everything from someone like that?”
“I know Mom’s worried about me.”
“What?”
“I know everything. I know better than you, uncle, so why are you being like this?”
“Hah, look at you with your baby-blue ass.”
I scooped up some bathwater and splashed it at him. Unable to take the blow to his pride, he finished washing his hair and fled. I told him to at least rinse his body while he was in here, but he didn’t even pretend to listen.
“I have no idea why Man-bok’s acting like that. Do you, uncle?”
“From that reaction, he wasn’t brainwashed from the start. It’s possible he joined them voluntarily.”
“With that personality? He hates bowing his head to anyone. I can’t see him volunteering to be someone’s underling.”
“The moment we mentioned his parents he reacted hard. It must be connected to Ms. Gaeun. They adore their son that much—how could the one receiving the love not feel it? When Ms. Yumi squeezes out time to be good to you, don’t you feel incredibly grateful?”
“I do! That’s why I’m not lonely even without a dad!”
“Hehe. Exactly, right?”
I stopped there and suddenly shoved Taeyang’s head underwater.
“Pwah! What the hell was that for?!”
“No reason.”
As I silently wondered what the face of the father who’d abandoned and run away from him looked like, a lovely voice called from outside the bathroom.
「Mr. Lee Baek! We’re stepping out for a bit~!」
“We’ll be right out~.”
「Okay. No need to rush!」
……….
I’d answered naturally, but it felt weird. Like I’d become the new stepdad. The thought made me feel smug, so I quickly left the bathroom.
Late at night. Countless neon-lit streets flashed past the windows.
We’d taken another unmanned taxi and traveled far. By the time I came to my senses, we’d left Seoul and were heading toward Incheon.
What kind of business brings us out here at this hour?
I worried it wasn’t another trip to a hotel while leaving the kids behind. I knew she wasn’t that kind of person, but the thought still crossed my mind.
“It’s sudden, isn’t it?”
“Yes. You didn’t even tell me where we were going.”
“I mentioned at our first meeting that my sister works nights. That’s why we left Man-bok at our house for a while and are keeping an eye on him until the Locust situation is fully resolved.”
I nodded.
“This is the road to the place where sister Gaeun works. I held back earlier because the kids were around.”
“So it’s somewhere you can’t speak freely in front of children.”
“Right. Two days ago, when he was brainwashed, he blurted out that he did it because of his mom. Both of us have a hunch what that means, but we can’t be certain. That’s why we wanted your opinion too, Mr. Lee Baek.”
To be precise, he’d rambled that it wasn’t because of his mom and other half-coherent nonsense.
“It’s probably because you listened to my story so well at the night market last time and said you had a decent grasp on Locust. I think that’s why my sister decided it was okay. Normally she hates it when outsiders learn about her personal affairs.”
“So keep my mouth shut?”
“Yes.”
She doesn’t want the kids to find out, and she doesn’t want outsiders to know either.
My bad feeling was already strong, and it turned out to be right.
The moment I saw the place, I vaguely understood why Man-bok had gone off the rails.
We’re fucked.
The taxi stopped in front of a basement-level bar. No matter which way you looked, it was B1.
The second we went down the stairs, a huge sound system in the center hammered our eardrums. Red sofas and tables spread out around it. Countless female hostesses circulated while mostly middle-aged male customers drank, chatted, and did whatever else they were doing.
No matter how you slice it, this is a straight-up hostess bar.
The outside world was futuristic, yet places like this still carried that classic sleazy atmosphere.
Everyone was wearing hall clothes, so the vibe clearly wasn’t wholesome… wait, what the fuck is that?
“Yes. It’s my turn. I activate the equipment magic Mesh Stockings. Equipping it to Neon Club · Celeb Gumiho. Now I’ll attack just like this~.”
『Khhk! This card’s technique is no joke… ugh! It’s so scratchy! The unique sensation of mesh stockings is driving me craaazy~~~!!!』
『My my. To think the legendary hero has such a perverted side. But that’s fine. This is our private field, after all. Come now, show me every single embarrassing expression you can’t show anyone else.』
『Hngh! Hngh! Ooooh, it’s coming ouuut~!』
『Kyaa! So much semen! And he’s a hero-type card, yet he lost to a perverted gumiho like me. Still, did it feel good?』
『Of course it did! Quick, next turn! Next tuuurn!』
『Yes. Next is gauze-material stockings. This card has an amazing reputation, so look forward to it.』
『Uhyooo~!』
“Hahaha. The guy’s really enjoying himself.”
A hero straight out of a retro RPG was getting a footjob from a bodycon-wearing gumiho and ejaculating.
Let me repeat that.
A hero straight out of a retro RPG was getting a footjob from a bodycon-wearing gumiho and ejaculating.
I said it twice, but I’ll say it again.
A hero straight out of a retro RPG was getting a footjob from a bodycon-wearing gumiho and ejaculating.
“…Huh?”
“That’s a Celeb Gumiho. She’s the ace card of this establishment.”
“Can we really use the term ‘ace card’ in a place like this?”
“Ah, of course it doesn’t mean the same thing as the ace card we normally talk about in regular battles.”
That much was obvious just by looking.
They had spread a field sized to the table and were having the cards perform sexual services for each other… no, the cards were literally doing it with each other.
…Cards?
I stepped back to the entrance for a moment and checked the sign again.
Celeb Gumiho Hostess Bar
Hostess Cards Fully Equipped / Beyond Card Specialty Shop / B1
A Beyond Battle specialty shop with full hostess cards?
“The fact that the shop name includes gumiho—does that mean they all use the exact same deck?”
“Yes. Celeb Gumiho is one of the few cards that allows copies. The other tables are probably using the same card for service too.”
…It was true.
They were swapping out only the equipment cards according to customer requests and mainly enjoying cosplay and concept play.
Even though they had hostesses right beside them, the conversation itself sounded strangely wholesome….
“Speaking of which, I heard you got new cards in stock recently?”
“Yes. If you look at the menu here, these two cards were newly added as general-use items.”
“What about the play-use cards I ordered last time?”
“They’re over here. After analyzing the sexual preferences of the customer’s ace card, we thought there would be demand for this type as well. How about it?”
“Add it to the set. That guy went through hell in a battle yesterday. I want to let him rest somewhere nice, even if it’s just a little.”
“Understood. We promise the highest level of service.”
I clenched both fists, squeezed my thighs together, and screamed inside my head.
Please stop playing Beyond Battle in a place like this~~~~!!!
I knew what kind of shop this was, I knew! I understood it was an establishment for cards, not people!
But at least give my brain time to process it! Give me a second to hit the power button!
Don’t shove a place that’s hard for even me—who’s slowly getting used to this world—to accept right in my face~~~~!!!!
Each table even had warning signs posted.
Physical contact with Beyond Battle hostesses is strictly prohibited.
Linking with your ace card during any performance is also prohibited.
Violators will be punished under the Act on the Punishment of Acts such as Arranging Prostitution with up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million won, detention, or penalty.
Look at that. Even if the world is different, the way people live is exactly the same.
Right beside it was this poster.
《Even if you experience a proxy orgasm by linking with a card, it’s only about 11–12 times better than jerking off…! Aaaah! It feels so fucking good~ Aaah!!!》
Your Beyond Link Masturbation can become addictive.
Beyond Battle masturbation addiction report hotline: dial ○○○○ without an area code.
Good grief. The day has come when even cards work in brothels.
The children’s card-game world was far more insane than anything I could have imagined.
“Ms. Yumi. My memory’s a bit fried right now and I’m lacking common sense, so let me ask. Are there a lot of card-specialty shops like this?”
“Yes? There should be some in every region. Fighting between cards doesn’t count as prostitution. However, if you link, it immediately becomes prostitution, so you really must be careful about that part.”
I hated how 120 percent I understood what kind of treatment linking would get me.
“What’s the demand like?”
“I’m not too sure. I feel uncomfortable coming here because of my sister. I’ve only been here about three times since the first introduction.”
Ms. Yumi looked worried I might misunderstand and think she had once worked in a place like this. Since she had her own shop, that was obviously impossible. Just from what Taeyang said, it was clear she barely ever left her shop unless absolutely necessary.
Man-bok, now I see why you grew up so fast.
A dark anxiety slowly crawled up from my toes. To shake it off, I looked around again.
It was an excellent sex industry that didn’t transmit STDs. Plus, as long as you could obtain the cards, the range of play was incredibly wide. While scanning the menu on the way to meet Ms. Gaeun, I’d actually discovered something shocking.
“New general-use card Furry-ification in stock?”
“What’s a furry?”
I jerked my chin toward a corner table currently using the card.
Instead of a normal beautiful girl, a long-muzzled, furry anthropomorphic vixen with nine tails was swaying them while toying with an ace card.
“Ah.”
Ms. Yumi let out a short sigh of realization at how wide the world truly was.
I quickly pulled her by the waist, drew her into my arms, and stepped inside.