Chapter 52: Slashing, Stabbing, and Swinging
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 52: Slashing, Stabbing, and Swinging
A massive mansion located in Seongbuk District.
As the nameplate on the main gate indicated, this was the main residence of the Seongbuk Choi family, a clan that wielded immense influence across all sectors of South Korean society, including the magical and political worlds.
Wealth, power, history—the Seongbuk Choi family lacked nothing. Its sole heiress, Choi Hyena, was considered the most sought-after bride by every upper-class family in the country.
The fact that she was a promising mage who had reached the 3rd Circle at the young age of 21 sent her value skyrocketing without end.
At this rate, it was certain that Choi Hyena would become the next Tower Lord, or the one after. Although, her talent did seem to pale slightly in comparison to the current Tower Lord, Han Lael, who had reached the 4th Circle at the same age.
Nevertheless, thanks to her status as the sole heiress of the Seongbuk Choi family, her guaranteed future as the next Tower Lord, and her youthful beauty, the matriarchs of high society were, at this very moment, desperate to arrange even a single meeting between her and their sons.
Of course, Choi Hyena, who neither knew nor cared about any of this, was busy with her own affairs.
“Hnngh...♡ You bastard...!”
A melting moan echoed throughout the grand bath.
Her hands, busy between her legs, moved just as they had when she was in heat back in the Gate.
“Ri-right there...!♡ Haaah...?!♡”
A shallow climax—she’d lost count of how many—left her aching for more.
She had told Kang Hyun-woo that once they left the Gate, they should forget everything that had happened, but it was Choi Hyena who couldn't forget.
It wasn't the subtle pleasure of child's play. The memory of that overwhelming, dangerous ecstasy, which felt as if it were kneading her very brain with every moment, tormented her day and night.
What started as a little fiddling before bed had now become something she couldn't stop, even during the day or while bathing.
“I never imagined my first contractor would be such a pervert.”
“Shut uuuup...!!♡”
The Wendigo, appearing in its spirit form, leisurely watched Choi Hyena, whose hips trembled as she pathetically craved more pleasure.
“Why don't you just admit it? You know it too. No matter how much you poke around with those delicate fingers, you'll never get what you truly want.”
Choi Hyena knew it was true.
Compared to Kang Hyun-woo's, her fingers were pitifully thin and small.
She could never forget its size, its thickness, the weight and heat of it that felt like it was pushing up against her cervix.
She had tried her best to ignore it, but this was the result.
Like a teenage girl just awakening to her sexuality, she was comforting herself with the image of a man.
A wave of self-loathing washed over her at the sight of her own pathetic state, but stopping on her own was impossible.
Eventually, she found herself waiting for his call.
Kang Hyun-woo must be thinking about that day and touching himself too, right...?
He had to be.
There was no way he wasn't.
He was the one who took her first time. He had no right not to be.
But then why!
“Why hasn't he called me even once...!!”
Shouldn't he have called by now, making up some pathetic excuse to see her?
How could a man act as if nothing had happened?
“The next time I see him, I'll kill him...”
Vrrr—
As she uttered words that would have sounded utterly unfair to Kang Hyun-woo, her phone buzzed loudly. A mixture of bewilderment, anticipation, and joy bloomed on her face as she looked at the screen.
[Bastard]
“A-ahem, ahem!”
It wasn't even a video call, but the Wendigo was completely exasperated as she watched Hyena sweep her hair back, clear her throat, and straighten her posture.
Ignoring it, Choi Hyena timed it perfectly—not too fast, not too slow—before carefully pressing the answer button.
“...Hello.”
-Ah, hello?
It was Kang Hyun-woo's voice, the one she had heard countless times in her fantasies.
“Wh-what do you want? You haven't called once since you were discharged.”
The words she had sworn not to say tumbled out the moment she heard his voice.
-I was discharged today, though? And we saw each other yesterday.
“...”
He was truly a clueless man.
If he were in front of her, she would have grabbed him by the hair and ripped it out.
“If you have nothing to say, I'm hanging up.”
-No, no. What's the rush? Uh, it's nothing much, but I called because I have a favor to ask. Is now a good time?
“...What is it.”
If you have a favor to ask, you should have come to see me in person instead of calling, she thought, finding him increasingly detestable.
Unable to stop her lips from forming a pout, Choi Hyena listened for a while as Kang Hyun-woo explained his request.
To summarize, some gangsters were harassing the orphanage where he grew up, and he was asking if she could dispatch some guards to protect it until they found a new place to move.
It was such a simple request it was almost laughable.
“...Is that all?”
A sharp tone escaped her lips before she could stop it.
-There's more, but I'll tell you the rest when I go to your house tomorrow.
“...What?”
He's coming tomorrow? Where? To my house?
This was the first she was hearing of it.
-Huh? You didn't hear? Your grandmother contacted me and told me to come over.
“I didn't hear anything...”
In contrast to her somewhat deflated voice, the corners of her lips were twitching more violently than ever.
-Well, you know now. Anyway, I'm going tomorrow. Could you recommend a gift?
“A gift?”
Kang Hyun-woo's mind had been a bit of a mess ever since he received the invitation from Madam Choi Young-ok.
It was only natural. He was visiting the matriarch of the Seongbuk Choi family, one of the most elite families in South Korea. A certain level of decorum was expected, and a gift was practically mandatory.
Showing up to such a momentous occasion with something like a generic ginseng supplement was, by all common sense, insane. But it wasn't like he had any connections he could ask for advice.
Even if it was a bit lame, asking Choi Hyena—his only connection? and the granddaughter of the family—was the surest way to avoid wasting money.
“Th-then, should we meet tonight...?”
Choi Hyena crossed her legs as she sat on the edge of the bath.
It was a habit she had when she was nervous, one she herself wasn't aware of.
“It's nothing, really. I just have some things to buy at the department store. Since I'm going anyway, I could help you with your gift...”
-Ah, sorry. I'm busy tonight.
“...What?”
-I was planning to go buy it tomorrow before I head over.
“...”
-Anyway, if you could just text me a list of gift ideas, I'll pick something suitable from it and buy...
Click—
Choi Hyena slammed the phone down, tossed it far away, and sank back into the bath.
“...Impotent bastard.”
Her mood soured.
*
“Hello? Hello?”
I stared blankly at my phone after the call with Choi Hyena suddenly disconnected.
“What was that? Did I say something wrong?”
But we hadn't even talked long enough for me to make a mistake.
I considered calling back, but decided to wait. If she didn't text me later, I'd contact her then. I quickly changed and left the locker room.
“Do you have anything bigger? This is a little small.”
“XL is too small?”
“Yes.”
Since I had come in a suit, I had no choice but to borrow a tracksuit.
But don't most dojos keep sizes up to 3XL for their members? These days, even 4XL is standard.
“...Just wear it.”
“Huh?”
“I said, just wear it.”
“Okay.”
Why are you suddenly radiating killing intent? You're scaring your disciple.
“So, what should I do now?”
“What do you think?”
The Wolf Girl suddenly tossed a wooden sword at me.
“See that wooden dummy over there?”
“Yes.”
“And you can see the parts painted red.”
“I see them.”
“Well?”
“Huh?”
With a perfectly serious expression, the Wolf Girl said:
“Slash, stab, and swing. Ten thousand times each.”
“...?”
“Begin.”
“Bullshit.”
Smack!
“Begin.”
“...I'll begin.”
I thought she was joking, but she wasn't.
Thwack!
Forced by her coercive attitude, I began swinging the wooden sword at the dummy, but one thought filled my mind.
...Is this really it?
Honestly, I expected the training of a reclusive master who could produce an Aura Blade to be something special, something incredible.
I knew the basics were important, but wasn't this a little too simple?
“I can see you're distracted.”
She's short, but damn, she's sharp.
Smack!
“Ack?!”
“I told you I can see everything.”
“Does that mean you can just hit a disciple while he's training?!”
“Disciple? I don't take disciples.”
Suddenly, the Wolf Girl's expression turned strange.
“Then what am I?”
“What do you mean? You're a member. I'm the master.”
There was no hint of a joke in the line she drew so sharply.
It felt like she was pushing me away, telling me not to cross it.
I wasn't so dense that I couldn't take a hint, so I silently went back to slashing, stabbing, and swinging at the wooden dummy.
The impact felt surprisingly good.
But after about ten minutes of hitting it, my arms were trembling and my palms were stinging.
“It's normal to be tired. Don't rest, keep going.”
Thwack!
“Ack?!”
This time, even though I was doing exactly as I was told, the Wolf Girl suddenly struck my wrist, waist, and hip in succession with her wooden sword.
“Hey, why'd you hit me this time?!”
“You think I hit you for fun? I was correcting your posture. Even if it's hard, keep your back straight, engage your core, and try not to let your hips twist. And you need to use your wrists flexibly. If you just use brute force like you are now, you'll ruin them.”
Her reasoning was irrefutable, so I couldn't protest and had to go back to swinging the sword.
Getting angry at a trainer for correcting your form during a workout would make you the crazy one.
Anyway, the places she hit didn't hurt as much as I expected.
I wondered if this was the skill of a master, but her constant corrections, coming whenever she saw an opening, were starting to piss me off.
Of course, there was nothing I could do about being angry.
I had no desire to die young by picking a fight with a monster who could conjure an Aura Blade.
I kept swinging.
I kept swinging until I was out of breath, until I had no idea how much time had passed.
Counting the reps was a luxury I couldn't afford. I had already decided to just collapse on the floor when I couldn't go on anymore.
Until then, I would keep swinging, maintaining my posture according to the Wolf Girl's instructions.
Just as my arms were going numb and my legs were starting to buckle, something amazing happened.
My swings, slashes, and stabs became cleaner and more precise than when I was full of energy.
Was it because I was getting used to it?
It didn't feel like it. Something fundamental seemed to have changed, more than could be explained by such a short period of practice.
The thought that I could have fought much more easily in the isolated Gate with my current senses began to fill my mind.
The distribution of power.
The correct grip.
The knack of using my shoulders.
Even an unknown sensation traveling up from the ground through my legs.
It all connected as naturally as flowing water, and for a moment, I felt the illusion that it was all being channeled into a single sword strike.
I could forget my gasping breath and trembling arms.
With the sensation of my hand becoming one with the hilt, I prepared to swing again.
Thwack!
“...Huh?”
“Stop.”
A familiar pain shot through my waist.
“You've done ten thousand. You can go now.”
Only then did I notice the sun was setting outside.
Already...?
I couldn't believe the sun was already setting when it felt like no time had passed at all.
Then again, it was well past noon when I arrived at the dojo. But had I really finished ten thousand reps already?
“What.”
“...Nothing.”
The master was telling me to leave; I couldn't exactly insist on doing more.
“Don't wander off. Go straight home and rest today. Unless you want to collapse on the street.”
“You're so devoted to your disciple.”
“Wanna die?”
She's so shy.
“Oh, right. I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves.”
“I know your name.”
“But I don't know yours.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“...”
Good point.
“I need to rest too, so hurry up and go.”
“...You didn't even do anything.”
Smack!
“I can hear you, you little shit.”
*
Left alone in the dojo after Kang Hyun-woo departed, Jeon Seoha stared for a long time at the wooden sword he had held.
“What's with that guy?”
She carefully examined the handle, which was now deeply indented.
She wondered how a mage who didn't even use mana could do this, but then she remembered that this was a guy who, with less than a year of sword experience, had reached the threshold of the State of Selflessness after just three or four hours of training. In that light, it was understandable.
The more she saw, the less she understood why he had become a mage.
With this kind of talent, he would have no problem making a living just by honing his swordsmanship.
Moreover, though it had only happened once, the way he had corrected his own posture before she even pointed it out had been quite impressive.
“Disciple...”
Jeon Seoha mulled over her own words for a moment before tossing the wooden sword aside and entering the master's office.
It was a word she thought would never be a part of her life.