How to Properly Educate a Thieving Cat
In the quiet secret passage, a lively woman's voice echoed loudly.
“Hell yeah! Thanks to that, I got it so easily.”
The woman, fully armed in pitch-black clothing, cheered as she pulled off her mask. A cream-colored bob and delicate, sharp features were revealed. It was Pernia.
She adjusted the position of her tail, which was wrapped around her waist, and examined the artifact. It was in the form of a ring. Strange patterns covered the entire band, and instead of a gem on top, a hexagram was engraved. Even at a glance, it was no ordinary item.
“It looks just like it did in the game. I’ll have to test it out tomorrow!”
The artifact’s name was the Iron Wall Fortress. It could generate a barrier according to the user’s will, or when their life was in mortal danger. The recharge time was one day, and it was capable of blocking attacks from mages up to level 200. It wouldn’t be very useful in the late game, but in the early to mid stages, it was basically an extra life.
“Hehe! I feel a little bad for Abel and Yuni, but it can’t be helped. I have to survive too, right?”
After all, if it weren’t for her, those two wouldn’t have even known about this dungeon, so it wasn’t like she was causing them any real harm. She was in the middle of rationalizing it to herself when—
Tap… tap…
Footsteps echoed from the far end of the passage. Focusing her gaze in that direction, she spotted a figure approaching under the sparsely placed magic lamps.
“Who the hell are you!”
Pernia immediately showed her wariness. This place was literally a secret passage. It was a location that normally no one should ever know about. The fact that someone had entered without her noticing could only mean one thing.
‘A transmigrator.’
The possibility that someone besides herself had transmigrated. She had already considered it. Her suspicion had grown even stronger when she heard Yuni call her an “otherworld invader” during the entrance ceremony. Still, she hadn’t been certain because deep down, she had hoped it wasn’t true.
“Don’t come any closer! I’ll kill you if you do!”
That was why Pernia reacted so violently. She hoped the other party would back off. She prayed a fight wouldn’t break out.
But the mysterious figure didn’t stop walking. Soon, Pernia realized the person was wearing a mask. Not only that, their entire body was tightly wrapped in black clothing, hiding even their hair. The only thing visible were their silver eyes.
She quickly pulled her mask back on.
‘You idiot!’
She should have covered her face the moment she realized they were a transmigrator. Had that person seen her face? A sense of crisis hit her more clearly than ever before.
While she was tense, the masked man, now only five meters away, lifted his head.
"I will rape you."
“…What?”
What the hell was he saying? This crazy bastard?
Completely caught off guard by the unexpected statement, Pernia’s mind was filled with nothing but confusion. But this was only the beginning.
The tremendous vitality that surged through her entire body right after only amplified her bewilderment. The moment Pernia was shaken by her suddenly transformed physical abilities, the masked man charged at her.
Boooom!
The ground shook violently with a single stomp. Overwhelmed by that imposing sight, Pernia froze stiff. It was a fatal mistake.
In that brief opening, the masked man closed the distance. His fist, carrying the full force of his acceleration, slammed into her abdomen.
Kwaaaaang!
It sounded like a thunderclap. The tremendous impact sent Pernia flying like a toy. She rolled across the floor before finally coming to a stop.
“Ugh! W-wait… it doesn’t hurt?”
She instinctively clutched her stomach, then tilted her head at how surprisingly fine her body felt. Turning her gaze toward the ring just in case, she discovered that the light that had filled the hexagram was now completely black.
‘The artifact activated.’
As expected of the Iron Wall Fortress. To prove its worth less than an hour after she obtained it. If she had taken that blow directly, at least all her ribs would have been shattered, leaving her completely incapacitated. After that, her long and eventful life would have come to an end.
Imagining that scenario made rage boil up inside her.
“You crazy bastard. I’m going to kill you.”
Emitting clear killing intent, Pernia immediately drew her dagger and rushed at the masked man.
*
‘Thank goodness.’
I let out a sigh of relief. As planned, my first ambush had successfully neutralized the Iron Wall Fortress. The only problem was that after swinging my fist with full power while my strength was amplified sevenfold, the bones around it had developed cracks. If I pushed it a few more times, they’d probably turn into complete powder, like slime.
Well, that was something to worry about later. For now, I had to deal with Pernia’s attack.
That was when it happened.
Shhhht—
Pernia, who had been charging straight at me, melted into the space and vanished without a trace. Of course, this was within my expectations. I had roughly figured out she had a stealth ability while eavesdropping through the surveillance magic tool.
However, this ability seemed to be quite special compared to the norm. Even the tracking function of my Rape Declaration couldn’t locate her.
‘Where is she?’
I was scanning my surroundings while suppressing my agitation as much as possible when I felt a chilling killing intent on my back. I instinctively threw my body to the side.
Swoosh!
The dagger barely missed, slicing a long gash across my waist. If I had been even a little slower, I would have undergone an involuntary surgical incision.
As I rolled across the floor and got back up, I saw Pernia leisurely stroking her dagger.
“You’re weaker than I thought. Your strength is ridiculously high, though. Is that your unique skill? What kind of skill is that? It even makes me stronger. Pfft!”
Pernia had completely dropped her usual cat-like verbal tic and was showing her arrogant true nature. This was her real personality.
Whether it was a provocation or not, I didn’t fall for her mockery. I calmly continued the conversation.
“…And it looks like that stealth of yours is your unique skill, huh?”
“That’s right. It’s a pretty useful skill. It doesn’t have as dramatic an effect as yours, though.”
“Why did you stab Abel’s party in the back?”
“Hmm… That? There wasn’t really a big reason. If I had to say, it’s because Abel seemed a little unreliable?”
Just as I had expected, it seemed Pernia had lost trust in Abel after seeing him fail to awaken during the fight with the Bore Frog last time. For now, it was just a light prank, but there was no telling what she might do later.
‘Should I kill her?’
While I was pondering that internally, Pernia pointed her dagger at me.
“Anyway, let’s stop talking here. We’re both short on time, right? I’ll kill you as quickly as possible.”
Shhhht!
Once again, Pernia’s body melted into space and disappeared. Even though I was concentrating my senses to the maximum, I couldn’t detect her at all. I heightened my tension.
‘I just have to endure as long as possible.’
An ability like that was bound to consume a massive amount of mana. At her current level, she wouldn’t be able to maintain it for long. In the end, this was a battle of whether I would fall first or her mana would run out first. I could only hope her mana reserves weren’t that high.
*
Swish swish swish!
“Ahahaha! Try to fight back! Come on, try!”
Ten minutes after the fight began. What continued during that time was Pernia’s one-sided humiliation of me.
Hiding in the gaps of space, disappearing completely, then appearing from my blind spots to attack—it made the opponent feel like they were fighting a ghost.
Pernia, who had been furious after the initial ambush, looked at the blood-soaked masked man and let out a sneer.
“What’s the point of having strong power if you can’t even hit me? You don’t know where I am, do you? Huh? Why don’t you say something! Weren’t you going to rape me? Try and catch me!”
She was having the time of her life tormenting the masked man when suddenly she felt a wave of dizziness.
“Ugh! My mana…”
Her unique skill, Resident of the Gap, allowed her to hide in the spaces between spaces. It was an incredible ability, but it consumed a tremendous amount of mana. She had overused it so much that her reserves were already running dangerously low.
Pernia slowed her assault and retreated. After taking a few deep breaths, she canceled her stealth and revealed herself.
“Hoo… Time to finish this.”
Although she was quite exhausted, Pernia was overflowing with confidence. After all, she didn’t have a single scratch on her, while her opponent was a complete wreck with no uninjured spot left on his body. If she just left him alone, he’d probably collapse from excessive blood loss.
But there was one thing that made her uneasy.
‘His eyes are weird.’
Those upright silver eyes. Even though he was clearly at a disadvantage, there wasn’t even a hint of fear in them. It gave her an inexplicable sense of pressure.
At that moment, the opponent moved. With a solemn gesture, he undid the restraint wrapped around his wrist and let it drop.
Thud!
“Ah…”
“What the…?”
Contrary to all the posturing, the disappointingly light sound left Pernia feeling empty. Honestly, she had expected the ground to sink with a loud crash the moment that restraint hit the floor.
Angry at herself for getting scared by such a bluff, she bit her lip hard.
“Die!”
She charged forward with killing intent, intending to deliver the finishing blow. The distance between them closed rapidly. The moment they were within each other’s range and the masked man swung his fist, Pernia’s body melted into space and vanished.
She couldn’t resist the temptation in the end.
‘You never know.’
Her mana was low, but it wasn’t completely depleted. She still had enough to use it once more. She had planned to save it for later, but the present was more important.
The moment she slipped into the gap in space, Pernia moved behind the masked man’s back. He tried to pull his fist back after his target suddenly disappeared, but it was already too late. Her dagger would pierce his vital point first.
‘Good. Now it’s—’
Just as she was thrusting the dagger, Pernia suddenly met those silver eyes. The deeply sunken gaze, as if he had been waiting for exactly this moment, amplified the anxiety she had felt earlier.
In that instant, the dagger pierced flesh.
Shunk!
“Huh?”
The problem was that the spot wasn’t the vital point she had been aiming for. The dagger had stabbed into his palm. The masked man had twisted only one hand behind his back to block it.
He gripped the dagger tightly. Even as blood dripped down his wrist, the strength in his grip didn’t loosen. Then, his arm swung in a wide arc.
Kwaaaaaang!
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
Lifted into the air by the motion, Pernia was slammed into the floor. The pain felt like her spine was being crushed, and a scream burst from her mouth involuntarily. Her lungs must have taken a hit because she couldn’t even breathe properly.
When she lifted her head, the blood-covered masked man was quietly looking down at her. Then his right foot slowly rose and—
Kwaaang!
It stomped right beside her head. The solid metal floor caved in with a heavy vibration that rang in her ears. In an instant, terror seized her entire body.
“Huk! W-wait! Don’t kill me. I want to live.”
Without a second thought, Pernia dropped to her knees and begged for her life. Pride was useless at a moment like this. She desperately wanted to survive.
But unfortunately, there was no response from the masked man. So she pulled out every trick she had.
“D-do you need this? I’ll give you the artifact. Or… do you want to have sex? You said you wanted to rape me earlier, right? I’ll let you! I’m a virgin, you know? I’ve never done it before! I’ll only do it with you. Okay? So please…”
“……”
This time, his eyes changed slightly. They were filled with a look of incomprehension, as if he couldn’t understand.
A virgin who had protected her purity until now suddenly offering her body just to survive was quite illogical. His suspicion grew thicker after that.
Noticing this, Pernia quickly added an explanation before it was too late.
“I-it’s true! I never did it on Earth either. I was planning to sell it at auction later. Haven’t you heard? Some woman sold her first experience at auction for over three million dollars. That’s what I was going to do too!”
This was the honest truth with no lies. Pernia had genuinely intended to auction off her virginity later.
“Hah!”
The masked man let out a small, dumbfounded sigh.