Kidnapped Seoah
"Tr-Traitors?"
My senior pointed at her computer screen and began her explanation.
Traitors — a horde of monsters-turned-humans that had only recently begun appearing in the world. People who had received power from the Demon Beasts and, in turn, betrayed humanity itself.
Their intentions were unclear, but there was no denying the damage they were doing to society — and their numbers had been swelling at an alarming rate lately. Apparently, they'd become a genuine headache.
"You've really never seen one? Those weirdos in the skin-tight black outfits?"
Weird skin-tight black outfits...
Wait — was that the guy from yesterday?
"I think I saw one outside! But are those guys really that dangerous?"
Just going by appearances, they'd seemed pretty pathetic. I mean, the guy yesterday ran away scared of a bug.
Couldn't the police just handle things like that? From everything I'd witnessed, they seemed like total idiots...
"As far as I can tell, every one of them absorbed a Demon Stone — like the one you showed me. Which probably means ordinary attacks don't work on them. Well, there's still a human in there somewhere, so it probably varies from person to person."
"Hmm..."
Come to think of it... they had said these people fell under the command of the Demon Beasts. I supposed it made sense.
"And every so often, you see what look like commanders mixed in with them."
"Commanders?"
"Yeah. The ones that look unusually different, or radiate a distinctly stronger aura."
"Those ones don't just get enhanced physical abilities — they seem to develop actual skills. Almost like... you."
Like me...?
So did that mean the so-called Traitors got stronger by absorbing more and more Demon Stones?
They already scared me enough to fight. This was getting worse by the minute.
"Ah... um, anyway, what does any of this have to do with Seoah?"
"These guys have started openly recruiting in the downtown district lately. 'Join us and we'll rule the world... we'll make ordinary people our slaves' — that kind of pitch."
Worried about what the possibilities might be, Seoyoung asked the question she dreaded.
"Th-then... did Seoah get recruited? Did she join the Traitors?"
There was no way. No way Seoah would ever...
"I'd almost prefer that... but no."
Phew. Thank goodness. My Seoah would never do something like that.
She'd never join a pack of morons like that. Obviously.
"'Recruitment' is a generous word for what they do. If you refuse to join, they seem to just kidnap you and drag you back to their base. No idea why... but my guess is Seoah refused their invitation, and that's why they took her."
The moment Seoyoung heard that Seoah had been kidnapped, she shoved back her chair and shot to her feet.
"Th-then this is an emergency! We have to save her!"
Hearing my outburst, Senior Yerin fell deep into thought for a moment — then her expression shifted, as if she'd landed on a plan.
And then... why was she looking me up and down like that? This felt ominous...
At last, the words left her lips.
"How about... we do it like this?"
"Ugh... why am I so..."
The plan my senior laid out went like this.
One: go where the Traitors frequently appear. Two: casually wander the area until they approach with their recruitment pitch. Three: accept the invitation, get escorted to the enemy base, and follow them inside. Four: confirm Seoah's safety, along with the other captives. Five: transform, then beat every last one of them into paste.
Good... simple and clean. This'll work.
"But why do I have to wear this outfit?!"
'The Traitors seem to approach women way more often.'
With her face buried as low as it would go and doing her best to dodge every stray gaze, Seoyoung wandered the back alleys of the downtown district — the place the Traitors supposedly haunted most.
They were definitely supposed to be crawling around this area... so why couldn't she find a single one? She'd lost count of how many circuits she'd made of the block, careful not to look suspicious.
Were they taking the day off? She was starting to tire out, wondering if all this effort would end in nothing — and that was precisely the moment it happened.
Slide—. Slide—.
Exuding a sinister air, a pack of figures in black bodysuits, their faces hidden behind grotesque masks emblazoned with a 'T', slithered out of the alley's shadows and blocked her path.
"Hey there, missy~ got a minute?"
In an instant, the Traitors had sealed off every escape route, sidling closer with crooked grins.
"Y-yes? Yes, yes?!"
She was just about to start playing the flustered airhead, right on script — when the one who seemed to lead the pack glanced at her face and abruptly leapt into the air.
"Huh? Wait a sec... isn't this that missy from before?!"
The bodysuit who'd gotten a look at her face greeted Seoyoung like an old friend.
"Well, well! Running into you again — talk about destiny, huh? Kek kek."
So it was that monster from before. The one who'd come sidling up to hit on me, then fled screaming from a bug.
That smarmy, leering tone of his was the worst thing in the world, no matter how many times I heard it.
Still... for the sake of the mission, I had to play along.
It felt like one corner of my face was about to crumple in on itself, but for the sake of reaching their base, Seoyoung gritted her teeth and forced out a smile.
"Ahaha... right, what a coincidence."
"Ohh~? Warmer reception than I expected? Ah — wait, that's not the important part."
Apparently he hadn't expected her to go along with it, because he looked briefly startled. Then he fished something out of his pocket and held it up.
★ THE GREAT FIRST STEP TOWARD WORLD DOMINATION! ★
NOW HIRING — TRAITORS WELCOME WITH OPEN ARMS ★
It was a cheap promotional flyer of eye-rotting design — the kind a grade-schooler's summer homework project would probably outclass.
Really? This is what you're scattering around the city calling propaganda? No wonder every citizen just ignores you and snorts.
Still, to infiltrate, she had to take the bait. Seoyoung accepted the flyer with the deadest eyes she could manage.
"Why not join a cool, trendy organization of darkness like ours, missy? Sign up, and you can torment all the people who ever got on your nerves — squash 'em like bugs! All you gotta do is half-ass a few chores for the org — cleaning, a kidnapping here or there — and the rest of the time you're free to do whatever, nobody gives a damn. So? Tempting, right?"
He puffed out his chest and declared it all with towering smugness.
"Not that it matters if you say no~ we were planning to drag you off by force either way."
Before he'd even finished that little speech — part threat, part sales pitch — Seoyoung decided she couldn't stand listening to one more second of their brainless prattle.
The only thing filling her head was the urge to storm their base as fast as possible and demolish every last brick of it.
"I-I'll join!!"
Evening, after the sun had set.
They said they'd show me the base and told me to follow, so here I was, following... but was it really okay to be walking around here?
A deserted back alley. Drunks sleeping it off on the pavement. Brawlers grabbing each other by the collar over 'that's mine!' A neighborhood where crime was just daily routine. Every stranger gave the obvious newcomer a once-over, and each look made Seoyoung flinch and shrink a little more.
"First time in this part of town, missy?"
"Y-yes..."
"Better get used to the scenery, since you'll be seeing a lot of it~ And once you've settled in..."
The monster pulled Seoyoung against him, wrapping her up in his arms, and began groping at her chest.
"Haah—?! Wh-what do you think you're—"
"You looked so scared, I figured you should stick close to me. Kek kek..."
Ugh... this is the absolute worst! And why is he so strong?!
She wanted nothing more than to tear that hand away from her chest — but in her untransformed body, there was no shaking off a monster's grip.
And so, the entire walk to the base, she had no choice but to endure it, his hand toying with her the whole way.
"And here we are! This is our base. Don't let looks fool you — we've got everything. Well, it's an abandoned building we renovated, but still."
The monster pointed proudly at a structure that looked like construction had stopped the moment the frame went up.
Can people actually... live in a place like this?
But that impression changed the moment she stepped inside.
From the outside it looked one gust away from collapse, but someone had clearly put care into the interior — it was surprisingly tidy. Though there were still plenty of spots that betrayed its days as a ruin. Maybe the reinforcement wasn't finished.
"So? Pretty nice, right? Kek kek..."
"Yes..."
Watching him wear that inflated, triumphant expression — over a renovation he hadn't lifted a finger for — made her fist clench all on its own. The way he shrugged those shoulders, brimming with unearned confidence, was utterly loathsome.
"Alright then, why don't you have a seat over there and we'll pick up where we left off?"
The monster plopped down at a battered steel table in the back and pulled a crumpled sheet of paper — something suspiciously like a job application — from his pocket.
Who do you people think you are, a Fortune 500 company? Since when is joining your cult this much paperwork?
She had no patience to play along with their absurd little documents.
My goal is one thing only: confirm Seoah is safe, wherever they've locked her up in this place — and then blow this base sky-high!
"Um... joining aside, I'm a bit shy around new places."
"Huh? What's this sudden nonsense?"
"If I'm going to be staying here, I'd feel a lot better knowing where the bathroom is and getting a sense of the layout. Could you show me around the building first?"
When she widened her eyes innocently and made the request with her best customer-service smile, the monster faltered for a beat — then snorted, visibly swelling with self-importance.
"Oho! Such dedication to the organization already, missy! Fine, fine — you're one of us soon enough, so consider this a VIP pass. Follow me."
With the monster leading the way, he began a lazy tour of the first floor's storage rooms, break area, and other assorted nooks.
"This base was set up together with two of the commanders. Room and board included — it's the best. Oh, and over here's the bathroom, and—"
While his soulless droning droned on, every ounce of my attention was aimed upward.
The first floor seemed to hold nothing of importance — which meant the holding area, or whatever核心 facility they had, had to be on the second floor.
"Alright, that about covers the first floor—"
As the monster moved toward the stairs, a sound drifted down from above.
"Oh? Still full of energy, huh? The girls we kidnapped last time still going through conditioning? How diligent~"
"...Conditioning?"
"Ah right, you wouldn't know. Anyone who dares refuse our invitation gets dragged here and put through training. Come on, take a look."
With that, the monster stopped in front of one particular door on the second floor, pushed it open, and gestured for her to peer inside.
And the scene within was...
Seoah — both arms bound, her body stripped of its freedom — being toyed with by the Demon Beasts.
"Ahh... hn... s-stop it ♡"
"N-not there, I told you—♡"
"S-stop, I hate— hah... ♡♡♡"
Seoah...!
"Tch—!"
If she lunged now, everything would fall apart. For that one reason alone, Seoyoung could do nothing but look away and pretend she hadn't seen Seoah's suffering.
Whether or not it read her heart, the monster spoke up.
"Well? Seen enough? Pretty glad you joined, huh? Could've been you in there."
Seoyoung bit the inside of her cheek where he couldn't see, and answered.
"Ngh... yes. How lucky for me."
"Alright, alright, that wraps up the tour — let's head back down and finish our chat, shall we?"
When Seoyoung came back down with the monster, it produced a set of papers and an outfit for her.
"Now then — want to go try on our uniform first?"
Wait. This is—?!
She'd assumed they'd hand her the bodysuit the Traitors wore. Instead, this was something twisted and warped.
The bodysuit — except cut away into a barely-there bikini, with the chest left hanging wide open.
How on earth was she supposed to wear something like this?!
Grrr... that's IT! I can't take anymore!
She knew where the enemy was, roughly.
She knew where the hostages were being held.
And Seoyoung's patience had finally reached its absolute limit.
"I'll go change in the bathroom."
"Oho, how proactive, missy!"
Outfit in hand, she slipped into a room no monster could follow her into.
"Transform!!"
Burning with fury, she transformed.
