Martial Arts Exchange (5)
Martial Arts Exchange (5)
Ho-yang licked her lips as she looked at me. Watching that, Nam-woong lightly smacked the side of her head.
Kkaang! An unacceptable sound rang out from her head, and Ho-yang clutched her head while crouching down.
"Ow! Captain! What was that for!"
"Don't go into heat. She's your sister's guest."
"Wh-who said I was in heat...!"
Ho-yang acted like she'd completely forgotten her earlier antics, playing dumb all the way. But it didn't work on Nam-woong, who'd known her for a long time.
He looked at me and bowed his head. More precisely, he bowed his head toward Eunha, who was standing next to me.
"Sorry about that. Tiger Tribe folks are just so prone to going into heat...."
"Isn't that... something that applies to Master Hoyeon too?"
"...She's different. You'd know if you'd seen her."
"Well, she hasn't shown that side...."
Even though they'd both trained in martial arts, seeing the demure Hoyeon compared to Ho-yang, who made no effort to hide her desires unlike her sister, made me realize just how different members of the same Tiger Tribe beastkin could be.
"What are you all doing?"
Just then, Hoyeon returned. Ho-yang quickly ran over and hugged her, burying her face in Hoyeon's chest and starting to act all cutesy.
"Sis... the captain's bullying me...."
"Oh dear, I'm sure you did something wrong."
"Come on, sis, why are you like this? Can't you trust me a little?"
"With your track record? No way."
Ho-yang gave up right away and pulled away from her. Hoyeon gave her little sister an annoyed look before turning to us and announcing that the room cleaning was done.
"Sorry about this... but there are only three rooms left. Me and Ho-yang in one, Nam-woong and Sa-young in another, and Dojin and Eunha will have to share...."
Hoyeon looked apologetically at me and Eunha. I turned to Eunha. She blushed slightly and nodded.
Even I, who didn't have any particular feelings for her, said it was fine. I ignored Ho-yang, who clicked her tongue in disappointment.
We headed to our respective rooms, then gathered back in the main hall for dinner.
"...You."
Sa-young, who had woken up by then, was sitting there with a bandage wrapped around his head. But as Hoyeon had said before, after getting beaten by a human and even having his swordsmanship stolen, he didn't approach me separately.
Every time he saw my face, memories of his defeat probably came flooding back, because he often grimaced....
Beastkin seemed to default to floor seating with individual tables, so there was no friction with Sa-young. Not that there could be any.
He thoroughly ignored my existence, and I had no business with him anyway. He quietly finished his meal and returned to his room.
"That guy didn't say a word while eating...."
"He must've been that shocked. Dojin, you did great."
"Huh? No, what did I even do."
I scratched my head and finished the meal Hoyeon had prepared. I had this image of beastkin ripping into raw, bloody meat, but Hoyeon, having lived for ages in a civilized city, served proper cooked food, far from any raw stuff.
'Yesterday was elven style... so is this beastkin traditional cuisine?'
Patting my protein-packed belly, Hoyeon told us where the bathhouse was. With such a huge dojo, the baths were separated by gender.
A bit surprised by that, I headed to the bathhouse with Nam-woong. There was a massive hot spring there.
"Oho, nice hot spring."
"...Beastkin have a hobby of bathing too?"
"What, you think we're what? If we hated bathing, we'd just be dumb animals. We're people, you know."
Hearing that, I reflected on my unconscious beastkin prejudices and went inside.
Nam-woong's body was covered in all sorts of scars, but even those couldn't hide the muscles packed on. Not the pretty bodybuilder kind, but a mix of fat and muscle like a wrestler or sumo player— a real bear of a physique.
He let out a hearty laugh seeing my well-managed body fat.
"You beat Sa-young with a body like that? Impressive."
"Well... humans care about aesthetics too."
"Hmm, if our tribe had someone like you, we'd have arrested his parents."
"Wait, why?"
"No way you'd get a body like that without starving and abuse. Haha!"
Watching him laugh as he said that, I couldn't bring myself to smile.
He casually wiped the sweat and dirt from his body and headed straight into the bath. He looked about 100kg, but the water that overflowed when he got in seemed like hundreds of liters.
Staring dumbfounded at the ridiculous sight, I finally entered the bath late. The bath had a clear view of the sky, no visible water source, but it was warm and spotlessly clean, not a speck of grime.
'What the...'
Looking closely at the bath floor, I saw something like a magic circle. So this hot spring was made by magic and maintained by magic.
'What kind of hot spring is this.'
Well, even on Earth, people sometimes dumped hot spring bath salts in tap water and called it a hot spring, but I didn't expect the same in the Otherworld.
As I splashed around, staring at the bath, Nam-woong spoke first.
"What's your sect?"
"Don't have one."
"Hoo, self-taught?"
"Learned from my father. He's gone now...."
"Passed away?"
"Something like that."
Close enough. But right now, it's as good as dead. Stuck on Earth I can't return to. Same deal as the afterlife—never seeing him again.
"That's rough."
Nam-woong said that and craned his neck to look at the sky. The night sky, which should have been dark, was filled with starlight shining down.
He washed his face with the hot spring water and started humming a tune. When it naturally trailed off, he casually changed the subject.
"What's your deal with Hoyeon?"
"...Pardon?"
"Ah, not prying. I know there's nothing there...."
His expression as he said that looked somehow pitiful. Like reminiscing about a long-forgotten crush.
I looked at him quietly and opened my mouth.
"Eunha's my companion."
"Eunha...."
"Master Hoyeon's prized disciple, you know, the one you fought with."
"Ah, that kid? Companion, huh? Girlfriend?"
"Not a girlfriend...."
"Man, she seemed like such a nice girl. What a shame."
"Huh? Shame? What do you mean...."
"Nothing."
He turned his head away as he said that. At the same time, a loud voice came from beyond the wall screening the hot spring.
"Ah─! I wanna mate! Mate!"
It wasn't Eunha's voice. It sounded like Hoyeon... but higher—Ho-yang's voice.
Nam-woong sighed heavily in embarrassment upon hearing it. Then he looked at me apologetically.
"She's not a bad kid... but like I said earlier, Tiger Tribe folks just live by their desires...."
......"I understand."
"Mate─! Sloppy beast sex─!"
"Hey, you bitch! We can all hear you!"
"Ah! Captain! You're there!? Alone? Dojin's there too, right? Dojin～ There's no one here but me, wanna come over?"
"Crazy bitch...."
That's what Nam-woong said. I couldn't say it out loud, but I agreed. Ho-yang's rampage, which went on for a while, was finally subdued by Hoyeon, who came in late.
After a brief silence, I continued the conversation with him.
"What do you do, Nam-woong-nim?"
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. Beastkin combat bloodline, 13th Guerrilla Battalion 1st Assault Squad Captain. Nam-woong."
"You're... high-ranking?"
I had no idea how Otherworld militaries were structured or what beastkin ones were like, so I couldn't gauge his exact rank, but captain sounded high up.
Probably pretty elite. Even in Sudden Attack, captain meant five stars or something.
"Ahaha, not that impressive a position."
"Isn't captain high up?"
"You never served?"
"Yeah, well...."
"Hmm, fair enough then."
Right, I'm a draft dodger. And listening to him brought one fact to mind.
'If I go back to Earth... do I have to enlist?'
Even if Korea's super into conscription, they're not chasing me to the Otherworld.
But if, just if I somehow go back, do they drag me to the army?
'No way... suddenly I don't wanna go back.'
Intense post-nut clarity hit me. I buried my head in the bath and exhaled, then saw the huge bulk in front of me stand up and followed suit.
"O, you... I mean, no. Someone might hear."
"What suddenly...."
"Just, very manly and sturdy. You."
Nam-woong left that cryptic compliment and exited the bath. I dried off and headed back to the room.
Eunha hadn't returned yet, so I laid out the bedding and waited for her.
A moment later.
"...W-waited long?"
"Nope."
Eunha appeared, sliding the door open. No hairdryers in the Otherworld, so her hair was still damp and wet.
Watching a single water droplet fall from her wet hair onto her collarbone, even if she looked young, it hit me that she was a woman.
"You should dry your hair."
"Ah, yeah. But there's no hairdryer here...."
"I'll dry it for you. Come on."
"Uh, okay?"
I took Eunha out to the veranda. I sat on the floor, had her sit between my legs, and quietly circulated my energy.
The Extreme Yang Body's yang energy boiled up, releasing heat from my hands. My hands were basically a natural hairdryer now.
I carefully stroked her hair with my warmed hands, shaking out the moisture.
Eunha seemed a bit embarrassed being held like this while I dried her hair, keeping her head bowed and silently accepting my touch.
Her being so still was fun, so I slid my other hand down her back.
"Eek!?"
Startled by the chilling energy down her spine, Eunha turned around. I raised my hand like it was a prank and burst out laughing, haha.
And that's when I realized Eunha wasn't wearing underwear. Did she think her chest was too small to bother?
'Not that small, though...?'
Or maybe she couldn't borrow any. As I stared at her bare back, she realized I was looking and slowly stood up.
"I-it's... all dry now... S-sleepy, so let's sleep...."
She carefully slipped out of my arms and quickly returned to the room, pulling her blanket all the way over her head.
Couldn't prank her once she was under the covers, so I said goodnight and covered up.
Moonlight faintly pierced the paper doors, illuminating the room. The sound of insects chirping quietly filled the air, lulling me to sleep like music.
Sleeping in a new place—not the mansion, on the floor—felt like a real trip for the first time in ages.
These little happinesses were what fueled life. Slowly, very slowly. Sinking into the depths.
Into my inner self, untouched by anyone.
And.
───.
Something pounced. I snapped my eyes open and sat up alertly. At the same instant, my limbs were pinned. I struggled, flailing around, but nothing budged.
My frantic eyes met the pumpkin-colored ones right in front of me. Those golden eyes in the dead of night were piercing enough to make my heart sink.
Soon, my dark-adapted vision made out the owner of those eyes.
"Hi, oppa?"
Where'd that boisterous voice go? A soft, ticklish whisper crawled into my ear.
"Nice night, huh."
Her colorful tail tickled my thigh.
"Wanna make it even better......?"
Ho-yang had come. A tigress in heat.