Just Until Vacation Ends
Every time Kim Siu whipped her body, red welts bloomed across her pale skin. Thwack! "Nngh!" Her body jerked not from pleasure, but from pure agony. Each strike made Lee Hye-ri bite down hard on the gag in her mouth. It hurt. It hurt like hell.
"Hngh... hngk..." She exhaled shakily, enduring the pain radiating through her entire body. Tears welled up in her eyes. She'd agreed to the corporal punishment, but she hadn't expected it to hurt this much.
How am I supposed to endure this...?
Especially when the whip struck her breasts—the pain came with a wave of humiliation. Her navy tank-top gym uniform jiggled with every lash. "Nngh!!!" Clank. The metallic rattle of the handcuffs binding her wrists reminded her of her harsh reality every time she twitched. She never realized how helpless it felt to have her hands immobilized. If only she could rub the sore spots, it might not hurt so bad.
This sucks. This sucks. This sucks. Rage boiled from her utter powerlessness, a sensation she'd never felt before. She was Lee Kang-san's sister, hailed as the world's top tank. And that wasn't all—she herself was called a supernova. Sure, choosing tank over dealer had dropped her to Class D, but no one doubted her potential. Even the academy professors didn't dare treat her lightly. That was the respect afforded to the promising Lee Hye-ri.
And now, to be subjected to this humiliating ordeal. Thwack! "Nngh!" But her thoughts didn't last long. Kim Siu's whip struck again, relentlessly, as if refusing to let her mind wander during "class."
"No overreacting. It doesn't hurt that much. The punishment's just beginning. Keep up, slowly."
Her head spun. This doesn't hurt? Is he insane? Has he ever been on the receiving end? Probably not—he's always the one dishing it out.
"Nngh!!!" She tried to snap back, but with the gag, only pathetic moans escaped. Saliva dripped from the hole in the gag, trailing down her chin and soaking her gym uniform. Humiliating. She couldn't even wipe it away herself, making her feel even more pathetic.
"Nngh..."
"Don't worry. I won't hit you hard enough to make you collapse."
Kim Siu raised the hand holding the whip. Lee Hye-ri squeezed her eyes shut. Thwack! "Hngh!!" It hurt, it hurt. It hurts! Stop already! This is enough!
"Nngh!"
"Your crying sounds nice. But not yet." Thwack! "Ngh!" Another welt etched across her back. She clamped down on the gag. Hot breath burst from her mouth.
Why go this far? Do you hate me becoming a tank that much? Just beat me until I give up, is that it? You said I had talent for it. What does this have to do with becoming a tank?!
Lee Hye-ri glared at Kim Siu with fierce eyes.
"Good glare. That's it. Ignite that fighting spirit. The will to never yield."
The whip lashed her thigh. "Nngh!" She lost track of how many strikes she'd taken, how much time had passed. Sweat poured from her body, her head dizzy from the burning pain. Her legs felt like jelly, ready to give out. But she couldn't fall. Clank. The handcuffs suspended from the ceiling held her upright.
Maybe all the tensing and struggling against the pain had drained her stamina. Her vision blurred. Even Kim Siu right in front of her looked hazy. Keeping her eyes open was a chore.
You didn't say it'd be this brutal. Liar. Fraud. Pervert. Total sadist. Gets off on tormenting people. Has to be.
"How's your first punishment feel?"
Kim Siu's voice cut through.
"Nngh..." Lee Hye-ri mumbled incoherently through the gag, drool spilling out. She didn't even know what she was trying to say—pure babble from her subconscious.
"Oh, right, forgot to remove the gag."
He stowed the whip in his bag and unfastened the gag from her mouth.
"Speak now."
"Pervert... sadist... fraud..."
"Hm, a bit harsh for words to your tutor."
"Hngk. You said to say it."
"What?"
"If I have no talent for tanking, just say it... I can understand words just fine."
What was she even saying? Her mental endurance was shot after enduring the whipping for tens of minutes, and the gag had left her oxygen-starved, dulling her cognition.
"You said I had tank qualities, talent... so why torture me like thiiiis..."
"Seems like a misunderstanding."
"Fuck... what misunderstanding? I know I suck at tanking. But what can I do? I'm Lee Kang-san's sister, and I wanna be a cool tank like him."
Her head swam. But seeing the arrogant tutor's flustered face eased her mind a bit.
"Thought you were just a quiet girl, but you've got a sharp tongue."
Kim Siu approached. Was he going to mess up her hair? Do something to her?
"Don't... come."
"Stay still. I'll uncuff you."
"Don't need it. Just get out..."
She didn't even want to look at his face. But he ignored her, drawing closer. Clank. The cuffs unlocked, echoing in the room. Her body pitched forward—her legs had reached their limit.
"Whoa."
Kim Siu caught her in his arms.
"Looks like your stamina's lower than I thought. Gotta adjust for next lesson."
As her taut body relaxed, consciousness faded. She felt his voice growing distant.
"Since you seem to be misunderstanding, let me say this: I know you have tank talent."
His voice rumbled from above her head—a reassuring baritone that instantly soothed her. Listening to it, she closed her eyes. Her eyelids were too heavy. She leaned her head against the solid muscles of the man holding her. Those reliable arms felt just like the sturdy shield that had always protected her—Lee Kang-san.
"Oppa..."
That day, Lee Hye-ri dreamed.
"Hye-ri, you have talent as a tank."
A man stroked her head, praising her. His face was indistinct, but hearing his voice filled her with absolute certainty that she could become the best tank.
"Just follow me and trust only me."
In the dream, she gripped a spear to his voice.
Lee Hye-ri: -34%
"Hm." I sighed at the abysmal conquest progress. Was my approach wrong? Lee Hye-ri's gauge had plummeted.
"Didn't think she'd like it much, but..."
Not this much. Meant it really wasn't her thing.
Yoo Ara was a special case. Lucky to have the 'masochist' trait, which helped a ton with training. But Lee Hye-ri lacked that. Her reactions to the strikes suggested the opposite.
Strong aversion. If anything, she's closer to a sadist.
I looked at Lee Hye-ri sleeping soundly in my arms. She'd hate this method, but no choice. To boost her tank adaptation and instill proper tank posture, she'd need to endure even greater pain than this.
"Gotta stick with this training. Conquest might dip more, but unavoidable."
No better way. Build stamina through endurance drills, habituate to pain, master taking hits—that was the core here.
Proven method, too. Turned hopeless rookies into full-fledged tanks.
She'd realize it soon enough. That she could become a complete hunter thanks to me. Then the dipped gauge would recover. With her high drive for improvement, once she felt the changes, she'd follow without question.
"Hope she gets it quick."
Would love for our haughty miss to soften up. I wiped the sweat from her body, applied special ointment, and laid her on the living room sofa. Thought about her bed, but barging into a lady's room without permission is rude. I had that much manners.
"Rich girls sure are high-maintenance."
I left a memo with final instructions and headed home.
"Oppa..."
Lee Hye-ri woke at evening.
"T-Tutoring?"
Realizing the situation late, she bolted upright. Darkening window outside, herself on the sofa, raspy throat, vanished Kim Siu.
"D-Done?"
She remembered failing the endurance drill and getting punished. Whipping blurred her mind after 20 minutes—no memory beyond.
"He didn't do anything weird, right?"
She frantically checked her body. Weird. No scars anywhere. The red welts had been vivid.
"What the..."
Did he really not hit hard? Was she overreacting? No—the pain was real.
"Haa..."
Sighing, she eyed the red marks on her wrists. Traces of the cuffs and her struggles. Proof the punishment was real. It had hurt like mad. Unbearably.
"Do I really have to keep this up?"
Doubt crept in. He claimed she had tank qualities, but his methods screamed otherwise.
"Feels like he just wants to torment me."
Well, he'd made Yoo Ara strip and massage her all over too. Intense.
"Ugh... at least he didn't do that to me."
She rubbed her wrists, biting her lip. The scars brought back the pain and shame vividly.
"Just until vacation ends..."
One month. If no real change by then, she'd quit. Ditch the weird training and go back to normal.
"How did Ara endure this grind?"
Or maybe that's why she got strong. A fluorescent memo caught her eye.
- Do the endurance drill once daily.
- Text daily failure and success counts separately. Note which set you quit on for failures.
- Expect punishment equal to failures. Brace yourself.
- After drill, mix this in hot water and drink. Merubasa bone powder. Relieves muscle fatigue.
"Gotta do that again?"
Chills ran down her spine. Could she last a month?
A bottle of white powder sat beside it. Merubasa bone powder—from snake monsters in A-rank dungeons. Prized by hunters for easing muscle pain and soreness, traded at high prices.
"Gives with stuff like this... doesn't seem totally clueless."
Who knows. Really. She read the next page.
- I believe you can be an excellent tank. Don't quit midway—endure. I'll make you one.
"Haa, so annoying."
Annoyed that she'd felt relieved reading it. She pocketed the Merubasa powder.
A text from Yoo Ara. Uncharacteristically urgent.
"What's going on?"