Next Time, Without Fail (4)
Next Time, Without Fail (4) — Marin Hotel, Jung-gu, Incheon
From that day onward, a strange, mutually understood sparring ritual began between us.
"Yawwwn— I'm so bored. Come on, shake that ass a little. Might wake me up."
I gleefully hurled every insult I'd been stockpiling against Shim Soyoung, venting all the stress she'd built up in me.
"Die! Dieeeeee—!"
And she grew stronger, writhing in the humiliation of it.
Like climbing a staircase, I escalated the humiliations step by step.
My mouth never stopped degrading her as I used telekinesis to strip off her shirt and bra, playing with them in midair. I made sure to gasp in admiration as I watched her pudding-soft breasts bounce while she scrambled desperately to reclaim her underwear.
The shirt and bra gave way to her dolphin shorts and panties.
From then on, I smacked my lips at the pronounced mound between Shim Soyoung's legs, now exposed with the slightest movement.
Every time my tongue-clicking echoed through the room, she'd cover her crotch with both hands, and crimson mana would flare across her whole body.
And so today marked the fourth day of our abnormal sparring sessions.
Over those days, she'd gone from raging at the sight of my cock jutting out from under my priest robes like it might tear the fabric—outraged beyond even being naked—
To no longer caring at all as I continuously kneaded her breasts and thighs with telekinesis.
Four days of writhing under the overflowing humiliation I gifted her.
"Haa— haa—"
And in those four days, she'd grown strong enough to slaughter a Steroid single-handedly.
Shim Soyoung stepped onto the headless Steroid's corpse.
She looked down at it with eyes full of the world's complexities.
Have I ever put this much effort into acquiring an Awakened one before?
No, I hadn't.
I answered myself and swept my gaze over Shim Soyoung as she panted hard.
A beautiful Awakened one, writhing in ferocious misandry.
The meaning of the effort was more than justified—by her far steeper-than-expected growth curve, and by the fact that she was my first female combat Awakened.
No matter how loyal my followers were, they couldn't keep heading out on expeditions alongside sweaty men forever.
I needed a combat Awakened who could relieve my lust at arm's reach.
And besides, the process of crossing one line after another, gradually widening her range of tolerance, was endlessly fresh and entertaining.
It felt as if I were genuinely forging a new person.
Is this what they call an artisan's spirit?
Chuckling lightly, I floated a towel and a drink over to her.
Shim Soyoung accepted the towel with a now-familiar gesture and pushed the drink away with her other hand.
Does she think I've spiked it with sleeping pills or something?
Refusing the drink to the very end, Shim Soyoung wiped the blood from her face as she passed the maids and me standing by the entrance.
"I've refilled the water barrels at the end of the hallway. Use them to wash up."
She disappeared down toward Blue Wing without a word of reply, but everyone here knew full well she'd be using those water barrels.
No one had adapted to this new abnormality better than Shim Soyoung.
"Not even a 'we'll see about tomorrow' today, huh."
I said it with a casual shrug to the maids around me.
The time Shim Soyoung left over after holding back the zombie waves was devoted entirely to rewarding the maids.
Delighted that their turn had finally come, they practically glowed as I looked them over and asked,
"It's Hyemi's turn to visit the Sanctuary today, right?"
"Yes, Reverend Guwon!"
Go Hyemi nestled straight into my arms, and I patted her back as I continued.
"Then tomorrow is Jian, wasn't it?"
"…Y-yes, Reverend Guwon."
Kim Jian nodded with a shy dip of her head.
I quickly confirmed the rotation, then lifted Go Hyemi and myself into the air with telekinesis.
"Everyone get inside. Keep at least two people with Shim Soyoung at all times, and remember anything unusual she says or does—report it to whoever comes in at night."
"Yes, Reverend Guwon!"
Watching the maids file back into Blue Wing in flawless formation, I kept rising.
The higher I climbed, the clearer the orange barrier glowing to the northeast became.
Swoooosh—!
A streak of light pierced down toward the barrier like a blade of radiance.
By now, Kim Haeil—having carried out my orders—had probably arrived at the Sanctuary as well.
"Wow—"
Go Hyemi wandered the garden where life bloomed in riotous abundance, gawking at everything.
A hand-picked female believer stayed glued to her side, guiding her through the Sanctuary with a warm, friendly smile.
Basking in the pleasant breeze, I watched Hyemi chatter away with the believer.
"For tomorrow's tour, prepare a somewhat calmer believer as the guide. The new one is quite shy—she won't warm up to anyone quickly."
"Yes, Reverend Guwon."
I nodded at Kim Haeil's reply and held out my hand.
A document arrived swiftly into my palm, and as I skimmed down its contents, I couldn't help but be impressed.
Three camps found already?
I tapped a finger against the one that would be easiest to locate even at night, examining it once more.
"……Giant Country Club."
"A public golf course you'll spot the moment you reach Seo-gu. A survivor group composed of five men and three women. Presumed to be stranded golf members and their caddies."
True enough—a golf course would be unmistakable even from a distance.
"They're not vagrants who keep moving their campsite around, are they?"
"Aside from stepping out briefly to smoke, they've remained inside, devoted entirely to intercourse."
Oh, they still have cigarettes left?
They must be hoarding those things like treasure.
"That said, the intercourse was hardly beautiful."
"Correct. We repeatedly confirmed the sounds of the men beating and cursing the women, who no longer reacted at all."
"So beasts like that were still lurking near the Sanctuary."
I stared toward the northwest, where the golf course lay, and sighed.
Compared to the south, which Shim Soyoung had swept through at her peak, and the center where I had established myself, the north was still the very heart of hell.
Strictly speaking, everywhere without the Heavenly Barrier was hell—but still.
"Filthy scum truly unworthy of salvation."
Men consumed by lust like that could never be admitted into the Guwon Cult.
"Shall we kill them?"
"No. Keep combing through Incheon and find me more survivors in situations like this golf course. For the time being, focus on this rather than rescuing ordinary civilians."
"Yes, Reverend Guwon."
First I shaved down her self-esteem with a crushing defeat.
Then, as reward for enduring that humiliation, I gifted her small victories.
But that alone wasn't enough.
To Shim Soyoung, the humiliation was surely torment enough to die over—but I wanted more.
Which meant I had no choice but to dangle bait.
I intended to reinforce her reasons for tolerating an even greater humiliation.
Standing at a self-actualization that had grown so much easier—what thoughts would fill her head there?
I snorted a quiet laugh as I gazed at the flowers bursting across the garden.
To put it in her own words:
It was time to hunt some Tess.
"Shim Soyoung."
I called out to her, dead asleep on the bed like a crushed worm.
Then I shoved the LED lamp, blazing with light, right up to her face.
"Uuurgh……"
Her face scrunched up instantly as her eyes cracked open, slow and reluctant.
Woken abruptly in the dead of night, her hazy pupils blinked hard.
"……"
The blinking eyes went still, staring at me standing before the bed.
Fwoosh—!
"E-Eeeeek—!"
She scrambled away like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, hissing as she put distance between us.
Fists clenched and thrust forward, she screamed at me.
"Y-You son of a bitch—! I knew you'd pull this eventually! You filthy bastard—!"
"You slept pretty soundly for someone who saw it coming."
"Shut uuuup—!"
I snorted at her shriek rattling through the suite, then simply turned away.
"Let's go."
"……Where?"
"Ugh, too much hassle."
I just stretched out my hand and wrapped telekinesis over her body and mouth.
Should have done this from the start instead of waking her.
With the lamp floating ahead and Shim Soyoung trailing behind me, I crossed the hallway and walked to the main entrance where she always slaughtered zombies.
Leaping into the sky, I flew over Incheon, retracing the intelligence Kim Haeil had passed along.
The farther we got from the hotel, the deeper the undisguisable fear spread through Shim Soyoung's eyes.
She seemed to have convinced herself that I'd finally kidnapped her to rape or kill her.
When in fact, I was taking her to an amusement park.
Swoooosh—!
We cut through the still-sharp night wind, flying toward Incheon's northwest.
Past the forest of buildings, a golf course came into view—sprawling fairways and a sizable lake.
So that's Giant Country Club.
I began loosening the telekinesis over Shim Soyoung's mouth as I scanned the ground below.
I traced backward along the long paths stretching between the multiple holes.
A white-walled clubhouse connected to the road where the first hole began.
That had to be where the survivors Kim Haeil told me about were gathered.
"……Where are we?"
"Wow— no throwing a tantrum about being killed, no screaming about rape. What is this place?"
That was a rational question I hadn't expected at all.
I turned to her with a genuinely startled face.
"What, does the night wind make your brain spin faster or something?"
"……You insane bastard."
I snickered and drew her closer.
Now sharing my line of sight, she followed my finger to the clubhouse.
"Eight survivors are gathered in that building."
"……What?"
"Five men, three women. You're a veteran yourself, so you can guess what's been going on in there, can't you?"
"……"
Shim Soyoung swept her gaze over the clubhouse without a word.
Then her eyes slid back to me, boring into me.
"……What's your angle?"
"No angle. Shall we go down together?"
What's your angle, what's your angle—every single day with that.
No matter how long I explained, she wouldn't believe me anyway.
I answered as dismissively as possible and began lowering our altitude.
A large building sitting right at the edge of an expansive parking lot.
From inside the structure, swallowed in pitch darkness, lewd sounds echoed out.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The wet slap of thighs and hips colliding.
It looked like a fair distance, but there was no fooling the hearing of two Awakened ones.
"Wow, these bastards are still going at it? Impressive."
"……Wait."
She blocked me as I moved to enter the clubhouse, lamp in hand.
I tilted my head and turned back to Shim Soyoung.
Her face had hardened into a serious expression, and she spoke in a low whisper.
"You came here to kill those Tess bastards?"
"What, did you think I came as a party guest?"
"……You filthy piece of shit."
She glared at me with the deepest contempt, then shook her head.
"If we're doing this, wait until they're asleep. If something unexpected happens, the women will be in danger."
I regarded Shim Soyoung with fresh eyes.
And here I'd thought she was the type to just charge in blindly and butcher everyone—when it suited her, she was surprisingly shrewd.
Come to think of it, no wonder she'd been rescuing women on her own all this time.
I didn't answer her. I simply raised my right hand.
An iron ball released from my inventory shattered the glass door with a roar.
Crash—!
"…Huuurgh—!"
A sharp intake of breath echoed from inside.
"Are you insane?! What the hell are you doing?!"
I beamed at Shim Soyoung, glaring at me with huge eyes.
"The you from back then and the you of now are worlds apart."
You don't have to do it that way anymore.
"Whether there are a hundred people in there or two hundred, it'll be easier than a single Steroid."
Without waiting for her reply, I strode past the reception desk and up the stairs.
"……Get up! Get up, I said! Something's here!"
Inside, a man's voice rang out, frantically shaking his companions awake.
The lamp floated up serenely to the second-floor ceiling.
Thanks to the lamp standing in for the dead lights, the second floor brightened until every detail was visible.
"Uuurgh— fuck, what the hell!"
"……That's a person! That's a fucking person!"
A café sat prettily along the glass outer wall with a scenic view.
Its tables and chairs had been shoved aside, and in the cleared space the men huddled together in a clump.
I turned my gaze further back to the three figures curled up tight.
Wrapped in something like blankets, three women trembled violently as they stared at us.
I scanned their faces and let out a breath of relief.
"W-Who the hell are you people?!"
Good—no executives among them.
I flashed a bright smile and glanced back at Shim Soyoung with a meaningful look.
But she was frowning, eyes locked on me rather than the scene before us.
"Not going to kill them? Tess."
"……"
Only then did Shim Soyoung turn to face the men confronting us with crude makeshift weapons.
And the women huddled and shaking behind them.
Tap—!
She kicked lightly off the floor and swung her fist into the men.
CRUNCH—!
Murder with a far simpler process than killing zombies.
Even as she methodically put the men down, she kept glancing back at me.
As if to say, really, you're still not going to stop me?—she dislocated and shattered their arms and legs one after another.
"AAAAAAGH—!"
"Wh-why are you doing this?! Wh-why would you—AAAAAGH—!"
Crrrunch—
Bit by bit, Shim Soyoung seemed to shift her focus from killing them to making them suffer.
She wrenched one man's arm a full rotation, then swung her sharply pointed knee upward.
CRUNCH—!
The man clutched his crotch and collapsed to the floor, foaming pink at the mouth.
I watched her judgment unfold without a flicker of expression.
She kept wrenching screams out of the men while carefully studying my face.
Like an experiment—the torture continued, then finally ended.
Shim Soyoung burst every surviving man's skull like a grape, then turned toward the women trembling at the back.
"It's okay. You're safe now."
Embracing them gently, soothing them softly, she heard me say:
"Well done."
She twisted her head toward me, her face scrunching up furiously.
"Don't get it twisted! I didn't do it because you told me to—I just killed those Tess bastards, that's all!"
"I know."
Still.
"Well done."
Stronger again today, she received my congratulations on her victory.
A small victory gifted in place of her greatest defeat.
I manifested telekinesis over the three women and Shim Soyoung.
"Kyaaaagh—!"
Shim Soyoung accepting the lift with practiced ease, the survivors shrieking and screaming in terror.
"Calm down, it's all right. Everything's okay. Everyone close your eyes. It'll be over in just a moment."
Watching Shim Soyoung gently quiet the women, I stepped out of the clubhouse.
On the flight back to the hotel, she never opened her mouth.
I hadn't sealed it either, yet she simply stared down at the ground below with a troubled expression, biting her lip.
"……Hey."
At the sound of her voice, I turned my head.
She opened and closed her mouth several times before speaking.
"……There's an empty lot behind the hotel."
"……"
"No rotten corpses on the grass, and there's plenty of room to fight. Nobody else knows about it, of course."
She lifted her gaze from the ground below and glared at me.
"Starting tomorrow, we fight there."
I understood her resolve perfectly.
Fighting alone together, just the two of us, in a place with no one watching?
Morning training-cum-humiliation sessions, day after day?
"Very well."
I smiled at the Awakened one, starving for strength.