1. The Iron Door
Put simply, I'm an illegitimate son.
The fact that a bastard like me inherited my father's entire fortune — you could say heaven lent me a hand.
A gas explosion, of all things, at the villa they'd left me behind to visit.
Heaven does have a sense of style.
Suddenly, I had far too much of everything.
I'd never exactly been scrambling to get by before, but my life only grew more tedious with wealth.
So I bought a dozen or so mountains, picked one of them, and built the Playground.
"Where is actress Jin Seungyeon right now?"
"The pickup's been made, sir."
"And the client?"
"A sasaeng fan, apparently."
"He's riding along, isn't he? Get the consultation ready right away."
"Yes, sir."
The Playground is a workshop — a place where the women clients bring in are converted into merchandise.
We can reshape them to suit a client's tastes, or mold them into whatever form I recommend.
There have never been any failures.
When this is all that fills my head, how could there be?
"They've arrived, sir."
I checked the CCTV feed — a van was passing through the main gate.
"Then let's go."
***
"Hnngh… P-please let me go… please… Please!!!! Let me go!!!! Aaaagh!!!! Somebody help me!!!!!"
Bound to a chair, blindfolded, the woman was screaming herself hoarse.
"Why isn't her mouth gagged? If she bites off her tongue, who's going to take responsibility for that?"
"Our apologies, sir."
Thwack—!
I kicked the head of the bowing Puppet square in the face.
"Get it together. If the merchandise gets damaged, can you cover the loss?"
"Hkk—. I'll… correct my mistake…."
I waved a dismissive hand.
On the other side of the glass, the woman trembled like a leaf, while a panting pervert stared at her through the window, breathing hard.
The client, presumably.
Creak.
Tap.
"Hello. I'm Manager Seo. I'm also the one in charge of training the merchandise."
I greeted him with an easy smile.
"Ah, yes. Hello."
A solidly built man with an unassuming, mild-mannered face.
I asked what he did for a living and what kind of person he was.
"W-why would you need to know that…?"
"When we build a product exactly to a client's specifications, they're occasionally disappointed with the result. So we add elements we've judged on our own and apply final refinements."
"Ah. I see. Of course."
Anyone with the resources to abduct a celebrity and turn her into a slave was likely a man of considerable standing in the real world.
Sure enough — he was the CEO of a mid-sized corporation.
"Well then. Shall we get straight down to business?"
"What I want is… for her to be obsessed with my cock, and my cock alone. Is that possible?"
"Of course. Once her training is complete and you take her home, mark her thoroughly, and keep her properly confined, she'll make fine merchandise that fixates on you and you alone. After-sales service included."
"Uuurgh!!! Ugh! Uuuurgh!!!"
Merchandise with its mouth gagged and jaw pried open almost always screams like that — pure, helpless venom.
"Quite the wild one. Training her will take considerable effort."
"Ah…."
"Oh, don't worry. The product's quality determines the price, after all."
"Ah, haha. Right. Yes."
"That said, the merchandise's social standing does call for a surcharge."
"Of course. Th-that's only fair. She is a celebrity, after all…."
Taking in merchandise with a name carries risk.
That much is simply common sense.
Though in the face of overwhelming wealth, risk and common sense alike amount to nothing.
The reason I charge such an exorbitant commission fee has everything to do with maintaining dignity.
Even an apple of identical quality changes in the eye of the beholder depending on the price tag.
"Now, then — no more worrying. We'll repay your trust with a fine product."
"Y-yes. Thank you."
Clients seek out my Playground for one reason and one reason only.
Because the traces a piece of merchandise leaves behind in society are so very hard to erase.
But a product that has passed through my Playground? Within South Korea, its very existence is erased.
"Well then. Do travel safely."
"Yes, yes. I can just contact you, the Manager, if anything comes to mind, yes?"
"Of course. Please do reach out."
The reason I go by Manager Seo is simply to avoid tedious complications.
Every time I introduced myself as the CEO, the questions never stopped — so I settled on the title of Manager.
"Now, then…."
Once I'd ushered him out the door, the sound of the merchandise sniffling filled the silence.
"Hm."
I pressed the button set into the glass.
Beep—.
"Move the merchandise."
***
Shoulder-length blonde hair.
Curves where there should be curves, hollows where there should be hollows.
With those large eyes and that fair skin, anyone would have called her a beauty.
"Jin Seungyeon."
"…"
"Twenty-four years old. An actress. Correct?"
"…"
"Your most famous work is… well, never mind."
I invited her to the dining room.
"…Where is this?"
"My workplace."
"…Can I go home now?"
"No. You can't. Give up on that."
I said it while cutting into the steak laid out in front of me.
"Eat as much as you can now. It'll be hard to later."
"…What is this place?"
Her expression hardened, and still the questions kept coming.
I answered every single one.
Less than half of it was true, but that hardly mattered — what mattered was answering her at all.
That 'I' was someone she could talk to.
That was the seed I needed to plant.
Before long, she'd be surrounded by Puppets who wouldn't even bother engaging her in conversation.
"Are you finished with your questions?"
"…How long do I have to stay here…?"
"Hmm. That's not for me to decide…. I'm merely a guide."
"…A lot of people will be looking for me out there."
"Haha. I doubt that."
She bit her lower lip.
"I'm a pretty famous actress, you know?! Huh?! There's no way no one's looking for me!!"
"Money makes the impossible possible."
She probably already knew.
Knew that this entire vast space lay underground.
Knew what kind of power a place like this must command.
"Thinking about escape… is your right, of course. But, well — I wouldn't get your hopes up."
She closed her mouth.
Her blank eyes staring down at the steak seemed to have simply stopped thinking altogether.
"Come on, don't take it too hard. Eat first."
"…How am I supposed to… eat anything… in this situation…?"
"Whether it goes down or not, you'll eat. Everyone regrets not doing it later."
"…What's going to happen to me…? And what do you mean, 'merchandise'…!"
I put on the saddest face I could manage.
"You're going to become a 'slave,' Seungyeon."
"…I'm… sorry…?"
"This company of ours… deals in that sort of thing."
Tears came streaming down her face.
Boring.
They all react the same way, one after another, so even the words I use to comfort them never change.
But even the bitterest parts can be endured for the sake of a very deep, very rich sweetness.
"Here — a handkerchief."
She stared down at the handkerchief I offered with vacant eyes.
I leaned in carefully and wiped the tears from her face myself.
"Seungyeon. I know this is hard, but if you endure it, you can walk out of here. You heard me, didn't you? My conversation with that sasaeng fan."
She gave a timid nod.
"Prove that you're worthless as merchandise, and even our company will have no choice but to let you go."
"…How?"
"Hmm, well. You're to be a 'sex slave,' after all… so about as lively as a block of wood…?"
"…Haha… you say that so easily…."
I knelt on one knee before her.
"If I made it sound too easy, I apologize. I'm sorry. I only say it because I'm worried about you. I work here too, you know — but if it weren't for the money, I'd have walked out of a place like this ages ago."
"…"
"I know this place isn't right. I won't pretend I'm doing anything noble. But…! When I know there's something I can do to help, how could I just stand by…!"
This was starting to get tedious.
"Now, hurry and eat. You need your strength."
"…Yes. …Thank you…."
She'd only been here a short while, and yet her lips were already quite dry.
"Phew…."
I sat back down at the table.
And pressed the button beneath it without a moment's hesitation.
Bang!
Crash! Crash!
The doors on every side burst violently open,
"AaaAAAH—!!!"
and the startled woman screamed.
Even as she was dragged away by the swarming Puppets, God, could she shriek.
I picked at my aching ear and dabbed my mouth with a napkin.
"Two hours."
At my word, the Puppet waiting behind me answered with a curt "Yes, sir," and hurried off in the direction the merchandise had been taken.
"Haaah…."
Two hours to fill, now.
I supposed I could catch a nap.
***
Thud.
Screeeeeech—.
"S-Seungyeon…!"
I rushed to her side — the girl was a wreck.
The smell of the Puppets' semen still clung to her, but perhaps she'd decided she'd rather not be beaten for it, because she'd evidently been washed clean.
"A-are you… are you okay…?"
Her naked body was turned away from me.
"Seungyeon…! Say something…!"
She lay on the bed without even a blanket over her.
Her body shaking like a leaf in the wind, her hair still damp and clinging to her head.
"Please… leave me alone…."
"You must be so shaken up…?"
The moment I laid a hand on her shoulder,
"Hyah…!!"
she flinched hard and curled in on herself.
"Ah… I'm sorry…. Seungyeon. Do you recognize me?"
She turned her body to check my face.
"…Manager."
"Yes. It's me…."
"…What do I do now…?"
she sobbed.
Tears spilling onto the pillow, she repeated the same words over and over.
What was she supposed to do.
"Seungyeon. It's okay. Everything is going to be alright."
I rested my hand on her shoulder again.
She tensed and shrank from my touch — but she didn't pull away.
I drew her into my arms, gently yet firmly.
Slowly rubbing her back, whispering again and again that it would be alright.
"Seungyeon. I'll find a way. So don't worry too much."
"…Manager. I'm… I'm so scared… hnngh…"
"Just a little longer… just hold on a little longer. I promise I'll…!"
I met her eyes and tightened my eyelids, feigning iron resolve.
"You… you trust me, don't you?"
Her eyes were swollen puffy from all the crying, but she gave a faint nod.
"Good. Thank you for trusting me."
"…Yes."
"I can't be away from my post for long, so I should get going now. I'm sorry."
"…No, it's… it's fine…."
"Nothing else will happen to you tonight, most likely. Rest easy."
"…Yes."
I pulled out the blanket tucked beneath her.
I tucked it snugly around her, patted it down with care, and wished for her safety.
"Well then… I'll be going."
Those eyes.
Eyes begging me, please don't go.
Considering how viciously she'd been screaming earlier, she'd changed remarkably fast.
I flashed her an easy smile and said my goodbyes.
Screeeeeech—.
Thud.
I stepped through the iron door,
press.
and hit the button beside it.
Click-clack-click-clack-click-clack-click-clack.
The Puppets came swarming in an instant, their dress shoes ringing out raucously.
"Two and a half hours this time."
Hearing my order, the Puppets filed back through the iron door once more.
The scream that struck my ears just before the door closed had me digging a finger into my ear canal without thinking.
On my way back to my quarters to finish the nap I'd been robbed of,
a corridor stretching on farther than the eye could follow, lined with iron doors standing shut, one after another, all the way into the dark.