Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Do Not Open
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Jang Jojun looked down at Ri Joo-ha as she refused to speak about the rest of her group, lightly pressing the tip of Guigokdo into her thigh.
“Guh...!”
Pain always provided answers. Lately, Jojun had realized that making his opponents hurt was the quickest way to resolve any problematic situation.
But Ri Joo-ha was different from those weaklings who screamed and collapsed at the slightest pain. Even as blood flowed and she teetered on the edge of death, she clamped her mouth shut to keep from revealing her little sister's presence. She figured it was fine if her own suffering meant her sibling could live.
“Oh... not even a scream? You've got some grit... I like that.”
Jojun personally admired the venomous glare in Ri Joo-ha's eyes.
To him, she looked like a beast discarded by the roadside. Her eyes brimmed with the pathos and sorrow of a wounded animal, along with its defiance and malice.
He decided that adding more wounds wouldn't help right now—instead, healing her would be better. Her body was already doomed to die from the pain anyway. Inflicting more scars would only make her give up on life and resign herself to fate. That wouldn't break her into a slave.
Jojun activated Rising Flesh on her wounded body. He slammed it into her mercilessly several times in a row.
To make this proud woman writhe in agony.
“Gaaahhh!!!!!”
Only after Rising Flesh caressed her body did Ri Joo-ha finally unleash the scream she'd been holding back.
As her wounds slowly healed, all the pain she'd have endured over a long period crashed into her at once.
As the injuries that had tormented her gradually mended, Ri Joo-ha felt like her entire body was being shredded. Even for someone like her, who'd lived a turbulent life, it was pain too intense to bear.
“There's a fish knife stuck in you too. Want me to pull it out?”
“Th-that huuuurts!!!”
Jojun yanked the fish knife from her side and tossed it away. He clamped his palm over the gushing wound where her intestines threatened to spill out, then used Rising Flesh again.
Her protruding guts sucked back inside as the torn belly forcibly knit itself shut.
“Uwaaah!!! Uwaaaaah!!!!”
The hallway echoed endlessly with Ri Joo-ha's agonized screams. They were so raw and pitiful that anyone listening would grow numb to them.
Finally, the onmyouji Hotaru, who'd been watching the insane scene, wondered if she should say something to stop it.
“Um... excuse me... shouldn't we... stop that?”
“Huh? You mean, shouldn't we try to stop it?”
“Y-yes... that's what I meant.”
Hotaru, the bespectacled onmyouji, thought the “healing” Ri Joo-ha was receiving looked more like torture. Worried, she asked Sung Ha-rin if they should ask Jojun to stop.
Since Sung Ha-rin seemed close to him, it felt better to ask her rather than confront him directly.
She was concerned for the screaming woman but also afraid of drawing fire on herself.
“It's fine. He healed your wounds with it too, right?”
“That's what that is? Ah, so it's your skill, my lord? (Aha, so it's your skill, my lord.)”
“No idea what you're saying, but yeah, it's a skill.”
“I see. Understood. (Understood.)”
Only then did Hotaru realize Jojun's skill wasn't torture but healing magic. She'd received his healing on a long gash on her arm before, but it hurt so much she hadn't examined it closely. Now, she could see exactly how it worked.
Pain-accompanied... forced wound recovery... like destroying and regenerating the injury...
Hotaru adjusted her glasses and swallowed hard. She thought to herself that no matter how badly she was hurt, she'd never let Jojun treat her.
The gyaru standing next to Hotaru silently gripped her boyfriend's sleeve in fear, saying nothing. Already invisible to Jojun, he was her only lifeline.
“There, all done.”
“Uh-heh... you... South Korean bastard... even in death... I won't let you off...”
“What're you gonna do about it? Get your head straight and check your body.”
“Huh? Wha... what?”
Ri Joo-ha, who'd been writhing in pain and convinced she was dying, finally looked at her perfectly healed body after Jojun's words.
“Wh-what... is this...”
“Yeah. It's called healing magic.”
“He-healing... magic?”
“Yep. All good now, right? Try moving.”
“Ah... yeah. It's completely healed... Th-thank ya... I couldn't recognize a benefactor like you... and said all that crap...”
Ri Joo-ha couldn't keep up with the rapidly changing situation. First he'd stabbed her thigh with a knife, so she thought he was just a sadistic bastard inflicting pain. But it turned out he was healing her wounds.
She wondered if he was like those South Korean drama heroes she'd secretly watched with her father—gruff on the outside but kind-hearted. Of course, she was mistaken.
“Thank ya!”
“Heh heh heh...”
Jojun smiled at Ri Joo-ha as she bowed her head in thanks, stroking her hair. Then he sheathed the sword at his waist.
Next, he drew a ritual dagger. For threatening someone up close, the shorter ritual dagger was more useful than Guigokdo.
Of course, Jojun was no storybook saint who healed the wounded for free and laughed it off.
He'd only treated her to use the injured beast. His kindness always came with a price.
Having survived mortal wounds, Ri Joo-ha now owed Jang Jojun payment. Her life, perhaps. Or her right to life and death. Something like that.
“Hey, Joo-ha. How about you submit to me?”
Jojun asked peacefully at first. Hoping she might agree easily. Looking at her scrawny, ragged body—which seemed like it would break if hit too hard—he didn't want her resisting.
“Huh?”
But Ri Joo-ha reacted fiercely to the word “submit.” The gratitude in her eyes instantly turned to suspicion and hostility. Jojun sighed. As expected, she wouldn't fold easily.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair—hair he'd been stroking gently moments ago—and pressed the ritual dagger to her throat.
“Wh-what the hell!!!”
“I realized you're not the type to submit easily. But I really want you. Let's make this easy, yeah? No need for more pain. Just obey me.”
“What kinda bullshit is that!! As I thought!! You damn Emi-nai! No parental upbringing!!! I never trusted you South Korean bastards from the start!!”
“Hey now, no bad words. Shh...!”
The moment Jojun locked eyes with her fierce gaze as she endured the pain from Guigokdo in her thigh, he knew this woman would never submit easily.
He recognized the look of someone with something to protect. Like Lee Han-seok trying to shield Kang Hee-sun, or Han Tae-yang accepting death for his precious sisters.
Of course, no matter what they were protecting, enough beatings would break anyone. Defiance and malice always crumbled before relentless pain. He knew this woman would submit eventually if he kept at it.
“Gaaah!!!”
“Submit already!! You saw it!! You can't die!! Yeah~ You can't even kill yourself!! I'll just keep healing you!!!”
“You psycho!! I'll drown you in shit, you bastard!!! Kyaaah!!”
Even as he menaced her with the dagger, Jojun kept checking his wristwatch.
They'd been in the concrete building for less than an hour. But Lee Eun-ji would come looking in ten hours, so they had to escape before their paths crossed. The place was a tangled mess—miss each other once, and they might never meet.
Time was short. He hoped Ri Joo-ha would submit quickly.
Soon, after several rounds of dagger threats, Ri Joo-ha trembled and bowed her head. Fortunately, the torture hadn't lasted long. She'd submitted more easily than expected.
After healing a wound three times only to stab it again, she realized resistance was futile. It just meant endless pain. And since she had no idea submitting meant becoming a slave, she gave in readily.
“I... suh-submit... hic... please... spare me...”
Jojun inwardly sighed in relief. Too much torture might have broken her or filled her with extreme hatred, which would be troublesome. Glad she'd submitted at the right level.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[The opponent has submitted to you.]
Perfect...!
Jojun pressed his seal to Ri Joo-ha's forehead the moment the message appeared.
—Sizzle...!
“Kuh... what's this...”
“It means you're my slave now. Alright, Ri Joo-ha. No, Yi Joo-ha. You can't harm yourself anymore. Never betray me. We're a 'team' now—don't harm the team. And always serve your master—me—with heartfelt gratitude. That's it. Obey these orders until death.”
“Kuh... why... can't I refuse...”
“You can't refuse. It's my skill. You're mine now. Nice doing business with you?”
“Hic... damn bastard...”
Only after turning her into a slave could Jojun sincerely stroke her hair.
Yi Joo-ha shuddered in humiliation at his twisted affection.
She couldn't even resist if she wanted to. His seal was already on her forehead. Until death, she had to serve and thank her master, Jojun.
There was no escaping the massive wave that was Jojun. She'd been swept into the eye of the storm with no way out.
“Now, tell me about the rest of your group. Come on.”
“Kuh... kuh... my group... it's my little sister...”
Under Jojun's repeated commands, Yi Joo-ha unwillingly opened her mouth. No matter how she fought it, she couldn't disobey. Her body followed his orders. Her iron will crumbled swiftly before the pain of defiance.
Jojun had already suspected her group might be family. That would explain why she'd protect them with her life.
If it was a younger brother or male relative, he'd judge by class—if useless, work him hard and send him to die. If sisters or female family, he'd claim them as toys alongside her, depending on looks and class.
And right on cue, a little sister. This was delightful news. A smile naturally spread across Jojun's face.
“Joo-ha. Show some respect to your master. Got it?”
“Y-yes... got it, comrade...”
“Not comrade. Hmm... big bro? No. Call me 'Oppa'.”
“Y-yes... Oppa...”
Jojun, wanting to hear her North Korean dialect, forced polite speech. Yi Joo-ha had no choice but to comply.
“So, how old's your little sister?”
“Tw-two years younger... twenty this year...”
“Same age as Sora. Nice. What class is she?”
“Um... well... she's... jobless... no class...”
“What? Huh. Lame.”
Jojun's face, blooming with smiles at the thought of taking her sister first in front of her, rapidly turned expressionless.
He had standards. Women for his harem had to be pretty with good classes. But Yi Joo-ha's sister? Unknown looks, no class. No real need to save her. He made his disinterest obvious to Yi Joo-ha.
Seeing his blatant lack of interest, Yi Joo-ha clung to him like a desperate dog.
She'd sensed from his beaming questions about her sister that he might go save her. But his sudden disinterest after hearing “no class” snuffed out her rising hope in an instant.
False hope crumbling always brought deeper despair.
“W-wait!! My... my little sister... please...”
Seeing Jojun's expression sour, Yi Joo-ha dropped to her knees, tears streaming as she clutched his pant leg.
She had no other choice. A man this strong surely had the power to find her lost sister in this building.
When she'd been dying, she could only hope her fleeing sister would escape on her own. But now, help had appeared. Yi Joo-ha couldn't let this chance slip—even if it meant spreading her legs for a South Korean bastard.
Of course, she'd never been with a man. Her fiancé had died on the first day of the apocalypse.
“Hmm... Joo-ha. Should I save your little sister?”
“P-please... I beg ya...! Please!!”
“If you ask that nicely, I'll give it a shot. But you'll obey Oppa from now on, right?”
“O-of course!! I'll obey!! O-Oppa!”
“Good. We'll look for your sister while searching for the idol.”
“Hic... th-thank ya... comrade... no, Oppa... thank ya...”
Of course, Jojun had planned to save Yi Joo-ha's sister from the start, if possible.
It would make her truly grateful to him. Building affinity, in a way.
She clearly adored her sister, so saving her would leave a deeper impression of his grace than any resentment over capturing her.
Already planning to add her to his harem, Jojun was laying groundwork. So even if the slave brand vanished someday, she wouldn't easily leave or betray him.
“Alright, shall we go look again?”
Jojun pulled up Yi Joo-ha—who'd been clutching his pant leg and sobbing—then handed her a chocolate bar with a grin. She hadn't eaten properly in days.
To Yi Joo-ha, his smile now looked like a demon's creepy grin. But the chocolate bar was too sweet and tasty to refuse.
She just wanted to find her sister quickly and give her one too.
Even if it was like drugs from the devil.
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“Hic... Unni...”
Lee Eun-ha wandered the building alone, searching for an exit after fleeing from her sister. It was like a labyrinth.
She'd crossed countless doors and ended up in a place even she couldn't identify.
She walked a corridor far more dilapidated and dark than where she'd been with her sister, plastered with talismans everywhere.
At the end, she spotted a red door. The first red one she'd seen.
“Pl-please let this be the exit...”
She gripped the blood-red doorknob and turned it.
—Creaaak...
Rusty hinges groaned as the red door slowly opened.
“Wh-what...”
Lee Eun-ha entered a creepy room stained entirely in blood-red. No windows—it was sealed tight. A storage room.
The red room was unnaturally chilly, excessively gloomy, with flickering candle flames casting eerie shadows everywhere.
“Uh...”
At the center of the circular candle arrangement sat a statue the size of a child, grinning grotesquely ear-to-ear.
In front of the statue was a box plastered with talismans.
As if obsessively warning that it must never be opened.
“This... the idol...”
Suppressing her fear, Lee Eun-ha approached the statue.
—Bang!
The moment she fully entered, the door slammed shut.
Lee Eun-ha was trapped alone with the statue, which now seemed to grin even wider in the red room.
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