How Dare You Touch My Toy?
"Hey······ what's wrong with your hands?"
Elise's voice dropped low.
Her gaze locked onto my fingertips.
Nails blackened from sorting spent mana stones, and a scatter of little scrapes. Anyone could see the marks of pure hellish labor.
"Ah, these?"
I hastily hid my hands behind my back.
My heart clenched.
Tell her the truth? That Supervisor Park ordered it?
No. If I did that, he'd torpedo my performance review for sure. And knowing Elise, she'd go nuclear with something like, How dare that insect?, and cause a full-blown disaster.
Just endure it. I can take the beating myself.
I forced on my best business smile.
"I tripped on the way here. Got dirty doing a bit of floor cleaning."
"Tripped?"
Elise narrowed her eyes as if the excuse were laughable.
She sniffed the air around me.
"Lie. I smell blood······ and the stench of disgusting mana residue."
"It's the cleaning supplies. The storage room is ancient."
"Hmph."
She looked unconvinced, but she didn't press further.
Well, to her I was nothing more than a high-performance appliance. Why would she care about an air conditioner's private life?
"Gross. Go wash up."
"Yes, understood."
"Don't even think about coming near me until the smell is gone."
She whipped her head away.
I let out a breath of relief and bolted for the bathroom.
Whew. Dodged that one.
But that was a delusion.
The real nightmare was only just beginning.
From that day on, my routine looked like this.
By day, I played human air conditioner in the Penthouse for Elise.
And the moment she took a nap or went to wash up, I had to scramble out like a dog the second Supervisor Park called.
"Hey, Kang Jinsoo. Why does the bathroom look like this?"
"I'm sorry. I'll do it again."
"Again? You joking right now? Scrub it until I could lick it clean."
Supervisor Park's harassment was petty and relentless.
Cleaning the C-rank prisoners' communal bathrooms, inventorying the warehouse, coffee runs—the works.
It was pure jealousy that an F-rank like me got the privilege of exclusive S-rank duty, and it was eating him alive.
"Hah, hah······."
Two in the morning.
While everyone else slept, I was mopping the Basement 3 corridor.
My back felt ready to snap.
The blisters on my palms had already burst, seeping blood.
God, this sucks.
Tears pricked at my eyes.
But I couldn't stop.
Supervisor Park had waved my performance evaluation form in my face and threatened, "With this one paper, you'll never leave this place for the rest of your life."
"Yo, rookie. Still not done?"
Supervisor Park wandered over on patrol, sipping a canned coffee.
Right onto the floor I'd polished to a shine, he deliberately poured his drink.
Glug.
"Oops, slippery fingers. Guess you'll have to mop it again?"
"······."
"What's with the face? Feel wronged? Then come back with a B-rank of your own."
He snickered and clapped my shoulder.
Murderous intent surged up my throat.
I wanted nothing more than to drive the mop handle straight into that smug face.
But I was the subordinate.
"······Understood. I'll mop it again."
"That's more like it. Keep up the good work."
He vanished whistling.
With trembling hands, I picked up the mop again.
Endure it. I have to endure it.
Mom's hospital bills. Dad's debts. If I collapse, my whole family is finished.
Four in the morning.
I staggered back to the Penthouse like a zombie.
I needed at least a catnap if I was going to keep Elise happy tomorrow.
I carefully opened the door and slipped inside.
Elise, sprawled on the sofa, cracked her eyes open.
"······Where were you?"
A sleep-roughened voice.
In the dark, her red eyes flashed.
"Just went to the bathroom."
"The bathroom for three hours? I thought you'd fallen in and drowned."
"Bad constipation."
I forced a smile and headed for my designated corner of the sofa.
But Elise wasn't letting me go.
"Come here."
"Pardon?"
"It's hot. Hold my hand."
She held out her hand.
I swallowed a sigh and approached.
The moment I reached for her—
Smack!
She roughly slapped my hand away.
"Ah."
"What's wrong with your hands?"
She snatched my wrist and shone a light on it.
Palms blistered and beaded with blood.
Skin swollen red from harsh detergent.
No one would believe those were hands that had just been to the bathroom.
"You······ what have you been doing?"
Elise's voice plummeted below freezing.
"It's nothing. I just did a little exercise······."
"Exercise? What kind of exercise turns hands into a wreck like this?"
She crushed my wrist in her grip. It hurt.
"Talk. Which bastard did this?"
"It's really nothing. My skin's just a little sensitive······."
"Lie."
Whoosh.
Sparks leapt from the tips of her hair.
The temperature in the room spiked hard.
"I told you I'd kill you if you lied to me."
"Prisoner, please. I'm exhausted. Just let me sleep."
I pleaded.
I was genuinely one breath from passing out.
Elise took in my hollow eyes and pale face, then bit down hard on her lip.
"······Annoying."
She roughly let go of my hand.
"You ruined my mood. Get lost."
"Thank you."
I fled to the corner of the sofa and collapsed.
The second I lay down, I blacked out.
Meanwhile.
Elise did not sleep.
In the dark, she stared fixedly at my battered hands.
In her eyes, red flames flickered with dangerous intent.
How dare they touch my toy······.
The next morning.
I opened my eyes before the alarm.
No—I had no choice.
Someone was lightly slapping my cheek.
"Wake up. It's morning."
It was Elise.
She was already fully dressed.
Not in my oversized shirt, but in a red dress the warden had newly provided, arms crossed.
"Mmm······ Prisoner? You're already up?"
"I'm hungry. Feed me."
"Ah, yes. I'll call the cafeteria."
"No."
She shook her head firmly.
"We're eating out today."
"Pardon? At the cafeteria?"
"Yeah. I can't stand being cooped up."
Without waiting for my answer, she headed for the door.
I scrambled into my uniform and hurried after her.
This felt ominous.
Normally she was a shut-in tyrant who never left her room. Why the sudden cafeteria expedition?
The whole way down the corridor, Elise clung to my arm even tighter than usual.
No—more than clinging, it felt like she was supporting me.
Every time my steps slowed, she subtly matched my pace.
Must be my imagination.
We arrived at the Basement 2 cafeteria.
It was lunch hour, packed with prisoners and guards.
The moment Elise appeared, the cafeteria fell silent as if someone had dumped cold water over it.
A path opened like Moses parting the sea.
We collected our trays at the serving line and sat down.
I was so drained I couldn't even lift a spoon without my hand shaking.
That was when it happened.
"Hey, Manager Kang Jinsoo!"
A familiar, nauseating voice.
Supervisor Park.
He'd been stuffing his face with his buddies, spotted me, and came scurrying over.
Whether he'd lost all fear despite Elise sitting right there, or whether her quiet demeanor made her look easy—
"You finish what I told you yesterday? I checked this morning and it looked half-assed."
He rapped our table.
Elise paused mid-bite.
But she didn't lift her head.
"······I finished it. Perfectly."
"Perfectly? Don't make me laugh. There was still dust in the corner of the warehouse. Do it again tonight."
Supervisor Park smirked and clamped down hard on my shoulder.
His nails dug in so hard I nearly screamed.
"Rookies these days. Don't get cocky just 'cause you've got an S-rank. Crawl on the floor where you belong. Got it?"
He deliberately raised his voice so Elise would hear.
Advertising that he was the senior of this block, that an F-rank was nothing but his meal ticket.
I bit my lip.
I couldn't talk back here. I had to endure.
"······Understood. I'll correct it."
"Good. That's more like it."
Looking satisfied, Supervisor Park started to turn away.
In that instant.
Crunch!
The fork in Elise's hand screamed.
No—not a scream. It became a lump of scrap metal.
She had crushed the fork in one hand.
"······Found you."
Elise slowly raised her head.
Her red eyes locked onto Supervisor Park.
That gaze was not looking at a human being.
It was looking at filth that needed to be burned away.
"So it was you. The bastard who broke my air conditioner."
The air in the cafeteria turned scorching in an instant.
I knew then.
Time for a special lesson had arrived.
And that my peaceful? work life ended right here.
Sizzle—
On the cafeteria table, the stainless steel tray under Elise's hand began to glow red-hot.
The air around her shimmered like a heat haze.
Hundreds of prisoners and guards inside the cafeteria held their breath.
The killing intent of an S-rank witch.
It was on a completely different level from the pressure a B-rank hunter like Supervisor Park could put out.
"Answer me."
Elise rose slowly from her seat.
Her crimson eyes pinned Supervisor Park as if they would bore straight through him.
"I asked if it was you. The one who wrecked my property like that."
"U-ugh······."
Supervisor Park's face went deathly pale.
He tried to back away, but his legs seemed locked in place.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain.
"I-I was just educating him as his senior······."
"Educating?"
Elise snorted.
"A worm that doesn't even know its place, teaching someone?"
Whoosh!
A whip of flame lashed from her fingertips.
The collar of Supervisor Park's uniform blackened and burned away in an instant.
"Eek!"
Supervisor Park screamed and landed hard on his rear.
His underlings nearby recoiled in terror and fled.
The cafeteria dissolved into chaos in seconds.
"Die. Stop crawling around in front of my eyes."
Elise raised her hand.
A massive fireball formed above her palm.
She was serious. She fully intended to roast Supervisor Park well-done right then and there.
No!
On pure instinct, I stepped in front of Elise.
If Supervisor Park died here, Elise went to solitary and I got fired for negligence.
No—firing wasn't the problem. I'd have to pay a five-billion-won penalty.
"Stop! Prisoner!"
"Move. So I can burn that bastard."
"You can't! If you cause an incident here, I'm finished!"
I desperately grabbed her hand.
It was searing hot. But thanks to Status Condition Immunity, I didn't burn.
Absolute Calm — Maximum Output
"Please! I have debts to pay! If I get fired, who's going to keep you cool?!"
Maybe my near-scream got through to her.
Or maybe she liked the chill pouring from my hand.
The blazing fireball slowly shrank, then snuffed out with a soft pfft.
"······Tch."
Elise bit her lip and glared at me.
"I'm letting this slide because of you. It'd be a pain if you got fired."
She looked down coldly at Supervisor Park, who was trembling on the floor.
"Count yourself lucky. Touch my air conditioner one more time, and next time there won't even be bones left to collect."
She roughly yanked my arm.
"We're leaving. I've lost my appetite."