The Master and the Slave (1)
Breakfast had come.
The alarm bell rang out, and the slaves rose from their beds.
Still half-dead with exhaustion, they stirred and washed their faces in the simplest way possible.
The slave quarters were nothing more than individual cells, and while the facilities were far from luxurious, they weren’t bad at all. Just a little dirty, a little unsettling. After scrubbing away the dust and grease, the slaves enjoyed a moment of true rest.
They sprawled about, killing time until the guards called them for morning roll call.
…Huh? Why aren’t they calling us…?
Once the roll-call time passed and the slaves began to feel uneasy, a thunderous explosion echoed from the upper floor.
“What the hell?! What’s that noise?!”
“Why aren’t the guards coming?! What the hell is happening?!”
“Kyahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Even though the explosion was terrifying, the guards still didn’t appear. The slaves started panicking.
“Yaaaaah! Open the door!”
“Fuck, at least tell us what’s going on outside!”
They couldn’t even pound on the bars, so they were growing frantic.
That was when Kim Jinwu stepped in.
He started hammering on the bars with a fury that felt like a man possessed.
“Escape! The revolutionary army has arrived!”
“Revolutionary army?”
“What kind of revolutionary army even exists in the Tower of Struggle…!”
Kim Jinwu shouted at the slaves.
It was finally time to escape and step into the real world.
But his slaves—Orihime’s slaves—didn’t move.
They remembered what happened when they tried to run: a horrible fate waited for them.
“I’m leaving first, you bastards!”
Kim Jinwu kicked open the cell door and strode out.
“Are you all right? Why?”
“Where are the guards? Aren’t they coming to arrest us?”
“If you keep sitting there like idiots, you’ll be left behind alone!”
Kim Jinwu, wearing a white mask, dashed around like a madman.
Pluto’s Hand activated, shattering every iron bar on the floor into pieces.
“I… I should go too?”
“Go where? Are you trying to run away for real?”
“I’m not going. If I escape, I’ll just get caught again…!”
The slaves were completely helpless.
They simply passed the time, receiving coins every day.
All memories of fighting inside the Tower of Struggle had vanished. They were nothing more than livestock gathered in a pen.
“Everyone, wake up! We’re escaping!”
That was when Rina appeared.
She was already fully armed—gear from her inventory strapped on tight, armor and cape fluttering, a handsome spear gripped firmly in her hand as she roared at the top of her lungs.
The shackles had been smashed; her stats were back to normal.
I broke them… but if I break the rules of the game, I get banished. Normally I’d never do that…
Given the situation, there was no other choice. It wasn’t a matter of breaking the rules anymore. It was a revolution. A true revolution.
Orihime’s slave quarters scattered across the floor had been blown apart by the members of Christina’s holy order.
The guards, caught up in the upper-floor explosion, were running around like headless chickens.
In the chaos, the resistance members of each quarter began stirring the slaves into action.
They surged together and broke out of the quarters.
Once everyone had made it to safety, the resistance members regrouped at Hoseon’s safe house.
The operation was over.
Rina had climbed from the lower floors to the top.
The slave quarters stretching deep underground were like hell itself.
No matter how far she climbed, the ceiling never came into view.
But…!
There was still a chance.
Even the guards were receiving some kind of signal and escaping.
Orihime’s kingdom was collapsing in real time.
Kim Jinwu…
Kim Jinwu moved faster than anyone else, freeing every slave on every floor.
He wasn’t the same man he was when he was just fucking around.
After today, I probably won’t see you again.
He had received a million coins.
That was more than enough to live comfortably until he could start over with Hoseon.
“Everyone, move! If you just sit there, you’ll never get your freedom!”
“Freedom? I don’t need that crap!”
“That’s right! Can you really take responsibility?! If you go outside and die, will you be the ones to blame?!”
Even with Rina’s shouts, some slaves still refused to move.
They hadn’t taken a single step outside the prison.
It was a common pattern per floor.
Players who stayed put, too afraid to advance anymore.
On the third floor, the Kingdom had taken their place. On the fourth, it was Orihime’s slave quarters.
“Fuck! Only the idiots who want to die are left!”
Brutal response.
Kim Jinwu’s black hands crushed the slaves’ skulls.
The slaves who hadn’t even removed their shackles couldn’t fight back at all.
“Hiiiiiik!”
“Murder! It’s murder! Where are the guards?!”
“Guards? They all ran away, you idiots!”
Kim Jinwu drained the life force of the slaves who had given up.
He was using them as fuel with genuine sincerity.
Rot in the manure.
Through his connection with Christina, every quarter had fallen into complete anarchy.
Freedom was right there for the taking, but to Kim Jinwu it was just another source of frustration.
Crack!
“Oh! We’re going up! We’re going up!”
“I was trying to escape! Free—free—freeeeedom!”
“Long live! Long live freedom! T-thank you for saving us!”
Slaves who didn’t want to die rushed forward.
The narrow passages filled with slaves.
But they weren’t completely blocked.
We made it! We made it!
Rina reached the top floor.
On the first floor, doors labeled “Room” appeared everywhere.
Take care, Kim Jinwu.
She whispered a farewell to the invisible man, then turned and ran.
She fled in any direction.
The twenty-four-hour countdown had begun, but her heart was strangely light.
“Hah! Hah!”
Rina moved toward the predetermined coordinates.
On the fourth floor, rooms had fixed positions, making coordinate calculations easy.
They said the Saintess Christina’s group is here…
Bursting with excitement, she pushed open the door.
And she came face to face with Christina and her companions.
Golden waist-length hair, bright blue eyes.
A perfect, flawless dignity that left no room for doubt.
A woman who looked like a saint even to strangers was waiting for her.
“Are you… Rina?”
“Y-yes! I’m Rina!”
“…”
Rina felt something strange.
Even though she had come here, Christina’s expression was bewildered.
As if she had forgotten something important.
“Where is Kim Jinwu the Saint? I heard from Hoseon that you were coming from your side.”
“Kim Jinwu?”
Rina found the name strangely unfamiliar.
Why was Kim Jinwu even mentioned here?
“Kim Jinwu the Saint was kidnapped. That’s why we’re in such a mess. But what about the important person…?”
Christina patted her chest vigorously.
It sounded more than a little frustrating.
“Rina.”
“Yes?”
“When was the last time you saw Kim Jinwu the Saint?”
“……”
Rina searched her memory.
When she had been rallying the slaves in the lower slave quarters, she hadn’t seen him afterward.
“About an hour ago…”
“……”
Christina closed her mouth tightly.
As if she was deep in thought.
“Why?”
“…I think I’ll have to go look for him.”
“What? That man?”
Rina couldn’t understand.
How could she possibly go looking for a man who had been playing with her for nothing?
Christina’s original goal had always been to rescue Kim Jinwu.
She had no choice; she was carrying the guilt of not having prevented his kidnapping.
Christina gathered her companions.
Each one was a woman who had committed terrorism in the slave quarters.
“Rina, can you contact your fellow members?”
“…Yes.”
“Then gather them and wait for us in advance? We have something we need to do, so I’m afraid we won’t be able to come with you right away.”
Christina wanted to bring Kim Jinwu out.
Rina wanted to stop her, but the serious look on her face made it impossible.
“…Understood. I’ll go ahead and wait.”
“I’m sorry. We should be going together…”
“No. It’s for saving people.”
In Rina’s eyes, the man was not human—more like an animal.
She didn’t bother to say it out loud.
“Let’s move.”
Rina stared blankly at Christina’s back.
***
She had properly incited the slaves.
The violence right in front of her was far more powerful than any threat.
“Fight! Win!”
“Uoooooooooo!”
The slaves rushed out in a frenzy of madness.
Kim Jinwu watched the madness with his own eyes and headed toward the room where Yu Dahui was.
He slipped out of the crowd and moved toward Yu Dahui’s coordinates.
Orihime…
First, he evacuated Orihime.
He had already told her the night before.
While rushing around frantically, he would catch Yu Dahui doing her own thing.
If she’s properly in cosplay, I’ll just walk past.
Yu Dahui now had two choices.
If she was in the sealed cosplay, he would do a dramatic reunion.
The moment he showed his face, Yu Dahui would drop the seal and come out.
If she was just staring blankly, then no matter what, she’d be arrested on the spot.
He held the initiative and swung it however he wanted.
“Dahui! Yu Dahui!”
He had no intention of giving her time to prepare anything special.
She might already have set the stage and memorized her lines.
But it was too late to turn back now.
The curtain was rising, and he had to step onto the stage with the script in hand.
He removed his mask and adjusted his voice.
He approached in his exhausted, broken concept.
BANG!
He kicked open the door with dignity and walked in.
On the simple bed lay a beautiful naked woman.
She was writhing, stroking herself.
Haaang, aaaah!
That’s it. That’s what I want.
Where did you get permission to do that?
You’ll have to receive proper sex education.
Hold it in.
Commanding you not to move.
Above the bed, crystal screens displayed images.
Yu Dahui was watching the video while touching herself.
Sting—stiiiing—
Even before he came, the lewd sounds echoed from below.
“J-Jinwoo…?”
Yu Dahui jumped up in shock at the sound of the door.
Her pale breasts were covered in handprints from how roughly he had groped her.
She had been at it so long that the lewd scent was vibrating in the air.
I got you, you bastard.
Yu Dahui’s face turned scarlet.
Checkmate.
She was starting to realize how everything she had done had come back to haunt her.
“What… is this…?”
He looked at her with the eyes of someone who couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Jinwoo, wait a second… hear me out…”
Yu Dahui hurriedly pulled on her clothes.
But it was only a coat over her body.
“Those… those videos…”
“What are you talking about? How did they get here…”
Yu Dahui’s face was deathly pale as she trembled all over.
He didn’t know what his own expression looked like, but it seemed to have a big impact on her.
“Hey.”
“Jinwoo, why, why are you looking at me like that… Don’t make that face… I-I’m going to cry…”
“I really… Haa!”
He couldn’t breathe.
Words wouldn’t come out.
How could you do this to me?
“Jinwoo… Jinwoo… I’m sorry. It was my fault. Please, that look….”
Yu Dahui reached out to him.
She was trying to grab him.
He slapped her hand away roughly.
As if to say don’t touch me.
As if to prick her with spikes.
“What kind of humiliation have I suffered… and you do this….”
It was ridiculous.
It felt like his chest was being crushed.
His true feelings were nothing more than a tool for her sexual release.
“It’s not like that, it’s not like that…”
Tears welled up in Yu Dahui’s eyes.
Large, round eyes filled with glistening tears.
“Jinwoo. Just once, can we talk…?”
“…”
“It’s really disappointing, Yu Dahui.”
“……”
Conversation was no longer needed.
Yu Dahui’s face had turned pale and rigid.
Not a single tear fell.
She was still breathing, but there was no movement.
She simply stood there, staring blankly at him.
“……”
Yu Dahui couldn’t even make a sound.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
One after another, tears rolled down her cheeks.
She sobbed endlessly.
He watched the scene, then turned and left the room without a second thought.
Thud.
Yu Dahui collapsed.
Hic! Hic!
She covered her mouth and face, trying to swallow her sobs.