#19. The Man Who No One Can Deceive (4)
Wham-! The instant my command landed, Elena knocked Yu Dahui unconscious with a single strike to the back of her neck. Yu Dahui crumpled like a ragdoll, unable to steady herself. Even as she fell, her eyes stayed locked on me.
“Sorry, Dahui-noona,” Elena apologized while cradling the limp body in her arms, guilt clearly etched on her face.
“Hoo… damn it, that hurts like a bitch.” I checked that Yu Dahui was out cold, dusted the dirt off my clothes, and stood up. My body was in a terrible state. I was barely clinging to life. Elena had truly tried to kill me.
“Hare,” Elena stared at me with pure contempt. From someone who already knew the full picture, I was nothing but trash. I understood the feeling. But I couldn’t stop now. If I couldn’t handle it, I never should have started. Regret was useless at this point.
I kneaded Elena’s breasts and said, “Didn’t I tell you to go easy?”
“Khut… I did go easy. I hit you super gently…!”
“Enough. Hand me the potion. And put on a robe that’s big enough. What the hell is this? Anyone looking at you would think you’re a woman.”
“Aah…! Kuu… here…” Elena answered grumpily while groaning. Even as she rummaged through her inventory, I didn’t stop touching her. I took a recovery potion from her and drank it. The wounds closed almost instantly.
“This is a 8-Star player’s potion. The performance is definitely top-notch.” I felt my broken body healing at lightning speed. The excruciating pain that had been grinding against my bones vanished in seconds. I pulled my hand away from Elena’s chest.
“Hnng…” Ignoring her dissatisfied expression, I held out my hand to her.
“Give me the mask. Oh, and is there any item that suppresses strength or something?”
“No… there is…” The Elena who had been trying to deceive me finally told the truth thanks to the Submission Oath. This was ridiculous. I should have seen it coming.
“Prepare yourself to be punished later.”
“P-punish…?! What nonsense! I did exactly what you told me to!” Elena exploded, shouting. Her face was beet red. Was it anger? Or shame? Given how red her ears were, shame seemed more likely.
Ring-!
[Rarity / Grade] 4-Star
[Effects / Properties] Mask used by thieves to hide their faces.
[Recognition Suppression Lv.4]
“4-Star? Fuck!” I tossed the white mask back and summoned the Shadow Spirit.
The Shadow Spirit that had been trapped inside Elena’s mask suddenly erupted outward and took on a human form.
“Friend, can you change to look exactly like me?”
— Yes.
Its eyes sparkled, hair turned jet black, skin gained subtle shading and returned to warm flesh tones. The Shadow Spirit had become “Kim Jinwoo.”
“Wow, Geori. You’re exactly the same.”
— Thanks.
“Jjapjinwoo. Now wear my clothes…”
— Thanks.
Wait, why are you clenching your fists?
“Eh? Because that’s the only way to make the disguise perfect?”
The Shadow Spirit hated pain. It flinched and backed away when I raised my fist. Its face was identical to mine, so hitting it felt bad, but I had no choice. — I-I can do that too. I don’t have to get hit that hard…
Red blood flowed steadily from Jjapjinwoo’s face. His cheeks swelled up. Wounds began appearing everywhere. It seemed I didn’t need to hit him that hard after all.
“Okay. You know what I’m about to do, right?”
— I do.
“Since I can’t feel it, I’m counting on you to do a good job.” Jjapjinwoo nodded while pulling on clothes that looked like rags.
— It’s all your fault.
— It’s all your fault.
— It’s all your fault.
— It’s all your fault…!
Yu Dahui dreamed. A nightmare of Kim Jinwoo dying in agony, cursing her for what she’d done.
“……”
Twitch!
After the agony ended, Yu Dahui woke up from the dream. She’d died and regressed, but that wasn’t the case. The pain still lingering in her body told her this round wasn’t over yet.
Tak tak tak—
Yu Dahui slowly raised her upper body. The damp cave ceiling greeted her. She focused her blurry vision and saw a man crouching by the campfire.
“He’s awake. Are you feeling better, Dahui-noona?”
“J-Jinwoo…! Where’s Kim Jinwoo?!”
“As soon as you came to, you’re looking for your boyfriend? Love sure is intense.”
“Where is Jinwoo?!”
Yu Dahui’s voice cracked so pathetically it was almost heartbreaking.
“Right here.” The masked man pointed to the corner of the cave.
In the corner, a trembling figure was curled up. “Jinwoo-ya! Jinwoo-ya! Answer me, dammit…!”
“Uuuh… Yu, Dahui…?”
A voice similar to the masked man’s came from the corner. But it was different—Kim Jinwoo’s voice.
“He’s not dead. He’s still alive…”
Kim Jinwoo was still alive. The man who had been about to die because of her was breathing. Guilt eased a little.
“But his condition isn’t great. Because my friend hit him pretty hard… even to the point of trying to kill your boyfriend, I held back. Hah!”
“…friend…?”
Yu Dahui’s eyes rolled as she processed the impossible words. ‘The mask was different from before! His build too!’ One of the things she hadn’t noticed while fighting. The man who had cornered her and Kim Jinwoo was shorter than Kim Jinwoo.
“T-two masks?!”
Another masked man stepped out from the entrance of the cave. Mask 2, wearing the same white half-mask. Mask 1 was in normal clothes; Mask 2 wore a robe.
“What the hell…?”
Her brain had frozen. It felt like it was refusing to process what was happening.
“Thanks to me, your boyfriend is still alive. How lucky.” Before she could even think, Mask 1 stood up. When she saw him properly, it clicked.
“Mask 1 is taller than Mask 2.”
Mask 2 had a petite figure. Even under the robe, his chest was noticeably full and rounded. The body was too voluptuous to be hidden by fabric alone. If the voice hadn’t been there, she would have thought he was a woman.
Yu Dahui’s head spun rapidly. She began analyzing the situation with cold clarity.
“And Mask 2 is…”
She’d said it before. They had definitely met. Yet this wasn’t the round she had met the masked man.
“No way…”
Yu Dahui clenched her teeth at the worst possible thought.
“But when I think of Jinwoo…”
She couldn’t dismiss it. Multiple pieces of information overlapped, pulling her in a completely wrong direction. It made her think of something far beyond what Kim Jinwoo had wanted.
Yu Dahui remembered the moment Mask 1 had raped her. When she thought about it carefully, Mask 1 had behaved as if he knew her too well. It was humiliating and infuriating, but he had rubbed against her erogenous zones as if it was only natural. Like someone who had experienced countless relationships.
“These masked bastards might be using regression or something similar.”
Information was needed.
Because of Recognition Manipulation, Yu Dahui couldn’t perceive the Blessing of Suicide. Even the words “Blessing of Suicide” in the System were invisible to her eyes.
That was why she had become a pure seeker of profit. If she couldn’t kill herself, she would extract every last bit of information before she died.
“After all, this body has already been dirtied by that bastard. It won’t change even if I take it one more time.” Even if the price was her own body.
“I gave my virginity to Jinwoo… should I be happy that the starting point changed?”
No matter how hard she tried to harden her heart, self-loathing and guilt wouldn’t leave her alone. She was sorry to Kim Jinwoo. Because even after regressing and changing the timeline, Yu Dahui’s heart was being slowly eaten away by the masked man.
“What…?”
Mask 1 looked startled. He had expected her to cry, scream, and throw a tantrum. But Yu Dahui was glaring at him with sharp, predatory eyes—like a cat with claws ready to strike.
“I’ll think about it later.”
Mask 1 was a man with nothing to lose. The board had already been set. There was no need to hesitate anymore. All he wanted was to thrust his hard cock into Yu Dahui’s pussy.
“Dahui-noona.”
“What, you filthy bastard.” Yu Dahui knew exactly what was about to happen. That was why she couldn’t hold back her rage. She didn’t want to yield quietly.
Yu Dahui tensed her body and gathered her strength.
“Kyahaaaah, phu!” Even though her body wouldn’t move, she managed to spit. She had never done anything like this in her entire life, but today was the first time she spat a loogie.
“Wow…”
The spit that left Yu Dahui’s mouth landed heavily on Mask 1’s pants.
Mask 1 laughed unconsciously when he saw the wet spot.
“You fucking pervert! I’m going to kill you one day. I’m going to kill you!”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Mask 1 took off his pants and pulled down his underwear. His already erect cock swung freely, showing off its size.
Yu Dahui flinched as if she had been hit. She hesitated.
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“Shut your mouth, you fucking bastard!”
As soon as Mask 1 sneered, Yu Dahui snapped back to her senses. Nine out of ten words coming out of her mouth were curses. She poured out filth like a machine gun, completely forgetting about the badly wounded Kim Jinwoo beside them.
Mask 1 grinned.
“Dahui-noona, do you know your boyfriend is dying?”
“……”
Mask 1 pulled out a recovery potion (small) from his inventory and poured it into the corner where Kim Jinwoo was groaning.
“This is all I can do for emergency treatment. Because my friend is really strong, your boyfriend’s insides are probably in pretty bad shape.”
“Fucking bastard…”
“Well, that’s the same for you, Dahui-noona…”
Thanks to the Invalidity of Pain blessing, Yu Dahui didn’t know her own body condition properly. Yu Dahui was also on the verge of death. Not that different.
“You have a hole that I need, right, Dahui-noona? That’s why I kept you alive…”
“Hole? You filthy pervert rapist bastard!”
“That man is… I kept your boyfriend alive with all my heart. But my friend wants to kill him… What should I do?”
“……”
Yu Dahui couldn’t bring herself to speak. She was furious that this masked man had understood exactly what he wanted in this situation. If only she hadn’t known, she could have cursed at least. She could have resisted until the very end.
“What should Dahui-noona do?”
Mask 1 pulled out one more recovery potion and poured it over Yu Dahui. The potion seeped in, partially healing her wounds. But her body still wouldn’t move. Mask 1 kept pouring the potion.
Yu Dahui felt her body slowly recovering. Because her body was returning to normal, Kim Jinwoo’s groans became louder.
Yu Dahui squeezed her eyes shut.
“Jinwoo, give Jinwoo a potion too…”
“What?”
“Ask him to give Jinwoo a potion…!”
Mask 1 threw the empty potion bottle and asked again.
“What?”
Yu Dahui realized what he wanted. Mask 1 wanted the Yu Dahui who was standing proudly to bend down submissively.
She had experienced wearing a mask before. There was no other way she could know.
“Hehe…”
It was funny. The method she had come up with was just blackmail. Too predictable.
“I can bend my pride whenever I want.”
She looked at him with eyes that didn’t bend at all and said boldly.
“Please give Jinwoo a potion too. Master.”
“…Okay. For now, this will have to do.”
Mask 1 poured a potion over Kim Jinwoo as well. The visible wounds began to heal slowly.
Yu Dahui watched the scene while tears streamed down her face.
“I can endure it. I can endure it… I can.”
Endure the pain? The pleasure? She couldn’t understand what she was supposed to endure for herself. But one thing was clear: the fear of whatever was coming next was more than enough to understand without words.