The True Face of Artemis
"Then take a good look. This is the true nature of Artemis."
The president turned her smartphone screen toward us. A decadent club scene under blue lighting. It wasn't the kind of dancing club I knew.
"This is a mental image record taken by one of our association's intelligence agents who infiltrated the place."
"A mental image record?"
"It's a non-combat ability that lets you capture what you see like a photo. The quality isn't great due to the skill's nature, but it's enough to get the vibe."
I stared at the phone with a pounding heart.
The first thing that hit my ears was all sorts of moaning sounds.
"Aaang…♡ Haang♡"
In a place labeled 'Hestia's Porch', it was straight-up sex... no, an orgy, I guess that's what they call it.
"I'm cumming♡"
An orgy party was in full swing. Naked men and women tangled together like a single mass of flesh, devouring each other's bodies.
Too stimulating...! This is basically porn! And I'm watching porn with guys right now... What do I do!
No wonder the guild master and president warned me to brace myself.
"…Hoo… Ha…"
On one woman's body, sushi was arranged like a work of art.
Disgraceful men were licking salmon roe off her nipples with their tongues.
"Eugh…."
A short moan escaped me. A scene that shattered my common sense and morals.
But strangely, instead of feeling disgusted, my heart raced, and my lower belly grew hot.
I couldn't look away. It was horrifying, yet... somehow mesmerizing, like I wanted to keep watching.
Like spectating a fight or gawking at someone else's house fire. No, more than that.
Someone's private life. Peeking into adults' sex lives that I'd never experienced... The stimulation was off the charts.
People I might have met doing immoral things in a porn video right in front of me. Dopamine was gushing out.
The screen scrolled sideways.
"This is the arena."
"The arena?"
This time, a coliseum with red sand on the floor appeared. Two armored men swung swords at each other, kicking up dust.
Their fight looked like a real deathmatch, stakes on life itself.
"Grahhh!"
One sword deeply slashed the other's shoulder. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
"They're not fighting monsters in gates... but hunters against hunters."
Kang Jin-woo, the guild master, muttered in disbelief.
"My god…."
The slashed hunter eventually knelt and surrendered. The victor ripped off his helmet, revealing a handsome face.
The winner stripped the loser's pants off in front of the crowd, mocking him. Is this what they call gay stuff?
"They call this the arena—a deathmatch where lives are on the line. But this is just the tip of the iceberg."
The president casually swiped the screen while looking at us.
A female hunter from our guild, someone I vaguely knew who'd been reported missing recently, appeared. She'd apparently lost to a chimera with grotesque tentacles.
Panting heavily, her metal armor torn open to expose her breasts, she lay collapsed.
Then the chimera mounted her like a starving hyena.
"S-Spare me! No! I don't want to get fucked by a monster…."
"Pay up for the magic stone!"
"Urgh!"
This was beyond porn. The monster's hideous cock piercing her pussy. I turned away, unable to watch, but her screams and the monster's roars echoed vividly in my ears.
"No… No…."
I shook my head, but my breathing grew rougher. I felt wetness soaking between my legs.
I was getting aroused.
"Most areas are off-limits to non-members, so our agents couldn't get deeper."
She continued explaining.
"We're suspecting illegal human modification here…. And this is the slave auction house."
The guild master reacted sharply.
"Slave auction? You mean they're buying and selling people?!"
"Exactly—buying and selling hunters."
"Human trafficking, too."
She swiped matter-of-factly, then a completely different photo appeared.
"And next…"
A selfie in front of a bathroom mirror, completely nude. Firm breasts, slim waist, flowing hips, and smooth legs. A sensually maintained, beautiful woman's body that screamed allure.
And that face was all too familiar….
"…President?"
Jin-woo coughed awkwardly and quickly looked away.
"Sis. Did you do this on purpose?"
"What? Oh my! Why is this here?"
Yoon Seo-ah finally glanced at the screen and feigned surprise.
"Oh dear, oh dear. Such obvious acting."
Her face unchanged, she played innocent effortlessly.
"Ah, oops. Why's this photo mixed in? The agent must've accidentally added it while sorting data. That's all. Haha."
No way an agent would have the president's nudes….
She shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's not like it'll wear out from looking. Pretty, right?"
She even asked me bluntly, like boasting.
"Y-Yes…? Uh, yes! Super… pretty…."
"I've been getting some treatments lately."
She bragged about her nude photo casually and pocketed the phone.
"Anyway, that's the data. As you can see, Artemis is that kind of place."
"Where is it? We need to raid it right now!"
The guild master slammed the table.
"You're saying you've known about this inhuman den and let it slide?!"
Despite his furious shout, Yoon Seo-ah didn't flinch.
She looked at him pitifully.
"Raid it? How?"
"How?! Mobilize elite hunters from the association…!"
"Let me ask: Can you take on three S-class hunters at once alone?"
"Three S-class…."
"Yeah. My intel says at least three S-class masters are involved in Artemis right now."
"Ma Do-jun…."
"Good info network, huh? You knew. Yoo Cheon-woo, Ma Do-jun, and… maybe a third figure pulling the strings."
"Dozens of A-class hunters are VVIP clients there too. Most of Korea's so-called hunter elite gather there."
She downed her whiskey in one go, frustrated.
"It's beyond control now."
"So we just watch illegal shit happen?"
"What if clashing with them makes them all go on strike? Got a way to force hunters into gates?"
Her words were cruel but realistic.
"There's the law! Hunters are Korean citizens too!"
"Law? Kang Jin-woo, were you always this naive?"
Yoon Seo-ah sneered.
"Do hunters give a damn about the law? Gate laws, hunter laws—they're all rushed emergency acts, special exceptions."
"…"
"No legal or physical means in this country can restrain a single S-class hunter."
"Power, in the end."
"Yeah. Hunter society is survival of the fittest, Kang Jin-woo. A jungle where the strong take all."
The president concluded flatly.
"So… we just watch?"
"No choice. It's uncomfortable, but this is the 'necessary evil.'"
She lit a new cigarette.
"Think about it. If those scum didn't vent in their Artemis cage, where would that overflowing power and twisted desire go?"
Her red eyes turned to me. Why me? I shrank back.
He answered.
"To the surface, maybe at civilians."
"We're just tolerating one small hell to prevent a bigger catastrophe."
Her words were brutally realistic.
"Ten S-class hunters born here. The moment we turn blades on each other, Korea collapses from within before gates even open."
"…."
"As long as gates threaten, we need their 'power.' Government and association turn blind eyes knowing that. Government's silent for the same reason."
Growing hunter power. A powerless system unable to control it.
"Can't hire from Japan or China with money either."
"Still, I can't just sit idle."
"…."
"Such inhuman acts can't be tolerated. That's my justice."
Yoon Seo-ah eyed him, then shook her head.
"So, what'll you do? Storm in alone?"
"If needed, yes."
"Idiot."
Then, the guild master seemed to remember something.
"Ma Do-jun… He showed up at the association today."
"He did."
"Can you prove you're uninvolved, President?"
At Kang Jin-woo's sharp question, Yoon Seo-ah laughed mockingly.
"Doubting me? Fine. What about you? Can you claim you're clean, Kang Jin-woo?"
Is Kahlúa milk strong? My head's spinning. And these heavy talks are hard to follow. I don't wanna think anymore.
"Hic…."
A hiccup escaped. I shot up from my seat.
"Sia?"
"Hehehehe."
I grabbed my glass and plopped next to the guild master, clutching his clothes.
"Guild mastew heawt huwts…."
"Uh, uh. Sia? You okay?"
"Guild mastew? Why you talkin' funny?"
I rubbed my cheek and chest against his firm arm. Like a kid whining to daddy.
My stiff nipples under his shirt pressed against his tree-trunk arm.
"Nng?"
"No mowe hawd talks, kay? Head huwts…."
He looked super flustered for some reason. Why? His face flushed slightly.
"S-Sia. What's wrong? Snap out of it."
He tried to peel me off, but I clung tighter.
A warm scent wafted from him.
"Nooo. Wanna stay hewe. Lesh dwink."
I grabbed his glass and forced it to his lips.
"Stop. Enough."
"Oh my, oh my. You two swore you were nothing, huh?"
The president watched us amused, chin propped.
"We're really not! Sia… This is awkward for me."
The guild master soothed me while sweating bullets, at a loss.
"Let her be. She's drunk. So, what'll our justice warrior Kang Jin-woo do?"
"I'll check it out myself first."
"What? How?"
"Doesn't suit my style, but I'll infiltrate. Artemis."
"You? Doesn't fit. Your build screams 'I'm spying.'"
"But no reason to refuse. It's bait."
"Bait?"
"Word of Baekya's guild master visiting a brothel spreads, other hunters stir, association and government get justification to move."
"Using yourself as bait… Not bad, Kang Jin-woo."
I slumped on the table, whining and tugging his clothes.
"Don' go…. Don' leave me…."
"You're really wasted, Sia."
"Daddy…. Hic… Daddy… Miss you."
He pried me off.
"Guess that's it for today. I'll settle the bill."
Here? It's just gettin' good….
"Nooo! Wait! Whewe you goin'? Wait right thewe."
"Huh? You're smashed."
"No. Gonna wash face in bathroom. Wait! Both of you. Got it?"
I staggered up. The guild master followed.
"I'll come. You'll fall."
Cold water on my face in the bathroom cleared my head a bit.
"Gonna puke? Might help. I'll rub your back."
"I'm fine… Jus' need rest…."
Yoon Seo-ah, fixing her makeup in the mirror, said,
"What do you think of Kang Jin-woo?"
"Huh?"
"What do ya think."
"Stiff, by-the-book, justice-obsessed."
"Not that much now. Tries to be casual…."
"So? You two really nothing?"
"Yup."
"Then, mind if I snag him tonight?"
She applied red lipstick, grinning at my reflection.
"Not a fish. Do whatevew…."
I brushed off her joke as drunken nonsense.
She smacked her lips.
"At that age, pretty without makeup. Jealous."
"You'we pwettiew than me, President."
"Auntie prettier? Pfft."
"Not auntie. Sis. Sis."
"Cute. So, what do you eat for those tits?"
"Huh? Tits…? Dunno hehe."
She circled behind me.
"Lemme see…."
Suddenly grabbed them. Squish— Her fingers headed for the rotor on my nipple….
"Aaang….."
The president yanked her hand back at my moan.
"What! Knew it—no bra?"
"Nng…. Ciwcumstances."
I couldn't remember why no bra either!
"MZ style? Should I try?"
She peeked down her dress neckline.
"No."
"Anyway, behave and go home."
"Yes…."
When we exited, he'd already paid and was waiting.
"Can you make it home, Sia?"
He asked worriedly. Yoon Seo-ah gazed at him nostalgically.
"Reminds me of old times. You used to cling like that when drunk."
"When did I?!"
They had that kind of history.
"Wanna rest a bit? Like old times."
His face hardened.
"Our relationship is irreparable and over. I'm responsible for Sia, taking her home."
He lightly draped an arm around my shoulder protectively.
"Treating her like a kid?"
She scoffed.
"No one dares touch S-class hunter Sia Seong. They'd die. Right?"
I didn't want to butt into their subtle power play. Just whined childishly.
"Guild mastew… President… It's been ages since we met, don't wanna split so soon… Sob."
Flash— That memory cut off.
I dreamed. Me in Artemis. Lost a deathmatch in the arena, got raped.
Then, as fitting punishment for the defeated Sword Saint, sold at the slave auction.
No way, but the one who bought me at auction… was none other than Dr. Lee Hyun-seong.
Doctor?
I screamed awake from the dream.
"Doctor!!"
Opening my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling loomed.