Eve 01 - At Least It Wasn't a Fist
At least she hadn't hit her with a fist. It was proof that some shred of reason still remained.
“……”
A suffocating silence flowed through the air.
Shin Gaon's head, which had turned to the side, slowly swiveled back. A clear smile bloomed over her reddened cheek.
“Ah. What a feisty, delicious reaction.”
Shin Gaon licked her lips. Then, as if putting on a show, she leaned toward Yeonwoo.
“Not enough? Want more? Or should I just pay you instead? Huh?”
She even pulled out her wallet from her pocket and dangled it teasingly in front of Yeonwoo. Fitting her brutish behavior, the wallet was equally thick. It was stuffed full of yellow bills.
“Kuh.”
Yeonwoo ground her teeth. Her eyes had involuntarily drifted toward the yellow temptation.
“What's wrong? Let's do more. No one's watching now anyway.”
Shin Gaon kept up the taunts without pause. She looked down at Yeonwoo with narrowed eyes, grinning disgustingly. The provocation was so blatant it was almost visible.
“You crazy bitch.”
It was obvious bait. Compared to the countless scrapes Yeonwoo had endured as a veteran hunter, this was nothing. Which was exactly why she spat the curse and took a step back.
“Hoo.”
Yeonwoo clenched her fist tight. She should've gone for this from the start, not the slap.
Whoosh!
Yeonwoo swung her fist immediately.
'Bit off more than I can chew!'
Her opponent had provoked her into fighting no matter what. And this was deep inside a gate—no one to mediate, no place to run. The fight was inevitable.
“Haha!”
Shin Gaon laughed so hard her molars showed. As if she'd been waiting, she raised her arm to block the punch beside her face.
Of course, Yeonwoo had expected that. This was the madwoman who'd subdued a werewolf barehanded. She hadn't hoped for an easy hit.
Thwack.
Instead, she opened her fist and grabbed Shin Gaon's arm. Using the momentum, she whipped her knee into the woman's side.
Crack!
She slammed it in with all her strength.
“Kuhk!”
Breath exploded from Shin Gaon's mouth. Whether it was pain or laughter was ambiguous.
Her hand was already positioned at the spot where the knee had landed. Her fingers were bent unnaturally, of course. But Shin Gaon didn't care a bit.
Instead, she yanked Yeonwoo forward and—
Whoom—whoosh!
—spun her around viciously enough to make the air scream before hurling her toward the ruined wall. It was a brutal strike that would shatter anyone's inner ear balance.
But Yeonwoo's perception was different.
'Gyroscope.'
Even as her body flew and the world spun wildly, she precisely tracked every object. Thanks to that, she twisted smoothly in midair and—
Land.
—used her flexibility as a weapon to stick the wall softly. Then, like a coiled spring unleashing—
Paang!
—Yeonwoo kicked off the wall and shot toward Shin Gaon. She spun her body and drove her heel down onto the woman's head.
Smack!
Shin Gaon instantly crossed both arms to block. She was no pushover.
“Haha! Just as I thought!”
Shin Gaon shook out her arms and shouted gleefully. Her arms throbbed from Yeonwoo's counterattack—heavy, fast, and flexible—but she didn't care. The thrill and confirmation that what she'd seen was real drowned out any pain.
Yeonwoo's eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction. She couldn't understand why this woman was going so far.
“What's with you?”
“Our Yeonwoo. I've been curious about you since the first time I saw you.”
“That time?”
“You were swinging a streetlamp around fighting, so I couldn't help but wonder what kind of bitch you were.”
“……Huh?”
It was bewildering. The 'first time' was earlier than Yeonwoo had thought. She'd been watching? Since when?
A chill crept up her spine.
“So I tried it myself, but these assholes whine about inferiority complexes and not letting them land the finishing blow.”
Finally, the first scene Yeonwoo had witnessed came into focus. The cause of Shin Gaon smashing wolves with her two-handed axe, knocking out a hunter, and even spitting—that origin story.
'What a lunatic.'
But it had nothing to do with her. The 'cause' was laughable to begin with.
“You approached me for that reason?”
“Obviously. How could I hold back? The way you move, looking like that.”
With every word, Shin Gaon jabbed her index finger. Head. Shoulder. Waist. And even ass. Proudly pointing out the spots she'd groped.
“Wait, hold on.”
Yeonwoo's face twisted horribly. Short memories flashed through her mind, her thin lips mumbling complex emotions. Soon, her cheeks flushed red.
“So you knew everything and still pulled that shit?!”
Shin Gaon showing up to save her in a pinch. Fawning over weapons, pretending to be weak and only taking the finisher. All those embarrassing moments—this psycho had watched them all knowing full well.
No kink was this twisted.
“Then why……”
She'd even taken advantage of those 'weak' moments to grope everywhere.
“Why the hell did you touch my body?!”
It was a shout too shameful to voice. But to shake off this humiliating embarrassment, she needed at least the reason.
Otherwise, she couldn't endure the stinging in her chest.
“No real reason.”
But Shin Gaon answered indifferently.
“Half-decent bitches make you wonder, so I checked. Why?”
“Eh.”
It was insultingly stupefying. The fact that it was such a trivial reason—and that it was only that trivial—whirled through her mind, muddling her thoughts.
And above all—
“Shin Gaon. You're……”
Even if she'd become a woman, before that, she was a brother to her little sister.
“……an enemy women like me shouldn't exist alongside.”
Now she had a clear reason to fight. No need to drag it out. She didn't want to.
Yeonwoo lunged at Shin Gaon in one breath.
“Ha! That's more like it, you bitch!”
“Watch your mouth, you crazy bitch!”
An unexpected bare-knuckle brawl erupted.
Truth be told, weight class was king in fights like this. Yeonwoo was overwhelmingly disadvantaged against Shin Gaon's build. Her frail, delicate frame offered no chance of victory.
Whoosh!
Shin Gaon's momentum was ferocious by comparison. A mere punch cleaved the air with a resonant boom.
But Yeonwoo didn't take her eyes off the fist. She just tilted her head slightly.
No fear. No certainty either. She simply moved as if it were natural.
Swoosh.
The fist grazed by razor-thin, sending red hair whipping. Yeonwoo slipped into Shin Gaon's guard and rocketed her fist upward with full power.
“Hng!”
Shin Gaon wasn't easy prey. She yanked her arm down to block the chin strike, but—
Smack!
The impact exploded from an unexpected spot. The punch was a feint from the start. Yeonwoo's toes raked Shin Gaon's calf.
“Ha, haha!”
Shin Gaon let out a hollow laugh. Her movements grew even wilder and fiercer.
Whoosh! Hook! Hook!
She unleashed a barrage of punches with insane stamina, relentlessly pressuring Yeonwoo.
“……”
Yeonwoo stayed calm by contrast. She dodged sequentially, then struck with her foot at any opening.
Smack!
Another calf kick with her toes. Hitting the exact same spot again.
“Ha. What the hell. What is this? Huh?”
Shin Gaon smirked. She was honestly impressed. Since she'd picked the fight to see some skill, she couldn't hold back her admiration for that sharpness.
“Crazy bitch.”
Yeonwoo remained composed. Knowing the gap in their physiques, she couldn't afford a single mistake against this maniac.
She was a veteran who'd rolled in the dirt like a dog to become one. She'd faced unavoidable scraps in big and small fights.
Though a Weapon Expert, she was actually better without weapons. Having used 'knuckles' before, the expert's heightened senses massively aided barehanded combat. Most hunters didn't punch anyway.
Kick again. Dodge and kick! She twisted her flexible body confusingly, then kick!!
Smack!
Yeonwoo obsessively targeted the same spot. She hammered it so relentlessly that even Shin Gaon enduring it felt creepy.
“Hoo.”
“Ha, haha. Haa……”
Naturally, both were tiring. But Shin Gaon's leg visibly trembled on that side.
“Hahat. Ahahaha!”
Then she burst into mad laughter. Her crescent-moon eyes fixed on Yeonwoo with intent.
“……What.”
But that gaze was eerie. Something hidden in the laughter burned fiercely.
It was the kind of look that screamed—
“Ha. Fuck, you're turning me on, you slut.”
—exactly that.
Yeonwoo instinctively shielded her body a bit. Her coat still hung open, though.
'Mikael, that bastard's probably wide open too if you think about it.'
She was desperate enough to blame the innocent priest.
“Not that crap.”
But Shin Gaon replied indifferently, as if on display. Her tone was rough, threatening, laced with mockery.
“Your face? Body? Yeah, sure, pretty's fun to play with. Good snack too. So what.”
“……What?”
“That shit doesn't give this thrill! Your skill. That's what's got me losing my mind!”
Yeonwoo straightened from her crouch. Screw the sticky stares—this was a more dangerous psycho than expected.
“That's why my damn Stigma is this bullshit! I can't fucking hold back!”
Shin Gaon charged again. Blood must've rushed to her head; she stamped her trembling leg without issue.
'Stigma?'
Something flashed in Yeonwoo's mind. As a long-time veteran, she knew plenty about Stigmas—info and rumors galore.
'Stimulation... and Stigma……'
Even on the verge of her leg shattering, Shin Gaon moved. She'd even proudly crushed werewolves barehanded. Adrenaline or endorphins—pushing limits through combat or thrills to break boundaries. A type of resilient Stigma.
But rare as hell.
'Perfect recipe for a reckless death anywhere!'
Even now, eyes rolled back, charging heedless of danger.
'Maybe pull back a bit.'
How much thrill had she gotten? Yeonwoo couldn't fathom what about her triggered this state.
'One step back for now.'
Her veteran instincts flashed red. Deeper in, and it'd be a big problem.
“I'll give you whatever! Love weapons? That dagger's yours, axe too if you want! So let's play more, you fucking bitch!”
“Fine by me, you crazy bitch!”
Yeonwoo stomped forward with all her might.
Smack!
She rocketed ahead like an arrow and slammed her full force into Shin Gaon's leg.