Face-to-Face with the Short-Haired Masturbating Girl — She Was Insanely Hot and Beautiful... [New Heroine???]

Huh??? What the hell is this Special Quest all of a sudden?????

The Special Quest had formed out of nowhere, and once Geum Tae-yang grasped its contents, his eyes went wide.

Recruit Jo Yu-mi as a companion????

—Screeeeeech!!!!

He slammed his forward step to a dead halt mid-charge toward Jo Yu-mi.

Early on, Tae-yang had felt the need to conceal his abilities, so he'd been using ordinary physical footwork instead of Transcendent Step.

"What the hell is this bastard doing!! Why'd he stop halfway???"

Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle!

Jo Yu-mi hastily fixed her lower half and dropped into a combat stance a beat late, her face full of bewilderment as she edged back.

Just moments before, she'd been drowning in a serious orgasm. Calling her combat condition anywhere near a hundred percent would have been a stretch. She'd been feeling a real sense of crisis — so when her opponent suddenly stopped his advance, she tilted her head and reacted with pure confusion.

Hmm... She definitely feels different from Cho Hee-chan's crew...

Tae-yang reestablished a safe distance, settled into his stance, and deliberately ignored her reaction as he studied her the way one analyzes a target. Through Acute Senses, he could roughly read a person's disposition.

After sharpening his focus and running Acute Senses over Jo Yu-mi, he found she felt nothing like the opponents he'd faced so far — Cho Hee-chan's thugs, Kim Man-bok, or even the building-tenant group.

Well, killing intent? Yeah, I can feel that. But the malice? Against Jo Yu-mi, I don't get that blood-chilling venom the others had.

A considerable presence radiated from her. What he didn't feel was the kind of hostile force that screamed enemy.

Ah, fuck, this is so embarrassing... Getting caught mid-jerk-off. If I fight like this I'll die of shame... I need to make an opening and bolt... Guy looks ridiculously strong anyway. Odds of winning don't look great.

Jo Yu-mi was mortified. The growth condition for her awakened ability was what it was, so she'd had no choice but to do that in a daytime alley. But judged purely on character, she wasn't a true psychopath. Because of that, she had no real intention of fighting Geum Tae-yang — the man who'd just attacked her — to the death.

On top of that, while she didn't possess Awakener Scan, she did have the Acute Senses trait. In other words, she could roughly gauge the scale of Tae-yang's power. All of those factors mixed together, and Jo Yu-mi was currently measuring angles for escape rather than a fight to the finish.

Hmm... Looking at her head-on like this, her face is pretty too... and that body is insane...

The moment the standoff solidified, a different stream of information flooded into Tae-yang's head. While she'd been masturbating, he'd only seen her from a diagonal rear angle — enough to note that the hip line and waist of a woman squatting toilet-style were spectacular. But facing her front-on, the beauty itself was considerable.

Short hair, a tomboyish look, lightly tanned skin. Height roughly on par with Park A-young. And yet, personality aside, she was a beauty that made the tongue ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go slack. The kind you could call a handsome beauty.

Her awakened class was Enhanced Human — clearly a close-combat job at a glance. Her body matched it: no excess, thoroughly trained, the kind of physique that jumped out at you. A presence that lined up perfectly with the ultra-premium genes listed under her Awakener Qualification.

This crazy bastard is still checking out her body even with lives on the line!

Okay, good... She seems like someone I can actually talk to. But even so, for a Special Quest to pop up telling me to recruit her as a companion in this goddamn awkward situation — fuck me.

In Tae-yang's assessment, if this weren't the apocalypse, Jo Yu-mi looked cool enough that they could have become friends without any trouble. Reality, however, was the apocalypse. He'd watched her masturbate after killing a zombie, then hit her from behind with a projected steel pipe. Disaster piled on disaster. No clean conversational opening presented itself in his head.

Okay, whatever. She already seems to have figured out I'm an Awakener, so let's steer this like I've received some kind of revelation.

Tae-yang finally worked out a plan. He already knew her information. By showing her his overwhelming presence, he would frame the two of them as if some transcendent pull of destiny had forged a grand connection between ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them.

"Hey, Jo Yu-mi!!"

He launched the project immediately. Two complete strangers — and yet he would demonstrate that he already knew her name. Build-up to prove he was no ordinary human.

"What? How the hell do you know my name? You know about me???"

Just as expected, Jo Yu-mi's eyes went round.

"Haha! Of course I know. To be precise, it's not that we've met face-to-face — I know you for a different reason."

Taking her reaction as the first button successfully fastened, Tae-yang put on an easy smile and started running his mouth.

Then a situation completely opposite to his expectations unfolded at once.

"You — don't tell me you're with the Gwangmyeong District outlaw crew???"

Jo Yu-mi had mistaken him for someone else entirely.

"What???"

Tae-yang's original prediction had been that she'd ask how he knew her. When her reaction veered completely off that roadmap, his eyes went wide.

Gwangmyeong District outlaws? What the hell is that??? Why is she connecting me to outlaws????

Of course, other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reactions were always possible. What threw him was specifically being linked to outlaws. The concept of "outlaws" had started circulating roughly two weeks after the zombie outbreak. Once the government officially vanished, outlaws began appearing online with major cities as their stage. Judging by the intel Tae-yang had gathered, though, the traits associated with outlaws had little connection to him.

"Looking at those clothes, yeah, that tracks. Heard you lot hit a police station recently — is that a riot-squad special protective suit you're wearing??"

From Jo Yu-mi's perspective, there was a solid reason for the misunderstanding. The combat suit Tae-yang was wearing had a visual that could easily be mistaken for a police riot unit's special combat gear.

"If you're one of the Gwangmyeong bastards, you're not walking away from this. We're finishing this, you son of a bitch."

—Thud-thud-thud-thud!!

Jo Yu-mi dropped into a proper combat stance at once. Her expression was completely different from a moment ago. Just as her words said — eyes ready to settle this for good.

Ah, fuck, this isn't going to work. There's actual venom in that woman's eyes??? Looks like I just have to fight???

No choice, I guess. Losing a hundred and fifty points sucks, but I can't risk my life over it.

Flash!

It wasn't the same level of malice the other villains had shown, but Jo Yu-mi was now radiating a force that said she intended to end this. Tae-yang concluded that talking it out was impossible. The flash in his eyes meant the plan had changed.

The moment he effectively abandoned the will to complete the quest—

His Status Window informed him that failing the Special Quest would cost double the clear reward of 150 points — a full 300 Growth Motivation Points.

What the fuck! What is this now?? Point deduction on failure????

The eyes that had just flashed went round again in an instant.

Three hundred points is way too much??? Hey, Status Window! This is bullshit!!!!

Until now, Tae-yang had never been in a situation where he needed to refuse a Special Quest. He'd still wondered what would happen if he failed or rejected one. That question had just been answered. Even with his Growth Motivation Point income higher than before, 300 points was brutal. Faced with the risk of losing them, he became restless with sheer absurdity.

"Hey! Hey! Calm down! Calm down! I'll explain how I know your name. I'm not some outlaw or whatever the hell that is!!!"

Tae-yang executed a rapid about-face. He was now the one in the weaker position. Restraining the newly aggressive Jo Yu-mi while talking things through seemed like the smart play, so he poured on the persuasion.

"Explain my ass! Because of you bastards, our kids can't even sleep properly!! Some of them are so shaken they can't eat!!!"

—Swaaaaaaaah!!!

Jo Yu-mi had already made her decision. She seemed to carry no small amount of grudge against the Gwangmyeong District outlaw crew. Mouth fighting with that will fully loaded, she charged straight at Tae-yang.

Her forward step cut in fast, sliding with a fluid quality — the grace of a skill-based movement. Her advance technique Superior Step, which ran in the same vein as Transcendent Step, activated.

And that wasn't all.

—Shuuuuung!! —Shwaaaang!!

Silver metallic skin sheathed both her hands, reaching nearly to the elbows. A body-enhancement skill had activated.

—Bwaaaaaaaaaaak!!!

She swung the metal-skinned right hand straight at Tae-yang's face.

"Whoa!!!"

—Swaaaaak!!!

Tae-yang used Transcendent Back-Step to slip the attack.

This isn't a level where I can just tank a few and figure it out. If her base physical is D-rank, that fist is way stronger than D-rank.

Even factoring in my reinforced suit's durability, I can't gamble on taking that.

Fighting head-on wasn't viable. That meant he had to subdue her. The most effective subdual route right now was to grab her body and lock her down. One of the fastest ways to get there: eat a couple of hits, then shoot a low tackle.

But even that roadmap wouldn't produce a confident estimate — her base stats were D-rank.

—Swaaaaaaak!! —Shwaaaaaaak!!

I usually use this for offense. Having the other side spam it at me is fucking awkward...

So instead of a trade-and-enter setup, Tae-yang pictured a timed tackle matched to her movement. Then Jo Yu-mi's skills went wild in a way that drove him crazy — the same kind of supernatural step techniques he'd been having fun with himself. She changed direction with almost no wind-up, so a clean tackle timing simply wouldn't present itself.

No choice. Break one of her legs. That's the only way.

—Shuuuuuuuuung!

Persuasion could wait. Priority one was subduing her. He immediately projected power into the steel pipe.

And right then—

"Yes! That's it, you! You're Yu-mi from Gwangmyeong Hope Shelter — Jo Yu-mi, right???"

Kim Min-jung, who had been watching from around the corner, called out Jo Yu-mi's name and came running out.

"Ajumma!! You can't come out yet!! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The situation's complicated right now!!"

—Dadadadadadadadadad!!

Tae-yang, who had been fully set to attack, slammed into a sharp back-step — to stop Kim Min-jung.

"What?? You've got people with you???"

Jo Yu-mi reacted to Kim Min-jung's sudden appearance as well.

"It's me! Yu-mi!! Min-jung ajumma!!! Don't you remember me????"

Kim Min-jung clearly had a solid acquaintance with Jo Yu-mi. After giving her own name, she actively leaned into the familiarity and appealed to their connection.

This isn't good. Grab Ajumma and run for now. Running shouldn't trigger the deduction.

Above all, Kim Min-jung's safety came first for Tae-yang. Getting off the scene was the thought that rose to the front.

But then, into Tae-yang's ears—

"Min-jung ajumma? The Min-jung ajumma who came to our Hope Shelter with A-young????"

—came Jo Yu-mi's voice, reacting as if she knew Kim Min-jung too.