Blood Feud with the Shark (4)

The moment I saw that message, my mind went completely blank.

What the hell is this?

I stared at the red warning window floating in midair, my jaw slack. The status window that had always responded so obediently was now spitting out an error message like some broken machine. My mind raced.

Was it because I tried to use the Domination skill on a target whose power level was too high? Or had the system itself glitched out at the worst possible moment?

Either way, this was the absolute worst timing.

“Hah… hahaha…”

A low, mocking laugh echoed from the other side of the training ground. The woman who called herself Shark slowly rose from her crouched position, cracking her neck with a series of sharp pops. Her eyes, which had been filled with nothing but raw bloodlust moments ago, now gleamed with a strange mix of amusement and irritation.

“You really are full of surprises, kid. I thought you were just another pretty boy playing at being a strategist, but you’ve got some strange tricks up your sleeve.”

She rolled her shoulders, the black leather of her tight outfit creaking. The long scar running from her collarbone down across her chest seemed to pulse as if alive. Every movement she made radiated the lazy confidence of an apex predator who knew exactly how strong she was.

“But that little stunt of yours… it didn’t work, did it?”

She took one step forward. The air around her seemed to grow heavier, pressing down on my shoulders like an invisible weight. My instincts screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to move. This wasn’t the paralyzing terror of facing an overwhelming monster. It was something colder. More calculated.

She’s enjoying this.

“Come on then. Show me what else you’ve got.” Her lips curled into a vicious smile, revealing teeth that looked far too sharp to belong to a human. “Or are you going to keep wasting my time with those pathetic little mind games?”

The training ground had gone deathly silent. The other women who had been sparring or watching from the sidelines had all retreated to the edges of the field, their faces pale. Even the usually boisterous Zhuge Liang was biting her lip, eyes darting between me and the shark-like woman with visible anxiety.

I forced my racing heart to slow down. Think, Jin Hwan. Think. The system error was still blinking mockingly in front of me, but panicking wouldn’t solve anything. There had to be a way around this.

“System,” I muttered under my breath. “Override protocol. Reattempt skill activation on target ‘Shark.’”

The response came faster this time, almost like the system was scolding me. My stomach dropped. So the Domination skill was completely sealed off against her. That changed everything.

I had grown far too reliant on the system’s mind control abilities. In this world where beautiful women from the Three Kingdoms era walked around like living weapons, I had used Domination and memory manipulation as my primary tools of conquest. But now, facing someone whose mental fortitude was apparently off the charts, those tools had been rendered useless.

“What’s wrong?” Shark tilted her head, her smile widening. “You look like you just swallowed a bug. Did your little toy break?”

She was clearly toying with me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The way she moved, the way she spoke, everything about her screamed that she had already analyzed me from head to toe. This wasn’t just a fight. It was a hunt.

I clenched my fists. Fine. If mind control wouldn’t work, I’d have to rely on something else. I still had my physical stats boosted by the system, and more importantly, I had the tactical knowledge of an entire lifetime spent studying the art of war.

“You talk too much,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. “If you’re so confident, why don’t you come at me instead of standing there yapping?”

For a split second, genuine surprise flashed across her face. Then she threw her head back and laughed, a rich, throaty sound that sent chills down my spine.

“Oh, I like you. You’ve got guts. Most men would’ve already pissed themselves by now.”

She cracked her knuckles one by one, the sound echoing like gunshots across the training ground.

“Alright then. Let’s play.”

In the next instant, she vanished.

My eyes barely had time to widen before a devastating kick slammed into my side. The impact lifted me clean off the ground and sent me flying several meters before I crashed into the dirt. Pain exploded through my ribs as I tumbled across the ground, gasping for air.

Fast. Too fast.

I forced myself up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. My enhanced body was the only reason I wasn’t already dead. A normal person would have had their organs ruptured from that single strike.

Shark stood where I had been standing moments ago, looking almost bored.

“Is that all? I expected more from someone who managed to subdue both Lady Sun and Zhuge Liang. Or were those just pretty rumors?”

She disappeared again. This time I was ready. I twisted my body, narrowly avoiding a fist that would have taken my head clean off. The wind from the punch still sliced across my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

I countered with a palm strike ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aimed at her solar plexus, putting every ounce of my enhanced strength behind it. She didn’t even bother to dodge. My hand connected with what felt like a wall of solid steel. The recoil nearly broke my wrist.

“Pathetic.”

Her hand shot out and grabbed me by the throat. She lifted me off the ground with one arm as if I weighed nothing. Her grip was like an iron vice, cutting off my air supply instantly.

“I thought you might be different,” she murmured, her face inches from mine. Her breath smelled faintly of blood and sea salt. “But in the end, you’re just another weak little man who relies on cheap tricks.”

Black spots began dancing across my vision. My hands scrabbled uselessly at her wrist. The system windows were still flashing their useless error messages, mocking me as I slowly suffocated.

This… can’t be how it ends…

Just as consciousness began to slip away, a familiar voice cut through the haze.

“That’s enough, Shark.”

The pressure on my throat vanished instantly. I collapsed to the ground, coughing and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gasping desperately for air. Through tear-blurred eyes, I saw a slender figure standing at the edge of the training ground, arms crossed and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression cold.

Cao Cao.

She was dressed in her usual dark robes, the golden embroidery catching the sunlight like threads of fire. Her presence alone seemed to change the entire atmosphere of the training ground. Even Shark’s bloodthirsty aura seemed to shrink back slightly.

“I told you to test him, not kill him,” Cao Cao said, her voice carrying the weight of absolute authority. “Or have you forgotten who gives the orders around here?”

Shark clicked her tongue in obvious annoyance but released me completely. She took a step back, rolling her shoulders as if the entire fight had been nothing more than a light warm-up.

“He’s weaker than I expected. If this is the man who’s supposed to lead us to victory against Liu Bei’s forces, we’re all going to die very unpleasantly.”

Cao Cao’s eyes narrowed. “Your opinion wasn’t requested. Return to your post.”

For a moment, tension crackled between the two women. Shark’s lips curled into a dangerous smile, but she eventually gave a lazy salute and turned away. As she walked past me, she leaned down and whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“We’ll finish this another time, pretty boy. Try not to die before then.”

Then she was gone, disappearing into the shadows of the training hall like she had never been there at all.

I remained on my knees, still struggling to breathe properly. Every inch of my body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. But more than the physical pain, what hurt was the bitter taste of complete defeat.

Cao Cao approached slowly, her expression unreadable. She stopped in front of me and looked down with those piercing eyes that seemed to see through every lie and deception.

“You relied too much on your special abilities,” she said quietly. “In this world, there are always those who exist outside the rules. Shark is one of them. Her mental barriers are absolute. Even I cannot read her true intentions completely.”

She extended a hand. I hesitated for a moment before taking it, allowing her to pull me to my feet. Her grip was firm but surprisingly gentle.

“However,” she continued, a faint smile touching her lips, “you survived. That alone is impressive. Most men don’t last ten seconds against her.”

I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, grimacing at the taste.

“Did you set this up?” I asked, my voice hoarse. “Sending her to test me?”

Cao Cao didn’t deny it. “I needed to see how you would react when your primary weapon was taken away. A leader who crumbles the moment his tricks stop working is of no use to me.”

She turned and began walking toward the exit of the training ground, clearly expecting me to follow. After a moment, I did, limping slightly but refusing to show any more weakness than necessary.

“And what’s your verdict?” I asked as we stepped out into the sunlight.

Cao Cao stopped, looking out over the vast training fields where hundreds of soldiers were drilling in perfect formation. The wind tugged at her long hair, making her look every bit the conqueror she was destined to become.

“You still have potential,” she said finally. “But you need to become stronger. Not just in body, but in mind. The path ahead of us is filled with monsters far more dangerous than Shark. If you want to stand at my side and reshape this world…”

She turned to look at me, her eyes burning with ambition.

“Then you must become a monster yourself.”

Her words settled over me like a heavy cloak. For the first time since arriving in this strange gender-swapped version of the Three Kingdoms, I felt the true weight of what I had gotten myself into.

The system had given me power, but that power had limits. And those limits had nearly gotten me killed today.

As we walked together across the training grounds, my mind was already racing with new plans. I would need to adapt. To evolve. The Domination skill was just one tool in my arsenal. If it wouldn’t work on everyone, then I would simply find other ways to bend them to my will.

Because in the end, whether through mind control, political maneuvering, or sheer overwhelming force, I would make them all mine.

Even the ones who bit back.

That night, as I lay in bed nursing my bruises, a new system window appeared. This one was different from the error messages. It glowed with a soft golden light, almost soothing after the harsh red warnings from earlier.

I stared at the window for a long time, a slow smile spreading across my battered face despite the pain.

Adaptive Domination, huh?

Looked like the system wasn’t completely useless after all. And if there was a new branch of skills waiting for me, one that might work even on monsters like Shark…

Then maybe losing today wasn’t such a bad thing.

I closed my eyes, already dreaming of the day I would make that woman kneel before me, not with force, but with complete and utter submission.

The game had only just begun.