“Is this the place? Going by the address, I think it is...”
An old villa, quite run-down and suffering from deteriorating facilities, came into view.
“In any case, Choi A-rin lives here now, right? The fifth floor... First, I should check whether she is home.”
As I stepped into the villa and was making my way up the stairs, which boomed beneath each step.
“You are Choi A-rin, right? You match the photo your bastard father sent us perfectly. Come with us quietly!”
“N-No—! Let go of me! Help!”
“What are you asking for help for? Are you not going to come with us?”
“Let go! I said let go! Why do I have to be dragged away by you people?”
“Why do you think? Your father owed us gambling debts and could not afford to pay them, so he said he would sell even you and sent us to take you away.”
“And you are an Awakened, right? Your face is not bad either, so you would be perfect for milking those old fools of their money if we put you in dogfighting-ring gambling.”
“Let go of me!”
THUD—!
“Urgh—!”
When Choi A-rin continued to resist stubbornly and refuse to go, one of the kidnappers drove his fist into her stomach with all his strength. She let out a short groan and collapsed onto the floor.
“Bitches who do not listen always become obedient once you beat them with your fists.”
“Hey! Are you crazy? What if you damage the merchandise? She is an Awakened. Do you know how much that bitch would be worth if we put her in the dogfighting ring?”
“If we cannot use her as an Awakened, we can just make her work with her body! Her face is decent, so we can use her in the dogfighting ring until she is completely worn down, then send her over to that side. Hey, bitch! Stop pretending to be hurt and come along quietly already!”
“That is right. If you come quietly, it will be better for both of us, will it not? And if you do as you are told, we will treat you well enough. Should not you, the daughter, clean up the shit your father took and left behind? You need to do your filial duty properly, right? Wow~ Filial piety is wonderful! An Awakened daughter who enters the arena to repay her father's debt! Amazing, is it not? Shall we put you in the arena with that concept? Hehe.”
“You really are full of shit.”
“!!! W-What? Who are you—?!”
The sudden appearance of me in the middle of their attempt to kidnap and forcibly drag Choi A-rin away seemed to startle them for a moment. Then, as if they had assessed the situation among themselves, they frowned and began speaking in an extremely irritated tone.
“What? Do you live in this villa?”
“...”
“Huh? You will not answer? Do you want to die?”
“Hey, hey! He is too scared of us to say a word. Can you not tell just by looking?”
“Is that so? Anyway, we do not want to make this any bigger, so go back to your apartment quietly~! Got it?”
“...”
“Hah~ Is this bastard mute? He will not answer? Hey! Get lost!”
“Are you trying to kidnap that student?”
“Kidnap? You should know what you can and cannot say, bastard. We just came to collect a debt legitimately.”
“A debt?”
“That girl's father owes our side a pretty large gambling debt. But when he said he could not pay it back, he agreed to hand over his daughter in exchange for wiping the debt clean.”
“So you are taking that student away? Even so, forcibly taking her away is kidnapping, is it not?”
“We even signed a proper contract. Here! Look. It is the girl's father's handwritten signature! If you read this, you will see that, in exchange for wiping out the debt he owes us, his daughter... !!! Hey! W-Why are you taking that?!”
RIIIP—!
At the sight of them holding the contract out before my eyes, I simply snatched the paper from them and tore it in half without a care.
“Is this not an unfair contract? I tore it up in front of you, so it no longer has any effect, right?”
“Hehe! Puhahaha! You crazy bastard!”
“Hahaha! What a complete idiot?”
The two men laughed at me as though my act of tearing up the contract was utterly pathetic. After laughing for quite some time, one of them flicked away a tear that had gathered in the corner of his eye, as if he found the situation rather amusing, then spoke in disbelief.
“Do you know what happens when you tear that up?”
“What?”
“Slave of Restraint.”
“Slave of Restraint?”
“That contract is not just a piece of paper. It has a very powerful curse placed on it.”
“A curse?”
“Yes, bastard! A curse. By tearing that paper, you are no different from a slave of our organization. If you do not obey, you will suffer terrible pain. Puhahaha—!”
“There are idiots like you who cannot read the situation and recklessly play the hero, like some sweet-water-buffalo bastard, just because a woman is in danger. So do not feel too wronged. Hehe.”
“You look fit, though. Your face is not bad either, so you would be perfect as a male prostitute for our ladies. We came only to take that bitch, but now we have even gained a sweet-water-buffalo bastard along with her? Puhahaha—!”
“...”
After laughing loudly at me for a long time as though I were utterly pathetic, the men finally stopped and began dragging Choi A-rin away by the hair.
“We have wasted too much time here. Bitch! Come along quietly already! And you, sweet-water-buffalo bastard! Come with us while we are still asking nicely.”
“Come with you...? What happens if I refuse?”
“What do you think happens? This is what happens! Curse Skill Activated! ‘Slave of Restraint.’”
Purple aura spread from his hand, and unfamiliar symbols began to appear. Then, the auras wrapped around my body.
“The moment I inflict pain on you, you will be screaming so hard you cannot even speak and bawling your eyes out. So come quietly already. Let us stop wasting time.”
“What if I do not want to?”
“Hah~ It seems this will not do. Bastards like you always come to their senses only after they suffer. I will make you scream in agony, beg for your life, and cling to my pant leg! Haaah—!”
“...”
“Huh? W-What is this? Why is it not activating? Once more! Haaah—!”
“...”
Ding—!
[Armor Equipped]
- The armor of the God of the Army [Army Tiger] has been equipped.
- In accordance with the ‘Mythical’-grade Trait, the armor was automatically equipped after detecting the danger of a curse attack.
- Due to the armor's effect, all resistances activate and the opponent's curse is completely nullified.
“No, why will it not activate...”
“Have you shown me everything you have to show?”
“What?”
“I have confirmed that you are trying to kidnap someone while waving around a ridiculous contract. Since you even tried to place a curse on me, you really are villains, are you not?”
“W-What are you talking about?”
As I began giving off an entirely different air from the gullible fool I had seemed to be, the men stammered in confusion. I looked at them, clenched my fists, and began to smile.
“I will give back the words you said earlier.”
“What?”
“You said you would make me cry, right? From now on, I am the one who will make you cry.”
***
“Ghk—! P-Please spare us. If you just spare us, we will go back quietly—!”
“We have been beaten too much. Please—! Sob... sob! From now on, we will live decent lives.”
“No, I do not think you will ever become decent people. In other words, you are bastards who cannot be reformed.”
“N-No, we will become decent people!”
“T-That is right. We will really live decently, so... If you would just let us go, we will quietly disappear.”
“Really? Is that what you think? Hmm... If I let you go like this, you will just come back anyway. !!! Ah~! This will work!”
As I watched the men begging to be spared and saying that they would quietly disappear, I considered how to deal with them. Then something flashed through my mind and a rather good idea came to me. I smiled wickedly at them and patted their shoulders as though I were consoling them.
“You must be exhausted after taking such a beating from me, right? Come to think of it, I really am a bad person too, am I not?”
“N-No! You are not a bad person at all.”
“T-That is right. We are the bad people.”
“Really? That is what you think?”
“Y-Yes.”
“You have had it really rough, too. Coming all the way to this old villa without even an elevator and going through all this hardship. You have really suffered.”
Pat, pat—!
Ding—!
[A tracking skill is used on the target.]
◎ Skill ‘The Sergeant Major Knows Where You All Are~!’ (Rare Grade)
※ It is said that this skill somehow awakened naturally when the Sergeant Major moved around to find late-term sergeants who had holed themselves up.
- In accordance with the Trait, you can find the target no matter where they hide.
- The Sergeant Major's eyes will continue tracking the target.
After patting their shoulders as though I were consoling them and placing a tracking skill on them, I smiled wickedly once more and told them to leave.
“You only moved because you received orders from above, right? Is that not so?”
“T-That is right! We have no choice but to do what we are told, so we could not help it.”
“Right~! I understand. Still, is it not bad to kidnap people so forcefully and even use a curse on them?”
“W-We are sorry. We will never show our faces again!”
“Rather than never showing your faces again, why not wash your hands of this and go turn yourselves in at the police station right now to pay for your crimes?”
“What?”
“Think about it carefully! I will give you about six hours from now. It may be your last chance to save your lives and reform yourselves. I have said everything I need to say, so leave now.”
“...”
“What are you doing? Why are you not leaving? Why? Do you want me to keep beating you here?”
“N-No. We will be going now.”
“Get lost already!”
When I waved a hand through the air as if I could not be bothered and told them to get lost, the men glanced around nervously. Then they hurried down the stairs and ran away. Once the situation had been handled to some extent, the girl who had watched all of it carefully approached me and bowed her head in thanks.
“T-Thank you.”
“Are you hurt anywhere, Choi A-rin?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, I should introduce myself. I am Baek Seon-woo, the Academy teacher in charge of you.”
“An Academy teacher? Baek Seon-woo?”
“Yes. When I checked the attendance records, I saw that you had been absent for quite a long time.”
“T-That is...”
‘It seems that her father made it difficult for her to attend the Academy.’
I studied Choi A-rin for a long time. She appeared not to have received proper care from her parents, wearing extremely worn clothes and slippers that were almost falling apart. She seemed embarrassed by her appearance and had an awkward expression on her face.
‘Come to think of it, Choi A-rin's face does not seem unfamiliar. I feel as though I have seen her somewhere... !!! D-Do not tell me?’
“J-Ju Ha-rin?”
“Pardon? Ju Ha-rin?”
The name that came to mind after I looked closely at Choi A-rin's face was Ju Ha-rin.
‘What? Choi A-rin was Ju Ha-rin?’
She was none other than Ju Ha-rin, the Flying Dagger Witch—one of the worst villains in Cha Tae-seong's past life.