56 - Chapter 54: Resolve
Natalia still dove into the most dangerous dimensional gates, subjugating monsters and collecting her pay.
"There. That's the last of them."
That day, just like any other, Natalia turned to leave after finishing off the gate's boss monster.
But just as she was wrapping up and preparing to head back—
"Grr... ah..."
The boss monster, which she had assumed was dead, dragged itself back up.
"Huh?"
Sensing the movement, Natalia whipped her head around.
At that exact moment, the battered boss lunged forward, swinging its massive arm in a final, desperate struggle.
'Ah, fuck. I'm fucked.'
Her battle-hardened instincts screamed at her. It was already too late to react.
Goosebumps erupted across her skin as cold sweat drenched her back. It wasn't her first brush with death, but for the first time, her muscles locked up completely.
"Ah!"
Fortunately, the dying monster's desperate strike only grazed the top of her head.
If it had been just an inch lower, her skull would have shattered.
Then again, a dying, broken beast could hardly aim with precision.
"Ha..."
Staring down at the boss monster, which had finally collapsed and breathed its last, Natalia let out a shaky breath.
Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard it was painful, refusing to slow down.
"Is something wrong today?"
"Huh?"
Natalia, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, flinched at Han Su-hyeon's voice.
After a brief hesitation, she shook her head.
"No, not really."
Seeing her reaction, Han Su-hyeon didn't press the issue.
Not that he could have even if he wanted to.
Because Natalia had already slipped her hand inside his pants.
Keeping her hand inside his pants, she used her other hand to cup his chin, turning his face toward her.
She pressed her lips to his in a series of light, lingering kisses. Her mouth slowly trailed down past his chin.
When she reached his neck, she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, soaking in his warmth.
Once she had her fill of his heat, she pulled back slightly.
Her hand, which had been lightly scraping her nails along the ridge of his head, finally slid out of his trousers.
Next, Natalia stripped him of his clothes, piece by piece.
"Stand up and bend over."
"Yes."
It was a blunt command, but Han Su-hyeon obeyed smoothly, as if thoroughly trained.
He got off the bed, stood tall, and gripped the wooden footboard, bending his upper body forward.
Natalia stepped up behind him. Raising her hand, she delivered a few sharp, stinging slaps to his bare ass, the loud smacks echoing in the room, before squeezing and kneading the flesh.
Then she squatted down, bringing her face level with his rear. She showered his cheeks with wet, smacking kisses, just as she had done to his face and neck.
"Mmm... mm..."
Soon, she buried her face in his cleft and began to lick his anus. The soft kisses gave way to the wet, lewd sounds of her tongue lapping at him.
While her tongue worked his entrance, her hands reached around to massage his balls and stroke his hard shaft.
"Ah... nggh..."
Tiny sparks of electricity crackled from her tongue and fingertips. Every time the current jolted him, Han Su-hyeon let out a choked groan.
"Ohhh..."
Caught in a storm of pain and pleasure, Han Su-hyeon came. Natalia caught the dripping semen in the glass of iced liquor she had been sipping earlier.
It looked exactly like milking a cow.
The cloudy semen swirled into the amber brandy. Natalia gave the glass a gentle shake to mix it, then downed the concoction in a single gulp.
'It looks just like a cocktail.'
After swallowing every last drop of the semen cocktail, Natalia gave her next order.
"Lie on your back."
"Yeees..."
Han Su-hyeon answered in a dazed, breathless voice and rolled onto his back.
Natalia climbed on top, straddling him and grinding her hips until she was thoroughly satisfied.
After working up a sweat with a round of intense sex, they drifted off to sleep, wrapped in a pleasant, post-coital haze.
Natalia had a dream.
In the dream, she resolved to propose to Han Su-hyeon as soon as she finished her current raid.
The outcome of raising such a cliché death flag—one too trite to even mock—was, naturally, catastrophe.
"Gasp...!"
At the exact moment her skull was crushed by the boss of a high-rank gate, Natalia bolted upright.
"Haa... haa..."
The sensation had been so terrifyingly vivid that she sat there panting, her hands frantically clawing at her own face.
Fortunately, unlike in her nightmare, her head was perfectly intact and firmly attached to her neck.
"Ah, fuck."
Relieved, she spat out a curse.
"Of all the fucking dreams... what a bad omen."
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
"Ugh... damn it..."
Natalia buried her face in her hands, her legs trembling uncontrollably.
The nightmare had dragged the fear of death—which she thought she had finally conquered—screaming back to the surface.
The cold dread kept her from drifting back to sleep. Giving up entirely, Natalia got out of bed and padded into the kitchen.
She opened the cabinet and pulled out another bottle of high-end brandy.
Without bothering with a glass, she drank straight from the bottle, lost in thought.
"...."
By the time she emptied the bottle, she had made up her mind.
'It's time to retire.'
As a veteran S-rank Hunter, she had amassed more than enough wealth to live in luxury for the rest of her days.
Thanks to a reliable insider informant, her stock portfolio was consistently yielding massive returns.
Retiring meant giving up the immense social privileges that came with being an active S-rank, but...
'I'm too terrified to keep risking my life for status.'
For the first time, Natalia understood why other S-rank Awakeners chose to forfeit their privileges for safe, quiet desk jobs.
"...Then I'll be heading home now."
Having cleared a B-rank gate entirely on her own, Jin Seo-yun checked out with her supervisor and prepared to head home.
"We finished early today. How about a team dinner?"
Her supervisor called out to her back, but she shook her head without turning around.
"No, thank you. I have urgent business at home."
"What kind of business do you always have at home?"
She gave a light shrug.
"That's personal."
Her supervisor burst into a hearty laugh, surprisingly unbothered by her bluntness.
"Haha, fair enough. They say kids these days hate team dinners anyway. Get going."
"Yes, sir. See you tomorrow."
Jin Seo-yun's steps were unusually light and bouncy as she walked away.
It was so unlike her usual stoic self that her supervisor muttered to himself as he watched her go.
"Did she start seeing someone? They say a late-blooming crush is the scariest of all."
Ignoring her supervisor's muttering, Jin Seo-yun rushed home, took a quick shower, and changed.
She quickly downed a glass of grain shake to stave off hunger, then crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over her head.
"Hehe... hnh..."
The moment she was hidden beneath the covers, the stoic poker face she had maintained all day completely dissolved.
Giggling breathlessly, Jin Seo-yun tapped her phone screen. Soon, a video of Han Su-hyeon and Natalia having sex started playing.
Staring at the screen, she slipped her middle and ring fingers between her legs and began to stroke herself.
"Ah... ah... ahh... mmm..."
Sweet groans escaped her lips, accompanied by the wet, squelching sounds of her fingers working.
To an outsider, it might have looked pathetic, but Jin Seo-yun was in absolute bliss.
What Natalia had realized that day wasn't just that Jin Seo-yun had feelings for Han Su-hyeon.
She had uncovered a secret fetish that Jin Seo-yun herself hadn't even consciously acknowledged.
Specifically, her Netorare fetish.
Jin Seo-yun was, in truth, an extreme mental masochist.
"Ah... ah... nggh..."
She had first realized it when her childhood friend—whom she had secretly loved for years—was fucked right in front of her eyes, completely stolen away by a tanned, blonde delinquent who delivered the final blow.
"Haa... haa..."
Drenched in her own juices, her misery and humiliation transformed into pure, unadulterated pleasure. Jin Seo-yun came again and again.
"Huu... ha..."
Riding the wave of post-nut clarity, Jin Seo-yun wiped herself clean. She closed the video and fell into deep thought.
'Lately, it's taking a lot longer to come.'
Even when she watched the video, she didn't get that same heart-pounding thrill she used to.
It had become a routine, something she did out of habit just because she felt empty without it.
'Am I getting bored because it's always the same video?'
But since nothing else compared to that video, other material failed to excite her at all.
Since masturbation had become one of her primary hobbies, this was actually a pretty serious problem.
As she was pondering a solution—
"Huh?"
A new video message notification popped up on her phone.
It was from Natalia.
The moment she realized who sent it,
Jin Seo-yun's heart began to race all over again.