61 - Chapter 59: Threats
When I was first dragged here, they even splashed me with scalding tea. But ever since the female leader pulled me out, the abuse had definitely died down.
I was no longer locked up in a cramped, pitch-black space, and I was given three regular meals a day. I was even allowed to shower once a day.
The female leader still sexually tortured me, but unlike before, I didn't have to deal with dozens of women at once.
Her attitude had softened slightly, too, and she no longer pushed my body to its absolute breaking point.
Because of the change, I ridiculously even started to feel a strange sense of gratitude toward her—the very person behind my kidnapping.
I guess there's a reason the good cop, bad cop routine is so effective in interrogations, and why hostages fall victim to Stockholm syndrome.
While I was lost in thought, the door rattled open. It was the female leader.
"...."
Crouched on the sofa with my hands cuffed, I reflexively sat up straight.
She looked at me and pointed toward the table.
Conditioned by the repetition of the past few days, I quickly scrambled onto the table and lay face down.
"Hmm."
Apparently satisfied with my prompt obedience, she approached and began massaging my buttocks without any of her usual physical abuse or insults.
Her hand crept lower, rubbing the cleft of my ass a few times, before she pressed her mouth against it.
"Ah..., ah...."
She licked my anus, then shoved her middle finger deep inside.
"Ugh..., ah...."
Seeing my cock twitching on the verge of release, she pulled out a cotton swab and shoved it into my urethra, forcibly blocking my ejaculation over and over again.
"Ugh..., haaa..., hng...."
As I trembled, desperate to release, she whispered in my ear.
"Do you want to cum?"
Only when I nodded did she yank the swab from my urethra, finally letting me cum.
"Haa..., ha...."
As I panted heavily, semen dripping onto the table, she stared down at me blankly before suddenly hauling me up.
She shoved me onto the floor and pinned me down, climbing on top of me.
Was she going to rape me now that she was done controlling my orgasm?
Since this had become routine, I didn't panic, but her next move was completely unexpected.
"Ah...?"
She wrapped her hands around my throat and squeezed. She didn't loosen her grip until I was on the very brink of blacking out.
"Gasp...! Cough...! Ack...!"
Looking down at me as I gasped for air, she smiled brightly.
"Just a little practice run," she said.
I really didn't want to think about what she was practicing for.
*
Time marched on, and before she knew it, less than twenty-four hours remained of the deadline An Su-min had set in her letter.
Natalia had spent the last few days suppressing her anxiety, forcing herself to eat and sleep properly so her body wouldn't fail her. Finally, on the very last day, she got the call from the police.
[We've identified the location.]
"Understood."
No more words were needed.
Memorizing the coordinates, Natalia immediately sprang into action and packed her gear.
But the moment she rushed out of her house, a limousine blocked her path.
"...What is this now?"
Irritated that a car was blocking her way when every second counted, Natalia was about to leap right over its roof when the rear door swung open.
"Where are you going in such a hurry, Hunter Natalia?"
The voice was slick and oily. It belonged to Jang Hyeong-seok, a retired S-rank Hunter and a high-ranking official in the Hunter Division.
Recognizing him, Natalia didn't mince words.
"Get lost."
"Come now, junior. Isn't that a bit harsh to say to your senior?"
"I never gave a shit about hierarchy."
"Indeed."
Jang Hyeong-seok nodded as if he expected nothing less, but he made no move to clear the way. His smug attitude only pissed Natalia off more.
"In any case, I'm here on urgent business myself."
"What?"
"An S-rank Dimensional Gate is scheduled to overflow sometime today. We need you to close it, Hunter Natalia."
Natalia's face instantly contorted in rage.
'Is this motherfucker insane?'
Instead of answering, she kicked the limousine's door, ripping it off its hinges and sending it flying down the street.
"Say that again."
"I said an S-rank Gate is going to overflow in a few hours. I'm asking you to close it before people die, Hunter."
"Ha...."
Jang Hyeong-seok's shameless composure left Natalia past the point of anger, bordering on sheer disbelief.
For a split second, she thought about ignoring him entirely and running to save Su-hyeon.
If she were still the old Natalia—the one who lived each day like she had nothing to lose—she would have done exactly that without a second thought.
But because she had actually started caring about the 'aftermath' now, she couldn't act so rashly.
Her first instinct was to ignore Jang Hyeong-seok and go rescue Han Su-hyeon anyway.
But if she did, countless innocent people would be slaughtered by the monsters pouring out of the gate.
It wasn't that she actually gave a damn about strangers she'd never met.
But if she let it happen, Jang Hyeong-seok would pin the entire tragedy on her and drag her through the media.
A mountain of public hatred and resentment would inevitably fall on her shoulders.
The old Natalia had always known that public backlash could come back to bite her. She just hadn't cared.
But now that she had someone precious to protect, that reality became a heavy shackle.
'This bastard isn't doing this just to annoy me. He's trying to force a negotiation.'
The moment she realized she couldn't simply ignore him, she deduced his true motive. It was a cold, logical deduction, and it was spot on.
"Well, if you happen to be in a tight spot, I could pull some strings for our dear hoobae-nim and deploy other hunters instead, but..."
Jang Hyeong-seok let his voice trail off, wearing a greasy smile. Natalia forced down the overwhelming urge to cave his face in and spoke through gritted teeth.
"...What do I need to do?"
"Don't retire as a hunter. We're short-handed as it is."
"Ha."
So that was his goal.
Hearing him drop the polite honorifics to make his real demand, a dark thought crossed Natalia's mind.
'Should I just agree to stay active, and then just murder this motherfucker? Or should I play along for now and completely ghost him later?'
But realistically, neither option would work.
Jang Hyeong-seok wouldn't have dared blackmail an S-rank Hunter if he hadn't already secured his own safety and guaranteed her compliance.
For starters, the man was an S-rank Hunter himself. He was long retired, so she would easily crush him nine times out of ten in a straight fight.
But the real issue was his political power.
All S-rank Hunters wield immense power, but a massive divide exists between them based on how they play the game.
Jang Hyeong-seok had lived a life completely opposite to hers.
He had spent his active years networking and playing politics, securing a high-ranking position in the Hunter Division after retirement and building a powerful faction of S-rank Hunters.
If he died while at the peak of his influence, his faction would tear itself apart to claim his throne, and they would simultaneously direct all their resources toward retaliating against her.
Even if she didn't kill him and simply went back on her word, he would feel slighted and use his entire faction to make her life a living hell.
Either way, it would be a political shitstorm that a lone, retired S-rank Hunter couldn't simply fight her way out of.
'So those are my only choices? Tell this bastard to fuck off and deal with the fallout, or submit to his demands and unretire?'
At first glance, it seemed like a binary choice. But Natalia quickly found a third option.
"Fine. I'll close the gate."
"...What?"
Jang Hyeong-seok stared at her, completely caught off guard.
"W-Wait a second. You're just going to let him die?"
Natalia smirked at his stuttering response.
"Who said anything about letting him die? I'll just close the gate first, then go rescue him."
"That's absurd. You know damn well there isn't enough time for both."
"Maybe for an incompetent hack like you. Stop measuring the rest of the world by your own pathetic standards. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't."
"Haha...."
Jang Hyeong-seok was so utterly dumbfounded by her sheer arrogance that he couldn't even find the words to argue. Instead, he let out a dry, mocking laugh.
"Sure, do whatever the hell you want. Unbelievable."
The conversation was over. The negotiation had utterly failed.
'Why did I even think of this as an either-or situation? I'll just close the gate and save him. It's that simple.'
Having reached that clean, simple conclusion, Natalia turned on her heel and headed toward the gate.
'And as for Jang Hyeong-seok... even if I let this slide today, he'll just pull some other bullshit the next time they're short-handed. I need to find a way to permanently deal with him.'
As she sprinted toward the gate, Natalia reached one final, cold resolution.