092 – The Pride You Can’t Bend #2
Napoleon once said this:
“Reconciling two women is harder than unifying the European continent!”
Did he really say something like that?
I don’t know!
However, the fact that such a story circulates openly as if it were a famous quote means that everyone thinks it’s extremely difficult to reconcile two women.
Not to mention…
The relationship between Baek Yeo-ul and Seugal wasn’t something that could simply be described as “not good.”
“Ha Nam Jin! What… what the hell is going on here? Why is Seugal here!”
Bangdaengi quickly darted behind me while pointing at Seugal.
She’s quite skilled at raising her dyed, faded pink hair like animal fur.
“Hyaaah!”
She even made a threatening sound. Her appearance reminds me of a raccoon that discovered an unwanted fox in its territory.
Ancient Chinese people tried to emulate the actions and attitudes of animals to make their strength their own. That’s the foundation of martial arts.
Right now, Bangdaengi is the embodiment of a fierce raccoon.
A master of raccoon boxing!
At this level, she could probably rival one of my ultimate moves, the ‘Triceratops Fist.’
As for Seugal…
After being so tired from watching movies all night, Seugal had regained her cold and haughty attitude.
“Ha Nam Jin, what’s your game? I knew you were up to something, but this is going too far. I was actually considering going along with your rhythm for once…”
“Why do you think I’m up to something?”
I’ve always been serious.
I’ve never even tried to joke around.
That’s 200% sincere!
That’s the path of the man Ha Nam Jin walks!
Anyway, Baek Yeo-ul and Seugal glared at each other from either side of me.
If we keep this up, the training won’t progress.
I have no intention of being swayed by these girls, so I immediately got to the point.
“Bangdaengi, did you bring it? We’ll need that thing’s help today.”
“I don’t even know what you mean by ‘help,’ but I did bring it… I brought it, but…”
Bangdaengi was hesitating.
She then whispered something in my ear.
“M-m-m-what!? s*x…!?”
“I-I never said that! I was just asking if showing it to Seugal here would be okay!”
In fact, I was just joking around because Bangdaengi seemed too nervous. The thing Bangdaengi brought in her bag was something that shouldn’t be shown recklessly to Seugal.
“What’s such a big deal? Why are you so guarded?”
Seugal, disgruntled about our conversation with Bangdaengi.
She was completely dismissive, casting aside pretense.
However, her condescension seemed to stimulate Bangdaengi’s competitive spirit or her pride.
“It’s impressive! Extremely impressive! Even Seugal hasn’t seen anything like it!”
Squeak-squeak…Ziiiiip…
As Bangdaengi slowly unzipped the bag on her back, a small golden leg peeked through the opening.
A tiny, palm-sized body followed, catching everyone’s attention with its dazzling golden color.
“—Ha?”
Seugal, who had been composed until now, seemed slightly startled.
Kangkang, the pet Demon Beast inside the bag, hesitated for a while before letting out a loud bark while standing at the bag’s entrance.
-Kaangkang!
“How about that! This is my Kangkang!”
Bangdaengi held the golden spider Demon Beast Kangkang in her palm and extended it toward Seugal. Seugal was clearly shocked.
“That’s a Demon Spider! Baek Yeo-ul, you crazy woman! How could you raise a Demon Beast? Didn’t they teach you in school that Demons eat people!”
Ching!
Seugal’s hand moved toward the Demon-slaying sword “Maple” at her waist, as if she was ready to draw and cut Kangkang down.
Meanwhile, Bangdaengi hid Kangkang behind her and argued loudly.
“Kangkang is a good Demon Beast! He even helps me with my homework!”
That was a surprising statement.
A Demon Beast helps with homework?
If that’s true…
…I could get Yining to handle all my annoying homework!
Thinking that way, I suddenly felt a growl—krullll!—as if an angry Yining was nearby. But it was probably just me.
Yining is with Yu Yeo-reum now.
I wonder what they are doing.
I hope they’re having a good time.
“You’re just jealous because Kangkang is cute! Admit it!”
-Kaangkang! Grarrrl… Krrrllll… Krarrrll!
“…Is it really cute?”
Seugal looked at Bangdaengi’s Kangkang and furrowed her eyebrows. Her slightly raised corners of her mouth were trembling, and soon she grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear.
“Hey! Is this really okay? You knew Baek Yeo-ul was raising a Demon Beast too? If you knew how dangerous Demons are, why didn’t you stop her? Look at that thing! Look at it!”
-Krrrrrrarrrll, krull, krull…!
“That thing is completely insane!”
It’s cute, though.
Anyway, I planned to proceed with today’s training with Kangkang’s help.
We don’t have time to waste, so let’s go!
#
#
#
City D has many abandoned factories. When we jumped over the wire fence marked “No Entry,” a mud-soaked factory site appeared before us.
This place is excellent.
There are rusted machines everywhere, nails and broken glass bottles that look like they could cause tetanus, and mysterious burlap bags decorating the floor—it’s quite impressive.
We could say this place mimics a magical world within its boundaries.
“From now on, we’ll play hide-and-seek. All you have to do is catch Kangkang as he runs and hides around the factory. However, remember you’re not allowed to use the power from your concept. Kangkang, go hide.”
-Kaangkang!
With a series of small leaps using its eight legs, Kangkang disappeared somewhere in the factory compound.
Soon, Seugal asked me,
“Is catching that strange Demon Spider—”
“It’s not a strange Demon Spider but Kangkang!”
“…”
Seugal shot a glance at Baek Yeo-ul for cutting off her sentence.
She sighed deeply.
“Anyway, how is this training?”
“That’s a good question. A Demon gets stronger in its nest due to the advantage of being at home. The same applies to Demons.”
The Star Demon is hiding in the Great Labyrinth.
Hunting it down means literally entering its home ground to fight it.
It’s a very dangerous task.
“Now, you all must blindfold your eyes.”
“What? How are we supposed to find Kangkang blindfolded?”
Seugal openly showed her refusal.
Bangdaengi quickly grabbed the blindfold out of my hand and tied it around her own face.
“Y-you skip this then, Seagal! I’ll still do it!”
“…”
The two clearly have some bad bl**d between them.
Therefore, they’re perfect training partners. The group for the “Star Demon Hunt” will consist of people with nothing in common, a ragtag team.
Practicing teamwork with someone who has the worst compatibility possible will help enormously when the time comes.
Whoosh.
Eventually, Seugal covered her eyes with her hands to check if they were properly blindfolded.
I playfully poked her side with my finger.
“Hi-Yah! Baek Yeo-ul, do you really want to d*e?”
“What did I do to you?”
That’s how our lively atmosphere began the hidden Kangkang capture training.
-Kaangkang!
“Hey! Baek Yeo-ul! There it is! Try catching it!”
“Hii-Yah!”
Clang!
Something made Bangdaengi fall over.
Even without her blindfold, Bangdaengi tends to easily trip and fall. Blindfolding her only made it worse, she fell every five steps.
“Seriously, what are you doing? You’ll only end this weird training if you catch the spider.”
Seugal was clicking her tongue when her leisure didn’t last long.
Something quickly struck Seugal’s head from behind.
Puck!
“Ow! I got attacked! No one mentioned the Demon Spider would attack!”
“Seugal, you said Demons are dangerous. Is there anything called a Demon that guarantees it wouldn’t attack humans?”
“…d*mn!”
“Being blindfolded in an abandoned factory filled with traps like nails and broken glass while trying to catch a Demon—this is indeed life-or-d*ath.”
However—
“Facing the Star Demon will be incomparably more dangerous than this. Don’t forget that this training is team practice.”
“Ha Nam Jin, you’re really annoying. Acting all superior… Can you catch Kangkang in five minutes with your eyes blindfolded? Can you?”
Clap, clap-clap!
Seugal kept getting hit on the back of the head and was annoyed.
To which, I simply replied:
“I could catch Kangkang alone within five minutes, even blindfolded.”
“Five minutes?”
Seugal and Baek Yeo-ul had been training for an hour.
They hadn’t even come close to catching Kangkang’s shadow yet.
Instead, they continued getting attacked and falling.
Clap!
Another hit on Seugal’s back of the head.
By now, Seugal must have realized.
She must have realized how vulnerable her back and the back of her head are in the dark. She needs someone to watch her back.
That’s what a teammate is.
Someone who watches each other’s backs.
“Hey, Baek Yeo-ul.”
Seugal finally spoke after pondering something carefully.
She seemed hesitant to say it easily.
“Protect my back…”
She just needs to say this simply, but she couldn’t manage it easily.
She didn’t want to humble her pride.
The same went for Bangdaengi.
Clang!
“Hii-Yah!”
Every five steps, Bangdaengi tripped over something and fell. Her hands and knees were full of scratches from the nails and glass, but she never asked Seugal for help.
I knew this would happen.
I didn’t expect these two to cooperate overnight.
I looked at my phone.
1 PM. Lunch time.
As far as I know, the “Eradication Force Formation Ceremony” is scheduled for 5 PM today. So, if we take an hour for lunch, we can still train for about three more hours.
“Well, let’s eat lunch first.”
Snap!
As I clapped my hands, both Seugal and Baek Yeo-ul removed their blindfolds.
And so, lunchtime began.
“Here, eat this!”
Baek Yeo-ul opened the lunch box she brought and offered me one—it had egg rolls, sausages, and braised pork, and it looked incredibly delicious.
However, when Seugal saw the lunch box, she flinched slightly.
“This lunch box…”
“What? What’s wrong with it?”
Squeak-squeak!
Bangdaengi immediately stood up her hair.
Seugal ignored her threat and continued.
“The egg rolls look a bit too salty.”
“You don’t even know unless you taste it!”
“I can tell by looking.”
The lunch was delicious.
Bangdaengi is really good at cooking, isn’t she?
Still, the egg rolls were indeed a bit salty.
“Well, let’s end the meal. Now, let’s start the afternoon training. By the way, if you finish my training during this afternoon, I’ll give you a certificate I made personally. There will also be a prize, so do your best.”
“Prize?”
Bangdaengi became interested.
People need rewards to motivate them, after all.
That’s why communism failed.
“The prize is a choice of three: the ‘Hanamjin Photobook,’ ‘Hanamjin’s Special Steak Recipe,’ or the ‘Hanamjin Errand Service Coupon.”
The photobook is probably the most popular choice.
Photos of the man Ha Nam Jin, including rare and exclusive shots not shown to just anyone!
Any woman would want it.
In fact, Seugal showed interest in the prizes I mentioned.
“What is the ‘Errand Service Coupon’?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. When you’re tired of doing homework, or when you want to eat but can’t be bothered to pick up the spoon, or when you just got home and don’t want to wash your feet… you can use it to have me do those chores for you. The coupon is valid for 2 hours.”
“Ooh! I need that!”
Bangdaengi eagerly raised her hand.
Bangdaengi must have a lot of chores she doesn’t want to do.
That explains why she gave her homework to Kangkang.
Seugal also nodded approvingly with a “hmm” sound.
“Well, it is intriguing.”
“Isn’t my ‘Hanamjin Photobook’ what you really want?”
“No way!”
