“...Just... experience it once.”
My fist wails.
There’s nothing my lowly fist can do, but it wails all the same.
Violence yielding to violence feels like this.
She’s flapping her lips and making decisions on her own, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Just taking it all one-sidedly, this pathetic feeling.
I’m a sadist—why do I have to experience a masochist’s emotions?
“...Hmm.”
Dang Soran seemed satisfied with that for now, biting her lip as she continued to agonize.
“What I can say for certain is that it won’t be what Senior Dang imagines. And I’ll be joining in as well.”
“Why?”
“Because it could be dangerous.”
“That I could be in danger?”
Dang Soran let out a scoff, as if incredulous.
“...Young Master Seojin doesn’t look that dangerous?”
“Not Senior Dang—you, Clan Leader, could be in danger.”
...She’s not wrong. Humiliating her might make Dang Soran explode.
Is this what knowing someone gets you?
...But honestly, you’re more dangerous than Dang Soran.
Dang Soran tilted her head.
“...I don’t understand. What exactly are you planning to do that...”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to back out.”
“...”
Cheongwol was now standing in front of me, speaking on my behalf.
Meanwhile, I trembled behind her.
Cheongwol, if you don’t get SM vibes, get out.
Does this even make sense?
My deep, secret sexual preferences are being exposed and ridiculed by these martial artists.
This isn’t some game where I just say, “Ah, yes,” if you tell me to do it with you!
Who are you to decide who I do SM with on your whim!
Just because I’m a sadist doesn’t mean I like any masochist—that’s a huge mistake.
Just like people don’t fall for anyone, I don’t like every masochist out there.
Of course, finding a masochist feels like a miracle.
Especially in this martial world, I know I’m in no position to be picky.
But you two are too dangerous! I hate martial artists!
They’re people I can’t fully dominate!
It’s just pretending to dominate!
Sure, SM involves some role-play to a degree, but with you, it’s all role-play...!
What’s the point of ropes that’d tear like paper if you channel even a bit of qi?
By those standards, neither Cheongwol nor Dang Soran appeal to me.
They’re both miracle-level beauties with flawless looks, but flaws that shatter those advantages are too massive.
A masochist who could kill me? Even if it’s real death, I’ll pass.
Besides, Dang Soran isn’t even a masochist—what kind of SM is this!
You think everyone’s a pervert like you, Cheongwol!
It’s enough to make me go insane and jump around.
I’m scared to death of both of them.
She knows damn well I’m not up to their level, yet this Cheongwol girl is pushing everything through.
Looking at it, Cheongwol really is the root of all this trouble.
...And besides.
It’s a weird thought for this situation, but... I don’t like sadists who handle two or more masochists at once.
Everyone has their quirks. But for me, the essence of SM is that intimacy.
Forcing shameful acts and showing shameful sides, built on deep mutual trust.
Forcing submission. Dominating and being dominated.
So, shouldn’t that sincerity be shown to just one person?
Harem stuff feels less genuine than pure love.
Of course, it’s not like that with Cheongwol right now, but still, the thought of breaking that structure makes the SM purist in me shake my head.
Dang Soran scanned me up and down like she was appraising me.
As if the mention of danger piqued her interest.
“...I’m curious. What exactly are you going to do to make Cheongwol act like this?”
...But you’re not the dangerous one. I am.
I couldn’t stay silent any longer.
I tried refusing first.
“Wha—I never said I’d do i—”
—Grab.
Cheongwol suddenly pressed against me.
She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me down.
She whispered in my ear.
“...Clan Leader, just... do it once.”
“...Pardon?”
This masochist bitch. Ordering a sadist around? Are you crazy?
“What do you...”
“You won’t get away without doing it once. Senior Dang is that kind of person.”
Cheongwol got to the root of it.
That one sentence shut me up too.
“...I know that desperation... She won’t give up.”
“...”
“So... just...”
Cheongwol’s eyes flickered dangerously.
She said.
“...Give her massive humiliation and chase her away.”
“Pardon?”
“Just... make her so ashamed she never comes back.”
It took me a while to process her words.
I stared at Cheongwol blankly.
“...”
“...”
...I really wanted to smack her.
This damn bitch. It’s easy for you.
You’ve got martial arts, backing from your sect, and fame.
You can handle the grudge and keep living, but one poison needle from Dang Soran and I’m dead.
What’s this “give her so much shame she won’t come back”?
If she tells her dad, I’ll meet the most horrific death in the world.
Expecting to sexually assault the daughter of a major clan and survive?
In this martial world where fists speak louder than laws?
In a world where killing someone doesn’t even land you in jail?
Are you insane?
“...”
I was starting to feel there was no escaping this tightening situation.
I blinked.
When I came to, Cheongwol and Dang Soran were standing before me.
The novel’s key supporting characters.
The ones I wanted to avoid tangling with as much as possible.
And they were pressuring me.
...Am I the only one who doesn’t want to do this?
I wanted to be honest.
Tell them SM doesn’t help with heart demons at all. It’s got nothing to do with it.
But the moment I said that, Cheongwol would flip out and go, “Then what have you been doing to me all this time?”
With my shit-eating expression, even Dang Soran sighed and took a step back.
“Fine, Young Master. Do it that way then.”
“...Pardon?”
“You’re saying you don’t know about heart demons? Got it. I’ll believe you.”
...Suddenly?
Still, it was an temptation I couldn’t shake off.
“...For real?”
“Yes.”
Dang Soran soon smiled brightly.
“But keep this one thing in mind. If Cheongwol came here not for her heart demon... this would be a secret rendezvous, right?”
“...Pardon?”
“The noble Thousand-Year Flower of Emei Sect having a tryst with a man... Not just the Central Plains—the Emei Sect itself might take action.”
“Senior Dang...! That’s not...!”
“...”
I blinked.
...Did she just threaten me?
The protagonist’s ally?
I was speechless.
I never imagined Dang Soran would resort to threats.
She never showed this side in the original story.
Suddenly, Gwak Du Uncle’s words from after the sparring match echoed in my ears.
‘Tch. Worried about little Dang Soran. Her heart demon better not worsen.’
...Is this the result now?
I knew Dang Soran had been suffering from her heart demon for quite a while.
I heard it from the Beggars’ Sect folks.
She’d probably suffer even longer.
And then, when the Demonic Cult emerges and the Central Plains falls into chaos.
Dang Soran steps up to protect people on the front lines, becoming the protagonist’s ally.
No matter what, she overcomes that heart demon.
“...”
...Or does she? Maybe she just hides it?
Either way, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is she suppresses her heart demon and becomes the protagonist’s ally.
Dang Soran pulls off all sorts of feats before getting killed by Cheongwol.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan might not shine in tournaments, but in war, they wield great power, right?
She’ll send at least thousands of fanatics to hell.
...But that Dang Soran is threatening me?
With Cheongwol twisting the original by winning the sparring match, it’s hard to say my influence had zero part.
I might’ve even caused her loss.
If that leads to Dang Soran breaking down and going astray?
If she doesn’t become the protagonist’s ally but his enemy?
If her poison turns toward the main characters...?
...Wouldn’t that fuck everything up?
One reason I didn’t become a martial artist and chose to lay low was, sure, not wanting the hassle of swinging a sword and risking my life.
...But also because this bleak world ends in a happy ending.
Just leave it be, and it wraps up nicely on its own.
So why should I interfere?
...But what if this changes that?
If Dang Soran can’t become the protagonist’s ally... or worse, defects to the Demonic Cult and shatters the ending I liked?
If it turns into a bad end?
That little white lie about the basement SM gear helping with heart demons became a massive event making her lose the tournament.
Then, when her heart demon deepens further, what ripple effects on the world?
“...Haa.”
I cursed inwardly a hundred times.
Damn it, all because of you, Cheongwol!!
I told you not to come!!
Whether my eyes showed emotion, even Cheongwol averted her gaze slyly this time.
I looked up at the ceiling and covered my face.
The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on my shoulders.
I couldn’t blame only Cheongwol.
The problem was me, this foreign object dropped into the world.
The assumption that I might’ve derailed the happy ending filled me with guilt.
And yet, Cheongwol still pissed me off.
I told you not to do that damn sparring match!
After agonizing over what to say, I finally opened my mouth.
I couldn’t wriggle out anymore.
“...So, Miss Dang... this method... might not work. It only worked for Miss Cheongwol because she was Miss Cheongwol.”
“How do you know it won’t work for me?”
...There’s no way you’re a masochist...
I swallowed the rest.
The Tang Clan of Sichuan’s eldest daughter a masochist?
You, loved by your parents, respected by siblings, admired by retainers—how could you be?
“Young Master Seojin.”
Dang Soran suddenly hardened her tone.
“With a clue to resolving my heart demon right here, I can’t give up now. If something you’ve endlessly yearned for was within reach, could you abandon it?”
“...”
“I... might become ugly. No, I already am. I don’t want you to see this ugly side of me.”
...So, yeah, that’s a threat. Like earlier.
“And one more thing to remember. I... was raised with everything I wanted always within my grasp.”
I had no choice but to answer in the end.
“...Two days.”
Cheongwol’s and Dang Soran’s expressions changed, each in their own way.
I whispered in resignation.
“...Just give me two days.”
Those two days were to find a play satisfying enough for Dang Soran.