"No?"
My hand holding the switch trembled slightly.
I struck her.
Lightly, but I actually hit Dang Soran.
It felt less burdensome than doing it to Cheongwol.
After all, it was easier to strike the protagonist's kind supporter than a murderous ghost.
Something about it made me feel like I could be forgiven.
Even so, my heart wasn't completely at ease.
Especially when I thought about the Poison King behind this girl.
A strange pleasure rippled within me too.
Her reactions were pure and vivid.
Like the urge to bite a cute puppy just looking at it.
Watching her made me want to tease her a little.
Of course, that didn't mean I actually wanted to torment her. It was just the feeling.
I didn't want to be doing this. If Cheongwol weren't watching, I would've chosen another way.
But the situation forced my hand, and from striking Dang Soran under that force... it was hard to say I felt no satisfaction in it.
To my question, Dang Soran replied.
"Is there any reason I deserve this beating?"
"Why not?"
I asked.
"Pardon?"
"The Dang Soran who threatened me just a little while ago—isn't that the same Dang Soran standing before me now?"
"...You're not saying you're doing this out of revenge, are you?"
"Revenge?"
I raised the switch again.
"This is discipline."
"Ah!"
Dang Soran let out another groan of pain.
I struck lightly, not unpleasantly.
But since the soles were such a sensitive spot, even a light hit made Dang Soran react.
To the point where I wondered why she was being so dramatic.
I was controlling my strength. Besides, if it hurt too much, wouldn't she just wrap it in qi on her own?
Honestly, the shoe-smelling was what worried me more.
Humiliation concerned me more than pain. Pain... wasn't a martial artist used to it?
And kids could handle sole-spanking.
"Ah!"
I clenched my lips for a moment.
Groans from pain and groans from pleasure were often hard to distinguish.
Of course, if you branded someone with a hot iron until they went mad with agony, it'd just be screams, easy to tell apart.
...But groans drawn out with a switch like this sometimes turned lascivious.
And Dang Soran was doing just that right now.
She blushed, as if unable to believe the sounds coming from her own mouth.
It must have felt lascivious to her too.
I swung the switch harder.
Time to give a stronger stimulus.
"Ah!!"
A helpless groan escaped.
Three red lines appeared on Dang Soran's previously snow-white soles.
Her skin seemed quite thin.
Should I go lighter...?
...No, she's a martial artist; this should be fine.
Even so, perhaps because she'd actually been struck, Dang Soran trembled with humiliation.
Clear anger filled her face.
From here on, I instinctively knew not to lay a hand on her without explanation.
She looked like she was debating whether to tear me apart.
"Unjust, is it?"
Dang Soran's eyes sharpened toward me.
I couldn't help but flinch.
...Of course she's pissed.
But to survive, I had no choice but to justify my actions mysteriously and boldly.
I needed to proceed more confidently and shamelessly.
Dang Soran snapped in anger.
"You think it wouldn't be unjust if—"
"—I'm disciplining your ugly true nature."
She froze solid. Even her eyes stopped moving.
"...Still unjust?"
This was a gamble.
And as a safety net for the gamble, I borrowed the fortune-tellers' speech patterns.
"Aren't you having a hard time lately?" Everyone's struggling.
"You have a strong sense of responsibility, don't you?" Most people like to think of themselves that way.
"There's someone close to you who's not well?" It's hard not to have someone unwell nearby.
That was the context.
Isn't your true nature ugly? She admitted it herself anyway.
It was the strategy I'd arrived at after two days of agony.
It could collapse spectacularly.
I didn't know.
But I'd made my choice.
Dang Soran was agonizing over her heart demon right now, but later she'd suppress it somehow and side with the protagonist.
She'd overcome it even without me.
So she was making the effort not to give up and to become good.
What I could do was... open a crack to make that path a little easier.
Anyone who's committed a grave wrong and felt that anxiety knows.
Before anyone notices your fault, you want to confess quickly, shed the guilt.
Get the punishment over with, unburden your heart.
Getting caught scares you more than confessing.
Wasn't Dang Soran in that state?
So I'd take on that role.
People are sly; they don't want to carry the weight of their conscience forever.
They'll try to shake it off somehow.
So I'd scold her.
To let her unload that burden.
If she was agonizing because she didn't want her ugly self exposed, a little beating might ease her mind.
Let's role-play, okay?
I'll hit lightly! Spill that guilt!
If it hurts too much, sneak in some qi. I won't notice anyway.
****
Scolding my ugly self?
Dang Soran's thoughts halted at that one phrase.
Like a knife tip, those words pierced deep inside her.
Her lips trembled. It took time for words to burst out.
"...Y-Young Master, what do you know to say that to—"
"—I saw through Cheongwol's heart demon faster than anyone."
Dang Soran looked to Cheongwol for confirmation.
Cheongwol offered no rebuttal, so it wasn't a lie.
Dang Soran looked back at Han Seojin.
...Could he really see through heart demons?
"Your heart demon... and that ugly nature are plain as day. Deny it all you want. I already know."
"Hnng!"
A groan burst out.
The sound from her own mouth was so humiliating she curled up.
Han Seojin, Cheongwol, and above all, herself—everyone heard this shameful noise.
But Han Seojin didn't stop.
"Why's it a problem to punish a bad child? Look, Wol-i's getting punished too."
"Ah!!"
Dang Soran wiggled her toes. But she couldn't escape.
She couldn't understand why she was putting up with this.
But the moment she heard it was punishment for her ugly disposition, escaping became incredibly hard.
"Growing up spoiled... looking down on others... scorning them... so greedy too..."
"When did I... I never...!"
"Ah!!"
"Don't deny it. That's why your ugly self drew the heart demon."
"Ah!!"
"Challenging Wol-i to a duel knowing her cultivation is higher."
Cheongwol's body twitched.
"Hah...!!"
"Sneering at Wol-i just now while she was being punished."
"Ah!"
With each strike of the switch, the atmosphere shifted.
Beyond mere pain, it felt like her true face was being stripped bare.
How deep would he pry?
Everything she'd hidden was being exposed.
"...Like your feet, your ugly disposition reeks."
"No... no it's not...!"
It hurt. It was her first time being hit on the soles.
But was the true pain in her feet or her heart?
It was tormenting, helpless to endure.
His words forced her to confront her inner self.
The nature that wanted to steal others' treasures.
The nature that scorned the inadequate.
The certainty that even grave wrongs would be shielded by her clan.
"Ah!! No, stop... stop it!!"
"Ah!!"
If stealing from others caused problems, or scorning them got her scolded, it wouldn't hurt this much.
But as the eldest daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, all those pleasures and temptations were permitted to her.
That was why it was hard. She had to refrain when she could indulge.
She had to battle her arrogant, greedy monstrous self with her frail conscience.
That fight was so hard.
But Han Seojin raised the switch again, as if punishing that inner monster on her behalf.
Defensively, Dang Soran cried out.
"Ugh...! No one!!"
Han Seojin's hand, raised high, froze.
"Not even Father... or the elders...! They don't scold me like this...! Who are you to lecture me?! I asked you to resolve my heart demon, not beat me...!"
Her speech had grown rough.
The chill from having Cheongwol stolen from her was long forgotten.
The unjust pain in her soles was drawing out her honest feelings.
"Ah, you think Father will let this slide if he finds out? Someone like you...!"
Yet strangely, she still hadn't wrapped her soles in qi.
She hadn't stirred her dantian. She didn't know why.
She hated it, was furious... but just taking it.
"That's why you're like this."
Han Seojin didn't stop even at the threat.
"You weren't scolded when you should have been... so a monster grew in your heart."
Even mentioning her father didn't make him hesitate—Han Seojin was the only one she knew like that.
"Ugh!! Eut!!"
...And that was becoming a strange comfort.
His standards were firm; she had no choice but to believe.
Before the Dang Soran unsure of right and wrong appeared someone who knew clearly.
She was someone who needed scolding. It had taken so long for someone to say it.
"You're rotten. You need more."
And with each strike of the switch on her soles.
"Ah!!"
Each time she filled the room with lascivious groans.
"Ah!!"
Each pang of pain... her emotional guilt was lessening.
Just paying for her wrongs made her heart feel this relieved?
It felt like this pain was an outlet for her emotions.
"Hah...! Eut!!"
Was this it?
Had she locked herself away, tormenting herself for this?
Nights spent in tears. Agony over the heart demon with no answers.
She'd never punished herself physically, but self-recrimination had eased her mind somewhat.
It felt like Han Seojin was doing that role for her.
" Felt good pretending to be good? Fun deceiving people?"
"Ahut...!"
It hurt.
But...
Why couldn't she resist anymore? She didn't know.
She didn't stir qi to block the pain, didn't thrash.
Deep down, did she know he was right?
And on top of that...
"...Eut!"
Cheongwol's gaze descending each time she groaned.
That chilling sensation revived, mingling with the pain.
The good-yet-bad feeling of ingesting a poisonous herb.
In this absurd situation, she almost let out a wry laugh.
"Ah...!!"
Han Seojin continued.
"Not answering?"
The anger from this pain, the atonement, the liberation...
...And faint pleasure.
Physically harder with each hit... but mentally easing.
"Keep taking it? I told you how to answer."
Dang Soran no longer said "stop."
She endured the violence upon her.
Something even her father and elders wouldn't do.
She felt Han Seojin's balanced strikes.
"Closing your mouth?"
"...Eup!"
It felt like he was setting her straight.
...More.
Dang Soran thought unwittingly.
More.
Just a bit... a bit more, and some realization would come—
"...Ha."
And at that moment, Cheongwol's mocking scoff intruded.
"...!"
Her reason snapped back.
Cheongwol, head turned slightly, glared at her.
As if Cheongwol had noticed the lewd emotion she'd just felt.
It felt like even her inner feelings were laid bare to Cheongwol.
'We're the same kind.'
The words she'd thrown at Cheongwol returned.
Instead of the ugly pleasure of taking from Cheongwol, mad humiliation surged.
The eldest daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan, Dang Soran, begging this lowly man for more discipline.
What the hell had she been doing.
Han Seojin's switch rose again.
Dang Soran cried out.
"Get out...!"
Han Seojin's movement stopped.
"...I'll get out."
Her throbbing soles.
It was over.
Long silence flowed.
None of the three could speak.
Han Seojin had said it.
Say if you like it, speak honestly if you don't.
Long silence passed.
"...Untie... me. I'm leaving."
Han Seojin, who'd been rigid, quietly lowered the switch.
Then he watched Dang Soran for a while.
Strangely, at this moment, she couldn't meet the eyes of the utterly ordinary Leather Room owner.
For some reason, she felt abashed.
Complex feelings tangled inside.
She stopped from shame, but if Cheongwol weren't here... what choice would she have made?
At her request, Han Seojin silently began untying her ropes without another word.
"...Ah."
Dang Soran let out a strange groan.
She knew this was the agreement.
But feeling the once coercive Han Seojin release her felt definitely odd.
"..."
For a moment, faint regret made her eyelids flutter.
No. No regrets.
Han Seojin untied the ropes around her arms.
Dang Soran couldn't fully believe this situation was truly ending.
How long had it been since such stimulation? She couldn't remember.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
For some reason, it felt like giving up.
Suppressing a strange self-loathing, she waited for Han Seojin to untie her legs.
"...Eut!"
It was then.
Instead of the switch, Han Seojin's hand gently caressed her sole.
The stinging spot met his cool skin... strangely, it felt good.
An unintended breath escaped her lips.
"...Ah... uh..."
Han Seojin blew soft breath on it.
Her sole tickled.
Dang Soran startled and looked at Han Seojin.
Striking directly, then caressing directly. Giving sickness then medicine—this act was utterly incomprehensible.
"You'll stop... huh."
The man who'd peered into her heart demon whispered regretfully.
"Can't be helped. Still... you endured well so far."
Comfort instead of blame.
...Unexpected praise from the one punishing her... was shaking Dang Soran's heart.
An inexplicable gentleness burrowed into the gaps of her empty heart.
Her toes wiggled on their own again.
Han Seojin kept blowing on her sole.
...Medicine sometimes needs poison originally.
But just as a physician giving bitter medicine doesn't mean no concern for the patient.
She hadn't realized before, but now Han Seojin seemed worried for her too.
His expression showed regret that it hadn't helped her heart demon.
He caressed her sole soothingly until the heated skin cooled.
Only then did he untie her leg ropes.
"...Experience ends here. Good work. Head back."
Even his polite tone returned.
Dang Soran said nothing.
A deeper self-loathing than the sole-beating gripped her.
She couldn't rise from the chair for a while.
Then Han Seojin kindly supported her.
Dang Soran accepted his awkward help and began exiting the basement.
His escort ended at the stairs.
"...Then I'll go to Wol-i—"
"—I'll go too."
And as she moved to leave the basement, Cheongwol rose from her spot.
Han Seojin, who'd paused, nodded calmly.
"...Sure."
Cheongwol walked quietly up to Han Seojin.
She seemed about to say something, lips moving.
Their eyes met.
"..."
"..."
Even Dang Soran watching from the side held her breath at the eerie atmosphere.
But Cheongwol gritted her teeth and spoke curtly to Dang Soran.
"...Planning to stand there forever?"
"...Ah."
Dang Soran climbed the stairs.
Cheongwol followed close behind.
For some reason, it felt like Cheongwol was pushing her out of the basement.
And as soon as they reached the ground, Cheongwol shut the basement door.
Han Seojin was still coming up.
"..."
Cheongwol glared at the basement door as if huffing, then shook her head.
She led Dang Soran out of the Leather Room.
"It was an experience."
Cheongwol declared immediately upon exiting.
"...Huh?"
"A one-time experience."
As if declaring no seconds.
"It wasn't suitable for you at all, Senior Dang. That's why we opposed it."
...We? Since when did Cheongwol use such a sense of belonging?
Yet Cheongwol continued, her own face confused.
"...From now on, don't come back here. You'll only have more unpleasant experiences."
With that, Cheongwol walked away.
Dang Soran watched her retreating back for a long time.
Once Cheongwol vanished, Dang Soran glanced back at the Leather Room...
...then headed to the Tang Clan lodging.
But again, she kept looking back at the receding Leather Room.
****
One thought in my head, left alone in the dark basement.
I'm screwed.