Chapter 3
"Are you really going to give it to me?"
Shin Seoyeon let go of my collar, then clasped her hands together and put on a cute act, her eyes shining.
She'd been ready to tear me apart just a moment ago, and now this complete change of attitude was a work of art.
"I don't see why not."
Her expression brightened instantly.
"Ah, but I should head home now."
"What?"
Come to think of it, I'd forgotten to sort out my equipment and pack my things.
"Then let's talk later."
"Hey! Wait! You're leaving like this? You have to finish what you were saying!"
Shin Seoyeon grabbed me with a desperate look, but when I lowered my gaze and stared at her hand, she cautiously let go.
Then, fidgeting with her now-idle hand, she adorably watched my reaction.
It was exactly how she'd acted when fawning over that middle-aged man earlier.
'She's something else.'
Admiring that chameleon-like transformation inwardly, I spun around.
As I walked away, Shin Seoyeon followed close behind and peppered me with questions.
"So when are you giving me the money? You really are going to give it to me, right?"
"Yeah, depending on what you do. I might give you more."
"More?"
Shin Seoyeon opened her eyes wide.
"On the other hand, I might not give you anything at all."
Her expression immediately plummeted from heaven to hell.
"Th-then how do I get you to give it to me?"
"Who knows."
I ignored her and headed out of the buffet.
"Seoyeon, where are you going?"
A middle-aged man who looked like Sucker No. 127 for Seoyeon called out to her, but Shin Seoyeon ignored him and trotted after me.
It wasn't just the money I'd shown her; the greed and violence in those catlike eyes said she was confident she could extort a sizable portion of the money in my possession if she put her mind to it.
'She figures it's far better than going on a date tonight, fawning over him, and getting a bag worth several million won as a gift.'
When I hailed a taxi, well, would you look at that—she boldly grabbed the door so I couldn't close it and climbed in with me.
"What?"
"Hmph, this isn't my fault, okay? Black Dick, you're the one who won't give me an answer. I hate ambiguity. I'm going to follow you until you tell me what I have to do to get the money."
"Black Dick?"
"No, my Minjun. That just slipped out. Sorry."
Then Shin Seoyeon smiled bashfully like a cat and behaved so completely differently that I wondered whether she was really the same delinquent who had kicked me in the shin in a corner of the buffet just moments ago.
'Does she really like money that much?'
A meaningless string of numbers that would turn into a scrap of paper tomorrow.
Yet at this very moment, every person on Earth except me was living day to day, enthralled by those numbers.
Wasn't it truly laughable?
The limitations of people who knew nothing of the future were this clear.
I gazed at the countless city lights brightening the night and thought of the trials that lay ahead.
'When Earth is destroyed, some of humanity will be pulverized by the asteroid impact, while others will give up on the selection process.
There would be those who vanished, complacently thinking that Earth could never be destroyed, and those who stayed behind because they were afraid to leave Earth.
That was how the population crossing over to another world would reach four billion.
Of them, roughly two hundred thousand would reach the final trial.
And among those two hundred thousand, the top 100 rankers would receive a special grade: S-rank.
"Kang Minjun, are you listening to me?"
And the catlike bitch beside me, chattering away and casting sly looks as she tried to figure out how to wring money from me, would become an S-rank herself.
Of course, by then her personality would also change, evolving into that of an incredibly haughty, prickly, arrogant bitch.
"Kang Minjun!"
"We've arrived, sir."
I got out of the taxi immediately.
"You'll need to pay the fare, sir."
Shin Seoyeon, who had been about to follow me out, looked up at me with a slightly flustered expression.
Regardless, I headed toward the apartment, and Shin Seoyeon quickly paid the taxi fare with her own money before hurrying after me.
"I had fun today."
"Hey, wait!"
But Shin Seoyeon was a step too late and disappeared beyond the elevator doors.
'I wonder if she'll still follow me after all that.'
One minute after I got home.
Ding-dong- Ding-dong-ding-dong-
Bang bang bang!
"Kang Minjun!"
Oh, she actually followed me?
Impressive. I stopped packing and opened the door, revealing our S-rank thug, huffing and puffing.
"Hey!"
"Hey?"
"……."
Phew, Shin Seoyeon took a deep breath and composed herself.
What was truly impressive was how she smiled sweetly as if nothing had happened, even after all that.
"Ah, Minjun. That prank was too much."
I laughed.
She could still act cute after what I'd done to her?
"Why did you suddenly start laughing?"
"No, I just thought that, as you are now, you could easily get plenty of money out of me."
"Oh! Really?"
Shin Seoyeon jumped for joy. Someone like her wouldn't make a bad last supper on Earth.
"Come in."
I smiled and let Shin Seoyeon into the house.
***
-Why isn't Kang Minjun coming to orientation?
-I heard he doesn't have any money at home. Apparently he has no time to have fun and has to go straight to his part-time job after class.
-Hmm.
That's why I really thought he was poor.
"Whoa, this is your house?"
However, Shin Seoyeon, who had followed Kang Minjun inside, could only stare wide-eyed.
No, actually, she'd been surprised from the moment she got out of the taxi. How much did apartments in Seoul cost, anyway?
'This guy was this well-off? Wasn't he supposed to be busy working part-time to cover his living expenses?'
"Um, are your parents...?"
"They're not here. I live alone, so you don't need to worry about that."
"!!"
He owned a home in Seoul and had that much money in his bank account?
Could he be the son of a small-business owner?
'Fuck. If I'd known he was this well-off and had so much money, I should've gotten friendly with him instead of bullying him.'
Shin Seoyeon suddenly began to regret it.
'It's too late to clean up my image now, right?'
In that case, there was nothing she could do. She'd just have to stick with him for a while and bleed him dry.
Thinking that, Shin Seoyeon pressed herself against Kang Minjun, smiled brightly, and asked,
"Minjun, come on, tell me now. What do I have to do for you to give me the money?"
Kang Minjun sat down on the floor and lightly patted his thigh. Picking up on the hint, Shin Seoyeon diligently massaged his leg.
"It's simple."
"What is it?"
"I'll give you fifty million won if you sleep with me once."
Shin Seoyeon, who had been smiling sweetly while diligently massaging his leg, froze. Her expression immediately turned sinister, and she leaped to her feet and shouted.
"Has this bastard lost his mind!"
***
'Oh.'
Shin Seoyeon sprang to her feet and grabbed me roughly by the collar without the slightest hesitation.
'This version of Seoyeon really was fiery.'
No wonder she'd earned the title Crimson Flame.
"Do you really want to die? Want me to remind you what happened in high school? Huh?"
Held by the collar, I heard her sharp voice, and memories of the past came flooding back.
She came from a poor family and used her beauty and violence to obtain whatever she wanted.
-Aww, oppa.
She fawned prettily and cutely on anyone stronger than her.
Crash!
"You really think I'm a joke?! Huh?!"
With anyone weaker than her, she was endlessly threatening, just like this.
Shin Seoyeon glared at me as if she wanted to kill me, then began smashing things around her.
She kicked a chair, kicked the vacuum cleaner….
"Fuck, say that again! Say it again, you little prick! What? Let me have you once?!"
In the past, I would've trembled at the sight, but after spending ten years risking my life, it didn't faze me at all.
Shin Seoyeon whipped her gaze around, deciding what to break next, then approached the backpack I'd packed in preparation for the tutorial.
"That one's expensive."
Shin Seoyeon hesitated, then charged at me and began kicking me.
"Say that again! Say that bullshit again!"
Thud thud thud thud thud.
Honestly, kicks from a girl weren't particularly painful, and more importantly, the Shin Seoyeon of now was not frightening at all compared to the one who had died a few days ago.
-What's this black lump of coal? Who did this?
-They say it was the Witch of Crimson Flame. Apparently, she burned two women to death right there because they had their eyes on her boyfriend.
-Whoa, talk about brutal.
'Yeah, compared to then, she's still green.'
She seemed like a child. Her kicks and shrill fury contained not a trace of killing intent, and all they did was make me smile inwardly.
"Huff. Huff."
She was beginning to struggle to breathe, so I stood up and spoke to Shin Seoyeon, who was drenched in sweat.
"I said some foolish things just now, too."
"Fuck off. You think a verbal apology makes everything okay? If you want to shut me up…."
"I'll give you one hundred million won if you let me do it once."
"What…?"
Shin Seoyeon blinked her pretty eyes.
Haha, I got to see the flustered face of that haughty S-rank witch.
Seoyeon in her heyday really did have a fresh, youthful charm.
"Still not enough? Then one hundred fifty million."
"!!"
"For the record, I won't offer any more under the same conditions. Choose now."
Shin Seoyeon suddenly fell silent.
After her startled eyes darted around, she asked me very cautiously,
"Y-you'll really give me 150 million won if I let you sleep with me once?"
Up to this point, Shin Seoyeon was nothing more or less than a delinquent girl who only pretended to be tough.
A beautiful college student from a poor family, with no strength or ability—only her looks.
Honestly, she was an ordinary girl who wasn't worth 150 million won, but in just a few years she'd become an S-rank mage and an ultra-famous figure ranked nineteenth.
Take her virginity?
'Cheap for 150 million.'
Could there be a more profitable deal than this?
"What are you going to do?"
After agonizing over it again and again, Shin Seoyeon said to me,
"But I have a condition, too."
"What is it?"
"I can't trust your word, so pay me an advance."
"Of course. I'll transfer that much up front. Give me your account number."
When I transferred thirty million won as an advance, the corners of Shin Seoyeon's mouth rose all the way to her ears.
Grinning broadly, Shin Seoyeon said,
"Hey, let's start right now."
It was such an eager demand that I could hardly believe she was the same girl who had thrown a fit when I suggested we have sex just moments ago.
Thinking what an honest girl she was when it came to her desires, I sat on the sofa, got myself hard, and beckoned with my chin.
"Want your money quickly? Then suck me first, you bitch."