114 – Epilogue – Ryu Jin-ah

The reveille blared, and Ryu Jina forced her heavy eyelids open.

“Ugh…”

Six in the morning. The day began at the Devotion Hall, where those with abilities belonging to the Ministry of National Defense resided.

After a quick wash, she stepped into the hallway to find others slowly dragging their feet, gathering in front of their doors. Every face was etched with fatigue.

Soldiers returning from a three-night, four-day training exercise had been visiting the Devotion Hall non-stop, so it was no wonder.

‘Of course, I’m tired too.’

Ryu Jina couldn’t suppress a yawn and exhaled deeply. As if it were contagious, the person facing her also yawned widely. They made awkward eye contact and exchanged sheepish smiles.

“Looks like you didn’t sleep well either.”

“Yeah, well…”

Ryu Jina scratched her cheek, trailing off awkwardly in response.

Although they lived in the room directly across from hers, they hadn’t become close yet. The other person seemed shy, and Ryu Jina wasn’t exactly in a relaxed state either.

It had already been five months since she was transferred from her military unit after her discharge and began living in this Devotion Hall, but it was still like this. Not just with the person across the hall, but with everyone else too.

Lost in thought, she was startled by the sound of clicking heels and the appearance of a woman with a sharp, irritable expression. She wore an armband on one arm with the word “Manager” embroidered on it.

Devotion Hall Manager, Oh Shin-hye.

“Ugh, that damn company commander. He’s got too much energy for this early in the morning.”

It seemed like she’d had a fight with someone. Her face was flushed, and there was a faint scent of semen in the air.

Oh Shin-hye pulled out a compact mirror, smoothed her hair back with her hand, sighed, and said,

“Alright, everyone. Did you all sleep well last night?”

“Yeeees…”

“Judging by the lack of energy in your voices, I guess not so well.”

“We got plenty of ‘sleep’.”

Someone’s comment elicited giggles from around the room. Oh Shin-hye smirked and said,

“You’ve got enough energy to joke around, so you must not be that tired.”

“No…”

“Then you’ll all be able to do a good job with the laundry today, right?”

“Aww…”

Groans rippled through the room at Oh Shin-hye’s words. Everyone had expected a mountain of laundry after the three-night, four-day training exercise, but the actual announcement was still dreadful.

Ryu Jina felt the same way. The unit where the Devotion Hall was located had a population of nearly 200 soldiers. And all of it was handled by eight ability users, excluding Oh Shin-hye.

They used to have the soldiers do it themselves, but ever since the Devotion Hall was established, the Ministry of National Defense’s ability users had been taking care of it.

Of course, not just the laundry, but also their repressed sexual desires. That was the purpose of the Devotion Hall, after all. As Ryu Jina was thinking this, Oh Shin-hye spoke again.

“Anyone get hurt last night?”

“I got handled a little rough, and my back hurts…”

Someone else raised their voice at that. Oh Shin-hye turned her gaze to them and asked,

“Is it broken?”

“If it was broken, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“Then you’re fine.”

“Tch.”

A grumbling voice was heard at the blunt reply, but there was no further protest. She probably wasn’t really that hurt anyway. Unless it was a serious injury, they healed quickly.

It was just a shot in the dark, hoping to get out of laundry duty. Oh Shin-hye silenced one person and looked around at everyone in the Devotion Hall.

“Anyone else? Anything wrong with your body or anything?”

“I didn’t get enough sleep, so I’m sleepy…”

“The company commander said you can close the doors and take a nap after you finish the laundry. So, anything else?”

“Yeeees…”

Oh Shin-hye clicked her tongue at the listless response.

“You all look so drained. Should we order some fried chicken later? I think I can swipe the company commander’s card.”

“You did that before, and you couldn’t leave the company commander’s office for days…”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t that hard.”

‘Wasn’t hard, my ass,’ Ryu Jina muttered inwardly, looking at Oh Shin-hye.

She hadn’t been able to eat properly for days afterward. And everyone in the hall knew it.

But Oh Shin-hye ignored the gazes on her and said,

“Anyway, we’re getting fried chicken. Anything else? Then let’s all go eat.”

“Yeeees…”

Oh Shin-hye led the way, and the residents of the hall followed slowly behind. They entered the soldiers’ cafeteria, a short distance from the Devotion Hall, and the buzz-cut soldiers who were already eating turned to look at them.

It was only natural that nine beautiful women would attract attention in a space filled with men. But Oh Shin-hye and the others didn’t pay any attention and got their food.

Then they sat down at a table far away from the others and ate quietly. At first, it was hard to tell if the food was going down their throats or up their noses because of the constant glances, but they had gotten used to it by now.

Not that it made them hungry. Ryu Jina stirred her rice into the watery soup and swallowed the remaining side dishes.

She had been taught not to leave leftovers at the training center, so she felt uneasy if she did. She was about to leave after cleaning her tray when someone grabbed her arm.

She turned her head slightly and saw a familiar face.

“…Sergeant Kang.”

“Are you free today?”

Ryu Jina nodded at the soldier called Sergeant Kang.

“I’ll keep it open.”

“Then I’ll see you then.”

Ryu Jina watched Sergeant Kang walk away after patting her butt, then turned back and headed to the Devotion Hall.

Back in her room, she immediately changed into her laundry work clothes, sat down on the floor, and took a deep breath.

“I feel like killing myself…”

Five months ago, she had followed Staff Sergeant Kim, who had come to pick her up, to the unit where she had been serving until she became an ability user.

And no sooner had the rumor spread that she had entered the Devotion Hall than her squad members came to visit her non-stop, one after another, shoving their dicks at her.

Of course, she had been used as soon as she became an ability user, so it wasn’t that hard physically, but it was mentally distressing to keep seeing familiar faces. Especially Sergeant Kang, who had been her junior in the past.

‘I wish I had gone to another unit. Why did it have to be here…’

‘Haa.’ Sighing deeply wouldn’t change where she was now. Ryu Jina hugged her knees and buried her face in them until it was time to work, then sluggishly got up and went outside.

It was incredibly hard work for just eight people to handle the laundry for 200 people. Especially since they couldn’t do 200 people’s worth of laundry in one day just by using the washing machine, so they used the washing machine for the privates and lance corporals’ clothes, which could be washed roughly, and hand-washed the rest.

Scrubbing with a washboard and pounding with a bat. Repeating that action dozens, hundreds of times made her arms feel like they were about to fall off.

“If this isn’t modern-day slavery, what is?”

Someone grumbled, and everyone nodded in agreement, complaining about how hard it was. Of course, they were just talking, and their hands were moving diligently. They had to finish the work on time.

They massaged their arms from time to time and took breaks, but they were able to finish most of the laundry before lunchtime. Thanks to washing laundry non-stop for months, she felt like she had become an expert.

Ryu Jina wiped the sweat from her face and stood up. If they finished up after lunch, they would be done with today’s laundry.

And that happened without incident. The residents of the hall, who had finished the laundry for 200 people on time, headed to the showers with sluggish steps. It was originally a place for the soldiers to use, but it was empty now because they were busy with training or work.

After showering and returning to the Devotion Hall, Oh Shin-hye did a quick headcount, and then everyone returned to their rooms for nap time.

Of course, they could do other things during that time, but no one would be able to stay awake after that hard laundry work.

Ryu Jina also changed into her uniform and fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed.

‘Oh, I need to change the sheets.’

They’re going to get wet again tonight anyway, so should I change them tomorrow? She thought as her consciousness faded.

The sweet nap passed in an instant. When she opened her eyes, it was already dusk outside.

“Everyone who hasn’t woken up, start getting ready. It’s time to devote yourselves to the country and the soldiers.”

Oh Shin-hye’s voice was heard from the hallway, knocking on doors and waking up the residents of the hall. Ryu Jina struggled to open her eyes and got up to go to the bathroom.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she sat quietly on the bed until Oh Shin-hye opened the door, poked her head in, and asked,

“Do you have a reservation today?”

“Sergeant Kang from the 3rd Platoon.”

“There’s more than one Sergeant Kang there. Well, I know who you mean.”

Oh Shin-hye replied as if she was used to it. That meant he came often.

Originally, it was not possible to reserve one of the residents of the hall in advance. The Devotion Hall operated on a first-come, first-served basis. However, as is the case in the military, if you had a certain rank, you could easily bypass such rules.

As she was thinking about this, the door opened again. This time it wasn’t Oh Shin-hye, but Sergeant Kang. He had already fucked her dozens of times, but he always looked at her with that lustful glint in his eyes every time he came in.

Ryu Jina accepted Sergeant Kang’s body as he hugged her, not pushing him away. Her body heated up on its own at the lips grazing her neck, and a panting breath escaped her lips.

Suddenly, Ryu Jina missed the six months she had spent at the training center. She didn’t have any good memories there, but at least there was a limit to how long she would be there, and she could go somewhere else after a certain amount of time.

But there was no such thing here. She didn’t know when or how she would be able to leave this place.

There was no hope, and no end in sight.

Ryu Jina felt despair along with the pleasure as she spread her legs and he entered her.

“Aah, aah-” Moans echoed from the rooms of the Devotion Hall.

It was the screams of those who involuntarily sacrificed their bodies for the country and its soldiers.