Chapter 31: The Auction [R-18]

[Trainee Kang Seojin, Trainee Hyun Iseo, report to the front of the barracks.]

The supervisor’s voice echoed from the speaker, and the barracks fell quiet for a moment. Among the faces still hazy with sleep, the two women’s names rose with sharp clarity.

Iseo, who had been so popular in the past, folded her blankets and tidied her hair before walking straight to the door. Seojin, on the other hand, remained still, her eyes wide open.

“…Seojin.”

Iseo spoke her name cautiously, but there was no reply.

After a moment of hesitation, Iseo opened the door first. A man in a suit was waiting for her.

“Trainee Hyun Iseo? Here is the designator’s profile.”

The man approached Iseo and held out a thin file, speaking calmly.

“VIP Unit 2, priority assignment by designation. You are a managed subject.”

Iseo’s eyes trembled for a second. She accepted the file and looked inside.

《Designator Profile – VIP No. A-013》

– Age: 27
– Notes: Dislikes sensitive environments
– Preferences: Submissive and quiet disposition, favors a ‘chaste appearance’
– Warning: Prior permission required before contact with others

After reading the few lines of text, Iseo slowly lifted her gaze to the man who had handed her the file. He spoke again.

“You will not meet him directly. However, as of today, you are the subject of his acquisition.”

“…Yes.”

“The final transfer is in two days. There will be a preliminary meeting before then.”

Iseo nodded quietly. It seemed a fitting arrangement for her, a woman who prioritized obedience over desire. She folded the file neatly and asked.

“Should I just follow you?”

He nodded.

Meanwhile, long after the footsteps had faded down the hall, Seojin emerged. Her face was expressionless as she stepped quietly outside the door, having delayed the moment she had to face them.

But someone else was waiting for her.

“No designator. Trainee Kang Seojin has been classified as an undesignated subject and will be moved to the follow-up evaluation area.”

“……”

“Board the vehicle.”

Following his words, she was led to a military transport vehicle with its rear doors open. Seojin climbed aboard without a word.

The scenery flashing past the window grew increasingly rural. Fields, barns, old brick buildings. The training center receded into the distance as an unfamiliar smell grew stronger.

Not far away, Iseo was climbing into a luxury sedan. Seojin was being jolted along in the back of a truck, kicking up dust.

Seojin didn’t wonder where the vehicle was going. She was just glad to see the outside world again after so long. After a considerable drive, the truck stopped in front of a large, warehouse-like building with an iron gate.

It looked like the kind of place a cult would use, or maybe a black market organ harvesting ring. On a worn-out sign, only the faded letters ‘KA Block 7’ were visible.

The truck door opened. The moment Seojin’s foot touched the ground, the air felt different. There were men here who looked dangerous at a single glance.

“Welcome.”

“The clients are waiting.”

The old iron door creaked open.

The inside of the warehouse was dusty, but it was more organized than she’d expected. A sense of tension and vigilance finally descended upon Seojin, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away as she entered the space.

“This way, please.”

The man leading Seojin guided her politely. But his eyes never left her, as if determined not to miss a single move. His gaze spoke volumes about the atmosphere of this place.

Inside the warehouse, high-intensity lights and curtains lined the walls. In front of them stood a row of sofas. The men sitting on them—the so-called clients—were not ordinary soldiers or officers from the training center.

They were dressed in civilian clothes that made it clear they had no connection to the military. One was slender, another had a sturdy build. One wore a suit and gold-rimmed glasses; another wore sunglasses despite being indoors.

One of them, whose face was uncovered, looked vaguely familiar, like someone she’d seen on the news.

“Think of it as a practical assessment,” the man said before Seojin could even open her mouth.

“Here, those without a designator are evaluated for suitability through a ‘physical confirmation.’”

“…”

The instruction was brief and cold.

“Please stand here.”

The sensor tag that had been attached to Seojin’s ankle when she boarded the truck beeped. Simultaneously, her physical information appeared on a large screen, and a spotlight from behind illuminated her.

She stood alone on the platform.

“First requester.”

A client raised his hand, identifying himself. He rose quietly and approached the platform.

Guided by the hand of the man standing beside her, Seojin’s jacket was removed, revealing the military-issue underwear strapped beneath her chest and her uniform pants. The client’s hand slowly approached, kneading her body, measuring her by his own standards.

“Good skin temperature… No scars, either.”

This was nothing to Seojin, not even enough to make her turn her head. She simply lowered her gaze, her face devoid of a smile.

Next.

The second man asked as he approached.

“What are the limits on touching?”

“There are no restrictions.”

“Good. I like her face… Let’s see her reaction.”

He ran his fingertips along her side and down her thigh. Seojin’s body flinched reflexively. At that single movement, a few of the men chuckled.

“High sensitivity. Very high.”

And so it went. Three men, then four. Each one appraised and handled her as if she were a sample to be inspected before a bid.

Someone asked, “When did she lose her virginity?”

“Do you have data on her previous ejaculation times?”

“That voice… I wonder what her moans sound like?”

Seojin grew more and more silent. But her eyes held a mixture of anger, contempt, and a weary familiarity.

“So far… she’s decent, but there’s a hint of defiance. That can be adjusted with training, I suppose.”

The fifth man said with a smirk. He suddenly knelt and placed his hands between Seojin’s knees.

“I think I’ll take this one.”

Just as Seojin pulled her clothes tighter and took a breath, the last client, who had been sitting silently the entire time, slowly rose from his seat.

He had a presence that was clearly different from the other men. He wasn’t bulging with muscle, nor did he reek of cheap thrills. He wore a simple, monochrome shirt and had a tranquil face.

Was he her father’s age? The wrinkles around his eyes were somewhat deep, and his steps were a little slow. The rather ordinary-looking man simply looked at her and did nothing.

Seojin’s body tensed slightly as she watched him. It wasn’t a strange sense of disgust, but the wariness one feels when meeting a person who is completely unreadable.

He checked a few documents in his hand and the screen behind her, then asked quietly.

“In stressful situations involving repeated verbal abuse, do you experience physical reactions? Difficulty breathing, or convulsions in your hands and feet?”

“…?”

Seojin narrowed her eyes in confusion. He was waiting for her answer.

“…No. I don’t.”

“Have you ever provided nursing care? Like measuring blood pressure.”

“I’ve completed a basic first aid course…”

At her words, a murmur went through the other clients.

“What the fuck is with that old guy?”

“Nursing? Is he really conducting a nurse’s interview with a girl like that?”

“What’s his angle?”

For the first time, Seojin didn’t shut her mouth, but stared at him for a long time.

“If you’ve endured this kind of environment… you would adapt well anywhere.”

His words were brief, but strangely, they treated Seojin like a human being. He finally wrote his name in the last box on the list of bidders and spoke.

He continued cautiously.

“Can you stay by someone’s side for a long time?”

At his question, Seojin instinctively straightened her posture. She pressed her knees together, placed her hands on them, and looked straight ahead. Then she answered curtly.

“Yes.”

“My requirements are a good character and decent stamina. However, the work will be demanding and long… If you do not wish for it, I will not designate you.”

He was different from the others who had openly coveted her body or made vulgar jokes. He looked at Seojin and handed her a piece of paper. His cautiousness, stopping right there, was telling. What it contained was not ‘desire,’ but some other intention.

Seojin thought to herself.

This man is the only one here who isn’t looking for a woman to bed.

She prayed deep in her heart, begging God that if every choice until now had abandoned her, just this once, her wish would be granted.

Seojin stood on the platform, bathed in the spotlight.

She didn’t even lift her gaze. Men’s eyes passed over the underwear covering her chest and trailed down her calves and thighs, but she showed no reaction.

The man in charge spoke.

“Final bidding. Seven designators, please present your desired price.”

Hands shot up all at once.

“120 million.”

“180 million.”

“250 million.”

“270 million.”

A series of short, firm voices followed. Hushed laughter and whispers erupted from the onlookers.

“They’re putting a high price on leasing a rare specimen.”

“But she looks like she’d be a hassle to break in, though.”

Seojin remained silent. It was as if her senses had gone numb at the fact that she was now an item on the bill of people from a world entirely different from her own.

“350 million.”

“400 million.”

“410 million.”

“460 million.”

The man who had been silent until the end quietly presented a card.

“480 million.”

His voice was firm, a low tone that carried no particular emotion for such a momentous decision.

“500 million.”

The price climbed a few more times before the auctioneer called the bid three times. The other men seemed to be holding out for the next auction.

After all, if they had truly wanted only her, they would have designated her from the start.

“Confirmed. Trainee Kang Seojin, designation complete to winning bidder A-009.”

Seojin’s mind went blank for a moment. The final price was…

…620 million?

Even if you took two zeros off that number, it was an amount of money her twenty-year-old self had never even seen.

The man organized his documents and walked quietly toward her. Then, without a word, he gave a slight bow. It was not a sneer, nor a look of contempt, but simply a quiet, polite gesture.

Seojin subconsciously straightened her back and bowed in return. A strange, incomprehensible current flowed between them.

This man… what does he plan to do with me for 620 million won?

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon for requests or to get early access to chapters