Chapter 860: Sandbag (1)

Geum Jangmi didn’t let her guard down until the very moment Sung Taekyung returned.

Although she was resting lying on the floor, it was purely to conserve energy, and she was fully aware that she had been kidnapped.

She couldn’t keep her attention focused on the kidnapper indefinitely, as she didn’t know when he would return. Futile efforts made in unseen places were, in Geum Jangmi’s opinion, one of the most pathetic and useless things one could do.

Moreover, adopting a composed attitude rather than fidgeting and showing weakness at the upcoming negotiation would be advantageous for gaining the upper hand. Revealing that she wanted to negotiate would inevitably lead to her being dragged along by the opponent’s desired terms. However, she couldn’t afford to act too arrogant and offend him, so she aimed for just the right balance.

These were negotiation skills she, as the next successor of the Geumhyang Group, had honed over many years. Although the process of acquiring these skills involved using a lot of phantom pain and memory erasure, Geum Jangmi was confident they would undoubtedly be helpful in her current situation.

…She hadn’t yet realized that her theory only held true when the other party also desired a ‘negotiation’ with her, and that Sung Taekyung had no intention of negotiating with her from the start.

-Screeeech.

‘…He’s here now.’

At the sound of the door opening, she slowly began to sit up from her lying position. It would make for a proper negotiation only if they could speak face-to-face, rather than while she was lying down or sitting. Of course, she couldn’t completely abandon the appearance of composure, so Geum Jangmi deliberately took a little longer to get up. This was to ensure the opponent clearly understood that she had been resting until he appeared.

“You seem rather relaxed? Like you don’t even realize you’ve been kidnapped?”

A muscular man appeared beyond the door. Since he was already among the potential kidnapper candidates Geum Jangmi had anticipated, she was fortunate enough to hide her surprise and emotions.

“So it was you. I half-expected it.”

“…What did you expect?”

“Just that I was trying to guess who would be bold and wealthy enough to kidnap me. Sung Taekyung, a male Hunter affiliated with the company, right?”

“…….”

Sung Taekyung was momentarily speechless at Geum Jangmi’s brazen attitude, which was unbelievable for someone who had been kidnapped. He knew she was a crazy woman who tried to use phantom pain on a man whose identity she didn’t even know from their first meeting, but seeing her act so brazenly, believing she was in control even while kidnapped, was completely unexpected.

“You must have felt really wronged that day, huh? Seeing as you investigated me in just two days.”

“…Not really? I just wanted to know. I wanted to know just how audacious a man you were to pull something like that on me right from our first meeting.”

“Isn’t that a bit rich coming from you, who tried to use phantom pain on me from the first meeting?”

“The fact that you know I used phantom pain means you weren’t holding back entirely back then, right? Were you enduring it with sheer willpower? If so, I’ll gladly applaud. You’re the only one who’s ever endured my ‘burning pain’ before.”

“…….”

Clap. Clap. Clap. Geum Jangmi’s leisurely clapping echoed softly in Sung Taekyung’s ears. Although the situation was far from relaxed, the clapping was deliberately meant to emphasize her composure. After all, Geum Jangmi knew better than anyone that acting superior to the opponent was advantageous for gaining the upper hand in negotiations.

-Thump. Thump.

Even as Sung Taekyung’s footsteps approached her, Geum Jangmi had no idea what was about to happen. It was understandable, really, because she had overlooked two crucial facts from the very beginning.

One: The reason she was kidnapped wasn’t for money or anything related to the Geumhyang Group, but because of her, herself.

And, the second…

-WHAM!!!

“…Guh-waaaahk?!?!?!”

…It was that this place she’d been kidnapped to was not for negotiation, but for punishment.

Geum Jangmi’s body, hit square in the face by my fist, flew back slightly before crashing straight onto the floor. Her expression was bewildered as she flew off, letting out a squeal fit for a piglet, completely unprepared for the punch that landed at the last second.

One thing became certain from our conversation: this woman needed to be handled much rougher than Geum Dallae. Judging by her attitude right before I punched her face, she seemed completely lost in her own world, even now. It looked like she’d need some serious discipline to knock that arrogant venom out of her.

“Y-you bastard! Are you crazy?! How ignorantly must you have lived to just punch someone in the face first…”

“Yeah. I’ve lived ignorantly. So what?”

“…….”

“So, what are you gonna do about it?”

-THWACK!!!

“Guh-huuuk…!!”

Kicked in the solar plexus while still slumped on the floor, Geum Jangmi was sent flying again, rolling on the ground clutching the area below her chest in agony. Geum Jangmi, who had been deliberately showing off her composure just moments ago, seemed to have lost all trace of it after taking two consecutive blows.

I grabbed Geum Jangmi’s ponytail and yanked her head up from the floor.

-GRAB.

“Ack! Aah! Aaaah!”

“Get up, you bitch. It’s not over yet.”

“Aaaah! M-my hair…! You’re ripping my hair out…!! Shit!”

“Yeah? Does it hurt?”

“Why the hell would you even ask that…”

-POW!!!

“Guh, guh-huuup?!”

“Don’t worry. Ripping your hair out won’t even feel that painful soon.”

Geum Jangmi tried to get up, grabbing my hand holding her hair, only to clutch the area below her chest again. Her solar plexus, hit twice in a row, seemed to be throbbing badly. She still had a long way to go before her bad habits were beaten out of her, so naturally, I had no intention of stopping here.

-POW!

“Aaaaaah…!!”

After taking a blow to the lower abdomen following the solar plexus, Geum Jangmi’s body bent forward. To be precise, it wasn’t so much bending as curling up slightly on tiptoe. This was because I was holding Bitch No. 1’s hair, restricting her movement. Then, she tentatively moved one of her hands from clutching her chest down to her lower abdomen, attempting to defend herself. It might not be as bad as her solar plexus, but it was still a pretty painful spot to take a direct punch.

It didn’t really matter to me whether Geum Jangmi tried to cover herself or not. After all, a woman’s front body has many vulnerable spots that hurt when hit. She could cover one or two places with her hands, but covering them all was impossible.

-POW!

“Guh, guh-huup…!”

-POW!

“Guh-huup, aahak!!”

As soon as Bitch No. 1 covered her abdomen and lower belly, I drove my fist towards Geum Jangmi’s chest. It wasn’t difficult to land a punch on that area, which naturally became emphasized as she clutched one side of her chest with her arm.

-POW!

“Aah! S-stop…!!”

-POW!

“I said, stop…!! Are you seriously trying to kill me…!!”

-THWACK!

“Guh, guh-huuueup…!!”

After taking several punches to the chest, her hand, which had been covering her solar plexus, slowly crept upwards as if she couldn’t take it anymore. It was a bit too wide an area to cover with one hand, so there were still places to hit, but instead, I aimed for the now-exposed solar plexus. My goal was simply to inflict pain on this woman, so there was no need to fixate on hitting her chest.

-WHAM!

“Nnngh…!!!”

Bitch No. 1’s body convulsed in pain, unable to even scream or groan. From Bitch No. 2’s reaction, I could roughly tell, but it seemed that, excluding the clitoris, hitting this area on the front body caused the most intense pain.

“Let go! J-just let go!! Shit!”

Perhaps it was too agonizing just to defend herself, Geum Jangmi completely changed her attitude to become aggressive. She started desperately trying to make me let go, pinching and scratching the arm holding her hair. While it wasn’t exactly threatening for a woman with no combat skills to inflict minor scratches on my arm, it wasn’t exactly unobtrusive either. So, I made sure she wouldn’t even have the leisure to do that. Instead of me forcibly grabbing her hands to pull them away, I ensured Bitch No. 1 had no choice but to remove her own hands scratching my arm.

-CRUNCH!

“Aaaaaaaah!!”

As I lifted my arm while gripping the roots of her long ponytail, Geum Jangmi’s entire body was hoisted into the air. Surprisingly, human hair attached to the scalp can withstand a considerable amount of weight. Of course, the person experiencing it would feel the pain of their scalp being torn, but that was precisely the situation I wanted right now. Therefore, Geum Jangmi had no choice but to retract her hands scratching my arm and desperately cling to it with both hands. After all, faced with the terror of potentially dying, one naturally acts to survive.

Naturally, in the process, the body she had been using to cover herself became completely exposed, effectively turning Bitch No. 1 into a sandbag dangling in mid-air.

-POW!

“Aaaaaaah!”

-THWACK!

“Stop…Hng, guh-huuueup…!!!”

While dangling helplessly from my left arm, my right fist struck Geum Jangmi’s defenseless body repeatedly. All No. 1 could do in this situation was cling to my arm and scream.