Is It Strange For A Succubus To Be Wearing Clothes?

Chapter 45

—–CROW—– 

“Ugh, I should be working…”

Even though she was in the exciting situation of watching a movie alone with Jae-hee, Dan Ah-yeon wasn’t feeling particularly happy or relaxed.

The chilling photo Jae-hee posted at dawn, entangled in tentacles, with the caption “Don’t I look pretty?” was still vivid in her mind.

Normally, this was the time she would be clocking in at work, checking the mountain of documents piled on her desk.

But the fact that she was skipping work to be at a movie theater felt incredibly difficult and awkward for the diligent and model student-like Dan Ah-yeon.

‘I have to submit the Non-Standing Committee building reconstruction report this morning… and after that, I need to give instructions for the Paju Dungeon cleanup…’

Furthermore, she was fundamentally a model student type.

Despite being a High-ranking Awakened, her personality and mindset were rather ordinary, and she had never broken the law in her life.

The only people in the old theater were Jae-hee and Dan Ah-yeon.

The caramel popcorn was decently sweet, but it had a slightly stale texture, probably due to its age.

Still, it tasted good.

Wasn’t that all that mattered?

“Dan Unnie, it’s starting.”

At Jae-hee’s words, Dan Ah-yeon stopped munching on popcorn and looked up at the old-fashioned analog screen.

She couldn’t remember the last time she watched a movie.

During her school days, she was a model student, focused only on studying. She rarely went to movie theaters, and then the world nearly ended with the Great Rift, and she became a public official Hunter during the recovery process.

She was lucky that her abilities were enough to keep her alive, but she had been incredibly busy ever since, and now she was even responsible for Specially Managed Returnee Lee Jae-hee.

She simply hadn’t had the time to watch movies.

‘I never thought I’d be watching one like this.’

Rather than being excited about the movie itself, it felt quite novel to experience something she had never seen before.

“What movie is this, anyway?”

“It’s a movie about a man wrongly imprisoned who gets raped.”

“What!?!?!!?!?!”

It was true.

Not a lie.

It was a very brief scene, but it *was* in the movie.

Of course, it wasn’t an important part, it was barely depicted, and the real plot and focus of the movie were completely different.

However, Dan Ah-yeon’s expression seemed to say, ‘As expected, as expected!  This is what the Succubus Empress would do!’

“W-Why would you want to watch a movie like this with me?!”

“Well…”

“Well?”

“Because I thought your reaction would be interesting?”

“You have terrible taste!”

Skipping work to watch such a lewd(?) movie…!

Dan Ah-yeon’s face flushed, and her head spun.

Watching a risqué movie alone with the Succubus Empress in an empty theater?

This was insane.

‘What was the title?  *Shawshank Redemption*? Is “Shawshank” some kind of brothel or a place where they keep sex slaves?!’

Since there actually *were* groups and areas in reality that kidnapped people and turned them into sex slaves, Dan Ah-yeon shuddered.

‘Gasp, is it today? I thought I had suppressed and controlled it, but is the Succubus Empress finally planning to make me her prey, her slave!?’

All sorts of terrifying thoughts and delusions filled Dan Ah-yeon’s mind, but the movie, with a short credit sequence, had already begun.

‘No, no. Get a grip, Dan Ah-yeon…!’

She was a High-ranking Awakened, after all.

If nothing else, her mental fortitude was exceptional; she was the only one who hadn’t been charmed by the Succubus Empress!

It was just a… pornographic(?) movie.

Even if it was a bit awkward to watch such a movie alone with the Succubus Empress, she could endure it!

Go, go!

And so, the movie began.

Title: *The Shawshank Redemption*

As the movie started, Dan Ah-yeon’s expression was filled with tension bordering on terror.

The setting of a prison and prisoners was already quite unsettling, and Jae-hee’s description of “a man wrongly imprisoned who gets raped” made it even more terrifying.

But the actual content of the movie was very different from what Dan Ah-yeon had imagined.

Much different.

Very, very different.

[“Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” I hope this letter finds you, and I hope you’re well.]

And then, at the ending, Dan Ah-yeon…

“Sob, sniffle…”

[A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

I hope I can make it across the border.

I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.

I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.

I hope.]

“Sob, sniffle… Waaaaah…”

She was completely engrossed, and by the final narration, tears were streaming down her face.

‘It’s a good movie, a decent movie, but is it… that moving? Well, I guess it could be. Especially for Dan Unnie’s generation, who tended to avoid movies.’

Actually, Jae-hee was focused on something else.

She had already seen the movie multiple times. It was still enjoyable, but observing Dan Ah-yeon’s changing expressions as she watched was more entertaining.

At first, it was fear and wariness.

Then, a look of surprise. And when the part Jae-hee mentioned, about the “wrongly imprisoned man getting raped,” came on, Dan Ah-yeon’s expression was like, ‘I knew it!  She’s showing her true colors now!  Like some kind of sadistic porno!’

She looked like a hamster, startled, squeezing her eyes shut, then peeking through tiny slits.

From the middle of the movie, her eyes sparkled, fixated on the screen without blinking.

The movie wasn’t particularly stimulating or action-packed.

Reality itself was far more dazzling and spectacular than any movie CGI, but the aura of the old film deeply resonated with Dan Ah-yeon.

“…Sniffle, sob, sniffle…”

This was probably the first time Dan Ah-yeon had seen a movie like this in her life.

Especially in an old, analog theater.

Due to the risk of memetic contamination and mental corruption, she probably hadn’t been able to properly watch most older videos.

In her bleak and joyless life, apart from Jae-hee, she probably never imagined she would see such a classic masterpiece.

To Jae-hee, *The Shawshank Redemption* was just a movie she enjoyed a long time ago. But to Dan Ah-yeon, who had directly experienced the new era, a classic film like this was deeply moving in itself.

“Dan Unnie.”

“Sniffle, yes…?”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Dan Ah-yeon wiped her tears and nodded.

More than anything,

the words from the movie deeply touched her heart.

Hope.

A good word.

Something she always held onto, even when it felt like poison…

But because it was good.

Because it was good, it would never disappear.

Even if it sometimes tested her, it was undoubtedly a good thing… just like the Succubus Empress beside her.

“Hehehe, glad you came along?”

“…Yes.”

“You should always come along whenever I say so, okay?”

“…That’s not right.”

“Oh my, you’re so difficult.”

They hadn’t even eaten half the popcorn.

Dan Ah-yeon was too engrossed in the movie.

Jae-hee was too engrossed in watching Dan Ah-yeon.

★

It might be surprising, but South Korea was currently in a semi-post-apocalyptic state.

Though it had teetered on the brink of destruction and successfully recovered, achieving normal national function,

the existing threats hadn’t completely disappeared.  And the once fractured society was still far from healing.

The [Beetle Nest] located in Mapo District was one example. And outside the metropolitan area, in rural regions, many military units had transformed into raiders or warlords, establishing their own kingdoms.

Thus, society was currently divided into Green Zones, Gray Zones, Red Zones, and Black Zones.

Green Zones, as the name suggested, were safe areas.

Centered around Seoul, the metropolitan area, and major cities, most large cities were considered safe zones, under the control of the military, Hunters, guilds, and the government.

Gray Zones were, literally, gray areas.

They weren’t critically dangerous, but law and order weren’t perfectly maintained either.

They were still habitable, but mostly controlled by outlaws or factions, rather than the government or military.

Parts of the metropolitan area, including the [Beetle Nest] in Mapo District, and the outskirts of major cities fell into this category.

Red Zones were areas where survival wasn’t guaranteed.

Places where monsters and paranormal creatures outnumbered humans.

Some were infested with zombies, others were monster nests.

Black Zones were even worse than Red Zones, areas completely beyond human control.

Places that could be described as hell for humans. Probably only frontline Hunters even knew what Black Zones were like.

Anyway, to return to the story, the cinema Dan Ah-yeon and Jae-hee were currently in was located precariously on the border between a Green Zone and a Gray Zone.

It exuded analog nostalgia and was directly exposed to memetic contamination due to the lack of government control.

Watching a movie in a place like this wasn’t safe.

“Look at that car.  Fancy, must be a government official.”

“Let’s grab the loot and get out of here.”

Perhaps that was why

the border with the Gray Zone was overflowing with raiders called hyenas and robbers who preyed on innocent citizens.

There was a reason why the analog cinema was so run-down.

With the surrounding area becoming a Gray Zone, losing all semblance of law and order, where would the customers come from?

It was only thanks to the “donations” from robber gangs and a few customers with unique tastes that it was still in business.

“They’re crazy. Coming all the way here in such a nice car.”

“A government official, maybe?”

The experienced robbers knew their limits.

Though armed with knives and guns, they could be easily subdued and killed if a real Awakened showed up. So, they mainly targeted the vehicles and belongings of arrogant Awakened.

A clean, latest-model car parked in a Gray Zone was a strong indication that an overconfident Awakened had ventured into the area.

“Keuh, an Awakened, maybe?”

“Maybe not.”

“If things go south, we’re dead.”

Usually, they would ambush around the car and attack the customers after they watched a movie, but if the target was likely an Awakened, they changed their approach.

They targeted the car itself.

“Even just stripping the engine and wheels is worth it. Let’s move.”

“This is reinforced glass.  Just taking this would be a good haul.”

“Hey, hey, it looks like there are only two of them inside.  How about we just rob them?”

“Should we? I think I saw two women. Even if they’re Awakened, we can just use the cyanide sleeping gas…”

And so, the Gray Zone robbers brought specialized equipment, planning to dismantle Dan Ah-yeon’s car and ambush Dan Ah-yeon and Jae-hee inside the theater.

Just then, a middle-aged man with gray hair opened the ticket booth door.

“…Didn’t I ask you not to come into my territory?”

Mikkelsen.

The owner of Jae-hee’s favorite bar in Mapo District.

The true ruler of the [Beetle Nest].

“I’m asking you politely.  My customers are having a good time.”

“Who’s this old man?”

“Was there an owner here? I thought it was an unmanned ticket booth.”

“Hmph, how rude.”

Seeing that the robbers weren’t backing down, Mikkelsen sighed briefly.

He wasn’t the type to enjoy unnecessary bloodshed, but he was by no means merciful or a pushover.

“It wasn’t planned,”

In fact, he could be infinitely cruel to humans.

“but it’s time to brew some new liquor.”

★

That night, several bottles of liquor with no return address arrived at Jae-hee’s house.

Despite the lack of a sender’s information, Jae-hee knew immediately who sent them.

“Oh my, looks like Mikkelsen brewed some new liquor~?”

There weren’t that many people in the world who brewed liquor using humans, after all.

—–CROW—– 

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