Up to the third street, the road was still luxurious. Lanterns hung here and there, casting a warm glow, and the colorful lights spilling from windows and doorways created an atmosphere like a bustling, vibrant district.
But the moment we stepped into the next street, the light began to fade, and the liveliness noticeably drained away.
It wasn’t just that fewer people were around.
First, the visibility subtly darkened. The familiar lanterns had vanished without a trace, replaced only by the occasional torch flickering on a building’s facade. And more than anything, the majority of those present weren’t wandering like us—they were gathered in small groups scattered throughout the street.
Why they lingered there, I couldn’t say for sure. After all, individual ‘desires’ can’t be neatly defined, and the nature of their dealings changed day by day.
One thing was certain: from this fourth street onward, this was the true realm of night.
Yes. A place where ‘beasts,’ not people, and ‘abnormals,’ not sane folk, held their revelry.
Murmurs.
Suddenly, I caught faint whispers ahead. A little further on, a wide street opened up. Around twenty or so users had formed a circle, watching something intently.
What stood out was that almost all of them were women. There were a few men—maybe three or four—but they were clearly the minority.
Just as I was about to pass quickly, a scene glimpsed between the crowd caught my eye, and despite knowing what it was, I couldn’t help but let out a brief, bitter chuckle.
“Suuuck… suuuuck…”
“Ugh, sniff…! Ugh…!”
A burly man was kneeling, his head pressed between someone’s legs, making vigorous sucking sounds. If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, the one on the receiving end was of the same sex.
Their limbs were tightly bound with thick ropes, a thin rod clenched between their teeth muffling their sobs. Not quite at Baek Han-gyeol’s level, but the face was pale and fairly delicate. Seeing a youthful boy being dominated by a burly, hairy man was deeply unsettling.
Around them, spectators watched with heated eyes, while a woman sat comfortably in a chair nearby. She sipped from a wine glass, her gaze fixed on the scene with a curious gleam. That spectacle was surely a manifestation of her own desire.
Then, the woman cupped her hands to her mouth and spoke in a coquettish voice.
“This is getting a bit dull… Dong-geol, why don’t we move on to the main event?”
“Y-yes, understood.”
The burly man bowed repeatedly before immediately pushing the other down onto the floor. At that moment, I turned my gaze away, unwilling to watch any longer.
…Still, that name sounded familiar. Maybe it was just my imagination.
A little later.
“Ughhh? Grrrkk!”
A heart-wrenchingly sorrowful scream struck my ears, followed by raucous laughter and light applause.
Ko Yeon-ju scoffed bitterly and clicked her tongue, while I swallowed hard and quickened my pace.
“Let’s keep moving. It’ll take quite a while to reach the last street.”
We quickly left that place behind, but the next street was no different. If anything, it was worse. Earlier, women had been the majority; now, it was the exact opposite.
As we stepped into the fifth street, cries of anguish and curses greeted us.
“Aaaah!”
“Good! Tear her apart! Kill that filthy vagrant bitch!”
“Open it! Open the door! Aaaah!”
“Fight! Get up and fight! Can’t get up? Heh heh heh!”
The square, with roads branching out in four directions, was in uproar.
In the center stood a roughly five-by-six-meter iron cage, surrounded by about fifty users shouting and jeering. Most voices mocked the woman inside or cheered on her opponent. The closer we got, the stronger the pungent stench hit my nose.
By the time we reached the square, the scene was nearly over. Inside the cage, two wolf-like monsters prowled, closing in on someone. Their bloodshot eyes and drooling mouths made their excitement clear.
Also inside was a woman barely covered by tattered cloth, collapsed on the ground. Her legs were tightly bound with ropes, and her right wrist shackled and tied. Only her head and left arm were free.
A broken wooden sword lay nearby, a sign that the woman had some skill.
Slowly, the wolves crept closer. Though exhausted, the woman seemed desperate to survive. She crawled, tears welling in her eyes, writhing and screaming like a trapped insect.
“N-no! Nooo! This is too much! Please, let me live!”
Her screams only fueled the crowd’s cheers. She fought with all her might, but with only one free arm and bare hands, she was helpless. Soon, one monster opened its jaws wide and swallowed her head. Then, with a sickening crunch, it bit down hard.
Crunch.
“Gah…!”
Her final scream echoed as her body thrashed violently. The surrounding noise abruptly stopped. As the monster chewed, bloodied brain matter dripped down its jaw. The woman’s trembling body convulsed intermittently before going limp.
As we passed the square, a thunderous roar erupted behind us.
“…Quite the brutal arena, isn’t it?”
Ko Yeon-ju finally spoke.
“It’s not an arena. It’s just one-sided torment.”
“Yeah, it reminds me of those Japanese bullying broadcasts.”
She glanced back quietly.
“Suhyun, did you know? On the Western Continent, this kind of thing is everyday life.”
“Who says that?”
“I heard it from Sarah. It’s even worse there…”
Her voice was calm, but her expression betrayed a hint of displeasure.
Was she feeling something walking through this street? I felt nothing. At least these fights ended with a clean death.
Honestly, tonight’s streets were milder than I expected. The worst memory I had was from a night called ‘Endure.’ They’d tie up a woman so she couldn’t move, then release dozens or even hundreds of monsters driven into heat to fight her in a sex battle.
If she survived until the end, she won—but I’d never seen a woman win. Most died at the hands of the frenzied beasts, some even bursting from the sheer volume of semen poured into them. Wasn’t that how Banda-hee died after being captured?
Well, I guess that means this place hasn’t fallen that far yet.
I pushed those thoughts aside and moved on to the next street.
The sixth street was quieter than any before. The number of users had dropped drastically, and only occasional murmurs broke the silence.
Ironically, though, this street reeked worse than any we’d passed.
“Oh?”
Just then, as I thought we were almost there, Ko Yeon-ju let out a soft sound. Curious, I looked ahead and saw a few users gathered. A tall pole, about as tall as a person, was stuck in the ground nearby, and on a display were neatly arranged black envelopes.
Looking closer, I saw a user hanging by their bound hands from the end of the pole. It looked like meat hanging in a butcher’s shop. The person was still alive but their eyes were unfocused and glazed over—probably drugged.
“I thought they’d go somewhere else, but looks like they got caught.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Let’s keep going. We’re almost there.”
This time, Ko Yeon-ju grabbed my arm and pulled me along.
“I just want something different… There’s a use for it, you know…”
“I told you… we can’t take anything out alive… It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just the rules… Someone who knows would understand…”
“If that’s the case, at least take one of those envelopes. I’ll give it to you cheap…”
“Those are from the Westerners. What I want are users from the Northern Continent…”
As we passed, I caught bits of their whispered conversation. Was there some kind of problem?
“I’d like to help if I could, but this one’s a no-go. Westerners can be legally enslaved…”
“When did I say I wanted to enslave them? Bringing them in fresh is better…”
“I’m just worried. Think about it—if word gets out that we caught a fresh graduate, I’m done for. It won’t just be the business closing; I’ll be dead!”
“Geez…”
“Come on, don’t be like that. We’re going to use them for experiments anyway. I’ll make sure to cut them up carefully.”
“Ah, well…”
As we quickened our pace, their voices faded behind us. We passed through the street in silence, and about ten minutes later, reached a fork in the road.
I stopped quietly and looked left and right.
To the left, the path narrowed gradually, leading into what looked like an entrance. It felt like something was being hidden there, secret and concealed.
On the right side, buildings appeared here and there, and the road was properly open. Yet, not a single user was in sight—only a deep silence and darkness stretched out.
There was a dangerously heavy atmosphere here. It felt as if stepping inside would make one vanish without a trace…
“So, what do you think?”
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden question, Goyeonju blinked, snapping out of her thoughts.
“I wanted to hear the opinion of the queen who once ruled this street.”
“…Heh.”
Goyeonju let out a dry chuckle and shook her head.
“That’s all in the past. Besides, the Night Street of the Old Northern Continent wasn’t even this big.”
Then, she glanced up sharply and shot me a sideways look.
“More than that, I want to hear what the current reigning queen thinks.”
“Me? That? I’m not really—”
“Why not? Since I stepped down, Salmun probably controls it now. But Salmun always seemed to tremble at the sight of someone…”
“…You’re underestimating the Shin Koran Alliance.”
“They’re just administrators. They can’t truly rule or dominate. And even if they could, wouldn’t a single word from someone make Night Street shut down immediately?”
“……”
Is that so?
I shrugged and turned my steps—not to the right, but to the left.
How much time had passed?
The street, which had been narrowing little by little, had become so tight that only three or four people could barely squeeze through. Then, at the end of the path, a structure larger than any building we had passed came into view.
Though calling it a building might be a stretch—it was completely shrouded in a black curtain with no gaps. Still, there was no doubt this was our destination.
At the entrance, a drape hung like a tent’s flap, and two users stood guard like bodyguards. The moment they saw us, they exchanged a glance and then stepped forward briskly.
“Guests, sorry, but robes are—”
Before the man could finish, the woman beside him quietly extended her arm to stop him. She fixed her gaze on Goyeonju for a moment, then bowed politely to me.
“Apologies for the intrusion. We’ve been expecting you.”
“No, it’s a bit late, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. It’s just about to start, so you’ve arrived perfectly on time.”
“That’s a relief.”
With a professional smile, the woman gestured toward the dark entrance.
“Then, from here on, I will personally escort you.”
I nodded, and she turned gracefully, slipping inside. Goyeonju and I followed quietly behind.
The seventh street, wrapped in mystery—
Soon to become the auction house where the ‘War of Gold’ would unfold.