Yeongjongdo (3)
I advanced slowly toward Seol Rokjin, my dagger hand dangling loosely at my side.
Before I knew it, I was right in front of his nose. Thank goodness for the mask. Without it, he might have read my expression.
"Calm down!"
My heart was pounding like mad. I'd replayed this scenario in my head a hundred times while waiting, but it still wouldn't settle.
I resented Seol Rokjin. I'd wanted to kill that bastard over and over. But in the end, I'd submitted to him, living on with the humiliating nickname of his pet dog.
But not this life.
I'll make it different.
Seol Rokjin whispered to me as I bowed my head before him.
"Stab your own throat with that dagger."
Just like the Seol Rokjin I know. He loved making people end their own lives with their own hands. And at the last moment, he'd release the brainwashing just to savor their reaction.
What a sick bastard.
I raised the hand gripping the dagger as ordered. The moment Seol Rokjin smirked, I kicked off the ground and charged straight at him.
I thrust the dagger at the nape of Seol Rokjin's neck. Or tried to. Unfortunately, my blade stopped just 1 cm short.
Damn it. Of course a coward like Seol Rokjin wouldn't come here without some artifact protecting him.
But I'm not the old me anymore. I squeezed every drop of mana from my body into the dagger. Inch by inch, the gap between the blade and his neck narrowed ever so slightly.
Seol Rokjin cried out in shock at my actions.
"How?!"
"Whatever cheap trick you're pulling, it won't work on me."
I threw back the bodyguard's words from earlier—calling it a "cheap trick." Felt damn good.
Just seeing the shock on Seol Rokjin's face melted away years of pent-up heartburn.
His pupils trembled. The calm mask shattered.
But only for a moment. Seol Rokjin's eyes began to glow yellow again.
"I told you, your power doesn't work on me."
But this time, he wasn't targeting me.
A charging bodyguard tackled me from the side, sending me rolling across the ground.
"Shit."
I swung my dagger to shake him off, but they clung to me like leeches, even as they took wounds. In seconds, my body was drenched in blood.
Like zombies stripped of reason, they rushed me without any defense, moving only to stop me.
—W-What's wrong with those guys all of a sudden?!
'He triggered the implant in their brains. Once activated, they mindlessly charge at anyone in sight.'
It was Seol Rokjin's method for discarding used pawns. Damn, I should've anticipated this. I jammed my dagger into the neck of one clinging to me.
"G-gurk."
Even as his breath rattled out, his hands still gripped me—to hold me back even a little. The irrational response sent chills down my spine.
—Truly gruesome.
I shook off the corpse and hurled my wire at the fleeing Seol Rokjin, but the dagger embedded itself in another bodyguard blocking his path.
Damn it.
Again.
Time's running out. I gathered mana at my fingertips. A small spark of static leaped between my palms. I lunged at the bodyguard, grabbing his nape. Crackling electricity surged from my hand, frying his brain.
Leaping over his collapsing body, my mind was fixed on one thing: Seol Rokjin.
He'd been untouchable, but now he was within my grasp.
All I needed was that one inch to end him. Just one inch, and I could erase him from this world.
Maybe all those victims wouldn't happen!
But by the time I'd shaken off the leeches, the boat Seol Rokjin had arrived on was already leaving the island.
Damn it.
"Always quick to save his own skin, that ghost."
Even in my past life when I died, he'd probably survived like a cockroach. I flicked the blood off my dagger and sheathed it.
Holding the radio, I spoke.
"Testing, testing. This is mission complete, mission complete."
Screams echoed behind those words as I shrugged. At least the screamer didn't sound like one of ours.
"We'll rest up and link up soon."
My body still ached.
* * *
By the time I trudged along the path to rejoin Baek Dosan and his crew, everything was already wrapped up.
"Wasn't the poison user a pain?"
"No dodging bullets, though."
True, unless you're a physical enhancer, even an awakener dies to gunfire.
Thanks to my heads-up, they handled unverified talent users from max range with guns. Casualties were low: one death on our side, all twenty enemies down.
"No survivors?"
"Subordinates of a brainwasher, right? Felt too risky to leave any alive, so we cleaned house."
Decisive and thorough. Geum Doctor, pale-faced beside Baek Dosan, clutched his mouth.
"Ugh, gonna puke."
"Your stomach's too weak."
"Yours is too strong!"
Geum Doctor slumped into a plastic chair, face ashen. I looked at Baek Dosan.
"If Seol Rokjin hits their triggers, it gets messy, sure. But he can fully brainwash only one or two at a time. The rest have limits—line of sight or hearing his voice."
That's why he came here himself.
"I owe you this time. Honestly, I still don't fully trust you, but following your lead doesn't seem like a loss."
Didn't catching the traitor earlier earn some trust? Still suspicious, huh.
Well, if he bought my words too easily, that would've been creepy. A business relationship at arm's length was perfect.
"You helped me, so compensation's due. What do you want?"
Baek Dosan himself asking—not bad. But the timing wasn't right yet.
"If something comes up, I'll pass it through Geum Doctor."
Geum Doctor, who'd been watching silently, pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Got it."
"Can you two talk without me? Not keen on butting in."
Baek Dosan and I ignored him, exchanging nods. Geum Doctor finally gave up.
"Fine, whatever. Use me as you like."
With that, business done. Time to go.
Before leaving the island with Geum Doctor, a thought struck me. Almost forgot. Something crucial for Baek Dosan.
"Planning to keep importing drugs through here?"
"Didn't mention the cargo was drugs. Though you'd probably know anyway. Why ask?"
"If you're switching routes, I have good intel."
No idiot keeps using a leaked route. He'd switch regardless, but then what's in it for me?
"Portals from China are fine, but receiving here's the issue. Portal Division's sticklers, as you know."
Portals: mana stone-powered instant transport tech. Great for goods, but living things die instantly.
Still, they used cargo ships for a reason.
"China's got illegal portals aplenty, but dodging the Korean government's eyes here is tough."
Government ran portals and cracked down hard on smuggling. Early try-hards were all jailed by now.
But I knew a way.
Not blatantly corrupt yet, but soon-to-be: a list etched in my mind. Including Portal Division's Oh Joon-seok.
"Find Oh Joon-seok, head of Portal Management. His youngest daughter's about to get a rare disease. Money talks, he'll do anything."
Oh Joon-seok was squeaky clean till then, well-respected—perfect mark. Never heard of issues after Seol Rokjin flipped him.
"Keep the kid's illness quiet, and you're good for at least a decade."
Disease hits in about a year, but congenital—subtle symptoms now, unnoticed.
"And if you use that route, I want a share."
"A share?"
"Not for free. I'll invest too."
Dealing drugs—some might point fingers. But I needed money. Tons of it.
Can't raid gates, so this was my steadiest big-money stream.
Time to dip a toe in.
"If the route pans out, sure."
Baek Dosan nodded readily. Saving his life bought leeway on profit splits.
With final words exchanged, Geum Doctor and I left the island.
"Where to drop you?"
"Here’s fine."
In a bustling area, I parted with Geum Doctor. Real work started now.
Still, huge gains today.
—Landing a hit on that smug bastard felt the best.
"He'll never forget it."
Seol Rokjin fleeing in shock. Like a massive clog finally cleared.
"He's no god, after all."
A bitter realization brushed my mind.
—Think positive! It's just the start!
"Right."
As I chatted optimistically with Ray and stepped onto the main road, my face appeared on a billboard atop a building.
Ah, damn it.
Looks like that smug bastard wanted payback too.