Chapter 29: I'm Innocent (3)
Kim Du-sik, the diligent employee working at Push & Cash, stepped out for lunch. He'd asked his prickly boss if he wanted to eat together, but got shot down with, "Seeing your face ruins my appetite."
It's not that bad. My mom said I was handsome.
Kim Du-sik plopped his butt down on a chair at a soup restaurant, looking somewhat dejected.
He'd considered grabbing fast food, but figured a hearty bowl of seolleongtang would be better.
It had been six months since he started serving under that boss—good-looking but with a foul temper. Life was tough, but scooping up a spoonful of the milky blood sausage soup, laced with red seasoning from the steaming pot, soothed his insides.
The news was running a story about a wanted poster for some brutal maniac killer.
"Tsk tsk, what kind of era is this? Still committing crimes like that."
Couldn't they just work honestly at a company like him and make money? He couldn't stand those Awakeners.
How could filthy things like that invade a world of fair, upright fists?
But for some reason, the guy on the news didn't look entirely unfamiliar.
I've seen him somewhere before.
It really felt like a face he'd seen somewhere.
Kim Du-sik, whose job made him good at remembering faces even if he wasn't the sharpest, racked his brain desperately.
Where did I see this guy?
And when the memory hit him, Kim Du-sik bolted up from his seat, leaving half his blood sausage soup behind.
"It's that guy! 130 million!"
He dashed back to the Push & Cash office.
"D-Did you see the director, sir?"
Choi In-hyeok's face came into view, trembling as he watched the news.
We're screwed.
Kim Du-sik squeezed his eyes shut.
The cave floor was thickly layered with bat guano. The moment I stepped on it, bugs tangled in the droppings scattered with a rustle.
━Kieeeeek!
"What's with that rude screech?"
━I, I hate bugs the most in this world! You don't plan to stay in this filthy, dingy place, do you?
More of a spoiled young master than I thought.
"If presences keep being felt here, the bats will leave. No bats means no guano piling up, so the bugs will vanish too."
Bats are sensitive creatures. Monsters aside, wild bats couldn't handle human presences and would soon abandon the place...
That's when something warm plopped onto my head from above.
"Gah! What the hell!"
Bat shit. The bats clinging to the ceiling didn't budge, as if mocking me.
"Get out, you bastards!"
Whether I yelled or swung my arms, it was no use.
I didn't want to go this far.
I fired mana fireballs in all directions. Only when the blazing orbs hurtled toward them did the bat swarm finally take flight out of the cave.
Maybe they hated this wicked intruder stealing their home. Before leaving, they made sure to leave "gifts" on my body.
"Those damn bastards!"
Drenched in shit in an instant, I barely swallowed my curses.
━Haha! Look at you! Completely covered in crap! Even those beasts know who's stealing their nest.
I ignored Ray's words.
I'd succeeded in driving out the bats, but cleaning up their guano was another chore.
"Wish I could just hose it down with water."
I sprayed water from my hand.
Psst.
Looking at the pathetic stream pooling at my feet, I clamped my mouth shut.
"Damn it."
━Puhaha! With your ability, it'd take over ten years to clean this place spotless.
Annoying, but Ray was right. I considered fetching water from a nearby stream, but shook my head at the cave's size.
"Yeah, that's impossible."
I scrapped the water-hauling plan entirely.
I could install plumbing later for cleaning. No need for the hassle when artifacts that spew endless water with mana stones existed.
More items to request from Geum Doctor. I sat on the floor, listing necessities one by one.
"Gotta set up the basics at least."
Electricity and water facilities were must-haves. The rooms were simple: sleep, eat, shit. Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom—essentials.
The cave was vast enough for all that, but I needed to clean it thoroughly before installing anything.
Looking at the guano filling the cave, I sighed.
It was a hopelessly massive task.
I pitched a tent outside the cave. The one I used for gate raids, equipped with artifacts—good enough for temporary living.
It had a water system producing up to 15L a day, plus purification, so in a pinch, I could recycle my own output.
Feels gross, so no thanks.
Ray whistled at my tent.
━Looks shabby on the outside, but the setup's pretty nice.
"The world's advanced that much."
━How many people you planning to bring to this base?
At Ray's question, I rolled my eyes slowly, mentally reviewing the faces that came to mind before speaking.
"Hmm, five to seven? If things go well."
Guys like Yuseonje—my Babel Academy classmate, S-grade hunter scouted by Sirius right after graduation—or monsters like Bingmari were impossible to recruit, dead or alive. But there were plenty of abandoned strays; gathering them could make solid forces.
"For now, I need to bring in at least one laborer to help soon."
No joke—doing this alone would grind my bones to dust.
━People aren't that easy to find on the spot.
"Money makes anything possible."
"Refunds only within three days, after that just buybacks—and we can't pay full price."
This place was full of eccentric types, so the owner didn't bat an eye at me in a black mask.
His concern was elsewhere.
"You really gonna buy that one?"
"Yes. So hand it over quick."
I shoved the token into the owner's hand.
Cash deal. I'd brought 500 million, but whatever happened in the meantime dropped it to 350 million. Saved some cash.
Sounds like I'm a real human trafficker now.
━Not "sounds like"—you are.
'Yeah, fair point.'
The owner verified my token and vanished to fetch the "merchandise."
Even if inhuman acts happened casually here, it always tested my humanity.
I desperately averted my eyes from the "items" displayed in spotless cages.
"Here it is."
The owner dragged a massive cage my way.
━You sure about this guy? Looks rough.
Ray wasn't wrong. Kim Jae-ho in the iron bars looked far worse than before.
His body was covered in wounds, drool dripping from his gagged mouth.
Even in this state, his undimmed feral eyes were terrifying.
Skin and bones, ribs protruding from malnutrition—yet still full of fight.
Still, we used to get along decently back then.
Even after Seol Rokjin scrambled his brains into idiocy, Kim Jae-ho was picky about people. And he followed me most.
After all, I was the only one treating him humanely.
That's why I became his handler—until the "suicide order" he couldn't escape. I'd thought it lucky back then.
I hated how he'd do anything I said. I'd secretly wished he'd run a hundred times, but he obeyed to the end, marching to his death.
He knew he'd die, yet followed my command.
And never returned.
Thinking back, Seol Rokjin really is a bastard.
Recalling that, I smiled bitterly.
Ray spoke as Kim Jae-ho growled through the bars.
━That thing! Let it loose and it'll rip your throat out. You sure?
'Hmm, ease into it and it'll be fine, right?'
But yeah, the vibe was murderously intense, as Ray said.
"Grrrr."
Bam!
Seeing him ready to burst through, I quickly asked the owner.
"Th-that electric shock collar... you said it was free, right?"
I got a ton of sedatives guaranteed to calm Kim Jae-ho. Staring at the syringe that could pierce elephant hide, I gulped.
Gauging my expression, the owner kept threatening no refunds.
Should've bought when he was worn out...
Buying him was fine, but hauling to the cave was the issue.
The owner offered delivery, but requesting it to my secret mid-mountain base was ridiculous.
Luckily, I had a reliable sucker—er, supporter.
[Carry that thing up to the mid-mountain?]
I quickly added to Geum Doctor's incredulous tone.
"And I need some stuff."
Geum Doctor groaned at my list.
[Said call anytime you need, but you're really planning to fleece me dry. Building a shelter or what?]
"Can't roam outside for a while, right?"
Thankfully, he assumed it was due to the wanted poster.
[True, gotta lay low. Building a bunker and holing up—smart choice! I'd just hire a contractor myself.]
Yeah, should've done that. Regret flickered.
But building my own base was a dream.
Geum Doctor shipped everything fast. Next day, I met his delivery crew.
I fed them my lie.
I trusted Geum Doctor, but not that much.
"Must've been tough hauling to the cliff edge. Thanks."
No cliffs here, but they nodded, buying it.
Ray commented as I fooled the workers.
━You think your talent's worthless, but this seems pretty useful.
"Only good for crap like this. Useless in combat."
I ignored Ray's grumbling.
I approached the crates slowly. Inside the massive wooden box was Kim Jae-ho's iron cage—barely 2㎡.
I smashed the nailed-shut box open.
Sunlight filtered through the splintered wood.
At first, Kim Jae-ho fled to the corner like a beast avoiding the sun. But with all obstacles gone and shadows lifted, he froze, blinking unfamiliarly at the pouring light.
As I considered draping cloth over him...
Kim Jae-ho's gaze slowly lifted to the sky.
To the clear blue heavens.
The one who'd raged hating everything stood still, staring at the blue sky for a long time.
Warm sunlight and cool breeze washed between us.
━At least he knows good weather.
I shrugged at Ray's words.