Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: That Man (2)
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"Anyway, find me a really good one! I'm not the type to ignore someone's sincerity. Have you ever seen me take a gift and then pretend it never happened?"
"Assemblyman, you wound me saying that."
"Huh?"
"What do you think I'm after? It's just a token of my respect, straight from the heart. Think of it as a little hello from your little bro."
"Little bro! Haha, that's my little bro! You could make it big in politics, you know that? Yeah, who'd I ask for a favor like this if not my own flesh and blood?"
"Don't worry about a thing. They might be a bit short-staffed tonight, but the girls here will take excellent care of you."
"You bet, you bet. Our Manager Jeong picked 'em out himself. Our girl can handle it, right?"
He slowly trailed his hand down the cheek of the woman still sitting rigidly between his legs.
Assemblyman Yang Du-chan flashed a satisfied smile, clearly even more taken with her trembling like a baby bird.
His hand dropped from her chin, slid over her collarbone, and slipped inside her clothes. Moments later, she let out a faint moan, and the outline of his hand clutching her breast showed clearly through the fabric.
"Hng... Y-yes. I'll serve you with all my heart."
"So cute. Huh? Real cute."
Watching the display, 'Viper' Oh Jong-hyeok scowled. The woman beside him pressed her breasts against his arm and coquettishly nuzzled closer.
"Ahng, why the frown, oppa? Smooth out that handsome face of yours. Hmm?"
He shrugged her off his shoulder with a sharp flick and kept his eyes on the assemblyman.
The big boss watched contentedly as the assemblyman fondled the girl who could be his daughter, then turned his head this way and called over the 'hyungnim' sitting next to Oh Jong-hyeok. Oh Jong-hyeok turned away just as the man approached and bowed his head low.
"Aang, oppa. Why so prickly? Something bad happen?"
"Shut up and drink."
"Huh?"
She pouted, clearly offended, and turned her head away sharply without refilling his glass.
Viper gave a bitter smirk and topped off his own glass. The moment he set the bottle down, her hand snatched it away.
And so the two of them ignored the orgy of lust unfolding around them, silently draining their glasses one after another.
By the time the mood had thickened enough that the face-savers slipped out with girls in tow and the rest got down to business right there on the spot...
The hyungnim called for him.
"Jong-hyeok, step out for a sec."
"Yes, hyungnim."
"Ung, oppa, where you going?"
"Wait."
"Yees~."
He'd only had a big one earlier, but whatever sharpness he'd shown before vanished with the booze and the girl; he shook her off again and followed behind his hyungnim.
Once they were a suitable distance from the room, the hyungnim spoke up.
"Jong-hyeok, gonna need you to take on something tough."
"Yes?"
He let out a deep sigh and fixed Oh Jong-hyeok with gleaming eyes.
"Not many people I can trust. No choice."
"...Just say the word."
"You heard the assemblyman. Married woman. Not some pro hooker. You get it?"
"Hyungnim, you can't mean... I got pride. How could I..."
"Jong-hyeok."
"Do we really gotta stoop this low? Those fuckers, all they got is half a brain—dickless punks. Just crack their jaws once..."
Crack!
Caught off guard by the fist, Viper's eyes bulged wide.
"Kuh! Hyungnim!"
But when he looked up, he met his hyungnim's blazing eyes, burning with equal fury.
"You little shit. Kid still green behind the ears, sitting at tables like this, thinks the world's a joke? What? Half a brain? You fucking punk."
"..."
"Big boss ain't some sucker bowing his head like that. You're pushing thirty now—time you learned how the world spins."
The hyungnim reined in his anger, soothed him, patted his shoulder, muttered "handle it for me," and walked off.
"Fuck."
He reared back to slam the wall but stopped short.
"Hoo."
With a sigh, he headed for the bathroom.
As he blasted away at the urinal, venting his rage, a wave of booze-soaked breath hit him from the side.
"Hey, bro. Hehe."
Who the hell is this?
He cocked his head sideways. The glasses-wearing lackey from the assemblyman's end of the table was fumbling with his zipper, face flushed beet red.
"Haaa, first time in a place like this. It's the shit. Power's no joke! Uhahaha."
"..."
Ignoring the drunk's giggling, he headed to the sink.
"Hey, us young guys should get along. Name's Yi Choong-whatever. Hold up, man—shit got stuck! Fuck, there—ehey."
Like we'd ever met.
"What a clown."
Oh Jong-hyeok spat it out and strode out of the bathroom, straight for the establishment's exit.
For a fleeting moment, he thought of the woman waiting back in the room, but he blew it away with a sigh laced with liquor.
"Phew-."
How far had he stumbled after leaving the place? Suddenly, Oh Jong-hyeok's shoulders started shaking.
"Uhheuh, heuhuhu. Fucking bullshit."
Oh Jong-hyeok remembered it crystal clear. The assemblyman had played the fool lost in the girl, laughing loosely, but every tilt of his glass sent mocking eyes his way from beyond.
Eyes that said, 'What're you gonna do if you can't take it?' He'd read them plain as day, but hadn't lifted a finger.
"U, heuhuhuhu. What viper? Hahaha... Uh, ung?"
The grin splitting from lip to ear suddenly froze. Something weird was right in front of him. A snake—rare as hell in the city these days—flicking its tongue on the sidewalk.
Blinked it away thinking booze hallucination a few times. The snake stayed put, staring fixedly off in one direction.
Called Viper for over a decade, but first time seeing one this close. Curiosity flickered, then rage flooded in to take its place.
"Viper..."
Fueled by anger and booze, he did something he never would sober.
Grinding his teeth, he stomped up and snatched the snake by the neck with a swipe.
"Viper? Viper? Uwaaaa! Fuck you! Aak. You mangy mutt. Fuuuuck! Uwaaak!"
The suddenly assaulted snake whipped its head and tail every which way in resistance, then twisted and clamped down on Oh Jong-hyeok's hand.
"You fucking prick! Uwaaak!"
The roar tearing from his throat wasn't pain—it was rage. He barely felt it.
Instead, fury surged: 'Even this snake thrashes when crushed, but how pathetic was I back there?'
Swish, smack!
He slammed his snake-wrapped fist straight into the roadside tree.
Swish! Crunch.
His brutal punches, honed from years of brawling, had burst the snake's body long ago, but he didn't stop the self-mutilation until his rage ebbed.
Finally, he halted and stared at his fist, slick with snake fluids and his own blood. The head was still embedded.
"Huk. Huk. Huk. Heuhuhu. Aduk. Kreung. Ptui!"
He yanked it free with his teeth, unwound the mangled remains from his arm, and flung them to the ground.
"Huuu, huu. Haa."
Only then did the throbbing pain in his fist register, along with the bitter, vile taste lingering in his mouth. It cooled his anger.
Drained, he lolled his head back to the sky once; dizziness hit, and he crumpled to the pavement. Right before his eyes lay the snake corpse he'd tossed.
"Uhheuhuhu."
But then.
"...!"
Lost in mad chuckles, he could only gape wide-eyed. The snake corpse before him was suddenly sucked into thin air. Followed by a chilling sound.
Crunch, grind, squelch, splat. Gulp.
"Wh-what the..."
Bones pulverizing, viscous gulps.
Oh Jong-hyeok felt strength draining from his eyes, but clung to consciousness by the cold, hard bite of the sidewalk block against his cheek.
As if rewarding his effort...
Tssst. Pzzt.
Noise rippled from empty air in one spot as something translucent began to materialize.
"Wha... uh."
"...Gul!"
He held out just that far. Oh Jong-hyeok blacked out before it fully appeared.
He could've sworn he heard a frog croak right before collapsing.
He hadn't misheard.
"Croak! Croak!"
Where Oh Jong-hyeok lay sprawled, what emerged before his eyes took the form of a real frog.
Dark gray, it croaked a few times in place, then hopped suddenly onto his back. Incredibly, it slipped right into his body and vanished.
Dozens of minutes later—until a passerby found him and paramedics carted him off—the frog didn't reappear.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Two months passed since Oh Jong-hyeok woke in the hospital. He no longer harbored anger or inferiority.
Because...
"Croak! Croak!"
He'd gained the power of invisibility!
A gray frog had shadowed him since he opened his eyes. Mimicking its croaking cry made his body go transparent.
A web search revealed frogs written as 蛙 in Hanja, so he grandly named his power "Frog Force."
With the power in hand, even Assemblyman Yang Du-chan's demands didn't grate as much. He secretly abducted beautiful housewives from normal homes and delivered them. Never once got caught.
Another seven years slipped by. The day Oh Jong-hyeok, still in his mid-thirties, ascended to a new boss position—Yang Du-chan died.
Found as a gruesome, throat-slit corpse in his own living room, bristling with heavy security.
"That guy pulled enough shit to deserve a knife. Acted like he'd live forever."
Oh Jong-hyeok's curt assessment at the time. He shrugged off the assemblyman's death. But soon after, a top prosecutor turned up murdered the exact same way. Still no big deal. Some ballsy psycho on a spree—bound to get nabbed quick.
But a week passed, then a month, then four. Victims topped ten. Recalling their faces one by one, Oh Jong-hyeok finally reached a belated conclusion.
"All... acquaintances."
Even after over seven years, that humiliating booze-up hadn't faded from memory. Those were the bastards toying with girls in the room that night!
It hit him like lightning. Years drunk on power and cash had blunted his old viper-sharp instincts; only now spotting the pattern in the victims.
"...Damn."
Because of the housewives he'd snatched? Not necessarily, but if so, Viper couldn't wash his hands clean.
'Hasn't come for me yet, so Yang probably didn't squeal my name. But who the hell...?'
Killing them all—even with Frog Force—was impossible.
Not one or two, but over ten power players. Unless they'd lucked into position, they'd sniffed trouble early and fortified every angle.
Yet slaughtered in their own homes. A thought he'd deliberately suppressed for years after gaining power began to creep back.
"This frog bastard... really the only one? No bigger fish out there? Hoo, hoo."
Suddenly uneasy, he habitually summoned the frog and stroked its slick body. A ritual for deep worries or anxiety.
"Croak!"
Gazing at it hopping happily in his palm, his pounding heart gradually settled.
"Huuu. Can't just sit on my hands."