Uncomfortable Cohabitation (4)
I had never beaten someone to a pulp after my Strength reached 18. I had killed several people when it was at 15, but never after hitting 18. I wasn't exactly sure what level 18 represented, but I could at least imagine what would happen if I struck with full force. If I hit someone with everything I had, they would die. So I needed to control my strength.
I struck out while trying to hold back as much as possible. Even so, the combination of Advanced Brawling and 18 Strength was a lethal weapon in itself.
BOOOOOOM!
The sound was closer to an explosion. It was the noise of my fist meeting flesh, muscle, and the leather hidden beneath clothing. The recoil that should have matched the sound raced up my wrist before stopping short. The sensation in my hand felt strange.
Choi Tae-woo flew backward, smashing through the window and tumbling outside the office. Because of the shattered glass, I couldn't even hear the sound of blood flowing or labored breathing.
He hadn't lost consciousness. I glanced at my sister, then opened the door and stepped outside. Choi Tae-woo was still sprawled on the ground, twitching.
Wow, he's actually still alive. He seemed conscious too. Not completely intact, though. Did he endure thanks to Advanced Brawling and being a judo black belt? Or was it because of Strong Bone? Either way, seeing him alive like this made me hungry for more.
If I killed him, I could take it.
I barely suppressed the impulse when my sister followed me out. She was already cradling the rifle that had been hanging from its sling.
“What the hell is all that noise—”
Voices shouted from the direction we had come from. Sure enough—
“Huh, these bastards…”
These fuckers were holding the assault rifles we had left in our truck. It was a good thing they hadn't taken the other guns, but they must have rummaged through the rest of our stuff.
“Uh, hyung? Boss?”
They froze when they saw us. A very ominous feeling radiated from them.
“You sons of bitches—”
They brazenly aimed their guns at us. Ha, these crazy bastards were serious. There were no magazines loaded. All the magazines were inside our ammo belts and pouches. So at best, they only had one shot each—the one already chambered.
I saw where the muzzle was pointing and raised my arm faster than they could pull the trigger. Saint's Suspicion, my left arm protected by the gauntlet.
Deflected!
Tang! Clang! The rifle round ricocheted away. It was dizzying. Adrenaline surged through me.
The one who had aimed at Kang Ahyeon froze in shock the moment he saw the bullet bounce off. Before he could react, my sister turned her own rifle on him.
Headshot
Taaaaang! The rifle spat fire. The man's head snapped back violently before his body pitched forward and collapsed. She had hit him right in the head.
Kang Ahyeon spoke in a cold, flat voice.
“Don't touch the guns. Anyone who does will die first.”
The muzzle she held at an angle was still smoking. It was aimed at the rifle that had fallen to the floor. A quiet warning. Somehow, that made it even more chilling. The fact that she had so decisively blown the man's head off only added to the effect.
As the group of men stood there frozen in awkward silence, I clicked my tongue. It was lucky they hadn't loaded the magazines. If they had, I wouldn't have been able to stop it. I already knew from reaching Intermediate Shooting that rifle rounds were insanely fast, but they were even faster than I imagined. They were invisible to the eye. The same would probably apply to pistol rounds. I realized it was impossible to see a gun and block it in time.
Even now, I had only managed to block by predicting the direction based on where the muzzle was pointing and when the trigger was pulled. What if it hadn't been just one shot? My sister, me, and even Choi Tae-woo over there would have been turned into sieves.
“You fucking idiots, you just start shooting at people? What were you going to do if your precious national judo champion big brother died?”
As I spoke, I noticed the backpacks they were carrying. They were mine. No— they were the ones from room 808. My machete was there too. The personal treasure I had inherited from the Preacher master. Seriously, these thieving bastards.
I clicked my tongue again.
“Anyway, put back everything you took, nice and neat. Or… you know what happens, right?”
I slowly placed my foot on the neck of the fallen Choi Tae-woo. With my current strength, even a light step would crush his throat. Did he know that too? He was trembling violently.
“Hey, look at him. He's shaking like a baby bear! Hurry up! Don't you feel sorry for the poor baby bear?”
“Uh, th-that…”
“Move, you morons! If anything's missing, I'll kill you all!”
Only after I roared at them did they scramble into action. They dragged away the corpse of their dead comrade. The sound of panting and sobbing faded down the stairs.
What a bunch of pathetic idiots. Only now did I start to understand why Choi Tae-woo had acted the way he did. If these were the subordinates he had to deal with, even I would hope someone like me would join as an underling. Of course, that probably wasn't the only reason.
I glanced at Kang Ahyeon before looking down at Choi Tae-woo. Being pretty really is a sin. A sin.
“Hey, baby bear.”
“Y-yes, yessir.”
Choi Tae-woo had been very thoroughly taught his manners. All it took was one punch. I was almost impressed as I tried to maintain my composure.
“Seriously, why do you have to make things so uncomfortable? How old are you to be pulling this sweet-forty bullshit? Dreaming about a harem is one thing, but you should know better.”
“I-I don't kn— I mean, I understand… I understand…”
He answered while coughing violently. Maybe it was because he came from an athletic university, but he seemed used to getting beaten.
I clicked my tongue and jerked my chin.
“Stop whining and get up.”
“Ugh… Y-yes, yessir…”
The baby bear really did shake like a newborn fawn as he tried to stand, only to fall over again and again. When I muttered, “Want me to help you up?” while raising my fist at his groaning, he finally managed to stand and started limping along.
“Since things have turned out this way, it makes sense for you to talk to us in our office, doesn't it?”
“O-office… you mean…?”
“Car, you idiot. Don't you need to check if your lackeys returned our stuff properly? Let's go.”
I gave him a shove, and the baby bear started walking. Crawling, limping, barely moving, he made his way down the stairs. I followed the pathetic sight all the way to the first floor.
The large garage looked completely different from when we had first come up. The huge blankets that had been spread out—ones we had taken from the Sion Mountain Fortress warehouse—were now in disarray. Our luggage was scattered everywhere, with many items missing. The rifles had been placed down carefully, but they had touched them again even after I told them not to. I knew they were trying to return them, but there was a limit to stupidity.
And around them were people squabbling over what looked like our belongings.
I let out a hollow laugh. Lee Ye-eun was nowhere to be seen. That was probably for the best.
I glanced at my sister, who was quietly aiming her rifle, and spoke.
“Freeze, you vermin.”
The people flinched and turned around. When they saw the limping baby bear, they were shocked. That was understandable. Advanced rank was no joke.
“Why are you all committing theft? Didn't you learn that a stolen cow must be repaid fivefold and a sheep fourfold?”
The people stood there awkwardly. The items clutched in their arms were all too familiar. Food and water for me and my sister, medical supplies. They had cleaned us out pretty thoroughly. Vermin indeed.
“I was only planning to ask for a modest reward, but… since you've stolen from us, I suppose I should take that much, shouldn't I?”
No answer came. Instead, I grabbed the hair of the baby bear, who had stumbled on the stairs, and hurled him to the ground.
“Ugh…”
“What are you doing? You need to return what you stole first. Say it with me: 'I'm sorry. I won't steal again.'”
While his subordinates caught him, the people still refused to let go of the items. Instead, they clutched them even tighter. What the hell? Are they braindead?
I let out a deep sigh and met eyes with my sister. Fortunately, I didn't need to say anything. She covered her ears. When I turned my head, I saw that the baby bear had covered his ears too. The kid was quick on the uptake. Must be the athletic university background. Anyway.
I didn't hesitate. I scrunched up my face and screamed.
YOU FUCKING IDIOTS—!
The people staggered from my shout. They fell to their knees, collapsed, clutched their ears, and screamed. In that moment, I scanned the room. The auto shop owner, his son, and his son-in-law. The skilled workers were off-limits. Then—
I approached one of the baby bear's subordinates who looked physically fit with healthy legs and kicked him.
BAAAAAAM!
Whoops. Failed to control my strength. The man flew into the wall, dislodging chunks of concrete before collapsing. I had chosen someone who looked sturdy enough not to die, but seeing him twitch on the ground, I realized I might have kicked him too hard. Still, I didn't show any panic. Yeah, I had to pretend this was exactly what I intended.
In truth, I really wanted to kill this baby bear bastard and loot his Strong Bone and Advanced Brawling. But this guy hadn't attacked me with the intention of killing me in the first place. At most, he had planned to overpower me, show the difference in strength, and make me his subordinate. It was probably just a matter of establishing hierarchy.
“…If you had crossed the line just a little more, I would have killed you.”
At my mutter, I saw the baby bear flinch. That was threat enough.
“What are you waiting for? Give me back my stuff, you idiots.”
The price for theft could be settled later. At my words, they hesitated.
“If you don't want to, I don't have many options left.”
As soon as I spoke, Kang Ahyeon raised her rifle as if she had been waiting for it. Only then did the people panic and frantically start returning the items.
Even with all this chaos, Lee Ye-eun was still nowhere to be seen. Where the hell was she and what was she—
“What happened? What's going on?”
It was then. A familiar voice. I turned toward the stairs and saw Lee Ye-eun. She was slowly descending, wearing jeans and carrying a large backpack slung over one shoulder. The slightly open zipper revealed a gun barrel poking out. An air gun? She even had a shotgun strapped to her back. A double-barrel shotgun. It was a weapon that could threaten even me.
As I subtly shifted into a ready stance, Ye-eun walked straight toward me, completely ignoring the gazes of everyone watching. She didn't seem to care at all about the pleading looks that said, Do something about this.
A faint, pleasant scent wafted from her as she passed. It was the refreshing citrus aroma of body wash. Even her clothes were different from what I had seen earlier—jeans, sturdy hiking boots, a sweater, and a coat. All of them carried the pleasant scent of fabric softener.
Don't tell me this girl…
“I went to wash up for a bit… and changed my clothes. Looks like something happened while I was gone.”
It seemed my suspicion was correct. Ye-eun brushed back her damp hair.
“Sorry. I couldn't bring everything. The food was too heavy to carry it all…”
“Huh? What?”
“I got all the guns for now, but we need to go back for the gas and smoke grenades. And the food too.”
Ye-eun didn't even look at the other people. She didn't even glance at Kang Ahyeon, who was glaring at her with a rifle pointed in her direction. She only looked at me. Just like always.
With a heavy thud, she set the bag down in the truck bed.
“You're taking me with you, right?”
Seeing Lee Ye-eun flash a bright, refreshing smile that didn't match her sharp eyes, both I and Kang Ahyeon were utterly bewildered.
This girl was no ordinary person.
“…Ye-eun unnie, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Why are you here?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Do you really think that's okay? What exactly are you expecting us to trust you for?”
“Hyun seems to trust me. At the very least, shouldn't we listen to Hyun's opinion?”
“…Do you know how well I listen to oppa? I do everything he wants. Unlike a certain coward who ran away after getting rejected once and says she can't even stay as friends—”
Inside the four-seater pickup truck, Lee Ye-eun sat in the passenger seat as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
I turned away from the two women who were bickering like always and looked at the baby bear sitting beside me. He was hunched over, trembling violently. The moment our eyes met, the pitiful guy started crying with that innocent face of his.
I let out a sigh and opened my mouth.
“Tell me everything you know about the university.”