Chapter 55
Chapter 55
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: I Can't Help But Admire the Boss's Keen Insight
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't worry, it's just ordinary bandits."
Jeok Yeom was born with red fur from the moment he came into the world.
According to his parents, there was a distant Westerner in his maternal lineage. It must have been the blood of that Western grandfather.
Jeok Yeom had never thought his red hair was particularly ugly, but to the kids from other neighborhoods in his childhood, it looked different.
After all, being different as a kid was prime teasing material.
"Hey, redhead!"
"Hey, you monster—!"
It was just another day when kids his age swarmed the young Jeok Yeom to mock him as usual. Jeok Yeom, who was big for his size but timid, tried to brush off their taunts like always.
But...
"Your parents aren't red, so why are you? Were you picked up off the street or something?"
Thwack—!!
...that day, he couldn't hold back.
Jeok Yeom, big and strong, turned a bunch of neighborhood kids into mincemeat, and word spread like wildfire through the tiny village.
His mother, hearing about her son's violent outburst, hugged the young Jeok Yeom and said,
"Jeok-a, you can't hit your friends like that."
"But they said I was picked up off the street..."
After hearing the full story from her young son, his mother hugged him tight and said,
"How about we make a rule then?"
"A rule?"
"Yeah, a rule. Hmm... how about this? If other kids tease you, count to three in your head and hold back. If they keep going after that, you don't have to anymore."
A rule.
For the timid Jeok Yeom, who lacked much self-initiative, a standard set by someone else was incredibly comforting.
"Okay, I'll do that."
From then on, Jeok Yeom blindly followed whatever others told him to do.
He became a bailiff on someone else's advice and took a wife at his parents' urging.
The bailiff life suited him perfectly—just carry out the superiors' orders. And the wife he married on their recommendation was a good woman, far better than he deserved.
Living a life dictated by others, a structured existence, Jeok Yeom was reasonably happy.
Until that day...
"......"
The scene from that day was redder than his red hair and beard. The place was drenched in blood, the bodies unrecognizable, but his family was definitely there.
And the prime suspect, the culprit... was drinking like nothing had happened.
"...I'm going to kill that motherfucker right now."
When Eung-chil, Jeok Yeom's oldest subordinate who had also lost his family, surged forward in rage, Jeok Yeom held him back.
"...Bailiffs don't take private action. For now... let's haul him to the yamen."
That was the rule. That was the way of the bailiff.
Back then, Jeok Yeom was the kind of idiot who left his family's killer in others' hands.
How much he regretted that moment afterward...
And now, the time to settle that grudge had come.
"Kuaaaagh—!"
Jeok Yeom approached Dokgo Yeong, who writhed on the ground with his right arm severed.
"Kuaaa—! You, fucking...! Aaaagh—!!"
"......"
Jeok Yeom looked pitifully at Dokgo Yeong, who was desperately staunching the bleeding from his severed arm, snot and tears streaming down his face.
"...So even you can make that face."
"...Please, I was wrong...!"
Shing—.
No more words needed. Jeok Yeom raised his axe.
Now this bad blood would end in one stroke...!
"Wait."
"...Boss."
At that moment, Muyon stepped up and stopped Jeok Yeom from swinging the axe.
Jeok Yeom looked puzzled and asked,
"Why all of a sudden...?"
"Me too..."
Thud thud—.
Wham—!!!!
"Me too, I wanna beat the shit out of this motherfucker—!"
...He charged straight in and kicked Dokgo Yeong right in the jaw.
"Graaaagh—!"
Dokgo Yeong, suddenly smashed, rolled on the ground in agony, and Jeok Yeom stared blankly at the sight.
Then Muyon said to Jeok Yeom,
"I rushed here so I don't know the details, but from what I see, this fucker's the enemy you mentioned before, right?"
"...Yes, that's right."
"Then fuck, you gonna send him off that easy with one swing? Hey, put the axe down. Fuckers like this need to get punched to really savor it."
"Oh."
That advice...
"...You mean beat him to death?"
"Yeah."
As soon as Muyon nodded, Jeok Yeom set the axe down.
He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward.
"I truly can't help but admire the boss's keen insight."
"I've always pondered how to make other people suffer even more."
Step—.
"U, ugh...!"
Jeok Yeom and Muyon grinned as they approached the trembling Dokgo Yeong.
**
Thud, thud—!!
Let me say it again: I wasn't angry.
This motherfucker in front of me was just fucking disgusting.
Some pedant might ask if anger and disgust are the same thing, but they're totally different.
Anyway, they're different.
So, I channeled all the disgust filling my heart into my fists and, together with Jeok Yeom, beat the absolute shit out of this Dokgo Yeong bastard.
"Guhk—! Ack...! I'll tell you everything I know, so please stop hi..."
"Everything?"
As expected of a righteous sect prick raised all pampered, Dokgo Yeong had paper-thin durability.
A few solid hits to the most painful spots, and he spilled everything in a daze.
Yeah, everything.
Everything was pouring out of Dokgo Yeong's mouth right now.
All the evil deeds he'd committed. And among those evil deeds...
"I-I killed the Murim Alliance's spy and set it all up.... T-to satisfy my own bloodlust..."
"......"
There was even the story of how our bandit gang ended up targeted for extermination by the Murim Alliance.
"......"
No wonder... I'd thought the Murim Alliance was going overboard with the subjugation force they sent against our bandits.
But... this fucker orchestrated the whole thing?
All this suffering, my subordinates dying, my shit mood— all because of this bastard?
"Haha..."
I let out a hollow laugh and asked Dokgo Yeong with a kindly smile.
"Hey, old man Dokgo, do you think I'm pissed right now, or not?"
"...Y-you seem pissed..."
"Correct, you little shit."
Wham—!!
With shit hitting the fan like this, if I wasn't pissed, would I be Buddha or a bandit?
I felt my head spinning with rage as I picked out his unbruised spots and hammered away with my fists.
"Hey, you fucker. If you wanna kill people, go to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. There's plenty of assholes who deserve to die crawling around there—why come here and stir shit, huh?"
"Cough...! S-stop...!"
He begged me to stop, but the more he did, the harder I punched.
How many people died at the hands of this brainless murderer? Thinking of their grudges, my fists never lightened.
It was a grudge so deep you couldn't repay it even scraping every last bit of filth from this fucker's body. If I do this much while he's alive, King Yama can handle the rest.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!!
"Hey hey, don't clench your teeth. That makes it hurt more. Oh, too much blood, you think you're gonna die? Don't worry, I've been staunching it since earlier. I'm fucking great at pressure points."
"J-just... kill me..."
When he finally begged for death, I celebrated with an extra painful punch.
That's when I was gleefully turning his body to mush.
"Bro."
"Yeah? What's up, Jeok Yeom. Sorry, I've been hogging it. You too..."
"No, not me..."
Jeok Yeom pointed behind him, where the other subordinates were drooling as they watched, eyes fixed here.
They were all members of the Muak Mountain Brotherhood.
Oh.
Come to think of it, he'd said Jeok Yeom wasn't the only one who lost family to Dokgo Yeong.
Time for me to step aside.
Slide—.
"Everyone, come beat this fucker."
"Waaaah—!!"
The moment I stepped back and gave the order, they swarmed like they'd been waiting.
They were so hyped and piled on so fast I worried Dokgo Yeong might die on the spot, but that was just my imagination.
"One guy's on continuous bleed control! And pick your own spots to hit!"
"I'm taking the balls!"
"Me too—!"
Real thorough.
They assign one healer per beating session and rotate, covering every inch. I didn't know they were this organized.
"Ahahaha—!"
"You motherfucker—! Motherfucker—!"
"Kuaaaagh—!"
And they laugh while beating.
Grinning wide like kids gleefully at play.
And... crying.
"Wait... crying?"
It threw me for a loop, but tears streamed down every one of their faces.
'So this is what laughing while crying looks like.'
Eyes brimming with tears, mouths stretched in huge smiles.
I kinda got it, so I quietly slipped away. And where I headed was where Yu So-myeong was.
She'd arrived here ages ago and had been present since Dokgo Yeong started confessing his evils.
Same Murim Alliance affiliate, so she probably knew him well. Yu So-myeong looked shocked.
"Wanna join in? Go beat him if you want."
"......"
Her face stiff, she didn't reply at first, then forced out a question.
"...Why are your subordinates making those faces while beating him?"
"They're the Muak Mountain Brotherhood kids..."
I explained the bad blood between the Muak Mountain Brotherhood and Dokgo Yeong, and her face grew even heavier.
"...Senior Dokgo's evils pierce the heavens."
That was when.
"Kuaaaagh—!"
Dokgo Yeong had killer survival instincts; with my weaker subordinates beating him, he thrashed around trying to escape in the gaps.
Spotting us mid-beating, he yelled desperately our way.
"Y-Yu, Junior—!!! Why are you here—! A-anyway... s-save me! We're both in the Murim Alliance...!"
"......"
Seeing Yu So-myeong, Dokgo Yeong's face lit up like a man finding light in darkness, full of hope.
But...
"...Just die getting beat."
"......"
At Yu So-myeong's icy retort, hope drained from his face.
"Alright~, back to it."
"Uwaaaah—!!"
And just like that, subordinates grabbing his legs dragged him back to hell.
Thud—! Thud—!
Flesh bursting and bones cracking sounded refreshingly cheerful.