Chapter 309
Chapter 309
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 309
Chapter Title: Busan (3)
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Near the back alleys by Songjeong Beach.
"Tch-tch-tch-tch..."
An old man wearing a fur hat despite the sweltering heat rolls his eyes back and lets out eerie sounds.
In one hand, he clutches a large rat.
No, it's a filthy rat-shaped doll. One arm is missing, and stuffing spills from a tear.
Go Kyung-soo, who had been watching, pauses before asking,
"Can you sense it at all?"
"...Nirvana."
Ah, this addict.
With that thought, Go Kyung-soo gestures to his subordinate.
The old man, an occult specialist known as Night Owl, takes the spirit enhancer and swallows the Nirvana without water.
"Khmm, kuhm, hmm. Khrgh."
After moaning in brief ecstasy, Night Owl rummages for his gas mask, pulls it over his face, and breathes roughly—hiss, whoosh.
"Sir."
"That way."
Night Owl points deeper into the alley.
"You're sure?"
Though it was just confirmation, Night Owl turns his head silently for a moment before shifting his finger.
"It's moving. Now that way. Slowly toward that direction."
"Damn it. Alright. Everyone got the paint rounds?"
"Yes."
Paint guns as backup weapons.
They fire plastic bullets filled with paint...
Non-lethal gear for survival games, but the paint rounds Go Kyung-soo prepared contain real blood.
Goblins fear blood. Block their movements with blood, then finish with primary weapons.
"Good. Unleash the dogs."
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Combat dogs.
Not a code name.
Dogs can detect the uncanny, and their barks weaken goblins.
Guided by Night Owl, Go Kyung-soo and his men race through Songjeong's back alleys.
* * *
"Hah—huff—damn it."
Park Gwang-rim was in a bind.
After running and running, he ends up in a dead-end alley. This couldn't be happening?
Kiiiiing—
He channels mana to activate [Dowsing] again, but
the pendulum dangling from his fingertip deems this filthy, dark dead-end a path to life.
"Crowded with people, hot as hell, seagulls screeching, streets all tangled—"
Park Gwang-rim vents his complaints about Busan like a dialect rant.
"What the hell is this guy babbling about?"
A hulking group of criminals blocks the dead-end alley.
As their faces draw near, Park Gwang-rim's expression darkens.
Damn it, a mistake. A mistake.
Park Gwang-rim had been searching for a goblin named Seo Cheon-seul at Kim Shin-hwa's request.
Following his [Dowsing] ability, he reached Songjeong Port and discovered something unexpected there.
'In a way, it might be useful info for Kim Shin-hwa...'
But in the process, he got caught by the New World gangsters who controlled the area.
Even if he had the info, it was useless if he couldn't pass it on.
Maybe if he groveled now, he'd get off with a beating?
"You fucking outsider cunt, who the hell do you think you are sneaking in here!"
Ah, but he couldn't take that.
Whirrr—
Park Gwang-rim's flung pendulum traces a sparkling arc.
Shrrrrk—
The silver thread connected to it wraps around the neck and face of the thug spewing insults about his origins.
"Arghhh! You bastard again!"
If he pulled with full force, he could sever head from body—but he lacked the confidence to handle the fallout...
Grind!
As the thread tightens, the thug spins like a top, blood spraying everywhere.
"Grrghhh—"
The neck-twisted thug collapses, convulsing. Even if he woke, he'd need a neck brace for recovery.
"Now, who should I spin next?"
He bluffs, but the thugs' faces only harden further.
'No good.'
Park Gwang-rim's abilities weren't tuned for combat. He could drop one or two with a surprise attack, but not this many.
Stomp-stomp—
Footsteps approaching.
More here? This is really bad.
And dog barks too?
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Unable to hold back, Park Gwang-rim curses.
"You mad bastards! You sicced dogs on me just to catch one guy?"
"What nonsense!"
"Grab that Chinese fuck anyway!"
"Just watch the string, he's nothing!"
The New World thugs slowly advance, arms guarding heads and necks like boxing stance.
"N-No, stay back!"
Park Gwang-rim backs away, face pale.
Not because their brute strength scared him, contrary to the thugs' thoughts.
That identical stance. Identical outfits. Identical tattoos.
'Damn, those similar faces!'
Aaaah! They're here too! Same faces! Same faces! Scary. Scary. Scary...
Park Gwang-rim mutters inwardly as he retreats.
Just earlier at Songjeong Port, the same thing happened.
A bizarre phobia had taken root in his mind—something like twin phobia, if it needed a name—causing a mistake he wouldn't normally make.
Thud.
His back hits the solid wall.
In despair, Park Gwang-rim hurls his notebook—recording what he'd seen and heard in Busan—over the wall.
Whirr—
Thwack.
"Ow!"
A voice from beyond the wall.
Someone standing there must've been hit by the notebook Park Gwang-rim threw.
"What? Haha? Mana stone tucked in the pages. Bahahaha—funny stuff. Yeah, that's why it hurt! Bahahahaha!"
A hearty male laugh, as if caught in a prank.
Whooooom!
Wind from beyond the wall.
A shadow rises over the high wall.
Mana so brilliant and bright it dyes the dark alley gold.
"Ehey! Who dares hurl such a thing at the Captain of a Thousand Golds' head!"
Park Gwang-rim's pendulum activates again.
Realizing the situation, he shouts hastily.
"No way! You're really the Captain of a Thousand Golds? Guardian of Cheon Geum Dang, protector of dream-gold! Mightiest goblin! Dewdrop sparkling brightest in Seo Cheon's flower field!"
Pleased by the desperate praise, Seo Cheon-seul shrugs and chuckles.
"Eh-heh—this body's titles recited in full, what a fine Kim fellow you are."
"P-Please help me!"
"This body should aid Kim fellow?"
Seo Cheon-seul tilts his head, lifting Park Gwang-rim's notebook.
"My memory's fuzzy, but did this body ever promise to help whoever bonked my head with this book before?"
"No, no! I'm sent by Kim Shin-hwa! Aren't you her friend?"
"Ah, Kim fellow? Kim fellow friends with Kim fellow?"
"Y-Yes! Truly!"
Park Gwang-rim offers no proof, but Seo Cheon-seul accepts it with goblin-like optimism.
"Bahahahaha! Then Kim fellow is this body's friend too!"
He leaps from the wall, somersaulting as he lands.
"Now, what aid does this body provide!"
"Well..."
Park Gwang-rim slowly turns to eye the New World thugs.
"Who's that crazy clown?"
"Captain of a Thousand Golds? For real?"
"N-No way?"
The thugs look skeptical.
A golden flash in the dark alley—
Boom! Bang! Crunch!
"Bahahahaha!"
Hell yeah!
* * *
"Bahahahahaha!"
The distinctive laughter echoes from afar.
"That way!"
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Go Kyung-soo and the Wild Guns Security armed forces race with the dogs.
"Hiss—hah—danger... danger... Stop, stop!"
Night Owl suddenly grabs Go Kyung-soo's waist, screaming.
"What? Sir, what's wrong?"
"Danger. Hiss—hah—get out of here. Something scary's coming!"
Night Owl's eyes shake with fear beneath the gas mask visor.
"What is it? Goblin-related?"
"No—no—"
Sensing trouble, Go Kyung-soo starts to signal his men when—
KABOOOM!
An absurd explosion.
Dust pillars into the sky.
A person falls from the sky.
"Wh-What!?"
"What about you guys? Out walking the dogs?"
A woman's voice.
As dust settles and visibility clears, Go Kyung-soo feels his legs weaken.
'My crew's visas all good? No illegal overstays?'
Ah, he sorted them all after the Foreigner Management Agency raided Basilis recently.
Realizing he had nothing to fear from the [Foreigner Management Agency], Go Kyung-soo steps before Yang Seo-ho with eased mind.
"We're a private security firm hired by Cure Medical Care."
At "Cure Medical Care," Yang Seo-ho frowns slightly. Go Kyung-soo's legs weaken again.
"Security firm?"
"Yes."
"What's your name? Affiliation?"
"Go Kyung-soo of Wild Guns Security."
"Oh, yeah?"
Yang Seo-ho recalls the clues given to her.
'Kim Shin-hwa.'
He declared ties to Cure Medical Care.
'Songjeong Port.'
Someone there preps smuggling or illegal entry.
'Biker gangs.'
Incidents timed to draw my eye.
'Security firm?'
Fully armed near [Songjeong Port] for some [armed action] on [Cure Medical Care]'s orders?
'Start pounding here?'
Having reached a conclusion to make Go Kyung-soo scream, Yang Seo-ho says,
"Not a large breed dog club meetup?"
"The dogs..."
"Who walks off-leash like this?"
"Eh?"
"You assholes make it hell for folks with big dogs, right? Yeah?"
"Th-That's, uh—hey, muzzles! Muzzles!"
Muzzles and leashes quickly applied.
Nodding, Yang Seo-ho asks again.
"Where you headed?"
"W-We were at Cure Medical Care's request... Ah, no."
Guns are illegal too, but he could leverage Cure's power. Deciding to push hard, Go Kyung-soo says,
"You have no authority to ask that. Client confidentiality..."
"Yeah. But you and I are buddies."
"Uh... Eh?"
"So, y'know, buddies share secrets. Right?"
"Uh... No."
"No?"
"No..."
"Hey, come closer, don't back up. You too, crowd in. Yeah, Kyung-soo, right?"
"Urgh—why use my name so casually..."
"Hey, why act strangers, Kyung-soo? You're tight with sis, right?"
"Urgh..."
"Urgh?"
"Not that..."
"No secrets between sis and Kyung-soo, right? Huh? Yeah?"
* * *
A bit earlier.
Songjeong Port.
"Team leader's not coming?"
"No answer."
"Knew it."
Shin Woo-jin tugs his hair with a vroom sound, sighing and letting his lion-mane hair spike wildly.
Large round eyeballs emerge one by one amid the strands. Expanding detection, Shin Woo-jin senses an ominous aura inside Songjeong Port.
"Something's there for sure... but a bust."
He'd met Kim Shin-hwa before.
She's not nearby.
"Guess we go in ourselves. Let's move."
"Yes!"
Shin Woo-jin storms Songjeong Port with fully armed combat agents.
"Everyone freeze! Foreigner Management Agency!"
Sailors, laborers, fishermen, and suspiciously shady types halt with groans.
Shin Woo-jin skips the panicked and heads one way.
Suspicious small crates unloading from a dingy fishing boat.
"Open them."
A burly crewman steps forward with a displeased growl.
"Grrr—w-wait! This—has nothing to do with the Foreigner Management Agency!"
"Open. Them."
The crewman trembles, sweating coldly.
* * *
"Bahaha! Aid from the King of Ten Thousand Golds!"
"Shh—keep your voice down!"
Park Gwang-rim hurriedly hushes Seo Cheon-seul.
"Fine, fine. Got it, Kim fellow. We're far enough—keep talking, no worries. What was at the port?"
Wary of this careless goblin, Park Gwang-rim activates [Dowsing] to confirm no Yang Seo-ho or other pursuers before speaking.
"Gold."
"Gold?"
Seo Cheon-seul perks up brightly at mention of something tied to Cheon Geum Dang.
"Yes, but not the pure, refined gold from Cheon Geum Dang. Gold tainted by abyssal depths, bearing vicious curses."
"Hmm—yeah?"
"Criminals at Songjeong Port were moving it to Cure Medical Care."
"Cursed gold..."
"Ring any bells?"
"Bahahaha—of course! Finally links to what the King of Ten Thousand Golds commanded."
Though saved, Park Gwang-rim hasn't adapted to Seo Cheon-seul's extreme cheer, eyeing him suspiciously.
"The King of Ten Thousand Golds said this land has a dragon's lair."
"Dragon... lair?"
"Yeah. Underground, a dragon's imprisoned. They gather gold and blood to free it."
"What the... Ah!"
Not a mere folktale.
If Seo Cheon-seul's dragon is an [Abyssal Being], it connects to Kim Shin-hwa's words.
『That day, with Cure Medical Care, I'll open the lid of the bottomless pit. From that pitch-black abyss, beasts like starving yellow worms will pour forth.』
"Yeah, blood next after gold. Soon, innocent Kim fellows will suffer for those other Kim fellows."
Ceasing laughter, Seo Cheon-seul speaks with the King of Ten Thousand Golds' authority.
"Hey, Kim fellow."
"Y-Yes!"
"When's Kim fellow coming?"
Park Gwang-rim looks confused.
"Wh-Which Kim fellow?"