Chapter 39
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Crystal Mine (3)
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Click!
The dull thud of the final gold bar crate being loaded onto the rickety mine cart echoed through the secret cavern.
"D-Did... did we load everything?"
"Yes, boss! Even the ledgers—everything's loaded!"
Barrett and his men panted heavily.
They had pushed through the hellish tunnels, swarming with more monsters than usual.
The grueling task of desperately hauling their fortune was finally complete.
Exhaustion mingled with hope on the Cobra Gang members' faces—the hope that escape was now within reach.
Barrett gripped the mine cart's brake lever with trembling hands.
One push on this lever, and the cart would hurtle down the slope straight to the wasteland exit in the distance.
"Alright... time to go! Me and the others will head out first— the rest of you pile into the other carts and follow!"
"Yes, boss!"
It was right then.
Thud.
A low footstep echoed softly from the darkness.
The sound wasn't loud, but it reverberated unpleasantly between the crystal pillars, amplifying through the space.
The noisy clamor of the cavern, filled with shouts as they loaded the gold, fell silent in an instant.
"...W-Who's there?"
One gang member's voice trembled with fear.
They reflexively turned toward the source of the sound.
Toward the dark entrance of the abandoned tunnel where Jinwoo had just emerged.
A shadow slowly revealed itself from the darkness.
A silhouette reflected between the crystals.
Human forms flickering solely in the blue glow of the crystal pillars, without even faint lantern light.
A calm, leisurely gait.
Barrett's eyes widened in horror at the sight.
"N-No way... that wanted criminal bastard! The ghost-like freak!"
It was impossible.
From the main entrance to here—it was a long, twisted maze.
Only he and a select few in the Cobra Gang even knew this place existed.
And above all, monsters infested it.
Even if someone knew...
Bursting through the countless traps and beasts unscathed like this was in the realm of the impossible!
But Jinwoo was here.
As if he'd been watching everything from there from the very start.
He slowly opened his mouth, as if savoring their shock, like he might even applaud.
"Good work. Must've been tough hauling all that heavy stuff."
Jinwoo mocked their efforts in kindly delivering his quest items right to him.
"Y-You son of a bitch!"
Barrett finally grasped the reality before him.
A trap.
Everything had been in this bastard's palm from the beginning.
'No way... was he just waiting for me to load the cart with my own hands?'
Rage and terror intertwined, numbing his reason.
Using the mine cart as a shield, Barrett backed away and screamed like a madman.
"Shoot! Shoot him! Kill him!!"
His cry became the trigger.
"U-Uwaaaah!"
"Die!"
The gang members' final desperate struggle shattered the cave's silence.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-bang!
With Barrett's scream, the narrow cavern turned into a hell of gunfire in an instant.
The dozen surviving gang members poured every ounce of firepower they had at Jinwoo, using the carts and gold crates for cover.
Red muzzle flashes from old revolvers erupted one after another in the darkness.
Bullets riddled the tunnel entrance wall where Jinwoo had stood.
Crack!
Shattering crystal shards.
But Jinwoo was already gone from there.
'Compared to the Steel Hounds, this is just child's play.'
The moment before the first shot rang out, he'd already launched himself behind a massive crystal pillar.
The gang's firing was nothing but panicked spraying in terror.
No aim, no tactics.
They were shooting at Jinwoo's reflections in the crystals, mistaking them for the real thing.
Jinwoo clicked his tongue as he heard their bullets hitting useless spots.
'Just finish this quickly.'
Jinwoo stepped out from behind the pillar.
Red Eye
World slows. Red crosshairs lock on vital points.
The world slowed once more.
Captured in his reddened gaze:
The gang members cowering behind the cart, frantically firing their guns.
Red crosshairs unerringly appeared over their heads and hearts.
Phut! Phut!
His pistol spat quietly.
Bullets sliced through the cavern.
"Khek!"
"Urk!"
A red hole bloomed on the forehead of the guy who had just peeked over a gold crate.
The heart of the one crouched by the cart's wheel was pierced.
A gang member hiding behind a comrade took a bullet through the throat.
Screams were short, death instantaneous!
In mere seconds.
When Red Eye released, silence returned to the secret cavern.
The gang members who had been firing desperately moments ago now lay as motionless corpses, sprawled everywhere.
Only one remained alive, staring at him in terror.
Sheriff Barrett.
"Y-You monster bastard!"
He alone was unscathed.
Jinwoo slowly approached Barrett.
Barrett huddled behind the cart, trembling hands clutching his revolver aimed at Jinwoo.
"D-Don't come closer! Come any nearer and we all die!"
His voice was completely mangled by fear.
Jinwoo ignored the threat and kept walking.
'He's about to enter his final desperation pattern soon.'
In the game, cornered Barrett always followed the same pattern.
Jinwoo knew exactly what came next.
As expected, Barrett suddenly lowered his revolver and burst into mad laughter.
"Kuhaha... yeah, you monster bastard! Kill me if you can! But I won't die alone!"
He flung open his jacket wide.
Bundles of dynamite were strapped tightly across his torso.
His other hand already gripped a lit fuse.
"The gold bars, the ledgers, you—everything ends here!"
Self-detonation. That was Barrett's final card.
Sizzle!
The fuse burned menacingly in the dark cavern, its sound ominous.
"Shoot! Go ahead, shoot! Then you die too!"
Barrett exposed the dynamite on his body and let out a crazed laugh.
'That's another reason I couldn't just shoot him carelessly.'
Jinwoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
A stray bullet could hit the dynamite and trigger a massive explosion.
The sole key to the password, yet a bomb that would blow if touched.
Weak, but annoyingly tricky by design.
"Kuhaha! How's that, you monster bastard? You're done for now!"
Barrett taunted Jinwoo, convinced of victory.
"Back off! Or I blow us all up!"
"...Got it."
Jinwoo feigned surprise and took a couple steps back.
Regaining his confidence, Barrett grunted as he headed for the cart.
"Yeah! This is mine!"
Jinwoo watched silently.
His mind flashed through various strategies for handling this.
'Shoot the head? Shoot the hand holding the dynamite to drop it? Solid methods even without Red Eye.'
Suddenly, a more amusing route came to mind.
'No, there's an even funner way.'
Jinwoo allowed Barrett to precariously climb onto the cart, one hand holding the fuse.
"Heh heh heh... I'm free!"
The moment Barrett set one foot on the cart and tried to stand—
Jinwoo moved.
He charged like lightning and kicked Barrett square in the ass.
Thwack!
"Guhk!"
Caught off guard, Barrett screamed and tumbled ingloriously to the floor on the opposite side of the cart.
The impact sent the dynamite bundle in his hand rolling across the ground.
The fuse still burned threateningly.
Jinwoo immediately hopped onto the cart and shoved the brake lever hard without hesitation.
Clunk!
With a heavy metallic groan, the cart's wheels began to turn.
The cart accelerated rapidly down the sloped secret tunnel.
"Y-You bastard! My gold! My fortune!"
Barrett, sprawled on the floor, belatedly realized and scrambled up with a wail.
Jinwoo didn't even glance back, firing one precise shot at his leg.
Phut!
"Uwaaaagh!"
Bullet in his leg, Barrett collapsed again, desperately reaching toward his receding fortune.
Beside him, the dynamite's fuse had nearly burned out, flickering its final spark.
"No! Nooooo!"
BOOOOOOM!
Barrett's final scream was swallowed by the massive explosion that shook the tunnel.
Rumble!
The roar of the entire cave collapsing behind Jinwoo!
Dust and a shockwave billowed from afar.
Whoosh!
Fortunately, the cart's acceleration outpaced it.
Jinwoo leaned against the pile of spilling gold bars as he hurtled through the dark tunnel at breakneck speed.
"Let's go!"
Moments later, the cart burst through the tunnel's end into the chilly dawn air of the wasteland.
Clunk!
The cart ground to a halt.
Jinwoo gazed at the dawning sky and let out a satisfied sigh.
He pulled his fingers from his pocket, brought them to his lips, and whistled sharply.
Wheee!
In response to the whistle, a massive shadow came charging from the distant darkness.
It was Falcon.
Spotting his master, the beast flapped his short wings happily as he ran up.
"Kiek!"
But when he stopped beside Jinwoo and saw the mountain of cargo, Falcon tilted his head.
A complaint erupted from his beak in an instant.
"Kieeeek!"
Falcon let out a resentful cry.
He'd sniffed out his wicked master's scheme to make him haul heavy luggage again.
Jinwoo chuckled and tapped the beast's head.
"Quiet down. Time to work. Want some jerky?"
"Kiek!"
Jinwoo pulled jerky from his pouch.
Falcon's attitude flipped in a heartbeat.
"Load that up, and I'll give you more."
"Kiek!"
Falcon eagerly slurped up the jerky.
'Birdbrain's easy to handle, as expected.'
Jinwoo thought that as he glanced toward Twinrax.
Time to head back.