Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: The Mayor and the Enforcer
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The next morning.
For Kang Hyunwoo, morning was merely a signal announcing the start of work.
He woke up at the same time every day, washed his face in the same order, and dressed in the same manner.
A black suit ironed without a single wrinkle. Black shoes that reflected the light. And a face stripped of any emotional impurities.
The order from Mayor Lee Garam yesterday.
Magpie Village and Frontier Development. Uncover the truth hidden between them.
Of course, the weight of that order held no meaning for Kang Hyunwoo.
There was only one important thing.
The intent of the Leader watching over all these situations.
'Play along with the mayor's whims.'
Lee Garam.
Once nothing more than a figurehead.
A foolish, greedy puppet dancing in the palm of Seria's hand.
But the recent Lee Garam was different.
His actions birthed unpredictable variables, and those variables spawned unintended results.
Like a clumsy writer scribbling a plot with no consistency, yet somehow the story progressed.
'Unclassifiable. Unpredictable. Observation target.'
Pretending incompetence while possessing true ability?
Or simply a madman entrusting everything to chance?
Analysis was pointless. He was an enforcer. He didn't think. He simply carried out his mission.
*
Kang Hyunwoo stood before a small carpentry shop in Neo Incheon's eastern industrial district, at its very edge.
Wood carving.
Turning the rough smooth, the angular round, the useless useful.
The violence and art humans inflicted on nature. In that sense, Kang Hyunwoo's work was similar.
Except what he carved wasn't wood, but humans.
Falsehood into truth, secrets into confessions, silence into screams.
Creak—
The carpentry door opened, unleashing a rush of sawdust and wood scent.
Deep inside the workshop, a man sweated as he carved wood.
He was today's first target.
Park Cheolmin.
Forty-two years old. Occupation: carpenter.
The first man to flee the village just before the Magpie Village redevelopment protests escalated.
A runaway knew the secrets.
Kang Hyunwoo approached silently from behind.
"Park Cheolmin?"
Scrape—
The chisel stopped. Park Cheolmin slowly turned his head, eyes filled with wariness.
The carpenter scanned the suited stranger from head to toe.
"Who are you?"
His voice was rough like tree bark.
"I'm from the Neo Incheon City Hall Special Audit Team. Audit Enforcer Kang Hyunwoo."
City Hall.
At the word, Park Cheolmin's brow furrowed. He set the chisel down on the workbench.
"No business here. I got nothing to say to City Hall types, so get lost."
"It'll only take a moment. I have questions about Magpie Village."
Magpie Village.
The name was a trigger. Park Cheolmin's face hardened in an instant.
"I-I don't know anything! I took the compensation clean! It's none of my business anymore! It's all done!"
"It's not done. It's just beginning, Mr. Park Cheolmin."
"I said I don't know! Why hassle a guy! Get out now!"
Park Cheolmin snatched a hammer from the workbench.
His hand trembled. Bluff. Desperate posturing to mask fear.
"Get out. I said get out of my workshop."
"This is official duty execution. Interference may result in legal penalties."
"Law? Law! Those bastards stand above the law! Isn't your law just a club for beating the powerless!"
Park Cheolmin's eyes bulged bloodshot. He was losing his reason.
"Last warning. Get out quietly. Or this hammer might smash your skull."
Instead of replying, Kang Hyunwoo stepped closer.
Into his domain.
"You bastard!"
Threat.
Park Cheolmin raised the hammer high. Then swung it down at Kang Hyunwoo's head.
Whoosh—!
But the hammer never reached its mark.
Kang Hyunwoo reached for the incoming hammer. He gripped Park Cheolmin's wrist precisely.
Crack—!
An unnatural sound from a human joint echoed through the carpentry.
"Arghhh!"
The hammer fell limply from Park Cheolmin's hand. Clutching his broken wrist, he collapsed and rolled on the floor.
Kang Hyunwoo picked up the dropped hammer.
The cool metal touch. He swung it lightly, gauging its weight.
Then he knelt, locking eyes with the writhing Park Cheolmin.
"Will you answer my questions sincerely now?"
Kang Hyunwoo's dry tone chilled Park Cheolmin to the bone. Horror prickled every hair on his body.
"What happened in Magpie Village?"
"...I-I don't... Can't say! Never! The village elders will kill me!"
Kang Hyunwoo slowly raised the hammer.
Toward Park Cheolmin's sprawled right hand.
"You're a carpenter. Your hands are your life. Without this hand, how do you plan to survive?"
"W-Wait! Please! Anything but that...!"
Silently, Kang Hyunwoo brought the hammer down.
"Eeeeek!"
Park Cheolmin's agonized scream filled the carpentry.
Crunch—!
The gruesome sound of flesh tearing and bones pulverizing.
But the expected pain never came.
Trembling, Park Cheolmin cracked his eyes open. His hand was intact.
Instead, right beside it lay Kang Hyunwoo's left hand.
The hammer had struck Kang Hyunwoo's own hand.
A vivid hammer imprint. The unnaturally reddened back and flowing red blood.
Blood dripped onto the sawdust floor. Drip, drip.
Yet.
Kang Hyunwoo's face showed no change.
Not human.
That single thought looped in Park Cheolmin's mind.
That thing in front of me... isn't human.
"Hic... Hic... O-Okay! I'll talk! I'll tell you! Just let me talk!"
Kang Hyunwoo set the hammer down. He casually shook his bleeding left hand.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
***
The same day, late night.
Darkness is a time of terror for most humans.
Primitive fear of the unseen.
But for Kang Hyunwoo, night and darkness were merely the optimal backdrop for mission execution.
Light creates shadows, and shadows provide cover.
Darkness was not an enemy, but an ally.
Frontier Development headquarters.
Dozens of infrared sensors in the building lobby.
Gaps between the lines. He slipped through them like a fish swimming.
"The boss seems really pissed lately. Over the Magpie Village thing."
"Those old geezers threw a real tantrum trying to squeeze more cash."
Two guards on patrol.
Swish.
A hand blade struck one man's neck nape.
"Guh."
The body collapsed without even a scream.
As the other turned, Kang Hyunwoo's arm wrapped around his neck.
Sleeper hold.
The guard's body went limp, consciousness fading.
No noise. No trace.
No elevator.
Up the emergency stairs.
Floor by floor.
Constant speed, constant stride.
Finally, the top floor.
Executive wing.
The CCTV lens monitoring the hallway blinked a red dot.
Kang Hyunwoo pulled a small device from his pocket and aimed it at the CCTV.
Electromagnetic pulse generator.
The lens's red dot went dark.
He stood before the Legal Director's office door.
Digital door lock.
He attached a thin film to the keypad and peeled it off, revealing clear fingerprints.
Combined the darkest traces.
Beep—beep—beep—beep—
Click.
The door opened.
The documents Mayor Lee Garam had seen.
The scraps of paper holding Frontier Development's ugly secrets.
He had to find them.
He went straight to the bookshelf.
Numerous file folders.
But his target wasn't there.
Behind the bookshelf, a hidden space.
He pushed the bookshelf lightly.
Creak—
A heavy sound accompanied the safe emerging from the wall.
That was when it happened.
Click.
The office lights blazed on blindingly bright.
White light harsh enough to dazzle the eyes.
Pupils accustomed to darkness contracted sharply.
"Didn't expect a visitor this late at night."
"What the hell's security doing? Fire the lot of them."
He turned toward the voices.
At the office entrance stood a man and a woman.
Frontier Development's Legal Director Nam Doyun and PR Director Hong Jinah.
"Don't know where this rat's from, but you got in easy—getting out won't be."
The Legal Director cracked his knuckles with a sinister grin.
"Magpie Village old timers send you? Or a rival firm?"
The PR Director asked indifferently, fiddling with her nails.
Kang Hyunwoo didn't respond.
He simply drew a heavy metal rod from his coat.
Click.
The telescopic baton extended with a sharp snap.
"Oh ho, putting up a fight?"
Muscles swelled across Nam Doyun's body.
His dress shirt sleeves strained to the bursting point.
Super strength ability user.
"Doesn't matter who you are. Let's wrap this up quick. I'm beat."
Cold mist rose from Hong Jinah's fingertips.
Thin frost crept across the floor.
Ice ability user.
Kang Hyunwoo moved first.
Target: the woman. Hong Jinah.
Neutralize the annoying ranged attacker first.
Rational choice.
But Nam Doyun blocked his path.
"Where do you think you're going!"
A fist sliced through the air.
No dodge.
Kang Hyunwoo met the fist with his baton.
Boom—!
The clash of steel on steel roared.
That instant.
"Freeze."
Dozens of razor-sharp ice spikes launched from Hong Jinah's hand.
Shh—shh—shh—!
Kang Hyunwoo twisted, dodging most.
But a few struck true.
Stab.
Ice spikes buried deep in his shoulder and thigh.
Yet Kang Hyunwoo didn't scream.
He casually yanked out the embedded ice and tossed it aside.
"What the... that guy...?"
Bewilderment flashed across Hong Jinah's face for the first time.
"Tough bastard!"
Nam Doyun charged again.
Simple, brutish assault.
But with house-crushing power.
Kang Hyunwoo didn't dodge this time either.
Instead, he closed in.
As Nam Doyun's fist hurtled toward his gut, he swung the baton at the man's temple.
Thud—!
Kang Hyunwoo's body launched airborne, slamming into the wall.
Spiderweb cracks spidered across the surface.
"Cough...!"
Red blood gushed from Kang Hyunwoo's mouth.
The PR Director smiled coldly at the sight. Clasping her hands forward, dozens of ice spikes materialized in the air.
"Gotta finish neat."
With her gesture, the spikes flew at the fallen Kang Hyunwoo.
Pssh, pssh, pssh!
Sounds of flesh and bone piercing filled the office.
Kang Hyunwoo's body turned porcupine in seconds. No twitch. Dead.
"Hmph. All talk, no bite."
The Legal Director spat on the floor.
"Magpie Village fixers? Might as well wipe 'em all out. What to do with the corpse?"
Nam Doyun muttered, shaking his head.
"Flies like this buzzing means we gotta bulldoze Magpie Village fast."
He turned toward Hong Jinah.
That was when it happened.
Crack. Crack, crack.
Eerie sounds.
Dislocated bones snapping back into place.
Torn flesh swelling and knitting closed.
Nam Doyun and Hong Jinah whipped around in shock.
Kang Hyunwoo rose casually from his spot.
His torn suit jacket parted to reveal a smooth, scarless abdomen.
"What... what the hell is that...?"
Kang Hyunwoo.
His codename in Erebos: 'Undead'.
His ability was simple super-regeneration.
But that very simplicity made it the most terrifying weapon.
The human body imposes limiters for self-preservation.
Maximum muscle output.
Bone impact thresholds.
The pain signaling system.
All safety measures for survival.
He needed none of them.
Break? Regenerate. Done.
Tear? Reattach. Done.
Die? Revive. Done.
That was Kang Hyunwoo's way of fighting.
Kang Hyunwoo kicked off the floor again.
Speed incomparable to before.
"You monster freak!"
Nam Doyun swung his fist once more.
Kang Hyunwoo didn't dodge.
He met it head-on with his own fist.
Crunch—!
Their fists collided squarely.
Nam Doyun's arm bones shattered to fragments.
Kang Hyunwoo's arm did the same.
But there was a difference.
"Arrrghhh!"
Only Nam Doyun screamed in agony.
The Legal Director's arm dangled as limp meat, while Kang Hyunwoo's regenerated in the instant it burst.
Shattered bones realigned, muscles surged back, restoring the sturdy arm in a flash.
"Stay back! Stay baaack!"
Hong Jinah thrust both hands out, voice breaking into sobs.
Hundreds of ice spears rained down on Kang Hyunwoo.
Pssh—psh—
His body bristled like a porcupine once more.
But he didn't stop.
Calmly ripping out the ice spears, he advanced step by step.
"Eek...! M-Monster...!"
Hot liquid trickled between Hong Jinah's legs.
Her skirt soaked through.
Fear paralyzed reason.
Instinct overwhelmed thought.
At last, Kang Hyunwoo stood before Hong Jinah.
That alone made her foam at the mouth and faint.
Kang Hyunwoo dragged the two collapsed bodies to the safe.
He pressed their palms to the fingerprint scanner one by one.
[Authenticated]
Creak—
The heavy safe door swung open.
Dozens of file folders inside.
Proof of illicit deals and bribes.
Kang Hyunwoo pulled out the rearmost red folder.
[Neo Incheon Metro Line 3 Extension Preliminary Agreement Minutes (Confidential)]
[City Council Legislative Support Funds & Policy Consulting Fees Ledger]
[Preemptive Investment Profit Analysis Using Non-Public Urban Development Info]
Mission complete.
"Now to draft the report."
He tucked the documents inside his coat and melted back into the darkness as silently as he'd come.