The Haesam Brothers 2
Adventurer...
What a wonderfully romantic word.
But in this Murim world, the so-called profession of adventurer was nothing more than a polite euphemism for the lowest dregs of society—beggars, thieves, odd-jobbers, cleaners, ragpickers, and the like.
It carried the same half-joking, half-mocking flavor as calling a thief a “virtuous gentleman.”
When someone needed day labor, they would submit a request through the Haoh Gate. The gate would review it, round up some adventurers, and dispatch them. Essentially, it functioned like a temp agency.
The work ranged from low-grade chores—cleaning, construction, farming, and other menial tasks—to mid-grade jobs like merchant escorts, facility security, personal protection, private investigation, gathering herbs, or hunting animals.
At the top were high-grade requests: monster subjugation, mining and transporting rare magic stones, combat duty, even outright war.
Those premium jobs, however, were usually claimed directly by famous sects or established factions, so they rarely trickled down to a low-tier outfit like the Haoh Gate.
Truly large trading companies or wealthy patrons naturally had their own powerful backers watching over them.
That left only unconnected individuals, tiny villages, medium-sized merchants, or minor sects to turn to the Haoh Gate whenever they were short-handed or drowning in work.
Of course, a small number of adventurers actually built respectable careers. These veterans mastered various martial styles, swordplay, spearmanship, archery, tracking, hunting, and even rudimentary magic. They made names for themselves hunting monsters, capturing wanted criminals, or clearing out bandit nests.
Some were hunters by trade who had picked up bits of martial arts secondhand from local dojos or relatives, then took on weaker monster-slaying requests as a side gig.
And then there were the genuinely skilled ones. For them, minor factions would practically bow and scrape at the Haoh Gate’s door, hoping to be introduced to higher-paying work.
In short, “adventurer” wasn’t a clearly defined profession at all. The Haoh Gate would register literally anyone—beggar or faction boss alike—as soon as they applied.
The line between mercenary and adventurer was just as blurry.
Mercenaries were usually people who had been expelled from their factions for some offense, fled before punishment could arrive, or had learned their arts privately without ever joining an organization.
Since Murim was crowded with self-proclaimed martial artists, these men would drift from dojo to dojo, master to master, offering what little money they had for scraps of technique.
When sects clashed and needed disposable bodies, they would recruit these so-called mercenaries. The men took the coin and served as living shields. That was the typical story.
Of course, if a mercenary band grew strong enough, they might form their own group, sign contracts with major factions, or even found their own sect.
When no proper mercenary work was available, they naturally registered as adventurers with the Haoh Gate and took whatever odd jobs came along.
Still, those with mercenary backgrounds received slightly better treatment, so they were often hired as escort warriors for the various transport agencies.
And among those, the pair somewhat notorious in Dalsan for their savagery—the Haesam Brothers.
They were the siblings Haesam and Wolsam, but because the older brother had the worse temper, everyone simply called them the Haesam Brothers.
These were the very same two-man bandit duo who had tangled with Pungjin’s party and received a thorough beating.
Adventurers always ready to switch to banditry at the drop of a hat. Cruel, inhuman criminals. The lowest scum of the earth.
Even the Haoh Gate tried to watch for and purge such trash. They stripped adventurer qualifications and reclaimed badges from anyone with a criminal record or a character rotten enough to commit serious crimes.
But if someone committed their crimes in secret, or fled to a distant city afterward and simply registered again, there was no real way to stop them.
That was why the Haoh Gate had built a system: important requests were never given to newcomers. Instead, they started with simple, long-term tasks to evaluate a person’s character and reliability.
Yet there was no perfect defense against people like this duo, who diligently completed low-level requests while secretly robbing travelers on the side.
If you didn’t get caught… you won. That was a universal truth that applied anywhere.
In any case, the two robbers now known as the Haesam Brothers had fallen victim to the Dark Princess Shura’s human experimentation and become her slaves.
After dragging Shura’s floating raft into the city, they received no further direct orders. So they simply continued living as they always had.
The only command was to visit the inn once a day at lunchtime, eat, make their presence known, wait in case there were orders, and then leave. That was it.
Apparently finding her brand-new human slaves rather adorable, Shura had even given them enough pocket money to buy meals for the time being.
They had been drained of yin energy until they were half-dead and delirious. Yet after witnessing that unbelievable spectacle, drowning in overwhelming pleasure, and masturbating until they spilled everything… now they were even being paid to eat.
Although it had started with them being thoroughly punished while committing a crime, the brothers were beginning to think that life as someone’s slave might not actually be so bad.
Of course, they had no idea that even those thoughts were the work of the slave magic Shura had placed on them.
Just as Pungjin had once convinced himself that slave life was “not so bad,” the same magic had been at work.
By affirming their own enslavement, they came to serve their master more devotedly and think of nothing but her. That was the true nature of slave magic. The exact strength, method, and trigger points differed in subtle ways, so it was difficult to call them identical.
In any case, the magic Shura had cast was, naturally, rooted in powerful sexual ecstasy.
Her slaves did not fantasize about violating her. Instead, they fell into dreams of worshiping and revering her sacred beauty.
It was like a netorare instinct. If Shura were to mate with a magnificent alpha male worthy of her, they would weep with emotion and masturbate in gratitude. Meanwhile, the very idea of their own shabby, insignificant selves daring to touch her felt blasphemous and filthy.
The highest possible value became helping Shura find a suitable alpha male, offering him to her, and receiving her affectionate praise in return.
After finishing lunch at the inn, the two men headed for the adventurer guild—the Haoh Gate office.
Because they were required to report during lunch, they were now looking for requests that could begin in the afternoon and be completed by the following morning.
Normally they would have spent their earnings at a brothel or lounged around the bathhouse, but Shura’s orders had forced them into an unnaturally diligent lifestyle.
Looking at it that way, perhaps the slave magic wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
“Oh… if it isn’t the Haesam Brothers. You’ve arrived. But why do you both look so terrible? Tsk tsk… that last request must have been brutal.”
The Haoh Gate counselor who handled their cases greeted them. Each adventurer was assigned a personal counselor who connected them with requests and offered advice.
“Ah, no… just caught a bit of a cold, that’s all… *cough*. Anyway, got any good requests? Something we can finish by tomorrow morning.”
“Already? You just finished one. Shouldn’t you rest? You don’t even look well.”
“No, no. You have to work hard if you want to live well.”
The counselor felt a distinct sense of unease watching the usually thuggish brothers suddenly cosplay as model workers.
“Hmm… let’s see. There is one thing. The Gubang Escort Agency needs extra guards for a convoy leaving this afternoon. It’s a round trip—depart now, return here tomorrow. They were short on people and about to leave without escorts…”
“Oh, that sounds perfect. We’ll take it.”
“You do know their schedule, right? Leave this afternoon, arrive late at night, then set out again at the crack of dawn and get back before lunch tomorrow. It’s a brutal pace. You sure you’re up for it?”
“If we start nitpicking schedules, when are we supposed to make money? Where do we go? Straight to the Gubang Escort Agency?”
“Y-yes… Just a moment. Let me prepare the contract first…”
The counselor hurriedly drew up the paperwork, including the copy that would be delivered to the agency. His expression remained odd the entire time; the brothers’ behavior was simply too out of character.
The Haesam Brothers raced to the Gubang Escort Agency and managed to join the convoy just in time.
“Hehe. To be honest, we were feeling pretty uneasy about leaving without any guards. We were starting to worry when you didn’t show up. This is perfect. Let’s move out immediately.”
The agency representative signed the Haoh Gate contract the brothers handed over, and the cargo wagons rolled out at once.
Several large wagons were piled high with goods. The agency employees drove them forward while the Haesam Brothers walked alongside, providing escort.
With so many robbers, bandits, and thieves on the roads, traveling without guards meant having to watch everything themselves—an annoying and exhausting burden.
They traveled for a long while until night eventually fell.
What made the Gubang Escort Agency infamous was their habit of continuing through the night, torches blazing, refusing to stop.
Naturally, darkness brought far more dangers, which meant far more work for the escorts. It was the main reason no one wanted their jobs.
“Hm? Everyone… everyone, stay alert!!! Something stinks of trouble!!”
It was the moment everyone was exhausted but pushing forward, knowing only two or three more hours remained.
Suddenly Wolsam, the younger of the Haesam Brothers, shouted at the top of his lungs. The cry echoed loudly through the night, jolting awake even those who had been dozing in their saddles.
“Clang! Clang!”
The brothers already had their swords drawn and were swinging them wildly.
Dark silhouettes appeared from the shadows, lunging toward the agency’s cargo.
And then—