The Dullahan
"I've told you everything I know... so please... just kill me now..."
Kim Hee-jun was begging, hanging limp in restraints. Nothing of his original appearance remained.
It was almost a miracle he could still speak at all, let alone stay alive in that condition.
"Nope. I think there's more left in you. And you're holding up just fine, aren't you? This isn't nearly enough to kill you."
"..."
Survivors boasted far tougher lives than ordinary people, which meant they endured torture far better too.
Won-goo had captured the Youngjae Pharmacy crew and deliberately dragged them to the most visible spot in the shelter.
It was a message.
Retribution — a demonstration of what happened to those who attacked him.
People had tried to cross Won-goo plenty of times before, but this incident was on another scale entirely. The pharmacy was one of the largest businesses inside the shelter, after all.
"Hyun-sung."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim!"
"Bring me Hye-ji."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim!"
A short while later, Jeon Hye-ji appeared. Won-goo gestured toward the surviving stragglers still hanging there.
"What do you think?"
"Their condition's changed."
"Yeah? As in, truth-only condition?"
"Yes. At this point, their trust levels are maxed out."
Jeon Hye-ji's Gift investigated a target's trust level. There was no way to tell whether someone was lying. But she could check a person's trustworthiness in real time, and Won-goo had used it to confirm just how much they'd spilled.
"Then we're done here. Hyun-sung."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim!"
"They're saying their bodies hurt, so let's put them out of their misery."
"We'll do the work in the plaza."
"Naturally. Who's taking point?"
"I'm more than enough on my own, Hyeong-nim."
"Right. Then have the others go relax. We'll be staying at the shelter for a while, so tell them to enjoy themselves."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim."
"You too, Hyun-sung. Once you finish the job, don't report back — just go rest. And don't worry about the money."
"Thank you, Hyeong-nim."
"Good work. Pass my thanks to everyone."
"Understood, Hyeong-nim."
It was decided that Kim Hee-jun and his crew would be executed in the shelter plaza.
In a truly gruesome fashion.
"That fire's burning nicely."
Sanghae was watching the flames shooting up from the plaza through the window.
Won-goo sat at the table drinking beer, sorting through the list of spoils.
"You don't look very happy about it."
"One of ours died. What's there to be happy about?"
"You avenged him properly, at least. And the loot's pretty decent, isn't it? Better haul than when we cleaned up Poke's crew, I'd say. And you got the goblin back too."
The gains from dragging back Kim Hee-jun's crew were substantial. They'd recovered all the items the group carried, along with every coin they'd held. Kim Hee-jun's people had been planning to leave the shelter for good, so they'd been carrying their entire fortunes on them.
"It's not a big profit. If anything, we might end up in the red."
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"We made the incident too big."
At that, Sanghae set down the chicken skewers he'd brought from the kitchen — grilled over an open flame to a perfect golden brown.
"Did Director Gong even think about that?"
"Are you mocking me?"
"No. I just figured you didn't care one bit. I thought you were the type to brush past the shelter's merchants without a second glance."
"Those bastards I can ignore."
"Whoa..."
Sanghae's mouth fell wide open.
"The merchants are already fuming, and you're just pouring more oil on the fire."
It was Sapiens. He made his entrance wearing angular sunglasses.
"What exactly did those bastards lose from all this?"
"If the shelter's trust rating drops, the damage would be—"
"That's all horseshit."
"...?"
"...?"
Sapiens and Sanghae stared at each other, blindsided by the unexpected remark.
"In what way, exactly, is it horseshit?"
"It is horseshit. Why would the shelter's trust rating fall? It went up. We caught the bastards who caused a massive incident and tried to run, and executed them. Why would that lower it? It made things more certain. People now know that if you stir up trouble in Sabbath, you'll be hunted to the very end. Isn't that what 'safer' means?"
"Hearing it out... I suppose that makes sense too?"
"If any merchants keep spouting nonsense, tell them to just watch for a while. See whether their business does well or not. Check whether the shelter's foot traffic went up or down."
"And if it went down...?"
"Then they'll need treatment."
Both their faces stiffened instantly.
"Don't make faces like you chewed shit. It won't drop. What I'm actually worried about is the beastfolk."
"Didn't you have their permission?"
"I did. Half through intimidation. Actually, no — it was just intimidation, wasn't it?"
"..."
"..."
"Why are you both staring? It was a necessary measure."
With that, Won-goo picked up a chicken skewer and bit into it.
"You're the only person alive who'd barge in on the beastfolk like that, Hyeong-nim. I always respect your decisions. Just make sure none of the sparks land on my business."
"We're not even partners. What sparks could there be?"
"Hold on. Director Gong."
"What?"
"The beastfolk agreed to your request, didn't they? So doesn't that settle it? Shouldn't be a problem."
"No problem now, maybe. But when an incident breaks out, do they follow the manual to the letter, or do they handle it flexibly? That's the line where everything splits."
"You're assuming another incident will happen?"
"And if there are no incidents? You want operations like us to starve to death?"
As he spoke, Won-goo pictured the elephant's face.
He was talking with Sapiens and Sanghae, but his thoughts were entirely on Kane.
On how exactly to grill that bastard and boil him alive.
It wouldn't be easy. He'd threatened him steadily, invoking the Jonggwanwi, but that card wasn't invincible. If it ever came to actually playing it, things would be all but a full-scale war, so Won-goo had no intention of using it.
Besides, if his relationship with the beastfolk ever sank that far, the game was already over as far as he was concerned.
So Won-goo was racking his brain for a way to restore his standing with the beastfolk — a method better than any other. When stirring up trouble, the beastfolk were the last thing you checked; when cleaning up after it, they were the first.
At least for now.
"Hyeong-nim. More importantly, what are you planning to do about the Trainer's funeral?"
"Rather than a funeral — you know the Trainer has family, right?"
"I know."
"We have to make sure they can eat and live."
"Condolence money's something even the merchants would chip in for. The Trainer didn't have a bad reputation."
"I'm not talking about a one-time payment. We have to support them for the long haul. The Trainer's son is what, two years old now? There needs to be at least enough support for them to hold on inside the shelter."
"Hyeong-nim, that's asking a lot even for you. It's not a single payout — if it's the two of them, the shelter fees alone won't be trivial."
"That's exactly why we need Youngjae Pharmacy."
"Dr. Woo bought the pharmacy, though?"
"I know. But he bought it dirt cheap. And the one who sold it killed the Trainer — shouldn't we be taking another look at that contract?"
"Director Gong, that's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Don't you think so, Sapiens?"
"It does seem like a stretch to me."
"You're both talking nonsense. Dr. Woo clearly—"
Won-goo stopped mid-sentence. Beastfolk were suddenly crowding into the shop — Sanghae's and Sapiens's men couldn't hold back the tide of them pouring in.
"Mr. Won-goo!"
Kane revealed himself. His voice was anything but ordinary.
"If you were here, I would've found you myself. There was no need to come all this way."
"Th-that's not it. Let's just take a look first."
Quick-witted as ever, Won-goo registered that something had happened.
"What's going on?"
Kane pulled Won-goo off into a corner.
"We're fucked. What do we do about this?"
"I'm sorry?"
"This incident."
"It was wrapped up cleanly."
"That's not what I mean."
"Then what?"
"The administrators involved in this incident. It turns out they weren't just taking money and looking the other way."
"What's that supposed to mean? You're saying they weren't on the take?"
"They were the ringleaders. What the hell do we do about this?"
"...?"
Even Won-goo, who was hard to shock, was badly shaken this time.
"They're Cheonmok. That's what they're saying."
"Hold on. Then the beastfolk administrator of this shelter is part of that... Cheonmok—"
"Quiet. Someone will hear."
"No... is that even possible? Cheonmok isn't some religious cult beamed down from outer space... why would beastfolk join it?"
"..."
"It IS a religion from space, isn't it?"
"I can't say for certain. Only that there are... similar doctrines out there in the universe—"
"Shit! Then that means it's true, doesn't it!"
Even Won-goo, a regressor, hadn't known this. Which made sense — Cheonmok had flared up briefly in the early apocalypse and then vanished at some point without a trace.
No matter how far Won-goo had survived into the apocalypse's end, he hadn't known every piece of information in intimate detail.
What he knew for certain was this: Cheonmok was a religion of exceptionally vile quality.
And that it was an organization that would do him no good whatsoever on the road ahead.
When Won-goo raised his voice, every eye in the shop turned toward them. Kane then hauled him even deeper into the corner.
It was an oddly surreal sight — a colossal elephant beastman floundering before Won-goo, whose frame wasn't even half his size.
Anyone who knew Kane would have found it even stranger. Kane was, for all practical purposes, the one who actually ran Shelter Sabbath.
He was a heavyweight most survivors could barely get a word in with.
"Let's keep our voices down. You're getting too worked up, Mr. Won-goo."
"How could I not be worked up? If you'd told me sooner, this would've gone a lot smoother."
"I couldn't tell you. If I had, you'd have put our medical practice under the knife too, wouldn't you, Director?"
"..."
"And I have nothing to do with that religion. I'd only heard it in passing — I had no idea until the investigation started, I swear."
"Ha... then why did things blow up this time? They were supposedly hiding their identity and quietly proselytizing. There's no way beastfolk would throw away shelter jobs over one lousy pharmacy."
"You told us, Mr. Won-goo. You said some bastards were even toying with the toll fees. So we investigated hard."
"And so... they blew their cover and ran?"
"That's right. And this is no ordinary matter. If we don't bring back the beastfolk who've bolted, we are all well and truly fucked."
"The beastfolk?"
"Two work at the shelter, and—"
"Spill it all. I can't size this up until I know how bad it is."
"A few of the tourists were involved too, as far as we can tell."
The shelter's beastfolk weren't limited to staff. Some visited as tourists, coming to savor the exotic. Sapiens's business was the prime example.
"The tourists are a side issue. The real question is catching those two beastfolk, isn't it?"
"Taking them alive would be best..."
"How the hell do you take them alive?"
"The bodies are absolutely essential."
"So you're planning to kill them first and manufacture a case?"
"That's exactly it. Director Gong, this is enormous. If this goes badly for me, I will not let it slide. No — I CAN'T let it slide!"
"Ha..."
"In exchange, if we get through this smoothly, I'll do anything you ask, Mr. Won-goo. Anything. Really! Truly! A contract? Sure, I'll sign one if you want."
"Christ... I'm telling you, beastfolk aren't something you can win over this easily. Lives are on the line here..."
"Just tell me what you need. I'll fund all of it, Mr. Won-goo."
"Fine, so handling the beastfolk who fled the shelter—"
"DIRECTOOOOR!"
Yet another figure burst into Sanghae's shop. The man sprinting in, frantic, was Il-chul.
Il-chul was carrying someone on his back — someone whose face looked vaguely familiar.
"Director!"
"Yang-ak? Why are you... is that Hyun-sung?"
The figure on Il-chul's back was Lee Hyun-sung.
Lee Hyun-sung, who had left to finish the job.
Thump.
Before Il-chul could get a word out, something dropped off his back.
It was none other than Lee Hyun-sung's head.
Lee Hyun-sung, who had said his farewells just thirty minutes ago, had returned as a Dullahan.
A roar tore from Won-goo's throat.
"You shit! WHO THE HELL DID THIS?!"