Negotiation
"That won't work. Feelings between us are already bruised past repair."
"Then I'll stuff those feelings right back in."
"We've already wasted plenty as it is."
"And I'll make sure you pay back every bit of that waste."
Dr. Woo's eyes burned.
"Can we put it in writing?"
"Write it. Which is why we should stop here."
Won-goo's mouth twitched, then went still. He'd decided there was no need to provoke the man any further.
After all, his true goal had never been to destroy Dr. Woo outright.
The only reasons he'd gone after the old man at all were the possibility of a hidden connection to Cheonmok, and the Trainer's family.
Yet no matter how hard he dug, the Cheonmok link simply wasn't there.
The cleanest solution would have been the same one he'd used on everyone else the doctor had treated — break them down through "therapy" until they spilled everything — but even that wasn't so easy.
Doing that to Dr. Woo would blow the whole thing up into far too big a mess.
So if the doctor rejected a settlement over the Trainer affair, Won-goo had planned to simply wait and watch.
He had rejected it — and thanks to that, Won-goo had managed to squeeze out even more money than he'd originally aimed for.
"Then how does seven sound to you?"
"Seven... you don't mean seven silver coins, surely?"
"How is a family of two supposed to live on that?"
"Seven is too much. You have to think of the mouths I've got under me."
"Once the pharmacy is running properly again, that's an easy sum. Surely you know that."
"Three."
Dr. Woo raised three fingers.
"Five a month. Let's call it there. I didn't come here to haggle over goods."
"Fine by me. In exchange, I have one promise to ask of you."
"Whatever it is, I'll write it into the contract. No need for pointless worrying, is there?"
"No. This isn't something for the contract..."
"Then what is it? I'll cut Il-chul loose right now, you know. And his friends' treatment fees were never included in this deal to begin with. You're aware of that, aren't you?"
"......"
"What is it you want? We're both busy men. Word spreads fast when the two of us are seen meeting like this. And what good does that do anyone? Anyone with eyes can see the picture — Master Woo bowing his head."
"If I were worried about that, I'd never have come. What I'm curious about is what that fellow you've got working for you has been blabbing. How did he learn what he learned?"
"Who — Suwon?"
"......"
Splat.
Dr. Woo's mouth clamped shut.
"It's the truth, isn't it?"
"I... I didn't come here to explain myself. I simply want to know where in the world that information came from."
"If you wanted to hear the source of my information, this wouldn't even come close to covering the price. And even if you paid it, I still wouldn't tell you where it came from. Master Woo, you know how this world works better than anyone."
"That..."
His blood pressure climbing again, apparently, Dr. Woo couldn't get a proper word out.
"Asking me that question is pointless anyway. Why do you insist on twisting it around?"
"......?"
"It's a secret, no? Secret enough to make Master Woo react like this."
"......"
"Shouldn't you be starting with the people who already know that secret?"
"Among my own people, a traitor would..."
"Oh, come now. Charging ahead again. That's neither here nor there. That's just how people are. Drunk on the mood, drunk on the liquor — and out come the words that should never have been spoken. Doesn't that happen all the time?"
"You sons of b—"
Dr. Woo growled low in his throat. Faces of his underlings flashed through his mind, one after another.
"Your household problems are yours to handle. Let's proceed as agreed."
Dr. Woo nodded, his face flushed scarlet.
"Oh, right. I have something to add as well."
"What now?"
"Buri Island."
"Why in the world does Buri Island come up here?"
"Dr. Woo, you run a pharmacy. Shouldn't you be seeking stability in your livelihood with that, and moving forward from there?"
"So you're telling me to give up Buri Island?"
"Were you planning to jump into this takeover war? The losses could get enormous..."
"Buri Island is..."
"You can't let it go, can you?"
"How many gangs around here could afford to give up Buri Island, do you think?"
"I'll grant that Buri Island is sweet."
"Sweet doesn't cover it. It's the kind of place that even if we can't hold it ourselves, we can't let anyone else have it."
"Then here's my proposal. I'll take Buri Island."
"What did you say?"
"Help me take it, and I'll share the profits. Taking Buri Island means clearing out most of the gangs around here anyway, doesn't it?"
"So you intend to dangle my people out there as bait? Is that the idea?"
"No. The idea is to keep the tension simmering at just the right level. Who do you think will make the first move? My money's on Respect."
"I'd been thinking the same thing, truth be told."
"Then you'll have to set the mood for me. Give Respect the opening to come charging out."
Won-goo said it with a smile, and only then did Dr. Woo's face break into one as well.
"Now that, I finally understand."
"Then we'll put that in too. We can't swallow all of Buri Island ourselves anyway. It needs a lot of manpower, and as you can see, our numbers are limited. We take it, hand over the operating rights, and split the spoils in a reasonable way."
"Will that go into the contract?"
"Of course."
"Then I accept."
"That information — it didn't come out of Dr. Woo's own underlings' mouths, did it?"
"No, it didn't."
"You admit it?"
"The bars inside the Shelter carry more secrets than you'd think. I've been quietly buying them up for a long time."
It was, of course, a lie. Won-goo hadn't set down roots in Shelter Sabbath by accident.
He had lived in this area in his previous life, too.
In that life as well, Dr. Woo had been a gang boss.
The boss of an operation even bigger than the one he ran now.
That was why Won-goo knew the secret.
The secret Dr. Woo would rather die than let anyone discover.
"Which is why all of you need to watch your mouths, even when everyone's in a good mood. I've said it before, haven't I? Whatever gets shared between us never leaves this crew. Not ever."
"Doesn't that one take care of itself, though? It's in the contract now..."
Jeon Hye-ji said.
"Still — be careful. Even the smallest things can become information on their end. Hye-ji."
"Yes."
"You've stocked everything, right?"
"Everything you asked for is done."
"That's your role from now on. Managing our crew's provisions. It's more important than it sounds, so do it well."
"Yes."
With that, Jeon Hye-ji handed the ledger over to Won-goo.
"So what do we do now? The information-gathering teams haven't come back yet? Don't tell me..."
"Don't jinx it. We still have time. They'll come back."
"Dungeons have plenty of dangerous parts to them."
"That's why I only sent the A-ranks. If even they can't make it back, it means it was a dungeon no one should have entered in the first place."
Still, Won-goo was certain they would return.
The reason was simple: dungeons at this point in time weren't ranked all that high.
If they'd gone in to explore, they might well have come to harm — but all they were doing was gathering information.
The odds of that getting them hurt were vanishingly small.
If anything went wrong, the far more plausible story was that they'd crossed paths with a gang on the way back and things had gotten tangled.
"So we just wait?"
For the first time in a while, Jo Mu-sa spoke up.
"No. We hold interviews."
"Interviews?"
"A dungeon is big business. Clearing it with just us is going to be difficult."
"Wasn't the plan to go in with the two sisters' crews? That is the part I remember."
"Even with them along, it won't be enough. Hence the interviews."
"Then that is the part I oppose. Working alongside people we know nothing about? Out in the Field, perhaps — but in an enclosed space like a dungeon, isn't that far too dangerous a part?"
It was rare for Mu Beob-sa to speak so firmly. But for the most part, the crew didn't pay his objection much mind.
They knew exactly who held the final say in this family. And they knew Won-goo always had a plan.
"Mu Beob-sa, learn to listen and then judge. That's what I told you. We're holding interviews. Interviews."
"Can an interview really filter that out? The human heart is..."
"We have our Hye-ji, don't we? She's picked up her Milestone Trait too, so we'll sift them properly."
Jeon Hye-ji's Gift was trust assessment. The Milestone Trait that could be unlocked in tandem with it was Survivor Report.
There were many strains of information brokers, but ones specializing in survivors were comparatively rare.
Abilities geared toward monsters and traps were simply more useful for staying alive.
A survivor-specialist broker was a jackpot when used well — but useless without teammates to cover her.
"These days it doesn't stop at trust — it reads risk levels too, so let's not worry ourselves. We'll conduct the interviews carefully and bring back only good people."
The moment word spread that Won-goo was looking for survivors to enter a dungeon with him, people came flocking.
Survivors active out of other shelters were showing up just for the chance to interview.
"Simple. Low trust goes left. High trust goes right. Sort them."
"That's all the sorting you want?"
"That's all, for now."
The interviews proceeded with Hyunsung and Jeon Hye-ji at the center of it, while Won-goo reviewed the applicants' paperwork in a separate room.
"Everything's fine, but why not my place?"
Sanghae grumbled — even as he set down a freshly roasted sweet potato.
"What are we going to do about this many applicants?"
"Gathering them under the Gong Station Chief's name — and you didn't expect at least this much?"
"I didn't realize my reputation had spread this far."
"You mean your notoriety."
"See, you do it again. I already told you I'd share. You know my style. I'm not the type to live well all by myself, Sanghae."
"Right. Which is exactly why you get fleeced like a sucker every single time."
"That joke's not funny. A sucker? There's no one in this business who makes money like a broker, and you're calling me that?"
"Enough. Wrap it up by dinner. I've got a meeting tonight. I can't very well leave my own restaurant sitting empty while I take meetings outside."
"Understood."
"So — any promising talent in there?"
"Why do you care?"
"I have to care. Aren't you going to ask me to draw up the contract?"
"Not this time."
"What?"
Sanghae's face registered genuine surprise.
"Why so shocked? Am I not allowed to get contracts written somewhere else once in a while?"
"Well..."
"This job isn't mine alone. The two siblings are part of it. Their side is preparing the contract."
At that, Mu Beob-sa and the rest of the crew stole a glance at Won-goo — then quickly looked away.
"Wait... so you're not even contracting with me, and I'm supposed to just keep working for you?"
"Oh, come on. You've had your moment of largesse; that's plenty. You're all about principle, they say. Our Mr. Sanghae has excellent principles."
"Agh... my head. The anemia's coming on all of a sudden."
"Not with that body of yours, it isn't."
"Damn it all..."
"Okay, okay. Like I said — I'm not the type to prosper alone."
"Sure. Still, I'm hurt. Hurt, I am."
"You agreed to it exactly once, and now you're going on about being hurt? Remember what you told me last time, huh? When I was still smarting from getting stabbed in the back by Poke?"
"Ah... we resolved that one just fine, didn't we?"
"So let this one slide too."
"Fine. Fine, all right."
"I'll eat the sweet potato happily. Any chance you've got the honey kind, though? These purple-fleshed ones aren't really my thing..."
"......"
"Thank you. Thank you."
Scowling, Sanghae hauled himself up from his seat. Then he turned back around and spoke.
"Ugh. I wasn't going to tell you, it was irritating me too much — but here it is anyway."
"What?"
"The Buri Island fight has started."
"Oh... really now?"
"You weren't planning to get involved?"
"No rush yet."
"Maybe you should be rushing."
"Why?"
"Word is Abal has entered the war."
Won-goo lifted his eyes from the paperwork and looked at Sanghae.
"You're certain?"
"Yeah."
"Is there word that she's signed a contract?"
"Not that I've heard?"
"Then it probably isn't real."
"No — my source is solid. They say Nero's people brought her in."
"Hmm... okay. Got it."
"Not worried, are you?"
"Even so, Buri Island is a big pie. It won't be settled easily. Just keep watching for me — let me know how it develops."
"That much is easy."
And with that, Sanghae actually left.
"I, I've been w, wondering for a while..."
Suwon asked right away.
"Abal is the part I can tell you about. There are exactly two people Gong Station Chief wanted to recruit into the crew because their skills impressed him. Right, Station Chief?"
"That's right."
"Abal is one of those two. That is the part."
"Her skills are excellent. The problem is she can't be handled. Some diseases can't be cured by therapy. Abal is one of them."