The Magician of Ten Seconds
"You woke me up while I was having the sleep of my life. What part of that was necessary?"
"Guess it was a waste, then. Have a drink and sober up already."
Won-goo held out a cold beer. Mu Beob-sa took it and downed it in one go.
The moment the mug was empty, Won-goo tore the wing off the chicken himself and stuffed it into Mu Beob-sa's mouth.
"Such fine treatment. That tells me there's something requiring my talents, no?"
"You know who just came by?"
"Who came by?"
"Ganjeol."
Mu Beob-sa's eyes went wide.
Battle must be concise. That Ganjeol? The one-in-a-hundred? Am I understanding you correctly?"
"The very one. How many people around here go by that name? The Magician of Ten Seconds. That Ganjeol."
"He had more nicknames than just One-in-a-Hundred? I only knew that one."
"All of them were coined the same day. The man cut down a hundred people in ten seconds, then said, battle must be concise."
"And that was the seed that grew the Ganjeol Point Coalition, I'd wager."
Mu Beob-sa chimed in.
"Exactly right."
"He must be a real heavyweight, then, if his name carries this much weight around here."
"Not the kind of man you want entangled with badly."
"Best to keep things cordial, no?"
"Cordial, yes. Whether he's a good man is another question entirely."
There was a reason the conversation between Gong Won-goo and Ganjeol had been so brief when they met.
The two acknowledged each other. Ganjeol was wary of Won-goo's inexplicable composure.
He hadn't dismissed the results the man produced, either. However flimsy the process, the outcomes were always rock-solid.
And so Ganjeol had judged Gong Won-goo to be someone he could not afford to underestimate — a man best not made into an enemy.
As mentioned before, what survivors feared most wasn't known quantities. It was the unknown ones.
A man who looks outmatched, yet delivers results.
A man who walks into certain death and walks back out unscathed.
What Ganjeol knew above all was that despite everything Won-goo had been through, not a single piece of him was missing.
Won-goo, for his part, avoided Ganjeol for the opposite reason: he knew the man all too well.
A mage.
Magic specialized in slaughter.
A human being optimized for killing other humans.
Fights were settled by clashing, sure — but the best move against Ganjeol was to never clash at all.
Even a victory would come at catastrophic cost.
Won-goo laid out the situation for Mu Beob-sa in quick, economical strokes. The old mage listened, nodded, and rose to his feet.
"Then I shall go and see for myself."
Mu Beob-sa slipped out the door.
"You caught on, didn't you?"
Fresh asked out of nowhere.
"Caught on to what?"
"Why Ganjeol came out here in person. You clocked it and sent the old man off to confirm it, didn't you?"
Pfft.
Won-goo laughed.
"Great. Your skills stay flat while your instincts keep leveling. That's a problem."
"Skills are instincts. Wait, no — instincts are skills. Whatever. You did pick up on something, right?"
"If you know even a little about how the Ganjeol Point Coalition runs, something jumps out."
"Like what?"
"The coalition is split into multiple teams. A few of them are extremely close with Ganjeol — tight as family."
"You mean practically blood relatives?"
"Honestly... your instincts are getting slower by the day. Yes. Practically family — no, closer than family, even."
"Actual kin?"
"Last I heard, yes."
"If they're blood, shouldn't he keep them close?"
"You saw the man just now. What did you make of him?"
"Make of him how?"
"Just his looks."
"A well-groomed middle-aged man?"
"That face of his is past seventy."
"Huh?"
"Imagine what he looked like in his prime. They say he was a legendary womanizer."
"Then how'd you recognize his face, Director Gong?"
"Because I gather intelligence. That's how I know."
"Ah. Makes sense."
"Anyway, that's why the coalition is crawling with his relatives, far as I can tell."
"Sounds exhausting."
"Run the logic and it all clicks. If it's family in question, wouldn't that justify the head of a coalition that size showing up in person?"
"Plenty justified. But if that's the case... wouldn't tagging along on this whole affair not be such a bad idea?"
"No."
"No?"
Won-goo shook his head, firm and final.
"Their operation is nothing like ours. Different territory, different wavelength. And above all — no entanglements. No entanglements means no penalty for stabbing us in the back whenever it suits them and walking away clean."
"Hmm... still, an asset that big would be a real boon."
"Who said anything about turning down help? I just said we're not going together."
"...?"
Fresh blinked for a moment. Then a wicked smile crept across his face.
"You're going to make them throw the first punch."
"Hey. Watch your mouth. Throw the first punch? This thing caught fire all on its own. That's not the right way to frame it."
"Same thing either way."
"Not the same."
"Well, one piece of good news did land, at least?"
"Good news, yeah."
Gulp! Gulp!
Fresh suddenly downed the rest of his beer and sprang to his feet.
"Where are you going?"
"Something's about to go down. Gotta go restock my gear."
"It hasn't even started yet. Sit down. No need to rush."
"Nah. This is one routine I don't budge on."
"What routine?"
"The bigger the fight, the more carefully I pick my equipment. Forewarned is forearmed. I'll rejoin you soon, so don't worry."
Fresh held out his hand as he spoke. Won-goo reached up from his seat, and the handshake was complete.
"But even if they swing first... going by the rumors, isn't that Ganjeol basically invincible?"
Fresh asked, still holding the handshake.
"Where in this world is there an invincible man?"
"The rumors are exaggerated, then?"
"Not exaggerated."
"So he really did shred a hundred people in the blink of an eye?"
"Entirely possible."
By the current average standard of survivors, it was more than plausible. Ganjeol possessed a Gift every bit as rare as Yeom-gwi's.
He'd invested his coins well, too — his growth had been luxuriously smooth.
At this point in time, he had virtually no true rivals.
But Won-goo knew Ganjeol's weakness as well.
"Insane..."
"But he's basically a bomb."
"A bomb?"
"If he could use that ability on tap, would there even be a Black Shelter left in this region? The whole area would already be under Ganjeol's boot."
"So there's a long cooldown."
Fresh caught on instantly.
"He's a final weapon. If not for that, he'd have marched straight into the Black Shelters long ago."
"So Ganjeol wants us to make the first move?"
"That would be the shape of it. And I intend to use it as an excuse to leave a good impression."
"You wrap 'planning to squeeze them dry' in such pretty language, Director Gong."
"Ttugi."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim."
"We're going out for drinks."
"Understood, Hyeong-nim."
After Fresh left, Gong Won-goo stood up as well.
"Can I come along too?"
Jeon Hye-ji raised her hand.
"Stay behind this time. You're not going anywhere pleasant."
"But you're going because of this case, aren't you?"
"That's right."
"Then I want to come and watch. That's how I learn fastest."
Won-goo snorted a laugh.
"That eagerness to learn — that much I like. But this particular outing, there's not much to learn from..."
He let the sentence trail off. Then he stood there, silent in thought for a brief moment.
"Actually, no. Come along. Come to think of it, Hye-ji, you're well past the age where you should only be seeing pretty things anyway."
"Correct. I'm an adult."
"Right. Though that baby face of yours keeps making me forget. Anyway, come on. You need practice using that Gift of yours, too."
Lee Hyun-sung, Gong Won-goo, and Jeon Hye-ji made their way to the outskirts of the Shelter.
An area neither Won-goo nor Hye-ji had visited much lately.
The entertainment district.
And they entered the largest club in all of Sabath.
Club S.
A name chosen without imagination, simply because the owner was ex-military.
What was certain, though, was that no club in Sabath was bigger.
Even Sapiens — a genuine heavyweight in Sabath — held only a minor stake in this place.
It was territory beyond Sapiens' reach.
Which was naturally why Won-goo's people never came here.
Whenever Won-goo wasn't around, the crew came to unwind under Lee Hyun-sung's lead.
And Hyun-sung had warned them, every time — go have fun somewhere, anywhere else.
That was why he found himself glancing around restlessly the moment they stepped inside.
Won-goo, by contrast, walked out front with easy familiarity. It had been a while since his last visit, but he hadn't never come.
He had no particular relationship with the club's owner.
Nothing bad between them, nothing good either.
Which simply meant it was worth building a proper relationship going forward.
Jeon Hye-ji showed no particular discomfort at the den of pleasure around her. She'd been remarkable from the very first day they met.
She carried a boldness beyond that of ordinary people.
There was no better talent for surviving the apocalypse. To be fearless meant knowing how to make the judgment that favored you, in any situation, no matter what.
For that reason, Won-goo rated Jeon Hye-ji highly.
"Hye-ji."
"Yes?"
"Surprised?"
"No. I'd heard places like this existed... I just didn't expect this many people. I heard it costs a fortune to come here."
"It's nothing compared to the old world. And yet they keep coming. You know why?"
"Because there's no hope?"
"Sharp. Pile up all the money you want — there's no guarantee it keeps you alive. Same for us. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone."
"But you don't spend money like this, Director."
"Exactly. And that's the point. Apocalypse or not, life never goes the way you plan."
Despite the end of the world, performances were unfolding inside the club under lavish lights.
Some of the performers worked half-naked.
Men. Women. And people straddling the line between the two.
There were performers outside that line entirely, of course.
The customers each enjoyed the show from the zone that suited their tastes.
"Hye-ji. Time for a mission."
"...?"
"Find them."
"Sorry?"
"Your Gift. You've got to use it, don't you? So use it. Tell me — who did I come here to find?"
Jeon Hye-ji was caught considerably off guard. Her Gift did one thing: assess a target's trustworthiness and danger level.
It couldn't read Won-goo's mind on command.
Even so, she packed away her fluster quickly and started working through his intent.
"I'll look."
"You don't even know who you're looking for?"
"You said who, so it must be a person. And since you came to a club you never frequent, it has to be someone I could only meet here."
The corner of Won-goo's mouth lifted. Lee Hyun-sung's expression stayed flat, but he was listening to every word with careful attention.
"Go on?"
"You mentioned my Gift... so it has to be someone out of the ordinary. I'll rule out anyone plain and search from there."
"Good instincts. Now find them."
"Could it be the club's owner you're here to meet?"
"It'll happen eventually, but not today."
Jeon Hye-ji calmly swept her gaze around the room, sorting through the crowd.
Who am I supposed to find?
Every person carried their own trustworthiness, their own danger level — all of them different.
But one woman kept pulling Hye-ji's eyes back.
A bunny girl in a dazzling pole dance.
The rotational force of her pole work was on another level entirely from the other dancers.
Like the difference between a fan's breeze and a typhoon, you might say.
And her audience was peculiar too. Most of the customers gathered in front of her stage were women.
Among them were women with men's short haircuts, dressed in men's clothing to match.
Her trust rating is top-tier — but so is her danger rating. And that physical ability means she's sunk serious coins...
By any accounting, she was just a dancer. And yet Hye-ji's gaze kept drifting back to her.
The moment Jeon Hye-ji's attention lingered on the pole dancer, a smile crossed Won-goo's lips.
"Nailed it."
"I nailed it?"
"You did. Hey! What was it — Ttol-ttol-i? No, Dolphin? That's it, right? Dolphin!"
Won-goo's shout pulled every eye in the room. The customers absorbed in the pole dancer's performance scowled and rose from their seats.
"Who the hell interrupts a—"
One big-tempered woman was halfway up when she quickly ducked her head in a bow and vanished on the spot.
"Why is she running away?"
Hye-ji whispered to Lee Hyun-sung.
"Because Hyeong-nim is here."
Lee Hyun-sung's answer was brief.
In the meantime, the pole dancer — who had been spinning at roughly the speed of a front-loading washing machine — froze mid-rotation and stopped dead.
"You gonna put food on my table, oppa? Sales are down these days and you're chasing off every customer I've got!"
A shrill voice rang out.
"Not quite feeding you. But I'll treat you to one decent meal. Anything you want to eat, Dolphin?"
"It's not Dolphin, it's Spin! SPIN!"
"Spin. Right. Got them mixed up. Let's go."
"..."
As he spoke, Won-goo fished a handful of silver coins from his pocket and set them down on the counter.
The club guards had already arrived and were staring him down — but that was all they did.
Club S's guards were famous for being braver than most, but they weren't idiots.
Won-goo was excluded from every big-money matchup in town.
That was the rule in Sabath.
Besides, a few of the guards bowed deeply toward Lee Hyun-sung, paying their respects with genuine deference.
"Tell the boss it's nothing personal. Everyone here gets sent home without a scratch. Ttugi."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim."
At a flick of his hand, Lee Hyun-sung was at his side.
"Hand them some tab money."
"Understood, Hyeong-nim."
Hyun-sung walked over to the guards and handed them a pouch heavy with silver coin.
"I don't know where Unnie is."
Spin was still in her stage outfit with nothing but a jacket thrown over it. In that state, she had already demolished five packs of instant noodles.
Post-apocalypse survival wisdom: eat while you still can. She practiced it faithfully.
"Unbelievable... you finish eating first, then tell me."
"Ramen is delicious."
"I'll pack you a few for the road. Boil them up whenever you're hungry."
Spin's face soured. He hadn't even gotten her cooperation yet, and he was offering extras.
The Gong Won-goo she knew wasn't that kind of man.
"What's going on... oppa? What are you trying to make me do?"
"What could I possibly want from you? What, think I'd put you back in the field?"
"There'd be no point. Just tell me! What is it already?"
"Contact Abal."
"I told you, I don't know where she is! She's tearing around half out of her mind hunting for Respect — what do you want me to do?"
"But there's a way to reach her, isn't there."
"Unnie isn't taking jobs for a while. Not until she catches Respect. You know how she is, oppa."
"I know her temperament better than you do. That's why all you have to do is send the message."
"..."
Lee Hyun-sung set a whole box of ramen down beside Spin.
"What do I even say?"
"Tell her Buri Island looks like it's about to get blown off the map. That's all."
"Will she actually come for that?"
"She'll come."