The Price of Ambition
"Hey! Drink up, drink up!"
"Hahaha!"
As I walked down the hallway, a boisterous, rowdy noise reached my ears. I hid behind the stairs leading downward and peered at the source of the sound. About twenty members of the Black Tiger Gang were sitting around a long club table. They didn't even have a single sentry posted; there wasn't a shred of caution in their demeanor. Looking at them now, they seemed like nothing more than common thugs hiding in a basement.
'But in the near future, they will expand their influence like mad.'
Eventually, they would become a group so powerful that even state institutions wouldn't be able to touch them without suffering heavy losses. The reason they could achieve such a feat was the power of their leader, who was nowhere to be seen right now. He had recently awakened an ability that allowed him to gain strength by committing murder, and he could distribute that power to his subordinates.
'And without any restrictions at all.'
A group that easily gained power by abandoning their humanity. Naturally, their expansion would be rapid.
'Have they already begun their full-scale activities?'
What caught my eye were the several people tied up next to the gang members. Their terrified expressions made it clear they had been kidnapped.
"Hey, watch this."
One of the gang members approached the captives with a knife. He raised it without a moment's hesitation, ready to strike. Thwack! Blood erupted from his chest. It was a fragment of the severed staircase that had pierced his heart with pinpoint accuracy. I, Kim Ilshin, operated the Cheonji Myowon-gong and slowly descended the stairs. I felt no guilt. These things were not human.
"Ugh, what is this on such a good day?"
"Nice school uniform you've got there. Isn't that from the Hanam district?"
The way they stood up so casually spoke volumes about their attitude toward murder.
"Did you come alone? You little brat?"
One of them approached, brandishing a sashimi knife. Even though there were plenty of modern weapons available, they mostly used kitchen knives and sashimi blades. In a way, one could say they were faithful to tradition.
"Since you're a budding sprout of the new nation, I'll just gouge your eyes out and send you off. That bastard who died already wasn't much of a—"
Slash.
A thin red line appeared on the neck of the guy who had been blathering. A kitchen knife flew from behind the man who collapsed, clutching his throat. Thud. I snatched it out of the air and threw it back with the momentum of my rotation. The knife, having pierced the enemy's throat, didn't stop and embedded itself into the wall. Only then did tension fill their eyes. They realized this wasn't an easy situation.
Usually, when facing multiple opponents, the standard procedure is to put your back against a wall to minimize blind spots. But I, Kim Ilshin, moved forward. Seeing the enemies rushing in from all sides, an inspiration struck me.
I leaped as if stepping on thin air and landed in the center of them. Three necks were caught and fell to the blue trajectory of the Crescent Moon Sword tracing a diagonal line. Clack. I deflected an incoming sashimi knife with the Cheonryu Sword and struck down, shattering the shoulder bone. At the same time, I spread my mana shallowly like mist and wove it tightly, connecting it to my mana circuit. It was a mana control method I had mastered while constructing my mana circuits.
A circle with a radius of one meter, composed of fine mana. Every movement within it was as clear as if I were looking down from the sky.
'Behind.'
I sensed the movement of an enemy entering the circle. A blade aimed for my flank. As I turned my body to dodge, a reaction came from the front.
"Ugh…!"
Just as I was about to cut the throats of the two flustered men, a heavy hand axe came swinging in. I evaded and parried a flying kitchen knife. The parried knife embedded itself in another guy's neck. I lowered my stance and rotated like a snowflake laden with wind, slicing through the waist of the man holding the hand axe. Another one fell to the trajectory of my rising sword.
'I can see it.'
There was no attack that could reach me, as I had no blind spots. The gang members fell one after another to my sword strikes as I swept through the room.
"What the fuck…."
"D-don't come any closer, you son of a bitch!"
Before long, the enemies in the vicinity were almost all cleared out. The few remaining ones stood far away, too terrified to approach. I untied the people who had been bound next to the table. They seemed to be in a state of panic, unable to collect their wits. There was no time to wait for them to calm down.
"Get out that way quickly, and tell the police to enter in ten minutes."
In this situation, the police entering would only be a hindrance. "Do you understand?"
"Ah, yes…!"
One woman, who had managed to keep her composure, led the others out. The Black Tiger Gang members, who had been watching only my movements, couldn't stop them.
BOOM!
The side wall exploded inward immediately after. The footsteps walking through the thick dust were heavy.
"What kind of bullshit is this?"
Song Jong-ho, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang, appeared with a deeply twisted expression. Hideous black veins were bulging and covering his face. It was the appearance of someone who had accepted forbidden power.
Rumble.
Gang members poured out from other doors. There were more of them than the ones who had been here before. It looked like I was surrounded in an instant. However, I kicked off the ground instead. At the end of my path was Song Jong-ho.
Clang!
All sorts of attacks rushing at me lost their power the moment they entered my circle. I cut down every enemy in my path and approached. Soon, I reached him and faced his face.
"Ho-ho."
Interest flickered in Song Jong-ho's eyes. It was the look of someone watching a circus. He was full of composure. The reason lay in his skin. His skin, reinforced by the power of black magic, wouldn't even show a scratch from most attacks.
Clack.
As if to prove it, the blade I lightly swung toward his shoulder couldn't reach the bone.
"Why, is something a bit strange?"
He swung his fist as if shooing away a bug. The power behind that clumsy attack was immense. Even though I deflected it with the principles of the Cheonryu Sword, I was pushed back. He didn't attempt a follow-up attack. He had confirmed that my attacks didn't work and was trying to toy with me. He asked with a sinister smile.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"What's it to you, you're about to die anyway."
I gripped my sword tighter. Following the pull of the Cheonji Myowon-gong, the power of the Ilshin Pacheon-gong was added to the mana that was racing through my entire body like a violent storm. The explosive power surging up was contained entirely within the Crescent Moon Sword, which flickered for a moment.
"……Oh."
Song Jong-ho's head rolled across the floor with the same sinister smile he had been wearing. Ilshin Pacheon-gong, Quick Sword Style. Since only the beginning and the end exist, he probably didn't even realize he was dead.
"……."
"……."
Silence descended among the Black Tiger Gang members as they stared at the corpse of their fallen leader. They stood still like stone statues, unable to accept the situation.
'It's over.'
I lowered my sword and searched Song Jong-ho's body. I found a red gem the size of a fist in his inner pocket and took it out. The name of the gem is Blood Fate Stone. It is an item used to craft or upgrade weapons in the game, and it is so rare that you might see it once or twice before reaching the ending. This was the reason I had induced Song Jong-ho's carelessness and finished him in one blow. Because the second phase would have begun with the cornered bastard shattering this gem and absorbing the power contained within.
'I wonder how much it's filled.'
I brought it close to my eyes and examined it carefully. There was a black-red light flickering at the center. The biggest characteristic of the Blood Fate Stone is that the power it holds increases according to the number of lives consumed. The total capacity is 100 people.
'About 20 left?'
I turned my head to estimate the number of remaining Black Tiger Gang members. It seemed like it would be enough.
Quest [Eliminate the Black Tiger Gang] Complete.
Reward: [Intermediate Grade Status Achieved]
***
'Still annoying. That bastard.'
Choi Sang-il, a receptionist, was still in a bad mood because of what happened with Kim Ilshin. His heart was as petty as his receding hairline. Ding. Just then, an email arrived in the official account of the Request Management Office. Checking the sender, it was the Gangnam Police Station. The subject of the email was Request Result Report.
'It's finally here!'
Choi Sang-il opened the email, beaming. He had no doubt that it contained the news that Kim Ilshin had failed the request miserably.
"Oh, he succeeded? As expected, Teacher Joo Chae-rin has a good eye."
However, his wish did not come true. The email from the Gangnam Police Station contained details about the successful completion of the request. It was a shocking achievement: infiltrating the Black Tiger Gang's base alone, rescuing the missing persons, and killing all the gang members, including their leader, Song Jong-ho.
[We were able to confirm the outstanding qualities of a hero in his decision to carry out the operation during the day to prevent harm to innocent citizens, and in his optimal judgment that prioritized the safety and rescue of the missing persons in a situation of numerical inferiority…….]
The text, which explained the process of completing the request in detail, felt strangely full of goodwill toward Kim Ilshin. It felt more like a fan letter than a request result report.
[Also, in his action of conveying the message to delay the police entry for 10 minutes while rescuing the missing persons, we could glimpse the confidence and altruistic nature stemming from his outstanding skills.]
'Was it because of this?'
Even if he was a hero-in-training, he was still a young student who had thought about the safety of the police in an urgent situation. They couldn't help but be moved. Of course, to Choi Sang-il, it was just unpleasant.
'……What is this again?'
At the end of the email, there was an apology to Kim Ilshin and the Request Management Office.
[As a result of the investigation, we confirmed that the request difficulty was set incorrectly. We request that you correct the request difficulty to Medium-High grade, considering the level of crime committed by the Black Tiger Gang, the number of gang members that exceeded expectations, and the strength of their leader, Song Jong-ho. Additional compensation will be paid to student Kim Ilshin personally and…….]
"Wow, they're even giving additional compensation? They're trying to use that as an excuse to make contact and build a connection, right? They must have really liked him."
"Ugh……."
Choi Sang-il clenched his fists. Now, Kim Ilshin had moved beyond the position where a mere receptionist could mess with him. With trembling hands, Choi Sang-il finished the correction of the request difficulty and the completion processing. He also upgraded Kim Ilshin's grade to Intermediate. Now, he could accept requests of Medium difficulty or lower without a permit stamp. Choi Sang-il took comfort in the fact that he had barely missed the Medium-High grade. He decided to think of it that way.
***
On his way back to the dormitory after finishing the request, Kim Ilshin looked at the Blood Fate Stone, which was filled with a black-red light. He looked forward to the performance of the new sword that would be created with this.