A Real Man Doesn't Use Guns — You Know That One?
I knew that meme. The one about how a real man doesn't use guns. I almost dropped it right then and there. Almost.
Why? Because right now I was seeing two different views at once. One showed me exactly what kind of shit Yu Jin-ri had gotten herself into. The other was plain old reality. I hadn't expected to be able to see both at the same time, but it made sense. If I could only see one, I'd get ambushed in the real world with no way to react. That kind of penalty would be bullshit. Thanks to this dual vision, I could watch how things were unfolding with her while sprinting full speed through the streets.
“Why the hell haven't you paid us back? You really want to end up in a bad way, huh?”
A sleazy-looking guy grinned viciously as he spoke to Yu Jin-ri. That shit-eating smirk made me want to punch his face in.
“N-no, I told you! If this research goes well, I'll pay you back!”
“You've been saying that for two whole years now… We've been pretty patient, don't you think?”
“How could groundbreaking research be finished in just two years? You'll regret treating me like this for the rest of your lives! Once I complete my research, you'll be swimming in money!”
Swimming in money once it's complete? What the hell had she even been researching? I was getting pretty curious.
“Heh heh, don't you worry about that. The videos we're gonna make with you are gonna put us on easy street.”
The grinning bastard held up his phone. The screen clearly said Broadcast Preparing. The number of people waiting to watch was around three thousand.
“See this? Three thousand people want to watch you get broken. And to join this stream, they gotta pay a hundred thousand won each. One broadcast nets us three hundred million!”
Some kind of illegal streaming site. They'd record it and sell the footage nonstop, huh? Three hundred million from a single stream? These guys were insane.
“Of course it's not always like this. It's only because your face and body are so goddamn perfect that we get these numbers. Most trash-tier bitches only pull in a hundred viewers even on a good day.”
He wasn't wrong. Yu Jin-ri had big, captivating eyes, sharp features, and a small face. If she'd been an idol, she would've been a massive star. And that wasn't all. She was fairly tall for a woman at around 160 centimeters, with a slender figure and impressive breasts. She clearly didn't care about her appearance—messy short hair and thick round glasses made her look like a total nerd—but even that couldn't hide her beauty. With just a little effort, she'd be top-tier. Or maybe some people actually preferred her like this, unpolished.
The conclusion was simple. If I left her like this, these bastards would destroy her and make three hundred million won. And they were willing to ruin someone that valuable over a measly fifty million debt? They were asking to die.
“B-broadcast? What exactly are you planning to do to me?!”
I was almost at the building. Just had to open the door and go in. Yu Jin-ri stared at the broadcast screen, trembling in fear.
“You're going to do violent things to me, right? Like in those erotic doujins!”
Wait… was she actually excited? Why did her expression look kind of hopeful? Why was she looking up at those men with that glimmer in her eyes? Erotic doujins? What the hell was she talking about? Reality was way worse than that. What kind of life had she lived to spout such nonsense?
“Kuk kuk, yeah. We're gonna do some really violent shit to you, just like in those erotic doujins…”
“You perverts! You animals!”
Stop making those breathy moans. You're making me not want to save you.
“Hmm~ There's a weirdly lewd tone in your voice. Are you actually looking forward to what we're gonna do to you?”
Suddenly, a woman's voice cut in. I shifted my vision toward the sound and saw a woman with golden hair and golden eyes. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she was definitely prettier than average. Her whole vibe screamed pervert, though. The unusual hair and eye color, plus the banana-shaped badge on her chest…
“You've arrived, Boss!”
The men all bowed at once. So she really was the boss of the Bananaman gang.
“Enough with the greetings. Seriously, boss, why were you trying to have all the fun without me?”
“Ah, Miss Porina… Cut me some slack. The viewers right now aren't interested in girl-on-girl action.”
Ah, so the grinning guy was the owner of PhoneCache. And the one named Porina was apparently the real boss of the Bananaman gang.
“Then put up a notice that we'll be preparing a Part 2 broadcast separately. You can't honestly say there's no demand, can you?”
“W-well, that's…”
The owner looked troubled. Was there really no demand for girl-on-girl? No way. Beautiful women grabbing each other and getting tangled up was already popular as catfights. Actual sex between them would definitely have an audience. The only reason the owner looked so uncomfortable was obvious. Porina wasn't that pretty. Even the white bear I'd beaten the crap out of earlier had a cute face, but Porina wasn't cute or exceptionally beautiful. She had a certain decadent charm, but it wasn't enough to draw big numbers.
Still, the PhoneCache owner couldn't refuse her. Why? Because the Bananaman gang supplied all of PhoneCache's combat power. The owner was probably just a figurehead. The real ruler might actually be Porina.
“Fine. We'll prepare a separate Part 2 broadcast…”
“Part 2?! How much more violent are you planning to get?!”
Stop smirking when you say that, you delusional patient. Yu Jin-ri really needed a reality check. Organizations like the Bananaman gang were better off wiped out. Maybe I should just tear through the whole place.
To shatter Yu Jin-ri's bizarre fantasies, I used Observation to scan the entire PhoneCache building. Disgusting scenes I really didn't want to see were laid bare. It was revolting. I couldn't understand what pleasure there was in relationships without love. My stomach just churned. But so what? I was about to personally smash it all to pieces anyway.
“Welcome to PhoneCache.”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, the guard at the entrance bowed politely. He had a banana badge on his chest too, but swinging my fist from the start would cause unnecessary trouble, so I just nodded back.
“Are you here for a loan? I'll show you the way.”
“Thank you.”
I hadn't exactly lied. I just didn't answer the question about the loan and thanked him for offering to guide me. Nothing special was happening with Yu Jin-ri yet. She kept rambling about erotic doujins and drawing aggro, so the men were busy having pointless conversations. Maybe it was some high-level stalling tactic? Nah, probably not. She didn't have anyone she could trust to come save her. She had no idea I was on my way.
“Sir, if you go through here, you can receive your loan.”
The guard stopped and pointed at a room in front of me. This room was definitely where loans were processed. I'd confirmed it with Observation. But that wasn't where I was headed.
“Now that we've come this far, I should be honest… I'm not actually here for a loan.”
“Excuse me? Then why did you come?”
“Doesn't PhoneCache offer real entertainment? I heard the rumors… I wanted to see it for myself.”
How about that? Would he really guide me? If he did, it'd be perfect. That's why I'd behaved myself all the way here. I didn't want to waste energy from the start.
“Monkey's ass?”
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Some kind of password? I had no idea. Just because I used Observation didn't mean I knew everything. Still, it sounded like the start of a song, so maybe I should play along?
“It's red.”
“Red things are apples~ Apples are delicious~ What's delicious then?”
Oh? Looked like the password was real. It was flowing pretty naturally. And the gang's name was Bananaman, so the next line would fit perfectly.
“Banana. Bananas are long.”
“Your lifeline won't be that long. Running your mouth when you don't even know the entry password.”
Yeah, of course it wasn't that easy. I knew it.
The guard is reaching for a pistol in his inner pocket.
A gun right from the start? Bold move. But what good would pulling a gun do at this close range?
BAM!
“Ugh!”
The moment the guard drew his pistol, I kicked upward just like Mohanya had taught me, sending the gun flying. I caught it mid-air.
“How can a real man use something this lame?”
But I had no intention of using the gun. If I took down the Bananaman gang with a firearm, it wouldn't make for a very fun story. Beating armed opponents without a gun—that was the kind of tale worth telling.
“This kind of thing is for weaklings.”
The guard's combat power was only 80. I threw the gun to the floor and stomped on it, crushing it completely. I wasn't sure if it'd work, but it did. This was the leg strength of someone with 410 combat power. Getting the picture yet?
“Huh?”
Apparently not. Well, seeing someone crush a gun with their foot would shock anyone. Guess I'd have to send him flying with one hit.
“Gaaah!”
BOOM!
I delivered a front kick to his stomach. The guard flew backward and slammed into the wall. Was this what 410 combat power felt like? The front kicks I used to know weren't anything like this. He wasn't dead, was he?
“Ugh… kuhak…”
He was coughing up blood, still conscious. So he wasn't dead yet. The loud noise must have alerted the others—three men burst out of a nearby room.
“What the hell happened?!”
“Shit! Matsuda's down!”
“Matsudaaa!”
So the guy puking blood was named Matsuda. The men didn't seem to have guns like him. They just stood there awkwardly clenching their fists.
Good grief. These guys couldn't even fight properly. Why the hell were they pretending to be gangsters?
“Hey, can any of you do three sets of five hundred?”
“Three sets of five hundred? That's not something just anyone can do! Even Matsuda couldn't pull that off!”
Made sense. Back when I could do three sets of five hundred, my combat power was probably around 100. Anyone weaker than that wouldn't have the strength for it. If they had exceptional technique they might compensate for low strength, but judging by those pathetic stances, that wasn't the case.
“You can't even do three sets of five hundred and you're out here playing gangster?”
“Hah, is there some rule that says we can't?”
“Yeah, there is, asshole.”
I stepped forward lightly and threw a jab at the guy who'd asked the stupid question.
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
Damn, listen to that scream. It was just a normal jab, but it must have shattered his jawbone. He collapsed with his tongue hanging out, drooling everywhere. Was he dead?
“S-Shinji! Shinji, snap out of it!”
“Don't waste my time saying useless names, you small fry.”
I threw a hook at the face of the guy desperately calling for Shinji. I felt his nose bone crunch under my fist. Would he be okay? He passed out without making a sound. I hoped he wasn't dead.
“Ugh… I don't know who the hell you are, but you think you'll get away with messing with us?!”
Get away with it? Those words made me think back on everything that had happened so far. Nearly getting killed by Carpe Diem. Kang Nam-sam-woong trying to get revenge by raiding an empty house. One had been truly terrifying. The other had been ridiculous.
“You're right. I can't leave any loose ends.”
It was better not to leave behind any future trouble. If it was a place like Geumtaeyang Textiles that actually contributed something to society, maybe I'd think twice. But trash like the Bananaman gang that contributed nothing but harm?
“I wasn't planning to kill you… but it looks like you all need to die here.”
Getting rid of one pathetic organization like this wouldn't cause much of a stir anyway.