Three Billion! You're Mine Now!
Grabbing both the gun and his hand at the same time, Geumnara started doing a frantic tap dance from the pain. Whoa, this guy actually has some talent for dancing? He'd probably pull a ton of girls if he went to a club. Not that I've ever been to one, so I have no idea if tap dancing actually works there.
"Nice. Got one gun taken care of. You got another one stashed somewhere?"
"Agh, aaaagh!"
"Stop screaming and answer the damn question, you bastard."
Smack!
"Heghk!"
I'd only given his cheek a light slap with my palm, but Geumnara's jawbone shattered and he writhed in agony. Why the hell is his durability so pathetic? It reminded me of that Phone Cash boss.
"I asked if you had another gun. If you don't answer this time, I'm smacking your ear. Bet it'd be hilarious if your eardrum bursts."
"Ugh, ughhh..."
His jaw was dislocated so his pronunciation was off, but it sounded like he didn't have one.
"Really? You're sure? Seung-chang was carrying two."
I patted his chest and back to check. Crack!Crrrrack!
"Kheheeeeek!"
"Quit acting like a baby over a few broken bones."
Of course, the problem was that those bones happened to be his ribs and spine. The impact made Geumnara cough up blood, drool everywhere, and slump over like a ragdoll.
"Why is your durability so weak? Sheesh."
Still, he wasn't dead. I stripped him completely naked so he couldn't hide anything, slung him over my shoulder, and headed home.
On the way back, I ran into some cops on patrol. One of them spotted me and pointed in shock.
"Huh? Hey, isn't that guy dead?"
He started walking toward me, but another officer grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
"You idiot. Don't you see that F-shaped badge? That's Fantasia. They've been making a comeback lately."
"Ah... right. I almost had to write an incident report."
Do cops really have to write reports just for asking gangsters for information? Tough job.
"Officers, thank you for your hard work day and night. Keep fighting for public safety today too!"
Crime doesn't stop just because there are gangsters around. That's why even in this bizarre world, police and laws are still necessary. Someone might ask, "Then why not just join an organization when you feel like committing a crime?" That's not how it works. If a regular person commits a crime, the police and law will throw them in prison. But if a gangster does it, it creates friction with other gangsters. And that can easily get you killed. Half-assed motives will send you straight to the afterlife. That's why those druggies who tried to kidnap Siz weren't gangsters either. Of course, since gangsters sell drugs, drugs are basically legal. In this world, "illegal drugs" just means stuff sold by people who aren't gangsters.
Meeting those police officers made me realize all over again just how twisted this world really is. If this were the Republic of Korea, none of this would even be imaginable. I'd probably already be an SNS star back in Korea.
"Hey, hey... taking pictures of gangsters will get you fucked..."
"But he's literally walking around with 'like' buttons on him...!"
"You wanna risk your life for some likes?"
Of course, there are always crazy people in any world who create SNS stars, but even they don't go too far because they're scared of the gangsters. "Still, couldn't we sell info to gangster informants? Even ten thousand won would be something..." "Ten thousand? What would you even do with that?" "Buy one Leori skin..." "Is a Leori skin worth your life? You're insane."
Instead of SNS, the information would probably reach the gangsters. By now, rumors that I'd crushed the Sichuan Tang Family and Money Monster had probably reached the ears of the Three Major Syndicates. Whether they'd care or not was another question.
"See that? This is the world we live in. Even if you're dying, there's no one who'll help you."
I spoke to Geumnara, who seemed to be struggling to stay conscious and could only groan, "Ugh..."
"But we're actually really kind! Because we're Fantasia. We're taking you back so I can ask my hyung-nim's lady to heal you."
"Ugh..."
"Huh? What am I going to do after healing you?"
"Ugh..."
"What else, dumbass? You gotta pay back your debts."
—All the money your underlings borrowed, that is.
"Is that so? Fantasia did something like that?"
In a high-class restaurant that practically radiated elegance, two women in martial robes sat facing each other. The one who had spoken was a woman of refined beauty. Her hair was parted eight-to-two, revealing a bit of her forehead, with wavy black hair that fell just past her shoulders. Her gentle, slightly drooping eyes gave her an even more graceful appearance, and her sapphire-like clear blue pupils made her seem like someone of noble birth. Add in the wine glass in her hand, and she overflowed with an aura of wealth. Anyone would think she was the very picture of a bourgeois lady.
"Yes, Bangju-nim. It was information that most of the beggars in the southern branch district possessed."
"Hmm... How interesting."
That woman was Hwang Yong, the Bangju of the Beggars' Sect. Beside her, a neat-looking man bowed his head respectfully. There were no actual beggars present. While the Beggars' Sect had a strong image of being a gathering of beggars, that only applied to the information agents. It was the same reason why Gu Ja-gon of the Gangbongpa looked so clean despite being part of the sect. Moreover, the executives all lived in luxury, so it was only natural that their Bangju, Hwang Yong, was elegant and exuded an air of wealth.
"Abbot Daelim, what do you think? I heard Fantasia's Fighting Dog took over your sect's outer family branch."
The woman sitting across from her, whom Hwang Yong had called Daelim, had voluminous, dull lime-green bobbed hair. She'd even tied up both sides to make it look even fuller. Her golden eyes, half-lidded in apparent indifference, were calmly settled as if detached from worldly affairs.
"As one sows, so shall one reap. It is none of this poor monk's concern."
This woman was Daelim, the abbot of Shaolin. Having been bald until she became a woman, she was extremely obsessed with her hair.
"How cold. Weren't they people who followed you because they admired you?"
"Becoming attached to such things would go against the teachings of Buddhism."
"Is that so?"
Hwang Yong smiled slyly and took a sip of her wine. A waiter approached and placed a steak in front of her.
"Your ordered sirloin steak, well-done as requested."
"Thank you. I need to chew on something tough to get my head working properly."
She stabbed the steak with her fork and sliced it with her knife. While cutting, she asked Daelim.
"Won't you have some, Abbot Daelim?"
"Amitabha, Amitabha... This poor monk does not eat meat."
A salad was placed in front of Daelim.
"Is it because of the Buddhist teachings? The ones that say not to eat meat killed for one's own sake?"
"Since it was not killed for this poor monk's sake, there is no conflict with the teachings even if I were to eat it."
"Then why won't you eat it?"
"Because eating meat makes your hair fall out."
"With that level of obsession with hair, becoming a Buddha seems impossible for you."
Hwang Yong put a piece of the sliced steak in her mouth and chewed thoroughly. After savoring the flavor, she swallowed and smiled.
"You have such strong attachment to your hair, yet you show zero interest in your outer family branch. Why is that?"
"Bangju, did you arrange this meal just to fight with this poor monk?"
"No, please don't misunderstand. I'm doing this because I have a lot of interest in the matter."
Not long ago, the Sichuan Tang Family had reported that the Gangnam Temple of Shaolin Temple had attacked Fantasia and failed. Fantasia was an organization that had been destroyed by the Murim Alliance's Fighting God. Failing to attack that very organization would cause significant damage to their image if word got out. Humans tend to only see the big picture, so the defeat of Gangnam Temple would naturally be linked to the defeat of the entire Murim Alliance. That's why they'd left the cleanup to the Sichuan Tang Family, but then Baekgom of Gangnam Temple had fled to Fantasia and joined them. And Fantasia's Fighting Dog had killed the Sichuan Three Four of the Sichuan Tang Family.
"To be honest, I don't like those snake bastards from the Sichuan Tang Family. The Mancheonwhau was originally our technique, but they keep insisting it's their own martial art."
Hwang Yong had never particularly liked the Sichuan Tang Family. Seeing them get properly humiliated felt good. However, since humans naturally focus on the bigger picture, Fantasia might eventually end up clashing with the entire Murim Alliance.
"Let me ask you just one thing."
Hwang Yong spoke to Daelim, who was about to lift a forkful of salad to her mouth. Daelim put the salad back down.
"What are you curious about?"
"You truly have no lingering attachment to your outer family branch?"
"I said I have no interest. This poor monk's goal is to quickly abandon even my attachment to hair."
"If you just shaved your head clean, wouldn't that help you let go?"
"Please stop saying such terrifying things. This poor monk does not wish to fight."
With that, Daelim began eating her salad.
"Alright. Since you say you're not interested, I'll take care of Fantasia myself."
"What do you mean by that?"
When Daelim swallowed her salad and asked, Hwang Yong chuckled softly and lifted her wine glass.
"From the information gathered by my agents, Fantasia seems to be an organization that pursues quite a bit of justice. Much like you, Abbot Daelim, who commits murder quite casually while wishing to become a Buddha."
"If one becomes immensely strong, one can become a Buddha."
"That's none of my business. Anyway, if it's an organization that pursues justice, it might clash with vile outer murim groups like the Sichuan Tang Family and eventually try to fight the entire Murim Alliance."
It hadn't even been a full week since Fantasia had revived. Yet in that short time, they'd crushed the Gangnam Three Heroes, the Sichuan Three Four, and countless loan sharks. According to Gu Ja-gon of the Gangbongpa, they'd even shown incredible performance when a goblin extermination party was in danger. That was proof of explosive growth.
"Fantasia has always been the type to start small but end up magnificent. Right now they're far too small compared to the Murim Alliance, but someday they'll catch up."
If it was Fantasia, which had once been number one, it was entirely possible.
"Although our Murim Alliance was the one that destroyed Fantasia... that's all in the past. With the Fighting God missing, couldn't we perhaps coexist peacefully?"
These days, all the executives of the Beggars' Sect lived in luxury, but before they became one of the Five Great Clans, they'd all lived as beggars. During those times, the Beggars' Sect had united tightly under one belief: 'If we fight and get hurt, we'll have to pay for the damages, and since we have no money, let's all just get along nicely.' With that unique creed of the Beggars' Sect, Hwang Yong planned to maintain a friendly relationship with Fantasia.
"In that case... what would be good?"
Hwang Yong set down her wine glass and spoke to the neat-looking man.
"Mr. Choon-sam, could you gather all the information on the Fighting Dog for me? Every single piece of information that exists in this world."
"As you command."
The neat-looking man gave a fist salute and left. And so, one of the Five Great Clans of the Murim Alliance—the Beggars' Sect—began to take an interest in Fantasia.
"Alright, just stamp your thumbprint here. Simple, right?"
I'd dragged Geumnara all the way to our semi-basement apartment and healed him. Still completely naked, he knelt there trembling as he pressed his thumb onto the contract.
"The ten billion your underlings borrowed. Add 100% interest, that's another ten billion. And since you tried to kill us instead of paying it back, add another ten billion for the crime of insolence."
Total: thirty billion. The immediate transfer was completed without any hassle since the other party was a loan shark.
"Um... that thirty billion was my entire personal fortune. Now that I've given it to you, what am I supposed to live on? It's a bit much to leech off my subordinates..."
Geumnara said, shivering pathetically. Even if a naked piece of trash looked pitiful, it didn't make him any less disgusting.
"Live on? Who said I was letting you live?"
"What?"
I confirmed that thirty billion had really been deposited into the account and said,
"Baekgom, take him somewhere quiet and finish him off."
"Understood, Hyungnim! You fucking bastard, get over here."
"Wait! Please, just spare my life! I won't ever do this again! Please!"
Geumnara cried and clung desperately to my leg. I looked down at him. At the greed in his eyes—the desperate desire to survive no matter what.
"Your eyes are full of greed."
—Unfortunately, I have a habit of not leaving any loose ends.
The screams of Geumnara being dragged away soon echoed through the room. Amid those screams, I spoke to Eris.
"Alright, Lady of Hyung-nim. Shall we try escaping this semi-basement now?"
Even while listening to Geumnara's screams, Eris nodded with an innocent face.
"Okay!"
Since Eris had approved, I should look into real estate once the sun came up—
—However, a problem arose.
"But... why have building prices gotten so expensive?"
"What else could it be? Ever since that Carpediem showed up, they've been monopolizing real estate. That's why."
Ah, that son of a bitch Choon-sik.
And as I was cursing, a beggar approached me.
"Our Beggars' Sect has some real estate information. Would you be interested?"