The Proposal
In an instant, Seong-min’s gaze hardened.
He knows about Yoo Ji-ah?
That alone meant this was not someone he could afford to regard kindly.
How did he figure out it was me?
Seong-min had thoroughly concealed his appearance. He had even worn leather gloves so he would leave no fingerprints. And to keep his movements untraceable, he had made full use of his Teleportation Skill. There was no way they could know how he slipped away, what car he rode, or whether he used public transport—nor which districts he moved through. Accounting for every one of those factors, Seong-min had hidden his face and actively employed the special Teleportation Skill. Those bastards had definitely known nothing of his trail.
He had paid no attention to Yoo Ji-ah either. The Yonggol-pa had lost twelve executives and their boss in a single stroke. They had no leisure to spare for anything else. In the middle of that chaos he had also eliminated ten VIPs, and finished off Yun Jong-gyu for good measure. Up through today, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He had even monitored the news, checking whether any of his tracks had surfaced. Yet both the media and the police investigation were floundering. They spoke only of the body type captured on CCTV; nothing about him had come to light.
So who the hell was this man?
Did I let my guard down?
For the moment, that was the only conclusion he could reach.
Seeing the shift in Seong-min’s eyes, the man who had introduced himself as Kang Jung-gil raised both hands and turned his palms outward.
“Please calm down. I did not approach you with any ill intent.”
“......”
Even so, Seong-min did not relax his expression.
“If that had been my intention from the beginning, I would not have come alone—I would have sent people to take measures. Doesn’t that occur to you?”
At those words Seong-min reconsidered. The man was indeed alone. No one else registered on Seong-min’s senses. Once his Martial Power had surpassed three hundred, he had become able to detect the murderous intent of anyone directing it at him. Yet he felt nothing of the sort nearby. Which meant this Kang Jung-gil was not lying.
“Shall we move somewhere quieter?”
He smiled with his eyes again—a gesture that claimed complete absence of malice. After a moment’s thought, Seong-min spoke.
“There’s a café nearby. Let’s go there.”
“Very well.”
Kang Jung-gil nodded with a smile, as if glad to follow. Abandoning the idea of stepping through the front gate, Seong-min turned and walked back out of the alley.
What’s his goal?
The man trailed a few steps behind. Roughly a hundred eighty-five centimeters tall, he possessed the kind of striking good looks anyone would notice at a glance. He claimed no malice, but how could that be trusted?
Coming here already knowing about Ji-ah means he’s already pieced together a fair amount about me.
Seong-min could not lower his guard. Even if the man truly meant no harm, it was still something he could not simply believe.
They left the alley and headed for the café. Seong-min entered first; Kang Jung-gil followed.
“Please take a seat. I’ll buy the coffee.”
“......”
“I do have that much manners~”
He smiled with his eyes at Seong-min once more.
“......”
Seong-min did not refuse. If the man wanted to pay, there was no reason to stop him. He walked to a corner table inside and sat down. After ordering two coffees, Kang Jung-gil returned and settled into the seat across from him.
“You with the Gangilhoe?”
“Gangilhoe… I see. It’s understandable you’d think that.”
He knew the name. That confirmed it.
“But I am not affiliated with the Gangilhoe. The place I belong to is not the Gangilhoe, but… the Joongang-hoe.”
“Joongang-hoe…?”
“Have you heard of the Joongang-hoe?”
“......”
Seong-min gave no answer. Because of Yoo Ji-ah he knew of the Yonggol-pa and the Gangilhoe, but he knew almost nothing about the Joongang-hoe.
“No reply, so it seems you don’t know much about the Joongang-hoe. Then I’ll explain briefly. As you know, Seong-min-ssi, the Gangilhoe was the organization that dominated Daejeon and Chungcheong Province. You know that much, correct?”
Seong-min nodded.
“In the same way, you can think of the Joongang-hoe as the organization that dominates Seoul and the capital region.”
In short, an organization even greater than the Gangilhoe.
“Then that means you… are someone the Joongang-hoe sent.”
Just then the vibration buzzer rang.
“Looks like the coffee’s ready.”
Kang Jung-gil rose, walked over as ordered, and returned carrying a tray with two cups. He set one iced americano in front of Seong-min and kept the other for himself.
“Since I’m buying, please enjoy.”
He stirred lightly with the straw and took a sip.
“This place’s coffee is pretty good.”
“......”
Seong-min still had not touched his.
“It’s true I came from the Joongang-hoe, but calling me ‘someone sent’ is a bit of a stretch…”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly as it sounds. I became interested after seeing what happened with the Yonggol-pa.”
“......”
For anyone steeped in the underworld, taking an interest in what Seong-min had done was hardly strange. Seong-min kept silent and waited for the next words.
“Cap, mask, and leather gloves. An unknown assailant suddenly appears and hunts down his targets as if eliminating key figures. They recognize it and try to respond… yet they cannot. How remarkable is that?”
Kang Jung-gil spoke as if joking, but from Seong-min’s position as the party involved, it could only sound uncomfortable.
“......”
“At the executive meeting, Jang Yong-hwan reported on the events surrounding the Yonggol-pa. Oh—Jang Yong-hwan is the chairman of the Gangilhoe, just so you know. You may already be aware, since you forced two Gangilhoe executives into retirement from the underworld.”
They would need years of hospital recovery. Their injuries were too severe to continue organizational life, so they had no choice but to leave of their own accord. Seong-min had done the same to twelve executives, the boss Yang Ik-soo, and ten VIPs—wrecking their bodies to the point of years spent convalescing in hospital wards, to the point they could no longer live either organizational or ordinary lives.
“At the executive meeting Jang Yong-hwan reported that part, and of course he did. Even without a report it would have come to light eventually.”
Kang Jung-gil took another sip of iced americano through the straw.
“So after learning of that situation, I became interested. This guy… he’s no ordinary person, I thought…”
“So what are you going to do? Now that you know the assailant, are you going to eliminate me?”
“Of course not. If that were the case, would I have suggested talking like this? The reason I moved personally is to scout you, Seong-min-ssi.”
“Scout?”
“I hear the work you’re doing now is Gombang Work? I looked into it, and you’re quite the rising star. Word is you’re a remarkable talent in that industry…”
He’s thoroughly investigated me.
The more they talked, the clearer it became that this man had researched everything about him before appearing here.
“So you want to say you’ll pay more money if I join the Joongang-hoe?”
“Money… Well, more money is always nice. But I don’t think money will sway you. From what I can see, you’re making a decent amount with Gombang Work.”
“......”
Kang Jung-gil’s words were not wrong. Seong-min earned at least three million won a week. With two jobs steadily lined up each day, if his teammates received a minimum daily wage of two hundred thousand won, Seong-min received three hundred thousand. Two jobs made six hundred thousand; five weekdays made three million. Converted to a monthly figure, that was at least twelve million won—so he would not be tempted by money. And that was the floor; converted weekly it ran three to five million, meaning he could pull in as much as twenty million a month. If they offered more pay to join the Joongang-hoe, Seong-min would not fall for the sum. The income he was already making was more than enough. A weekly haul over three million made any talk of shortage absurd. In just two weeks he had already cleared more than seven million.
“From the look in your eyes, even if I offered more money it doesn’t seem Seong-min-ssi would come over.”
He sipped his iced americano through the straw again.
“As expected, for Koreans iced americano is the truth even in winter. Don’t you think?”
“......”
Seong-min still had not taken a sip.
“I figured you wouldn’t be tempted by money. But how about this. After what happened with Yoo Ji-ah, you must think the world is rotten.”
“......”
“Don’t you want to try changing that rotten world—that society?”
“Are you saying that if I join the Joongang-hoe I can do that?”
“The Joongang-hoe is a far greater organization than you imagine, Seong-min-ssi. Not only has it dominated Seoul and the capital region to become the largest organization in the country, but last year the Gangilhoe holding Daejeon and Chungcheong, the Haewanghoe representing Busan and Gyeongsang, the Sugwanghoe that seized Gwangju, Jeju, and Jeolla, and finally the Gangwonhoe formed by the factions of Gangwon Province banding together—these four group organizations. All of them submitted to the Joongang-hoe.”
“......”
Seong-min did not know the details. But he knew about the Gangilhoe—that it was a large group organization dominating Daejeon and Chungcheong. The Yonggol-pa itself had been under the Gangilhoe. That the remaining regional organizations, including the Gangilhoe, had submitted to the Joongang-hoe meant it was a tremendous organization with every gangster in the nation under its heel.
“I get what you’re saying. How great an organization the Joongang-hoe is. But I have no intention of becoming a gangster.”
“That’s possible. I expected you’d answer that way.”
“......”
“Actually, I didn’t have that intention at first either.”
“......?”
“But somehow I ended up as acting chairman. I took control of the Joongang-hoe, and now I’m sitting in the successor’s seat. I’m not telling you this to say you should join the Joongang-hoe, Seong-min-ssi.”
“Are you changing your story?”
“Not at all. What I’m proposing to you, Seong-min-ssi, is to join me. Because… Seong-min-ssi…”
Trailing off, Kang Jung-gil gave a deep smile with his eyes.
“You remind me of myself from last year.”