Proposal
“I… don’t know what you intended by telling me that story about your past. And I… have no intention of getting mixed up in anything pointless.”
“Pointless, you say…”
“Whatever you’re scheming, whatever you’re up to, I don’t care. So you stay out of whatever I’m doing, too.”
Seong-min rose from his seat, ready to leave.
“What do you think you are?”
“……?”
“Can you still see yourself as human? Just another ordinary being no different from anyone else? I’m curious what Seong-min-ssi thinks.”
“……”
Seong-min had asked himself that very question recently.
Could he still regard himself as the same kind of human as everyone else?
He couldn’t decide so easily.
Besides, Seong-min had already begun to think of himself as a Transcendent.
One who had stepped beyond the limits of humanity.
To look at a being like that and call him no different from ordinary people…
That itself was strange.
“Shall we go?”
Kang Jung-gil stood.
“Follow me.”
He started walking.
Seong-min found the sudden invitation suspicious, yet he rose all the same.
Whatever this man was thinking, Seong-min was confident enough to handle it.
He left the café and fell into step behind him.
They ended up in a narrow, deserted alley.
Kang Jung-gil turned and looked at him.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
He stepped closer and laid a hand on Seong-min’s shoulder.
In that instant Seong-min’s eyes widened.
“?!”
The empty alley vanished.
They stood in a clearing deep inside a dense forest.
The sudden change of scenery was startling enough, but what truly shocked Seong-min was how familiar the sensation felt.
Teleportation!
Yes.
He had just experienced the exact same special skill he himself possessed.
“The ability to collapse distance in an instant and move. Seong-min-ssi… already knows it, doesn’t he?”
“…You.”
“Shocked by what I am? Perfectly understandable. I was just as surprised when I learned about you.”
He had told that story about his past.
He had said looking at Seong-min felt like looking at himself.
That had left Seong-min uneasy.
Now he finally understood why.
“Seong-min-ssi, how do you see yourself? More precisely… how much do you actually know about what you are?”
“What… are you talking about?”
“I’ll let you feel it for yourself. What Seong-min-ssi—no, what we—really are.”
The words had barely left his mouth.
Whoosh!
A violent impact slammed into Seong-min.
“Kh…!”
He was driven backward, yet somehow he blocked it.
“Just as I expected.”
Kang Jung-gil smiled.
“But that isn’t nearly enough. Come, then.”
The moment he finished speaking, his body blurred into motion and he shot toward the retreating Seong-min.
At that tremendous speed—
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!!!!
A storm of blows rained down like machine-gun fire.
They were so fast the eye could not track them.
Bang! Whoosh-bang!
Yet Seong-min caught every single one, blocking without missing a beat.
It didn’t end there.
Thwack—!
He deflected an incoming fist, spun, and drove a kick into the opening.
Bang!
A heavy impact rang out.
Kang Jung-gil slipped past, body tilting forward as he unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of splitting punches.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!!!
Fists that seemed to hammer every part of Seong-min’s body were met and turned aside one after another.
Incredible!
Seong-min twisted his waist free, coiled every muscle, and exploded into the gap.
Booooom!!!
A ferocious collision thundered.
Savage shockwaves tore through the clearing; the ground beneath their feet cratered.
Fsssss…
Dust slowly settled.
“I also… thought it was nothing more than luck.”
The voice came from beyond the haze.
As the dust cleared, Seong-min stared across the deep crater at Kang Jung-gil.
“A bottom-feeder living a pathetic life—I simply decided the fortune that found me was pure luck. I followed my instincts and lived that way… But once enough time passed that I could finally look at myself clearly, a thought occurred to me. Just as I became acting chairman and used the Jungang Clan to wipe drugs out of the underworld… maybe I could change this rotten, corrupt society itself.”
“You’re saying… you eradicated drugs in this country?”
Seong-min had learned it while saving Min-hyeok.
Starting last year, narcotics had been steadily purged from organized crime.
Dealers had taken massive hits, and Min-hyeok himself had used the chance to wash his hands of it completely.
The reason Korea had become a drug-free nation…
was this man.
Kang Jung-gil.
“An orphan… right?”
“……?”
“I have no one I can call parents either. The woman who was my mother left. My father drowned himself in drugs until he became a wreck and died an ugly death. How could someone like me simply watch drugs keep circulating?”
The instant the words ended, Seong-min felt Kang Jung-gil appear right in front of him.
A split-second later a chill raced down his spine; he leapt back and raised his guard—
Thud!
A crushing blow slammed into him and sent him flying.
That was only the beginning.
Whoosh! Bang! Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!
A merciless flurry of strikes chased him; Seong-min blocked every one, defending with everything he had.
Kang Jung-gil’s body spun; a vicious kick split the air and crashed into Seong-min’s guard.
KRAAAAAANG!!!
The impact thundered. Seong-min was hurled backward as a savage wind howled around him.
Fsssss…
“Let me ask you, Seong-min-ssi. Do you believe ordinary people could withstand a clash like the one we just had?”
As the dust settled, Seong-min slowly lowered his guarded arms.
“…Impossible.”
“Exactly. Impossible. That is also why the Jungang Clan was able to subjugate every other organization in the country.”
“……”
The shock still hadn’t fully faded, yet Seong-min was stunned by two things.
First: the power he possessed was far greater than he had realized.
Fighting the Yonggol-pa thugs, he had known he was strong.
He had subdued them without using everything he had.
But today, finally free to unleash his full strength, he understood just how limited that earlier display had been.
“Seong-min-ssi… you still don’t understand the power you hold. The ability given to both of us.”
“So you want me to help you change society? Now that I’ve gotten a taste of how strong I am, you think I’ll just fall in line with your grand vision?”
He understood now.
How immense the power granted to him truly was.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to join some lofty cause.
He was simply himself.
More than any grand purpose, he only wanted a peaceful, happy everyday life with the people around him.
That was enough.
That was all Seong-min wished for.
Saving Min-hyeok. Looking at Yoo Ji-ah.
He had learned something.
Waking up every morning, eating together, saying “Have a good day,” then talking over dinner about everything that had happened—
none of that was something to take for granted.
“It would be nice if you did… but I can tell from your eyes alone that Seong-min-ssi isn’t that kind of person.”
“I get how strong you are. And that we’re the same kind. But… that doesn’t mean I’m going to submit to you.”
He knew it now.
Kang Jung-gil was the same as him.
And this man had become what could be called a Transcendent a full year earlier.
How much stronger had he grown in that time?
There was a one-year gap between them.
If Kang Jung-gil also leveled up, gained Stat Points, and raised his attributes the same way…
the situation was serious.
Was the skill he just showed me everything he has?
If so, Seong-min could still fight.
If not…
He steeled himself.
He could not waver here.
The more he did, the more openings he would give this man.
I’ll go as far as I can.
Seong-min resolved to pour out every last ounce of strength.
His hair stood on end.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
The first true sense of crisis he had felt since obtaining the Status Window.
The opponent was the same kind of being as himself.
“Heh…”
Kang Jung-gil gave a small laugh.
“You’ve staked everything.”
“…Isn’t that obvious?”
He could not simply take this lying down.
Even if he could not win, he would give everything he had in this place.
That was the creed he lived by.
Even if he fell here…
Suddenly Aunt Hye-sook’s face rose in his mind.
Then Noona A-reum.
Min-hyeok.
Yoo Ji-ah and the rest of the team.
If something happened to him here, how would they take it?
The thought made Seong-min snort a quiet laugh.
“Why are you smiling, Seong-min-ssi?”
“It’s a stupid thought, but… it occurred to me.”
“What did?”
“That even if something happens to me, there are people who would cry for me. That’s… a really good thing.”
Kang Jung-gil looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
“I see. You’re right. Knowing someone would cry for you when you die… that is happiness.”
He fixed Seong-min with a direct gaze.
“There is one thing… I would like to ask you, Seong-min-ssi.”
“……”
“Have you… raised your Banter stat?”
Banter.
The moment the word left his mouth, Seong-min became certain they had received the same fortune.
But Banter?
Why ask about that all of a sudden?
“I… never touched the Banter stat.”
“Then… Seong-min-ssi’s Banter is still at ten.”
Kang Jung-gil gave a bitter smile.
“In that case… you may actually be a better person than I am.”
“What… the hell does that mean?”
Why would leaving Banter untouched make him better?
Seong-min couldn’t understand.
Then a fierce aura gathered around Kang Jung-gil—and settled.
“Let’s end the match here.”
“……?”
Seong-min stared, still fully on guard.
“I only… wanted to test you, Seong-min-ssi.”
“Just wanted to test me…?”
“The path I intend to walk and the direction Seong-min-ssi pursues can never be the same. I also understand now why you look at me with those eyes.”
“If you’re trying to sweet-talk me, forget it.”
“It isn’t sweet talk. I… almost lost someone precious without even realizing it—just as Seong-min-ssi once tried to save Miss Yoo Ji-ah. Fortunately… the ability given to me let me protect her.”
“……”
“If you never raised Banter… then Seong-min-ssi isn’t a piece of human garbage like me. You were a good person from the start.”
“What are you even talking about? What does Banter actually do that makes you say that?”
“It simply makes you better with words. You may not believe it, but my speech used to be quite crude. That’s all it is. But as Seong-min-ssi already knows from raising other stats, what’s visible on the surface isn’t everything. Think of Banter as something that matures a deficient character.”
“Makes you more mature…?”
“I was curious whether Seong-min-ssi had raised Banter the way I did… Hearing that you didn’t, I can tell you’re a better person than a loser like me ever was.”
Kang Jung-gil looked up at the sky.
“The moonlight… is unusually bright tonight.”
“……”
“I sometimes enjoy losing myself in thought while looking at a night sky like this, or at the city lights.”
Seong-min finally believed it.
Kang Jung-gil no longer intended to fight.
“…I don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what…?”
“Why someone like Seong-min-ssi appeared now. Is it simply that one more person received the same fortune as me? Is that… really all it is…?”
Seong-min didn’t know either.
He had gained this incredible power, become the ace of gombang work, saved Min-hyeok, saved Ji-ah.
Beyond that he had never thought about it.
“So… you’re saying there’s some reason we don’t know about?”
“……”
Kang Jung-gil gave no answer.
He simply kept gazing at the night sky.
How much time passed like that?
“I was always a negative person… but I changed as time went by.”
He turned his head and looked at Seong-min.
Then he smiled faintly.
“I still am.”
Seong-min found himself back in the original alley.
Kang Jung-gil had brought him.
The man said they would meet again someday, then left.
After he was gone, Seong-min walked home with a tangle of emotions crowding his chest.
So he has no ill will toward me?
All things considered, Kang Jung-gil did not seem to harbor malice.
And the Banter stat…
Apparently it did more than just make you better with words.
—For the Seong-min-ssi of right now, Banter like mine probably isn’t necessary… But someday… a moment may come when it is.
Words he could not fully grasp.
Words that left a lingering aftertaste.