Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: If You Call Me Noona
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Two days ago.
When I went to my salon.
The shock hit me just as hard as when I'd gotten home.
The chair I always sat in was wrecked, and the floor was covered in goblin shit.
That was why.
I took it out on the monsters to soothe my mind.
'The stylist's dead.'
The salon mattered, but the stylist mattered more.
I struggled to accept her death.
"Bro, we don't know that for sure yet."
That was what Jang Ho-seop had said.
There was no body.
No ashes or dried bloodstains or anything.
Even so, I figured the odds of the stylist still being alive were slim.
Goblins were more likely to have dragged her off, so I took Jang Ho-seop's words as mere comfort.
"Ah, that chick from the salon over there? She was hot."
"Salon? Who... Oh! Wasn't she just kinda average-looking?"
"Who cares about looks. It's more about..."
But ridiculously enough, the moment I overheard those strangers talking...
I realized I hadn't let go of that one thread of hope, and that's why I was wandering these streets now.
"She's got an amazing rack. And that airheaded charm, you know? Girls like that aren't common."
I still hadn't accepted the stylist's death.
Thud.
I leaped up onto the rubble from a collapsed building.
I cleared a height I never could've before.
I felt Jang Ho-seop hurrying after me.
"But that woman... isn't she still hanging in there?"
Over the debris, I spotted three men.
All in their mid-to-late thirties.
They were armed and carrying huge backpacks.
I dropped down on them from above.
From the height of a fourth-floor apartment. Without hesitation.
Splat.
I smashed one man's head as I hit the ground.
I held back to avoid killing him.
As the struck man crumpled, I swung my axe.
Slash.
Lee Jang-su had sharpened the blade meticulously.
Another man's arm flew off, bone and all, into the air.
"You fuckin'..."
The last man.
He started to speak but clamped his mouth shut.
Because Jang Ho-seop had a blade to his throat.
"Wh-what... Who the hell are you guys? Why are you..."
"Shh. Keep quiet."
Jang Ho-seop muttered that it was for his own good.
"Three of them, huh..."
The rest of their group was circling back over the rubble.
No other presences nearby.
I raised my axe.
And brought it down on the man with the severed arm.
Thump.
His head hit the ground.
"Now down to two. Uncle, I've got some questions."
Jang Ho-seop picked up on my mutter and continued.
The man he held nodded frantically.
We moved spots.
Into an empty building, where we set up Spirit Stones and tied up the unconscious man.
"Where were you headed this morning?"
"Well... uh... Hic."
I sat on the unconscious one.
Axe in hand.
The man sitting across from Jang Ho-seop looked at me and hiccuped.
"Having trouble talking?"
"N-no! Not at all. We were on our way to the market."
I'd made the efficient choice.
And so Jang Ho-seop got answers without a struggle.
"Why the market? What's there? What's your goal?"
"Uh... well. You can barter at the market. Yeah."
"Be more specific. You know the five W's and one H, right?"
The market he mentioned was the one I knew.
Bring goods there, get them appraised, and trade for stuff at the market.
People were even on the trading block.
"So you uncles were into human trafficking..."
"No! Not at all. We were just gonna drain some fluids."
"Ah, that kinda thing. Care to tell us more about the market?"
I'm getting impatient.
What I want is info on the stylist.
But I waited.
Jang Ho-seop wasn't asking random questions.
"Chairman Park set up the market... Ah, Chairman Park was already the head of the Revival Society."
"Ha... Last time it was 'Representative,' now it's 'Chairman.'"
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. Go on."
The Revival Society folks had banded together to clean up the market district.
Driving out monsters, rescuing people.
They gradually expanded their territory.
Clearing monsters around the market.
"There are still a few stray monsters lurking..."
"Yeah. Skip to the next part."
"They advertised to locals: bring valuable stuff to the market."
The man pulled out a flyer from his pocket.
Handwritten by someone.
"People in tough spots could join the Revival Society too."
"Hm... This is basically 'come work for us, we'll feed you.'"
"Yes. A lot of folks who couldn't fight monsters joined up."
These guys had been farming in the Revival Society's cleared zones.
Hauling the loot to trade for what they wanted.
"Women get the best pay selling their bodies, so..."
"Ah, Revival Society women?"
"Yeah. Even their people get paid and get what they need."
Jang Ho-seop nodded, jotting notes furiously.
"But what's this about the salon lady? One of you uncles mentioned her earlier."
"Huh? Oh, that was my buddy..."
"Exactly. Who is she?"
"Uh... just your average woman..."
I know.
There must be at least a dozen salon owners in this neighborhood alone.
Even more if you count the next one over.
High chance their "salon lady" isn't my stylist.
"You don't know much, do you, uncle..."
"No! Th-there's a woman doing barrier construction labor at the market. They say she used to be a stylist..."
Still, hard to suppress the hope.
"She's thirty-one or thirty-two, I think."
I listened closely to the man.
Because my stylist was that age too.
I left the interrogation to Jang Ho-seop because this was personal for me.
I was too worked up emotionally.
"What now?"
So I asked.
Jang Ho-seop would judge efficiently and rationally.
He knew what I wanted.
"Nothing solid yet. But there's potential..."
Disappointing, but even with the man's cooperation, we couldn't confirm if their stylist was mine.
The guy I'd headbutted died.
Seemed fine, but something went wrong, and he never woke up.
The questioning survivor only knew secondhand info, no decisive clues.
"Best to go to the market and check ourselves."
"Ourselves?"
"Yeah. People come and go there anyway."
Jang Ho-seop pointed to the dead men's backpacks.
Ah, we killed the cooperative one too.
"You'll spot her fastest and surest, bro."
"True... Let's do it."
We opened their bags.
"Kettle, clock... Is this real gold? Oh? Mana Stones too? How'd you know they drop from monsters..."
The huge hiking packs were stuffed with all sorts.
They'd planned to trade it all at the market.
"What about the rest of the team?"
"You and me."
Lee Yu-na looked disappointed.
No helping it.
"We'll head out then."
We left the others and slipped out alone.
Heading to the market, it was as clean as the man said.
"That Chairman Park's got some real talent."
He was leveraging group power.
Different style from Kim Representative or Prosecutor Kang Hye-seon.
"In my view, Chairman Park's way is the most efficient."
"Yeah?"
"Yep. He's built and runs a system."
Jang Ho-seop scribbled in his notebook again.
He thought there was something to learn from Chairman Park.
"But those original Revival Society members, right? Like a militia."
"Yeah. Basically gangsters, no? MZ gangsters?"
"Who knows. Anyway, they're the core."
"Hm... Yeah. The market grows because of them."
The founding members fought monsters to expand territory.
People farmed safely inside.
So they didn't have their own production.
Expansion stops, market crumbles eventually.
"Building barriers suggests long-term planning."
"Yes. Adaptable guy."
Jang Ho-seop was even scheming to steal their plans and system.
"Seems like there are a lot of adaptable people. Already thinking of buying and selling humans..."
"Adapt or die. Or they're already dead."
"Right... Yeah."
Almost there.
"Ho-seop."
"Yes, bro."
"If we find the stylist, rescuing her is top priority."
"Obviously. Got it memorized."
The market entrance came into view.
"But just maybe... is she your girlfriend or something...?"
"Nah."
"Ah, got it. Not at all."
A funky smell wafted from the market.
Jang Ho-seop and I pulled up our hoods and headed in.
The market we found could be circled in ten minutes.
Still about the same size now.
But the vibe was different.
The market street stretching between buildings felt less chaotic than before.
"What the... They already cleared it all out?"
Collapsed buildings were neatly sorted.
No more awnings blocking the sky or mats on the ground.
And construction everywhere.
Blocking off side alleys and small lanes with materials.
Like erecting a defensive wall around the market district.
"Next."
A few guys lined up at the entrance.
Market guards armed with all sorts of weapons checked entrants.
Appraising brought goods.
They made you surrender weapons and log in an entry ledger too.
"Two of us."
"Faces."
"Ah, sure."
Our turn.
We lowered hoods, showed our faces.
A guy with tattoos crawling up to his neck stared hard at us.
"First-timers?"
"Yes. First time. Saw the flyer and came."
"Hm. Let's see it."
Another guy approached to check our goods.
Meanwhile, Tattoo drew our faces on a plastic board.
'Skill.'
Insanely fast hands.
More detailed than expected.
He checked basic info too.
Fundamental Skills.
We bullshitted vaguely, of course.
"Both got good skills. Wanna join us?"
"Haven't thought that far."
"Fair. Look around. Good skills mean good treatment..."
It took ten minutes to clear the entrance.
We got some kind of pass or ID.
And their own minted currency.
Crude, but tough to forge.
The folks ahead griped about too little; we just took what they gave.
"Jackpot. Way more organized than I thought."
Jang Ho-seop and I shouldered our lighter packs and toured the market.
Messy, but sold everything.
Even handmade weapons.
"Intact buildings are packed."
"Huh? Really? What's going on in there..."
We'd gotten rules on entry.
Big one: no entering yellow-marked spots.
Couldn't anyway, but Target Detection picked up presences inside.
Lots of people.
"That building's heavily guarded."
Watchmen stationed all over the market street too.
All with awakened Fundamental Skills, average level around 5.
The ones by the building Jang Ho-seop pointed to were higher.
"Let's sit there a sec."
"Sure."
There was a restaurant.
Plastic tables and chairs lined up.
We sat across, ordered noodles.
"Bro, finding her might be trickier than we thought."
Frustrating.
Not much area we could check.
Hardly saw anyone.
Occasional bear-bangers in side alleys, but off-limits.
"Only... that building left."
"Yeah. Gotta check it."
A building with a red sign.
Five stories, sign reading:
[SEX]
Jang Ho-seop and I slurped noodles while scanning passersby.
No women the stylist's age.
We finished eating and headed to the red-signed building.