Chapter 6 - {Mercenary} 4
{Mercenary} 4
Translator : Elizabeth
"Hey, he's really dead, right?"
"Ah, fuck. How many times do I have to say it? How can he survive falling from that height? Besides, we stabbed him in the back. Even if the blade didn't go in, there must have been an impact."
Team Leader Hans answered with a voice mixed with annoyance.
Six mercenaries were surrounding him. Tom, Bern, and Jackson, Miles, etc.—all members of Team 3.
They were already intoxicated with victory.
Sweeping the gold coins scattered on the floor into sacks, they were spouting sophistry to justify their dirty betrayal.
"Honestly speaking, how much longer could we have gone with that monster guy?"
Bern opened his mouth while pocketing a heavy gem necklace.
The face of that 'daughter-fool' who teared up looking at his family photo was glistening with greed.
"Look at that power. He's a guy who bursts monsters in one hit and destroys golems with bare hands. Does it make sense for a guy like that to hang out calling guys like us Bronze-rank mercenaries big brother and little brother? It's nonsense."
"Right. He would have abandoned us someday. He would have gone to bigger waters, or used us as bait to find a way to live alone."
Other mercenaries also chimed in.
Hans pocketed the box containing the seal and smiled fishily.
"And look at how the guy acted. The sight of him acting innocent, pretending not to know how the world works, was disgusting. He's clearly the bastard son of some grand noble family or a runaway young master. He just came out to experience the lives of commoners for fun."
"That's what I'm saying. How much must he have laughed at us inside? He must have thought, 'These trivial bastards risking their lives for such petty cash.'"
"We just took our rightful share. That guy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and is strong, while we are struggling just to survive. This money is more desperate for us."
Inferiority complex.
Persecution mania.
And greed.
Their conversation was like a textbook showing how ugly humans can become.
Kang Jin-ho listened to their nonsense silently.
Even after kicking off and climbing up, he was currently hanging from the ceiling, hiding his body in the darkness as soundlessly as possible.
Anger surged up at their absurd remarks, but strangely, his head cooled down as if dipped in ice water.
'Right.'
Kang Jin-ho nodded.
'That is their true intention.'
The goodwill he showed only appeared to them as 'deception of the haves,' and the performance he displayed only touched their 'inferiority complex.'
'Then it's time to end this.'
Thinking so, Kang Jin-ho let go of the hand holding the ceiling and landed on the ground.
"Hmm? What sound is…."
"Is the rationalization finished?"
A low voice rang out in the darkness.
"Wh-Who is it!"
Hans was startled and drew his sword.
The remaining six mercenaries also turned pale and picked up their weapons.
Beyond the flickering torchlight, a hand suddenly popped out.
Crunch!
What crawled up crushing the rock floor was a boy covered in dust.
A face pale like a ghost.
But his eyes alone were emitting a deep blue phosphorescence.
"J… Jin-ho?"
"It can't be…."
Tom stepped back and slumped down.
He definitely confirmed him falling below the cliff. He even heard the scream.
But how could he return in one piece without a single scratch?
"……."
Kang Jin-ho stared at them with a calm expression.
In those eyes, the warmth with which he used to look at his 'colleagues' no longer existed.
Only indifference lingered.
"You guys are right."
Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his mouth.
"I am too different from you guys, so I didn't intend to stay with you continuously. Since you guys are retiring with this job."
"You, you… monster bastard!"
A large mercenary called Jackson screamed and swung his axe.
It was a struggle to overcome fear.
"Die!"
Vwoom—!
The heavy axe blade aimed for the crown of Kang Jin-ho's head.
But Kang Jin-ho didn't dodge.
He just waved his hand as if annoyed.
Thwack!
"Kueok?!"
Before the axe could even touch him, Kang Jin-ho's fist plugged into Jackson's face.
With the sound of a skull caving in, Jackson's massive body flew backward like a paper doll and crashed into the wall.
It was instant death.
"Jackson!"
Seeing their colleague die in one hit, the mercenaries' faces turned white.
Kang Jin-ho shook off his bloodied hand and took a step closer.
"I hoped you guys would retire and live well. But this isn't it, is it?"
"This, crazy bastard! Attack all together! He's alone!"
Hans shouted and charged.
The remaining five mercenaries also swung their weapons in unison and rushed in.
Swords and spears flew from all directions.
An encirclement attack difficult for even a normal knight to block.
But to Kang Jin-ho, it was merely slow motion.
Clang! Clash!
Kang Jin-ho struck away sword blades with his bare hands and grabbed spear shafts to break them.
Steel crumbled away like cookie crumbs.
"Aaaagh! My hand!"
"Is this a human hand?!"
The mercenaries' screams burst out.
Kang Jin-ho indifferently kicked Miles's solar plexus and struck up the chin of the guy charging from the side.
Crack. Crunch.
The sound of bones breaking filled the cave like a cheerful rhythm.
Just 10 seconds.
Four out of seven people sprawled on the floor and became cold corpses.
The only ones left were Hans, Tom, and Bern.
"Now, then I should settle the accounts."
Kang Jin-ho grabbed Hans by the collar and threw him lightly.
An adult male over 180cm tall flew like luggage and crashed onto the pile of gold coins.
"Kueok!"
"I won't kill you at once. Because when you guys pushed me off the cliff, you must have hoped I would feel fear until I hit the bottom."
Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Tom and Bern.
The two were trembling, having already lost their will to fight.
"R-Run!"
Tom screamed and started running toward the entrance.
Instinct to survive overrode treasure or anything else.
Kang Jin-ho watched that figure quietly.
Like a cat appreciating the sight of a rat struggling to escape a trap.
"Brother Tom. Since you are fast on your feet, I'll give you a chance."
Kang Jin-ho's voice rang out inside the cave.
"If you go out that door, I'll let you live. I'll give you exactly 10 seconds. Run."
That was a lie.
He had not even a speck of intention to let him live.
But to Tom, it looked like the only lifeline.
Hope.
At that sweet word thrown in a desperate situation, Tom ran with all his might.
'I can live! If I just get to the door…!'
The open steel door was right in front of his nose.
If he just crossed over there, he would live.
It was the moment joy spread across Tom's face.
"10 seconds up."
Kang Jin-ho picked up a gold bar the size of a fist rolling under his feet.
And as a pitcher throws a ball, he lightly snapped his wrist.
Shoooom—!
The tearing sound of air.
Thwack!
"Kuaaaagh!"
Tom's right leg bent bizarrely.
The gold bar had shattered the shinbone and pierced through.
Tom rolled on the floor with the threshold just one step away.
"Aaaah! My leg! My leg!"
"What a waste. If you were just 1 second faster, you would have lived."
Kang Jin-ho walked over slowly.
His footsteps sounded like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper to Tom.
"S-Save me… please… I was crazy… Jin-ho, let's open a bakery together… right! If I open a bakery, I'll give you shares too…."
"Bakery?"
Kang Jin-ho smirked.
And indifferently stepped on Tom's remaining left leg.
Crack.
"Kuaaaaaagh!"
"Go knead dough. In hell."
Kang Jin-ho kicked Tom's head as it was.
It was a light motion like kicking a soccer ball, but its power was beyond imagination.
Tom's head turned 180 degrees, and the scream cut off abruptly.
Glance—
Kang Jin-ho looked down at his toe.
Blood was on it, but he felt no emotion.
It was his first murder.
To him who lived ordinarily on Earth, murder would have been taboo and fear.
But now, his heart was beating too calmly.
'Strange.'
He wasn't trembling, nor did he feel nauseous.
Rather, it felt like his mind was clearing up.
Did something modify his mind as well, not just his body becoming stronger while crossing dimensions?
Or is this my original nature?
"Now two left."
Kang Jin-ho turned his body.
Bern was lying flat on the floor, bowing his head.
"Ji, Jin-ho… please… I have a daughter… You know Alice, right? I showed you the photo too… that child only has her dad… please…."
Bern begged, shedding tears and snot.
Family.
The most universal and most powerful emotional appeal.
If it were a normal person, one might have weakened here.
But Kang Jin-ho's eyes were cold.
"Mister."
Kang Jin-ho squatted in front of Bern.
And picked up the daughter's pendant sticking out of Bern's bosom.
"If you have a daughter, you should have lived more kindly."
"Uugh… I'll do well… if you tell me to be your slave for life, I will…."
"If killing someone else's child to feed your own child is your style of paternal love."
Kang Jin-ho tightly clenched the pendant in his hand.
Squeak, crunch.
The metal pendant crumpled like a sheet of paper and became a lump of scrap metal.
"That child becoming an orphan is also your karma, Mister. Isn't that right?"
"N, No…!"
Bern screamed looking at the crumpled pendant.
Kang Jin-ho stood up from his spot.
"Don't worry. I won't kill your daughter. I'm not petty like you guys. Instead, I'll make sure she never knows why her dad died for the rest of her life. She'll live thinking he just died a sudden death away from home."
"You… devil-like…!"
Bern charged with malice.
But Kang Jin-ho's fist was faster.
Thwack!
A fist accurately plugged into the solar plexus.
A shockwave shook Bern's intestines.
Bern couldn't even scream and collapsed foaming at the mouth.
He didn't kill him. Breath was still attached.
But his internal organs were ruptured, so he would die slowly in pain.
That was the punishment Kang Jin-ho handed down.
"Now it's the last one."
The last one remaining was the Team Leader, Hans.
He was sitting collapsed on the pile of gold coins, scooting backward.
There was no focus in his eyes.
His mind had collapsed in front of overwhelming fear.
"D… Don't come…."
"Why? You said I'm a monster? I'm playing like a monster, so why do you hate it?"
Kang Jin-ho grabbed Hans by the collar and pulled him up.
Between Hans's legs was wet.
"You guys said it. That I'm too strong so you can't be with me."
Kang Jin-ho grabbed Hans's right arm.
"Right. I am strong. So I can't watch weaklings like you guys betraying others anymore."
Snap.
"Kuaagh!"
Hans's arm bone broke lightly.
Kang Jin-ho indifferently twisted the joint as if snapping a tree branch.
"This is the price for aiming for my back."
Crunch.
"Aaaagh! Please! Save me! I, I didn't do it! The Captain! The Captain ordered it!"
"This is the price for deceiving me."
Kang Jin-ho hurled Hans to the floor.
And slowly raised his foot.
"And this is…."
Kang Jin-ho paused for a moment.
The morals, ethics, and trust in humans he learned on Earth for 25 years flashed through his mind.
And he heard the sound of those things shattering into pieces.
"The tuition fee for teaching me."
People are not to be trusted.
Promises exist to be broken.
Only my own power, overwhelming martial power, is the only truth.
Squish!
Kang Jin-ho's foot stepped on Hans's chest.
With the sound of the heart bursting, Hans's body convulsed and went limp.
"Uhk…."
Silence returned to the cave again.
Seven corpses.
And a boy standing in the middle of them.
The fishy smell of blood and the cold metallic smell of gold mixed together to create a strange atmosphere.
Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath.
"Phew."
His hands didn't tremble.
His heartbeat was constant, and his mind was clearer than ever.
Was this his true nature?
Or did this cruel world make him like this?
'Doesn't matter.'
Whatever the reason was, it didn't matter.
What was important was only the fact that he survived and they died.
"Anyway, this has become troublesome."
Kang Jin-ho looked around at the treasures scattered about.
Gold coins, gems, ancient relics.
It was too much to carry alone.
"If I knew this would happen, maybe I should have kept one guy alive as a porter."
Kang Jin-ho pondered for a moment, then picked up the small box Hans had taken, the 'Family Seal.'
If he just delivered this, the request would be complete.
But there was one more thing he had to do before that.
His gaze turned toward the cave entrance, toward the 'Grey Wolf Mercenary Group' headquarters that would be beyond there.
"Did the Captain really get involved? Or is it this guy's lie?"
If he really got involved, the Captain also couldn't be left alive.
'It seems I'll have to see a lot of blood.'
However, he would absolutely not avoid seeing blood.