Chapter 8 - {Fist Emperor Jin}{Fist Emperor Jin}
{Fist Emperor Jin}{Fist Emperor Jin}
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 8
The touch of the soft silk duvet brushed against his skin.
Morning sunlight seeping in from outside the window tickled his eyelids.
"Mmm…."
Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling was visible.
A splendid chandelier and molding decorated with gold leaf caught his eye.
One would think he'd be used to it by now, but the scenery of the ceiling changing every time he opened his eyes still gave him a strange sensation.
'No surprise attack.'
Perhaps realizing recently that surprise attacks during his sleep were useless, there was no surprise attack yesterday either.
Feeling gradually disappointed(?) by that fact, he turned his head and looked to the side.
A woman sleeping soundly with her abundant blonde hair let down.
It was Dorothea, the wife of Count Marquis, a tycoon of the Imperial West.
"Ugh…."
On her body, covered only by a thin sheet over her white naked form, the traces of last night's intensity remained like red petals.
'Is it already morning?'
Kang Jin-ho yawned and got up from the bed.
A solid upper body forged with muscles was revealed.
In the span of 5 years, the appearance of the 15-year-old boy with soft downy hair was nowhere to be found.
His body at 20 was truly like a combat-compressed weapon, with scars and muscles harmoniously intertwined.
'Well, I enjoyed it quite a bit this time, so should I give her about this much?'
After stroking Dorothea's body gently once more, Kang Jin-ho took out a stone from his subspace pocket.
A high-grade magic stone harvested from a monster he killed a while ago.
With this, aside from the price, it had value that nobles coveted due to its rarity.
A smirk spread across his lips.
"The payment is generous."
Although he spent a hot night with Dorothea, he thought of it merely as play.
There was no love or romance.
It was the same for Dorothea.
What she wanted was a deviation from her tedious married life, and what he wanted was pleasure.
Their mutual interests simply aligned.
Just like when he rode the carriage with that peddler 5 years ago.
"Then sleep well. I'm going."
Kang Jin-ho picked up his clothes and put them on.
He threw on a jacket made of top-grade monster leather, and wore nothing at his waist.
He didn't use weapons.
Ever since he fell into this world 5 years ago, his two fists had been his strongest weapons.
"If I think of you later, I'll contact you again. Since you were quite good."
Kang Jin-ho muttered briefly toward the sleeping woman and left the room.
The streets of the capital, Rhodia, were overflowing with vitality from the morning.
However, as soon as Kang Jin-ho exited the hotel's main entrance, that vitality turned into a strange silence in an instant.
"Uh? That person…."
"Shh! Lower your eyes. It's the Fist Emperor (Kwon-je)."
People cleared the way as if the Red Sea were parting.
Street vendors hurriedly bowed their heads, and passing adventurers slunk backward.
Awe and fear.
Gazes mixed with those two emotions pierced Kang Jin-ho's back.
'It's really convenient being famous.'
Kang Jin-ho walked leisurely as if enjoying those gazes.
The whispering sounds tickled his ears.
"Is that guy the famous Fist Emperor Jin?"
"Yeah. The monster who appeared like a comet 5 years ago and came to be called one of the continent's best martial artists with just his bare fists."
5 years.
A time that could be considered long or short.
During that time, the name Kang Jin-ho, no, 'Fist Emperor Jin,' spread beyond the Empire to the entire continent.
"I heard he took down Fenrir with his bare hands?"
"They say the skull was completely smashed."
Starting with annihilating a mercenary group with his bare hands, his path was unconventional itself.
In his 2nd year, he beat to death Fenrir, an ancient species of demonic beast that nested in the Northern Snow Mountains.
The rumor that he smashed the bastard's skull with only his fists, without a single weapon, circulated like a legend.
"Remember that incident last year? Blowing away Count Barbas's city wall."
"Ah, that? The one where the city wall flew away entirely because he tried to stiff him on the request fee?"
"Yeah. They say he threw one straight punch at the wall, and the wall was pierced cleanly in a straight line, and the walls vanished completely. I heard the Count wet himself and handed over the money."
"Haha! That's famous!"
People giggled.
That wasn't all.
"The real deal was when he fought the Sword Emperor. Surprisingly, in the end, he was knocked out by a single punch from the Fist Emperor to the solar plexus."
"Does it make sense that a fist is faster than a sword?"
"That's why he's the Fist Emperor."
Heroic tales of martial valor.
But infamy always followed behind them like a tag.
"But I heard his personality is really dog shit?"
"They say he won't even look at the Emperor if there's no money involved."
"Besides, his relationships with women are very…."
Passersby lowered their voices.
"I heard he picks and touches only young and pretty noblewomen. They call him the Married Woman Hunter or something."
"Tsk tsk, they say heroes love lust, but there's a limit."
"Hey, but what can you do when the wives hang onto him saying they like it? Since their husbands are lackluster, they get attracted to a manly man like that."
Rumors that one couldn't tell if they were insults or praise.
Kang Jin-ho smirked.
'Married Woman Hunter? It's not wrong.'
But to correct it, he didn't hunt them; they hunted him.
To wives tired of incompetent and authoritative noble husbands, his overwhelming martial power and wild beauty were a fatal poison and antidote.
'Well, thanks to that, it's good for killing time.'
Kang Jin-ho whistled and entered the Mercenary Guild building.
The modern man had completely transformed into someone befitting this harsh barbaric world.
Jingle—.
As the door bell rang, the inside of the guild, which had been boisterous, became quiet as if cold water had been poured over it.
The gazes of countless mercenaries focused on the entrance.
S-class veteran mercenaries, and even wizards famous for being arrogant, avoided his gaze as soon as they saw Kang Jin-ho.
Thud, thud.
Kang Jin-ho walked to the counter.
Guild Master Torbern ran out barefoot.
As the Guild Master of the Mercenary Guild, he had made a name for himself as an S-class mercenary in the past.
But now, he was busy gauging Kang Jin-ho's mood.
"O-Oh, you have come! Fist Emperor-nim!"
Torbern bowed 90 degrees and smiled servilely.
Seeing the Guild Master of the world-renowned Mercenary Guild groveling like this was a sight hard to see even in front of the Emperor.
"What I left with you?"
Kang Jin-ho asked briefly.
Torbern hurriedly took out a heavy leather pouch from under the counter.
"Yes! Here it is! The reward for the 'Arch Lich' subjugation last time, and the auction proceeds for the Lich's skull!"
Thump.
A heavy sound was made as the pouch was placed on the table.
Kang Jin-ho untied the pouch string and checked the contents.
It was full of top-grade magic crystals, diamonds, and high-denomination checks.
"The amount seems a bit short?"
Kang Jin-ho's eyebrow twitched.
Torbern's face turned pale.
"N-No! Absolutely not! Our guild bore the full cost of the commission fee! I swear I didn't embezzle even 1 copper!"
"Just kidding. Don't be scared."
Kang Jin-ho grinned and put the pouch into his subspace pocket.
Only then did Torbern sigh in relief and wipe his cold sweat.
The incident 5 years ago, where a Guild Branch Manager who picked a fight over payment issues was folded in half along with his desk, was a legendary horror story among guild members.
"Then work hard."
"A-Are you going? A big request came in from the North this time…."
"Not interested. I'm going to rest for a while."
Kang Jin-ho waved his hand shooing him away and turned around.
Money was overflowing.
Fame and infamy were sufficient.
Now, not much time was left until the original story began.
Until then, he intended to enjoy himself moderately and watch the approaching storm.
'Since I'm not the protagonist anyway.'
The protagonists of this world are the Saintess who will regress and the Grand Duke of the North.
He was just a passing extra, or maybe a slightly strong background character was enough.
Since he had already achieved the goal of survival on his own.
"Then bye."
It was the moment Kang Jin-ho opened the guild door to leave.
"Wait."
There was a shadow blocking the guild entrance.
Kang Jin-ho raised his head as if annoyed.
Men wearing black uniforms stood blocking the door.
A crest with a snowy mountain and a wolf drawn on their chests.
It was the crest of the ruler of the Imperial North, the Winter Grand Duchy.
'The Grand Duchy of the North?'
Kang Jin-ho's brow furrowed slightly.
'Isn't that the family of the original male lead?'
Among the men in uniform, the one who appeared to be the leader stepped forward.
A middle-aged man with sharp eyes and a fastidious impression.
He scanned Kang Jin-ho up and down and opened his mouth arrogantly.
"Are you the Fist Emperor?"
It was informal speech.
The air inside the guild froze.
"Crazy…."
"Is that perhaps a new method of suicide?"
The mercenaries held their breath.
To show such an attitude to the Fist Emperor of the world. Does he want to die?
But instead of getting angry, Kang Jin-ho yawned widely.
"Ya~wn. I'm sleepy. Don't block the way and move, will you?"
"Impudent. Who do you dare think you are in front of."
The middle-aged man did not hide his displeasure.
"I am Lowell, the aide of the ruler of the North, the Winter Grand Duchy. I have come receiving the order of His Highness the Grand Duke."
"Grand Duke?"
Kang Jin-ho picked his nose.
"So?"
"……What?"
"So the Grand Duke called, so what. Go tell him. I'm not going. I don't want to. I'm busy."
Lowell's face turned red.
To dare refuse the order of the Grand Duchy? And with such a thug-like attitude?
That meaning was clearly visible on his face.
"This vulgar mercenary bastard…! Are you daring to refuse the summons of His Highness the Grand Duke!"
"I'm not refusing, it's my choice. Am I your subordinate?"
Kang Jin-ho smirked and tapped Lowell's shoulder.
"I told you to move. Don't make me say it three times."
Tap.
It seemed like a light tap, but Lowell's body stumbled.
An overwhelming gap in power.
Lowell, who had lived in the rough North, instinctively felt fear, but his pride did not allow it.
He signaled to the knights behind him with his eyes.
"Arrest him! I will punish you for the crime of insulting the Grand Duchy!"
Shwing—.
The knights drew their swords in unison.
Befitting the elite knights of the Grand Duchy, deep blue Aura rose above their sword blades.
Murderous intent filled the guild entrance.
"Ha."
Kang Jin-ho burst into hollow laughter.
There were still those who couldn't grasp their place.
"Cute."
Kang Jin-ho's eyes settled.
Simultaneously, an invisible pressure erupted from his body like an explosion.
Kugugugu—.
Spirit (Gi-se).
It was the unique domineering spirit of the Fist Emperor, built up by crossing countless lines of death.
He himself called it alone by the name 'Conqueror's Haki.'
"Ugh?!"
"Kueok!"
The knights aiming their swords groaned and stepped back.
A heavy pressure as if a massive mountain were crushing down.
Even the Aura wavered and became faint.
Lowell's legs gave out, and he almost slumped down.
"I believe I told you to get lost."
Kang Jin-ho took a step forward.
At that simple motion, the knights' formation collapsed.
"Don't ruin my mood. Or else, shall I kill you all?"