Noisy Neighbor (5)
The Saingeom blazed with blue flames, its form slowly shifting. From its original hand axe shape, it began morphing into something closer to its prototype—a curved sword about the length of an arm.
It was a form he'd seen several times during tests. Ju Kang-rim couldn't pinpoint the reason, but he understood this as the Saingeom's chosen "optimal form."
Thud.
Jang Han-taek's body twisted grotesquely, morphing into a massive arm, then legs, even a throbbing heart. But it remained pinned in place, unable to move.
Now, not a trace of Jang Han-taek's original form remained.
"Finally, a proper debut match."
Whether Han Min-seong's soul coins—two thousand nyang—were worth it would be decided from here on out. This was his first real hunt, beyond tests and the truck escape.
Ju Kang-rim charged at Jang Han-taek.
"Aaaahhh, hahahaha!"
A bizarre sound—scream or laugh?—grated on his nerves.
Ju Kang-rim slashed through the whip-like barrage of hands with his Saingeom. A reinforced blade that could cleave steel. No way it couldn't sever whips made of mere bone and flesh.
"What a pain in the ass!"
But he couldn't reach the core—Jang Han-taek himself. His coat-like garb offered some protection, but it was still just tough leather armor at best. This wasn't an enemy he could assassinate stealthily from the shadows like before.
If I can just close in and hack him down, it might sever the ghosts' connections too...
Jang Han-taek's miserable end was inevitable, but Ju Kang-rim couldn't drag this out forever either.
He glanced at the Saingeom, flickering like a candle.
Ten more minutes.
He'd chosen ten minutes for weapon enhancement. Naturally, a blood rain-enhanced weapon's power scaled with sacrificed lifespan. For that duration, the Saingeom became sharp enough to slice steel like tofu, but its durability drained continuously.
It won't break...
After use, its edge dulled drastically. It sharpened again over time, but right after blood rain, it was little more than a club. Sacrificing more lifespan extended the time, of course.
But Ju Kang-rim had no intention of wasting lifespan on trash like this. Even 18,000 years was a finite resource. Better to use it efficiently than whine to Yeomra later.
"Kekekekekeke!"
Jang Han-taek's flesh emitted a eerie woman's voice as it swung its hands. Razor-sharp nails like spears sliced the air.
When it attacked beyond predicted range, Ju Kang-rim blocked with the Saingeom and severed the arm. But the chopped hand scattered into chunks of meat, swarming from all directions toward him.
Each chunk was infused with a ghost.
Jang Han-taek had lost his reason, but the ghosts were bound by a single will: hatred for Ju Kang-rim. Their resentment chained them to him fiercely.
"Aaah, I hate you, I hate it!"
The ghost swarm spewed one-dimensional hatred and rage.
Ju Kang-rim snarled, slashing at the miscellaneous spirits possessing the flesh chunks.
"Hate me?"
A chilling aura seeped into his face.
"You ghosts dare hate a grim reaper standing right in front of you instead of fearing him? You fucking mutts."
Ju Kang-rim realized how he needed to fight.
He wasn't pursuing safe, efficient combat. He had to instill absolute terror.
A grim reaper must be an object of fear, not hatred or enmity. He was the hunter, not their rival.
Thud.
Ju Kang-rim stomped and plunged into the swirling vortex of Jang Han-taek's flesh.
"Aaaaaah!"
Jang Han-taek wildly flailed arms, battering and coiling around Ju Kang-rim's body. Hit in the face immediately, Ju Kang-rim felt teeth-jarring pain.
But his eyes burned with feral madness.
His blade flashed.
Squelch, crunch. Thud, rip, boom.
A brutal brawl erupted between the ghost-possessed flesh and Ju Kang-rim. Each swing lopped off limbs in chunks, spraying blood everywhere. The ghosts, embodied, weren't immune to pain—they screamed and writhed.
Ju Kang-rim wasn't unscathed either. Bruises bloomed across his body, gashes from nails gushed blood.
But he was drenched in Jang Han-taek's blood.
In a melee, getting hit is par for the course.
He advanced step by step, coldly swinging without flinching at incoming limbs. Legs grabbing his yanked without panic—he slashed. Punches that loosened teeth? Slashed anyway.
No fancy swordplay or technique. Pure slugfest.
Just avoid fatal wounds.
He ignored blows that beat or battered, blocking or dodging only lethal strikes at vitals. Jang Han-taek's myriad ghosts made precise control hard, so those were rare.
But even with superior blade performance, frontal assaults had limits. Ju Kang-rim would fall eventually.
The mindless beast believed it utterly.
But as time passed, cracks formed in that faith.
Flutter, flutter.
Far from collapsing, Ju Kang-rim's form evolved. From bare coat to full garb: hat, shoes, robe.
He assembled his ceremonial attire in real-time, defense rising steadily.
The sight sowed chaos in the ghosts' minds.
Ju Kang-rim advanced indifferently, hacking charging limbs, trudging through blood pools without sidestepping.
He didn't fall.
Wouldn't fall.
Couldn't fall.
Amid the inferno, a blood-soaked monster marched on, unyielding to punches, kicks, slashes.
Ju Kang-rim's gaping maw revealed crimson teeth.
An unbeatable foe. Inescapable death.
The grim reaper approached.
Jang Han-taek's simple "hatred" twisted into primal "fear."
Attacks grew hesitant.
Ju Kang-rim keenly sensed the weakling's terror. Not just as a grim reaper—as himself, a calculated strategy.
Groups deluding themselves with numbers shatter the instant fear hits.
"...Monster! It's a monster!"
A ghost finally screamed from Jang Han-taek's mouth, terror-stricken.
Hatred was one-dimensional. Fear too.
But Ju Kang-rim's shout transcended both.
"You scum!"
Not a roar or Lion's Roar. Pure dominance from realizing overwhelming superiority—raw power play.
Some ghosts scattered in panic, grasping the hierarchy gap.
Part of Jang Han-taek's flesh staggered, collapsing.
He mustered desperate power for a final blow.
Ju Kang-rim smirked, halting.
"Alright, let's see your last stand."
"Ooooooh!"
Jang Han-taek squeezed out a massive fist to pulverize him.
Ju Kang-rim raised his Saingeom.
As collision loomed—
"Jang Han-taek!"
Crack.
Lion's Roar triggered. Jang Han-taek reeled as if head-smashed. The forcibly gathered ghosts shattered and fled en masse.
The giant fist crumpled pathetically.
With ghosts gone, faint reason returned. He realized: this bastard never intended a fair fight. Just baited the last ghosts together.
"Like cockroaches swarming a lit kitchen at night."
Ju Kang-rim strolled casually as ghosts dispersed.
Tricked again, Jang Han-taek couldn't even grind teeth—only chattered his few remaining ones.
On Ju Kang-rim's gore-smeared face, only white teeth and eyes gleamed.
"Jang Han-taek."
The final Lion's Roar completed—his soul ripped free.
Jang Han-taek's soul extracted.
"...He's done."
Ju Kang-rim gazed across the smoking riverbank. The warehouse district. Local fire station and news crews at the blaze.
Luckily, drizzle started—fire wouldn't spread wildly.
To avoid trouble, he slipped away, hiding under the bank.
No more fights here.
Enhancement ended, Saingeom reverted to hand axe. No longer needed, he dismissed it.
Battle aftermath hit hard—movement agony from wounds and fractures nearly blacked him out.
But he mustered strength, opening Biman's shop.
Right, the ones I eyed for emergencies...
There: "Flesh-Healing Pill" and "Bone-Flesh Pill" at 100 nyang each. Pricey, but effective.
Swallowing them, he felt bruised flesh heal, broken bones and teeth knit.
Good I asked Yoo Wol-ryeong during her treatment.
These healed her head wound from Lopez.
Eyeing the "Flesh-Healing Pill" wrapper—"Contains 0.2% flesh flower"—he shrugged. If it worked, fine.
0.2%? Might as well have dunked and pulled it out.
Anyway. He admired his body for enduring.
Two reasons he dove in without hesitation: pure physical brute—no soul-damaging weapons. And Yoo Wol-ryeong's example.
"Master the flesh"—that's what she meant.
This fight taught him. He became flesh's lord: ignoring pain, torment, stamina drain, pushing to limits for superhuman strength.
Timing the attire perfect helped, but any normal human would've broken mentally from fear and agony first.
Honestly, he felt like a gamer forcing a near-dead character to keep fighting.
Probably not far off.
At least he dodged fatality, killed Jang Han-taek.
Won't go full Yoo Wol-ryeong.
Didn't want to.
Then Biman buzzed.
The Saingeom takes note of your growth.
The Saingeom permits you enhancement.
"...Huh."
The Saingeom acknowledged his grim reaper growth again. Once for respecting the deceased, now for becoming terror to souls.
He humbly accepted, tapping enhancement.
No long deliberation. He'd planned it.
Boost speed first.
To max stealth. He'd mastered terrain ambushes, but Jang Han-taek exposed speed gaps.
Lion's Speed ability improved.
Acquired trait: "Swift Tracker"
Overall speed increased.
Leap ability increased.
Fall impact mitigation.
Ju Kang-rim nodded at the enhancements. Especially leaps and fall reduction—3D mobility unlocked.
Satisfied, he moved to close Biman.
But he froze, doubting his eyes. Enhancement screen still glowed.
"...One more choice?"