The Dokkaebi's Command
Nothing special happened over the weekend. When I asked Kang Hae-yeon if she could introduce me to a lawyer later on, she gave me an email address. If President Jeong or his lackeys got any bright ideas and tried something stupid, I figured I'd reach out. But the way she kept asking whether I had any goods that needed handling or troublesome cargo to dispose of made it clear I should head into No Longer Human soon and start collecting useful items.
"Where to, sir?"
"The red-light district."
Today was the same. I lay on the roof, reading a downloaded web novel while keeping the protagonist under surveillance.
"Where the hell is that bastard going, skipping school?"
I dropped down to street level, pulled a bicycle out of my inventory, and started after him. No need to stick right on his tail.
The more information you have on the target, the more clearly you can sense their location and direction.
I just pedaled along at a relaxed pace, following the taxi. The street scenery gradually grew gaudier. This protagonist bastard. Couldn't kick his old habits and was stepping into the pleasure quarter again.
I wasn't especially angry. More like, the time for proper re-education had finally arrived.
Between the tightly packed wooden buildings, shops hung with red lanterns appeared at regular intervals. The protagonist strode the streets like he belonged there. A woman who stepped out of one of the red-lantern establishments made eye contact with him, broke into a bright smile, ran over, and threw her arms around him. They exchanged a few words, then went inside together.
"Little shit... a goddamn regular at the brothel."
I slipped into the building right after them. I could intuitively feel which room the protagonist had entered, so I located it immediately.
Slide.
"It's me, you fucking bastard."
No time to hesitate. Before the entangled pair could even turn their heads, I leaped forward and swung my arm. A bat materialized above my hand and flew straight at their skulls.
Does not cause injury.
If the impact is strong enough to be fatal, the target will unconditionally lose consciousness.
Whoosh— Clang!
I looked down at the man and woman collapsed in a neat, friendly pile.
A student daring to set foot in the red-light district? I'd already scouted out a suitably isolated spot just for today.
I stuffed the protagonist into the golf bag I'd taken from President Jeong's trunk. Maybe because he was from old Japan, his small build fit inside perfectly.
I draped a blanket over the sleeping woman, left the building, strapped the golf bag to my back, and pedaled to a rundown structure on the edge of town.
I pulled the protagonist out of the bag, sat him on a dusty chair, and started mixing a protein drink on the table.
When he woke up, saw me, and realized who was standing there, he froze solid and began trembling so hard his jaw chattered.
I recited the Japanese I'd memorized in advance through the translator and held out the nutritional supplement and protein shake.
"Hirosaki High School first-year, Yozo Oba. Drink it."
The protagonist looked utterly bewildered. He awkwardly accepted the supplement from my hand and started speaking in a shaky voice.
Annoying. My listening comprehension is weak. Since I wouldn't understand him anyway, I decided to stick strictly to the lines I'd prepared.
"Yozo Oba. Take the nutritional supplement."
Am I trapped inside a nightmare?
I was definitely in the red-light district, meeting with Fuyuko. In truth I had lost all interest in spending time with prostitutes and had only come to drink a little, yet running into her meant I could not refuse, so I went along with her… When I came to my senses, I found myself in a dark, crumbling room. And a dokkaebi was there. It was unmistakably a nightmare. The ghost from the night sea had chased me all the way here. The ghost forced upon me a pill-like object called Sapuri and a thick, bizarre drink. I could not even conceive of proper resistance; I could only pray to wake from this nightmare and do exactly as he commanded. Strangely, I sensed no malice in any of it, which made me obey all the more readily. I swallowed the pill and the entire thick, strangely flavored substance. In the middle of it all I had the foolish thought, 'The dokkaebi's liquor is terrible.' The dokkaebi pointed at the door with one hand and spoke a single word.