And Then Suddenly, a Robber Appeared

"You're the San-gong-dok Goe-in. Right?"

"Huh?"

Gong Ryun was flustered. He had no memory of this man at all.

"I asked if you are the San-gong-dok Goe-in himself."

"…"

What is this? Did I somehow make an enemy I don't remember? Nothing good can come of admitting it…

Gong Ryun decided to play dumb. However—

"Judging by that reaction, it seems I have the right man."

Ah. He was certain he hadn't let a single flicker of unease show on his face.

"It's written all over the face of the one next to you."

The one next to me?

Gong Ryun turned his head toward Loro. Loro's pupils were shaking violently, and his mouth was clamped shut in a rigid line.

Ah.

"Hmm. Fine. Yeah, I'm the San-gong-dok Goe-in."

Since he'd already been found out, Gong Ryun decided to own it with confidence.

"So? You need something from me?"

"I wish to purchase Sangongdok. How much stock do you have on hand?"

"Wha—?"

So that was it.

The man had come under the impression that Gong Ryun was some kind of Sangongdok broker. This wasn't even the first time. Given how infamous his nickname was, a few mercenaries had already approached him wanting to buy the stuff.

"Is that all? Sorry, but I don't sell Sangongdok. My nickname is nothing but a wild rumor. Look elsewhere."

"Brother… for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a 'wild rumor,' it does feel like—"

"Ahem. Quiet, Loro. Anyway. I don't sell Sangongdok. I don't make it either. Look somewhere else."

That should clear things up, right?

Good. Misunderstanding resolved.

"Don't spout nonsense, San-gong-dok Goe-in. I know for a fact that you are a manufacturer of Sangongdok. I will pay. Now show me the goods."

Not resolved after all.

"Oh, come on. I'm telling you I don't have any goods."

"Keh-heh-heh… You don't have any ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goods, you say?"

"Ah. That's right. I'm not some Sangongdok manufacturer. I'm just a wholesome ordinary citizen who grows Sangongcho—"

"How dare you keep dodging!! Look at this and still claim you have nothing!?"

The man thrust his personal device toward them.

On the screen was an SNS page.

The post featured a photo of a medicine pouch filled with white powder. Beneath it, the caption:

It was Loro's SNS post.

As expected of the Haomen. They truly know everything, the man thought with admiration. He recalled the information trade he'd made earlier with a Haomen employee.

When he had asked where the San-gong-dok Goe-in was, the Haomen clerk had told him to try the regional SNS. He'd nearly killed the bastard on the spot for such a useless-sounding answer—until the clerk demonstrated a few searches on his personal device and the location popped up immediately. Truly, an information organization was a wondrous thing.

After that, the man had searched diligently until he pinpointed the location.

And the final SNS post he found was Loro's as well—a pretty sunset photo from the roadside, captioned:

It even had location sharing enabled, so tracking them down had been trivial.

This was why SNS was dangerous.

"Lo… Loro…?"

Gong Ryun fixed Loro with a glare.

Loro flinched and scrambled for excuses.

"A-ah, no, Brother!!! I just wanted to brag a little to my friends!! And your name is absolute clickbait gold!! Plus, uh, you could say this is part of smashing the prejudice against Sangongcho… right…!!"

"You… you little…"

Just as Gong Ryun was about to tear into him—

"San-gong-dok Goe-in!!! And you still claim you have no stock!! Hand over the Sangongdok at once!!"

"Listen to me. That isn't Sangongdok. It's powdered Sangongcho—"

"So!!! You're refusing to sell!!!"

"I'm saying I can't sell it."

The robed man's aura deepened.

"I see… So even here, I am on the 'blacklist'… Of course. It is all connected… There is truly no way for a man to live honestly. The sorrow of the outsider… the agony of the proletariat… In the end, does even the common people, no better than weeds, lose the right to breathe…?"

"???"

"I heard of you from the Haomen… San-gong-dok Goe-in. Scion of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Child of a great house… You, too… are of the bourgeoisie… The galaxy is rotten with monopoly and greed… Yes. Bourgeois. Even so, I respect your ideology. When in Rome, one follows Roman law."

"Uh…?"

"However!! I have no time. I said I have no time left! Time—the single resource equal for every citizen of the galaxy! That time! I do not have enough of it! Therefore, I have decided!"

The man made the decision entirely on his own.

"There is no solution left but violence and death."

"Huhhh???"

"I truly have no time now. I must obtain Sangongdok at once. Otherwise I die. So… I will take it by any means necessary. This is your final notice."

Gong Ryun was speechless.

"Hey, what the hell? You're just unilaterally handing out notices? Is communication not a thing with you? There really is no Sangongdok. There's no more Sangongcho powder either. That stuff takes forever to make."

"Aaaah!!! The agony of the proletariat!!!"

Ah.

Gong Ryun instinctively knew he had gotten tangled up with a genuine lunatic.

From experience, half-hearted attempts to back out of situations like this never helped. Just in case, he wrapped his body in internal energy.

Sure enough, the robed man began to radiate killing intent as well.

"Then there is only one thing left to do."

So saying, the man settled into a stance.

One leg stretched back, knee bent; right arm drawn slightly behind him. Center of gravity forward. A sprinter's crouch.

Anyone could see it was the preparatory form for a charging technique.

"Only plunder remains."

"You absolute bastard."

Seeing the man's attack stance, Gong Ryun wasted no time settling into one of his own.

One leg back, knees moderately bent, center of gravity low, both arms extended forward into a guard.

A charge-defense stance. Similar to the one he used to stop a hydra's rush.

"Don't tell me we're doing a life-and-death duel right here? Not heading to an inn?"

Gong Ryun, well accustomed to inn-based life-and-death duels, asked the question.

"This is not a life-and-death duel. It is highway robbery, so it doesn't matter."

The robed man kindly clarified.

Apparently, robber-style life-and-death duels had a culture of being conducted only out on the open road, different from the inn variety.

"Hmm. If that's the meta, then so be it. The meta always spits out something new no matter how much you learn, doesn't it? Hard to keep up."

At that moment, Loro cut in with an objection.

"Brother Gong Ryun, what are you talking about with 'meta'?? There's no way a criminal act like highway robbery has a meta."

"Oh, was that it? I was trying to be respectful."

Gong Ryun, who had been attempting to honor a culture difference, felt betrayed.

"Pulling a robbery right in the middle of the road out in the open!! Criminals who cross that line don't deserve any meta consideration!! We just dogpile them into the dirt!!"

"Dogpiling in a life-and-death duel?"

"It's not a life-and-death duel!! He started it, so this is collective self-defense!!"

So saying, Loro gripped the wooden spear that had been slung across his shoulders. Wait—a wooden spear?

"Ah. It's a practice wooden spear. We were just stopping by the library, so I didn't bring a real weapon."

"Loro…?"

"Bah! This much is fine if you wrap it in internal energy!! That's not the important part!! Now for the judgment of the wicked— wait, huh?"

While Loro and Gong Ryun were busy filming their little comedy skit, the robed robber had already deployed his internal energy at full power and completed his preparatory form.

And then—

—TAAANG!!!!!

By the time Gong Ryun and Loro registered it, the man had already launched himself like a bullet.

The target was Gong Ryun.

—Whoooooosh!!

One arm thrust forward as he charged.

The robber's internal-energy-laden fist tore through the air with ferocious force.

"Hey!!! Without even a word!!!"

But Gong Ryun had not been unprepared. Instantly, still in his guard stance, he wrapped himself in the maximum possible protective qi aura.

—KWAANG!!!!!!!!

The robed robber's fist and Gong Ryun's cross-guard collided with a tremendous boom.

It was like two siege rams slamming into each other. Dirt and dust burst up from the ground nearby.

"Khuk!!!"

The impact crashed through Gong Ryun's entire body. His muscles seemed to buzz and ring. It was stronger than a hydra's charge.

"Quite sturdy for someone who uses poison arts!"

I don't even use poison arts, though.

Gong Ryun thought the accusation was deeply unfair.

"A sneak attack is so cheap!! We'll get revenge with a dogpile!!"

Right on cue, Loro jumped in.

Internal energy blazed brilliantly along his spear as he packed an attack form into it and charged like a stinging wasp in a single burst.

It was a strike loaded with a considerable amount of internal energy—likely a basic form of the Hyeol-ma Spear Art.

And the result was—

"Small fry are just a nuisance!"

With the hand opposite his clenched fist, the robber unleashed a palm technique at the approaching Loro.

A strike packed with an outrageous amount of internal energy.

A cone-shaped shockwave radiated outward from his palm. A high-mass, high-density blast of internal force, packed dense and tight, slammed into Loro head-on—exactly like a flooding river swallowing a man whole.

—KUWAWAWAWAAANG!!!!!

"Gyaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Under the colossal outpouring of force, Loro went flying as if he'd been hit by a truck.

No matter how sharp a strike you load into the tip of a spear, it means nothing once the person holding the spear gets launched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the air.

The result of pouring every scrap of internal force into the thrust and neglecting his protective qi aura.

This was why fundamentals mattered.

Whiiing—!

Thud-thud-crash—!

Loro tumbled and rolled across the ground.

The wooden spear had snapped clean in half.

"Wow!!! You're this useless!?!?!"

Gong Ryun was purely impressed.

—Scramble!

Loro shot right back to his feet.

"Hiyah! I just let my guard down for a sec!! It's not over yet— keheughk-cough-cough!"

Except he was coughing up blood.

"Hey! You took internal injuries on top of that!?!?!"

"This much is nothing— cough-keheuk!"

"You damn idiot! Stop talking nonsense and get behind me right now! Before you actually die!"

Gong Ryun shouted while maintaining his standoff with the robed robber.

"Keheuk! Got it…"

Loro: retired.

It was a one-on-one fight now.