Chapter 119: Who the Hell Are You Again? (1)
Chapter 119: Who the Hell Are You Again? (1)
When I woke up and looked around, I realized I was alone.
How long had I been out?
I slowly turned my head to check the time, but since this place didn't even have a proper bed, it naturally didn't have a clock either.
Lost in thought for a moment, I pulled out my phone to check the time, only to realize a fatal flaw in that plan.
What time did I go to sleep yesterday?
As I racked my brain, I remembered an indescribable exhaustion washing over me the moment I lay down, but I couldn't recall the exact hour I drifted off.
The only information I managed to glean was that it was currently morning and I was out of signal range.
I could fix that by using the signal booster attached to the phone, but since I had no one to call, it didn't really matter.
Scratching my slightly greasy hair, I pushed myself up from the makeshift bed.
"I hope there aren't any lice..."
The sleeping quarters were so filthy that I couldn't help but worry about lice or fleas.
I didn't mind personally, but it would be a hassle if my disciples got infested.
Maybe I should ask around and buy some repellent.
"Hwaaaa-am."
Once the itching on my scalp subsided a bit, I let out a long yawn and massaged my stiff muscles.
Maybe I should buy some fabric on my way back.
The bed was more uncomfortable than I had anticipated.
Considering we were beneath a sewer, it was decorated decently enough, but the most important virtue of a bed is that nothing should poke or prod your body when you wake up.
I’ve certainly gone soft. To think I’m dwelling this much on a bad bed.
If the past version of me—the one who slept with dirt as a blanket and tree roots as a pillow—saw me now, he’d probably have a few choice words.
Leaving the bed and its many grievances behind, I went to find my disciples.
To be more precise, it wasn't so much "finding" them as it was simply walking toward where I knew they were.
I had heard their voices through the hanging cloth from the moment I woke up.
Judging by the lively chatter of my disciples, it seemed I had chosen a decent enough lodging.
At least it meant we hadn't been stabbed in our sleep because I picked a dangerous hole.
I pulled back the tattered cloth and spoke.
"Sleep well?"
"Ah, you're awake?"
"Master! Did you have a good night's rest?"
The two disciples greeted me, along with—
"Hiss!"
A Mutant hybrid girl who suddenly jumped to the opposite side of the room.
"Huh? Yeon! Why all of a sudden..."
"Yeon?"
"Ah, that's her name. We talked to her, and she's actually more..."
"Hssssssss."
Talked to her?
The way she was standing on all fours, baring her teeth at me, made her look like nothing but a beast. Wasn't she exactly like this yesterday?
"Yeon, calm down for a second..."
"What's wrong, Yeon? This is our Master!"
Baek Si-hyun and Han A-bin stepped forward to soothe her, but while the hissing subsided slightly, the gaze she fixed on me remained sharp and hostile.
I took a step forward, intending to calm her down myself.
"Hiss!"
The sound she let out the moment she saw my face forced me to stop in my tracks.
What a mess.
Realizing I was the problem, I backed away slowly. Once I was at a distance, the Mutant named Yeon seemed to calm down, sitting next to Baek Si-hyun and Han A-bin and slowly rubbing her head against them.
No matter how you looked at it, it was the behavior of an animal.
She was more of a Monster than a Mutant.
I had seen plenty of beast-type Mutants before, but seeing one so thoroughly dominated by wild instinct was a rare occurrence.
Was it a problem with how she was raised?
"Hey, kids?"
"Yes, Senior?"
"Could you ask her? Why she's acting like that toward me."
"I'll try."
Baek Si-hyun, seemingly aware that her intervention would only make things worse, sat quietly and stroked Yeon.
It was A-bin, possessing a sound mind and normal conversational skills, who posed the question to Yeon.
"Hey, Yeon? Why are you like that to Master? He's not a bad person. Well, his personality is a bit crap, but..."
I couldn't tell if that was an insult or an attempt at persuasion.
"...That thing?"
And then, a voice emerged.
There was a grating, metallic rasp to it, but unlike the pure wildness from before, it carried clear intelligence.
"No matter how I look at him, he's just a bad Ahjussi."
Ahjussi, huh?
A bitter smile played on my lips at that word.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Even the strange people living above don't have a smell as bad as his."
She was different from her brother; she recognized how dangerous I was at a single glance. Did she have some kind of sensory organ unique to Mutants?
If her brother had possessed that kind of intuition, this whole mess wouldn't have happened.
I figured this was a good spot to cut in.
"I get that you're scared of me, but I have no intention of harming you. Could you at least stop acting up every time you see me?"
When I said that, Yeon glared at me and spat out a question.
"...What's 'harming'?"
Tsk. A damn lack of basic education.
"It means I won't hit you or take anything from you."
"Really?"
Yeon turned her head toward Baek Si-hyun and Han A-bin to confirm.
"Probably... I think?"
A-bin, you're not supposed to hesitate there.
"Of course! You have no idea how righteous our Master is!"
Si-hyun, you just stay quiet.
Regardless, my disciples defended me in their own messy way. After wavering between the conflicting persuasions, Yeon finally spoke.
"Then... I'll try to put up with it..."
"Good girl, Yeon."
At Yeon's answer, A-bin stroked her head as if soothing a child, and Yeon let out a purring sound, leaning into A-bin’s touch.
Once the room finally fell silent, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed I wouldn't have to hear that bizarre noise every time I ran into her, but since The Root of it seemed to be instinctual, I should probably avoid doing anything to provoke her.
To think I now have to cater to the moods of a Mutant hybrid. What has the world come to?
I let out one of the many sighs multiplying inside me and moved across the room.
As I walked toward the cushion in the center of the room, Yeon flinched, but she didn't overreact like before.
Sitting on the cushion, I grabbed a water cup from the table, which had one leg replaced by a stack of bricks.
I swished the water around, suspicious of its cleanliness, but fortunately, I didn't see any foreign objects, so I downed it and asked a question.
"Where did her brother go?"
"You mean Dam?"
"Ah, so his name is Dam. Anyway, where is he?"
"He said he was going to work."
Work? He probably meant pickpocketing.
"The other two as well?"
"Yes."
Maybe it wasn't pickpocketing then.
I wasn't sure. The other two might have been doing something else.
"Did he say when he'd be back?"
"No."
"Or where he was going?"
"That either..."
I guess today's a bust.
I had planned to drag him around and smash some bandit hideouts, but it looked like those plans were going down the drain.
"Did you eat breakfast?"
"Dam bought some for us earlier."
"Was it edible?"
"It was decent enough."
I suppose he bought some fairly good food with the money I gave him yesterday...
I drained the last bit of water from the cup and set it back on the table.
"I'm heading out."
"What should we do?"
They had experienced the basics yesterday, so I didn't think they needed to come along today. Besides, I doubted I'd find what I was looking for anyway.
"It'll probably be similar to yesterday. Do you want to come? I don't mind if you do."
"I'm fine," Han A-bin declined in a stiff tone.
"Master! I'll rest today too!"
Baek Si-hyun tried to act energetic, but her pupils were shaking with anxiety.
A-bin aside, Baek Si-hyun was putting on a performance that wouldn't fool anyone.
Was yesterday's forced march that exhausting? Or was it the change in environment?
It didn't really matter. I only planned to scout the market today anyway.
With that thought, I stood up from the cushion and placed the Black Rod on the table.
"Try not to go out if you can help it. If a problem arises, use this to handle it."
I continued giving advice as I headed for the exit.
"If a real problem forces you to leave, don't follow any strangers. And when you buy food, always use Si-hyun’s Future Foresight to check if it'll cause trouble."
Even as I pulled back the cloth serving as a door, my nagging didn't stop.
"A-bin, you make sure Si-hyun doesn't provoke people. Si-hyun, if A-bin gets into trouble, prioritize her safety above all else..."
And also...
"...We're not children."
A-bin voiced a slight complaint.
"That's exactly why it's more dangerous. People who think they're too smart to be fooled are the easiest ones to trick."
Just like how people who get scammed think they're absolutely immune to scams right up until the moment they're taken for everything.
"Yes, yes, we get it. Have a safe trip. Si-hyun, push him."
A-bin, seemingly wanting to get rid of me, had Si-hyun start pushing me out of the house.
"...And why are you listening to A-bin?"
"Because A-bin is better at giving orders?"
Why don't you just be honest and say you're tired of listening to me?
They really are still kids, hating it when an adult nags them.
Flap.
The cloth fell back into place behind me as I was kicked out, severing the inside from the outside as if rejecting me.
"Sigh. Time to get to work."
Recalling yesterday's memories, I slowly made my way back up through the underground waterways.
* * *
Crack.
Good sound.
Crunch.
Good sensation.
"You crazy b—"
"Shut your trap."
I immediately drove a right uppercut into the man's jaw.
I felt the man's yellowed teeth fly out and his jawbone crack through my knuckles, but I didn't pay it much mind.
You have to give the lowlifes in the slums this kind of education if you want them to listen.
I had used my fists because I was afraid someone's head might explode if I used The Hammer, and the results were satisfactory. It certainly woke me up from my morning grogginess.
There really is nothing like the tactile feedback of a good punch.
"You f—ing crazy mutt..."
"Where do you think you're going after ruining someone's meal?"
I didn't intend to catch everyone who was trying to run away, so I just threw a low kick at the shin of the one making the most noise.
Crunch.
The man's thigh, struck by my accelerated boot, folded in half like a hinge.
"Aaaagh!"
With a nonsensical scream, the man's leg suddenly gained a second joint.
Excellent.
"My leg—aaagh! My leg..."
"Quiet."
As he rolled around the market floor making a racket, I kicked him square in the face.
I controlled my strength this time so I wouldn't break his teeth or nose.
It would be unfair to lose anything else when his leg was already snapped, wouldn't it?
Besides, if his face got too mangled, there wouldn't be any satisfaction in grabbing him.
I reached out, grabbed the man by the head, and forced him to meet my eyes.
"Uwaaaaa..."
"What? You said today was going to be an easy score. Why don't you say that again?"
"I'm sor... I was wrong... Please spare..."
"Hey, who said anything about killing? Just hand over everything you have..."
Jingle.
Before I could even finish, the man reached into his clothes and tossed a pouch.
Judging by the small metallic clinking from the fallen pouch, it seemed he really had surrendered everything.
I suppose you need this level of quick wits to survive as a thug in Nanjido.
"Ah... and one more thing..."
"Ah... ugh... ask anything... ugh..."
Since he seemed to be complying despite the pain, I loosened the grip of my hand tightening around his skull.
See? Isn't this much better?
Offering oneself up voluntarily.
If everyone were like this, there would be no need for torture or interrogation.
"Do you know someone called Elder Li? He's an information broker, should be quite famous."
"I'm sorry... I don't know..."
"Ah, then never mind. Get lost."
I hadn't asked with high expectations, so I let go of his head.
The moment he was free from my grasp, the man with the broken jaw and the man with the dislocated shoulder rushed over to support him as they scrambled away.
Either he was surprisingly popular, or there was some loyalty among friends.
They should have used that teamwork for actual work instead of robbery; then they wouldn't have ended up in that state.
Once the men were gone, I returned to my seat and looked at my portion of food.
A bowl of Oil-Salt Udon that had gone completely soggy without me even taking a single bite.
It was impressive how little was in it; the broth was so transparent you could see right through it.
Perhaps as a final gesture of conscience, there was a fried centipede garnish on top, though in any normal context, I wasn't sure if that was a plus or a minus.
Regardless, breakfast was breakfast, so I slurped up the bloated noodles.
"You're one scary young lady. Those guys were actually quite skilled."
I wanted to tell him I wasn't a lady, but my mouth was currently full of udon.
The "Hand-pulled" sign wasn't a joke; even though they were bloated, the noodles didn't break easily as they slid into my mouth.
Eventually, unable to hold back, I bit through them and tossed out a comment.
"Not a lady, I'm a man. Call me whatever you want, though."
"Is that so? Well, moving on, this is on the house."
As if he had been waiting for me to look up, a fresh serving of warm noodles was added to my chipped udon bowl the moment I raised my head.
"What's this?"
"Ah, a token of my gratitude. Those guys have been noisily turning the market upside down lately. It'll be a bit quieter now."
The merchant delivered the information in a flat voice, but suspicion bloomed within me at his words.
Something was off.
Come to think of it, how did robbers appear in the market?
"I recall the market being a neutral zone where robbery wasn't allowed."
"That's right."
"Then what were those guys? From what you're saying, it sounds like this wasn't their first time."
I felt a hunch. A hunch that sweet information was dancing right in front of me.
"Territory disputes have been getting fierce lately. Word is, the executives of each organization have been dying off."
Ho.
"Now that... sounds interesting. Care to tell me more?"
I said that and went back to slurping my udon with gusto.
It tasted pretty damn good.