Black Moon (4)

Baek Mugang had called every branch leader of Black Moon together, and he looked them over as he spoke.

"You've all heard the news out of the Gangnam branch?"

"We heard. Some bastards wiped the Gangnam branch out."

"Boss! We can't just sit on our hands."

"That's right, Boss. No idea who they are, but we find them and make them pay."

"Haa...."

Baek Mugang listened to the empty noise pouring out of his men and pressed a hand to his head.

"It was Dandanso."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Dandanso. She's the one who smashed our Gangnam branch to pieces."

"Dandanso — you mean that S-rank hunter who showed up not long ago?!"

"Why would Dandanso come after our Black Moon...."

The branch leaders reeled at the news that Dandanso had attacked Black Moon.

"You still think we ought to hunt her down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and take our revenge?"

"...."

Those hard-bitten branch leaders couldn't force out a single word. Their mouths simply shut.

They were afraid.

Not one of them reached for the usual bluster — let's take a swing at her, if we all pile on together we can win. Anyone who had seen that broadcast would never have been able to put words like those in his mouth.

"As of today, Black Moon ceases every operation. We go to ground, and we wait for our hour."

"Boss, even so — shutting down everything, isn't that going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too far?"

"You stupid bastard! Why do you think Dandanso attacked the Gangnam branch?"

"...."

"That bitch Dandanso. She's planning to shove our Black Moon aside and swallow Seoul's underworld. Smashing the Gangnam branch was only the start."

Baek Mugang was convinced her aim was to erase Black Moon and devour the shadows of Seoul. Otherwise that woman had no reason to hit the Gangnam branch at all. As if Korea's Rank 1 had innocently gone there to trade magic crystals, and the place just happened to be the Gangnam branch, luring people in with crystal deals so it could traffic them — and then, when those men tried to harvest her organs, she lost her temper and slaughtered the entire branch. There was no chance of that. She had approached the Gangnam branch on purpose, already set on destroying Black Moon.

"Shut the branches down right now and disappear. If any of you idiots get clever and keep operating in secret, that one dies by my hand. Don't get any stupid ideas."

"Yes, Boss."

Dandanso was a power even Kang Mujin and Kang Chaemin could not stand against. This was the time to flatten themselves to the ground and wait for the storm named Dandanso to pass. Hold out just a little longer, and He would come and tidy that woman away for them.

'Stupid bitch. She can't have failed to know Zhou Huang stands behind us — and still she dared lay a hand on our Black Moon.'

The traffickers had all been dealt with, and the road home stretched out ahead.

'Are you all right?'

'Mm... all right how?'

'I was the one who moved the body, yes. But you saw all of it too, did you not?'

'Yeah. I saw the whole thing.'

'Watching one person kill another would have been a first for you. Are you all right?'

Afraid I might have taken a shock, Dandanso looked me over.

'I'm fine.'

'There is no need to force yourself to say you are fine. If you are not all right, you may simply say that you are not.'

'I really am fine.'

It wasn't that I wanted to keep from worrying Dandanso, who had come to feel like family before I knew it. I genuinely was all right, though I couldn't have said why. I had watched people cleave in half right before my eyes, and I was fine. I'd always lived by the belief that the wicked could die and the world would be no poorer for it — and yet seeing a human being die with your own eyes ought to have been another matter entirely. Even so, I was fine. It was as if I'd become some ancient out of the murim, the sort who wouldn't so much as blink if martial artists started cutting each other down nearby and one of them dropped dead. Whether that came of turning hunter, or of sharing Dandanso's memories, I didn't know. And did the reason even matter? If I was fine, then that was enough.

'I see. That is a relief.'

'Thanks.'

'There is no need for thanks. Is it not only natural that an unni look after her little sister?'

'My unni— wait! Why are you the unni? I'm a whole ten years older than you.'

Ack! She'd been speaking so much like a grown-up that I went and called her unni without even thinking!

Unni, to a kid ten years younger than me. Ugh... mortifying.

'By rights, the one of higher mental age is the elder sister.'

'What are you talking about! My mental age is insanely high, I'll have you know. Mentally, I'm ten thousand years old.'

'Hmm.... In This Venerable One's eyes, thy mental age might yet fight a close match against a jammin — one of those shrieking little schoolbrats.'

'Aagh! Where did you even learn the word jammin?!'

Kang Mujin was reading a report that had just come in.

Written across the very top of it was a single name: Black Moon.

Black Moon, rulers of Seoul's underworld. From smuggling magic crystals all the way to trafficking human beings, they committed every crime there was — the city's standing headache. In his heart he wanted to sweep the lot of them away, and he had the strength to do it. He couldn't. Because of the man standing behind them.

Zhou Huang, China's Rank 2 hunter.

One of the three Partner S-ranks China possessed, and he stood at Black Moon's back. Black Moon had only been able to seize Seoul's underworld in the first place because of him. Their boss, Baek Mugang, was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠level 20 A-Rank Hunter, but nowhere near enough to take the city's shadows alone. Without Zhou Huang's help, Black Moon would never have grown so large.

The mere thought of that bastard Zhou Huang set his teeth grinding. The man was openly wreaking havoc inside their country, and still they could not touch him. Zhou Huang was a Partner S-rank. A pair of Half-S-Ranks — himself and Kang Chaemin — could never handle the man. On top of that, Zhou Huang was forever prowling for a chance to intervene in Korea. For now he stayed in the rear, lacking a pretext. But if they so much as touched Black Moon, he was the sort who would seize it as cause and come to Korea without a second thought.

"What? Black Moon has halted every operation and vanished?!"

Kang Mujin glared down at the report, disbelief written across his face.

From the clubs to the illegal gambling dens, every business they ran had stopped. Not merely stopped — cleared out and abandoned altogether.

"What is this? Why on earth?"

Black Moon would never move like that without a reason. There had to be something behind it. The problem was that he could not confirm what. The report said only that Black Moon had ceased all activity and disappeared; it said nothing of the cause.

Why hide at all? Afraid of what? Had someone attacked Black Moon? There shouldn't have been a madman alive willing to touch Black Moon with Zhou Huang at their back.

Wait. There hadn't been one before. There was one now.

Dandanso.

A hunter far stronger than himself and Kang Chaemin both, and one whose identity could not be pinned down at all. However he turned it over, she was the only one who might have laid a hand on Black Moon. That she had attacked them, and that Black Moon had frozen its operations because of it, seemed certain. Most likely she had struck with the aim of seizing Seoul's underworld for herself.

"Haa...."

The moment he thought of what lay ahead, a sigh escaped him. The thing was already done, and it was obvious Zhou Huang would step forward himself before long.

Dandanso against Zhou Huang. As a fellow Korean, he wanted her to clear away the headache that was Zhou Huang. He simply could not bring himself to believe she could beat him. Dandanso was strong beyond any ordinary measure, but Zhou Huang was a monster of World Rank 8.

Kang Mujin knew the odds were poor, and still he wanted her to win. He was not yet certain whether Dandanso was friendly toward Korea or hostile to it. Even so, it was better than letting that bastard Zhou Huang run wild on Korean soil.

With the work done and home at last, I could finally flop back onto the bed and mess around.

"All right. Shall I take a look at Hunter Gallery?"

I was a proper hunter in my own right now, so I absolutely had to drop into Hunter Gallery at least once a day. Of course, I'd been in there every single day before that, too. Hehe.

What is this?!

I attacked Black Moon, and Black Moon went dark because they were scared of me? No way. Those trafficker bastards were Black Moon? Black Moon — a massive organization even the Bureau couldn't touch. Apparently, without even realizing it, I'd pulled off something enormous.

"Hehehehe!"

Thinking I'd shut the doors on a rotten outfit that did nothing but traffic people, I felt strangely proud. I wandered the gallery a little longer, savoring the reactions, and the mood in there was off.

The bait that had started with Black Moon going dark had, before anyone noticed, turned into a Dandanso-versus-Zhou-Huang argument, and the gallery was burning with the Dan-Zhou debate.

Right! There'd been talk that Zhou Huang stood behind Black Moon. This was a variable. I hadn't even thought as far as Zhou Huang — what was I supposed to do?

'What is there to do? Thou need only trust in This Venerable One. This Venerable One shall show those foolish children of the gallery, and show them plainly, that This Venerable One stands above Zhou Huang.'

Dandanso looked thoroughly provoked by the gallery crowd that had ranked her beneath Zhou Huang. Even so, seeing her so utterly sure of herself put my mind a little at ease.

"Lord Zhou Huang."

A man built like a mountain, a long scar cut in a straight line down his face, turned to look behind him.

"What is it?"

"Word has come from Black Moon."

"Word? I told them that unless it was worth the trouble, they were not to contact me — handle it themselves."

"This does not appear to be an ordinary matter."

"Speak."

"Baek Mugang of Black Moon says he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will cease operations for the time being and go into hiding."

"What? Cease operations?! Puhahaha!"

Zhou Huang had been listening without a word. He burst out laughing — then, all at once, his face went cold.

"So that dog Baek Mugang wishes to die."

The man giving the report watched his expression a moment, then opened his mouth again.

"He says someone is targeting Black Moon, and that he must lie low for a while."

"They cannot be ignorant that I stand behind Black Moon. Who dares?"

"Dandanso. A new S-rank hunter of Korea, awakened only recently."

"What? A wretch who has only just awakened to S-rank dares touch an organization this one shelters!"

A tremendous pressure erupted from the enraged Zhou Huang.

"Hhk—!"

The man delivering the report clutched at his chest and dropped to his knees.

"No. This is an opportunity, rather."

Zhou Huang drew the pressure back in as he spoke, and only then did the man rise.

"I will go to Korea myself. Tell that Baek Mugang: before I arrive, he is to have the whereabouts of that bitch Dandanso pinned down."

"Yes. I will make ready."