War on Crime (3)

The situation on Yoo Jia's side was dead even.

The security company and four national-team rankers were holding the line against the gang's incursion, while the twenty-odd gang members threw themselves into the assault like men with nothing left to lose.

"Ugh, disgusting bastards."

Hong Ari's brow creased as she worked her summons, irritation bleeding into her voice. "If you can tell you're being pushed back, you're supposed to peel off and run. So why do they cling like this?"

However low South Korea's standing might be, these were still four national-team players. Ordinary gangsters would have tested the waters for a moment and fled on the spot.

But these men were strange. They kept trying to smash through the encirclement and get inside the compound no matter what. To be precise, into that apartment complex.

"They're after Baek Jinwoo's parents!" Yoo Jia cried out urgently.

"They know that if they let this chance slip, no gang will ever set foot on South Korean soil again!"

In the South Korea of today, no one could take on Baek Jinwoo by force. That went for the rankers, and it went for the gangs all the same.

"Tear that bitch apart first!"

Taat! One of the enemy summons shot out, lunging for Yoo Jia—

Krrunch! One of the Five Wolves' wolves clamped its jaws onto the summon's nape.

"Aren't you taking us far too lightly?"

Oh Seon-young's voice was cold to the bone. That was simply her nature. Where guild master Hong Ari was bright and vivacious, vice guild master Oh Seon-young's nickname was Ice.

"Holding out won't do you any good. Our Arirang guild members are already on their way."

The gangsters flinched, bodies shuddering at her words.

Arirang. One of South Korea's Big Three. Set against that, their own roster was pitifully thin — their boss, Jo Jihak, wasn't even here!

Is it even right to keep fighting this?

The HQ will be here soon, and Daeseong too... and now Arirang is coming on top of that?

Something about this feels seriously off.

They felt cheated. When the intel had first come in, they'd been promised an easy job. Baek Jinwoo was in Dubai, and above all, support from the rank 9 and 10 players was supposed to be waiting.

So what was this!

Forget the reinforcements — Arirang executives were dug in here like they owned the place. And that wasn't all. The Carpe Diem brats were tearing across the field like demons possessed by battle itself.

"Kwahahaha! Die, you bastards!"

"Yeah, makes you yawn, doesn't it? Boring, right? Fucking dull, right? Pisses you off, right?"

And listening to those high schoolers' needling tone, it was enough to cure their chronic low blood pressure.

Those little bastards.

Are they grade schoolers? What the hell?

Still, all twenty of the men here were players who could genuinely fight — names that carried weight even within the gang's cell-based structure. That was how they managed to grind it out against four national-team players.

But the bonds of a gang were never that strong to begin with. They hadn't gathered out of shared conviction; they'd gathered to chase individual greed, and it showed.

"Hey, let's just run!"

In the end, one man turned his back, ready to bolt.

"Jo Jihak. That son of a bitch is tossing us aside like pawns on a board. Why the hell should we bleed for him?"

It was the moment the fragile balance they'd somehow been holding finally collapsed. What they truly feared, though, was Jo Jihak's revenge.

He hadn't seized the seat at the top of a criminal organization for nothing. Jo Jihak was vicious and sinister, relentless and terrifying.

"I don't know, fuck it! I'll just get out of South Korea for good!"

"You think leaving the country fixes anything? He'll track you down no matter where on Earth you run."

"Then again, think about it — isn't that guy going to die at Baek Jinwoo's hands anyway?"

Yubaek. And of all things, they had struck at his family. Any player with a sane mind wouldn't leave Jo Jihak be. He'd draw his blade with killing edge.

"True enough! Okay!"

"I'm bolting too!"

"Me too!"

Every man pulled out his fastest summons and tried to slip away — but it was already too late.

- Kyaaaaaaaah!

The wyvern's roar, rolling in from far above the sky, sounded like a sentence of doom passed on the fleeing men.

"Jinwoo!"

Yoo Jia was the first to recognize it.

That Sky Wyvern. The one she'd often stroked on the head while they exercised together on the empty lot.

- Kyaaaaah! Kyaa!

The wyvern ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plunged in a vertical dive from the heavens. Even at that tremendous speed, Baek Jinwoo's form never wavered — the fruit of steady training and the base hammered out in the high-grade Weekday Dungeons!

"Pokryongi."

Baek Jinwoo murmured the name.

- Yes, Jinwoo.

Pokryongi, arms locked tight around his waist from behind, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠answered in a hushed whisper. And then—

Fwoooosh!

Pokryongsul. The secret art. Byeon — Transformation.

A Fire Wall of staggering size began to swallow the entire compound. The Blast Dragon Wave she had spent the whole fight amassing in flame roared up at once, as if detonating in a single breath.

"Gwaaagh!"

"Wh-what is that!"

Naturally, the gang's summons could not cross those flames. Cross alone, trusting in a personal barrier? Meaningless. The moment they ran out of usable summons, capture would be a matter of time.

"Fuck!"

"We can't get away, can we?"

"What do we do? Fight again?"

"Fight what? That's Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo!"

The gang members were players too. Laughable as it sounded, they'd even felt a rush of national pride watching Baek Jinwoo in action. They knew perfectly well that no matter how they pooled their strength, they wouldn't so much as register as opponents to him. This was the man who had flattened Korea's rank 1 in a single minute, after all.

Of course, the time they spent weighing flight against fight didn't last long either.

"Doldori."

- Krruk...!

Doldori burst out scythe in hand at a speed that was simply deranged — thanks to the stacks he'd been banking since long before that meal with Jasim.

Thk, shrrk! Thk, shrrk!

Invisible, he tore down the field at blistering speed, sank his scythe deep into a summon's back, then — shrrk! — ripped it around. And that was that. Every summon in the vicinity came apart like torn paper.

- Kyraaaaah!

By the time the wyvern touched down on the ground? Every one of the gang's summons was already in ribbons, and the gang members' barriers had been stripped away. Now, even if they wanted to cross that fire, they couldn't.

"Th-this is insane."

The curse hadn't come from a gang member. It had come from Hong Ari, national-team ranker.

"Is that even human?"

She'd known Baek Jinwoo was strong. But cutting down every gang member who'd been grinding against the four of them — the instant he arrived? Twenty gang members sounded like a modest number, but counted in summons it was a fighting force of three hundred. Three teams apiece, fifteen summons to a man.

"...Truly astonishing." Oh Seon-young murmured quietly as well.

"As expected of Baek Jinwoo hyung-nim...!"

"Waaah, that was so amazing, sir!"

Ki Jaehyeok and Kang Jiho beamed, thumbs thrust high.

Why are they here? Baek Jinwoo tilted his head for a beat, then swept his surroundings with eyes gone cold. The war wasn't over yet.

"First, let's subdue every last one of them."

The gang's assault sent a violent shock through South Korea.

Public opinion boiled over in an instant. Wasn't the intent obvious!

People were furious. This was the nation's one hope of making a splash in the upcoming World League — and the gang had laid hands on it. Worse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still—

All twenty-three gang members were captured at the scene. Their eyes were blindfolded and their hands bound behind their backs so that they could never summon again — summoning required clicking Y with one's gaze or a finger — and they were locked away somewhere under triple guard.

And then, as everyone had expected, Baek Jinwoo was absolutely livid.

Baek Jinwoo went even further. Any player belonging to a gang — or who had ever belonged to one — would be granted a single day. Turn themselves in within it, and pay the price for their sins. What would happen to anyone who let that deadline slip, he left to their imaginations.

And at that very moment, Baek Jinwoo was sitting down with Park Chang-seok at HQ.

Since founding Yubaek, he had grown quite close to Park Chang-seok. They met and talked often enough that the formality between them had worn away naturally.

"You really have been put through the wringer. All of this should be HQ's work." Park Chang-seok smiled bitterly.

The executive-level members netted this time alone numbered more than ten. What HQ had failed to do in three years of backbreaking effort, Baek Jinwoo had accomplished in a single day.

"No, you're the one who's been suffering, sir."

Baek Jinwoo wasn't smiling. His expression hadn't eased, either.

Park Chang-seok let out a slow breath.

"...You must not kill them."

Summary execution would have been the proper sentence for gang members. But these men were executives. There was too much information to be wrung out of them, so for now they were being kept alive. There was also plenty of work remaining — stripping them of the summons and items they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠carried, and the like.

"Of course. They absolutely will not die."

Baek Jinwoo smiled, just barely.

At the sight, a faint chill ran through Park Chang-seok. What was that supposed to mean? That they couldn't be killed easily?

"Nothing will go wrong. You did say you'd help, after all."

"Right, right."

Park Chang-seok had already laid all the groundwork. HQ had resolved to follow Baek Jinwoo's will. These were prisoners he had dragged in himself — frankly, whether he roasted them or boiled them was his own affair.

"Go on in."

"Yes, sir."

"Mmmph!"

"Mmph! Mmmph!"

Twenty-three inmates were locked away in separate cells in a well-equipped facility. The cells were built of solid steel, and every man inside was blindfolded, gagged, and bound tight at the limbs.

Human rights? What human rights were owed to dangerous individuals who could command summons?

There were no guards. Park Chang-seok had asked that the place be cleared for exactly one hour.

"Hungyo."

- Yes, My Lord.

Shwip!

Hungyo was summoned. Ever since his Awakening, having him at his side was a comfort beyond measure.

Even without Ramba stacking buffs on him, was there anyone alive who could beat him as he stood now? Wouldn't even Rachel struggle? So he thought. The yin energy of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians had been just that sweet.

"You told me, didn't you. That you could pull every last piece of information out of them."

- That is correct, My Lord.

Hungyo nodded. His mind held knowledge that could instruct the finest torturer in the world (A-rank), along with every method of torment the martial world had ever devised, from basic pressure-point sealing to Tendon-Splitting, Bone-Crushing. Working over weak-willed men like these would hardly count as labor.

- Shall we proceed at once?

At Hungyo's question, Baek Jinwoo slowly nodded.