The Price of Greed
I appeared suddenly, and all eyes turned toward me. I scanned the room with a quick, practiced gaze. One guy sitting in the office chair. Another standing in front of him, glaring. Three more sitting on the sofa, eating ramen. "Huh? Look at this? Coming in here at this hour, dressed like that, with no manners. Who the hell are you, you bastard?"
"...."
I walked in without a word, closed the door, and locked it. Click!
"Ha! Look at this guy? Not talking? Are you a mute? Who are you! Who sent you?"
"....."
At the words of the bird-brained loudmouth, the three guys eating ramen finally snapped to their senses. They stood up, twisted their faces into ugly scowls, and moved to surround me. They clearly thought they looked intimidating, but I ignored them and looked at the guy in front of the desk, who was calmly lighting a cigarette. I made my decision.
'That’s fine. I just need to leave the head intact.'
The moment I decided, I moved. I drove my fist into the jaw of the guy standing closest to me.
CRACK!
I wrapped my mana around my shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fist. I felt his jawbone shatter under the force of the strike. The vibration traveled through my hand and into his neck, snapping it instantly. The big guy’s head lolled limply, and he collapsed into a perfect attention stance.
The two guys standing behind him looked at their fallen comrade, then at me with shocked, stupid expressions. I lunged forward and hammered them with my fists.
CRACK! THUD!
They fell in perfect symmetry, just like the first one. Honestly, it was so anticlimactic. The fact that it was settled so easily left me feeling bewildered. Why was it so easy? They didn't even pull out knives the moment they saw me. No daggers. They didn't even try to throw a punch as they rushed me. People always talk about how South Korea is oblivious to safety, and this was exactly that kind of situation.
I shook my head and walked past the fallen bodies toward the loudmouth and the boss. They were gulping down their saliva.
"W-who are you?"
"...."
I approached the loudmouth, who was cowering with a pathetic expression, and grabbed him firmly by the collar. He just stood there, letting me grab him. I slapped his stupid face.
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
'How dare you! Using my brother's name! Calling him a cripple!'
I slapped him in time with the rage screaming in my head. Every time he was hit, he didn't curse or throw a tantrum; he just took it. I watched indifferently as his mouth tore and his face became a bloody mess. When he finally went limp, I tossed him aside like trash and turned to the boss. He was glaring at me with a serious face, trying to look composed, but I saw the sweat bead rolling down his temple and his trembling pupils.
For the first time since arriving, I opened my mouth.
"Can't you look at me with decent eyes?"
"You. You're making a mistake right now—"
He tried to deepen his voice and set the mood, but as he started to speak, I raised my blood-stained hand to shake it off. He awkwardly blocked his face with both arms, and I stared at him in disbelief.
"Hey."
"...."
"Are you not going to answer? I left those guys in the back alone because they weren't worth the effort, but if you keep acting like that, I might..."
I might just want to fillet you with this.
I pretended to reach into my hoodie pocket, pulled a sashimi knife from my Inventory, and flicked it in front of his face. He pulled his neck and body back, leaning into the chair as if to avoid it.
"You're a funny bastard, aren't you? Want to die?"
"...I don't know who you are, but if you touch us, you're poking a hornet's nest! Do you know that?!"
I chuckled at his ridiculous outburst.
"Hornet's nest, my ass. You're just a parasite sucking the lifeblood out of ordinary people."
"Why you little—! Ugh?!"
STAB!
I grabbed his chin firmly and drove the knife into his neck. To the guy who was wide-eyed and about to struggle, I said quietly:
"Don't move. If you move, you'll die spraying blood. I stopped exactly 0.1cm from your carotid artery. If you want to commit suicide, go ahead and move."
"Ugh..."
I sneered at him as he froze like a statue. I brought up the bluff I had thought about after finishing my conversation with the youngest.
"Why do you keep touching people you shouldn't touch? Huh?"
I noticed him racking his brain with shaky eyes. I took my hand off his mouth. He seemed to have some sense—or maybe he just wanted to live—because his face turned as docile as a lamb.
"W-who are you talking about? And who exactly are you..."
"This guy Seon-shik or whatever from Yeongdeungpo keeps touching people he shouldn't touch, doesn't he? Huh?"
"D-don't tell me?"
"Yeah. You should try thinking. Hey, you idiot. Where would a kid in his early 20s get that kind of information? Huh? You know what I'm talking about."
'The best part about deceiving people is making them draw their own conclusions.'
"...."
As I expected, he shut his mouth, likely racking his brain. Since he was looking up at me with anxious eyes, I continued.
"Exactly. You bugs keep making me come all the way to Gangneung in the middle of the night."
"I-I'm sorry. W-we were just doing what we were told from above."
"Hmm. Yeah. Right. You did what you were told. I know. So, make a call."
I nodded at his words, feigning understanding.
"Pardon?"
"Call the person above you who ordered you. That Seon-shik or whatever his name is."
"That..."
I spoke to the hesitant guy with a voice full of laughter.
"You're a funny bastard, aren't you? Isn't the person with a knife in your throat right now scarier?"
I gripped the handle of the sashimi knife tightly, and as the vibration traveled to his neck, he frantically waved his hands.
"W-wait. Just a second."
Watching him reach for the phone on the desk, I spoke.
"Make it a video call and hold it up."
"...Yes."
When he made the call, it rang for a long time. As soon as it was answered, he switched to the selfie camera and pointed it at the boss.
"(Hey, you bastard! What time is it—!)"
He was shouting, but as he saw the knife stuck in the neck on the camera, his voice trailed off. I took my hand off the knife handle and waved.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Saeng-shik."
"(Who are you?)"
"Would you even know if I told you? And where do you get off acting so tough? You small-fry bastard."
"(.....)"
"Anyway, see this guy with the knife in his neck? One of these days, someone is going to come to your place, too. Why did you do it? You bugs should just eat pine needles; why did you have to go looking elsewhere and cause this mess?"
"(....)"
"Anyway, listen well. This is your last warning. Next time, I'm sending these guys' heads to your office."
The boss's eyes widened at my words, and he started to reach for his neck, so I grabbed the sashimi knife handle and glared. He looked at the goggles, raised both hands, and gulped.
"(Where are you? Where are you that you dare to touch the Shinseong-bujin Clan?)"
I burst into laughter at his clichéd reaction. It seems people are the same everywhere.
"Hahaha! Bullshit. Are you even the top of the Shinseong-bujin Clan? Where do you get off acting like you're on my level, you little shit?"
"(Don't tell me....)"
I smiled as his ugly, menacing face turned pale on the phone screen.
"Well, think what you want. Why did you have to make the master so angry that he had to send his servant to move? Huh? In the middle of the night, too. How annoying."
"(Grrr-!)"
He was grinding his teeth, but since he seemed to be drawing his own conclusions based on my bluff, I smiled inwardly.
"Anyway. I've delivered our message clearly, right? And listen well. There won't be a second time."
"(Hoo-. I've received it clearly. But be prepared—)"
Click!
I hung up the phone, tossed it onto the desk, and looked at the boss. Unlike before, he had a very docile, pleading look in his eyes. I smiled at him and pulled out the sashimi knife.
"Hooooo-...."
I chuckled as I watched him let out a sigh of relief, thinking it was all over. I pulled the handle of a long axe from my Inventory and gripped it tightly. I smiled brightly at him as he stared with wide eyes at the handle appearing out of thin air and me grabbing it naturally.
I spread my legs, set my stance, twisted my legs and waist to put strength into it, and swung.
SLASH!
Along with the back of the chair, a line was drawn across the boss's neck. His eyes grew dim as he frantically clutched his neck. I watched him struggle calmly, then stepped back and put the axe away. Blood sprayed in thin streams from between his neck and his severed head, like a hand pressed against a faucet. I watched that, then finished cutting off the heads of the others. I looked down indifferently at them as their bodies twitched violently each time I cut, then searched their pockets and the office.
After searching here and there, sure enough.
"Bingo. They really are rats. They always pile things up like this."
I smiled at the black cabinet that looked like a safe, seeing it had a dial lock instead of a digital one. I pressed my ear against it.
Click-clack! Click-clack! Click! Click-clack! Click-clack! Click!
I turned the dial quickly, matching the clicks, then reversed it. After repeating it a few times, I turned the handle.
Click!
"Nice~? Hmm? Look at this?"
The cabinet was full of 50,000 won bundles and dozens of gold bars of various sizes. I packed all the physical assets into my Inventory.
'Nice side income.'
I picked up a leather notebook and turned my head. The blood had finished flowing, so I avoided the red puddles and sat on the sofa to open the notebook. Inside was a 'Special Construction Material Delivery Statement,' along with photos and a map of a familiar path taken from a distance. I narrowed my eyes and flipped the pages. Documents recorded by date starting six months ago.
[January 25th: It’s freezing to death (crossed out). Foreign workers and cars are going to the mountain again today. Looking closely, it seems the number of people has changed.]
[February 5th: Even though it’s snowing, workers and construction vehicles are going in. What on earth is in there?]
I flipped through the notebook. The records of changes by date increased. Records of solar panels, modular water tanks, and other materials passing through.
"Look at this? These bastards weren't after money or information from Su-shin; they were planning to take the bunker itself, to take my family's land?"
Electricity surged through my head. I tensed my eyes, wanting to grab a few of the guys at the game room right now, bend their fingers back until they touched their wrists, make them walk on their ankles, and raid their base, but I shook my head.
'Any more than this is just asking for trouble.'
If a rat has no hole to escape to, it will eventually attack as if it has nothing to lose. It wouldn't matter if it were just me, but my family's safety was at stake. I pondered for a moment, then stood up and put my thoughts into action. I put their heads into my Inventory, then took a photo of the headless bodies with the boss's unlocked phone.
Click! Click! Click!
I looked at the good photos, nodded, and sent a message.
[Sorry. I wanted to let you live, but it seems the master is very angry. He says you should send a sincere gift? I'll take a picture for you first. I'll be delivering soon. Look forward to it.]
[Attached Photo]
Then, I crushed the phone with my grip. I was about to move to take the rest of the headless bodies and leave, but I stopped and looked around. Seeing the pool of blood, I stroked my chin and reached out.
"There's too much blood. Let's see. The amount of blood when I stabbed them and took it... hmm, this much should be enough."
I recovered the pooled blood into my Inventory, leaving just a little on the floor. I was satisfied, but the fact that the office desk and sofa were strangely clean despite the bloodbath bothered me. I narrowed my eyes. After a moment of thought, I decided to mess up the office.
"Desk glass (Crash!). Steel cabinet. (Crunch!) A bit more. (Cr-crunch!) Yeah, like this. And the sofa table. That's it."
I looked at the ruined office with pride, nodded once in satisfaction, and headed to the 5th-floor restroom. I took off my clothes and shoes, put them in my Inventory, and changed into a new set. I checked myself—nothing had splashed on me—so I nodded and headed to the roof.
"Shall we go?"
'I've bluffed enough. Now they'll be careful. Or, I can just go see Seon-shik's face.'
The experience of cleaning up the underworld in the other world was really coming in handy. I leaped with a lighter step than when I arrived. Feeling the refreshing dawn air cooling the heat of the moment, I returned to the motel room, took a shower just in case, and headed to my friend's shop.
Jingle!
As the chime rang, Jun-jae looked back and greeted me with a wave. I greeted him back happily.
"Yo~ Seong-shin! It's been a looooong time!"
"Hey, you guys haven't changed a bit."
"Hey~ what's there to change? It's only been since the Lunar New Year. It's been 5 months, right?"
I laughed as Jun-jae jokingly offered me a seat, but as soon as I sat down, Gyu-shin frowned and asked:
"Why haven't you been in touch for 3 months? Were you busy? Do you know how much your mom and dad have been asking?"
"Ah~? Really? Sorry, that... I was just really busy."
For me, it had been 12 years. For them, 3 months. It was a long time for me and a short time for them, but I smiled at these guys who made me laugh as if we had met just yesterday, and raised my glass.
"Alright, alright~ enough, let's have a drink~"
"Yeah, let's drink!"
Clink!
The glasses rang out cheerfully, signaling the start of the drinking party.