Gram's Survival and Chad's Kkeut Gambit
Dragon Slayer Sword Gram.
Shockingly, the consciousness of Gram—which should have been obliterated—was still alive.
—Where... is this...?
—A newbie, huh.
At that moment, a familiar voice echoed from beside Gram. The red demon sword Dainsleif.
Gram's mind flooded with questions in an instant.
Why is Dainsleif here? I clearly...
—Heh, you've got that dumbstruck look.
Of course, since they were in sword form, none of the demon swords had faces to begin with.
—Brother, tell me where we are.
Gram looked around. A space filled entirely with pitch blackness.
He had no idea where this place could be.
—I don't know exactly either. But if we're here, there's something we have to do.
—What do you mean?
That night, Yi Han-su dreamed of crossing swords with a silver-haired tanned beauty. It started off pretty even, but in the end, victory went to Yi Han-su.
—Did you lose?
Dainsleif sneered at the battered Gram.
—...
—I won, by the way.
—??!!
An unbelievable claim. Dainsleif, the weakest among demon swords, had beaten an opponent even he couldn't defeat?
—You've gotten better at lying.
—It's true.
In truth, the biggest reason for Dainsleif's victory was a cheap trick. But naturally, she wasn't about to admit that.
The criminal syndicate Kkeut.
A group that could become allies, villains, or even deranged terrorists depending on the player's choices.
Composed of top-grade criminals. Though rooted in crime, the reason they sometimes play the hero role comes down to one person.
It's because of the one called the Leader. After acquiring a relic known as the Prophecy Book and glimpsing the future, she became the mad criminal dubbed the worst Hero.
She made some idiotic choices, but at least she had the justification of it being for the world's sake.
With Melian recently captured, Kkeut now had an open spot.
In other words, the Leader was out scouting for new members.
I pulled a mask from inside my coat. A red demon mask.
It was Chad's time to step up.
BAM!!!
The door burst open roughly, revealing a man covered in wounds.
But more eye-catching than the injuries was the man's outfit.
A clown in full costume and mask.
"You're finally letting me out?" "You're finally letting me out?"
As the door opened, the Clown shouted gleefully, repeating himself twice since it was important.
"Yeah, can't have talent rotting away like this."
"Haha! Thanks for recognizing me!"
This was Kkeut's hideout—and deep underground, their prison as well.
The prison itself was a relic prison forged from powerful laws.
"So why'd you kill your comrade?"
The Leader stared down at the Clown with an expressionless face.
"That was a misunderstanding! Baek Jin was practically a corpse already!" "He was still alive, wasn't he."
"..."
The Clown's laughter faded at the Leader's words.
"Just felt like it. Got a problem with that?"
The Clown tilted his head and continued.
"The only reason I'm behaving here is out of respect for you."
The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant.
"Haha! That was just a joke, don't worry!"
The Clown flashed a wide grin like nothing had happened.
"And with the Sword Clown here, no worries!"
In a flash, the Clown shattered all the chains binding him.
Crack! Boom!
Bang!
Then, a clown wielding a sword popped out of thin air with a bang!
"Hello. I'm the Sword Clown."
He wore a ridiculous clown mask, but his outfit differed slightly from the others.
A clear blue-and-white dobok distributed just right—a clown swordsman.
The Sword Clown glanced around and sighed deeply.
"Nothing but unappealing folks. Just women and me, huh."
The Sword Clown shook his head and crossed his arms, shouting,
"Bring out a pretty boy right now!" "Haha, that's fucking disgusting!"
The Clown burst out laughing at the sight.
"...I'll let it slide this once." "Got it. Don't be too hard on me."
At the Leader's words, the Clown cackled as he walked off.
"Oh, and for the new recruit, make it someone funny! Everyone's faces are so stiff!"
"..."
Joining Kkeut was simple: wait for the Leader's scout or go straight to them.
Kkeut was essentially a fixer organization, funding themselves through commissions.
Most commissions were relic retrievals. Surprisingly, guilds placed many of these themselves.
Heroes could possess up to 2nd Grade relics max. But few would actually follow that rule.
The difference between having a relic or not was heaven and earth. In life-or-death gates, self-imposed limits made no sense.
Anyway, first step: make contact...
Enter Kkeut's black market channel and send a private message.
Something like this.
Ding!
About a week later, a reply came. No text—just a map with coordinates pinned.
'What the fuck, crazy bastards.'
The location was on the opposite side of the planet. No date meant show up anytime, I guess...
But I had my express taxi, so no issue.
"...I'm not a taxi."
Mask-man Allstain. Instant teleport holder.
Unlike artificial portals needing coordinates, resonance, and annoying steps, this guy had cheat-level mobility.
"It's for the cult."
"..."
Allstain wore his mask, but dissatisfaction was obvious.
"...Handle your own return."
The criminal syndicate Kkeut. A worldwide crime group.
Flip that around: a group of global criminals who still hadn't been caught.
In other words, they had enough force to shelter wanted criminals from guilds and associations.
"Heh, people are starting to gather."
Liu Yang.
The first to arrive here. And the one who'd killed the most people at this spot.
After messing with some Chinese bigwig's kid, he was being hunted by hundreds of Chinese guilds.
Manageable at first, but now even running was getting tough.
Hero rank: 2nd Grade.
This Kkeut recruitment ground was built around four core criminals into a bizarre force.
A lanky body, yet towering at least 2 meters. Matching his height perfectly, a long greatsword lay beside him.
A criminal with a moniker, no less.
'Tower' Daley Warnos.
2nd Grade criminal.
Unlike the others, one guy stood alone, blankly staring at the sky—no faction or anything.
Clean suit, but trembling eyes that screamed abnormal.
'Gourmet' Bundrin.
1st Grade criminal.
Unlike the rest, one group seemed oddly harmonious: the undisputed world's best woman, Leda.
In English, the undisputed world's top girl, Leda.
No idea why, but any man who vanished with her mid-convo returned as her loyal minion. What trick she used? Unknowable.
Truly unknowable.
The world's top girl Leda's criminal rank: 2nd Grade. But second only to the Gourmet in terms of those watching her warily.
Whatever her method, countless men pledged undying loyalty to her.
A crooked circle, yet delicately balanced.
The equilibrium shattered the moment one man arrived.
"Even for a criminal recruitment, it's just trash here."
A man in a red demon mask, sword at his hip.
"That's how the world works."
It was Chad's entrance. He scanned the surroundings, drew his sword, and murmured low.
"I'll end it in two minutes."
A figure approached, hands in coat pockets, smoking a cigarette.
"Hm, a bit late, but looks like it's already decided."
She glanced over the corpses. Infamous criminals, every one.
"What's your name?"
The Leader smirked, snuffing her cigarette.
"Chad."
"Chad, huh... Not a bad name."
The Leader shook off her hands and assumed a stance.
"Final test is simple."
With those words, she drew up her mana.
Vrrr!!!
Mana filled the area in an instant. A tremendous presence befitting a Transcendent.
Normal folk would collapse here.
But...
"...What's this? Power flex? That all you got?" "...!"
The Leader looked mildly surprised, then dispersed her mana.
"You pass. Perfect timing—we needed a swordsman."
Kkeut maintained solidarity by binding each other's weaknesses with the Book of Truth. The Leader approached slowly, book in hand.