Chapter 171: Innkeeper! Another Bowl Here! (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: Innkeeper! Another Bowl Here! (3)
Kane, All Mute's secretary, was dazed. He blinked his wide, bulging eyes several times.
His head spun from the sheer magnitude of the shock. Was this a dream? It was a hazy, doubtful question. However, the cold sweat pooling on his upper lip proved this was reality.
Straining his eyes, he stared at the training ground. All Mute lay sprawled on the ground, her limbs severed. Kang Geomma was walking toward her.
To bring this unfinished duel to its absolute end, he approached the already helpless All Mute.
At that sight, a thick bead of sweat rolled down Kane's cheek. He cried out without realizing it.
"Ellie!"
As if reacting to the shout, Kang Geomma turned his head. His cold, lifeless eyes pierced right through him. At the same time, Kane felt as though an invisible hand had tightly gripped his heart. Kang Geomma spoke with eyes dripping with murderous intent.
"Silence."
At that muted word, Kane's vision blurred. He clawed at his throat as if something was choking him.
"Keugh..."
With a short groan, Kane blacked out. Just before his consciousness faded completely, he thought: So the rumor that he gave an ogre a heart attack was true.
Seeing Kane collapse, Mao Rang's face also turned pale. Her arrogantly crossed legs uncrossed themselves, instantly adopting a polite posture.
After the duel, Mao Rang had planned to visit All Mute, hold her stomach, and laugh hysterically in her face. She had rushed all the way from China for that single purpose.
But now, she didn't feel like doing that at all. There was a limit to how far things could go. Mao Rang looked at Kang Geomma. Her lips felt as dry as parched seaweed chips.
He's become a real monster now.
Kang Geomma hadn't just improved since his duel with her. This was evolution. In her mind, she pictured a graph with a line bending at a ninety-degree angle, shooting straight up.
If I were to fight the current Kang Geomma...
A chill ran down her spine. Her pupils constricted. Her lungs rapidly contracted and expanded. Her stomach churned, and her throat tickled.
Hiccup! Mao Rang quickly covered her mouth. Her hands trembled violently. If Kang Geomma's gaze turned toward her, she would end up just like Kane.
Mao Rang no longer considered Kang Geomma a fellow human. He was a sword-wielding demon.
Mao Rang bit her tongue to suppress her hiccups. What did it matter if she accidentally bit her tongue off? It was better than becoming the demon's prey. She shivered uncontrollably.
Amidst this crucible of terror, Kang Geomma closed the distance to All Mute. He looked down at the result of his handiwork.
All Mute's life signs were flickering on the verge of extinction. If a living corpse existed, this was surely it. To put it simply, it was gruesome. His brow furrowed involuntarily.
I didn't mean to go this far.
It was because the [Blessing of Sensory Shutdown] had temporarily turned him into a blind swordsman. If he had been able to see, he wouldn't have dismembered her like this. Frankly, he also felt he had gone a bit overboard to raise his proficiency in the [Blessing of Borrowed Power].
I should end this quickly.
Making up his mind, Kang Geomma raised his sashimi knife.
Just then, All Mute's lips parted, moving soundlessly. Blood spurted in long, ragged bursts from her severed vocal cords.
"P-please... spare... me..."
All Mute had forgotten that this was a subspace sparring match. Her cognitive faculties had completely shattered, drowned in sheer terror.
Even the strongest hero was still human. When faced with imminent death, any human's mind would scramble.
At All Mute's words, the sashimi knife aimed at her forehead paused. Kang Geomma scratched his head with the pommel of his hilt.
"I don't speak English, so I have no idea what you're saying."
"...!"
"But it sounds like you're asking me to make it quick."
All Mute's pupils shook with sheer panic. In her desperation, she tried to raise her hand to stop him. But she had no arms. This Sword Demon had taken all of her limbs.
Urgency and terror tangled together. All Mute squirmed and struggled. Kang Geomma coaxed her in a low, soothing voice.
"It's alright. If it ends in one blow, it won't hurt."
Kang Geomma spoke like a reassuring dentist. But to All Mute, he looked entirely different. He looked like a Japanese chef about to plunge a knife into a fish's gills. At that, All Mute let out an instinctive scream.
"FUCK!"
Ah, right. This curse word was universal. Just like Korea's ssibal.
"Swearing?"
His reaction was instantaneous. Kang Geomma's face contorted into a fierce scowl. As a citizen of the Land of Eastern Decorum, he could not tolerate such rudeness. The sashimi knife, which had been suspended in midair, moved.
A glistening liquid welled up in the corners of All Mute's eyes. Just as her tears of repentance began to flow, the blade struck her head.
Thwack!
All of All Mute's senses were completely shut down. The price of swearing was death.
* * *
"Are you awake?"
At the sound of that voice, All Mute opened her eyes. She glanced to her side and let out a sigh.
"...Mao Rang."
"At least you're lucid enough to recognize my face. Your eyes rolled back so far after the duel, I seriously thought you were dead."
Mao Rang giggled as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed. Swinging her legs playfully, she asked, "So, how did it feel to spar with Kang Geomma?"
All Mute couldn't answer immediately. She hadn't fully composed herself yet.
Only after repeatedly gripping and releasing the bedsheets for a long while did she finally speak.
"He's a monster. I can't even begin to fathom what level of strength Kang Geomma has reached. Before facing him, I thought there might be a slight chance, but I was wrong. I couldn't even make him get serious."
"..."
"If it were just his physical might, I would have tried to find a way to overcome it. But his tactical depth was also bottomless. Honestly, the gap is so overwhelming that there's no end to listing the reasons for my defeat."
Mao Rang quietly stared at All Mute, who was calmly self-deprecating.
This was Kahn, who had grown up never knowing defeat. The very girl who had made Mao Rang feel inferior since childhood had suffered a crushing defeat today. Mao Rang had expected that Kahn, at least, would put up a better fight than she had.
Mao Rang swallowed a sigh inwardly. Then, she forced a triumphant look onto her face and spoke.
"Right? See, I didn't get beaten for nothing during the festival! When I think about all the disrespect I got from the hero society after that incident, ugh. Anyway, now that you've fought him, you know, right? Kang Geomma is just a monster; it's not that I'm weak. Do you admit it or not?"
"I admit it."
Kahn nodded readily. Her flat, straightforward response actually made Mao Rang's face sour.
Kahn spoke with an expressionless face.
"And I never thought you were weak in the first place."
"...?"
A question mark flashed in Mao Rang's eyes. Kahn spoke as if there was nothing strange about it.
"During our cadet days, you were the runner-up right behind me. Second place at Joaquin Academy. That's no small feat. If you had kept up with your training consistently, even I wouldn't have been guaranteed a victory against you."
Mao Rang bit her lip as she listened to her. She had come to mock her, but instead, she was being praised.
Mao Rang ruffled her hair roughly. Shaking off her stray thoughts, she spoke again.
"So, are you completely giving up on the Seven Stars now?"
"Yeah. After losing this badly, I can't afford to be stubborn anymore."
"How unusual for the patriotic girl. I thought you'd challenge him again, saying something about representing the United States of America."
"If my opponent had been cruel and tyrannical, I wouldn't have given up until the end. But that Sword De... no, Kang Geomma is the hero of the Joaquin Disaster. It wouldn't be right to be stubborn with someone like him."
"But won't the White House or Lancelot Company nag you to death? There's a high chance they'll interrogate you, demanding to know how you could lose to a mere cadet, even if he is the Sashimi Sword Saint."
Mao Rang's voice was full of worry. All Mute looked slightly surprised. During their cadet days, Mao Rang had done nothing but glare at her fiercely, but now that they met as adults, she was giving advice like a friend.
It was probably because they now shared the common bond of 'defeat by Kang Geomma.' It was a strange feeling. She even felt a small sense of gratitude toward the Sword Demon who had ruthlessly butchered her.
A smile played on Kahn's lips. She shrugged nonchalantly.
"Just put all those people in front of Kang Geomma. They'd probably collapse just by making eye contact, just like Kane."
"Pfft, why are you joking? It's so unlike you. Hearing a serious person like you say that feels so weird."
"This is American stand-up comedy. Come visit America sometime. The food and facilities are incredible."
"Hmph, you're the one who'll be blown away by the food if you come to China."
Outside the hospital room, where their conversation was in full bloom, Kang Geomma stood still for a moment, his hand raised to knock.
"It's a reunion. It'd be rude to interrupt."
He simply placed a fruit basket in front of the door and quietly slipped away.
* * *
`[Location of the third Memory Fragment of 【???】: Pertinax Secret Auction House.]`
`[Tip: As the auction progresses, you will naturally discover what the third fragment is bound to.]`
Lying on my bed, I stared at the status window before closing it.
"...Of all places, why does it have to be there?"
The Pertinax Secret Auction House. Having been a player, I knew its inner workings fairly well.
A massive trading hub established by various underworld organizations. It was grand in scale, and they said it sold absolutely everything under the sun.
As the shady word 'Secret' suggested, they didn't sell commonly available goods. The auction items were repulsive things that I didn't even want to speak of.
There were even rumors that high-ranking executives of the Villain Syndicate attended in disguise. One couldn't overstate just how shameless and depraved the place was.
I already detested crime. Walking into a den of such scoundrels of my own free will was highly unpleasant.
But dealing with a bit of disgust was just a matter of closing my eyes and bearing it. The real problem lay elsewhere.
The Pertinax Secret Auction House operated on a membership system. In short, you needed a membership card to enter. Of course, as a law-abiding citizen and a teenager, I had no such thing.
Damn it. I just barely managed to get an Association Pass, and now I have to get an auction house membership card too?
Furthermore, the fact that the location was an auction house meant I would have to bid on something. There was no way I had that kind of money. If I had known this would happen, I would have gladly accepted the 1 billion won for the subspace sparring match. Damn it.
There were two problems to solve.
First, securing a membership card somehow. Second, preparing the funds to bid.
Fortunately, I had saved up the living expenses sent by my anonymous sponsor, penny by penny.
Of course, it was infinitesimally light compared to the wallets of the people participating in the auction.
But my measly five million won was far more valuable than the dirty money of those criminal bastards.
Staring at the ceiling, I racked my brain for a solution. First, the membership card. Since I didn't know how to get one issued, I had to think of someone around me who might have a connection.
"...But is there really anyone around me, a mere academy cadet, who's involved in the underworld?"
As I muttered that, a sudden jolt of electricity shot through my temples.
There was. Exactly one person. I sat up abruptly and dialed a number.
Ring, ring—click.
A clattering sound echoed from the other end of the line. It seemed she had answered in a hurry.
—Uh, hello? What's going on so late at night?!
"Choi Seol-ah, do you have a membership card for the Pertinax Secret Auction House?"
I paused for a moment before adding another request.
"And if you have any savings, that'd be even better."