Lee Do's Grim Reaper
The Haemu Guild occupied an entire fifteen-story building. On a weekday morning, the lobby was packed with front-desk staff, and the Crain operatives were hidden among the civilians. One wrong move and the situation could spiral from collateral damage into a full-blown hostage crisis.
What was needed right now?
Speed. The kind of speed that ended the fight before anyone even realized it had begun.
― “Teams One, Two, and Three. Move in.”
Crash—!
At Lee Shin’s command, the doors on the first, second, and third floors burst open simultaneously. Black-suited agents from the Strategic Planning Division poured inside.
The front-desk employees reacted the same way most people would when a flood of suited figures suddenly appeared in the hallway.
“H-huh?”
“Who are you people?”
“What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”
Confusion and panic. Neither the staff nor the Crain agents mixed in among them had any idea what was happening.
Lee Shin struck before they could figure it out.
― “Split into individual teams. Block line of sight. Only use the prepared lines if anyone asks questions. Don’t provoke them unnecessarily.”
The agents moved at once, drawing curtains and quickly separating people while they were still murmuring in confusion.
“We’re here for an inspection from upstairs.”
“If you’re cleared of suspicion, there won’t be any problems.”
“This way, please.”
That was why Lee Shin had used the Strategic Planning agents for the lower floors. Compared to the Brothers Outsourcing crew, they blended in better and drew less attention.
Meanwhile, Lee Shin scanned the countless CCTV feeds from the security room, analyzing faces, expressions, and body language to identify anyone showing the telltale reactions of a villain.
― “Three, Seven, Nine, Fourteen, Seventeen, Twenty, Twenty-four, Thirty-five……”
The agents whose numbers were called moved with extra care, completing the separation while hiding their tension. Once it was done—
― “Good. Open fire.”
They pulled out the water guns hidden in their suit pockets and fired in unison.
“Agh, it’s cold!”
“W-what is this?”
Water sprayed in weak streams, leaving people bewildered. Black-suited figures had stormed in, taken control, and now they were spraying people with water guns? Most of the front-desk staff could only stare in stunned disbelief.
Then it happened.
From every direction came an eerie, piercing wail.
Kyeeeeeek!
Kirrrk-kirrrk—
The water in those guns had been holy water. The highest-grade stuff, worth tens of millions of won per bottle.
Crain combatants exposed to it were engulfed in black mist.
― “Subdue them immediately.”
Spears, blades, and bullets slammed into their bodies. Waiting for a transformation was something that only happened in cartoons.
― “Just stab them. They won’t die easily anyway.”
One wasn’t enough, so two went in. Two weren’t enough, so three joined. Once the Strategic Planning agents had completely crippled the villains’ combat ability, they turned around to find the surrounding civilians in full panic. Ordinary people weren’t exactly going to keep their heads after watching their coworkers turn into monsters and then get their limbs twisted and bound.
Of course—
― “Stay sharp. There are still villains hiding among them who didn’t react.”
Any villains who didn’t react to the holy water were just chaff anyway. They could be filtered out later in one sweep.
So—
― “Keep only the minimum number needed for control. Everyone else, move upstairs.”
* * *
While the lower floors were being swiftly neutralized, fierce fighting had already broken out on the upper levels.
― “After entry, split up as planned.”
Now!
Crash—!
Jang Antonton smashed through the door at Lee Shin’s shout, and the Brothers Outsourcing fighters behind him split into three directions and charged.
Shouts and gunfire erupted from every corner. Bullets rained down, and colorful spells lit up the air. It was the kind of fierce resistance you’d expect from a gate. But Lee Shin’s side remained terrifyingly calm.
― “Team A, keep hammering the main force and push them back. We need to keep their attention. Charge in hard.”
A burst of profanity exploded from the front of Team A.
“Shiiiiiit! I missed this—war!”
It was Jang Ji-na. The bear beastman roared as she charged, her massive body tanking the hail of bullets like a living bulldozer. Even when explosions rocked her or ice spikes erupted, she kept moving forward. Her crude, overwhelming physical assault and even cruder fighting spirit crushed the enemy’s will.
― “Team B, break off to the perimeter and search while gradually tightening the noose around the battlefield.”
Small mana stones rolled across the floor. They were tossed into bathrooms, supply closets, meeting rooms—any space whose purpose wasn’t immediately clear. The stones pulsed, detecting life signs in their vicinity.
At the same time, Boris—Jang Bo-ri in Korean, the wolf-tattooed bald man—transformed into a wolf, nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air.
“Wait.”
He kicked open a door and strode inside. A brief commotion followed, and then he dragged out a hidden enemy by the collar.
With Jang Ji-na’s Team A and Jang Bo-ri’s Team B squeezing the enemy from both inside and out, the villains were funneled straight toward the only remaining exit—where Team C, and Jang Antonton, were waiting.
― “President Jang, get ready.”
“Oya.”
Lee Shin’s voice continued, rattling off information at machine-gun speed.
― “Enemy composition: fifteen close-combat types, seventeen magic types, seven support types. The close-combat fighters have regeneration as a baseline……
― “Watch out for the dark-red thorns. They drain life force and carry a parasite infection risk. Even you’ll have trouble if they hit a vital organ, President Jang. Also……”
While directing the battlefield, Lee Shin analyzed every ability and pattern visible on the monitors and instantly formulated the perfect counter.
― “Don’t engage head-on. Ambush them. When I give the signal, hit them hard.”
Jang Antonton hid behind a steel door and clicked his tongue.
‘He’s coordinating simultaneous fights across an entire building while reading the enemy’s abilities in real time and optimizing responses?’
This was the enemy’s home base. Worse, it was a battlefield where hostages could appear at any moment—the kind of fight even a veteran like him wanted to avoid. Yet Lee Shin was controlling it with ease. A man who had never even served in the military!
― “Break through the wall. The woman with glasses. Remember her.”
Let’s begin.
The moment black fur erupted across Jang Antonton’s body—
Crunch! The wall shattered as a massive black bear slammed into the enemy group.
The villains who had been guarding the door spun around in shock. The target woman realized the danger and screamed for help.
“Protect me!!”
A magic circle flared to life. Dark-red thorns began to take shape. But no matter how desperately she tried, the claws were faster.
Thud!!
“Guhk!”
Jang Antonton’s claws burst out through her back, piercing her lungs and scattering her casting into the air. With no way left to penetrate his thick hide, the fight was effectively over.
― “Clear. Wrap it up quickly. We’re ready. Let’s hit the seventh floor.”
The orders never stopped coming. Whatever Lee Shin said became reality. For those fighting alongside him, it was almost unreal. Just do what he told you and don’t do what he said not to, and the battlefield was already won.
It was almost like……
‘Feels like he’s cheating, damn it…… Don’t tell me he can see the future.’
‘Prophecy……!’
The higher the level, the simpler things became. Lee Shin’s command was exactly like that—simple and certain, as if he were watching the future unfold.
‘Representative Lee is even scarier than I thought.’
He toyed with everything as casually as if he were playing a game.
― “Had enough rest? Let’s head down.”
This was the battlefield as seen through the eyes of “Player Lee Shin.”
* * *
Meanwhile, some people were still moving. Naturally, they were Crain villains.
The reason was simple. The barrier magic had completely isolated each floor, so the noise of battle couldn’t be heard. But as a side effect, all electronic communications—messenger apps, texts, everything—had been cut off as well.
Work had ground to a halt. People who went upstairs to ask what was going on never came back. Those who went downstairs for a smoke break in frustration also vanished without a trace.
Every sign pointed to the worst possible situation.
The Crain operatives weren’t idiots. By now, they too realized something was very wrong.
‘Intruders……!’
‘We’re being targeted!’
If the upper floors were blocked, it meant their strongest asset—the boss—was either unable to act or had already been taken down. If the lower floors were blocked, their escape route was sealed as well.
What could they do in this moment?
The Crain members exchanged glances and tore off their masks in unison.
“Hands up, everyone!”
Bang! Bang!!
They pulled out hidden guns and fired into the ceiling, taking control of their surroundings.
“Why are you doing this, Manager? Aagh!”
“Don’t talk.”
“Kim, what’s going on all of a sudden?!”
“Shut up, you insects. Open your mouths again and I’ll turn you into Swiss cheese.”
The usually smiling superior grabbed an employee by the hair and slammed them down. The subordinate who had called a taxi for him after last night’s dinner now had him by the collar, gun pressed to his face.
The front-desk staff froze in terror. A team leader from the organization, mana already awakened, headed toward the emergency exit.
“I’ll scout ahead.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“We can’t just sit here and take it, can we?”
He grabbed the nearest civilian and shoved them forward as a shield.
“You’re coming with me.”
“W-why me?”
“Shut up and walk.”
Using the hostage as cover, the Crain team leader scouted both upstairs and downstairs. Realizing not everyone had been caught yet, he breathed a sigh of relief and decided to gather as many forces as possible.
One by one, more Crain members gathered.
“Huh……? That’s……”
“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at the CCTV?”
“Do you really think the security room is safe when we’re in this state?”
“……!!”
“What are you staring at? Go tear it down already.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Leave this one here.”
They scraped together what combat strength they could and put their heads together to salvage the situation.
“We’ve been hit, right?”
“Looks like it.”
“Damn it, the branch manager went down that easily? I can’t believe it. Most of our forces were upstairs.”
“The ones who went up aren’t coming back. They’ve been taken.”
“I had a bad feeling about this. We’re screwed. What about the guys outside? Did you request backup?”
“Couldn’t even try. The barrier magic is way higher level than we thought.”
If the barrier was so strong they couldn’t even attempt to break it, then the enemy’s level was just as high.
“They blocked everything thoroughly. We have to assume they knew exactly who we were.”
“These aren’t some random amateurs. They took us down too cleanly for that.”
“……This is bad.”
“Yeah. Real bad.”
Objectively, these operatives were highly skilled. The fact that they had hidden their villain identities while working inside a guild for years proved their meticulousness. In the original story, they had even escaped cleanly when Han Jin-chol was captured. They were supposed to become Crain’s vanguard for their full-scale entry into Korea.
Yet these elites were being dismantled without even getting a chance to fight back. The humiliation was overwhelming, and rage followed close behind.
“In the end, the only thing we can use is……”
“These insects.”
They looked at their former coworkers, now kneeling on the floor. To Crain, who wanted a world only for Awakeners, non-Awakeners were less than human—pests that had to be exterminated. They felt no hesitation about using them as expendable resources.
The Crain team leader dragged one of the resisting hostages in front of the CCTV.
“Hey, you watching? We know you’re there, so let’s talk. If you don’t respond, I’ll kill one of these every minute. Starting with this guy.”
The hostage’s tear-streaked face reflected on the camera. A dark-red thorn formed from black magic pressed against his temple, a bead of blood welling at the tip.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
― “Ahem, mic test. Can you hear me? This thing’s so outdated, it’s a pain to even find the button.”
“Who are you? Why are you targeting us?”
― “Whoa, easy there, friend. Rushing things makes you less charming. How about we take some time to get to know each other? We’ve got plenty of time, don’t we?”
The tone was casual, but this was possibly the worst situation imaginable. The enemy had hostages and was trying to open negotiations.
“You know who we are, right?”
― “Crain. Xenocratus.”
“Then you also know how much we despise these insects. Even if we have to go down, we’re taking every last one of these pests with us. It’s all for the sake of the new world.”
― “My, my. Your love for humanity has really hit rock bottom.”
“But.”
― “But?”
“If you open an escape route for us, I’ll generously let these insects go.”
― “Hmm. That’s an interesting offer. Mind if I think about it?”
“Go ahead.”
Of course, it was a lie. Now that the enemy knew their identity, they couldn’t be allowed to live. The Crain team leader had already gathered the hostages tightly together, prepared to die if necessary. If he was going down, he wanted to go out with a bang.
Then, suddenly, good news arrived.
“Team Leader, the mana is weakening.”
“……A gap opened up?”
“It looks like the barrier magic is fading.”
“Perfect. How long until you can break it?”
“Fifteen minutes—no, just buy us ten.”
The team leader returned to the CCTV with renewed hope.
“Hey.”
― “Oh, did you take care of business?”
“Thanks to you. So, have you thought about it?”
― “Yeah. We’ve decided to save the hostages.”
“Of course.”
Figures. You people would say that.
The team leader couldn’t hide his sneer.
But the next words wiped the expression clean off his face.
― “We’ll handle it ourselves.”
“!!”
At that moment—
Crash-crash-crash!!
The ceiling shuddered and collapsed. Beast-transformed Brothers Outsourcing fighters dropped through the hole.
“We already expected this kind of trick!”
He tried to finish the sentence, but—
― “Fake, you idiot.”
While everyone’s attention was on the ceiling, the floor itself disintegrated.
“!!”
It wasn’t just breaking. It was complete decomposition. Jang Antonton’s “Decomposition” roar had erased the floor entirely. The ground vanished, and everyone plummeted to the floor below.
Waiting for them was a black bear half-submerged in water, smirking up at them.
‘Wait, water?’
The Crain team leader realized something was wrong, but it was too late. The members who fell into the water began screaming.
“Aaaagh!!”
“Help……!”
Wherever the water touched, burning heat erupted. Soon the team leader was among them, thrashing and screaming in agony.
― “Welcome to the holy water pool. Hope you like it.”
They had filled the entire space with that expensive holy water. The sheer amount spent was beyond comprehension. Efficiency, cost, every scheme that struggled within limited resources was complicated. This was something ordinary people couldn’t even imagine—the kind of transcendent wealth that their pathetic brains couldn’t hope to match.
That was Lee Shin’s style of plan.
Anyway, with this—
― “Clear.”
Hostage rescue successful.
* * *
But—
“Kekek…… Who the hell do you think you are, calling it clear?”
Han Jin-chol laughed from beneath the rubble at Lee Shin’s voice over the broadcast.
“You really think it’s over with just this, you moron?”
If they thought this was enough to finish them, it was an insult to Crain. They were the organization that would rewrite the world’s order. Die and atone for your sins, you insects.
“This is your grave!!”
·
·
“Go in!”
The main entrance shattered, and a wave of people surged into the building.
* * *
……Or so they thought.
Yun Cho-a stared at Han Jin-chol, who was still cackling from the other side. The emotion in her eyes was pity.
“……How pathetic.”
If he had just passed out, he wouldn’t have had to spout such embarrassing lines. It was almost painful to watch a small-time villain jumping around on the ground, pretending he could fly through the sky.
“I wonder if Master has arrived.”
·
·
The wave of people rushing toward the main entrance had frozen in place, as if by magic. A line had been drawn across the floor.
“Listen up, youngsters.”
If Lee Sang-byuk was the Emperor of Lee Do, then the man who had placed him on that throne was his greatest contributor. Beyond being Lee Do’s Grim Reaper, he was the Grim Reaper of the entire business world.
“Step over that line and you die.”
Chief of Staff Yu Cheol-ong.
He stood there, holding a massive scythe.