The Snake That Eats Sins
“First, we establish dominance. That guy Chae Mun is basically a maggot with no conscience. What’s even more disgusting is that when worms like him sit at the negotiation table, they actually think they’re human. So pin him down on the dissection table. And don’t forget to soften him up properly.”
“Hmm, what would work best? Water, I suppose. Water always brings out the truth.”
·
·
Water pours. Then pours again. It keeps pouring.
“P-Please, that—glub—puh—glub—!!”
Chae Mun was strapped to the dissection table tilted at forty-five degrees. Water kept being forced down his face until it streamed from his eyes, nose, and even places he’d rather not think about.
After three or four hours of this, just as Lee Shin had said, a human becomes remarkably honest. Only then is he ready for conversation.
The man in the black suit approached the table where Chae Mun was bound.
“W-Who are you? I’m Chae Mun. From the, the, the Shinseong Guild… gurk!”
With his eyes covered by a blindfold, Chae Mun thrashed and tried to speak, but the man paid him no attention and simply carried out his task.
Thud, thud, thud, thud……
Needles pierced his limbs.
Chae Mun could do nothing but scream.
Gradually, sensation faded. His limbs were going numb.
Terror bleached Chae Mun’s mind while survival instinct made his body convulse.
Only when all feeling had completely vanished did the man finally open his mouth.
“Name.”
“Please, I won’t report this. Just let me go. I’ll give you money. No, I’ll give it to you. My account has……”
“Name.”
The tone was dry and emotionless.
This was never a conversation. It was a notice. A sentence.
“……Chae, Chae Mun.”
“Age.”
“……Thirty-seven.”
“Chae Mun. Do you admit to match-fixing?”
“What? No way! The guild—”
“Do you admit to match-fixing?”
·
·
“There’s an indigenous African deity called the ‘Serpent That Eats Original Sin.’ This god that consumes sins grants one gift to those who offer it prey: perfect oblivion that enables complete atonement.”
“This deity prevents the sins etched into the body from being spoken, and once the tattoo disappears, the memory is completely erased. Never heard of it? That’s fine. The chairman and everyone else probably doesn’t know either.”
“Anyway, the advantage of this one is that the conditions are far lower than other binding spells. All you need is ‘blood,’ ‘a name,’ and ‘an admission of guilt.’ Honestly, we can’t have him running his mouth outside, can we? This is just insurance.”
“Next part is simple. Back him into a corner.”
·
·
“I’ll present you with three options. One: confess your crimes honestly and accept the punishment.”
In that case, he would not only be expelled from the league but would very likely face prison time as well. Even after serving his sentence, returning to the league would be impossible.
At best, he could scrape by in the amateur leagues or live off rental income from properties bought with his earnings.
However, Chae Mun, who had gambled away every last penny, couldn’t even manage that. This option was unavailable to him.
“Two: compensate for the damage you caused and stay out of the public eye for five years like a dead mouse.”
This would require paying an astronomical sum, but he could barely keep his hunter career alive.
Yet, as previously stated, Chae Mun had no money, so this option was also unavailable.
That left only the final choice.
“Three: agree to the transfer request we have prepared.”
·
·
“There’s a new guild in Saudi Arabia called Al Ahdi. It was founded by a royal with rather peculiar tastes, and just like this league, they have plenty of blind money. Sell him there.”
“The important thing is that you must reveal the full truth to their representative. Yes, the match-fixing incident, the binding spell, and all the evidence. You think they won’t buy? They will. They’ll be delighted, saying a man with weaknesses is exactly their type.”
·
·
The man watched as the dissection table was wheeled out the door after the contract had been signed.
It would soon be loaded onto a plane and “delivered” to Saudi Arabia. After that, Chae Mun would never set foot on Korean soil again.
“Captain, are you sure it’s all right to send him like that? From what we looked into, the Saudi representative is—”
“Shh. We only do what we’re told.”
Better to turn himself in, you idiot.
The man lit a cigarette and stepped outside.
* * *
A few days later, at a private restaurant in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.
“As you said, the matter has been handled. He was a gambler.”
“Oh dear.”
“He went pretty far. Not only did he pour that disgustingly large salary into poker tables, but he also took out loans from primary banks, secondary banks, and even loan sharks until he was drowning in debt. In the end, he resorted to match-fixing. That bastard Chae Mun.”
The voice was far too loud and the language far too crude for such an upscale restaurant, but it didn’t matter. The only people present were Lee Shin and Kang Do-kyung.
“And the spell?”
“It was flawless. I tested it a few times, and he couldn’t even open his mouth. My men said they should use it more often.”
“Well, that’s about the extent of it. It only forces the mouth shut. Still, if you’re going to use it, don’t let the same person cast it too frequently.”
“Why is that?”
“That Shinseong spell accumulates karma on the caster as well. If too much builds up, it burdens the body. Lowered physical ability, reduced mana, things like that.”
“Ho, so there’s that kind of side effect.”
Lee Shin spoke casually while slicing his steak, but Kang Do-kyung’s eyes had already begun watching him with interest.
“Al Sahdi is—”
“Ahdi.”
“Sahdi or Ahdi, what else can you tell me about them?”
“I already told you what to do. You opened everything up, didn’t you?”
“My men didn’t understand that part. Why did you insist on full disclosure?”
“He’s royalty. His pride is rather high. That particular royal is especially bad. He might not care that the man is a criminal, but if he finds out he was deceived, who knows what kind of trouble he’ll cause.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Let’s leave it at that. This is a meal, after all.”
“True. Not the right topic over food.”
Having the conversation cut short by someone else felt unfamiliar, yet Kang Do-kyung seemed to enjoy even that, chuckling softly.
“Shall I tell you what happened afterward?”
“No need. That’s Shinseong’s job to handle.”
“How disappointing. I thought we’d grown quite close.”
“You were going to ask about the aftermath and naturally steer the conversation toward whether I have any promising rookies to fill the vacancy. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“Heh. Sharp eyes for someone so young. So?”
“Not interested. No matter how desperate I am, I’m not handing anything to a competitor.”
“You brat! You’re in the 3rd Division, we’re in the 1st. What competitor are you talking about?”
“Because we’ll be up there in two years. You think I’m joking?”
“Hmph. Quick to draw lines and quick to show backbone. That’s how a man should be. I like it.”
Kang Do-kyung laughed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. With a casual wave of his hand, the table setting changed immediately.
“Do you like wine?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy it. I prefer soju.”
“Perfect. Then try enjoying it this once. I prepared this one specially to show my gratitude, so it should be worth drinking.”
Kang Do-kyung personally poured the opened wine into Lee Shin’s glass.
Anyone who knew Kang Do-kyung would have been shocked to see this. The people he showed this level of friendliness toward could be counted on one hand, even including family.
Yet it was inevitable.
“Here, take it. Thanks to you, I made a tidy profit on the transfer fee.”
He had nearly been released without receiving a single penny and could have brought down the entire guild, yet that troublesome burden had been dealt with in a short time, without any noise, and at a better price than expected.
“It’s fine. I didn’t help you for free either.”
Lee Shin hadn’t gone through all this trouble without a purpose.
“I was going to ask anyway. I granted your request, but I still don’t understand. Why do you need that industrial site in Yeongdo?”
That was it. He had asked for the land in Busan’s Yeongdo, the very territory of the Mir Guild.
It was the former shipyard complex that had once been the backbone of Yeongdo but had gone bankrupt after the owner family’s reckless management and the global economic downturn.
“That place is completely in the middle of nowhere. If you calculate demolition costs and everything else, it won’t even break even. We only took it because the government told us to. I could give you something else instead. How about promising rookies or equipment?”
“It depends on how you use it. If you really want to give those, save them for next time.”
“Good grief.”
One by one, the pieces were coming together.
Things that were absolutely necessary for Lee Shin’s grand blueprint.
There was no need to tell his grandfather about this, so he didn’t elaborate.
Kang Do-kyung, who had an eye for such things, seemed to have roughly caught on and didn’t press further.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“……I’m genuinely curious. Is there some kind of chairman dialect? You and my grandfather both just cut straight to the point without any lead-in.”
“People get like that when they get old. Anyway, do you have a girlfriend? If not, meet my granddaughter.”
“Oh my, your granddaughter to a scoundrel like me? People will talk.”
“Haha, let them talk.”
Kang Do-kyung only believed what he had seen with his own eyes. And in his view, Lee Shin was no ordinary scoundrel.
Those with a different perspective from others are called eccentrics. Those who obsess excessively over one field are called oddballs.
And when they succeed, society calls them geniuses.
Kang Do-kyung had realized it through this incident. This bastard was a genius.
“How did you change so much? Remarkable, truly remarkable. A few years ago, I thought you were just a pretty face, the son of a rich fool. But after your head got washed, the dog became a tiger.”
“Jealous? Should I introduce you to the hospital? You’ve got a few of your own, right? They’re good at that.”
“Keh keh, I’m not joking. I really should look into it. If I rough up about five of them, at least one like you might come out, no?”
“Sounds good~ Then shall we toast to the ones who’ll die trying?”
“Let’s.”
Clink. The wine glasses touched.
Even then, Kang Do-kyung didn’t take his eyes off Lee Shin beyond the glass. The amusing thing was that Lee Shin was doing the exact same, refusing to look away.
As if he had no intention of backing down.
Kang Do-kyung didn’t even dislike that impudent attitude. He kept laughing, and in the end, he made a refreshing decision.
“Anyway, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I always settle my debts. You proved your ability. You even prevented a major incident before it happened. You deserve proper compensation.”
“Actually, I think so too.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll leave the details to my subordinates. Now, have another glass.”
“By the way, Chairman, next time, can’t we drink soju instead? This is nice, but it’s not really my taste.”
“Keh keh, you never back down from a single word.”
The restaurant lights stayed on until late that night.
* * *
And then.
Late at night, a pleasantly drunk Kang Do-kyung gazed at the moon reflected in the car window and fell into sentiment.
‘His way of talking is exactly like Iga in his younger days.’
A rival he had fought to the death with in the past, sometimes joining hands to fiercely navigate turbulent times.
That was why, looking at Lee Shin, Kang Do-kyung recalled his old rival and even reminisced about his own younger self.
Unable to hold back any longer, Kang Do-kyung made a call.
“Iga, it’s Shinseong. Hey, that hospital that fixed your scoundrel grandson—where was it again?”