The Butcher's Pepperoni Confession

High-grade info at a 45% output? Jang Yuk, tied to the chair, wanted nothing more than to snap the mana chains right then and there.

The hellish party he'd just endured. His brain boiling, lava coursing through his veins. And that was only 5% output?

"Lies... it's all lies...."

Jang Yuk tried to deny reality through chattering lips. The purple-haired demon before him. Adel fiddled with the dial on an innocently cheerful face.

"Come on, engineers don't lie with numbers. Look, see this gauge? We're just shifting from low output to medium."

"H-heek!"

"Think of earlier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a warm-up. A little massage to wake up your neurons without scaring them? The real game starts now. This round's theme: 'Soul Smoothie in a Blender.'"

Adel flashed a grin and pretended to hit the button. That tiny gesture shattered the mentality of Jang Yuk, the guy once called the Butcher of the underworld.

It wasn't the pain itself that terrified him. It was the dread of the horrific agony yet to come.

"W-wait! Hold on!!"

Jang Yuk screamed. Adel didn't listen. Or rather, she heard but had no intention of stopping.

"Hey, Adel. Hold up."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cut in from behind, munching popcorn.

"Why? The mood was perfect."

"Got something to ask too."

I dragged a chair over and whispered into Jang Yuk's left ear. Adel leaned in on his right, prepped and ready. Caught between two demons closing in, Jang Yuk went pale as a ghost.

"Okay, three seconds."

Adel and I spoke in unison.

"Black Moon HQ location and the identities of the Three Elders."

"Black & White Food pepperoni's golden ratio mix and aging temperature!"

"......?"

Jang Yuk's brain short-circuited. Left ear demanding top-secret organization intel, right ear demanding top-secret food industry secrets. Before he could even weigh priorities, the dual barrage left him clueless on where to start.

"Uh, wait! One at a time, please."

"Answer!!!"

"Aaaah! How am I supposed to answer two at once!!"

Jang Yuk wailed in injustice. Adel hit the button without hesitation.

"Gaaahhh!!"

Jang Yuk's body convulsed like a live fish on deck. Smoke curled from his singed scalp as Adel clicked her tongue.

"No sense at all. Can't multitask? Modern CPUs have how many cores, and you can't even match that?"

"Wh-what kinda bullshit.... Cough!"

Post-blender experience, Jang Yuk foamed at the mouth and rolled back his eyes. Passed out. Better this way, he probably thought.

"Huh? Out already? Hey, wake up! We've got a mountain of questions left!"

Adel grabbed a nearby bucket. Ice water splashed mercilessly over Jang Yuk's face.

"Puhah! Gasp, gasp...."

Jang Yuk spat ice and barely regained consciousness. Hell still sprawled before him. The man indifferently looking down while chewing popcorn. The madwoman cranking the dial higher, claiming more experiments awaited.

"Please... spare me.... Just kill me...."

"Death comes later. Spill first."

Adel finished setting the dial and tapped Jang Yuk's thigh with a wrench.

"My pepperoni recipe. Mandrake root juice to Abyss salt ratio? Smoking wood—oak or apple?"

"Elder names. Lament Gate bypass code."

I followed up immediately. Jang Yuk's eyes darted left and right frantically.

"No, come on! One at a time! It's confusing!"

"Gaaahhh!"

Another section pierced his brain. Longer this time. Jang Yuk barely held back a bowel release while screaming.

"Who's yelling? You dare order your betters around, you E-class trash?"

Adel cranked the dial one more notch toward high output.

"O-one at a time.... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Please, one at a time...."

"Nah, I'm impatient."

Adel hummed a tune.

"And honestly? Kinda bummed out."

"About what?"

"Back when we took your hideout—the factory. Wanted to test this machine on those guys. Needed brainwave responses and pain metrics."

"B-but?"

"But my lab rat protected my limited-edition Dessoir figure with his body. Loyal, right? My code won't let me torture someone with that kind of otaku spirit."

Adel's eyes locked on her test subject, Jang Yuk.

"But you? Tainting my precious pepperoni with shady drugs. Stealing my recipe. No human rights for scum like you. You're just an experiment rat."

"Heek!"

"Data time. Hold tight—no biting your tongue."

Adel hit the button.

"Gaaaaahhhhh!!!"

The factory basement shook with his earth-shattering scream. Jang Yuk's body levitated like it was sky-bound. In his mind, thousands of fire ants devoured his brain while yanking his spine for jump rope.

"Aaaagh! I'll talk! I'll tell! Guh!!"

"Can't hear you! Louder!"

"I'LL TELL!! EVERYTHING!! TURN IT OFF PLEASE!!"

Jang Yuk wailed. Tough guy? Pride? Loyalty? None could sub for Neuron Scratcher ver 2.0.

Adel reluctantly pulled her hand from the button.

"Tch. Breaks too quick, no fun. We had stages left."

"Huff, huff... Please stop."

Jang Yuk slumped like a half-melted slime. To survive, he glanced between me and Adel. No choice now. Deny them, and endless torment awaited.

"I'll tell both...."

"Okay. Which first?"

Adel whipped out notepad and pen, eyes sparkling. I crossed my arms, looking down. Would he betray the organization? Or the food industry?

Jang Yuk's lips twitched. Rational thought gone. Instinct screamed the wrench-wielding maniac was deadlier.

"P-pepperoni...."

"Yes! Spill it quick!"

Adel shoved her face in his. A crime lord plotting national overthrow cracking over a recipe.

"Ogre sirloin 600g, blood rinse in.... Abyss spring water for 3 hours."

"Slow down! Hey, Lee Han! Recorder on?"

"It's on."

"Mandrake root—shade-dried 3-year aged beats sun-dried... better aroma...."

"3-year shade! Underline! Five stars!!"

Adel's pen flew like fire. Jang Yuk recited like a confessor or dying elder leaving last words.

"Smoking—with wyvern bone ash smoke.... 72 hours. Temp at 65 degrees...."

"Wyvern bone! Insane! Knew it! Regular oak never gave that flavor!"

Adel teared up in ecstasy. To her, this topped crumbling Black Moon.

The lengthy recipe handover ended. Even the final MSG pinch spilled, Jang Yuk stared blankly at the ceiling, face ashen.

"Perfect! Flawless!"

Adel clutched her notepad in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rapture.

"Cooking class over."

I stepped forward. Now the real game.

"Black Moon."

My voice made Jang Yuk flinch. Deeper fear than spilling the recipe gripped him.

"...Fine. HQ's in Taebaek Mountains Yunmu Valley. One left."

I repeated his words and stared into his eyes.

"The Elders' identities. Especially the one called Prophecy Elder. His name?"

Jang Yuk gulped. Eyes shook. Recipe was personal research; Elder identities were the organization's ultimate taboo. Spill it, and he knew his fate.

But me and Adel reaching for the machine felt more immediate.

"Hah, hah...."

Jang Yuk hung his head in resignation. Having crossed the Rubicon, he spoke.

"Of the three.... I only know one...."

His voice cracked.

"The other two lurk in shadows—I've never even seen their faces. But that one... the funder...."

"Who?"

"His name is...."

The moment Jang Yuk opened his mouth—

Thud, thud. His heartbeat echoed grotesquely loud. Simultaneously, the Black Moon tattoo on his neck ignited red.

"Kuh! Guh....!"

Jang Yuk clawed his throat. Black veins crawled up his neck to his face. Eyes rolled back to whites, black foam bubbling from his mouth.

"Lee Han! Dangerous! Mana overload!"

Adel yelled, backing away. Jang Yuk's body morphed into a massive mana bomb.

"Cough! No...!"

He desperately mouthed words, but they were forbidden. The organization's foresight: bio-restraint for captured execs—self-destruct on spill.

The factory blared red sirens. Suspended organization grunts screamed from the ceiling.

"S-self-destruct? No! We're still here!"

"Help! Boss! Untie us!"

Adel paled and shouted.

"Crazy! This factory cost a fortune! My production line! My pepperoni!"

She frantically hacked, but the detonator was too far gone. Even she couldn't stop it.

"Kekeke...."

Jang Yuk, clutching his throat, twisted a final grin with his last strength.

"D-die... together...."

His body ballooned. Internal magic stone energy breached critical.

"To hell with this great recipe!"

His last words.

"Lee Han! Run! Can't stop this!"

Adel grabbed my arm. 45 seconds. I'd planned to slave those dozens of sausage workers hanging up there.

Time to escape this deep basement? Might be too tight.

I didn't budge. Casually eyed the swelling Jang Yuk.

"No rush."

"What? You nuts? Roast alive? Gotta live to do anything!"

"Adel, grab what you need. Take the sausage crew and go first."

"You!"

"Stuff to check."

I scooped scattered drug powder on my fingertip and summoned the Dragon's power.