Chapter 49
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Here It Is, You Bastard (5)
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"An imugi..."
Kang Moo-jin remained utterly calm even as he gazed up at the imugi several times larger than himself.
Any ordinary person would have been terrified, but he simply scratched his neck nonchalantly.
"It's you, huh?"
This was the culprit. The one that had kept the escorts trapped in this corner, unable to escape the lake.
'So that's why they were hiding in such a remote spot.'
Now he understood why the escorts had hunkered down in the deepest, narrowest crevice.
They had fled to a tight space too cramped for a beast of that size to enter.
"You damned snake bastard, daring to mess with our escorts?"
Moo-jin rolled up his sleeves to fight the snake—no, the imugi—before realizing he had already stripped off his clothes. He felt relieved.
At least that filthy imugi wouldn't get a chance to soil his Wind Rider robes!
"An—an imugi!?"
Meanwhile, Won Yu-hwa, who had been standing near the lake, couldn't hide her shock at the sight of the imugi.
It was the first time in her life she had laid eyes on a beast larger than a four-story pavilion.
And for it to be an imugi, infamous for its ferocity, viciousness, and cunning!?
'I have to run.'
Alarm bells rang incessantly in Yu-hwa's mind.
No matter how skilled a martial artist, there was no winning against an imugi.
Its pitch-black scales impervious even to divine weapons, fangs laced with venom more potent than the deadliest poisons of the Sichuan Tang Family, and monstrous strength capable of shaking mountains—what human could stand against such a creature!?
"Brother! Hurry and get out of the lake! We have to run! Right now—!"
Yu-hwa tried to rush toward the lake to drag Moo-jin out, but she froze in place.
The scene before her was so shocking that her body seemed to malfunction, locking up completely.
"...!?"
It was like a hammer blow to the head. The sight that left Yu-hwa reeling.
Kang Moo-jin had smashed his thick fist into the imugi's brow, bursting both its eyes.
"Kyaaak!"
The imugi's scream sent rough ripples across the lake.
The noise was so deafening that even Moo-jin grimaced.
"Kyaaaak!"
Blinded by a single punch, the imugi thrashed wildly in agony.
Moo-jin had seemed laughable at first. It had thought to simply swallow him whole.
How much could a human punch hurt, anyway?
But the pain was far more excruciating than expected.
The fist that struck between its eyes had shattered its skull, and the pressure had ruptured both eyeballs.
"Krrgh..."
But it wasn't over yet.
The imugi had fangs dripping with deadly venom, potent enough to kill anyone in an instant.
It would rip this human apart with those fangs!
Kwaduk—!
Sensing Moo-jin's position instinctively, the imugi gaped its jaws wide and drove its fangs toward his shoulder.
"...?"
No. It tried to.
"What are you doing?"
But Moo-jin's shoulder was like forged from millennium iron—it wouldn't pierce.
"...!?"
Panicking, the imugi clamped its jaws harder, trying to sink its fangs deeper.
Ttang—!
Instead, the fangs bounced off from the rebound force.
"What, trying to grind your teeth? Here, let me help."
Moo-jin grabbed the imugi's fangs—thicker than his own forearms—with both hands and yanked them out.
Paak—!
Like pulling a loose milk tooth, the fangs came free from the imugi's mouth with ridiculous ease.
"Kyaaak!"
Overwhelmed by the inhuman strength and surging pain, the imugi screamed.
"Shut up, you punk. You're deafening me."
Moo-jin tossed the fangs out of the lake, then seized the imugi's upper and lower jaws. He poured all his strength into his arms.
Then, gripping both jaws, he wrenched them in opposite directions, tearing the beast's head clean in half.
Buwook—!
With a gruesome tearing sound like splitting a drum, the imugi's face split apart.
Stunned by the unbelievable human strength, the imugi perished on the spot.
"Th-that can't be..."
Witnessing the surreal scene, Yu-hwa blinked in stunned silence.
The appearance of a beast straight out of the Classic of Mountains and Seas was shocking enough, but Kang Moo-jin ripping it apart barehanded was several times more astonishing.
She wondered if they could even be the same person.
"Yu-hwa, come on over. I made us a bridge."
Having just demonstrated that horrifying feat, Moo-jin smiled faintly as he stretched the imugi's corpse into a bridge across the lake.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who had shown such savagery moments ago.
"That poison this snake bastard had... Think the Tang Family would pay a fortune for it?"
Moo-jin peeled off the imugi's scales like ripping paper, wrapping the two fangs within.
"Heh heh. I can squeeze even more out of those Tang Family guys. Perfect."
Looking at Moo-jin grinning in satisfaction, Yu-hwa let out a small chuckle.
Seeing the Moo-jin she knew eased her tension instantly.
"Alright, let's cross."
Stepping onto the imugi bridge, Moo-jin headed toward the escorts visible on the far side.
For a moment, the Diamond Escort Agency's escorts thought they were dreaming.
They had wished for that monstrous imugi to die for a full year now, so they figured the hallucinations had finally set in.
For that massive, ferocious beast to have its jaws torn apart and die—what else could it be but a dream or illusion?
"Th-this doesn't feel like a dream!?"
One escort rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he stared at the lake.
But even after washing his eyes and looking again, the imugi was dead, and a familiar young man was walking toward them.
"Y-youngest Young Master!?"
The escorts' faces filled with shock upon recognizing Kang Moo-jin.
Why was the missing youngest young master here of all places!?
"This damned formation is showing us hallucinations now!"
Escort Gam-jo backed away, slapping his own cheeks repeatedly.
"It's not a hallucination."
"D-don't lie!"
"You gonna make me believe by retelling that story about how you got drunk, screwed up a big job, and fell into the latrine?"
"...!"
Gam-jo's eyes went wide at the words.
That blunder from over a decade ago was known only to the youngest young master, himself, and a few others.
"I-is it really the Youngest Young Master!?"
"Yeah. Came to rescue you."
"Young Master...!"
Confirming it was truly Kang Moo-jin, hot tears poured from the escorts' eyes.
For the youngest young master to come to this dangerous place to save them...
The emotion was overwhelming; they could barely speak.
"Glad you're all safe. You okay?"
"...Yes! Young Master. S-sob... We're fine."
The escorts, their cheeks sunken and muscles wasted away, nodded.
They looked exhausted and frail, but fortunately, there were no visible injuries.
"What happened?"
"That imugi had us pinned here for a whole year, Young Master."
The escorts glared at the imugi's corpse, eyes still burning with hatred.
"That damned imugi..."
"Forget that snake bastard now that it's dead. Anyway... Big Brother. Is Big Brother still alive?"
After asking, Moo-jin unconsciously swallowed hard.
"Yes! Of course. He broke his leg fighting that imugi bastard, so he's resting inside."
"...!"
Hearing that, Kang Moo-jin bowed his head and let out a deep sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness. Really.'
He had been tense, fearing it might be too late.
With the tension gone, his legs nearly gave out.
If his muscles hadn't held, he might have collapsed right there.
"He's in there?"
"Yes, Young Master. Just go inside."
"Thanks. Rest up for now—you've all been through hell. We'll be out of here soon."
"...!"
Their faces lit up at the promise of escaping the formation.
Finally leaving this hellhole!
It was the moment they had dreamed of.
"Wait a sec. If this is all real... That means the Young Master took down that monster earlier!?"
Gam-jo's words made the other escorts' pupils dilate and jaws drop.
"Y-yeah?"
They had been too shocked earlier to think about it, but now it hit them.
"The Youngest Young Master, who could barely swing a sword..."
"Tore the imugi in half? B-barehanded!?"
Doubt filled the eyes of the stunned escorts.
How on earth had he grown so strong?
"That damned imugi bastard..."
A man with matted black hair and a grimy face—still strikingly handsome—fidgeted with the bandages around his knee.
His knee, shattered by the imugi, was finally healing. This was Kang Moo-seon, second son of the Diamond Escort Agency.
"No matter what it takes, I'll kill you."
Moo-seon gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet.
Honestly, he had no chance against the imugi.
Last time, he hadn't even landed a proper sword strike before its tail smashed his bones.
But a fight isn't over until you give up.
Moo-seon was determined to fell the imugi and escape this wretched formation, come hell or high water.
"Don't worry. The imugi's already dead."
"...?"
Moo-seon whipped his head toward the familiar voice from outside.
"You...!?"
Meeting his wide-eyed brother's gaze, Kang Moo-jin grinned.
"Long time no see, Bro."
"...Why'd you take so damn long?"
Moo-seon grumbled gruffly but couldn't hide his smile.
He tried to play it cool, but the joy was obvious.
"Wanted to see you take down the imugi yourself, so I held off. Took you too long, though."
"Hah! If my legs were fine, I'd have snapped that snake's neck in seconds."
"Wouldn't your neck have snapped first?"
"I just wasn't in the mood. If I was, trash like that snake's nothing."
Moo-jin's smile deepened at his brother's unchanged bravado and swagger.
"Still the same as ever, even after all this time."
"You've changed a lot, though. Been training nonstop?"
Moo-seon whistled at the sight of his brother's perfectly sculpted, muscle-bound physique—without an ounce of fat.
"I've been putting in the work."
"Yeah, I can tell. Where've you been?"
"Got trapped in a formation and ended up in another world. Called the Linked Qi Realm. Full of stuff like that imugi."
Moo-seon frowned and nodded at the brief explanation.
Even those few words hinted at the harsh life his brother had endured.
"They don't wear clothes there or something?"
"Huh?"
"You're just in your underwear."
"...Oh."
Only then did Kang Moo-jin remember something he'd forgotten.
Come to think of it, he'd been practically naked since the fight with the imugi began.