The Tyrant's Hunting Method (5)
“P-please... spare me....”
Go Pil-hun was on his knees on the floor, begging for his life in a groveling heap.
Both eyes were swollen shut, and his whole face had turned a bruise-purple mess. All of his front teeth were gone, so every word leaked out in a wet, slurred mess.
“I’m sooorrryy.”
They said a beating was the best medicine.
After killing his former lover, fleeing to the United States, and somehow snagging the position of Dio Guild representative, Go Pil-hun had finally learned his place.
I crouched down so our eyes were level.
“You ready to talk now?”
Go Pil-hun nodded so hard it looked like his neck might snap.
“Pick one of two. First: rot in prison until you’re old and dead.”
Despair flooded Go Pil-hun’s eyes.
Of course he’s scared.
Who would want to spend the rest of their life in prison?
Ever since Gates opened, the prisons had been crawling with vicious criminals. It wasn’t rare for inmates to kill themselves after they could no longer stand the bullying inside those iron bars.
“W-what’s the s-second one?”
As if anything had to be better than the first option, he leaned forward with a sliver of hope.
“Second: hand over all your Dio Guild shares to me and disappear overseas. Manager Lee will help you get out.”
Lee Yu-seol, standing beside me, folded her arms and lifted the corners of her red lips.
“T-tha—”
Go Pil-hun shook his head violently, as if trying to fling it off his shoulders.
He was rejecting the offer with every ounce of his being.
“Oh, right. Did I forget to mention something? You have to choose one of the two. Refusal isn’t an option.”
I raised my fist as I spoke.
“Or what. Want to start over from the beginning? Doesn’t matter to me.”
Human beings were creatures of forgetfulness. If I fed him Judgment of the Superhuman from head to toe, he’d curl right back into obedience.
“N-no!!”
Go Pil-hun trembled like a herbivore pissing itself in terror.
“Ugh....”
But he still couldn’t make a choice.
Human beings were also creatures of greed.
Letting go of the wealth already in their hands was never easy.
Actually, breaking Go Pil-hun here would be simple enough.
What’s hard is breaking him all the way down to the bone.
Villains were villains for a reason.
You couldn’t trust them just because they told you smooth-sounding lies. If Go Pil-hun broke his promise and vanished, the one who’d be left eating the loss was me.
Maybe I should sweet-talk him a little.
I grabbed him by the shoulder.
“I’m not asking for the shares for free. Of course I’ll pay you something fair in return.”
The Purple Devil was the hero who judged evil.
He punished wickedness and robbed the wicked blind, sure—but once in a while, he also made a fair deal.
It was time to use the hidden slush fund buried beneath Paradise Garden, where the Cheonyang-ji cult leader had lived.
“I’ll pay you cash equal to the value of your shares. Money’s what you want, right? You hand Dio Guild over to me, then spend the rest of your life living it up. How’s that? Pretty fair, isn’t it?”
Go Pil-hun had been planning to sell Dio Guild to an overseas buyer anyway.
Since a buyer had shown up on cue, it wasn’t a bad deal for him.
Of course, there was one condition.
“We’ll set the price at a reasonable level for both sides.”
The reason Go Pil-hun still hadn’t sold Dio Guild was because he’d set the asking price absurdly higher than its actual appraised value.
“Ghh....”
Go Pil-hun groaned as he was forced to choose.
I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
“Ahh—!”
He winced and hunched inward.
“There’s one more choice, actually.”
“...A-and?”
I focused mana into my right fist.
A sinister aura rose from my body like smoke.
Lee Yu-seol, who had been standing nearby, uncrossed her arms and swallowed hard.
“Third: you just die here. Quietly. No one has to know.”
I had already smashed Seo Gwang-pal’s head to pieces with Judgment of the Superhuman.
I didn’t even need to rely on the Awakened Balance.
Even without borrowing a hero’s power, I could do it.
It’s enough.
I imagined crushing Go Pil-hun’s skull to dust.
Go Pil-hun jerked in alarm.
He’d felt it—the intent to kill.
In other words, he’d sensed my killing intent.
Lee Yu-seol stepped in to mediate.
“H-hurry up and decide. Unless you want to high-five your brother in the afterlife.”
“....”
Slowly, Go Pil-hun lowered his gaze.
All fight gone from him.
He let out a helpless sigh.
The swaggering arrogance he’d been wearing until now was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe the alcohol had finally worn off, and reality had started to sink in.
Or maybe he’d been a coward from the beginning.
“I’m counting to three. Answer me. One....”
Go Pil-hun put both hands together and begged with a face twisted by terror.
“I’ll t-turn over the shares. P-please, spare me.”
Go Pil-hun trudged away with his shoulders slumped, his back looking pitiful beyond words.
After negotiating Dio Guild’s price and hammering out the rough terms of the transfer, Lee Yu-seol whistled softly.
“Congratulations. I guess I have to call you Representative Choi now.”
I’d bought the factory and taken Dio Guild into my hands.
I was steadily ticking off the goals I’d set for myself after my regression.
Even so, it still felt a little unreal.
“Don’t you want it?”
“Want what?”
“You want to take Dio Guild for yourself instead of me.”
“No way. I’m good at knowing my place.”
Lee Yu-seol walked lightly, like a cat basking in a lazy afternoon.
“I’m satisfied just knowing Dio Guild didn’t end up in some idiot’s hands.”
She tipped her head back.
The sky over Yeongjong Island was gray with smog, buried under a heavy blanket of clouds.
“I think he’d be satisfied too.”
Just as I had once admired heroes, Lee Yu-seol had harbored a special feeling for Go Ju-hun.
To her, I was the man who had murdered the person she’d adored.
And now here I was, working side by side with her to get revenge.
Life was absurdly ironic.
“So what do I do now? I’ve already lined up the smuggling boat. Once the contract’s done, I just put Go Pil-hun on it and send him to China, right?”
Take the shares, then spirit Go Pil-hun out of the country.
He’d lost Dio Guild, sure, but he could probably live decently enough for the rest of his days.
I can’t let him end up like that.
A true hero had to chase evil to the ends of hell and destroy it there.
“I’m not sending him off that easily.”
“Right. So you’re going to break your promise?”
Now then, let’s think this through.
Should I treat a promise made to a villain like it was nothing and ignore it?
Or should I at least keep some semblance of a line?
The answer’s obvious.
I might be a liar, but I was a liar with principles.
I couldn’t break trust with myself.
I reached into the bag I’d brought and pulled something out.
“Use this.”
“What is that?”
A circular chunk of monster flesh.
The mouth of the Dirty Kraken.
I’d pulled out all the teeth and sold them already.
Because the Dirty Kraken incident had been all over the news, the auction had turned into a bidding war the moment the teeth went up.
Who knew they’d go for 87.5 billion won?
Even after taxes, more than 50 billion won had gone straight into my pocket.
As for the Dirty Kraken’s mouth, minus the teeth, I kept the rest.
It was such a grotesque piece of trash that it didn’t seem useful for anything anymore.
But for this operation, it was a valuable final piece.
“This thing’s going to handle the cleanup nice and clean.”
A week passed.
Legally speaking, the shares Go Pil-hun had owned were transferred to someone else intact.
Dio Guild had changed hands.
It was an unprecedented event in hunter history, and it had happened at lightning speed.
In the early morning, Go Pil-hun arrived at the port.
He had pulled a hat low over his face and put on sunglasses and a mask.
“Where the hell is it?”
With the help of an S-class healer, he’d managed to get dental implants, but the cuts on his face still hadn’t healed, so he looked like a total wreck.
“That bastard Choi Yongki. He didn’t actually trick me, did he?”
Choi Yongki had promised to arrange a smuggling boat in exchange for Dio Guild.
“If he screws me, then I’m going scorched earth too.”
Go Pil-hun had learned that Choi Yongki was the Purple Devil.
Even if he managed to seize the Dio Guild representative seat, there were plenty of ways to expose Choi Yongki’s secret.
The murder of Seo Gwang-pal and the guild agent.
And the killing of Go Ju-hun.
If the world ever learned the true face behind the hero called Choi Yongki, it would shake everything upside down.
“Heh. That’d be pretty entertaining, actually.”
Go Pil-hun clenched his fake teeth and made a vow.
Just wait, Choi Yongki.
Even if he was cornered now and had no choice but to run,
one day, I’ll make you pay for this!
A big man emerged from the darkness and waved.
“Over here. This way.”
He was the captain who would smuggle Go Pil-hun overseas.
The captain had a scar across his face and a big mermaid tattoo on his forearm.
Go Pil-hun followed him as he was led forward.
“Don’t tell me this is it?”
The boat waiting for him was pathetic.
It was an ancient little fishing boat with three illegal engines bolted onto it.
A painted name on the oil-stained prow caught his eye.
God Mother.
It was the kind of name usually given to women’s ships.
“Let’s go. I’ll get you there safe and sound.”
The captain grinned, flashing gold teeth.
“Hmph.”
Go Pil-hun snorted and climbed aboard.
The smuggling boat set out for open water.
They say if it rains, it pours, and sure enough, the instant they left the harbor, a storm rolled in with fierce wind and slashing rain.
The old tub rocked so violently it looked ready to flip at any second.
A bucket of saltwater slapped Go Pil-hun straight in the face.
As the shock jolted him awake, reality finally sank in.
This wasn’t just a smuggling trip—at this rate, they were all going to....
We’re all going to die.
Go Pil-hun grabbed the mast.
“Is this actually okay?”
“Oh, come on now. The weather’s a little nasty today, that’s all. Don’t worry—I’m a smuggling expert, aren’t I? Something like this is nothing.... whoa!”
The captain casually turned the wheel while swaying on his feet.
After a while, thankfully, the typhoon passed, and the sea became calm again as if nothing had ever happened.
The captain soothed him.
“We’re good. Looks like it wasn’t a big one after all.”
“Whew. I thought I was dead for sure.”
Go Pil-hun kept exhaling in relief.
“Go in, get some good sleep, and you’ll be there when you wake up.”
The captain said it with easygoing cheerfulness as he opened the cabin door.
“...I’m beat. You got any booze in here?”
“We’ve got makgeolli. Want a cup?”
“No whiskey?”
“Only makgeolli....”
“Tch. Fine, gimme.”
Go Pil-hun sipped the makgeolli and checked the bag slung over his shoulder.
Inside the big bag were stacks of hundred-dollar bills.
It was the payment he’d received for handing over Dio Guild shares.
All of it had been paid by Choi Yongki.
The total came to several hundred billion won.
Heh. At this rate....
A luxury hotel, sunset beaches, casinos, sports cars, beautiful women.
The amount was more than enough to let him live like a degenerate for the rest of his life and still have money left over.
Choi Yongki, you stupid bastard....
Just then, the cabin door opened and the captain poked his head in.
“Need anything else? Want me to slice up some kimchi as an appetizer?”
Suddenly, Go Pil-hun glared at him.
Is this bastard planning to steal my money?
Then he shook his head.
No. Don’t worry about it.
Go Pil-hun had been a hunter.
He knew the difference between Awakened and ordinary people.
The captain was big enough, sure, but he was definitely a normal human.
Even if he suddenly turned into a robber and came at him, Go Pil-hun wouldn’t have any trouble handling him.
“No thanks. I’m going to sleep. Get lost.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
The captain closed the door without another word.
As the alcohol spread through him, Go Pil-hun grew drowsy.
Sleep took him, and he nodded off for a bit.
“Huh?”
When he opened his eyes, Go Pil-hun felt something missing.
The money bag he’d been hugging precious to his chest was gone.
He shot to his feet, shoved the door open, and stormed outside.
“Oh? You’re awake already? I did drug the drink, but I guess hunters wake up fast.”
The captain calmly drifted farther and farther away on a rubber boat.
In his hands was Go Pil-hun’s money bag.
“You son of a bitch! Stop right there! I’ll kill you!!!”
Go Pil-hun crouched like he was about to leap straight into the sea.
The captain pointed toward the prow of the boat.
“See that?”
Something was stuck to the bow.
A black, round mass.
A sun-dried chunk of monster flesh.
“That’s the Dirty Kraken’s mouth. Let’s see now... should be about time for it to show up. Oh, there it is.”
Something enormous was rushing up from beneath the surface.
“Aaaah! ...What the hell is that?”
“That’s a giant anglerfish. A mutated fish that grew up eating fish that leaked out of Gates. It’s whale-sized and loves octopus. Especially the Dirty Kraken’s mouth—it absolutely goes crazy for that stuff.... whoa, that’s scary. Well, I’m off!”
The captain waved and fled in the rubber boat.
Before long, the giant anglerfish had reached the bottom of the smuggling boat.
“Damn it!”
Go Pil-hun hurled himself into the sea.
At the same moment, the giant anglerfish opened its maw wide.
“Kraaaahh!!!!”
The mouth bristling with countless teeth was as large as a house.
It was already too late to run.
Then Go Pil-hun caught sight of the painted letters on the bow.
Where Mother had been, the Dirty Kraken’s mouth now clung like a stain.
Only one word remained.
God.
God?
Like a flash, an old memory swept through Go Pil-hun’s mind.
They were the last words his lover, Gu Bo-yeon, had spoken before she died.
“You piece of trash. You’re going to get exactly what you deserve.”
Was there some transcendent being in the universe?
Did karma really circle back around?
What about justice—was it truly the wicked who would be punished in the end?
Before he could even answer any of those questions—
“H-holy shit!!!”
With that final scream, laced with every curse in the book,
the giant anglerfish swallowed the smuggling boat and Go Pil-hun whole.