Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: I'll Give You a Chance
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Kanghyeok chuckled at the man and resumed climbing the stairs.
‘What’s their game?’
Are they planning to kidnap me?
Or are they just going to rob me of all my money?
I didn't know their intentions, but I could tell this building was being used for something, contrary to its appearance.
*Thud, thud.*
And the higher I climbed, the clearer the smell became.
A smell all too familiar, one I could never forget.
The smell of metal and gunpowder.
I had a hunch I’d really be able to get weapons at the top of these stairs.
So Kanghyeok silently followed his guide up the stairs.
“Are the other floors not in use?”
“Well, storage, mostly.”
The man answered dismissively and led him to the fifth floor, the building's highest.
*Bang, bang!*
The man pounded on the steel door as if to break it down. After a series of metallic clanks from inside, a large man opened the door.
The guide didn't go in.
He stepped aside, letting only Kanghyeok pass.
Kanghyeok walked past the large man and entered, heading down a corridor lit only by red lamps, toward the deepest part of the floor.
Not a single word was exchanged during this time.
*Click.*
Unlike the rest of the dilapidated interior, a relatively decent-looking door opened, and bright lights greeted Kanghyeok.
And, fitting for such a place, a group of menacing-looking men surrounded him as if to trap him.
“Step forward. Let me see your face.”
At the voice from within, the men parted to the left and right, allowing Kanghyeok to see the speaker.
Judging by his physique alone, with his potbelly, he could have passed for an ordinary local.
But the gold on his wrist and neck, the scar cutting diagonally through his right eyebrow, and the wild look in his eyes revealed he was a man who made his living through rough business.
“How did you find your way here?”
“I'm looking for something.”
Some of the men nearby shot him curious glances.
The atmosphere was intimidating enough to make anyone shrink back.
The place, the people, the situation.
Yet, Kanghyeok’s lack of fear left a strong impression that he was no ordinary man.
“I like your nerve. So, what are you looking for?”
“Bullets and a knife.”
The man’s snake-like eyes fixed on Kanghyeok as he twisted his lips.
“Are you a cop?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I need them for personal reasons.”
The man stared at Kanghyeok for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“What do you want?”
“9x21mm IMI rounds and magazines. As for the knife, something suitable.”
“How many?”
“Five boxes, 500 rounds each. I'll decide on the knife after I see it.”
“…Are you an errand boy?”
It was too large a quantity for one person.
It was reasonable to assume he was an errand boy for some gang, and the other men either blocked the entrance or distanced themselves slightly from Kanghyeok.
If Kanghyeok was part of a gang, it could lead to all sorts of trouble.
Other men could suddenly storm in, brandishing guns and knives, and raid their stash.
“I'm not affiliated with anyone.”
“It'd be wise not to lie. There are a lot of scary people here.”
He felt a gritty discomfort, as if his mouth were full of sand, and a suffocating pressure, like vipers closing in from all sides, tightened around him.
“I'll give you one more chance. Who are you with?”
Kanghyeok ran his tongue over his lips and spoke.
“No one.”
The man was silent for a while.
“Tsk.”
Then he clicked his tongue and gestured to one of the men near Kanghyeok.
The man opened the door and went out. The boss turned his glistening eyes back to Kanghyeok.
“You got the money?”
“Let me see the goods first.”
“He went to get them. Just show me you have it.”
“The goods come first.”
“Cocky bastard. You don't even know what kind of place this is.”
He was right, so Kanghyeok simply remained silent.
He didn't know who this man was, nor did he care to find out.
All that mattered was getting what he needed.
Kanghyeok scanned the surrounding men with just his eyes.
None of them were carrying guns.
Instead, the bulges in their pockets suggested they were carrying things like knives or collapsible batons.
If anything went wrong, these men were ready to crush Kanghyeok at a moment's notice.
*Creak.*
The man who had left returned, shouldering the door open while carrying a military-style duffel bag.
The duffel bag was placed in front of Kanghyeok.
“Check it.”
Kanghyeok kept his eyes fixed on the boss as he opened the bag.
Inside were five ammo boxes, each the size of a cigarette carton.
There were ten magazines compatible with his pistol, and ten knives as well.
But among them, only one knife looked serviceable.
From the cloth-wrapped hilt to the curved blade, it resembled a smaller version of a Japanese katana.
After testing the blade's sharpness with his thumb, Kanghyeok spoke.
“I'll take this one.”
“You've got a good eye. Now it's time to pay up.”
Kanghyeok slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and tucked the knife into his belt.
“How much?”
“Total, $5,700.”
About seven and a half million won.
Expensive.
Absurdly so.
But gun ownership was illegal in Mexico, and men in this line of work were risking their lives.
One could consider it hazard pay, but even so, the price was too steep.
*Sigh.*
Letting out a sigh through his nose, Kanghyeok took out his wallet and handed over a thick wad of cash.
“Smart move. Not even trying to haggle.”
“I'm used to places like this.”
If he had tried to bargain even a little, the men around him would have lunged to carve off a piece of his flesh.
Kanghyeok turned to leave, then shifted his gaze as if he had just remembered something.
“By any chance, do you deal in rarer items?”
“Hmm?”
“Unusual things. If you don't have any, I'd appreciate a referral. I'll pay a finder's fee.”
Iron Mask.
That was the man Kanghyeok was looking for.
He was probing to see if the man knew anything related to him. The boss stared at Kanghyeok, his mouth slightly agape, before raising one corner of his lip in a smirk.
“Get going.”
The man wouldn't talk.
Kanghyeok sucked in his lips and walked toward the door.
He could feel sharp glares on his back, but it seemed they were letting him go more easily than expected.
But was that really the case?
In front of the door, Kanghyeok lowered his gaze to the doorknob.
The polished doorknob reflected the room's interior like a mirror.
It even reflected the boss, his eyes filled with greed and caution, jutting his chin toward Kanghyeok.
It seemed they had no intention of letting Kanghyeok leave alive.
Perhaps everyone, including the guide who brought him here, was in on it. They might have planned to take back the ammo and knife right after selling them.
Pathetic.
I can give them what they want anytime.
But not here.
It's too cramped to fight properly.
Kanghyeok took a deep breath and twisted the doorknob.
He stepped out into the hallway and started walking. As expected, the men began to follow him.
*Thud, thud.*
It was as if he were a king in a procession, with a retinue of lackeys trailing behind him.
At the thick steel door at the end of the corridor, Kanghyeok stopped.
The men following him also stopped. Kanghyeok set down the duffel bag and cracked his neck to the side.
*Crack.*
The sound of bones aligning was accompanied by a pleasant coolness spreading through his body.
“Let's begin.”
The moment Kanghyeok finished speaking.
*Shing, shwick.*
The sounds of knives being drawn and batons being extended filled the air.
Kanghyeok drew the knife from his belt and turned to face the intense killing intent.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
This corridor wasn't wide, but it had its advantages.
Being long and narrow, only one or two people could attack at a time.
*Swoosh!*
He dodged a knife lunging for his face by leaning back,
*Thwack!*
then grabbed the man's collar, pulled him forward, and plunged the knife into his solar plexus.
“Gack!”
The man's scream erupted close to his face.
*Grind!*
As he twisted the knife, the man’s body convulsed violently before going still. Kanghyeok shoved him aside and turned his gaze and blade toward another man swinging a baton.
*Clang!*
Sparks flew for a brief moment as the baton and knife collided.
*Screech!*
Kanghyeok pushed the baton away with his knife and closed the distance.
How long had it been since he'd faced multiple enemies with a single blade?
It had certainly been a long time.
*Thump! Thump!*
His heart pounded as if meeting an old friend.
*Thud!*
He kicked the man in the stomach, causing him to drop the baton and crumble. Kanghyeok then slammed the pommel of his knife into the temple of another approaching man.
*Whirl!*
Then, he spun the knife in his hand and brought it down in a swift strike.
*Pfft! Pshhh!*
Blood spurted from the man's severed artery, spraying high enough to touch the ceiling.
The red lighting made it hard to see, but the spreading warmth and the smell of blood seemed to heat the air.
I knew it would come to this.
Ever since the guides who led me here acted suspiciously.
So why did I follow them so obediently?
*Scrape!*
Kanghyeok pushed aside the duffel bag that was in his way.
Filled with magazines and ammo boxes, the bag moved with a heavy thud.
It was for this.
Although I didn't get any information on Iron Mask, I got everything I needed for my immediate operations.
I paid a steep price, but what does it matter?
These men are about to pay for their greed with their lives.
*Stab!*
“Grrrrk!”
A man, stabbed in the throat, let out a grotesque scream and grabbed Kanghyeok's wrist, while another lunged with a cleaver-like blade held high.
Kanghyeok spun, switching places with the man holding his wrist.
*Thwack!*
The cleaver sank deep into the man's shoulder.
“Krrrk!”
With a scream thick with the scent of blood, the man's grip slackened.
Kanghyeok counted the number of men still standing.
‘A lot.’
The room where they'd made the deal had felt cramped with them, and it seemed they had all followed him out to get him. There was no shortage of them.
The thought of drawing his pistol briefly crossed his mind.
But one thing bothered him.
These men hadn't drawn any guns.
As arms dealers, they couldn't possibly be without firearms, yet not a single one of them had brought a gun.
No one even went to get one.
Is there a reason?
A reason they can't use guns, even when their lives are on the line?
“Die!”
One of them suddenly rushed forward, and Kanghyeok dropped low, slicing the man's inner thigh with his knife.
*Pshhh!*
“Kuaaaargh!”
Kanghyeok dodged an incoming baton and slammed the man against the wall.
*Thud!*
He drove his knee into the man's solar plexus, then, holding his knife in a reverse grip, brought it down squarely on his spine.
*Crack!*
This man would never have proper control of his body again.
“Agh! Ahhh...”
Kanghyeok flicked the tip of his knife and his gaze backward simultaneously.
*Stab!*
The blade sank deep into the throat of a man trying to attack him from behind,
*Psh!*
and as he pulled it out, he slashed it diagonally across the face of another hesitant man.
“Uwaaaaaah! Aaaaaah!”
The man clutched his face, his screams echoing deafeningly down the corridor.
Kanghyeok cast a terrifying glare at the remaining men.
“Aaaargh! My eye, my eyeee!”
Was it because of the heart-wrenching screams?
Or was it the stench of death rising from the corpses?
The men's momentum was not what it had been at the start.
Those who met Kanghyeok's gaze faltered, and one of them slipped on the blood, making a pathetic sight.
*Splish.*
Stepping through the blood, Kanghyeok took a step toward them.
In response, they awkwardly brandished their weapons and took more than two steps back.
They must have thought they could handle a single man, but unfortunately for them, Kanghyeok was not the weak person they had hoped for.
“I'll give you a chance.”
The men listened, their trembling blades still pointed at Kanghyeok.
“Kneel.”
An intensely terrifying silence.
The silence was broken by the sound of a knife falling into a pool of blood.
The men, having decided they couldn't defeat Kanghyeok, began to drop their weapons and kneel.