Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: A Shot in the Dark
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Thump, thump.
Kanghyeok headed deeper into the building with the survivors.
It was a similar scene to when he had left the room after their deal, but the atmosphere was completely different.
If before he’d felt like he was being hunted, now Kanghyeok felt like their king.
The palpable defeat and fear etched on their faces solidified this atmosphere.
Clank!
The door opened and Kanghyeok returned to the room. The man inside, who had been smoking a cigarette, groaned and glared.
“Damn it.”
He already knew what had happened from watching the CCTV.
It had been a gruesome, chilling sight.
But seeing Kanghyeok brazenly return to the room, followed by his men with their heads bowed low, made him feel his stomach churn and rot with rage.
Grit.
His lips pressed into a thin line, he clenched his teeth, opened a drawer, and pulled out a bundle of cash.
“I’ll give this back.”
His pride wouldn't let him say what he truly meant: *please, just leave.*
Kanghyeok’s gaze shifted from the man to the bundle of money.
Then, he took only half of it.
He left just enough to cover a fair price for the equipment he had bought there, but the fact that he didn't take all the money dealt an even greater blow to the man's pride.
‘This son of a bitch.’
He wouldn't be showing mercy or consideration to an opponent who'd tried to kill him. This meant he was just toying with him, and there was no way he could feel good about that.
In any case, the money went into Kanghyeok's pocket.
Just as everyone in the room was hoping Kanghyeok would leave quietly, he spoke.
“Iron Mask.”
This was his reason for returning.
He hadn't been able to get an answer before, but he hoped things would be different this time.
Everyone except Kanghyeok reacted in a way that couldn't be ignored.
Silence and bewilderment.
And tension.
“Tell me everything you know.”
Kanghyeok commanded in a low voice. The man before him finally managed to exhale the breath he had been unconsciously holding.
“What are you?”
“Whatever just popped into your head. Tell me that.”
The man definitely knew something.
But he didn't speak easily, and a long silence followed.
Still, it was a bearable silence.
His lips twitched, and his eyes, filled with anguish, darted about as if lost.
Kanghyeok smoked his cigarette, waiting for the man to answer. Finally, the man’s lips twisted as he spoke.
“They’re people who sell all sorts of things.”
“Where can I go to meet them?”
“I don't know that much.”
The man glanced at Kanghyeok, then continued in a strained voice.
“I don’t know anything. If I did, we would have started dealing with them long ago.”
“Where are the people who do deal with them?”
“Do you think people like that would get involved with us?”
Kanghyeok stared into the man's eyes for a while before exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke like a sigh.
He was being sincere. What this guy was saying.
It seemed that not only was contacting Iron Mask difficult, but even finding those who dealt with them was no easy task.
Their influence appeared to be vast.
Even these guys, who occupied an entire abandoned building, hoped to do business with Iron Mask.
Just how large was their operation?
Grit.
The man bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. Kanghyeok stubbed out his cigarette, his gaze and attention shifting away from the man.
There seemed to be nothing more to learn here.
“I’ll see you again.”
Kanghyeok walked out the door.
Thud!
As the door closed firmly, the man bit his lip as if to chew it off and let out a scream-like roar.
“Son of a biiitch!”
“B-Boss, are you alright?”
“Shut up! You bastard!”
Smack!
The man swung his fist at the subordinate approaching him.
The hapless underling collapsed with a bloody nose, and the man screamed again.
He couldn't bear the feeling of being utterly toyed with by the unknown Kanghyeok without lashing out like this.
Back at his lodgings, Kanghyeok opened his duffel bag and took out the magazines.
After checking that they were fine, he took out a box of bullets, removed the packaged rounds, and began loading them into the empty magazines.
Click, clack.
Filling magazines was always tedious.
Especially when you had to insert the bullets one by one without a dedicated tool.
Still, it wasn't all bad.
Click, clack.
Repetitive, simple labor had a meditative quality.
Negative emotions like anxiety or impatience faded away, replaced by the fulfilling sense of doing something productive.
This was important.
He had failed to get information on Iron Mask.
The emptiness born from this could easily lead to a sense of powerlessness.
But Kanghyeok soothed this void by filling the magazines as if performing a ritual.
Kanghyeok set aside the full magazine, picked up a new empty one, and started loading it with bullets.
Thankfully, there were quite a few empty magazines.
Enough to organize his thoughts.
‘I need someone who knows about them.’
It seemed vague at first, but it wasn't an impossible task.
If he scoured the area and made contact with gangs or arms dealers, someone connected was bound to turn up.
The problems were time and efficiency.
Stirring things up would inevitably start rumors, and once those spread, contacting Iron Mask would become more difficult.
Click.
The moment he inserted the last bullet into the second magazine, his concentration broke, and a stray thought popped into his head.
He wished someone who knew about Iron Mask would just show up out of the blue.
“Hah!”
The thought was so absurd, even to himself, that Kanghyeok let out a laugh and reached for a new magazine.
It was at that exact moment.
The LED on his phone, which he had tossed aside, started blinking.
There weren't many people who would call Kanghyeok.
Picking up the phone, Kanghyeok checked the caller ID and put down the magazine in his other hand.
He pressed the call button and answered.
(It's been a while.)
Was it because he was in a foreign land?
Even with her business-like tone, Leila's voice was a welcome sound.
“What's up?”
(I'm on vacation.)
It seemed she had finally gotten her long-postponed leave.
“Congratulations.”
(I'm disappointed. If you were going to be away, you could have at least told me beforehand.)
“Something came up.”
(So, where did you go for your vacation?)
“Vacation?”
(Isn't it a vacation? William said you were on leave.)
Kanghyeok frowned.
William said that?
‘Why?’
Two reasons immediately came to mind.
If he was on vacation, the company wouldn't look for him.
Perhaps he played the "vacation" card to guarantee Kanghyeok's freedom of action.
‘The other is…’
If Kanghyeok was in danger, the company would try to help in any way it could.
Because to the company, Kanghyeok was someone they couldn't afford to lose.
But if an unforeseen incident occurred during a vacation, not a mission, even the company's response would be delayed.
They wouldn't be able to provide timely assistance.
Which was William's intention?
Was he trying to help?
Or was he trying to put him in danger?
(Kanghyeok?)
Leila's questioning voice came through the receiver, and Kanghyeok clicked his tongue softly before speaking.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about something else.”
(If you're busy, I'll hang up.)
“No, it's not that. By the way, did William say anything else?”
(Did something happen between you two?)
“Why?”
(William seemed different from usual, too. He looked like he had a lot on his mind.)
Kanghyeok twisted his lips into a silent smirk.
He was the one who should have a lot on his mind.
He had to figure out what William was up to, and he also had to dig up information on Iron Mask.
But he couldn't reveal any of this to Leila, a company employee, so Kanghyeok swallowed his words with a sense of bitterness.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“He's probably just busy with something. Anyway, where are you for your vacation?”
(Korea.)
“Really?”
(A safe place is better for a vacation, don't you think?)
“That's true.”
Leila had taken a vacation to LA before.
(Any tourist spots you'd recommend?)
“If you like something exotic, the Folk Village or the Jeonju Hanok Village. If you prefer the city, Gangnam or Hongdae.”
(What about Itaewon?)
“It's convenient, but it's not a place to relax. Oh, there was a café near the station that made good cappuccinos. I don't know if it's still there, though.”
Kanghyeok had been there a few times when he was in Korea, but he had always gotten tired of the overly foreign atmosphere.
Perhaps he just didn't feel the need to see in Korea what he could already see so commonly here.
(Alright. I'll be sure to visit the places you recommended. But where did you go for your vacation?)
Kanghyeok paused for a moment before answering.
“Mexico.”
(That's unexpected. Is it an area with a lot of Koreans?)
Kanghyeok looked out the window as he replied.
“That's right.”
Many Koreans lived in Monterrey.
It wasn't quite a Koreatown, but you could easily find signs in Korean, and you could also spot Korean food ingredients or shopping bags with the logos of large Korean discount stores.
But one shouldn't get the wrong idea.
This place wasn't like Itaewon in Korea.
As long as you only went out during the day and stuck to safe places, it wasn't particularly dangerous.
But if you didn't, you could experience things that were unimaginable in Korea, just as Kanghyeok had.
(But is it really a vacation?)
Sensing something, Leila asked in a low voice.
“I'm not working.”
(Then it's a vacation. As someone whose vacation schedule overlaps, if there's anywhere we could check out together, please let me know.)
Was it because she was a support agent?
Leila had definitely sensed something, and she had even offered to help.
“Thanks for the offer. But I'd rather wander around alone.”
He was sincere when he said thank you.
But Kanghyeok politely declined.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Leila, with whom he had worked well, but this was a strictly personal matter, and he wasn't shameless enough to drag someone on vacation into it.
(I understand. I'm a little disappointed.)
Leila said, showing a rare hint of emotion. Kanghyeok's lips curved into a faint smile as he said he was sorry.
(I hope you can get what you want.)
“Thanks. That helps.”
Kanghyeok replied from his room in Monterrey, Mexico, a foreign land where he was all alone.
There was no one else here.
Only Kanghyeok, with no one to help and no one to trust.
Leila's call, coming in the middle of a journey that felt like searching for a needle in a desert, was undoubtedly a great source of strength for Kanghyeok.
(Don't mention it.)
“Let's talk again later.”
(Yes, I hope to hear good news.)
“Have a good vacation.”
(Thank you.)
After the call ended, Kanghyeok put a cigarette to his lips.
He smoked one in silence, then started filling the magazine with bullets again.
Click!
There was more force in his fingers than before.
Ziiiiip.
A zipper was pulled shut on a large plastic bag.
This was inside the building of the men who had attacked Kanghyeok and been killed. A pile of zipped bags was stacked against one wall.
Splish, splash.
A mop moved over the bloodstains left after the bags were cleared away. But it felt more like it was spreading the blood than wiping it up.
There was just too much of it.
Grit.
The man, his face contorted with despair and rage, let out ragged breaths as he watched his subordinates clean up.
Just how many of his men had died?
And yet, they hadn't managed to leave a single scratch on that bastard.
He'd thought he could make some money off an animal that had wandered into his house, but instead, he felt like that animal had torn off his arm.
The humiliation was too great, and he felt that only by eliminating that bastard could his wounded pride be restored, even just a little.
“Bring me a gun.”
From the man with the mop to the ones handling the body bags, everyone froze and turned to look at him.
“B-But Boss, if you use a gun…”
“Shut up and just bring it!”
The men hesitated, then all looked at one person.
As if pushed, that man brought a loaded pistol from the storage room. The boss's eyes gleamed as he took the gun.
But he couldn't immediately pull the trigger.
“Boss, maybe you should reconsider…”
The man glared at the pistol in his hand without responding.
At some point, using a gun in this area had become taboo.
Gangs, with their power, used them from time to time, but these men were not a gang.
That's why they hadn't been able to use a gun even while being taken down by Kanghyeok.
There was someone who showed up whenever a gunshot rang out.
A madman, a zealot, or a brat.
He had many nicknames, but no one knew his real name.
Even though they hated his guts, no one had been able to get rid of that bastard!
He didn't want to face him, but he needed his skills.
“Huu, huu!”
The man slowly began to squeeze the trigger.
Then, just before it fired, he squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger with a sudden burst of force.
Bang!
The gunshot pierced through the building and echoed far into the distance.