Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Errant Priest
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Click.
Kanghyeok frowned as he inserted the last bullet into the final magazine.
The bullet didn't slide in smoothly.
The magazine wasn't defective, and there was no issue with his skill in loading it.
That meant it was an omen of a bad day.
It was similar to when your shoelaces untie themselves or a mirror breaks for no reason.
“Tsk.”
With a displeased look, Kanghyeok swept the remaining ammunition into his duffel bag. He hastily tied the opening and shoved it under the bed, then looked down at the magazines spread across the mattress.
Now he had spare magazines.
Kanghyeok pulled the pistol from his pocket and tried inserting a new magazine.
Click.
It wasn't a high-quality magazine, so it didn't feel particularly satisfying to slide in.
Still, the spring inside was in good condition, and the bullets it held were serviceable.
The gun was now as good as alive.
He could pull the trigger whenever needed, and it would spit out a bullet just as he intended.
Kanghyeok inspected the pistol before returning it to his pocket, then neatly lined up the magazines on the vanity.
Just as he went to grab his coat hanging by the door, it happened.
Crash!
Kanghyeok, who had reflexively covered his head, glanced at the window, then immediately to the vanity where the mirror had shattered.
A small stone wrapped in clear tape along with a piece of paper.
It lay next to the upright magazines.
A stone too trivial to be terrorism, yet too malicious to be a simple prank.
Kanghyeok took a shard of the mirror and stood by the window.
He used the broken piece to scan the area outside, but there was no one in sight.
“Hoo—!”
What kind of bastard…
Click!
After closing the window and drawing the curtains, Kanghyeok picked up the stone. He then pulled out the paper, which seemed to scream, ‘Look at me!’
Rustle.
The paper was folded only twice.
It was a small piece of paper, and the message written on it was just as short.
But the contents were impossible to ignore.
[Come to the junkyard on the outskirts of the city tomorrow night. If you want information on Iron Mask.]
Information on Iron Mask?
Kanghyeok rubbed his chin and glanced out the window.
Kanghyeok had only mentioned that name to two people.
The Master and the guy who sold him the bullets.
It obviously wasn't the Master.
And the bullet dealer wouldn't dare pull a stunt like this, not after Kanghyeok had dealt with his men.
Then who?
The conclusion was that the dealer had hired someone.
‘Did he hire a killer?’
If so, could the message be trusted?
Kanghyeok thought long and hard before stuffing the paper into his pocket.
He didn't know who sent it, but for now, it was his only lead.
Thump, thump.
The next day, as the sun began to set, Kanghyeok headed for the junkyard. He wore his coat, with his pistol and plenty of spare magazines tucked inside.
The city faded behind him, and the distinct smell of oil and rusted metal from the junkyard grew stronger.
He thought he knew why the man had summoned him here.
There was no one around.
It was on the very edge of the outskirts, so not even a homeless person or a common drug dealer could be seen.
This confirmed the man's intentions.
He wasn't planning on having a pleasant chat in a deserted place. He would surely point a gun or a knife at Kanghyeok.
But Kanghyeok had both of those things as well.
Thump.
Arriving at the junkyard, Kanghyeok looked up at the sky.
The moon, which had been white just moments ago, had turned yellow, and the cool night wind was tearing apart the dark, night-stained clouds.
It was night.
Having arrived at the designated place at the time specified in the message, Kanghyeok put a cigarette to his lips.
Click, phoo!
He wasn't smoking to calm his nerves.
He was smoking to send the scent of tobacco on the wind.
Kanghyeok slowly drew on the filter and exhaled, and soon, a man appeared atop a hill of junked cars.
Kanghyeok looked up at him and brought the cigarette to his mouth.
‘A strange one.’
And dressed all in black.
He wore black pants with many pockets, like a special forces operative, a black bulletproof vest, and a hockey mask cut in half to cover his face from the nose down.
The most striking feature was the white collar around his neck.
It was a Roman collar, something that had no business being worn by a man holding a submachine gun.
That was something worn by Catholic priests.
Kanghyeok narrowed his eyes and searched his memory.
A long time ago—in the future, relative to this timeline—he had seen men wearing Roman collars just like that one.
The memory was so vivid he couldn't forget it.
How could he forget bastards who wore bulletproof cassocks and fired guns on the battlefield?
At first, he thought the Catholic Church had created some terrible hybrid.
But the company's investigation revealed they were a heretical sect, completely unrelated to the orthodox church.
That's why they were nicknamed the ‘Errant Priests’.
‘Could he be one of them?’
But their first appearance was much later than this.
Kanghyeok let the smoke drift from his lips and spoke.
“Were you the one who threw the stone?”
The strange man nodded in reply.
“Tell me what you know. I’ll let you go if you do.”
Click.
The man flicked off the safety on his submachine gun and pointed it at Kanghyeok.
Kanghyeok threw himself to the side as bullets blanketed the spot where he had been standing.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Kanghyeok drew his pistol and flicked the safety off with his thumb in one motion.
He then turned the muzzle toward where the man had been.
‘Gone.’
The spot where the man had stood just a moment ago was empty.
‘He hid the moment his first shots missed.’
His movements were fast.
Kanghyeok held the pistol close to his body and slowly moved toward where the man might be.
His gaze was fixed on the area behind the junked cars where the man had been.
The terrain was like a maze, and the man would surely use it to his advantage.
Splash.
A sound like someone stepping in liquid came from behind a car.
Bang!
He fired reflexively, but heard no scream or groan. Kanghyeok immediately raised his eyes and the gun.
As expected, the man was on top of a junked car.
He was close enough to see the man's eyes.
‘Not much real combat experience, I see.’
The idea of throwing a rock into a puddle to draw his fire and attention, then approaching from a blind spot, was a good one.
But the emotion in the man's eyes was clearly bewilderment.
Bang!
Kanghyeok pulled the trigger again.
He was close enough to blow the man's head off, but the bullet struck his chest instead.
Killing him wasn't the goal.
He still hadn't gotten the information he wanted.
He needed to neutralize him.
“Keok!”
The man toppled off the car and raised his gun toward Kanghyeok.
Bang!
A bullet lodged between the man's chest and shoulder.
Rat-a-tat!
The submachine gun spat out bullets, but they hit the ground some distance away from Kanghyeok. However, the cluster of impacts on the cars and the ground formed a wavering line that tried to close in on him, and—
Bang!
“Kugh!”
Kanghyeok stopped the man's firing with another shot.
Kanghyeok still had his pistol aimed at the man, but he took his finger off the trigger.
He had fired two shots into the same area.
Even with a bulletproof vest, the bones would be fractured.
No matter how much willpower or grit he had, the excruciating pain would make it impossible to move properly…
Stab!
The man pulled an auto-injector resembling a thick pen from his vest pocket and jabbed it into his thigh.
It was the type of injector used in the military, so he knew what it contained.
Morphine.
A powerful narcotic painkiller.
“Tough bastard.”
The moment Kanghyeok muttered in a low voice, the man put his finger back on the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
This time, the volley was so accurate that Kanghyeok had no choice but to dodge.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Feeling the impact of the shots on the car he was hiding behind, Kanghyeok peeked out.
The man was injecting a second dose into his thigh.
He wouldn't be injecting morphine twice in a row, so it had to be atropine.
Kanghyeok leaned the back of his head against the car and let out a long breath.
Facing a guy pumped full of morphine and atropine was tough.
He wouldn't feel pain properly and would be in a temporary state of heightened awareness due to the nerve stimulant.
‘Should I just kill him?’
No, I still need to get the information.
He's my only lead, my only hope.
Kanghyeok squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and leaned out from behind the car.
‘Neutralize him.’
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
As if waiting for him, the submachine gun unleashed another hail of bullets. Kanghyeok ducked back behind the car, waiting for the man to reload.
Click.
The sound of the magazine being released came sooner than expected.
But he couldn't tell if the man was actually reloading or just making the sound to lure him out, so Kanghyeok closed the distance, keeping the wall of junked cars between them.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Clang! Thud! Boom!
Just as he suspected, the man had only pretended to drop the magazine.
The bullets from the submachine gun tore through the windows, frames, and tires of the cars, and Kanghyeok advanced, hunched low.
With a short-barreled pistol, he needed to close the distance for an accurate shot.
Their eyes met through a shattered car window, and they simultaneously aimed their guns at each other.
Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
The first exchange missed both of them.
They had dodged the moment they pulled the trigger.
Click!
The man immediately pulled the trigger again, but the empty submachine gun couldn't fire.
He boldly abandoned the submachine gun.
Thud!
Climbing onto a car, the man drew a combat knife from the back of his belt.
Then he charged at Kanghyeok.
Thwack!
Kanghyeok grabbed the man's collar in mid-air.
The man struggled, clearly not expecting to be caught, and Kanghyeok slammed him onto the ground.
Thump!
The man, who had landed on his back, stared up with wide, bewildered eyes.
Swish!
Even so, he immediately swung the knife, an attack Kanghyeok had anticipated and easily dodged.
Then he aimed the pistol at the chest of the man, who was trying to get up.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets slammed into the man's bulletproof vest.
“Kuaaaargh!”
A scream erupted from behind the man's mask. Seeing that he still hadn't dropped the knife, Kanghyeok pulled the trigger again.
Bang!
The man's body convulsed, as if the bullet had hit the fractured bone.
Even with the painkillers, he wouldn't be able to move easily after that.
Click.
Kanghyeok aimed the pistol at the man's head and spoke.
“Tell me about Iron Mask. I’ll stop here if you do.”
Haa, haa, haaa, haa.
The man let out ragged breaths as he met Kanghyeok's gaze.
“Hah.”
Kanghyeok let out a hollow laugh and twisted his lips.
He's not going to answer?
Even in this state?
“Speak. This is your last chance.”
“I have… nothing… to tell… a sinner.”
“A sinner?”
That wasn't a word you heard every day.
“I… saw. The people… you killed…”
Kanghyeok felt a mix of emotions.
This guy… could he really be one of the Errant Priests?
They talked just like him.
The Errant Priests basically worked as mercenaries, but they only aimed their guns at those they judged to be evil.
If this man was really a member of the Errant Priests and had been active in this area, the probability that he knew about Iron Mask would increase exponentially.
“Damn it.”
Kanghyeok lowered his gun and reached for the man's face.
The man resisted, trying to push Kanghyeok's hand away, but it was easy enough to remove the mask.
It was the youthful face of someone who had just become an adult.
Like a member of the Errant Priests who had only recently started his activities.