One Trillion Yuan
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Woo Shin! Look over here, please!"
"Wow! He smiled at me!"
"Haha, thank you for the warm welcome. I'll be heading inside now."
Creeeak.
Thud.
The moment the doors of the palace-like mansion swung shut, the kindly smile on Woo Shin's face vanished, replaced by a look of pure ice.
"Tsk… Hey. Clear out everyone at the entrance."
"Yes, sir."
The subordinate who had been holding the door for him nodded and headed straight back outside.
"Every dog and his brother shows up at my front door. I really need to move…"
Clink.
Thud.
Woo Shin set a billion-won watch down on the table, slipped into a pair of slippers, and made his way toward the kitchen.
Lately, the number of people turning up at his house had exploded. Part of him wanted to wipe them all out, but he had carefully cultivated the image of a hunter with a good heart—so he couldn't just do whatever he pleased.
"Should've just lived however I wanted, like the rest of them. I built this whole nice-guy image to make some extra cash, and all I got for it is more stress."
He reached the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of water.
Click.
"And why the hell haven't those bastards been in touch?"
He took a swig and glared at his phone, irritation mounting.
The guys he'd sent to Korea had promised to send money—and then gone completely silent. They'd said they'd pay him a fortune if he covered their backs, so he'd agreed. That had been weeks ago. Nothing since.
"If those bastards are playing games with me, they won't die easy…"
Still holding the water bottle, he started back toward the living room—then stopped dead. Something was sitting in the dark.
Because of the fans, he'd installed custom blackout curtains. The room was pitch black, not an inch of visibility ahead—and yet he could clearly make something out.
He was Cheon-oe-cheon, wasn't he? Even at night, he could see shapes.
"Who's there."
Thud.
Woo Shin set the water bottle and his phone down on a nearby table.
"You look thirsty. Finish your drink. I'll wait."
Baek Do-ha, lounging on the sofa, gave a lazy wave of his hand.
"Huh… You fucking serious? Do you even know who I am, talking like that?"
"I know. Cheon-oe-cheon, ranked seventh. China's strongest hunter, the face of the country. The idol of the Chinese people, right?"
"You know your stuff. And you still broke into my house?"
"An idol, huh… Heh. If people knew what you really were, they wouldn't say that. Or would they? Maybe they'd suck up to you even harder."
"You really want to die screaming."
Beep.
Flash!
Woo Shin hit a switch on the wall, and lights flooded the entire house.
"Hey."
"…"
As the lights came on and Do-ha waved from the sofa, Woo Shin—who had been a heartbeat from lunging—froze solid.
There were two reasons.
First: the man who had broken into his home was the infamous A. Baek Do-ha.
Second: the three severed heads sitting in front of him.
"Looks like the news you were waiting for was these guys… Too bad, huh? They won't be making any more calls."
"Don't tell me… the big payday they promised…"
"That's right. They tried to shake me down."
"…"
At Do-ha's words, Woo Shin ground his teeth.
This fucking…
They'd said a huge sum of money was coming and that they needed someone watching their backs, so he'd wondered what the job was. And the big job turned out to be shaking down a Cheon-oe-cheon for cash?!
If he'd known that, he never would have gotten involved.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Figured you'd play it that way. That's why I collected all the evidence."
Thud.
"…More importantly, if anything happens to us, Woo Shin will step in. Don't worry."
Do-ha hit play on a voice file on his phone, and the conversation the landowners had had over drinks filled the room.
Do-ha had already been to the landowners' place once before. He'd stayed hidden for several minutes specifically to leave a trail of evidence.
"I even had someone pull every last record of your calls with them."
"…"
"Still going to play dumb?"
"Haa…"
In the end, Woo Shin raked his fingers through his hair and let out a long sigh.
To gather evidence this thoroughly…
"Fine. You're right. I agreed to cover for them. So what?"
"Wow. Straight to shameless. Nice."
"I'm a victim too. I had no idea they were trying to extort your money. If I'd known, I never would have said I'd back them."
"Problem is, it already happened."
"Hoo… So what do you want from me? You already killed them all, didn't you?"
Do-ha said nothing. He simply held out his hand.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Woo Shin frowned at the open palm.
"They're dead, so you take responsibility. Hand over the consolation money."
"Huh… What the hell is this…"
Woo Shin let out a hollow laugh.
He'd stuck out his hand, and it turned out he wanted money?
Was this revenge for almost getting shaken down?
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Pay the consolation money and I walk out of here."
"Is this a joke?"
"You think I came all the way to China to mess around?"
"…How much are you asking for?"
"One."
"One? Units."
"Yuan, obviously."
"You're asking for one yuan?"
One yuan was about a hundred and ninety won. Had he really come all this way for a hundred and ninety won?
"Have you lost your mind… One yuan, my ass. One trillion yuan."
"One… one trillion yuan?! Are you insane?!"
Hearing the number, Woo Shin practically screamed.
And for good reason—one trillion yuan came out to roughly a hundred and ninety trillion won.
He was supposed to hand over that kind of money as consolation?!
"Pretty cheap for a life, don't you think?"
"I get it now. Spouting an absurd number like that—you came here to fight me."
"Not at all. I really will leave if you give me one trillion yuan."
Do-ha shrugged at Woo Shin's words.
He hadn't come to fight. He had genuinely come to collect consolation money. If Woo Shin handed over one trillion yuan, Do-ha fully intended to do nothing and walk right back out.
"So you're seriously telling me to hand over a hundred and ninety trillion?"
"Yeah. You've got that kind of money."
"…"
That much was true. He did have one trillion yuan. That didn't mean he was about to hand it over as consolation money.
"And if I don't?"
"Well, then you'll regret making that choice."
"Heh heh heh heh. This is truly ridiculous."
Woo Shin burst out laughing.
In short: pay up or die, right?
"This is a first for me. It's so absurd it's almost entertaining."
He meant it. From the day he Awakened until now, no one had ever walked up and told him to hand over his money.
"Glad you're having fun. Now hand it over."
Still smiling along with him, Do-ha held out his hand again.
"Get out."
At the sight of that palm, killing intent began to pour off Woo Shin.
There was nothing left to talk about. Demanding one trillion yuan—joke or not—had crossed the line. If he was serious, he'd crossed it even further.
Woo Shin hadn't gone to Korea to extort anyone. He'd simply covered for those bastards. And for that alone, one trillion yuan?
He couldn't accept it. Not even close.
"I gave you every chance."
Faced with Woo Shin's expression, Do-ha finally shrugged and rose from the sofa.
With the cult running wild, he'd been hoping to leave at least one useful asset standing…
"You know something? I could have killed you just now."
Woo Shin's lips curled into a thin, cold smile.
When Baek Do-ha stood up from the sofa, he'd been completely unguarded. Too many openings. His movements had been slow. With Woo Shin's ability, killing him just then would have been even easier.
Baek Do-ha's reputation is wildly overblown.
That business about him taking down a dragon? Who knew what had actually happened inside the Gate? Had he really done it alone?
And the claim that he was the hero who saved the world of Belhart?
Absurd.
"I don't believe a word of it."
"What the hell are you rambling about all of a sudden?"
Do-ha frowned at the nonsense. He'd asked for money, and now the guy was talking about belief?
"Your ability is telekinesis, right? Go ahead. Attack me."
Do-ha flicked his fingers.
Woo Shin's power was telekinesis. It let him fight in an enormous variety of devastating ways, and it had made him a hero of China. Every time a Wave hit and monsters poured out, his wide-range telekinesis had held the line.
"…Are you looking down on me?"
"Not looking down on you. Just curious."
In Belhart, there was no such thing as pure telekinesis. Well—there was, but only as a type of magic. He had never experienced raw telekinesis itself.
"Curious, is it… If that's your wish, I'll grant it."
Whoosh.
Brow furrowed, Woo Shin thrust an arm toward Do-ha.
Then—
Clench!
He closed his fist, and a crushing force seized Do-ha's entire body.
Crrrk…
"Beg for your life now and I'll settle for one arm and one leg instead—"
"Ohh… Now this is an interesting power."
"?!!"
Seeing Do-ha completely unfazed, Woo Shin's legs nearly gave out.
The pressure he was applying right now could crumple a block of solid steel in under a second. Because his opponent was Cheon-oe-cheon, he had gone hard from the start.
So why did the man look so calm…?
"Hey. Can you put more into it?"
"You son of a—!!"
Clench!
Enraged, Woo Shin thrust out his other arm as well and began crushing Do-ha with both hands.
The pressure he was applying now was equal to the water pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench—about 108.6 MPa in atmospheric terms.
Then why… why does he still look so calm?!!
Woo Shin's whole body trembled as he clenched his teeth so hard blood welled from his gums.
"Man, this is fascinating every time I look at it. You're not absorbing qi at all."
Do-ha sensed the energy around him and murmured in genuine admiration.
He wasn't drawing the invisible qi floating in the air into his body. He was simply using it as it was.
Is it closer to piloting it, then?
No. Not quite.
Looking closer, it was less like control and more like making a request of it through pure intent of the mind.
"Why the hell are you fine?!!"
Still shaking, Woo Shin finally roared.
The man had been smiling and muttering to himself this whole time—what was so damn entertaining about this?!
"Hey. You struggling?"
"Grrk…!"
"Can you put any more into it?"
"You… you dare mock me?!"
"I'm not mocking you. I'm asking seriously. Can you put more into it?"
"Fine! Let's see you take this!!"
KWOOOOOOOOOM!
At last, Woo Shin poured every scrap of power he had into crushing Do-ha.
The force he was applying now was three times the pressure of the Mariana Trench.
"Hmm. Even with more power, the process is exactly the same."
Do-ha checked his own body and clicked his tongue lightly.
He'd hoped there might be some change. The method was identical.
Tremble, tremble.
"Need to take a dump? Why are you shaking so hard."
"…"
Woo Shin couldn't answer. He just kept pouring power in. Opening his mouth now would reverse the flow of his energy on the spot.
"I've seen enough of your power. But I think this could be improved."
Swoosh.
Sss…
Do-ha began waving his hand through empty air.
"Instead of just asking politely like you do, if you give it a little jolt at the end—like nagging—"
Sss…
BOOOOM!
"Guh!!"
Do-ha unleashed telekinesis and detonated a shockwave. Woo Shin coughed up blood and went flying backward.
CRAAASH!
"That way, even a tiny amount of force can produce a massive impact."
"…"
Embedded in the wall, blood trailing from his mouth, Woo Shin's face went blank with pure shock.