Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Clinic Heo Pung-gae - [2]
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Yi Do-hyeok suddenly had a thought. The man had brought a woman with him.
With the man being tortured right now, could she really stay calm?
A quick glance confirmed it—she was trembling, of course. The sudden burst of violence would terrify anyone. What if she tried to call the police?
He had to stop her...
"Excuse me?"
The moment Yi Do-hyeok approached, the woman backed away. Then she flung open the door and bolted out.
Yi Do-hyeok started to chase after her but stopped short.
Heo Pung-gae spoke up.
"Close the door. She's screaming."
"The woman's run off!"
The next instant, Yi Do-hyeok was shocked again. Heo Pung-gae had dashed out after the fleeing woman.
Why? To catch her and torture her so she couldn't report them?
As Yi Do-hyeok moved to follow, Heo Pung-gae called back.
"Lock the door so no one can get in."
Yi Do-hyeok couldn't muster the nerve to refuse. He obediently shut and locked the door, standing there meekly and waiting. He shuddered at the thought of what might happen to the woman who'd run ahead.
And as he dreaded what fate might befall her, he felt sickened by his own inability to even try stopping it.
Heo Pung-gae returned fifteen minutes after chasing the woman.
Yi Do-hyeok asked the man, who'd come back alone.
"What about that girl? You didn't kill her, right?"
Heo Pung-gae stared at him blankly.
"Are you crazy?"
"Oh, then..."
"You know the empty third floor of our row house."
"Yeah. The empty one..."
"She's there now."
Why send her there? To hold her so she couldn't report? To squeeze out her home address and friends' numbers before letting her go?
Yi Do-hyeok lacked the courage to ask for details.
As he kept his mouth shut, the anesthesia on the man—prepped with spit—wore off.
The man, finally able to speak despite the recent torture, showed no signs of breaking. He bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, you fucking bastard! Where do you live? You think I'm gonna let this slide?!"
Heo Pung-gae asked.
"And what if I don't?"
The man paused a beat, then shouted.
"I'm reporting you, asshole!"
This was an unexpected response. Yi Do-hyeok panicked, but Heo Pung-gae remained unfazed.
"Go ahead."
Incredibly, Heo Pung-gae let the man call the police for real. The man fumed as he pulled out his phone.
Yi Do-hyeok freaked out alone and bolted from the clinic. He rushed to Yi Pung, screaming bloody murder.
"Boss!"
By the time Yi Do-hyeok dragged Yi Pung back, police were indeed at the clinic.
For some reason, Heo Pung-gae stood calmly while the man ranted solo.
"So, you say you were assaulted, sir?"
The man answered the cop's question.
"He stabbed me and tortured me!"
"What kind of torture? We don't see any injury marks."
"Can't you see the blood here?"
The man hiked up his thigh indignantly, but the hole was tiny. It had to be, from such a thin needle.
As the police looked baffled, Heo Pung-gae spoke up.
"It's acupuncture. He complained it hurt, demanded compensation for a 'botched treatment,' and flipped out when I refused."
The man yelled.
"No, that fucker twisted my arm too..."
The cop asked.
"Did you record any video on your phone, sir?"
"How am I supposed to pull out my phone while getting beat?!"
"Then there's nothing we can do. No CCTV here to check either."
"What? You're just gonna leave? A citizen gets assaulted and tortured?"
The cop eyed the man's tattoos with pity and said.
"If you're not satisfied, file a complaint."
Yi Pung, who'd watched it all, grinned at Yi Do-hyeok.
"Assault charges are tougher than you think. No evidence, and the cops just push a settlement. End of story."
Then the man shouted.
"Fine, whatever! Isn't this illegal operation?"
"Pardon? What's that mean...?"
"Come on, why's an acupuncture clinic in a back alley dump like this? Looks shady as hell. Right? You're cops—why aren't you shutting it down?"
The police turned to Heo Pung-gae.
"Sir?"
Yi Pung's face hardened, tensing Yi Do-hyeok too. But it was needless worry.
Heo Pung-gae calmly pulled documents from a drawer and handed them over.
"Here."
The cops nodded as they reviewed them.
"Acupuncturist license, physical therapist license... Business registration's filed too?"
"Yes."
The man looked ready to explode with rage.
Meanwhile, Yi Pung whispered to Heo Pung-gae.
"When'd you renew those? Wait, you laundered your identity—shouldn't you get brand-new licenses?"
"President Park hooked me up."
"Damn, raid one TV station and he takes care of you like that?"
The police left three minutes later.
The man left behind glared at everyone.
"I saw your faces, assholes."
His threat was half-hearted. Lacking the guts to face three people alone, he stormed off fuming.
Yi Do-hyeok felt relieved. The commotion was finally over.
But no.
Heo Pung-gae whispered something in Yi Pung's ear, and Yi Pung smiled.
Yi Pung said.
"Do-hyeok?"
"Yes?"
"Round up the crew. We're pulling an all-nighter."
Park Seong-cheol had originally been an elite athlete.
He'd trained since elementary school, but wrecked his wrist boxing in college. The doctor said it'd be fine for daily life but hard to fully heal. End of his boxing career.
What could he do to survive? Following a graduated senior into security gigs eventually landed him working for some loan shark.
That loan shark's name was Yi Pung.
Over a year in, he still had no clue what Yi Pung really was.
This was definitely an illegal moneylending outfit, yet none of the three employees had ever gone out to collect by force. No thug work typical of such places.
All they did was call numbers Yi Pung provided to demand payments.
Why hire staff for that when the boss could do it solo? No idea why he paid salaries. And teaching them martial arts? Total mystery.
One thing was clear: Yi Pung was a much bigger deal than he seemed.
Illegal lender or not, he never got raided. Weird. Loan sharks usually got reported left and right, cops swarming in.
Unlike bars, raids didn't mean arrests—just fines. Profits usually covered them, so business continued.
But Yi Pung dodged even fines. He wasn't tied to any gang, yet no thugs touched the place.
Weird too. Rival lenders should've reported them or sent goons to sabotage. Or cops, if it was civilian-run.
Never happened.
Local middle-aged punks even feared Yi Pung. Why?
Curious, he'd asked. Yi Pung said:
"I'm bros with Invincible BB Bullet. They all crawl."
Didn't care who that was. Heard he was some famous martial artist once—no big deal.
Martial world was another realm. Never seen one.
Never seen, so no clue how impressive. Yi Pung claimed to be one, but never showed off.
Days ago, Invincible BB Bullet's disciple showed up, taking down four at once. Impressive, sure. Martial artists were tough.
That was it. Nothing more, nothing less.
And today, three days after that disciple arrived, Yi Pung gathered his employees at night.
The disciple was there too.
"Gloves after so long? Fit okay?"
Heo Pung-gae answered Yi Pung.
"Yes."
Heo Pung-gae slipped on white gloves. Yi Pung introduced them proudly.
"Take a good look. Those are the gloves even Great Hero Invincible BB Bullet wore. Passed straight to his disciple."
"Are those the legendary silkworm thread gloves we've heard about?"
Yi Do-hyeok looked eager, but Yi Pung scoffed.
"What bullshit? Just cotton gloves. Keeps fingerprints off."
Yi Pung turned back to Heo Pung-gae.
"BB bullets—plastic or metal? Or just grab pebbles?"
"Pebbles it is."
Their talk made no sense. Everyone looked puzzled as Yi Pung addressed the staff.
"Alright, here's the job. See that house?"
Yi Pung pointed to a standalone home. Looked pricey.
"The bastard living there mouthed off to Invincible BB Bullet's disciple today. What do we do?"
Park Seong-cheol hid his disinterest and replied.
"What're we supposed to do?"
"Devour him whole."
Yi Pung grinned and continued.
"We're raiding it now."
Yi Do-hyeok's eyes widened.
"Storm the place?"
"Yup."
"This isn't East Incheon. Rich neighborhood."
"Thug like you jealous of nice pads? So?"
"He called cops earlier after a beating. We barge in, don't we all go down?"
Yi Pung didn't explain. Just pulled out a sheet of paper.
"What's that?"
"This area's CCTV layout."
Everyone blinked.
"How'd you get that?"
"Know a detective sergeant. He printed it."
Park Seong-cheol said uneasily.
"So... sneak past CCTV and storm it?"
Thankfully, no.
"How? Can't eyeball coverage and dodge."
"Then?"
"Smash 'em all."
"We'll get caught smashing."
"We won't."
Heo Pung-gae stood, pinching a small pebble between gloved fingers. He flicked it.
Thip, thip, thip. Then a final crunch.
Something shattered...
Hard to pinpoint. Too far, faint sound.
Heo Pung-gae flicked another pebble. Pure finger strength. Thip.
Heo Pung-gae had infused the pebble with qi beforehand.
Walls and buildings couldn't block the intangible qi. Eyes closed, he tracked its path.
A ricocheting object, wall to wall.
The pebble bounced off fences and walls multiple times before striking something on a far corner.
Confirming, Heo Pung-gae opened his eyes. Pointed to two spots on the layout.
"Check here and here."
Yi Pung grinned, ordering Park Seong-cheol.
"Go see if those CCTVs are smashed."
Park Seong-cheol checked the alley. Lenses on the marked CCTVs were wrecked.
He rubbed his eyes. Compared distances—from the disciple's spot, past buildings and walls.
From there? Smashed them?
Utterly baffling, but he reported back.
"Smashed..."
Dazed voice, blank face. Park Seong-cheol stared at Invincible BB Bullet's disciple.
Heo Pung-gae kept flicking pebbles. Yi Pung crossed off CCTVs one by one.
Thus, one martial artist dismantled the street's entire surveillance network. With just gloves and stray pebbles.