The Protagonist Is Indeed the Protagonist
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“Dixon, is the gun ready?”
“Of course, boss. I’m always prepared.”
Han Yugyeong, who had grown eerily calm in an instant, asked the question. Dixon pulled a submachine gun from his waistband in response. Not even a pistol—a full submachine gun. Just where the hell was he pulling that from?
The original work, The Youngest Son of a Megacorp, was an FPS RPG set in a corporate world. As such, the protagonist’s choices had included quite a few psychopathic options. Watching Han Yugyeong right now, it really did feel like she was the true protagonist of that story. To devour the Shingang Group and turn it into Korea’s top corporation, she occasionally needed to make these cold-blooded decisions.
Still, the moment an ambush seemed likely, her first thought was to eliminate everyone… Just months ago she had been trembling like a leaf after that hotel attack. Seeing her growth(?) made my chest swell with pride.
“Since they’re not wearing combat gear but regular suits, one good horizontal sweep should take them all out.”
At Dixon’s words, Han Yugyeong ordered him to kill everyone except Park Sangbeom.
“How are you going to kill Park Sangbeom?”
“Well…”
Even though she had made the ruthless choice, the slight tremble in her hands showed she wasn’t completely without anxiety. While she was still saying “well…”, Dixon burst out of the parking garage and opened fire. The sharp rattle of ratatatatat! filled the air as men in suits collapsed, spraying blood everywhere.
“I’ll handle the disposal of these suited thug corpses. How about we make it look like Nero killed Park Sangbeom? Since we’re in the mountains around here, people will just assume he was mauled by a wild animal.”
“…Alright. That’s a good idea.”
Of course, our original plan had been: Dixon kills all the grunts, I dispose of the bodies, and we stage Park Sangbeom’s death as an animal attack. But plans rarely go exactly as intended. While most of them died from Dixon’s gunfire, two modified humans hidden among the suited thugs blocked the bullets with nothing but sparks.
No matter how much of a Third World War veteran Dixon was, taking on two modified humans head-on would be difficult.
Incidentally, Park Sangbeom and the man who appeared to be his secretary were hiding behind their car, watching us. That secretary sure was lucky—surviving the shootout like that.
“I’ll take care of those big guys,” I said, walking past Dixon. Having faced modified humans during the cherry blossom terror incident before, I was confident I could handle them. There were two opponents, but I had grown stronger since then too.
“You son of a bitch! You’re shooting at us? You’re all dead!”
“Die!”
One of them drew a pistol from his coat and aimed it at me as I charged. The other swung a massive fist reinforced with a steel prosthetic. The disciplined form suggested he was a martial arts practitioner.
Using telekinesis, I instantly twisted the gun barrel and guided the bullet into the back of the fist-swinging man’s head. At the same time, I dropped low to dodge the incoming punch and slammed my shoulder into him using the Iron Mountain Lean technique—a body charge driven by the shoulder or back.
“Kuh!”
His body could withstand bullets, but when my strike—infused with the abyssal energy that delivered internal shock—landed squarely on his solar plexus, he let out an involuntary groan. In that instant, a sharp bang! rang out as the bullet struck the back of his skull and ricocheted off.
Deep Sea Eight Hands – Sea Water Invasion
From the Deep Sea Eight Hands style, along with the Ten Thousand Blooming Flowers, I used the inner-family heavy hand technique known as Sea Water Invasion. If Ten Thousand Blooming Flowers was a technique that seeped inside and ruptured blood vessels, Sea Water Invasion was one where the abyss penetrated wounds or the joints of modified humans to destroy them from within.
To put it simply, Ten Thousand Blooming Flowers was more effective against living beings, while Sea Water Invasion—which let the abyss slip through gaps—was specialized for modified humans and machines.
Crackle—!
The moment the modified thug took the Sea Water Invasion, something inside him clearly broke. An electrical buzzing sound erupted, smoke poured from his eyes, and he collapsed on the spot. The sight of him falling without even being able to scream must have been utterly terrifying, because the one with the pistol threw it away and immediately turned to run.
Thud!
I leaped forward like a shadow, wrapped my arm around the fleeing gunman’s neck, and slammed him into the ground. The gunman immediately switched tactics, dropping to his knees and begging for mercy.
“P-please spare me!”
“Who the hell are you people?”
“We’re from the Yongcheol Faction…! If you kill me too, Big Brother Yongcheol won’t let this slide. I’ll explain everything nicely to him, so please, just let me live!!”
Yongcheol Faction? Why were they here? In the original story, they were a mid-game enemy force that completely took over Seoul later on. Had they appeared this early? I crouched down in front of the pleading gunman and spoke.
“Why did the Yongcheol Faction come here?”
“The client told us to rough up some guy named Jin Yongtae.”
“Ah. That’s me.”
“Ah, please sp—Gack!!”
Having gotten enough information, I twisted his neck and killed him on the spot. Well, at least he learned my identity before dying, so he probably didn’t feel too wronged. At this level, the Yongcheol Faction wasn’t deeply entangled yet. Or maybe it was better to get involved with them now? Since they only controlled the Gangnam area at this point, it would be easier to wipe them out later.
“Hiiik! Spare me!”
After killing the gunman and standing up, I saw Park Sangbeom and the man who appeared to be his secretary surrounded by Han Yugyeong, Dixon, and the shadow panther Nero. They were letting out pitiful screams. Moreover, having witnessed me kill a modified human with my bare hands, the secretary seemed to have wet himself.
Well, watching someone get shot to death and watching someone’s neck get twisted 360 degrees were two very different levels of shock. Anyone would piss themselves seeing a neck spin like that.
“You hired ex-special forces gangsters just to kill me?”
“You—You bastard! You fucking bastard!!”
When I took off my helmet and spoke, Park Sangbeom recognized me and screamed like a madman. The way he trembled violently the moment he saw my face made it clear he harbored an enormous grudge against me. Hmm… What exactly did I do to make him hate me this much?
All I had done was date Han Yugyeong, whom he liked, and flick a coin at him while telling him to fuck off because he was being annoying.
“Hey… Who knows that you came here?”
I ignored Park Sangbeom and asked the secretary beside him.
“Only the head of the Yongcheol Faction’s Cheongdam branch knows… It was a sudden solo operation. We strongly insisted on keeping it secret, so the information probably hasn’t spread much.”
“Secretary Kim, shut up!! You’ll really die later…!”
Ah, so his name was Secretary Kim. Park Sangbeom, apparently convinced he would survive, screamed at the man at the top of his lungs.
“After finishing this job, it looks like I’ll need to stop by Cheongdam too.”
“I’m sorry… It’s all because of me…”
“From what I heard, they followed me all the way here to kill me. So yes, it is because of you.”
“Han Yugyeong? Han Yugyeong, right?! What the hell are you doing to your senior?! Let me go, and I’ll let this whole thing slide…!”
It was honestly impressive that he would bring up the word “senior” in this situation. I was genuinely curious about how his brain was wired. Annoyed by Park Sangbeom’s pathetic display, I pulled off Han Yugyeong’s helmet and kissed her deeply.
“Mmmh! Hng… Yongtae…♥”
“Fuck! What the hell are you doing?! Fuuuuck!!!”
Han Yugyeong let out a familiar, seductive moan as she accepted my kiss. Seeing that, Park Sangbeom screamed curses at the top of his lungs. Dixon, seemingly flustered by my sudden action, looked away and cleared his throat with a few awkward coughs.
“You got to see a nice scene before you die, right? Time to go now.”
“W-where are you telling me to go?!”
Where else? To the afterlife, obviously. Nero, whose mind was linked with Han Yugyeong’s, let out a fierce roar and charged at Park Sangbeom.
“F-fuck!”
Park Sangbeom somehow managed to roll away from Nero’s strike and fled toward the bushes on the opposite side of the parking garage. Nero made a slightly awkward face, then roared again and gave chase.
“S-spare me! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Aaaagh!”
Whether the first dodge had been luck or not, Park Sangbeom was quickly caught. The panther’s claws tore open his abdomen, spilling his guts. His face was also slashed apart, leaving him in a state where anyone who saw him would immediately think, Ah, he was killed by a wild beast…! I left his corpse in the bushes and returned to Han Yugyeong and Dixon.
The remaining secretary had already been killed by a throwing knife Han Yugyeong had hurled.
“I… I thought I should kill at least one with my own hands. All the corpses here were killed by someone else… As the person in charge, I should bear some of the responsibility…”
This was probably her first kill. I hugged the trembling Han Yugyeong and asked Dixon to gather all the suited thugs’ bodies in one place. Being held by me seemed to calm her down a little; her shaking eased slightly.
“By the way, Mr. Jin, how were you able to kill a modified human with your bare hands? Are you a modified human too?”
Dixon asked while moving the corpses. I shook my head and answered.
“No. My master is Fujigasaki Rinka. I have to be able to beat thugs of this level.”
“Ooh! Rinka! So Mr. Jin is Master Rinka’s disciple…!”
Being American, Dixon seemed to know Fujigasaki Rinka quite well. With his fighter-like appearance, he clearly understood what being her disciple meant.
“Now, I’ll show you a magic trick~!”
Once all the bodies were gathered, I spoke to Han Yugyeong and Dixon, then activated the magic circle and offered them as a sacrifice to the Daughter of the Abyss. A black maw emerged from the ground and swallowed every corpse. Both Dixon and Han Yugyeong looked utterly shocked.
“Ta-da~!”
“I saw superhumans during the war, but to think Mr. Jin is one too… What an amazing day…!”
“It’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.”
I raised my index finger to my lips as I spoke to Dixon. He nodded with a serious expression. Someone like Dixon could be trusted. Since he would continue serving as Han Yugyeong’s bodyguard without going anywhere, he wouldn’t run off to another faction and spill my secrets.
“Are you all alright?”
After we finished handling the corpses, Lee Yeonju and the Vanguard agents came running, having heard the gunfire. The entrance was a complete bloodbath, so they looked extremely startled.
“President. W-what on earth happened here?”
“About twenty attackers came.”
At Han Yugyeong’s answer, Lee Yeonju tilted her head in confusion.
“Then why isn’t there a single corpse visible?”
“We took care of all the bodies.”
Lee Yeonju clearly didn’t understand my answer at all, but she nodded as if to say she’d accept it for now and urged us to leave the scene quickly. She said the police would arrive soon since gunfire had been reported.
“Yes, let’s get out of here first.”
We all gathered at the rendezvous point, split up into the vehicles we had arrived in, and dispersed. The next rendezvous point was Vanguard’s headquarters. We would review the data the Vanguard agents had brought and discuss our next moves there.
“Please drop me off at Club Z in Cheongdam.”
I spoke to Dixon, who was driving. Even though Han Yugyeong was sitting right beside him, when I asked to be dropped off at a club, he looked at me with an expression that said he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But Club Z was the Yongcheol Faction’s Cheongdam branch. I needed to eliminate the rest of those who knew about us. Only by cutting the tail completely could we avoid future trouble.
I wish her hair was a bit shorter, but even when I input “very short hair,” this seems to be the limit lol
A somewhat modest suit
A cyber suit that makes her look like she has the highest combat power at a glance