Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Coincidence for the Protagonist (3)
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***
After China turned into an inaccessible zone, Incheon had plummeted down a steep decline.
Companies battered by the waves of economic recession either went bankrupt or fled to other cities.
Half the port had been shut down, countless residents had left for major cities like Kaesong or Busan, and empty houses and slums multiplied every year.
The title of Korea's third-shiniest city after Busan and Kaesong had long since become a tacky joke mocking bygone eras.
At least, on the surface.
From the inside, Incheon was actually prospering on a scale even larger than before.
"Military supplies smuggled out of the Manchurian Rift, monster remains, smuggled goods coming through the Kaesong dimensional gate, drugs and weapons flowing in from Southeast Asia and Australia... There's nothing you can't get in Incheon's black market."
Jang Man said this, then added one more thing.
"Though calling this prosperity might be a stretch."
He went on to explain that Incheon's current state was like a dead animal's belly swollen to bursting.
It only looked big because filth, maggots, and gas had filled it up instead of the blood and flesh that should have been there.
Eventually, the rotten belly skin would burst, spilling all sorts of disgusting things out into the open.
And the first victims would undoubtedly be the people of Incheon.
"...That's horrifying."
"Yeah, it is."
Jang Man and Soedung-guri had this exchange as they walked through the shuttered port's logistics complex.
Jang Man led the way, with Soedung-guri following behind, but Jang Man kept glancing back whenever he could.
It wasn't for any grand reason—just that the large sports bag Soedung-guri had somehow brought along had caught his eye.
The bag, stuffed full of something, had rectangular bulges poking out here and there, and anyone with a sharp eye could tell they were stacks of bills.
By the time they reached their destination, Jang Man couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.
"Where the hell did you get that bag of money?"
"It's from the Director."
"...The Director? The Cleanup Guild's director?"
"Yes."
With that single word, Jang Man understood the implications and shook his head slowly.
'Revenge has already been underway for a while, huh.'
With that thought, Jang Man arrived at their destination.
The farthest corner of the logistics complex—an abandoned warehouse with its roof half torn off.
"This place...?"
"The secret entrance to the secret market. Just in case, don't ever think about coming here alone. You might get your head blown off."
Jang Man strode right into the warehouse.
Inside, it was overgrown with weeds just like the outside. Jang Man trampled through them purposefully, crossing the warehouse.
He reached the wall opposite the entrance and began groping around it.
"It was around here somewhere... Ah, found it."
When he pressed firmly on a spot midway up the wall, the section right next to it slid open with a rumble.
Beyond the opened wall lay a crude staircase leading underground.
"It's rustier than last time. Might collapse, so watch your step going down."
Jang Man said this and descended first. Soedung-guri readjusted the bag on his shoulder and followed, stepping onto the stairs.
Creak, creak.
With every step, the old iron stairs screamed, spitting out rust.
After about a hundred steps down what felt like it could collapse any second—roughly the height of a three-story building—the rusty stairs finally reached the bottom.
'...A warehouse?'
Unlike what Soedung-guri, tense as hell, had expected, the bottom was a warehouse cluttered with all sorts of boxes.
From boxes of famous brand snacks to crates stamped with U.S. military marks containing guns.
It was some incomprehensible storage space, but Jang Man started rummaging through box after box without any explanation.
After about a minute, he came over to Soedung-guri holding a box full of masks.
"Pick any mask from here and put it on."
Jang Man said this, then grabbed a snake mask from the box and pulled it over his face.
"Masks? Some kind of black market rule?"
"More like an unspoken rule. This isn't the kind of business you do with your face showing."
Fair enough. Soedung-guri pulled out a sun-shaped mask from the top of the box, covered in a thick layer of dust.
"...Any other unspoken rules I should know about?"
As Soedung-guri dusted off the mask, Jang Man shrugged.
"No killing, no stealing... Though given the nature of this place, not many follow the other rules."
"...What a shitshow."
"Yeah, a real shitshow."
Once he confirmed Soedung-guri had the mask on, Jang Man opened the warehouse door.
Screeech.
The rusted iron door was pushed aside, spewing rust, and the first things to greet them beyond it were bright light and the smell of the sea.
Next came...
Click.
"Who the hell are you? Who gave you permission to come in the back door?"
Three gun barrels.
***
The moment they came face-to-face with three men in black suits aiming guns at them.
Soedung-guri reflexively hurled the money bag.
"Soedung-guri! Hold on!"
But Soedung-guri charged at them even faster than Jang Man could shout.
Thud! The frontmost guy crumpled from the bag. In that instant, Soedung-guri was already past him, lunging at the one behind like a bullet.
It was speed beyond a normal human's, but no matter how fast, it couldn't outrun a bullet.
Yet the brief distraction from tossing the bag, combined with the guards' shock at the unexpected ambush, bought a few blinks' worth of time.
In that split second, Soedung-guri smashed his fist into the second man's jaw. Crack! The second guy's eyes and legs went slack.
Soedung-guri grabbed the falling man's head by the hair, using him as a shield to charge the last one. It flowed as naturally as water.
"Stop! Soedung-guri! That's enough!"
What stopped Soedung-guri mid-charge, human shield out front, was Jang Man.
He looked back and forth between Soedung-guri, who had knocked out two guards, and the remaining one aiming his gun in shock, then sighed.
"Whew, let's talk this out first..."
"Y-you! Who the hell are you? You think you can attack us here and get away with it!?"
The guard, regaining some composure in the meantime, raised his gun and yelled. Jang Man's eyebrows furrowed again at the interruption to his attempt at de-escalation.
"Shut your trap, you moron! Pointing guns at guests? Is that what Josef taught you?"
Josef.
At that name, the guard's eyes visibly changed. The guy with the gun drawn glanced at Soedung-guri while stammering.
"J-Josef's... guest?"
"You think we're robbers? Just call Josef already."
"But Josef doesn't meet anyone without an appointment—"
Slap!
Jang Man strode up and backhanded him. It was a slap loaded with feeling.
The guard clutched his swelling red cheek, too stunned to process.
"I'll let your rudeness from earlier slide with this. But not twice."
...
"Right now, tell Josef 'guests at the back door.' It's his call, not yours. Got it?"
The guard nodded dazedly. He pulled out his phone, made a call somewhere, and horrific curses echoed from the other end.
The guard's face paled at the swearing. Luckily or not, the call didn't last long.
As soon as it ended, he hurried over to Jang Man and bowed deeply.
"Josef says he'll greet you personally."
"Where?"
"Weapon Market. I-I'll guide you there myself."
The guard pleaded with desperate eyes, but Jang Man's response was ice-cold.
"I know where the market is. No need for a guide. Just keep your other morons in check."
Jang Man left the bowing guard behind and turned to Soedung-guri.
Soedung-guri slung the money bag next to the unconscious guards over his shoulder and followed him into the black market.
***
Passing the alley in front of the warehouse and turning into a narrow passage, the black market sprawled out before them.
True to its name, the scenery here was nothing like a normal market.
Street vendors weren't selling food but monster remains and weapons of unknown origin.
Store entrances had no merchants—just armed men with submachine guns glaring around.
And above all... non-humans.
Dwarves and orcs, the kind you'd only see on TV, stole Soedung-guri's gaze.
'Is this really the Incheon I know?'
He'd seen elves a few days ago, but they were all corpses.
This was his first time seeing live non-humans. Yelling and haggling just like humans. This wasn't America—it wasn't a common sight in Korea.
While Soedung-guri was glued to these new sights, Jang Man, walking beside him, spoke up.
"You fight well. Trained in martial arts separately?"
It was a loaded question. Soedung-guri shook his head.
"No formal martial arts training."
"So all that movement was pure instinct? Ha ha, superhumans really are something else."
Superhuman.
Soedung-guri didn't think it was just that.
The moment the gun barrels faced him, his body had moved on its own.
From his hair to his toes, every cell in his body had reacted faster than his thoughts.
Was that simply because he was a superhuman?
What flashed through Soedung-guri's mind was Mignium's voice.
—I shall grant you a talent no human could dare touch. A talent to achieve revenge and reap even more lives.
The talent Mignium had given Soedung-guri.
Could this be what that talent meant?
But bestowing talent on someone—that was a power even the gods beyond the dimensional gates hadn't shown.
If this talent truly came from Mignium, then what was Mignium's true nature...
As Soedung-guri's thoughts stretched on, Jang Man stopped.
Soedung-guri turned to follow Jang Man's gaze. Far off, at the entrance to a large commercial building, someone was staring straight at Jang Man and him.
Even without being told, Soedung-guri knew that was the 'Josef' Jang Man had mentioned.
Because he stood out from everyone around him.
He wore no mask. Boldly showing his face, he led over ten brutes armed with submachine guns.
"Old timer! Coming in the back door after all this time!"
Josef, now right in front of them, spread his arms wide and embraced Jang Man in reunion.
"Josef, you've gotten even taller since I last saw you. How've you been?"
"Don't ask. Last month, that terror attack at the Lord Howe Academy in Australia shut down all our Aussie weapons smuggling. At this rate, I won't even be able to feed my boys."
As Josef bantered with Jang Man, he glanced at Soedung-guri.
"Your new pack mule, old timer? Skinny little guy."
At the blunt remark, Jang Man cleared his throat shortly.
"Ahem, not a mule. A customer."
"A customer? One you brought personally..."
Josef's eyes changed. From simple village thug to seasoned merchant with decades under his belt.
"What are you here to buy?"
"...Weapons."
The answer came not from Jang Man, but Soedung-guri. Josef grinned, baring his gums.
"Weapons, huh? You've come to the right place. I'm Josef, the top weapons dealer in Incheon. Guns, bombs, mana weapons from beyond the gates! Name it."
Josef boasted confidently. Far too cheerful for someone selling tools of death, but Soedung-guri ignored it.
Not his first time seeing a loose cannon.
Soedung-guri paused a moment before stating what he wanted.
"A necromancer..."
No, that was what he meant to say.
"No weapons that can handle a necromancer?"
The one who cut him off was a clear, bright voice.
As Soedung-guri frowned at the interruption, everyone turned.
"You're Josef, right? The top weapons dealer in this market."
Right behind the brutes, a woman in a black dog mask stood with arms crossed, facing them.
"I reserved two days ago and waited that long, but seeing your face is a pain in the ass."
In the stunned silence of the sudden intrusion, Josef replied with a friendly smile.
"Customer, there are plenty of great weapons dealers in this market besides me."
"You're the only one selling weapons smuggled from beyond the gates. I'm not interested in standard military gear."
Casual tone, behavior, and that oddly childish vibe.
Soedung-guri guessed the black dog mask girl was young. Maybe early twenties, or less.
"Sorry, but mana weapons are only sold to verified customers."
"Those line-cutters must be your precious verified ones then? The old geezer and the moron with the money bag?"
Blatant provocation. No one here would take that bait without good reason. Her taunt had only given them justification.
"Customer, starting a dispute in the black market can get you banned."
Josef snapped his fingers, and the surrounding brutes raised their submachine guns in unison. Clear notice to leave.
The dog-masked woman neither panicked nor fled. She glared back and forth between Josef and the guns, then asked in a low voice.
"Is this how the black market treats customers?"
"It's the unspoken rule for dealing with troublemakers."
"Troublemaker? Then what does that make a merchant who takes other customers after making me wait two days? A dog-fucker?"
Dog-fucker. At the blunt language, Soedung-guri let out a dry chuckle. Josef rubbed his forehead in disbelief.
"Ha, boys! Looks like the customer's had a bit of daytime drinking. Escort her to the exit."
The moment Josef finished, three brutes pressed their gun barrels to the back of her head.
They looked ready to fire if needed. She obediently raised her arms.
"No escort needed. I'll walk out myself."
The dog-masked woman left those parting words and vanished into the crowd without looking back.
'...What was that?'
Watching her disappear from view, Soedung-guri felt a strange sensation.
Something tickling in his chest, his mind tangling up. It felt like...
A weird premonition. Something like he'd run into that woman again soon.
"Now, putting that unpleasantness behind us, back to business. Customer, what weapon are you looking for?"
Ignoring Soedung-guri's churning premonition, Josef resumed with his merchant face.
Soedung-guri tamped down the feeling with a pause, then looked at Josef and answered.
"Same as that girl who just got kicked out."
"Oh ho?"
"Weapons for taking down a grand necromancer. Got any?"
Josef raised one eyebrow. Two customers looking for grand necromancer-grade weapons?
His merchant instincts tingled, but he hid his curiosity. A deal in hand came first.
"Hmm, customer. Those run pretty pricey..."
The moment Josef trailed off, Soedung-guri set his bag down and unzipped it.
Ziiip.
The gaping bag revealed stacks upon stacks of $100 bills featuring Benjamin Franklin.
"There's another bag just like this. Enough?"
As Soedung-guri rezipped it, Josef grinned.
"Cash upfront? You know how deals work here."
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