The Reckoning Begins
"Tell me more about that guy."
Even after hearing the name Gae-baekjeong—the Dog Butcher—Yoon-gi didn't feel as agitated as he’d expected. In fact, the situation was arguably more dangerous because of it. If Won-hee had followed him and witnessed this scene, she might have been chilled to the bone.
"W-what do you mean?"
"I mean his appearance, his age. If it turns out to be different from what I know..."
Yoon-gi slammed his fist into the alley wall. Crack! As a chunk of the wall crumbled, the pickpocket shivered like a leaf in a storm, terrified.
"I-I don't know much either! I’m just one of the guys who pays him tribute. All I know is he’s in his late 40s and got out of prison about two years ago!"
'It’s him...'
Yoon-gi was almost certain the man was the Dog Butcher. The odds of someone else sharing the same name, age, and prison background were infinitesimally low.
"Good."
Yoon-gi suddenly flashed a grin and released the pickpocket he had been pinning down. "One last question. Did you steal a salary envelope recently?"
"I didn't steal anything!"
The moment Yoon-gi moved to restrain him again, the pickpocket shrieked and rushed to continue. "It's the truth! The competition is fierce on payday! I came up empty-handed. But yesterday, when I went to pay my tribute to Brother Gyu-sik, I saw a few guys handing over a lot of money!"
Judging by the sheer terror on his face, he didn't seem to be lying.
"Got it. Get lost."
As soon as Yoon-gi let him go, the pickpocket scrambled away. Following Choi Deok-bae’s advice, Yoon-gi took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his emotions in check.
"Could you find out where that guy is headed?"
After Choi Deok-bae vanished, Yoon-gi struggled to suppress the hatred that threatened to explode right then and there.
Choi Deok-bae returned faster than expected—less than an hour later.
"I was just considering the 'what-ifs.'"
What if the guy really was just a namesake, beating the astronomical odds? Yoon-gi had been incredibly tense, fearing the crushing disappointment that would follow. After all, he might finally be meeting the Dog Butcher, a man he had temporarily put on the back burner.
"There's no way I could forgive him!"
Choi Deok-bae clicked his tongue at Yoon-gi’s involuntary outburst. But he understood. Yoon-gi had suffered so terribly. He had only put it off because he was too busy and lacked a proper pretext to send his subordinates after the man, but the hatred Yoon-gi harbored for the Dog Butcher was enough to pierce the heavens. No matter how happy his life was now, his grudge against the Dog Butcher was an entirely separate matter.
That was why Choi Deok-bae asked with a serious expression.
"There isn't."
With a firm answer, Yoon-gi continued. "No matter how much of a new life I'm living, there are two types of people I can never forgive."
Yoon-gi nodded. He nodded again.
"Maybe if someone looked at my life, they’d ask why I can't forgive a thief. They’d say the thief is just another victim who didn't know any better."
"But that’s not true."
Yoon-gi’s expression was resolute. "The first day I beat that thief to a pulp, I struggled with it a lot. The moment I saw him, memories of the past flooded back, and I couldn't control myself."
Seeing Choi Deok-bae nod, Yoon-gi continued immediately.
"But that guy was evil to the bone."
"If he had lived his life without harming others despite being a victim of domestic abuse, I might have considered it. But he didn't."
When Yoon-gi was in elementary school, the thief’s reputation was abysmal. He beat other kids, extorted money, and forced them to bring valuables from their homes.
"I was a victim of domestic abuse, but I never harmed anyone else. I only let it eat away at my own life."
"But the thief is different. He’s the kind of guy who gnaws on other people's lives just as much as his own was gnawed away. I still can't forget the look in his eyes when it was revealed that I was truly of the Samwoo bloodline. If only he had said one warm word to me back then... If only he had said he was sorry for the harm he caused, even if it wasn't intentional..."
Moisture welled up in Yoon-gi’s eyes. Whether he was living a blessed life as the eldest grandson of Samwoo or a miserable one as the son of the Dog Butcher, the thief was a villain.
"When I meet him later, my final choice will depend on what he’s doing then. And for now..."
A grinding sound of teeth came from Yoon-gi’s mouth.
"I need to deal with the Dog Butcher first. Where is he?"
Just as Choi Deok-bae was about to speak, a group of over ten men appeared at both ends of the alley.
"That’s the bastard! Get him!"
At the command of the pickpocket from earlier, who had his hand wrapped in bandages, the gang rushed forward.
[[[[[WAAAAAAAGH!!]]]]]
Passersby nearby were startled, but the gang didn't care at all as they lunged toward Yoon-gi. It was a hair-trigger situation. However, Yoon-gi leaped up onto the alley wall.
"You guys really just threw away your chance..."
Yoon-gi moved quickly along the top of the wall. A moment later, he had all the gang members positioned right in front of him.
[What are you doing! Get him!]
At the pickpocket’s shout, the gang rushed toward Yoon-gi again, thinking it was fortunate that their target hadn't run away. But they were about to experience hell.
Thwack! Crack!
With a single punch from Yoon-gi, the jaw of the man in the lead was completely shattered, and he collapsed, unable to even scream.
Thwack! Crunch!
"Argh!"
Another gang member had his nose completely flattened, spraying a fountain of blood nearby. The situation had unfolded in barely two seconds. At that sight, the gang’s movements came to a dead halt.
But unfortunately for them, Yoon-gi didn't stop.
[[[[[G, GAAAAAAAH!!]]]]]
They tried to flee in a panic, but the gang members were tangled up in the narrow alley and couldn't escape at all. Then came the horrific sounds. Yoon-gi’s punishment didn't cease until the police arrived.
"You're going to prison, you hear? Prison!"
The sharp, cold voice of the police officer was directed at none other than Yoon-gi.
"Me?"
Yoon-gi feigned confusion and asked the officer in front of him.
"Then, of course, it's prison! You beat people into that state and you ask, 'Me?' I’ve never seen such a damn bastard!"
The officer, wearing the rank of Lieutenant, rolled up a book and struck Yoon-gi’s head several times with considerable force.
"Those guys attacked me first."
"Don't lie! Why would those guys have a grudge against you to attack you? And you—do you have proof? Huh?"
Logically, would it be common for one person to attack ten? But the Lieutenant in front of him was taking the gang’s side to a degree that was a bit—no, quite—excessive.
"Is it even possible to have proof?"
In the 2010s, with dashcams, CCTV, and recorders being common, most assault cases had video evidence. But the 80s were completely different. When an assault occurred in the 80s, it was mostly decided by the police’s judgment, and the method depended on the officer’s character. A police officer doing their duty would make a scientific judgment; one looking for their own gain would make a greedy one. Of course, the Lieutenant in front of Yoon-gi was the latter.
Because the Lieutenant was receiving tribute from the pickpocket gang. And Yoon-gi had already caught on to this fact. Choi Deok-bae had overheard the Lieutenant talking to the gang members who still had intact faces.
"Brother, please make sure that bastard goes to prison. We’re going to starve for a while."
"Ha, this is driving me crazy. I was thinking of buying a car when this month’s tribute came in... You idiots, ten of you getting beaten by one guy? I told you not to pick fights for no reason."
"He broke our guy’s finger, what were we supposed to do? Our hands are our livelihood."
"Tsk... Anyway, I’ll handle this, so start working again as soon as you’re healed. Got it?"
"I said I got it. Just make sure you crush that bastard."
'So this guy is the direct line.'
Many innocent people were being dragged away, but there were still plenty of criminals active in society. Their identity? Naturally, they were the ones who listened well to the authorities. As such, criminals were paying their criminal proceeds to the police who looked the other way. In the case of the pickpocket gang, this Lieutenant must have been their handler.
'A Lieutenant is lower than the officers who hold the rank of Captain, right?'
Yoon-gi thought there was no need to call JSD, and a suitable person came to mind.
'I can't contact them right this second, though.'
With the Lieutenant fuming right in front of him, it was difficult to do anything. Of course, he could have forced it, but Yoon-gi waited leisurely on purpose. That way, he could make the effect more dramatic.
'Wow, I’m ending up in a detention cell, a place I never even entered in my past life.'
The guys who had been beaten to a pulp by Yoon-gi were rushed to a nearby hospital, and Yoon-gi suddenly found himself locked in a detention cell.
"I have rice cakes, I have buckwheat jelly."
As soon as Yoon-gi entered, a man in his 40s clung to him.
"Hasn't the curfew been gone for a long time?"
"That’s true, but I got caught selling where I wasn't supposed to. If I leave it like this, it’ll spoil, so I have to sell it while I can."
Yoon-gi gave a bitter smile at the sociable man’s words. In fact, before the curfew was lifted, rice cake and buckwheat jelly sellers would sometimes intentionally get themselves locked in detention cells during curfew hours. Because people who were bored all night would buy them as snacks. Plus, they provided late-night snacks to the police before entering, so the police had no reason not to let them in. A symbiotic relationship, of sorts?
"I'm not hungry right now, so I'll buy some later."
"Hey, you can buy it now and eat it later."
"Look at the atmosphere outside."
When Yoon-gi said this in a low voice, the rice cake seller glanced at the police and nodded. It was because of the Lieutenant who was glaring at Yoon-gi with sharp, cold eyes.
'Well, ten people who were supposed to pay him tribute got hurt because of me, so his stomach must be churning.'
Of course, he didn't feel sorry at all, so Yoon-gi waited for time to pass slowly. About two hours later? Yoon-gi carefully spoke to the police officer with the rank of Sergeant who was guarding the detention cell.
"Excuse me, Sergeant."
"What? Why?"
The Sergeant wasn't particularly kind just because of his rank. However, Yoon-gi handed the Sergeant the money he had folded into a small square, which he had taken out of his wallet in advance.
"Could you make a call to this number? Just tell them your nephew called."
"Nephew? What does your uncle do?"
"Just an office worker."
"Hmm..."
The Sergeant looked at the note Yoon-gi gave him and then extended his index finger, shaking it lightly. It meant he wanted one more. So, Yoon-gi handed him another one.
"I’ll just make the call."
"Yes, that’s all I need."
When the Sergeant stepped away, the door to the detention cell suddenly opened.
"You bastard. That money is all stolen from the victims, right? Hand it all over!"
At the Lieutenant’s bullying, Yoon-gi gave a bitter smile and handed over his entire wallet.
"Bastard! I knew it!"
Yoon-gi’s wallet was bound to be full of money. Thinking this money was the tribute meant for him, the Lieutenant immediately kicked Yoon-gi in the stomach.
"Ugh!"
Yoon-gi feigned pain so the Lieutenant would return to his seat quickly, and thanks to that, the Lieutenant returned to his desk with a gleeful expression. Sitting down, the Lieutenant pulled out the stack of bills from Yoon-gi’s wallet and immediately shoved them into his own.
"What’s with this young punk having so many business cards?"
Curious about Yoon-gi’s wallet, the Lieutenant pulled out all the business cards inside and began examining the names one by one. As time passed, a look of confusion appeared on the Lieutenant’s face, and soon, he turned deathly pale.
"Ugh!"
The moment the Lieutenant jumped up in terror, the Sergeant who had been asked to make the call by Yoon-gi ran toward the Lieutenant with a pale face. It all happened at the exact same time.