Chapter 16: We're All Players Here
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 16: We're All Players Here
The interior of the abandoned building, the Ghost Sound Hall's hideout, was quite spacious.
As about twenty people warily drew their weapons against me, the sudden intruder, I quickly scanned the interior.
‘Eight Ghost Sound Hall disciples. The rest are...’
From experience, the ones with faces as pale and gaunt as corpses would be from the Ghost Sound Hall, while the rest were likely thugs with some physical training, brought in when brute force was needed.
"Where the hell did you come from, you bastard!"
"He's alone, isn't he?"
"Just beat him down and make him kneel!"
The thugs stepped forward, raising their weapons menacingly.
Watching their grim faces surge towards me, I clicked my tongue slightly.
"See? They never listen when you try to be nice."
I slipped the Strange Yellow Paper, which I'd been holding between my fingers, back into my pocket, then used a Joint-Locking Technique to snatch the crowbar from the closest thug.
"Gah...!"
The man, whose weapon had been stolen right before his eyes, frantically reached out, but I was already swinging the crowbar into his side.
Thwack!
The first one to charge screamed no sound as he collapsed. From behind, the thug who seemed to be their leader yelled,
"Break his limbs and drag him here!"
Over ten thugs charged at me, swinging all sorts of metal implements.
I slammed the blunt end of the crowbar into the solar plexus of one of the thugs charging at me from the front.
Then, I grabbed the collar of the falling man and used him as a shield, pushing forward.
‘No point in dragging this out.’
As I pushed in, using his comrade as a shield, I saw the thugs' bewildered faces.
The moment I tossed the unconscious man back at them, I ducked beneath him, breaking the kneecaps of two more thugs as I slipped past.
Thwack!
Thwack!
As I rose, leaving the tangled, falling thugs behind, a glinting sashimi knife aimed for my throat.
I tilted my head to the side, dodging it, and saw a visibly disappointed face.
‘This bastard?’
I wasn't some serial killer, and I had no intention of killing every thug who attacked me, but I had no intention of sparing the one who'd tried to kill me.
Stab!
"Cough...!"
I punched a hole in his gut with the pointed end of the crowbar, and he stumbled, collapsing.
I picked up the sashimi knife that had fallen to the floor.
"H-he's a master!"
With five of them down and unable to do anything, the remaining thugs no longer dared to charge, instead exchanging nervous glances.
I walked over to the gang leader, who was sweating profusely, and stood facing him from a distance.
"Want to keep going? Or are you going to call your Hall Master?"
"..."
The Ghost Sound Hall was a group I'd never heard of in my twenty years of living by the sword in my previous life.
That meant they'd either disappeared quickly or were a bottom-tier group barely scraping by.
I'd calculated that my current strength was more than enough to handle them, which is why I'd stepped forward.
But there was no need to create unnecessary gratitude or grudge.
"W-we're just under contract, so..."
The moment the gang leader lowered his knife in surrender, I quickly twisted my body to the side.
Bang!
Baaang—!
Two gunshots rang out, and the gang leader's body slumped backward.
His forehead bore a bullet hole, his expression frozen in fear.
I glanced at the corpse, then turned my head in the direction of the gunshots.
"I'm one thing, but weren't you guys family?"
"Family, my ass. A watchdog that tucks its tail should die."
A disheveled, middle-aged man held a pistol, aiming it at me.
It was a face I hadn't seen when I first entered.
‘That must be the Ghost Sound Hall Master.’
The Ghost Sound Hall Master held a staff in his left hand, the one not holding the gun, and an ominous sound emanated from the bell attached to its tip.
Jingle, jingle, jingle...
"Worthless vagrants who can't even earn their keep! Can't you do your jobs properly?"
At the Ghost Sound Hall Master's irritable voice, accompanied by the jingling bell, the eyes of the five thugs I'd knocked down, and the others who stood awkwardly watching, began to roll back.
Jingle, jingle, jingle...
The eyes of the men who stumbled and aimed their weapons at me again were no longer normal.
With only the whites of their eyes showing, they bared their teeth and snarled like rabid dogs.
"Ugh..."
"Grrrk..."
Lost Souls.
If you regularly feed them drugs or gradually brainwash them with incantations, those with weak wills easily lose their resolve and become controlled by spells.
A particularly malicious tactic among the Unorthodox Faction of the Underworld.
I let out a hollow laugh, looking at the men surrounding me.
"Though these guys are barely worthy of being called vagrants..."
By my standards, they were nothing more than thugs and delinquents who hadn't even properly trained, but the treatment Freelance Vagrants received wasn't much different.
In the Underworld, vagrants were mostly treated as low-class riff-raff.
"You brazen intruder. Dare to keep running your mouth?"
The Ghost Sound Hall Master's arrogant attitude brought back a few unpleasant memories from the past.
But separate from that, my wariness towards him intensified.
‘The Ghost Sound Hall Master. He seems stronger than I thought.’
With the Hall Master's appearance, even the Ghost Sound Hall disciples, whom I'd initially dismissed as a disorganized rabble, began muttering incantations or preparing to throw talismans in unison.
Kyaaaah—
Kiiiaaak—
Black Evil Spirits appeared above their heads, circling around.
Nearly twenty Evil Spirits caused a winter-like chill to permeate the abandoned building.
‘This isn't going to be easy.’
Ten Lost Souls and twenty Evil Spirits.
Plus the Ghost Sound Hall Master with a pistol, and eight disciples who could summon Ghosts with spells.
It seemed unlikely I'd leave here unscathed if a full-blown fight broke out.
Yet, I continued the conversation as if I couldn't care less.
"You're the one who refused to talk, weren't you? I intended to resolve this as peacefully as possible from the start."
At my relaxed response, the Ghost Sound Hall Master let out a sneering laugh, still aiming his gun at me.
"You break down the door and barge in, and you call that talking? Do you think you can take on the entire Ghost Sound Hall by yourself?"
"Why do you think I came alone?"
"..."
In the lowest echelons of the Underworld, a single wrong judgment can lead to death.
Therefore, one must always develop their survival instincts to the extreme, discerning truth from falsehood in an opponent's words and actions.
That's why, in my previous life, I was quite good at lying and bluffing.
‘Look at his eyes darting around.’
The Ghost Sound Hall Master was trying to ascertain the truth of my words, but against someone who had survived the bottom, it was impossible.
All he could manage was a scoff, feigning composure, before throwing another question my way.
"You, what's your affiliation?"
"Azure Wolf."
I'd thrown it out to complicate his thoughts, but to my surprise, the Ghost Sound Hall Master's expression changed instantly.
"...I've heard that name. Are you the ones who declared war on the Blood Tiger Gang?"
It was the same at the Hidden Tower; just how exaggerated are these rumors?
The Underworld was originally a place rife with false rumors and exaggerated information, but this felt excessive.
Could Bok-ja have spread strange rumors while I was preparing for the Competition?
Pushing those questions aside, I chuckled and shook my head.
"The rumors are a bit exaggerated, aren't they? O-ho suggested a merger, and all I said was that if he pulled that crap one more time, I'd kill him."
"..."
See? I'm a big shot you can't handle. So, you'd best cooperate with negotiations.
The Ghost Sound Hall Master, who had been silently glaring at me for a moment, slowly lowered his pistol.
"What is your purpose in seeking me out?"
I pulled out the piece of Strange Yellow Paper I'd tucked away, crumpled it into a pea-sized ball, and tossed it to the Ghost Sound Hall Master.
"First, call the person who made that."
"..."
No one spoke while the Ghost Sound Hall Master examined the Strange Yellow Paper.
But I saw the Ghost Sound Hall disciples' eyes all darting towards their Hall Master.
"It seems the Hall Master made it himself."
"...Why this?"
"A friend of mine owes a debt to that talisman."
"..."
I felt the Ghost Sound Hall Master tense up instantly.
His grip tightened on his staff, and the barrel of his pistol began to rise, aiming at me once more.
I reached out a hand to calm him, saying,
"Look, relax. We don't want things to get complicated either. You guys were just subcontracted, weren't you?"
My words must have hit the mark, as I felt the Ghost Sound Hall Master flinch, then simultaneously relax.
‘Just as I expected.’
Kim Hyeon-seung was one of the Korean Martial Alliance's most promising Rising Stars.
A group like the Ghost Sound Hall wouldn't dare touch him directly unless they were insane, so there had to be an intermediary organization or a third party involved.
I suspected they might be connected to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
"Tell me who commissioned you. Then I won't hold you responsible."
When I spoke, my warning laced with subtle Killing Intent, the Ghost Sound Hall Master's eyebrows twitched, as if his pride had been wounded.
"You insolent bastard...!"
And the moment one of the Evil Spirits approached, as if to threaten me, reacting to the Ghost Sound Hall Master's emotions—
Kyaaaah!
I drew my sword like a flash of lightning and cleaved the Evil Spirit in two.
As the Evil Spirit screamed and dispersed like smoke, the eyes of the Ghost Sound Hall Master and his disciples widened.
"How...!"
In my previous life, I could only exorcise Ghosts with the help of a Spellcaster or a shaman.
While I could avoid or counter Ghosts with my sensitive Qi Sensing Domain, seeing and cutting them with such precision, as I just did, was impossible.
It was only possible if a Spellcaster or shaman materialized the Ghost to make it visible and enchanted my sword with a spell.
‘But now, it's different.’
It was a fact I'd confirmed the night before, against an Evil Spirit Bok-ja had summoned and controlled.
‘I can cut down Monstrous Beings by myself, anytime.’
Of course, that didn't mean I intended to clash head-on with the Ghost Sound Hall.
I didn't want to risk a fight that offered no real benefit.
That's why this show of force was even more necessary.
I raised my sword, pointing it at the Ghost Sound Hall Master, and provoked him.
"If you want to see this through to the end, then so be it."
"Why would a master like you..."
The Ghost Sound Hall Master looked at me with a bewildered expression.
The disciples also murmured amongst themselves, saying I was at least a Peak Master, or even beyond.
‘They seem to be gravely mistaken about something.’
There was no reason for me to correct their misunderstanding.
In fact, it seemed like things would be easier because of it.
As I stared silently, unblinking, the Ghost Sound Hall Master finally averted my gaze and spoke in a subdued voice.
"...The client is the Great Heaven Sect."
"Great Heaven Sect? Wait. The Great Heaven Sect affiliated with the Martial Alliance?"
This time, I was genuinely surprised.
I hadn't expected the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to be named directly, but I had anticipated one of the Unorthodox Faction's branch sects, presumed to be under its command, to be mentioned.
But to hear the name of an Orthodox Faction Mid-Sized Sect...
—Have you thought about your career path?
Gu Ja-seung, an elder of the Great Heaven Sect, had praised me for saving Kim Hyeon-seung at the Competition and asked about my future.
I spoke, my voice laced with potent Killing Intent.
"You know what will happen if you're lying, right?"
"...It's true. They tried to hide their identity, but we secretly dug into it and found out, so it's definite."
I'd have to verify it, but seeing the Ghost Sound Hall Master's face, which suddenly looked years older, it didn't seem like a lie.
‘The Great Heaven Sect, huh... It'll take some time to investigate that.’
It was a shocking answer, but I had gotten the information I wanted, so I sheathed my sword.
Phew...
As I put away my sword, sighs of relief could be heard from various directions.
My initial objective was achieved, so I planned to listen a bit more before leaving.
"You have proof of the Great Heaven Sect's involvement, right?"
"The proof is..."
At that moment, I heard a voice, different from the wails of Ghosts.
Please help me...
It was a faint sob, one I wouldn't have heard if I hadn't expanded my Qi Sensing Domain and sharpened all my senses.
Please help me...
Please, help me...
The youthful voice came from the basement of this building.
Focusing more on my hearing, I realized it wasn't just one voice.
There were at least three people, and they all shared the common trait of being young.
"...These bastards."
Even in the Underworld, there's a line you shouldn't cross.
In my previous life, though I wasn't a Dark Hero, I tried to live by that line.
Those who crossed that line, I killed, regardless of profit or loss.
That was a conviction that wouldn't change in this life either.
—They're a nasty bunch. They mostly deal in talismans possessed by Ghosts, and I heard they even deliberately possess children with Evil Spirits, then trick parents by offering to introduce them to a skilled shaman.
Hwang Suk-su's words about the Ghost Sound Hall came back to me, and I easily understood the situation.
I took off the goggles that obstructed my vision, and then removed the stifling mask.
"Why suddenly your face..."
"We're all players here, why ask?"
I grinned at the Ghost Sound Hall Master, whose face had gone pale.
Showing my face meant I wouldn't let a single one of them leave here alive.