I Said, Don't Mess With Me.
There are many ways to handle a crowd alone.
Like the Boss did—planting a paralyzing dread. Or the way Ji-hoon does it—crushing the other side with overwhelming physicality.
In my case...
I made them face reality.
That if they came at me, there was no avoiding a fatal wound...
Among the things the Boss taught me long ago, one lesson stuck deeper than all the rest.
You have to let something cold slip inside the body. Then the other side learns numbers mean nothing.
Only, there was one thing I hadn't counted on.
These people who'd been living in the twenty-first century were no different from hothouse flowers.
A glancing touch made them shriek. The sight of a flap of flesh hanging loose made them crumple with faces that looked ready to faint.
Nothing more than a little blood splashed on someone, a minor scar left behind. Fear began spreading in their eyes.
The screams of a few acquaintances they'd been on friendly terms with amplified the emotion called terror, spreading it through them like a wave.
When I saw that... I thought I'd borrow a page from the Boss's approach.
I stepped onto the back of the man whose right thigh tendon I'd severed as he tried to crawl away.
"Please...! Please spare me!!!"
I seized him by the hair, reversed my grip on the dagger, and ended his life right in front of them all.
Crunch... crunch...
In the aftermath of my action, the tips of the tools they were holding trembled violently.
People who looked ready to throw down their tools and run on the spot...
I plunged in among them the way the Boss would.
I remembered the Boss, who could be surrounded by dozens and not take a single scratch.
How was that even possible? How could someone move like that? I'd wondered...
Now I think I understand.
When people have lost the will to fight, the tools they swing on instinct are all too simple.
Chopping down from above as a defensive motion, or slashing horizontally... that was the whole of it.
So I could feel the Boss's thinking a little longer, I didn't deal a fatal blow all at once.
Pandemonium.
To create that chaos, I used a stabbing dagger to slash through cloth and skin.
The way you'd cut through brush to push through dense jungle.
You have to let something cold slip inside the body. Then the other side learns numbers mean nothing...
I thought I finally understood what the Boss had been trying to teach me.
I didn't even have to deal a fatal wound.
Those scared out of their wits couldn't muster the nerve to come at me.
They understood that the cold blade that'd luckily left only a shallow scar on them could sink just as deep as it had in the others...
I didn't bother chasing down the ones who slipped away to run. The gunshots muffled by suppressors were already ringing between the screams of those sprawled before me.
I drove the dagger into the area near the last man's heart.
Thunk.
The man stared down at his own ending.
"Fuck..."
I pulled a cigarette from my inside pocket, lowered my mask, and bit down on it. Then I swept back my hair, heavy and sinking with blood, and drew out the dagger I'd planted.
Schlick.
When I opened the last door and stepped inside, five gazes fixed on me at once. They were glaring at me, clutching a golf club, a chair, a folding baduk board, and all manner of odds and ends. But the real problem was the way their hands were shaking—badly.
I pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of the door so nobody could run, then lit my cigarette.
Sssssssip... phoooo...
"Yoon Hyeong-seop. And Jeong I-su... And you're Hwang Ji-seon, right?"
""......""
"The Boss wants to see you."
I made a move on Kim Si-yoon because I didn't want to end up like the host who went into the shredder. But this was Kim Si-yoon—the type who toyed with you like she was playing baduk before she ate you alive—so honestly, I didn't want to go after her myself. Making a direct move felt way too unnerving.
Seo-jun had come to me after hearing a rumor somewhere. He'd been wearing a look of pure ecstasy, asking if I was going to bag this Si-yoon.
We were in a hurry, but Im Yeong-hwan was apparently having the time of his life—we couldn't reach him, and I was just about to get pissed when...
The screaming started from beyond the door.
I opened it, wondering what was going on, and was horrified by the carnage unfolding outside.
The Koreans the Japanese organization had sent to protect us, the swarm of Korean crew members dispatched for this—they were being mowed down by a single person.
I quickly locked the door and started trying to figure out the situation.
Taebaek...? No... couldn't be.
Then who the hell was that man?
The thicker the screams grew, the more terror bloomed. We all grabbed whatever was around that could serve as a weapon. But everyone knew. Knew none of it was going to protect us...
We didn't realize until we saw him with our own eyes—the man who'd casually punched in the door code and walked inside.
That thing with a cigarette between its lips, so terrifyingly handsome it inspired awe—it was something wearing a human shell...
His hair and suit were soaked through with blood, but somehow it only suited him. He radiated an aura so dreadful it circled back around to looking right on him. The sight made us set down our weapons and drop to our knees.
He used the blood like styling wax to slick his hair back, pulled out a lighter, and lit the cigarette in his mouth.
"The Boss wants to see you."
"Wh-... who is..."
"They'll be here... soon."
The man finished his cigarette, took a case from his inside pocket and stowed the butt, then rose from his seat and approached the sponsor, Gwang-hyeon. At this point, his stride was so utterly natural—and the look on his face so clearly said he was just going to check the man's face—that no one realized he had a blade in his hand.
When you take a human life, what kind of face does the one doing it wear...?
The kind those Taebaek people had a while back, going after Ji-eun—reeking and drunk on madness?
Or the kind you only see in movies—a mix of horror and shock at the atrocity you yourself committed?
Or, barring that, a face drunk on ecstasy from the thrill...?
But he... he wore a face as blank as if he were looking at paperwork needing processing.
Gwang-hyeon collapsed without even a death cry.
The more he clawed at his throat, the more blood gushed out between his fingers.
None of us understood what was happening, and the man walked right past me and I-su to approach Seo-jun.
"Pl-... please spare me! I-I!!! I have a lot to give you!"
The man seized Seo-jun by the hair with zero expression.
Han Seo-jun, terrified out of his wits, kept talking fast.
"Me! Me!!! I'm Han Seo-jun! My girlfriend was in Gumiho—"
The man suddenly propped his chin in his hand and tilted his head. Like he was thinking hard about something...
That was the first time he opened his mouth.
"Ah, I remember now."
"Please..."
"You're going to regret this... you'll miss this moment..."
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
A commotion started building outside, and then someone opened the door and walked in.
The person who'd suddenly appeared... was Kim Si-yoon.
"Ah, shit... the cigarette smell. Hey, you fuck! Park. I told you not to smoke, didn't I?"
"Sorry..."
Kim Si-yoon, who'd arrived making a racket, was also covered head to toe with blood splatters—whatever she'd been up to.
""......""
"Oh? What's this? Seo-jun? What are you doing here?"
"Pl-... please spare..."
"Hm? You saw my face, though...?"
I arrived at the warehouse Team 7 liked to use when extracting information. It even had a shower room. By the time I washed up and came out, a change of clothes was waiting for me in the locker room.
When I got dressed and stepped outside, it looked like Tae-oh had gotten cleaned up too.
I was giving Tae-oh a once-over when I spotted the ring on his finger.
"So you two are actually dating now?"
"...We are."
"The person I talked to on the phone before?"
Tae-oh nodded.
I'd told him to end it, but seeing that he hadn't, either the woman had latched on hard, or Tae-oh actually liked her.
Ninety-nine percent the former.
I tied my long hair back haphazardly and walked toward the center of the warehouse. Tae-oh, apparently thinking his work wasn't done yet, was pulling on gloves.
"When are you going to the army?"
"Planning to go once this semester ends."
"Oh~ that's quick. Where to?"
"Haven't decided yet."
"Special forces?"
"Definitely not."
"Glad you're smart."
I opened the door to one of the containers and stepped into a stark white space.
In the center, five people knelt with sacks pulled over their heads, bound.
The fact that Han Seo-jun was tangled up in this... it was so absurd it circled right back around, and I realized, yeah, with him, this actually tracks.
Han Seo-jun, with the sack over his head, called my name in a trembling voice.
"Si-... Si-yoon, we... we filmed a movie toge—"
"Hm? But we're each other's rival in that, you know~ basically out to kill each other. Just think of this as the same situation. Ahaha."
Maybe it was because I laughed so brightly, even in this situation; they flinched hard, even more frightened than before.
I pulled the pink vape from my pocket and was just bringing it to my mouth when I stopped at Jeong I-su's words.
"S-send us... to the police... we'll pay for everything we—"
"Hmm... don't you think that's a little late?"
At the sound of my voice, they flinched again. Im Yeong-hwan seemed to have given up—probably decided he wasn't getting out of this, based on my attitude.
No reaction from Hwang Ji-seon, surprisingly, so I'd almost figured she was just the unflappable type by nature. Then she suddenly keeled over backward.
Pretty sure she fainted.
Right after that, Yoon Hyeong-seop spoke up.
""......""
"Spare..."
I'd had a hunch, but it was the most predictable thing they could say, so I cut him off before even listening to the rest.
"Hm? That's not really for me to decide, is it?"
"Please..."
I jerked my chin at Tae-oh to pull the sacks off them. Tae-oh removed the sacks.
I put on a bewitching, alluring smile. I could feel Yoon Hyeong-seop's gears turning as he stared at me.
With all their eyes on me, I made a call.
-"Hello?"
"Yeah, yeah. Yoon-seo, it's me. Been waiting?"
-"No..."
"So, I've got Yoon Hyeong-seop, Jeong I-su, Hwang Ji-seon, and Im Yeong-hwan in front of me right now, all caught. What should I do?"
-"...Huh? How..."
Yoon-seo probably had a lot of questions, but right now she just needed to decide.
"If it's too hard to see them yourself, want me to just erase them for you?"
-"...Yes."
""Yoon-seo!!!""
Suddenly they were all shouting.
These people, shameless to the end, were begging for their lives from Yoon-seo—the person they'd tormented.
Yoon-seo said nothing until they'd gone quiet, then asked me to switch to speaker.
-"I... I've been in so much pain I wanted to die... I can never forgive..."
-"Please... just disappear..."
I looked at them with a blood-tinged smile.
"I'll call when it's done~"
-"....."
Five heads hanging low...
Ssssssssip... phoooooo...
I exhaled a thick cloud of vape and waved a hand to clear it away. A sweet fruity scent filled the container.
"You still have Yoon-seo's files, right? Hand them over."
"If we hand them over, you'll kill us..."
"Hm? What are you talking about? You're dead either way. But! If you hand them over without a fuss, I'll give you a choice. Maybe back in the day, but torture isn't really my style anymore. I'll send you to the dedicated team for it. Over there, you can get this and that pulled out, get stabbed and sliced up, and then once you're about used to the pain, go headfirst into this drum. Or, you can go into this drum right now with your body still intact."
""......""
"Having a hard time deciding? But there are only two options..."
I flicked my eyes at Tae-oh. Tae-oh hoisted up Im Yeong-hwan—who'd lost so much blood he was barely conscious—and shoved him headfirst into one of the upright steel drums. Im Yeong-hwan screamed and thrashed, but Tae-oh just kept silently shoveling the well-mixed concrete beside him into the drum.
"KYAAAAAAAH!!!"
Hwang Ji-seon must've come to at some point, because she let out a massive shriek, and Tae-oh and I both smoothly put in earplugs.
Hwang Ji-seon's pupils contracted.
She stared at us in horror and crawled backward to get away.
Im Yeong-hwan convulsed inside the drum before finally going still, and Hwang Ji-seon, who'd been screaming, seemed to have fainted again too, so I pulled the earplugs out.
I used my long, straight vape like a pointer, aiming it at Yoon Hyeong-seop.
"See? I send people off nice and tidy like this. How about it?"
"You're... insane..."
"Ahah? Looks like you still need another demonstration? Tae-oh, you haven't eaten, right?"
"I haven't."
"My stomach's gotten kind of weak lately, so can you handle this one?"
"Got it."
Kim Tae-oh dragged the massive axe behind him and walked toward Jeong I-su, our class treasurer.
At that sight, the terrified group started spilling everything they knew.
Not just the location of Yoon-seo's files. Yoon Hyeong-seop started giving up the locations of files containing the weaknesses and information on everyone connected.
To judge if it was a lie, I called Jong-hyeon, who was at their home base.
That was when Hwang Ji-seon, her face a mess of tears, started spilling her own story.
How Yoon Hyeong-seop had figured out her family was desperately poor and put the moves on her; how she ended up stuck with no way out, doing whatever he told her...
That Yoon-seo had been lucky enough to meet me and clear up her family's situation, but she hadn't been so fortunate...
Well, even if all that was true for how it started, I'd already checked how much money she'd been taking from Yoon Hyeong-seop up to now before I got here.
This thing they called the "player" approach—the one who approached targeted victims and brought in the most of them—was Hwang Ji-seon herself.
"And?"
"I-...I only did what I was told... please..."
"Ahah, thing is, I'm not exactly an apostle of justice?"
""......""
"More like a sanitation worker picking up trash I happen to see on the road?"
"Whether that trash-looking thing has some value that got it left on the street—I wouldn't know about that. I just see it, so I clean it up."
To Yoon Hyeong-seop, whose eyes had gone dead, I asked one last thing.
"Taebaek."
At the word, Yoon Hyeong-seop flinched. I hadn't even said anything else, and he spilled everything he'd seen and heard.
When a person is pushed to the extreme and falls into a panic, almost no one keeps their reason.
That went for Yoon Hyeong-seop too.
"A shredder, huh... Last time it was a wire saw. Your tastes are really something niche. All you Tigers like this nowadays?"
Tae-oh suddenly looked at me. With an expression that seemed to say, aren't you the one who kept bringing in all the weird ones in the past?
"Park... Cho-a was the one who started it, got it? I was clean before her."
"....."
"...? What kind of reaction is that?"
"Nothing... it's nothing."
I turned to look at Han Seo-jun.
"Well, it is a shame, you know? Even if it was just acting, we were lovers. Bye-bye, darling~"
"....."
I left them there with no more words and walked out with Tae-oh. When Tae-oh and I stepped out of the container, several people were neatly stacking human-shaped somethings—sealed inside zipper bags—into the back of it.