Chapter 23

Lessons from the future

“Grrr!”

The blood from the paralyzed gang members coagulated on the office floor. Cutting through their tendons was a measure that prevented the diluted paralysis poison effect from being prematurely ended by their strengthened bodies.

“You motherfucker!”

On the face of Ma Sang-Hyun, who was staring at me, anger rather than fear lingered clearly. His spirit still stood great, even with his wrists and ankles cut through. It was a wound that would’ve made a normal person lose consciousness because of the shock, but it didn’t work the same way for hunters. He couldn’t move due to the paralysis poison, but the reason that only Ma Sang-Hyun maintained his mind and still could talk was that the mana of a C-class hunter had upgraded his body that much.

“Hmm?”

At that time, I felt a presence outside the closed third-floor door. Eventually, I could hear a voice as well.

“Branch Manager! Brothers! Are you all alright there? I heard a thumping sound!”

I activated Penetration.

‘It’s the rest of them.’

The few remaining gang members on the lower floor climbed the stairs with weapons in hand. They had all felt the suspicious atmosphere. I approached Ma Sang-Hyun and shook my head from side to side, pushing the blade into his neck. He glared at me as if he was going to hurt me, then shouted.

“Go away! It’s nothing!”

Ma Sang-Hyun continued to tell them that it was nothing and to continue doing what they were doing. There was a moment of silence outside the door.

“···Yes, sir. Call me if you need anything!”

But…did they feel a sense of incongruity in his voice, or was it suspicious that Ma Sang-Hyun answered himself even after having so many of his subordinates on the third floor with him? They answered as if they were going to withdraw, but I could see that each gang member outside the door was charging up their mana. I moved first before they could get closer.

Instead of taking Lorto’s dagger out of my arms, I instead held the new longsword.

[Acceleration!]

I wrapped a mana shield all over my body and collided with the iron door.

Thud!

The waiting gang members stiffened. I pushed the fallen iron door with my shoulders and collided with the one in the lead, the door in front of me like a shield.

Crush!

“Agh!”

The man who got hit by the door spit out blood as he bounced off. Taking advantage of the moment, I stabbed his shoulder deeply with the sword. Ma Sang-Hyun clenched his jaw.

“It’s an intruder! Catch him, kill him!”

The gang members, who avoided the collision since they were a few steps behind, rushed in energetically. There were two with swords, one ax, and one mace. First, the guy with the ax jumped out of his place and struck down with both hands. The overbearing wind pressure narrowly passed my ears.

Bang!

The ax hit the concrete wall behind me and smashed it. At the moment the ax was embedded in the wall, I cut through his defenseless back. After confirming that his body was collapsing, I leaped over the stair railing and flew to the second floor.

“This bastard!”

The gang members were chasing me. The sharp murderous air gave me the chills as each person jumped down the stairs or kicked off the railing to follow.

“Hit him!”

Two swords flew for my neck and heart. I pulled my body back, then, this time, an iron mace followed from a higher angle. It was an attack I expected by reading the movement of mana before jumping into the air.

Swoosh!

The line made by my blade cut through the air. Along the blue-lighted path, bright red liquid splattered.

Rip!

The iron mace rolled down the stairs.

“Gag!”

Each of the two remaining swordsmen drew a blue diagonal line.

Shaaa! Swing!

“Gasp!”

“Ahh!”

The next moment, on the stairs connecting the 2nd and 3rd floors, everyone except me fell and rolled down.

“Those…useless bastards!”

Ma Sang-Hyun mumbled on the third floor as if all were in vain. I grabbed the fallen guys off the floor and threw them in the third-floor office in turn.

Thud! Bang!

Once I made cuts deep enough to make it impossible for them to move, they crawled on the floor with groans of pain. I purposely threw them right in front of Ma Sang-Hyun, for him to take a look so that he could observe well. This was also to let him know that none were dead yet. Ma Sang-Hyun gritted his teeth and spoke.

“Fuck, what are you expecting to do now?”

He already had an idea but still said that. I looked down at him. At this point, where ten gang members had disappeared after pursuing a target, doubts shouldn’t be raised about who I was. Fortunately, Ma Sang-Hyun suspected that I belonged to the United Clan, but I needed something crucial to turn that assumption into an assurance. So then I spoke, picking out the information that only the two organizations, the parties in the current cold war, would know.

“Look, boys. That’s why you should have played with moderation in Misa-ri.”

His eyes widened.

“Of course!”

His veins protruded on his temple.

“So, this is about you bastards’ resentment!”

There was no way that a group of hunters who dealt with all kinds of illegal things would avoid touching such things as an illegal dungeon. The two organizations were doing what the Optimus Guild was doing over a much wider area. The dungeon that got caught by the government in the future would be called “Hanam 4 Dungeon” was stolen by the Gangdong Revival Alliance from the United Clan that scented it first, as they were dealing with a broker. It was deliberately mentioned to Ma Sang-Hyun because it occurred several months ago and wasn’t known to the public as it was an illegal dungeon.

“Fuck, that is that, but you chose to take revenge in this way?”

He was now convinced that I belonged to the United Clan. I continued to act based on memory.

“Ugh, you guys tarnished our boss’s reputation just a bit too much. You almost embarrassed him! It was a situation where the table was set, and all we had to do was eat, but suddenly you intervened and chose to spit on it, and all the more, rob us?”

Ma Sang-Hyun protested without any doubt.

“Fuck, the guy who claims it first owns it! Does it look like we have mutual respect in this line of work?”

“Mutual respect? We keep that. Look at me. Am I not exemplary? I didn’t kill anybody in the middle of this, right?”

“That’s because if you kill any of my family in this situation, the war’s on, dumbass!”

If I were planning to threaten, I could start with snapping off one or two peoples’ heads for faster cooperation, but I intentionally didn’t kill anyone, to rather emphasize that fact. Ma Sang-Hyun thought that the reason was to avoid a war that wouldn’t end unless one of the two organizations was destroyed. Therefore, he would believe that I would stop my ‘revenge’ at an appropriate level. I laughed and asked him.

“So, Branch Manager Ma. Where is the ledger?”

He opened his eyes wide.

“Motherfucker! Is that your purpose?!”

It was a bad idea to specifically ask for the client who instructed him to raid the car moving on a specific road in a certain month and certain day. I just had to get all the records of what they had done so far.

In the Gangdong Revival Alliance, a branched organization, each branch’s profit management was independently monitored by the Branch Manager to be reported to and approved by the headquarters. Therefore, there must be a ledger in this office that monitored all the businesses through Ma Sang-Hyun’s hands. So, Ma Sang-Hyun wouldn’t doubt as to why the United Clan wanted it. The moment they got it, they got to acquire all the business secrets of the branch.

“Would I be crazy to hand over such a thing to you…!”

Rip!

A scream rang out.

“Aghhhhhh!”

I cut Ma Sang-Hyun’s leg horizontally.

His calf was cut wide and thin along with his pants. Red muscle was exposed in the area where the skin has been torn away, and blood flowed out steadily.

“If I can’t kill you, I can torture you.”

I laughed while baring my teeth. He then glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

“Branch Manager, do you like Jamón? Do you know what it looks like when you scoop out the hind legs of a pig thinly and slice out the flesh? Would you like to see your legs change like that while you watch?”

In pain, Ma Sang-Hyun bit his lips as if in agony. However, I was already guessing what choice he would make.

‘If he were sure that I’d kill him, and he thinks that the ledger is his only lifeline, he’s not going to give it out easily.’

As soon as the other person got what they need, their lives would be taken away. However, Ma Sang-Hyun, who was convinced that he couldn’t be killed for a different reason, eventually decided to avoid torture.

“…Fuck, it’s on that computer. Take it and fuck off!”

On his face, there was also a light of worry that if he kept bleeding like this, he might really die. In any case, there was no deep sense of loyalty to the Alliance enough to overcome even torture when his life was already guaranteed. At this, I snickered.

“Okay, that’s well thought out.”

I approached the computer Ma Sang-Hyun was looking at until my invasion. He willingly gave up the file location and password to the information I wanted. I easily sent all the data to the burner terminal on my wrist.

Crush!

After all the work was done, I shattered the computer.

“Well, now that you have everything you need, bugger off…”

Ma Sang-Hyun couldn’t continue. Our eyes met. My face, with its expression completely gone, reflected in his eyes.

“···What?”

I stopped acting from that moment. I didn’t even have to talk loudly anymore. His voice trembled as if he sensed the coldness of death in the room.

“You, no way!”

I stabbed through his chest without answering.

“Gag!”

Ma Sang-Hyun mumbled with blood bubbling in his mouth.

“You crazy…bastard…a war…like this…”

He must’ve been convinced that the United Clan could never start a war now because he knew the internal and external reasons for them not to be able to. Ma Sang-Hyun stared at me with desperate eyes and then stiffened without even closing his eyes.

Shook!

I pulled out the sword. I didn’t even need to make sure if he completely stopped breathing because I saw his heart’s mana core evaporate.

After that…

Swish!

Pshk!

I also took the lives of the remaining gang members who laid on the floor, one after another. The evidence to be left in this place was enough with the CCTV and the crew’s terminal that was deliberately left undamaged. Ma Sang-Hyun and the other members of the organization didn’t need to be alive to testify.

I wasn’t just concerned that the testimony would convey vivid information and clues that could not be included in the video. If there was one thing that Choi Seung-Hyun of his previous life learned through the chaos of the future, it was that if he left those who tried to kill him alive for any reason, they would return like a boomerang with deeper resentment and toxicity.

Even if they misunderstood my identity now, the fact that they tried to kill me wouldn’t change, so I was going to end it like this from the start.

Swish!

Crush!

After a short period, the office was filled with a much more intense smell of blood.