episode_0092

92. Fetal Movement.

Mister Gong was sufficiently endowed with the temperament of an orator. His explanations burrowed right into John’s ears.

After listening to his jesting for a while, John suddenly asked.

“Mister Gong. By any chance, were you a young master from a family with a name?”

“What?”

“The way you talk, and your knowledge too. You don’t seem like someone who should be working as a slave.”

Eloquent(達辯). This isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s always harder to teach someone than to learn.

Even if the manner of speaking is a little crude, judging by the depth of knowledge and the arrangement of sentences. He was definitely not an uneducated person.

“······Knowing will hurt you. You punk. Shut up and dig the ground.”

“Yes.”

Mister Gong playfully dismissed John’s words and continued working. He didn’t seem to like bringing up the past.

John understood him. Everyone has their own complexes.

John blurted out.

“Mister Gong. Don’t you want to get out of here?”

“······What? Are you crazy?”

Mister Gong’s gaze sharpened. John still had a nonchalant expression.

“No. I’m fine. I’m asking sincerely. If you were to escape from here, what would you want to do?”

“This bastard, really. I thought you were asking strange things since a while ago······.”

Suddenly, Mister Gong’s words stopped. It was because he saw John’s eyes. This guy. He’s serious.

“Mister Gong.”

“······.”

“Does it seem like a joke?”

“······.”

He wanted to pour out all sorts of curses at John. But he couldn’t. Some kind of invisible pressure was weighing down on him.

Mister Gong had felt a similar sensation before. It was similar to the aura that a high-level martial artist exuded towards him before he was kicked out of his family.

‘Just what is his identity?’

Suddenly, a ray of light flashed through his mind. Could it be?

Mister Gong said in an almost crawling voice.

“Su, Surely······.”

“······?”

“Are you an inspector who came from the League?”

John’s eyes took on a strange light. He didn’t know what that was, but judging from the context, he could roughly infer.

‘Is it something like a secret royal inspector?’

John answered without even wetting his lips.

“Yes.”

“······!”

Mister Gong quickly bit his lip. He almost screamed. Good heavens! An inspector!

No wonder, no wonder the way he spoke was unusual! Mister Gong finally felt like his questions about John were being answered. Too tall a physique for a slave who couldn’t even beg properly, and even the snow-white skin if you look closely, although it’s hidden by the sewage!

‘Was pretending to lack common sense part of gathering information?’

Maybe even that face right now isn’t his real face. He probably used a human skin mask or something.

Underneath that real-looking face skin is probably the face of a middle-aged man with experienced eyes. That’s what Mister Gong inferred.

“In, Inspector. You’ve really come to the right place. But, are you alone? Where are your other colleagues······.”

John’s lies continued.

“Don’t worry. My colleagues are located in various places.”

“As expected······!”

It wasn’t a lie. Although he didn’t know exactly where they were, they probably existed. His colleagues (Sarah and Deoksu) that is.

John continued to speak with unwavering eyes.

“So, what I’m saying is, everything I do from now on is part of the plan. Even if it seems a little strange, I hope you will trust me and follow along.”

“Yes? Would I be of any help?”

“It’s enough. When you were telling me information about this place, it seemed like you were a very intelligent person. Let’s work together.”

“······!”

He was deeply moved. Finally, the day is coming when the sun will shine on this hellhole of a life!

Mister Gong suppressed his excitement as much as possible. Stay calm.

“Ho, How should I go about things?”

“Yes. That is······.”

John’s explanation continued for a while.

The young man with the old-looking face listened to the false inspector’s words with a serious attitude. Unlike ordinary slaves, his excellent intelligence shone.

‘There’s potential! But······.’

After listening to all of John’s plans, he became slightly suspicious.

‘Is this inspector really that strong? What if he’s a newbie inspector?’

Mister Gong, who had been running the happiness circuit for a while, suddenly came to his senses. He should always assume the worst-case scenario.

In the past, he lacked that ability, so he fell to this position. He was a man who learned something from failure.

Suddenly, a self-deprecating thought flashed through his mind.

‘But, am I in a position to be picky about that?’

Of course not.

Whether it’s a golden lifeline or a rotten lifeline. If you stay still, there will be no change. You have to grab something. He answered with a determined expression.

“Let’s do it. I’ll trust only in the Inspector.”

John smiled.

“Yes.”

***

Swish-Thwack!

A certain supervisor’s whip struck the back of an unknown slave.

“Can’t you do it right! Where are you slacking off!”

“Ugh, Ye, Yes! I’m sorry!”

A man sitting in the dim shade, chewing on dandelion stems, rolled his eyes towards the sound. Hmm, it’s always a peaceful sight.

There are no slaves who don’t know their place and resist like last time, and there are no slaves with the physique to do so. After all, slaves are more about quantity than quality.

‘The better the quality of the pig, the more thoughts it has.’

Pigs and those guys have a lot in common.

Pigs have a neck structure made of strong muscles. Therefore, unless they fall over, they can’t look up at the sky for their entire lives.

Those guys are the same. No matter how much they struggle, the sky will never give them a glance. It’s absolutely impossible unless death comes and turns their bodies over.

“Ah, how boring. Was the shift change tomorrow? They said there’s a new courtesan who came to the Hwawol House, those ignorant bastards must have already had a few sips.”

He’s talking about other executives who are the same rank as him. Tsk, originally there’s nothing as special as a courtesan’s first night. Bad luck.

The man killed time with trivial thoughts. It was at that moment. A commotion arose from somewhere.

─······Knowing one’s place! Without knowing their place!

─······Are you afraid, you bastard?

─This bastard!

The man made a face as if he was annoyed and put his arms behind his head.

‘We’re going to have meat for side dishes today.’

The pig is taller and whiter than the pig that died yesterday. The meat must be tender. The slaves will like it.

***

After discussing with Mister Gong, John immediately began to take action.

There was no reason to drag out the time. Even at this moment, other players were running towards the goal of unifying the Central Plains, so he couldn’t fall behind.

Just in time, an opportunity came.

Thwack!

“Cough! Sa, Save me!”

It was a boy who looked to be about middle school age. The boy had a skinny physique, and for that reason, he seemed to lack strength.

If others dug the dirt twice, the boy would barely dig it once. The supervisor, who had been looking at such a boy with displeasure, finally exploded.

“Yo, You, Bas, Tard, Do, It, Right, I, Say!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The supervisor spoke as if cutting off the words and mercilessly swung the whip. The boy’s tender skin turned red, and soon, blood redder than that splattered.

“Save, Me, Ple, Ase, Cough······.”

John glanced at the supervisor’s face. His eyes were full of joy. Suddenly, John and the supervisor made eye contact.

The supervisor distorted his expression.

“What are you looking at! Do you want to end up like that too!”

The supervisor thought. It’s displeasing that he presumptuously made eye contact, but that guy does his job quite well. If I just give him a little scare, he’ll lower his tail.

But he missed the timing. The information gathering is almost over. If it was yesterday, I wouldn’t have any reason to be patient anymore. And the supervisor’s violence couldn’t have been a better excuse.

“Surely not, there’s no one in the world who wants to be beaten like that. At least not me.”

John, who revealed his true nature, stopped using honorifics. Maybe it’s different for Mister Gong, but there’s no need to be polite to a guy who’s not even human. It was his firm belief that had been passed down from before.

Don’t treat those who aren’t human like humans.

Thanks to the words John took out, silence fell on the audience. Numerous slaves thought. Is that guy crazy? The same was true for the supervisor.

“Wh, What? Have I ever seen such a crazy bastard. Hey, you, come here.”

“Okay.”

“······.”

John walked towards the supervisor with a nonchalant expression. The supervisor stopped whipping the boy.

John, who had reached the supervisor, said slowly.

“If you called me, say something.”

As soon as he heard John’s words, the supervisor whipped the ground. He was trying to give a threat. John didn’t even blink an eye.

“Oh yes, you really want to end your life.”

“As I said before, I don’t want to be beaten. I definitely don’t want to die.”

The supervisor’s face turned red at John’s reply.

“A lowly slave! Without knowing your place!”

“Your tongue is long. Are you afraid?”

“You bastard!”

I can’t stand it anymore. The supervisor’s right arm rotated like a windmill.

Soon, the old whip came flying with a sound as if tearing the wind.

John stared blankly at the sight and lightly snatched the whip.

“······!”

The supervisor didn’t even see the hand movements properly. He finally realized that something was wrong.

A master, he’s a master!

“Wa, Wait a sec─”

It was already too late. John slightly pulled the whip. The supervisor’s entire body tilted forward.

John looked at the supervisor’s thick chin. Soon, he threw an uppercut with his empty hand.

Pow!

The supervisor’s figure soared into the air.