Ch.550Chapter 21. Blood Pack (10)

Everyone has their dark history.

And that dark history often appears during childhood, especially during the period full of middle school emotions.

Tae Jo was a walking generator of dark history until just a few months ago.

But now that he had decided to throw away his identity as Armored Taejo and live as his true self, he was ready to face his dark history head-on.

However.

“Wow, is this for real? You were acting all this time? No way. It would make more sense if you said you had a split personality.”

“Actually, it was a split personality.”

“Hehe, right. That’s a better joke at least.”

“……”

With people who knew his wild past standing right beside him, Tae Jo had to bear the consequences of his past actions—even those committed by his alter ego, Armored Taejo.

“Yoon Hye-ra. Don’t tease the kid too much. Everyone has circumstances they can’t talk about.”

“Hmm, was I too harsh? Sorry. I never imagined that annoying brat who used to mess with me would turn out like this.”

“……”

“But you’re really so different now. If you had been like this before, someone else might have become the S-rank detector?”

“Ahem.”

No matter how much of a “Black Taejo” he was, he was still only 17.

“Kid. Have you grown up? No, I’m actually impressed. You’ve been through a lot.”

When a beautiful woman, especially one slightly older but not by much, compliments you, your heart can’t help but flutter.

“My sisters-in-law have also been through a lot.”

“……”

Correction.

He’s not 17, but more like a 37-year-old sly fox in disguise.

“Hmph, ahem. Sisters-in-law… What kind of kid says such embarrassing things?”

“…When you get married, you absolutely have to come as that persona. I’m not sending a wedding invitation to that annoying brat.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

By referring to Yoon Hye-ra and Hyun Se-rin as his “sisters-in-law,” he was simultaneously flattering them while also elevating me. With just one comment, he had already lowered both women’s guards against him.

“Well, now that we’ve introduced ourselves and confirmed our abilities…”

“Wait a minute. I need to ask one thing about his ability. Oppa, this isn’t his real ability, is it?”

“……”

Yoon Hye-ra’s question was clearly rude.

It’s definitely impolite to ask someone to reveal their true ability when they’re using a different one to hide their identity.

“Tae Jo. Is that a newly developed ability?”

“I created it with hyung’s help. Rather than large-scale metal manipulation, this kind of precise control helps me hide my identity.”

“How does it work?”

“I’m just manipulating mana gold. Precisely. It’s similar to how sister-in-law creates and launches fire birds.”

“Hmm… What? I thought it was some new technique.”

However, such rudeness only applies in normal situations. For us, asking about each other’s abilities isn’t particularly impolite.

Rather, confirming each other’s abilities and mana status is essential information we need to share in order to “fight” together this time.

“I won’t hold anyone back. Whether I’m supporting or on the front lines, I’ll handle things properly without revealing my identity. I’m here with the President’s permission for this mission.”

“Oh my, that old man? That’s unexpected.”

“The President dislikes Haeguneul just as much as we do. Especially in cases like this where we have justification. The President wants to cut out this country’s cancer, even if it damages our national prestige.”

Haeguneul is like a cancer in this country.

The cancer cells have spread throughout the body to the point where removing them would require cutting out about 70% of all organs.

“Even Haeguneul won’t be able to cover up human trafficking.”

Until now, we’ve only been cutting away small pieces from the surface, but it’s as if a new medical technology has been developed—a vaccine that kills only cancer cells.

“Well then, I look forward to working with you as a dog handler.”

“Don’t you have anything besides dogs? Like cats, or cats.”

“The dog concept works better.”

At Hyun Se-rin’s request, I stopped Tae Jo from trying to freely create various animals with his metal manipulation.

“If you make different metal animals, people will think you have metal manipulation abilities, but if you only make Korean Jindo dogs, they’ll think you’re just an ability user obsessed with Jindos.”

“……”

“Even if you’re discovered, just say you’re a clone of the S-rank ability users created by Goblin before he died. The same goes for you two.”

“Hmm, then should we use different code names too?”

Yoon Hye-ra raised her hand filled with mana to her face.

“Black Flame Phoenix clone, ‘Dark Phoenix’ or something.”

Crackle.

A golden eye mask like flames appeared over her eyes.

Though the mask revealed the lower part of her face and wasn’t meant to hide her identity but rather serve as a concept, it was enough to give off an “I’m not an ordinary person” vibe.

“…That’s pretty good. Hyun Se-rin, what about you?”

“How far are you planning to take this? We’re the same people, but how many alter egos are you trying to create?”

“Until the Haeguneul chairman goes bald from stress.”

We lose if we think about it that way.

Our identities ultimately converge to one, but the person who should be pulling their hair out is Haeguneul—trying to develop countermeasures one by one against all our various alter egos and business cards that adapt to different positions and situations.

“Look at the President. Just knowing through Black Taejo that The Syndicate is behind this incident and that Goblin is moving makes him look completely at ease.”

I showed them footage of the President in the news through my Syndicate Watch.

[Although we cannot determine why Hwalbindang suddenly carried out this terrorist attack, we will work closely with the Association to immediately capture the S-rank fire-type ability user and their accomplices who committed this act of terror…]

He was speaking to reporters with a determined face, but there was no anxiety or impatience behind that determination.

[Rest assured, citizens. South Korea is safe.]

Well, it’s Haeguneul that’s in trouble, not South Korea.

“Now then.”

I gripped the Goblin Club with one hand, lightly tapped my palm, and then raised the object in my palm to my face.

[Like Hwalbindang, let’s cause some terror. Like those crazy people who try to stop Korean goods from being smuggled abroad.]

* * *

The next day, western Ganghwa Island, Incheon.

Whirr.

At a location in western Ganghwa Island.

A small dock where only a few small fishing boats could barely fit.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

Near the dock filled with the smell of the sea, a group of men in suits were shivering and waiting for time to pass.

“Stay alert. You know what happened to C Team, right?”

“So what? Weak guys got taken down. What do you expect from a team led by someone who’s not even S-rank?”

“And you’re S-rank?”

“Hey. I may have been captured, but could I not handle Armored Taejo?”

The two young men were grinding their teeth and picking fights with each other.

The other suited young men behind them clearly had complaints about the two, but none of them dared to express their dissatisfaction and just silently guarded the drums placed beside them.

“If I hadn’t been caught by that traitor back then, I’d be making a name for myself as an S-rank hero by now. Hehe, then I would…”

“Stop talking nonsense. They’re coming.”

Swish.

“I see she came in person, afraid her goods might get stolen. Tsk.”

From across the pitch-black sea, a yacht painted completely black was slowly approaching the dock without a single light.

“Welcome to Korea, Miss Bathory.”

“Hmph, whatever.”

The woman standing on the yacht was dressed in a black dress with a black parasol.

Everything about her was black except for her eyes, which gleamed blood-red.

“The goods?”

“They’re safe. We went through quite a lot of trouble, you know? We had to urgently source from the north to replace what was burned in Seoul…”

“Are they really Korean? Not mixed with Chinese?”

“Of course not. Would you like to check yourself?”

“Hmm…”

The woman, Bathory, lightly jumped from the yacht and landed directly on top of one of the drums.

“Hmm… the scent is right.”

“You can tell the difference?”

“Difference? Of course. Hey, I’m a blood technician. As if I wouldn’t know about blood… Ah, deduct that one from the payment.”

Crunch!

As Bathory reached forward, one of the drums crumpled from the inside.

“W-what?! Do you know how much each drum costs…!”

“It’s mixed with 3% wasabi. Are you asking me to drink blood mixed with Japanese stuff?”

“No, they were all Koreans…”

“Probably illegal immigrants who were lied to and had their blood extracted. Sigh…”

Bathory lamented while looking at the label on the drum.

“Seoul people’s blood tastes the best. And now I can’t have it. Hey, if Hwalbindang shows up, I’ll kill them all myself.”

“No way. Why would Hwalbindang come here? This is legitimate trade.”

“What if those crazy people start rampaging, saying they can’t stand Korean blood being sent overseas? Those guys are even more extreme than that deer. They go absolutely crazy whenever anything Korean leaves the country.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Bathory. Hwalbindang will never…”

Whoosh.

The wind blew.

With this ominous wind, Bathory and all the suited agents took combat positions.

“Never what?”

“In Korean, you should listen to the end of the sentence.”

“So what?”

“…Hwalbindang will never be able to touch your purchased goods. We will—”

Crunch!

One of the drums crumpled.

Red blood burst from inside, spraying in all directions, and Bathory turned her gaze to the opposite side of the dock.

“Ah, damn it. I’m paying over 1 billion won per drum, what the hell is this?!”

[What is this, you ask?]

Step, step.

[Mayhem.]

“You…”

The man who appeared from the darkness, with his black robe fluttering, revealed himself with his face uncovered.

“…Who are you?”

[Can’t you tell by looking?]

The man pointed to a mark below his left eye.

[I am Goblin.]

“…That’s not a mole, but a barcode? Wait. There’s some kind of symbol… Could it be?”

The mark on the man who called himself Goblin was…

“D.K.B. MK.3…?”

It was so small that it could barely be seen even with S-rank microscopic vision, but that phrase was clearly engraved there.

[That’s right.]

The man raised his Goblin Club.

[I am Goblin.]

“Goblin Mark 3?”

He began to emit light from his eyes.

[I AM!! GOBLIN!!!]

The man who declared himself to be Goblin…

[Only I am Goblin!!]

…screamed as he proclaimed himself to be Goblin.