Chapter 20: Overpriced

The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze.

“Hunter Kim Sungho. Let’s not be like this.”

“Do I want to? Remembering how I had to pay outrageously high prices for food makes me never want to visit your shop again.”

“Are you telling us to leave? Now?”

I nodded at the words of the middle-aged woman.

“Yes. Get out. Pack your things and leave quickly.”

Their distorted faces were quite a sight.

Finally, one of the merchants, who could no longer hold back, shouted.

“We tried to handle this nicely, but you’re doing this? Hunter Kim Sungho, you shouldn’t act so harshly.”

“Do you know how many members we have in our merchants’ association? A young man like you is already so greedy.”

“We will sue. Do you think the South Korean government will let you be? We could make this an international issue!”

It’s laughable, but they spouted off these ineffective words, true to their nature of believing that raising their voices would solve most problems in this country.

They knew well that this area of Daejeon had become our guild’s property.

They’d be fools if they hadn’t noticed after all the media coverage.

Still, they were throwing a fit, hoping that raising their voices might work.

It might have worked before, but I’m not a public office worker who trembles at raised voices.

“Go ahead.”

“What?”

“As you already know, Daejeon is under American jurisdiction. More precisely, it belongs to our Stray Dog Guild. The South Korean government and parliament, pressed by the crack issue in Suwon, handed it over to us in a hurry. We make the laws here. If you mess with me, I can throw you in jail for illegally occupying a military facility.”

Upon my threat, two of the male merchant representatives took a step back in fear, but the middle-aged woman remained brazen.

From my personal experience, it seems that women who rip people off are often more shameless.

“Do you think the South Korean government will sit idly by if you throw innocent people in jail? We’ll protest. We’ll lie down on the streets and protest. We’ve been doing business here for years. You think you can just drive us out? A young man like you, driven by greed. Is this what your parents taught you?”

“So, you won’t leave?”

“We can’t. We won’t! Either let us do business here or compensate us for the damages of closing our shops! If you don’t, we’ll lie down in front of passing vehicles and protest. You’ll have to kill us to get us out! We’ll lie down in front of the US Embassy or wherever!”

On the verge of losing my temper, Brother Younghak stood up, but I grabbed his hand and made him sit back down, signalling him to leave it to me.

I took out a can from my pocket.

Mana Potion.

I glared at the screaming woman, opened the can, and gulped it down, feeling the mana fill my body.

[Using the skill <Chain of Obedience>! You can summon one of the skills of the contracted monster!]

In this situation, the most appropriate skill would be this.

[Using the unique skill of the ancient dragon <Despair Flame Dragon>. <Dragon Fear>!]

A tremor shook the room as if there were a mild earthquake.

Brother Younghak, accustomed to mana, didn’t flinch, but the three merchants turned pale as soon as the Dragon Fear emanated.

This was the unique skill of a 1200-level monster.

It was impossible for three ordinary people to withstand such an overwhelming skill that even magicians had to struggle to dispel.

“Hey, lady. This is interesting. Keep yapping.”

As I got up and approached her, the Dragon Fear intensified with each step, causing one of the male merchants to wet himself and faint, while the other collapsed to the floor.

The woman held on, likely due to her shamelessness, but barely.

Her face was as pale as a corpse, and her clothes were soaked with cold sweat.

I leaned in close to her face.

“Didn’t you just say you’d lie down on the road and block our vehicles?”

“Yes…”

“There’s nothing you can’t do. If you wish to die, I’ll gladly run over you. Do you think the South Korean government would care?”

“If your tantrum delays the handling of the cracks and causes national damage, do you think public opinion will support you? They might even say you deserved to die. In a wartime-like situation caused by crack incidents, I can legally run you over. Public opinion will be on our side. Want to give it a try?”

“Hunter Kim Sungho. Wait…”

“So please, I beg you, lie down on the road. I’m curious too. Will a Humvee squashing your head make a watermelon-cracking sound or a noodle-crushing sound?”

With my words, the woman collapsed, her legs giving out.

Her pants were visibly wet.

After leisurely finishing my cigarette, I threw the butt at her face.

“You have until tomorrow. Pack everything and leave. Don’t think about doing business here again.”

There were no more objections.

The woman and the men slapped the fainted man awake and hurried out of the room.

Watching the three of them run out, Brother Younghak chuckled and approached me.

“Those bastards wetting their pants is fucking hilarious.”

“Funny, right? But Brother, tomorrow will be even funnier.”

“What do you mean?”

I smiled, looking towards the door the three merchants had exited through.

“Since they ripped us off, we should rip them off too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Deploy the US soldiers and our guys brought by Major Hagan to block all the entry points to Daejeon. No vehicle should enter without our permission.”

Realizing my plan, Brother burst into laughter.

“I’ll do it right away.”

He ran out of the room.

It had been a while since I’d seen him laugh like that.

The next morning.

After inspecting the area, I went to the place where the merchants were gathered with Major Hagan.

The place was in utter chaos.

“Suddenly telling us to move out by today, what does that mean?”

“We have mountains of cooking tools, refrigerators, and tables to move. How can we do it in a day?”

As dozens of merchants huddled together, whispering, they fell silent as soon as my Humvee appeared.

The moment I got out of the car, the merchants approached me.

“Hunter Kim Sungho. Let’s not do this. How can you suddenly tell us to move out?”

“We have heavy and large items to move. How can we do it right away?”

“Consider our situation. You’ve eaten a lot at our shops.”

I shook my head at their pitiful words.

“Find a way to move out by today.”

“I’m telling you, we don’t have enough time. We need to call trucks and people to move this. Give us at least a week…”

“Anything left here after midnight today will be disposed of. We’ll consider it illegal construction on military facilities and destroy everything with hunters. Then we’ll burn it all. So, do as you will.”

The merchants’ mood turned hostile.

“What tyranny is this?”

“Can you just dispose of our belongings like this? We’ll sue!”

Their protests were no different from yesterday’s.

The three merchants who got humiliated by me yesterday knew their words wouldn’t work, so they stayed back, watching my reactions.

I looked at the protesting merchants and silently drank another mana potion.

And then I used Dragon Fear.

“Whoa!!!”

People fainting.

People backing away.

People peeing themselves.

There were all sorts of reactions.

I quietly addressed the merchants who were hesitantly retreating.

“Do you think I’m joking? Your stores will be demolished as illegal buildings, and you’ll be considered civilians who illegally intruded on military facilities. Want me to send you to prison? Do you think I can’t do it?”

I said one line.

Some of the trembling merchants finally seemed to realize the situation, forcing themselves to smile through their fear as they approached me.

“Hunter Kim Sungho. Ha, hahaha. If that was the case, you should have said so earlier. Here. Take this.”

He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to me.

I took the envelope.

Inside were multiple bills with Shin Saimdang’s face on them.

“We’ll give you this every month. So please, have some consideration for our situation. We’ve been doing business here for years, and now you’re telling us to leave immediately?”

“Money, huh.”

I threw the money in the merchant’s face.

The bills floated freely to the ground.

“I don’t need it. So, pack up and leave by today.”

“Please! Don’t do this!”

“Yeah, I’m doing this.”

I turned coldly and got back into the Humvee.

Then I drove away.

Once I was a certain distance away, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing, Guild Leader Kim?”

At Major Hagan’s question, I chuckled for a while before looking back at the merchants in the restricted area.

“Just thinking about them having to cough up everything they’ve taken from us all at once is funny.”

After Hunter Kim Sungho left, the merchants had various reactions.

“Where did that young bastard learn such insolence?!”

Someone cursed.

“What do we do? What do we do now?!”

Someone stomped their feet in distress.

“Call a moving company. Right now. We need to salvage whatever we can.”

Someone made a realistic judgment.

After some time, the merchants accepted reality and started calling moving companies one after another.

“Damn it! We have to call a moving company too.”

“Sanggyu’s mom? Yeah, it’s me. Can you send your husband’s truck over? We need to move some stuff urgently.”

The merchants, who had been ripping off soldiers for years, had no choice but to move their belongings out of their illegal establishments.

Dozens of merchants called for trucks and waited for them to arrive.

By the afternoon, the truck drivers contacted them.

“What? They can’t come in?”

• The hunters and soldiers are blocking the road! They said they can’t get through!!

Upon hearing this, the merchants hurried to the outskirts of Daejeon.

There, they saw dozens of trucks stopped by the military and hunters, their faces contorted with anger.

“What is this?! Why can’t the trucks come in?!”

In response to the merchants’ fury, Lee Younghak, who had been leisurely sitting with the soldiers and hunters, stood up.

“This is a military facility. Civilian vehicles can’t enter without a reason.”

“But this morning, you told us to leave! We need the trucks to get out!”

“That’s your problem. Civilian vehicles can’t enter a military facility.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?!”

Lee Younghak extended his hand.

“Pay up. If you pay enough, we’ll let the trucks in.”

The merchants were speechless.

But what could they do?

Lee Younghak held the power, and they were at his mercy.

“How much do you need?”

“A billion won for road usage.”

Finally, the merchants couldn’t hold back their anger any longer.

“What kind of outrageous price is that, you son of a bitch!!!”

In response, Lee Younghak’s killing intent flared up.

The sight of a tangible killing intent stirring up a dust storm was something the merchants had never seen before.

That’s right.

Lee Younghak had taken a mana potion.

“If you don’t like it, your stores will be demolished. I’ll make sure to do it thoroughly.”

“A bottle of soju that costs 2,000 won at a convenience store was over 10,000 won at your place, wasn’t it? And you, ma’am. I know you charged 20,000 won when hunters’ families visited your store. Since there’s a tradition of charging exorbitant prices here, we should follow it too, don’t you think? One billion won for road usage.”

“Where would we get that kind of money?!”

“If you don’t have it, your stores will be demolished. Honestly, I don’t care if you pay or not. I wouldn’t mind smashing things up. So, what will it be?”

The merchants, who had been quick-witted and shrewd enough to set up illegal buildings under the protection of Chief Cho Geunsung, quickly made a decision.

“Let’s abandon it.”

A billion won was too much money.

Losing the store interior and various items was painful, but it seemed better to abandon them and at least save some money.

“Fine, we’ll just dispose of them.”

As some merchants made a bold decision, a sly smile appeared on Lee Younghak’s face.

“Alright. Then we’ll send hunters to demolish your stores. The demolition fee is 10 billion won.”

“If you can’t pay, you’ll be imprisoned for building illegal structures on a military facility. You know this is under the control of the Stray Dogs Guild, right? Korean law doesn’t apply here. Would you rather be locked up and eat prison food until you can pay 10 billion won? Or just pay the 1 billion won and leave cleanly?”

“And by the way, prison food costs 100,000 won per meal. If you can’t pay, you won’t get fed.”

They had no choice.

That day, the merchants paid the 1 billion won road usage fee and gathered their store items to leave.

Some went bankrupt by borrowing money to pay, while others paid from their savings, but they all shared one sentiment.

“The price is outrageous!”

All of them were venting the same complaints the soldiers had when they bought food from their stores.