episode_0095

“…So, no one knows who the boss is?”

“Yes, y-yes!”

The thug answering briskly seemed to be on high alert.

He was politely kneeling, adopting a respectful posture.

To an outsider, it might look like a vicious police officer tormenting a timid thug.

But that was only on the surface.

It was a posture forcibly adopted for survival, one might say.

Unlike his proper posture, his eyes were trembling severely.

His shoulders visibly flinched at my slightest movement.

Every time he started rambling and the conversation went off-topic, I’d give him a subtle warning, and he ended up like this.

It was a familiar reaction of someone consumed by fear.

But unlike his stiff body, his tongue was eloquent.

His mouth, moving without pause, extended its owner’s lifespan for as long as it moved.

Perhaps he felt that, or perhaps he held hope of survival.

The thug genuinely spat out everything he knew.

Perhaps because he was a low-ranking member, there wasn’t much useful information.

The only thing I managed to salvage was…

‘A hospital and an office….’

From what I heard, their boss frequently moved his residence.

This place, Jibplus, was initially used as a base, but as the number of thugs grew, they occupied and used nearby buildings.

“The hospital and the office are right next to each other. So—”

“Why on earth did they occupy the hospital? And what about the doctors?”

That was what I was curious about.

If it was just extortion, I would have understood, but not only did they sweep up all the medicine, but the doctors too?

If it were just their health problems, one or two doctors would have been enough.

I couldn’t fathom it.

“Th-that, I don’t really know either…”

This guy didn’t know either.

“What *do* you know?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

I clicked my tongue quietly and looked down at the thug.

It didn’t seem like anything more would come out of him.

I had thought about letting him live for now, but then.

“Oh. But what about those people inside there?”

“…Huh?”

At his dumbfounded reaction, I pointed to the staff passage.

“There seem to be about twenty of them. Are they part of your gang too?”

“H-how did you!!!”

The low-ranking thug, severely flustered, suddenly flinched.

Then he took a deep breath.

“W-well, you see… how it happened was like this…”

“…Do you want another beating?”

Just as I was getting annoyed at his hesitant fumbling after a decent start.

*Whoosh—!*

A chilling sensation plunged down from behind my head.

As soon as I felt it, my body instinctively kicked off the ground.

*Swish—*

Quickly and smoothly, like a spinning top.

In an instant, I spun around once so quickly it stirred up a breeze.

“……”

*Thud~*

At some point, the bald man who had aimed for my head, now unconscious, fell backward, still in the posture of striking down with the knife in his hand. Blood spurted from his neck.

‘How foolish.’

If he was going to attack from behind, he should have at least suppressed his murderous intent.

When he blatantly exuded the aura of ‘I’m going to hit your head!’, how could I not notice?

The bald man was persistent, as befitting his large build, but he made the wrong choice.

Judging by his unclosed eyes, he seemed very wronged, but really?

If he wanted to live, he should have just pretended to be unconscious.

If you clumsily bare your teeth, you won’t see a good outcome [a proverb about futile aggression].

And the same went for the low-ranking thug who had been babbling until now.

“Too bad. If the bald man had succeeded, you would have lived too.”

“N-no! I absolutely would not have—”

“Put away that toy in your hand before you speak.”

“Huh? Oh? Oh? Urgh!!”

I spoke in a truly pitiful tone.

It seemed the low-ranking punk had really seen a possibility from the bald man.

I don’t know when he pulled it out, but he was holding a folding knife, the kind thugs use.

The commonly known butterfly knife.

It seemed he was planning to kill me along with the bald man, but it turned out pitifully for him.

I showed the terrified low-ranking punk an expression as pitiful as my true feelings.

“I really intended to let you live, but it won’t work now.”

With a regretful heart, I picked up the sledgehammer I had placed at my feet.

At my appearance, the low-ranking punk convulsed.

“I-I was wrong! Just once! Just once, forgive me!!”

He desperately prostrated himself, bowing his head to the cold floor, begging for forgiveness.

But the chance was gone.

I forcefully struck the back of the low-ranking punk’s head, who was repeatedly bowing.

*CRACK—!*

“You should have at least swung your knife before you died.”

He couldn’t hear it, but I let him hear my true feelings.

If it were me, I might have struggled until the very end.

My sledgehammer and shoes were a mess from the blood and brain matter that splattered when his head burst.

I brushed off my shoes and threw away the sledgehammer.

I had thought about using it more, but the handle broke even after just one swing.

I dusted off my hands and stood up straight.

Now, I was the only living human in the wide hall.

All around were only the corpses of thugs, dead in various scattered positions.

The already strange smell was piercing my nose, and with the added scent of blood, it was making me dizzy.

The strong odor made my brows furrow instinctively.

‘For now….’

I nudged the obstructive corpses aside with my foot and approached the pile of food.

I had to quickly gather them before the smell of blood permeated.

They seemed to have tried to categorize them by type and size, but it was still a jumble.

I decided to reorganize them myself later and swept up everything.

Naturally, I couldn’t expect meat or fish.

It was mostly canned goods, dried food, rice and flour, grains, and some alcohol.

But the quantity was considerable, so it was a decent haul.

It felt like I’d defeated the thugs and received a small bonus.

It didn’t take long to gather the food the thugs had hoarded.

I once again benefited from the previously upgraded looting function.

And the fact that they were gathered in one place was an added bonus.

‘…The packing speed seems a bit faster…?’

Although it was a slight improvement, the strengthened function brought a small joy.

Conversely, something bothersome also emerged.

I became aware of the inventory’s capacity, which I had previously thought limitless.

To illustrate, it was a feeling similar to seeing water begin to fill up in a large waterskin.

I couldn’t precisely gauge it, but I knew there was a limit.

‘It was practically infinite on the other side… is there no helping it?’

Though I had lost some power and abilities and they had been nerfed, I decided to be satisfied with the fact that I could still use them.

I reassured myself and left the spot where the food pile had been.

I walked toward the people hiding beyond the staff passage.

‘Just in case….’

If they were members of the thug family, they would have all come out when it got noisy.

And they should have charged at me, but they’ve been quiet so far.

There’s a possibility they’re not thugs.

After walking for a while, I arrived at a room that appeared to be a supply room and storage.

The sturdy iron door was tightly closed and locked.

And beyond it, I could clearly sense human presence.

Without hesitation, I forced the door open.

*CRUNCH—!*

The doorknob shattered loudly, and the door swung open.

At the same time, an unpleasant smell hit my nose.

“……”

Inside the narrow storage room were about twenty men and women.

The people were greatly startled to see me suddenly open the door and enter.

They let out small screams and struggled to get away from me.

Seeing their very haggard appearances, they seemed like victims of the thugs.

‘They seem like kidnapped people… they’ve been through a lot.’

Both men and women had signs of beatings on their bodies.

The men were more severely affected, but the women relatively less so.

Instead, they seemed to have suffered great wounds in a different sense.

I could tell from the marks on their bodies and their reactions.

Some showed hostility while still fearing me.

They seemed to be mistaking me for one of the thugs.

‘Their reaction is fucking annoying, but it’s not my problem.’

There was nothing there except the people emitting a stale, damp smell.

Confirming that fact, I turned away without hesitation.

Since there was nothing useful to me, I acted quickly.

From experience, if you hesitate in such a situation, you’re bound to get your pant legs grabbed.

It felt like I had drawn a blank and was about to get caught up in something bothersome.

…I started to leave the place at a brisk pace, almost fleeing.

“H-hey! Wait!!”

A young woman’s cry came from behind me.

Her voice sounded somewhat spiritless, but I didn’t let my guard down.

I didn’t look back, walking only forward.

I refused to get involved with people any further.

Unless it was my own companions.

There was no reason to help people who openly showed fear and hostility towards me.

I didn’t want to get involved in any more troublesome matters.

It was unfortunate for those greatly haggard people, but they had to take care of their own futures.

The reason I was doing this in the dead of night wasn’t to help pitiful people.

I was merely running around because I had business with the thugs’ boss, who had brought back some regrettable memories.

Therefore, I ignored the desperate voice calling from behind me.

I quickly left the scene to prevent them from following.

I scrambled outside and ran towards the direction opposite Jibplus.

Based on the results of my inquiries so far, there was a high probability of achieving my goal where I was heading now.

The thugs’ boss, Yeom Seongjin.

A name I had become intimately familiar with from constantly asking around.

He hadn’t directly harmed me.

But he had indirectly reawakened the PTSD I had tried to forget, and he tried to kill Kang Ilbyeong and his companions. Now, with an uneasy feeling, I couldn’t sleep and was wandering the night streets.

That was enough reason to take him down.

I wasn’t so naive that my anger would dissipate just because I got some food.

‘Let’s see what kind of face he has.’

Hoping to finally confront him this time, I ran across the rooftops.

With the electricity cut, the entire neighborhood lost its light.

In the pitch darkness, only the faint moonlight illuminated the night streets.

And that light didn’t seem to obstruct my path.

Rather, I even felt a delusion that it was illuminating my vision for me.

Relying on such beautiful moonlight, I ran and arrived quickly.

The destination was truly close by.

There were still a few hours left until the night ended and dawn arrived.

‘I’ll finish this before dawn.’

Stopping on the rooftop of a nearby building, I gazed at the hospital visible below.

It was indeed the place I had cross-verified several times with the thugs’ testimonies.

I surveyed the surroundings with a grim smile that even surprised myself slightly.

That’s how much I anticipated meeting Yeom.

I certainly wanted to repay him for making me go through all this trouble.

But I would never rush.

There was still time until morning came.

Hoping the remaining time would be meaningful, I slowly began to move forward.