Chapter 15

SHAAAAA- Tatang- Bang-!

The sound of rain battering the windows made the chilly conference room feel even colder.
In stark contrast to the atmosphere hanging over the room, Takahachi smiled warmly as he addressed Jeong Dong-hyeok.

“Good work, for now.”
“…For now?”

Jeong Dong-hyeok pulled the automatic translator from his ear and tapped it a few times.

“Hey. Isn’t this thing broken? It’s telling me the oyabun just said, ‘Good work, for now.’”

Kang Min-su, seated beside him, took the translator, examined it, then handed it back.

“It’s the dwarves’ latest model.”

His gaze shifted toward Takahachi.

“There’s no way it’s malfunctioning, hyung-nim.”
“Haah. Then I suppose our dear oyabun must have misspoken.”

Jeong Dong-hyeok’s voice turned cold.
Takahachi gave a faint chuckle before answering.

“Ah, maybe the translation isn’t perfect because it was made by an otherworldly race. Is that it?”

His gaze shifted from Jeong Dong-hyeok to Kuroda.

“Since it was made by a race that isn’t Japanese, perhaps it can’t fully convey the finer beauty of the Japanese language.”
“Hmm… That could be it. Must be a translation error.”

Jeong Dong-hyeok gave a humorless chuckle and put the translator back into his ear.

“Well, that’s not what’s important. Let’s finish our discussion.”
“Fine. Before that.”

Takahachi snapped his fingers several times, and Kuroda moved in response.

Bzzzt-

“Signal jammer activated.”
“I know there aren’t any listening devices, but this is just in case. You understand, right? This deal is important. We can’t have word of it leaking outside. You understand?”

Dong-hyeok’s brow furrowed slightly at the insinuation that they could not be trusted.

“I understand.”
“Good. Then let’s begin. One elf and one dwarf each month. Can you manage that?”

Dong-hyeok’s brow twitched again at Takahachi’s casual speech.

“Is this another translation error? Why does he keep talking to me so casually?”

Kuroda answered in Takahachi’s place.

“Ah, that’s actually the oyabun being considerate.”
“Considerate?”
“Yes. He’s doing it so your side can understand him more quickly.”
“Bullshit. The translator handles everything anyway, so what the hell is there to understand more quickly?!”

BANG!
Jeong Dong-hyeok slammed the table and rose from his seat.
The atmosphere instantly turned uglier, boiling as though violence could erupt at any moment.

“Watch how you talk, asshole. If you want this deal to continue.”

Kuroda crossed his arms and continued with a crooked expression.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. Honorific and humble language can be difficult for foreigners to understand. We’re simply trying to convey the important points as quickly as possible.”
“Give me a fucking break. You bastards always pull some shit and then claim you’re doing it for our sake. Same old habit you’ve had since the Japanese occupation. I knew what kind of bastards you were the moment you started claiming the occupation of Korea was for Koreans.”

Jeong Dong-hyeok cracked his neck from side to side.

“Listen, you motherfucker. Who do you think you’re screwing with? Outside Korea, you don’t even have anywhere to get elves or dwarves. The Gwanghwamun Gate is the only Gate in the entire world connected to the Capri Dimension. What the hell makes you think you can act this cocky? Are you insane?”

Takahachi merely smiled at his abuse.

“Oh-ho~ That’s certainly true. The world’s only dimensional gate. That’s exactly why we’re paying so much for the merchandise, isn’t it?”

At Takahachi’s gesture, Kuroda and two nearby yakuza placed five duffel bags on the table.

“For convenience, it’s all in old ten-thousand-yen notes. Five hundred million yen.”

Takahachi continued with a smarmy smile.

“Five billion won in Korean money. Isn’t that compensation enough?”
“……”
“If my casual speech bothers you so much, you’re free to leave whenever you like.”
“Haah… Unbelievable…”

Dong-hyeok crossed his arms and sat back down.

“Hahaha. Well, weren’t your people selling out their own country for money even back in that era you mentioned? So don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Dong-hyeok’s eyebrow twitched, but ever since the dimensions fused ten years ago, there truly had been no business as profitable as this.
That didn’t mean Dimensional Fusion had somehow cleansed Korea of crime.

The underworld was still overflowing with crime and drugs, a world where fists were closer than the law and power ruled all.
It was simply that goblin alchemists had settled in Gangnam and seized the entire drug market, orcs had entered the underworld that once ruled through fists and brute force, and even the security business straddling the line between legal and illegal had been taken over by beastfolk.
Even in the entertainment and film industries, where they had once wielded considerable influence, they could barely throw their weight around anymore after the elves arrived.
Even elves who looked thin and delicate were stronger than humans.
In other words, dimensional migrants had simply replaced them in the worlds where they once made their living.

Dong-hyeok glared at the duffel bags, then closed his eyes.
Then Takahachi’s voice reached him.

“And another thing…”

Dong-hyeok looked at him with naked irritation as Takahachi deliberately dragged out his words.

“What?”
“There may be only one dimensional gate in the world, here in Korea… but the Saenara Gang isn’t the only Korean organization.”
“What the fuck did you say?!”

BANG!!

Dong-hyeok slammed the table hard enough to nearly break it and surged to his feet.
As the atmosphere turned strange, every Saenara Gang member scowled and began glaring at Takahachi and the yakuza.
Only Fearn, the orc guarding Dong-hyeok, watched them with a relaxed gaze.
Takahachi leaned back and raised both hands slightly.

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t get worked up. I’m only saying.”
“…Watch your mouth. Unless you want a war.”
“A war… you say…”

Something resembling a sneer appeared on Takahachi’s face.
He slowly looked around the room.
There were sixteen people inside.
Four yakuza, including himself.
Twelve members of the Saenara Gang.
Outside the room were another eight armed yakuza waiting for his signal.
Both sides had brought twelve men in total.

The only one among them worth fearing was the orc standing behind Jeong Dong-hyeok.
But being an orc did not make him bulletproof.
His hide was thick enough that one bullet would not kill him as easily as a human, but no matter how tough it was, enough bullets would eventually punch through.

According to their information, that orc was the chief of the Blood Tribe.
A tribe that would do anything for money.
Which meant he could be bought over to their side.

They had handguns, while the Saenara Gang had nothing more than a few sashimi knives.
And the onmyoji had been very clear.
All they had to do was enter Chinese territorial waters and offer the sacrifices.
So they only had to kill them and make sure the ship entered Chinese territorial waters.
The outcome was so obvious that laughter escaped him.

“Hehehehe… Kahahahahaha!”

Dong-hyeok’s brow twisted at the laughter.

“You bastard…”
“Hyung-nim, something doesn’t feel right. You should fall back.”

At Min-su’s low warning, Dong-hyeok’s gaze flicked toward Fearn and back.

“They couldn’t have brought guns with them when they took the ship out. It’s fine.”

They themselves had been unable to bring many weapons.
They had bribed the marina security and left the harbor without reporting to the Coast Guard, but out of fear of a random Coast Guard inspection, they had only dared bring a single handgun.
Dong-hyeok assumed that it was the same for the yakuza.
Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force was even stricter about inspections and enforcement than the Korean Coast Guard.
He pulled the revolver from inside his clothes and placed it on the table.

Thud-

“You’re laughing?”
“What else should I do? Cry?”
“You bastard!”

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Dong-hyeok raised the handgun and aimed it at him.

“Quit fucking around! I’ll kill you!”

But Takahachi merely leaned back comfortably in his chair.

“Cut the bullshit. Kuroda, tell the others to come in.”
“Hai!”

Kuroda bowed halfway, then pulled a radio from inside his clothes.

Kshh-

“Come in.”

The Saenara Gang tensed and drew their sashimi knives, surrounding Dong-hyeok, while the yakuza pulled their handguns and aimed at them.
But the other yakuza, who should have come crashing through the door at any moment, remained silent.

“What are they doing?”
“…The signal must be weak because of the jammer. One moment…”

Kuroda moved toward the door, visibly flustered.

“Those useless bastards…”

As he approached the conference-room door, it opened with a click.

Jun-gyeong walked toward the conference room with light steps.
He made no attempt to conceal himself, nor did he move with the same caution as before.
He simply walked along with his sword in hand, as calmly as though he were taking a stroll.
The narrow corridor would have put an overly long weapon at a disadvantage, but Seolhwa was not particularly long.
Including the handle, it measured only one meter.
There was more than enough room to swing it.
Furthermore, Seolhwa was a baeipdo, a saber whose tip had been sharpened on both edges.
In other words, unlike an ordinary saber limited to cutting, it could also be used to thrust.

A yakuza’s voice drifted from around the corner.

“Wait in your rooms. Assemble in front of the conference room in five minutes.”
“Hai!”

A cruel smile appeared on Jun-gyeong’s face at those words.
It wouldn’t have mattered if they were all gathered together, but with them scattered among separate rooms like this, dealing with them quietly would be easier even if it took a little longer.

“So it’s an assassination mission.”
-Assassination?

Jun-gyeong ignored Ok-hee’s question and rounded the corner without hesitation.
His eyes met those of a yakuza who had just finished speaking and was about to enter a room.

Swish-

Jun-gyeong swung without hesitation.

Thud… Thump…

Before the yakuza could even scream, his head hit the floor and rolled away.

“One.”

Splash-

Blood quickly spread across the floor.
Jun-gyeong stepped through it without stopping.
He pushed open the door the dead man had been about to enter and walked inside.

“Huh…?”

The yakuza inside, who had been checking his firearm, saw Jun-gyeong enter but couldn’t react.
No, he couldn’t even think to.
There was not the slightest hesitation in Jun-gyeong’s steps or actions.
He moved as though this were his own home, making his entrance feel almost natural.

Thk-
“Kgh-”

The blade punched through the man’s throat and withdrew in an instant.

“Grrk… Kgh… Ghh…”

Unable to breathe, the yakuza clawed at the floor as his movements gradually ceased.
Jun-gyeong counted without emotion.

“Two.”

He continued just as naturally after that.
Three rooms, one man per stroke.
The number he called out rose one by one.

“…Six.”

Blood had splattered across his clothes and face.
When a throat was cut, blood sprayed like a fountain, and there was no avoiding it inside such cramped rooms.
The corridor was thick with the metallic stench of blood.
Yet a small smile spread across Jun-gyeong’s face.

-You called this an assassination.
“If there are no witnesses left to testify, it’s an assassination.”
-Yes, yes~ Follow that corridor and you’ll reach the conference room. The yakuza boss and the Saenara Gang should be inside.
“Eight in total, counting the two outside.”
-The rest should be… kshh… in the conference… kshh… room.

Jun-gyeong’s eyebrow twitched at the static crackling through the earpiece.

“The signal is poor.”
-Kshh… I… kshh… think… kshh…

As though it did not matter, Jun-gyeong stepped back into the corridor and headed toward the conference room.
When he rounded the corner, a door came into view.
Beyond it were the yakuza and the Saenara Gang.

There were sixteen people inside.
Twice as many as he had dealt with so far.
And among them was one powerful enemy, an orc.
Still, Jun-gyeong didn’t hesitate.
He grasped the handle and turned it.

Click-

As the door opened slightly, he saw a pair of eyes looking directly at him.

“What? Were you coming out?”
“Huh…? Who…?”

Thk–

Kuroda could no longer continue the conversation.
Jun-gyeong’s blade had passed through his throat.

Jun-gyeong shoved him aside and entered.
When Jun-gyeong pulled his blade free, Kuroda collapsed to the floor spraying blood.
Jun-gyeong turned his gaze while the blood splashed over him.
Everyone was staring at him in shock.
They remained silent, and Jun-gyeong spoke in a low voice.

“What? Something wrong with your throats?”

Jeong Dong-hyeok answered in a trembling voice.

“…What…?”
“Nothing. You were all so quiet.”

When Jun-gyeong took one step forward, the yakuza and Saenara Gang members took one step back.

Shk!

Takahachi and his men drew handguns from inside their clothes and aimed them at him.

“Don’t move!”

Jun-gyeong slowly turned his head toward him.
Red eyes.
And his gaze was hollow, as though something within it had gone missing.

“Who… the hell are you? What the fuck are you?”

Takahachi shouted, but Jun-gyeong merely tilted his head.

“What’s he saying?”

His expression twisted in irritation at being unable to understand the Japanese.
Ok-hee’s voice, already crackling with static through the earpiece, cut out completely.

“Kill him!”

Terrified by Jun-gyeong’s bloodstained blade, Jeong Dong-hyeok shouted and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Startled by the gunshot, the yakuza opened fire as well.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG!

But Jun-gyeong was no longer standing there.
Before Dong-hyeok’s gun had even fired, Jun-gyeong was already shooting toward the yakuza like an arrow.

Then Seolhwa swept through the air.

SHHK!

The yakuza’s handguns were sliced apart before they could empty their magazines.
Two lost the barrels of their guns, while another lost his wrist along with his weapon.

“Graaaagh!!”

Jun-gyeong cut through the screaming yakuza’s neck and landed on the floor.

“I… Ito…”

Jun-gyeong looked around at them and raised one corner of his mouth.