007. The Two Ends of the Line

Kang-hyuk Lee couldn't stay in the warehouse for long. An urgent call had come in about a problem at one of the clubs he managed.

"Just make him spill where the goods are."

Kang-hyuk said to a man wearing a white waterproof apron. He was nicknamed the "Gentleman" because he killed people in such a refined manner.

"Can I kill him after that?"

The "Gentleman" smirked at Kang-hyuk, his golden front tooth catching the light and leaving a chilling impression.

"Once we've gotten everything we need, do whatever you want."

"Hmm."

The Gentleman gave a thumbs-up.

"Then I'll get going." Kang-hyuk quickly headed to the club where the problem had occurred.

‘These days, these thugs just don't know their place.’

The club was in chaos. The stage, which should have been packed with guests, was overrun with local thugs. The employees and guards were already down, having been overwhelmed by the intruders.

"Pathetic. Just pathetic."

Kang-hyuk boldly strode toward them.

"Hey, get lost."

A thug who was sitting on top of a male employee looked up at Kang-hyuk’s cold voice. His eyes were filled with defiance.

"Are you the boss here, old man?" Kang-hyuk let out a small laugh at the thug's brazen question.

"Can you even fight, old man?"

"Get out of here now, and you might walk out alive."

 "Ha, you’re full of crap, old man."

"Too young to be called an old man, don’t you think?"

 "What the hell are you talking about?"

The thug, who seemed to be the leader, sneered at Kang-hyuk Lee and added,

"We’re taking over the clubs around here. This is the third one. It’s been a piece of cake."

Kang-hyuk Lee didn’t feel like wasting any more words. He motioned for them to come at him.

One of the thugs rushed at Kang-hyuk Lee, swinging a punch straight for his face, filled with rage.

"Anger behind the punch."

Kang-hyuk Lee easily dodged it.

"Oh, you’re not bad, old man. How about this then?"

A spinning kick came out of nowhere, faster than expected.

"Not bad for a youngster. But it won’t work on me."

Even while dealing with the thug’s attack, Kang-hyuk Lee had enough composure to keep talking.

He countered the thug’s kick with a kick of his own.

Thud.

Blood and teeth flew out of the thug's mouth.

“Ugh.”

 "So, are you the leader?"

Asked Kang-hyuk, but the thug was already unconscious, unable to answer.

The remaining thugs, instead of backing down, readied themselves to fight him.

"Ha, they really don't know their place."

At Kang-hyuk Lee's signal, gangsters dressed in black suits emerged from the shadows, one by one.

"I’ve already taken care of your boss. There’s no need for me to dirty my hands anymore, right?"

With that, Kang-hyuk quickly exited the club, as if there was no reason to waste time. The moment he got in his car, he called the "Gentleman." But the Gentleman didn’t answer.

"Has it already begun…?"

Feeling a growing sense of unease, Kang-hyuk called his other subordinates who were at the warehouse. No one answered.

"Shit."

Something had definitely gone wrong. Kang-hyuk shouted at the subordinate sitting in the driver’s seat.

"Hey, head to the warehouse now!"

***

"Can you manage it?"

 I said to the man wearing a butcher’s apron.

"What?"

 The man looked at me in disbelief.

Leisurely, I stood up from my chair and dusted off my clothes. He seemed flustered, but I didn’t care.

"Hmm? How did that happen?"

"The rope just came loose."

"Hey! The rope’s untied!"

The man shouted angrily toward the thugs in the distance, but his face still held a calm, indifferent expression.

One of the thugs responded to his call and quickly ran over.

"Is something wrong?" The thug politely asked him.

'Is he someone important?'

"Tie him up again. The rope’s come loose, idiot."

"My apologies."

 "Didn’t I tell you? If you don’t tie the rope properly, he’ll break free and die struggling."

 "I’ll tie it properly this time."

The thug approached me, muttering irritably.

"Ah, damn it. Who tied it like this?"

Even his small grumbles were loud and clear to my ears. As he came closer, I slowly spoke.

"I don’t want to be tied up."

"What?"

"I said, I don’t want to be tied up."

"Ha, if you don’t want to be tied up, what are you gonna do about it, huh?"

The man raised his hand as if to hit me.

But my body no longer reacted.

"I have to kill him."

I muttered quietly.

"What?"

Before he could respond, my hand was already reaching for his head. With a deafening sound, his head shattered into pieces.

"Oh?"

The man wearing the white waterproof apron looked at me with intrigue.

Even though his comrade's head had exploded right before his eyes, he didn’t seem scared. In fact, his eyes sparkled with interest.

"Are you... the guy from the news?"

Despite his appearance, the man was quick to catch on.

"Why don’t you try it on me, too?"

'Is this guy insane?'

The man quietly put down his pliers and picked up a large axe.

'Where did he even get that axe?'

The thought briefly crossed my mind, but the man’s expression finally looked like he’d found the right weapon for himself.

"Are you the kind who gets excited in a fight or something?"

"No, I get excited when I crush the egos of guys who think they're tough."

The man took one step at a time toward me. He was now within my range.

He was waiting for my attack. I wasn’t experienced in fighting, but by now, I could sense the energy of my opponent.

"What’s the hold-up? I’m waiting."

It was actually a good opportunity. Instead of my fists reacting on their own, I could test if I could strike with my own will.

"Well then, here I go."

I gathered strength in my thighs and calves. I leapt toward the taller man. I figured one hit would be enough to end it.

"Bring it—"

Before he could finish his sentence, my fist struck his head.

Swish. Thud. Splat.

He couldn’t say another word as he collapsed to the floor, leaving only his body behind.

[The soul of the deceased has been absorbed.]

[The soul of the deceased has been purified.]

[Storing the 'memories of life' of the deceased.]

The fight ended anticlimactically.

‘I guess I was wrong to expect something amazing.’

As I quietly left the building, I dealt with the remaining thugs. There were seven in total.

"It seems like as long as I stay passive, they’ll keep coming. Too much profit is at stake for them to give up so easily."

They say the best defense is a good offense. I’ll make the first move.

***

I used the memories of the dead to locate the Black Dragon's headquarters.

“Wow, these days, gangsters use hotels like this as their base. It's completely different from what I used to know.”

I had never been involved with gangsters in my life. I lived an ordinary life, after all. So, the only way I saw them was through the screen. Of course, sometimes rich gangsters would appear on TV or movies.

‘Are gangsters evolving with time, too?’

I thought as I looked up at the seemingly endless hotel.

‘It's really tall. I wonder how many floors there are.’

Without hesitation, I headed to where the Black Dragon’s boss, Tae-su Jang, was. Thanks to absorbing the memories of the dead, I knew exactly where he usually stayed.

I followed the secret passage used only by gangsters and made my way to the real top floor. The top floor known to the public was actually just below this. This place was the boss’s own kingdom, known only to him and his subordinates.

When the elevator doors opened, as expected, dozens of gangsters were waiting for me in the hallway. They looked at me with prepared eyes, as if they already knew I was coming.

“Get him.”

Without asking who I was, the gangsters rushed at me. There were so many of them that I couldn’t even count. Unlike in movies or dramas, they didn’t attack one by one. They swarmed at me all at once.

I calmed my mind and focused on the enemies in front of me. When I concentrated, everything seemed to move in slow motion. All my senses became sharply heightened.

Whew.

Bam.

I swung my fist. The heads of the gangsters standing in a line burst all at once. The once quiet hallway was now filled with the bodies of the enemies in an instant.

Even I was surprised by my own power.

[Absorption of fifteen souls completed.]

[Purification of fifteen souls completed.]

[Storing the 'living memories' of the deceased.]

Slash, bam. Slash, bam.

[Absorption of twenty-one souls completed.]

[Purification of twenty-one souls completed.]

[Storing the 'living memories' of the deceased.]

In the hotel hallway alone, I killed a total of forty-four people. It didn’t take long.

I didn’t have to knock on the door. Tae-su Jang came out to the hallway himself. He was calm.

Tae-su Jang. The boss of Black Dragon. He stood at 185cm tall with a massive build, his tailored suit wrapping tightly around his muscles. His short black hair was neatly trimmed, making him a model of self-discipline. But the most striking feature was his sharp eyes, which seemed to pierce right through me.

“Kid.”

He smiled as he spoke to me. There was a murderous intent hidden in that smile.

“I thought I’d come to you, before you had to come to me.”

“Cheol-su Kim. I’ve never heard of your name before. How much?”

I hesitated at his question. I had no idea what amount he was referring to. As I couldn’t respond, Tae-su Jang laughed heartily.

“To think that such a rookie would make it all the way here. I must be really out of touch.”

He beckoned at me with a flick of his finger.

“Of course, if your name were on the list, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

“What are you talking about exactly—”

Swoosh.

In an instant, Tae-su Jang disappeared. But my body reacted on its own. He was already behind me, and I instinctively swung my fist backward.

Swoosh, bam.

I expected Tae-su Jang’s head to burst, but it didn’t. He had already dodged my attack.

“Oh, your reflexes pass.”

‘What’s going on? Why is he so fast?’ My mind started racing at the unexpected situation.

“Kid. Judging by your face, this must be your first time meeting a mutant human. Well, you wouldn’t know if you don’t even know the list.”

Mutant human. I know it refers to those who gained superhuman abilities through genetic modification.

‘It would actually be strange if I didn’t know that.’

But this was my first time seeing one in person.

“The opponents you’ve faced so far must have been pretty easy, right? Isn’t that so?”

Tae-su Jang’s figure disappeared again. This time, he reappeared right in front of me.

“Explosion.”

I instinctively dodged. The spot I had just been standing in exploded with a bang.

“My ability allows me to make anything I touch explode. I gave you a handicap, kid. I don’t like boring stuff.”

Tae-su Jang finished his words and moved quickly.

“Explosion!”

‘I can’t let that guy touch me!’

I dodged just before Tae-su Jang’s fist reached me. The place I avoided exploded with a loud bang.

I was sure I had avoided it, but Tae-su Jang was already in front of me again. His fist struck me squarely in the stomach.

‘I let my guard down!’

“Explosion!”

Boom! Just as Tae-su Jang’s ability was about to activate,

[Nullification activated.]

A sound echoed in my brain once again. And I was unharmed.

Tae-su Jang looked visibly surprised.

“You, you bastard.”

He glared at me with a bewildered expression.

“What’s your ability?”

I looked at him calmly and replied.

“Nullification, I guess?”

Even though I wasn’t an expert in fighting, I could sense just how much this situation was in my favor.

“Bullshit!”

Tae-su Jang, unable to believe it, threw another punch. His fist struck my face dead-on.

[Nullification activated.]

The spot where Tae-su Jang hit my face exploded with a loud noise, but I remained unscathed. In that moment, I was certain.

I really had an excellent counterpunch.

Bam! Splat.

[Absorption of the deceased's soul completed.]

[Purification of the deceased's soul completed.]

[Storing the 'living memories' of the deceased.]