Chapter 131
Romantic, Isn’t It
“That’s not sothing you need to worry about. The money will be paid from sowhere else.”
A man with a tiger-like, imposing physique and sharp eyes stepped forward and spoke on behalf of the group. A standout among the crowd indeed. Despite the sheer number of people gathered here, a restrained aura flowed around him alone.
“Fighting Dog Baek Ga-on.”
“You know where that nickna ca from, yet you still charged in here without fear?”
“It’s because we know that this many people gathered.”
As if to show how grandly they had prepared, the man spread both arms wide.
“More importantly, the money will be paid from sowhere else?”
Not ‘soone’ but ‘sowhere.’ It was a peculiar choice of words.
“You didn’t know? Ryungyeong placed a bounty on your head. Dead or alive. Five hundred million Pia to whoever brings you in first.”
Ga-on had, unintentionally, beco involved in nurous conflicts with Ryungyeong. Of course, most of them had rely been indirect consequences. There were very few incidents that could be called direct confrontations.
If that was the case—
‘Was dealing with Rajinga the problem?’
Unauthorized Bajiquan and the body modified to support it. At a glance, he had looked close to a legitimate successor. Perhaps he had even been a rough gem that Ryungyeong had painstakingly polished. There was no point regretting it now, though.
“I can understand getting blinded by that much money, but if you pull out firearms here, you’re out.”
Though it was removed from the city center, this was still a place where law and order existed. It wasn’t sowhere figures from the underworld could run wild as they pleased. If even a single bullet were fired, patrol drones would descend on the area in swarms.
“You needn’t worry about that either. We agreed that the victor who defeats you in a one-on-one fight takes everything. Pure hand-to-hand combat. No reason for anyone else to take notice.”
“Ah, so that’s why....”
That explained why they had surrounded him and blocked all escape routes yet hadn’t approached. Even with so many people gathered, maintaining this level of control was no common sight. He couldn’t help but be impressed.
“How romantic.”
“Well, I doubt you’ll still be saying that after we clash.”
As the man stepped back, a dense murderous aura surged forward as though it had been waiting for its cue. The atmosphere felt as if everyone was about to rush him at once. No matter how strict the rules and boundaries, people could never completely abandon their instincts.
Standing before these beasts captivated by the law of the strong devouring the weak, Ga-on calmly asked,
“So who’s number one?”
“I am.”
The one who boldly stepped forward was a man with dreadlocks and a heavily enhanced body. The fact that both of his arms had been reinforced with steel made it abundantly clear what he placed his trust in.
So Ga-on decided to shatter that shallow confidence first.
“...Kgh, bleugh.”
A single explosive dash forward.
One straight punch.
It was more than enough to strip away the man’s crude nature, as flimsy as gold leaf.
The man stared blankly at his shattered arm before stumbling backward, and the crowd’s uproar erupted almost simultaneously.
Yet Ga-on paid no attention to their reaction.
“Next.”
He called for the next challenger.
***
Naturally, there was strategy even in the order of challengers.
Those intoxicated by their own abilities tended to prefer earlier numbers. First strike, first victory, so to speak. Since they were going to win anyway, why yield the opportunity to soone else?
Ironically, those consud by such delusions were often the least steadfast. They had simply filled their fantasies with Slots and Units.
“Next, next. Contrary to what I heard, the turnover rate at this place is pretty low.”
The man whose body had swollen like a balloon was a pri example. After striking his chest and bursting it apart, Ga-on urged on the next person.
The order gradually moved toward the back.
The ones who had deliberately taken later positions to exploit his declining stamina finally began to erge.
As expected, the overall level rose sharply, but none escaped the fate of ending up sprawled across the ground.
It only proved that they had learned nothing from the cards he had thrown away to gauge their abilities.
However, the final person to appear seed sowhat different.
The very man who had stepped forward earlier as their representative and issued the warning.
“What’s your na?”
“Dae Gwanmu.”
“You ca from Ryungyeong, didn’t you? No, perhaps I should say they sent you.”
“......”
Dae Gwanmu could not respond at all to the sudden remark that struck directly at the heart of the matter.
Unfortunately, that reaction itself was practically an answer, making it a question that never needed an answer in the first place.
Ryungyeong had spent five hundred million under the pretext of a bounty, but surely they had not set such an amount simply because they wanted to provide a warm al for a pack of hyenas.
Without a doubt, it was an advance paynt destined for Dae Gwanmu standing before him.
You could even call it a reward.
In any case—
“I don’t like how this whole thing assus I’ll be the one kneeling.”
“I understand why you would resent being treated that way.”
If one failed to recognize the strength of a warrior who had displayed such valor, they were no different from a blind man—
“But what does not change, does not change.”
Yet if he retreated because of that, would he not be a cowardly fool?
If they were fighting in a city filled with all kinds of weapons, cover, and concealnt, victory could not be guaranteed.
But this was an open field.
For Dae Gwanmu, whose specialty was close-quarters combat, there could be no better battleground.
Boom.
He rely stamped his foot, yet the ground trembled.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the overwhelming presence that filled the area. Was there anyone here who didn’t know that Dae Gwanmu was the strongest among them?
Not a single person doubted that this confrontation favored Ga-on’s opponent.
It was then that a lightning-fast punch shot forth.
The movent made full use of the joints in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, making it resemble a whip more than a fist.
The essence of silent assassination.
At the mont he thought, is this over, that decisive strike was blocked.
—By a single index finger.
“How…?”
Dae Gwanmu’s face was dyed in shock as he stared at his unmoving fist. Wondering if he had been anesthetized, he checked his device, but found nothing wrong.
He hadn’t been hit by an electromagnetic pulse, nor poisoned, nor even hacked.
It was purely a difference in skill.
And at the foundation of that—
[Arhat Second Form Muwi Nature]
Rotation and reverse rotation, forward and reverse. A technique that used the harmony born from that process to force stillness upon the target.
Building an axis at the point where their fingers t, Ga-on restrained Dae Gwanmu and spoke,
“I’m not lenient toward those who co for my life, but if soone approaches first like a gentleman, that changes things. You seed closer to the type who wanted to take in alive.”
Then, with a light motion, he pushed with his index finger.
It looked like a simple gesture, but the force within it was impossible to resist.
In an instant, Dae Gwanmu was shoved back dozens of ters, sliding across the ground. He looked down at his body with a dazed expression. It felt as though he had been kicked with trendous force, yet not a single bone was broken.
It was as if he had been possessed by a ghost.
From the mont Ga-on had been called a Fighting Dog, it had been expected that he would be skilled in combat, but this was beyond anything he had imagined.
‘It’s like looking at a grandmaster….’
However, that impression didn’t carry over to the onlookers.
To them, it had ended too easily, as if prearranged. Without knowing the context, it looked like nothing more than a poorly acted play.
“You staged this, didn’t you? Fuck, I knew it.”
“You were planning to let him live?”
“If you’re going to trick us, at least do it properly, you bastard.”
Criticism erupted from all sides. Since this alliance had been as fragile as glasswork to begin with, it collapsed into chaos in an instant.
“So where the hell is my money?!”
The more impatient ones could no longer hold back and began pulling out their firearms. The sound of weapons being cocked echoed through the area—
“You all seem rather restless. Causing a disturbance out on the streets even in this day and age. Don’t you think it’s a bit embarrassing for grown adults to behave like this?”
A gentle voice cut in.
A woman with her hair neatly tied back in a single strand wore a bright smile. Her elegant bearing stirred countless thoughts in those who looked at her, but in the end—
A single blooming lily.
That was the only way to describe her.
“And who the hell are you— guh.”
The man who placed a hand on her shoulder spun around and tumbled across the ground. The others t similar fates. The force they directed at her was returned to them as it was.
If the exchange between Ga-on and Dae Gwanmu had looked like a play, this was slapstick.
That was how naturally the woman disard her opponents. Like bamboo—flexible enough to bend, yet never breaking.
The first to recognize her was Dae Gwanmu.
“You are…?”
“If you recognize my face, then you should also know what to do next, right? Though I’m not sure if I can trust you with it.”
With her hands lightly clasped together, she spoke playfully. Her appearance was as graceful as a flower and the moon, yet Dae Gwanmu looked as though he had seen sothing he shouldn’t have.
“No, please leave it to . I’ll disperse them imdiately.”
After calming the surroundings, he vanished in the blink of an eye. It seed he rushed around whispering sothing into people’s ears, which proved effective—but unfortunately, Ga-on couldn’t hear it.
Or more precisely, he didn’t have the leisure to focus on it.
The mont the woman appeared, what he felt wasn’t hostility or gratitude, but a sense of déjà vu.
It was the instinct of a martial artist honed over hundreds of years.
Not sothing that could be dismissed as re coincidence.
“Have we t sowhere before?”
“Oh my, making a pass at the mont we et? That’s a bit much. It’s not that I dislike proactive n, but I prefer a bit more maturity. It’s a sha—if you were about twenty years older, I might have accepted.”
“I didn’t ask, and I’m not curious.”
***
Cafe, Velvet.
A small but charming interior. Worn tableware and chairs. It was the kind of shop commonly found on the outskirts of a district. A place sustained by local regulars.
Of course, it wasn’t sowhere Ga-on had any connection to. It was the woman who had recomnded it.
Yes, that unidentified woman.
As he beca newly aware of it, a faint scent of cherry blossoms drifted from across the table and tickled his nose. The fragrance seed to gently wrap around his mind. Perhaps it even had a calming effect, as he felt oddly at ease.
“Please try it. The cake here is really delicious.”
Her tone was relaxed, unfitting for soone who had just subdued multiple grown n. Following her recomndation, Ga-on took a bite and let out a quiet exclamation.
It was worth the price it boldly demanded.
“This isn’t mass-produced.”
“It’s a recipe personally made by the Madam of this shop.”
He glanced toward the counter, but there was no one who looked like a Madam. Noticing his gaze, the woman explained,
“She passed away quite so ti ago. Now an android replicates her cooking perfectly.”
“Ah, I see.”
He had heard that so places prospered that way these days.
“But the coffee…”
It was terrible.
“The owner makes that himself.”
“Why bother?”
“Perhaps it’s sothing he couldn’t change. I heard they ran this shop together since they were newlyweds. It was famous even back then. Delicious cake, terrible coffee.”
Now the wife was gone, and only the husband remained, running the place alone. Ga-on felt like he understood why the man had brought in an android.
“Isn’t it romantic?”
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