Chapter 3
Shut Up and Take It
* * *
My forehead had definitely been pierced. But to get back up again—what in the world was happening?
When one of the group took a step back, the young man shouted.
“You idiots, he’s a slot!”
If one underwent cybernetics surgery, the very strength of their musculoskeletal system could be enhanced. Maybe he had even modified his genes. The thods were endless. He was no ghost. Just one branch of evolution that humanity had pursued.
“If that's what you want to believe, fine.”
A highly developed society.
It had beco harder to verify one's identity, but as a result, it had beco easier to hide one's true nature. People interpreted and accepted things on their own without needing explanations. That’s why I had boldly revealed my true self.
Bang! Bang!
Bullets fired right in front of , but I dodged them head-on without even blinking.
A duck that was sharp and precise.
In contrast, the young man’s face was twisted beyond asure. Even though it was a misfire that exploded right in front of him, it felt like sothing that had happened far away.
That’s how absurd the situation was.
But unfortunately, reality crashed in along with a jarring pain. I had closed the distance and driven my foot into his abdon with a spinning kick.
The blow was so intense it felt like his insides were turning upside down, but the young man couldn't even collapse as he pleased.
Because I hadn’t let go of his hand.
“Even if you're leaving, you’ve got to give this up first.”
I roughly snatched the pistol from his grasp and pulled the trigger toward the two people running at .
Without even looking.
Bang, bang.
Only two bullets were used.
No more, no less. That was all it took. Before the gunshots even faded, the ones who had followed the young man fell backwards.
Violence so efficient, it bordered on grotesque. Faced with a situation he had never experienced before, the young man—
“How…?”
—could only utter such a foolish question.
“I’ve got nothing but ti.”
And it was true.
Shin, who neither aged nor died, had walked alongside human history for a long, long ti. Sotis as a bystander, other tis as a collaborator.
As ti passed, civilization matured, but humanity's mindset still hadn’t escaped the Third World War.
Round and round, what advanced technology had given birth to was a new age of barbarism.
Life had beco abundant, but daily existence had beco desolate.
Learning martial arts, just to protect oneself, had beco inevitable.
And most decisively—
“Just seeing trash like you makes my body twist. I’m not particularly interested in sanitation, but shouldn’t you at least know how to sort the recycling?”
Threat and attempted theft.
He might protest that such punishnt was too harsh for that, but I didn’t care.
“Let’s see here.”
Shin took out 50,000 Pia and slipped it into the young man’s breast pocket.
“With this, we’ve established a motive. And the weapon…”
Staring down at the pistol, Shin smiled brightly.
“Here it is. Even if a Strider like you dies over a disagreent, no one will care.”
Just as roughly as when he’d taken it, Shin shoved the pistol back into the young man’s hand and hooked his index finger around the trigger. Then he pointed the barrel at the young man’s temple.
“No, I…”
He had only ant to scare him.
The young man, who had been about to spit out a half-baked lie, froze. Co to think of it, the trigger had already been pulled. There was no way excuses would work now.
Realizing that he wasn’t soone you could beg for rcy from, the young man scread.
“Let go of ! I said let go!”
Despite struggling with all his weight, Shin’s hand didn’t budge. The pressure felt like being caught in a vise, and the young man’s thrashing turned into near-convulsions.
“If my people find out, you’re dead. Every Strider in this zone will be your enemy. You better think carefully. Otherwise…”
A cliché that sounded like it had been repeated thousands, even tens of thousands of tis. Looking down at the young man with an indifferent gaze, Shin delivered his judgnt without a hint of emotion.
“Shut up and take it.”
Bang!
* * *
“Oh, Mister Testosterone. Look at this—what you’ve been begging for: the rent.”
Pulling the envelope out with an air of mischief, Shin tilted his head.
Arnold’s face didn’t look right.
Normally, he’d have thrown so jab about the nickna, but today, his stiff expression showed no signs of easing.
“I went through all the trouble to get this—what’s with that reaction? What’s going on?”
Arnold stared blankly at Shin and let out a low murmur.
“Now that I think about it… you said you’re a fixer, didn’t you?”
“How’d you figure that out?”
“Do you think it makes sense for a landlord not to know the job of a tenant who’s lived here for 15 years?”
“Fair enough.”
Despite his cold deanor, Arnold had still offered Shin a place to live, even with his uncertain background.
But that didn’t an he’d done so without keeping an eye on him. He must have investigated in so way.
And since he’d found nothing incriminating, he’d accepted him.
“So? Are you looking to hire for sothing?”
At that, Arnold responded with a gloomy face.
“My nephew’s being bullied at school.”
“That’s a… rather minor reason.”
Of course, Shin didn’t an to belittle it. It just felt like too trivial a topic for such a heavy atmosphere.
“Not sure if you know, but I specialize in retaliation. I’m not so babysitter who has a heart-to-heart with the kids.”
“Don’t worry. That’s exactly why I ca to you. If you can resolve it cleanly, I’ll never charge you rent again.”
When Shin raised an eyebrow as if to ask what he ant, Arnold stood up from his seat.
“Visiting hours are just around the corner.”
* * *
Winter was an ordinary student. Except for the fact that his parents had died early, and his uncle Arnold had taken their place.
Unfortunate, yes—but not unlucky.
At least, that’s what Winter truly believed.
Until he caught the attention of Gerald and his crew.
“I heard you’re the top student in school. Share the answer sheet during tomorrow’s midterms.”
A few days before the incident, Gerald had approached him. Making an absurd demand as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Using a device to communicate during an exam is against school policy.”
Winter had protested confidently, but it ant nothing to Gerald.
“You gonna do it or not?”
Worse yet, he called over his crew to pressure him.
“He’s asking you a question.”
Winter didn’t respond. He ignored them. He knew all too well that if he flinched or hesitated, he’d beco easy prey.
He’d also heard the rumors floating around the school.
About how vicious and cruel Gerald could be.
At the ti, Winter believed staying firm was the best choice. But it didn’t take long for it to lead to the worst possible outco.
He was dragged by force to an abandoned factory.
If Gerald had been alone, he might have been able to escape. But Gerald had his gang with him. They ca at him from all directions, and Winter was powerless on his own.
“You must’ve felt great, huh? Ignoring like that. So a model student like you sees a thug like as less than livestock, huh? What’s with that look? Eyes down, before I rip them out.”
In the short ti they’d been apart, Gerald’s attitude had grown even more vicious—too much for Winter to even argue against.
“If I can’t take the test, then you can’t either. That’s fair, right? Grab him.”
“W-what?”
“Ti for so real education.”
What followed was a brutal beating. Gerald seed used to violence, and it showed in his rciless blows. Still, Winter resisted and didn’t give in.
“Soone like you thinks you can ignore ? Just because you’re good at studying?”
Co to think of it, hadn’t Gerald once said his dream was to join the Public Enforcent Corps? This was all clearly to boost his grades.
But knowing soone’s motive didn’t an you could escape the crisis.
“Shit, once I graduate, I’ll just get a sub-brain implant in my head. That’s it. Don’t even need to morize this crap anymore! And you, you smug little beggar, think you're better than because you can read a few lines of text?”
Rather than calming down, Gerald seed to be getting more worked up. In so ways, he looked almost intoxicated with rage.
“Die. Just die already!”
“Ghhk.”
Winter sprinted the mont he saw an opening, but he didn’t get far. Gerald’s gang was stationed outside the factory, too.
“This still isn’t enough to break you, is it.”
Maybe because he’d escaped once.
The situation spiraled out of control.
Being dragged in front of a cutting machine used for molds was simply the next step.
“Well then, how about this?”
A rusted saw blade and an uneven fra.
Its appearance was chilling, but Winter forcibly suppressed his pounding heart. It was obvious that the factory’s power had been cut off long ago.
There was no way it would run.
The mont he asserted that to himself, catastrophe struck.
* * *
Even Shin, who was used to things like this, couldn’t help but recoil after hearing Winter’s story.
When people talked about school violence, it usually ant beatings. Anything beyond that crossed into a realm that could no longer be dismissed as mischief.
“This is… pretty bad.”
What he could see were two legs of mismatched length. It was easy to guess that coercive thods had been used. Inhuman ones, at that.
Arnold clenched his molars and turned the breath leaking from his mouth into words.
“They said it wasn’t intentional.”
“Bullshit.”
It was such a pitiful addendum that the word slipped out reflexively.
“What about reconstructive surgery?”
“They said it can’t be done.”
It was frightening even to ask how it had been severed.
If Winter asked whether he had to live like this, the answer was obviously no. Modern dical technology had long since surpassed human comprehension.
Growing replacent body parts or obtaining prosthetic limbs wasn’t difficult.
Yes—if you had the money.
The world operated under a basic inco system, but that only guaranteed the minimum dignity of being human. It didn’t promise vast wealth. Luxury goods and non-essentials could still only be obtained through labor.
Shin let out a low hum.
“I get that this isn’t a simple case. But isn’t this within the jurisdiction of the Public Enforcent Corps?”
Aggravated assault and forming a criminal group—there was no shortage of charges that could be pinned on Gerald.
Arnold’s shoulders sagged as he clenched his fists.
“Protesting to the school was aningless. The Public Enforcent Corps was the sa.”
“Why?”
It was a serious enough incident that there was no way it wouldn’t make the news. Settling it before it escalated would’ve been the smart move.
The answer ca not from Arnold, but from Winter.
“Because his older brother is a sheriff.”
“So that’s why you ca to .”
A sheriff.
A position only attainable after serving more than ten years in the Public Enforcent Corps. Of course, it also required comnsurate achievents. Fewer than one in ten investigators ever beca sheriffs.
In other words, an elite among elites.
For ordinary people, it was no different from a disaster.
“What do you want?”
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Could you teach him what it felt like?”
The direction he wanted was so clear that Arnold opened his mouth without realizing it. That Gerald should suffer as much as Winter had ant—
“Wait, Winter. You promised . We agreed to keep the request within reasonable bounds.”
“You’re saying the victim has to hold back out of consideration for the perpetrator. I can’t accept that.”
The two stared at each other in silence for a while. Not because they had nothing to say, but because there was too much.
The one who broke the silence hanging in the room was Shin.
“You’re right.”
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