Chapter 104. Throw Up Everything You've Eaten
"I pierced the Wind Gate Point. You won't be able to move at all."
Kim Han-yang froze in place, mid-rise from his seat.
I drove one more silver needle into him.
Thud!
"This ti I've struck the Mute Point. You can't make a sound."
"……!"
Kim Han-yang just rolled his eyes around, staring at .
I drew out one additional silver needle.
"The 3rd one will hurt a bit."
Thwump—!
A long silver needle slid straight in through Kim Han-yang's nostril. His eyes instantly went bloodshot.
"It hurts, but you can't move or scream, can you?"
"……!"
"If my hand goes just a little further in from here, the needle will gouge into your brain."
Kim Han-yang trembled as he stared at .
"Give it a light stir and you won't be able to rember , or even think. You'll beco an idiot. But don't worry."
I drew out one more silver needle.
"I'm only going to keep hurting you."
Thud—.
Even with the Wind Gate Point struck, Kim Han-yang began shaking his body in agony.
"I'll be the one asking questions. If it's correct, blink your eyes. Until then, no blinking. Understood?"
The man imdiately blinked.
"Not knowing ans you're either a low-ranking Gukmubon agent or a contracted outside party. Forr—blink once, latter—twice."
Blink blink.
"Gukmubon would have sent money to take care of my little sister. Judging by the look of things, you seem to have skimd a fair amount off the top. Am I right?"
Blink.
"Judging by your face, you're suspicious by nature and don't trust others. You'd probably keep any incriminating evidence on your person. Is it in the car? Or in that bag of yours?"
"……."
Kim Han-yang didn't blink.
"Ah, it's not there then. Let's see. Oho. Since you can't speak, not blinking ans you'll tell once I untie you, yes?"
Blink.
"That's fine. I think I already know where it is anyway."
I grabbed the large cross necklace hanging from his neck, yanked it off, and held it in my hand.
"For soone who clearly has no religion, you're wearing a cross."
I twisted the necklace and it ca apart—out fell a single USB drive.
"This is it, right?"
"……."
"Want to hurt you more?"
Blink blink blink.
I smiled and opened the flashy designer bag he had brought, taking out his wallet and car keys.
"You only put a wallet and car keys in here, so why are you walking around with such a big bag?"
I clicked my tongue and warned him.
"Bo-reum will be here soon so I'll untie you. But you won't run away. You'll stay quiet, as if nothing happened. If you so much as make a sound—"
Thwump.
I slowly pushed a silver needle under his fingernail.
"Understand?"
Blink.
The man trembled.
Though I had stabbed needles all throughout him with my extre acupuncture arts, not a single drop of blood had fallen.
"Bo-reum's coming."
Fwit fwit fwit—.
I withdrew every silver needle I had driven into him in an instant.
"Huh—huh……! Huh—huh."
Kim Han-yang's expression turned montarily faint as he gasped for air.
"Oh my. Director Kim. Are you feeling unwell?"
"Looks like he got sothing caught in his stomach."
"Really? Have so water. No wait! I think you should go to the hospital. Your complexion looks terrible."
"He'll be fine. It's just sudden indigestion."
"Shall I lance your finger? Hold on, where's a needle. I think a hairpin could work……."
"A, a needle! No! Absolutely not!"
Kim Han-yang leapt to his feet and frantically waved his hands.
"Oh my, what's wrong?"
"Looks like Director Kim is scared of needles."
"Really?"
"Y, yes……. That's right."
"Please sit, Director Kim."
"Yes."
Kim Han-yang saw and sat down, trembling.
I pleasantly finished my al, while Kim Han-yang chewed his lip and, face ashen, couldn't bring himself to touch anything on the table.
"Bo-reum. Are you done eating?"
"Yeah."
"I think I'd better take Director Kim to the hospital."
"……!"
Kim Han-yang's eyes went wide for a mont.
"You head to the hotel first. I'll take him and co back."
"I'm coming too."
"I can go alone. You go do so shopping."
"Shopping?"
"I don't have any clothes. Pick out sothing decent. And get the essentials too."
I pulled out his wallet and thrust a wad of cash into her hands.
"Huh? That's Director Kim's wallet?"
"Ah, he said he was going to give spending money."
"Even so, soone else's wallet like that……."
At which point Kim Han-yang imdiately said it was fine.
"No no. Bo-reum. I gave it to him."
"You heard him?"
"I an, if that's the case……."
"He said he'd treat you to sothing designer."
"What?"
When I glanced at Kim Han-yang, he nodded his head vigorously.
"O, of course. It's on ."
"Bo-reum, take the card too."
"Even so, that's a bit……."
"Co now! You'll embarrass Director Kim. Go pick out sothing nice right away."
"Alright."
Bo-reum disappeared with an ambivalent expression.
"Kim Han-yang."
"Yes."
"Drive."
"Wi, will we be going to the hospital?"
"Don't make laugh. Take to your office."
We arrived at his office.
The office wasn't spacious.
But every piece of furniture was high-end without exception.
I had Kim Han-yang stand in a parade-rest posture and I turned on his laptop, inserting the USB.
"Yep, it's all here. All the data. My goodness……. He's really been feasting on this."
The money Gukmubon had sent to look after Bo-reum was 100,000,000 won.
Bo-reum's monthly rent for a place like a study room was 3,000,000 won, and the deposit was two months' rent, so it wouldn't have exceeded 10,000,000 won all together.
"Where's the rest of the money?"
"In the desk drawer……."
Slide—.
Opening the drawer revealed bankbooks and cards.
And then a single handgun and a box of condoms.
"Look at this guy."
"A, that's……."
"What were you planning to do with my little sister?"
"I didn't do anything."
An expression of indignation on the man's face.
Fwit—!
I flung a silver needle and lodged it into his pressure point.
"Aaaah—!"
"You're loud."
Hmph—!
Kim Han-yang, despite being in agony, clamped both hands over his mouth.
"Make a sound and you die. Try to pull the silver needle out and you die too."
Shudder shudder.
Kim Han-yang writhed on the floor, holding his breath.
I sat back down before the laptop and looked through the man's ledger—it was exactly as expected.
He had been living by embezzling money sent by Gukmubon or the governnt to help dispatched agents deal with various inconveniences and hardships, skimming from the middle.
The amount was substantial, but there was still sothing odd.
"Even accounting for the embezzlent, it wouldn't be easy to sustain your level of extravagance."
Opening more files, scanned passport copies appeared.
All young won without exception.
So held South Korean nationality, others were from different countries.
"Where are these people?"
Kim Han-yang trembled and said nothing.
I flung in one more silver needle and drove it ho.
"Uugh—!"
"Talk."
"I, I sold them."
"Ha! This bastard, I'll be……."
He was a wretch beyond any association.
A man disguised as a travel agency director, trafficking people.
To think they had entrusted Bo-reum to soone like this.
I could hardly believe I'd been praising Chief Han from Gukmubon for her sharp, efficient work.
I stood up and walked toward the man, seizing him by the collar.
"Do you live happily like this?"
"……."
"You piece of trash."
"I'm sorry……."
Just then I noticed a tattoo below his collarbone.
A crescent moon-shaped tattoo.
The very sa tattoo I had seen on Omar.
"……Who are you?"
***
[Republic of Korea]
The Park Jae-yeol administration issued a statent.
[The Republic of Korea governnt has not authorized the naturalization of Ghost and the Naless Hero as French citizens, and urges their prompt return to the country.]
└ Does naturalization need governnt authorization?
└ It doesn't.
└ Then why are they going on about authorization?
└ Probably just talking for the sake of it.
The French President also released a counter-statent.
Appearing on television with a smile for the interview.
"France once again extends its heartfelt welco to Ghost and the Naless Hero's naturalization as French citizens, and expresses its wish to et them in person if at all possible! However, if that feels like pressure, we have no intention of forcing anything. We are different from the Republic of Korea! We only hope they will stay comfortably, eat plenty of delicious things, and be happy."
It was the polar opposite of South Korea's aggressive tone.
"God damn it!"
President Park Jae-yeol hurled the remote control and smashed it.
"Those French bastards are using !"
"Calm yourself, Your Excellency."
"How am I supposed to not be angry right now?"
Park Jae-yeol was raging furiously, but the cabinet mbers looked even more uncomfortable.
"What's public sentint like?"
Pyeon Jae-yeong answered.
"It's not good."
Park Jae-yeol dismissed all the cabinet mbers and had a private audience with Pyeon Jae-yeong.
"The relationship between and Je-hwang must never co to light."
"I'm keeping a tight lid on all mouths."
"And Je-hwang?"
"He's been hospitalized. I've erected a wall of police officers to bar journalists from entering as well."
The original plan had been to announce before the most attention-grabbing event that Park Je-hwang was his grandson, in full view of the world.
But for now, that had to be shelved.
No—it was sothing that absolutely could not be discovered.
The personal details of competition participants were managed by Gukmubon, and Minister Kim Mu-ok, now elevated to his post, had steadfastly refused to disclose them.
"Is there whiskey?"
Park Jae-yeol found himself reaching for the alcohol he had quit.
But a few hours later—
Despite every precaution, the information leaked.
[Breaking news! 'Murim Alliance Master'—real na Park Je-hwang!]
[Park Je-hwang is the grandson of President Park Jae-yeol.]
[The Blue House neither confirms nor denies.]
"Damn it! Who leaked the information?!"
President Park Jae-yeol saw the articles and flew into a rage.
Pyeon Jae-yeong approached the president and restrained him.
"That's not what matters right now. The question is how we're going to handle this!"
A brief eting took place between the two, but no conclusion was reached.
They decided to let the silence speak for itself by neither confirming nor denying.
Pyeon Jae-yeong reached for the door as he was leaving the conference room.
In the stifling situation, Park Jae-yeol gave him an order.
"Minister Pyeon, find out who the traitor is, without fail!"
"Understood, Your Excellency."
Pyeon Jae-yeong gave a quick bow and walked out.
As he strode down the corridor, a small smile crossed his lips.
‘The traitor is always close by, Your Excellency.’
***
The situation was snowballing out of control.
"Everything is going according to plan."
There wasn't much for to do.
What I had thrown out were a few suspicions. What ca back were unconvincing explanations.
The relationship between Park Je-hwang and Park Jae-yeol.
That was enough.
The rest would be filled in by imagination.
└ The president was the Murim Alliance Master's grandfather?!
└ They're all in it together.
└ So that's why there was that flash before the green light went on at the tournant.
└ They'd set the whole thing up in advance
└ Woah woah. No jumping to conclusions.
└ Still, it's suspicious.
└ Now it makes sense why the Naless Hero left Korea.
└ They screw up themselves and only blad the Naless Hero!
└ Naless Hero, please co back. Waaaah ㅠㅠ
I was sitting in the back seat of a car that Kim Han-yang was driving, checking the articles and comnts with a smile.
The crescent moon tattoo on Kim Han-yang and on Omar.
It was the mark of France's Black Market organization.
Kim Han-yang had 2 crescent moons.
Omar had 1.
It seed to indicate a difference in rank.
"Is the Black Market much further?"
"We're almost there."
Kim Han-yang's trembling voice ca from the driver's seat.
"It's true that the French Black Market is different from Korea's, right?"
"Yes. There's nothing you can't find here. It's because they don't have the restrictions Korea does."
According to him, the French Black Market traded not only items that ca out of Murim Tower, but all manner of things.
Firearms, drugs, even people.
Omar, you bastard.
I'd thought sowhat well of you, and here you were part of this side.
I was glad I hadn't let my guard down.
"We've arrived."
The French Black Market was a large factory on the outskirts of Paris.
Outskirts it may have been, yet people and vehicles ca and went in plain sight.
It seed even France was knowingly turning a blind eye.
"My goodness, the world sure is a rough place."
"The governnt is also making a pretty penny off it."
"The governnt?"
"To be precise, high-ranking governnt officials. They're taking bribes from a portion of the profits."
"Wretched people."
Kim Han-yang parked the car and pulled a large bag from the trunk.
It was the money he had been siphoning off and stockpiling, converted to cash.
Because the amount was large, he hadn't been able to withdraw it all at once and had to keep going around to multiple banks.
The sum secured that way—700,000 euros.
Roughly 1,100,000,000 won.
He handed the bag over to and bowed his head.
"What are you doing?"
"Pardon?"
"Why are you bowing."
"That is……. If I hand everything over, aren't you letting go?"
"Who said that?"
"That's……."
Thwump—.
"Ow—!"
"I barely poked you, you bastard. And what do you an you've handed everything over?"
"Pardon?"
"You have an apartnt, don't you."
"That's……."
"You have a car too. And there's still deposits you couldn't withdraw because of withdrawal limits."
"That's so, I an……."
"And you still have your life."
"H, hey. Why are you doing this……. I also have a family—."
"I already investigated you. You have no family, you bastard."
The con artist, who had been making a pitiful face, cocked his head as though caught.
‘These guys' whole lives really are just one long con.’
"Above all, you need to be here for to have an interpreter."
"I'm sorry."
"Follow along closely. Who knows—if you handle things well, I might let you go."
"Really?"
"Depending on how you perform."
……Hmph.
It won't be easy to satisfy .
At this point, trussing up the Heavenly Demon and delivering him right in front of would be about the right level.
I dragged the man and entered the Black Market.
But then.
"Boss! How did you end up here?"
I ran into Omar.
The guy had a large bag on him—it seed he had been buying the things I had requested at the Black Market.
"Who are you? Why are you next to our boss?"
"I serve this person."
"That's hilarious! I'm the one who serves the boss!"
"What are you talking about! And why is your Korean so good?"
"I learned it at the factory! Co to think of it, you look kind of like a boss who used to push around?"
"Probably because he was good-looking."
"Boss. Can I beat this bastard up?"
The two of them suddenly started bickering.
Ha. This is great.
Looks like I'll be going around with a con man on my left and a pickpocket on my right.
But, for so reason, it felt reassuring.
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