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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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Baek Eun-ho, smelling the tangsuyuk sauce from where he stood, thought of the Yang Chun Gak deliveryman he had seen nearby.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t that deliveryman around here?’
He could smell tangsuyuk sauce, but there were no tangsuyuk containers, which meant the deliveryman must have collected the containers right before this incident occurred.
‘The smell hasn’t faded yet. That means it happened not too long ago, right? Maybe that deliveryman saw the culprit!’
As the Byung-chil gang was still out cold in the empty lot, the only witness was the Yang Chun Gak deliveryman.
* * *
At that moment, as Gang-so finished his delivery and returned to Yang Chun Gak, Yoo Soon-tae came out of the kitchen to greet him.
“You’re back? Good work.”
“It’s nothing. Any more deliveries?”
“Not yet. But that container is for tangsuyuk, isn’t it?”
The tangsuyuk plate was quite large, so it was sticking out of the delivery box.
That’s how Yoo Soon-tae noticed it.
Gang-so took out the plate that contained the tangsuyuk and the sauce from the delivery box and said casually,
“Ah, this? I just picked it up from the place that ordered a large tangsuyuk.”
“You picked it up already?”
Gang-so nodded.
“The customers who ordered this must have been very hungry, because they devoured it.”
“Even the sauce… all of it?”
Usually, when people ordered tangsuyuk, whether they poured the sauce on top or dipped the meat in it, there was bound to be a lot of sauce left in the container.
But the sauce container in Gang-so’s hand was so clean that it looked like someone had licked it clean.
“The sauce you make is very delicious. You should be proud of your cooking.”
“You’re making me blush. Hahaha.”
Gang-so put the container in the sink in the kitchen.
Honestly, it was difficult to believe that they had eaten all of the tangsuyuk, including the sauce, but since Gang-so said it so naturally, Yoo Soon-tae couldn’t help but just accept it.
Meanwhile, Gang-so’s eyes in the kitchen were not the same warm and gentle eyes from a moment ago.
They were cold enough to freeze everything.
When he went to deliver the tangsuyuk, fourteen thugs were waiting for him.
They threatened Gang-so to quit being a deliveryman, kicking the delivery box and spilling the tangsuyuk.
Of course, Gang-so wasn’t going to just let that happen.
In the end, Gang-so was able to hear the name “Koo Sang-ok” from their mouths as they knelt and begged for forgiveness.
‘Koo Sang-ok…’
He couldn’t just ignore Koo Sang-ok, who was trying to take advantage of his friend.
He said to Yoo Soon-tae,
“Soon-tae, I’m going out for a bit tonight.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to look around. Don’t worry, I won’t go far.”
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That evening.
Gang-so came out of his room.
Just then, Kkorong, at Gang-so’s feet, tapped the floor with its forepaws and wagged its tail.
“Kkikyu! Kkikyu! Kyu!”
“You want to come with me? Well, that should be fine.”
Gang-so picked up Kkorong, put it inside his shirt, and left Yang Chun Gak.
He closed his eyes for a moment and recalled what he had heard from the Byung-chil gang’s confession.
One of them knew where Koo Sang-ok lived.
Gang-so headed to the studio apartment where Koo Sang-ok lived.
One of the things that fascinated him in this world was the variety of housing.
From shacks in shantytowns to studio apartments, two-room apartments, officetels, regular apartments, row houses, and luxury houses.
Of course, the fact that one’s house reflected their financial status was no different here than in the place he came from.
‘Is this it?’
Gang-so arrived at Koo Sang-ok’s studio apartment.
‘Hmm…’
But something seemed off.
Mail was piled up in front of his studio apartment on the second floor.
‘Is this proof that he hasn’t been home for a while?’
The door was open.
Rather than being open, it was half torn off, so the lock was already broken.
‘It should be okay to go in, right?’
Gang-so quietly went inside the studio apartment. The inside was already a mess, with shoe prints and scattered belongings everywhere.
‘…’
Gang-so was taken aback.
Because it looked as though he had left in a hurry in the middle of the night.
“Who are you?”
At the deep voice of a man, Gang-so turned around.
He already knew that someone was behind him, but since they didn’t seem dangerous, he had just stayed put.
“Do you know Koo Sang-ok, the ba- no, Mr. Koo Sang-ok, who lives here?”
“I came here because I had business with the owner of this place, but he’s not here.”
“Business…?”
Gang-so quickly glanced at the crumpled paper on the floor.
It was a collection notice from a private loan company.
‘So they have loan sharks here, too.’
But it wasn’t just from one company.
‘Why did he borrow so much money?’
Thanks to that, he knew what to answer to avoid an awkward situation.
“I have a debt to collect.”
At his reply, the polite demeanor of the young man immediately disappeared.
“Hah! That bastard! He’s got guts!”
He continued.
“It’d be better if you just give up! I’m going crazy because I have no idea where that guy is hiding.”
“Are you in the same situation?”
“Yes! That son of a bitch disappeared without a trace… If I don’t catch him, my boss will kill me, so I’m going crazy.”
“It seems like you’re having a hard time. I understand.”
Empathizing with someone’s emotions to obtain information was a method he often used during his assassin days.
Whether it was because he felt a sense of camaraderie from being in the same profession, or because he had no one else to confide in, as Gang-so had expected, the man readily gave him information.
“It’s not like he spent the money on hospital bills or business, he wasted it all on drinking and women, what a crazy bastard, right?”
Gang-so clicked his tongue without realizing it.
‘What a scumbag.’
He asked the man,
“What are you planning to do if you find Koo Sang-ok?”
“What else? I’m going to shake him down.”
Gang-so suddenly thought of a good way to deal with Koo Sang-ok without lifting a finger.
“Um, give me your contact information. If I find him, I’ll contact you.”
At those words, the young loan shark tilted his head. Because he didn’t understand Gang-so’s words.
“I’d be grateful if you contacted me, but shouldn’t you collect your money first? Why would you contact me?”
“I can give up on collecting the debt, but I want to give him a beating. So, if I contact you, I’m asking you to beat him up for me.”
That’s right.
Since there was already someone who would take care of it, he didn’t have to go through the trouble himself.
As Gang-so expected, the young loan shark grinned, delighted.
“Don’t worry about that! We’re professionals when it comes to that sort of thing. Hehehe.”
It was always best to leave it to the professionals to avoid any problems later.
He gave Gang-so his business card, thanked him for the favor, and left Koo Sang-ok’s studio apartment.
After he left, Gang-so turned to Kkorong, which poked its head out from his shirt.
“Do you know where Koo Sang-ok, who used to live here, is now?”
Kkorong sniffed around.
Although there were a mixture of scents from various people, Kkorong accurately picked up Koo Sang-ok’s scent.
And it nodded.
“Kyu! Kkikyu!”
“Then lead the way.”
“Kyu!”
A while later.
Gang-so was on the rooftop of a multi-family house.
The small rooftop room up there was the location Kkorong had indicated.
Gang-so quietly went inside.
Infiltrating without a trace was his specialty as an assassin.
A man was sleeping soundly on a futon spread out on the floor.
It was the same face he had seen in the Byung-chil gang’s memories.
‘Found him!’
Gang-so left Koo Sang-ok’s rooftop room and levitated into the air.
He took out his phone and dialed the number on the business card he had received from the young loan shark.
– Hello.
A sleepy voice answered the phone.
“It’s the person who received your business card earlier. I found Koo Sang-ok and wanted to let you know his location.”
– Are you serious? Where is he?
“The address is…”
Gang-so gave him the address of the rooftop room and smiled after hanging up the phone.
It was showtime.
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At that moment.
Koo Sang-ok was sleeping soundly, scratching his belly, unaware of what was about to happen to him.
His single rooftop room was littered with uneaten snacks, empty cup ramen containers, and soju bottles.
They said that increasing your spending was easy, but reducing it was hard. Even after he quit his job at Yang Chun Gak, he continued to spend lavishly on entertainment, and his bank account was already empty, and all his cards had been suspended for a while now.
In the end, he even borrowed from loan sharks to keep up his lifestyle, but since he had no way to repay the loans, he fled in the middle of the night and hid in this small rooftop room to avoid the debt collectors.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The phone rang.
He had already suspended his own phone and was using one under a friend’s name.
He didn’t bother to answer, but the phone kept ringing persistently.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“Damn it! Who is this?!”
In the end, Koo Sang-ok picked up the phone angrily.
– Hyungnim! It’s Man-deok! Hyungnim! We have a big problem! The Byung-chil gang is in jail!
“What? Jail? Did they get caught beating up that new deliveryman?”
Man-deok hurriedly interrupted Koo Sang-ok.
– No, that’s not it, they didn’t even see the deliveryman. Or rather, they don’t remember anything from that time! The problem is they got reported for harassing nearby shopkeepers and passersby, and they have warrants out for their arrest.
“Tsk tsk. That’s too bad. Hang up then.”
– Huh?
Man-deok’s bewildered voice could be heard.
“Is it my fault that they got warrants out for their arrest?”
– B-But hyungnim! They gave my name, too… Anyway, I’m in a very difficult situation right now.
“I don’t know anything about that, so don’t call me about it.”
Using people when needed and then discarding them without hesitation when they’re no longer useful.
That was Koo Sang-ok’s true nature.
– Hyungnim! How can you do this? I worked like a dog for you!
“When did I tell you to do that? Hang up.”
– Hyungnim! Sang-ok hyungnim!
He could hear Man-deok’s desperate voice over the phone, but Koo Sang-ok hung up.
“Who the hell would call with such nonsense when I was sleeping so soundly.”
Koo Sang-ok lay back down on the futon, but he immediately jumped up.
Bang, bang, bang-!
“Mr. Koo Sang-ok! Are you there?”
The chilling voice was definitely that of a loan shark.
“Hey! Stop running away!”
“We know you’re here!”
Koo Sang-ok was bewildered.
“H-How did you know?”
Since there were awakened individuals with tracking abilities among loan sharks, he had bought and was wearing a rather expensive tracking prevention artifact.
The ring on his hand was that artifact.
Thanks to it, he had been able to escape without being tracked, but now it was all over.
He had to run.
The people who were desperate to catch him were from a notorious private loan company.
Getting caught meant, at minimum, having his organs harvested.
But Koo Sang-ok’s body, usually agile, wouldn’t move properly.
So he missed his chance to escape.
Crash-!
With the sound of something breaking, the door burst open, and a group of loan sharks entered the room.
“This bastard! You were eating and sleeping comfortably here?”
“So this is the life of someone who runs away with other people’s money? Huh, you punk?”
“Hey, hey! Don’t touch him! We don’t want to damage the goods.”
Koo Sang-ok collapsed on the spot.
Meanwhile, Gang-so was floating in mid-air, levitating and watching the scene.
And he had even used his internal energy to prevent Koo Sang-ok from running away.
Even as he watched Koo Sang-ok being dragged away by the loan sharks, Gang-so didn’t feel any pity.
‘It’s his own fault.’
Now he had to return to Yang Chun Gak.
Yoo Soon-tae would be worried if he was too late.
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