“T-Team Leader. May I come in for a moment?”
The voice was taut with tension.
Go Jun glared at the door with bloodshot eyes and thrust out a hand.
Crack!
A tremendous force tore through the air, ripping apart the iron door and crumpling it like a sheet of paper.
The security-team employee who witnessed the incredible sight from a few feet away swallowed a startled breath.
“Gasp.”
“I told you not to let anyone approach.”
The moment he met Go Jun’s blazing red eyes, a chill ran down his spine.
He had heard his colleagues talk about the extreme change in their direct superior, who had always been as precise and cold as a machine. But facing him like this, the team member’s voice trembled with fear despite himself.
“I-It’s just that… there’s something I need to report…”
“Put it off.”
His voice was low, as though dragged up from the depths of an abyss.
The team member would have loved to do exactly that. But if it had been anything trivial, they would never have drawn lots to decide who had to deliver the report.
He swallowed hard and summoned his courage.
“The head of the investigation team contacted us urgently. He said they found a strange object they couldn’t identify…”
Go Jun, who had been about to turn away, came to an abrupt stop.
“A strange object?”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“Could it be—”
“No, sir.”
Afraid Go Jun’s anger might turn on him, the team member hurriedly continued.
“We checked. None of the late Vice Guild Master’s belongings have been found yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. We’re constantly monitoring the team members dispatched to the site in case they try to pocket anything. There’s no doubt.”
“And?”
“Pardon?”
“There’s only one report I need from those bastards. A report saying they found what I need.”
Go Jun’s eyes darkened.
Even now, with the Crown Prince Party—closely tied to Ares Guild—on the decline, the Guild’s influence and power remained intact.
The person in charge could change. The government could be replaced. But the greed that lived in every human heart would never disappear.
Even the straightest bamboo bent beneath enough weight. Go Jun had created that weight with tens of billions of won.1
The head of the investigation team managing the city that had once been the Arch Lich’s stronghold, along with the senior officials under him, had proved no different.
“Tell those bastards to find it, no matter what it takes. Until then, I don’t want to hear from them again.”
There was no such thing as a favor in this world without a price. Go Jun had bought them with a fortune, and if they failed to deliver what he wanted, he intended to retaliate accordingly.
That was how important the object was.
Not merely because it was a keepsake of the Master he had followed like a father. It could also become a powerful weapon—one capable of driving someone into a corner with no escape.
A holographic recorder.
Lee Jungryong had been the true master of the immensely influential Ares Guild. In case the unexpected ever happened, he had always carried a miniature holographic recorder on his person.
The day he died at Jin Taekyung’s hands had been no exception.
All the evidence is in there. If I can find it, then afterward…
At that moment, the fire in Go Jun’s eyes wavered violently.
Afterward… what am I supposed to do?
Before he knew it, the face of one man—someone he hated beyond measure and feared even more—flashed before his eyes.
…Jin Taekyung.
Merely thinking the name made his heart plummet and his hands and feet tremble.
The indifferent gaze that had looked down at him beneath the faint moonlight and the dry voice that had accompanied it clouded his eyes and ears like an apparition.
I’ll say this one last time.
The voice had burrowed into Go Jun’s ears while he screamed in unimaginable agony.
Let it end with Lee Jungryong. Hide your teeth and put away your claws. If you do that… nothing will happen.
Every bone in his body had been crushed like matchsticks, and his raw flesh had been torn away as though wrung from his body. Without even getting the chance to wield his weapon properly, he had been left thrashing in an endless swamp of pain.
Lee Jungryong had been an insurmountable wall and a Master Go Jun revered.
Jin Taekyung was something no one had ever seen before.
No. He was like…
“A monster.”
The single word that escaped Go Jun without his realizing it was steeped in all the emotions and fear he felt.
Then he came to his senses and understood.
His hatred for Jin Taekyung was nothing compared to his terror.
Jin Taekyung’s existence was fear itself, branded forever into Go Jun’s soul like a mark burned into flesh. At the same time, it was another name for the perfect helplessness he had felt for the first time in his life.
“T-Team Leader?”
Go Jun did not answer. Teeth clenched, he lowered his head and stared at his trembling hands.
What the fuck is this…
Crunch.
He bit his lip until it bled, then raised his head. Ignoring the team member’s bewildered stare at the sight of his frightened superior, he spoke.
“Tell the head of the investigation team to bring me that damned strange object. I don’t know what it is, but I should at least see it for myself.”
“But a moment ago, you said—Ah, understood.”
Realizing his mistake, the team member hurriedly bowed and left the room.
Only after walking a considerable distance down the corridor did he finally release the breath he had been holding. He gestured to the hotel employees waiting nearby.
“Wait here for a while. Go in once he’s calmed down. And the new room is ready, right?”
The Chinese hotel employees nodded calmly.
This was not the first time Go Jun had gone on a rampage. It had already happened several times over the past week.
But what did that matter?
Until a few days ago, the hotel had belonged to a local notable in Sichuan Province. Once Ares Guild bought it, the Koreans before them became their new employers.
And excellent employers they were, lavishing the staff with extra pay in exchange for their silence.
“I’m tired of repeating myself. We all know the situation, so let’s do our jobs properly.”
The team member tossed them a thick envelope, wiped the sweat from his brow, and walked away.
Being unable to leave this godforsaken land of China was bad enough. What troubled him even more was the unstable condition of the man poised to succeed Lee Jungryong as the new captain of Ares Guild.
Could that rumor really have been true?
He recalled the story quietly circulating within the security team.
And the unease stirring within him.
The treatment is incredible, but if Team Leader stays like that from now on…
There would be no problem if Go Jun remained the head of security. The enormous warship called the Ares Guild was not so fragile that one mistake by a helmsman could make it capsize.
But if the man at the helm became its new captain, that was a different story.
Damn it. I’ve never had to worry about this before.
The team member muttered to himself and pulled a smartphone from inside his suit jacket. It was a work phone that left no records and could not be traced.
After a long series of rings, someone answered.
“Ah, Mr. Park. I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“I’ll get straight to the point. Our team leader wants to see the object you mentioned for himself.”
“In person?”
“Yes. In person. Our team leader wants to avoid public attention as much as possible right now, so you understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
The head of the investigation team cleared his throat on the other end of the call.
“Ahem. That may be difficult. Since this is the Arch Lich’s former stronghold, there are foreign personnel dispatched by the United Nations as well, and security is tighter than you might think…”
“Name your price. But there can’t be a single mistake.”
A short while later, the team member ended the call and clicked his tongue.
“Greedy bastards. Money is all they care about. Then again, I guess that works in our favor.”
The world did not change easily. Before overwhelming wealth and power, the word impossible lost all meaning.
Since joining Ares Guild’s security team, he had witnessed the impossible being made possible countless times.
And that fortresslike power would naturally be inherited by one man.
Team Leader Go Jun.
The new captain of Ares Guild.
He himself was merely one of countless rowers, but Go Jun was different. As his thoughts reached that point, he found himself wondering about the one man Go Jun feared so much.
Jin Taekyung.
No one could silence people completely.
The rumor had begun when three Hunters who had secretly left with Go Jun one day a week earlier started talking.
For now, only a tiny handful within the security team—Go Jun’s closest associates—knew the truth. But soon enough, it would spread like an epidemic.
If it’s true… Haa. Things have gotten seriously complicated.
The team member took a deep breath and focused.
From now on, he would have countless decisions to agonize over. Should he stay aboard his current ship or leave for another?
If he wanted to avoid becoming anyone’s enemy, his only choice was to leave the field entirely.
I need to keep my head on straight. Yeah.
Right now, his first priority was retrieving the object the head of the investigation team had smuggled out.
As he headed toward the agreed meeting place, he suddenly found himself envying Jin Taekyung.
Damn. If I had fifty trillion won2 like that bastard, I’d move straight to Europe and live like royalty.
He was wealthy himself and owned several buildings, but human greed was not so easily satisfied.
Once someone owned an expensive foreign car, they wanted a luxury yacht and a helicopter. Then they wanted a private jet of their own.
The team member smacked his lips in envy.
I wonder what Jin Taekyung is doing right now. Throwing a party on a luxury yacht with Playboy models?
Well-tanned bronze muscles rippled beneath the blazing sunlight.
Their identity was that of beautiful model women from around the world who had gathered to enjoy a yacht party with me…
“One, two!”
“Heave-ho!”
…or not.
They belonged to the river bandits of the Water Dragon Stronghold.
I watched the musclebound monsters bustling around the deck with a mournful gaze.
A yacht party, my ass.
I had only ever seen that kind of thing online, and I intended to keep it that way.
Reality wasn’t a boat party with beautiful women. It was staring out at the Yangtze from a deck packed with musclebound river bandits doing boat PT.3
No. There was one more thing.
Whoosh!
I had to dodge the finger flicks our boisterous Old Master, Fire King Jeok Cheongang, sent flying whenever he got bored.
“Well, look at you. Dodging, are we?”
“…Isn’t dodging them the whole point of this training? You said I needed to maintain a mind like a clear mirror and still water while heightening my senses so I could get used to my Middle Dantian.”
Jeok Cheongang answered without a shred of shame.
“That one was meant to hit you. How dare you look away during training?”
“I was looking away with both eyes.”
“Why, you little… Want me to gouge them out for you?”
Eyes blazing, Jeok Cheongang crooked his fingers like claws and continued.
“Do you think this training is easy? Even when you concentrate fully, you can barely dodge them.”
“Fine, fine. I understand. I said I understand.”
Grumbling, I closed my eyes.
Then, a moment later, I quietly opened them again.
“But…”
“What?”
“Didn’t I just dodge that perfectly even while looking away?”
“Oh. You did, didn’t you?”
“…?”
“…?”
“…!”
“…!”
What the hell was this?
Jeok Cheongang pressed his lips tightly together beneath my incredulous stare, then abruptly exploded.
“Not like that! Do it like that brat! Like him!”
He pointed at a young man sitting cross-legged without so much as twitching.
For some reason, Cheongpung had been forced to join me in training.
“Look at that brat. He may be a little strange most of the time, but when it matters, he does everything perfectly. His posture hasn’t wavered, and his breathing remains long, light, and steady. An unwavering mind and posture, no matter what happens around him. That is what it means to possess a mind like a clear mirror and still water.”
After showering Cheongpung with praise without pausing for breath, Jeok Cheongang pointed at him again.
“Watch carefully how he dodges. Now, when I send a finger flick…”
Whoosh! Thud!
The finger flick struck Cheongpung squarely in the temple, and his eyes flew open.
He looked around through eyes still heavy with sleep, then rubbed his head when the pain finally seemed to register.
“Ow. That hurts…”
Then he returned to dreamland faster than light.
I stared at Jeok Cheongang.
“Clear as a mirror? What?”
“A clear mirror… Forget it. You and that brat both. To hell with all of it!”
The Yangtze was peaceful today, too.
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