CH 357

“M-me?” Yi Myeong-Hwan asked back in panic.

“Of course it's you,” the secretary flatly replied while staring at Yi Myeong-Hwan with a face that asked, Is there something wrong with me asking you to come?

'But, why?! Why does the Assembly Master want to see me?’

Yi Myeong-Hwan suddenly grew scared.

'Maybe I did go overboard a little?'

The thought of, 'I shouldn't have blabbed my mouth!' forced its way into Yi Myeong-Hwan's head. He figured Bang Jin-Hun would be manly enough to overlook something this minor, but...

But, when Yi Myeong-Hwan thought about it some more, what did he know about Bang Jin-Hun to make that assumption?

“M-me, too?!” Gong Yeong-Gil also asked the secretary, his complexion getting paler.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? Hurry up, will ya?” The secretary shot back in irritation.

However, neither Gong Yeong-Gil nor Yi Myeong-Hwan found it easy to take that first step.

The story told by the clean-up crew member swirled in their heads. To make matters worse, the clean-up crew members began whispering something to martial artists around them before sending looks of pity at Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil.

No, rather than pity... Wouldn't people usually look at cows getting dragged into an abattoir with that expression? It was as if Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil were already half-dead in their minds!

'Damn it! Why was I so stupid?!'

Only then did the scale of his stupidity smack Yi Myeong-Hwan in the head. Since those Japanese martial artists entered Korea with a specific purpose, they should be incomparably stronger than Yi Myeong-Hwan. The gap between Japan's and South Korea's martial arts was like a huge chasm, after all!

Even in the surface world, Japan's national power was double that of South Korea's, and the difference between the two countries in the hidden martial world was far greater still. The estimation of 'around ten times higher' was often thrown around, and not many people would try to refute that number. That was the case, but now...

Kang Jin-Ho killed not just one but twenty Japanese martial artists. What would he have felt while listening to Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil yapping on and on about his skills and whatever?

If Yi Myeong-Hwan was in Kang Jin-Ho's shoes, even he'd have beaten up the rude bastard on the spot. Maybe, even kill the fool. Or make sure he wouldn't be able to move for a few days, at least.

When his thoughts reached that far, Yi Myeong-Hwan's fear level went up a notch.

'I-if I go, he might kill me!'

Didn't the clean-up crew people say Kang Jin-Ho had slaughtered twenty Japanese warriors? What would change by adding two more to that tally? Twenty might not seem like a huge number, but anyone capable of killing that many people in a row couldn't be a human being. No, he must be a devil who didn't view other people as humans!

“...W-where should we go?”

“The Assembly Master's office, obviously! Get a move-on already, you punks!” The secretary openly displayed his displeasure. He couldn't understand why Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil were behaving this way. Then again, he didn't know what happened in the Training Hall and was merely carrying out the Assembly Master's order, so he shouldn't be blamed for this.

Sure, Yi Myeong-Hwan might have started resenting the secretary under a different circumstance. But he didn't have the mental leeway to criticize and blame other people right now!

Yi Myeong-Hwan forced himself to slowly get up. Gong Yeong-Gil stared at him, his eyes trembling pitifully. The light in his eyes was asking what he should do now.

'You stinking son of a...!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan gritted his teeth. Gong Yeong-Gil shouldn't have crossed the line. Why the hell did he have to go that far and make everything worse!

Although Yi Myeong-Hwan was guilty of instigating the situation, he continued to think Gong Yeong-Gil was responsible for making things worse. His desire to choke the life out of Gong Yeong-Gil was growing stronger every second!

And no, he wasn't being hyperbolic here. If Yi Myeong-Hwan could solve this situation by breaking Gong Yeong-Gil's neck, he'd have already done so by now!

“...Come on, let's go, Yeong-Gil.”

“Y-you want to go?”

“What else can we do?”

“B-but, I…” Gong Yeong-Gil hesitated nervously but still got up from his chair. Yi Myeong-Hwan groaned under his breath.

'Surely, he won't kill us, right?'

With this many witnesses around, surely Kang Jin-Ho and Bang Jin-Hun wouldn't summon Yi Myeong-Hwan just to kill him. That would be too damaging to their status.

'However, will a madman who has already killed twenty people give a damn about that?'

According to the commonly-accepted logic, they shouldn't die tonight. However, the problem was with the dude on the other side of the equation since logic didn't seem to apply to him.

What frustrated Yi Myeong-Hwan even more was that his fellow martial artists, who had been boisterously running their mouths only a few minutes ago, were dazedly staring at him and Gong Yeong-Gil without saying anything.

They didn't even offer the stock assurance of 'Everything will be alright'. Since they had all heard that bone-chilling story from the clean-up crew members, they could tell this situation was rather... extraordinary.

'You sons of b*tches! Weren't you all running your mouths just now!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan would've acted the same as them if he were in their shoes, but that wasn't how a person's mind worked, now was it? Yi Myeong-Hwan glanced around and realized that everyone was avoiding meeting his gaze.

“F*cking cowards...!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan openly swore at them, but no one responded. Then again, he must've looked like a dead man walking to these folks. They probably didn't see the need to waste time arguing with a corpse.

Yi Myeong-Hwan headed to the doorway, and Gong Yeong-Gil followed him with an unwilling expression.

Yi Myeong-Hwan glanced at the secretary. “Are you coming with us?”

“Why? Don't you know where the Assembly Master's office is?”

“...No, I do know.”

“In that case, do I need to chaperone you, too?”

“No, not really.”

It wasn't the first time Yi Myeong-Hwan was subjected to the secretary's curt attitude, but today still felt especially rude. Which was evidence of how chaotic Yi Myeong-Hwan's mind was right now.

Yi Myeong-Hwan bit his lower lip and began walking in the corridor.

“H-hey, man. What should we do?” Gong Yeong-Gil asked in a trembling voice.

Yi Myeong-Hwan's expression distorted in anger. “F*cking hell! That was why I told you to watch your mouth so many times! Why did you have to go ahead and make everything worse, you dumb sh*t!”

“I thought it'd be fine, you know. I mean, let's be honest, that fella looked like a pushover, didn't he?”

“Shut your mouth, or imma rip it out of you.”

“...My bad.” Gong Yeong-Gil groaned and lowered his head.

'Bloody hell...!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan grumbled unhappily. Of course, he knew he was venting steam. He believed Gong Yeong-Gil hadn't done something truly bad, after all. He might have behaved in a similar fashion if he were in Gong Yeong-Gil's shoes, anyway.

Sure, Gong Yeong-Gil was at fault for being an idiot, but that was what he was like. And Yi Myeong-Hwan was also guilty of being an idiot, wasn't he? He figured that one of these days, he'd get his ass handed to him for running his mouth. And that day happened to be today.

'And why did it have to be Kang Jin-Ho, of all people?!'

For some reason, the corridor's length felt endless today. Maybe the road to the Gate of Hell would feel this way. Even the atmosphere in the corridor was eerie and cold since there weren't that many lights illuminating the darkness away.

Gong Yeong-Gil quietly asked, “You think it's true?”

“What is?”

“...You know, that thing about twenty Japs.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan felt his frustration well up again in his chest. “Do the clean-up crew guys have a reason to lie to us?”

“No, they don't.”

“Why would they show up before us while covered in blood? To deliberately frighten us? Was today Halloween? Or April's Fools?”

“N-no…”

“Seriously now!” Yi Myeong-Hwan spun his head and glared murderously, forcing Gong Yeong-Gil to lower his head even more.

“Uh-whew…” Yi Myeong-Hwan sighed deeply before tightly clenching his fists.

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'Right. Let's not jump to conclusions.'

It might be nothing to worry about. Bang Jin-Hun said he wanted the representative-level martial artists to collect the opinions of their peers and report them to the higher-ups, so that might be the reason. Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil were the first idiots to voice their opinions, after all!

By wishing ardently for the happiest available ending, it might come true. The only problem with that was when the situation didn't end the way Yi Myeong-Hwan would've liked since he couldn't deal with the aftermath.

“...We're here,” Yi Myeong-Hwan muttered.

They climbed the stairway to the top floor and arrived before the large doorway to the Assembly Master's office. At any other times, they might have loitered around out of genuine curiosity, but not today. Today, that doorway resembled the Gates of Hell. Yi Myeong-Hwan had no idea until today that a reddish-brown wooden door could pressure a person to this degree.

Yi Myeong-Hwan nervously swallowed his saliva while standing before this imposing doorway. He should knock and step inside, but his hand didn't want to move. As for Gong Yeong-Gil, he was also standing there frozen-stiff, his complexion pale. He couldn't bring himself to enter the office, either.

'No, calm down!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan patted his chest and sucked in a deep breath.

Kang Jin-Ho's face suddenly popped up in Yi Myeong-Hwan's mind just then. Although Kang Jin-Ho looked a little cold, he also smiled a lot during his response, didn't he? So, he couldn't have summoned Yi Myeong-Hwan here out of malice. However...

'F*ck! Who can predict what a madman will do?! Especially a madman who can smile like everything's alright after slaughtering twenty people, no less!'

When Yi Myeong-Hwan remembered what Kang Jin-Ho was doing before showing up here, he realized the scale of the problem facing him.

According to the clean-up crew, that man had turned twenty human beings into nothing more than bloody chunks of meat. But he showed up here in a smart business suit to introduce himself to everyone as if nothing had happened on the way.

That wasn't something a sane-minded person could do!

'Goddamn it!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan's hands began trembling. It felt like his body was no longer under his control.

He sucked in several deep breaths and prepared himself to knock on the door.

However, he was interrupted by a weighty voice coming from beyond the door. “You're here. Enter already, will you?”

“Fuu-woo...!” Yi Myeong-Hwan deeply inhaled and exhaled.

'They surely won't kill us, right?'

While thinking this was a do-or-die moment for him, Yi Myeong-Hwan pushed the door open wide. The sight greeting him was Bang Jin-Hun and Kang Jin-Ho sitting on some couches in the center of the office. And then, he noticed ashtrays with two stubbed cigarettes inside.

'This isn't good...!'

It seemed that Bang Jin-Hun and Kang Jin-Ho had a smoke break after arriving at the office. That indicated the relationship between the two men was close enough for them to share cigarettes. And that was in spite of the difference in their ages.

Obviously, that was bad news for Yi Myeong-Hwan. He stood there and hesitated while thinking that this situation was getting worse for him.

Bang Jin-Hun frowned a little when the two men by the doorway fidgeted nervously. “What are you doing? Come inside already!”

“S-sir? Oh, uh... Yes, sir!” Yi Myeong-Hwan stuttered before hurriedly stepping inside the office.

'What am I supposed to do here?'

Should he remain standing or take a seat on one of the couches? Yi Myeong-Hwan wouldn't normally worry about stuff like that, but it seemed like everything was conspiring against him at the moment. He couldn't even figure out what the correct position was for him to assume.

“Sit over here, you two.”

“...Yes, sir.” Yi Myeong-Hwan sat on the spot as pointed out by Bang Jin-Hun and looked up to discover Kang Jin-Ho sitting across from him.

'Why does it have to be this spot, though?!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan desperately wanted to scream right now. That was how frustrated he felt as if something hard and heavy had filled up his chest.

“Want some coffee, you two?” Bang Jin-Hun glanced at his two guests and asked.

“S-sir?” Yi Myeong-Hwan gasped in nervousness.

“I said, you want some coffee?”

“N-no, sir. We're fine.”

“What the hell? Did you get dragged into an abattoir or something? I've been trying my best to get rid of the old authoritarian ways of the Assembly, you know? However, what will people think when you two are acting like this just because you're in my office?”

“I'm sorry?” Yi Myeong-Hwan nearly fell off the couch, unable to figure out what was going on.

Bang Jin-Hun groaned before turning his head toward Kang Jin-Ho. “Mister Jin-Ho, it's not true. I'm not that kind of a man.”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders. “I can only assume that usual habits are rearing their heads, Mister Jin-Hun.”

“Woah, there... I'm telling you, that's not it. Seriously now, these punks all think of me as a pushover. You were there earlier, right?”

“Well, those who know, they know.”

“Gee whiz. Gimme a break, please…” Bang Jin-Hun pounded his chest in frustration, then glared sharply at Yi Myeong-Hwan and Gong Yeong-Gil.

He was merely trying to lighten the mood by being playful here, but Yi Myeong-Gil felt his heart tumble to the pit of his stomach instead.

Even as dread swept over him, Yi Myeong-Hwan still didn't forget to look at Kang Jin-Ho.

Sitting opposite Yi Myeong-Hwan, Kang Jin-Ho was leisurely drinking coffee. On the surface, at least, he resembled a handsome office worker sitting relaxedly in a cafe to enjoy a warm cup of smooth coffee as another day of fruitful work drew to a close.

'Are you telling me someone like that was slaughtering people not too long ago?'

Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn't sure who to believe anymore.

Bang Jin-Hun smiled refreshingly and addressed his guests. It seemed he was oblivious to Yi Myeong-Hwan's internal conflict. Or maybe he didn't care. “The reason why I asked for you two is because... Well, I have a favor to ask you.”

“...A favor, sir?”

“Yes. From the way you two acted earlier, I figured you were the bravest of the lot. I mean, you were so rude and glib back then, too. You sure left a strong impression with how capable you are at pissing people off.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan squeezed his eyes shut.