CH 147

Chapter 147

His life was smooth sailing until he found a suspicious box in his car.

By seizing an unprecedented once-in-a-lifetime fortune, he gained wealth and power he couldn’t have imagined before; Koo Kyungman, the one who held his weakness, was being chased as a suspect in a homicide. If Koo Kyungman were to disappear like this or was found dead, the man would be able to cut off his ties with his dirty past and start, without pause, a new life.

Furthermore, he received a call today from Bae Jaemin, someone he worked so hard for. The words conveyed through Bae Jaemin’s closest aides were clearly intended to appease him.

Probably, Bae Jaemin wanted secret information on the Red Dragon guild that only the man would have. If Koo Kyungman were alive, they wouldn’t have been able to meet boldly, but, now that Koo Kyungman was in trouble, this was an opportunity for both the man and Bae Jaemin.

The man was well aware of that, so he tried not to seem despicable to Bae Jaemin even when he joined the [HaHae] guild and served as a spy. He had hinted that he was acting against his will.

Bae Jaemin had received that signal, and made the man a double spy, deliberately providing him information that could be passed onto Koo Kyungman. The opportunity to reap the fruit of his endeavors had come into the light today.

‘Now that you’ve shaken it all off, you should do as you please.’

‘He’s the one that knows your origins, right?’

‘Should such a capable person get caught up in such a trivial matter?’

‘…..’

‘Besides, don’t you know? We’re already in the same boat.’

Specific conditions were not mentioned–and the man did not speak recklessly–but the tacit consultation could be considered over. There were issues that still concerned him, but the Bae Jaemin the man knew would definitely be able to resolve such a minor problem.

Still, the man spared his words in order to raise his price. Of course, he only unmasked his smile in the car where no other eyes were around.

However, the man’s happy mood disappeared as soon as he turned his head to look at the seat next to him.

How could a dirty delivery box that looked as if it were used several times find its way to the seat next to him? Goosebumps raised all over his arms, how could he not notice such an unfitting object casually invading his personal space and touching his thigh.

The man felt an unusually disturbing aura from the box, and, almost involuntarily, he muttered, “What’s this?”

“Yes?”

“This box. What is it?”

“I-I’m so sorry, sir. I don’t know what you’re talking about…….”

The man raised the box up to the chauffeur, but the chauffeur’s gaze continued to wander the empty air and did not see the box placed in the man’s hand.

The chauffeur was an ordinary person–not a User. It was then that the man realized that the box was a message directed to him. Normally, he wouldn’t have opened the box and would have discussed its existence with the head of his security department, but the man could not withstand the curiosity that grew within him and instantaneously removed the loosely attached tape.

Then, he found a picture where the faces were cut off. It would’ve been difficult for anyone else to recognize who the two men in the photo were, but the man could easily recognize them.

The box had even contained the same model of watch worn on the wrist of one of the men in that photo. A time and place–to meet?–were written in neat handwriting on the back of the photo. Anyone could see it for what it was: an obvious threat.

‘Koo Kyungman? No, if it were Koo Kyungman, he would’ve contacted me earlier… Besides, he’s not the type to use this sort of method to contact others…’

Actually, what tugged at the man’s concern the most was that Koo Kyungman didn’t even call him even though the former leader of the Red Dragon was being suspected for murder. As soon as he heard that Koo Kyungman became a prime suspect, the man was terrified that he would be ordered to enter jail for Koo Kyungman.

However, Koo Kyungman was still reported to be missing, and, seeing how Koo Hui-seo naturally occupied the position of guild master, he thought that Koo Kyungman had disappeared through Koo Hui-seo’s machinations…

For a man who was becoming increasingly confident in his idyllic stability, this threat was undoubtedly fatal. He had to figure out what the mystery opponent wanted and just how much he knew, but there was no way to find those out immediately.

The man arrived at his mansion and struggled until there were 30 minutes left before the threatened appointed time. He had the option to ask Bae Jaemin for help, but the man wanted to avoid being in debt without resolving specific matters in the previous conversation.

After all, perhaps the sender may be from the tabloids–maybe Koo Hui-seo had tipped them off. Or, the information contained within may have originated from the small-time private moneylenders under Koo Kyungman’s control.

The man, while grinding his teeth, had even calculated how much information he would reveal depending on his predictions of his opponent’s current knowledge. So–even then, even at that disadvantage–the man set off to negotiate.

“Jung Garam.”

However, the blackmailer he met at the appointed location was a completely unexpected person. The person was someone Bae Jaemin had shown a peculiar, singular interest in, so he had remembered his face, but the man couldn’t remember the other’s name.

The man was embarrassed to have no information on his opponent; perhaps, that was when he felt that something strange was afoot.

But, when a most deadly name–the man’s deepest held secret–dropped out of that person’s mouth…the man decided that he must kill this person, no matter what.

Of course, that was what he thought before facing Jung Garam, back from the dead.

* * *

‘Impossible…’

The man had personally killed Jung Garam. He was the one who took care of his corpse! He had never even encountered the young Assassin in a nightmare after murdering him. From that day on, those that knew of the [Red Lotus] and Jung Garam had simply mocked them. The same was true of the man.

“It’s been a long while, how’ve you been?”

However, after a few sarcastic customary greetings, the ensuing attacks blew away any of his doubts.

After killing Jung Garam at the [Tower of Command], the man thought that the Red Lotus guild members were nothing compared to what he expected from their public reputations.

Of course, the man and his collaborators had messed with the potions the [Red Lotus] members took, had laid a trap for them, raided them when they were extremely tired, and overpowered them with numerical advantage, but it still took only about an hour to exterminate the [Red Lotus] guild. In particular, the man held feelings of contempt for Jung Garam–his direct kill.

‘I can’t see…’

However, when his ear was torn and one side of his chest was carved out, the man knew deeply how he had been mistaken. Not only Jung Garam’s attacks but also his movements…the man realized that an insurmountable gap existed between them.

He stood and attempted to attack, but that went crooked quickly; Jung Garam stepped towards him at a tremendous speed, though his feet made no noise at all. Moreover, after being attacked, having his flesh ripped and feeling the ensuing pain…he knew what the Assassin was aiming for.

‘Damn, Not like this……! Bae Jaemin… Or, maybe Jisoo-nim…I can’t deal with him alone.’

So the man begged for his life in order to leave this situation alive. His pride or his broken body could be a problem left for later. While thinking that, the man knelt servilely.

Furthermore, he was confident that Jung Garam wouldn’t be able to ignore his pleading. He still had some use–would Jung Garam end his revenge after killing him only? There were at least ten users–ten giant players with large stakes in this business–involved in the betrayal, and the Assassin wouldn’t be able to call all of them out in this way. For the time being, he could use the man to lure the others.

In that case, he could find the time to trigger something to make an emergency call. There was a special signal that Jung Garam didn’t know about–when it was activated, all people involved in the [Red Lotus] annihilation would be summoned.

No matter how strong and competent Jung Garam was, he would not be able to stop them all. So, all he had to do was to buy time to trigger the emergency call…

“Actually, I’m not fond of that idea either. But if you give up so easily, just where am I supposed to vent my anger?”

“……”

“So, don’t give up, take heart, and struggle hard.”

“……”

“Until your whole body is in shambles.”

When the man saw Jung Garam’s cold gaze, he realized he had made a huge mistake; the Assassin never had the intention to use the man in the first place.

No matter what the man promised, Jung Garam would never give up. Because he only desired the man’s tragic death; the only way out was to kill Jung Garam.

TL: Sorry guys, I  don’t know what happened or why it didn’t upload! Either way, Here it is again!

Also I like how in Lee-kyung’s perspective, Jung Garam’s name is written with brackets bc he used his “skill” there to summon the Assassin. Park Hoseok doesn’t know that, so it’s not shown.