Chapter 28: Park Ye-na, Year 2 Class A (4)
Smack!
Thwack!
Dull sounds rang out in quick succession.
Following the sounds.
“Kyaaak!”
“It’s an Awakener fight!!”
“Shouldn't we call the police?”
“Get out of the way!”
“R-Run!”
The cafe customers panicked and began running outside.
The cafe instantly turned into chaos.
Yoo jin scratched his cheek.
“What the heck? Anyone would think I'm the bad guy.”
In fact, Yoo jin had taken little action.
The ones who raised their magical power and used Unique Skills were the cafe employees—or more accurately, the organization members disguised as employees.
It was just that.
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s amazing...”
“With a single flick... he looked pretty strong, too...”
Ye-na and Jin-ho, their mouths rounded like goldfish, stared at the organization members sprawled on the floor.
“What, why are they so weak? They were spewing bloodlust like a Dragon.”
The remaining organization member's jaw dropped at his comrades being instantly defeated.
“What on earth are you? How did you take down Q and J in one hit?”
“Q, J? Figures a gambling organization would have such names.”
“Those aren’t names, they’re code names...”
“Never mind.”
Yoo jin, who was stroking his chin as if in thought, looked at the remaining organization member and spoke.
“You, guide us.”
“What?”
“There must be a secret passage leading to the basement, right?”
“Why would I...”
Yoo jin gestured with his chin, and the remaining member's gaze moved.
His two comrades were unconscious, their eyes rolled back.
“Do you want to end up like them?”
Cold sweat trickled down the organization member's spine.
“I tried to hit gently, controlling myself, you know? But I’m not so sure about you.”
Yoo jin snapped his fingers.
Vwoom!
An impossible sound for a finger snap rang out.
“Next time, I don’t know if it’ll end with just fainting, or if you'll actually go up there.”
Yoo jin pointed his finger toward the sky.
It was a ridiculous threat.
But.
‘I picked the wrong person.’
The organization member’s eyes trembled violently.
His sharp eyebrows dropped, and the wrinkles on his forehead had long since vanished.
The reason his momentum, let alone his bloodlust, was completely broken was this:
The man in front of him—this guy, whether he was a teacher or something else, whose identity couldn't be accurately gauged—really seemed like he could do it.
“Hehe.”
The man wore a mischievous expression.
Yet, the sound coming from his finger was no joke.
‘Where did this crazy bastard come from?’
A teacher?
No, where in the world was there a teacher like this?
He thought he must be an agent sent by the government or an assassin from an opposing faction.
Anything else was hard to accept.
What crazy teacher would storm a gambling den for a home visit?
“Hey, I can hear the cogs turning in your head from here. Stop with the shoddy schemes and let’s make this easy, shall we?”
Yoo jin’s voice rang out again.
However, the organization member’s mind was filled with the last conversation he had with his unconscious comrades on the floor.
‘How long did it take us to disguise this as a cafe?’
‘Did you forget the Ilsan branch incident? If we get caught this time, it’s not just us, but our families’ heads on the line.’
The organization member bit his lip and barely managed to speak.
“Th-Threatening me won't work. If I take someone uninvited down, the higher-ups will hold me responsible...”
“Hey.”
The atmosphere instantly sank.
“It seems you’re mistaken about something. Do you think you can weigh responsibility against death?”
“......”
He couldn't even swallow his spit.
It felt like his mind was shrinking.
His body—no, his cells—were telling him to run away.
As he trembled, the organization member's vision caught the children standing behind Yoo jin.
Yet the man.
“Do you think I can't kill you?”
He was wearing the most devilish expression in the world.
***
Yoo jin and the children stepped onto the stairs leading to the basement, which was hidden inside the cafe.
“Are you sure this is it?”
“......”
“Hey, is this the way to the underground fighting ring?”
“......”
When no answer came twice after Yoo jin’s voice.
“If you don't answer one more time, I’ll make sure you can never answer for the rest of your life. Whether it’s because you lack a tongue or because your head has burst open, we’ll find out when we get there.”
At Yoo jin’s voice, which sounded right next to his ear, the organization member tasked with guiding them let out a strange sound, ‘Heeeek,’ and trembled.
“S-Sorry! This is the right place.”
“See, you can answer. Like I said before, let’s make this easy. I might not be able to control my strength with you and send you straight to heaven.”
A muttered whisper came from between his hunched shoulders.
“Why does every conversation end with ‘I’ll kill you’...”
“What did you say?”
“O-Oh, nothing!”
“How much longer?”
“We’re almost there now.”
The organization member, who was disguised as a cafe employee, was Code Name Kei.
Kei’s complexion darkened with every step down the stairs.
“I’m dead...”
If he took these people down, the executives would kill him.
If he didn’t take them, this monster would kill him.
He knocked out J and Q with a single flick.
He was experiencing for the first time that an Awakener could be subdued like this without a proper fight.
And above all.
Kei maintained his pace but slightly shifted his eyes to the back.
“It’s dark, so be careful on the stairs.”
The man strangely wore a calm and gentle expression only towards the children.
This gap—this boundless kindness toward the children, contrasting with how he treated him—only added to the grotesque nature.
“What are you looking at?”
“O-Oh, nothing.”
Because this strange man, who had already shown him what death felt like just by meeting him, was scarier than the executives.
He gave up on thinking any further.
After descending a few more steps, they quickly arrived at the gambling den.
“We’ve a-arrived. Since there are eyes watching from here, you should go separately from here...”
Ignoring Kei’s words, Yoo jin walked past Kei.
Stomp, stomp.
Footsteps laden with many emotions rang out.
Yoo jin passed the stairs and reached the fenced area.
Like the second floor of a club, it was a space overlooking the first floor.
There, he faced it.
The madness that could not be seen anywhere else.
“Waaaaah!”
“Kill him!”
“Don’t lose! You idiot Goblin bastard!”
“Number 35, please!”
Voices that had sold their souls.
People whose eyes lacked focus were shouting while watching the fighting ring.
Hollowed-out humans.
They were the gamblers.
And the place where their gaze was focused.
The center of the massive underground space.
Two Goblins were fighting in what appeared to be the fighting ring.
“How can people do something like this...”
“......”
The children couldn't bear to look at the scene any longer and bowed their heads.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!”
Behind the gamblers' roar.
A Goblin with a sword embedded in its chest crumpled forward.
The surviving Goblin looked down at the Goblin it had just killed.
Do monsters have emotions?
What kind of relationship did those Goblins have?
Many questions filled the children's minds, but the gamblers here.
“I won!”
“You stupid idiot! You lost again!”
“Good, I’ve recovered my principal!”
No one cared about the extinguishing life.
Yoo jin’s expression vanished as he looked down at the place where dopamine had exploded.
“I thought only children needed education, but I guess not.”
Yoo jin finished his sentence, turned around, and said something to the children and Kei.
“Find the father.”
Three expressions instantly changed.
“Let’s divide the roles. Take good care of the kids, unless you want to die.”
“Yes.”
Next to the bowing Kei, the children looked up at Yoo jin with uneasy expressions.
“Then, Teacher...”
“What can a teacher do? I have to start the lesson.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yoo jin jumped down into the fighting ring.
***
The underground illegal fighting ring.
The man who managed the most popular one these days, the Goblin Fighting Ring.
His code name was Zero.
He was an executive in the Karma organization, the mastermind behind the underground illegal fighting rings spread across the country.
His brows furrowed deeply.
He had managed this underground fighting ring, the Namyangju branch, for about three years.
In that time, whether short or long, he had never imagined a day like this would come.
“Did he really break in alone?”
“To be precise, there were two students with him.”
“Forget the kids. Did he really find this place alone? Hmm...”
“I heard there was a commotion upstairs, but I didn’t think he’d come this far, I apologize. It’s my mistake.”
“I’d be less surprised if a guild had stormed in.”
At Zero’s voice, the subordinate behind him bowed his head.
“I apologize. I will deal with him immediately.”
As the subordinate with the shaved head stepped forward, Zero, who was sitting on the sofa, raised his hand.
At the same time, the shaved-headed man stopped moving.
“No. Let’s observe first.”
“But, Older Brother...”
The scar overlapping above his eyebrow formed a diagonal line.
“I apologize.”
“No matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like a guild or government guy. Seriously, this is interesting after a long time.”
The underground illegal fighting ring.
The room was set up on the second floor.
From that room with the panoramic window, he had experienced unspeakable dopamine looking down at the multi-hundred-billion-won gambling and the gamblers who were no longer human.
But this was the first time.
The first time someone had entered that fighting ring.
The first person to look at Goblins, who were less than insects, with such eyes.
And...
“Boo!”
“Boo!”
“Who are you?!”
“Get out!”
“Hurry up and start the next game!!”
The ones booing were the people who were no longer human.
Those who were already so steeped in gambling they had given up being human.
“What is the manager doing!”
“Drag that guy out and start the next game quickly! Or just kill him!”
To those empty people whose souls were gone.
“Shut up!!”
Sincerity.
“Hey, gamblers, there’s a limit to gambling. This isn’t gambling.”
The man standing proudly in the fighting ring looked at the dying Goblin.
He was the first person to say such a thing to the insects who lived and died by bets.
“Gamblers have their own rules. I don’t know what he came looking for, but I can’t let him just walk away with it.”
Zero fixed his eyes on the man shining proudly inside the fighting ring.
***
The headquarters of the Ignis Guild.
The door to the top floor opened again.
Secretary Kim entered the Guild Master’s office with a crisp salute.
“Is it time for the entry?”
“Yes, all preparations are complete.”
Next to the seat where Ignis Guild Master Cho Sang-geun was sitting, a screen appeared.
Secretary Kim turning off the lights in the innermost part of the Guild Master’s office happened almost simultaneously.
As the interior darkened, the newly appeared screen became clearer.
The cafe filled the screen.
“I have made it possible for you to check the situation on site in real-time.”
“You said you prepared for a long time.”
In addition to that, the cafe and the appearance of the entry team waiting outside were being transmitted on split screens.
“Then, give the order to enter.”
Just as Cho Sang-geun was about to speak, at Secretary Kim’s voice.
Crackle—.
A frantic voice came through Secretary Kim’s walkie-talkie, accompanied by an electronic sound.
— We have a problem!
“What’s going on?”
— A commotion has broken out at the cafe.
Someone is causing trouble!
Secretary Kim’s expression sank at the voice from the walkie-talkie.
“The information couldn’t have leaked.”
She quickly moved her hand, and one of the screens changed dramatically.
Customers hurriedly rushing out.
She didn't know exactly what the problem was or if it was related to the underground gambling den, yet.
But with that level of commotion, the people underground would surely take action.
Secretary Kim confirmed the screen and quickly bowed her head.
“I apologize. I will go and check.”
Just then.
Crackle—.
— We don’t know the identity of the people causing the trouble, but we have confirmed their faces.
As soon as the voice on the walkie-talkie faded, Secretary Kim's voice rang out.
“Hurry!”
— Camera number 3 is...
Before the sentence was finished, Secretary Kim’s finger moved.
Immediately, the view from Camera 3 filled the Guild Master’s office.
And...
“......”
“......”
Both Secretary Kim, who was angry that the plan had gone wrong, and Cho Sang-geun, who had maintained silence for a long time.
Could not close their gaping mouths.
— Secretary Kim, what should we do?
Should we observe the situation?
Or should we enter quickly now?
The sound flowing from the walkie-talkie was drowned out by the screen.
Two students in school uniforms.
And a strongly built man visible in front of them.
It was a face both Secretary Kim and the Guild Master knew.
— Secretary Kim?
Can you hear me?
Guild Master?
I don’t know what’s going on, but if we leave that man alone, he’s in danger.
Even if we have to punish him, we should first secure the man’s safety and...
By what means?
The voice from the walkie-talkie rang endlessly through the Guild Master’s office.
“Si-wang, what are you doing...”
Cho Sang-geun held his head, looking at Yoo jin’s face on the screen.