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In fact, the monster and Stage of Advent were more realistic. It was hard to even meet a Korean gangster in real life, but what about Yakuza? Moreover, this guy was a part of one of the three major Yakuza groups in Japan called Inagawa-kai, and he was a key executive. Seong-Il remembered the Yakuza-style tattoo covering Takeru’s entire body and his awkward Korean pronunciation. It had to be the truth. Therefore, he couldn’t stop thinking about the warning Takeru had uttered out of spite before his death that there would be a bloody punishment after they got out of the stage.
“Fields have eyes, and woods have ears. They will somehow find out about it since so many people witnessed this happen. Fuck. He is still annoying the living even after going to hell,” Seong-Il complained with a rigid face as he imagined Yakuza members entering Korea and constantly chasing after his family. He opened his mouth again when Seon-Hu smirked.
“It’s not funny. He said he was a Yakuza. I have only heard of such things from movies. Ugh, why did he even come here and make a mess?”
The younger man casually remarked, “Join our association.”
“The World Awakened Association?” Seong-Il asked.
Seon-Hu nodded. “We will protect you and give you wealth and honor. If you still feel anxious, you can attack them first.”
The other man fretted, “They must have Awakened too. There are so many of them.”
Seon-Hu shrugged. “You worry too much. You will be stronger from now on.”
Seong-Il lamented, “I’m fine, but I have Ki-Cheol. I can’t always take him with me since he is a grown-up.”
“That’s something you can say only when you manage to survive until the end,” Seon-Hu pointed out.
Seong-Il sighed. “I know, but… Never mind, you are right. I should focus on getting out alive and crushing the skulls of those who try to kill me no matter what or who they are. But what do you mean by giving me wealth and honor?”
“Why? Are you interested?”
“Why would I refuse it?”
Seon-Hu smiled slightly. “Don’t you think people would naturally come to you if you survive this? You will become more famous than celebrities and earn more than the rich.”
Seong-Il burst out into laughter. “Hahahaha. My ex-wife will regret it so much. I’ve always told her that my fucking fate blooms in old age.”
“Just stay alive with Lee Soo-Ah.”
“Why with her?”
“You two are in a team, so you should take care of each other.”
Seong-Il nodded. Looking back on the boss battle, he couldn’t say that he was on a team with Seon-Hu. Although they were in the same party, Seon-Hu’s residence in the village was different from his place.
As Seon-Hu had mentioned, Soo-Ah was a real colleague who could share the same joys and sorrows as him. She was young and had a decent face and body. However, she had done risky behavior out of a selfish desire to impress Odin. Therefore, Seong-Il didn’t like her, but then, he realized that they were now in a different world. He had defeated a Yakuza boss and had been in a team with the pretty and successful female fund manager. He never would have dreamed of this happening before.
Yes. This will be an opportunity to change my entire life!
Then, Soo-Ah came back.
“The council asked Odin’s opinion.”
It was about the prisoners.
Seon-Hu shrugged. “I don’t care if they decide to kill or be merciful to them all. Tell them it’s up to them.”
***
No one from Takeru’s group could believe that the man who was as powerful as a raging bull wasn’t Odin. Odin was someone else, and apparently he was the young man who had appeared without any visible equipment at the very last moment! They could recognize him by how the villagers treated him and the way his creepy eyes looked down at them.
However, Odin didn’t attend the meeting that determined their fates. The same was true of the bull, who was Odin’s henchman. A woman in her early thirties, believed to be one of Odin’s people, entered and left the building a few times throughout the process. The villagers called her Soo-Ah. She seemed familiar to Seok-Ju, and he finally remembered her after wracking his brains.
“Soo… Ms. Soo-Ah!” Seok-Ju shouted hastily, and dozens of sharp eyes turned toward him. “Do you not remember me? I’m Min Seok-Ju. I met you last year at the Night of Jeon-il.”
Seok-Ju emphasized the name ‘Jeon-il.’ One of the cards that had worked for the Yakuza in Japan was the name ‘Jeon-il,’ and the title had a great impact on the village's self-governing committee.
“Would you recognize me if I told you that I was the manager of Finance Team 3?”
The Night of Jeon-il was an extension of their work as the team leaders and their superiors from the Jeon-il headquarters and their affiliates had gathered around that day. Although they had been invited under Jeon-il’s name, there was an invisible wall that couldn’t be crossed between the team leader of the headquarters and affiliates.
At that time, Soo-Ah had approached Seok-Ju first while the headquarters’ directors, key executives, and presidents of the affiliates were meeting in the upper seats. Even if it wasn’t because her parents were pressuring her to quit and get married instead, she had thought that introducing herself to the financial team of the headquarters would be useful to her future career.
Soo-Ah quickly glanced at Seok-Ju as she recalled him. She would have recognized him immediately if he had been wearing a neat suit, a charming smile, and the gold badge from the headquarters of Jeon-il Group, but the current Seok-Ju was kneeling wearing only his underwear.
She replied, “So, what’s your point?”
He pleaded, “We had no choice but to do what we did because of the Yakuza. Even if this place is lawless, how could we have done such a cruel and stupid thing if we weren’t forced to?”
“You are saying you couldn’t help it to survive, right?” she asked neutrally.
“Yes.”
She shrugged. “The same applies for us too. Be quiet and wait for the consequences.”
“...”
Seok-Ju had only lived for success, and his life had actually been successful. The schools had taught that Korea was a democratic country, but the reality was different. The legislative National Assembly, the administration and the courts of the judicial system were all controlled by the hands of the Jeon-il Group. The top twenty conglomerates in the business world trembled whenever the group spoke.
Before the Day of Advent, forty percent of the Korean economy had been occupied by Jeon-il’s assets. Korea had been dominated by a financial cartel called Jeon-il, so Seok-Ju’s goal was to get in there from the very beginning. Becoming a CPA[1] wasn’t enough. After completing an MBA course at Harvard and thoroughly preparing for an interview, he was able to join their headquarters’ finance team.
His life had been shining like a diamond, but his future had collapsed when there was so much success ahead of him. Moreover, he actually clicked well with the Yakuza. Whenever Takeru vented his spite, he could relate to him a lot. Only the losers considered the Stage of Advent as an opportunity, and this world was unfortunate to those who had already achieved success like him or the Yakuza.
Seok-Ju suppressed his rage. If they had been back in reality, she would have been the one crawling towards him instead as she had only belonged to an affiliate before.
What? Be quiet and wait for the consequences? How dare you speak like that to the head of the Jeon-il headquarters finance team? This world must be favorable to you, right?
Soo-Ah continued, “The world has changed a lot, Mr. Min.”
***
The raiders, who were crying and appealing that they had no choice to do what they did because the Yakuza had oppressed them, were also children and parents of someone else that came from the same country as them. Therefore, the village council was in trouble. They had hoped Odin would simply kill everyone and resolve the issue, but he never stepped in other than interfering as minimally as always.
There were many problems. They had to think about who would be the executioner, how to detain them if they decided to lock them up, until when they would imprison them, who would guard them, and how they would deal with the issues arising among villagers if they decided to accept them as a part of a group. Therefore, they decided to deport them.
Soo-Ah warned Seok-Ju as a member of the village council, “If something similar happens again, you won’t be able to blame the Yakuza. I won’t say this again since you are a brilliant guy.”
He retorted, “Ms. Lee, what you are doing is the same as killing us.”
Soo-Ah refuted, “Did you expect that we would accept you guys? That’s impossible.”
He demanded, “Please let me see Odin.”
She shook her head. “Go back and never come near our village again.”
“...Okay.”
Twenty-seven men and women, including Seok-Ju, were kicked out of the boundary.
However, the incident happened on their way back to their town. The guy who had been staring at Seok-Ju in front of him said loudly as if he wanted everyone to hear him, “He would have sold out our country if he had been born in the Japanese colonial era.”
“What did you say?” Seok-Ju snapped.
The guy sneered. “You? Haha. Now you’re showing your true colors. Did I say something wrong? Did you enjoy sucking our blood while clinging to the Japanese?”
Seok-Ju retorted, “Takeru is a fucking Korean himself. Do you not know about Japanese-Koreans?”
The guy retorted, “Fucking? You must have cursed so many times before that you speak such a thing so naturally. You said you were in the Jeon-il Group. I guess you abandoned your pride and honor.”
“You moron… our country’s development is getting delayed because of people like you. Do you think you will have a better life as the world has changed? Fuck you, you stupid moron.”
“What?”
Seok-Ju huffed, “Lower-class pups like you will stay in the lowest hierarchy here too. Do you not use your brain at all?”
Seok-Ju had reassured and protected the people from the Yakuza’s tyranny with a warm smile and calm tone of voice. However, he had done a complete 180 to what they had expected of him.
“What do you think Hwang Kwan-Ho and I were getting while you slaves were getting items and giving them as tribute to us? You idiot. If you hold your tongue, you’ll be able to pass for a sage.”
The man glanced around anxiously. Everyone was shaken by Seok-Ju’s new attitude, but they were ignoring the man’s looks for help.
Seok-Ju commanded, “Kneel down.”
“What?” the man asked.
Seok-Ju snorted. “I’ll keep you alive, so kneel down.”
“Asshole… Why are you guys just watching? Are you guys going to stay like that even after seeing his true colors?” the man hurriedly shouted at the other people, but no one answered. He clenched his fists when he felt the murderous intent from Seok-Ju’s eyes. He didn’t have the courage to attack Seok-Ju as he felt Seok-Ju was disregarding him. Even if Seok-Ju had not mentioned it, the man realized that he had been hiding his ability. The man continued staring at Seok-Ju while gritting his teeth, but his gaze gradually lost strength as time went by.
“Keuk.”
The man knelt with a face full of shame, and Seok-Ju put his feet on the back of the man’s head. The man instinctively resisted the force that pressed down on him, but it didn’t work. He soon fell to the ground as if a tight string had snapped.
“You are my slave from now on.”
Then, Seok-Ju said to the people while looking around them, “There is a secret warehouse in the village. We can stay alive by using the supplies there during Act One, Stage Two…”
Right then, he heard a voice, “I had always felt this way about you, but you are very clever. You never sow the seeds of the source of evil. I should learn that one day.”
A heavy voice came from the darkness where Seok-Ju couldn’t see into.
“What… what is this?” Seok-Ju quickly looked around.
The voice continued, “You almost got us.”
“You… you…”
Seong-Il walked out with Soo-Ah with a rigid look on his face.
“Yes. Odin sent us here. How are you, Mr. Min?”
1. Certified Public Accountants ☜