A massive sense of guilt and responsibility like a boulder struck his head. He saw a vision of his skull shattering into pieces and his vision being covered in red blood.
As the wailing faded away, the redevelopment committee representative’s words flashed through his mind.
— You understand what I’m saying? If you… back out now… the disappointment will be great.
Out of a sense of betrayal, they targeted all the key figures close to Hwang Jegu. The ones who actually carried out the action would be the hired muscle bastards. If he hadn’t come here because of the cafe post, Hwang Jegu would have been the first to be hit, but Gakseori got stabbed. At that thought, Hwang Jegu’s pupils were engulfed in madness.
His vision turned white with rage that shot to the top of his head.
There was a scene that rose over the pure white vision. It was a sight of Hwang Jegu’s main routes being covered with thugs holding weapons. Several places flashed by quickly. The hiking trail Gakseori would have climbed, the butcher shop, home, and the way home from school…. The way home from school that Yeon Cheonguk would also pass through.
Hwang Jegu’s soul blazed darker red than the evening glow.
Lee Donggu, a law school student on leave, trudged to work at the manga cafe today as well.
It was a tedious rainy season. It was muggy today too. This summer, rain came annoyingly often.
He folded his umbrella in the on-and-off drizzle. The front of his glasses began to fog up. On the way to work, he always passed by Seolyun High.
Lee Donggu, who was glancing at the all-boys school campus around 6th period, suddenly turned his head. He cleaned his glasses, put them back on, and looked beside the school gate.
Low-quality men who seemed like they’d hang around bars or tea rooms were gathered and standing. One, two, three. Three of them.
Lee Donggu had been passing by Seolyun High on weekdays for two years, but this was the first time seeing such a sight. He tilted his head and walked past pretending not to see. There’s no way those kinds of guys could freely hang around the school where Hwang Jegu is. Hmm… has the Emperor finally formally joined hands with the darkness?
The strange sight also unfolded at the manga cafe soon after. About an hour after coming to work, someone vigorously threw open the shop door.
“Welcome.”
Lee Donggu, who was greeting the customer as usual, immediately froze. What threw open the manga cafe door was a thug with an extraordinary build. It was an obese physique far exceeding a wrestler or sumo wrestler level. He didn’t seem to be in his 20s but looked like a high school student, triumphantly spat phlegm on the floor, and entered the bookstore leading four lackeys.
Five men who were clearly third-rate neighborhood thugs at a glance wore training pants sagging at the butt and looked around inside the store. They were the first group customers of this visual he’d witnessed since starting his part-time job.
Humming a tune and looking around the bookstore, they seemed to be looking for someone.
……Come to think of it, neither Yeon Cheonguk nor Jeon Sangwon came to the manga cafe today. Why are those kinds of guys coming and looking around?
They, who couldn’t possibly be reading manga, sprawled on the sofa inside the store.
All of them looked quite anxious. An attitude that was somehow excited, a dark and anxious complexion, body odor hidden with strong perfume, gestures unable to calm their excitement.
After suspiciously side-eyeing them, Lee Donggu discovered a weapon in someone’s possession. There was a knife wrapped tightly in bandages at the waist of a guy who put his hand inside his training suit and was groping his own stomach.
Extreme fear spread from his head to his toes. He felt a threat to his life.
Lee Donggu swept his face with his two cold hands.
Why did five men carrying terrifying knives come to Kkaebi Manga Village…? Who are they looking for?
Third-rate gangsters spread everywhere from in front of Seolyun High School to the manga cafe. What is this situation? He couldn’t help but think of the one person with the greatest connection.
Lee Donggu mustered courage and went inside the store. He acted calmly while organizing returned books. His spine felt chilly but he hid his trembling hands as much as possible.
He could hear the conversation the guys gathered on the sofa were murmuring.
“…Right. Achilles tendon. He said to cut it.”
“If we cut Emperor-fuck’s Achilles tendon, the neighborhood hierarchy will be reorganized.”
“But then won’t we rot in the slammer for at least ten years?”
“Ah, shit. You coward bastard. Don’t worry, the representative old man said he’d cover everything. You think my head doesn’t turn that much?”
“……”
This was the greatest emergency situation on earth. Lee Donggu’s judgment quickly directed his next action.
Hwang Jegu’s membership information. Five emergency contact numbers.
He didn’t know whose contact information the cell phone numbers written in the emergency contact list were, but he sent the same text message to all numbers.
Suspicious men carrying weapons and wandering
3 in front of Seolyun High / 5 at Kkaebi Manga Village at 00-dong 00-0 address
They say they’ll cut Hwang Jegu’s Achilles tendon
Cannot call, need help
If Yeon Cheonguk had come here by any chance, what would have happened? Next, Jeon Sangwon was the first to enter Lee Donggu’s worry radar. If they came all the way here in addition to Seolyun High, doesn’t it mean they’d mess with everyone related to Hwang Jegu? Would Jeon Sangwon be safe?
He flipped through new manga books with hands as cold as ice. He shouldn’t get caught with his body trembling as if he had chills. If he even aroused suspicion, it would be the end.
Time passed in the greatest fear of his life. One minute felt like one hour.
10 minutes. 20 minutes. As time went on, the patience of the five thugs sitting on the sofa ran out. They too seemed to think something went wrong as they put their heads together and consulted with anxious faces.
He felt like he would suffocate in the thin-ice tension. Having no choice, Lee Donggu secretly picked up his cell phone and pressed 112.
“Hey! Who are you calling?”
The thug like a sumo wrestler pointed at Lee Donggu. It was the moment he thought he would die.
Like a lie, police rushed into the store. When five armed police officers swarmed in, those guys jumped up in fright.
“Everyone put your hands up.”
A plainclothes detective smacked the sumo wrestler’s head and kicked his stomach. In an instant, the weapons they had hidden at their waists revealed themselves. The rest of the police also found weapons one by one. They were all knives over 20cm in length.
He was watching the arrest scene dumbfounded when a detective approached Lee Donggu and whispered.
“Text message?”
He was secretly asking if he was the reporter in case the thugs might hold a grudge against the part-timer. He blinked his eyes to answer instead. The detective patted his shoulder.
“Good job. I guess there was an emergency contact list or something? That clever bastard put my number in there too.”
The owner of those words slowly threw open the shop door.
Hwang Jegu walked in between the bookshelves.
He was so tall that the top of his head almost touched the fan on the high wall. Hwang Jegu’s hair was neatly slicked back. The few strands disheveled down over his forehead would be the result of a bloody battle.
With black gloves on and even wearing a mask, he really was no different from a professional gangster. So he was confused. Are the police and Hwang Jegu on the same side right now…? What’s happening…?
Hwang Jegu stood in front of the punks caught by the police while rotating his wrist widely.
“Myeongjin Technical High. It was you. I guess it hurt a lot when you got beat last year.”
He didn’t know when he came in, but as he passed by in front, a fishy smell of blood wafted from him. Blood streaks were spreading here and there on the black top Hwang Jegu was wearing.
“I’m on my way from the butcher shop.”
“……”
“Your friends who were at Seolyun High already got in the police car too. They confessed where else they were spread out. Our alliance is so tight that we had numbers left over even after sending everyone… you didn’t remember the alliance?”
Hwang Jegu had sent the alliance to all the places the opponents were lurking and finished dealing with them. He sent the police to the manga cafe because they were the softest guys. If he handed them over to the police, he couldn’t personally take care of them….
The numbers registered in the emergency contact list were the contact information of the heads of each school allied with Hwang Jegu. Lee Donggu now realized why he had periodically managed emergency contacts.
Hwang Jegu pushed past the police and approached the sumo wrestler.
“How much did the committee representative give you? You must have received at least one bill while instigating assault, right? You wouldn’t stupidly do this for a few hundred bucks. I’m asking because I’m worried about your pure brain.”
“……”
“Do you know you need good grip strength to cut an Achilles tendon?”
Hwang Jegu gave the guy several stones to hold in his palm, made him clench his fist, then grabbed and twisted it. The sound of bones and stones crunching was drowned out by the scream.
“Aaaaah-!!”
A terrifying scream burst out. The detective made a whooshing sound toward that direction and glared.
“Tsk! That’s enough!”
