Chapter 17
The Thieves (4)
A woman who was struck in the face by Kang Hyeon flew away at an incredible speed and was embedded in the wall.
“Kuh… Ugh!”
The woman vomited a handful of blood from her mouth and collapsed right there.
“Guild Master! Are you alright!?”
The executives rushed towards Kang Hyeon.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
If it were another ability user, they would have died the moment the grenade exploded, but Kang Hyeon seemed to have taken no significant damage.
Only his clothes were slightly singed.
This was because he had wrapped his magic around himself just before the grenade exploded, minimizing its destructive power.
“By the way, who is this woman?”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? She’s from the pub where our guild members were destroyed yesterday.”
“Oh…”
“So, does anyone know who this crazy woman might be?”
Kang Hyeon asked while grabbing the woman’s nape and lifting her up.
The woman hung limply in midair.
The executives fell into thought.
“Hmm…”
“No one knows?”
Just as Kang Hyeon was feeling disappointed by the lack of recognition,
“I’m not entirely sure, but…”
Choi Si-hyeon, the head of intelligence, raised her hand.
“I think it might be Lim So-hee.”
“Lim So-hee? Who’s that?”
“Well, she’s a famous mercenary mainly active in the southern region, with the nickname ‘The Lone Wolf of the Battlefield’, I believe?”
“What? That cringeworthy middle-school-level nickname.”
Kang Hyeon made a disgusted face at the overly dramatic naming of ‘The Lone Wolf of the Battlefield’.
“Apparently, she made up the nickname herself.”
“Isn’t a nickname supposed to be given by others?”
“Well, while that’s true, she’s mostly known as the ‘Crazy Wolf Bitch’.”
At the mention of ‘Crazy Wolf Bitch’, some executives reacted.
“I’ve heard of her.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of her too.”
Most of the executives seemed to have at least heard her name.
Kang Hyeon tilted his head.
“Is she famous?”
“From what I know, she’s quite money-driven. And once she takes on a mission, while she might use somewhat rough methods, she’s known to complete it with a high probability.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s why she’s quite highly regarded in the mercenary industry.”
“Anything else?”
“There’s a rumor that, contrary to her appearance, she has a strong sense of justice. Apparently, she’s done a lot of good deeds and acts like a hero, which is why she has quite a few fans, though this isn’t confirmed information.”
Kang Hyeon stared intently at Lim So-hee after Choi Si-hyeon’s explanation.
“Good deeds? A hero? And she just randomly comes and throws a grenade?”
“I’m not sure about that either. Haha…”
Choi Si-hyeon scratched her head and laughed.
“From my perspective, it’s one of two things. Either the rumors are wrong, or the person lying here isn’t Lim So-hee.”
“No. I’m certain she is Lim So-hee.”
Choi Si-Hyeon approached Lim So-hee and pulled back her eyelids.
Revealing eyes different from those of an ordinary human.
“Can you see the wolf-like eyes here?”
Kang Hyeon nodded.
He was already finding things strange.
The brief glimpse of a beast-like gaze.
Looking closely, it truly resembled a wolf’s eyes.
“The reason Lim So-hee is called a wolf is because of these eyes. Seeing this, we can be sure it’s her.”
“Okay, assuming it is Lim So-hee. Why did she come here?”
“I’m not sure about that… Haha!”
Choi Si-hyeon scratched her head and laughed again.
At that moment, Shin Seong-ah approached Lim So-hee and pointed her gun.
“Guild Master. There’s no need to overthink this. We should just kill her.”
“Hold on a second. Shouldn’t we understand what happened first?”
“Is there really a need to know? How dare she do something like this to you…”
Shin Seong-ah’s eyes were trembling with rage.
“She must have been prepared to die anyway.”
As Shin Seong-ah tried to pull the trigger, Kang Hyeon shouted at the executives.
“Everyone, stop her!”
The executives rushed and grabbed Shin Seong-ah’s arms and legs.
“Let me go! What’s suddenly gotten into you?”
Shin Seong-ah was never particularly physically strong.
With the guild’s high-ranking executives swarming her, she had no way to resist.
Watching Shin Seong-ah being dragged away, Kang Hyeon sighed.
“Whew… For now, tie her up and throw her somewhere. When she wakes up, call me.”
“Yes.”
“Everyone, dismissed!”
Just as the situation seemed to be settling down, Kang Hyeon suddenly turned back.
“Oh, we’ll continue the meeting tomorrow morning, so keep that in mind.”
“Yes…?”
“What ‘yes’? There was an interruption, so we’ll have to do it again. Don’t be late.”
He waved his hand and left.
“Sigh… We have to listen to his nagging again…”
The executives let out deep sighs, thinking about having to endure Kang Hyeon’s harsh scolding once more.
***
Ippotranslation
***
That evening.
Guild small conference room.
Kang Hyeon was discussing the whereabouts of Kim with Choi Si-Hyeon.
“You know where Gold is?”
Kang Hyeon had previously instructed Ahn Yu-seong and Choi Si-Hyeon to find a way to secure gold.
Because money was one of the essential things to restore the world to its former state.
And gold was the most important thing for creating that money.
“First, you should know that the central bank of our country holds about 100 tons of gold. But it’s buried underground in British land.”
“Why is our country’s gold in Britain?”
Choi Si-Hyeon asked with a face that Kang Hyeon couldn’t understand.
“During the Korean War, there was an incident where gold was being moved and was stolen by North Korea. So they decided to keep it in the safe British land.”
“Ah… So we’ll have to go around and do legwork?”
“No. If we try to collect the necessary gold that way, it would probably take quite a long time.”
Even the gold that used to circulate in our country was as much as thousands of tons.
That enormous amount of gold certainly hasn’t disappeared and must be somewhere.
But collecting the scattered gold would take too much time.
Gold scattered across the country.
Someone’s gold ring. Gold necklace. Bracelet.
It might take years to collect these and make them into tons.
Therefore, Kang Hyeon needed a way to obtain a large amount of gold at once.
“Do you know where this is?”
Choi Si-Hyeon unfolded a map and pointed to a spot.
“It’s Daegu.”
“Yes. Before sending gold to Britain, the central bank stored gold in safes across the country, and among them, Daegu was the place where the most gold was stored.”
“But now you’re saying it’s all been sent away.”
“What’s generally known to the public is like that. But there’s a secret known only among those who know.”
Choi Si-Hyeon smiled and opened his palm.
“10 tons.”
“Huh?”
“This is information from Ahn Yu-seong. He says there are 10 tons of gold buried underground in Daegu. Something like a secret government slush fund?”
“Wow… You actually found that out.”
“Well, being from the country’s top conglomerate, we’d be knowledgeable about information others don’t know.”
“Anyway. So we just need to go to Daegu and dig up the gold?”
To Kang Hyeon’s question, Choi Si-Hyeon shook his head.
“Unfortunately, the gold isn’t in Daegu right now.”
“What? You just said it was buried in Daegu.”
“It turns out this gold was also one of the reasons the civil war broke out. As the ownership kept changing, it’s now somewhere in Gangwon-do Province.”
“Gangwon-do Province…”
“Precisely, it’s held by the military faction ‘Daehan Independence Union’ in Gangwon-do Province. The actual gold they possess is probably much more than 10 tons. No one knows what they might have gathered during that chaos.”
“Wait a moment.”
At that moment, Kang Hyeon clapped his hands as if he remembered something.
“The Peace Line Guild leader is there, right?”
“You mean Seon Eun-hye?”
“No, before her. Someone similar to a donor with a name like that.”
“Do Woo-jae?”
“Yes, Do Woo-jae! Didn’t the report say he came from that independence whatever military faction?”
Do Woo-jae was currently in the ‘Room of Truth’ in the guild house basement.
Initially not spilling any information, he had recently been freely sharing details after guild members had been petting him for several days.
“Yes, you remembered.”
“So in the end, it was all their doing?”
The military faction that had planted the Peace Line Guild in Badass Town to check Kang Hyeon.
And now they apparently have an enormous amount of gold.
“Considering the situation so far, the Daehan Independence Union is most likely behind everything.”
“Alright then. Let’s just attack.”
“Pardon…?”
Choi Si-Hyeon was startled by Kang Hyeon’s sudden statement.
“We have enough justification to take them down. We’ll take the gold while we’re at it.”
“But… Their current military force is over 100,000 troops. Not just infantry, but with missiles and tanks…”
“Anyway, most of those are useless because of magic power.”
“Well, that’s true…”
Outdated electronic equipment is completely useless.
Before collapsing, the Republic of Korea had tried to replace military base equipment with magic stone equipment, but it took so long that they practically didn’t even succeed 5%.
In other words, except for standard firearms, modern weapons like tanks and missiles have basically become scrap metal.
“Then right away…”
Just as Kang Hyeon was about to say something.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the conference room door.
“What is it?”
“Guild leader. That woman has woken up.”
“Woman?”
“You know, Lim So-hee who caused a scene during the day. She just woke up.”
It seemed the discussion about gold would have to be postponed for now.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Ugh… My head
Lim So-hee opened her eyes, feeling like her head was ringing and frowned.
She naturally tried to bring her hand to her head but it wouldn’t move.
“Haah…”
Lim So-hee let out a deep sigh.
“I’ve been caught.”
Her entire body was tightly bound to a thick metal chair.
All the equipment she was carrying had completely disappeared.
Lim So-hee began to carefully retrace her memories of how this situation came to be.
Eventually, she successfully remembered throwing a grenade
And hitting Kang Hyeon in the face.
“What the hell!?”
Two grenades exploded right in front of her nose
Yet not only was he uninjured, not even a scratch appeared
On this human.
She had heard that Kang Hyeon was strong
But she never even imagined it would be to this extent.
“The ability users I’ve met so far were nothing special… Is this what living up to one’s reputation looks like?”
Lim So-hee, lost in thought, shook her head.
“No! It’s just because I was tired and let my guard down!”
From the beginning, the situation was not good at all.
Lim So-hee had almost starved for two days
Before entering Badass Town.
And immediately after drinking several beers on an empty stomach
She had a fierce fight with five grown men.
After that, without drinking a drop of water, she had fallen asleep
And upon waking, she immediately encountered Kang Hyeon.
“If only my condition was good, there’s no way I would have lost! That’s for sure!”
Just as Lim So-hee was confidently nodding her head
Grumble grumble!
Her stomach churned.
“Ugh… I’m hungry…”
When was the last time she had a proper meal?
It was approximately four days ago when she received the commission to kill Kang Hyeon.
Of course, she had been eating beef jerky bit by bit during that time.
But her activity level was far too intense to sustain herself with just a few pieces of jerky.
“I should have gone to a restaurant instead of going straight to the pub…”
Her hasty decision to go directly to the pub where Kang Hyeon was said to appear was the root of her trouble.
“No. I’ll wait for another chance. There will definitely be a gap I can escape through.”
Just as Lim So-hee’s eyes were lighting up
Clang.
The iron door opened with a loud noise.
Lim So-hee glared coldly at Kang Hyeon as he entered.
“What are you going to do to me?”
Kang Hyeon did not answer and dragged a chair
Sitting directly in front of her, facing her.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to torture me? Or maybe rape me? Whatever you’re planning, go ahead!
Do you think I’ll even bat an eye?”
“What are you talking about?”
Kang Hyeon looked at Lim So-hee as if she were an insect and shook his head.
“Listen carefully. I’ll explain this only once. There are rules when talking to me.”
“Rules…?”
“You just need to follow two things. Then nothing will happen.”
Kang Hyeon extended one finger.
“First. You only speak when I tell you to.”
The second finger extended.
“Second. Do not lie.”
Lim So-hee shut her mouth at Kang Hyeon’s explanation.
“Understood?”
“Why should I listen to you?
Do you think I’ll submit to a villain like you? That’s a mistake. I am a lone warrior in the battlefield…”
At the moment Lim So-hee was speaking
Kang Hyeon struck her cheek with incredible speed.
Smack!
Her eyes opened wide from the shocking impact that felt like her cheek would tear.
“Who’s calling who a villain? And every time you don’t follow the rules, you get a slap.
Remember that.”
Blood dripped from Lim So-hee’s mouth, and her eyes trembled.
‘Fuck… It hurts so much!’
When she had been punched before, she had fainted immediately and didn’t know
But this was truly beyond human power.
Moreover, he seemed to be controlling his strength, hitting her at exactly the intensity just before losing consciousness
The shock was enough to make her brain rattle.
“Let’s start. Name: Lim So-hee, age 22. Nickname: Crazy Wolf Bitch. Anything wrong so far?”
“I’m not a Crazy Wolf Bitch, I’m a lone warrior of the battlefield…”
As Lim So-hee was speaking, she saw Kang Hyeon raising his palm
And immediately shut her mouth.
“Seems about right…”
“Good. And you’re almost at the top tier among mercenaries operating in the southern region. Is that correct?”
“Hmph. Not top tier, but the top. I’m the best.”
“You’re good at handling jobs, but there are a few screws loose in your head, causing you to mess up jobs sometimes.”
“Who the hell said such bullshit…!”
The thick palm slowly rising.
“Well, sometimes that happens…”
“Let’s wrap up the basic information. Now, let’s get to the main point.”
Kang Hyeon carelessly threw the file and glared at Lim So-hee.
“Why did you suddenly come looking for me?”
“What do you think? Obviously because of the commission.
I was supposed to receive 10kg of gold bars for killing you.”
“Oh. My head is worth 10kg of gold?”
“Yes. Save the many people suffering because of you and get 10kg of gold.
Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?”
Kang Hyeon frowned at Lim So-hee’s words.
“Who are these many people suffering because of me?”
“Don’t play dumb. I already know everything. It’s already widely spread nationwide.
Kang Hyeon, who returned after three years, has taken control of the guild and is causing all kinds of tyranny.”
“What…?”
“That’s why the client put a bounty on your head. A massive sum of 10kg of gold.”
Kang Hyeon’s face twisted, and Lim So-hee thought she had hit the mark and smirked.
“If you’re thinking of finding out who the client is, you’d better give up.
I have no intention of revealing it even if I die. The moment I reveal it, I’ll be finished in the industry.”
“No. That’s fine. I already know who the client is.”
“Huh…?”
At this point, who the client was was obvious.
Kang Hyeon remembered what Choi Si-hyeon had said just moments ago.
-At least 10 tons of gold.
The continuous obstacles and interference against Kang Hyeon.
Probably the force with the most gold.
The Korean Independence Union is the culprit who placed the bounty on Kang Hyeon’s head.
