Bongilcheonpa’s....
Their boss, Yeom Geumja—though they apparently call her “Chairwoman” among themselves—began shrieking in desperation.
“Is there no law in this country!? You XXXX! XX or XX for all I care!”
“Hey, you alien bastards!!!”
“Aigo! You Chinese XXX, you’re gonna XX the XX I’ve painstakingly collected?!”
“You wanna XX X? X XX! XXXX! Let go! What are you grabbing? Let gooo! I’ll XX or XX your XX! Kyaaah!!”
Yeom Geumja thrashed as if she were about to collapse to the ground.
Her rage was so vicious—no, so monstrously intense—that even her underlings dared not approach her.
“Heh—Kim Seobang, you’ve got quite the gift of gab.”
Seocheonseul watched Yeom Geumja with a look of wonder.
“No, it’s not the gift of gab.”
Right. That wasn’t the issue.
“You X XX bastards! If you’re gonna kill me, then kill me! Go on, XX me! Kill me! Aigo! You foreigners, XXX, monsters! Kill me XX! Aigo! A foreigner will XX kill me!”
There wasn’t even room for a pathetic curse like “X-bal.”
Hearing such grotesque obscenities and vulgarities made my head spin. I scratched my head for a moment and said,
“Madam.”
“XXX what? You illegal foreign slugs! Japanese XXX scum!!”
“Madam, I understand what prejudices you hold against foreigners, so please calm down. Nobody else can hear what we’re saying, anyway.”
If she were just a mindless foulmouth, she couldn’t maintain such a large organization in chaotic Paju.
Yeom Geumja caught the key phrase in my words and fell silent.
“Haa—haa—? What did you say?”
She panted and looked around with wide, mad eyes.
“Ugh... what is this....”
The King Castle Club is a five-story building at the edge of the Bongilcheon entertainment district.
People gathered to watch the commotion, but strangely, I couldn’t hear their voices.
“There’s no sound....”
“It’s magic.”
[Sound Distortion]. Just as we can’t hear them, our voices don’t reach outside.
And this is Paju.
Those who witnessed this strange phenomenon would report it to the police or the immigration office, but wouldn’t intervene for no reason.
Realizing that yelling won’t help, Yeom Geumja spoke in a relatively civil tone.
“Ah, this really sucks.”
“Looks like some spectators have shown up. Let’s finish this quickly.”
One of Yeom Geumja’s three underlings spoke without tact.
“Th-the police are here! Look over there!”
“You XXing XXXX! Just XXX and stay still!”
Yeom Geumja screeched at her underling.
The police had indeed come—two officers visible beyond the crowd.
“Oh, industrious Kim Seobangs.”
Seocheonseul waved at them with pure courtesy.
Contrary to her expectations, the officers hurriedly bowed and shrank back, as if fearing a poisoned needle might fly from her fingertips.
“Huh? Why are the Kim Seobangs acting like that?”
“They’re police for dealing with humans.”
The officers retreated on hands and knees. They judged this an otherworldly event beyond their capacity.
Yeom Geumja pulled out a cigarette as she watched them.
“Hah, fuck. How much money did those XX bastards make me? XX XX to hell.”
Thanks to that attitude from the police, Yeom Geumja had thrived. But it also meant she had no defense against danger.
“The immigration office will come soon enough.”
“Right, scum. The ones who’ll XX your XX are on their way.”
But we have time to collect what we need.
‘I’ve accidentally caused so many incidents.’
Seocheonseul and I have rampaged across Paju for three days.
‘I’ve crashed into Yongsu three times.’
Seocheonseul guided me to dangerous spots to test my abilities, and we’ve had many accidents.
And since we teleported from Gwangtan, our chase trail is tangled. No matter how fast—
“We still have about ten minutes.”
“Hoo—”
Yeom Geumja exhaled cigarette smoke.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“The point is simple.”
I listed a few keywords that might narrow our clues: blood-drinking, human sacrifice, cultists, dokkaebi, or Dueoksini.
“Have you recently had any dealings with these? Our purpose isn’t justice. If your dealings aren’t related to what we seek, Madam, we’ll restore everything in Bongilcheon to its original state and leave.”
“Hoo—”
Yeom Geumja blew smoke, smoothed her disheveled hair, then tried to put her shoe back on—only to find its heel broken—and cursed wildly.
One minute.
“Even if you close your mouth, Madam, I have ways to find out.”
“Ha! You—”
She seemed ready to continue ranting. I turned to Doldol and spoke as I removed the shrinking magic.
“Doldol, just take a bite of that.”
Kkuadduk!
A corner of the King Castle Club tore away.
The cement had piled up thickly, so the wall didn’t collapse entirely.
“Aaaargh! Stop! Stop it, you madman! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
“Bahaha—what clownish games.”
“We don’t have time—speak quickly.”
“All right! I, too, planned it like the Samdu Council! Strange guys came with a deal, and I just followed it!”
The Samdu Council’s Red Faction colluded with cultists to grow power. She wanted to mimic them.
“Good.”
At least she answered.
If she were a true cultist, she couldn’t betray her order even to die. At least she wasn’t brainwashed or a true believer—just a villain.
“A woman of your stature wouldn’t enter a contract naively. Whom do you serve?”
“Th-that is....”
“I repeat: if your cult has nothing to do with us, we can all have a happy ending. We’ll restore everything and even compensate you generously.”
“Guarantee? Under whose name?”
Yeom Geumja probed for her backers. I exchanged a look with Seocheonseul and said,
“I guarantee it in the name of Cheonggeumdang.”
“Ch-Cheonggeumdang!?”
At the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} mention of Cheonggeumdang, Yeom Geumja’s eyes darted upper-left, upper-right, upper-left again—one minute.
“Doldol, take two bites.”
Kwak-kwak! Kwak-kwak!
Now it wasn’t cement but the wall itself of the King Castle Club that began to crumble. If a pillar came away, it might collapse.
“All right, all right! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! It’s the Gourmet Expedition Corps! Gourmet Expedition Corps!”
A completely unexpected name.
“The Gourmet Expedition Corps?”
Those boar-like guys?
“Kim Seobang, who are they?”
“Hmm—”
I briefly expanded my detection and organized my thoughts.
They serve [Predator of the Mountains], eat other species, and gain power from their prey—muscular fools who relish strength.
The Gourmet Expedition Corps mostly consists of straightforward, brutish men, but the abyssal entity behind them isn’t so simple.
‘Gourmet Expedition Corps, blood, Dueoksini, infection, and its corrupted form. This means....’
No time to waste.
Strange movements were detected inside the building—and outside, too.
“Hah—.”
“Kim Seobang, what is it?”
“Captain Cheonggeum, look inside the building.”
“Huh? Kim Seobangs, what do you mean? Oh? Something’s overlapping.”
Seocheonseul’s detection was better than mine, but she had another problem: she couldn’t count people.
She at least noticed the change.
I turned toward the King Castle Club and said,
“The number of living people is decreasing.”
And at the same moment, I quietly cast a spell.
Seocheonseul sensed my casting and turned to follow my gaze.
“Ah, I see. They’re not merging together—are they... eating each other?”
The instant our eyes fixed on the King Castle Club,
Bang!
A bullet flew from behind.
“What, what is this? What are you doing?!”
Yeom Geumja screamed in confusion.
Her underlings suddenly rebelled.
Ping—
But the distortion field I’d cast twisted the bullet’s trajectory.
Bang bang bang bang!
Despite her pleas, Yeom Geumja’s underlings continued firing.
The distortion field was more than a mere deflector.
Swish—
The bullets arced back in unison and struck the shooters themselves.
“Ugh—!”
“Argh!”
They clutched their chests, abdomens, and heads, staggering. Though clearly shot, no blood flowed as expected.
“Kim Seobang! Fall back!”
Seocheonseul’s shout.
“N-no way!”
Yeom Geumja’s scream.
“Kim Seobang, I told you to dodge!”
That wasn’t meant for me.
I said to Yeom Geumja,
“Madam, I’m talking to you! Dodge!”
“What!?”
Crunch—crunch—
A wounded underling’s head swelled grotesquely. As the penetrating wound split, a dramatic transformation occurred.
“Wh-wh-what is thi-this?!”
Teeth like saw blades, ears spreading like wings, a tongue stretching like a snake, a nose growing long.
A sickening, uncanny creature like a malfunctioning 3D render.
The monster grinned with horrifying alien glee as its maw grotesquely stretched.
Gjajajeojeok—
Like a photo forcibly warped.
“Uh—uhuh?”
Yeom Geumja, still dazed, stared at the advancing jaws.
[Invisible Hand]
I cast my spell and yanked Yeom Geumja away.
“Kyaaah!”
Snap!
The creature snapped at empty air.
“You Dueoksini fiend!”
Seocheonseul streaked forward in golden light.
She twirled the Geumgang Staff overhead and brought it down with all her might.
Kwaaaang!
Rumble—
She crushed the Dueoksini into the ground with overwhelming force. The earth cracked, and a tremor shook the area.
Twirrr—
Other Dueoksini scattered and said,
“Gah—how did they know?”
“I just feigned carelessness. The stupid ones are the ones who took the bait.”
The spectators on the street scattered instantly.
Thanks to the sound distortion, they couldn’t hear it, but outside was surely filled with screaming chaos.
“The immigration office will definitely come.”
I’d thought they might not—but after this uproar, they surely would.
“Captain Cheonggeum, I think there are more Dueoksini inside. Can we enter with them included?”
“We can’t move alongside hostile entities.”
“Fine. Then let’s subdue them quickly and go in.”
“Do you think we’ll fall that easily?!”
A Dueoksini listening to our casual talk snorted in anger. Before I could respond, Seocheonseul laughed heartily and shouted,
“Bahaha! All right, let’s have some fun!”
Now that our goal was clear, Captain Cheonggeum leaped toward the left Dueoksini with a dance-like flourish.
“Eolssoo!”
Kwaaang!
A whirlwind strike with the Geumgang Staff, followed by a quake.
It was like a golden lightning storm.
If left unchecked, she’d wipe them out herself.
“Hey, Captain Cheonggeum. You wanted to see my power?”
I said that, but—
“Bahaha! Take this too!”
Kwaaang!!
She was just enjoying herself.
Too bold for any secret plotting—she was a frank dokkaebi, after all.
“Well, it’s easier for me this way.”
“Kyaaah!”
The Dueoksini on the right didn’t dare charge at Seocheonseul and instead chose to attack me.
I gestured at it and cast a spell.
[Forced Transmutation]
Shhrrrr—
The cement surrounding the King Castle Club abandoned its form and reverted to its past state: clay mixed with water, like a massive slime monstrosity that wrapped around the charging Dueoksini.
“Krrraaagh!!”
“Hm, and now— [Harden].”
Crunch—
Too weak.
These weren’t true Dueoksini.
They were disguised perfectly in human form, making them hard to spot.
“As Kim Seobang said, this club is definitely linked to the Dueoksini.”
Seocheonseul retrieved the pulp of the subdued Dueoksini in a net and said,
“But, Kim Seobang, what exactly are those Gourmet Expedition Corps? Are they really Kim Seobangs?”
“They’re human. They contract with abyssal entities to absorb the power of those they eat. I suspect they used that to create human Dueoksini.”
“Heh—what abyssal entity is behind it?”
“They serve [Predator of the Mountains]. More famous in India, came through China, but their following in Korea isn’t large.”
“Wait, [Predator of the Mountains]? The [Blood Demon King]?”
“Hmm, that alias is more well-known among dokkaebi.”
[Predator of the Mountains] is infamous among abyssal entities for its love of blood.
‘A worst-case matchup for a dokkaebi vulnerable to blood and a mage with blood phobia.’
