091 – The pride I cannot bend even over d*ath #1
“Name: Maple – Wakizashi
A blade forged by a legendary master craftsman. Every owner of this sword met a terrible d*ath.
Ability: 《Seize Lv.4》 – It enables you to take everything from your opponent, in a manner as unreasonable and irrational as the exchange in unfair trade deals.”
Seugal’s sword carried within it the concept of “Seize.”
The description that it would take away “everything” from the opponent was both impressive and eerie.
Demon sword, cursed blade.
It was worthy of such titles.
What if the “everything” it referred to included the essence of an Awakened One?
It could have acted as a wild card against Nam Woo-joo who had become the Demon Lord of Stars.
Ssh-
Having heard the explanation about the “Seize” concept from me, Seugal drew the sharp blade and inspected it from all angles.
It seemed the curved design had captivated her crimson eyes.
“Could this blade really sever and take away the concepts of Awakened Ones? If it’s such an extraordinary item, why do I feel it’s a problem that I’ve never wielded something like this before?”
Ssh, Thud.
Seugal sheathed the weapon again.
I said to her, “You’ll do fine.”
“And how would you know that?”
“I just can tell.”
If worse comes to worst, we could always awaken her to the “Swordsmanship” concept.
It was a moment when I could feel Seugal’s limitless potential. Like a pristine white canvas waiting for any art to be created upon it.
And what of me?
Am I the one carelessly drawing on her pristine canvas?
No, that can’t be.
Even if the canvas is hers, the one painting on it is still Seugal herself. I am simply satisfied with providing the paint and the brush.
In that sense, it wouldn’t hurt to offer her some advice.
“Have you heard about the operation to exterminate Nam Woo-joo? Even though you’d seen the Demon Lord of Stars up close already, it seems rash for you to participate in this operation. It feels like self-destructive behavior.”
Seugal didn’t have much practical combat experience. Remember how she froze during the fight against Nam San-ho and did nothing but serve as bait? While experience does make one more adept at almost anything, joining the Demon Lord extermination operation wasn’t exactly a good idea to gain such experience. It’s like a Level 1 Hero barging into the Demon King’s castle just to grind levels.
And Seugal herself must be aware of that point. So, why did she decide to join the extermination team?
Seugal pulled out her phone from her pocket as she replied to my question.
“Major Jang Bo-reum called. She mentioned that if the operation succeeds, then I’ll receive an official pardon and a direct order from the president, so there’s no reason for me not to accept.”
“Because of your father, Seo Do-cheol?”
Seo Do-cheol, who had been exposed for colluding with the “Billions”, was ousted from his position as chairman and is now being summoned by the prosecutors. He won’t escape a hefty sentence.
Seugal seemed to be joining the extermination force as a condition to clear her father’s name.
Of course, that’s not her sole reason.
It’s probably because of guilt as well. Likely, she thought it necessary to save as many lives as the ones she inadvertently caused to perish.
Saving people—no matter the reasons, I could feel seeds of determination sprouting in Seugal right now. These feelings will eventually grow and mold her into a brilliant hero.
“Alright, I’ll assist in your ‘Swordsmanship’ training.”
I was curious.
To see this unruly girl become a supernova that I would even come to respect.
“How exactly do you plan to train?”
“There’s no training better than actual combat. We probably have a few days before the extermination force launches the operation, which gives us time. And by the way, this training will be in a team format.”
Seugal won’t be the only one participating in the Demon Lord extermination force. She’ll need to train with others, practicing teamwork and synchronization.
“Team? Is it you I’ll be paired with?”
“There’s someone more suitable for your team than me. Since they’ll also be joining the extermination force, it serves as a dual-purpose training. Take it seriously. You don’t want to be the weak link and let your teammates down.”
“Down with what?”
Seugal looked confused because she didn’t get the reference.
That concluded my conversation with her.
“Well, if that’s all you need, you should go.”
“Why do you have to be so cold all the time? I, Lady Seugal, came to visit you. Most guys would be so nervous around me, they wouldn’t even be able to approach me.”
She arrogantly tilted her chin in a pose reminiscent of a magnificent fox with multiple tails. However, she didn’t quite reach the level of a nine-tailed fox. Though she looked the same as the Seugal I had fallen for at first sight, while the other one felt like an older sister, this one gave off a younger sister vibe.
“Hmph, whatever. I’m leaving then. I’ve finished my business.”
Seugal gave a light scoff and started putting her shoes on, when it seemed like she remembered something and opened her mouth.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Why do you keep referring to yourself as ‘Bread Pitt’?”
I wondered if she was going to ask about the whereabouts of Yu Yeo-reum.
Is it strange that I refer to myself as ‘Bread Pitt’?
“Have you not seen the movie ‘Troy’?”
“What’s that?”
“Yare yare, that’s what happens when you only know how to use social media and skip out on cultural life…”
“I really want to hit you. And for your information, I don’t use social media. Deleted it!”
She slammed the door shut and left.
Finally, it’ll be a bit quieter.
As I was thinking that, the door opened again.
“And Dad wants to meet you to talk about something!”
# # #
City D had many old and dilapidated shopping complexes.
After the discovery of the Great Labyrinth, City D saw the erection of many skyscrapers, but many areas were left behind, abandoned and decayed, including this shopping complex.
Elders pulled carts through the nearby alleys, collecting recyclables, and when night fell, women appeared to solicit customers.
“Kid, isn’t this place too dangerous for you?”
“Did you get lost?”
The women standing on the street laughed at me as I passed them, heading to a certain building.
Instead of a sign, the window boasted a large tape-marked label “Happiness Trading Co.”. The light seeping out suggested there were people inside.
“Happiness Trading Co.—2F.”
I consulted the building’s floor plan and entered an office. Thick tobacco smoke and pungent odors permeated the air, making it feel like something out of a nightmare.
“Curmudgeon!! I’ve arrived! Ho ho ho!”
“Am I now your father-in-law? And you’re three minutes late from the agreed time. I said come by 10 PM, didn’t I?”
As Seo Do-cheol extinguished his cigarette upon seeing me, he looked years older, his once-black hair now showing strands of gray.
His condition had deteriorated significantly over the span of just a few days.
The office cluttered with unopened boxes looked more like a hideout for a fugitive evading debtors rather than the office of a corporate chairman.
Does the person make the place or does the place make the person?
“What is this place?”
“This is where I worked before I founded the Seonam Group. You think I was born rich? If I could once rise from nothing to become wealthy, I can do it again, right?”
He doesn’t have the time for that.
No matter Seo Do-cheol, it would be challenging to reclaim his fortune within the remaining year before his downfall.
“South Han Jin, you dislike beating around the bush, and I dislike talking for too long with you. My daughter Ga-eul has fallen into a predicament with some extermination mission, manipulated by Nam Bada.”
Seo Do-cheol certainly knows how to converse like a man.
Straight to the point without any flowery language.
“Could you possibly remove my daughter Ga-eul from the extermination team? You can’t let my only daughter, who I saved from the kidnapper Nam San-ho, d*e a dog’s d*ath in a place like that.”
“Haven’t you tried everything, President Seo? What could I possibly do to get Ga-eul out from under Nam Bada’s thumb? Besides, joining the extermination team was ultimately Ga-eul’s personal decision.”
“Don’t put on airs! You should be able to pull my daughter out easily! Or how about you join the extermination team to protect her? From what I’ve heard, you declined to participate, didn’t you?”
How did he already get wind of this?
Even in such a remote location, Seo Do-cheol’s once top-tier information network still seems robust.
“If you’ve heard the news, you must also know why I refused. Would it do any good for my body to just add another corpse to the count?”
“Just how much is it worth? How much would it take-”
Seo Do-cheol was about to haggle a price before closing his mouth.
Because he already knows I’m not a man swayed by money.
“Man Seo Do-cheol. If you really need to ask, isn’t there an appropriate way one should ask? And didn’t we already have a gentleman’s agreement? That if you save Ga-eul, I would kneel and apologize?”
“You little runt! You’re still spouting that nonsense!”
Bang! Crrrcck!
Thrusting his chair violently backward, Seo Do-cheol grabbed my lapels. The knuckles on his fists, far from the image of a corporate tycoon, bore many scars. They were burn marks from welding sparks.
“Groooarrrr!”
And then, Seo Do-cheol screamed like a slaughtered pig.
Though I hadn’t done anything, it was actually him who had grabbed my collar.
For a while, he growled intensely, veins bulged on his forehead, cold sweat poured from his brow, and his eyeballs were bloodshot, filling the whites with red as if they would burst.
“Groooaarrrrrr!!!!”
Could he have had some pre-existing heart condition?
The trembling body finally relaxed his grip on my collar after roaring for some time. Then gradually, like a glacier melting under intense heat, he began to bend over.
Thud.
One knee hit the ground, and then with a heavy thud, the other knee struck the floor.
“Hnnnngggggaarrrrkkkk!”
Seo Do-cheol, who had never bent his knees through all his life, let out a cry as if forcing his joints to bend against will.
The shoulders of one who had likely never looked anyone in the eye his entire life are now much lower than mine, and his now-empty palms touched the dirty floor filled with filth.
“Bu…bu…buuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhakkkkk!! Haa…does… my daughter… Ga-eul… get out of this team… pleasee…!!”
“Name: Seo Do-cheol”
“Condition: {Great Despair} – The willpower that had remained unbent through an entire lifetime has been broken, leaving even the soul wounded.”
“Then, are you acknowledging your mistakes and apologizing?”
I asked.
Seo Do-cheol, his forehead touching the ground, answered with a sob.
“Yes! I was wrong! You said you liked my daughter, right? What possible advantage could you gain from letting Ga-eul d*e this way? So please… help her…”
“…”
“South Han Jin, you must have had a father as well, right? If you were to precede your father in d*ath, how do you think it would feel for him to witness it?”
Would Achilles have felt something similar when King Priam of Troy came to retrieve Hector’s body?
I am a man.
A man forgives when he receives an apology.
A man also knows how to say something cannot be done.
“It’s impossible for me to get Ga-eul out of the extermination team.”
“What? After I knelt before you!”
“Even initially, she wouldn’t have let herself be excused from the team. After all, once that girl sets her mind, she charges ahead despite opposition.”
Thus, it was impossible to stop her, even if everyone was opposed. That’s why she braved coming to visit me in my shack.
“However, I might be able to help ensure she doesn’t d*e.”
“G…then–”
“I will join the extermination team as well.”
Actually, I had planned to do just that from the start.
Even if I hadn’t received Seo Do-cheol’s plea. Truthfully, I was surprised and somewhat disoriented because I didn’t expect Seo Do-cheol to really kneel.
But it doesn’t feel bad.
“Look. By swallowing your pride and apologizing sincerely, you see how many problems can be resolved? But of course, that’s not easy.”
“…”
Sometime later, I summoned Seugal early on a weekend morning for training akin to real combat, and practice like an actual operation.
Would she be late?
I had such thoughts, but Seugal arrived 20 minutes earlier than the appointed time.
“Ahhh.”
She yawned, looking as though she hadn’t gotten much sleep.
What did she stay up all night doing?
“Why are you yawning?”
“Bread Pitt, what are you saying? Are you Achilles or something? South Han Jin, you’re just some nobody in that movie!”
“Ah, so you stayed up watching ‘Troy’, huh?”
“So, what are we doing today? What’s this about team training?”
“Just wait. Someone else still hasn’t arrived yet. Oh, there they come.”
“Who exactly did you call…”
Seugal’s expression suddenly twisted in surprise.
Likely because she spotted someone trudging toward us from afar like an awkward racoon.
“Han Nam Jin! Calling someone on a weekend morning for training—what the– huk!”
The look of irritation was mutual with Baek Yeo-ul.
Baek Yeo-ul and Seugal.
These are two girls who absolutely must not be left together under any circumstances.
# # #
