Chapter 18 : Hero Is Born (7)
Chapter 18: Hero Is Born (7)
In truth, Cha Chi-do was right.
I had never killed anyone in my life.
Perhaps that bastard had seen right through me.
Was I afraid of killing?
“……”
I couldn’t be sure.
Had I stabbed that poor bastard’s thigh out of some twisted desire to share my pain with him?
Or was it because I lacked the courage to stab his throat?
At that moment, I didn’t know.
Among comic book heroes, there were those who pursued non-lethality.
They refrained from using firearms and favored long-range weapons like shurikens.
No matter how evil their enemies were, they tried to uphold justice without ever taking a life.
And what about the hero I admired—Jin Shark?
He stood on the opposite end of that spectrum.
He believed that those who had done evil in the past could never be forgiven.
If even the faintest scent of wickedness lingered, he would mercilessly kill without hesitation.
I stood at a crossroads.
The choice was mine alone.
Whether I killed or didn’t kill—
Today wasn’t the day to make that decision.
But someday, that day would surely come.
And when it did, I would have to choose.
What kind of hero I would become.
When I turned my head, Kkalkki was pulling the sashimi knife from Cha Chi-do’s heart.
Cha Chi-do’s pupils had already lost their light.
It was a miserable end for the violent gang boss who had spent his life in evil deeds.
Kkalkki approached me, still holding the sashimi knife.
His face was smeared with blood as he held the blade out to me.
“Well used.”
He had avenged himself on Cha Chi-do, who had killed his men—
Yet, his expression somehow looked sorrowful.
I looked down at the gleaming white dagger in my hand.
Since the sashimi knife belonged to the demon clan, it would surely prove useful.
If I brought it to Kkalkki, it might be reborn as a new weapon.
I tucked the sashimi knife into the pocket on my suit’s thigh.
“Ugh…”
The subordinates who had collapsed on the floor began to groan and slowly rise.
They had witnessed their boss’s death and lost all will to fight.
One by one, they knelt before Kkalkki and cried out.
“S-sorry, boss!”
“The big boss ordered us—we had no choice!”
“You know how it is… we were scared too…”
With Kkalkki’s announcement of leaving the organization, the Chido Clan split into two factions.
One followed Cha Chi-do, the other Kkalkki.
And now, with one side completely crushed,
Kkalkki looked at me.
“What should we do now? Will you let us go? Or…”
He swallowed hard.
“Are you going to kill us too?”
In the lawless zone that was the Ilsan Hunter Industrial Complex, strength symbolized authority.
Just as I had done with Cha Chi-do,
if I wished, I could wipe them all out.
The gang would vanish forever in a single night.
“For now.”
But that wasn’t what I wanted.
“Put the ones with cut ears in taxis and send them off.”
If we didn’t miss the golden hour, their severed ears could still be reattached.
As soon as I spoke,
Kkalkki gave his men a nod of command.
Blood poured from his thigh, but he stayed standing until the end.
Now only Kkalkki and the remaining men were left.
“What should we…”
“Bring the hydrochloric acid.”
Everyone gasped at my order.
Hydrochloric acid was a common item in the complex—
used for cleaning metal surfaces, preventing corrosion, and neutralization.
However, to a gang, the hydrochloric acid stored in those large plastic drums had another meaning entirely.
When Cha Chi-do had been arrested, it was revealed that, besides collecting elf ears,
he had committed another grotesque act—
he had dissolved the bodies of rival gang members in vats of acid.
To a gangster, being told to “bring the acid” had only two meanings.
Either someone was going in, or they were.
Kkalkki watched the men with severed ears leave, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll bring it.”
A moment later, a few subordinates rolled in a large blue plastic drum.
It was big enough to fit a full-grown man with room to spare.
Kkalkki and his men avoided my gaze, waiting for their sentence.
They had lived under a boss who casually cut off ears and killed as easily as breathing.
Naturally, they were all terrified.
“Open the lid.”
When they opened the drum, the transparent liquid inside sloshed.
There wasn’t a single person present who didn’t know how dangerous that substance was.
Kkalkki stepped forward.
“Hey.”
He lowered his head deeply, as if repenting for his past crimes.
“If it’s all the same to you, could we end it with me? I know we’re bad people, but…”
Kkalkki bit his lip hard.
His eyes grew moist, his voice trembling.
“I don’t want to die as a villain for the rest of my life. At least… give them a chance. Please.”
Yes.
I had spared Kkalkki precisely to give him that one last chance.
“Lift your head. A grown man crying at every turn—pathetic.”
At my words, Kkalkki slowly raised his head.
“Bring that over.”
The place I pointed with my index finger wasn’t at Kkalkki, nor his men.
It was the side where the cement bags were piled up.
“Pour all of it in here.”
Only then did Kkalkki realize my intention.
“...Guys. Let’s hurry up.”
“Yes, boss!”
The subordinates slung the cement bags over their shoulders and came closer.
Just before they poured the contents into the large plastic drum, they suddenly froze.
They glanced at me nervously and spoke.
“Are we really pouring this?”
“This stuff’s worth a fortune…”
Inside those cement bags was a new type of drug—Black Pearl.
By value, it was worth billions.
If distributed throughout the industrial complex,
and smuggled outside,
‘I’d become filthy rich in an instant.’
I could finally bid farewell to that wretched poverty that had haunted me all my previous life.
‘Not that I intend to.’
In my past life, I had seen with my own eyes what became of the laborers who inhaled Black Pearl.
My resolve remained unchanged.
“Pour it in. Before I throw you in with it.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The black powder was dumped into the hydrochloric acid.
Bubbles foamed violently on the surface as the liquid in the drum devoured the demonic substance.
Kkalkki silently watched as smoke began to rise.
Once all the work was done,
I pointed at the corpses, including Cha Chi-do’s.
“Bury them in the back mountain later.”
“Got it.”
“You said you’re quitting the organization?”
“...Yeah. I was planning to leave it all behind and live quietly on a farm back home. At least until tonight happened.”
Cha Chi-do had killed not only Kkalkki’s men but even his own.
It had been a night of pure madness, drenched in blood.
“So, are you still planning to go back home?”
Kkalkki straightened his back.
“You saved me and my brothers’ lives. We’ll do as you say.”
In the eyes of the men behind him, I saw determination.
Half of them had followed Cha Chi-do out of fear.
The other half truly trusted Kkalkki.
“Good. You’ll stay here. You’ll never leave this place again. This industrial complex will be both your prison and your grave.”
I had no intention of glorifying bad men. They had to pay for their crimes.
And how would they atone?
“From now on, you’ll protect the factory workers. You’re not a gang anymore—you’re a Guardian Squad.”
Guardian Squad.
The name might sound childish at first, but it was exactly what the Ilsan Hunter Industrial Complex needed.
Who was the most dangerous force in this place?
Not the monsters that crawled out of gates.
Not the other races who opposed humanity.
It was the humans themselves—those who sought to seize control of the complex anew.
After Cha Chi-do was captured by the prosecutors,
a new power emerged to fill the void.
In comic books, evil was eradicated by heroes.
But reality was different.
When one evil disappeared, another would always take its place.
Perhaps humanity itself was the root of evil.
Then what would I do?
I’d deal with the evil right in front of me, one by one.
At the very least, I’d make sure neither I nor those around me would suffer.
That was my own duty—to create a slightly better world.
“Guardian Squad? What’s that?”
“Just what it sounds like. You’ll train your bodies, build strength. Be ready to fight anytime. Recruit smart and strong men if you want.”
“But…”
Kkalkki trailed off.
To grow stronger and expand their power—
It sounded like something out of a martial arts novel.
I could guess what he wanted to say next.
“Then how are we supposed to make a living?”
“You’ve been leeching off others’ backs long enough. Now, earn it fair and square.”
The Ilsan Hunter Industrial Complex was overflowing with work—from Factory 1 to Factory 9.
Until now, Cha Chi-do had exploited them through unfair means.
But now, a fair working environment had finally been established.
“These guys have no skills. The only thing they know how to do is…”
I lightly kicked the nearby plastic drum.
The liquid inside sloshed, some splashing over the edge.
“If you don’t like it, you can take turns going in there.”
“……”
Realizing one’s sins and living a better life was never easy.
They had only two choices.
Live forever as trash.
Or reform.
“If you don’t even have the guts for that, you might as well die right here.”
At my provocative words, Kkalkki didn’t argue further.
“Got it. We’ll do that.”
“What’s your name?”
“Ki Yeong-cheol.”
“Then you’ll be the Yeong-cheol Guardian Squad.”
“What? At least change the name of the group…”
“Yeong-cheol Guardian Squad.”
“……”
Kkalkki sighed and turned around.
He shouted to his men.
“As of today, the Chido Clan is dissolved! From now on, we’re the Yeong-cheol Guardian Squad!”
“Yes, boss!”
Kkalkki shook his head.
“No, I’m not the boss. This man here—he’s our boss now.”
I tilted my helmeted head.
This bastard was doing things I hadn’t told him to.
“Hey. Why would I be the boss…”
“That’s just how this world works.”
Kkalkki buttoned up his loosened shirt.
“The second-in-command—the one I serve—is the real boss. Everyone!”
All of them followed Kkalkki, spreading their arms to the sides.
“Boss! We pay our respects!”
Their voices echoed in unison with Kkalkki’s shout.
“Please drop by from time to time.”
Kkalkki murmured while staring at the ground.
“Just check on us. Make sure we’re living right.”
Rebirth—meant to set one’s heart straight and live anew.
But it could also mean surviving after being on the brink of death.
Kkalkki and his men—
That night, they had died and been born again.
“I’ll be watching.”
I fired the wire from my gauntlet.
Sliding up the steel cable, I reached the second floor.
From below, none of them raised their heads until I was gone.
Stepping out the window, a fresh breeze blew against me.
When I removed my helmet, the cold air brushed my face.
Dark clouds drifted past the sky.
Soon, a full moon as vast as a painting revealed itself.
Its soft light poured over the barren industrial complex.
I descended to the ground and mounted the Honda XR80.
I turned the handle and started the engine.
Just like the first time—
I disappeared into the darkness.