Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Chicken and Beer (1)
"Oppaaa!"
I came to pick up Bo-reum, who was drunk.
My younger sister, who normally wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol because she claimed to be studying, was completely wasted today.
She spoke to me in a slurred voice.
"Oppaa. I've been in a bit of a good mood lately, so I had one drink of chicken and beer, okay?"
"It doesn't look like just one drink."
"I had exactly one glass of three thousand!"
"Since when is that one glass……."
Chicken and beer.
I'd heard that said often.
When something good happens, she eats chicken and beer, they say.
When something sad happens too—chicken and beer.
But I wasn't particularly into it.
I'd already tried it, but felt nothing special.
When sweet things are everywhere in the world, why go out of your way to eat that?
I tossed Bo-reum into her room and cracked a joke.
"Delivery."
"Returns accepted."
"My, what a precious daughter."
Mother greeted me with a smile.
"Good work."
"Goodness, she's heavy."
"Being an older brother is tough, isn't it?"
"Not at all."
She patted my back.
"Did you have dinner?"
"Yes."
"Want some fruit?"
"Is it convenience store?"
"No. Big supermarket."
"Come on, we can afford to go beyond convenience stores now—even department stores would be fine."
"Big supermarkets are cheaper. Better quality too. Gotta save."
Mother smiled and sat on the sofa to watch TV.
A sweet smell drifted from the kitchen induction cooker.
She was simmering red bean paste.
I'll head over in a bit.
I sat beside Mother and watched TV.
It was the news.
From news about the Golden Tower to news about a tower in Africa that had recently collapsed, it went on and on.
"It's really frightening."
"It really is."
"Aren't we so fortunate. That our country has the Golden Tower."
Thanks to my conquest of the Golden Tower, Korea's Murim Tower clock had been extended by forty months.
A full three years and four months.
Mother, I'm the one who created that tower.
Please call me the Golden Sun.
【Kim Tae-yang is delighted. +10 Happiness】
The tower news continued before transitioning into accident and incident news.
[This morning, at a factory in Ilsan, a worker suffered an accident in which both arms were severed. The accident reportedly occurred while the worker was cleaning machinery.]
"Oh goodness. How terrible."
A voice of sympathy flowed from Mother.
It seemed she was thinking of Father, who was still working overtime.
Our family was now wealthy, but Father continued going to the factory.
He said it wasn't in his nature to live in luxury off the money his son earned.
[The victim is a twenty-five-year-old young man, and while his family is requesting compensation from the company, the company is evading responsibility by claiming it occurred due to the worker's mistake. This has been MBS reporter—.]
The scene on the news changed.
The factory where the accident occurred. The machinery.
The ambulance arriving.
And the patient lying in a hospital bed.
Pixelated.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
【Kim Tae-yang is intensely happy. +10,000,000 Happiness】
Wh—what is this?
Ten million points?
Insane!
That's the points you barely get from climbing three hundred floors of the tower in one go!
My fingertips trembled.
No—my entire body trembled.
As though an electric current had passed through me, my hands shook uncontrollably, and my heart surged past mere pounding—booming like a drum being struck, reverberating through my chest!
My eyes went wide, pupils dilating, breath rising all the way up to my chin. My chest swelled with something too full to contain, and I couldn't sit still.
A joy so elevated it made me want to leap to my feet, flail both arms through the air, and spin a full circle around the living room floor came crashing in like waves.
It wasn't just a reaction—it was a moment where my entire body became an outlet for a burst of emotion.
Then, notification messages that my level had risen began appearing in rapid succession.
‘Why? Kim Tae-yang. Just what—!’
"……!"
【Memory Synchronization in progress. 78%…… 80%】
A twenty-five-year-old young man.
An accident in which both arms were severed.
The victim in the news.
…… Was Kim Tae-yang's school bully.
* * *
Kang Hae-san.
The bully's name.
He was one of the five who had tormented Kim Tae-yang.
Among the delinquent group, he was low-ranking.
The fifth in the hierarchy, you might say.
Whenever the main perpetrators bullied Kim Tae-yang, he would watch for the right moment before jumping in at the end to take a jab.
Bang!
"Urgh."
Kim Tae-yang was thrown to the floor, groaning, when one of the delinquents remarked.
"Oh, you've got some judo moves. Hip throw!"
"Damn it. Not working today."
"Samcheolli's put on some weight, I'm telling you."
Thwack!
"……Urgh!"
"Samcheolli, you piece of shit. Told you to lose weight, didn't I? Hard to do a hip throw now."
At the time, Kim Tae-yang weighed roughly fifty-two kilograms.
Underweight for a male high school student.
"Samcheolli. Get yourself to fifty kilograms by tomorrow. We'll weigh you in the nurse's office."
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Kim Tae-yang in the memory nodded.
As Kim Tae-yang struggled to stand while clutching his waist, another perpetrator approached.
"Hey, I watched some SUFC yesterday. Let me try one of those techniques."
The perpetrator rolling his shoulders.
"Samcheolli. Come here."
He stepped trembling before that guy.
Thwack!
"Turn around, idiot."
When Kim Tae-yang grabbed his stomach and turned around, the guy immediately locked his neck in a choke.
"If you can't breathe, tap your arm. You know what a tap is?"
A sloppy choke. That's exactly what made it dangerous.
Tap tap!
Kim Tae-yang quickly tapped his arm, but the guy didn't stop.
Kim Tae-yang's face went bright red and he lost consciousness.
Slap. Slap!
"Hey, wake up!"
He opened his eyes. Above Kim Tae-yang's face, the shadows of five delinquents loomed.
"God, damn it. He scared me. Thought he was dead."
"Samcheolli's freaking tough, I'm telling you. This kid just won't die no matter what."
"Heh heh heh. Invincible Samcheolli."
"My turn now. Samcheolli, stand right there."
In the end, Kim Tae-yang only got away after passing out three more times.
Kim Tae-yang sank to the floor.
Tears dripped down steadily.
What is this.
……I don't feel alive even though I'm living.
Tremble—.
His lips shook before he reached for his bag.
Then.
Thwack!
Someone struck Kim Tae-yang hard across the back of the head.
It was Kang Hae-san.
"Oh, Hae-san."
"Samcheolli, you okay?"
"Mm……."
Kim Tae-yang nodded at his question.
"Hey now, you worked hard. Does it hurt much?"
"Ah……."
"How are you?"
"I'm, I'm fine."
"Then let's practice a bit with me."
"……!"
"I messed up just now."
Kim Tae-yang shuffled back with hesitant steps.
"Damn it. I'm the only one who messed up and got called an idiot. Hey, you're being kind of awful to just me, aren't you?"
"N—no! Hae-san. Stop, please stop……!"
"Stop? Damn it. Are you looking down on me?"
"No, that's not it. Please…… please, I'm begging you. It hurts so much."
"Get over here. You're not going home until you master the choke today."
And so that day's torment ended only after Kim Tae-yang rolled his eyes back several more times.
……He was filled with a desperate desire to die.
* * *
Vroooom—.
I headed to a hospital in Ilsan in my Porsche.
"Kang Hae-san."
I couldn't remember the other perpetrators, but today I could recall that guy's face with perfect clarity.
A brief glimpse of the hospital in the news.
I dug through the internet and found the hospital.
"Kang Hae-san, let's catch up after so long."
I put on the Dark Moon Mask and slipped into the hospital.
Since it had been covered in the news, finding Kang Hae-san wasn't difficult.
A ward near where a journalist or two and a police officer were standing.
I quietly waited in the corner.
Listening carefully, it seemed he had no proper family to speak of.
Someone who appeared to be a relative was grabbing a company representative and making quite a scene.
"How much are you going to compensate?! Huh?!"
"That, well…… I'm not the person responsible."
"Then you should bring the responsible person! Get the president here!"
"The president is, well……."
A common sight. I'd seen it often in Gangho too.
The weak attack whoever looks weaker.
Once the actual president showed up, that so-called relative would go quiet too.
If there hadn't been news coverage, the company representative probably wouldn't have come at all.
A thick smell of alcohol wafted from the person claiming to be a relative.
As midnight drew near, the journalist and the police officer both left.
Swish.
I entered the ward.
A private room.
The Kang Hae-san in my memory wasn't wealthy.
It seemed the company had arranged it, probably out of concern for the press.
Kang Hae-san, with both upper arms crushed and gone, lay in the hospital bed.
Drips and blood transfusion bags were hooked up in great numbers.
Not a single person keeping watch by his side.
Beep— beep—.
Nothing but the sound of machines.
Thud. Thud—.
The moment I saw Kang Hae-san, my heart lurched strongly.
I quietly asked myself.
Kim Tae-yang.
What should I do for you?
Kill him? Or should I cut off his legs too?
Slap!
I struck the sleeping Kang Hae-san's cheek.
"Mm……? Un, uncle?"
Kang Hae-san quietly opened his eyes.
Uncle, my ass.
It's a classmate, you bastard.
Kang Hae-san flinched at the sight of me in the Dark Moon Mask.
With something wavering before his eyes, he probably thought I was a ghost.
I removed the Dark Moon Mask.
Even if you're going to die, you should at least know who's killing you.
"Hello, Kang Hae-san."
"……."
"Do you recognize me?"
The guy not recognizing me.
"It's me. Think carefully."
The look in his eyes saying he had no idea. My own face turned red instead.
I, Kim Tae-yang, recognized you at a glance even through the pixelation.
And the perpetrator can't even remember?
"It's me! Samcheolli!"
Crack!
I grabbed Kang Hae-san by the throat.
Only then did his eyes waver.
I'll snap your neck!
The situation was fitting.
A twenty-five-year-old young man whose both arms had been shattered and severed.
He despairs at the world and jumps, ending his life.
"Kkeugh!"
Kang Hae-san struggled briefly, then soon went still.
The look in his eyes was.
……Resignation.
No. This isn't right!
Kim Tae-yang's revenge shouldn't end like this.
Slowly—.
I released the force from the hand that had been choking him.
Kang Hae-san gasping and catching his breath.
I had to restore the life in Kang Hae-san's eyes before anything else.
I'll give him hope.
Hope he can never possibly achieve.
I pulled a small medicine bottle from inside my chest.
Mihyonhyang.
A poison that clouds the opponent's mind.
I couldn't plant an absolute command like Gu Poison, but it had an advantage Gu Poison didn't.
Specifically—making him believe my words on his own.
It wouldn't work well against martial artists who are fully clear-headed, but with Kang Hae-san's mind already smashed into the ground, the Mihyonhyang would take hold immediately.
"Hae-san. This medicine is something I obtained from the Murim Tower."
Swish, swish.
The Mihyonhyang inside the medicine bottle swayed gently.
"Murim…… Tower?"
Kang Hae-san's gaze locking onto the Mihyonhyang.
I whispered softly into his ear.
"That's right. The Murim Tower. The one said to have miracle medicines that can even revive the dead."
Kang Hae-san asked me.
"Then…… My arms, by any chance?"
"Exactly. They can be made to grow back. Stronger than before."
As if that's possible.
"Aahh……!"
Hope began to surface in Kang Hae-san's eyes.
He flailed his severed arms trying to snatch the Mihyonhyang from my hand.
Not even a flicker of pity rose inside me.
I lifted the Mihyonhyang high.
Desperate longing appeared in his eyes.
"Hae-san. You want this medicine, don't you?"
Kang Hae-san nodding.
"It won't come for free. You'll need to help me."
"What…… Kind of help?"
"You remember your friends from high school, right? The ones who used to torment me."
I spread out five fingers.
"Ah."
"Where might they be now?"
"I only know…… one of them."
Kang Hae-san shook his head.
"Aren't you their friend?"
"After graduation everyone scattered. Those guys never even thought of me as a friend."
"You must have their contact information."
"I don't……. They were out of my league from the start. Fathers who are military generals, chaebols…… even politicians."
"If you don't know, you can't have this medicine."
I tucked the Mihyonhyang back into my chest.
Kang Hae-san's expression shifted and he said urgently.
"I, I have heard some news!"
"Tell me."
"One of them became a climber, one went abroad to study because they're inheriting a company, one joined the military……. I'm not sure if it's accurate though."
A climber? Ha, that's interesting.
"You can recognize them if you see them?"
"Yeah……. So you'll give me the medicine, right?"
"Of course."
I pulled out the Mihyonhyang again and held it to his nose.
Kang Hae-san breathed in deeply, his expression settling with relief.
I entered my phone number into his phone.
Tap— tap tap.
The painkillers being administered to Kang Hae-san caught my eye. A luxury for him.
I said to him.
"Ah, Hae-san. There's something I need to tell you."
"What?"
"For your arms to grow back, you can't receive painkillers."
"……Why?"
"Just because. The effectiveness drops."
"If I don't get painkillers, it'll, it'll hurt a lot……."
Kang Hae-san worrying about the pain.
Slowly.
I leaned toward his face and said.
"When it hurts, do that."
"……?"
"Tap."
Tap tap.
I tapped his severed arm.
【Kim Tae-yang is very happy. +1,000,000 Happiness】
Kang Hae-san's mouth fell slightly open.
"Ahhh……."
"Now tell me."
"Wh—what?"
Grin—.
I smiled and said.
"You said you know where one of them is."
* * *
I slipped out of the hospital.
Passing through the parking lot, I spotted Kang Hae-san's uncle and the company representative.
"Very well. Let's settle on that."
……A settlement? Already?
I hid behind a car and listened carefully.
"I'll relay the message to the president. You'll need to handle the next interview well."
"Of course. Please send my account number so you can transfer the funds immediately."
"Not Kang Hae-san's account number?"
"Come on! I'm Hae-san's uncle! I am Hae-san, and Hae-san is me."
"Hmm—. That's a bit……."
"Hae-san, the kid got both his arms cut off, can't stamp anything anymore."
The uncle mimicked his nephew's severed arms and flailed them in the air.
Wow…… what absolute trash.
"I suppose that's true. Then bring Kang Hae-san's registered seal and certificate of seal impression to the company for the settlement document."
"I'll bring it first thing tomorrow. I'll get to meet the president?"
"The president is off limits, I keep telling you."
"Ha ha. Right. He must be busy. That's fine."
Kang Hae-san's uncle smiling.
Psh.
My decision had been right.
I came with the intention of killing him, but letting Kang Hae-san live was the right call.
"Because living will be more painful than dying."
【Kim Tae-yang is very happy. +1,000,000 Happiness】
【Current Happiness Points: 14,150,125 / 999,999,999】
I looked up at the hospital building.
"You'll be doing a lot of tapping."
Because I'll be squeezing tighter to make it hurt more.