Chapter 60 - Independent Demon's Gift
Not long after I saw the fortune in the night sky that I wouldn’t die but would meet something ominous…
Independent Demon really came to our house.
“So, your name has become Yeobo now? That’s quite a nice name.”
…While holding something strange.
“…Wi Ji-young??”
“Oh, Teacher Han-ul. It’s even more pleasant to see you after a while. As I said before, this time I’ve come to visit.”
“…No, it’s fine that you came, but what on earth is that person you’re holding beside you…??”
What did she bring?
She brought a person.
And a completely limp person at that…
“That’s not a corpse, is it…?”
“That was not a bad joke. Let’s go in first. I want to see your house directly. With your guidance, that is.”
“Th-that’s not it… Let’s do that for now.”
I was very curious about the identity of the person hanging limply at Wi Ji-young’s side like baggage… but I decided to bring this unpredictable person into the house first.
“Hooh… Is this your house, teacher? Although I gave it, it’s better than I thought.”
As soon as she entered the house, Wi Ji-young threw away the someone she was holding with a whoosh! and came to my side to walk alongside me.
“It is a nice house. I do think it’s too spacious, but I’m grateful since there are people living together too.”
This is sincere.
Although it seems excessively spacious and splendid, the house is really comfortable and nice.
“Well then, won’t you give me a tour of the house?”
“…Well, I’ll do it since you want it, but… Who is that person?? Why did you bring them here?”
“That guy is the ‘gift’ I mentioned.”
“Huh?? That person is the gift?!”
No, what on earth did you bring as a gift?!
Kugh! Pain in my stomach…!! No, what kind of gift is it to bring a person in such a state?! Please give a more normal gift!!
‘Really… This is such a bizarre gift that it could rank top among the gifts I’ve received…’
Ah, stress… What on earth was she thinking to bring a person in such a battered state??
“I understand your excited feelings, but first I want to receive a tour directly from you, teacher. Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything after the tour is over.”
I don’t think it’s excited feelings but rather feelings of anxiety and shock that are making me tremble…
Haah… I don’t know…
“Alright… I guess I should give you a tour first…”
Since she said she’d explain after the tour was over… I selected only the important places and showed Wi Ji-young around the house.
And there were exactly two places Wi Ji-young was most interested in.
“Well, there’s not much to see, but… This is the room I use.”
“Hooh… So this is…”
“…And this is the room I use when I do fortune-telling. When fortune-telling customers come, I tell their fortunes here.”
“Indeed, it has a very mysterious feeling. It’s interesting…”
“Ah, by the way, that crystal ball is an artifact so it moves around alive… But it’s sleeping today so you can’t see it directly.”
“So even the crystal ball the great fortune-teller has is unique? I understand.”
“…Well, that’s the only unique thing…”
Because apart from that ridiculous thing, all I use are just ordinary cards for card games.
Anyway, after finishing the introduction with my fortune-telling room last, Wi Ji-young and I went to the living room and sat facing each other.
“…Then can you explain about that person you called a gift now??”
I’m really flustered, you know…? Suddenly bringing a person who looks like they’re almost dying and calling it a gift…
“To start with the identity of that guy, he is Yu Gang-pyeong, the ‘Snake Lord’, the head of the Black Society, one of the seven lords ruling over the lawless zone formerly known as North Korea.”
“Seven lords of the lawless zone… What??”
I know that North Korea’s government collapsed due to monsters and became a lawless zone… but what are these seven lords??
No, that sounds like an extremely dangerous guy from what I’ve heard roughly, but you brought such a guy as a gift??
“Ah, by the way, he’s an S-rank superhuman.”
“…I thought he might be…”
If he has such splendid titles, he’s usually S-rank… Sadly, after meeting so many S-ranks, I’ve developed enough sense to notice that much.
“You’ve eaten up the entire Korean underworld recently, right? Hearing that, it seems you’ve become quite interested in things like forces and positions. So I caught that guy. Just eating the insignificant Korean underworld wouldn’t be enough to satisfy you, would it?”
No. I’m so satisfied that my stomach feels like it’s going to burst, so I don’t want to receive any more??
But if I spit out such words to an EX-rank transcendent who brought a gift after thinking about it, the EX-rank whose mood has been ruined might do something bad… So I swallowed the words swirling inside me and didn’t spit them out.
“And it’s not very pretty to eat just one side, is it? So I decided to give the entire North Korea to you, teacher.”
“…So you’re saying you’ll hand over all of the North Korean lawless zone under me??”
Oh my…!!
“That’s right. That guy is… Let’s say he’s like a down payment. It was troublesome to bring them all, so I just brought one for now. And I thought it might be quite nice to go around that lawless zone together and eat it up.”
“Huhuhuh…!!”
This is crazy…!! To come up with such an insane plan and call it a gift?! Are you trying to assassinate my mental state?! I really feel like I’m going crazy…!!
“Hmm, I guess it’s a kind of unique date? It should be interesting.”
“Is this right…”
I’m not sure about a unique date, but it certainly feels like an extremely unique gift. Damn it.
“By the way, I knew that North Korea had changed into a dangerous lawless zone due to monsters… but seven lords? What’s that??”
“Ahem! I, as somewhat of an expert, will explain that to you, teacher!!”
“Aish, you surprised me…!!”
When I muttered, Sniper Lee Su-yeon, who had suddenly popped out from somewhere, volunteered to explain.
Ah, that’s right, Lee Su-yeon was born in the lawless zone, wasn’t she?
“First, let me explain roughly…”
To summarize Lee Su-yeon’s explanation briefly, it went like this:
Due to the suppression of superhumans and misjudgment by the leadership, dungeons and monsters increased rapidly, and in the midst of that, an S-rank dungeon burst along with other dungeons in a chain reaction, and as a result of superhumans not being able to act properly, the leadership, military, and cities were swept away in an instant, and North Korea changed into a lawless zone where numerous monsters, different races, and surviving survivors existed.
The country no longer exists, and nearby countries couldn’t intervene due to their own circumstances, so when such a strange situation continued, there were people who saw this lawless zone as a land of opportunity.
They were the S-rank superhumans from the underworld of other countries who were on the verge of ruin, pushed out of competition.
They chose to gamble on fleeing to North Korea, where the situation was a mess, with everything they had, rather than continuing to be defeated and losing everything they had achieved and dying, and although there were differences in timing, superhumans who flocked to North Korea for similar reasons succeeded in their gamble and successfully settled in the lawless zone, and as they divided territories and came to rule over North Korea which had become a lawless zone, they became the seven lords of the lawless zone.
This was the rough story of what is now called the North Korean lawless zone, or just the lawless zone.
And one of those lords is Yu Gang-pyeong, the Snake Lord, head of the Black Society, who was brought here by Wi Ji-young, who had been defeated in a power struggle in China and flowed into North Korea to settle down.
“Well then, let’s wake up the guy sleeping so comfortably over there first.”
Aah… You don’t have to…
But contrary to my wish, as Wi Ji-young gestured, Yu Gang-pyeong, who had been lying down as if dead, woke up in shock.
“H-hueeok!!! Save me!!!”
My goodness, what kind of experience did he have to say “Save me” as soon as he wakes up… I don’t particularly want to imagine, but…
“Yu Gang-pyeong, you remember what I said, right? Now, this Dam Han-ul teacher here is the person you must swear eternal loyalty to from now on.”
No, what a burdensome thing to say…
Anyway, Yu Gang-pyeong, who had been in shock, soon saw me and turned pale, then immediately prostrated himself and started shouting while banging his head on the floor.
“Uhuhuhu…!! Lord Dam Han-ul…!! I, Yu Gang-pyeong, head of the Black Society…!! From now on, I will swear eternal loyalty to Lord Dam Han-ul and serve you with all my might!!! So please spare my life!!! No, even if I die, please show mercy and let me die cleanly…!!!”
…How severely was he treated?? The reaction is really… how should I put it, desperate…
“Aish, that aside, please stop destroying the innocent floor and stand up first! I’ve understood everything…”
I sighed deeply and looked at Yu Gang-pyeong, who had raised his body awkwardly and was trembling.
Long hair braided into ten strands, a scar running horizontally across his eyes and a quite ominous-looking face, and a thin body with sharp nails… He certainly had the appearance befitting an S-rank superhuman from the underworld.
…If only he wasn’t in such a messy, broken state…
Wondering what on earth he had gone through for a person to end up like this, I looked at his physiognomy briefly and could see that he was doing paperwork in his office when he was attacked by Wi Ji-young, then after being beaten along with his subordinates, he was tortured miserably by Independent Demon’s various poisons for about 6 hours before ending up in this state and being dragged here.
My goodness… Seeing his story, he seems a bit pitiful…
“Well then, now that we’ve received greetings, shall we go right away, teacher? We should look at that guy’s territory first, after all.”
Damn it, is going to the lawless zone with Wi Ji-young confirmed…
If it’s impossible to avoid, what can I do? I guess I have to resign myself and follow…
“Wait a moment… Let me prepare… and gather the kids…”
I asked Lee Su-yeon to gather the guys who would come along, then sighed deeply.
Oh my… Now it seems I’m going to be dragged to the lawless zone and end up eating that side too… It’s really dizzying…