# 19
019
The place Daesung and Seong Chan-ho headed to was an ordinary meat restaurant.
Seong Chan-ho quickly scanned the menu upon entering the store and placed his order as soon as he sat down.
“Auntie, here are 2 servings of pork belly… Oh, can you drink alcohol?”
Since I had just been discharged from the hospital, this question was probably asked out of consideration.
When Daesung nodded without hesitation, Seong Chan-ho smiled and ordered two bottles of soju.
After a while.
Two servings of pork belly were grilled on a grill, and a green soju bottle was neatly placed.
“Cheers!”
“….”
Daesung just lifted the glass without saying a word.
Still, Seong Chan-ho smiled cheerfully and clinked glasses with him.
The meat was grilled and the soju glasses were clinking non-stop.
A trivial conversation continued.
Of course, it was Sung Chan-ho who spoke one-sidedly, and Daesung just sat silently and listened to the story or nodded occasionally.
Nevertheless, Seong Chan-ho treated him without any sign of awkwardness or displeasure.
My friend, who seemed like he would never wake up, seemed perfectly satisfied just by regaining consciousness and sharing a drink with me.
[Here’s the next news. A terrible tragedy occurred at a loan company’s office around 7 a.m. today. Thirty-four people involved were found dead at the scene…]
“Wow, the world is such a cruel place. “What is it, a gangster movie?”
Watching the news playing on the TV mounted on the wall of the store, Seong Chan-ho burst out in admiration rather than admiration.
Daesung, who was sitting with his back to the TV, turned his head and watched the news.
[The police said they urgently began searching for suspects, but are facing great difficulties in the investigation because the CCTV installed at the scene at the time was a replica.]
In the screen, all kinds of camera movements, such as panning, close-up, zooming in and out, are used, making the tragedy at the scene very vivid. It was containing it.
Is that why? Daesung immediately realized that that place looked very familiar.
‘That’s where I went last time.’
It was a profound impression, as if I was looking at the walking course I came from after jogging yesterday.
“Hey, even if he’s crazy, he’s definitely crazy. Kill a gangster? How are you? You even stole money from the safe? “I’m just filming a blockbuster by myself.”
Seong Chan-ho munched on the meat and said with interest.
To him, he can talk about it so calmly because it is someone else’s business that has nothing to do with him…
“….”
It wasn’t the case for Daesung.
Beyond the fact that it was no one else’s business, the criminal that those police officers were looking for with blood in their eyes was none other than himself.
Daesung quickly emptied his drink and asked, unable to take his eyes off the screen.
“Are gangsters people who shouldn’t be killed?”
“Well, they are cheap bastards even if they die.”
“If it’s worth dying for, why are they looking for the culprit?”
“what?”
For a moment, Seong Chan-ho wondered if this guy was joking, but then he remembered that Daesung wasn’t the type to do that, and he answered seriously.
“Daeseong, regardless of whether you’re a gangster or not… if you kill someone, it’s murder. “They’re getting caught.”
“What happens if I get caught?”
“Are you drunk already?”
“no.”
“Oh, Mr. “I completely sobered up.”
Seong Chan-ho, who was now half astonished, laughed vainly, shaking his shoulders.
“If you get caught, you will stand trial. Since it’s a murder charge, you can easily get 5 years in prison with probation. “Then you start living in prison, and from then on, your life ends.”
“….”
Murder. There was no such thing in hell.
Because the concept of a law regulating such a thing did not exist in the first place.
If you kill him, it ends there. All you have to do is take the loot, step on the corpse, and continue on your way.
Whether the corpse left behind would be eaten by other monsters or rotted into a skeleton was none of his business.
At this moment, Daesung learned a lesson.
A valuable lesson that on Earth, if you kill, there will be consequences.
‘…If something similar happens in the future, we need to come up with a way to handle it.’
After living in the harsh wilds of hell for 80 years, common sense that was taken for granted on Earth seemed like a disconnect to him.
Apart from the recovery of some of the common sense and memories of modern times through memory chips, a gap in the level of ‘civilization’ is felt.
‘Now that I think about it, there was an item in hell that could remove a body without a trace.’
Of course, at that time, it was an item that was used for a slightly different purpose than collecting corpses.
For example, to create a ‘corps’ to lead.
While Daesung was caught up in his thoughts, Seong Chan-ho suddenly stood up.
“I’m starting to feel a little drunk. “Let’s go out for some air.”
“uh.”
***
After leaving the store entrance, the two stood still and felt the cool night breeze.
Seong Chan-ho took out a cigarette pack from his pocket, put a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.
Phew…. Thick gray smoke spreads out eerily.
Daesung, who had been quietly following the smoke with his eyes, soon caught on the cigarette that Chanho Seong was holding.
Seong Chan-ho took the cigarette out of his mouth and asked in a light tone.
“Do you want to smoke it?”
“uh.”
“…It’s a bit awkward to say something like this first. Can you smoke? “This guy who was discharged less than a month ago…”
“He’s not dead.”
“No, uh. I shouldn’t die…”
Seong Chan-ho, trailing off, rolled his eyes from bottom to top and scanned Daesung’s appearance.
No matter how you look at it, this is not the visual of a patient who has just been discharged.
‘…This guy, this. I was clearly awakened. ‘100 percent.’
Otherwise, a person cannot change like this overnight.
Seong Chan-ho silently handed Daesung a cigarette.
As Daesung put a cigarette in his mouth, Seong Chan-ho held out a lighter and lit it.
The delicious scent filled my lungs.
‘It’s okay.’
Even before falling into hell, Daesung had never smoked a cigarette.
Smoking for the first time in my life.
The chemical reaction started quickly, my head started spinning, and I felt dizzy.
Daesung was very satisfied with that strange feeling of dizziness.
As my senses became slightly dull, I felt like the worries in my head were being diluted.
Seong Chan-ho wiggled his eyebrows as he watched Daesung properly suck in the smoke and exhale.
“Is this your first time smoking a cigarette?”
“uh.”
“But why are you so good at smoking it? “Everyone who smokes it for the first time just coughs like they’re going to die.”
“one more.”
“Hey, cigarettes aren’t some snacks… I’ll buy you a pack later on the way home.”
“thanks.”
For the first time, it was the moment when Daesung’s ‘hobby’ was born.
The two of them sat silently, staring blankly into space and smoking cigarettes.
The silence passed and Seong Chan-ho suddenly asked:
“…What are you going to do with your life from now on?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you thought about it?”
“no.”
“Hey, someone should think about it… No, I’m not an old guy, let’s get it over with. Well, anyway, you have to make money later. It’s not like I’m going to keep living with my mother…”
“It’s money…”
Currently, 500 million won in cash is stored in his subspace pocket.
Since he hated troublesome questions and answers, Daesung cleverly hid the fact and asked secretly.
“Can you live well with 500 million won?”
“500 million? Well, if it’s about 500 million won… if you factor in the deposit interest rate and all that… I think I can probably survive for about 10 years without any problems. “As long as you don’t do anything stupid in the middle.”
“I mean 10 years.”
“But why 500 million suddenly? “Do you have any money hidden from me?”
“no.”
After removing the simichi from his face with no change in expression, Daesung thought about it carefully.
‘I need to think of a way to make money consistently even after 10 years.’
We have decided to no longer entertain the idea of opening the safes of moneylenders.
I’ve just realized that such a thing is a dangerous act that will only lead to your tail being stepped on on Earth.
Is there any better way?
It’s okay to not be safe. Even if it is difficult, it is always welcome. It doesn’t matter if it means getting your hands dirty.
All it has to do is be a clean route that leaves no trace.
“….”
Sung Chan-ho threw the cigarette butt on the floor and stared at Daesung’s face.
Daesung looked deep in thought, stroking his chin.
Seong Chan-ho scratched his cheek.
‘It’s supposed to be a fun drinking party, but did you unintentionally bring up something too serious?’
However, Seong Chan-ho immediately erased the uncomfortable feeling.
‘no. Anyway, I asked to meet him because I had something to say to him, including this.’
So Seong Chan-ho rationalized that this level of foolishness was okay.
And in fact, Seong Chan-ho’s next words were an attractive enough proposition to justify such a rationalization.
“…Daeseong. “Are you interested in working at our company?”
“rectal?”
“The last time I went to visit you in the hospital, I secretly mentioned something. I remember?”
Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember saying something like ‘gate seeker’.
However, no matter how much I searched through the memory of the memory chip, I could not recall the job of gate seeker.
“Gate Seeker?”
“Oh yeah. Gate Seeker. Oh, you remember? “I’m the team leader of that department.”
“What does Gate Seeker do?”
“It’s simple. So ha. “Where should I begin to explain this?”
Then, for a moment, Hye-jeong’s request from not long ago flashed through Seong Chan-ho’s mind.
‘…Mother warned me not to talk about awakening and cataclysm at all for the time being.’
This is because I was worried that Daesung might be shocked by a world that has changed so much.
I completely understand that feeling.
Yes, I opened my eyes after 10 years, and listen to the story that the world was completely turned upside down compared to 10 years ago. It would be normal to be startled and startled.
It is natural for a mother to worry about her child.
However, if that feeling goes too far, it can turn into poison.
‘Daesung has now fully regained consciousness… It’s time to understand. ‘I can’t keep hiding it forever.’
Are the events happening around the world hidden forever? impossible.
The only words talked about in the media on this day are those related to cataclysm, such as ‘monster’, ‘gate’, ‘hunter’, and ‘clan’. There is no use blocking your ears and eyes.
‘I’m sorry to Daesung’s mother, but… he should know how the world works.’
And above all, Daesung ‘awakened’. It’s not confirmed, but no matter how you look at it, this is the appearance of an awakened person.
As such, we must be even more aware of the story of the ‘cataclysm’.
Seong Chan-ho made up his mind.
“Hey Daesung.”
“uh.”
“Are you aware that you have awakened now?”
“Awakening?”
The moment Daesung asked that question.
Jeokjeok-
“….”
Suddenly, the same tremor that he felt before scratched Daesung’s nerves.
A sound that clutters your mind unpleasantly, like tinnitus ringing in your ears.
“Daeseong, are you listening to me?”
Seong Chan-ho asked that question next to him, but Daesung could not hear anything as all his nerves and concentration were already caught up in that unpleasant energy.
‘It’s not like a symptom of anxiety. There is no reason for me to be distraught now.’
However, it wasn’t like an auditory hallucination or anything.
Daesung is not so foolish that he cannot even tell whether he is hallucinating or not.
‘Then that means it’s a sound that actually comes from somewhere.’
Daesung sharpened his senses and listened.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk –
A sound similar to that heard when a glass is cracked.
Before, it felt like a wriggling sensation like an earthworm crawling up my spine, but this time, the unpleasant sensation felt much bigger and more vivid.
Daesung slowly turned his head to follow the epicenter from which the unidentified energy was emanating.
Or, more accurately, I looked up.
There’s a lot of crap there
!
A spiderweb-like crack suddenly appeared in the air.
“Hey, where does it hurt? “Why are you suddenly giving me a bruise-”
Of course, Seong Chan-ho asked that as if it was strange.
None of the passersby on the street noticed the crack.
Except for Daesung.
“….”
Right then.
Quaaaaaaaaaaa!
The crack that had been slightly distorted for less than a second was torn apart in an instant.
At the same time, something falls out of the darkness beyond the crack.
“Ahh?!”
Daesung extended his powerful arm and pushed Seong Chan-ho back.
bang-!
A wide gap was created between the two, and a huge wooden club struck fiercely in the middle of that point.
As soon as he got out of the crack, the ‘guy’ who was about to fall down and hit the top of Seong Chan-ho’s head clicked his tongue.
“What are you doing here again?”
Daesung clicked the tip of his tongue as he watched the boy whining as he tried to pull out the wooden club deeply embedded in the asphalt floor.
He is about the height of an adult man.
A guy with green skin and long, curved yellow fangs above his mouth.
‘Demon beast? No, this is a monster I’ve never seen before.’
Kereuk-
kerruk-!
Along with the irritated whining sounds it made, people’s loud screams echoed throughout the area.
“Kyaahhh-!”
“Goblin! “It’s a goblin!”
“What the fuck! Why does a monster suddenly pop out?!”
“You didn’t even set off an alarm, Nimiral!”
The surroundings immediately became chaos.
People who were leisurely walking down the street just moments ago began to run away in dismay.
“Woah!”
“Run away!”
The people inside the meat restaurant also left and evacuated as soon as they saw the goblin outside the store.
Of course, honestly, no idiot would run away through the front door of the store.
Instead of the front door where the goblin appeared, it was breaking the back door or the window on the side of the store and almost rolling away.
“….”
Cry, Cry, Cry….
The guy who had been unable to remove the club that had been stuck deep in the ground earlier let out a pitiful cry.
Daesung grabbed the top of the guy’s head with one hand.
Wood-duk, Kwazijic-!
I just stretched my arms upward.
Then, the goblin’s head was torn off like a cabbage being pulled out, and the entire spine was separated from the body.
That’s how he died in an instant without even having a chance to say anything.
“….”
Daesung looked at the goblin’s head with trembling vertebrae and skin with calm eyes.
Below the cut section, Seong Chan-ho was seen sitting on the floor in shock, beyond the fountain of blood pouring down like rain.
“Hey, you… that…”
“What are these guys doing?”
“I want to ask you what you are doing, you idiot! Like harvesting a goblin’s head…”
In any case, it became an established fact that Daesung had awakened.
An ordinary person who is not awakened would not be able to kill a goblin with bare hands.
“omg!”
At that time, Seong Chan-ho turned his gaze to the crack swirling in the air and almost screamed.
Countless goblins were holding onto the edge of the crack, preparing to fall.
Because it was a sudden incident, there were no clans nearby to handle the situation.
With that number of people, no matter how great they are, it would be too much for them.
Seong Chan-ho, who made a hasty conclusion, quickly got up and tried to run away with Dae-seong.
Shuuk boom!
At that moment, a large black lump fell, leaving an afterimage, standing between them like a wall.
The ground caved in and asphalt powder rose like smoke.
“Krrrr-”
A muscular and stocky silhouette is visible at a glance beyond the smoke.
Even the crying sound was different.
His body was three times larger than the guy who performed the special attack first.
It was a hobgoblin.
“Krrr krr-!”
“Ah ah….”
Seong Chan-ho, who was in desperate danger, slowly took a step back.
“….”
On the other hand, Daesung, who stood behind Hobgoblin, calmly assessed the situation.
‘It would be difficult with bare hands.’
You can do it as much as you want, but then it turns into a messy dog fight.
Seong Chan-ho gets caught up.
‘Cleanly. You have to kill him all at once.’
Daesung’s eyes narrowed.