Chapter 29: Episode 29 – The Lawless City, Part I
Chapter 11. The Lawless City, Part I
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
1.
It was Jang Sung-hoon’s idea.
“The new recruits know well what kind of personality the Boss is. It’s not possible not to know. It takes a long time to see if you’re good, but it takes less than ten seconds to figure out if your personality is dirty.”
He told Kim Tae-hoon needed to show his power to the new faces who had joined the Mac Clan.
“But the new recruits don’t know what kind of person the Boss is, and even if you’re an Awakener, that’s just vague, and the word ‘the Awakener’ was made by the Boss, right?
“Now is time to fight against monsters, but survive.
“You need to show them what an Awakener is, and what it means to fight a monster with your naked body.
“You have to show them how great you are.”
It was necessary to show them how terrible Kim Tae-hoon the Awakener was now.
“If they see the image of the Boss, they will calculate at that moment, and act as if they have a dirty monster as a boss. At least they not going to put a blood pool around their neck.”
Kim Tae-hoon accepted the idea of Jang Sung-hoon, and he stood in front of the monster with only his bare body, holding only a knife.
And he showed them what the fight between a monster and a monster is, how great a monster he was.
2.
As soon as Kim Tae-hoon and Bang Hyun-wook approached the monsters, the early members of the Mac Clan watched expectantly.
A colleague, a comrade, and a leader who was willing to exercise monster-like violence against monsters!
However, the eyes of the new recruits greeting their first day as members of the Mac Clan were full of fear.
‘What the hell is that?’ ‘These monsters are still alive! Why?’
Kim Tae-hoon and Bang Hyun-wook seemed to be committing suicide to the new recruits who had seen countless humans eaten by the monsters.
In the eyes of Bang Hyun-wook and Kim Tae-hoon, the Horned Pigs were only petty animals.
“I am going to show off all of a sudden.”
It had been riddled with dozens of bullets after colliding with the running vehicle.
Because it was a monster, it still had a fighting spirit and was standing on its legs even with a fatal injury.
The Pigs were no different from corpses that were certain to die in time.
Compared to monsters that were so fierce that they could even go crazy, they were just petty.
Above all, Kim Tae-hoon’s abilities were already overwhelming.
——
[Basic Abilities]
– Strength: 76
– Health: 51
[Special Abilities]
– Energy: E+ Rank
– Mana: E+ Rank
– Telekinesis: A Rank
– Defense: E Rank
– Mana Resistance: E+ Rank
——
His strength had reached 76 through the monopoly of the monster stones.
He was far beyond a human being.
He had surpassed an Olympic medalist, and or even a level at which an Olympic medalist might reach through drugs.
He was superhuman.
In addition, Kim Tae-hoon already had four monster abilities, starting with [Black Skin] and [Howling].
It was already decided who the predator was.
Cue-e-e-e-ek!
Therefore, Kim Tae-hoon did not take much time to deal with the Horned Pig that was squealing loudly.
The moment it screamed and rushed ahead with its horns, he also rushed towards it.
The distance between the Horned Pig and Kim Tae-hoon narrowed quickly, and he immediately caught the horn of the Pig and climbed atop it as if riding a rodeo.
At the same time, he stabbed the knife in his right hand into its neck.
The knife went through the thick hide of the Horned Pig, which had resisted bullets, and all the fat beneath.
The knife was not a great sword, and it was not a relic.
The secret was, of course, Energy.
Kim Tae-hoon was also fully aware of how to use his Energy, as Bang Hyun-wook had realized.
Not only did he activate his body’s potential with Energy, but he also knew how to cover his weapon with Energy.
Of course, Kim Tae-hoon’s knife, which did not have a high Energy rank behind it, only went in as deep as his little finger.
Cuik, cu-i-i!
There was no doubt it hurt, but it was not enough to cause a fatal injury to it. So Kim Tae-hoon went on to his next move.
He concentrated the power of the Black Orc in his right hand.
Now his right hand turned black, and the area was growing. It used to be a little off his wrist, but now it was reaching up close to his elbows.
Kim Tae-hoon hit the knife’s handle with his black fist, like a hammer hitting a nail.
Every time he hit it, the knife went in deeper.
Cuek!!
The cries of the Horned Pig grew more frantic. Naturally, its struggles had intensified. Its body was shaking like a rodeo bull, not a pig.
However, its struggles didn’t do much to Kim Tae-hoon, who already has his seat and even held its horns like a handle. Whenever it struggled, he smashed down with his fist.
Pook!
The knife went in deeper and deeper.
Pook!
The blade disappeared.
Pook!
Then the handle began to go in.
Cu-i-i-ik!
A mournful squeal came from the jaws of the Horned Pig, which seemed to feel death coming.
But Kim Tae-hoon did not stop.
Now the knife had entered the mass of flesh and was not visible, but he punched down into that bloody hole.
Pook!
The knife went deeper.
Thump!
The frantic Horned Pig fell to the ground like a broken doll.
“Huck!” “Wow!”
The sight caught the breath of those watching the scene.
“Uh-cha! What’s the taste of the iron bat of the Barry Bonds of Bucheon High School? This is the iron bat which hit two home runs consecutively in the weekend league of High School!”
Bang Hyun-wook, who was just ignorant and fierce enough to hit the Horned Pig’s body with a lump of iron, was not really noticed.
Only Kim’s figure was seen.
As they watched, Kim Tae-hoon drew a knife from the neck of the Horned Pig, which was still convulsing.
Hot blood sprang up like a fountain. White steam came up, too.
Ignoring the gruesome sight, Kim brought his ears down to the body of the dying Horned Pig.
As soon as he found the sound of the Pig’s heart, he stabbed into it. He cut away the skin and flesh at once, and he shoved his hand into the gash.
Soon after, Kim Tae-hoon pulled out his hand, holding a coveted red jewel…and swallowed it immediately.
Everyone else swallowed as they watched the scene.
3.
Bucheon Municipal Wonmi Library…
“Move carefully, be careful! It’s a grenade!”
“I understand.”
“Where do we move the drinking water?”
“Second floor! Drinking water to the second floor!”
Located between Wonmi Mountain and Bucheon Stadium, the library, where quiet is life, was now experiencing its most tumultuous day since its establishment.
“Everything is moved.”
“Let’s go and smoke.”
“Yes.”
There were as many as fifty people involved in the disturbance. They were constantly moving things into the library from the trucks and vehicles parked in front of the library.
Under the circumstance, Kim Soo-ji asked Kim Tae-hoon, who was taking a coffee break. “Major, do you really want to make this a base?”
At the question, Kim Soo-ji answered immediately. “Is there a problem making this a base?”
“No.”
Kim Su-ji had no doubts about making the Bucheon Municipal Wonmi Library a base. No, the library was the best place to live in under the current circumstances.
The area was surrounded by hills and was quite distant from where people lived. In many ways, the structure was advantageous to defense. Although not as common as the Ojung-dong Industrial District, in nearby Wonmi-dong there were several factories where they could find useful tools. It would not be hard to get things for item making.
The library itself had many advantages.
The books and bookshelves filling the library could be great firewood during winter, and since the Internet, the final edition of modern civilization knowledge, had become meaningless, the library was a collection of human wisdom for their situation.
If human civilization was rebuilt from the bottom, knowledge was more important than a sword or a gun.
Ahn Sun-mi and Jang Sung-hoon were already moving around the library collecting books that would help their activities and survival in the future.
There was no reason for Kim Soo-ji to oppose such a place as a base. She was just suspicious.
‘Why did he suddenly get a base? I’m sure he didn’t intend to do that until yesterday.’
Until last night, Kim Tae-hoon had no intention of making a base.
If he had thought about it, he would have made the library a base earlier, rather than waiting under Bucheon Stadium.
‘We don’t train in cold weather, and we didn’t need to spend the night shivering in the cold outside using our cars as a tent.’
Naturally, Kim Soo-ji thought Kim Tae-hoon would move to another place after securing the relics he wanted in the Bow Museum as well.
As Kim Tae-hoon suddenly said that he was going to build a base in such a situation, it was natural for her to ask questions.
However, she had not raised any new questions. She was a soldier to her bones.
Kim Tae-hoon gave her a new order. “Lieutenant Kim Su-ji, bring people together when it’s done. Place the Awakeners in the front row.”
“I understand.”
Kim Tae-hoon drank coffee while watching Kim Su-ji, who was moving to carry out the order right away.
The strong aroma of coffee filled his mouth.
But Kim Tae-hoon was not able to savor his coffee at this moment. It was due to the conversation he’d had with Jang Sung-hoon in the early morning.
Jang Sung-hoon gave his opinion to Kim Tae-hoon without any qualms.
“Boss, if you monopolize the monster stones, the Boss becomes strong, but the Mac Clan cannot be strong. I don’t care if that’s the goal… to play big, you have to ignore the small things.”
Kim Tae-hoon’s actions might make him stronger, but it wouldn’t make the Mac Clan stronger.
“And it doesn’t matter if the group is small, but if the group grows big, a rank is needed, right? You know that better because the Boss is a soldier. Of course, we don’t need to use military ranks. In this world, the mark on the back of the Boss will be the rank.”
In order to make the group big, they needed a ranking system.
To sum it up, Kim Tae-hoon needed to set up a framework early in order to have a bigger military force and a bigger military clique.
In fact, Kim Tae-hoon knew that part better than anyone else.
He served as a soldier in a secret society in a third world where a group of warlords prevailed, where civil war, rebellion, and war were constant.
He knew better than any terrorist how warlords are organized and how they are run efficiently.
Nevertheless, the reason why Kim had been active like that was simple.
He didn’t want to make a military faction. That’s why he used the term, Clan.
If he had intended to create a military faction, he would have used a phrase meaning bigger.
The word ‘Clan’ is not used in the military, or to express forces of big scale.
‘Not my way, but…’
In addition, it was never Kim’s style to lead a force like a military faction. Until now, Kim’s target had been such military leaders.
The higher they went, the more they became a target.
But things had changed now.
‘Now I know the result of doing things my own way, and I have to throw it away.’
He found out that his style did not work.
He found out that if he lived as a hunting dog, he would die.
There is only one way left!
‘When the situation is settled after constructing a base here…’
Being not a hunting dog, but a hunter!
‘I need to go out into the city and gather the Awakeners who will be my hunting dogs.’
Kim Tae-hoon saw Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji return. He swallowed the rest of his coffee and got up.
The monster stones inside his pocket of Kim Tae-hoon touched his chest.
Meanwhile, Kim Soo-ji stood at attention before him and said, “Major, everyone is here.”
Kim Tae-hoon nodded in reply and double-checked the monster stones around his chest.
‘It’s best to train a hunting dog with game meat.’ There was no further worry or hesitation in Kim Tae-hoon’s eyes after confirming this.
There was only the glitter in the eye of a hunter who will do anything and everything for his new purpose!