The World Does Not Exist for ■■

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: ford53
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< Chapter 22: A Coincidence for the Heroine (3) >

Like all smugglers, Jangman wasn’t sociable.

It was inevitable, given the nature of his job.

He sold what shouldn’t be sold, priced what shouldn’t be priced, so people didn’t look like people to him anymore.

He would assess the worth of a guest entering the bar or imagine price tags on passing children; such was his life.

Now that he was closer to the end of his life than the beginning, only two types of people remained around him:

Those who were worth money, and those who were appealing on a human level.

The person who knocked on his bar in the early morning belonged to the former.

“It’s been a while, Mister.”

The man who entered wore a dark blue coat. M-shaped baldness revealing his forehead and a nose sharp as a blade characterized him.

Jangman frowned the moment he saw the man’s face.

“Wallard? Are you here to beg? I’ve got no business for you.”

“Begging, Mister? When have you ever seen me come empty-handed?”

Wallard, the man thus named, sat down at a customer’s table with a genial smile.

“Get lost. I don’t care what you’ve brought.”

“Oh, Mister. It hurts my feelings if you dismiss me before even looking at the goods.”

Wallard took something out of his coat and placed it on the table.

Two bird skulls, a bit larger than a palm.

To an outsider, they would have seemed unremarkable, but Jangman recognized them instantly.

“Magic tools… not finished products but fragments that fell off somewhere.”

“As expected, Mister! You know it at a glance. These skulls were attached to a wizard’s wand.”

“…So?”

“Where do you think I found these?”

Wallard rolled the skulls across the table. The ominous skulls stopped right in front of Jangman’s nose.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”

“Incheon’s waters. Some unlucky fisherman caught them.”

“…”

“Mister, I’m not a fool. I came to you because I have a hunch. You know that, right?”

Thud!

Jangman slammed the cup he was wiping on the table and glared at Wallard.

“So, what do you want to say? Why are you beating around the bush? Did your thoughts also shrink to the size of a mouse after entering its hole?”

“A mouse hole? Mister, at least call me by my name. Blue Rat! It’s quite a famous name outside Korea.”

“I don’t care if it’s from a rat’s nest or a cat’s nest, just state your business.”

Jangman snapped back, but Wallard’s expression didn’t change.

“Mister, it’s not like I’m asking for something grand. Just let me know one thing.”

“What?”

“The strange events in Incheon these past days… you’ve been involved, haven’t you?”

Jangman’s expression darkened. Had his trail been traced already?

“Strange events? Have you forgotten after getting a taste of the outside world? This city has always been strange.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. If you came here to play detective, go home.”

Jangman threw the dishcloth on the table and headed to the kitchen. Wallard watched his back with a meaningful smile.

“A few days ago, there was a loud explosion at a closed dock.”

Jangman’s steps halted. He turned his head with a look of disbelief.

“So?”

“The day after the explosion, the government dispatched agents to Incheon, only to withdraw them completely after just two days.”

“… ”

“Then, as if they were waiting for it, the media exploded with articles about communist elves crossing over to Earth. Clearly, the government released the articles. What are they trying to hide by pulling such a move?”

Wallard scrutinized Jangman’s face. No significant agitation was visible. On the contrary, Jangman sighed as if he found the situation absurd.

“That’s why you came to me? I have only one answer for you. I don’t know anything about it.”

“… ”

“It’s time to close up. Now leave.”

Wallard seemed about to say something, his mouth slightly opening, then closed it after licking his lips.

After a brief silence, he spoke again.

“Mister. Why are you so angry? You look as if…”

Wallard’s eyes, slit open sharply, swept over Jangman’s face.

“…you’ve been pricked.”

Before Jangman could lash out…

Clap!

Wallard clapped his hands together, and in the next moment, the bar’s door swung open, and five men entered.

They all wore the same dark blue coats as Wallard, but one of them stood out because of his size.

His massive build nearly reached the ceiling, and his long coat moved like a curtain, yet it wasn’t just his size that drew attention.

His eyes… jet-black without a trace of white, glimmered like those of a beast, drawing Jangman’s gaze.

“Mister, don’t be too scared. They are all my friends. This big fella here is Mortimer, who serves as a healthy conversation assistant in our organization.”

“…Healthy conversation?”

Jangman scoffed. Sure, a monster like that by his side would make a conversation very ‘healthy.’

“Mister, let’s take it easy. Tell us everything you know, and we’ll pay handsomely for the information.”

“I really don’t know anything.”

“Well, if you want to do it the hard way… Mortimer! Help the Mister speak more easily!”

Mortimer, the huge man, strode up to Jangman. As he stood in front of the table, a long shadow cast over Jangman’s head.

“This is your last chance, Mister.”

Wallard smirked. Jangman alternated his gaze between Mortimer and Wallard, then sighed and responded.

“Bugger off, kid.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Mortimer reached out and grabbed Jangman by the collar.

Jangman tried to resist with his aged body, but Mortimer easily lifted him. He then spread his other hand and aimed a slap at Jangman’s face.

…Or he intended to.

Creak.

Just before Jangman’s face could be struck, the bar’s door opened and someone wearing a hat entered.

Wallard, his men, and Mortimer all turned their gazes to the uninvited guest.

“…Mister?”

Ferocious anger flashed above the uninvited guest’s golden eyes.

***

As soon as he entered the bar, Dung Beetle couldn’t understand the scene before his eyes.

Men in blue coats filling the bar and a giant dressed in the same blue coat threatening Jangman.

He didn’t understand but his emotions were clear, and his course of action was evident.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Dung Beetle swung his foot at the nearest man.

“Kuhack!”

The man he kicked flew up. The blue-coated men raised their fists in delayed reaction, but then Wallard urgently shouted.

“Idiots! It’s a superhuman! Draw your guns!”

Superhuman.

The men hesitated at that word, and Dung Beetle didn’t miss the opening it created.

Thud!

He leapt forward and kicked the back of the knees of the giant holding Jangman.

“Guh, guk!”

Struck in the popliteal fossa, a critical area of the body, the giant let go of Jangman and clutched his knees.

Dung Beetle caught the falling Jangman and vaulted behind the counter.

“Mister! A superhuman? How can you claim ignorance after all this?”

Apart from the one man who had been downed by a kick to the stomach, all the men drew their pistols. Mortimer, who had been attacked at his knees, was already back on his feet, huffing angrily.

Regardless of what the men did, Dung Beetle, now behind the counter, checked Jangman’s condition.

“Mister, what’s all this about?”

“Blue Rat. These guys have been tailing your tracks.”

“…Blue Rat?”

“Multinational gangsters spouting nonsense about being information brokers. They usually have nothing to do with Korea… but had to show up now.”

Dung Beetle grasped the situation from Jangman’s explanation, but he was not flustered.

He had been expecting an incident like this sooner or later, ever since Hong Seti taught him about the importance of traces.

“Mister, escape through the back door.”

“What? Just me? What about you?”

Instead of replying, Dung Beetle pulled out a grenade from his waist. It was the last remaining one after his fight with the necromancer.

As Jangman saw Dung Beetle pull the pin, he panicked and started crawling towards the kitchen.

“Mister! Just surrender peacefully! Our Mortimer is also a superhuman! How strong can your superhuman… oh shi­-”

Dung Beetle tossed the grenade over the counter and gathered mana in his legs. His thigh and calf muscles tensed tightly.

Boom!!

At the sound of the explosion, he leapt over the counter. The sight of the half-destroyed bar greeted him.

The tables, literally caught in the blast, were all shattered, and broken bottles rolled everywhere.

But unlike the bar itself, the enemies were unscathed. Not one of them had lost their life to the grenade.

All had narrowly saved themselves by hiding behind the huge man.

‘He withstood a grenade with his bare body? He was a superhuman.’

A fight between superhumans, and to face such a battle twice in a row with enemies who had reinforcements.

Feeling rather unlucky, Dung Beetle kicked off the ground. The Blue Rats didn’t stand idly by.

“Fire! Shoot, you idiots!”

Bullets rained in the narrow bar.

Dung Beetle raised his hands to protect his head and charged at them, zigzagging.

He couldn’t dodge every bullet, but he trusted his regenerative ability. As long as he avoided fatal wounds, he wouldn’t die from mere pistol rounds.

“He’s coming! Mortimer, block him!”

“Raaargh!”

The remaining problem was the giant superhuman. Thankfully, Mortimer didn’t seem to know martial arts.

The moment Dung Beetle’s foot collided with Mortimer’s fist, he frowned. An unexpected repulsion traveled up his Pyangyeol mana.

‘Is it because of the size difference, or the mana?’

It was like kicking steel. Dung Beetle retracted his foot and swung a fist infused with the finesse of Pyangyeol.

Again, he felt the impact through his fingertips, but Mortimer didn’t fall. Instead, he reached out and grasped Dung Beetle’s left hand.

Crack…

Dung Beetle’s left arm snapped with a grotesque sound. Overwhelming grip strength… no, power.

Dung Beetle swallowed a rising scream and used his foot technique to create distance between them.

‘He doesn’t seem to use martial arts. How is he absorbing the impact?’

He examined his broken left hand while glaring at Mortimer. Between the torn coat, vicious muscles writhed.

‘If strikes don’t work…’

A wave of Pyangyeol swept over Dung Beetle’s right shoulder. As mana rippled, he flattened his hand.

‘Cut’