Vol 3 Chapter 15
As Kapros secretly gripped his cane tightly, his mind calmed a little. He took a deep breath and quietly opened his mouth.
"What do you want?"
In response, the man stepping on his knee frowned and kicked his head again.
"Can't you read the situation?"
Kapros's vision flashed, and he tasted the salty blood in his mouth. It seemed his tooth had cut his lip.
"Don't look up, keep your eyes down. If you answer our questions well, we'll let you go nicely."
'Damn it...'
The man who was firmly stepping on Kapros's knee again bent down and asked leisurely.
"You, it seems you work at the dojo twice a week, what's your relationship with the kendo dojo master, cripple?"
Cripple, cripple…
It felt like he had heard that damn word "cripple" more times now than in the past three years combined. His reality, which he still hadn't gotten used to, felt chillingly vivid.
The fist gripping the cane trembled with anger, but Kapros reminded himself that he still didn't know these guys' purpose and slowly tried to think of an answer.
His relationship with his master.
Well, there was no need to answer honestly.
"No relationship, I'm just a part-timer."
"What? I guess they're giving you odd jobs out of pity."
"Then he wouldn't know anything, right?"
"Let's rough him up a bit more first."
Amidst the noisy guys, the man stepping on Kapros's leg frowned and spoke again.
"How long have you been working there?"
If it's about the duration... Was it around May?
"...About half a year."
For some reason, the guys looked at each other with disappointed eyes, as if they were very displeased with Kapros's answer.
"What? Then he wouldn't know anything."
"Didn't they say it was about 3 years ago? Or was it 4 years?"
"Damn, should we contact them again?"
Contact... Combining that with the mention of a fee earlier, there was certainly someone behind all this who had ordered these guys. Synthesizing the information he had heard so far, it seemed they were looking for someone who had worked with his master for a long time and knew about 'something from 3-4 years ago'...
'Something about the duration... bothers me.'
Suppressing an ominous feeling, Kapros lowered his gaze to his leg. The man stepping on his leg suddenly yelled at his chattering companions.
"Shut up for a bit! How do we know if that guy didn't come back once more in the meantime?"
That guy? Who could that be? Kapros pretended to be scared, lowering his head as much as possible to hide his face, and focused on their conversation.
"Show me that photo first."
The man turned his head and received something from his companions.
"Hey, lift your head now."
As Kapros raised his head, biting his lip to endure the humiliation and anger, the big guy stared at his face intently and then thrust a photo in front of his eyes.
"Do you know who this guy is? They say he visited the dojo a few times. Haven't you seen him while working there?"
Kapros hadn't been in contact with his master for a long time. So if it was someone who had come before he started working, there was no way he could know…
Thinking this, he carelessly glanced at the photo, and in that instant, he swallowed his breath, forgetting the situation. An entirely unexpected person was in the photo.
A young man with a face so clean-cut he could be mistaken for a celebrity, dressed in a suit, was standing in front of the familiar dojo door. Instead of his usual sly smile, he wore an unfamiliar, stiff, and cold expression. The figure standing with his hands in his pockets, mouth tightly closed as if waiting for something.
That man.
Kapros stared dumbfoundedly for a while at the face that looked a bit younger but not much different from the one he knew.
"Don't try to think. If you don't know, just say so quickly."
Fortunately, the man hadn't noticed anything suspicious in Kapros's attitude. As the photo was removed from his sight, Kapros's held breath finally returned.
"Hah..."
Don't know? No. He did know. How could he not know! The man who had given him the opportunity to access MIST.
'Branch Manager Yoon Seok-ho. Why did you go to my master...?'
Kapros's mind, now more confused than when he didn't know his attackers' purpose, spat out questions.
"This one's a complete dead end."
While Kapros was lost in thought, the man who had taken his foot off him and his companions grumbled as they talked.
"If we could just catch and rough up that dojo master, it would be easy..."
"We were told not to do that, remember?"
"This is annoying. Wouldn't it be better to catch and rough up a few more guys?"
"Which guys would you rough up when even the part-timer doesn't know anything?"
"This place was a bit off from the start. He only came here a couple of times, they said."
"Anyway, now we're stuck with this guy we caught for nothing! We spent weeks tailing him."
"Come to think of it..."
The gazes of the guys who had been talking suddenly turned towards Kapros.
As Kapros reflexively gripped his cane tightly, he felt the man who had been stepping on his knee looking at him with a particularly strange gaze. The guy, licking his lips slightly as if thinking of something, opened his mouth towards the others.
"Wait a minute. It doesn't feel right to go back empty-handed after all this effort, does it?"
"What are you suggesting?"
A sensation like bugs crawling over his skin followed their scrutinizing gazes. Something was pricking him, warning of danger.
"Can't you understand what I'm saying? Don't you know my taste?"
Before Kapros could prepare, the man approached and roughly grabbed his bangs, pulling them up for the others to see clearly.
"...Let go."
Kapros twisted his body while half-standing, but with his arm pinned behind him, he couldn't escape. This was worse than any scenario he had imagined. The feeling of being exposed to the interested gazes of these guys was indescribably disgusting.
"This bastard's at it again."
"You feel like doing it in a place like this?"
"Why not?"
Seeing the guys sending meaningful looks, completely different from before, Kapros felt so dumbfounded he almost laughed. He never imagined he'd hear such ridiculous words in a place like this at his age.
"While I'm still asking nicely... let go..."
"And what if I don't listen to words?"
The man, with a mocking smile, slapped Kapros's face.
"Ugh..."
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Jin Soram, the top-ranked hunter representing South Korea's Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, is stronger than anyone else and lazier than anyone else. As soon as he arrives at the office, he buries himself under a blanket and falls asleep. When he goes out on a mission, he causes accidents and returns to the office, often shirking his duties.
"Do you know how it feels to play a game that's already messed up? ...Anyway, the next round will come, so this time, I'm just going to play it recklessly."
In fact, his true identity is someone who has regressed through three lives, trying to save the world from the Great Rift but failing each time. After repeating a life where he couldn't sleep peacefully even for a day, he became completely exhausted before this life even began.
"I know. You worked hard, Jin Soram."
And then there's Han Tae-un, the man who saved Soram and died in all three previous lives. As he did in every life, he comes to Soram's side once again. The Great Rift is approaching soon. It's impossible to resolve it in this life without any preparation. Soram vows to save Tae-un in this life and die himself. At least, he won't let Tae-un save a failure like himself again.
"For now, until then, let's sleep..."
As Soram sluggishly lives his life waiting for that moment, a gradual change occurs in his heart.
'I thought this was a messed-up round... but I want to live a little longer here.'
Leonardo Blaine, the true war hero of the Raina Logia Empire and the commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, is dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders during the final battle that could have led the Empire to victory in the territorial war. People criticize and point fingers at him, and after being released on parole from prison, he disappears without a trace.
Three years later, his name has been forgotten by the world. The Council has been persistently pursuing him, but he has proven difficult to capture. Frustrated by this, Hugo Agrizendro, the commander of the Council's army, decides to personally apprehend him.
"Since when have you been watching me?"
Leonardo was calculative and astute, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had been observing Hugo for some time now. However, Leonardo's answer was something that even Hugo had not anticipated.
"From the very beginning."
Graduate student Yi-han finds himself reborn in another world as the youngest child of a mage family.
– I’m never attending school, ever again!
‘What do you wish to achieve in life?’
‘I wish to play around and live comforta-‘
‘You must be aware of your talent. Now go attend Einroguard!’
‘Patriarch!’
My future would be guaranteed once I graduate. For my future!
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