Chapter : 02
The hotel entrance was lined with countless floral wreaths. There were so many congratulatory guests that it looked like they had rented out the entire hotel; wreaths were lined up from the entrance all the way inside.
[Congratulations on the Inauguration of President Kim Dae-myung]
He held the title of “President,” but that guy was the boss of a rival organization. And I was part of the suicide squad selected to cut his throat.
Skreeeeech! Two vans braked sharply and stopped at the hotel entrance.
“Everyone, steel yourselves!” The leader of the suicide squad said as he stepped out of the vehicle.
“Yes, Hyung-nim!” “Alright, get out! Move quickly!”
The gang members poured out of the vans. I followed behind them.
“Kang Do-sik!” “Yes!” “You’re on the vanguard today. You got that?” “I understand, Hyung-nim!” “Good. You know what the vanguard does?” “We go in first.” “That’s right. You go in first and see blood first. Are you prepared?” “I am, Hyung-nim.” “Are you nervous?” “Honestly, I am a bit nervous.” “It’s okay to be nervous. But once you go inside, don’t shake. If you shake, you die.” “Yes, I understand.”
The squad leader patted my shoulder firmly.
“Kang Do-sik, you’re good with a knife, right?” “Yes, Hyung-nim.” “How good are you?” “I don’t lose to most guys.” “Good, I like that confidence. Show me properly today.” “Yes!”
One of the gang members next to me said, “Hey, Kang Do-sik. Are you tense?” “Yeah, a bit.” “I’m shaking, too. Damn it, my hands won’t stop.” “It’s okay. You’ll be fine once you get inside.” “Really? How are you so calm?” “I’m not calm. I’m just not showing it.” “I guess you were always like that.”
The squad leader looked around at us and said solemnly, “Don’t let your guard down. If you make a mistake today, you die, understand?” “Yes!” “No matter what happens, the organization will take responsibility for you until the end.” “Thank you, Hyung-nim!” “And those of you who make a contribution today, I will make sure you are rewarded. Understand?” “Yes!” “Kang Do-sik.” “Yes, Hyung-nim.” “Don’t worry about your mother’s surgery costs. If you succeed today, I’ll take care of everything.” “……Is that really true, Hyung-nim?” “Have I ever lied to you?” “No, sir!” “That’s right, trust me. The organization is a family. If we don’t take care of each other, who will?” “Thank you, Hyung-nim. I will definitely succeed.” “Good, that’s the spirit. Everyone, do like Kang Do-sik. Understand?” “Yes!”
I trusted those words implicitly. It’s funny to think about now. Back then, I didn’t know that an “organization” wasn’t a family, but a pyramid with only those at the top.
“Alright, let’s go! Today is the day we take the head of the Daemyung faction!” The squad leader shouted with wide, glaring eyes.
“Yes, Hyung-nim!” “Kang Do-sik! Stand at the vanguard!” “Yes!”
I moved to the very front.
“Is everyone ready?” “Ready!” “Good. We breach in three seconds. One!”
My heart was pounding.
“Two!”
The sashimi knife in my hand was soaked with sweat.
“Three! Let’s go!”
Led by him, dozens of gangsters charged into the hotel lobby.
“Take that bastard out first!” “Understood!”
Three gangsters rushed forward rapidly.
“Hey! Where are you going!” “Catch them!”
A sashimi knife was plunged into the side of an enemy gangster who was trying to retreat.
“You son of a bitch! Where are you running to!”
Squelch!
“Ughhh!”
One of the rival gangsters screamed, spraying blood on the floor as he collapsed.
“Hey! Stab him more!” “Yes!”
The blood flowing on the carpet made the red carpet look even redder.
“Kang Do-sik! What are you doing! Why aren’t you moving faster!” “Yes! I’m going!” “Don’t just stand there blankly, move!” “I understand!”
Slash!
The sashimi knife was swung once more at the fallen gangster.
“Aaaargh!” “Cut his ankles! So he can’t run away!” “Yes, Hyung-nim!” “Make it thorough! So he can’t get back up!” “Yes!”
The gangster slashed by the knife rolled on the floor, letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
“Uaaack! Save me! Please, save me!” “Shut up! Shut your mouth!”
If his ankles were slashed like that, he wouldn’t be able to use his legs. We were that cruel.
“Let’s go!” “Yes, Hyung-nim!”
With a resounding shout, I dashed forward first.
“Kang Do-sik! Well done! Keep pushing!” “Yes!” “Don’t slow down! Push them all the way!” “Understood!”
The gang member running next to me shouted, “Hey, Kang Do-sik! Watch your left!” “I see it!” “Damn, there are a lot of them!” “It doesn’t matter! Just break through!” “Alright!”
I glanced back for a moment. The mid-boss level gangsters and the head of the suicide squad who had encouraged us were retreating while watching us charge forward.
“We stop here.” “Yeah, those guys will take care of it.” “Give me a cigarette.” “Here.” “Thanks. I wonder how many of them will survive.” “Who knows. We’d be lucky if half remain.” “Well, can’t be helped. That’s how an organization is.”
They stepped back and smoked their cigarettes. Our blood had to flow for their positions to remain safe. However, I didn’t know that at the time. I just ran, looking only forward.
Bang! The sound of a door being broken was heard.
“Open the door!” “Yes!”
The door swung wide open.
“What are those guys?” “I don’t know! Just block them!” “Protect the guests!” “Move quickly!”
Kim Dae-myung’s subordinates started grabbing their weapons one by one.
“Hey! What kind of bastards are you!” “It’s the Eunchilseong faction! Those Eunchilseong bastards!” “What? Damn, those guys came all the way here?” “Block them! Hurry and block them!” “Uwaaaaaah!”
We yelled as we charged at them.
“Kill them! Kill them all!” “Kang Do-sik! Left!” “I see them!”
I dodged a guy rushing from the left and swung the knife. Slash!
“Ugh!” “Well done, Kang Do-sik! Keep pushing!” “Yes!” “There’s one coming from the right too!” “Got it!”
The gang member fighting beside me shouted, “Hey, Kang Do-sik! There’s one more behind you!” “Where?” “Behind! Right behind you!”
I spun around and swung the knife. Slash!
“Kuh!”
But we had miscalculated this moment. There weren’t just gangsters here. The banquet hall was filled with middle-aged men and women dressed in suits.
“Hey, who are those people?” “I don’t know! Don’t pay attention to them!” “But something feels weird.” “Just fight! Don’t think!”
It was only after I was sentenced to death that I realized who they were. How incredibly important they were. I learned from a prison guard, long after the fact, that they were the ones who had strongly demanded my execution and applied the pressure.
“Hey, what’s that! Who are those bastards!” “President, you must evacuate!” “Shut up! Why should I evacuate! Those bastards are the ones who should be running!” “But, President……!” “Shut your mouth! Kill them all!” “Yes, I understand!” “What are you saying you understand! Don’t just talk, move!” “Yes!”
At that time, I had already sworn my life to the organization, so I didn’t care about such things. As long as I could cure my mother’s heart disease somehow, anything was fine.
“There! That bastard Kim Dae-myung is over there!” “What? Where!” “On the podium! That’s him!” “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure! I saw him in a photo!”
I hurriedly looked at the middle-aged man shivering on the podium. Kim Dae-myung. That’s him.
“Kang Do-sik! Go! Catch that guy!” “Yes!” “Push him to the end! Don’t stop!” “I understand!”
I ran toward Kim Dae-myung with all my might.
“Block him! Stop that guy!” “Yes!” “Make sure he never gets past!”
Two rival gangsters blocked my path.
“Where are you going, you son of a bitch!” “Get out of the way.” “What? You want me to move?” “I said move.” “Haha, look at this guy. What can you do alone?” “If you don’t move, you die.” “What? This guy!” “Move, you sons of bitches!”
Slash!
“Aaaargh!”
With my flashy knife skills, one of them fell, screaming.
“Damn! This guy knows how to use a knife!” “Watch out! He’s not a pushover!” “You bastard! Kill him!” “You die instead!”
Whoosh! Slaaaash!
“Kuh!”
Another guy sat down, clutching his side tightly.
“Ugh…… ugh……!” “I told you. Move.”
He had fallen to the sashimi knife I stabbed. I saw his twisted face along with the spraying blood.
“Ughhh!”
Just then, one of the rival gangsters next to me pointed a knife at my face.
“Die!” “You bastard!” “I got you! I’ll be the one to catch you!” “Keep dreaming.”
I grabbed his arm, wrapped it up, and slammed him into the floor. Thud!
“Ugh!”
The guy I threw hit his head and collapsed.
“Still not coming to your senses?” “Damn it……!” “Get lost.”
Slash!
I plunged the knife into the side of the guy who had fallen to the floor, making sure to show it off.
“Uaaaaagh!”
Squelch! Red blood spurted from the guy’s body like a fountain.
“Kang Do-sik! Behind you!” “What?” “He’s behind you! Right behind!”
And once again, someone else rushed at me.
“Die, you bastard!”
I swung the knife instinctively and slashed the guy’s throat. That was my first murder.
“Ku……kgh……!”
The guy with his throat cut gurgled, perhaps because blood was backing up into his airway, while clutching his neck.
“Sa……save……!” “…….”
The guy collapsed backward with a thud and died.
“Damn it!”
Gritting teeth! I didn’t want to kill anyone other than my target, Kim Dae-myung, but I couldn’t help it. Now, if I didn’t kill, I might be the one killed.
“Kang Do-sik! Are you alright!” “I’m alright!” “Are you hurt anywhere?” “No! I’m moving on!” “Good! Push them! Don’t stop!” “Yes!”
I glared back at Kim Dae-myung, who was staring right at me.
“President, you must evacuate!” One of the gangsters next to Kim Dae-myung said urgently.
“Shut up.” “Yes?” “Evacuate? Why would I evacuate.” “But President, those guys……!” “What about them? Kill them all.” “President, look at that guy. He’s not an ordinary one.” “What? That guy?” “Yes. He took down three of our men by himself.” “Hoho, really?” “Yes. He’s skilled with a knife and fast.” “Interesting. Was there someone like that in the Eunchilseong faction?”
Kim Dae-myung didn’t evacuate, continuing to stare at me as he spoke.
“That guy, what’s his name?” “Yes?” “Are you deaf? I asked what the name of that guy with the fierce eyes is!”
Only then did the gangster look at me.
“He’s someone I haven’t seen before, President.” “Haven’t seen? Is he a newcomer to the Eunchilseong faction?” “I think so.” “When did he join?” “I don’t know. It’s my first time seeing his face…….” “Heh, look at those eyes. He’s a fierce bastard.”
Kim Dae-myung snorted.
“But he’s good with a knife?” “Yes, I just saw it, and it’s quite something.” “Hmph, even so, isn’t he just a bottom-feeder of the Eunchilseong faction.” “Still, you should be careful…….” “Careful, my foot. That guy doesn’t even know he’s walked into his own grave.” “President, please just evacuate.” “Evacuate, my ass. Why should I evacuate because of some scarecrows like that.” “But……!” “Shut up! Catch those guys and cut off their hands and feet. Understand?” “Yes, I understand!” “And that guy with the fierce eyes?” “Yes.” “Catch him alive. I’m going to deal with him myself.” “Yes, understood, President.”
Kim Dae-myung shouted, mocking me.
“Hey, you with the fierce eyes!” “…….” “Can you hear me? I’m talking to you.” “…….” “What, can’t even answer? Are you scared?”
I clenched my teeth.
“No, I’m not scared.” “Is that so? Then why didn’t you answer?” “I was just thinking about how I’m going to cut your throat.” “What did you say?” “Don’t want to hear it? Want me to say it again?” “Hahaha! Look at this bastard. Big words.” “They aren’t big words. I really am going to kill you.” “What? You, kill me?” “That’s right, I’m going to blow your head off!” “Heh, you’re a crazy bastard. Don’t know where you crawled out from, but your mouth is alive.” “It’s not just my mouth that’s alive. My hands are, too.” “Good, try it then. See if you kill me, or I kill you.” “I was planning on doing just that anyway.” “This bastard until the end……!”
Kim Dae-myung shouted, pointing his finger at me.
“Catch that guy! Catch him alive! I’m going to cut off his hands and feet myself!” “Yes, President!” “And that Eunchilseong bastard is finished as of today. Understand?” “Yes! Understood!” “What are you saying you understand! Move quickly!” “Yes!”
Hearing those words, I clenched my teeth even harder. The sashimi knife in my hand was slippery with sweat. But I didn’t let go. I absolutely could not let go.
“Hyung-nim! I’m going to catch that guy!” “Go! Bring back his head!” “Yes!” “Make sure you succeed! Understand!” “I understand!”
I ran toward Kim Dae-myung again. My heart was pounding like crazy. But I couldn’t stop. My mother’s surgery costs, the organization’s promise, and the only chance to turn my pathetic life around. Everything was right in front of me.
“Die, Kim Dae-myung!”
I ran straight toward the hallway Kim Dae-myung had escaped into. The hallway was long and dark.
“Huff! Huff!”
I gasped for air and ran toward the underground parking lot.
“Hey! Where is that guy going!” I heard the voice of a gang member from behind.
End Of Chapter : 02
