"Oh, right. By the way, have you ever heard of the Hao Sect?"
The Hao Sect. If you wanted to be precise, you could classify it as a sect within the unorthodox martial world, mostly made up of lower-class workers like servants, courtesans, and carriage drivers.
They mainly dealt with gathering information, though I wasn’t sure if that was the case here. Did they even exist around here in the first place?
Chun-bong nodded in response to Seo-jun's question.
"Yeah, I know it. Why do you ask?" "No reason, it's just that Maewol knew some martial arts. Thought it was suspicious." "What? Martial arts?"
Chun-bong widened her eyes in surprise, clearly unaware of this. Seo-jun nodded.
"Yep." "Hmm... that's suspicious. But just because a courtesan knows martial arts doesn’t automatically mean she’s part of the Hao Sect."
Chun-bong explained that while eight out of ten cases might point to the Hao Sect, there’s still the other two where it could be something else.
In rare cases, someone could’ve secretly learned martial arts on their own, or it might be a mysterious organization no one knows about.
"Is that so?" "Yeah. Just be careful. You never know when that woman might flip." "Haha, come on. Do you think this oppa would lose to some second-rate nobody?" "I'm telling you, be careful." "Yes, ma'am."
Seo-jun grinned, conceding to Chun-bong's warning.
Two days later, it was time for their operation.
Lying flat on his back in his room, Seo-jun lazily scratched his belly and stared out the window.
"Ugh... I guess I should be heading out soon. This is such a pain."
Why did I ever agree to this? Now that the day had come, I didn’t even want to take a single step out of the house.
“Didn’t you say you’d do it? Get up, you little brat! Hurry up!” “Ugh, mom! Five more minutes!” “Shut your mouth!”
Only after getting a few slaps from Chun-bong did Seo-jun finally get up and leave the house.
The sun was setting, casting a light glow over the streets. It looked like the timing was just right.
Dragging his feet, Seo-jun eventually made his way to the red-light district.
"Now then..."
After a moment’s thought, he headed toward Hongwollu.
He had asked Maewol to gather the courtesans, but he hadn’t asked how she’d do it, so he decided to stop by.
"Ah, you’ve arrived." "Yeah, so what about the courtesans?" "The young master said he would gather them by walking through the district, so we’ve passed the word along for now." "Got it."
Seo-jun nodded casually as he glanced around the inside of Hongwollu.
"Should we start by gathering the courtesans here?" "Yes."
At Maewol's signal, the men nearby moved off to carry out her orders. In about five minutes, a crowd of courtesans gathered on the first floor of Hongwollu.
"Wow, there’s a lot of them." “Are you sure about this? I’m not convinced it’ll work.”
Chun-bong frowned, clearly unimpressed by the plan after hearing the gist of it.
“I’m not expecting any major results; this is more for my own satisfaction.” “If it’s just for that, I guess it’s fine…” “Hey, it’s all about the experience, right?”
Seo-jun grinned and led the group of courtesans out into the red-light district.
Naturally, they attracted attention.
At the front was the "Death Ghost," followed by a trail of courtesans.
Their strange procession drew the eyes of courtesans, customers, and even gang members as they made their way down the street.
Seo-jun led them to the door of one of the brothels.
"Hey, friends! Long time no see! You know how I said I’d come for the courtesans next week? Well, I’m doing it today! Thanks in advance!"
Since he’d already arranged their cooperation, there wasn’t any conflict.
But what about the next brothel? That was anyone’s guess.
He walked right into the next one.
“Hey, friends! I’m here to take your courtesans!”
Through the open door, dozens of courtesans stared back at him. And there he was, the madman declaring he’d take their courtesans.
A few recognized the "Death Ghost" and exchanged glances.
“...Take them.” “Really?” “Just make sure you bring them back.”
Treating people like objects, huh.
Anyway, since they told him to take them, Seo-jun gathered the courtesans and added them to the procession.
And so, they made their way through all the brothels in the red-light district.
Maybe the guy he’d dealt with last time had spread the word, because surprisingly, there wasn’t much resistance, and he managed to gather most of the courtesans into one place.
“There are quite a few, huh.”
With a slight exaggeration, they could probably fill the entire street.
Did they really need this many courtesans? Seo-jun sighed as he leapt onto the roof.
Whap!
Using his Huanglongdo technique, Seo-jun landed on the roof and looked down.
Countless eyes were on him.
The sun had set, and in the darkening sky, the moon shone brightly above. He lifted his head to gaze at the night sky, the full moon looking down on them.
"The weather’s perfect."
Seo-jun cleared his throat, infused his voice with qi, and shouted.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I have a proposition for you!"
The murmuring died down. Everyone in the area was waiting for him to speak.
A strange sense of exhilaration rose from his toes to the top of his head.
Is this what being a superstar feels like?
“We all know how awful life in the back alleys can be, and it’s true that most women here have no choice but to sell their bodies to survive."
While that might not apply to everyone, it was the reality for many.
"But not every courtesan became one by choice."
Seo-jun spread his arms wide, lifting them high.
With the conviction of someone rallying a cause, he shouted like a would-be revolutionary.
"So, I’m offering a chance. It’s not a grand opportunity, and I can’t guarantee what comes after, but surely, there must be a few women here who want to leave this life behind, right?"
Women who felt trapped in their current situation and were desperate to escape.
That was all he needed.
I don’t have any obligation to save everyone here.
Even if just a few reached out for the unknown opportunity, that would already be enough of a hassle.
“So, I’m taking volunteers. Come on, raise your hands!"
Raising his own hand, he waited, but silence filled the red-light district.
No one raised their hand.
“Well, this is embarrassing.”
Seo-jun chuckled as he jumped down from the roof.
He grabbed the collar of one woman and leapt back onto the roof.
“You bastard…! What are you planning to do with me this time?!”
It was the woman from the first day. He still didn’t know her name.
Seo-jun set her down on the roof and asked.
“What’s your name?” “Why should I tell you?” “It would be faster to ask what I’ll do if you don’t tell me.” “…Churyeong.”
Churyeong. After more than a year, he finally knew her name.
Not that it really mattered.
“You’re confirmed.” “What? Why are you deciding this on your own?!” “Shhh.”
Seo-jun swiftly pressed her pressure points, knocking her out.
With a soft thud, the unconscious Churyeong slumped onto the roof.
“So, any other volunteers?”
The courtesans still didn’t respond.
Just as Seo-jun was about to call it quits, one of them raised her hand.
“C-could I…?”
She was a shabby-looking woman, her body covered in scars, and one eye clouded over as if blind.
Seo-jun nodded.
"Of course."
“Hey, girl. Are you sure you can handle this?”
Was that her overseer? Some large thug glared at her as if he’d kill her.
Seo-jun jumped down from the roof and landed in front of him.
“Shut up!”
Whack!
With a swift flick to the head, the thug quieted down.
Leaving the thug with his head buried in the ground, Seo-jun grabbed the woman by the collar and leapt back onto the roof.
"Now, we have two. Any more volunteers? This isn’t an opportunity that comes by every day."
"Please, take me too!"
Now there were three.
In the end, by gathering a few more volunteers, they ended up with six courtesans in total.
“Looks like that’s about it."
No one else raised their hand.
As Seo-jun silently counted the volunteers, Chun-bong climbed up onto the roof and asked.
“Are you thinking of becoming a hero?”
“A hero? Nah. It sounds cool, but I’m not cut out for that.”
“That’s right. Not all weak people are good people. You could save a drowning man only for him to demand everything you have.”
“Wow, what an arrogant bastard. I’d just kick him back into the water.”
Chun-bong smirked up at Seo-jun.
"Whoever taught you did a good job. Don’t become a gullible, naïve hero."
A hero? It’s a romantic notion, but chasing after that kind of ideal is never easy.
"Then I guess I’ll be a half-hero."
"Even being a half-hero means you’ll rank in the top 100 personalities in the martial world."
"What? Just how low are these martial artists’ standards?"
Seo-jun clicked his tongue at the dismal morality of the martial artists as he gazed at the gathered courtesans.
These women had volunteered despite not being told exactly what he planned to do for them. Naturally, they weren’t in great shape.
‘Should I head to the Cheongha Sect?’
He had already secured a promise from the Cheongha Sect leader.
He’d told them he’d be bringing a few volunteer courtesans, and asked if they could offer them jobs—whether as maids or servants didn’t matter, just any kind of work.
Honestly, he had been worried about what would happen if dozens of them volunteered….
But dozens? No way. In the end, he only had five, excluding Churyeong.
“Well, then, I guess… huh?”
Suddenly, the sound of commotion reached them from a distance. Screams and shouts—definitely not the good kind of noise.
Is it the Black Path thugs?
If so, Seo-jun was ready to beat them down again. He craned his neck to see what was going on and spotted something strange.
"No way."
Seo-jun let out a chuckle, but just then, a man sprinting at lightning speed, as fast as Usain Bolt could slap, shouted:
“Monster! A monster has appeared!"
"A monster?!"
"Run, everyone! There’s a monster!"
The crowd fell into chaos, panicking and running in every direction. Seo-jun raised an eyebrow.
A monster?
Feeling confused, he looked over at Chun-bong, who was frowning.
“A monster, here? This is bad. This has been happening for a few years now.”
“Wait, hold on. A monster? What do you mean?”
"What? What do you mean 'what'? You don’t know what a monster is?"
Why would there be monsters in a martial arts story? Are they going to bring out American gunfighting next?
“I seriously don’t know.”
"Are you for real? How can you not know this...?"
Chun-bong pursed her lips, then gestured in the direction of the commotion.
“Go take a look. It’s probably nothing too serious.”
"Should I?"
Seo-jun looked at the courtesans, who were staring back at him, wide-eyed, and gave them an awkward smile.
“Well, uh… I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”
“C-could you let us down first…?”
Before she could finish, Seo-jun was already dashing off into the distance.
“A-ah….”
The woman let out a sigh and collapsed back into her spot.
Seo-jun sprinted across rooftops and soon arrived at the scene of the commotion.
"Where’s that monster?! Come out, you bastard!"
This isn’t even a proper martial arts story anymore...! Furious, Seo-jun looked around for the monster.
It had been here a moment ago, but now it was nowhere to be seen.
Kwoooom!
As if responding to his call, the monster burst through a building, making its grand entrance.
“There you are.”
Seo-jun's eyes lit up as he spotted the monster.
Its entire body was covered in black, armor-like exoskeleton. It stood on two legs, with a large tail protruding from its back, and its snout was filled with sharp, jagged teeth.
"Wow… it really is a monster."
Seo-jun scratched his head while Chun-bong, who had followed him, widened her eyes in shock.
“A Gajugwi?! How could one of those be here?!”
"Is it some kind of big deal?"
"Do you see that armor? I’ve heard it can even deflect sword auras."
"Deflect sword auras? That strong?"
"It’s not just about being tough; it’s like a defensive technique."
Chun-bong gulped nervously.
But who am I? MUGONG expert Lee Seo-jun.
"It can deflect sword auras? This bastard's got all the makings of a great punching bag."
Looks like it’s time for a proper damage test.