Chapter 20
“Didn’t you hear me? Let’s each go our separate ways,” Carlos said as he narrowed his eyes.
He gestured to his subordinates behind him, and one of them picked up Seong-Hwi off the ground like a piece of luggage.
Yeah, go. Don’t even think about doing anything else, Seong-Hwi agreed.
He did not want to take a detour when he could take a shortcut.
Jun weighed the costs and benefits as he watched them.
They’re better equipped than we are, but we have the advantage in numbers.
The five men were equipped with weapons and armor. One had a shield, two had swords, one had a spear, and one had throwing knives attached to his belt. Jun highly doubted they had earned so many items through hunting Black Dogs and Bodies, which meant one thing—they had hunted humans instead.
“Let me ask you one thing. Did you kill humans?” Jun asked.
“Hah, what?” Carlos asked back, dumbfounded.
“Kekek!”
“Gahahaha!”
His subordinates burst into laughter as if watching a comedy.
“Hah, I can’t believe this kind of guy is a leader. I feel sorry for the ones behind you.” Carlos laughed and shook his head. “Have you still not comprehended what kind of place this is? You kill others to survive. It’s a simple fact that applies even in El Salvador. I can imagine what kind of country South Korea is.”
“Hah! How dare a nobody like you insult our country?” Ho-Geun gripped his sledgehammer tightly, not to be looked down upon, as Carlos laughed mockingly.
“Whoa, tough guy. Calm down. A battle will be bad for all of us. That aside, you seem to love your country. It’s fascinating. I hate El Salvador with a passion, you see. That’s why I love this place so much,” Carlos replied, raising his arms with his hands open as if surrendering.
His subordinates slowly walked backward.
Is it okay to let them go? They know how many we are now. What if he has more comrades and he comes back with them? Jun wondered as he thought about many possibilities.
He and his team would likely win if they fought now, but it wouldn’t be without losses, which was why the five men were trying to negotiate instead of attacking. If that was the case, it was more beneficial to secure what they could for now and build a better plan.
Even if they return with reinforcements, we just need a wild card to counter them.
“Leave that man behind,” Jun said, pointing at Seong-Hwi.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Jun’s instincts were telling him that he needed to secure that man.
Idiot, Seong-Hwi thought, his eyebrows slightly furrowing.
Carlos shrugged and asked, “Is he your friend?”
“No, I just have a debt to repay him.”
“Hah! A debt? It’s no wonder I’ve heard that Asians are sentimental.”
Carlos gestured to his subordinate to give Seong-Hwi to them and thought, The boss will find out about you anyway. We’ll get to devour you soon enough. It’ll just be a little later than planned.
He scanned the people behind Jun. The pale blonde Asian woman tickled his fancy.
“Hehe. Gracias.”
“Son of a...” Hwa-Yeon gritted her teeth.
She was ashamed of herself for being unable to fight back because it might inconvenience the team. Just then, something unexpected happened.
[Activating Skill: Slingshot.]
Do-Hyun, who had been staring daggers at Carlos, suddenly fired a rock with his skill. Carlos unsheathed the Old Iron Sword he had pulled from an F-rank item cube and sliced the rock.
“Nam Do-Hyun! What do you think you’re doing?!” Seung-Jun shouted.
“Why are you all staying put?! Those bastards killed the grandmas and grandpas! They’re bad people!” Do-Hyun shouted back. “You’re all cowards! You pretend like you don’t know when you know full well! Were your rage and tears back then all lies?”
“Nam Do-Hyun! Be quiet! Do you think I’m staying quiet because I can’t speak? Don’t put the team in danger!” Hwa-Yeon yelled.
“Jun is our leader. He is the brain, and we’re his limbs. The limbs shouldn’t do as they like!” Ho-Geun scolded Do-Hyun.
Carlos asked, “Well, well... what is the meaning of this?”
Jun answered, “It was just a child’s mistake. An adult like you wouldn’t get mad over a simple mistake, would you?”
Carlos smiled widely. “Kek! A child, huh? Kids that age are considered adults in our country. Well, fine. Central Americans are carefree, so we are more forgiving. Hey, give him to them.”
Carlos gestured to his subordinate, and the one holding Seong-Hwi approached Jun to hand Seong-Hwi over.
“Coward! Coward! I didn’t know you were this kind of person, hyung! Those murderers—mmrp! Mmrp!”
Seung-Jun grabbed Do-Hyun as he was about to use his skill again. Jun received Seong-Hwi with a stiff expression. Carlos’s subordinate smirked mockingly at Jun and turned around. Just then, Jun signaled to Ho-Geun, standing beside him, with his other hand hidden behind his back. Ho-Geun’s eyes shone, and he swung down his sledgehammer without hesitation on the head of the man who had his back to them.
“Kurgh!”
They had taken advantage of the man’s lowered guard once the trade was complete.
Ho-Geun smiled fiercely and shouted, “Don’t ever disrespect Koreans again!”
“Kill that son of a bitch!”
“Ahhh!”
The battle began. Jun handed Seong-Hwi to the rearguard members and quickly laid commands, “That’s one! We’ll win! Assume formation!”
Seong-Tae with his shield and Jun were at the vanguard, and directly behind them were Ho-Geun and Seong-Jun.
“Sneaky bastards!”
“We’ll cut off your limbs!”
Carlos and his three subordinates quickly charged at Jun and his team to reduce their numbers. Two had swords, one had a spear, and one had throwing knives. Unluckily for them, the one who took the blow from the sledgehammer was the one with the shield.
The sound of clashing metal echoed throughout the forest.
“Chaaa!”
“Die!”
Carlos and his subordinates used skills to break through the opposing team’s defenses.
[Activating Skill: Viper’s Path.]
A green energy enveloped the man’s spear and allowed it to move like a snake’s tongue.
“Haap!” Jun yelled.
[Activating Skill: Immovable.]
“Kurgh!”
“Haap!”
Carlos raised his Old Iron Sword while the spearman and Jun were having a contest of strength.
[Activating Skill: Spinning Slash.]
Carlos spun like a top, and his sword struck Seong-Tae’s shield, slicing off a third of it because Seong-Tae had no defensive skills.
“Fuck!”
“That’s one!” Carlos shouted as he was about to attack Seong-Tae again.
However, he quickly jumped backward after feeling a chill. An Old Iron Arrow was stuck in the ground where Carlos had been standing.
“Dammit!” Carlos cursed and looked up.
A bowman had climbed a tree before he had realized it and was nocking another arrow. Carlos quickly looked around for his subordinates.
“Stop running, weakling!” Ho-Geun shouted.
One of his subordinates with a sword was being overpowered by the Asian man with the sledgehammer. His spearman subordinate was still in a contest of strength, and the one with throwing knives was preoccupied with evading the opponent swordsman’s attacks and a hail of rocks flying at him.
This won’t do! Carlos thought about a surefire way to turn the flow of battle in their favor. I’ll take a hostage!
The blonde woman and the girl holding a dog at the back seemed the weakest. They were heading further to the rear as they carried the unconscious man.
“I won’t let you!” Carlos shouted as he charged at the enemy team’s rearguard.
Seeing that, Min-Jae aimed an arrow at him.
[Activating Skill: Sparse Radar.]
Carlos could tell from his skill that the arrow Min-Jae had let loose was aimed directly at his heart.
“Haap!” Carlos pivoted and let his pauldron deflect the arrow.
“Rin! Hwa-Yeon! Watch out!” Min-Jae shouted as he nocked another arrow and drew his bow after his cover fire failed, but it was too late.
Carlos had reached the two women.
“Kehe, gotcha!”
“U-unnie!”
“Rin! Urgh!”
Just as Carlos was about to grab Rin, Hwa-Yeon pushed her forward, causing herself to be pulled backward toward Carlos. Because of that, Carlos caught her by her hair.
“Gehehe!”
“Argh! Let go of me!”
Carlos brought his Old Iron Sword to Hwa-Yeon’s neck and shouted, “Freeze! Even a twitch and I’ll cut off this bitch’s head!”
“Hwa-Yeon!”
“D-don’t worry about me! Kill them all!”
“No! Nobody, move!” Jun shouted after noticing Hwa-Yeon was taken hostage.
“Hehe, good. That’s the sentimental Asian nature I know.”
“Jun! Don’t stop! I’m useless anyway! I’d rather die with this damn murderer!” Hwa-Yeon shouted.
“Kek! You’re a strong-willed woman. As you wish, I’ll kill you. I’m more into submissive women,” Carlos said as he looked back at the terrified Rin.
He could kill the blonde woman since he could take another hostage.
“Stop!” Jun shouted.
“Gahaha! Blame your idiotic leader for your death!”
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Carlos swung his sword. The moment looked as if time was moving in slow motion. They expected blood to spew as the blade was about to reach Hwa-Yeon’s neck. Just then, a strange golden plate appeared out of nowhere and blocked Carlos’s sword. On its center was a five-pointed star.
“W-what the hell is this? Argh!” The confused Carlos dropped his sword because of the pain in his wrist, which was broken. “W-who—”
Carlos turned to the person who broke his right wrist. It was the Asian man whom he had knocked out by punching him in the solar plexus.
“Y-you!”
The Asian man mumbled apathetically, “Huuu, you’ve sure made a mess of my plan. Whatever. It’s time for plan B.”
His attitude was nothing like his gullible self a while ago.
“Ngh... argh!”
Carlos tried to break free from Seong-Hwi’s grasp, but he didn’t budge. He then yanked Hwa-Yeon, whom he was grabbing by her hair with his left hand, toward him to threaten the Asian man.
“Ack!” Hwa-Yeon yelled in pain.
“Let go of me! If you don’t, I’ll rip this bitch’s scalp off clean!”
Seong-Hwi replied with great interest, “Oh? Really? Have you tried? I could never get it off quite clean enough. Patches of it always stick to the head, and it just becomes an ugly rag. I’ve never been able to peel a mandarin orange in one go either.”
“What?”
Carlos stared at the smiling Seong-Hwi dumbfoundedly and froze once he looked into his eyes. A boundless savage madness was blazing within his pitch-black eyes. It was as if the man was staring at him like a cat thinking about how to play with a ball of yarn. Carlos had seen those eyes before.
The killing machines of the El Salvadoran gang, Bellido’s traitor execution squad! No, his eyes are even deeper and more terrifying.
“Ahh... uhh.”
Carlos, having taken a peek at a fragment of Seong-Hwi’s boundless madness, unconsciously loosened his grip on Hwa-Yeon’s hair.
“Ugh!”
“Unnie!” Rin ran to Hwa-Yeon to help her up.
“The murderer?”
“Chief Carlos!”
Jun and his teammates stared at Seong-Hwi, who suddenly stood up to rescue Hwa-Yeon, and Carlos’s subordinates stared at their leader, captured by Seong-Hwi.
Seong-Hwi said to the terrified Carlos, “Looks like we have different tastes. I’m not that into submissive people.”
“Let go of the chief!”
“We’ll secure him and retreat!”
Carlos’s subordinates changed their objective and charged at Seong-Hwi like moths to a flame.
Seong-Hwi smiled widely and said, “Your subordinates are more to my tastes.”
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Ace of Swords]
...
[You hunted an individual with Murderer Karma.]
[198 Karma obtained.]
[175 Karma obtained.]
[208 Karma obtained.]
...
The time for one breath was all it took for three beheaded corpses to fall to the ground. Seong-Hwi earned 581 Karma instantly—an enormous amount for the tiny amount of effort it took. It was also why there were so many Black Humans in the Mirror World.