Chapter 59

Chapter 59

A white sandy beach stretched before an emerald sea.

An old man was lying on a sunbed beneath a palm tree, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses as he read a book.

In the ashtray beside him lay a still-burning Cuban cigar, and next to it, Hibiki 40 Years, one of the most expensive Japanese whiskies, sat in an old-fashioned glass with ice.

The old man’s thick arms, neck, and chest were covered in splendid tattoos.

“Chairman.”

A large man approached the old man and whispered into his ear.

“Some uninvited guests have come.”

“Uninvited guests?”

The old man slightly lowered his sunglasses and asked the man.

“You could simply deal with them the usual way.”

At Yongpal Trading Company, they usually resolved matters by simply kicking out people who happened to wander in by chance.

Let them starve to death after getting lost.

It was a very good method that did not require them to get blood on their hands.

“They came here knowing what they were looking for.”

“Mm?”

“They say they want to open a deal.”

“It seems information leaked from somewhere.”

Displeasure filled the old man’s voice.

Yongpal Trading Company did not trade with just anyone.

Only existing customers and people introduced by existing customers were accepted as trading partners.

As for the route to the place, if an appointment was made in advance, it was usually provided through means such as Hunter Link DMs or Telegram.

Since it was a place that illegally traded all kinds of illegal goods, they had no choice but to operate this way.

“Some bastard must have run his mouth carelessly.”

“I-I apologize.”

Manage the customers properly from now on. If things leak here and there for no reason, we will be the only ones in trouble.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“They came without even making a reservation…….”

The old man.

Wang Yongsik, the chairman of Yongpal Trading Company, slowly raised his upper body from the sunbed.

Cartier, Boucheron, Chrome Hearts, Van Cleef, and so on.

The rings worn on every joint of his fingers and the Rolex Day-Date on his wrist glittered in the sunlight.

“Bring them.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Soon, two very young men were dragged over by the employees of Yongpal Trading Company.

Wang Yongsik’s gaze swept over the brats who had suddenly come without a reservation.

‘This one is not even worth looking at. Seeing how terrified he is, he must be nothing more than a lackey. Then this side is…… look at this brat?’

Wang Yongsik’s eyes flashed.

This very young man was not intimidated at all even in front of dozens of gun barrels. Instead, he sat with his legs crossed and smiled leisurely.

“I apologize for suddenly visiting without a reservation. My name is Cha Eunseong.”

Eunseong introduced himself in a polite tone.

“Whose introduction brought you here?”

“I am sorry, but I cannot tell you that.”

“Then I have no reason to deal with you either.”

Slide.

One of Wang Yongsik’s subordinates pressed a gun barrel firmly against Eunseong’s temple.

Eunseong tilted his head with a faint smile, as if slightly displeased.

“Your hospitality is rather rough.”

“A guest who comes without a reservation is not a customer, but an uninvited guest.”

“If you do this, I will not be able to help you either…….”

“Help?”

Wang Yongsik snorted.

“Hey, you green brat. It seems you do not know who I am, but if you play games with me, Wang Yongsik…….”

“It seems you do not want to save your granddaughter.”

“……!”

Wang Yongsik’s eyes shook.

“How long do you plan to let your granddaughter live in this small world? Well, looking at the mess outside, perhaps living here for the rest of her life might be better.”

“H-How do you know that……?”

“Ah, I suppose you might not think much of it, since even you, sir, cannot take a single step outside this place.”

Squeeze!

Wang Yongsik sprang to his feet and grabbed Eunseong by the collar.

“You bastard…… what are you? How do you know that? If you do not tell me the truth, I will peel off your skin and…….”

“Let go.”

Eunseong slightly raised his head, and his gaze had sunk coldly.

Slide.

Eunseong calmly removed Wang Yongsik’s hand from his collar.

“Instead of wasting emotions for no reason, let us talk business.”

“You bastard……!”

Wang Yongsik growled, but he could not carelessly lay a hand on Eunseong.

Because what Eunseong had just said applied not only to Wang Yongsik, but to everyone living here in Yongpal Trading Company.

***

“……Everyone, go do your own work.”

Wang Yongsik ordered his subordinates.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get lost.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Wang Yongsik’s subordinates scattered like startled cockroaches.

“Duhyeon, you also step away for a bit. I need to talk to this old man.”

“Yes, Big-brother.”

Duhyeon quietly stepped away.

“The sea is beautiful.”

Swaa, swaaaa.

An emerald beach where gentle waves rolled in.

It was a sea that resembled the Indian Ocean.

“Sit there.”

Wang Yongsik pointed across from him.

There was a parasol, a table, and chairs that looked like they belonged at a resort.

“Whisky?”

“No, thank you.”

“Cigar?”

“I am a non-smoker.”

“I cannot imagine what joy you find in life.”

Wang Yongsik shook his head as if fed up, then put a cigar in his mouth and lit it.

“You still feel like smoking?”

“Mm?”

“Even though you are in the terminal stage of lung cancer, as I understand it. It has even metastasized, so without medicine, you would not last a day.”

“How exactly do you know that?”

I did not bother answering.

There was no reason to tell him, and I could not tell him either.

“You draw the line clearly. You absolutely will not give anything for free, is that it?”

“That is one of my strengths.”

“You are a ruthless young man.”

Wang Yongsik glared at me.

It was not a hostile gaze, so I did not particularly care.

Rather, it was a good sign.

Wang Yongsik.

It meant the merchant of death was willing to trade with me.

“First…… for a deal to take place, I suppose I must acknowledge it. That is right. I am living on borrowed time, and my granddaughter is the same. Living here is…….”

“To postpone death, I assume. This is a space where everything has stopped, after all.”

That was the secret of Yongpal Trading Company.

Time did not flow in this place.

That did not mean it was on a different timeline from the outside world.

It was simply that the natural change of all matter was suppressed.

But that alone gave Yongpal Trading Company an enormous spatial advantage.

Metal did not rust, food did not rot, and humans did not grow old or die from illness.

For example, if a terminal patient entered this place, the progress of the illness stopped.

Since aging also stopped, in theory, eternal life was not impossible.

“I have many customers who trade with me, but no one knows even that. Just how…….”

“Please take this first.”

“Mm?”

Wang Yongsik took the note I handed him and frowned.

“You want me to get all of this?”

Wang Yongsik asked me as if dumbfounded.

It was the reaction I had expected.

A stealth bike equipped with a high-performance Etherium Battery.

The stealth bike mentioned here was an item heavily painted with Etherium coating for the purpose of avoiding monsters’ eyes and ears.

It was an item worth roughly over three billion won, and it was also difficult to obtain, so it was natural that Wang Yongsik frowned.

On top of that, there were small EMPs, explosives, grenades, drones, machine guns, ammunition, and so on.

Even in a world where firearms had been legalized, and even with the status of a Hunter, these were not things one could easily obtain.

Although, considering Yongpal Trading Company was a Black Market, how many of the items traded here would be legal in the first place?

“If I ask what you are going to do with these…….”

“Naturally, I cannot answer.”

“It will cost roughly five billion won. How will you pay?”

“Put it on my tab for now, and you can receive payment slowly.”

“What?!”

Wang Yongsik glared at me with a face that looked as if he had never seen such a bastard before.

“Are you asking me to give it to you on credit? Right now?”

“I would appreciate it if you called it an installment plan.”

“Hah!”

“You need to go outside. How long do you plan to stay here?”

“Go outside, you say…….”

“I will let you leave this place within two years at the latest.”

“Ahem!”

Wang Yongsik coughed for no reason, as if trying to suppress his excitement.

‘Of course he wants to leave. Desperately.’

I barely held back the laugh that threatened to escape, because I felt as if I could see right through Wang Yongsik’s thoughts.

One might ask why he wanted to go outside when there was no need to treat his illness if he stayed inside Yongpal Trading Company, and when it was the safest place in the world.

But that perspective only came from a lack of basic understanding of humans.

Humans, people, were not beings who could live by survival alone.

Only by experiencing various environments and situations, making choices for themselves, and moving in the direction they desired could they finally feel alive.

To use an analogy, Yongpal Trading Company was a kind of zoo.

A safe world, but that was all.

The comfort inside the bars ultimately came at the price of freedom.

Humans were animals that instinctively rejected such a life.

Just like Wang Yongsik and the people living here in Yongpal Trading Company.

“If you are playing with me…… you will regret it.”

Wang Yongsik spoke in a threatening tone mixed with warning.

“You do not need to worry about that. I am well aware that if I played with the chairman of Yongpal Trading Company, even ten lives would not be enough.”

“What a slick bastard.”

Wang Yongsik glared at me, then gestured to a subordinate waiting in the distance.

“Did you call, Chairman?”

“Prepare the items written here and bring them immediately. If we do not have something, place an order for it.”

“Yes.”

This time, I did not erase my smile.

Because closing a deal was always pleasant.

***

Inside Hunter Link.

“I am here.”

Choi Yura visited the Nest of an old acquaintance.

“Oh, yes. It has been a while.”

Jeong Mujin smiled at Choi Yura.

He was a Hunter belonging to the Regional Defense Force under the Defense Strategy Department, and he had been a high school classmate of Choi Yura’s now-deceased ex-boyfriend.

Perhaps because of that, on his desk sat a photo of Jeong Mujin, Choi Yura, and her boyfriend together.

“It was hard to reach you.”

“I was busy.”

Choi Yura replied coldly.

“Are you still upset?”

“Upset? No?”

Choi Yura’s words grew thorny.

“There was never anything to be upset about in the first place. There is no way I would be upset with someone who does nothing when his best friend was murdered. Is there?”

“…….”

“That man was your friend of twenty years. But does it make sense to stay silent when your friend of twenty years was murdered by someone?”

“……Dahui.”

Choi Yura’s real name slipped from Jeong Mujin’s mouth.

“Do not call me by that name.”

Choi Yura growled.

“Just tell me why you called me out. I cannot stand even looking at your face.”

“…….”

Jeong Mujin shut his eyes tightly as if trying to collect his emotions, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Do not do it.”

“Do what?”

“Revenge.”

“Is that what this is about again? You went through the trouble of calling me out just to say that? You really are something. How can you be that cowardly…….”

“You will die.”

Jeong Mujin cut off Choi Yura’s words.

“If you take even one more step forward from there, nine times out of ten, you will die.”

Jeong Mujin warned her in a low voice.

“When have I ever been afraid of dying…… Wait. What did you just say?”

Choi Yura sensed something unusual in Jeong Mujin’s words and frowned.

“Do you know something?”

“…….”

“Tell me.”

“…….”

“I said tell me.”

Choi Yura pressed Jeong Mujin.

“Do you know? Who killed him?”

“……Yes.”

Jeong Mujin answered with his eyes tightly closed.