Chapter 65
Due to the Transference Crisis that had occurred in the past, the area near Jung-dong Station had long since fallen into ruins.
Collapsed buildings leaned half-tilted against one another, chunks of concrete were scattered everywhere, and whenever wind seeped through the shattered windows of the buildings, an eerie wail rang out like the cries of ghosts.
No reconstruction or restoration work had taken place, so the area around Jung-dong Station was known as the most hideous district in Bucheon.
Though one might ask what meaning reconstruction had in a world like this......
In the middle of those ruins, there was one building that remained perfectly intact.
Central Trezium.
A mixed-use apartment complex that had miraculously survived the Transference Crisis.
At its very top, in the penthouse, a decadent party was in full swing.
“Take the picture properly.”
“Hold on. The angle is insane right now.”
“Really? Hoho!”
Inside a Jacuzzi full of foam, beautiful women in bikinis laughed, chatted, and took photos.
Around them, empty champagne bottles rolled here and there, and scraps of paper stained with powders of various colors had been thrown away.
The sticky music, the pungent scent of perfume, the smell of alcohol, and the overheated atmosphere mixed together to create a suffocating, feverish heat.
“Heeh.”
A beautiful woman whose eyes had turned purple from Overdrive drooled as she swayed limply.
No one paid any attention to her.
“Kyahaha!”
“Give me another glass of champagne. Hii.”
Because all of them were intoxicated with Overdrive......
In that scene of pleasure that called Sodom and Gomorrah to mind, there was only one man.
He was a man with a physique small enough to be called scrawny, and his back and both arms were covered in faded irezumi tattoos.
Gu Taeil.
A former internet streamer, he had become a Hunter, then formed Nine-Tail Crew and effectively seized control of Bucheon.
“Move. I need to make a call.”
“Aww, Big Brother.”
“I told you to get lost.”
Gu Taeil roughly shoved away the woman clinging to him and picked up his phone.
SPLASH!
The woman was thrown into the Jacuzzi, but Gu Taeil did not care.
Squeeze.
Gu Taeil’s hand pressed down on the woman’s head as she tried to come up from the water.
SPLASH, SPLASH!
Yeom Taeksu’s voice came from the receiver.
“Where are you?”
Yeom Taeksu paused briefly before answering.
“Sokcho? Why are you there?”
“Did Eulwangni dry up, you bastard? You left the nearby sea alone and went all the way to Sokcho?”
Gu Taeil snapped as if dumbfounded.
“Bullshit, what utter bullshit.”
Gu Taeil cut Yeom Taeksu off and sneered.
“You bastard, your performance has been shit lately, and you still feel like going off to have fun? Huh?”
“How many goods did you handle this month?”
“What am I supposed to do with a measly forty?”
“The number is one thing, but do you not know quality matters?”
“What about tomorrow’s auction?”
“Even so, you bastard. Do you know that important people are coming to tomorrow’s auction or not?”
“You know that, yet you leave your post? Huh? Do you not know we make our living because those people cover for us?”
“While I am still asking nicely, get back here by tomorrow evening at the latest. Understood?”
“Fine. Since you went all the way there, have a good time.”
After the call ended.
SPLASH, SPLASH!
The woman Gu Taeil had shoved underwater struggled, then went limp.
“Well, would you look at that.”
Gu Taeil nudged the woman with the tip of his foot.
The woman did not move at all.
Whether she had fainted or drowned......
“Hey, clear this away.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Burly men in black suits appeared, hauled the woman out of the Jacuzzi, and dragged her away.
Clink.
A champagne bottle lying on the floor struck the woman’s head and rolled away.
“Hey, you. Come here.”
“Yes, Big Brother.”
Gu Taeil pulled another woman into his arms.
***
At the same time.
“Tomorrow is the auction?”
“Yes.”
“Then Gu Taeil will come too?”
“VIPs are scheduled to visit, so he probably will.”
“The timing is good.”
Eunseong nodded at Yeom Taeksu’s answer.
“What are you two whispering about?”
Choi Yura furrowed her brow.
It was understandable.
Since she knew nothing about Nine-Tail Crew, it would not be easy for her to understand the conversation between Eunseong and Yeom Taeksu.
“This is something you need to see with your own eyes rather than hear about.”
“What is it?”
“Should I tell you? You will find out by tomorrow night anyway.”
“Hmm. Never mind. I will just see it for myself.”
Choi Yura thought for a moment, then answered.
Though she seemed quick-tempered, she was surprisingly patient.
That was exactly why she had decided to confirm Jeong Mujin’s true nature with her own eyes instead of blindly believing Eunseong’s words.
“I guarantee it will be interesting.”
“How incredible is it for you to say that much?”
“Look forward to it. Whatever you imagine, it will be more than that.”
Squeeze!
Eunseong grabbed Yeom Taeksu by the collar and asked,
“Right, or wrong?”
“Guh!”
“I am asking you.”
“Th-That is...... correct. Ngh!”
Yeom Taeksu’s face swelled bright red.
“Go easy. What are you going to do if he dies?”
“I will not kill him.”
Whip!
Eunseong threw Yeom Taeksu into the cargo compartment of the refrigerated box truck.
CRASH!
THUD!
Yeom Taeksu hit the wall of the cargo compartment and went limp.
RUMBLE!
A box burst open, and the frozen mackerel inside spilled over the unconscious Yeom Taeksu.
“We will catch Gu Taeil tomorrow. Let us go finish what we were doing.”
“Of course you would.”
Choi Yura shook her head as if he was beyond help, then climbed into the passenger seat.
“By the way, do your parents know you go around doing this?”
“Of course they do not.”
Eunseong answered as if asking whether that was even a question.
“I hope they never find out in the future either, but the day will come when I get caught.”
“Do you have no intention of living quietly?”
“How can anyone live quietly in an era like this?”
“That is true.”
“I should at least send them a text once the work is done later at dawn. They must be very worried......”
“What a filial son, what a filial son.”
“Of course I should. That is a child’s duty.”
As Eunseong answered, he stepped on the accelerator.
VROOOOM!
The old engine screamed as the truck raced into the darkness.
***
Ojeong Industrial Complex was an urban industrial complex located in the middle of Bucheon, packed with mold, metal processing, and food processing companies.
However, after Bucheon became a slum, even that was nothing more than a thing of the past.
Now, most of the workers were foreign laborers from developing countries, and as they formed a kind of gang, it had long since become a lawless place.
Though one could say the same for any place in present-day Bucheon......
Because of that, after most of the factories closed, Ojeong Industrial Complex lost its former appearance and was now accelerating toward collapse day by day.
Nine Nutrition was located in the most remote part of that Ojeong Industrial Complex.
When they were about ten minutes from their destination.
SCREECH. Eunseong stopped the truck in a secluded place.
“We will move by bike from here.”
“You have a bike?”
“Here.”
Eunseong drew a card from his deck and summoned a bike.
“You are rich.”
Choi Yura clicked her tongue in amazement.
She, too, was a Hunter.
There was no way she would not know that a bike equipped with a high-output Etherium Battery and stealth functionality through Etherium coating would cost at least several billion won.
“Rich, my foot.”
Eunseong snorted.
“If anything, do you not have hundreds of billions in your account?”
“I do not.”
“You do not?”
“I bought a house and a yacht last year, so I have been a little strapped lately.”
Perhaps because she was a Hunter, the scale of her consumption was on a different level.
In truth, for a Notable Hunter as famous as Choi Yura, there was nothing strange about it.
It was only natural for Hunters to earn a lot of money, and since they never knew when they might die, their spending tendencies were bound to be extreme as well.
If anything, owner-slash-Clan Masters who operated corporate-style Clans were the unusual cases.
“Get on.”
Choi Yura climbed onto the back seat of the bike and wrapped her arms around Eunseong’s waist.
“We are not going to ride fast, and it is not as if you cannot balance. Do you really have to hold my waist like that?”
“Wh-What is wrong with holding it a little? Will it wear out?”
“Yes, it will wear out.”
“Just start driving.”
“Urgh.”
Eunseong furrowed his brow.
It was because Choi Yura had pinched his side with both hands.
Vmmm!
The bike glided quietly toward the Nine Nutrition factory.
The bike was even quieter than an electric bike.
Perhaps because of the Etherium coating, it seemed to have a function that suppressed even the sound of the tires touching the ground.
“I never imagined Nine Nutrition would be a drug factory.”
“Same here.”
Choi Yura agreed as if she understood.
Nine Nutrition was a food company that made and sold protein supplements, various nutritional supplements, and chicken breast.
Perhaps because its CEO, Hwang Duhui, was a former fitness athlete and Hunter, it was widely known not only in the fitness industry but also among ordinary people.
A YouTube video of Hwang Duhui touring the Nine Nutrition factory while wearing a white sanitary protective suit and mask surfaced in Eunseong’s mind.
And yet, behind the scenes, he had been joining hands with Nine-Tail Crew and making drugs at night.
“No doubt they make supplements during the day and Overdrive at night.”
“What are you so surprised about? He is acting exactly as he looks.”
Choi Yura spoke in a sarcastic tone.
“Even so, judging someone by how they look is......”
“That is not what I meant. I meant, what is strange about a druggie making drugs?”
“Ah.”
Eunseong understood what Choi Yura meant and nodded.
After all, the fact that bodybuilders and fitness athletes used illegal drugs like anabolic steroids was no longer even an open secret.
Though that did not necessarily mean they did narcotics.
“Well, Hwang Duhui had plenty of controversies any......”
VROOOM, VROOOOM!
Suddenly, rough engine sounds rang out.
It was not just one.
Dozens of motorcycles at the very least were racing toward them with thunderous roars.
“......!”
Eunseong urgently parked the bike in a secluded place.
VROOOM! VROOOOM!
RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
Motorcycles of every kind passed Eunseong and Choi Yura.
Thanks to the stealth effect of the Etherium coating, they were difficult to notice unless one looked carefully.
“What are they?”
Choi Yura furrowed her brow.
“Why are there Bridal Masks......?”
The group that had flashed past them had all been wearing bridal masks.
Rainy Lotus
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