The Fighting Dog of a Ruined Organization

“These bastards are lying to us!”

White Bear was already collapsed and couldn’t do anything, while Fire Bear jumped up and shouted.

What are you going to do by shouting, you bastard?

The room is cramped anyway, so I immediately delivered a calf kick to Fire Bear. When I hit his shin with my shin, Fire Bear happily did a tap dance.

“Keeeeek! My leg!”

Oh? Why is that dangling? It seems his shin is broken. Is it because there’s a 160 difference in combat power?

“If you don’t want to get punished more, will you get lost? You baldy bastard without a single hair left because it all burned off.”

“Kuk, alright… We’ll retreat, but could you promise us one thing?”

“Could I? Your words are short.”

“Would you please promise us?”

“I’ll listen first and then decide.”

He’s probably cursing me inside, but Fire Bear tried to ask while pretending to be calm.

“Please don’t tell anyone that we came for revenge.”

“Why?”

I was going to spread it around and make you look like total idiots. Saying there are bastards who got their asses kicked by a ruined organization.

“Our Three Bears of Gangnam is the lowest organization in Murim Alliance… Although we’re only three people, we’re still an organization, so Boss White Bear could possess a body.”

“Can’t you just get to the point?”

“Murim Alliance has a strong image of chivalry. Don’t you know that too, Fighting Dog of Fantasia?”

An image of chivalry.

I think I know what he’s talking about. It was quite common to hear about Murim Alliance crushing its subordinate organizations.

“You mean they eliminate subordinate organizations that ruin their good image as chivalrous people? Because trespassing for petty revenge against an already ruined organization is a cowardly act.”

“That’s correct. Fighting Dog-nim, you’re quite smart.”

“I am smart. You guys are stupid because your hair fell out. Isn’t that why you got beaten up like this?”

“Me too! I’m smart too! Right, Hyeonwoo?”

“Of course, our Hyungnim Agasshi is smart too.”

“Hehehe…”

She grins like a kindergartener praised by her dad when I pat her head.

Of course, we reaped benefits thanks to Eris handling it well, but isn’t this ruining her status as a boss?

“These bastards keep talking about people’s hair…”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing. I was talking to myself.”

“I can hear you, you baldy bastard.”

“……”

Fire Bear shut his mouth tight. I decided to be merciful and let it slide. He looks like he can barely stand with his broken shin, so I can’t break his other shin, can I?

“But is there any reason for me to keep my mouth shut?”

“Ah!”

Fire Bear opened his mouth in surprise.

Yeah, of course. There’s no reason for me to keep my mouth shut.

These bastards are pretending to be weak now, but they actually came for revenge, right? Even picking the lock to sneak in.

Why should I care if such bastards die or not? I didn’t kill them because it would hinder our growth just as Fantasia is about to grow, having to deal with the aftermath.

I could kill them if I wanted to. The only opponents I hesitate to kill are innocent people.

These bastards have probably killed countless people already, so there’s nothing to hold back. Just look at White Bear, she must have killed an idol and taken over her body.

“If you can’t give me a good reason, I’m going to spread this everywhere. The Three Bears of Gangnam got their asses kicked by Fantasia! They say they’re three bears, but they’re just stupid balding bears!”

“Uh, uuuh…”

Fire Bear seemed to be racking his brains trying to come up with a good reason. But there’s no way there could be a good reason.

Let’s think about it. I tried to end things peacefully with Half-moon Bear, but he talked about trust and fought. That’s just a minor incident. Such things are common between organizations, right?

But we’re a ruined organization, and they’re part of one of the top 3 organizations, even if they’re at the bottom? They trespassed for revenge over such a common incident?

What reason could they give to shut me up? Huh?

“Th-then we’ll pay you a monthly tribute.”

Oh ho? This is quite an enticing story.

“We run a bakery with support from Murim Alliance. It’s called White Bear Bakery.”

“What does a bakery have to do with Gangnam Temple?”

“Gangnam Temple is just because our hideout is in Gangnam…”

“It’s not even a temple, just a hideout? You guys are ridiculous.”

“Well, we’re a secular clan faction of Shaolin Temple… No, that’s not important. Anyway, White Bear Bakery makes a net profit of 500 per month. It’s quite a popular bakery in Gangnam.”

“So? How much are you going to give?”

“We’ll give you 50.”

On the condition of paying a monthly tribute of 50 million won, I’ll keep silent about today’s incident.

It’s quite an appealing offer.

If the amount was too large, I might have been suspicious. They might say one thing upfront but do something else behind our backs.

“By the way, you guys aren’t going around beating up other weak organizations like today, are you?”

“We’re not. We’re the weakest ourselves, so there’s no organization weaker than us except Fantasia.”

Well, where else is there an organization as weak as one with only 3 members and only 1 combat-capable member?

If they were going around messing with other organizations too, it might be worth being suspicious, but since they only did it to us, it’s worth believing and negotiating.

“Alright, then shall we write up a payment agreement?”

As I looked around for paper and a pen, I saw Eris’s blank face. Drool was dripping from her mouth, probably pooled inside. And it’s a bit red because she didn’t wipe off all the hot sauce. Why is she being so disgusting?

“Bread… must be delicious…”

“Hyungnim Agasshi, do you like bread?”

“Huh? Yeah! I love it!”

“Then 500,000 won plus free daily bread delivery.”

“What?! You want us to deliver bread for free every day? If you like free stuff so much, you’ll go bald!”

“What’s with you, bastard? Then did you go bald because you like free stuff too?”

Unable to refute, Fire Bear shut his mouth. I guess daily delivery is a bit much.

“Then deliver every Sunday. That much should be fine, right?”

“Ah! That’s doable. Certainly.”

In the end, Fire Bear wrote up a payment agreement for a monthly tribute of 500,000 won, plus delivering bread every Sunday.

The official reason was to promote peaceful relations with Fantasia. It was a contract made as a kind of investment concept.

It’s not like we’re giving them anything when we grow, but is that my problem? This is a world where fists are closer than the law. It means I don’t care if it’s a fair contract or whatever.

“Th-then we’ll be going now…”

“Alright, get home safely.”

Fire Bear limped out with White Bear. When Eris first sent the text asking for help, my heart sank, but in the end, we gained a lot of benefits.

“But how did you spit out the hot sauce so naturally?”

“Huh? What hot sauce?”

“Didn’t you spit out hot sauce like blood to pretend you were sick?”

“Hm… This is real blood? If you use mana poisoning well, you can cough up blood on purpose. Do you want me to show you again, Hyeonwoo?”

This crazy lady actually coughed up real blood?

I wiped some of the red liquid on the floor with my finger and smelled it. It really smelled like blood.

“Hyungnim Agasshi… This isn’t something you should show again just because someone wants to see it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is… Never use it unless it’s really dangerous.”

“Okay…”

Leaving Eris alone is definitely dangerous. There might be people who come for revenge over trivial matters like today, or Carpe Diem might suddenly try to harm Eris.

“It would be good if Hyungnim Agasshi could go around and fight too…”

Or if there was at least one more combat personnel to protect Eris, I could feel at ease.

In reality, Eris’s combat power is only 2, and Shizu is surely weak too, so I can’t do anything with peace of mind.

“It’s a difficult problem…”

Should we take it slow?

I’d like to go around every day with promissory notes, beating people up, but it would be troublesome if Eris gets harmed in the meantime.

Whether we find combat personnel or whatever, it might be better to leisurely look for countermeasures for the next 4 months since we don’t need to worry about capital.

“I’m back. But what’s that red liquid?”

Shizu, who came home, asked while tilting her head. To that question, before Eris could raise her hand and say,

“I coughed up some blood!”

I beat her to it and explained in detail.

I saw Eris raising her hand, and it was obvious what she was going to say.

“I see, so that’s what happened.”

“But how about you, Shizu-ssi? You said you were going to meet a mana researcher.”

“Actually, I hurried back because of that story. Hyeon-woo-nim, I’m sorry to say this, but I think you need to do some work right away.”

“Work? What kind of work?”

It’s not that late yet. It’s just about to be 9 PM. It’s still time for people who want to drink to drink, people who want to game to game, and people who want to watch NewTube to watch NewTube.

It means there’s enough time to work if asked to. The important thing is what kind of work.

“It seems the mana researcher took out some loans for research. But they kept not paying back, so in the end, it looks like the loan shark kidnapped them today.”

“Kidnapped? Did you find out where they borrowed money from?”

“That’s why I was late, asking around. The place that lent the money was called Phone Cash.”

“Phone Cash? I think I’ve seen that somewhere.”

I rummaged through the promissory notes Fantasia had. Phone Cash, Phone Cash…

Ah, here it is. They lent 50 million won?

“These bastards are ridiculous. The guys who lend money borrowed money and aren’t paying back?”

“Ah! Those guys? They said they couldn’t pay back because they had lent out all their money every time we went.”

You believed such bullshit? Why does someone who acts so well believe others’ acts at face value?

“It seems we need to collect some of our money too. Isn’t there any organization backing those bastards?”

“They’re not supported by the top 3 organizations. But although it’s not one of the top 3, it’s known that a small organization called ‘Banana Man’ is connected to Phone Cash.”

“Banana Man? What kind of organization are they? I’ve never heard of them.”

“They’re an organization that only exists in the shadows, that’s why. So I paid a Kaibang beggar sleeping on the street to ask.”

“What’s a Kaibang beggar?”

“Kaibang is known as one of the 5 major factions of Murim Alliance, an organization of beggars. But in reality, the beggars are non-combatants, just information gatherers collecting information.”

Ah, I see, they’re like information brokers that might appear in fantasy novels. A beggar sleeping on the street would be quite easy to meet.

“So what did they say?”

“They said Banana Man is an organization that kidnaps women to make and sell sexual exploitation material. They use the profits from that to keep exploiting until the debt is paid off. But by the time the debt is paid off, the woman’s body is already in tatters…”

“Was the mana researcher a woman by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“And she was kidnapped today?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, we don’t have much time then.”

I was going to take it slow, but it seems they won’t let me.

“Shizu-ssi, take Eris and hide in the safest place possible. If need be, stay next to a Kaibang beggar or something.”