The Fighting Dog of a Ruined Organization

He was going to set her free after succeeding just this once?

What bullshit, you bastard. It’s a common tactic used by blackmailers for gaslighting.

“Sadly, it seems punishment is needed. See you later, Reni.”

I wanted to look at Reni’s expression out of concern, but I couldn’t. I needed to focus on the man in front of me right now.

I calmly analyze the man. His height seems to be in the mid-170cm range, a little shorter than me. His arms don’t look particularly long, and he doesn’t seem very muscular, so he’s likely not good at hand-to-hand combat.

『Combat Power: 67』

As if to prove this, his combat power floats above his head. It’s a woefully inadequate combat power compared to my 420.

But you can’t judge the outcome of a fight by combat power alone. Even a gun fired by Eris with a combat power of 2 would kill me if I got hit.

There are very few humans who don’t die when shot.

Even among monsters, the unremarkable ones die when shot. Guns are the crystallization of Carpe Diem’s technology, after all. If you can’t be killed by a gun, that’s when you enter the realm of superhumans.

So I need to be careful. I absolutely can’t give him a chance to shoot. I need to disarm him somehow and move to hand-to-hand combat.

Once hand-to-hand combat starts, it’ll be my victory.

“You’re quite unlucky too, aren’t you? How nice it would have been if you’d just fallen for the seduction. You could have mixed flesh with none other than Reni Sist for just a bit of money. You wouldn’t have died either.”

“Die? Me? Why would I die?”

“Why? Because I’m going to kill you, brother. If you get in the way, you get eliminated. That’s the rule of this world.”

His clothes are a short-sleeved shirt with floral patterns. It’s the kind of clothes typically worn by thugs. It’s not Murim Alliance because they wear martial arts uniforms even if they’re dying from heat.

He’s not wearing Carpe Diem’s snake badge or Esper Hunter’s S earring either.

And then what’s with this ‘this world’ bullshit.

“A bastard who doesn’t even know what ‘this world’ really is, running his mouth.”

“Interesting words. Are you confident in your size? Do you know how many guys your size I’ve killed?”

“What about you? Do you know how many guys have talked about my size before getting knocked out?”

This bastard who can’t do anything without a gun is talking big.

I calmly draw up Body Energy and gather it in my hand. The veins bulge as if they’re about to burst, and it hurts, probably because this isn’t mohanya’s space.

What the hell, this is a fucking painful technique.

But I have to endure it. As much as I want to throw the knife and stick it in his neck right now, I have to hold back since it won’t cause instant death.

If I mess up because I can’t endure this pain, my head will be full of holes. I’m going through all this to revive Fantasia, and if I die, it’ll all be meaningless.

So I must survive. Kill that bastard and get the dryad’s branch. That’s all I needed to do.

『Seung-chang is about to draw his gun and shoot!』

What kind of name is Seung-chang, crazy.

I almost lost focus because it was funny, but I can’t miss this. The moment Seung-chang fully drew his gun, I threw the sashimi knife aiming for his forearm.

Whish!

The sashimi knife flies, tearing through the air.

“Aaaagh!”

The sashimi knife has no reason to miss. It accurately pierces Seung-chang’s forearm, and he screams, dropping the gun on the ground.

Now’s the time.

Although the back of my hand felt like it was about to burst from using Body Energy, I endured it and ran. By circulating Body Energy throughout my body while moving, I could move much faster than usual.

I wonder what my combat power is now with Body Energy enhancing my whole body. I was curious but had no time to check. I’m going to kill Seung-chang in one hit and end this.

Crack!

Stepping on and crushing the dropped gun, I shift my center of gravity forward for a straight punch.

My outstretched right fist accurately hits Seung-chang’s philtrum. With a cracking sound of teeth breaking, Seung-chang falls backward.

Thud!

Having fallen with the back of his head hitting the asphalt, there’s no way he could survive. I’ve also destroyed the gun, so there’s no way he could do anything else.

He’s obviously dead, but I looked down at Seung-chang contemptuously and said,

“If you wanted to work in this world, you should have been stronger. Regret it in hell.”

To be honest, I’m disgusted.

Even weaklings like this are objects of fear to some people. And it’s Carpe Diem that gives these weaklings absolute power, guns.

Because of Carpe Diem, this world can live with advanced technology, but because of Carpe Diem, tears of blood flow from the eyes of many.

How many small organizations spring up thanks to the guns Carpe Diem produces, and how many innocent citizens’ backs are broken?

Until now, I thought this world was a fictional creation and the people were just characters, so I didn’t feel much.

But now that it’s starting to feel like a real world, I’m beginning to feel unable to forgive such things.

But what can I do even if I can’t forgive it?

I don’t have power right now. Even if I had power, if I suddenly toppled them, I couldn’t avoid criticism. Perhaps that’s why Toshin, who toppled Fantasia, voluntarily disappeared.

I shouldn’t do that.

Murim Alliance, which mourns Toshin’s disappearance and waits for his return, I don’t want Yu Jin-ri, Shizu, and Eris to experience such sorrow.

So I’ll topple them justly, from a rational position.

It’s the same reason I saved Reni despite the risk, even though there’s not much to gain. At first, I refused because it could have been a scam and I couldn’t trust her, but not anymore.

I’m not heartless enough to ignore a real victim.

“Racist, it’s all over now. Live peacefully from now on.”

“Ah…”

Only then did I turn around. Reni Sist was blinking blankly, as if she couldn’t believe she was free.

“What if this is a dream?”

Wondering if it might be a dream, she pinched her cheek and even slapped her face with both hands.

What nonsense. I risked my life to fight for her, and she’s carelessly talking about dreams.

“Is, is this really reality? Am I free now?”

“Yeah, I’m a gangster anyway, so killing one loan shark won’t be a problem.”

I’m in a position to beat people up with promissory notes too, but at least I don’t intend to harass people who really have no money, like Reni.

That’s why I offered installments to Gold Sun Textile too.

“Ah, aah… Can I really run freely now? I, I’ve been so afraid of running for a while. Running has been so painful…”

Reni said running was everything in her life. But since being caught by Seung-chang, she could only run when doing bad things.

How painful must that have been? Although I didn’t have anything that symbolized my life, I could fully understand that feeling.

“Yeah, from now on, run as much as you want. However you want.”

“Thank you, thank you…”

But at that moment.

Bang!

“Ah…?”

I heard a gunshot. Reni’s face, which was rejoicing next to me, turns pale.

Stay calm.

Even I barely managed to suppress my mind going blank and assessed the situation. Reni’s waist was bleeding, hit by a bullet.

Who shot?

Looking around hurriedly, I saw Seung-chang holding a gun. Don’t tell me he had not one, but two guns?

“Da, mn, I’m not dying, alone…”

And Seung-chang dropped the gun.

Once again, mohanya’s words echoed in my mind. There’s no guarantee of instant death even if your neck is pierced.

Until now, everyone died after taking my punches, so I thought it would be the same this time. I never thought that bastard would somehow fire one more shot because he didn’t want to die alone.

I especially didn’t expect that bullet to hit Reni.

“Reni! Wake up, Reni!”

Reni, shocked by the sudden gunshot, couldn’t breathe properly. Thinking she would die if left like this, I hurriedly carried her on my back and took her to the hospital.

At the hospital, they immediately recognized Reni as an emergency patient, laid her on a bed, and took her into the operating room.

“Haa…”

I sat down weakly. Next to me was the dryad’s branch. The dryad that seduces people, draws them in, and devours them.

How many people has this dryad’s branch devoured and made shed tears of blood?

Thinking that, I was seized by an urge to burn it and get rid of it. But Fantasia needs this to be revived.

I suddenly felt pathetic for not being able to burn such a trashy object.

“How stupid.”

Had I become too arrogant from beating up some easy targets for a while?

It was hard to maintain my sanity when someone I thought I had just saved got shot. Despite having killed so many people with my own hands, I couldn’t bear the thought of someone I tried to protect dying.

Was it especially because I had succeeded in saving Yu Jin-ri just last night? I felt a sense of dissonance and my head was spinning.

“The surgery was successful. There’s no major threat to the patient’s life.”

After some time, the doctor who came out of the operating room explained to me. It was fortunate that Reni didn’t die.

However,

“The problem is that we couldn’t save the patient’s lower body. Due to nerve damage from the gunshot, the patient will never be able to use her legs again.”

Reni was as good as dead.

Because Reni truly felt alive when she was running.

“…Reni.”

Time passed.

When Reni regained consciousness and was lying in bed, I called her quietly. She smiled weakly and said,

“You’re not calling me Racist anymore?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“I should have finished that bastard off more decisively… Because I let my guard down, you…”

“Come on, what’s there to be sorry about? Don’t be sorry.”

Reni waved her hand as if it was okay.

“It’s better that I can’t use these legs anymore. How many men have been hurt because of my running? Thinking about that, it’s better they’re gone.”

That’s definitely not true.

Her sad smile proved those words were a lie. But I had no words for her who was lying that she was okay for my sake.

“Without you, I would have been as good as dead. So don’t be distressed, kind person. I believe that someone like you can use this devilish branch for good.”

Kind, me?

“If I were really kind, I wouldn’t have teased you by calling you Racist.”

“Haha, that doesn’t matter.”

…But could you leave now? I’d like to be alone.

Her face was contorted with sorrow. It wouldn’t be polite for me to stay longer, and there was nothing I could do even if I stayed, so I opened the door and left.

I’m an idiot.
An idiot who couldn’t protect even one person.

All I can do is beat people up. I don’t have the ability to give hope and save someone who has lost their very life.

Then I should have at least beaten up the bad guy properly. Because I failed to do so, a person’s entire life was ruined.

So suddenly, I was scared.

What if it wasn’t Reni, whom I met for the first time today, who got shot because I let my guard down, but Yu Jin-ri, Shizu, or Eris?

“Ugh!”

My stomach twisted and I almost vomited. It’s painful. It’s hard to breathe.

I shouldn’t imagine such things, but I imagined my team members getting shot. So I can’t stand how pathetic I am.

“Haa, haa…”

For someone as big as a mountain to have difficulty breathing, how pathetic.

I sat down on the floor with a self-deprecating smile. I felt contradictory emotions that were both unreal and intensely real at the same time.

Ding─

At that moment, a message came from Carrot Market. Did Reni send me something? I checked the content while barely calming my breath.

『You said you were looking for a goblin shaman’s skull, right? As it happens, a goblin horde has appeared at the southern border, and there’s intelligence that a goblin shaman is leading the horde. The Phoenix Guild is recruiting a party to eliminate the goblin horde, so why don’t you participate if you’re interested?』

You’re telling someone who couldn’t protect even one person to go catch monsters directly?

That’s nonsense. Someone like me could never accomplish that.

As I was about to refuse, someone approached me and offered a cigarette. When I turned off my phone and looked up, Eris was there.

“Want to smoke one?”

Eris had just lit a cigar and was smiling with it in her mouth.

Unlike her usual smile, it was a serious and heavy smile.