Chapter 39 (1/2)

Cras.h.!.+

Seol heard the noise of someone falling over, and then, a small commotion rose up from behind him.

He took a look, and immediately, his eyes widened in surprise.

The first two things entering his view were a chair and Hyun Sahng-Min falling and rolling on the ground. Then, he saw s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah and Yun Seo-Rah standing up from their seats in utter shock. And in front of them, four men giggling in an unsightly manner.

”What are you doing?!” (Yi Surl-Ah)

”Don't! Get back!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)

Just as Yi Surl-Ah was about to step out, Hyun Sahng-Min shouted at her from the ground.

”Son of a b*tch…. This is really humiliating… Kkeuk!” (Hyun Sahng-Min)

The leader of the group then kicked Hyun Sahng-Min's midriff as the latter tried to push himself up. Hyun Sahng-Min fell and rolled on the ground again.

”Huh, you think this is embarra.s.sing, eh?”

The leader spoke with a mocking voice, before tapping on Hyun Sahng-Min's chin with his foot.

”So, you know all about humiliation, huh. Why didn't you quietly offer your apology when I asked you nicely, in that case? You'd have avoided all this humiliation in the first place. Don't you think so, amigo?”

Seol stood up from his seat while deeply frowning.

'Oh Min-Young?' (Seol)

He saw Oh Min-Young sticking very close to one of the men, a burly guy, and cackling like a villain while looking on at what was happening. Her arms across her chest and a gloating expression etched on her face, too.

”I do feel sorry for you since you look like a worm and all, so I'll give you one more chance. Apologise to those two. Hurry up.”

”I also don't want to do this. But you see, me, or my brothers, can't really hold ourselves back when someone does bad things to us.”

The leader's words caused the burly guy to giggle derisively.

”You apologise from the bottom of your heart, and then I'll forget all about today's matter.”

Hyun Sahng-Min began gritting his teeth.

”What the f*ck…. You the guy who invited that b*stard?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)

”What if I am?”

”What a G.o.dd*mn joke. A guy with a big-a*s physique prattling on like a little girl. You think you're the only Inviter around here?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)

”Ohh! That's right, you're also an Invited. I forgot.”

Rather than sounding like he had genuinely forgotten about it, the leader acted as if he couldn't care any less.

”But, have you ever thought about this before?”

The leader squatted low to the ground and met Hyun Sahng-Min's eyes.

”It's not that your Inviter is running late, it's just him not deciding to show up in the first place.”

”What?” (Hyun Sahng-Min)

”You asking me why? Because, he could also get humiliated if he tries to step forward like a fool, you see.”

The leader's husky voice gradually became lower. The knife scar on his cheek wiggled slightly as he grinned, his yellowing teeth revealed to the world as he did so.

”You'd do well to remember. Never take us Cartel boys lightly. Not every Bronze marks are equal, get my drift…?”

Suddenly, another commotion unfolded behind the leader. When he looked behind him, he found a youth busy pus.h.i.+ng past his underlings to come closer.

”Oh?”

The leader's eyes opened wider as he stood back up.

”It's you.”

The leader raised his hand and waved away his boys as they tried to intervene.

”What is going on here?” (Seol)

Seol's cold voice caused the leader to form an interesting facial expression.

”What a surprise. Not even another Inviter, but the Rookie himself steps forward.”

'A Rookie?' (Seol)

”Mm…. Now that I take a look at you, you do kinda look like a player.”

Seol continued to glare at the leader. The latter man raised his hands in a shrugging gesture and began speaking in a jovial tone.

”Oh, this? It's nothing. My little brother over there, he suffered a lot at the hands of this guy here, or so I'm told. That's why I'm just repaying the favour.”

”You should stop.” (Seol)

”Hmm? Is there a reason why I should? I'm just paying back what's owed and there's nothing wrong with that.”

”Miss Cinzia said so already. Let the matters of the Neutral Zone be bygones.” (Seol)

”Cinzia? Ohh…. That's just some random b*tch spewing c.r.a.p. We are very sensitive towards the matters of our brothers, you see. Haven't you heard, blood is thicker than water?”

Seol's brows quivered slightly. Did this guy really call Cinzia, a boss from an organisation that possesses a great deal of influence in the South, a b*tch?

There were only two explanations for this. Either this guy was a brave idiot, or the organisation backing him was as big as Cinzia's.

”This isn't a matter that an Inviter such as yourself should get involved with.” (Seol)

”I don't agree with that notion at all. Besides, technically, the Neutral Zone also exists as a part of the Paradise, am I right? Or, am I wrong?”

The leader looked around him and asked, prompting his underlings to guffaw out, including the burly guy and Oh Min-Young. She laughed so hard, she might choke on her own spit at that rate.

The joke wasn't even all that funny to begin with, but she must've been laughing hard just to spite the others. What a disgusting sight it was.

”Okay. Now, if you're done, I'd like the third wheel to go away. I still have things to do.”

”I'm not the third wheel.” (Seol)

The leader dusted his hands and turned around, only to come to a standstill.

”What did you say?”

”I asked Hyun Sahng-Min for the favour.” (Seol)

”Wait a minute. Wait, wait. Wait~~.”

The leader raised his hands theatrically and suddenly raised a fuss before taking several large strides to get closer to Seol.

”So, are you saying that you asked that man to torment my little brother? Is that it?”

”No, I didn't ask him to….” (Seol)

”Doesn't matter. You say you are related to this thing, right?”

The leader took Seol's silence as his tacit agreement and rubbed his hands together, before placing a hand on the youth's shoulder.

”Hey, man…. This is me giving you my sincerest advice. Do you know what is the most important thing you gotta remember in the Paradise?”

”It's what you say, man. Your words. You gotta watch your mouth around this place.”

The leader lightly tapped on his lips and continued to speak.

”I will ask you again, so think long and hard before answering, okay? Doesn't matter what your story is, you said you're not the third wheel in this mess, didn't you?”

”I already told you that.” (Seol)

When Seol replied without hesitation, a huge grin formed on the face of the leader.

”Okay. Ok~ay! So, that's how it was. In that case, our story changes a bit.”

The leader became so happy, he even began lightly humming in pure joy as well.

”I thought I might get a Bronze Mark as a stooge or something, but now…. A real, bona fide Gold Mark just rolled into my lap. Heh!”

Then, he sat down on one of the empty chairs and beckoned Seol. Hyun Sahng-Min was already long gone from his thought process, it seemed.

”Take a seat. Let me listen to your story. While we eat, no?”

The leader began shoving food found on the table down his mouth. Seol quietly stared at him, sensing that something wasn't quite right. The way his att.i.tude had changed was one thing, and there was that oily smile of his, too.

”What are you doing, Rookie? I told you to sit down.”

More importantly, Seol didn't like the way this guy was acting, as if he knew something about the youth.

Seol took a glance at Hyun Sahng-Min, still pinned to the ground. The grinning burly guy was pus.h.i.+ng down on him with a foot. Oh Min-Young was to his side, her foot stepping on Hyun Sahng-Min's hand, also carrying a distorted smile on her face.

'And why is she enjoying this so much?' (Seol)

Seol couldn't really understand it, but he knew he couldn't do anything at the moment. As long as Hyun Sahng-Min was held captive, he couldn't make a rash move.

In the end, he sat down on the opposite side to the leader.

”Very good…. Oh, where's my manners? I haven't introduced myself yet, right? Names Salcido. Olivier Salcido.”

Salcido reached out with his hand.

And when Seol also reached out and grabbed the offered hand….

Suddenly, he was greeted with pain as his hand was being gripped really tightly. Seol hurriedly injected some strength in his hand. Salcido simply gripped even tighter as if he didn't even find it challenging enough to care.

”Very nice to meet you. What's your name, by the way?” (Salcido)

”…Keuk.”

”I said, what's your name, eh? Ehehehe….” (Salcido)

Just before he cried out, Seol instinctively circulated his Magic Power. The energy rapidly coursed through his internal Circuit, flowed through his right arm, and arrived at his right hand.

”Oh?”

However, Salcido was an Earthling who had stayed in the Paradise for over a year and a half already. He quickly sensed the change and activated his own Magic Power. His initial plan was to break this new kid's spirit, but he also believed that he'd never lose to a complete newbie who didn't know anything.

That was how it was supposed to be.

But then…

”Wha, what?” (Salcido)

Salcido gasped out in shock. Not only his own energy was being rapidly extinguished, Seol's aura was growing bigger and bigger at a frightening rate.

'Not only the amount, but I even lose to the flow's speed, too?!' (Salcido)

Logically, such a thing was completely impossible.

In the blink of an eye, the situation had reversed. Salcido began sweating buckets as the pressure on his hand grew more and more.

”Eee….. Eeek!” (Salcido)

He couldn't even say anything out aloud since he had his reputation to worry about. Meanwhile, Seol simply stared at the deeply frowning Salcido with an expressionless face.

It was then, the others sensed that something was off. It was unimaginable for a Level 3 Earthling to lose to a youth who was still only at Level 1, but seeing Salcido's complexion turn for the worse, they suspected something did go wrong somewhere.

Two of the goons accompanying Salcido secretly exchanged signals and nodded their heads. One of them tried to sneak up on Seol, only for his steps to come to a halt after someone grabbed his shoulder.

”h.e.l.lo there, friends.” (Hao Win)

It was none other than Hao Win.

”Who the f*ck are you?”

”I'm a friend of that friend, let's put it like that.” (Hao Win)

”Is that right? Why don't you remove your hand first, unless you don't want to live anymore?”

”Ohh, so scary. But, I can't do that.” (Hao Win)

Hearing Hao Win's playful tone, the man's eyes narrowed to a slit.

”….You an Invited?”