Chapter 9

So Yeowol savored her victory with a smile on her lips. The group she led was also drunk on the afterglow of victory. But not all of them were.

A few children were trembling with terrible guilt.

Imin was one of them.

She, too, had killed another child today.

Her small, white hands, like fernbrakes, were stained with blood.

She didn’t know how many times she had washed her hands. But the smell of blood seemed to follow her, refusing to fade.

“Haa!”

Imin let out a soft sigh.

Her eyes were completely bloodshot, perhaps from holding back tears.

“Kekek! Did you see that guy? The way he gasped before he died? Just like a goldfish. So I strangled him with these hands.”

“It was truly thrilling.”

“The Captain is the best, after all.”

The children chattered about their heroic deeds as they ate the food they had stolen from Go Yeongsan’s group.

The way they ate, getting food on their hands, was as natural as if it were their daily routine. They had already grown accustomed to blood. As if they were born this way.

The sight was horribly repulsive.

No, what was truly repulsive was herself, being with them.

It was just as Imin shuddered unknowingly.

Grrrr!

Suddenly, a heavy noise echoed from the ceiling of the underground cavern.

“What? Is it time for the food to come down already?”

“We should have at least half a day left.”

The children looked up at the ceiling with suspicious eyes.

A huge basket was descending.

Thinking it was food, the children shot to their feet.

So Yeowol said to the children.

“We have to secure as much food as possible.”

“Yeah! Captain.”

“Of course.”

So Yeowol’s group answered with soaring spirits.

With Go Yeongsan’s group gone, there were no other groups left that could stand against them. Of course, a few other groups were still intact, but they couldn’t dare compare to So Yeowol’s group.

So Yeowol scanned her surroundings with sharp eyes.

Her eyes were searching for Pyo Wol.

The only person So Yeowol felt uneasy about in the underground cavern was Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol was different from the other children in many ways.

He didn’t lead a group like she did, nor did he engage in any noticeable activities.

He only took his share of the food, but for some reason, So Yeowol found him unsettling.

If she put her mind to it, she could mobilize her entire group to attack him. But the reason she didn’t was because of Pyo Wol’s eyes.

Pyo Wol’s eyes, tinged with a faint Crimson Light, were strangely deep, making it impossible to guess his inner thoughts.

She wasn’t the only one who felt a sense of otherness, as if he were living in a different space and time, despite being in the same place.

The group that followed her also avoided Pyo Wol.

To be precise, they feared him.

Their fear of Pyo Wol had intensified, especially after he single-handedly killed Yeom Iljung’s group.

Not just So Yeowol, but most of the children in the underground cavern thought so.

At one point, So Yeowol’s eyes lit up.

She had spotted Pyo Wol among the children. But Pyo Wol’s expression was strange for some reason.

His face was completely stiff, as if he were wary of something.

“Why are you…”

So Yeowol was about to ask Pyo Wol a question without realizing it, but then she looked at the basket. Pyo Wol’s gaze was fixed on it.

It was then.

Suddenly, people jumped out from inside the basket.

They were all adults wearing masks.

They had come down to the underground cavern in the basket instead of food. In their hands, they all held iron clubs.

“What?”

“Who are you?”

The moment the children cried out in surprise, the Masked Men who had come down in the basket began to unleash merciless violence.

“Ack!”

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Keuk!”

The Masked Men’s iron clubs struck the children.

The children were helpless against their violence. A few strong-willed children charged forward spiritedly, but they were no match from the start.

The children were too weak to face fully grown adults, and Martial Artists who had learned Martial Arts at that.

Thwack! Whack!

The sound of flesh tearing echoed from all directions.

No matter how full of Poison Qi they were, the children were nothing more than unripe sprouts. Those sprouts were being trampled by the Masked Men’s clubs.

The Masked Men were merciless.

They continued their brutal assault without saying a word.

So Yeowol was no exception.

She had to endure the Masked Men’s assault, her body curled up like a shrimp.

It was the same for Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol took the beating without any resistance.

He had anticipated this situation.

He could have easily escaped into the darkness of the underground area if he had wanted to, but he didn’t.

Doing so would have a high probability of drawing their unnecessary attention.

He must never stand out.

Attracting attention would only lead to him being used as a disposable pawn much sooner.

That was why Pyo Wol did not resist and took the beating like the other children.

Pyo Wol curled his body, protected his head with both hands, and looked at the basket.

The huge basket once again rose to the ceiling and then came down carrying new people.

They, too, wore masks like the Masked Men currently carrying out the assault, and the moment he saw them, goosebumps rose all over Pyo Wol’s body.

‘They’re the real ones.’

There were three of them in total, and they possessed an eerie aura that was incomparable to the Masked Men wielding iron clubs.

Uniquely, their masks were inscribed with the characters for One, Two, and Three.

They looked around the area with sharp eyes.

There were no children left standing in the area. All had been miserably broken by the overwhelming violence.

So Yeowol’s leadership, the children’s Poison Qi, and their experience with killing were all useless against the Masked Men who possessed overwhelming power.

‘So this is how they tame them.’

Pyo Wol’s body trembled slightly at their cruel scheme.

Not even beasts are tamed this way.

If they thought of them as fellow humans, they wouldn’t treat people like disposable items.

They did not think of the children as human.

Just as Pyo Wol thought, they only considered them tools.

To raise them as they wished, they first needed to break their spirit. This violence was for that purpose.

The Masked Man with the number One on his forehead raised his hand. The violence then stopped as if by a lie.

The Masked Men withdrew their clubs and stood behind the three Masked Men.

The Masked Man with the number One written on his mask opened his mouth.

“I am called Il-geom (One Sword).” From now on, I will manage this place. Your lives are now mine. There are no exceptions.”

“Keuk! Who do you think you are…”

One of the children defiantly raised his head.

He was the leader of a small group in his own right. His personality was just as formidable.

Shing!

But he could not finish his words.

As soon as he opened his mouth, a nearby Masked Man had struck his neck.

The child’s head rolled away, his mouth still open as if to speak. The sight of a human head rolling like that was a great shock to the children.

“I did not give you permission to open your mouths.”

“……”

At Il-geom’s indifferent words, the children desperately suppressed the screams that threatened to escape.

The children had a premonition that a new hell had opened.

＊＊＊

The number of remaining children was forty-nine in total.

The number of children, which had been over three hundred, had been reduced to almost one-sixth. Two hundred had starved to death or committed suicide, unable to bear the despair, and the remaining fifty or so had died in the infighting.

The children who had survived through it all were the most tenacious of the tenacious.

Although they bowed their heads and wore fearful expressions in the face of the Masked Men’s merciless violence, the look in the children’s eyes was completely different.

‘I’ll kill those bastards someday.’

‘I’ll kill them.’

‘Just you wait.’

The children’s eyes were full of Poison Qi.

They were only enduring it because they lacked power; their hatred and anger towards the Masked Men had not diminished at all.

The Masked Men also knew this fact.

Because they were the ones who had raised the children that way.

“They are Gu Poison.”

Il-geom muttered.

If you put numerous poisonous creatures into a single jar, they will eat each other until the strongest one survives. The last one to survive, having devoured the other poisonous creatures, will possess the most virulent poison.

That was Gu Poison.

The one with the strongest survival instinct among countless poisonous creatures. The monster that possessed the most vicious Poison Qi.

“Only those with the strongest survival instincts among the many have survived. It has turned out just as we wanted.”

He wasn’t worried about raising the children as tools.

They were already full of Poison Qi.

They wouldn’t be discouraged by ordinary trials or Training.

The problem was whether they could control the children as they wished. They were already highly rebellious.

If they couldn’t control such children for certain, there was a high probability that they would become a double-edged sword.

A sword sharp enough for the enemy can also harm the one who wields it.

Il-geom’s gaze turned to I-geom.

He asked in a low voice that the children could not hear.

“Are there any to watch out for?”

“So Yeowol, as expected. As she leads the largest group, her influence on the children is outstanding.”

“Hmm!”

“If we don’t break her spirit for certain now, she will be even harder to handle later.”

“Manage her specially. So she can’t even dream of rebellion…”

“Understood.”

“Who else is there?”

“Song Cheonwoo, Kang Il, and others are also noteworthy. Although they are overshadowed by So Yeowol, if we consider only their aptitude for Martial Arts, they are the most outstanding.”

The Masked Men had a clear view of what had happened in the underground cavern.

The children didn’t know, but there were various surveillance Mechanisms throughout the underground cavern that allowed them to observe the inside.

Through the Mechanisms, the Masked Men had been grasping the internal situation.

This underground cavern was not made by them.

It was a secret facility built long ago by a certain Sect of the Demonic Path.

The Masked Men had merely stumbled upon the facility and were recycling it.

The core was all gone, and only the shell remained, but that alone was enough for the Masked Men.

No one knew of this place except for the Masked Men.

It was the perfect facility to plot something away from the eyes of the world.

The best thing was that it didn’t cost much to operate this place.

That was why they chose this place.

As a place to raise the Gu Poison that would become their weapons.

Il-geom asked, as if he had just remembered something.

“What happened to that one?”

“Who?”

“The survivor from Area One.”

“If you mean Pyo Wol, he is still alive.”

“Is that so?”

Il-geom muttered, stroking his chin with his hand.

They managed the ten underground areas separately.

They varied the environment in each to test the children’s survival abilities. Among them, the conditions in Area One, where Pyo Wol was confined, were the harshest.

They also gave the least amount of food.

Pyo Wol had survived in an environment so harsh that even the Masked Men themselves couldn’t guarantee their survival if they were trapped there.

His survival ability was more than enough to attract the attention of the Masked Men in many ways.

“Keep a close watch on him. He’s no ordinary kid.”

“Understood.”

“We have six years left. We must complete the request within that time.”

“Since only the most tenacious have survived, six years will be enough.”

“……”

When Il-geom fell silent for a moment, I-geom quietly went outside.

Left alone, Il-geom took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his bosom and muttered.

“For the Unit Leader to accept such a request…”

He unfolded the paper.

[Personal letter to the Bloody Shadows Guild Leader.

…requesting the Assassination of.

Period―Seven years.

Payment―Five hundred thousand Nyang of Gold.

Condition―Leave no trace related to the Bloody Shadows Guild.]