Chapter 25: I'm Not a Psychopath (2)

“Seo Punggae…! You need to get out of here, now.”

A man whose triple-layered jowls folded as he whispered urgently to Seo Punggae. He was Jin Sobang, the Branch Leader of District 31.

“Yeah, I know. But didn’t I say it’d only take a moment? You stand watch outside the door.”

“How can a Three-Knot like me let a Law Elder take the lead while I just stand guard from behind? This is the lower district, where even whispers in the day are heard by beggars and nighttime murmurs by beggars too!”

Seo Punggae didn’t even spare him a glance.

His straw sandals carefully avoided the gappy wooden floor that looked like it was missing teeth, while his aged eyes focused intently on scanning the interior.

“Mm.”

Seo Punggae let out a low groan.

The room was a total wreck.

The walls, already yellowed with age, were now blackened to the point where finding any untouched spots was impossible.

“Heh.”

That wicked sorceress had finally caused real trouble!

‘It’s my fault for failing to dissuade the young hero.’

He had let an innocent lamb wander into a demon’s lair, bound by treaties.

That thorn pricked at his conscience painfully.

And so, three days later, he had come here today.

‘Everything’s reduced to ashes…’

As Seo Punggae’s pupils shifted, his heart burned hotter. His eyes kept narrowing fiercely.

Jin Sobang chased after him frantically, trying to persuade him. He was desperate in his own way.

“Seo Punggae!”

“Quiet.”

Seo Punggae made no effort to hide his annoyance.

“If you’re not even going to stand watch and just interfere with my business, then get out. Why follow me in the first place?”

“You didn’t even accept my greetings in District 31 before rushing off somewhere, so how could I, as Branch Leader, not chase after you?”

“Fine. Now that you’ve achieved your goal, leave, Branch Leader. This is advice from your senior.”

“Even if it’s your word, Seo Punggae, I have no choice but to defy it. You’re my benefactor.”

Only then did Seo Punggae turn his scolding gaze to Jin Sobang. Their attire differed starkly from the start—one barely covered by rags, the other far more refined.

‘Luxuriously dressed, as expected.’

His gaze dropped lower.

A belly protruding like a hill from being tightly cinched at the waist, and below it, the three knots of rope trembling pitifully.

And not just that. From the ample sleeves peeked the tip of steel fingers.

Expensive cybernetic prosthetics, rare even in the lower districts where middle-class norms prevailed.

This stark contrast in garb among fellow Beggar Clan members proved Jin Sobang belonged to the Blue-Robed Faction.

“They say ten years can change mountains and rivers, but you’ve changed from head to toe, Branch Leader.”

Seo Punggae muttered with a hollow chuckle.

Despite the sarcasm, Jin Sobang’s eyes didn’t waver.

“Call me Sobang like before, Elder.”

“Come on. You’re not the same as you were—how can I treat you casually? ‘Branch Leader’ suits you now.”

“The world is changing. I dare recommend that you, Seo Punggae, shed the old ways quickly and convert to the Blue-Robed Faction.”

Jin Sobang spoke humbly yet firmly.

“Even if I’m a money-grubbing Blue-Robe, I’m still a Beggar Clan member. How can I let my benefactor enter the witch’s lair alone without guarding— Mmph!”

A grimy palm clamped over Jin Sobang’s mouth.

As the stench nearly made him retch, Seo Punggae pressed his index finger to the center of his own lips.

“Shh.”

Cold silence dominated the space. Suddenly, a presence stirred.

Footsteps followed. Tension skyrocketed in the pitch-black surroundings.

Gulp.

Both men’s eyes slid toward the source. It was the staircase.

Creak.

Someone descended step by step, silently.

Creak.

Just as the lower body came into view, Jin Sobang urgently sent a mental message.

– Great hero! You must leave now!

“……”

The desperate plea didn’t reach Seo Punggae. He glared at the stairs with fury.

‘The great hero!’

Jin Sobang flinched, mouth still covered. It had been ages since he’d seen Seo Punggae this enraged.

Seo Punggae might look like a leisurely old man, but when his eyes sharpened like that, blood was sure to spill.

Was Seo Punggae a Sixth-Knot for nothing? He too was a martial artist harboring ambitions for the winds of change. His mild demeanor was just a mask for dealing with civilians.

A bone-deep Tattered-Robes member who upheld the faction’s prestige with his fists.

Tattered-Robes weren’t lowly vagrants just because they begged. They’d sacrificed much, pouring time into building strength.

Yet even a top Tattered-Robes expert was grinding his teeth like this. Cold sweat beaded on Jin Sobang’s jowls.

‘Goeun, what the hell did that witch do?’

Orthodox-Demonic Non-Aggression.

The unwritten rule that Orthodox Sects and Demonic Cult wouldn’t touch each other. Unlike the jianghu of old with only righteous and evil, Lake City had megacorps as a new power.

The megacorps, enemies of the martial world, had forced a truce among the fractured righteous and demonic—a historic treaty unprecedented in jianghu history.

But it didn’t mean an era of peace.

Providing any pretext could shatter the agreement, or at least leave lasting scars.

Thus.

Jin Sobang had avoided Silver Nose Bar to prevent any incidents.

He’d strictly ordered his subordinates not to approach.

Jin Sobang was a man who kept his word.

He’d had zero intention of entering Silver Nose Bar. At least until meeting his benefactor Seo Punggae.

‘Damn it, I have to end this quietly!’

Meanwhile.

The footsteps’ owner touched down.

Creak.

It was dusk, and the total darkness made identification difficult.

‘Goeun, the witch?’

The slim wrists suggested a woman at first glance.

But the hips dropped straight without curves.

Something was in hand.

Then, Seo Punggae’s hand slipped away from Jin Sobang’s mouth.

Jin Sobang steadied his breath and focused his gaze. Just as his eyes adjusted to the flesh.

Flash!

With a stone slab cracking, the opponent’s face lunged forward.

For a split second, delicate features could be mistaken for a woman’s. Definitely not the witch…

‘What’s in his hands!’

Two sticks clutched in both hands. Realizing their nature, Jin Sobang’s eyes widened.

“…Why bring an umbrella indoors…”

One hand held a folded umbrella, the other a skewer-like knife.

The blade’s target was none other than himself, Jin Sobang.

Jin Sobang bent his upper body back excessively. The blade’s edge grazed his nose tip.

The next instant, he flipped using his waist’s springiness, then curled like a turtle—

Thud!!

And shoved into Seo Punggae’s arms.

Pushed by the back ram, Seo Punggae flew to the wall. Iron Mountain Rely.

“I’ll collect on this later, Elder!”

After evacuating Seo Punggae, he bolted. Leaping back to create distance, he regulated his breathing.

“Wait, hold on!”

Seo Punggae reached out desperately, shouting.

“I know. That’s why you came here—for him. That’s why I’m stepping in.”

Jin Sobang stared straight ahead. A rare handsome man met his gaze.

‘The faces of those fallen to heart demons.’

The situation pieced together in Jin Sobang’s mind.

‘This guy’s been magically altered by the witch.’

Jin Sobang swallowed dryly and spoke.

“This young hero is possessed by inner demons. Even if you hold back, Great Hero, he’ll get hurt. The gap’s too wide.”

Jin Sobang rolled up his sleeves. His steel fingers twitched. Metal clinked as they meshed.

Clink, clink.

The mechanical arm writhed like a living thing, brimming with vitality. Sawdust on the floor floated from the vibration.

“If I step in, his body takes less damage. So trust this fool just once.”

“……”

No reply came.

He simply stepped back.

“Thank you for trusting me, Great Hero.”

“As you said, if it’s heart demons, I’ll hold back.”

“Yes.”

Jin Sobang advanced toward Lee Taebaek. His eyes changed, and the air grew oppressively heavy.

He said,

“I’ll hold back as much as possible… but if the young hero keeps using killing moves, he might still get hurt.”

Boom!

Jin Sobang launched forward. An unbelievable speed for his massive frame. Steel fingers clamped at the wrist holding the knife.

Lee Taebaek pulled his shoulder back two inches. Jin Sobang’s steel grip seized empty air, then spread wide.

Whoosh!

That instant.

Lee Taebaek swung his right hand. The Para Blade whipped toward Jin Sobang’s temple.

“Fast, but!”

Jin Sobang twisted his head to dodge.

“Too straightforward!”

Regaining posture, he countered immediately. Back muscles powered his fist. Seamless offense-defense switch.

Fierce exchanges followed. Jin Sobang pressing, Lee Taebaek evading and countering.

“Heh.”

Seo Punggae chuckled hollowly.

“Converting to Blue-Robes didn’t make you slack on training.”

Jin Sobang was, after all, District 31’s Branch Leader.

In the blood-soaked lower districts, a Branch Leader mediated. Thus, they needed matching force for the crime-ridden turf.

He looked like a plump pig now, but no denying his skill.

And!

Hiss!

Steam jetted from vents in the steel arm, boosting the straight punch.

‘Rapid Fist.’

Jin Sobang’s cheek pulled back from the steam as he thrust.

His promise to hold back rang hollow with those massive punches in rapid succession.

Jin Sobang avoided floor gaps while pressing. Fists left dozens of afterimages.

Screeech!

Lee Taebaek kept slipping them. Movements efficient and agile.

His heat haze trailed in gradients. Shadows were caught, not the body.

A bead of sweat crossed his cheek. The more he pressed, the more their stamina drained.

Precise movements.

And nimble.

He’d charged with knife drawn at first, but now only used legs. Odd for one tormented by heart demons.

‘…This is.’

Like watching a spar.

Overthinking?

‘Can’t drag this out.’

Patience spent, Jin Sobang stomped his back foot. Floor caved. Sawdust flew. As if to wreck the sparse furnishings entirely.

“……”

Lee Taebaek’s eyes darkened. He had to meet the boar-like charge head-on. The floor beside Jin Sobang’s leap exploded.

Whooosh!

Gale winds rose. Like facing a fan head-on, Lee Taebaek’s hair whipped back.

He unwittingly squinted. Gritty air shoved into his lungs.

Whoosh, Jin Sobang’s face enlarged.

One inch closer, he spread his free hand. Scattering unseen sawdust.

Jin Sobang’s fist struck as if shoving Lee Taebaek’s body.

Boom!!

Lee Taebaek slammed into the wall. He slid down amid dust.

“Huff, huff.”

Jin Sobang knelt, panting.

‘Oh no!’

In excitement, he’d used a killing move.

Prosthetic lethality rivaled heavy weapons.

Best case, severe injury. Normally, they’d smell incense behind screens.

But.

‘Thanks to the young hero barely dodging, the fist hit near the hip.’

Despite Seo Punggae’s pleas, he’d nearly killed the youth. Not enemies, and he’d stepped up defying a Sixth-Knot.

If his mechanical arm had pierced the youth’s chest…

Beggar Clan banned cold weapons, and implant eyes already stung. Tolerated as District 31’s roughest Branch Leader, but prosthetics weren’t welcome.

‘And using a cowardly fragment scatter on top.’

His teeth dug deeper into his lower lip.

If the youth died, it wouldn’t end with reprimand.

Thank heavens he lived.

Thus, Jin Sobang survived too.

‘At least one worry less…’

Then.

“Can pure Bullet Time only hold against prosthetics for so long?”

Jin Sobang’s shoulders shook.

Lee Taebaek brushed dust from his clothes and stood. Relief and shock crossed Jin Sobang’s face.

“Maybe if I add restrictions.”

Visible wounds were minor.

After brushing off, he looked cleaner than post-jog.

Jin Sobang dropped his head in dismay. A clear footprint stamped his hill-like belly.

‘No wonder the punches felt soft!’

Just before impact, Lee Taebaek had shoved the thick belly as cushion. Sly. Not a rational response from the deranged.

No.

From the moment he spoke, the heart demon assumption shattered.

“Y-You weren’t possessed by heart demons!”

“What? I just needed a sparring partner, so I didn’t say. Prosthetic users are rare, right?”

Lee Taebaek rubbed his neck, loosening knotted muscles. Jin Sobang gasped again.

“You clearly used a killing move at the start!”

“Thought you were real thieves. But seeing that old man, I knew better. And.”

Lee Taebaek flicked back his coat. Light flashed from his waist—a revolver holstered.

“If it were killing intent, I’d have shot.”

“……”

“From the start, shouldn’t I be the one raising my voice? I didn’t know your identities at first, so knife for self-defense. Lake City’s law allows shooting intruders.”

Straight facts.

In lawless lower districts, home invasion was strictly enforced. Shooting on sight was justified.

“H-Hear me out first. I’m District 31’s Branch Leader. I came only because.”

“No excuses.”

Lee Taebaek kept eyes on Jin Sobang, chin-jerking beyond. Seo Punggae stood there.

“You promised that geezer no killing moves, but scattered sawdust at the end.”

“Th-That was.”

“Damn, eyes still sting. What’s with the cheap tricks from a prosthetic guy? Legs cyber too?”

Jin Sobang sucked his lips.

“Whatever your excuse, you have no say. Right? Theft, violence, trashing the place. Branch Leader allows this recklessness?”

Lee Taebaek sheathed the blade, approaching casually. Jin Sobang retreated, sweating bullets.

“Calm down first. I apologize.”

“To calm someone, words aren’t enough—”

Thud.

Lee Taebaek kicked debris aside and sat. Then looked up, meeting eyes.

“You need proper compensation.”

Gesture to the opposite side. Sit. Paying a fresh-blooded punk.

He, the Branch Leader!

A Beggar Clan… Blue-Robes aside, still!

But Jin Sobang was fated to sit.

“Sit first.”

Seo Punggae stepped forward calmly.

“Great Hero…!”

“Sobang.”

The stern word made Jin Sobang flinch. Having defied once, he couldn’t again.

“I overstepped, Elder.”

“Enough. Let’s hear him out.”

Jin Sobang took the seat beside Seo Punggae.