Chapter 45: War on Crime (1)

Ice Skill. An ultimate technique that could only be cast by freely manipulating the properties or form of atoms!

“A legendary spell I thought had been lost to history.”

Thud. The mage Goeun prostrated herself flat on the ground. She raised both arms high in worship.

群魔永世, 萬魔仰伏.

It was a bizarre scene. Goeun, who had been performing energy circulation just moments ago, was suddenly kowtowing fervently.

“…….”

Lee Taebaek showed no particular reaction. Part of it was because the afterglow of his meditation hadn’t faded yet, but mostly because this sudden act of worship felt entirely natural to him.

As the snowflakes seeped into Goeun’s skin, Lee Taebaek unfolded his legs and stood up.

Click.

It seemed some bug bastards had barged in while he was circulating his energy. He could just sense it. His instincts had sharpened, as if he’d grown invisible antennae.

‘Energy circulation was truly a divine move in every way.’

Whatever the case, the timing was exquisitely ironic. Good luck or bad? He wasn’t sure. But he knew exactly what needed to be done.

‘Hunting bugs is the duty of an operator.’

Missing his duties as a gamer would be unacceptable.

On top of that, testing skill performance through hunting was practically the meta, wasn’t it? Lee Taebaek stepped forward, crunching across the thin ice sheet.

He could feel hordes of rat bastards scurrying underfoot.

Myriad Falling Flowers.

Its prestige had waned in recent times.

To be precise, Myriad Falling Flowers itself remained unchanged. It was just that countermeasures had been developed.

Hidden weapons? They were just metal skewers at the end of the day. Tearing through mechanical arms and legs was no easy feat.

Of course, cybernetic prosthetics were exorbitantly expensive items. You wouldn’t see them often in the lowest levels or lower districts. But with gangs, it was a different story.

What were gangs? Vermin who made money selling violence. To get stronger, they’d do absolutely anything.

Ripping off limbs like Lego bricks was child’s play. Among gang bosses, it went without saying. In their world, might made right.

Among them, Pin Finder of the Monterey Gang’s Three Executives was essentially a full-body prosthetic. He’d even armored his mind in steel.

Myriad Falling Flowers? Just tank it with Tekkai and call it a day. But Pin and the other gangsters had grown complacent. And now they were paying for that arrogance with their lives.

“Gaaahhh!”

The wails never ceased. Right after a swarm of black locusts devoured the ceiling.

Whoosh!

A wave of hidden weapons crashed over the gangsters. As if intent on erasing everything in front of Tang Jihye, the projectiles shredded every gangster in their path.

The hall fell silent in the wake of the black tide. The corpses were skewered thick with barbs. The sound of rain outside grew clearer.

The pile of bodies twitched. Pin shoved aside his porcupine-pinned underlings and emerged.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

He yanked a metal spike from his cheek. Greenish fluid sprayed out like a water gun. Tang Jihye’s Myriad Falling Flowers had pierced his prosthetic.

“Can’t you signal before attacking? And isn’t Myriad Falling Flowers supposed to be kid stuff by now? What the hell makes it hit this hard?”

Pin sneered brazenly. He pulled out a cigarette and jammed it into the hole in his cheek to plug it.

“How can a martial artist be so petty? Where’s the way of the jianghu in that?”

“Cut the bullshit, you street rat. A thug who can’t even snag a single kid mouthing off about the way of the righteous?”

Tang Jihye wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“You should be ashamed. These kids here sacrificed themselves to protect the weak.”

She scanned the surroundings before continuing.

“But what did you do? Use your men as meat shields to barely survive? Don’t thugs have any pride?”

“Figures it’d come from a Tang Clan missy—your head’s still full of flowers. Pride? What a load of crap.”

Pin lit the cigarette and started smoking through the hole in his cheek. Tang Jihye and the kids covered their mouths, fighting back vomit at the sight.

“These days, pride’s something you buy with money, missy. If you’re trying to get under my skin, that’s enough. Let’s talk like adults now.”

“…….”

Tang Jihye was puzzled.

Why did this near-death bastard look so smug? Did he have some ace up his sleeve? The unease made her hesitate to press the attack.

‘Pin Finder is infamous among the Gang Alliance leaders for his wickedness.’

A sly glint flickered from his one-piece goggles. Reading his emotions was nearly impossible.

‘Basically the Monterey Gang’s boss. And he didn’t even flinch when that chatty bastard in the sedge hat died—definitely no ordinary thug.’

Moreover, Pin had grasped Tang Jihye’s weakness. Or rather, she’d exposed it herself.

The moment Myriad Falling Flowers rained down, he’d used his men as shields. Meat shields. To him, underlings were worth exactly that.

‘Gangs are all the same…’

Tang Jihye kept glancing back. She couldn’t act rashly. The kids might get hurt. That was her weakness.

Unlike a thug who treated his men like tools, she had to protect the children.

‘Damn it.’

As if reading her mind, Pin sneered. He puffed out his cheek, and the half-smoked cigarette fell.

“I knew the Resistance had taken over this Stiletto Club.”

“Coming here anyway means your head’s even more fucked than I thought.”

“No need for such foul language from a pretty face, missy. You look fragile. Monterey knew and stepped in anyway.”

Pin’s gaze went past her to the kids, trembling in fear.

“Obviously, we figured the Resistance would send someone to babysit those orphan brats. But a battalion commander? Didn’t see that coming.”

Pin trailed off lecherously. He jerked his chin toward the door mid-sentence.

Splash, splash, splash, splash.

Men burst in through the rain. All clad in black raincoats and gas masks. Red lenses glowed menacingly.

“……!”

“A battalion commander? We’d recognize the face. Right—the Gang Alliance head sent reinforcements.”

Pin draped an arm over one man’s shoulder.

“Monterey’s muscle game’s gone to shit—we admit it. We’re money men. But these folks here? Different story.”

“What the hell are you scheming?!”

Tang Jihye bellowed.

“Scheming? That’s the Resistance’s game. Trying to wipe out us thriving gangsters.”

“W-when did you get the intel…?”

“In Lake City, info is money. We spent some to survive. Oh, and this ain’t the end.”

“We’ve got a big event queued up for the main act. I’ll tell you on your way to hell.”

Click. The men chambered submachine guns, assuming firing stances as they awaited orders.

“You bastard! What did the kids ever do?!”

“Whoa, hold up—I haven’t spilled the big event yet. Save the rage. Objectively, if the Gang Alliance and Resistance duke it out, we’re at a huge disadvantage.”

Tang Jihye’s ears were already shut to rage. But the next words scorched her eardrums.

“So we hired a Sword Master for this war. Even I was shocked at our alliance head’s recruiting skills.”

One of the Three Calamities and Seven Dignitaries.

Ten Wings, Mercenary King Sword Master.

Tang Jihye’s eyes widened.

“But damn, his price tag’s insane. Five hundred million per swing, the greedy fuck.”

That explained Pin’s bravado. And why the quiet thugs had suddenly invaded Resistance turf.

Hiring the Mercenary King Sword Master. That one phrase had instantly balanced the uneven scales of power.

“Anyway, that’s why we’re here to retake the club. We’re already neck-deep with that Lilith Order crap.”

“Lilith Order…?”

“You know, the winged freaks. But the wings you’d see, missy, are angels? Nah, devils? Heh heh heh.”

Snickering, Pin ducked into the men’s ranks. Everyone knew what was coming.

“See you in hell.”

With that, the raincoat men pulled their triggers in unison.

Rat-tat-tat-tat.

Muzzles spat endless flames. Tang Jihye hurled herself aside. No one in the world could deflect every bullet from the barrage.

Better to play bullet sponge. It might save at least one life.

She fanned out her white coat like a shield, maximizing surface area. The bulletproof material wouldn’t let rounds pierce her body. That would have to do.

Her heart sank.

Her head spun.

But her chest felt relieved.

‘This repays my debt…’

Then—tap, tap—light footsteps cut through her thoughts. A figure that had vaulted from the balcony landed lightly beside her, back-to-back.

It was over in an instant—too fast for words. As if he’d stretched his perceived time like taffy. And he had.

Scene data etched vividly onto his corneas. A grid-like net scanned the room in a flash. Thanks to energy circulation, his perception range had expanded.

Before his bangs hit his forehead, before the gunpowder scent grazed his philtrum, before the muzzle flashes died—the eyes of Lee Taebaek lifted.

Blood surged backward. Nosebleed warmly soaked his orbits, pricking his frontal lobe.

Bullet Time stretched time so far it halted the world.

Soon, a crisp pop shattered the frozen moment. He’d snapped his fingers from a low stance.

The spiraling bullets spun wildly in midair. Then, leaving rifling marks in perfect circles, they plummeted.

In that brief instant, everyone saw it with their own eyes. The bullets had stopped. More precisely, the air had frozen.

As everyone—friend and foe alike—doubted their eyes, Lee Taebaek spoke.

“From now on, you’re all bugs.”

His breath fogging below his mask like a shroud.