NOVEL NEXT Chapter 49
“What?!”
Yeon Mipyeong, the head of the Assassin’s Room, shouted in shock.
“Those little brats are all dead?!”
He had sent five subordinates to clean up the targets. Three of them, including Oh Su-man, were sent after that guy Kim Geunhyeop, while the other two were sent after his friend.
But only Oh Su-man came back.
With a brutal execution of the targets, the room’s members were intimidated, and the plan to raid and absorb other small black do factions was completely thrown off course.
With four dead, it was lucky if they didn’t get attacked in return.
“And that guy Hoi-sam was split in half in one blow?!”
But the biggest problem was the fearful thought that the target might be a high-level expert. Whatever misunderstanding Oh Su-man had, it felt like they had messed with a true master.
If a high-level expert showed up, everyone would be wiped out in no time.
Yeon Mipyeong yelled at the trembling Oh Su-man.
“You little piece of crap! I told you he was a rogue! How dare you lie to me!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“What are you doing? Get rid of this guy!”
“Yes!”
Immediately, the other members of the room started to beat up Oh Su-man.
“Uggghhhh!”
Brutal violence engulfed him. In an instant, his limbs and teeth were all broken.
“Damn…!”
Yeon Mipyeong felt anxious.
Should he run?
But this Assassin’s Room was everything he had painstakingly built. Even if it was just a roach’s nest, it was still better to be at the top rather than being someone’s disposable tool.
To give this up and flee?
“Damn it!”
According to the plan, they just needed to raid another black do faction and expand the room a bit more. If they succeeded, they could earn far greater profits than they could imagine, but now having to give up was maddening!
Yeon Mipyeong couldn’t abandon the Assassin’s Room.
Creating this level of faction again would be tough for him.
“Hey! Get the kids out and gather some information!”
They needed to figure out the other side’s strength. If they could deal with it, they would, and if not, it wouldn’t be too late to give up then.
“And tie this guy up.”
“Yes!”
* * *
“First, it’s essential to find their base… Discovering it and launching a surprise attack can work to our advantage, or we can just assassinate them one by one too.”
“Oh oh, Jaemi Son, you little genius.”
Turns out this guy isn’t just a pretty face, huh?
How smart is this guy anyway?
“And spread rumors about the Assassin’s Room… It could break the enemies’ morale.”
“Okay. That’s my specialty.”
“Oh, what?”
“No, nothing.”
I think spreading my nickname to stomp on their spirit is a brilliant plan. In our level of fighting, intimidation is more than half the battle.
Our enemies are the Assassin’s Room?
If I were a member of that place, I would’ve already peed my pants. There’s nothing easier to kill than someone scared to death.
“But Jaemi Son, how do we find the base of those Assassin’s Room guys?”
“Hehe, there’s a way.”
“What kind?”
What could that possibly be?
“It’s simple. We need to find the Beggar Clan.”
“B-Beggar Clan?!”
Beggar Clan!
It’s a group of beggars common in martial arts stories!
“You mean we’re going to buy information from them?”
“Something like that… I plan to look for the Beggar Clan now, hehe. Just be careful.”
“Be careful, you say?”
“Everyone in the Beggar Clan is nothing but cursed human trash.”
Are the Beggar Clan members human trash?
“Is it really that bad?”
“Absolutely… It’s no wonder they’re called the Scoundrels.”
“No way, are beggars really that terrible?”
“…”
Jaemi Son looked at me silently.
No way.
I’m not that dimwitted.
“Beggars and the Beggar Clan are different… You dimwit.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Beggars literally beg, and the Beggar Clan refers to those managing the beggars. They’re the trash exploiting powerless beggars, so of course, they’re not proper people.”
Ah, I see.
Beggars are those on the street, while the Beggar Clan would be the gangsters exploiting them.
Come to think of it, that makes sense.
People with all limbs intact exploiting those who can’t work—a normal situation would be weird. No matter how you think about it, there can be no other explanation than that they’re trash.
“They don’t hesitate to twist the limbs of orphans to make them beg… Plus, if they’re starving, they would even eat human flesh. It’s unnecessary to mention that they torture beggars with low performance… or even make them bigger burdens…”
“These freaks.”
They’re complete scum, aren’t they?
“Jaemi Son, can we really trust those kinds of people?”
“Being trash, they’re quite knowledgeable about underground information… They must know about the Assassin’s Room, so if the price is right, a deal can be made.”
“You’re my second-in-command.”
This guy is really sharp.
“Then I’ll trust you, Jaemi Son. Let’s go find the Beggar Clan.”
“Move carefully…”
“Yeah.”
But our specificity is too good to hide.
Even if we disguise ourselves, we can’t hide our weapons or physiques. If we change our weapon, it would lead to a loss of combat strength, and, most importantly, there was no place to hide our weapons. We just had to carry them around.
Anyway.
We went to find this so-called human trash called the Beggar Clan.
It wasn’t hard to find. In every city, beggars usually gather somewhere near the river. Sure enough, when we got there, we found a huge number of beggars.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The beggars looked up at me with hollow eyes. Just like Jaemi Son said, they were indeed helpless beggars, not members of the Beggar Clan. In this new world, beggars are defined as those with disabilities, incapable of anything but begging to survive.
Each of them looked pitiful with their physical issues.
How miserable is it to have no choice but to beg in such a world? Compassion arose within me as I grasped a handful of coins in my pocket.
Maybe that could have been me.
I hoped they’d have a nice meal with the money I gave today.
“I’m here to find the Beggar Clan.”
As I dropped a handful of coins into their baskets, they just stared blankly.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Did you hear me? I’m looking for the Beggar Clan?”
Thinking my donation wasn’t enough, I dropped more coins, but they remained silent.
“Jaemi Son. What’s going on?”
“They aren’t responding… Get the money back.”
“Okay.”
Just as I was about to reach into the basket to reclaim my money, suddenly…
“Kyahhhh!”
“My money! It’s mine!”
“How dare you!”
Out of nowhere, the beggars went into a frenzy, holding tight to the baskets and charging at me!
“Whoa, whoa!”
Startled, I instinctively kicked out.
—BAM!
But what a critical hit it was!
“Ugh.”
One beggar slumped down after taking a hit to the head!
“Uh, uhhhh!”
“Ahhhh!”
“Emergency! Emergency!”
Seeing this, the other beggars began to erupt, charging at me even more aggressively. It was a surprising sight, but honestly, a bit ridiculous.
Seeing them trying to unleash martial arts while in such a pitiful state was just too strange.
“Damn it! What’s going on?!”
Anyway, since a fight broke out, I had no choice but to fight back. I swung my fists and kicked as I mercilessly crushed the beggars.
—THUD!
—BAM!
“Ughhh!”
“Ahhh!”
The hit beggars tumbled down.
From the start, they stood no chance against me.
“Why are these guys suddenly acting up?!”
My conscience started to prick as I ruthlessly assaulted those who were clearly disabled. Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for them since I’m human too.
But that’s that; I have to take what’s mine.
“Anyway, since they attacked me out of the blue, I’ll take this.”
I gathered up the fallen beggars’ baskets, scooping up all the coins inside. No matter what, they not only ignored me but even attacked, so compensation was absolutely necessary.
Starving to death, huh?
Then they shouldn’t have messed with me.
“Ahhh! No, no, no!”
“Don’t take it! Don’t take it!”
“Aid me!”
Tough luck, you filthy trash.
Seeing their desperate reactions, my sympathy completely vanished.
“Are you guys crazy? Jaemi Son, let’s move somewhere else.”
“Hehe, what a fantastic performance! As expected, you are the crazy person I’ve recognized.”
“What?”
“Look over there. The Beggar Clan is coming.”
What nonsense is that? But when I looked in the direction he pointed,
“Hey, you there.”
A scruffy guy was lumbering towards us.
“Why are you beating up poor beggars? Do you have no pity?”
“Are you by any chance from the Beggar Clan?”
“We are the only ones protecting the beggars. Depending on your answer, you will taste the wrath of our clan.”
Quite the bold attitude.
According to what I heard from Jaemi Son, all members of the Beggar Clan are human trash, but seeing this guy so brazenly reminded me of Mr. Song, who led us, and oddly enough, I felt a bit of affinity.
I stopped Jaemi Son, who was about to intervene.
“Let me explain. I came to give charity, but they ignored me when I said I was looking for the Beggar Clan. So, I gave more charity, and they still ignored me, which led to me trying to reclaim my money. Then they attacked me, and I gave them a taste of their own medicine.”
“I don’t know, but aren’t you aware of the unwritten rule that you shouldn’t touch the beggars’ baskets?”
This bastard?!
Right now, I’m the one who got my money stolen, and he’s pretending not to know?
Let’s stay relaxed.
“…If they didn’t earn it, then I’ll have to take it back. Anyway, since you’re here, it’s fine. Beggar Clan. I want to buy information, but…”
“Information, huh.”
The Beggar Clan grinned.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know the location of the Assassin’s Room’s base.”
Jaemi Son interjected suddenly.
“Oh ho, you want to know the location of the Assassin’s Room? Digging into the back of a black do faction, huh? Very bold of you.”
“Just say whether you’re selling it or not.”
“If the price is sufficient, I can sell it.”
Transaction established, huh?
“The price is that sword.”
But the Beggar Clan pointed at my sword.
“What? My sword?!”
You want my Heavenly Thunder Sword for information about some petty faction?
“Yeah. If you give me that, I’ll give you the information.”
“No way, that’s not happening. The cost doesn’t match.”
I won’t trade this precious sword like that. But I get it; this is negotiation strategy. They probably wanted to start high and negotiate down.
“Then let’s negotiate.”
“Won’t? If not, I’ll just sell your information to the black do faction instead. If that’s not desirable, hand over silver. My mouth is light, and if I don’t have heavy silver, I’ll just open it freely. Hehehe.”
“What…?”
Is this guy actually threatening me?
—PFFFFT.
Before I could even react,
“Uh, uh?!”
Jaemi Son suddenly stabbed that guy’s abdomen deeply. Without hesitation, I quickly drew my sword and severed the Beggar Clan guy’s neck.
If Jaemi Son got his hands dirty, I had to do the same.
“How dare you threaten our lives.”
“Guh, ugh…”
“Immediate repayment for the resentment. You trashy Beggar Clan member.”
Yeah.
This is how it should be.
This scum from the Beggar Clan unexpectedly tried to sell our lives, and if that’s the case, he’s the one who deserves death by our hands. This isn’t modern Earth. Once threatened with murder, there’s no mercy. He must be eliminated as an arch-enemy without delay.
“But Jaemi Son, doesn’t that mean we have to give up on dealing with the Beggar Clan?”
I held up the severed head.
What a worthless guy trying to act tough.
“No… We’ll find another Beggar Clan. These guys are human trash, but they’re easy to handle. By presenting this head, they’ll bow down to us.”
“Really? But what if a high-level member of the Beggar Clan comes out?”
“Hehe, you naive fool. Would a high-level expert bother managing a bunch of beggars? When you become a high-level expert, would you engage in all this with beggar trash?”
“Absolutely not. Damn, you’ve got a point.”
Thinking it over, there’s really no reason for a skilled expert to get their hands dirty with such a bunch of scum.
“Hey!”
I shouted irritably at the beggars.
“Bring me another member of the Beggar Clan, you filthy trash!”
“Hiiiii!”