Chapter 121: Cleanup

"Aaaahhh!!!"

Goo Jin-cheol woke up screaming.

"Are you finally awake?"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

The screams continued. Oh dear.

Since it wasn't a particularly busy situation, I decided to let him scream a bit more. Did this fail?

[Keystone (A-rank Magical Artifact) - The waves emitted from this stone have a very surprising effect on the human psyche.

Mental Keystone: When used, there is a random chance to cure a target from a state of distortion. However, if the check fails, the distortion may worsen.]

The check clearly succeeded, though?

Fortunately, he was slowly coming to his senses.

"My hands! My feet! My head! Are they all okay? Okay? Huh? Just a moment ago...."

Recalling what he had witnessed before, Goo Jin-cheol's complexion turned pale.

"Just a moment ago? what happened just a moment ago?"

"I, I was definitely eaten by a monster... Aaaaah!! Please! Please save me, Kim Shin-hwa-nim!"

"Ugh. Didn't I tell you not to do that? Why don't you ever listen?"

"Please forgive me! Please! Just kill me instead! Don't feed me to the monster! Please!"

Tears, snot, and drool flowed from Goo Jin-cheol's face. Ugh, please! No need to come any closer! I used magic to push him away.

"Ugh, what do you mean feed? It seems like you can say that because you're trash in human form, but I'm a person, you know?"

"Huh? What?"

Goo Jin-cheol looked around in confusion. The space, now empty and wide, felt strange compared to before.

The Child of Darkness had eaten all the random items scattered around the room. Although it preferred living things, it could also digest stones or wood.

It was already daytime outside.

"A day has roughly passed while you were out."

I recalled the message that had appeared the moment the Child of Darkness tried to put Goo Jin-cheol in its mouth.

[You have completed the quest!

<Search Quest: Tiger's Daughter>

Reward: 450,000 XP + Cheong-ho's Trust + 300,000,000 won + Bonus based on mission performance]

[You have accumulated enough experience points to advance to the next level. Your level increases by 1.]

[You have summoned a monster created by a being of the abyss. You have chosen a human as its first prey. This is not a choice just anyone can make. This event will elevate your soul to a great existence. You will become one with the deeper abyss. Come closer. A little more, a little more, a little more... The chaotic future will be with you.]

From the beginning, I never intended to feed Goo Jin-cheol to the Child of Darkness.

Receiving such a message in that situation soured my mood, so I decided to act contrary to what the entity behind the message wanted.

I had the Child of Darkness consume the furniture and stones scattered around the room, then returned it to a dormant state.

The Child of Darkness reverted to an egg about 15 centimeters in size.

Now, it rested in my arms. If I wished, I could transform it back into its previous monstrous form at any time, with magic or...

[The Child of Darkness is not the docile, obedient pet you might think it is. One day, it will demand something living, something with blood flowing, something with a soul. Whether you will be able to stop it then is unknown. You somehow foresee a terrible accident in the future and are overcome with unbearable anxiety.]

Ah, that bastard is persistent.

Sure, it would demand that, but I wasn't worried at all. After all, magical power was something I had in abundance.

"Fu*k off, you idiot!"

Flailing my hands to clear the message window must have seemed quite threatening to Goo Jin-cheol.

He bowed his head again while shouting, "Please spare me! Please!" repeatedly.

Chae Tae-won who was watching this scene from the side spoke from afar.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, don't worry, I'm not crazy."

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant."

Chae Tae-won's stern expression suddenly turned red. It was a rare expression. Why was he reacting so intensely? He really must have thought I was losing my mind.

"Now, Director Goo Jin-cheol. Lift your head and let's settle the accounts."

"Huh? Settle the accounts?"

"Yes, yes, accounts. Originally, it was about life or something, but I'm not going that far. A promise is a promise."

"A promise? A promise?"

"Oh, come on, don't you remember? Just before you were about to put a bullet in the temple of the girl, who was your boss's daughter, and also a minor, I made a promise to you."

I deliberately broke up my words to recount his audacious deeds.

Doesn't he remember what I said?

I said I'd make sure he'd get beaten up a bit, humiliated a bit, lose some property, his position, and many of the connections he built up over the years.

While Goo Jin-cheol slept, I checked, and fortunately, although many on Cheong-ho's side were injured and half out of their minds needing counseling and treatment for a while, no one had died.

The external wall had collapsed, the walls were broken, and a watchtower of dubious legitimacy was destroyed, but in the end, the henchmen of Jeok-du and the descendants of Formalhaut failed to penetrate inside the walls.

However, that was all damage on Cheong-ho's side.

Outside the mansion now, the "iron flies", that is, the cleanup specialists active in Paju's underworld, had come for their busy season. A glance out the window showed a huge crane clearing away the burning trailer. That would cost a lot of money.

"I'm not really into sadistic things, but there should be due compensation, right?"

Actually, Chae Tae-won had previously asked me to hand over Goo Jin-cheol to him.

Although he often showed me a ridiculous side to him, this was one of the houses of the three heads of the Triad. They were experts managing violence not only in Paju but throughout the central region.

If left to Chae Tae-won, Goo Jin-cheol would be dragged into the basement under the mansion, and after extracting everything possible, he would end up somewhere in the Han River.

"Well, there's no need for that right now. A living director can do more than a dead one."

Chae Tae-won hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Normally, there are procedures that should be followed according to our industry's practices."

Because he was a traitor. Meaning torture for the sake of torture.

"But if they hear that Kim Shin-hwa took them, everyone will think they faced something worse than death."

"It seems I've gained quite a notorious reputation."

"No, it's more than that. If you don't mind, could you step over to the window for a moment?"

"Huh?"

"Near the window."

I walked over to the window in confusion. In truth, there wasn't much of a window left. Goo Jin-cheol had broken it once, and I had completely shattered it upon entering. So, as I stuck my head through what was now a hole in the wall...

"Ah! It's Mage-nim!"

"Mage-nim! Mage-nim!"

"Wooaahhh!!!"

"Kim Shin-hwa-nim! Kim Shin-hwa-nim!"

Oh no. What is this?

A huge number of thugs, gangsters, punks, and musclemen had gathered outside. They were members called in for cleanup and restoration. As soon as those guys saw my face, they erupted in tremendous cheers and applause.

I turned my head back and went inside the room again.

"Kim Shin-hwa-nim! Kim Shin-hwa-nim! Kim Shin-hwa-nim!"

Despite that, those stupid thugs kept chanting my name with incredible enthusiasm.

When I turned my head to look at Chae Tae-won, he spoke with a subtle smile.

"Shin-hwa-nim, you will probably become a legend, no, a myth, in our industry."

"Ugh, please try to prevent that from happening if possible."

"Well... that's..."

Yeah, that was impossible. Even when I wasn't helping them, they were using my name as they pleased. Oh, was it Tudor who was using my name? Whatever, my name value kept rising because of it. If I left things alone a bit longer, I'd reach a point where I wouldn't need to work on raising my name value deliberately.

"Well, do as you please. But I'm taking the director with me."

"Understood. But... what are you planning to make him do...?"

"First of all, he will give me some pocket money."

"I-I will give it!"

Huh?

"You, take everything! If you command it, you can take all my property! The mercy Mage-nim has shown me, I will remember it forever!"

"No, that's not necessary. But since you're offering, I'll take it all."

"Thank you!"

It seemed something strange had been imprinted on him... He would probably cry with gratitude and do anything I asked, no matter how bizarre it is.

"Anyway, Branch Manager, I have more to ask of Director Goo Jin-cheol here..."

Goo Jin-cheol needed to stay alive a bit longer.

Tsk.

To find Cheong-ho, Goo Jin-cheol had to live.

Honestly, that was half the reason I put up with this chaos in the middle of the night and spared Goo Jin-cheol, despite all the atrocities he had committed.

Well, even without that, there were many ways he could be useful in the future.

"For now, there's some preparation to do, so I'll leave him to you, Branch Manager. I know this place has its own methods, but please try to keep his limbs intact."

"Understood."

And so, Goo Jin-cheol was dragged away somewhere. Namo Amitabha.

Cha Tae-won would take care of the beating. Honestly, what good would it do if I hit that man myself? It would only make me feel worse.

This place was going to be busy for a while.

Anyway, things were roughly wrapped up.

The truth was, part of the reason I got involved in the conflict with Jeok-du was to also settle matters with the descendants of Fomalhaut.

Since the Beacon Order was completely destroyed and they lost a judge-level elder, I didn't have to worry about them anymore.

Well, it's such a large cult, so it's not like they don't have elders on par with Hwa In...

There was no one as aggressive and specialized in practical combat as Hwa In though. The rest mostly delved into doctrine or had skills unrelated to combat.

Now, they would really get tangled up with Helistic, get beaten, and disappear.

And then there was Jeok-du.

Jeok-du was a bit of a headache.

That guy would probably lie low for a while.

Before Jeok-du could regroup, I wanted to find Cheong-ho, throw the responsibility at him, and wash my hands of this.

Can I really wash my hands of it?

If Cheong-ho was completely destroyed and couldn't come back, it would be a headache.

Should I just take over this organization entirely? It seemed like I could take over at any moment if I wanted to. Didn't Cheong-ho have over 300 businesses under him? The daily tribute from those...

Nah, forget it. It's a world doomed to destruction anyway. What would I do with all that money?

Anyway, it was time to prepare to leave. Once I found Cheong-ho, it would be over. This would be over really soon. Probably.