When Dan Woosung entered the ordinary inn, everyone he met greeted the First Young Master.
The first and second floors were places where people who came up from gambling downstairs ate food or drank, and the underground held the gambling den. Outsiders without verified identity could only use the first and second floors, but Dan Woosung descended underground without anyone stopping him.
Downstairs, the air was always thick with smoke as many people gambled while smoking forget-me-weed or hallucination grass. Those running errands or clearing tables would slightly bow their heads whenever they saw Dan Woosung.
Some punks didn't even know that the First Young Master of the Eunha Merchant Group had returned from a safe house. They simply looked as though they hadn't seen him in a long time.
Dan Woosung looked around at the gamblers, then headed toward the room at the far end.
The fat doorman standing in front of the iron door spoke.
"You've arrived."
Dan Woosung looked at the man, whose flesh still jiggled as usual, and said,
"Lose some weight."
The doorman flinched and asked again,
"Pardon?"
"Open the door."
The doorman tilted his head in confusion but opened the iron door.
As Dan Woosung stepped inside, the doorman closed the heavy iron door behind him and turned back with a still-bewildered expression.
"Is he out of his mind?"
The reason Dan Woosung could come and go so freely here was because he had personally funded the early costs of establishing this place. Whether it was lent or extorted was a gray area, but in any case, the establishment had been funded with the First Young Master's money.
On top of that, he used to come here often to gamble. As with any gambling den, he won at first and then kept losing.
He no longer even remembered how much money he had poured in.
However, eating and drinking on the first and second floors was always free. That alone was evidence of how much money he'd thrown around here.
In the sparse room with only a few desks and chairs, the owner of the gambling den, Poison Fox Cheol Myungho, was eating noodles.
Cheol Myungho looked toward Dan Woosung approaching and said,
"You came?"
Slurp— the sound of sipping broth followed.
Cheol Myungho, with his sturdy build, had once taken a knife to the cheek, leaving a hole, and his vicious appearance was now such that ordinary people couldn't look him in the face. Of course, the man who stabbed him had been killed by Cheol Myungho.
Dan Woosung sat in the chair across from him and looked at the two big men sitting opposite.
They were men who handled disputes in the gambling den or went around collecting money that had been lent out. The two greeted Dan Woosung with indifferent voices.
"You've come."
"Been a while."
Cheol Myungho clicked his tongue and scolded them.
"Tsk, you heartless bastards. My friend was sick and went away to recover, and now he's back. Show some interest in people. Ask how he's doing. All you good-for-nothing freeloaders do is eat."
The two men responded stiffly to Cheol Myungho.
"We didn't know. Apologies."
Poison Fox Cheol Myungho and Lee Jin-Eon had been friends since childhood.
Though they were friends, it was a one-sided relationship where Lee Jin-Eon was always the one on the losing end — in their youth it was physical violence, as adults it was financial entanglement.
Sensing the heavy air around Dan Woosung, Cheol Myungho pulled out a few gambling vouchers worth a hundred nyang from a drawer and placed them on the table.
[T/L: 1 nyang - 40 grams.]
"It's been a while, have some fun. You must be itching for it after resting for so long."
He said it like he was being generous, but everyone knew it would all be squandered anyway.
Why else would he be considered a sucker? The fact that the gambling den owner was handing out pocket money showed just how much money the First Young Master had spent here. Cheol Myungho even took out another voucher and stacked it on top, clapping his hands together as he spoke.
"Wait. Go to Geumhwaru first. Blow off some steam, have a drink."
As Dan Woosung stared quietly at the money, Cheol Myungho grinned and said,
"It's fine. Our Eunha Merchant Group's First Young Master is back, so I'll go big this once. But hey, did someone rip your tongue out? Why are you so quiet, you bastard? You're suffocating me here."
Dan Woosung pointed with his chin at the noodles Cheol Myungho had been eating.
"Give me that."
"What? This?"
Cheol Myungho, after sticking his chopsticks into the bowl, pushed the noodles over to Dan Woosung.
Dan Woosung ate the noodles. With just one bite, a large amount disappeared into his mouth. After two rounds of chopsticks, all the noodles were gone. Holding the bowl in one hand, he drank the remaining broth clean.
Cheol Myungho laughed and said,
"Didn't eat? Why don't you eat some good food at your house instead of slurping noodles here? You're not right in the head, are you."
Dan Woosung let out a loud belch, pushed the bowl aside, and then silently stared at the escort brothers, Yuk Myungbo and Yuk Jinbo.
How should one define their nature?
They weren't part of the Dark Path, but they fought all over. They also collected debts from gambling. If someone ran or refused to pay, they'd beat them with clubs and break their limbs — that was their usual routine. Short clubs, the kind they'd tuck in their waistbands when on the move, were lying around on tables and chairs.
Most who got hit with those said the pain was worst when the bones got struck.
Still staring at the two brothers, Dan Woosung spoke.
"Myungho."
"What? Got chewed out by your father again? Or ran away from home? You're acting weird today. You can crash here a few days if you want. It's you, so who'd say no? We've got plenty of empty rooms upstairs."
"It's not running away…"
"Then?"
Dan Woosung was mentally reviewing Lee Jin-Eon's memories, weighing whether it was proper to kill Cheol Myungho or just break a few of his bones.
Lee Jin-Eon's memories were the evidence, and Dan Woosung was examining the evidence to deliver the verdict.
Having made up his mind, Dan Woosung spoke.
"Myungho, give me the key."
"What key?"
Dan Woosung sighed softly and said,
"What other key could it be. The vault key."
Cheol Myungho tilted his head, then looked at his escorts and muttered,
"Vault key? What's he saying? Oh, the vault key? You want money?"
Cheol Myungho blinked with his mouth half open.
'Is this guy insane?'
This was Cheol Myungho, who couldn't immediately grasp the situation because the kid who'd always gotten beat up since they were young was now asking for the vault key.
With a confused expression, Cheol Myungho asked—
"Why do you want the vault key?"
Dan Woosung explained.
"I'm just going to take the money and go. I think I invested roughly a few thousand nyang into this place, and if you count the investment recovery, interest, and the blatant robbing by those players outside, ten thousand nyang sounds about right. I even counted the time you beat me. The medicine cost quite a bit."
Cheol Myungho replied in a low tone.
"Ugh, you crazy bastard. There are tens of thousands of nyang in the vault. It's not just money. There are jewels, gold, and silver too. But the amount I'd give you is just that. And how does a few thousand nyang become ten thousand? If you need money, just ask to borrow it. Do you think I wouldn't lend you money? Do you think I'd send guys to hound you like those other bastards?"
Cheol Myungho's voice started rising like a cart going uphill.
"You always pay back well. If you'd just ask nicely, that'd be enough. But no, you come in here scowling and ask for the vault key? You lost your damn mind? What kind of lunatic comes here and throws a fit? A fit! Wake up! You son of a bitch! Did you forget who I am? I'm Cheol Myungho!"
As he practically screamed that last part, there was a metallic clang as the doorman peeked his head in.
"Boss, is everything alright?"
Cheol Myungho barked at him.
"Close it."
"Yes, sorry."
The doorman, thinking to himself that the First Young Master of the Eunha Merchant Group was about to get shaken down again, closed the iron door.
Cheol Myungho said,
"What's wrong with you? You got a death wish?"
The escort brothers sitting across from Dan Woosung stood up as if to establish dominance.
Yuk Myungbo and Yuk Jinbo were known as the Twin Bo. They were fighters who could knock out a dozen average men with just their fists. Each of them was stronger than Cheol Myungho himself, but they were a bit dim-witted and obediently followed Cheol Myungho, who fed and housed them.
Lee Jin-Eon had never understood them, but Dan Woosung could somewhat grasp what kind of people they were.
They'd never lived normal lives, and their way of thinking was, to put it nicely, pure—put harshly, a bit dull. In simple terms, they lacked any sense of "calculation."
Cheol Myungho, now clearly annoyed, spoke to the Twin Bo brothers.
"Hey, get this bastard on his knees. I'm pissed off. Maybe a beating will knock some sense into him."
"Yes."
The Twin Bo approached side by side and grabbed Dan Woosung's shoulders with their large hands. Since Dan Woosung showed no resistance, their actions weren't particularly rough. They intended to lift him and drop him to his knees.
Dan Woosung grabbed the brothers' wrists.
Crack— As their wrists were tightly gripped, the Twin Bo widened their eyes. The grip strength was unbelievable.
Dan Woosung, still holding Yuk Jinbo's arm with his right hand, pulled him in and kicked him in the stomach. With a thud, Yuk Jinbo flew back and crashed into the wall. Then Dan Woosung pulled Yuk Myungbo toward him and struck his jaw upward with a right hook.
Thwack!
Yuk Myungbo's large body lifted off the ground and slammed back down.
Boom!
Both Yuk Myungbo and Yuk Jinbo grimaced as they squirmed on the floor, struggling to get up.
Dan Woosung hadn't intended to kill them. Even so, despite being hit with fists and kicks hard enough to send them flying, there was no sign of fear. It meant they'd been through many brutal fights.
Cheol Myungho was at a loss for words.
"Wow… you took down the Twin Bo…"
He was even more shocked because he'd never seen anyone handle them like that before.
As Yuk Myungbo managed to lift just his upper body, Dan Woosung's knee flew into his face.
Thwack! Yuk Myungbo passed out.
Dan Woosung then walked over to Yuk Jinbo, who had just risen from the wall. As Yuk Jinbo threw a simple punch, Dan Woosung grabbed it with both hands, leaped into the air, and wrapped his legs around Yuk Jinbo's arm, twisting it immediately.
Crack-crack-crack!
Yuk Jinbo's arm twisted fully in one direction, then, as Dan Woosung used his thigh as a lever to bend it the other way, there was a loud snap.
Yuk Jinbo winced in agony.
As Dan Woosung let go of the arm, he said,
"Twin Bo, I went easy on you, so stay put. If you come at me again, I'll have no choice but to kill you."
Yuk Myungbo, struck in the face by a knee, remained unconscious, and Yuk Jinbo, sweating profusely, was trying to set the bones of his broken arm.
In a way, they were even more terrifying than Cheol Myungho. Despite their overwhelming natural strength and physical prowess, they had never even learned martial arts, yet they had defensive capabilities comparable to those with body-protection arts.
Dan Woosung picked up a short club lying on a chair with his right hand and approached Cheol Myungho. This kind of club was perfect for breaking bones.
"Myungho, you're a sharp guy. Why are you acting like this?"
Cheol Myungho, reaching for the straight sword he had propped under the table, responded,
"Damn it, now I'm pissed."
As soon as he rose to his feet, Dan Woosung threw the short club like a dagger.
Whizz—! Crack!
The club hit Cheol Myungho in the face and flew off somewhere. Cheol Myungho clutched his face with one hand.
"Argh!"
< Fist King, Things to Take from Poison Fox (1) > End