RE: Player again

259

[Chapter 087] [The One Who Rules the Back Alleys (2)]

"? What are you going to do knowing about that guy? Let me tell you, it's better not to get involved with him."

"If you want to find something, it's better to rely on . But you should be careful."

"Huh? Why is that guy dangerous? It depends on the person, but he's not a dangerous guy. He's just a bit annoying."

"Nonsense, if you tell , you might not even get your principal back?"

""""Because─.""""

Choksae.

At the time, Players always added this word when evaluating him who was active as a ranger in the Mist Flower Party.

""""─That guy is a liar. There's no guarantee that what he says is necessarily true.""""

However, Eun-ha needed him.

☆

At first, he intended to relay the request to Lee Kang-hyuk.

Thinking that even if Lee Kang-hyuk hadn't seized the back alleys of Seongbuk-gu yet, he would surely be able to find him with his skills.

But he decided to change the plan.

Lee Kang-hyuk was a dangerous guy.

Leaving such a guy intact just because he was useful could become a source of trouble someday.

Cheonbo

He turned and kicked the guy pouncing from behind, throwing him towards the ones rushing in as a group.

At that moment, the group lost their formation.

Eun-ha lightly stepped on the fallen guys one by one as he passed.

"How dare you touch my people─!!"

"This bastard, really!!"

Among the ruffians following Lee Kang-hyuk, there were some who looked like Players.

He didn't know why they had joined under Lee Kang-hyuk.

However, they too were targets to be half-killed.

Stygian Eye

The guys who made eye contact collapsed while running.

They were guys without even decent skills.

They couldn't even resist mana.

"S-Stop. Aaaagh...!"

"Argh! My eyes... I can't see!"

He gifted them terror that robbed their vision.

Along with terror that increased pain.

Eun-ha kicked the fallen guys and approached Lee Kang-hyuk who was with guys no different from those who had fallen.

"...U-Uh, Eun-ha, why don't we talk comfortably?"

"..." "Huh? I was just joking."

Lee Kang-hyuk smiled awkwardly while clasping his chubby hands.

Eun-ha smirked.

Regardless of what they said, he beat them indiscriminately.

There were some who tried to run away.

But they were caught by him and one-sidedly beaten as they tried to open the door they had locked before entering the room.

"Where do you think you're mentioning my noona's name to me?"

"...S-Sorry..." "Are you even human? Looking like a toad."

He knew this type very well.

They were the kind who would try to devour their opponent like wolves the moment they were looked down upon.

Although he was in a position to ask a favor, he had no intention of bowing to these guys at all.

He decided to show these guys living in a world of survival of the fittest who was stronger than them.

"Not putting your head down?" "...Ugh...urgh..."

"Hands coming down. Stick them tightly behind your back."

The nature of such guys was to submit to the strong.

Knowing that, Eun-ha disciplined the guys without fear of future trouble.

The guys were trying their best to maintain their posture with their hands behind their backs and heads on the floor.

"...You got quite a nice chair from somewhere."

The only shiny thing in the ruins, a chair with soft armrests.

Eun-ha climbed the small steps and slumped into the chair.

The guys with their heads on the floor didn't express any complaints even as he sat in that seat.

This seat was that kind of seat.

A seat where one had to endlessly prove they were reigning above them.

It was usually power.

Because power was the most visible thing.

In that sense, Lee Kang-hyuk's skills could be said to be amazing.

What those who ruled the back alleys of Seongbuk-gu had also boasted was power.

However, Lee Kang-hyuk seized the back alleys of Seongbuk-gu using information and the personality respected by his subordinates.

Until he died stabbed by his lover due to a love affair, his power was maintained without wavering.

"Stand up."

""""...Yes!!!!""""

Putting that Lee Kang-hyuk under his feet.

Furthermore, grasping Seoul's information through him who would conquer the back alleys in the near future.

It wasn't a bad picture.

I could have done this from the beginning.

Trying to make a request to Lee Kang-hyuk felt foolish now.

"Anyone here have complaints?" """"..."""""

Eun-ha who was leaning back in the chair with his legs crossed looked around at the guys who had jumped up from their seats sweating.

Those who made eye contact all avoided his gaze.

No one answered his question.

"Lee Kang-hyuk." "...Uh... yes, Eun-ha." "What?" "...How should I address you?"

Lee Kang-hyuk whose name was called quickly grasped the atmosphere and bowed his head.

The subordinates who had once believed and followed him also bowed their heads in unison.

The former leader of the group had acknowledged it.

The new master.

"Think about that yourselves."

Eun-ha brushed off Lee Kang-hyuk's question.

In fact, no title came to mind.

He just wanted to clearly show Lee Kang-hyuk and his gang their position relationship.

He didn't care much how they addressed him.

He wouldn't care how he addressed them either.

"I won't interfere much in what you do."

Eun-ha began speaking while resting his chin on his hand.

He intended to leave seizing the slum on the border of Sungin-dong and Bomun-dong to Lee Kang-hyuk.

Even if left alone, Lee Kang-hyuk would bring the information network of the Seongbuk-gu area to him on his own.

And Eun-ha hoped Lee Kang-hyuk would maintain the information network for a long time.

"Hey."

"Yes." "Do you have someone you're dating?" "..."

Lee Kang-hyuk tried to open his small eyes wide at Eun-ha's question.

It would naturally have been an out-of-the-blue question for him.

But not for Eun-ha.

For Lee Kang-hyuk to stay under me for a long time, he shouldn't make a lover.

In his previous life, Lee Kang-hyuk's death was quite absurd.

There was no political intent hidden in his sudden death.

It was just a love affair.

Therefore, if he intended to keep Lee Kang-hyuk under his feet for a long time, he needed to manage his love life.

"...I don't have anyone?"

"Really none?"

"...Yes..."

Lee Kang-hyuk answered with a mumble as if sniffling when Eun-ha asked twice.

Eun-ha who was about to tell him to break up if necessary was relieved by the fact that Lee Kang-hyuk didn't have a lover.

But he needed to know for sure.

"Anyone you're interested in?"

"...No." "Really none?"

"I swear to heaven there's no one!"

"Any women around you?"

"I know the madams selling water in the slums well..."

"Do you have any feelings for those people?" "Absolutely none at all! How much older are the madams than me..."

Lee Kang-hyuk couldn't maintain his poker face.

That face wasn't an act.

After closely observing his dumbfounded face, he confirmed Lee Kang-hyuk wasn't lying.

"Then any women you know?" "...None. The only numbers in my phone contacts are the madams', these guys', and my parents' who I cut ties with years ago."

"...How old are you to not have any numbers of women your age in your contacts?" "..."

Eun-ha was dumbfounded.

How could that be possible?

Even he who had lived to kill monsters in his previous life had at least Yu-jeong's number at that age.

He had so many things he wanted to say to Lee Kang-hyuk.

However, Eun-ha decided not to torment Lee Kang-hyuk further who was keeping his mouth shut with a dejected face.

Instead, there's no way this isn't true.

"Then is there someone you like? Just tell me if there's anyone you're attracted to or even slightly interested in. Is there? Isn't there?"

"...There is, one person."

Hair dyed a dingy yellow and face bright red.

No different from a rotten tomato.

Eun-ha suspected from Lee Kang-hyuk's reaction that the person might be the lover who killed him in his previous life.

So he asked.

"Who is that person?"

"..."

"I'm asking who it is?"

Lee Kang-hyuk hesitating to answer.

Eun-ha now asked again with irritation at this type of question.

Then Lee Kang-hyuk raised his head and answered in a strong voice─

"─I like Noh Eun-a!"

You still haven't come to your senses?

It seemed he needed to show him hell one more time.

☆

"So? You said there's someone you like?"

"No! There isn't!"

"Really, right?" "I swear there isn't."

"...Good."

Where do you think you're eyeing our noona?

The education was long.

Even the subordinates watching trembled when making eye contact.

Lee Kang-hyuk whose face was swollen as if stung by a beehive was thoroughly brainwashed while kneeling on the floor.

Really can't understand this guy.

Eun-ha who stood up from his seat was dumbfounded by the reason Lee Kang-hyuk had fallen for Eun-a just earlier.

He said she spoke to him kindly without being afraid when they were desk mates in elementary school.

To not forget noona for years over such a trivial thing...

He was a romanticist unlike his appearance.

It was creepy in a way.

He'll need continued management in the future.

This guy, it seems he still can't forget our noona.

Eun-ha's intuition was extremely sharp regarding Eun-a and Eun-ae.

It wasn't difficult to know whether Lee Kang-hyuk was denying out of fear or sincerely.

Caution would be needed in the future.

The somewhat fortunate point was that Lee Kang-hyuk seemed unlikely to be interested in other women since he was still hung up on Eun-a.

Perhaps she had changed the future.

As expected of our noona.

At that thought, Eun-ha unknowingly smiled warmly.

But he soon changed the atmosphere.

"As I said earlier, I won't tell you how to do things. You just follow Lee Kang-hyuk as before and occasionally take my requests."

"Um... boss."

"What."

"About the requests, what kind of requests..."

Lee Kang-hyuk cautiously spoke up.

The burly subordinates were also waiting for Eun-ha to speak.

"As I said earlier, help me find one person."

"What kind of person? If they're living in this slum, we can grab them right away."

"They're not here. They're probably not someone you can catch with your power either..."

"Is it a Player?"

"...If they're a Player, then they're a Player."

Eun-ha recalled a distant memory.

The ranger of the Mist Flower Party who met his death in in his previous life.

Probably at this time, he wouldn't be a Player.

"Can I know the name?"

"...Choksae."

"Is it a Player's alias?" "No. His name is Choksae, and his Player alias is ."

Choksae.

The man who was said to have lost his fingers by mistake while trying to disarm a trap would be called by the alias at this time too.

Choksae was just a word the nameless man used to refer to himself.

"Don't look for the name Choksae, but find him by the alias ."

Somewhere in the darkness of this society, he, , would be there.

That's why Eun-ha came to Lee Kang-hyuk.

Thinking Lee Kang-hyuk would surely find for him.

"If he's in Seoul, I'll mobilize all the kids to search. Do you have any description or other information you know?"

"He'll be somewhere in Gangbuk. His appearance is..."

He explained 's appearance he remembered to Lee Kang-hyuk.

Then he trailed off.

...I wonder what happened to Choksae's fingers.

was missing his thumb, index finger, and pinky on his right hand.

Would 's condition be intact at this time?

He couldn't be certain of that.

So Eun-ha didn't mention the characteristic that could be called 's symbol.

"Since the name is special, it shouldn't take long to find in the slums, boss."

"Don't just think about searching the slums." "...Boss, the only area where we can exert our power is the slums." "Who said that?"

"Then where else..."

"There's one more area the slums distinguish separately."

""""..."""""

There was a black market in the slums of Cheonggyecheon.

Eun-ha told them to search the black market if they couldn't find him in the slums.

It was inevitable that Lee Kang-hyuk and his subordinates' faces turned pale in an instant.

They who ruled a few alleys in this slum wouldn't have the power to set foot in the black market.

If I asked Teacher Baek Seo-jin, she could find him easily but...

That's impossible.

At this time, Eun-ha hadn't yet become acquainted with Twelve Seats Baek Seo-jin.

Currently, asking Lee Kang-hyuk to look into the black market was the only method.

Lee Kang-hyuk would do well.

"But boss... no matter what, the black market is a bit..."

"Just do it."

"...Yes."

Eun-ha was firm.

Lee Kang-hyuk had no choice but to back down with a tearful face.

Even those following him.

If they extend their hands to the black market, it will take quite a long time to find the person.

They discreetly said so, but Eun-ha didn't change his opinion.

"Just don't take too long." "...That's an even more difficult order."

"I'll look forward to it."

Eun-ha didn't listen to them.

Confident that if he waited just a little, Lee Kang-hyuk would come asking about information on .

If he betrayed expectations, then he could show him what hell was again.

Saying that, he stood up from the chair.

It's hot so I should go home.

He sweated a lot.

He wanted to pour cold water on himself at home.

Eun-ha who left the slum quickly headed home.

"Huh?"

Just then, his smartphone vibrated.

A Pine Talk message had arrived.

「Department Head」: Announcing the summer vacation cultural exploration club training camp location! The first summer vacation activity will be held in the South Coast area! (05:12 PM)