Chapter 140
Chirp─ chirp─ chirp
The red, rusted door swings open in the wind, echoing with an annoying metallic rubbing sound and the ramshackle tavern looks like it was built from scrap metal.
The smell of garbage is unmistakable, despite the constant burning of new and unknown fumes.
But even such places are inhabited. The denizens of this noisy junk town have only added to their own stench today with the rich flavor of the cheap whiskey they’ve been handed by their master.
‘You son of a bitch, you ask for gasoline and they give you diesel?
“You’re the asshole who can’t tell the difference, so why the fuck are you arguing with me!
Sparks fly as the drunks slug it out, metal shards fly everywhere, and others pick up the pieces in the process.
It doesn’t stop them from fighting.
“Yeah, asshole, I’m going to put some diesel in your car right now, too, so we can fight it out. Huh?”
“You’re crazy, don’t wreck someone’s car.”
Just then the sound of a bell from the entrance drew the attention of everyone watching the fight.
It wasn’t a strange phenomenon.
A man in a tight black suit and a bowler hat had entered this place made of garbage.
The man glanced around, then sat down at the lounge bar where the Master was, setting down a small gemstone and saying,
“Milk.”
“Ha, what?”
Milk, he said.
The Master glares at the man, dumbfounded by the unexpected remark.
“This isn’t a place where kids come, there’s no such thing……!”
The bald man with the bowler hat pulled back smirks and looks at the man.
But
“You don’t have a face……?”
The man’s face was unrecognizable, reminiscent of the void, as if distorted.
“What do you want to see my face for?”
The man’s voice was strange as he spoke and his voice seemed to come from a face as vague as a moving black hole.
The Master couldn’t see his expression, but he could tell he was smiling.
“……are you a villain?”
“Does that matter? What matters is why I’m here.”
-Tsk. Thud.
The man taps his index finger on the table as he talks.
One by one, the others turn their attention to the man at the lounge bar.
“What brings you to……Junk Town?”
“I got a job.”
“A job?”
“A job to clean up the trash on Jeju Island.”
“What do you mean, clean up trash……what are you talking about──”
-Boom!
As if to announce the opening salvo, the man slams his fist on the table, and wood splinters start scattering around.
“Attack! Attack!”
The Master shouts as he quickly shields his face with his arm to block the splinters, and the other Raiders in the bar start running out of the bar at the same time, as if in synchronization.
“Eat this, asshole!”
Pulling a shotgun from under a table, he pointed it at the man’s chest and pulled the trigger.
The bullet goes straight through but the man, who took the full force of the impact without flinching, just stood there, his hands in his inner pockets.
“Is that a shotgun?”
An old-fashioned double-barreled shotgun appeared.
“It’s only a shotgun if it’s this big.”
───!
The shotgun blasts Master’s body through the bar and out the door.
The man exits through the hole to the back of the store, noticing the swarm of Raiders surrounding him, and shrugs.
“You’re like ants, you come right back when your buddy gets hit.”
It’s very difficult for the Raiders to survive in this lawless place.
That’s why they’ve built their own city out of the carcasses and trash of dead monsters, which they’ve dubbed Junk Town.
The rules were simple.
-Junk to help junk.
-If a raider was in danger, the other raiders would help.
That’s how they survive.
“Kill him!”
A woman’s shout came from somewhere, and at the same time, the guns they were carrying began to spew a thick cloud of smoke.
It was a baptism of gunpowder that could overpower even the smell of the dump and the onslaught continued until everyone’s magazines were completely empty.
“Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm.”
After hours of trance-like grinding and splitting, fatigue finally sets in as the raiders waited for the smoke to clear.
And then.
“!!”
The man finally emerged.
His arms are outstretched as if to say, “Come on, let’s do this,” and he has taken the bullets and explosions in stride, leaving only a little dust on his clothes.
He looks remarkably unharmed.
“Is this the end of the welcome?”
He shakes his head as if to say more, and the Raiders flinch and start to back away.
“Monster, monster! Monster!”
Realizing they’re not going to be able to stop it on their own, they decide to call in Junk Town’s finest.
“Call in the cleaning crew, regular fire won’t do!”
As he shouted.
Ehhhhh────
Sirens echo through the city and the radars surrounding the faceless man begin to make way.
Out of the gap comes a group of half a dozen men all wearing iron masks that look like they’re made of scrap metal.
They click their tongues in disbelief as they spot the man standing atop a pile of crushed warheads.
“Shit, what the hell is this at la siesta time?”
“What the fuck is that guy doing in Junk Town?”
“Probably looking for something.”
“Maybe he’s a fixer from out of town. Fixers usually dress like that.”
As they grumbled, they were soon thrusting the muzzles of their heavy weapons forward, including the flamethrowers on their backs.
“Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“We’re going to roast you.”
At their words, the man claps his hands and greets the cleaning crew as if he’s been waiting for them too.
“At last, the real powerhouse of Junk Town, the cleaning crew.”
Slowly, the man begins to move.
The cleaning crew is wary and ready for battle but the man doesn’t seem to have any intention of fighting.
The heads of the nervous members of the cleaning crew move sideways to match his steps.
After a while he hopped onto the largest of the motorcycles in the group.
“Assholes, thanks for clearing out.”
“What?”
He runs past the cleaners and into the city, suddenly fleeing at the most opportune moment.
The cleaners stare in disbelief as if they hadn’t seen this coming.
One of them, a woman, is the first to come to her senses and shouts angrily.
“What the fuck, assholes, run!”
The cleaners suddenly realize what’s going on and start running after the man.
Anger flashes across the cleaners’ faces as they watch the man adjust his speed, as if he’s waiting for them to catch up but then they realize where the man is headed and their faces harden.
“Isn’t he……going to the power plant?”
“The power plant? That’s where we were just now!”
“Are you kidding me, he’s been doing this to try and trick us?”
As they suspected, the man was running toward something called a power plant in Junk Town.
“Damn it, someone should’ve stayed put!”
“You’re the one who asked me to come with you because you were bored, you stupid asshole!”
There it was, the key piece, the reason this place, Junk Town, was created.
“Damn it, asshole, go back!”
“If the power plant gets robbed, we’re all fucked! Run!”
Convinced of the man’s purpose, the cleaners quicken their pace.
As they round the corner and see the entrance to the power plant, they are greeted by stretched guards and wide open doors.
“Holy shit……! How did he crack the password?!”
The corridors are heavily skidmarked by motorcycle marks while some of the doors were open and some had bullet holes in them.
Everything was evidence of a hard breakthrough that made a mess.
The cleaners crew trudge into the power plant.
But
“……damn.”
“How the hell did he get here…….?”
And just as they had a bad feeling the core of the power plant, which was supposed to be in the central part, the Stone of the Thunder God was missing and in its place was a piece of paper.
The woman slowly enters the center and unfolds the paper, and her body begins to tremble.
[White Rock]
The man hoped that the raiders would be directed to White Rock.
* * *
“Junk Town is over, can I go back now?”
I didn’t do much.
All I had done was push their panic buttons and run away.
“It was a little dangerous with the tangerine farmers…….”
I almost got caught, as the Awakened farmers on horseback chased after me with scythes and hoes after I wiped out most of the tangerine farm with the Tommy with a mana silencer.
But I did manage to move the four major factions on Jeju Island, so any gain is a gain.
Add in the items I acquired along the way, and it was a win-win situation.
[Name: Thunder God Stone]
[Rank: Unique]
[Type: Material]
[Description: A stone imbued with the power of the Thunder God. It emits a powerful current of its own, increasing your affinity with spirits.]
[Name: Golden Tangerine]
[Rank: Unique]
[Type: Elixir]
[Description: Only the oldest of the ghostly tangerine trees bear fruit once every ten years. It is said to bear only one golden tangerine. When consumed, it permanently increases aura and mana recovery rates.]
If you want to find them, come to the White Rock, and I’m sure all the others will be moving toward the White Rock.
Giggling at the unimaginable sight, I return to the cathedral to find the bishop and Yoon Kwangsoo looking at me in disbelief.
“The tangerine farmers and the raider guys just sent out pigeons to see if we’ve been robbed of anything. What the hell have you been doing?”
I said, “I’m going to go round them up and bring them back to White Rock. Six hours after I said the words, I left.”
Apparently, other guys had contacted the church.
“Not exactly. I did something similar to what I did to the church.”
“Similar?”
I hold out the Thunder God’s Stone and Golden Tangerine in front of her with a confused expression.
“I’d have to steal these for them to come, wouldn’t I?”
“……Crazy. Sa──Hitman. You really stole them, single-handedly?”
“It was simpler than I thought.”
It was a piece of cake for me, knowing their patrol routes, terrain features, and security key numbers.
It was weird that I couldn’t rob them.
“If we don’t send them anything, they’ll think we’re behind this, and we’ll have to tell them something’s missing too…….”
“I also received a pigeon with the same content.”
“Let’s say we’ve been robbed, too. Bishop, you say Ascalon was stolen, and the forge master has been robbed of his food and supplies. Shouldn’t that be enough to alert them?”
That whoever takes the White Rock will take these four treasures.
“…… But will they really come to White Rock? Even if you stole them and left a trail, they might think it was a trap.”
“Wouldn’t you come if you were robbed of the Ascalon and told to come to White Rock?”
“……I’d have to go to a trap.”
“Yes, that’s why I’ve only brought treasures that they must guard, because that’s the only thing that will get them moving.”
With that, I turned and looked at White Rock in the distance.
The others would take care of the many monsters we’d encounter on our way to White Rock.
All I had to do was take advantage of the gap and slit Fafnir’s throat.
“Have you told the Blue Tea Workshop to come to the cathedral by tomorrow?”
“I did, sir.”
“Good, then let’s all get a good night’s rest, because tomorrow we’re going on a real raid.”
The big raid (forced participation) to slay the dragon was just around the corner.
