The sound waves in his resonance thrashed their brains. The gangsters’ eyes immediately refocused.

  Hic—


  Hic—


  Hic—


  When one b*stard started hiccuping, the other two followed suit. The gangsters glanced at one another.

  The word “gangster” was equivalent to ragpicker in Korean. Ragpickers existed in Korea until the 1970s. They walked around with a big bamboo basket on their shoulder and picked up old clothes, wastes, and scrap metals. Most of them didn’t have moral sense or self-confidence.

  They picked up clothes on the clotheslines pretending that they were picking up trash and stole material goods. There were even cases of children being kidnapped. The term “ragpicker” became a byword for immoral, cowardly, lowly, and non-existent criminals.

  What was the difference between scoundrels and gangsters? While scoundrels had their own pride and exaggerated power, gangsters didn’t even have fake confidence. There was even a joke about them. The difference between scoundrels and gangsters was obvious from the way they asked the same question. One being “Let’s sleep together” and another being “Can you please give me a night?”


  We’re done for!

  The unspeakable message they picked up from each other’s eyes was that they were about to die. Gangsters were called gangsters for a reason. The three gangsters’ necks moved back and forth like a spring.

  “What’s your name, mister?” the most experienced of them, the one with the bucket-style hair, mustered up his courage and asked.

  It was a gangster’s curiosity toward a scoundrel.

  Slap—


  The one with the bucket-style hair spun like a spinning wheel and collapsed after he was slapped on the other cheek. It was a ruthless answer that caused two of his teeth to fall out.

  “You damn lump of blood without a family name, do you know who you’re talking to? Shut up before I shake you until all of your teeth fall out and crush your balls.”


  He exuded bloodlust. The gangsters’ faces rapidly turned blue. Mu Ssang was someone who didn’t regard those who abused children and women as human beings. The moment the gangster with bucket-style hair grabbed the child, he was already added to his “to avenge” list.

  Mu Ssang grabbed the chopstick that was embedded in the table and used his resonance. The vibration widened the hole it made. The wooden chopstick slid out of the table as though it was coming out of tofu. Although it was hard to embed a soft chopstick in a hard table, it was even harder to pull it out completely intact. The three gangsters stared blankly at the magical scene.

  “B*stard, pay the price!” Hyung Dong shouted, feeling reassured with a tiger beside him.

  Unable to protest, the gangster with bucket-style hair pulled out everything in his wallet and placed three 5, 000 won bills on the table. The gangsters looked at Mu Ssang.

  “Ajussi!” Hyung Dong called for the owner.

  “Y… yes!”


  The owner, who’d dismissed Hyung Dong before that, rushed over and bowed until his back was completely bent. Hyung Dong’s lips twisted grimly. People were really hard to predict.

  “Is 15,000 won enough to pay for the table and the broken bowls?”


  “Yes, of course, it’s enough.” The owner rubbed his hands.

  “Let’s go!”


  Mu Ssang threw down the money for the five bowls of soup and left DaeDeok restaurant. The gangsters trailed along like cows being dragged into a butcher shop.

  The DaeDeok restaurant owner, who barely regained his calm, stared blankly at his restaurant where a storm had just passed.

  “Thank you, father,” owner Lee Dae Deok thanked his late father out of the blue.

  His late father was the one who named him and the restaurant. Although the gangsters caused a commotion in his restaurant, he didn’t suffer any loss because of the restaurant’s good name given by his late father. That was the reason why DaeDeok restaurant kept making money.

  Mu Ssang dragged the gangsters to their headquarters because he wanted to get rid of their roots. When he worked as a waiter at the nightclub, he witnessed the extent of cruelty that gangs were capable of. Something bad might happen to Hyung Dong and the children if he simply provoked them. Helping them out momentarily was no better than asking for trouble.

  [In Ae Won]

  As Hyung Dong said, there was a rather nice-looking slab building after he crossed the main street. Mu Ssang felt something strange. The ki coming from In Ae Won was unstable and complicated. Emotions flooded with yin energy fumed out of it like steam coming out of a pot of boiling beans. He enhanced his hearing.

  [You think I want to do this? My kids are waiting outside with fuel tanks. Priest, if you don’t put a stamp on this right now, we’ll burn it down immediately. In Ae Won will disappear without a trace along with the 42 children.]

  It was the threats of a young man.

  [You damn b*stards, are you even human?]

  An old, tired voice protested.

  [That’s why you should have sold it when I asked you to. Then, I wouldn’t have touched the children.]

  [No. What faults do the children have?]

  [Then, sell the orphanage. We’re saying that we’ll give you a decent piece of land in exchange, so why are you being so stubborn?]

  [You b*stard, all the children go to school and work here, so what can they do if they move all the way to Wol Bae? Do you not have the littlest bit of conscience, asking me to sell land that’s originally 300,000 won per pyung for 30,000 won?]

  [Hehe, compassion! What’s that? We have 10 more minutes until 6:30 a.m. My kids will light it on fire in 10 minutes.]

  There are such b*stards in this world too.

  He threatened to burn down the building if the priest didn’t sell the orphanage. He’d never seen such a cruel gang in his entire life. The kind of scene that was frequent in Africa was about to take place in Korea.

  The words he heard from the gang leader in the office could be the truth or a lie. It didn’t matter whether it was the truth or a lie. 10 minutes was more than enough to grab all uninvited guests in In Ae Won. Mu Ssang had plenty of time.

  “Hyung Dong, what time do the children wake up?”


  “The children attending middle school and high school wake up at six every day to exercise and prepare breakfast. The younger children wake up at seven. It is these guys’ turn to participate in the New Community Movement.”


  “Really? Then, the older ones must have already woken up.”


  “That’s strange. The children should be getting ready for school. However, the dining room lights are off.”


  Hyung Dong tilted his head. He saw a black Royale Salon and silver pony parked before the entrance of In Ae Won when they turned the corner.

  “F***, those b*stards must be here.”


  Hyung Dong walked faster. Those b*stards who used to visit at night must have arrived at dawn. Hyung Dong suddenly felt anxious. Even the children’s faces darkened at the news of those evil men’s arrival.

  Mu Ssang nodded his head when he entered the front yard, which was surprisingly large. Although the building was run-down, there were basic playthings in the yard like jungle gyms and merry-go-rounds. The entire space was around 500 pyung, and while Daemyeong-dong was located in the outskirts of Daegu, it wasn’t easy to obtain such a large piece of land.

  Tap tap tap—


  Mu Ssang’s hand swept past the three gangsters’ backs. The gangsters who fell were kicked and thrown into the flower field by the front gate.

  “Hyung Dong, I need to catch some insects. Take the children with you and wait at the playground.”


  Mu Ssang flashed and disappeared before Hyung Dong could say anything.

  “Ha! Boss is still the boss. He used to be in a different realm in the past, and now, he’s a goblin. I knew it. You b*stards are all dead now.”


  Hyung Dong raised his fist and shook it. His teeth started chattering when he recalled the memories of being beaten by those Chil Sung market gang members a few months back. He couldn’t rest well since then, fearing for the children’s safety.

  “Su jin, take the children and hide in the shed behind the playground. Remember, don’t make any noise.”


  “Ok. Uncle, don’t fight, ok?”


  The eldest girl sobbed.

  “Hehe, don’t worry. My boss is here,” Hyung Dong whispered into Su jin’s ear and pointed in the direction where Mu Ssang disappeared.

  Relief flooded Su jin’s face. The scary ajussi, who knocked out the evil men with a single slap each, was her uncle’s boss. She felt relieved.

  Sss—


  Like a lizard, Mu Ssang attached himself to the leftmost window on the first floor as gently as a leaf blowing in the wind. Already at its peak, his secretive movements didn’t make a single sound. The window was barely two textbooks thick.

  Beds with iron frames were lined up in the bedroom that was as big as a classroom. There were children from the ages of five to their mid-teens gathered in a corner. Their mouths were covered with tape, and their hands were tied to the back. Two middle-aged women, who looked like nursery nurses, were holding a baby respectively with milk bottles in hand.

  He found six gangsters whose faces were covered with masks and baseball caps. There were two plastic fuel tanks in a corner of the bedroom. Those b*stards were really planning to burn down In Ae Won.

  “I should kill them!”


  Sparks flew out from Mu Ssang’s eyes. He pushed the window. It was locked. When he pushed it a little bit more, the iron lock fell apart. His strong body slipped through the small window easily.

  “What?”


  When one of the gangsters with bright ears raised his head, a black shadow loomed over them.

  Bang—


  The gangster was slapped and thrown into the air before he collapsed on the ground. Surprised, the others jumped to their feet and raised their bats, chains, and drivers.

  No, the moment they stood up, a tornado swept past them. Mu Ssang used just enough strength to keep their spines intact.

  Cra-a-ack—


  Instantly, six gangsters were slapped, and they flew in all directions. Countless teeth that fell out of their mouths were rolling on the floor.

  Mu Ssang tied up the gangsters, whose noses were bleeding, with the remaining rope used to tie up the children. They should be out for an hour, but he might take longer.

  Boom—


  He used his dimensional sight. The only place where he felt any presence was presumably the director’s office. He managed to not waste any time since the b*stards shoved all of the children in one room.

  “Ajumma, release the children and wait. Don’t make any noise, and hit these b*stards on the head the moment they regain consciousness.”


  He threw a baseball bat to the nursery nurses whose mouths were wide open before disappearing through the window.

  Hyung Dong gasped and turned when he felt something patting his shoulder.

  “My god. What happened?”


  “Trouble nearly happened. I wrapped it up cleanly. All the children are gathered in the last room on the left. Nothing seemed to have happened to them.”


  “That’s a relief. What about those Chil Sung market gang b*stards?”


  “There were six. I beat every one of them and tied them up.”


  “Damn b*stards!”


  Hyung Dong gritted his teeth. It was obvious that those gangsters threatened the priest director by holding the children as hostages.

  “Su jin, you stay here for a while and then bring the other children to your brothers’ rooms. Uncle needs to follow boss, I’m concerned about our director.”


  “Ya, be careful.”


  Su jin nodded without hesitation.

  “Brat, you’re smart.”


  Mu Ssang smiled and patted Su jin’s head. She seemed like a girl who’d succeed in the future. Mu Ssang dragged the three gangsters he previously threw into the flower field. He flicked them all back into consciousness. The three gangsters’ foreheads swelled in red.

  Mu Ssang walked toward the entrance of the building without a single care for his safety. Since the children’s safety was taken care of, he only had to destroy those gangsters.

  Two b*stards wearing a black shirt and black suit were smoking while leaning on one leg. Mu Ssang wondered why all gangsters leaned on one leg and insisted on wearing a white shirt with a black suit. The moment one leaned on one leg, their reaction time became slower. It was disadvantageous to attack or defend.

  “Huh, what are those?”


  A young man guarding the door nudged his friend.

  “One’s the invalid, but who’s the other person?”


  “B*stards who go around with an idiot are all b*stards.”


  “But the b*stards behind him look like our kids.”


  The gangster who was chewing on the cigarette filter like gum blocked his path. The other guy who was actually chewing gum spat through his teeth. The three gangsters who were following him glared at them, motioning for them to stand down. However, the two who were guarding the door didn’t understand.

  “Oi, leg-drag, where have you been?”


  “Can’t you tell? He’s here to get beaten up since he doesn’t have a single penny on him.”


  The two gangsters made fun of him right before his face.

  “Move!” Hyung Dong shouted.

  “No, our boss and his lackeys are talking to an idiot.”


  “Do you want to wait silently until it’s over, or do you want to pass out after getting beaten up?” The two gangsters laughed.

  Mu Ssang looked pathetically at the gangsters’ comedic act. B*stards like them didn’t deserve to be called gangsters. In Japanese, they would be called chinpira.

  “Oi, who are you?”


  “You rude b*stard, I’m your father.”


  Mu Ssang waved his hand as though he was playing around. His palm moved at an invisible speed and tapped the back of gangster one’s head. Gangster one swayed and moved a few steps forward, before falling to the ground.

  “What the f***?”


  Surprised, gangster two stepped back. Mu Ssang followed him like iron powder dragged along by a magnet.

  “Ugk!”


  Gangster two’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper when he saw the smiling face looking at him from a short distance.

  Crack—


  Gangster two, who was slapped on the back of his head, hit his nose on the ground. Gangster two should have fled as fast as he could. Still, how could a small ghost know fear when he’d never met a bigger ghost!

  “Why do these b*stards lack imagination? They always ask about my identity. I suppose they’re gangsters because they’re empty-headed, but still,” Mu Ssang muttered as he kicked the sides of the unconscious gangsters.

  “F***er, I didn’t hit you hard enough for you to pass out. If you don’t wake up, I’ll break your back. You will never be able to have s*x with a woman, so what will you do?”


  Gangster one and gangster two trembled as they got up. Their heads were ringing, and their sight had turned yellow. Their legs shook, but they mustered up a great amount of tenacity and got into position.

  Whoosh—


  Mu Ssang’s hand searched the left gangster’s pocket and the right gangster’s belt. He was holding a jackknife and a motorbike chain not a moment later.

  “Uuu!”


  The three gangsters, who were dragged all the way from DaeDeok restaurant, made strange noises behind him. Still, the surprise had only just begun. The jackknife in his hand turned into dust. Meanwhile, the motorbike chain was disassembled into rollers, pins, and plates before they were scattered onto the floor.