GPhtjS3K3FdbPEars19f2mAomF8g
9R5NAEVJKCq84QA41nvm
Chapter 27
“Arrived.”
With a heavy thud, the door of the car that had carried me shut.
The place I had arrived at was a skyscraper owned by the Pungyang Cho Clan, situated in the upper district.
The building’s exterior walls were lined with countless office signboards, but as I looked at them, I snorted inwardly.
Because I knew that wasn’t the true purpose of this building.
‘Of course. Storing his “toys” at the very top… Even for the only son of the Pungyang Cho Clan, that would be a heavy burden to carry.’
The elevator carried me upward.
The building looked to be well over 120 floors, yet the elevator had only two buttons.
The first floor—the entrance. And the very top—the VIP Room.
Of course, that didn’t mean the whole building was just two floors. It only meant the middle floors had to be accessed from somewhere else.
Through paths never disclosed to guests like me.
Guwoooong—
As my thoughts ended, the elevator doors opened, revealing the opulent VIP Room interior.
The decorations were styled after Joseon-era aesthetics, yet cutting-edge optical surveillance cameras were hidden throughout, and every inch of the floor had pressure-sensitive sensors installed.
‘Reporters… No, this must be to prepare against intruders from rival families.’
It wasn’t as though ordinary journalists would ever dare lay a hand on a noble.
As that thought crossed my mind, I entered the room, and from deeper inside came a cacophony that assaulted my ears.
Moans, laughter, voices.
I walked toward the inner chamber—the place where the one who had summoned me was waiting.
“You called for me, Young Master… haa.”
The first thing I let out upon entering was a sigh.
The heir of the Pungyang Cho Clan, Cho Seong-hwan.
He was in the middle of rolling around on the bed with four naked women.
“Oh, you’re here?”
As if only just noticing me, Cho Seong-hwan waved his hand, signaling to the women draped around him.
“Huh? Young Master, is that your guest?”
“Are we joining in today?”
“Of course not. He’s here for business. Go on, all of you, leave.”
“Yes~”
At the kind words of Cho Seong-hwan, the women brushed past me and walked into the next room.
‘Judging from those beaming smiles, they’re not slaves… they must be courtesans.’
And since they still threw me sly smiles at my clothes as they passed, it was obvious.
Even on their way out, they were still working their trade. These women really were diligent.
I pushed away the business cards they tried to sneak into my hand and let them pass, which drew an unexpected comment from Cho Seong-hwan.
“You’re quite used to this for someone so young. Most would blush and not even dare meet their eyes.”
Cho Seong-hwan stood up, still naked.
His female secretary approached and draped a thin outer robe over him.
Women here, women there…
If nothing else, this man certainly had consistent tastes.
“You’re from the Andong Kim clan, even if just a concubine’s child. Didn’t your family forbid this sort of thing?”
“Even if I’m of the Andong Kim clan, I’m just a bastard born of a concubine. Since my clan doesn’t even consider me a person, the restrictions they impose on the family don’t apply to me.”
“Ah, so that’s how it is?”
At that reply, I lowered my head to him as he approached.
“Thank you for inviting me, Young Master Cho Seong-hwan. I am Kim Chang-woon.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s enough. We’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so don’t be so stiff.”
Seeing each other often.
At those words, I deliberately made a puzzled expression and lifted my gaze.
“Seeing each other often?”
“Why, curious?”
No. Not curious in the slightest.
I already knew.
But whether he knew my thoughts or not, Cho Seong-hwan came closer and slung his arm over my shoulder.
“Our family’s informants tell me… that it was you who caught and crushed Dok Go-seong.”
“……”
“And after killing Dok Go-seong, you ran straight to the Andong Kim clan’s main household. Kim Junghun was away on an inspection of the East Sea waters, so the only one left there would have been Kim Hyunwoo.”
Was he monitoring everyone’s location in real-time, too?
Even as I thought that, the grip of Cho Seong-hwan tightened on my shoulder.
“So you went to see your brother, who you’re not even on good terms with… What in the hell did you say to him, huh?”
The air grew heavier and heavier.
Then came Cho Seong-hwan’s next words, stripped of any trace of a smile.
“I asked you. What the hell did you whisper into that bastard Kim Hyunwoo’s ear? Huh?”
A creeping surge of aura force spread, and his voice carried a murderous edge.
To anyone familiar only with Cho Seong-hwan’s public image, this would have been a shocking sight.
For the world knew Cho Seong-hwan as the model noble: a philanthropist who poured efforts into aiding the poor, who ran a charitable foundation, and who even enlisted directly in the royal guard to set an example as a nobleman… The so-called embodiment of a virtuous noble.
And since even Kim Hyunwoo seemed to think the same, it was clear Cho Seong-hwan had grown adept at living behind a mask.
‘But the fact that he’s tearing that mask off so easily right now… shows he’s still just a kid at heart.’
He may have succeeded in threatening me, but all he’d revealed was his desperation.
“You’d better answer me properly. Otherwise, I’ll take your head right here and—”
“I told him that Dok Go-seong and his sword guild were running a human trafficking ring. And that you, Young Master, were the one behind it.”
Cho Seong-hwan’s vicious threat was cut short.
Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to answer so bluntly.
“But…”
As he blinked at me blankly, I clicked my tongue roughly and shrugged my shoulders.
“No matter how much I rattled on, he wouldn’t believe me. Said, ‘How dare a lowly bastard born of a concubine insult a nobleman without proof?’”
“…What?”
My voice carried a tinge of resignation, my face a mask of surrender—as though it didn’t matter anymore. And behind it, I laced in the genuine disillusionment I’d always carried toward my clan.
“So in the end, I left empty-handed. And right around then… the Pungyang Cho Clan came looking for me.”
Because in acting, emotion sells; and in lies, one thread of truth makes it believable.
Seeing my performance, Cho Seong-hwan only stared at me with a strange, unreadable expression.
‘He must be rattled. He expected me to deny everything or threaten him that Kim Hyunwoo knew of his crimes… but instead, I shoved something completely unexpected in front of him.’
His eyes narrowed as though probing for my true intent.
But when I failed to react further, he finally opened his mouth first.
“So you ratted me out. But that bastard didn’t believe it?”
“Yes.”
Hooked.
The fact that he didn’t cut me down on the spot, but instead pressed further, meant I had piqued his interest.
And piqued interest meant… he was willing to believe at least forty percent of what I’d said.
And pushing forty to fifty percent was simple.
‘And nudging fifty to fifty-one? Even simpler.’
I spoke without hesitation.
“Even if what I said were true, he said he had no interest in dragging such filth out into the open himself. He even said…”
Here, a little sting to provoke emotion.
“That if the great Cho Seong-hwan were really such a base criminal, he wasn’t even worth considering a rival in the first place… Kghhh?!”
Not even worth a rival.
That struck Cho Seong-hwan’s pride like a blade. His grip on my shoulder flared with aura force.
“…Yeah. That bastard has always been like that. As if I were never even worth his notice.”
Success.
Damn it, though. Hurts like hell.
Clenching my teeth, I endured until Cho Seong-hwan finally loosened his hold.
Because what mattered more to him than his inferiority toward Kim Hyunwoo… was the relief that his crimes hadn’t been exposed.
And sure enough, relief flickered across his face.
“That story you told me—it’s true, isn’t it?”
“If it weren’t, it wouldn’t be me standing here right now—it’d be agents from the Royal Inquisition Bureau. Don’t you think?”
“…Hah. True enough.”
Only after hearing that did Cho Seong-hwan set aside his suspicions of me.
And in that moment, he had all but walked into my trap.
Naturally so—since every word I’d spoken, from beginning to end, was a lie.
And he hadn’t seen through a thing.
“Fine. I’ll believe you.”
Idiot.
As I answered him inwardly, Cho Seong-hwan gestured to the secretary waiting nearby.
“You must’ve picked up on it while breaking Dok Go-seong. You know what kind of work I’m in.”
“Human trafficking, you mean?”
“Ehh, trafficking sounds so grim. Let’s use a nicer word… Right. Let’s call it environmental beautification. Clearing out the trash from the lowest layers of Hanseong. Isn’t that better?”
Environmental beautification.
What would the people at the very bottom think if they heard him call it that?
As I thought this, Cho Seong-hwan’s secretary, having received his order, approached me respectfully and handed me something.
It was a small voice communicator.
Having already rifled through Dok Go-seong’s corpse, I immediately knew what it was.
“A two-way communicator? Why are you giving this to me?”
“Dok Go-seong. You’ll be filling his shoes.”
So blunt, right to the point.
After a brief pause, I asked him in return.
“…And why should I?”
“You wiped out not only the man who supplied me with ‘goods’ but also his entire organization. Thanks to you, our side has suffered no small loss, you see?”
The fact that he suffered losses was, to him, reason enough that I should clean them up for him.
No logic was required.
If a noble like him wanted something, then so it must be.
A way of thinking so self-centered it was revolting.
Such was the nature of Joseon nobility today.
“I’ll reward you generously. I hear you’ve started some business down below—think of this as just a side job. Nothing wrong with that, eh?”
“…Hah.”
Maybe I should prepare bonuses for the casino marketing department.
Funny how so many people already seemed to know about us, when we hadn’t even opened yet.
Still, declining a request from the Pungyang Cho Clan, especially from its heir, was unthinkable.
I furrowed my brows as though lost in thought.
No—more accurately, I pretended to be.
‘Negotiating with the second-in-command of Joseon’s nobility. It’s a little early, but… perhaps I should take this chance to probe deeper.’
Though the thinking time was short, my decision was quick.
“Very well.”
I accepted Cho Seong-hwan’s request.
“Excellent. Then I’ll be in contact later—”
“But in exchange.”
Cutting off his jubilant words, I continued.
“There’s something I’d like to know.”
“Something you’d like to know?”
“You called it ‘environmental beautification.’ Why exactly do you need so many ‘goods’?”
In Joseon, Dok Go-seong was hardly the only one trafficking in human lives.
There were those who kidnapped orphans and vagrants without citizen rights to sell their organs.
There were even those who hacked off people’s limbs and sold them—and that wasn’t even illegal.
Such was Joseon.
But even among those human-trafficking “merchants,” Cho Seong-hwan was a unique type of client.
The person had to be intact.
The person had to be alive.
As long as those two conditions were met, he would buy anyone—man or woman, young or old—in any number.
‘And not a single one of those people ever came back.’
So where were all those people going?
Were they being made into playthings and resold, as Dok Go-seong’s memory data had suggested?
Perhaps some were.
In my previous life, Moo-yeong’s younger sister had met her end that way.
But even human garbage who treated people like toys had their own tastes.
And catering to the demanding tastes of such monsters wasn’t easy.
If Cho Seong-hwan was buying children en masse only to resell them, it would hardly have been profitable.
At my question, Cho Seong-hwan’s grin only deepened.
“You really want to know?”
Truth be told, I already did.
But what I had was only information.
I needed to see it with my own eyes, to analyze it, before I could plan my next move.
“Young Master.”
Just then, one of the bodyguards spoke up.
“The Lord ordered that facility be kept under the strictest security. To show it recklessly to outsiders—”
“Hey.”
Maybe he didn’t like being interrupted.
Cho Seong-hwan’s voice dropped low, all traces of mischief gone.
“If you bring up that old man to me again, I’ll kill you. Got it?”
“Y-yes… Forgive me.”
The guard bowed immediately.
Then Cho Seong-hwan led me toward the corner of the VIP Room.
“Open it.”
At his voice command, the wall slowly slid open.
Behind it was an elevator—unlike the one I had ridden earlier, this one had countless floors descending deep underground.
Guwoooong—
With a heavy mechanical sound, the elevator began to descend.
Soon, through a window set into the elevator wall, the true face of this towering building came into view.
“…Ha.”
The heir to the Pungyang Cho Clan, the second-in-command of Joseon’s nobility.
Shielded by that identity, Cho Seong-hwan had committed endless crimes and unspeakable atrocities.
And yet, the main household of the Pungyang Cho Clan, who should have been supervising him, simply looked on.
They neither stopped him nor even tried.
Why?
Their heir—the man who would one day shoulder the clan’s future—was buying and selling people, reveling in filth and vice.
Why was the Pungyang Cho Clan condoning it?
The reason was this.
His hobby.
The very pretext for the true business of the Pungyang Cho Clan.
And the real reason why I called both Cho Seong-hwan and his clan madmen.
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of human skulls being crushed filled the air, as a black carapace slowly emerged.
“What do you think? Spectacular, isn’t it?”
“…Yes. Spectacular indeed.”
One per floor, sometimes in pairs.
Behind reinforced partitions, dripping with slime, baring jagged fangs—
And with those twisted fangs, they ravenously devoured humans.
“Krurrrrrr…”
The mortal enemy of humankind.Monsters.
---The End Of The Chapter---
Join Patreon to support the translation and to read 5 chapters ahead of the release.
Comments