Harley’s Modern Diary (3)
An alleyway in Daegu, far removed from the main roads, strewn with all manner of odds and ends.
Dim and gloomy, with barely any proper lighting, it was the sort of place an ordinary citizen would not even glance at.
No matter how much public safety in Korea had improved lately, there were still limits.
Measures against crime in ordinary circumstances were one thing, but if one so much as set foot out of curiosity in a place so openly belonging to the shadows, there was absolutely no guarantee of safety.
All the more so if it was not Seoul, where the Blood Alliance’s influence was strong.
“Kikikik, dumbass. They say that punk blew it all again doing that same crap.”
“For real? Again?”
“Ah, shut it. I already feel like shit.”
“I knew that’d happen. A man’s gotta live a sound life, you know. What’s the point of always chasing one big score?”
But even such a dangerous environment was merely part of ordinary daily life for the residents of the shadows.
A group of young men moved along, their faces flushed as if from drink, cackling noisily as they walked.
“I said shut it, didn’t I? And sound, my ass. Guys like us, what kind of…”
Was it because, dead drunk, they were so absorbed in their own conversation that they did not even look around?
Thud—
The young man walking at the front, grumbling in irritation, failed to notice the figure approaching from the opposite direction and ended up slamming shoulders with him.
“Ah, shit! What the hell is this now?”
“Kehhehehet! What’s that bastard doing?”
“Kikikik.”
As if he had run into an iron pillar, he flopped onto the ground, then staggered back to his feet with a scowl.
Perhaps thanks to the alcohol, the pain was not particularly great, but that was not the important issue right now.
When the guys around him, who had already been running their mouths, now went so far as to point at him and laugh, the lid blew off his head, his irritation having already reached its limit.
“You bastard, who the hell are you, bumping into someone’s shoulder like—”
“Hm? Me?”
And just as he glared at the opponent before him and poured out his anger—
A sturdy figure slowly approached, pushing through the darkness of the alley.
“Well now, I’m sorry about this. It’s been quite a while since I paid attention to that sort of thing.”
Saying that people had been avoiding him on their own whenever they saw him, so he had never imagined he would bump into someone—
The burly man in sunglasses, who had apologized like a gentleman, lightly scratched the back of his head.
“You think an apology makes it over? Forget that, hand over the treatment fee.”
“Yeah, yeah. Those clothes and sunglasses look pretty nice too, so leave ’em behind.”
Unfortunately, however.
The young men, already thoroughly drunk and robbed of reason, did not accept his sincere apology.
The man had an extraordinary appearance at a glance, but to them, members of the “Geomdok Gang,” the largest organization in Daegu’s underworld, outward appearance was not a particularly important factor.
“Count yourself lucky. Back in the old days, it wouldn’t have ended at just this.”
“Kikik, we’d have smashed his shoulder first and asked questions later.”
“Back then, he’d be lucky to get away with his life, wouldn’t he?”
No matter that they belonged to an organization, there was no way people who wandered so carelessly around such a dangerous zone while drunk could be ordinary punks.
As if they would half-kill him the moment he resisted, mysterious energy wavered and rose over their bodies.
None of them were particularly high-level, but the mere existence of supernatural abilities made their danger self-evident.
Surrounded and threatened by several thugs who were returnees, the man found himself in an extremely troublesome situation—.
Harley, who had come here according to the information brought by his newly recruited employees, smacked his lips.
‘This is a fresh experience too. Well, it may be because I altered my body’s structure as Chief Ha and concealed my aura as much as possible.’
Even so, they should normally feel at least an instinctive reluctance.
It seemed the alcohol had completely paralyzed not only their reason but their instincts as well.
With the situation having come to this, there was only one thing he could do.
“Tsk, can’t be helped. I didn’t really want to perform illegal medical practice.”
Contrary to his words, he smiled brightly, rolled up his sleeves with excitement, and finished preparing to begin physical therapy.
“Oh? You wanna go?”
“Let’s start by breaking his limbs.”
There was no need to explain in detail what happened next.
“Ggggh…”
“Cough! Cough!”
How much time had even passed? The men, who had been so imposing, were now strewn about the alley here and there like crumpled trash.
They matched the surrounding interior design remarkably well.
“You… Do you even know who we are…?! To mess with the Geomdok Gang here in Daegu—you’ll never get away with this!”
As he was looking at that scenery with satisfaction—
Perhaps thanks to the treatment Harley had so painstakingly administered, one of them, who seemed relatively intact, shouted in fury with all signs of drunkenness wiped clean from him.
‘As expected, maybe because it was his first visit. Seems he hasn’t fully recovered yet.’
Judging from the way he spoke, it looked like he needed additional treatment.
Nodding at that, Harley strode toward the patient, who still seemed full of vigor despite being collapsed on the ground.
“Hiiik! M-my real older brother is an executive in the Geomdok Gang! If something happens to me, you think my brother will just sit still?!”
At those words, the feet that had been moving without hesitation came to a halt.
Perhaps thinking his threat had worked, the man who had been shouting at the top of his lungs brightened and continued speaking.
“You’ve heard the rumors about the Black Yaksha, Kwon Cheolyong, haven’t you? The Black Yaksha, the big boss of our Geomdok Gang! My real brother, Jang Taehyeok, serves him right by his side! If something happens to me, then right away… Huh? The big boss himself will step forward, I’m telling you. If you understood what I said, then right now—”
“Oh? Looks like I came to the right place.”
A carefree voice cut off the words he was desperately spouting as they came to him.
The speechless man lay there, staring blankly upward.
With the dim alley light behind him—
The teeth of the being whose face was cast in shadow shone brightly.
As if this were some unexpected windfall, as if he were truly delighted.
‘…Fuck, I think I’ve messed with the wrong—’
Only then did the effects of the gentle-hand prescription seem to begin circulating, and the reason and instincts that had been completely blown away returned and began doing their jobs properly.
“I just happened to come looking for that friend, you see? Since this must be fate, why don’t you guide me to him?”
Though by then, it was already far too late.
***
The Blood Alliance was an organization that had existed in the shadows of the Republic of Korea for over fifteen years.
At present, most of its forces had gone up to the capital to solidify its influence in Seoul, but originally, the Blood Alliance had been more of a federation that spread throughout the country and operated in crew-sized units.
Bang!
“Damn it! Those rotten pieces of trash…! Calling themselves a public order organization, and instead of beating down vampires, they’ve gone and become those bastards’ dogs, ruining their own image?”
As such, it was not at all strange that they had caused various problems all over the country, nor that they had repeatedly clashed over supremacy with the underworld forces entrenched in each region like local powers.
No, in fact, the casualties born from those fights were likely far greater than the damage publicly known.
Given the nature of vampires, harvesting blood through struggles in the shadows was far more convenient and efficient than obtaining blood in the light.
‘This is troublesome. Truly troublesome. It seems we haven’t been discovered yet, but considering those persistent Guardian bastards, being exposed is only a matter of time.’
Kwon Cheolyong, the boss of Daegu’s Geomdok Gang and known as the Black Yaksha, was one of those who had built up a bad relationship with the Blood Alliance in that process.
It had not been particularly difficult to protect Daegu’s supremacy against the Blood Alliance’s forces, which were dispersed at the time, but in the process, many of those he cherished like brothers had ended up being sacrificed.
“Ha! Shameless bastards. Do they think that just because they’re stepping into the light now, they can truly live under the sun? The stench of blood they scattered in the past is still so clear—how is that supposed to make any sense!”
When the Blood Alliance unified Korea’s underground and became the rulers of the night, he too had reluctantly placed himself under them.
No matter what, in the end, this world was one that operated strictly by the logic of power.
No matter how much resentment remained, once clear superiority had been decided, he had thought there was no helping it but to accept and submit to the result…
‘But this is a different matter. The ones who broke the rules of the underground first were you.’
They stood in the light while controlling crimes that occurred in the shadows.
Could they still be called members of the same underground organization?
If anything, they were another police organization.
For him, who thoroughly pursued the shadows, joining hands with outsiders and betraying the Blood Alliance was by no means unjust.
‘Damn it, things went wrong. It didn’t matter whether the bombing failed, but I never thought they’d immediately subdue even the celebrity bastards who caused the disturbance and hand them over to the Returnee Association. They pushed a directly connected issue onto the investigative authorities instead of resolving it themselves? Do those bastards have no pride as rulers of the night?’
Removing Lycoris with the bombing had been an operation that would be nice if it succeeded and acceptable if it failed.
The plan he had truly been aiming for came afterward.
If the celebrities who had clashed with them just beforehand were assassinated all at once, who would the public point to first as the culprit?
‘If the bombing had succeeded, one hundred percent. Even if not, they’d first think of Lycoris, who had been the victim, and the vampires behind them.’
There were plenty of witnesses as well, so denial would be useless.
Once the additional work prepared separately was added on top, public opinion would begin to burn, and then the government and the Association would have no choice but to feel burdened by embracing them.
His plan had been to collapse the trust the Blood Alliance had built, one piece at a time, and drive wedges between them, utterly destroying their foundation in the light.
“Damn it, all the plans until now have gone up in smoke. This leaves me with nothing to say to that side…”
Kwon Cheolyong bit his lip as he recalled his secret collaborator.
The assassination, the most important stage of this operation, was impossible with his skills.
No matter that he too was a strong individual who had reached the Master realm, secretly assassinating Cheon Seolhyang and the other awakened ones who represented the entertainment industry was absolutely beyond him.
To be honest, he was not confident he could win even if he simply fought her head-on, so naturally, the one slated to assassinate them had to be another existence with sufficient ability.
[No need to say it. I’ve already grasped the whole situation before coming.]
“Huh! Since when?”
Just like now, when he had taken his back at a moment even Kwon Cheolyong, a Master-class warrior, had failed to notice.
[Tsk, this is completely hopeless. If it had at least not been the Seoul Southern Branch, where the Thunder Emperor is, I could have tried something.]
The shadow, which conveyed its intent by vibrating the air rather than using a living voice, slowly shook its head.
No matter that he specialized in assassination and stood on the verge of transcendence, as long as he had not crossed the wall, he was not confident he could deceive a true transcendent’s senses and secretly kill them.
“…Even so, there is still a chance. They cannot hold them there for that long in the first place…”
[The timing is already off. It would be better to make a new plan instead.]
The shadow—Heukyeong—looked at him, who still could not let go of his lingering attachment, and inwardly clicked his tongue.
He had weighed various conditions and chosen him because he seemed fairly useful, but no matter how he looked at it, this did not seem to be a talent he could work with for long.
‘I’ll have to wrap up this matter and dispose of him appropriately. If I carry a man like this with me for no reason, the tail will only grow longer.’
Now that the Beoncheon Society had completely pulled its hands from Korea, this was the perfect opportunity to slip into this land.
For their Black Dragon Society, which was on the verge of withering away in China, completely occupied by those bastards, the best course was to shake the Blood Alliance that held this small peninsula and seize the opportunity while they fell into chaos.
‘But with the collaborator in this state, this side will only be put in danger.’
If they handled things half-baked and ended up attacked by both the Blood Alliance and the Beoncheon Society, everything would be over.
In that sense, he needed to search for a new, capable talent who could handle matters more reliably…
Knock, knock—
“B-boss. It’s me, Taehyeok. I have an urgent report to give you…”
At that moment, the voice of a close aide came from outside the office where they were.
Kwon Cheolyong, who briefly met Heukyeong’s gaze, shouted irritably toward the door.
“I’m busy right now, so come back later!”
“It’s urgent. For some reason, a Guardian investigator suddenly barged into our territory, and we can’t get through to him at all. If we don’t deal with this immediately…”
But at the hurried reply that followed, he could only frown.
He was the only one in the organization who knew about this plan.
The rest had merely cooperated indirectly, without even knowing what they were doing—yet to think the trail had already been followed this far.
Having grasped the situation, Black Shadow slowly nodded and seeped into the darkness of the room.
“…Come in.”
Clack—
And the moment the ward on the security door disengaged in response to Gwon Cheolyong’s words.
“Sniff, sniff! I smell it, I smell it! The stench of conspiracy is absolutely reeking in here, isn’t it? Kahahahah!”
A foreigner flung the door wide open and stormed inside.
A burly man in a suit, with slicked-back hair, who looked like nothing but a gangster no matter how you looked at him.
Flustered, Gwon Cheolyong hurriedly turned to his close aide, Taehyeok, but…
“…I’m sorry, hyungnim.”
“You, you…! How could you…!”
Standing by the doorway, he merely bowed his battered face low.
As Gwon Cheolyong trembled with rage at the betrayal.
Harley strode into the office and smiled brightly as he looked toward the darkness in the corner.
“Wow~ What a catch, huh? I came to thrash the actual culprit, just like our capable rookies said, and it turns out the mastermind is here too?”
Immediately after.
The shadow in the darkness tried to swiftly flee, but—
[Keugh!]
“Hey now! I only just got here, so where do you think you’re getting up and leaving first!”
If he had still been far away, that would have been one thing; but once he was already within Harley’s sight, there was no way to escape.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang—!
The office, surrounded by sturdy wards, exploded apart in an instant.
The shadow tried to slip away like an eel by any means possible, while Harley pursued him with the swiftness of a tiger.
At the end of that brief sequence of events, the hunter who had finally seized his prey by the collar wore a ferocious grin.
‘I really might’ve lost him if things had gone wrong, huh? Lucky me.’
Instead of direct combat power, all his stats seemed to have been poured into covert movement, because his ability to flee was beyond imagination.
If Harley had entered the interior the usual way, smashing everything apart without thinking, he truly would have lost him.
‘As expected, it pays to live virtuously.’
Who could have known that the method he had chosen in “Director Ha mode,” in order to keep the commotion to a minimum, would bring about this result!
It was all thanks to the fact that he had readily administered physical therapy to the young men he met on the street.
And so, Harley was able to steadily accumulate violence points again today.
Just as he always had.