Han Yujin had never beaten anyone up.
After all, opportunities to beat people up weren't exactly plentiful in modern-day South Korea.
Of course, that didn't make him a pacifist.
For the past ten years, he'd gone around beating people up with his keyboard while gallery-surfing, so he was closer to a fighting cock than a pacifist.
In Han Yujin's view, online communities were much like the martial world of wuxia novels.
They fought with keyboards instead of swords.
And the defeated submitted to the victor.
It was essentially a life-or-death duel with one's gallery life on the line!
If this wasn't the martial world, what was?
In such a dog-eat-dog world, Han Yujin had been undefeated for over ten years.
He was quite the high-level fighting cock.
Even his fighting cock instincts knew no bounds.
Even in mud-slinging bait like adult male vs. leopard.
He had to win, and to defeat him, one had to be well-versed in theory.
This was why Han Yujin was so well-versed in various physical and bodily knowledge.
—Thud, thud.
The moment footsteps approached to capture him.
Han Yujin's mind raced.
'What should I do about this?'
In truth, he already had a plan.
Get out of the hiding cabinet and run toward the hallway straight ahead.
Someone might nitpick, "Why not the subway exit on the left or the lost-and-found center on the right?" To that question, Han Yujin's answer was, "Then you die."
If he ran to the subway exit, that group of four would grit their teeth and block him; if he ran to the lost-and-found center, he'd be nothing but a rat in a trap at best.
He needed to find another way, and that was the hallway straight ahead.
If he ran there, even the newbie hunters standing in front of the cabinet would let their guard down for a moment. As for what came after… he had a plan for everything.
Anyway. To move forward, he had to break through the encirclement.
How?
"Hey, we know you're hiding in there. Come out already."
They didn't seem like the type to listen to reason, so by force.
'An adult male's skull generally withstands 1200 joules of impact.'
Let me say again, Han Yujin was undefeated in any bait thread.
He had endless amounts of anatomical and physical knowledge to pull out in a situation like this.
'The problem is whether I can generate 1200 joules of impact.'
Han Yujin glanced around lightly and shook his head.
Impossible.
He couldn't secure enough space to swing his arm. He was about 5 centimeters short on reach.
Then it was time for Plan B.
Subduing one and forcefully breaking through three was impossible.
Then he'd aim for psychological confusion.
Like having blood suddenly pour from an ally's mouth.
If teeth exploded out like popcorn, it would make for a slightly more stimulating production.
The man put his hand on the cabinet, and at that moment.
—Baaaaaah!
A money bag weighing roughly 7 kilograms struck the man's mouth precisely.
Good angle, sufficient rotational force applied, and thanks to that, the torque was perfect as well.
The force release point targeted the exact moment it touched the mouth.
Hitting like this, the impact force would be transmitted directly to the man's lower jaw.
Finally, an accurate strike.
"Guaaaack, kuack!"
When all conditions aligned like this, even with a woman's body, one could harvest corn from a sturdy man.
The teeth scattered on the floor and the gang members flustered at the sight.
Han Yujin curled the corners of his mouth up in satisfaction seeing that.
That his plan was unfolding exactly as intended.
It was a good production, just as expected.
Of course, from now on, it was a battle against time.
"One more hit coming!"
Han Yujin kicked the face of the man clutching it and pushed him away.
"Gwaaaaaack!"
The thug was flung backward.
Han Yujin stomped over him and ran toward the hallway.
"H-Hyung-nim, are you okay?"
"W-What, what is with that woman?"
"Help Hyung-nim first!"
The gang members panicked.
They wavered, caught between their fallen comrade and Han Yujin.
It was enough to create distance.
"Th-that bitch… that bitch is dead!"
The fallen man shouted with bloodshot eyes.
Perhaps because he'd lost a few teeth, his pronunciation was quite poor.
◆
Park Cheolmin gritted his teeth.
"Aack!"
The broken teeth hurt so damn much that he immediately relaxed his jaw.
He rolled across the floor a few times, then pulled a syringe from his jacket with trembling hands and stabbed it into his arm.
A stabilizing painkiller injection from Unique Company.
The pain subsided immediately and his mind returned to normal.
"Damn it."
About five teeth, and had the bone caved in?
To think he'd used an emergency item he'd bought for dealing with ghosts in a place like this.
Thinking about the money he'd spent to buy it made his blood boil.
"Hur'y up an' chache her! (Hurry up and fucking catch her!)"
He shouted, springing up from where he was.
And he didn't stop at words—he ran too.
There was some damage, but the opponent was a pretty girl.
A very pretty one at that.
If they caught and sold her, they'd make money that couldn't compare to something like this medicine.
The fortunate thing was that the girl had run toward the hallway straight ahead.
"Why'sh she goin' there? (Why is that kid going there?)"
"Maybe she's just running anywhere?"
"It's a dead end anyway. Don't worry!"
The distance between them and the girl began to close quickly.
That was all she amounted to, even running.
Park Cheolmin's face scrunched up.
How could such power come from that tiny body?
'A ghost-like bitch.'
He'd thought she was someone who knew how to use her body, but she was slow at running too.
Incomprehensible. Truly incomprehensible.
Anyway, Park Cheolmin was furious to the tips of his hair.
If he caught her, he'd either knock out a few of her teeth in kind, or properly squeeze tears from those big eyes. He intended to make her pay the price properly.
"Therr she ish!"
The moment the girl finally came within arm's reach.
"I'm lost! Please find my friend!"
The girl screeched.
Was she crazy?
Park Cheolmin, momentarily bewildered, smirked.
"Khid, ain't nobody gonna shabe you. (Kid, there's no one to save you.)"
At the same time, he reached for the girl.
The moment he thought he finally had her.
—Ding-dong~♪
A cheerful guidance chime, completely out of place, rang through the hallway.
[Attention please. We are currently protecting a lost child at the Lost-and-Found and Lost Child Center. If you are the guardian of the lost child, please come to the Lost-and-Found and Lost Child Center to retrieve your missing child.]
In that instant, Park Cheolmin got goosebumps.
This was, no matter who looked at it, a typical ghost story entry cliché.
"Fuc—"
Before he could finish speaking, the girl disappeared simultaneously.
—Bam thud crash!
Park Cheolmin, who had reached out, rolled across the floor.
No. He thought he'd rolled.
When he blinked once, where he was was no longer the hallway.
—Scritch scratch.
The sound of a pen cutting across paper.
He realized he was standing awkwardly in front of some counter.
There was a staff member in proper uniform there, and when their eyes met,theyweren'teyesbutsomethingdarkandfullofjoyohwepraisethetree……
"Uweeeeh!"
Park Cheolmin grabbed the counter and vomited up what was inside.
A clattering tooth fragment popped out along with a bright red clot of blood.
—Scratch.
The staff member's pen stopped as if displeased, then began writing something again.
Park Cheolmin instinctively felt it. He shouldn't look at what the staff member was writing. Look down. Look down.
Soon, its mouth opened.
"Are you the lost child's guardian?"
The thing wearing the form of a staff member asked the colleague standing at the very front of the line.
Fortunately, Park Cheolmin's turn was last, number four.
Park Cheolmin focused.
The voice—it bore human language.
But if one listened closely, it didn't seem like human speech.
A situation where he had to concentrate to survive.
But the more he concentrated.
Language collapsed.
The colleague, standing in front of Park Cheolmin, agonizes.
"I will ask one last time. Are you the lost child's guardian?"
The colleague panics.
Shouts.
"I am the guardian."
—Crunch!
The sound of something being crushed.
Splatter splat.
Fragments flew.
Something sticky, smelling of blood.
Park Cheolmin's face crumpled.
He was screwed.
He had to think. As fast as possible, while concentrating. What to do?
Right. The gallery.
Search.
Lost child.
Many. Results.
What? What? What? What?
"Are you the lost child's guardian?"
It wasn't his turn yet.
Thank god. Number three. No, two.
Get a grip.
Find it. Find it.
"I am —. Guardian. Need trust."
—Crunch!
Bone. Entrails. Flesh. Excrement.
Wrong answer.
Search. Lost child. Lost child.
"Are you the lost child's guardian?"
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Hurry. One person left.
Search search search search search.
"No — gave birth to it. Mother's. Dad."
—Crunch!
Blood.blood.blood.meat.blood.blood.fresh.blood.blood.
Huff. Huff. Huuuff.
Found it. Strategy guide.
"Uweeeeeeh!"
Uh.
Uh.
Uh…
"Are you the lost child's guardian?"
The moment he was asked the question.
Park Cheolmin's heart felt at ease.
It was a bizarre peace.
Was it because he'd heard the ghost's voice, or because he'd read the strategy guide?
It was written in the ghost story gallery strategy guide.
.
.
6. Four people from the same space where the child disappeared, or if unavailable, four random people from all areas are designated as guardian candidates.
7. Whether one is the guardian is determined by the missing person. All who are not the guardian are disposed of.
* Exception: Cases of directly visiting the Lost Child Center have been reported. Confirmed that rescue of the lost child is possible through this method.
** Additional exception: Visited Lost Child Center but was refused. Visitor missing.
.
.
The guardian is determined by the missing person.
Park Cheolmin realized.
That he'd been baited by that newbie who'd knocked out his teeth.
That fox-like bitch had planned and engineered the situation from the beginning to bring him into this ghost story.
And into a ghost story where she held perfect dominance, no less.
In this ghost story, the power of life and death over the 'guardian' was given to the newbie, the 'lost child.'
He didn't know what kind of insane ghost story this was, but two facts were clear.
One, the person he'd been chasing today was either a veteran pretending to be a newbie, or an insane superhuman-level newbie.
The other was that he couldn't survive.
"Heuheuheu… heuheu… heu."
Park Cheolmin laughed as if he'd lost his mind.
He'd been got.
He'd been thoroughly had.
"I will ask one last time. Are you the guardian?"
He answered with a laugh toward the ghost imitating human speech.
"Fffucking trasssh."
The ghost flicked its finger and scribbled something in a notebook.
—Crunch!
◆
[■■■■ Station Lost Child Management Log ■■]
.
.
.
986. 10-year-old male.
- Legs broken.
- Fresh. Approx. 29kg.
- Guardian's identity unconfirmed.
- (1/4) Attempted random contact, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
- (2/4) Attempted random contact, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
~omitted~
- (4/4) Attempted random contact, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
- Scheduled for transfer if guardian does not visit within 751 seconds.
- Transfer complete. ■■■■ received. Recipient satisfied.
987. ■■ female estimated to be 19 years old.
- Normal body.
- ■■■. Approx. 47kg.
- Guardian's identity unknown, but mentioned as 'friend.'
- (1/4) Discovered personnel nearby presumed to be guardian, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
- (2/4) Discovered personnel nearby presumed to be guardian, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
~omitted~
- (4/4) Discovered personnel nearby presumed to be guardian, but verification confirmed not the guardian.
- Disposed of unnecessary personnel per manual.
- Scheduled for transfer if guardian does not visit within 750 seconds.
- ■■■■■■ inquired if early transfer was possible, unable to wait; guided per manual to wait for remaining 313 seconds.