March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 52

Gi Taejeong stretched widely. If it weren’t for this, he would have followed Lee Sehwa himself.

Lee Sehwa, wearing a black padding jacket that reached his calves over a cream-colored knit, was like a perfectly rolled kimbap. Although his impression was sensitive and cool, wrapped in warm, thick clothes, he looked somehow round and naive.

“General….”

If he took off the clothes he was wearing like armor, his name, imprinted on his perineum, would be revealed. Lee Sehwa had no flesh elsewhere, but only there was plump. Good to touch.

Next time, should I try putting a stamp in his hole and making him approve documents? Imagining Lee Sehwa pounding his own buttocks on the desk made Gi Taejeong’s dick feel like it would explode. If he scolded him for the paper being soaked with fluid, he would turn beet red and just shed tears.

“Excuse me, General….”

Damn it. Why was he so sexy? He shouldn’t have let him go out. He shouldn’t let things like that wander outside.

“Excuse me, General, we’re about to prepare for business….”

“I know, so shut up.”

The ugly bastard, who was impatient, kept interrupting and ruining his pleasant imagination. Gi Taejeong roughly ran his fingers over his thin face, then suddenly stretched out his arm. Chief Warrant Officer Choi, who had been standing by, quickly handed him a Glock. Right. Let’s finish the boring stuff first. Then he could go back and play with Lee Sehwa.

“G-General. Surely….”

As his finger touched the trigger, Son Byunggyu’s eyes flickered like a candle in the wind. The same went for the house people who had been dragged in unexpectedly.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill Manager Son.”

“Th-thank you! Then I’ll just….”

Dozens of gun muzzles pointed at Manager Son’s forehead, who was wiggling his hands. Gi Taejeong’s subordinates, who had surrounded the gambling den like a fortress, were all aiming only at him. Son Byunggyu trembled and raised both hands as if standing in punishment.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you, but I didn’t say you could go.”

This was the guy who had acted on his own without asking for permission as soon as he received a call from Kim Seokcheol. For those who calculated their interests like bats, this method was the best: making them directly witness the situation they could find themselves in if they made a mistake.

“General, these people don’t know much about Saku— no, Lee Sehwa. The players would know more about Lee Sehwa.”

“I know. And damn it, Manager Son, you’re not even close to him, so why do you keep calling him by name?”

“Huh? Well… ah, no. I won’t call him that.”

Once Kim Seokcheol’s complaint was filed, it was obvious that Lee Sehwa would be sought out from all over the place. While they couldn’t hide his entire past, at the very least, they had to erase any traces that Lee Sehwa’s unique physical constitution had been useful in the drug trade. Since it wasn’t a top-secret document, the information would likely leak, but it would at least buy them time until they could confine Lee Sehwa to his quarters.

As for the players, Gi Taejeong didn’t even need to get involved directly. Having a high reputation in this underworld meant making many enemies everywhere. When he subtly dropped hints to those who had been waiting, they all salivated, preparing for revenge. At least the ones with player titles, no matter how much they knew about Lee Sehwa, would all die.

But these small fries shouldn’t be dealt with that way. They needed to be gathered and have their spirits broken all at once. That way, they’d be too scared to talk nonsense. Click. At the chilling sound of a gun being cocked, people shrieked and fell backward. Some tried to flee, but they were grabbed by the collar by Gi Taejeong’s subordinates and thrown back.

“I’m not going to kill all of you.”

This was sincere. Gi Taejeong didn’t enjoy purposeless killing. Massacres were tiresome enough on the battlefield, and he didn’t particularly want to see blood outside. Lieutenant Park sometimes got emotional and said stupid things like, “General, you must be lonely and tired too,” but that was absolutely not it. If anything, it was about distinguishing between public and private. His job was to kill people. It was just tiresome to have to kill people outside of work.

“Th-that bastard willingly sold himself!”

Tearing an arm or a thigh would be enough, he thought. He was calculating the number of bullets and the points to aim at when a guy trembling in the front row suddenly shouted.

“Sakura, that bastard, he must have told you that we tormented him, that we made him do all the work… but that’s all a misunderstanding! We never forced him!”

What nonsense was this now? As Gi Taejeong stared at him, cigar in mouth, the guy, mistaking his interest, brightened slightly and quickly crawled forward.

“Sakura, that guy was trying to leave this business after hooking up with another big client. And now look, he’s immediately latched onto the director. He’s always been like that! We never forced him. That bastard….”

“You keep talking about ‘forcing,’ but what’s the context?”

“Huh?”

“You said you never forced Lee Sehwa. There must be a reason you thought that way.”

“Ah, that…” The guy hesitated for a moment, but it was only brief. Soon, with determined eyes, he lifted his head, and one could feel his will to survive no matter what.

“There were a few clients who wanted to meet Sakura even if they were short on money… so I introduced them… we just hinted at it, and he ended up accepting all of it because he was crazy for money!”

“If he’s crazy for money, why would he sell drugs to clients who have no money? That doesn’t make sense.”

“W-well… it’s better than losing business, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why….”

“I know he’s the best seller here. Has there ever been a day Lee Sehwa lost business since he started dealing drugs?”

“That… that… that’s because he doesn’t just sell drugs! Can’t you tell just by looking? How could someone so young hook so many clients? The part about drugs not working on him must be a complete lie. There’s no such constitution in the world.”

Manager Son frantically gestured as if to zip up their mouths, but the terrified small fries, unable to read the signal, just kept shouting. Once one guy’s mouth opened, it spread like an infection, and voices rose from everywhere. A strange fervor, no, madness, enveloped the tightly locked gambling den.

“Th-that’s right! And the money issue. That guy loves to make a show of things… so he lent money first. We never took it! Really!”

“And how ruthless that bastard is. If you look at how a guy with the Lee surname, born in District 2, clawed his way up to District 4….”

Gi Taejeong slowly surveyed the faces before him. In summary, these bastards had pressured Lee Sehwa to provide drugs cheaply to clients who had no money, and had borrowed money from him as if extorting it. Son Byunggyu had clearly said that the guys gathered here were insignificant杂役 (miscellaneous workers). It seemed even such minor figures had meticulously exploited Lee Sehwa. He knew what kind of treatment Lee Sehwa had received at the house… he knew, but.

“I also saw and heard things! How well March Boy seduced both men and women….”

“You saw and heard things?”

“Yes? Yes, of course…!”

“Did you directly see Lee Sehwa selling his body? Can you swear with both your eyes that you saw it for sure?”

“Th-that….”

Gi Taejeong felt a wave of fatigue wash over him and closed his eyes tightly for a moment.

“These sons of bitches are really making me tired.”

Several deep lines etched themselves onto Gi Taejeong’s tightly closed eyelids.

“Chief Warrant Officer Choi.”

“Yes, General.”

Bang! The raw metallic sound, deliberately without a silencer, echoed deafeningly through the gambling den.

“Aargh!”

The guy who had been accused of pushing clients onto Lee Sehwa and borrowing money from him foamed at the mouth, just from taking a single bullet to the knee.

“Bring a sniper rifle. How long will it take to shoot all of them with just a Glock?”

Gi Taejeong, who had liberally poured bullets into the opposite knee, both shoulders and wrists, ankles, and the very center of the neck and abdomen, threw away the empty gun. Next, the loud-mouthed guy was hit hard with the Glock and collapsed with a choked scream. A dark red stream of blood trickled down his temple.

“H-h-help me….”

Shallow sobs intermittently broke the deathly silence. It seemed they had realized, only after this mess, that it would have been better to keep their mouths shut.

“I need to finish quickly and go have some fun with my honey, don’t I?”

Gi Taejeong shoved his hand into his shirt, which was constricting his neck, and roughly shook it from side to side. With an impatient gesture, he pulled at it as if to tear it, creating space, and a couple of the top buttons popped off.

“So, everyone, please cooperate.”

What Chief Warrant Officer Choi handed him was an M16 series. It was a model favored by snipers due to its quick reloading capability. Gi Taejeong flicked off some ash once, then bit down hard on the head of his cigar as if chewing it. He pulled the trigger without bothering to look through the scope. These weren’t the kind of bastards he needed to put that much effort into, or kill in one go.

The gambling den, covered in green blankets, instantly began to be stained with blood. Son Byunggyu cowered like a woodlouse, and the dragged-in guys shrieked incomprehensible screams. Here, Gi Taejeong was a hungry ghost, a yaksha, and a stern King of Hell. Whatever he was, the most vicious man in hell wielded his gun mercilessly. The beasts, who would find no salvation even in death, rolled their white eyes, soaked in blood.

“Aaaargh!”

Apparently not wanting to die like that, a man grabbed a chair and charged at Gi Taejeong with a shout. Needless to say, it was a futile act of defiance that posed no threat. Gi Taejeong kicked him hard, matching his charging speed, and the guy fell to the floor with a groan.

“If you perform like this in a staged drill, it’s a demerit.”

The chair broke in half when he kicked it, and the impact seemed to have transferred directly to the man’s abdomen, as he groaned, clutching his chest and stomach. This was the bastard who had claimed to have seen Lee Sehwa seducing people.

“If you’re going to resist, do it properly, or don’t be so boring, damn it.”

Each time he swung the buttstock mercilessly, fierce syllables were abruptly cut off. Blood splattered everywhere, and soon the guy’s face was unrecognizable. Exhaling a hazy cloud of cigarette smoke, Gi Taejeong wiped the warm blood from his face. It was a familiar abyss.

Sehwa looked around and entered the hallway. It was almost time for business, but the house still had doors locked here and there. The strong smell of bleach made him wonder if the cops had cracked down or something….

“The General is not in a very good mood today.”

As he opened the office door to enter, Gi Taejeong’s subordinate, who had been waiting, suddenly spoke to him. His voice was cautious, as if he feared Gi Taejeong might overhear.

“He denies it himself, but on days like today, he can’t help but feel down.”

Days like today? Had his outing made him that upset? Sehwa scratched his innocent side hair. How much of a tantrum had he thrown for a man as stoic as a totem pole, who usually didn’t speak to him, to warn him first?

“Alright. Then I won’t go in now….”

“No, no. Please go in. Please.”

Sehwa sighed, holding the plastic bag that only contained the ice cream wrapper.

“I’m not a punching bag for you to take your anger out on.”

“Excuse me? Ah, that’s not what I meant. The General, when he’s with Se… no, um, with you, he seems to breathe a little easier. He definitely becomes less cruel.”

The man mumbled, swallowing Sehwa’s name as if he had burned his palate. The sentences he finally managed to utter were filled with such raw fear that Sehwa couldn’t even ask why.

“Go in and….”

The man rolled his eyes, assessing the atmosphere inside the office, then whispered softly.

“‘Chief Warrant Officer Choi said that my husband seems a little down,’ just say that one line, and everything will be resolved.”

“Husband? What’s that?”

“Exactly! Ask the General with that exact expression you just made. You must.”