Chapter 170 - Bang Tae-wan
"What, what happened here?"
Bang Tae-wan was startled to see his younger brother lying in the hospital room.
His face was marked with bruises, clearly indicating who had beaten him, and his arm and fingers were fractured, requiring surgery.
"Who... who did this to you?"
"No, no one did. It was... it was an accident, I fell down the stairs by mistake..."
"No way. Anyone can see those are bruises!"
"..."
"Who was it? I'll kill them right now!"
At his brother's outcry, Bang Tae-gyu remembered Ryu Min's warning.
If he tried to seek revenge or report to the police, they would go to the ends of the earth to break his other arm.
"No, I can't say. If that person finds out, I'll really die."
Seeing his brother trembling in fear, Bang Tae-wan couldn't continue speaking.
"Well, let's talk when you calm down later."
He already knew his brother was part of a gang.
Despite being in the second year of high school, he had a strong build and had no rivals among nearby students.
"My younger brother was treated like this?"
What terrible crime had he committed to bring someone to this extreme?
Looking at his brother trembling in fear as if he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Bang Tae-wan made a promise.
"I'll do the same to that scumbag."
Even though his brother didn't say anything, it wasn't hard to figure out who the culprit was.
"The brother of someone named Ryu Won?"
"Yes. I heard he's called Ryu Min."
"Why did they fight?"
"That... that..."
Asking the friends of the gang who used to hang out with his brother, he found out the truth.
He was enraged when Ryu Won provoked his brother by teasing him, and finally went to seek revenge, a common retaliation.
"Damn it, even if that's the case, isn't it too severe? Making someone reach this point over a prank?"
Looking at the desperation in the private detective agency's response, Bang Tae-wan decided to take action.
He came to know that Ryu Min and Ryu Won had moved after his investigation, and finally decided to invest money in the services of a private investigation agency.
However, the response was hopeless.
"They don't use social networks, there are no records, and we really can't find any clues. There's nothing, no emails or photos. It's the first time we've found someone who leaves no trace after doing this for ten years."
"So, how am I supposed to find them? If you can't find them, give me back the money I gave you."
"Don't worry, sir. It's not that there are no results. We've discovered the alias that the friend named Ryu Won frequently uses. Try searching for that alias on gaming forums every day, and maybe you'll find information. If they create a social media account or a new gaming alias, it'll be easier to track them down."
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"So, you looked up that alias and tracked the gaming ID, is that it?"
"That's right."
Yamti, who heard Bang Tae-wan's story, smiled with satisfaction.
"Wow, that's tough, very tough. Pretending for months as a gaming buddy just for revenge."
Ryu Won, who was also listening on the side, couldn't help but be surprised.
"It seems like she asked a lot about our address and my brother when we played..."
But what was more surprising than that was the presence of a woman calling him "young master" while looking at him.
"I, what's your name?"
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. Call me Yamti, young master."
"Yam... ti?"
"Yes, it's my nickname. As you can see, I'm a gamer. Doesn't it seem like it at first glance?"
"Ah, yes..."
"How old do you think I am?"
"What?"
"Don't I seem to be in my early twenties?"
"Well, yes."
"Of course, young man, you have a good eye. I took care of my appearance. But I didn't have any surgery."
"Hey, but where have we met? Why do you keep calling me young master...?"
"Ah? Haven't I said it? I'm acquainted with Ryu Min."
"From the brother...?"
When they mentioned the brother's name, Ryu Won's eyes widened in surprise.
"Does the brother have acquaintances like this in the game?"
It seems his brother has also made gamer contacts in this world, just like he made friends in the game.
Nine months seem longer than one would think.
"Anyway, thank you, Yamti. Thanks to you, I've survived."
"Oh, I didn't do anything. Ryu Min asked me to watch over you because he was worried. So I just kept you from going to a dangerous place."
"I should thank my brother too."
Ryu Won, who was smiling, looked at Bang Tae-wan, who was standing silently.
"But how did you do it? You don't seem like a person who speaks respectfully...?"
"It's my skill. I can fascinate people in an instant and make them follow me as subordinates."
"Ah, so..."
Now that he understood the situation, Ryu Won raised his head and asked.
"But is she really acquainted with my brother? Aren't they in a relationship beyond friendship?"
"Oh, does it look like that?"
"They're not married or anything, but you keep calling me young master constantly..."
"Well, I don't know if I'll marry or not. 'Future master'."
"Eh?"
"It's a joke, a joke. Anyway, young master."
Yamti introduced Bang Tae-wan, who was under her control.
"What will you do with this trash? Do you want me to bring a sword to get rid of him? You need to release your anger."
"Eh? Well, that's a bit..."
"Don't worry about the consequences. Besides, nobody cares about trash like this that will die with one blow. Are you going to let him go even after he tried to kill you? You should at least beat him like a punching bag."
"Um... I'm not used to hitting people..."
Ryu Won has never hit anyone in his entire life. He has never felt anger or been angry with anyone.
He simply shrank back and lived without causing trouble.
Naturally, he was scared.
"Although I'm not sure if we should respect the young man's opinion. We can't just release this guy. We should inform Ryu Min and ask for his opinion."
"Oh, yes, of course. Let's do that."
"Trash. Stay quiet while I speak."
"Yes, alright."
Ryu Won, who was staring in astonishment at Bang Tae-wan, now transformed into an obedient doll, looked away from his phone for a moment to glance at Yumti.
"Controlling people to serve as subordinates... Players must be right to say this is dangerous."
As he pondered over that terrifying power, Yumti suddenly lifted his head.
"Young master."
"Yes."
"But seriously, how old do you think I am?"
--------------
"Cough, cough."
He breathed deeply, his ragged breath echoing.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
In Joo Sung-taek's mind, there was only one determination: to touch that bastard.
However...
Swish, swish...
"That son of a bitch dodges every time... Damn it!"
Although he tried to throw punches, kicks, feints, and all sorts of tricks, that bastard dodged like a ghost.
He had dropped a knife a long time ago.
He only needed to touch him once with his bare hands for Joo Sung-taek to win.
Then, through the system, he could turn him into his slave.
"If I turn him into a slave, after making him commit mistakes, I'll kill him in an extremely painful way."
But things weren't going according to plan.
"Why do you resist so much? Move faster."
"That bastard... Still has breath! If you have energy to curse, you should have saved it for situations like this. Tsk, tsk."
"Damn it!"
Ryu Min intentionally increased his speed, causing Joo Sung-taek's stamina to decrease faster.
Despite the huge gap in stats, Ryu Min was also dangerous in moments like the curse of fear.
"It's time to end this."
Tap, tap, tap...
Dodging Joo Sung-taek's gestures, Ryu Min continued accumulating touches.
Head, back, shoulders, arms.
He touched Joo Sung-taek's body while mocking him.
"Damn it, why isn't it working? Why!"
Although the guy protested, the number of touches had reached 99.
"One more touch and I win."
"Damn you!"
Just as Joo Sung-taek was perplexed.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
With the sound of knocking on the front door, a voice came from outside.
It was a thug from the floor below.
"Hey, disabled idiot! Get out! I can't sleep because of you, you damn shameless bastard!"
It seems he couldn't bear the noise between the floors any longer and came up.
"Get out, won't you?! What are you doing to make such loud noises, you damn legless bastard! Get out, get out, get out! I'll kill you, whether you're a player or a newbie!"
Despite the thug's shouts, Joo Sung-taek smiled with satisfaction.
The guy's presence might change the unfavorable situation.
Thud-!
Joo Sung-taek quickly ran to the front door to open it.
Ryu Min, who had already assessed the situation, lunged forward, but the moment he glanced at him,
[Entered an abnormal state of 'terror'.]
To make matters worse, Joo Sung-taek fell victim to the curse of fear written by Mayor Gu.
Of course, even that was anticipated, and Ryu Min kept enough distance to avoid being touched.
Clank-
Joo Sung-taek had enough time to open the front door.
"Now you open the door, you bastard. I told you to shut up... Damn it!"
Like a swift arrow, the wielded dagger pierced thug Kim Jong-seon's neck and swiftly withdrew.
Thud-
Joo Sung-taek, who secured the corpse in an instant, pushed it aside and stepped out into the hallway.
A confrontation unfolded between Joo Sung-taek and Ryu Min with the corpse in the middle.
"Hehe, look here, kid. The moment you come close, I'll blow up the corpse immediately."
"It's getting annoying. But you know something?"
Crackling-
Electricity flowed from Ryu Min's body.
"Even if you blow up the corpse, it's useless if I dodge it."
"You son of a bitch? What? You can't use skills as punishment!"
"This is a rune, you know?"
Ryu Min, who amplified his movement speed with the rune of lightning, closed the distance in an instant.
The terrified Joo Sung-taek belatedly tried to memorize the activation command.
"Corpse explosion..."
Bam!
There was no time to use the skill.
Joo Sung-taek, whose face was crushed by tremendous force, was thrown against the wall and died instantly.
[The duel is over. Victory goes to 'Black Scythe'.]
[Since the opponent has been defeated, you will become a slave, serving 'Black Scythe' for the rest of your life.]
Ryu Min, seeing the message that appeared, looked at Joo Sung-taek.
The guy's face, which was thought to be dead, suddenly restored itself.
Since it was a duel where lives were not at stake, he had been revived.
Although he couldn't regain consciousness.
"I won. A sacrifice has been made, however."
While Ryu Min blocked the corpse explosion, he couldn't avoid the death of the gangster.
Setting aside the regret, Ryu Min erased the traces and disposed of the corpse.
At that moment, a call came from Yumti.
"What's going on? What? Something happened to your younger brother?"
Ryu Min, who heard that something had happened to his younger brother and luckily managed to prevent it, asked anxiously.
"Oh, really? Did you keep him alive?"
-Yes. What should we do, leader?
To the question of whether to treat Bang Tae-wan, Ryu Min gave a simple answer.
"Send the address, and I'll take care of it here."
He hung up the phone and immediately woke up Joo Sung-taek.
"Hey, Joo Sung-taek."
"Umm?"
The guy, who seemed like he would pounce on Ryu Min, calmed down like a gentle lamb as soon as he saw him.
"I greet you, master. Please, give me your command."
"Of course. It's your first order."
With a cruel smile, Ryu Min spoke.
"Soon, a guy named Bang Tae-wan will come here. Kill him."
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