After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo sighed and looked back. There wasn\'t anyone following them, and they couldn\'t hear the crazed screams anymore.

"H-Hyung-nim."

Kim Si-Hun, who had been dragged along by the hand, averted his gaze while blushing.

\'What? Why the fuck are you blushing?\'

Si-Hun gripped Kang-Woo\'s hand tighter while slurring, "This is a bit too sudden…"

\'Don\'t grab me harder, dude.\'

Kang-Woo frowned and pulled his hand away. He could see the disappointment on Si-Hun\'s face.

"Why did you do that?" Si-Hun asked.

"I just didn\'t want to be there," Kang-Woo said in a tired voice.

"Hahaha, so did I, but… we should still go back. We still have things on our agenda."

"The only thing left is the party at the city hall."

All the hard stuff was done; the only thing left was the social gathering where one drank alcohol while building political connections.

\'And once we go there…\'

Kang-Woo frowned.

What would happen in a social party was clear. Influential figures from all around the world would stick to Si-Hun like flies to get whatever they could out of him, and the majority of them would be women to take advantage of the male instinct.

\'I refuse to witness something like that.\'

Kang-Woo did not even want to imagine the sight of Si-Hun being surrounded by dozens of knockout beauties because he was far too envious.

\'Si-Hun is mine. Back the fuck off.\'

Kang-Woo placed his hands on Si-Hun\'s shoulders and said, "Aren\'t you sick of meeting people, too?"

"I-I am, but…"

"Right then. Ditch the evening schedule and hang out with me instead."

"Ah…"

Si-Hun\'s eyes widened, hesitation evident in his eyes. His smartphone and communication crystal orb were being bombarded by Samuel\'s calls.

"…"

The hesitation was short-lived.

Si-Hun slowly nodded. "O-Okay!"

His eyes were shining as if he thought that opportunities like that weren\'t common.

Kang-Woo smiled and called Balrog, who had fallen behind because he was still getting used to his human body. "Yeah, Balrog. We\'re at…"

Panting heavily, Balrog soon arrived at the alley. "Haaa, haaa. So this is where you were."

"How was it over there?"

"There was a huge uproar. Samuel, I believe his name was? He was yelling to gather forces to find you two immediately."

"No wonder…"

Si-Hun was a VVIP from Samuel\'s point of view. It would be weird if he were okay after such a person disappeared on his own.

"Well, let\'s not mind the small stuff." Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Let\'s have a drink, just the three of us."

"W-Will that really be okay, hyung-nim?"

"Why wouldn\'t it be?"

In terms of power dynamic, they were definitely on top; Samuel could not force them to do anything.

"Let\'s go." Kang-Woo turned around and narrowed his eyes while walking through the deserted alley.

\'And…\'

To be honest, he hadn\'t been planning on going this far. However…

\'… Something\'s bothering me.\'

He wanted to figure out the cause of the uneasiness he had been feeling all this time.

The three of them went deeper and deeper into Valencia while walking down the alleyways. After twenty minutes of walking…

"…"

"This is…"

"A slum…?"

A horrible stench attacked their noses. The eyes of the people walking through the streets were lifeless. It was completely different from the Valencia they\'d first laid eyes upon.

\'They must\'ve been trying to hide this.\'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. Looking at it from Samuel\'s position, it was certainly not something he would like to show.

\'I mean… it\'s unavoidable.\'

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue. There was no city without a slum. The state of the slum in Valencia was a bit severe, but considering the city had only been made recently, it could not be helped.

"Kuh…"

Si-Hun\'s expression crumpled, likely because he had recalled promoting Valencia as a safe and beautiful city.

Kang-Woo patted his shoulder.

"You didn\'t know, so it couldn\'t have been helped. Also, issues regarding slums can be resolved over time."

Kang-Woo walked along while thinking that he should bring up this matter to Gaia later.

"… Master Kang-Woo."

At that moment, Balrog called out to him in a low voice.

"I know."

Kang-Woo nodded. It wasn\'t hard to guess what Balrog was about to say. He slowly looked around.

\'Hostility.\'

The eyes of the lifeless slum inhabitants wearing rags for clothes were filled with hostility.

"… Let\'s go somewhere else."

Kang-Woo moved along, feeling that nothing good would come out of staying in the slum. As they walked out, a few bars came into view.

"Before we go in…"

Kang-Woo snapped his finger, and darkness lightly covered Si-Hun\'s and Kang-Woo\'s faces.

\'Authority of Blindness.\'

He and Si-Hun had become too widely known for them to enter a bar without caution. After hiding their faces with the Authority, Kang-Woo entered a bar with a huge beer drawing on the outside of it.

"Wahahahaha!"

"Fuck! So you see…!"

As expected from a bar, it was extremely noisy inside.

Taking a seat in a corner, they ordered three cups of draft beer. The beers came out in just a minute, and they chugged them down.

"Kaaah!" The carbonation of the beer made Kang-Woo tremble. "That hits the spot."

Kang-Woo couldn\'t help but feel happy drinking some beer after freeing himself from that stifling and boring schedule.

Balrog also heartily drank the beer. "Kaaah, this is nice. Maybe it\'s because this is a human body, but I feel like the alcohol is having a bigger effect."

"… Don\'t drink too much," Kang-Woo warned as he narrowed his eyes, recalling what happened when Balrog got drunk last time.

They burst into laughter.

\'Yeah, this is far better.\'

Not going to the social party that they weren\'t made for had been the right decision.

"Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I\'ve drunk alcohol with you, hyung-nim."

Si-Hun also drank, having taken a liking to the atmosphere as well. His expression changed, and it seemed he\'d decided not to care about Samuel anymore.

"Right, let\'s drink to our hearts\' content!" Kang-Woo burst into laughter and raised his beer mug.

Drinking with Han Seol-Ah was nice, but drinking with the boys had its own charm.

\'In a sausage party…\'

Romance talk could not be left out.

"So, how is it going with Gaia?" Kang-Woo asked while smiling.

"C-Cough! Wh-What are you talking about, hyung-nim?"

Coughing, Si-Hun averted Kang-Woo\'s gaze.

"Come on. You\'re the one who proudly said that it was love at first sight. So, how is it going?"

"Ahem…"

"Tsk, you\'re devoid of guts. How will you ever win a woman\'s heart like that?" Balrog added.

"What? You son of a…"

They chit-chatted loudly. Kang-Woo smiled faintly as he watched Balrog and Si-Hun argue with each other.

\'Nice.\'

The atmosphere was so good that the uneasiness he had felt here in Valencia was fading. Kang-Woo raised the new beer mug that they had ordered.

Just then…

"Kyaaaaaa!"

"Hahaha! Why are you playing so hard to get?"

Shatter.

A woman\'s scream echoed throughout the bar as a beer mug shattered.

Kang-Woo shifted his eyes to the source of the sound.

A group of men sitting at a table were grabbing a female employee. She was a very beautiful Hispanic woman with bronze skin.

"Hm? Stop playing hard to get with me and just sit the hell down!"

"I-I don\'t want t—"

"Fucking bitch!"

Slap!

The woman\'s head turned violently along with the loud sound.

A scream rang through the bar.

Si-Hun\'s eyes widened as Kang-Woo\'s narrowed.

"What the…"

"…"

The first thing Kang-Woo noticed wasn\'t the man\'s giant stature or the woman who had just been slapped. It was the uniform the man was wearing. Kang-Woo could clearly see the black uniform with the pure-white shield drawn on it.

"If it weren\'t for us, you\'d still be running from the monsters, bitch. How dare you play games with me?"

"Sniff, sniff…"

"Am I right or wrong? Huh? We saved you, did we not?"

"Y-You did…"

"You\'re goddamn right! So you\'d better fucking do what we say!"

Slap!

The loud sound echoed once again.

The sounds of weeping and laughing were heard at once.

Rattle.

Si-Hun stood up from his chair. He muttered, "Those bastards…"

"Sit down."

"… Pardon?"

"I said, sit down," Kang-Woo said calmly.

"Wh-What do you mean, hyung-nim?! Can\'t you see that—"

"Balrog."

"Yes, Master Kang-Woo."

Balrog stood up and grabbed Si-Hun\'s shoulders.

Kang-Woo put one leg over the other and looked around.

\'Ohhh.\'

After he took a look around, he understood everything.

\'I see how it is.\'

He finally understood the source of his uneasiness after arriving in Valencia.

Whistle~!

"Hey! Baon! I fucking called dibs on that bitch!"

"Today\'s my turn, so fucking back off!"

"Fuck! Why is that bitch the only decent one in this damn bar?!"

"What about the men? There\'s not a single hot one!"

"Owner! Get out here! Why don\'t you do a better job at hiring people?!"

"Kahahaha!"

The men let out crazed laughter.

Not only did it seem as if they were used to doing such a thing, but it seemed they were enjoying it. The bar was full of women, and the male Players were clapping and talking dirty to them without any filter.

"Hello?" Kang-Woo took out his smartphone and called someone while staring at the Guardians uniforms that the male Players were wearing. He waited for a reply.

"Hey! Baon! My eyes are getting bored, so rip her clothes off or something!"

"Kekeke. Just a second, dammit."

The large man known as Baon tore off the Hispanic woman\'s clothes.

Rip.

The woman screamed as her bronze skin was laid bare. The men were leering at her bare cleavage.

"Those bastards!" Si-Hun stood up, unable to suppress his rage any longer, but Balrog pressed down on his shoulders.

"I told you to stay still, human."

"How can you still say that when—"

"It is the king\'s order," Balrog said in a calm voice.

Si-Hun flinched. He anxiously bit his lip, looked at Kang-Woo, and opened his mouth.

"Hyung-nim, what are you—"

"Stay still," Kang-Woo said as he continued to hold his smartphone.

Si-Hun\'s expression crumpled. "Hyung-nim!"

"Kim Si-Hun." Kang-Woo glared at Si-Hun with deep, sunken eyes. In a chillingly cold voice, he said, "I told you to stay still."

Si-Hun flinched.

"S-stop!"

"What are you crying so goddamn much for, bitch?! Don\'t you already know what you were in for the moment you decided to work here?"

The men snickered. Their filthy desires and madness filled the bar.

"…"

Kang-Woo waited with his mouth shut and his smartphone in his hand.

Time passed… Five minutes… Ten minutes…

The woman stopped resisting and poured alcohol for the men with her clothes half-torn. Her face was bruised from being struck by the man known as Baon.

"… Haaa," Kang-Woo sighed.

He put his smartphone back in his pocket.

\'I had my doubts, but…\'

It had ended up being the worst-case scenario that he had imagined.

Kang-Woo slowly stood up.

"Kahaha! So I…!"

He walked toward Baon, who had the woman in one arm and was roughly fondling her breasts.

"Excuse me," Kang-Woo said in a careful voice, "I would like to ask you something."

"And who are you?" Baon glared at Kang-Woo while frowning.

"What? You wanna join? She\'s mine for the night, so go somewhere else. If you\'re really desperate, go find a girl in the slum."

He shooed Kang-Woo away as if he didn\'t want to be bothered anymore.

Kang-Woo shook his head.

"No, not about that…"

Baon glared at him in irritation.

"Fucking hell, this city is busting with native women, so what\'s your fucking deal? Oh… Could it be…?"

His lips curled upward.

"Are you trying to play hero or something?"

"…"

Kang-Woo remained silent.

"Pfft! Hey, this fucker is for real!"

"Bwahahaha! Man, how long has it been?"

"Hohoho! Wow, there are still people like this left in Valencia? Looking at you now, you\'re quite a cutie. Why don\'t you go for a round with this older sister here?"

The men and women looking over in excitement burst into laughter.

"Hey, mister."

Rattle.

Baon stood up from his chair.

"You seem to be here as a tourist… If you have no idea what\'s going on here, then just kindly fuck off, why don\'t you?"

"What\'s wrong with it here? Didn\'t you see Sword Dragon taking that fucking commercial today?"

"Bwahahaha! That bullshit about this being a safe and beautiful city? I mean, I guess this place is paradise for people in Guardians!"

Crazed laughter filled the bar.

Kang-Woo looked around in silence.

"Right, do you get what sort of place this is now, Mr. Hero?" Baon raised his hand and lightly slapped Kang-Woo\'s cheek. "I don\'t know where an otaku like you came from, but at least choose your battles wisely, okay?"

"Haaa…" Kang-Woo sighed.

It was just like the man said.

\'I get what kind of place this is now.\'

He also got that people like these could not be reasoned with.

Kang-Woo frowned.

Baon smiled wickedly. "What? Are you mad? This is the problem with fucking otak—"

Kang-Woo extended his hand, grabbed Baon by the head, and…

Slam!!!

He smashed Baon\'s face into the table.

"Kyaaaaaa!"

"Wh-What the fuck?!"

Baon\'s nose was crushed, and his front teeth were ripped out.

Once again, Kang-Woo asked carefully, "Excuse me."

Boom.

He smashed Baon\'s face onto the table again.

"I would like…"

Boom.

He then smashed Baon\'s face into a beer mug. It shattered, the sharp fragments piercing Baon\'s cheeks.

"To ask you…"

Boom.

Blood spattered in all directions; Baon was not screaming anymore.

"… Something."

Crack!

The thick table made of hardwood split in half, and Kang-Woo threw Baon aside as if he were trash. He then took a seat in his place.

"Would you care to answer, motherfuckers?"