Solo Resurrection

Chapter 64 – Trap(1)

Light and shadow always coexist.

Shin Tae-gil always wanted to be the light, but now he knows it’s impossible.

The brighter the light shines on the world, the darker the shadows become.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Screams filled the sealed space.

The Korean branch of the ‘World Dungeon Management Organization’. The interrogation room in the basement of its headquarters.

In this secret place, unknown even to employees working in the same building, primitive acts unfit for the 21st century were taking place.

“Let’s not waste each other’s energy and take it easy.”

Shin Tae-gil, shuffling through documents, looked quite tired.

“Fuck! You guys are ruining this country! The world!”

In contrast, the man being tortured, Jeong Seon-gu, looked quite energetic.

“It’s not like some pseudo-religion… Where does that bizarre belief and loyalty come from?”

“A stupid government dog like you wouldn’t understand.”

“Sigh, if you could explain it so even this idiot could understand, we could end this nonsense.”

Shin Tae-gil sighed in frustration.

“You don’t know…”

Suddenly, Jeong Seon-gu’s eyes lit up.

In his serious expression, a strange madness flickered in his eyes.

“Only He can save the world.”

“Right. That’s why I’d like to have a chat with Him too.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re a stupid government lapdog. Hehehehe.”

“Damn it…”

Shin Tae-gil rubbed his face dry as the conversation returned to square one.

“Let’s continue. Manage him well so he doesn’t die, and when he’s a bit more drained, let’s try administering drugs again.”

“Understood.”

After hearing the employee’s response, Shin Tae-gil left the interrogation room.

“Aaaaaargh-!”

From inside the interrogation room, Jeong Seon-gu’s desperate screams continued to echo endlessly.

***

Ippotranslation

***

-Sizzle

The sound of flesh burning.

Normally, it would make one’s mouth water, but it’s a completely different story when it’s your own flesh.

“Aaaaargh!”

As the skin melted away, a grotesque scene unfolded. Watching it, a groan involuntarily escaped Kang Hyeon’s mouth.

-Sizzle

The skin melts away due to the deadly poison, and simultaneously recovers due to the flesh regeneration skill.

No matter how accustomed Kang Hyeon is to pain, this was beyond the limit.

He gradually began to feel his limits.

“This is electrifying?!”

The bucket filled with deadly poison.

Kang Hyeon, who had been soaking his feet in it, suddenly stood up.

[The level of the ability Poison Resistance has increased]

“That’s right!”

Poison Resistance (E)

Ability: Strengthens immunity to poison.

Description: Reduces the effect of any kind of poison on the body.

The recently acquired ability, Poison Resistance.

It had been a day since he started this special foot bath to increase its level.

“Ow, it really hurt for the first time in a while.”

Currently, Kang Hyeon’s health stat is 40.

On top of that, he has poison resistance. To exaggerate a bit, this means he could drink most poisons like health drinks.

“But what kind of biochemical weapon is this?”

However, the poison sent by Shin Tae-gil was a deadly toxin that surpassed normal levels.

-Just remember two things. One. It’s a really expensive item, so use it sparingly. Two. Never use it on people. Just remember these.

That’s what Shin Tae-gil said when he handed over the poison.

That’s why on the day Shin Seong-a turned a criminal’s face into jelly, Kang Hyeon had scolded her, remembering Shin Tae-gil’s words.

-I told you to use it discreetly so Team Leader Shin Tae-gil won’t nag if we get caught.

-I’m sorry… But Kang Hyeon.

-Huh?

-That guy wasn’t human, he was a goblin shark.

-What..?

And the rest of the poison was all poured into Kang Hyeon’s foot bath.

“Hmm… Somehow I ended up breaking both things I was supposed to remember.”

To raise poison resistance further, he needs more poison.

In other words, he needed Shin Tae-gil’s help.

Moreover, after using it directly, it seemed this poison could be utilized in various ways.

“If I can endure it, I could spread it all over my body and just hug someone to death. Or keep it in my mouth and spit it out.”

For a while, Kang Hyeon continued with these terrible thoughts.

“Anyway, the important thing is that I need more poison… I should call. Han Jae-moon!”

“Yes..?”

“Ask Team Leader Shin Tae-gil for more of that poison he sent last time. Ask for a generous amount.”

“Why do I have to…”

“If I do it, I’ll get scolded! That guy’s been irritable lately.”

Han Jae-moon is currently a member of the Badass Guild, but before that, he was also Shin Tae-gil’s direct subordinate.

‘I’ll get scolded even if I do it…’

Whether Kang Hyeon knew or not about Han Jae-moon’s feelings, he was still engrossed in his foot bath.

“Guild Master!”

At that moment.

Suddenly, the office door opened and Han Si-hwan, along with others from the Guardian Guild, burst in.

“What is it.”

“We heard everything. How could you go without us?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“The guys related to Monster Power.”

In fact, even before executing the operation, Kang Hyeon had anticipated this would happen.

It was all too clear that the death of their guild master, Park Se-hyeon, was related to Monster Power.

But when it actually happened, it was more unpleasant than he had expected.

“You guys were running dungeons.”

“If you had told us in advance, we all would have followed.”

Han Si-hwan spoke as if demanding an explanation.

Kang Hyeon crushed the beer can he was holding.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you. What would you have done if you had followed?”

“We would have avenged Park Se-hyeon-nim…”

“Revenge? You? From what I see, you’d just end up dying like dogs, just like Park Se-hyeon.”

“Aren’t your words too harsh?!”

“That’s right. We’re not pushovers when we go out!”

Kang Hyeon laughed cynically at the guild members’ protest.

“Even after getting beaten like that, you still don’t understand reality. You all can’t even beat me together, what revenge? Do you even know what kind of guys they are?”

“We won’t know unless we fight!”

“No. I know. So if you feel wronged, go run more dungeons, get stronger, and come back.”

“Damn it!”

The guild members who couldn’t hold back any longer stormed out of their seats.

“Is it okay to let them go like that?”

Jo Seong-chan, who had been listening to the conversation nearby, asked worriedly.

“What else can I do? That’s just how it is.”

He knew how they must be feeling. But in a situation without a solution, exchanging meaningless comfort was not his way.

“Frankly speaking, am I their babysitter? They’re old enough to take care of themselves.”

“But you’re still the guild master, aren’t you?”

“Does being a guild master mean I have to coddle them?”

“That’s not what I meant, but…”

“You should know, but that’s not my style. I run at the front, taking the hits. In exchange, if you can’t keep up, I leave you behind. That’s all there is to it.”

Jo Seong-chan’s face hardened at Kang Hyeon’s harsh words.

“This isn’t the Haeseon Guild. I don’t know how harmonious and family-like the Haeseon Guild that you ran was, and I’m not interested.”

“…”

“But I do know that the guild was destroyed because it lacked strength. I don’t mean to belittle it, but that’s the reality, isn’t it?”

“You’re right…”

Jo Seong-chan, who was the guild master of Haeseon.

He himself had been in mortal danger due to lack of strength.

If it weren’t for Kang Hyeon, he would have already met his fate along with the guild.

“My first principle is this. ‘If you’re not strong, you can’t do anything.’ That’s why the guild’s first principle is also to become stronger than anyone else.”

“Yes.”

“You and those guys joined knowing what kind of guild this is, right? Because you wanted to. As I’ve always said, if you’re dissatisfied, you can leave anytime.”

As Kang Hyeon spoke in an irritated tone, Jo Seong-chan’s expression darkened rapidly.

“Did I speak too seriously?”

“No…”

“You know the conclusion, right? I believe you didn’t come here without knowing what our guild name Badass means.”

To lighten the mood, Kang Hyeon finished with a joke, half-serious and half-joking, and laughed.

“I need a beer. How about you, Jo Seong-chan?”

“If you’re offering, I’ll have one too. And you can speak to me more casually.”

“Ah, but you’re older…”

Smiling, Kang Hyeon tossed a beer can to Jo Seong-chan. Then he opened his own can and downed the beer in one go.

“Ah, that’s good! By the way, Han Jae-moon.”

“Yes?”

“What’s the status of our guild funds?”

“Well…”

Han Jae-moon broke into a cold sweat at the sudden question directed at him.

“Well? What?”

“If you’re asking about the financial status…”

“I’m asking how much money we’ve saved up.”

“Currently, our available funds are about 2.207 billion won…”

“What? Why is there only that much!?”

The money Kang Hyeon had provided was about 2.5 billion.

In just a few days, not only had the money not increased, but it had decreased by as much as 300 million.

“Well…”

“I told you to just keep doing what you were doing with those creepy figurines because you said they’d sell well, right?”

“Yes…”

“And I gave away all the items we had.”

“Yes…”

“And we’re running dungeons every day, bringing in money! Why has the money decreased?”

“Well, the time…”

Han Jae-moon tried to say something while hesitating, but Kang Hyeon’s patience was not very good.

“Ugh! How frustrating!”

Kang Hyeon shouted, beating his chest, and roughly opened the refrigerator door to take out a beer.

‘It hasn’t even been a week since you gave me this job, you crazy bastard!’

Han Jae-moon’s head was full of things he wanted to say.

‘Manufacturing, promoting, distributing! How many other things are there to do?! You just hired two more employees, and what?! Am I supposed to run the guild, do business, am I omnipotent?! I want to rest too!’

But these thoughts only overflowed in his head.

“Right. Han Jae-moon seems a bit lazy.”

“…”

It was An Yu-seong, who was lying on the floor playing a smartphone game.

‘Should I quit here…’

***

Ippotranslation

***

Choi Min-jun frowned as he received the report.

“This time, the damage is quite significant.”

“I’m sorry…”

“23 people dead, including Jeong Seon-gu and Seon Yu-ri. Ah, you said Jeong Seon-gu was captured alive, right?”

“Yes.”

Choi Min-jun had been running the organization strictly as a cell structure. Because of this, even when the government tracked them down, they could only catch the tail end.

But this time, an executive who held an important position in the organization was captured.

Although they were combat personnel with limited information, an executive was still an executive.

It was obvious that a completely different problem would arise compared to when ordinary members were caught.

“The biggest problem is that Jeong Seon-gu knows the location of this place.”

“Yes…”

“We’ll have to move our quarters first.”

Choi Min-jun got up from his seat and paced around the dark room.

“This is not good… The plan shouldn’t keep getting twisted like this.”

“We’ll be more careful.”

“Was it Kang Hyeon who interfered this time too?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not just once or twice… I’m starting to get really annoyed.”

From the Bait Guild to Dungeon Break, and recently Monster Power.

Kang Hyeon was involved in all the major incidents.

“We need to deal with Kang Hyeon.”

“But Choi Min-jun. Looking at that guy’s actions so far… It’s almost suspicious whether he’s not actually immortal.”

“…”

“This time too, he dealt with twenty high-level combat personnel almost single-handedly. How can we…”

“I heard that Kang Hyeon is friends with Choi Dong-woo.”

“What?”

The woman was taken aback when Choi Min-jun suddenly mentioned Choi Dong-woo.

“Is that right?”

“Yes… It’s reliable information.”

“Then let’s use Seon Yeon-ho.”

“You mean Seon Yeon-ho?”

Seon Yeon-ho, who had already made contact with Kang Hyeon once.

He currently held a core executive position in the Korean Ability Users Union.

Although he wasn’t a combat personnel, he was important enough to be one of the people Choi Dong-woo trusted the most.

“Choi Min-jun. Isn’t it wasteful to use Seon Yeon-ho for something like this? We’ve invested a lot in him so far.”

“No. There’s no reason to destroy the Ability Users Union anymore. Rather than letting him sit idle any longer, we’ll pull him out at an appropriate level.”

“…”

“As his final mission, we’ll assign him to deal with Kang Hyeon.”

“Understood.”