Mercenary Black Mamba

“Hmph!”

Samedi and Mu Ssang combined their strengths. The egg rock only moved slightly. Despite combining their strengths, the rock that had kept its place for 1,000s of years did not budge.

“Tsk, this is annoying.”

Mu Ssang used his Vajra to slice up a small oak tree and shoved it under the egg rock’s base. One side of the rock was lifted with the force of the lever. Samedi’s muscles strained. When momentum overcame the maximum static friction force, the egg rock tilted over.

Rumble—

The egg rock took a while as it rolled down the mountainside before slamming into the hollow.

With that, the four gang members who had terrorized Chil Sung market and Mr. Yoo Young Chul were gone from the world. Who would imagine that there would be corpses under a rock weighing 100s of tons, dozens of meters under the ground?

“Ha, I killed civilians!” Mu Ssang sighed.

Gang members were also civilians. Although he’d killed countless humans, they were all soldiers with weapons, guerillas, and terrorists. That was his first time killing civilians since his rampage in Bang Tae San. His heart grew heavy.

“Damn b****!”

He cursed her out. Yoo Young Chul, Bullhead, and the rest were all struck by lightning because they had listened to her. Jang’s jealousy and greed had led to such a situation and turned him into a murderer. She was truly a woman who shouldn’t exist in this world.

“Namu Amita Bul, don’t despair as bodies born from the earth will return to the earth. It’s a life that was difficult to rectify, so starting anew will be better… everyone comes empty-handed and leaves empty-ended, leaving every favor and grudge useless… forget everything and be reborn as a stepping stone and not an obstacle, this I earnestly wish.”

While Mu Ssang chanted the prayer he composed himself, Samedi kept repeating the mantra “Ksitigarbha, Ksitigarbha” in his head. Samedi had turned out weirder than Mu Ssang.

Mu Ssang finished his prayers and looked at the heavens. The Morning Star in the western skies shook in the cold air at dawn. Six lives had vanished in barely three hours. He couldn’t eat the soondae or the soondae soup. That, too, would be forgotten over time. Samedi silently followed Mu Ssang, whose shoulders were slumped, down the mountain.

In the Seongseo area of Daegu, there was the Wa Ryong San, which looked similar to the Wol Song San by the bridge village. In the future, five children would disappear without a trace from that mountain. The whole country would boil in anger. The incident would uncover several missing people cases that had taken place seven years ago in Wol Song San.

However, that was all. As always, the world’s attention would be diverted away from this and that with time. It’s always like that. Sadness and anger would melt away like ice cream over time.

He could see a shadow sitting by Ha Dong Daek’s front gate. It was obviously Jin Soon. She had thrown on a duck-down parka, which was a trendy piece these days, but the weather was nearing sohan[1]. His heart ached at her crouched figure.

“Brat, what are you doing here when it’s so cold?”

“It’s my fault for having a brother like you.” Jin Soon smiled and pulled his head to her chest for a hug.

The scent of a lady floated. It lingered to the point that it melted away his sadness.

“I heated up the water on the stove. Wash all of your worries away and sleep. Mister Samedi, it seems like you’ll have to wash up too. You reek of blood.”

“Mm!” Mu Ssang groaned.

Jin Soon acted childishly like a sister greeting her brother after he returned from the village sports competition. Jin Soon didn’t try to dig deeper or analyze. She didn’t force herself to understand, either. She was an open and sympathetic avatar who shared her feelings completely. Unlike Jin Soon, Edel wouldn’t have an easy time understanding and accepting him.

Hm! Mu Ssang flinched.

He was subconsciously comparing Edel and Jin Soon. What was he doing? His face burned at his insensitivity.

“Oppa, I’m always on oppa’s side, okay? Whether oppa walks the wide path, narrow path, Buddha’s path, or Asura’s path, I will be by oppa’s side.”

Jin Soon pressed her trembling body against his.

“Hm, you’re talking as if you know something.”

“The sound of something dropping in late fall is the sound of chestnut burs dropping. Aigo, my skin gets rough if I don’t get enough sleep. Oppa, your troublemaker tendencies never give me a break.” Jin Soon yawned with her mouth wide open, dragging herself to her room with slippers on.

“Ha, that brat! Did she change strategies?”

Mu Ssang shook his head. She had tried to seduce him a while back, but now she was baring her naive side. She was someone who made him feel comfortable.

He had claimed to be Jin Soon’s guardian, but he felt like he had become a guardian of blood. Perhaps Ha Dong Daek and Jin Soon had helped fill in his mother’s spot, hindering the activation of his Epidium genes…

On the second day, the bright light that shone through the paper door woke him up from his sleep. He slept quite soundly for someone who had erased five people.

“Wow! You speak Korean very well.”

“Good job, Samedi! Don’t move, now.”

“Hohoho, you blind idiot, you’re going to kill someone.”

The sound of laughter and soprano voices had woken him up from his sleep, not the sunlight. He pushed his door open. A white world came crashing down on him. After he had taken a bath and went to sleep, it started snowing.

Gye Soon, Mal Soon, and Ou Soon were running around the yard like puppies. A large bear with blinking eyes and both arms raised stood in a corner of the yard. Samedi, who liked looking for trouble, had volunteered to become a snowball target.

Splat—

The snowball Mal Soon threw landed on Samedi’s eye. His head moved back and forth like a spring.

“Miss Mal Soon, Strikeeee!” Samedi shouted happily as he waved both of his arms.

“Ohohoho!” Mal Soon was dying of laughter.

“E-yah, here’s a snowball!”

Ou Soon’s snowball missed the target completely.

“Miss Ou Soon, are you blind?”

“What! Bear, what did you just call me?”

“Yes, I’m a bear! Roar!” Samedi leaped to his feet.

He shook both of his arms in the air and ran in Ou Soon’s direction.

“Ahhh, save me!”

A large black man and a small girl were running around the snow-covered yard as though they were playing catch. Samedi lifted Ou Soon and spun her in the air.

“Ahahaha!”

Ou Soon laughed in glee.

“Wow, Samedi you brat, you’ve nailed it. Utterly nailed it.”

Mu Ssang was all smiles. For a zombie, Samedi was extremely friendly. He’d become a part of Ha Dong Daek’s family within a day. It was doubtful whether that brat was the same brat who had killed someone with a punch and sunk his teeth in a deer’s neck to consume its blood yesterday. Somehow, he recalled blacky from the underground world. Would it be able to adapt like Samedi?

Ha Dong Daek and Jin Soon prepared the breakfast table quickly. No one in Ha Dong Daek’s family asked about Mu Ssang’s whereabouts. Mu Ssang was the head of Ha Dong Daek’s household. He wasn’t like any regular head of household either. Since a long time ago, Jin Soon had made sure that her family kept his secrets well-hidden.

The dark-skinned zombie sat by the head of the table, but no one cared. Only Sang Chul shifted across him, not knowing where to look.

“Eat a lot, Mister Samedi.”

Mal Soon lowered a large metal bowl filled with soondae before Samedi.

“Ajussi, there’s a lot of meat. So eat a lot, okay?”

Gye Soon placed the boiled pork ribs in front of Samedi. That was his reward for performing slapstick comedy in the morning.

“Merci, merci!”

Samedi’s grin stretched from one ear to another.

He’s a raccoon, not a zombie.

Mu Ssang automatically laughed. He realized that even zombies weren’t free from the problem of eating to survive. Those who ate together were called family. Those who ate together under the same roof were called family members. Samedi had unknowingly become a family and a family member.

“How are you, Sang Chul hyung?”

“Very well, but it’s strange. Maybe it’s because you fed me French medicine? I feel completely fine.”

“Eat some breakfast and head over to the hospital. It seems like your nose bridge is crooked.”

Sang Chul found it strange no matter how much he thought about it. He had been beaten up by a gang member and even got stabbed by a knife. However, his face was less swollen, and his body had loosened up when he woke up. He didn’t feel much pain from the knife injury on his shoulder either. Sang Chul did not know that Mu Ssang had stimulated his recovery with his resonance waves.

“By the way, Ssang, that is one fine sashimi knife, can’t you give it to me? I’m going fishing since I was fired from my company. I thought it’d be excellent to prepare hui[2] with it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Jin Soon, can you bring that over?”

Mu Ssang flicked the blade once he received the sashimi knife.

Twang—

The forged Honyaki blade of layered steel was broken like corns.

“Huk!”

Sang Chul’s eyes widened.

Twan—

Twang—

Twang—

Every time he flicked his finger, its bluish blade chipped off.

“Aigo, what a waste!”

Sang Chul grabbed the remaining handle and complained. Sang Chul was a really simple guy. Despite the shocking scene, he was complaining about the broken knife.

“There is nothing good about carrying around a knife drenched in human blood. Why were you fired? No one is as hardworking as you.”

“Ya, ya, don’t even talk about it. I was bitten by a mad b****. I was working overtime when the chairman’s daughter called in to get the boiler fixed since it was broken.”

“You could have fixed it.”

“Don’t say things you don’t know. Polyester, the only material that can be used in the tower, will harden if the compressor stops working. Do you know how much of a loss that is for the company? Even if I left my spot, I’d have been blamed for everything. It needs to be kept watch for 24 hours, you see. I told his daughter that I couldn’t leave the place, so she started cursing me out.”

“Hehehe, I can guess. There are people who run around thinking they own the world because they were born into a rich family. You got caught by a senseless woman. She wouldn’t have let it slide, though?”

“S***, she charged into the workplace with a blue face a little bit later. She was jumping up and down about me ignoring her, and that drove me crazy. I had to do something, anything to live, yeah? So, I kneeled and begged and showed her the operations manual.”

“You begged?”

Mu Ssang’s eyes grew wide. Sang Chul was a reliable and prideful man. That was the chairman’s daughter, not the chairman. It was surprising to hear that the macho Sang Chul had resorted to begging.

“Damn, I said I had to do anything, didn’t I? I needed to take preventive measures against that mad b****’s actions. I held on even though she hit my head with a clipboard and slapped me. Still, the boss called me the next day and told me to hand in my resignation.”

“Gosh, can he do that?”

“Of course he can. It was the chairman’s daughter.”

“Still… How old is this immature woman?” Jin Soon was boiling.

“She should be at least 40. Boss begged me, saying that he would be fired otherwise. It was unfair and despicable, so I resigned.” Sang Chul shook his head from side to side.

It meant that he didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Good job. If you continued working there, you would have died from anger.”

“Mm, I just consider it as an unfortunate incident with a rabid dog.”

“There’s a silver lining to every disaster. Why don’t you take this opportunity to consider working overseas?”

“I’m a high school graduate. You think I can work overseas?”

“A high school graduate’s good enough. You said you have five heavy machinery operator licenses, right? Academic qualification isn’t an important factor. All you need to do is work hard.”

“Is the salary high?”

“Dorms are provided, and the salary is triple the amount you earned in Korea!” Mu Ssang raised three fingers.

“Wow! Really?”

Sang Chul’s face brightened to a smile.

“In fact, why don’t you start up a company, brother? There’s a company called ‘Wakil Commerce Company’ in Africa, and I have some say there. I’ll hire a lawyer for you, so register it as a local business and be the boss. Once the company’s established, you can gather all the heavy machinery and head over to Africa.”

“Aigo, you’re making me dizzy. What kind of swimming goblin sound is this? You’re not playing a trick on me, are you?”

Sang Chul’s head grew dizzy from the unexpected offer. Mu Ssang had never lied since he was little, but that was quite unbelievable.

“Hmm…”