Chapter 120: New Year (4)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Kang Jae-ha, one leg crossed over the other, looked at Ryu Hyuk and asked back calmly.

"Jang Tae-san's weakness is- a younger sister who can't walk?"

Ryu Hyuk nodded.

"Yes, that's right."

"Keep going."

Ryu Hyuk went on for the Commander, who sat with his arms folded.

"It looks like he practically raised her himself. Her legs ended up that way because of an accident. He's probably looked after her even more closely since then."

The weakness of Jang Tae-san, his new subordinate, was a younger sister who couldn't walk. Chin propped on one hand, Jae-ha glanced at the solemn-faced Go Chun-seok.

'There's something about him that's roughly the same as Go Chun-seok.'

He hadn't confirmed it, but Go Chun-seok's weakness was probably the grandmother he looked after. Then Kang Jae-ha let out a small breath and thought back to Jang Tae-san's days in the Mercenary Corps.

'That one stood at the vanguard of the wars too.'

Jang Tae-san was a man who, alongside Go Chun-seok, had always stood at the vanguard of the wars. Naturally he was an out-and-out attacker, a body meant for combat. That said, he'd been used differently from Go Chun-seok on the battlefield. Go Chun-seok doubled as raw force and tank, while Jang Tae-san worked as a detached strike unit, using his natural violence to rip through the enemy's formation.

Well, both of them swept battlefields all the same.

'If Go Chun-seok is like an old-growth tree, Jang Tae-san handled a range of weapons well and is quicker on his feet.'

Kang Jae-ha recalled how much easier the wars had been thanks to Jang Tae-san tearing enemy formations apart. Because of that he'd died sooner than Go Chun-seok, but for someone who rampaged with that kind of power, he'd lasted a fairly long time.

'Now and then there was a trace of urgency about him, in war and in ordinary moments both- was that because of the sister waiting back on this side?'

What would it be like to be dragged into another world while leaving behind the sister who was his weakness? Obviously he would have fought to survive and get back as fast as he could. It might have thinned out as the years passed, but he wouldn't have given up.

Kang Jae-ha went back over Jang Tae-san's eyes, the ones he'd seen at the hotel not long ago.

A lot of the life had drained out of them, but they were normal.

'Go Chun-seok too. If a man has someone he cherishes in this world, recovering and holding his mind together clearly goes better.'

It made sense. When there was a person or a thing worth cherishing, a man lived for it and had no room left for stray thoughts.

'Even so, it's only a stopgap. He's just holding down the slaughter and the taste of blood. If anyone or anything ever pulls the pin, there's every chance he goes off.'

Finished thinking, Kang Jae-ha shifted his gaze from Ryu Hyuk to Lee Chan-hoo.

"Jang Tae-san. You've been watching him since the hotel. How does he look?"

Narrow-eyed Lee Chan-hoo gave a small shrug.

"For today I didn't use 'Search' on him, just in case. How do I put it, his life's kind of a grind? As you can see, his main job is guard work."

"Does he have side work?"

"After his shift he takes on whatever he can get. On his days off too. Construction sites, designated driving, all that. Outside the main job he keeps picking up short-term gigs, Jang Tae-san does."

"Which means he needs money. School for the sister, hospital bills, living expenses."

"That's what I figure too. Looks to me like there aren't any parents, and he's practically raised the sister with the bad legs himself."

There was no telling since when, but Jang Tae-san appeared to be playing the part of his sister's parent. While Kang Jae-ha was turning that over, Lee Chan-hoo continued.

"From what I've watched, there's no team or organization tied to any of the other comrades anywhere near Jang Tae-san."

Kang Jae-ha nodded, then turned his head toward the sharp-eyed Sato Shota. For reference, Sato Shota had come into Korea recently over the SecurityMEG matter, and Jae-ha addressed him in fluent Japanese.

"Sato Shota, what did you see of Jang Tae-san?"

Sato Shota, whose 'ability' let him see a target's memories from the previous day, answered at once.

"He opens his eyes and earns money, and he's still earning money right up until he sleeps. The same day, over and over. Unremarkable if you want to call it unremarkable, dull if you want to call it dull. Before bed he always talks with his sister."

"And no team or organization turned up in those memories?"

"Correct."

Putting it all together, none of the other Mercenary Corps comrades seemed to be connected to Jang Tae-san, and most of his life looked to be filled with his sister.

Kang Jae-ha switched which leg was crossed and murmured low.

"He's worth meeting."

Narrow-eyed Lee Chan-hoo cut in.

"If Jang Tae-san joins, that widens our combat roster quite a bit."

Cha Chung-hyeon, who had done nothing but listen the whole time, added languidly.

"The timing's good- place him with SecurityMEG and that's solid muscle added."

Kang Jae-ha thought the same.

'Jang Tae-san has to take one of the pillars of SecurityMEG, no question, alongside Go Chun-seok and Sato Shota.'

Of course, if he wanted nothing to do with the Commander or 'MEG', he'd have to be let go.

At that moment.

'Hm?'

Kang Jae-ha's vision, resting on his subordinates, swayed hard. A surge of familiarity. Jae-ha knew at once that 'Deja Vu' was about to come. Who was the subject? One of the subordinates sitting here? As those thoughts flickered past, something that wasn't reality began to unfold in Kang Jae-ha's sight, in the third person.

『A barbecue joint with no customers. From the worn-out look of it everywhere, the place feels like it's carried a good many years. A powerfully built man pushing a wheelchair comes into the grill house, the smell of grease soaked into the walls. The one in the wheelchair is a woman.

The employee was thrown for a second but pulled himself together quickly and showed the man with the wheelchair to a table.

Seated now, the man asked the woman in the wheelchair. A remarkably heavy voice.

"What do you want to eat."

Grinning, the woman answers without a second's hesitation.

"Samgyeopsal! And steamed egg!"』

The 'Deja Vu' ran on a while longer after that, and when Kang Jae-ha came back from it to reality, he shot up out of his seat. His subordinates, faces turning to what's-going-on, rose awkwardly after the Commander. Kang Jae-ha picked out a few of them.

"Follow me."

With that short order, Kang Jae-ha walked straight out of the 'MEG' conference room. His pace quickening, Jae-ha replayed the 'Deja Vu' he'd just seen.

"Since it's come to this, I'll meet him today."

Because the 'Deja Vu' had been Jang Tae-san's.

About an hour later.

The place was a barbecue joint near Moran Station in Seongnam. Starting with the sign, the whole thing was pretty run-down, a joint that felt like it had easily done business on that spot for twenty years.

Inside, there wasn't a single customer.

It was then that the door of the silent barbecue joint opened.

-Swish.

The owner, scrolling his phone out of boredom, snapped his head up. The first customers. But a moment later the owner was a little flustered. A woman in a wheelchair and the powerfully built man pushing it had walked in. The reason for his fluster was that he'd never had a customer in a wheelchair before.

On top of that, the build on the man pushing the wheelchair was staggering. The instant the owner saw him, something came to mind.

'T-Terminator??'

That was the image, that was the aura.

The Terminator. No, the man was Jang Tae-san, the subordinate Kang Jae-ha had tracked down with his senses. The woman seated in the wheelchair he pushed would be the sister. In any case, the owner barely got hold of himself and showed Jang Tae-san and his sister to a table.

"O-over here, please."

"Yes."

Jang Tae-san and his sister sat down along the wall and went straight to the menu.

"What do you want to eat."

At her brother's heavy question, the sister in the wheelchair called out in a voice full of anticipation.

"Samgyeopsal! And steamed egg!"

Jang Tae-san nodded and placed the order politely with the owner.

"Four servings of samgyeopsal and the steamed egg, please."

"Yes, yes, one moment."

Once the owner walked off, the sister threw a question mark at Jang Tae-san.

"Why'd you order four whole servings?? Is someone else coming?"

"Who'd be coming. Three servings out here is one serving for me. I ordered it to eat myself."

"Whoa- oppa's going to eat three whole servings?"

"That's right. You have one, the rest is all mine."

"No way! I'm eating three."

"Give it a try then."

Part of it was that three servings at a barbecue joint came out to next to nothing, but Jang Tae-san had ordered four as a ploy to get his sister to eat more. Well, the line about 'three servings out here is one serving for me' had been honest enough too.

The meat arrived within minutes, and Jang Tae-san and his sister set about grilling and eating it with gusto.

"It's good! It's so good!"

The moment the meat hit her tongue the sister's energy shot straight up, and Jang Tae-san pushed the bowl of lettuce toward her and muttered quietly.

"Eat slowly. Wrap some in lettuce too."

"Lettuce tastes bad."

"Eat it anyway. Nothing but meat is bad for you."

Grumbling, the sister put the lettuce in her mouth anyway. The two enjoyed the glistening meat for roughly thirty minutes, and after about one serving the sister rubbed her stomach.

"Ugh- I can't eat any more. You finish it, oppa."

"What, have a little more."

"Nope. Any more and my stomach really is going to pop."

"You can rest and eat after."

Jang Tae-san ordered a Coke on the side and told his sister.

"I'm going to the bathroom for a second, so drink your Coke and rest."

"Okay! Is it a big one??"

"Small one."

"Go on then, go on."

Jang Tae-san rose smoothly and headed for the bathroom, taking the owner's entire attention with him. He had the physique to deserve it. Some of it was probably the sister, too. But looks like that were nothing new to Jang Tae-san.

-Whoosh!

It was as Jang Tae-san finished his business, washed his hands, and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Hey- your wheelchair wheel rolled over my foot. Look at the scuff on my shoe, what are you going to do about this."

Thugs? Mobsters? Whichever they were, two slabs in suits were running their mouths at the sister. Both slabs wore vicious expressions.

Terminator Jang Tae-san's eyes blew wide.

"!!!"

And in that brief instant, an indescribable Killing Intent exploded in them.

Knowing none of it, the two thug slabs kept pouring rough words on the sister.

"Hey, can't you talk? Answer me. I said what are you going to do about my shoe."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were behind me and I moved the chair...... I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, I don't care about sorry. Pay for it or something."

"...Yes, yes, how much should I give you."

"You know how much these cost? Ah, fuck, these run over 5 million won."

"??!"

"Ugh, this is a pain. If your legs are that useless you should stay home and stuff your face there. Tsk. Hand over the money."

Jang Tae-san felt the world go black. The feeling of a lock he'd borne and held down all this time coming loose with a clunk. Rage beyond words came welling up, and that rage moved Jang Tae-san.

"Don't kill them, don't kill them, no, I want to kill them...... I'm twisting both their necks off."

Life and feeling drained out of his eyes. Jang Tae-san glanced to the right, a big pair of shears sat there. Did he need them? No. He didn't.

Conclusion reached, Jang Tae-san started striding toward the slabs.

Nothing slowed him.

The moment he reached them he looked ready to wring both their throats out. His hands trembled faintly. It was a strange, delicate thing. Even as the rage detonated, a thin anticipation of slaughter rode through Jang Tae-san's veins and spread across his whole body.

Only three steps left to where the slabs stood.

No, at Jang Tae-san's stride, two would get him there. He clenched his fist. Around then the sister spotted her brother.

"O-oppa!"

The two thug slabs noticed Jang Tae-san too.

"The hell?? Oppa?"

Both of them flinched the instant they saw him. Both backed up a step without meaning to. One look was all it took, Jang Tae-san was a monster. And that wasn't all. The force coming off him was terrifying and enormous, and his eyes were dead. Then the sister shouted again.

"Oppa, don't! Don't!!"

Unfortunately, with the lock already off, nothing at all reached Jang Tae-san. Right now, all Jang Tae-san wanted was.

'Kill them, kill them, kill them, tear them apart and kill them.'

The taste of blood, nothing else. And it was as he lifted his right hand to take one of the slabs by the throat.

-Thunk!

Something huge and heavy stopped Jang Tae-san. The unstoppable Jang Tae-san barely halted, and his head turned slowly to the left. The huge, heavy thing was the arm of Go Chun-seok, a beast just slightly bigger than Jang Tae-san himself.

The moment he saw Go Chun-seok, Jang Tae-san's eyes doubled in size.

"......?"

Leaving Jang Tae-san behind him with a face that said how are you here, Go Chun-seok went first to the two slabs standing in front. As the additional monster came at them, the pair froze stiff.

Go Chun-seok caught the skull of the one who'd given the sister all that bullshit, thump!, and murmured coldly.

"Kneel."

"...W-what?"

The next voice wasn't Go Chun-seok's. It came from behind Jang Tae-san.

"Fat in your ears too? He said kneel."

Jang Tae-san, who had been staring hard at Go Chun-seok, flinched and whipped his head around. A man with one hand shoved in his pocket and an utterly flat expression stood beside him.

"Don't take a few hits for nothing and then kneel. Just kneel."

It was Kang Jae-ha. The instant Jang Tae-san saw him, his breath caught and stopped dead.

"......Comman-"

Before he could get the word 'Commander' out, Kang Jae-ha tapped his shoulder and whispered low.

"You're going to butcher a couple of slabs in front of your sister? This isn't a meat shop."

It was right after that that the woman's voice reached them both.

*****

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