Chapter 79 - The Perfect Plan

"I'll ask you one more time." Wang Gi-seong showed neither surprise nor alarm at the three intruders who had barged into his office. He simply asked from his seat behind the desk.

"Who the hell are you people, barging in here without permission and running your mouths?"

"You don't need to know who we are. All you need to do is hear our proposal and nod."

"A proposal?"

"That's right."

The braided man walked over, dragged an entire sofa across the room, and perched on it opposite Wang Gi-seong.

"There's something we want, and wouldn't you know it, the damn thing seems to have ended up with the Seven Dragons Society recently."

"If you want something, why not pay for it? We're a business. We'll sell most things if the price is right."

"I'd love to, but our work is confidential. And the Seven Dragons Society's security is stronger than we expected, so we can't simply steal it."

"So you want me to sneak it out for you?"

"Oh? You look stupid, but you catch on faster than I expected."

The man sounded genuinely surprised, but Wang Gi-seong did not get angry. The Wang family of Shanghai might be looked down on, but it was still a distinguished family within the Seven Dragons Society, and he was serving as acting East Asia director of Black Dragon Construction.

"I don't know what you're after, but... what's in it for me?"

"What's in it for you?"

"You specifically asked me to smuggle it out. Naturally, you'll have to pay me accordingly."

"Ah, don't worry about that. We have a very substantial reward prepared."

"Do you now? And what would that be?"

As though there was nothing he wouldn't do for the right price, Wang Gi-seong asked with easy nonchalance, befitting a member of the Black Dragon Clan, who made a trade of plots and schemes. The man answered just as calmly.

"Your life."

"... Hmm."

Wang Gi-seong nodded. He had more or less expected it.

"Meaning if I refuse, I die right here?"

"Quick on the uptake, I see."

"Our family's famous for being quick on the uptake and good at flattery. I couldn't serve as acting head of the family if I couldn't figure out that much."

"Then may I expect a favorable answer?"

"Why, of course." Wang Gi-seong grinned affably. Then, still seated, he kicked his desk into the air.

BOOM!

The heavy desk shot high into the air. The instant Wang Gi-seong slammed his fist into it, it hurtled through the man seated before him and swept up the woman and young man behind him as well. Such was the force of the blow that the rear wall collapsed outright, scattering crushed flesh and blood across the office.

"There's your answer." Wang Gi-seong gave a cold snort in the blood-soaked office. A more sophisticated threat might have been another matter, but he had no reason to fear intimidation as pathetic as this.

"That's unfortunate."

"We'll see who has cause for regret. Your friends look to be in a pretty sorry state already."

The man was still sitting there, apparently unharmed, despite taking the desk's tremendous force head-on. Wang Gi-seong sneered at him. Whatever trick the man had used to avoid the blow, his two companions had surely been reduced to bloody pulp.

That was why Wang Gi-seong's face stiffened when two voices spoke behind him.

"Whew. I'd heard the Seven Dragons Society's masters were every bit as strong as high-level players, but you're no joke. I thought I was going to die."

"Comrade, lying is bad."

"It's a figure of speech. You got hit too, you crazy comrade."

"It's fine. I never die."

The moment Wang Gi-seong heard them, he moved on instinct. Drawing up his psionics according to the circulation method of the Eightfold Great Strength School (大力八合流), he spun like a top and unleashed a palm strike. It was a heaven-shaking blow, a palm technique imbued with enough force to bring down an entire building.

CRUNCH!

"...?!" But before the palm carrying that supreme art of the great dragon could fully extend, his wrist was crushed. He had not let his guard down. The power in his opponent's weapon was simply greater than he had imagined, overwhelming the psionics in his hand head-on.

"Sorry. I only meant to crush your fingers, but you were tougher than I expected, so I made a little mistake..."

THUD!

"What?!" When had she even drawn it? The blonde woman had swung the huge load she carried on her back without unfastening it, crushed his wrist, and begun to apologize. Wang Gi-seong struck her with his arm, mangled wrist and all, then gritted his teeth and pressed the attack.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

First came Heaven King's Toppling Tower, a descending shoulder blow that shattered her collarbone; then Twin Fists Cross the Sea, crossing both hands to crush her jaw; and finally Great Roc Falls from Heaven, bringing his crossed hands together to smash her solar plexus. Agony surged through his ruined wrist with every move, yet his techniques flowed together without the slightest falter and battered the blonde woman to pieces. He, too, was a master of the Seven Dragons Society. The Seventy-Two Martial Schools were not arts entrusted to someone who would waver over an injury like this.

STAB!

"Wow, those punches looked like something out of an old Hong Kong movie. I'd learn them myself if I could."

Had he pushed his attack too hard? Wang Gi-seong failed to evade the knife the young man had slipped into his side.

THUD!

But he paid it no mind. He smashed the young man's head with a Tempest Kick technique, pulled out the knife, and raised his psionics to stop the bleeding.

"Brace yourself. You're next." Wang Gi-seong bared his teeth at the man, who was now truly alone. Yet even after seeing his two companions killed in an instant, the man showed no sign of tension. He merely looked up at Wang Gi-seong from his seat on the sofa and smiled cynically.

"You're one impatient son of a bitch. Kill my comrades properly before you start talking that bullshit."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Your friends are already dead by my..."

"Great! Amazing! Fighting with your wrist smashed to bits! What a fighter!"

"If you had time to admire him, why didn't you ambush him? You could have taken his head off in one blow."

"No! That's cowardly! Fight face-to-face and kill him. Sword Master spirit!"

"..." Wang Gi-seong was speechless. He could still feel their bones breaking and their organs being crushed beneath his blows. Yet the blonde woman and the narrow-eyed young man had reappeared unharmed, as if nothing had happened. The sight froze him in place.

'What the hell are these people?' He had guessed they were high-level players from the moment they appeared in his office. But he had been mistaken. They weren't merely players with high levels. It wasn't just their bizarre ability to reappear unharmed after he thought he'd killed them, either. Though they had fought him to the death, he sensed neither tension nor even hostility from them. That strange incongruity sent a chill through him.

'Even judging by raw ability, they're no ordinary opponents.' The blow that had crushed his wrist and the skill with which the knife had been driven into his side put them at least at count-class. Given their uncanny ease in combat and the inexplicable power that let them survive being killed, they might even rival duke-class players. 'Where the hell did three people like this come from?' Wang Gi-seong could not understand it.

In this Iron Age, a duke-class player was practically a king, a superhuman with few equals apart from the ten Monarchs. The very existence of three duke-class players he had never heard of was astonishing. That all three were after the same thing together was stranger still.

'I have to get away, somehow.' Abandoning any thought of fighting further, Wang Gi-seong concentrated his psionics in the tips of his feet. Whether he survived was secondary; he had to warn someone that these dangerous people were targeting the Seven Dragons Society.

"Fighter, not coming at us?"

"The way his eyes are darting around, I'd say he's looking to run."

"Then this time, ladies first!"

As though they had seen through his intention to flee, the blonde woman swung her enormous weapon while the narrow-eyed young man charged with his knife in a reverse grip. Wang Gi-seong fought desperately against them both. He leaned back to dodge the weapon, crushed the knife with the pressure of his fist, and kicked at an ankle. After exchanging dozens of blows in the blink of an eye, he finally found an opening and threw himself toward the window. Or tried to.

THOOM!

"That's cheating. Once a fight starts, shouldn't you see it through to the end?" The braided man on the sofa had taken his hand out of his pocket.

Wang Gi-seong's eyes widened. It wasn't only because the window, which should have shattered at once, had bounced him back as though it were made of iron. The moment he saw what the man held in his hand, a realization flashed through his mind. 'Could this skill be...?'

Only then did he understand why he had never heard of high-level players this powerful, and why they had gone so far as to threaten a complete stranger rather than make official contact with the Seven Dragons Society. But the realization came far too late.

His failed attempt to break through the window had thrown him off balance and left him exposed. The blonde woman's weapon was already swinging toward his head.

THWACK!!!

One blow was all it took to shatter Wang Gi-seong's skull, send his eyeballs bursting from their sockets, and spray his brains in every direction.

THUD, THUD! THUD!

"Hey, you crazy comrade. He's already dead. You can stop hitting him."

"Really?"

"Can't you see? His brain's mush. What human could survive that?"

"Comrade, you don't die even if your head gets smashed and your heart gets split open."

"He's not me."

"But finishing him off is important, right?"

"... Do whatever you want."

"Okay!"

Apparently taking the young man's resigned reply as permission, the blonde woman beamed and brought her weapon down on Wang Gi-seong again. The narrow-eyed young man clicked his tongue at the sight of the corpse twitching like a frog under each blow of the heavy weapon. Then he turned to the braided man, who remained on the sofa watching the slaughter at his leisure.

"Comrade, what now? Doesn't look like we're getting an insider."

"It's fine."

"You have another plan?"

"Of course. I already have it all worked out."

The young man looked thoroughly surprised, as though he had never expected there to be a plan B. The braided man smiled at him and revealed his plan. "If we don't have an insider, we just keep killing people until we get one."

"I was an idiot to get my hopes up..."