Chapter 1199. Cutting Down (4)

Chapter 1199. Cutting Down (4)

Bang Jin-Hun loudly asked, “Are you done with loading the bodies?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then, start mopping the ground next.”

“...Sorry?”

“Get some water and mop the ground, you dummies. Can’t you see all the mess?”

The Assembly’s people nodded in agreement when Bang Jin-Hun pointed to the harbor’s ground. Dried blood and burn marks were everywhere. If left alone, someone would definitely discover them later.

Bak Yong-Cheol acted as the group’s representative and asked, “But, sir? Where will we get water from? It’s not like there’s a tap nearby. Should we get a firetruck?”

“We can’t waste our country’s precious tax money like that. Besides, you don’t even pay taxes, so what right do you have to call a fire department?”

“...But,

uh

, we do pay taxes now, though?”

“Don’t get too conceited about paying tax for a month when everyone’s been paying it forever, okay? Because it feels like I’m listening to a fresh recruit in a boot camp complaining about military life.”

Something about that comparison felt

correct

, and Bak Yong-Cheol couldn’t bring himself to argue back.

“Then, uh, what should we do, sir?”

“Do you see that?” Bang Jin-Hun asked while pointing somewhere.

“Sorry?”

Bak Yong-Cheol turned his head to look. He could see large empty water tanks beyond the doors of a storage unit damaged during the intense combat.

“I can see buckets over there. What about you? You can use those

buckets

to carry water, right?”

“...Sir, I’ll be honest, those things don’t look like buckets to me.”

“I can help you see things better until they look like buckets. Come over here for a sec.”

“They look like buckets now, sir. It’s like magic.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s magic, alright. Get moving.”

“...But where will we get water from, sir?”

Bang Jin-Hun threw his hands up in dismay. “What the hell! Are you an idiot? Can’t you see all the water around us? Why all the fuss, man?”

Bak Yong-Cheol looked behind him, at the vast ocean spreading into the horizon, and smiled contentedly.

‘Yup, we’re gonna die today.’

Even if they were martial artists, carrying seawater in large water tanks to mop the harbor clean had to be some kind of human rights violation.

Unfortunately, stupidly arguing back now could upgrade this human rights violation into a human life violation instead!

Besides, Bak Yong-Cheol couldn’t bring himself to complain whenever Bang Jin-Hun’s serious injuries caught his eyes. He wouldn’t dare complain to a boss who fought so hard for their sake on this battlefield.

Bak Yong-Cheol stared at Bang Jin-Hun with a hint of reverence.

Bang Jin-Hun cocked an eyebrow. “

Oii

. You playing hooky or what?”

“...”

It seemed Bak Yong-Cheol was mistaken. Reverence got fed to the dogs, apparently!

“Hurry up and finish everything before sunrise,” said Bang Jin-Hun.

“By the way, sir?”

“What is it?”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Bak Yong-Cheol frowned slightly while asking, “Why do we have to do this, too? I mean, others can...”

Smack!

Bang Jin-Hun mercilessly smacked the top of Bak Yong-Cheol’s head with his fist.

Bak Yong-Cheol squatted on the spot while clutching at his head. “Ouch?!”

“You arrogant idiot,” Bang Jin-Hun grunted loudly.

“N-no, it’s not what you think, sir! I was just wondering, cuz there are people who can do this job instead of us, you know?”

“And that’s why I’m saying you’re an arrogant idiot. Who do you think you are, trying to order around civil servants like that?”

“But, uh, we gotta sub the...”

“Sub, my foot. Go play in the national football team if you want to be a super sub. There ain’t no such thing for us. You clean up after your own sh*t, you hear me?”

“...Yes, sir.”

Bak Yong-Cheol led the remaining martial artists toward the storage, although he continued grumbling all the way. After taking out the empty water tanks, the Assembly martial artists carried them to the ocean.

Bang Jin-Hun nodded at this sight.

‘Although we won’t completely clean this place up, it’s better than nothing.’

Obviously, the Assembly’s martial artists couldn’t do anything about the wrecked storage buildings and shattered concrete. Even so, they should still clean up what they could.

“

Urgh

...”

Bang Jin-Hun clutched his side while plopping down on the spot. He could more or less hold on thanks to Wiggins’ emergency treatment. Without it, he would be in a hospital ER by now.

‘That bastard, he... sure was strong.’

If Bang Jin-Hun fought Kazuhiro in a normal setting, he knew he would never win against the Japanese.

Did that make him feel ashamed, though? Of course not.

Defeating someone stronger through his wits was an amazing achievement. He should praise himself for it rather than kicking himself in the rear.

Besides, winning that fight through his wits meant a lot, too. If Bang Jin-Hun’s strength had not improved to the current level, he would’ve never stood a chance against Kazuhiro regardless of what tricks he had up his sleeve.

‘Right. I would’ve been beaten up to death if this happened three months ago. And one-sidedly at that, too.’

Bang Jin-Hun knew he had gotten stronger. His attainment in martial arts had improved, while his qi reserve had grown in scale, too. Him getting stronger would be obvious, in that case.

However, he only had a vague feeling of his improved strength. To figure out exactly how much he had improved, he needed a yardstick of some sort to compare himself to.

Kazuhiro performed that role admirably well this time.

Even after getting his confirmation, though, Bang Jin-Hun couldn’t just bask in his victory because of the current situation.

Kang Jin-Ho was in danger, so how could he celebrate this insignificant victory?

He must wrap up things here as quickly as possible and return to lend his assistance to Kang Jin-Ho. Even if he wouldn’t be much of a help...!

“

Uhm

, sir...?”

Bang Jin-Hun turned to look when a voice coming from behind him broke his train of thoughts.

“

Mm

?”

A man with a somewhat familiar face was behind him while making an awkward expression.

Bang Jin-Hun asked, “What is it?”

“Director, sir? I’m Kim Won-Hyeok. I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier.”

“What I did earlier?” Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head before finally remembering who this guy was. “Ah, that’s right. You were...”

This guy nearly got killed by Kazuhiro before Bang Jin-Hun intervened.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yes, sir. My internal organs weren’t damaged, you see...”

Bang Jin-Hun frowned at the sight of Kim Won-Hyeok’s gut wrapped up tightly in bandages.

“

Oii

, didn’t you hear me saying all the injured folks should go to a hospital?”

“This isn’t bad enough to go to a hospital, sir.”

“What the? You think you’re some tough guy?” Bang Jin-Hun snorted derisively. “Listen here, you dumbass. You think a sword stab wound is a joke? You think you’re in a movie or something? You honestly think you can bandage up a bullet wound or stab wound, and it’d heal up on its own? Don’t you know that reality has this thing called infection?

“Do you have any idea just how many folks kick the bucket because their little wounds got infected and started festering away? This is why youngsters these days are so...”

“I’ll head to a hospital once we’re done organizing this place, sir. But,

uh

... Shouldn’t you also head to a hospital...?”

“Nah, I’ll be alright.”

“Sorry? Why?”

Bang Jin-Hun triumphantly replied, “Because I’m tougher than germs.”

“...”

Kim Won-Hyeok clamped his mouth shut, his expression a bit weird.

Bang Jin-Hun cocked an eyebrow again. “Okay, so?”

“Sorry?”

“Didn’t you shove your ugly mug in my face because you had something to say?”

“

Oh, uh

...” Kim Won-Hyeok faltered while sheepishly scratching the back of his head. “I wanted to thank you, that’s all, sir.”

“Stop wasting time and get on with it, will ya? I know better than anyone that our people are rude as f*ck, okay? All the people I rescued today can easily fill up three trucks and then some, but not a single one came up to me to say thanks.”

Kim Won-Hyeok couldn’t help but agree that the Assembly people’s manners had fallen to the pits. Even he hadn’t come here to express his gratitude, after all.

“Actually, I...” Kim Won-Hyeok sighed deeply. “I’m not sure if now is the right time to ask this, but...”

Bang Jin-Hun tutted loudly. “Well, if you have any morals, then don’t ask. Everyone else is working their asses off, but you wanna take it easy and chat while sitting down?”

“But, sir. I’m injured.”

“Didn’t you say it’s not that serious?”

“It’s starting to hurt a bit more now, sir.”

“Gimme a break,” Bang Jin-Hun chuckled helplessly. “If you have something to say, hurry up and say it.”

Kim Won-Hyeok hesitated for a second before forcing himself to speak up. “Sir, weren’t you scared?”

“...

Eh

?”

Kim Won-Hyeok’s complexion grew noticeably gloomy.

“Sir, I wasn’t able to do anything during the battle. If the issue was with how weak I was, I could’ve trained harder, but... But this time, I couldn’t even bring out half of my actual strength.”

Bang Jin-Hun was about to retort sarcastically just then, only to clamp his mouth shut after noticing the look on Kim Won-Hyeok’s face. Now didn’t seem like the right time to joke around.

“I don’t want to admit it, but I think I’m a coward, sir. My comrades all gave 110% of themselves tonight, but me? I only got in their way. If you hadn’t helped me, I’d be a dead man by now. And my comrades near me would’ve died, too. All because of me.”

“

Huh

?” Bang Jin-Ho stared in stupefaction at Kim Won-Hyeok before speaking up. “What the f*ck, man? You are a funny bastard, ain’t ya?”

Kim Won-Hyeok blinked his eyes while asking back, “I’m sorry?”

“Listen here, you punk. That Jap bastard that almost killed you? He was the boss of the Japs, okay? Even though those f*ckers were Japs, a boss must be someone who spent his entire life polishing his skills. And he was someone stronger than me, too. How the hell would you win in a fight against someone like that?”

“N-no, sir. I wasn’t only talking about him. Before that, I...” Kim Yong-Hyeok muttered, before his head faltered. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this life, sir.”

Bang Jin-Hun wordlessly stared at the lowered head of Kim Won-Hyeok before sighing deeply. “Hey, man.”

“Yes, director.”

“Look at this.”

Bang Jin-Hun pulled up his blood-soaked shirt.

“Can you see it?”

“...I can see the bandages, sir.”

“Above it, you dumbass. Above the bandages.”

“Above?”

Kim Won-Hyeok narrowed his eyes and peered closely at Bang Jin-Hun’s side. He finally spotted a tiny little scar just above the wound wrapped up in bandages.

“That... Sir, is that from a stab wound?”

“Yeah. Got it a long, long time ago,” Bang Jin-Hun chuckled while lowering his shirt. “You know how I got that?”

“I,

uh

, I’m not sure...?”

“I got it during my first battle. Back then, I was a bit too full of myself. You probably know about this, but I was born with a bit of talent, you see?”

“...”

That statement was factually true, even if it sounded a little conceited.

Bang Jin-Hun used to be pretty famous as a genius among the Assembly members, although he got overshadowed recently by monsters like Kang Jin-Ho, Vator, and Wiggins.

One mustn’t forget that he became an Assembly director at a young age and stood in opposition to Lee Jung-Geol. Even though Bang Jin-Hun was a naturally charismatic man, it still would have been impossible to reach that position without possessing enough strength.

“During my first battle, I was nothing more than a hot-blooded idiot. All I knew was charging straight at the enemy. I was too confident of myself. The reward for my bravado was getting stabbed and falling like a chump.”

“...”

“It would’ve been nicer if I had blacked out back then. Getting stabbed in the side won’t knock you out cold, you see? I got stabbed, I fell, yet enemies were still surrounding me. Can you guess what I did next?”

“...Did you fight tooth and nail to win?”

“Nope. I begged them to spare me. I even turned on the waterworks, you know? Good thing no one thought of filming that. If they had, it would've been one hell of a performance, that’s for sure!”

Bang Jin-Hun smirked smoothly.

As for Kim Won-Hyeok, he could only blink his eyes in stupefaction.

Bang Jin-Hun didn’t seem to be joking, so...

Kim Won-Hyeok couldn’t even picture Bang Jin-Hun doing that under any circumstances. The former Assembly Master and the current Assembly director was not the type to lose his fighting spirit no matter how grave the situation was, after all.

“If my senior brothers hadn’t come to save my butt, I’d be a dead man by now. Coward, you say? Who cares about that, man? That’s a hundred times better than acting like a reckless fool and dying early. If you had stupidly challenged that Jap earlier, do you think you’d still be here, alive? Nope. You’d be dead.”

“...”

“Don’t beat yourself up, okay? You dumbass, everyone is scared to some degree. Actually, those who don’t get scared are the weirdos. They have screws loose in their heads. Kids these days watch too many movies and read too many comic books. They all think not being scared is a sign of courageousness or something.”

Bang Jin-Hun stared straight into Kim Won-Hyeok’s eyes.

“I also get scared, so why wouldn’t you? You better piss your pants or else. Don’t get this twisted, you dumbass. Courage is not the absence of fear. No, courage is when you keep going forward even though you’re f*cking scared. Not being scared is not courage, but a mental illness!”

Kim Won-Hyeok dazedly stared back at Bang Jin-Hun.

“Then, sir...”

“Yeah?”

“When you were fighting that Japanese, were you also scared?”

“What, me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kim Won-Hyeok wanted to hear the answer quite badly.

Objectively speaking, Kazuhiro had been stronger than Bang Jin-Hun. So, what did Bang Jin-Hun feel while risking his life to fight a stronger opponent?

Bang Jin-Hun smirked as he began his explanation.