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Chapter 9
Kim Kyung-soo stood there in a daze, slowly looking around.
The nine runners who should have been guarding this place had vanished without a trace.
There were no signs of a struggle.
Not even a drop of blood suggesting someone had been dragged away by force.
Only abandoned tools and spilled white powder remained scattered across the floor.
Like a madman, he searched every corner of the factory, including the storage room and even the restroom.
Not even a rat was hiding anywhere.
“They didn’t run… No. That’s impossible. There’s no way all nine of them disappeared at once.”
There was only one conclusion.
They had been attacked.
But he couldn’t make sense of it.
Who could possibly wipe out everyone in this secret factory without leaving behind a single survivor?
Names of rival organizations flashed through his mind.
“No… Those bastards don’t even have the spare manpower to bother with us right now. Then who?”
A growing sense of dread tightened around him.
Several days earlier, Jo Gi-hoon—better known as Dakgangjeong—and Kim Jong-chan had disappeared.
Neither of them had any reason to flee, nor the courage to betray the organization.
Yet they had vanished as though swallowed by the earth itself.
Yesterday had been no different.
Even Lee Chi-sang—the corrupt detective who had faithfully served as the Cheolsu Gang’s informant—had suddenly gone silent.
Kim Kyung-soo had already confirmed Lee Chi-sang’s disappearance.
The man had even abandoned the family he valued more than his own life.
He hadn’t stolen any money and run.
It was as if his very existence had been erased from the world.
“Jo Gi-hoon… Kim Jong-chan… Lee Chi-sang… and now the runners too?”
There was no way all of them had conspired to betray the organization and flee together.
A chill ran down Kim Kyung-soo’s spine.
Someone was targeting the Cheolsu Gang.
Quietly.
Methodically.
And with deadly precision.
Just then, the smartphone in his pocket suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
“What am I supposed to report to Boss…?”
But there was nothing Kim Kyung-soo could do.
All he could do was pray he wouldn’t lose his head.
A penthouse overlooking the glittering nightscape of Gangnam.
The lights inside were all switched off.
Only pale moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows illuminated the living room.
At its center sat a man on a high-backed leather sofa.
His entire face was concealed beneath a pitch-black iron mask.
The polished metal reflected the city’s lights with an icy sheen.
Without moving a muscle, he looked down at the man kneeling before him.
“Kyung-soo.”
The voice emerging from behind the iron mask was low and dry.
It sounded almost mechanical, stripped of emotion, yet carried a metallic weight that scraped against the listener’s ears.
“…Who did this?”
Kim Kyung-soo—the Cheolsu Gang’s vice leader and chief enforcer—kept his forehead pressed against the floor, barely daring to breathe.
None of the arrogance he usually displayed as an Awakened remained.
His shoulders trembled unnaturally, as though an enormous boulder were crushing him.
“I… I don’t know, Boss…”
The sound of him swallowing echoed loudly through the room.
He knew better than anyone that making pathetic excuses would only make things worse.
Iron Mask despised deception even more than incompetence.
“What about Gi-hoon and Jong-chan?”
“We… still haven’t found any trace of them.”
“And the informant?”
“…”
“And the runners at the factory?”
The longer the silence continued, the colder the room became.
It wasn’t simply the temperature.
The murderous aura radiating from Iron Mask was literally chilling the air.
Kim Kyung-soo fought back the urge to vomit under the crushing pressure squeezing his lungs before forcing out a reply.
“I’m sorry… Boss.”
Iron Mask slowly tilted his head.
A ghostly light flickered within the empty eyeholes of the mask.
His gaze was so cold it felt as though frost formed wherever it landed.
“Kyung-soo… We’ve known each other for quite a long time.”
His fingers rhythmically tapped the sofa’s armrest.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
To Kim Kyung-soo, each tap sounded like the blade of a guillotine descending toward his neck.
“But I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kill you as much as I do right now.”
Kim Kyung-soo’s body visibly convulsed.
His fingertips, pressed against the marble floor, turned white.
“Our rivals haven’t even made a move. Yet the Cheolsu Gang is on the verge of shutting down every major operation we have. Our intelligence network is gone. Our manufacturing line has vanished. And we don’t even know who our enemy is.”
The low voice tore at Kim Kyung-soo’s heart.
He had survived countless hardships as the gang’s second-in-command.
But he had never encountered disappearances like this.
No traces.
No witnesses.
No corpses.
Complete annihilation.
It was nothing short of a disaster.
“Kyung-soo. This is your last chance.”
Iron Mask rose from his seat.
His massive shadow completely engulfed the kneeling man.
“I’ll give you one week.”
“Find whoever is responsible for this.”
“If you fail…”
He walked past Kim Kyung-soo toward the window.
“Then create a culprit if you have to.”
“And bring someone before me.”
“Unless you’d rather offer your own head instead.”
With his face still pressed against the freezing marble floor, Kim Kyung-soo answered in a cracked voice.
“I’ll find them… I swear I’ll find them, Boss.”
Instead of replying, Iron Mask silently stared into the darkness beyond the window.
A heavy, suffocating silence filled the penthouse.
* * *
After returning home, Su-hyeok immediately opened the Hell Shop.
He had earned all the Hell Points he wanted by raiding the drug factory.
Now it was finally time to obtain the skill he had been looking forward to.
Reaper’s Step
A unique movement technique usable only by a Reaper.
Instantly move to any point within your field of vision. (Maximum range: 10 meters)
Required Hell Points: 100
Without hesitation, Su-hyeok pressed the purchase button.
The moment he confirmed it, a faint black radiance briefly enveloped his body before fading away.
He didn’t feel dramatically different physically.
Still, a reassuring sense of fullness welled up inside his chest.
At that moment, several new system messages appeared one after another.
– Achievement Completed: Purchase every item in the Hell Shop.
– Achievement Reward: 100 Hell Points acquired.
– Locked merchandise has been unlocked.
– New products have been added.
“Oh?”
He had actually been wondering what he would spend future Hell Points on after buying Reaper’s Step, since the shop had been completely emptied.
Instead, purchasing everything had automatically unlocked more merchandise.
On top of that, it had rewarded him with another 100 Hell Points.
A very pleasant bonus.
With growing anticipation, Su-hyeok checked the newly updated inventory.
Items
- Pouch of the Dead (NEW)
- Enhancement Stone (Judgment) (NEW)
- Locked
- Locked
Skills
- Echoes of Hell (NEW)
- Karmic Return (NEW)
- Chains of Sin (NEW)
- Locked
- Locked
Pouch of the Dead
A pocket dimension storage pouch bound exclusively to a Reaper.
Stores objects of any size without limitation and allows them to be secretly retrieved.
Cost: 200 Hell Points
Enhancement Stone (Judgment)
A special ore that strengthens Reaper equipment with the power of Judgment.
Cost: 500 Hell Points
Echoes of Hell
Speak with the soul of someone who has fallen into Hell for five minutes.
The target can never lie in response to the Reaper’s questions.
Cost: 400 Hell Points
Karmic Return
Subjects the target to horrifying hallucinations, plunging them into absolute terror before sending them to Hell.
Cost: 600 Hell Points
Chains of Sin
Reduces a target’s physical abilities and mana in proportion to the sins they have committed.
Invisible chains bind the target, slowing their movements.
Cost: 1,000 Hell Points
As Su-hyeok read through the descriptions of the new items and skills, his eyes widened.
Every single one possessed incredible abilities capable of making up for his current shortcomings in combat and intelligence gathering.
But their outrageous effectiveness came with equally outrageous prices.
“What the hell is this?”
“Are they expecting me to commit mass slaughter or something?”
At this rate, killing one or two street punks or drug couriers in back alleys would never earn enough points.
“I either gather points slowly over a long period…”
“…or I learn these skills quickly by carrying out large-scale massacres.”
With Hell Point costs increasing exponentially, Su-hyeok’s hunting methods would have to change just as drastically.
“I’ll have to wipe out entire criminal headquarters like I did with the drug factory…”
“…or hand out Judgment Punishment to every criminal I come across.”
Either option carried far greater risk than quietly eliminating targets without leaving traces.
Yet…
Looking at those incredible abilities, there was no way he could simply walk away.
If risking his life meant obtaining all those sweet rewards…
It was more than worth it.
Su-hyeok stood up and stretched lightly.
“First, let’s test Reaper’s Step.”
Reading a skill description a hundred times would never compare to using it once.
After all, seeing something firsthand was worth more than hearing about it a hundred times.
To verify the description himself, Su-hyeok climbed onto the rooftop of his apartment building.
The cold predawn air brushed against the tip of his nose.
But all of his attention was focused on his newly acquired skill.
He stared at an old water tank on the opposite side of the rooftop, roughly ten meters away.
Then he activated the skill in his mind.
“Reaper’s Step.”
His vision flickered black for an instant.
The next moment, the scenery around him had completely changed.
There was no sensation of cutting through the wind.
No feeling of pushing off the ground.
It truly was instant movement.
The rooftop entrance where he had been standing only moments earlier now seemed incredibly far away.
“…This is insane.”
Standing atop the water tank, Su-hyeok looked down at his own hands and let out a quiet breath of amazement.
Perfect teleportation.
No delay whatsoever.
His mind immediately began running countless simulations, calculating all the ways he could exploit this absurdly overpowered skill.
