Chapter 11: The Masked Sweep

‘It all starts from there.’

You have to work your way up gradually, from bottom to top. Scatter things from the bottom so the chaos naturally grows.

The less the opponent knows about me, the better.

‘If you reverse the saying “Jipi Jigi Baekjeonbultae” (Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles…)

“Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.”

Flipped the other way, it means that if the opponent doesn’t know me, they cannot defeat me.’

(Basic stuff, but honestly, there’s no more entertaining method than this.)

To that end, I took out something I had prepared in advance.

As I wrapped it around my face, it fit snugly and softly.

It was a cloth inscribed with the Illusion Effect spell. At the same time, I infused mana into it.

Woooooong—

The lower-tier Illusion magic, Illusion Effect, which implants illusions into enemies, was now activated as the mana wrapped around the cloth on my face.

‘This will be enough.’

Though invisible, my face had drastically changed by now.

Illusion magic that implants the illusion the caster desires is different from this.

Since Illusion Effect is a lower-tier magic, the level of illusion depends on the opponent’s perception.

So the illusion varies depending on who sees it.

This is the limit and downside of a lower-tier spell.

For me, appearing in various forms was actually better.

And for me, that was a plus.

Even if it was a Detect Item, without a target, no one could recognize this level of illusion.

The effect was certain.

“…….”

I walked around, glancing at those nearby, but no one thought anything strange about me.

I had changed my clothes beforehand, so no one whispered about my outfit either.

That meant the Illusion Effect worked well.

It wasn’t long before I started moving straight toward my target.

“Everyone’s arrived.”

I reached the place I wanted.

It was just before noon.

An illegal and reckless bunch wouldn’t be stirring so early.

“Ughh…”

“Hehe. Didn’t you have a good time yesterday?”

One by one, those still heavy-eyed and drowsy began to get up.

A band of thugs.

Not all who claimed to handle the dark underworld here carried themselves with any pride.

Just like anywhere, there’s a hierarchy. These people were at the very bottom among the thugs.

‘The lowest of the low.’

They were the kind who only handed up tributes to those above them.

No strong figures among them at all.

If I had wanted, I could’ve wiped them out before even mastering Hyeonwon Dan Shingong.

They were only now just groggily standing up and moving.

Hooook—

I didn’t even hesitate as I moved to strike them.

‘First, one down. I’ll use the subtlety of Yukhapkwon.’

In Murim, Yukhapkwon is commonly known as a third-rate style.

Its basics and understandings, even its counters, are well known, so it’s inevitably treated as low-grade.

No one bothers learning martial arts that can be easily broken.

At least, that’s how it is in the Murim world. Even there…

‘But some have made names for themselves with Yukhapkwon.’

Yukhapkwon was difficult to see merely as a third-rate martial art.

Hooooong—

“Divide the six directions…

Using an understanding of each direction as the axis…”

Puhhhhk—

I imbued a strike with inner energy.

This one technique was the core of Yukhapkwon. It was enough to take down a simple thug.

Puhk.

A thug’s solar plexus caved in.

“Ugh…”

His untrained body curled up like a shrimp.

‘Weak.’

Hooooong— Puhk!

I struck again.

***

As soon as I drove my elbow into the head bent downward, Thud.

The thug’s body collapsed instantly. One dealt with in a flash.

“What the—!”

“An enemy?!”

They assessed the situation faster than their ability. Those groggy men suddenly snapped to attention.

“Hit him!”

“Hey! Damn! Who the hell is this so early in the morning!”

No one ran away.

They had underestimated me because I was alone.

They quickly gathered—around twenty of them.

For a lower-class area, that was a sizable number of people.

Packed tightly like a can of bean sprouts!

But among them, no one had properly grasped the situation.

‘Only half of them understood.’

You shouldn’t underestimate someone who barged in alone.

They should have thought that since it was just one person, there had to be a reason. People aren’t fools who do crazy things without cause.

They only move if they see a chance of winning.

The thugs needed to understand that.

The moment they realized their comrades were gathering completely,

I spoke with my fists.

“Ugh…”

“T-They blocked it! Ugh…”

“Oi!?!”

“What aura is that! Only Knights use that!”

“Then what’s this… Ugh.”

Crack—

Bones broke, teeth shifted. His protruding front teeth sank sharply backward.

I didn’t need to kill them all.

I had a past life, so I knew there was no true death. But I wasn’t the type to take pleasure in murder.

“Kyaaaak!”

Puhk—

When facing enemies, no mercy, but there must be a plan.

‘I need someone to report the situation. The rest… can be left behind. That in itself is an advantage.’

Though it looked like I was ruthlessly wiping them out, I was moving exactly as planned.

Coldly. And precisely.

Taking them down one by one was enough.

“R-Run away…”

“…Dig!”

“Kyaaaah! My leg!”

Crack—

Perfectly knocked down.

“Ugh…”

“Kuh…”

“Argh…”

“…….

It didn’t take long to sweep through the entire gang cleanly.

Exactly twenty were left rolling on the ground. One managed to escape.

Not because I missed him, but because I chose to let the last one out.

‘Someone has to deliver the news.’

It was obvious where the escaped one went.

‘To the higher-ups.’

All through the fight, the thugs shouted the same things.

“Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

“Who do you think gave you permission?”

“Who the hell are you?”

Words of warning and challenge.

Nonsense.

Those who said nonsense tended to get the worst injuries.

Maybe because they caught on fast, those words soon stopped.

The meaning was clear. Even while acting as thugs, these words followed a pattern.

‘Just as expected.’

There must be a higher organization protecting them.

Those at the bottom here milk the lower-class residents dry.

Some of the profits taken from the poor wouldn’t be pocketed by them—they’d go to those above.

Those above then acknowledge these territories.

Sometimes, if an enemy appears, they even offer protection.

Not out of loyalty.

‘It’s all about vested interests.’

Those who engage in this kind of work care more about stakes than merchants.

It’s easier to control those who’ve obeyed for a while than newcomers, so they protect them.

Like crocodiles and the birds that clean their teeth.

The bottom ones are stripped and given up, while the upper ones provide protection in return. A mutually beneficial relationship.

But if the bottom grow too strong…

‘They get cleaned up.’

Sometimes big crocodiles eat the little ones. Just make a reason and it’s done.

‘This is the same everywhere.’

The world always worked like this—whether on Earth or in Murim. These people always operated the same way.

So I started by breaking the bottom. Only then would the top move.

And…

‘There’s another top.’

Those who protect these people are not only in the underworld.

“Ugh…”

“Ugh… J-Just a little softer…”

There are others as well.

I had to find all of them at once.

Although there were twenty of them, binding them wasn’t hard.

‘…I didn’t know I had even learned Porakhosul.’

Jegal Hyeon was also skilled in grappling. One of these skills was Porakhosul, used to bind opponents quickly.

Using it elsewhere might be dangerous.

Anyway, no matter how hard they struggled, those tied up had no way to undo the bindings. It was a special Porakhosul devised by Jegal Hyeon.

“L-Let go… Ugh.”

“Just shut up for now.”

Puhk—

After punishing one thug who was boasting loudly, I made sure to finish things thoroughly.

I gathered my inner energy to kill the sound of movement and hid myself.

***

‘They’re late. Maybe because of the area…’

After quite some time, the awaited group finally appeared.

“Hey! Over here!”

A nimble-looking child guided the way, followed by a crowd.

They looked light, but those important ones wore armor reinforced with iron plates—the Guard Corps.

‘Their equipment is proper.’

Since my father, a Knight, cared about such things, their armament was reliable.

‘The important thing is that their work is proper too. For now, only half passed.’

The child must have reported the incident. The moment I fought the thugs, the child ran off.

But they were slow.

The child needed time to move, but they also were late to act.

This place was a lower-class territory.

Disputes here were frequent, so maybe the Guard Corps acted late. But they shouldn’t have.

Anyway, I’ll talk about that later.

They had a more important concern.

Whether it was a blessing or a curse.

“Hey? That guy there!”

“Why? Who?”

“Isn’t he the one who caused a ruckus at Noseun Tavern and then disappeared?”

“Wasn’t that all settled?”

“No, not that guy!”

One Guard Corps member was alert and clear-headed.

“Then they’re gangsters too? What the hell is this? Why are they like this?”

“Don’t know. Just catch them all!”

Recognizing the thug gang, they immediately started rounding them up.

One thug they pointed out seemed to have a bounty on him. The guards’ eyes were filled with joy at catching him.

“Let’s go!”

Before long, the guards were hauling the thug gang away in chains.

They were clearly taking them back to the Guard Corps barracks.

In an instant, an entire organization was wiped out.

I watched everything from a hidden corner without missing a thing.

‘Hmm… A few things are suspicious, but it’s not completely rotten.’

The handling was clean. But there were many questionable points.

The world doesn’t turn that easily.

There were clear-headed guards, but there must be many who weren’t.

Did they really not know that thugs operated here regularly?

‘No way…!’

Even if they didn’t know about the bounty thugs, they must have known the location at least.

The place where Kim Seonggeon was was the same.

The police usually didn’t move, but they knew the gangs’ territories.

Here was no different.

They knew, but didn’t act.

Maybe the Guard Corps had no reason to bother catching them.

But there were plenty of other reasons too.

Like…

‘Collusion… bribes. Plenty of reasons.’

It was probably due to corruption.

Anyway, I used low-level gang members as bait.

I’d figure out how the Guard Corps moved in response gradually.

And then destroy the other higher organizations as well.

‘No chance of missing them.’

Measures against the lone escaping member were already taken.

I had implanted a mark spell on his back long ago.

There was no way for the mark to break.

Following it would lead straight to the higher organization.

No hurry. So before that…

“I have to make sure to secure my share.”

My secondary goal: securing my emergency funds.

“I wonder how much I’ve gathered?”