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The man who had been drinking with Baon stared at Oh Kang-Woo dumbfoundedly.

"Crazy son of a bitch!"

He grabbed a bottle of alcohol off the floor and raised his arm high. The bottle shone with faint blue light after being infused with mana. The man swung it down at Kang-Woo\'s head.

Tap.

"Huh?"

Kang-Woo easily caught the man\'s hand and twisted his arm. The bottle fell to the ground. Then he pulled his arm back and threw the man across the bar.

"Kurgh!!"

Thud!

The man was bashed into a wall.

"Fuck!"

"Who the fuck is this guy?!"

Two men sitting at the adjacent table raised their weapons: a mace with sharp spikes and a metal ball linked with a chain. Before they could even swing their weapons in rage, Kang-Woo grabbed the bottles of alcohol rolling on the floor and threw one at each of them.

Crack!

"Arrgghh!!"

The knee of the man wielding the mace was destroyed.

"You son of a bitch!"

A metal ball the size of a human head flew toward Kang-Woo\'s head. Kang-Woo caught the chain and pulled.

"Huh? Huuuh?"

The extremely muscular giant of a man was pulled toward Kang-Woo with extreme force. Kang-Woo grabbed the back of the man\'s head and smashed it into the glass shards strewn all over the floor.

"Wh-What the fuck? H-Hey, th-that crazy fucker isn\'t going to…!"

Screams echoed out, ringing Kang-Woo\'s ears.

"…"

A smile crept onto Kang-Woo\'s face. It was a familiar sensation; it was welcoming. He hadn\'t felt this much delight ever since he had left Hell. His heart was beating faster, and his blood was boiling.

"A-Aaaaaaahh!" the man whose head had been smashed into the floor cried out in pain. He trembled in fear as he stared at the glass shards right in front of him.

"I-I\'ll talk!! I\'ll tell you anything!!" he desperately screamed.

"It\'s okay." Kang-Woo snickered. "There are a bunch of others I can ask."

"Ah…"

Crush—!

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!"

He dragged the man\'s head across the glass shards all over the floor. The shards pierced his cheeks, eyes, nose, and mouth.

"A-Aaaahh."

Kang-Woo approached the last man who had been drinking alcohol with Baon. He was the one who, while snickering, had called this place a paradise for people in Guardians.

A strange stench tickled Kang-Woo\'s nose. He looked down and noticed the man had wet himself.

"K-Kyaaaa!"

"Wh-What the fuck?!"

The Guardians Players who had been ridiculing and jeering at Kang-Woo quickly shot up from their seats and tried to run out of the bar.

"Balrog, Kim Si-Hun." Kang-Woo called out.

Bam!

Balrog aggressively shut the door to the bar and looked at the Players with apathetic eyes.

"You cannot leave without the king\'s permission."

"What? Who the fuck do you think you—"

The woman who had ogled Kang-Woo earlier grimaced. She took a small knife from her belt and swung it, but before the knife could even reach Balrog…

Clatter!

"Kyaa!"

A pained scream left the woman\'s mouth. A hand had suddenly appeared from the side and twisted the arm she had been holding the knife with.

"Who the fuck—"

She was cursing when her face suddenly stiffened, and it wasn\'t because of how good-looking the young man twisting her arm was.

"H-Huh?" A fearful exclamation left her mouth. "S-Sword Dragon?"

Sword Dragon Kim Si-Hun.

He was the second-in-command after Grace McCubbin, but he was by far the most famous Player in the world. He was glaring at her while frowning aggressively.

"Th-There seems to have been a misundersta—"

Bash.

As the woman was talking with an awkward smile, Si-Hun punched her in the stomach hard. She blew back and vomited in midair.

"Take a seat, please," Si-Hun coldly addressed everyone in the bar.

The Players who had been trying to escape flinched.

Every Player who had been present in the war against the Demon Cult, or had participated in the South America restoration operation, knew of Si-Hun\'s immense power.

The bar, which had been as chaotic as a warzone, had frozen in an instant due to Sword Dragon\'s appearance.

"Now, then."

Kang-Woo walked toward the trembling man who had pissed himself. He had more or less understood the situation, and it was time to hear why it had happened in the first place.

\'I have more or less of an idea.\'

Regardless, it would be better to hear it directly from them.

"I\'d like to ask you a few questions…"

"A-Anything!"

The man who had been snickering and ridiculing Kang-Woo had made a complete 180.

Kang-Woo shrugged and asked, "Are you all really part of Guardians?"

"…"

"If you don\'t want to talk, I\'m fine with—"

"Y-Yes! We\'re all part of Guardians!" the man quickly replied.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"… Pardon?"

"How long have you been doing this kind of shit to the natives?"

"W-Well…"

The man averted his gaze. Seeing that he couldn\'t even make an excuse, the answer was obvious.

\'From the very beginning.\'

It had likely been like this ever since Valencia had been built during the operation to restore South America.

\'So this is what happens when there isn\'t an enemy like the Demon Cult to fear.\'

It had been many months since the war against the Demon Cult\'s main force had ended.

Humanity was enjoying a time of peace it hadn\'t been able to experience since the Day of Calamity. There were no strong opponents, and the average level had explosively increased.

Guardians had gained too much power.

\'And…\'

Stagnant water is bound to go bad.[1] The people in this bar were not especially evil or atrocious. Great power usually led to a liberation of desires; it gave them the chance to do things that they thought about or had dreamed of.

It was also the reason why politicians became corrupt so easily. Claiming that they had been scumbags from birth was a lame excuse. They were neither evil nor had they been corrupted. They had simply become able to do what they had not been able to.

"Tsk." Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

\'I should\'ve expected it.\'

He had not believed for even a moment that every single member of Guardians had joined the organization purely for the sake of world peace and the safety of humanity. Human desires were not driven that way. Altruistic people were praised because most people were not like that.

Hence, all Players in Guardians were given a hefty salary, authority, and various types of hazard pay for risking their lives.

\'I should\'ve done something about this earlier.\'

It was his mistake. He should\'ve made stricter rules to stop them from abusing their authority, but he hadn\'t. Not having the time was just an excuse. He had just been putting it off for later because it had been such a hassle.

"I-I\'m sorry!" The trembling man lowered his head. "Baon was my superior, so despite knowing it was wrong, I wasn\'t able to do anyth—"

"No, I honestly don\'t really care about what you guys did."

"… Pardon?"

The man looked up at him in confusion.

Kang-Woo kept talking, his eyes calm.

"I said, I don\'t really care about what you did."

Kang-Woo wasn\'t a hero or an apostle of justice. He had absolutely no desire to go around saying bullshit about saving all the weak.

"Whether you harass, beat, or knock down a powerless woman…"

He couldn\'t care less. No matter how much someone whom he had no relation to suffered, it was none of his business. He was not the least bit interested.

"The problem is"—Kang-Woo\'s eyes sank, and he slowly extended his hand and grabbed the man by the neck—"that you\'re all part of Guardians."

Guardians was an organization Kang-Woo had cultivated in preparation for the imminent invasion of outer worlds. If he were to make a comparison, they were like hounds that bit the legs of enemies, buying him enough time to shoot his bow.

However, the hound had gotten sick. The festering wound was slowly eating away at the hound from the inside.

Although it was his mistake for not holding the leash tighter…

"I can\'t just let it slide."

He had to cut out the rotten pus before it was too late.

The man stuttered, "Wh-What do you…"

"Balrog."

Kang-Woo stood up.

Balrog, who was guarding the door, bowed.

"I await your command."

"Kill them all."

"Yes, my king," Balrog answered without hesitation. He reached for his pendant, and black light flickered. And then…

"Wh-What the hell is that?!"

"A d-demon?!"

… A huge demon appeared.

"Fuuu."

The Lord of Destruction took a deep breath, and armor appeared on both of his arms.

Kang-Woo snapped his finger and activated the Authority of Silence to ensure that no sound leaked from the bar.

"Graaaaaaaaaahh!!!"

Demon Roar. The savage bellow ruptured the Players\' eardrums.

Balrog moved, and soon after…

"Arrgghh!"

"H-Help!"

Hell descended onto Earth.

Every time Balrog swung his fist, the head of a Player wearing a Guardians uniform exploded.

"A-Aaaahh."

The Hispanic woman trembled while holding up her torn clothes and watched with wide eyes.

Kang-Woo approached her and put his jacket around her.

"You\'ll forget all of this when you wake up."

He placed his hands on the woman\'s forehead. Her eyes went blurry, and she fell into a deep slumber.

"H-Hyung-nim."

Si-Hun walked toward him, trembling as if he had never expected Kang-Woo to order their deaths.

"I think this is a bit too—"

"Si-Hun," Kang-Woo calmly said. "A festering wound will only grow bigger if it isn\'t completely cut out."

"…"

Si-Hun remained silent and bit his lip as if there were many things that he wanted to say.

Kang-Woo sighed softly. "You know, when we first arrived in Valencia…"

"… What about it?"

"I felt something was off."

"… You did?"

Kang-Woo nodded. "There were tons of people on the streets."

There were many black, white, and even Asian people.

"But I couldn\'t see a single South American native that you guys rescued."

"…"

"That\'s not all." Kang-Woo took out his smartphone. "I called the branch of Guardians in charge of the security here to tell them there\'s been a disturbance in this bar, and I asked them to mobilize the troops."

"Then you stayed absolutely still back then because…"

"No one called me back for ten whole minutes."

"…"

Si-Hun\'s eyes widened.

The Guardians members who should\'ve been in charge of this region\'s security hadn\'t taken any action. Meaning…

"Could every single Guardians member in Valencia be…"

"Maybe it isn\'t just Valencia."

Kang-Woo slowly began walking.

"W-Wait! Then does that mean Samuel, even despite knowing this, he…" Si-Hun\'s expression paled, and the worst possible scenario passed through his mind.

"I told you"—Kang-Woo made a bitter smile—"a festering wound only gets bigger."

"…"

It hadn\'t only gotten bigger; the rotten pus had spread all across Valencia.

"Let\'s go."

Kang-Woo opened the door and walked out of the bar. The scent of blood mixed with the chilly night air and stimulated his nose. He saw a soaring building across the shining red-light district.

It was Valencia\'s city hall, as well as where they would find Samuel Hayden.

1. This is a common Korean proverb, stating figuratively that people and organizations will become stagnant or degraded if there is no stimulation or change. ☜