The Overlord of Blood and Iron

The rooftop of a building in Seochodong .

On the windy rooftop, three gangsters including Manager Park was kneeling in front of a man, sniffling .

“Sob…sob… it, it hurts so much…”

“Mo…mother…”

The gangsters who had received Kang Chul-In’s brutal “mental training” had thrown away all manly pride and dignity . To that extent, Kang Chul-In’s blows were scary, and merciless .

“Stop crying . ”

Kang Chul-In, who was sitting dangerously on the rooftop edge said .

“It…it just hurts so bad…”

“I think… we need to go to the hospital…”

The gangsters moaned and defended themselves .

“Do you guys need some more mental training?”

Kang Chul-In asked with a disapproving look .

“No, no! It doesn’t hurt!”

The gangsters all exclaimed together .

“Mmm . Good . ”

And Kang Chul-In smiled and nodded approvingly .

“Hey, you gang boss . ”

“Yes, yes!”

Manager Park answered the call of Kang Chul-In .

“You, you need to run an errand for me . ”

“An… errand?”

“Find a person for me . ”

“…?”

“An inquiry office or things like that, isn’t that gangsters’ specialty?”

“Ye… yes!”

And like Kang Chul-In said, Manager Park was running a personal inquiry office . It was a sort of side job .

“Write it down . ”

“Huh?”

“Write it down . ”

“Yes!”

Manager Park quickly shuffled inside the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a cheap monami pen along with a small notebook .

“The name is Kwak Jung, age 28, area is Seoul . They say he is a heavy chain smoker and will go through a pack in a sitting, so keep note of that . ”

“Yes… Kwak Jung… 28… Seoul… chain-smoker…”

Manager Park carefully wrote down all that Kang Chul-In had said .

“How long would it take?”

“Excuse me?””

“How long does it take . ”

“That… um… well… is this it?”

“What is?”

“So… just a name, age, area, and him being a chain-smoker… this can’t be all the information you…”

“That’s it . ”

“…”

Manager Park’s mouth hung open at Kang Chul-In’s careless response .

“Um… I’m sorry to ask this… but don’t you think there is too little information?”

“Really?”

In that moment, Kang Chul-In was taken aback .

Thinking about it more, there was some truth in what Manager Park said . There was very little information . It would have been easier to at least know his alma mater, but all Kang Chul-In knew about Kwak Jung was what he said to Manager Park above . He too, had never meet Kwak Jung .

‘Did I ask too much… no, no . Why would I make an inquiry if he was easy to find?’

And Kang Chul-In who had developed a bit of a soft heart soon regained the cruel and wicked mind of an employer .

“Hey, gang boss . ”

“Yes, sir . ”

“If you are running an errand office, act like one . ”

“…excuse me?”

“If I had a lot of information, there will be no point in me asking you, would there?”

“But…!”

“But?”

“…nothing . ”

And Manager Park had to accept Kang Chul-In’s inquiry with not much choice .

“Time?”

“Well… because we don’t have much information… if it was fast, maybe 2 or 3 months, and if it was long, maybe a year? And if it takes years, then you would just have to say it would be impossible to find him . ”

“You get six months . ”

“…Yes, sir . ”

“Price?”

Manager Park’s eyes widened in surprise .

“You… you will pay money?”

“If I made an inquiry, I should pay . ”

“I thought you told me to work under you…”

“So, a subordinate does not get paid?”

“It’s not that…”

“Speak clearly . ”

“It’s just that… I lost to you, and you told me to work under you… so I thought you were going to take our gang…”

And in hearing that, Kang Chul-In’s face crumpled .

“Did you say you were called Manager Park?”

“Park Du-Sik . You can just call me Du-Sik, sir . ”

“Park Du-Sik… yes . Park Du-Sik . ”

“Yes, sir . ”

“In your eyes, does it look like I would just go and be a gang boss?”

“No… no sir!”

And Manager Park, no, Park Do-Sik who felt danger immediately answered with a loud voice .

“I…”

Kang Chul-In began to speak with a low, authoritative voice .

“I hate gangsters . Using your fists and violence to con others—your kind is the one I hate the most . Strong against the weak, and weak against the strong, the worst of the worst . ”

And in the criticisms of Kang Chul-In, all three gangsters including Park Du-Sik could not say anything . First, what he said was true and in 30 minutes of “mental training”, they realized blows will land the minute they raised any opposition anyway .

“Well, I’m in no position to say these things to you as well but… you’ve heard of hating your own race . ”

Honestly, Kang Chul-In was in no place to lecture the gangsters . He too had used force and power to make countless Sovereigns of Pangea bow down to him . He was the gangster of Pangea . However, there were a couple things different between Kang Chul-In and the gangsters . One was that he would not bow down to anyone .

“If you want to act tough, be tough even when someone holds a knife to your neck,” Kang Chul-In said .

“Isn’t it embarrassing to act all tough depending on who you are talking to? What is this about loyal gangsters and chivalry . You gangsters are nothing but hyenas following the smell of money . You are nothing but items that are thrown away after being used . And less than 0 . 1% of gangsters become CEOs or bosses of anything when they get older—most just get stabbed and die early or go in and out of prison . I won’t be like that, I will be successful—throw those groundless hopes in the trash . ”

Kang Chul-In’s words accurately pointed out the limitations of being a gangster—limitations and qualities that were characteristic of gang members from thousands of years ago .

“And after the 5th act, being a gangster will not be too fun . Even if this country has gone to hell, the public still has a lot of power . You’ve never heard of the war against crime?”

As Kang Chul-In spoke, the three gangsters just blinked and listened, as if they were all mute . For them who were uneducated and stupid, it was difficult to understand all of what Kang Chul-In was saying . Park Du-Sik, who was the mob boss seemed to understand a little .

“Anyways . ”

Kang Chul-In tilted his head sideways, as if too annoyed and bothered to speak further and clarified him and Park Du-Sik’s relationship .

“You work for me, but I have no intention of being a mob boss . When I need an errand done, you need to get that done for me . Do you understand?”

“Yes, boss . ”

Park Du-Sik nodded .

“The fee for the inquiry would be 20,000 upfront, and 80,000 after you find Kwak Jung . It will be 100,000 total . ” And the three gangsters’ eyes opened wide .

“100 thousand?”

“Why? Too little?”

“Its… too much . ”

“No, it needs to be at least that much . ”

To find the one person who could go against Lee Gong-Myung, or even beat him—100 thousand was basically nothing .

“No, but this is too much . For this kind of inquiry, it would start at 8000 to max of 30,000…”

“If I say I will pay, I will pay . Oh, you by chance…”

Kang Chul-In’s eyes narrowed and glared at Park Du-Sik, as if he realized something .

“You must think, how I can pay that much money being an intern . ”

“No, no!”

Park Du-Sik shook his head and waved his hands . It was the image of a man whos intentions had been found out .

“What do you mean no?”

Kang Chul-In smirked .

“I will write you a contract . In three days, I will bring 20,000 in cash and be at your office . It would not be a bad deal even with just the 20,000 anyways . ”

Park Du-Sik, who had been found out was speechless and could only blink in response .

“Well, then I will be leaving, so you clean up after yourselves . We will talk more in detail at the office then . ”

Kang Chul-In with those words left the rooftop .

“…”

“…”

“…”

It was silent between the three gangsters who had been left on the rooftop .

“Boss…”

The first one who spoke was the muscle who had been hit on the chin by Kang Chul-In .

“What, punk . ”

Park Du-Sik answered .

“What should we do? Should I gather all the boys?”

“Boys?”

“You aren’t going to get revenge? Even if he is good, he is alone . There is strength in numbers . ”

“…Kwang-Pil . ”

“Yes, boss . ”

The gangster called Kwang-Pil answered to Park Du-Sik’s low voice .

“You, can you land even one punch?”

“…”

“Punk, even if I haven’t been in a while, I was once the gold medalist of the National Sports Meet . ”

“I know, boss . ”

“That guy, no, that boss, isn’t just anyone . Even with tens of us, we probably won’t be able to bring him down . From the start, if you aren’t a professional boxer, you won’t even be his match . You call the guys, and you are just prepping for mourning . ”

Park Du-Sik remembered Kang Chul-In’s fighting skills, and shook his head .

“Boss, but we have a face to maintain…”

“Why, because your pride is hurt so you will go at him again?”

“It’s… it’s not that… but…”

“Leave it . Why dance with knives just to clean up after the CEO?”

Although his pride was hurt, Park Du-Sik was not stupid enough to retaliate because of an incident like this .

“For some reason, I don’t have a bad feeling about this one . ”

Park Du-Sik looked thoughtful for once .

“I don’t know if we can believe him, but if he pays a 100 thousand for an errand, it is better than cleaning up after a couple of newly rich kids . ”

“Boss! You believe him? He looks like a young little thing!”

“Hey, you stupid idiot!”

Park Du-Sik roared .

“You, did you ever meet someone who used his fists that well and had that much guts? He isn’t just anyone, even with just a glance . Even if you waved a branding iron in front of his face, he would not have blinked an eye . ”

“That’s true . ”

“You will survive as a gangster with an eye for people . Fists? Don’t be stupid . Like that boss said, gangsters these days have no fun . You throw around punches and fool around in these times, and you will go in and out of school collecting more and more stars . ”

“…”

“We won’t lose anything anyway, so let’s just wait . Let’s wait and see, it won’t be too late for a decision then . First, we should see if he brings the 20 thousand in three days . ”

And the eyes of Park Du-Sik shined sharply .

***

At the same time .

Kang Chul-In who had gone in a taxi had been quietly heading to his studio apartment .

‘Finding Kwak Jung has been done for now… and now I need to focus on exercise with the remaining time . ’

It was crucial to train the body with the Great Summoning ahead . Pangaea was a different world than earth . There were all sorts of dangerous monsters all over, and there were no laws governing the lands . To prepare for any situation, it was necessary to build strength and power .

‘I also should get a gym membership . Wait… how much is in my bank account?”

To build muscle in a short amount of time, one-on-one personal training was needed from a good trainer . And to get a trainer, one needed quite a bit of money, so Kang Chul-In checked his bank account with his smartphone app .

‘Crap . ’

There was no money .

‘I can’t even give those kids the money upfront . ’

Forget the $20,000, there was barely enough for $2,000 . It wouldn’t even be enough to maintain dignity as a Grand Sovereign .

‘I’ll need to borrow some . ’

Kang Chul-In, even as he saw his empty bank account, was calm .

It was nothing, to get a private loan . He would be filthy rich in 3-4 months .