The golem was smashed to pieces in an instant.
And in that same instant, so too was the mental state called "trust."
Aged Kimchi looked at Kim Jangcheol with a steadily blooming gaze of suspicion. And he thought to himself,
'…Is this really okay?'
It felt like they were going too far.
That kind of question popped up automatically.
"Didn't you say it'd be bad to recklessly destroy the golems before they actually do anything?"
"This was a traffic accident, so it's fine!"
Kim Jangcheol quickly stood up after finishing his fall.
He kicked off the ground.
And ran.
To avoid the other golems rushing in from the sound of the crash.
Aged Kimchi ran alongside him, not wanting to fall behind, and argued.
"So what you're saying is, the golem that carelessly crossed the tracks happened to get hit by a minecart that was also carelessly rolling downhill empty because of negligent oversight—a tragic accident like that?"
"Great summary!"
"The fact that such a summary is even possible just means you're shameless."
After all the days you led me, after casting aside the me who knew nothing but slaughter in my past life, and now appearing before me again with that brazen face of yours…
"…Still!"
Kim Jangcheol shouted, changing the subject.
"Let's at least memorize the path properly!"
"That goes without saying."
What's done is done.
And they were still doing it.
Running side by side.
Overwhelming the golems' sight and senses one after another.
Their charge—or rather, their blitz—continued.
They ran and rolled.
Kim Jangcheol would draw attention while Aged Kimchi slipped into side passages. When Aged Kimchi made loud noises from the side, Kim Jangcheol would make his move.
When Kim Jangcheol broke through and rolled an empty minecart forward, Aged Kimchi joined him, slipping into the cart like mist.
The next moment, Kim Jangcheol, who had been pushing the cart, leaped up and stretched out his hand. Aged Kimchi grabbed it and pulled.
They both boarded the cart.
They exchanged glances at the same time.
Counting numbers in their heads.
Nine, ten.
Another leap.
They kicked off the brake-less rolling cart and jumped up toward the ceiling. Hung upside down. Below them, a horde of golems swarmed past, chasing the cart.
A brief moment of freedom seized in that gap.
Another exchanged glance.
Today seems to be a day full of freak accidents with runaway empty minecarts, doesn't it?
A wicked smile crept onto their lips.
They ran again.
Through countless tunnels and corners.
Deceiving the golems with their skill.
Speaking through glances.
Creating openings with synchronized breaths.
And at last, the two arrived at the storage room deep within the mineshaft.
"…Phew."
Kim Jangcheol panted heavily. Though it was something he had pulled off himself, it had been a charge and infiltration like a raging storm.
But if he had been alone?
If not for the cooperation with Aged Kimchi?
Would he have made it here undetected?
"...…."
No.
It probably would've been impossible.
The golems here had sharper senses and quicker reactions than expected.
Besides, even while observing from above ground near the mine, he had already gotten the feeling—this terrain was packed with areas nearly impossible to exploit with sneaky glitches.
Maybe that's why.
There was a strange feeling welling up in him.
'This guy, Aged Kimchi, was able to catch onto what I was thinking and planning almost immediately.'
It had been like that the whole way down here.
Like he was moving alongside a psychic conjoined twin who shared his thoughts. He understood everything from just one look. Responded instantly. It was unbelievably comfortable.
"...…"
He was just a game character I raised.
A being created only to kill the demon race, and at the top of them all, the Demon King.
And yet, why… why is this guy starting to feel different?
It's funny. Like an absurd joke.
Aged Kimchi felt the same way.
"...…"
It was surprising.
That was the honest feeling Aged Kimchi had while watching Kim Jangcheol move in perfect sync with him.
It was like a single person had been split in two. As if all his intentions and movements were being shared through their hearts. That sense of unity. That exhilaration.
Even now, his heart pounded. The lingering echo of it left him with a strange feeling.
"...…"
You were supposed to be nothing more than the summon of duty guiding me.
A being whose only purpose was to lead me and help me accomplish my goal.
And yet, why do you feel different to me now? It's ridiculous. Like some dark joke.
But neither Kim Jangcheol nor Aged Kimchi had the leisure to bask in their emotions any longer.
Clang!
Before they could even catch their breath, the sound of metal rang out from somewhere in the large refrigerated storage room.
A golem?
No.
Kim Jangcheol recognized it the moment he heard it.
'A door is opening.'
That was the sound of a lock being released.
'This way.'
He quickly hid with Aged Kimchi behind a stack of grain sacks.
Right after that—
A door opened in the central pillar of the storage room. And from behind that door emerged a familiar middle-aged man.
A familiar face.
The merchant who owned this storage room—Richmond.
'Huh?'
What was that guy doing down here?
He lowered his breath and observed quietly.
A labor golem came stomping up to Richmond.
– Intruder detected. Identity verification required.
The golem's strict, solemn, serious tone.
Richmond raised his left hand with a practiced gesture. The golem stared at the ring on his finger. More precisely, it stared at the red gem set in the center of the ring.
After about three seconds—
Beep!
A sound like a QR code being scanned echoed.
And the golem's voice softened noticeably.
– Blood composition verified. Welcome, VVIP Lord Richmond. How may I assist you?
"Take me to the recently arrived chuno."
– Executing command.
The golem began guiding Richmond.
Kim Jangcheol's lips curled up toward his ears.
'Huh? Hahaha? Hahahaha?'
Wait, wait, did I just see that right?
Did I just stumble on something very good?
'This is… way better than I expected!'
He couldn't help but smile.
It made perfect sense.
He had only come down here for scouting. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd run into Richmond here—or even better, witness him bypassing this place's security.
"...…"
His brain kicked into overdrive.
His frontal lobe whirred into motion.
The original plan he'd had.
What he had just seen.
What that implied.
And the future that now seemed possible.
'Maybe… I can push this plan way ahead of schedule.'
Kim Jangcheol tapped away at the mind calculator in his head. Originally, today was just about scouting. Gathering intel like the storage room's location and other details.
He was planning to use that as a base for a larger operation—to screw over Richmond, retrieve the chuno, secure the seeds, and completely escape from Aged Kimchi in the process.
A highly complicated and difficult plan.
One that required lots of preparation.
But now?
'Things just got way easier.'
Because.
Because I met Richmond here.
"…Sir Aged Kimchi?"
All the possible scenarios that could unfold from this point on.
The cold calculations and weighing of gains and losses between them.
The priority of the benefits I stood to gain.
At the end of all those calculations, Kim Jangcheol opened his mouth softly. And according to the conclusion he had just reached, he whispered to Aged Kimchi and asked,
"Say, by any chance, that golem guarding Richmond… do you think you can smash it in one blow?"
Of course he could.
He was Aged Kimchi.
For him, it would be a trivial task.
But upon hearing the question, Aged Kimchi wore the expression of a petty vampire thief who got caught red-handed snacking on kimchi from the fridge in the middle of the night.
In other words, he stared back with a "what the hell are you saying" look and replied.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. That golem—can you destroy it within one second?"
"...Didn't you say today was just for scouting?"
"Yes, I did."
"Then why?"
"Sigh, tsk. I really was just trying to scout today."
"And yet?"
"The world just won't let me."
"...…"
What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic.
Aged Kimchi looked at Kim Jangcheol with a face full of disbelief. But the triple-embossed steel plating that lined Kim Jangcheol's expression only grew thicker and more brazen.
"I mean, I really did come here just to scout. But look over there. What do you see? In terms of Janggi, that's the general. In chess, the king. In League of Legends, it's a naked nexus without a turret. And it's just standing there, begging to be taken down."
"...…"
What in the world are you saying?
No—more importantly, what are you thinking?
But regardless of the deep suspicion radiating from Aged Kimchi's eyes, Kim Jangcheol pointed to Richmond with his chin and declared firmly,
"So, it's not a plan change… it's a plan upgrade."
"Up… grade?"
"Yes."
"In what way?"
"In every way."
Kim Jangcheol continued,
"Every second, you've been worried about Young Master Reivaj. That's why you came all the way down here with me, didn't you? Because you were afraid we'd lose the chuno forever, that he wouldn't be able to fulfill the king's mission. Isn't that right?"
"That's… right."
"Exactly. And this is a way to lift that burden at once."
"Destroying the golem guarding Richmond will do that?"
"Yes."
"If I destroy it, are you going to harm Richmond?"
"Just a little."
"...…"
I give up.
Why is this being's silver tongue so shameless? And yet, why does it have such a strange power of persuasion? Why do I feel like trusting it even though I know it's a trap?
In the end, Aged Kimchi nodded.
"…Alright. I'll move on three. One, two, three."
Fwoosh!
There was no wind-up.
No careful sneaking up on the golem.
The moment he said "three," Aged Kimchi's figure blurred. Almost simultaneously, he appeared behind the golem.
Fsst!
His hand moved.
So fast, not even an afterimage remained.
The next moment—
Crack!
The golem guarding Richmond shattered into thousands, tens of thousands of pieces.
"...!"
There wasn't even a proper explosion.
No violent shockwave.
Only a faint breeze brushed past and gently fluttered the frilly hem of Richmond's pastel-pink flare skirt.
Thanks to that, merchant Richmond didn't even realize his golem had been destroyed until a full three seconds later.
"…Huh?"
He heard a strange noise nearby and instinctively glanced to the side. And there he found it—the shattered remains of the golem, crumbled like finely ground flour.
And Kim Jangcheol's fist, filling his vision, flying straight toward his face.
Pwah!
"Eh?"
That was the end.
Thunk!
"...!"
Darkness.
The world went black.
***
It's dark.
Where am I?
Where have all my treasures gone?
"Grgh…!"
Richmond grimaced. His nose hurt. Was it swollen? That punch… right. That bastard Kim Jangcheol. He attacked me.
But why am I here now?
"I'll kill him. I swear."
Richmond gnashed his teeth and looked around. Everything was dark. He couldn't tell direction or location.
"...…"
Am I dreaming?
Is this that lucid dreaming the witches used to talk about?
It seemed that way.
The situation was far too absurd to be real.
'So then, that punch earlier… that was all just a dream too.'
Thinking about it, of course it was.
He was attacked inside the storage room.
But could that really happen?
No.
Absolutely not.
'A nobody like that sneaking into my storage room, renowned for its top-tier security, slipping past the golems and assaulting me? Ha, hahahaha.'
The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.
So that incident earlier—it was a dream.
And right now, he was still dreaming.
A dream within a dream, you might say.
'What a nasty nightmare.'
He let out a bitter chuckle.
At the same time, he was reminded of a resolve he'd been holding onto from the beginning.
'If I just find out where the chuno originated from… then that bastard must be erased.'
Kim Jangcheol.
The man who had given him the chuno, something capable of reshaping the entire market.
Leaving someone like that alive would be troublesome.
Because chuno wasn't just any crop. It would bring in tremendous profit. Eventually, that bastard would demand his share.
Better to get rid of him cleanly, before that happens.
'I stole farms and claimed territories from other people so far… but this time is different. He must be erased completely.'
He was determined.
Once he found the origin of the chuno, Kim Jangcheol would disappear without a trace. If anyone complained, he'd persuade those who could be bought off, and bury the rest.
That's right.
'…It's a bit cold-blooded, but this is business.'
It was a strategy only a few of the elite, like himself, who possessed wise decisiveness, could execute.
The bottom-feeders, the parasites? They could spend their whole lives sweating in fields like dogs and pigs, chasing after the idea of fulfillment.
Richmond smiled contentedly. And waited to wake up from this nasty dream.
Then it happened.
Clunk.
The door opened.
A rectangular beam of light spilled in.
"…!"
It was blinding.
But even then, he could see.
The open door. The rectangle of light. And someone walking in, silhouetted against it.
Step, step.
Approaching this way.
Slowly.
Kneeling on one knee.
Lowering to eye level.
Only then could Richmond see who it was.
And realize the reality of the situation he was in.
That's right.
This wasn't a dream.
This moment was unquestionably real, and the one approaching him was, no…
"You…!"
"Shhh. Quiet. You greedy little lark."
Just as Richmond opened his mouth, Kim Jangcheol cut him off cleanly. Then, locking eyes with the dumbstruck Richmond, he gave him a bright smile.
"You've been kidnapped."
[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]