The Foreigner on the Periphery (English Translation)

7. Three Ways to Murder Your Boss (4)

The suspect's house was on the third floor. After climbing the stairs, Minjun paused in front of the front door and raised his hand. He exchanged a glance with Jeongpal, who was following behind him.

'Barrier.'

Minjun grumbled to himself. This bastard really doesn't want to die, so he's laid out all kinds of barriers. It was tacky as hell.

But it wasn't entirely ineffective. It seemed that the suspect didn't have the ability to set a single sophisticated barrier, so he had layered several, which, while less powerful, required more effort to deal with.

Minjun briefly pondered in his mind. Should he tear them down recklessly, or should he undo the barrier first and then strike?

He leaned toward the latter option.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Knowing how important his life was, the magician inside seemed to have taken a long time to set up the barriers. The magical chains that sealed the door circled back and forth between the physical and spiritual worlds, several times. Minjun adjusted one of his pupils to match the frequency of this world, and the other to the world beyond, breaking each barrier one by one.

However.

"You're quick to catch on."

"?!"

Minjun felt the tremors of a warp spell from within the room. The suspect was trying to escape.

"Jeongpal, you stay back. Let the mage deal with the mage."

Plan change.

Minjun recited a spell. The black magic he had charged up a few days ago at the bank hadn't completely dissipated and was still available.

Hwaaa!

A dark mass gathered on his left side and formed into a thick arm. As Minjun subtly moved his hand, the shadow arm mimicked his movement and grabbed the iron door. Its sharp claws dug into the door.

Creeeak!

As soon as Minjun tore the door off its hinges, the barrier broke, and the trap activated.

Fwoosh!

"Cough!"

Jeongpal was startled by the intense heat, but Minjun had already taken action. The shadow arm spread wide to create a shield. Beyond it, a firestorm raged. The defense system triggered by the forced barrier destruction.

But it was useless in front of Minjun.

Skrip!

After blocking the large explosion, the shadow extended like a spider's web, snuffing out the flames. Finally, the room was visible amidst the smoke and soot. Furniture was scattered, and the wallpaper was half-burnt from the explosion.

"…!"

A man in just shorts, still on the bed, was desperately casting a spell. A golden warp gate was half-open in front of him.

Minjun quickly assessed the distribution of the suspect's magical power. Normally, it should have been evenly spread throughout his body, but due to the warp spell, it had lost balance and gathered in one spot.

The agent seized the opportunity.

Shh!

Minjun extended his unshadowed right hand. A long leather cord shot out from his sleeve. The cord twisted and writhed like a living snake in the air before wrapping around the man's body.

"Aagh!"

Minjun softly recited another incantation. As the man's body was constricted, he could feel his magic swirling like a wild beast inside him. A sharp pain ran up his spine, like his veins were shattering.

In the meantime, the warp gate disappeared in vain. The bound man trembled, coughing up black blood.

In front of the defenseless suspect, Minjun grinned.

"Got you, you bastard."

Chirr!

Bang! Click!

Ssshh!

From the other residents' apartments, there were sounds of windows closing, window shutters being fastened, locks being added, and heavy furniture being dragged in front of doors to block them. In a neighborhood close to danger, their reactions were quick.

"Huh? You...?"

Jeongpal was in the middle of seating the bound man in a chair when his face twisted in recognition. He had identified the tattoo near the suspect's heart.

"Were you from the Society?"

Hung Clown Society.

One of the notorious criminal organizations made up of individuals with special abilities.

Jeongpal's expression changed drastically. The person who had just been an unknown suspect was now someone deserving of being beaten to death on the spot.

He found the mage's phone on the desk, grabbed it roughly, checked the model, and held the front camera in front of the man's face. The lock quickly opened, and Jeongpal scanned through the call logs, but the mage's expression remained calm. There was even a hint of mockery.

"The phone is clean."

After scanning, Jeongpal, as expected, didn't seem to have much hope for it. Nodding, Minjun rummaged through the room while Jeongpal glared at the man and spoke in a professional tone, devoid of emotion.

"Now that you've been confirmed to be part of a superhuman crime organization, from this point on, your basic rights as a citizen of South Korea are limited according to Article 4 of the amended Constitution of this country."

"Eat shit, asshole."

The man chuckled and spat.

"…."

Jeongpal could sense the interrogation wasn't going smoothly. These people didn't fear getting caught by the police because they knew that once they spilled the secrets of the organization, everyone involved, including themselves and their families, would be subjected to much worse.

The Society lured talented individuals with promises of teaching rare and powerful spells and big money. Once they were sucked in and had an indelible magical tattoo marked on them, they became hunted by the authorities, unable to return to normal lives. They were doomed to live and die within the organization forever.

"Why did you visit President Jang Taejoon's house? Where is he now? Whose request was it?"

"Shit, the orc shit smell is overwhelming. These assholes, pretending to be humans... they even play cop with an armband? Fuck, I could kill you right here."

Jeongpal's expression didn't change. Minjun, who had finished searching, approached.

"Nothing particularly special."

"Then I guess we'll have to get a confession."

The mage giggled. Even in this situation, his eyes were burning with defiance.

"Hyung, as expected…."

Jeongpal sent Minjun a sideways glance. With his combat hammer in one hand, he made a gesture with his wrist and eyes. 'Should we break his knee first?' The man braced himself, gritting his teeth. But to his surprise, Minjun shook his head.

"You want to break his shin and torture him here?"

Jeongpal was bewildered. Isn't this the type of thing the hyung would do?

Minjun seemed unexpectedly more composed than he expected. Jeongpal thought, Maybe he's a lot more refined in this kind of situation than I thought and asked.

"Shouldn't we?"

Minjun said firmly.

"No, I have a better method."

The old methods of interrogation—beating, burning, and torturing until the desired answer was given—were proven effective over countless generations of intelligent beings from various dimensions.

But Minjun knew a method far superior to these traditional, time-honored techniques.

"…!"

Minjun gripped the familiar black stone dagger in his hand.

"Jeongpal, you know?"

"Yeah. Don't worry."

Because Minjun had used his black magic earlier, he had to recharge it.

Swoosh!

With no expression, Minjun slashed his wrist. As he whispered the incantation, ominous energy gathered and solidified. As his eyes changed, Jeongpal felt a chill run down his spine.

Even the bound mage seemed to sense something was off. He flinched, but his expression grew more resolute, as though he wouldn't give in.

Crrrk!

Minjun's left hand shriveled up like dried pigskin. The bodily fluids evaporated, and the bone joints beneath the skin became conspicuous. The man's eyes widened in shock.

"You… crazy bastard!"

He had realized that Minjun was using a self-destructive spell to drain his own life force to fuel the black magic.

Ignoring the man's reaction, Minjun continued his incantation. A blister, resembling either a wart or a pimple, began to form just above his left middle finger.

Pop!

The blister burst, and clear fluid dripped out. Beneath the torn skin, the red flesh revealed a tiny worm wriggling.

Thanks to the magic Minjun memorized, he implanted an egg beneath his skin's dermal layer, then sliced open his flesh to hatch it.

Jeongpal couldn't recognize what it was, but the man, seemingly knowledgeable in that field, ground his teeth.

"Vile bastard...!"

"Huh? You're quite sharp. You figured it out, huh? So, do you want to talk now?"

Instead of complying with Minjun's wishes, the man took a deep breath and held it.

"Fool."

Jeongpal, unable to understand the situation, tilted his head.

"Hyung, what is that?"

"Watch closely."

Minjun carefully moved his finger toward the man's nostrils, being mindful not to spill the wriggling bug above the joint. The man's shallow plan was obvious. He was waiting for the bug to lose strength by prolonging its exposure to the air.

But he didn't know. The spell Minjun had just completed was far more powerful than the usual dark magic, and even if the bug endured for an hour in this state, it wouldn't lose its strength.

"Hrk!"

The man, at his limit, exhaled a shallow breath.

The bug, sensing the breath up close, leaped like lightning and burrowed into his nostrils.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

As the bug pierced through the nasal cavity and into the brain, the man let out a painful groan.

Meanwhile, Minjun, with his hand back to normal, grabbed the mage's smartphone and stared at it for a moment. He then pressed his finger against the touch panel repeatedly, performing the gesture lazily like a pigeon pecking at the ground.

After tapping a few times, as if giving up, he passed the phone to his companion.

"Turn on the recorder."

Jeongpal opened the recording app and handed it to Minjun, who brought the phone near his mouth and started muttering. The melody and rhythm were different from the incantation he had memorized when activating the spell.

Then,

"Uuugh!"

The bug inside the man's skull began to move violently, and the pain felt as if his head would split apart.

But the agony was brief.

"No...!"

"?!"

Jeongpal's eyes widened.

Suddenly, the man started crying like singing. Then, he mumbled meaningless words and intermittently gasped for air. Jeongpal was confused because the tears and cries didn't seem like the byproducts of pain.

The man stared blankly with unfocused eyes, as if seeing something invisible. He jerked his head nervously, shivering, his body alternating between going limp and tensing up.

Even after Minjun finished recording, the man remained unconscious for another 10 minutes.

Then,

"Cough!"

Suddenly, the man awoke, gasping as if from sleep apnea. His pupils refocused, his expression vacant.

His pillow was soaked with the saliva he'd drooled for the past 10 minutes. The mage looked between his bound body and Minjun, who was staring down at him with cold eyes. Then,

"Uhhhh!"

He broke into a pitiful cry, a stark contrast to the ecstatic sounds he had made before.

His body jerked spasmodically as he struggled against the restraints, shouting at Minjun.

"Please! Let me go back! I don't want to be here! Let me go back... to that place!"

His voice cracked, and he trembled, pleading.

As he gazed at the man's maddened face, Jeongpal asked in a horrified voice,

"Hyung, what exactly was that bug?"

"Happy Bug."

This bug, known by various names depending on the region, such as Morphine Worm, Eden's Apple, or Paradise Nocker, directly stimulates the brain, providing the most intense and stimulating feeling of happiness the person can experience.

During this process, the person vividly experiences their perfect illusion, and when the brain's stimulation ends and they return to reality, all that remains is the intense urge to return to the happy fantasy, unable to accept the truth.

The effect is more addictive than any drug, and the person becomes fixated on the pleasure of the illusion, desiring nothing else.

Inflicting pain and suffering through torture would be less efficient than offering someone a blissful experience they've never tasted before.

"Please... please! Again, again!"

The man wailed in front of Minjun, who softly spoke.

"Well then, shall we start again? Tell me everything you know. Then... I'll whisper the true words to you. The trigger that will make the bug in your head squirm again."

Before Minjun's words even ended, the man began pouring out information like a waterfall.

He was ready to offer every tiny detail, even the dust in his memories.

Hearing what he had to say, Minjun and Jeongpal were somewhat disappointed. The man didn't know the whereabouts of Jang Taejun and had only been trying to find something inside that house, as per the organization's request.

He had teleported back and forth for five days but hadn't obtained anything, and in recent days, he had been recuperating here, reorganizing his chaotic mana.

"Secret vault?"

"Yes... that's right. The hidden... magically concealed secret vault in that house... I was supposed to find it and bring everything inside to the client..."

Minjun tilted his head. He had already searched that house. There was no hidden room like that.

Of course, it was possible that an advanced cognitive barrier had been set up, one so high-level that it evaded even his eyes, but if that were the case, everything related to this incident and the assumptions surrounding it would crumble, requiring them to start from scratch.

"So, who is this client?"

"I don't know their name. But one thing is certain, that person..."

The mage's lips trembled as he began to speak about the client.

At that moment, Jeongpal felt his ribs tighten and his heart race.

He inadvertently shouted,

"What? This bastard's lying even in this situation?!"

"That's right. The leadership confirmed it already..."

Jeongpal turned to Minjun with a pale face. Minjun wore a blank expression, one that was impossible to read.

'No way, could it really be?!'

The organization member had just named one of the most infamous names among the three greatest fears modern people could experience.

"Hyung, what are we going to do about this?"

"..."

"Are we going to continue the investigation? This is too dangerous. It might be better to go after the troll balls of the Five Great Readers."

Minjun paused in thought, saying nothing for a moment.

"Hyung?!"

By the way, Jeongpal's ranking of those fears in reverse order is as follows:

Loan sharks, guarantees, dragons.