Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 90

Severing What Needs to Be Severed (2)

* * *

Pale moonlight streamed down the street.

In the silence, a sleek suit and a shabby hoodie faced each other, staring intently.

Cha In-hyuk glanced at his car and then up at the CCTV [closed-circuit television] above, as if implying they were being watched.

The DG [a fictional company] executive was the first to speak.

“Shouldn’t we at least exchange greetings? It’s our first time meeting, after all.”

“Have you forgotten the Jarmani Show already?”

“Good eyes and memory. There’s something different about special forces, I see.”

Cha In-hyuk parried casually, but he was scrutinizing his opponent.

Park Geon… he had considered the slim chance that they might make contact.

Most celebrities only care about their own well-being.

After all the hard work to get to the top, they’ll throw away their managers and family if their stock seems likely to drop. That’s normal.

‘That guy is the strange one.’

Nam Woo-hyeop, the old guard of DG, and Moon Han-bin, who became a top star in Asia, were all within expectations.

-Chief Cha, what do you think they’re worth?

-Nam Woo-hyeop will have a long run. He’s worth keeping unless there’s a special reason not to.

-What about Moon Han-bin and Ki Eun-seo?

-Moon Han-bin is competitive in Asia, and Ki Eun-seo is competitive domestically. They’re valuable cards if they can be handled and given projects that fit their image.

After moving into this industry, he used to have ‘salary prediction’ sessions with Byun Dong-geun every contract renewal season.

In fact, those predictions were accurate. Most of the celebrities inside and outside the agency had their values rise within the range he calculated.

However… Park Geon was different.

The initially estimated value, the advertising rate, was a maximum of 300 million. Now, it far exceeded that value.

Backed by a large corporation, he secured the lead role in a mega-scale historical drama and closed at four major fashion weeks, exposing himself to the global market.

When he first signed with Roman, who would have imagined that raw rookie would grow into such a monster?

‘Special forces background, a personality that takes excessive care of those around him. Unusually sensitive to the safety of others more than himself. Doesn’t seem like the type to get easily excited, but… he might do something unexpected.’

Cha In-hyuk also exercised, but he was no match for a human weapon flying through the air without wires.

Tensing his body in preparation, a voice as if reading his mind flew over.

“Your breathing is getting rough. You must know what you’ve done.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Suddenly, Park Geon bent down and picked up a stone from the ground. Each time he tossed and caught the pebble, the stone shone white in the moonlight.

“DG executive Cha In-hyuk, you started the controversy about Lee Jang-mi’s agency. You tarnished her past with fake rumors and hired paparazzi to illegally film and stalk people around me.”

Cha In-hyuk replied nonchalantly.

“I might have done it. Someone else might have.”

Park Geon still didn’t move.

Like a lawyer listening to a final plea, he only stared at him, tossing and catching the stone.

“So what if I did?”

“Such a vicious method, and so brazen.”

“I’m sorry, but the entertainment industry is originally like that. There are only so many seats on the boat, and if there are too many people reaching out, doesn’t the military teach you to sink it with everyone on board?”

“This isn’t the military or a battlefield.”

“Nonsense. Society… no, this world is inherently cruel. One person’s success is another’s downfall. Aren’t humans just maggots eating each other’s flesh in a limited resource pool?”

Cha In-hyuk loosened his tie. At this angle, if that guy attacked, it would be captured on CCTV in a very pretty picture.

“Even if I didn’t do it, someone else would have. CEO Byun Dong-geun is that kind of person. Surprisingly, Joinus… or maybe a small agency under them might have drawn a knife. Hot & Cool, Long One, Deja Vu, all places with bad blood with CEO Noh.”

“What if the target gets hurt?”

“It can’t be helped. Dozens of people are dying and getting hurt at this very moment. Isn’t it ridiculous to want a peaceful life while just acting a little and singing?”

Park Geon nodded.

“Even if the dimensions are different, this is the same.”

“Same as what?”

“The nobles of the Iron Kingdom were the same. They forced sacrifices, saying they couldn’t save everyone. Sometimes to soldiers, but mostly to citizens and serfs.”

Incomprehensible words flowed out.

Did he take drugs? Or is he acting? Cha In-hyuk’s eyes narrowed, but there were no signs of that. The expression on his face held old regret… and an inexplicable sorrow.

Park Geon spoke like an old soldier reminiscing about an old battlefield.

“I forgot. In any world, there is no peace gained without a fight.”

I forgot. Wherever I go, guys like you always ruin things around me.

“What on earth are you…”

The opponent didn’t easily fall for provocation. Just as Cha In-hyuk, feeling frustrated, took a step forward.

At that moment, the eyes that seemed to be looking at another world found their focus.

“First… let’s get rid of the eyes watching.”

No sooner had he spoken than the stone flew and smashed into the CCTV under the utility pole. Sparks flew as fragmented parts fell.

‘…With just one stone?’

One of the cameras securing the area disappeared. Cha In-hyuk tried to open the car door, but it was already too late.

The hoodie he was wearing seemed to sway, and in that instant, Park Geon was in front of him.

“……”

A terrifying grip seized the back of his neck. In the next moment, he was shoved headfirst through his car window.

Crash!

The coated car window shattered, and shards of glass poured into the driver’s seat.

Cha In-hyuk struggled, bleeding from his forehead, but the grip was as firm as an alligator’s jaw. Soon, he felt his neck being strangled, and his feet lifted into the air.

Park Geon, lifting him with only one arm, tossed him aside like a toy.

‘Damn it, what kind of strength is this…’

Feeling his suit tear, he flew into the alley and crashed into the wall.

His head buzzed as if he had been hit by a car, and a lump of blood rose in his throat. Barely opening his eyes, he saw the crazy bastard taking out the black box and smashing it with his bare hands.

“I guess you still didn’t know, but cameras don’t solve everything.”

“Bullshit… Cough!”

Park Geon picked him up and tapped his abdomen. It was almost a touch, but an agony as if his intestines were being cut overwhelmed him.

His suit was already a mess with blood, stomach acid, and vomit he couldn’t help but spew. Geon approached and sat down in his blurred vision.

“I investigated you too, Cha In-hyuk.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

“Before DG, you were with the Daekwang Group… and before that, you were active as a negative expert for large corporations. Reducing staff, quashing lawsuits, and enriching companies by harming others, a hitman.”

Cha In-hyuk raised his head even in the pain of his insides twisting.

“For a celebrity, you’re good at digging up dirt.”

“You crossed the line first.”

“Yes, and eventually you crossed it too. You think it’s over just by getting rid of the CCTV and black box? Assaulting a rival agency employee, damaging a vehicle, virtually attempted murder, and no alibi, it’s at least indictment without detention [formal accusation that leads to a trial]. If you were going to use your hands, you should have come prepared to kill.”

Even with the provocation to hit him more, Park Geon didn’t get angry or raise his fist. He just stared down at him quietly and muttered.

“My sister would be disappointed. If she saw this.”

“……!”

Behind the crushed eyeglass frame, Cha In-hyuk’s pupils widened in horror. The expression that had remained calm even when beaten and sent flying was twisted like a demon.

“You, how did you…”

“I told you, I investigated. You dig up other people’s pasts, but you thought you could hide yours forever?”

Park Geon took out his cell phone from his back pocket and shone the flashlight on his face.

“Cha In-hyuk, real name Kang Eun-hyuk. Graduate of Seo Eun University’s Business Administration, parents died in a car accident when a truck collided with their car in his second year of college… his younger sister was seriously injured. Afterwards, he dropped out of school to earn his sister’s hospital bills, who suffered from CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) [a chronic pain condition], and joined Woojung Logistics.”
The personal information briefing continued calmly. Veins popped out on the back of Cha In-hyuk’s hand, who had half-raised himself.

“I thought she was still hospitalized, but I found out she was cured a long time ago. She had a spinal cord stimulator implanted and was able to live a normal life.”

“……”

“I can understand changing your name and leaving your sister’s side. It’s something that invites resentment. What I want to know is why you haven’t quit this job yet. You could have washed your hands and lived a normal life.”

Cha In-hyuk, who had been silent until then, spat out as if chewing.

“…You don’t know anything.”

“No, I can know. Cha In-hyuk, you needed someone to pour your anger on. Losing your family and losing the lawsuit against the transportation company, a justification to wield a blind knife and destroy yourself and others.”

“Shut up!”

“Did you want to die that much?”

The next moment, Cha In-hyuk’s knees buckled.

*

“……”

A silence that stifled breath flowed.

Cha In-hyuk, kneeling on one knee, glared at the ground, breathing heavily through his shoulders. Unlike a moment ago, his attitude was clearly losing composure.

‘He probably didn’t expect it. That his weakness would come out of someone else’s mouth.’

Geon looked down at the real villain he had met for the first time since returning to this world.

Cha In-hyuk… Kang Eun-hyuk’s information was all handed over by Chief Jin Gyu-il.

He said it took a little time because he completely erased his information and had the account sending hospital bills to his sister go through several intermediaries.

-He’s a tough guy. Since he started working in this field, he doesn’t seem to have visited his sister even once.

While driving here in the borrowed car, Jin Gyu-il commented indifferently.

-When I looked into it, it seems he was quite badly hurt by the transportation company and the insurance company after his parents died. Even for a corporate hunter, his methods are so cruel that I was wondering why… there was a reason why he was dancing with a knife under a dirty guy.

-The reason is…

-Anyone was fine. As long as he could satisfy his desire for revenge.

It’s a common occurrence. An elite talent derails for some reason and throws himself into blind malice.

He had seen countless people burning such hatred towards the Great Demon, towards the Iron Kingdom, and… towards the hero, hadn’t he?

-It’s all because of you heroes. Don’t even think about pretending to be one person, my grandfather remembered you guys… the ones who came before that!

A short flash of lightning crossed his mind, but now there was something more important than reminiscing.

Geon grabbed Cha In-hyuk’s collar and pulled him up. The torn-off button fell and rolled to their feet.

Cha In-hyuk, breathing heavily, said.

“…Kill me, or hand me over to the police, do whatever you want. But don’t touch my sister.”

“Well, I’ve been learning something new lately. They say touching people around you is very effective.”

These guys were rather insensitive to their own pain or death.

Perhaps sensing that he couldn’t stop it, Cha In-hyuk was now biting his lip until it bled.

“When you hurt others, you should have been prepared to hurt your own precious things. Don’t you think?”

“Park Geon, you bastard… Keuk!”

Geon easily twisted the right hand that was grabbing him and continued.

“You can’t touch me. So what will you do? Bite another person around me, innocent and good people, again. That must be your goal, to live like that and die a miserable death.”

Blood flowed from Cha In-hyuk’s nose. The Hapkido [Korean martial art] that made Oh Gwi-jun wet himself with fear at that time, slightly recreated the old power.

“I don’t want to kill anyone. But if you hurt someone precious to me, I will make you pay the corresponding price. Even if… it’s the same innocent person.”

The hero who has slaughtered the Great Demon dozens, hundreds of times, becomes like his enemies. It’s easy to imprint threats that won’t be realized on the senses.

Cha In-hyuk, with all the blood vessels in his eyes burst, twisted his body and shouted.

“You, if you touch my sister…”

“There were people like you before. People who have to hurt themselves and others, people who have lived and are going to live like that.”

Some humans endure the murderous intent of the hero at its peak without going crazy.

Even with his eyes half-turned, Cha In-hyuk moved his lips.

“…Just, kill… me…”

“That’s difficult. There are rules in this world.”

Besides, after returning, hadn’t he decided not to hurt anyone anymore?

If he crossed the line, punishment was appropriate, but he couldn’t just cut off the head of an evil person.

When the number of times he lost his life exceeded a hundred, he realized. The evil of the world can never be eradicated with violence and death.

‘…Especially if it’s a human.’

Soon, Cha In-hyuk’s body collapsed. When he woke up, many things would be different.

The murderous intent and the fragment of Hapkido would have stirred up his reason and showed him the most terrible future imaginable.

He will never be able to hurt anyone again. Like Oh Gwi-jun, who forgot his lifelong malice after beating his sister.

“I didn’t really want to do this.”

Muttering bitterly, Geon turned his back. He had dealt with the enemy in front of him, but he didn’t feel relieved.

Cha In-hyuk is just a technician. The bigger opponent is behind him… in a huge palace, hiding with a lot of subordinates to send to fight.

The burning hell under the demon realm.

Like the five Great Demons of arrogance and discord, anger and sin and emptiness that greeted him there.

“If only my power had been enough back then, as it is now…”

Failed wishes remain as regrets.

Geon’s body, which was about to fly into the alley without CCTV along the way he came, stopped for a moment.

Three message alarms were coming in one after another on the cell phone screen.

Park Seon: [Hyung, when are you coming…? I’m anxious (tearful)]

Jin Ji-yu: [Oppa, I got permission for a cameo in the last episode! Writer Young says you’re welcome anytime!]

Baek Ha-ni: [Boycott if filming is late today]

Geon stared blankly at the smartphone and made a call somewhere.

-Hyung… Hyung? Not the police station, right? I was so worried that I came to the company…

“Don’t worry, it’s over. I’ll buy you your favorite ribs, so eat with the PR team.”

-Oh, really? We have a dawn shoot today anyway. Let’s pack a lot and give it to the filming crew too!

“Baek Ha-ni won’t eat it, she says her face will get puffy.”

The moonlight illuminates his feet.

The hero failed to save the Iron Kingdom, but this world is still calling him.

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