Chapter 4 Part 22

On the bed right next to Jeong Tae-ui lay a mass of flesh that could barely be called human. Despite having splints on its limbs and bandages wrapped tightly around its torso, blood scabs covered every visible patch of skin. Its face was so broken and shattered that it was a horrific sight. Jeong Tae-ui even had to lightly touch underneath to confirm if it was truly breathing.

“Here, ointment. Ah—don’t touch him, don’t touch him. He’s the most unlucky bastard of all the guys who come here.”

The medical ward’s support staff, a junior staff member, waved his hand as Jeong Tae-ui inspected the patient while receiving the ointment container. Jeong Tae-ui nodded as he took the ointment.

“Hmm. He looks awfully injured… how in the world did a fight end up like this? Who fought him? Is it that guy lying over there?”

When Jeong Tae-ui pointed to the corpse-like figure next to the patient, asking, the junior staff member shook his head.

“That guy isn’t here. He’s probably off playing somewhere, without a single scratch on him.”

“What? No, how could someone be perfectly fine when their opponent is this messed up—”

Jeong Tae-ui trailed off, dumbfounded, then suddenly clamped his mouth shut. A person had abruptly come to mind. And as if the junior staff member also guessed who Jeong Tae-ui was thinking of, he silently nodded.

“Yes, that guy.”

“…”

Suddenly, the patient’s horrific state no longer seemed ordinary. If things had gone wrong by even an inch, Jeong Tae-ui himself might have been the one lying there in that condition.

Jeong Tae-ui looked down at him with a disgusted expression and opened the ointment container he had received from the junior staff member. As soon as he opened it, a familiar scent wafted out, making him frown and look back.

“What is this… Tiger Balm?!”

“Hmm. Haven’t you seen it before? They sell it everywhere. It’s quite useful, so when training is over and you go to Hong Kong, buy one. Quite a few members stock it in their rooms. We get injured so often, you see.”

Jeong Tae-ui looked at the nostalgic ointment, which he still remembered because of its distinct smell, even though his maternal grandmother had only applied it a few times when he was very young, with a somewhat bewildered expression. He had expected the medical office to at least have some professional bruise ointment.

As if he’d immediately read Jeong Tae-ui’s expression, the junior staff member said sternly,

“You, don’t underestimate this. Look at the instructions here. Muscle pain, sprains, insect bites, even headaches! It can be used for a wide variety of things.”

“No, what kind of ointment for headaches…? Are you telling me to put it on my head? Or eat it?!”

“Anyway, it’s clearly written in the instructions, look.”

It was true. The English instructions for its efficacy clearly listed headaches.

“Wow… looking at this is giving me a headache…”

Jeong Tae-ui muttered, wondering where on his head he should apply the ointment. Meanwhile, injured men kept pouring into the medical office, and the junior staff member, complaining he was terribly busy, scooped out a generous amount of ointment and quickly applied it to Jeong Tae-ui’s waist, then pushed him out, telling him to leave. He added that Jeong Tae-ui shouldn’t come back for such minor injuries.

Jeong Tae-ui, having been kicked out of the medical office, arrived at the library after confirming that among all the people flooding into the medical office, no one was worse off than the half-corpse lying on that bed.

“…”

Even now, as he copied the book, the scent of Tiger Balm wafted from his side, hidden by his clothes. In truth, with his wrist and indeed his entire arm aching from moving the pen, he felt like he should pour ointment all over it, but the thought of how overwhelmingly strong the smell would become just made him sigh.

“I should have just run away with my brother before Uncle came. I should have just bolted before Uncle came…”

The words spilling from his lips had changed without him realizing it. With so many things to regret in this situation, the most fundamental regret had surged to the surface.

There were countless other regrets stemming from that fundamental one, but the one weighing most heavily on his mind right now was the regret that had resurfaced after seeing that living corpse.

He should have avoided even brushing past that crazy bastard. He should have stayed hidden and out of sight.

Since things had come to this, the best course of action would be to keep as low a profile as possible and, during the unavoidable joint training, to blend in with his colleagues.

Jeong Tae-ui sighed, then stretched, pushing aside the one volume he had finally finished copying.

There was no one in the library. Although it was usually a quiet place, today was the first day of joint training, so everyone was too busy to read, and the library was virtually empty. At most, one or two people would occasionally come in, grab the book they needed, and leave immediately.

Jeong Tae-ui massaged his stiff shoulders and tilted his head from side to side. Only one volume done yesterday—when would he ever finish copying the remaining nine? Sighing, but knowing he had no choice, he opened a new notebook and wrote down the first line.

UNHRDO Rules and Regulations, Article 1: Organizational Structure of the Organization…

“You’re struggling, aren’t you? Judging by the remaining notebooks, it seems you have nine more volumes to write?”

It was then that a slow, whispering voice came from over his shoulder.

Screech, his pen slipped. Jeong Tae-ui cursed under his breath, glaring at the crooked line that now marred the perfectly written characters. Damn it.

His back was exposed. This was fatal. Even if a knife were plunged into his neck right now, there would be no way to avoid it. Especially since he hadn’t even realized someone had approached directly behind him.

Jeong Tae-ui, who had tensed up instinctively, slowly relaxed his shoulders. This was a situation where he had no choice but to surrender completely. The moment he moved to avoid it, a knife would surely pierce his back.

“Fine, kill me if you want to…”

Jeong Tae-ui continued to write next to the mistakenly drawn line, speaking bluntly.

“There probably aren’t many readable books here.”

Thinking about it, though it was unimaginable given the ominous rumors about this man, he did have a rather maniacal side when it came to books. Jeong Tae-ui doubted if there was anything in the library’s collection that would suit his taste.

“Indeed. I imagine there are more interesting books in your room.”