“I'm telling you, there are so many losers and idiots in this world,” said Guo Liqin while whistling loudly. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the floor button for his destination. “Pretending they are the only people with no blood on their hands...!”
A sneer floated up on his lips. He quite liked dealing with those types, though. Not as in his fellow humans, no, but... But, he enjoyed the situation that developed when dealing with such people.
When those losers, who couldn't do anything against the evil so profound and domineering, frowned in despair while pretending to be virtuous saints that had no choice but to desperately suppress their moral compass...! Now that was what gave Guo Liqin such a thrill.
Virtuous saints, was it...? What kind of bullsh*t was that?
Maybe that hotel manager was a good man. A man who was loyal to his family, kind and warm to his acquaintances, and even gracious toward every stranger he met...
The truth was, though? Such kindness was simply a choice. A choice made when no potentially-fatal harm was headed his way!
“Then again, that's how everyone is like, right?”
As a member of the 'other' side of the world, Guo Liqin had lost his faith in humanity a long time ago after witnessing far too many unsavory things over the years.
That theory about human nature being fundamentally good? Even Mencius would dump his life's work into a nearby trash can after spending a week in Guo Liqin's company.
Humans were wicked. One look at small kids innocently catching insects and tearing the poor creatures' wings off should be enough to teach anyone that sad, sad fact. From the get-go... Humans had zero respect for other lifeforms.
In that case, how did societies keep going? How did they maintain themselves over the years? Simple. That was also down to humanity's wickedness.
This thing called country? Or the organization called society? And the set of rules called law? All those things were created for the sole purpose of controlling and suppressing other humans. Powerless villains would naturally fear another villain with power. That was because the powerless knew how badly they would suffer when those with power began targeting them.
So, those weaklings re-packaged themselves as virtuous saints and searched for ways to suppress the villains with power. That was how humanity progressed through the ages.
However, that story didn't apply to this side of the world. A part of the world that could only be described as the path of the night!
In this world where humanity's laws and regulations couldn't reach, experiencing man's wickedness in full flight was frighteningly easy. It happened all the time, after all!
Guo Liqin would sometimes entertain a certain idea. And that idea was... showing the sights and sounds of this world to film directors. If those folks were exposed to all the wickedness Guo Liqin was familiar with for a few days, movies with lame-ass villains like the ones in the past would never be made ever again.
'No, hang on...'
That wouldn't really change how movies portrayed villains, no? Humans instinctively felt repulsed and sickened by wickedness beyond their abilities to cope, after all!
Why did all the serial killer horror movies starring blonde chicks feature brain-dead characters? That was because the filmmakers wanted the audience to think, 'Gee whiz. If I was in the same spot as them, I'd never react like them, you know? So I should be able to escape such situations.'
Most people would feel leery and uncomfortable if a movie depicted its protagonist defenselessly punted around and abused on screen.
“Well, it'd be a relief if discomfort is the only thing you feel...”
After all, 'discomfort' wouldn't be the only thing the victims experiencing the torture felt! Like the woman staying upstairs who had no clue what was about to happen to her!
That was why Guo Liqin couldn't call anyone a saint. The hotel manager had an opportunity to prevent the terrible misfortune about to beset that woman. Even if Guo Liqin threatened him, the manager could've screamed blue murder and summoned the Public Security Bureau people. That would've forced Guo Liqin to beat a hasty retreat. He had no desire to worsen the situation, after all.
Surely, the hotel manager also knew that. The only reason why Guo Liqin even bothered to meet the manager and flash his business card was to reveal his desire to deal with this matter as quietly as possible. That was all.
Even then... the manager didn't fight back. Why? Simple. He was scared of the aftermath. More specifically, the harm that would befall him instead.
'Then... Here's the question.'
Here was a man who turned a blind eye to another's plight due to the fear of harm coming his way. Did he still deserve to be called virtuous? Or was he a villain now?
Guo Liqin knew the answer. And it was: powerless commoner.
The smart thing was to not expect too much from humanity. Not many were prepared to take on losses for the sake of other people, after all! That was what humans were like in a nutshell.
And that was enough to live on the surface world.
Unfortunately, such a mindset was forbidden in the world hidden in the shadows. After all, that part of the world was too mean and underhanded for such soft-bellied folks to survive. If anyone wished to succeed in such a world... They needed to stop seeing other humans as humans.
In that sense, Guo Liqin had all the right qualities to succeed in this grimy world.
He didn't care about his actions causing untold suffering to other people. Even if that suffering was worse than death! And he had no qualms about abusing his organization's power to achieve his goal.
The business card he flashed at the manager was an item the Public Security Bureau agents used while carrying out clandestine assignments. Everyone involved in the hospitality or entertainment industry was well-trained in what to do when such a card was presented before their eyes.
Obviously, Guo Liqin wasn't from the Public Security Bureau. However, he hadn't committed any crime here, either. After all, that business card was created for the purpose of making the jobs of the shadowy organizations easier to carry out.
In other words, even the Public Security Bureau couldn't escape the influence of the world hidden in the shadows.
Ding!
The elevator finally stopped going up.
“Blooming hell. I always think too much before my job...”
Guo Liqin tutted softly to himself while exiting the elevator. Despite the aircon doing its thing in the hotel corridor, the air still felt a little too warm and humid. Guo Liqin slowly shook his head before glancing to his right and left. That was how the rooms were laid out.
“...Looks like they've saved me the trouble, huh...”
A man in a black business suit was standing guard next to the doorway of a room. He looked rather imposing, what with his upright posture and an in-ear radio wire dangling down his ear. Unfortunately for him, he was nothing more than a signpost that made Guo Liqin's job slightly easier.
Guo Liqin approached the bodyguard while carrying himself like a common street thug.
***
“What's this?”
Choi Seong-Jong narrowed his eyes and studied a man approaching his position.
This was a hotel, and Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't the only guest staying on this floor. Her room was one of the best available in this hotel, the so-called suite, but China had quite a lot of wealthy folks. This entire floor, boasting only the best suites, was fully occupied by other guests.
As such, it wouldn't be strange to see unfamiliar people walking around in the corridors. And the job of Choi Seong-Jong and his colleagues wasn't to block access to the floor but to stop any intruders from entering Choi Yeon-Ha's room.
Even then, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't take his eyes off the approaching man... All because of the latter's attire and the atmosphere he oozed.
'...Maybe he's a Korean, too?'
Obviously, using outer appearance alone to distinguish whether a person was Chinese or Korean was practically impossible. Even then, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't help but think that way as this unknown guest's attire boasted such a... stereotypical style well-known to Korean people.
A pair of pristine white dress pants, matched with polished dress shoes; a distinctive flower-patterned Hawaiian shirt casually worn over a white T-shirt; finally, slightly-long permed hair slicked back, with a pair of sunglasses coolly perched on his nose...
Simply put...
'This guy... Doesn't he look like a local hoodlum commonly found back home?'
Choi Seong-Jong grimaced a little. That attire perfectly fit the description of a street-level hoodlum found in Korea's backstreets. If a film director told his actors to dress up like a local hoodlum instead of a mid-level gangster, a hundred times out of one hundred, they would show up to the film set looking like this unknown guest!
Just his attire alone was enough to instill a preconceived notion in Choi Seong-Jong's mind, and when combined with that thug-like swagger... Well, it seemed Choi Seong-Jong's suspicion seemed right on the money.
'I hope he's not here to cause trouble...'
Thugs dressed like that usually itched to display their strength to others. Anyone with even a hint of a functioning mind would want to avoid causing trouble with a bodyguard like Choi Seong-Jong, but these thugs didn't operate that way. To them, getting in someone's face despite the threat of physical violence was the best way to prove their manliness.
'Bloody hell... Please, just walk on by without causing trouble...'
Choi Seong-Jong obviously wanted whatever this was to quietly blow over. He wasn't patient enough to let a local hoodlum go if they picked a fight with him. However, he was in the middle of a job, and his client this time was infamous for her prickly personality. He dearly wanted to avoid raising a ruckus outside the door and getting glared at by Choi Yeon-Ha!
Choi Seong-Jong quietly breathed in. Avoiding meeting the thug's eyes could potentially end this whole thing with no hard feelings.
Unfortunately, nothing in this world went as one would like to. Good feelings often missed their marks, but bad feelings usually were right on the money.
The local thug walking like a man looking for trouble stopped before Choi Seong-Jong. Then, he slightly pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “Hey, man. I just wanted to make sure about something, so...”
Choi Seong-Jong wordlessly took out his phone and accessed a translation app. Next, he typed the words 'I'm not Chinese' and had them translated into Chinese before presenting the screen to the thug.
He had no way of knowing if the app did its job correctly. He had no choice but to trust the progress made by humanity. Since the app maker was a global corporation, surely its translation app worked globally, too?
The thug peered at the translation appearing on the phone's screen, then smirked suspiciously. He then pulled out his own phone and typed something on it before showing the screen to Choi Seong-Jong.
On the phone's screen were the following Korean words:
You're a failed son.
“...?” Choi Seong-Jong's mind blanked for a second there. 'Is that... supposed to be an insult?'
No, it couldn't be an insult. No one would insult a stranger like that, after all. So it might be...
That was when Choi Seong-Jong's expression distorted. The weird 'insult' was thanks to the translation app.
No matter how severe an insult was, the app would translate it to something much, much milder. For instance, even if Choi Seong-Jong inputted insults unsuitable for minors' consumption, the result the other party saw should be only around the level of playground name-calling.
In other words, this thug must've typed an unmentionable insult. The first clue was the string of Chinese letters inputted to the phone. Judging from how long it was, there was no way the actual meaning was something as simple as a 'failed son'.
“What the f*ck? Is this punk drunk or something? Why is he...”
Suddenly, Choi Seong-Jong's mouth was roughly grabbed by the hand of the unknown thug, Guo Liqin.
“Shh...” Guo Liqin yanked Choi Seong-Jong close and whispered. “Keep it down, will ya? We can't afford to surprise the lady inside, you know? Your job is to make her stay as comfortable as possible, right? So, let's keep the noise level down, okay?”
Of course, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't understand a single thing coming out of Guo Liqin's mouth. Finding bi-lingual bodyguards was incredibly tough, which meant everyone hired for Choi Yeon-Ha's protection detail couldn't speak a lick of Chinese.
Even then, Choi Seong-Jong could still understand this one thing. How could he not after staring into the thug's gleaming eyes?!
This thug, he... He was insane! And there was one more thing.
This grip tightening on Choi Seong-Jong's jaw could not be from a human hand. He wasn't sure if this thug had jacked himself full of steroids or something, but regardless of what... This man was dangerous!
While enduring the pain of his jaw about to get crushed, Choi Seong-Jong reached inside his jacket pocket. He was trying to grab hold of his gas pistol.
“You know, I like dealing with obedient people,” said Guo Liqin.
Craaack!
The sound of bone breaking quietly echoed in the corridor.
“Kkuuuuuhuk!”
A blood-curdling scream tried to escape Choi Seong-Jong's mouth only to fail in its quest.
“However, I also enjoy disobedient people, too. You know why? Obedient folks make things easy for me, but disobedient people spice things up, you see? So, why don't we find out what I consider spicy from now on, eh?” Guo Liqin cackled softly while slowly pushing Choi Seong-Jong down to the floor. The light of lunacy was burning fiercely in his eyes. “If you wanna resent someone, resent that loser, okay? I'm only doing what I've been told, you see?”
After quite literally crushing Choi Seong-Jong, Guo Liqin leisurely dusted his hands and took out the room key. Before he could open the door, though...
“Now then...” Guo Liqin licked his lips while slicking his hair back. “Since I'm about to greet a beauty, I should make myself a bit more presentable, right?”
After 'fixing' his hair, Guo Liqin pressed the key card against the door lock.
“I'm telling you, there are so many losers and idiots in this world,” said Guo Liqin while whistling loudly. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the floor button for his destination. “Pretending they are the only people with no blood on their hands...!”
A sneer floated up on his lips. He quite liked dealing with those types, though. Not as in his fellow humans, no, but... But, he enjoyed the situation that developed when dealing with such people.
When those losers, who couldn't do anything against the evil so profound and domineering, frowned in despair while pretending to be virtuous saints that had no choice but to desperately suppress their moral compass...! Now that was what gave Guo Liqin such a thrill.
Virtuous saints, was it...? What kind of bullsh*t was that?
Maybe that hotel manager was a good man. A man who was loyal to his family, kind and warm to his acquaintances, and even gracious toward every stranger he met...
The truth was, though? Such kindness was simply a choice. A choice made when no potentially-fatal harm was headed his way!
“Then again, that's how everyone is like, right?”
As a member of the 'other' side of the world, Guo Liqin had lost his faith in humanity a long time ago after witnessing far too many unsavory things over the years.
That theory about human nature being fundamentally good? Even Mencius would dump his life's work into a nearby trash can after spending a week in Guo Liqin's company.
Humans were wicked. One look at small kids innocently catching insects and tearing the poor creatures' wings off should be enough to teach anyone that sad, sad fact. From the get-go... Humans had zero respect for other lifeforms.
In that case, how did societies keep going? How did they maintain themselves over the years? Simple. That was also down to humanity's wickedness.
This thing called country? Or the organization called society? And the set of rules called law? All those things were created for the sole purpose of controlling and suppressing other humans. Powerless villains would naturally fear another villain with power. That was because the powerless knew how badly they would suffer when those with power began targeting them.
So, those weaklings re-packaged themselves as virtuous saints and searched for ways to suppress the villains with power. That was how humanity progressed through the ages.
However, that story didn't apply to this side of the world. A part of the world that could only be described as the path of the night!
In this world where humanity's laws and regulations couldn't reach, experiencing man's wickedness in full flight was frighteningly easy. It happened all the time, after all!
Guo Liqin would sometimes entertain a certain idea. And that idea was... showing the sights and sounds of this world to film directors. If those folks were exposed to all the wickedness Guo Liqin was familiar with for a few days, movies with lame-ass villains like the ones in the past would never be made ever again.
'No, hang on...'
That wouldn't really change how movies portrayed villains, no? Humans instinctively felt repulsed and sickened by wickedness beyond their abilities to cope, after all!
Why did all the serial killer horror movies starring blonde chicks feature brain-dead characters? That was because the filmmakers wanted the audience to think, 'Gee whiz. If I was in the same spot as them, I'd never react like them, you know? So I should be able to escape such situations.'
Most people would feel leery and uncomfortable if a movie depicted its protagonist defenselessly punted around and abused on screen.
“Well, it'd be a relief if discomfort is the only thing you feel...”
After all, 'discomfort' wouldn't be the only thing the victims experiencing the torture felt! Like the woman staying upstairs who had no clue what was about to happen to her!
That was why Guo Liqin couldn't call anyone a saint. The hotel manager had an opportunity to prevent the terrible misfortune about to beset that woman. Even if Guo Liqin threatened him, the manager could've screamed blue murder and summoned the Public Security Bureau people. That would've forced Guo Liqin to beat a hasty retreat. He had no desire to worsen the situation, after all.
Surely, the hotel manager also knew that. The only reason why Guo Liqin even bothered to meet the manager and flash his business card was to reveal his desire to deal with this matter as quietly as possible. That was all.
Even then... the manager didn't fight back. Why? Simple. He was scared of the aftermath. More specifically, the harm that would befall him instead.
'Then... Here's the question.'
Here was a man who turned a blind eye to another's plight due to the fear of harm coming his way. Did he still deserve to be called virtuous? Or was he a villain now?
Guo Liqin knew the answer. And it was: powerless commoner.
The smart thing was to not expect too much from humanity. Not many were prepared to take on losses for the sake of other people, after all! That was what humans were like in a nutshell.
And that was enough to live on the surface world.
Unfortunately, such a mindset was forbidden in the world hidden in the shadows. After all, that part of the world was too mean and underhanded for such soft-bellied folks to survive. If anyone wished to succeed in such a world... They needed to stop seeing other humans as humans.
In that sense, Guo Liqin had all the right qualities to succeed in this grimy world.
He didn't care about his actions causing untold suffering to other people. Even if that suffering was worse than death! And he had no qualms about abusing his organization's power to achieve his goal.
The business card he flashed at the manager was an item the Public Security Bureau agents used while carrying out clandestine assignments. Everyone involved in the hospitality or entertainment industry was well-trained in what to do when such a card was presented before their eyes.
Obviously, Guo Liqin wasn't from the Public Security Bureau. However, he hadn't committed any crime here, either. After all, that business card was created for the purpose of making the jobs of the shadowy organizations easier to carry out.
In other words, even the Public Security Bureau couldn't escape the influence of the world hidden in the shadows.
Ding!
The elevator finally stopped going up.
“Blooming hell. I always think too much before my job...”
Guo Liqin tutted softly to himself while exiting the elevator. Despite the aircon doing its thing in the hotel corridor, the air still felt a little too warm and humid. Guo Liqin slowly shook his head before glancing to his right and left. That was how the rooms were laid out.
“...Looks like they've saved me the trouble, huh...”
A man in a black business suit was standing guard next to the doorway of a room. He looked rather imposing, what with his upright posture and an in-ear radio wire dangling down his ear. Unfortunately for him, he was nothing more than a signpost that made Guo Liqin's job slightly easier.
Guo Liqin approached the bodyguard while carrying himself like a common street thug.
***
“What's this?”
Choi Seong-Jong narrowed his eyes and studied a man approaching his position.
This was a hotel, and Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't the only guest staying on this floor. Her room was one of the best available in this hotel, the so-called suite, but China had quite a lot of wealthy folks. This entire floor, boasting only the best suites, was fully occupied by other guests.
As such, it wouldn't be strange to see unfamiliar people walking around in the corridors. And the job of Choi Seong-Jong and his colleagues wasn't to block access to the floor but to stop any intruders from entering Choi Yeon-Ha's room.
Even then, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't take his eyes off the approaching man... All because of the latter's attire and the atmosphere he oozed.
'...Maybe he's a Korean, too?'
Obviously, using outer appearance alone to distinguish whether a person was Chinese or Korean was practically impossible. Even then, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't help but think that way as this unknown guest's attire boasted such a... stereotypical style well-known to Korean people.
A pair of pristine white dress pants, matched with polished dress shoes; a distinctive flower-patterned Hawaiian shirt casually worn over a white T-shirt; finally, slightly-long permed hair slicked back, with a pair of sunglasses coolly perched on his nose...
Simply put...
'This guy... Doesn't he look like a local hoodlum commonly found back home?'
Choi Seong-Jong grimaced a little. That attire perfectly fit the description of a street-level hoodlum found in Korea's backstreets. If a film director told his actors to dress up like a local hoodlum instead of a mid-level gangster, a hundred times out of one hundred, they would show up to the film set looking like this unknown guest!
Just his attire alone was enough to instill a preconceived notion in Choi Seong-Jong's mind, and when combined with that thug-like swagger... Well, it seemed Choi Seong-Jong's suspicion seemed right on the money.
'I hope he's not here to cause trouble...'
Thugs dressed like that usually itched to display their strength to others. Anyone with even a hint of a functioning mind would want to avoid causing trouble with a bodyguard like Choi Seong-Jong, but these thugs didn't operate that way. To them, getting in someone's face despite the threat of physical violence was the best way to prove their manliness.
'Bloody hell... Please, just walk on by without causing trouble...'
Choi Seong-Jong obviously wanted whatever this was to quietly blow over. He wasn't patient enough to let a local hoodlum go if they picked a fight with him. However, he was in the middle of a job, and his client this time was infamous for her prickly personality. He dearly wanted to avoid raising a ruckus outside the door and getting glared at by Choi Yeon-Ha!
Choi Seong-Jong quietly breathed in. Avoiding meeting the thug's eyes could potentially end this whole thing with no hard feelings.
Unfortunately, nothing in this world went as one would like to. Good feelings often missed their marks, but bad feelings usually were right on the money.
The local thug walking like a man looking for trouble stopped before Choi Seong-Jong. Then, he slightly pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “Hey, man. I just wanted to make sure about something, so...”
Choi Seong-Jong wordlessly took out his phone and accessed a translation app. Next, he typed the words 'I'm not Chinese' and had them translated into Chinese before presenting the screen to the thug.
He had no way of knowing if the app did its job correctly. He had no choice but to trust the progress made by humanity. Since the app maker was a global corporation, surely its translation app worked globally, too?
The thug peered at the translation appearing on the phone's screen, then smirked suspiciously. He then pulled out his own phone and typed something on it before showing the screen to Choi Seong-Jong.
On the phone's screen were the following Korean words:
You're a failed son.
“...?” Choi Seong-Jong's mind blanked for a second there. 'Is that... supposed to be an insult?'
No, it couldn't be an insult. No one would insult a stranger like that, after all. So it might be...
That was when Choi Seong-Jong's expression distorted. The weird 'insult' was thanks to the translation app.
No matter how severe an insult was, the app would translate it to something much, much milder. For instance, even if Choi Seong-Jong inputted insults unsuitable for minors' consumption, the result the other party saw should be only around the level of playground name-calling.
In other words, this thug must've typed an unmentionable insult. The first clue was the string of Chinese letters inputted to the phone. Judging from how long it was, there was no way the actual meaning was something as simple as a 'failed son'.
“What the f*ck? Is this punk drunk or something? Why is he...”
Suddenly, Choi Seong-Jong's mouth was roughly grabbed by the hand of the unknown thug, Guo Liqin.
“Shh...” Guo Liqin yanked Choi Seong-Jong close and whispered. “Keep it down, will ya? We can't afford to surprise the lady inside, you know? Your job is to make her stay as comfortable as possible, right? So, let's keep the noise level down, okay?”
Of course, Choi Seong-Jong couldn't understand a single thing coming out of Guo Liqin's mouth. Finding bi-lingual bodyguards was incredibly tough, which meant everyone hired for Choi Yeon-Ha's protection detail couldn't speak a lick of Chinese.
Even then, Choi Seong-Jong could still understand this one thing. How could he not after staring into the thug's gleaming eyes?!
This thug, he... He was insane! And there was one more thing.
This grip tightening on Choi Seong-Jong's jaw could not be from a human hand. He wasn't sure if this thug had jacked himself full of steroids or something, but regardless of what... This man was dangerous!
While enduring the pain of his jaw about to get crushed, Choi Seong-Jong reached inside his jacket pocket. He was trying to grab hold of his gas pistol.
“You know, I like dealing with obedient people,” said Guo Liqin.
Craaack!
The sound of bone breaking quietly echoed in the corridor.
“Kkuuuuuhuk!”
A blood-curdling scream tried to escape Choi Seong-Jong's mouth only to fail in its quest.
“However, I also enjoy disobedient people, too. You know why? Obedient folks make things easy for me, but disobedient people spice things up, you see? So, why don't we find out what I consider spicy from now on, eh?” Guo Liqin cackled softly while slowly pushing Choi Seong-Jong down to the floor. The light of lunacy was burning fiercely in his eyes. “If you wanna resent someone, resent that loser, okay? I'm only doing what I've been told, you see?”
After quite literally crushing Choi Seong-Jong, Guo Liqin leisurely dusted his hands and took out the room key. Before he could open the door, though...
“Now then...” Guo Liqin licked his lips while slicking his hair back. “Since I'm about to greet a beauty, I should make myself a bit more presentable, right?”
After 'fixing' his hair, Guo Liqin pressed the key card against the door lock.
