Chapter 25: Found a Hidden Talent

“Are you awake?”

“Ah…”

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was comfort.

A moderate hangover, a moderate drowsiness. A warm floor and a moderately high lap pillow.

If I could sleep for just one more hour like this, it would be perfect… No, damn it, who is this?

Realizing that I was resting my head on a stranger’s thigh, I quickly got up. And what greeted me was…

“Haha, sleep more. Why did you wake up so early?”

“Ha… Damn it. Uncle Mun-seok.”

…It was Moon-seok, the Branch Leader of the Lower Filth Gate’s Sichuan branch.

Since he wasn’t someone who would openly antagonize me, I felt a bit relieved and looked around. It seemed like a well-organized and clean high-class room.

“…Where is this?”

“This is a room attached to the Moon-gazing Pavilion. I personally moved you and that friend of yours here when you were both heavily drunk.”

“…That friend? …Ah.”

Next to me, our youngest was also snoring with a pleasant expression.

“By the way, did you sleep well? You were so drunk that you didn’t even notice when I carried you.”

“……”

“The Leader of the Lower Filth Gate asked if you acknowledge your loss in the duel?”

“……”

…The duel. Right, damn it, the duel.

In a duel involving alcohol, the match is decided when one of the participants becomes unconscious from drinking. Since I lost consciousness while drinking strong liquor yesterday, I technically lost according to the rules.

But…

“…I can’t accept it.”

“What…?”

“Damn it, I can’t accept it.”

I absolutely couldn’t accept this defeat.

As I took a firm stance, Moon-seok frowned as if looking at filth.

“Are you really that kind of person…? How can a man not accept his loss?”

“No, it’s not my fault! This is cheating, that woman moved during the duel!”

The most basic principle of a duel involving alcohol.

No physical force is to be used, and the competition is solely about drinking.

But the Leader of the Lower Filth Gate approached me and put something in my mouth during the duel.

Of course, it was just a tangerine, but since it had a significant impact on the outcome, the duel is invalid.

No, it’s not just invalid. That woman lost by cheating, so I won, damn it!

Anyone who knows about duels involving alcohol would agree with me.

But as they say, people are biased towards their own. The Branch Leader of the Lower Filth Gate, who was a native of Sichuan, was tilting his head in front of me.

“Hmm… This case is indeed a bit ambiguous.”

“Ambiguous, my ass. Shut up, I’m leaving now. Hey, youngest. Wake up, we’re leaving…”

Ignoring Moon-seok’s words, I started packing my things and tried to get up when I noticed something strange.

Specifically, my chest felt very empty.

“Ah… Damn it…”

“……”

“Uncle Mun-seok. Damn it, you shouldn’t cross the line.”

It’s gone.

The paper money worth 200 gold taels, more precious than my life.

It had completely disappeared from my chest. And the person who seemed to be the culprit was just standing in front of me with a calm expression.

Until yesterday, I was generous enough to laugh off this humiliation.

But taking my money while I was unconscious was a different story. I walked over, grabbed my blade, and sat in front of Moon-seok.

“Give it back, my money.”

“…We kept it as insurance in case you didn’t accept the duel’s outcome.”

“I clearly said yesterday that the duel was invalid. You know that yesterday’s duel was unfair. Stop being stubborn and give me my money. Then I won’t shed any blood…”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give it to you now.”

Bang-!

“…Huh! What the…!”

When I released a strong killing intent, the room shook, and all the doors flew open. our youngest, who had been sleeping soundly, woke up in surprise, but I ignored him and focused solely on Moon-seok.

Tremble.

Moon-seok’s body was trembling slightly. It was probably a physiological reaction to the excessive killing intent rather than fear.

After all, even though Moon-seok was the Branch Leader of the Lower Filth Gate, he wasn’t specialized in combat, so there was a significant difference in our levels.

Despite that, he was enduring the current situation with difficulty.

Moreover…

Swoosh-.

“……”

He went a step further and knelt in front of me.

“Ha.”

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

As a Branch Leader, Moon-seok held a high position within the Lower Filth Gate. And yet, he was kneeling so easily.

“Could you please listen to me just once?”

“…Go ahead.”

Even though I had some resentment, seeing Moon-seok kneel in front of me, someone I had known for a long time, softened my heart a bit.

So I decided to at least listen to his story before making a judgment.

“The Lower Filth Gate is preparing for something that will happen soon. That’s why we need someone with exceptional martial prowess like you.”

“…What is it?”

“I can’t tell you exactly what it is because it’s confidential. But I can promise you this. You won’t have much to do. Just show your skills to others and hold your position.”

“……”

“I understand that you find it suspicious. But think about how long we’ve known each other. Please trust me. This matter might be resolved without you even drawing your sword. We just feel more secure with a skilled person like you watching our backs.”

As he said that, Moon-seok took something out of his pocket and placed it in front of me.

And then…

“Here, this is your 200 gold taels. And this…”

Thud.

“…!”

He took out another bundle of paper money of the same thickness and placed it next to it.

“This is an additional 200 gold taels. The Leader of the Lower Filth Gate offered it as compensation for this matter.”

“…What? 200 gold taels?”

Although my current financial situation was sufficient, an additional 200 gold taels was a different story.

With the original 200 gold taels and the additional 200 gold taels, I could live twice as comfortably as I had planned.

“……”

Seeing Moon-seok kneeling and pleading, and the 200 gold taels, and considering the low difficulty of the task, I felt somewhat persuaded. I withdrew my killing intent and let out a sigh.

“So what exactly do I have to do?”

“The event I mentioned will happen in about a week. Until then, you just need to…”

After hearing Moon-seok’s explanation…

“All I have to do is that? If I just do that for a week, you’ll give me 200 gold taels?”

“That’s right.”

I was a bit surprised by the task Moon-seok assigned to me.

**

“Big Brother.”

“Yes, youngest.”

“The alcohol yesterday was really good… Except for the part where you made me drink another strong liquor at the end.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. It was still a pretty enjoyable experience. But Big Brother…”

our youngest asked me in a slightly bewildered voice.

“Weren’t we supposed to leave today? What are we doing here?”

“…That’s a good question. How did things end up like this?”

We were now standing at the entrance of the Moon-gazing Pavilion, dressed in neat black clothes with clubs at our sides.

The task the Lower Filth Gate assigned to me for 200 gold taels was…

‘Guard duty?’

‘Yes, guard duty. You just need to guard the Moon-gazing Pavilion for a week. It’s not a big deal. Just manage the entrance and deal with any troublemakers.’

…Guarding the Moon-gazing Pavilion.

It was called guard duty, but in reality, it was more like…

‘A bouncer at a club…?’

If not that, then a promoter at a nightclub.

The work we were doing was exactly at that level.

‘They’re offering 200 gold taels for just this?’

There must be something more to it, but I couldn’t easily refuse the offer.

Moreover, the work was easy.

Just chatting with our youngest and dealing with any troublemakers…

“Hey, you bastards-!! Call the Master-!! Damn it, do you know who I am?! Do you know who I am?! I can’t pay! Damn it-!!”

“Sir, please calm down and come with me to the back for a moment.”

“What? Who are you, you bastard-! Bring the Master, not someone like you! How dare you touch me?! You bastard-!!!”

…Just like this, we would take them to the back and kindly teach them some manners.

“I apologize. I drank too much and made a mistake. I will pay for the broken chair and the drinks immediately. I apologize to everyone for the inconvenience I caused.”

our youngest described our current job like this.

“This… This is similar to when we were mountain bandits, isn’t it? Threatening and extorting…”

“Hey, youngest. We are protectors now. How can you compare the sacred duty of guarding a brothel to banditry?”

“Is that so? Hehe. Anyway, the job seems easy.”

Seeing our youngest relax, I whispered in his ear.

“Youngest, I told you. The Lower Filth Gate offered 200 gold taels. They’re not fools. They wouldn’t offer such a high price for just this.”

“Then…”

“Something will definitely happen. If things seem strange after a week, we need to run. You run first, and I’ll follow after assessing the situation.”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

“Since I already have the original 200 gold taels, we can just run if necessary.”

After the earlier incident, Moon-seok returned my 200 gold taels. So I didn’t need to take unnecessary risks to earn the new 200 gold taels.

As we were preparing for whatever might happen in a week…

“You two-!”

“Hmm…?”

Moon-seok, who was the Branch Leader of the Lower Filth Gate but acted as the manager of the Moon-gazing Pavilion, ran towards us with a worried expression.

“Uncle Mun-seok. What’s wrong?”

“Do you have any free time? Could you help with something?”

“What is it?”

“The people who were supposed to entertain guests have disappeared! You two have good looks, could you please entertain the guests?”

“……Entertain?”

…Entertaining meant pouring drinks, creating a good atmosphere, and subtly touching… right?

And he wanted me and our youngest to do that…?

……

What the hell.

“Damn it… No wonder they offered 200 gold taels.”

In that moment, I lost my temper and approached Moon-seok with Inner Qi in my fist.

Seeing that, Moon-seok panicked and quickly explained.

“…No, no-! What are you thinking? Female guests. Female guests! We also have female guests! I was asking you to entertain the female guests.”

“Entertain female guests? That’s…”

…A host bar?

Finally understanding Moon-seok’s words, I spoke to him with a serious expression.

“Uncle Mun-seok. No matter what, our youngest and I are martial artists. How can we sit among women, flattering them and pouring drinks? We have our pride.”

“I understand… But these are very important guests. It’s hard to find men with your looks. Could you please just sit there like a statue?”

“Gah! No matter how much I value 200 gold taels, I have no intention of selling my pride. Uncle Mun-seok. No matter how much I respect the Lower Filth Gate, I’m very disappointed in you for making such a suggestion.”

“I’m sorry… But could you please reconsider? I’m begging you…”

Despite my firm stance, Moon-seok continued to plead. And soon…

“Young Ladies. Shall we toast?”

“Y-Yes…! I-I’ll pour the drinks…”

“Ah~, not this one. The expensive one.”

“Bring the most expensive drink here, ten bottles! Right now-!”

…I discovered a hidden talent of mine.