Chapter 210 – Stop It!
“Uuugh……”
Ma Kyung-su opened his eyes after having passed out.
It was so dark he thought he might still be in the parking lot, but he wasn’t.
‘Ugh—what is this smell?’
Even the smell was completely different from before.
Maybe there was trash nearby—some stale, musty stench rose up.
Clink—
‘What the hell?’
On top of that, his hands and feet were bound.
Judging by the sound and the feel—iron chains.
It seemed he’d been kidnapped and tied to a chair.
‘That bastard did this.’
Ma Kyung-su naturally recalled the attack in the parking lot.
The guy who’d smashed him in the face with a shield had to be the culprit.
‘I need to get out of here fast.’
He was blinking, trying to adjust to the darkness, when—
“Awake now, Kyung-su?”
“Hyung Kyung-sang?”
A voice came from right beside him.
Once his eyes adjusted, he could see Ma Kyung-sang tied to a chair.
Just like him, Kyung-sang was chained to a metal chair.
“Hyung, you got taken too?”
“Yeah.”
“F*ck. Whoever kidnapped us is a total dumbass. Does he think we can’t get out of something like this?”
Looks like he prepared chains because he planned to kidnap Players, but he picked the wrong people.
If it was strength he wanted, that was Ma Kyung-su—a Warrior-class who prided himself on it.
“Hrrrraaaah!”
But with his hands tied behind his back, and the chains wrapped in multiple layers so thoroughly, he couldn’t put his full strength into it.
“Don’t waste your 힘. I tried too—it didn’t work.”
Hearing that energy-draining line, Ma Kyung-su felt anger surge.
“Ah, Hyung! What the hell are you saying in a situation like this? We have to do something!”
“H-hey. Keep it down. If the kidnapper comes in—what then…?”
“Let him come in! I want to see that f*cking bastard’s face!”
He shouted as if inviting them, and the warehouse door really did open.
Creeeeak—
They both expected the masked guy with the shield to walk in.
But the person who entered was someone unexpected.
No—someone they’d also had in the back of their minds.
“Ma Kyung-rok…?”
So it was true.
The culprit was Ma Kyung-rok.
The proof was that slimy grin on his face.
It wasn’t the face of someone who’d come to rescue them.
“I knew it would be that bastard.”
Even under the brothers’ grinding, murderous stares, Ma Kyung-rok remained calm.
He only tilted his head.
“That’s weird. Did your guts fall out of your belly? Talking down to your older brother the moment you see him. Should I pull your intestines out while you’re alive and show them to you so you come to your senses?”
“F*ck, Ma Kyung-rok, you psycho bastard. In a situation like this, you want to be treated like an older brother?”
“Kyung-rok Hyung. Don’t do this—just untie us. Hurry.”
Unlike the aggressive Ma Kyung-su, Ma Kyung-sang pleaded with a pitiful look in his eyes.
“Hmm. I was going to decide whether to untie you based on how you act. But in that case, I should only untie Kyung-sang.”
“Untie me too, you f*cking bastard!”
“Looks like our youngest needs to learn manners toward his older brother all over again.”
Grinning, Ma Kyung-rok pointed his sword.
“Let it eat just one arm.”
From the blade, an unpleasant aura seeped out in a creeping flow—then lunged like a snake.
“Wh-what is this—get off! Aaaagh! I-it hurts!”
The Dark Aura latched onto Ma Kyung-su’s arm and started gnawing, tearing at the flesh bit by bit.
“Aaaagh! It hurts! Aaaaagh!”
Like an apple eaten by bugs, one arm became a shredded mess.
Ma Kyung-su was eaten down until bone showed—and finally passed out again.
Seeing it right beside him, Ma Kyung-sang’s teeth chattered like a trembling tree.
“Get up. Kyung-su.”
“……”
“Get up.”
Ma Kyung-rok walked over and slapped his cheek hard.
Only then did Ma Kyung-su come to.
“When did I tell you to fall asleep?”
“Ghhk……”
“No answer?”
At the icy voice, Ma Kyung-su lowered his head and mumbled.
“S-sorry, Hyung…”
He hadn’t fallen asleep—he’d blacked out—but he didn’t even have the energy to argue.
He didn’t have the courage to look up, either.
“You dumbass. If you were going to bow your head like that, why did you mouth off in the first place? Now you’ve turned one arm into a cripple. Not that it matters—you’re going to die anyway.”
At the word “die,” both brothers flinched, their shoulders trembling.
“S-spare me, Hyung…”
“P-please spare me…”
“Oh? So you want to live, huh? But what a shame.”
Ma Kyung-rok let out a snorting laugh.
“It’s water already spilled.”
“No. Not yet, Hyung. We can fix this.”
“Y-yeah. If you just let us live, we’ll keep our mouths shut. We won’t go around talking. We won’t even covet the successor position.”
“Heh, heh, heh, heh.”
Whatever was so funny, Ma Kyung-rok couldn’t hold back his laughter for a while.
“You guys are hilarious when you look at it. The eldest inheriting the company is the natural thing—so why are you greedy for the successor position? Just because you eat at the same table, do you think someone else’s rice bowl is yours too? People need to know their place. Tsk.”
“S-sorry. I won’t do it anymore.”
“Just forgive us once, Kyung-rok Hyung…”
“With no ability, you still get greedy. If you don’t like it, you should’ve been born the eldest. Where do you f*cking bastards get off climbing up at your older brother? Just because I’ve been quiet, do I look like a joke? Huh?”
He sounded furious, but Ma Kyung-rok’s expression was strangely composed.
As if he were deliberately acting angry to create justification.
That look made goosebumps rise all over Ma Kyung-sang.
‘Th-that’s it! That other side of Kyung-rok Hyung I’ve seen…!’
Sometimes he wore a chilling expression—and this was exactly that.
And this was exactly the timing to beg with both hands and feet.
“S-sorry! Kyung-rok Hyung! I-I was wrong.”
“Say it honestly. You were planning to kill me, weren’t you?”
“L-let me out of it! Not me—Kyung-su! Kyung-su was planning it!”
“What?”
Ma Kyung-su shot him a sharp look, but Ma Kyung-sang wasn’t seeing anything.
He was too busy trying to save his own life.
“Tell me exactly what the plan was. If you want to walk out alive tonight.”
“W-well, you see…”
Terrified, Ma Kyung-sang spilled everything—every detail of the plan he’d devised with Ma Kyung-su.
At that, a sneer formed at the corner of Ma Kyung-rok’s mouth.
“So you were going to duel and beat me?”
“T-that’s right. We weren’t planning to kill you. Not even us.”
“Really?”
“Of course! Do you think I’d lie in a situation like this?”
“Bullshit, you f*cking bastard.”
Beside him, Ma Kyung-su let out a scornful laugh.
“Kyung-rok Hyung, don’t believe him. He’s lying to get out of this.”
“What are you saying, Ma Kyung-su! What lie did I tell!”
“If you didn’t accept the duel, we were going to kill you. Kyung-sang Hyung agreed to everything too.”
“W-what are you talking about? I clearly opposed—”
“Opposed my ass. You even asked what time the operation meeting was tomorrow.”
“Hey, Ma Kyung-su! You really want to die?”
Ma Kyung-sang’s glare screamed it.
Why would you say it out loud and provoke him?
Why stir up a beehive when it’s quiet?
Reading that look, Ma Kyung-su sneered like he found it pathetic.
“Who betrayed first? I’m not dying alone, you f*cking bastard.”
“Y-you crazy bastard…!”
“Pfft—puhahaha!”
At the sudden laughter, the brothers who’d been fighting turned their heads as if on cue.
“Ah, sorry. Did I interrupt? Keep going, little brothers. It’s fun watching you fight. Show me more.”
As Ma Kyung-rok openly mocked them, the brothers fell silent instead.
Partly because the mood had been crushed, but honestly because they didn’t want to do what Ma Kyung-rok told them.
“What? Why’d you stop fighting? Go on—figure out whose fault it is.”
“……”
“Boring. It was hilarious watching two identical trash bastards argue about who was wrong and who wasn’t.”
He was blatantly laughing at them, but the brothers didn’t even part their lips.
They knew perfectly well who was holding the knife handle right now—Ma Kyung-rok.
“Feels like the flow got cut. Want me to lay out the mat for you?”
Ma Kyung-rok swung the sword wrapped in Dark Aura.
Slice—! Slice—!
The brothers flinched at the sudden attack—then their eyes widened when they realized their chains had been cut.
“Now it’s easier to move, right?”
“Why…?”
“Why did I untie you? Because I want to watch you fight some more.”
Smiling, Ma Kyung-rok continued.
“Fight each other. The one who wins gets to leave.”
“You want us to… fight?”
“Yeah. But not some duel. A real fight. With your lives on the line. I’ll 인정 you only if you completely snuff out the other’s life.”
“What?”
In other words: kill each other.
“The one who survives—I’ll take responsibility and let him go. I promise.”
“Y-you mean it, Kyung-rok Hyung?”
“Or do you want both of you to die by my hand?”
Ma Kyung-rok raised his sword, and Dark Aura surged along the blade.
This was the same Ma Kyung-rok who’d cut iron chains like tofu.
It was obvious what his combat power would be like.
‘Even for us… two-on-one would be hard…’
Ma Kyung-sang briefly thought that if they ambushed him together, two-on-one, they might have a chance—
But that thought didn’t last.
Looking at Ma Kyung-su, who was basically one-armed now, he realized it would be difficult.
“What’ll it be? Want to die? Or try to have at least one of you live?”
“I-I’ll do it. We’ll fight—kuheok!”
Suddenly, blood sprayed from Ma Kyung-sang’s mouth.
Ma Kyung-su—who had drawn a dagger at some point—slit Ma Kyung-sang’s throat.
Thud—
Ma Kyung-sang died with his eyes open, but Ma Kyung-su didn’t even look at his dead brother.
“Done, right? Kyung-rok Hyung! I won, so you’ll spare me, right?”
To kill his brother with a sneak attack…
Ma Kyung-rok let out a dry chuckle, then nodded as if acknowledging it.
“Good, good. Okay. Our youngest passes. A promise is a promise.”
“T-then I’m leaving?”
“Yeah. But…”
Click— creeeeak—
Afraid he’d change his words, Ma Kyung-su immediately opened the door.
Then he froze when he saw An Sang-cheol standing outside.
“I said I’d let you go. I didn’t say I’d spare you.”
“W-what did you say?”
“Manager Ahn.”
“Yes, Representative-nim.”
“Stop that bastard from leaving. I’ll kill him with my own hands.”
“Understood.”
Holding a shield, An Sang-cheol cast Knight’s Protection and blocked the path.
Not only could it protect the party—it could be used like a wall like this.
“F*ck! You son of a bitch!”
Ma Kyung-su, an assassin, immediately used Invisibility.
It was night—he planned to slip away using the darkness, but as long as he’d be caught by Detection, it was meaningless.
THUMP—!
“Keugh!”
Hit by the Shield Shove skill, Ma Kyung-su’s Invisibility broke and he rolled three times.
He was outnumbered, and one arm was on the verge of necrosis—disadvantaged in every way.
But he forced himself up with everything he had.
‘I-if I stop here, I die.’
He had to survive and tell the whole world about Ma Kyung-rok’s atrocities.
Even if it meant he’d go to prison.
With that single-minded resolve, he ran again—but An Sang-cheol wasn’t the only pursuer.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Ma Kyung-rok’s Dark Aura had already caught up, hooking around Ma Kyung-su’s ankle.
He tumbled across the dirt again.
Ma Kyung-su tried to rise at once, but—
Slice—!
Before he could even stand, his knee was cut off.
“Kkhhhaaaaaaah!”
“Now you can’t run, can you?”
“S-spare me! Hyung! N-no—Hyungnim! Ma Kyung-rok Hyungnim! Please spare me. I beg you! What do you gain from killing a beggar bastard like me, huh? If you let me go now, I’ll go overseas and live quiet as a dead mouse. Hyungnim. We’re family. Family! You can be the successor. So please—”
“Do you have a motor in your mouth? When it’s time to die, you show all kinds of faces.”
“Ah.”
In Ma Kyung-rok’s faint smile, Ma Kyung-su finally saw it.
That chilling look Ma Kyung-sang had mentioned.
And he understood.
‘H-he’s serious.’
No matter how much he begged, there was no intention to spare him.
He was purely enjoying Ma Kyung-su’s suffering.
“Isn’t anyone there?! Help me! Please, help me!”
“Go ahead and scream. It won’t matter. There’s no one here.”
Smiling, Ma Kyung-rok cut off the other leg.
Slice—!
“Kkhhhaaaaaaah!”
“That’s why I like this place. There’s nowhere better for dealing with criminals.”
“C-criminal?”
“And right now, there’s another criminal in front of me.”
Smiling, Ma Kyung-rok drew out the Dark Aura.
It was better to let Dark Aura handle the finishing.
“Eat.”
“N-no! Aaaagh!”
It was while the Dark Aura was tearing into his younger brother alive—
“Stop it!”
At the sudden third voice cutting in, Ma Kyung-rok’s head snapped around.
And he saw—
“Christine?”
His fiancée approaching, along with Seo Arin.