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It’s quiet, very quiet.

Standing in the square strewn with blood-stained gravel, I lit my pipe and gazed at the camp, which was enveloped in an eerie silence.

The familiar sounds of insects and beasts were completely absent, leaving nothing but perfect stillness.

Occasionally, a gust of wind would whistle through the alley, and shadows slithered slowly, the only signs of life remaining in the camp.

All the camp residents were dead.

Just a day ago, the camp had been lively and bustling, but it had now turned into a graveyard with the structure serving as a tombstone.

This extremely quiet camp was so silent that even the heartbeat felt hard to conceal.

Only the ninjas, melted into the darkness, remained.

Right now, there was a ninja hiding in the corner of this square, watching me from the shadows.

A ninja clad in a yellow suit who was fixated solely on me, ignoring everything else while systematically exterminating only the camp residents.

It seemed this operation was aimed specifically at the camp inhabitants, and even after turning the Geyang Mountain camp into the Geyang Mountain graveyard, they continued to search for something.

I started to get a sense of what they were after.

Those dark beings were searching for the ‘anomaly’ of this camp.

And that ‘anomaly’ would serve as a clue to solve the request.

I felt an intense conviction about that.

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud gunshot shattered the camp’s silence.

If the ninjas weren’t actually hiding guns, that was probably the sound of the revolver I had handed over to Junior No. 2.

The gunfire echoed from a point not too far away.

Just like how I was heading toward the sound to find Junior, the ninjas began to flock toward the direction of the noise.

Bang! Bang!

The rapid gunfire continued.

Could it be that the situation was more dangerous than I thought?

The revolver I gave them had six shots, so they must have just emptied the chamber with that recent firing.

When I reached the source of the gunfire, I found a place piled high with construction materials.

As I contemplated whether to climb over the walls of the materials, a loud sound sliced through the air.

Weeeeeeet!

It was an annoyingly loud whistle.

Ninjas that had been lurking in the shadows, and those who had been climbing over the construction materials, all stood up and began to dash toward somewhere.

The sudden surge of ninjas was significant, far exceeding my expectations.

All the ninjas headed north.

If I remember correctly, there should be a sewer entrance leading to a massive underground canal to the north of the camp. Could there really be something there?

With that thought in mind, I moved into the open lot from where the ninjas had exited.

*

One of the ninjas surrounding me pulled something from his bosom.

What could it be? I wondered, but it turned out to be something completely unexpected.

Pudding!

A beautifully packaged premium pudding.

Wait, why is a ninja carrying something like that?

The ninja carefully unwrapped the packaging as if performing a religious ceremony.

That solemn act felt almost sacred.

Holding the unwrapped pudding in both hands, he lowered himself to the ground and offered it to me with the utmost reverence.

It felt just like presenting a tribute to a king.

I tasted the offering out of curiosity about what it might taste like.

Omnomnom.

Wow, it’s delicious.

Better than what I ate at the Sehee Research Institute.

It was pudding packaged in a way I had never seen in Korea, and the taste exceeded my expectations.

As I bounced around joyfully, the ninjas began to gather and create something.

A giant human pyramid!

A throne wide enough to be a bed!

It was the massive pyramid made of ninjas’ bodies with a throne perched atop it.

?

So, are they telling me to get on top of that? There aren’t any stairs!

As I was pondering that, the ninjas extended their hands like they were forming stairs to climb.

It seemed they wanted me to step on their palms alternately to ascend.

I placed my foot on the palm of the ninja at the bottom.

It was surprisingly stable, as they held on tightly.

Hehe, this feels a bit ticklish.

The sensation made me scrunch my toes playfully as I stepped from one palm to another, pressing down gently until I stood on the throne.

It felt surprisingly sturdy despite thinking it might be wobbly or uncomfortable.

Then, let’s jump and dive from up here!

Boing, boing.

Even when I jumped, the throne made of ninjas remained solid.

Boing, boing, I kept bouncing since it felt so fun.

On either side of the throne was a ninja presenting pudding to me, while on the other side, another ninja fanned me.

Oh, it feels just like a royal throne.

Leaning back comfortably against the throne while enjoying delicious pudding made me feel like an actual king.

The giant throne atop the colossal pyramid.

And there I was on top!

A comfy seat, tasty pudding, and the sense of omnipotence emanating from the firewood below.

Should I take these ninjas to the Sehee Research Institute?

It could be fun to keep them there and let them build pyramids when they get bored!

While I was daydreaming about such things, a loud whistle suddenly pierced the air.

Rustle.

The ninjas forming the throne and pyramid began to disperse from the bottom.

After presenting one last pudding with polite gestures, the ninjas bowed and started to leave one by one.

Was something happening?

I watched the ninjas retreating as I munched on the pudding.

They disappeared, leaving behind an enormous pile of pudding.

When am I going to finish all this?

*

A man cloaked in darkness like a ninja.

A man thick with the smell of blood.

He stood at the entry of a container, wielding a sword dripping with blood.

The crimson stains flowing from his blade made it clear what purpose he had in coming here.

I tightened my grip on the hammer and surveyed the situation.

Grrr.

The ninja let out a sound like boiling water and pointed somewhere.

The client.

The ninja was pointing at the client.

“Hyejin, protect the client!”

The ninja’s target appeared to be the client.

It’s a bit strange, but a client is still a client.

I can’t let a ninja get their hands on them.

The ninja seemed to sense that a fight was on the horizon; tension filled the air.

His gaze was focused on my every move, particularly on the massive hammer I was holding.

The ninja shifted his weight as if he was ready to pounce at any moment.

Thump, thump.

My heart raced as if it could burst.

Not out of fear, but excitement.

The brief stillness shattered with a sharp slicing wind.

In an instant, a metal cut swung right in front of my nose with agility that reached the limits of human capability.

I calmly deflected it with the head of my hammer, but the ninja’s attacks didn’t stop at one or two.

The barrage of strikes from every angle made it clear that the ninja’s training was on the level of a master.

But.

None of them could touch me.

I swung my hammer, timing it to intercept the ninja’s attacks.

Like a cannonball fired from a loaded cannon, my swing smashed through the ninja’s blade, shattered his right hand, and burst his head beyond that.

The corpse, now missing its head and right hand, crumpled backward.

With a splat, blood finally soaked into the container’s floor.

Haa, haa.

Adrenaline coursed through me, making it hard to breathe.

However, I had no time to rest.

Another ninja was climbing over the construction material wall.

I quickly retook my grip on the hammer and prepared to meet the charging ninja.

The second ninja hesitated, seeing his comrade’s corpse, and moved more cautiously.

He stared at me like a lake, as if searching for an opening.

Tap tap tap.

The ninja tapped rhythmically on the ground with his feet.

Just as it seemed he was waiting for something, he suddenly lunged forward and swung his sword at me.

That felt like a desperate move, disregarding his own life.

But the struggle was useless in front of my hammer!

I put all my strength into a downward swing to crush him with his own blade.

The moment I felt the anomaly was as I started to swing.

From behind the first ninja, another one jumped out.

Not just one, but two?

There was no way I could block the dagger thrusting from the second ninja.

Ah, is this how I die?

Just as I thought that, a loud sound rang out.

Bang!

Flames spewed from the revolver left by my senior, and the ambushing ninja fell, his head punctured cleanly.

“Ha, thanks. Hyejin.”

We had managed to fend off two more ninjas but still had no chance to rest.

More and more ninjas were entering, beyond two, three, four.

Hyejin had only two bullets left in the revolver.

Fortunately, the entrance to the container was narrow.

There was no immediate concern about being surrounded…

But can we really win this?

Five ninjas were sizing me up.

There might be even more waiting outside, but first, I decided to focus on the immediate situation.

As the air inside the container grew charged with tension, the ninja silently charged all at once.

I tried to swing my hammer at the incoming ninjas, but they didn’t intend to give me a chance to swing.

With strange angles of attack, at least two blades came at me.

There was no time to retaliate; I could only focus on blocking or dodging those strikes.

I was slowly being pushed into a corner.

Hyejin was getting closer to me.

At this distance, the ninjas would likely be able to target the client directly…

This is dangerous.

What should I do now?

Bang! Bang!

Two more gunshots echoed, but those bullets missed uselessly.

The ninjas had deliberately provoked me into shooting.

Weeeeeeet!

Just when I thought it was over, the loud whistle pierced the air.

As soon as the whistle sounded, the ninjas distanced themselves from me, slowly retreating and vanishing into the shadows.

As the long whistle faded, the ninjas I was facing had long since disappeared beyond the shadows.

Haa, I survived.

 

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