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Hiding in the back alleys of the red light district, I began to count silently.

After 30 seconds, I faintly heard a commotion in the distance.

It took them this long? As expected, these guys are third-rate.

Now, the fuse has been lit.

I quietly headed west again. There was one more place to stop by.

After walking for a while, I came across a building with no windows, all sides blocked by black walls.

It brought back memories.

“…”

This was the place where I was first reborn in this body.

[Vanilla Sky]

I recalled what Zion had told me.

— There’s one place in Khao Tao that’s not influenced by either Dark Soul or Bayern. It’s called ‘Vanilla Sky.’ It’s the dividing line between the west, which is Dark Soul’s territory, and the east, which is Bayern’s.

— Not influenced? But Blok seemed to go in and out of that place like it was his own home.

— Just think of it as a neutral zone. It’s also where the most money is made in Khao Tao. I don’t know for sure, but it probably makes more than the combined tributes of Dark Soul and Bayern.

— Does it have a separate line of business or something?

— I don’t know that much. What’s certain is that whatever happens inside Vanilla Sky, Dark Soul and Bayern can’t interfere.

As I opened the door and entered, yellow light enveloped me in the pitch-black interior.

The parts not touched by the light were all in darkness.

A young man in white, sitting under the light, waved at me.

“It’s been a while. How long has it been?”

A cheerful voice that didn’t match the gloomy atmosphere.

It felt strangely artificial.

“Are you here to enjoy the night’s dream, or to pick a rare star?”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but I chose one.

“I’ll go with the night’s dream.”

The young man in white asked with an exaggerated laugh.

“Really? That’s unexpected. I thought a guest like you would definitely come to pick a star.”

“I’m old, so I just want to dream a little. Guide me quickly.”

“An excellent idea. Follow the light upstairs.”

As I slowly followed the light, I thought.

Night’s dream. Rare star.

Zion didn’t tell me about this, but I could guess.

‘Night’s dream’ must mean hallucinogenic drugs. We used to call it that when I was a gangster. ‘Rare star’ probably refers to high-class prostitutes.

I reached the end of the hallway and found a huge circular hall.

The hazy smoke of hallucinogens obscured my vision, and the disgusting smell stung my nose.

Looking around, most of the people were staggering around with glazed eyes or drooling, amidst the noisy clamor.

I slowly scanned the area and headed inside.

‘He should be around here somewhere.’

The smoke from the hallucinogens was like fog, making it hard to distinguish people.

The deeper I went, the more winding paths appeared like a maze.

There were individual rooms scattered on both sides.

As I checked each room, I suddenly felt like I was reliving my childhood.

With the heart of a child playing hide-and-seek, I cheerfully searched for Krak.

Creak—

‘Jackpot.’

I found Krak in a corner room.

Not only Krak, but Blok and another big guy were there too, all gathered together and smoking hallucinogens.

“Hey.”

I walked slowly towards them.

Their dull, lifeless eyes slowly turned towards me.

“What?”

I shouted at Blok without warning.

“You punk!”

Blok looked at me, dumbfounded.

“Are you crazy? Who are you?”

I puffed out my chest and said proudly,

“Norman Bayern.”

“What?”

As soon as Blok frowned, I slapped his forehead with my palm.

“You don’t even recognize your own grandfather? You rotten kid.”

Blok immediately straightened up from his half-lying position.

He rubbed his eyes, examined my face closely, and then tilted his head.

“…Grandfather? I had a grandfather?”

“You ungrateful brat!”

I slapped Blok’s forehead again, harder this time.

With a loud smack, Blok’s head jerked back and then returned, his eyes now glaring at me.

“You crazy…”

I didn’t back down and met Blok’s gaze.

The other two big guys had already regained their senses, but they were frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

This was because I was staring at Blok with such a stern look.

They were probably afraid of the consequences if I really turned out to be Blok’s grandfather.

Krak cautiously asked,

“…Excuse me, old man. I’ve never heard of anyone named Norman. Could you perhaps be mistaken?”

“You rascal!”

I slapped Krak across the face and continued in a stern voice,

“Do you think I feed you guys for this?! I put you by Blok’s side to assist him, and look at this mess. You bunch of idiots, getting high on hallucinogens together. Get on your knees and repent. I’m going to teach you a lesson today.”

“We’re sorry.”

As soon as Krak and the other big guy awkwardly knelt, I slapped Blok’s forehead once more with all my might.

Seeing his nose bleed, I continued in a rapid-fire voice,

“You ungrateful brat. Ungrateful bastard. Unfilial bastard who doesn’t even recognize his own grandfather. Where do you get off looking down on me? I might just gouge your eyes out.”

While I was talking, Krak and the other guy stood up simultaneously.

It seemed they finally realized I wasn’t their grandfather.

Krak shouted,

“This crazy old man is asking for it, really. Who the hell are you? How did you even find this place?”

“Krak, you punk! You don’t even recognize your own grandfather!”

I tried to slap Krak’s forehead with the same tactic, but I failed. It seemed he wasn’t completely stupid after all.

Blok, who had finally regained his senses, was leaning back, staring at me with bloodshot eyes.

He took a deep drag from the half-burnt hallucinogen and exhaled the smoke with a whoosh, before speaking.

“Rip that old man’s mouth apart.”

“Yes.”

Krak and the other big guy charged at me simultaneously.

I swiftly unsheathed the black spear from my back and swung it horizontally.

Caught off guard by the old man’s spear skills, their clothes were ripped open, revealing their flesh.

A large black dragon tattoo was emblazoned on their chests. Typical third-rate thugs and their tacky tattoos.

“…That spear.”

Krak retreated and widened his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re with Dark Soul. You damn old man, ambushing us here!”

“…”

When I didn’t answer, Krak drew a knife from his waist and charged at me, cursing.

His momentum was good, but he was still third-rate.

I swung my spear, its blade glowing red with Fireball, like a bolt of lightning. Their gloved wrists were cleanly severed.

Fwoosh—

Blood splattered in all directions in the smoke-filled room…

Before they could even scream, I thrust my spear downwards again.

As I saw the big guy’s chest split open, I kicked off the ground and grabbed Krak’s hair with my other hand.

“Ugh.”

Pulling his head towards me, I whispered in his ear,

“Long time no see.”

“Ugh. Let go, you old bastard.”

“I told you you’d be dead if I drew my sword.”

“What?”

“Want me to set your head on fire like your friend?”

Krak’s eyes widened in shock as if he suddenly remembered something.

“You, you’re that bastard from back then!”

“Shh.”

I roughly pushed his head down and swung my spear like lightning.

“Gah!”

A final scream.

A streak of blood splattered on the table in a long arc.

“…”

Was I too good with the spear, or were these guys just too weak?

It suddenly occurred to me that there’s no knowledge that’s useless. I never thought that imitating knights’ spearmanship out of boredom while slaying demons in my past life would come in handy like this.

Of course, it wasn’t over yet.

“H-hey. Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

Blok looked like he was about to faint.

His face was pale with fear.

“Let’s talk this out.”

Something about his posture seemed odd, so I took a closer look…

He was trembling and secretly drawing a magic seal, which made me chuckle.

He had plenty of time, but he still hadn’t completed it. This guy was really something else.

“You’re quite the idiot too. Should I wait for you?”

“…Sh-shit.”

“Call me grandpa.”

“Grandpa.”

“Alright. You unfilial brat.”

I poured myself a drink in an empty glass and watched the Corpse Eyes’ antics.

“It’s taking you a while. What are you doing?”

After emptying three glasses, Corpse Eyes finally stopped struggling. A look of relief appeared on his face.

“You’re dead, you son of a bitch. Water Spear!”

Fwaaaang—!

“…”

Blok’s smile vanished in an instant.

With a wave of my hand, the ‘Water Spear’ dissipated without a trace.

‘Wind Step.’

I moved like the wind, grabbed two of Corpse Eyes’ fingers, and bent them back.

“Aaack!”

“Nice show, grandson. Now it’s time to get hit. How many hits do you want?”

“…U-ughhh!”

“Looks like you don’t want to answer. Actually, the answer is already decided.”

I started slapping Corpse Eyes’ forehead slowly.

“One. Two. Three, four, five…”

Smack—

Ah, what a satisfying sound.

Blok kept moaning strangely as I continued to hit him without pause.

“Uggghhh…”

I kept hitting him because I didn’t want to hear it. After over 100 hits, I couldn’t hear anything anymore. I got thirsty from hitting him, so I emptied a glass of poison liquor that was nearby.

“Ugh.”

I hit him again. And again. With my left hand, then my right. I even hit him with liquor on my hands.

Smack— Smack— Smack—

I stopped after exactly two hundred and ninety-seven hits.

I approached Blok, who had passed out with his eyes rolled back, and said with a smile,

“Don’t think this is the end.”

* * *

I finished up and left the room.

The hallway was still filled with hazy smoke.

Whoever designed this place did a good job. It was moderately private and moderately open, the perfect structure for suckers to lose track of time and spend money.

Lost in thought, I ended up getting lost. I thought I was going back the way I came, but I found myself wandering in an unfamiliar place.

I walked towards an area where the smoke was thinner, and suddenly a narrow passageway appeared, with stairs leading down.

“Hmm.”

Since it was too much trouble to go back, I started down the stairs as if in a trance. As I stepped off the last stair, I saw a large stage-like structure.

‘What is this?’

The central stage, hidden by curtains, was lit by spotlights, and the audience seats surrounded it.

People wearing masks were looking down at the stage from the seats.

I was looking for an exit, thinking this wasn’t the place for me, when someone approached with a chilling aura.

“…What are you doing?”

A man with a white mask covering his face spoke.

“We’ve told you repeatedly to follow the rules.”

“…”

“It’s about to start. Why would someone here to pick a star…”

Suddenly, I realized something from the white mask’s words.

‘Could this place be…?’

The underground auction house.

It seemed this was the underground auction house Zion had mentioned, where shady merchants gathered. It was a place where many items of unknown origin were dealt with, and the participants concealed their identities.

“I’m not here to buy today.”

“Even so, you must follow the rules.”

I tested the waters, and as expected, my guess was right. The ‘rare star’ referred to the auction.

“I was planning to leave before it started. Could you guide me to the exit?”

I tried to make an excuse and leave, but the white mask grabbed my wrist.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

The white mask’s voice turned cold.

“May I see your entry pass?”

I realized that the ‘entry pass’ meant the ‘mask’ and tried to say I lost it, but it didn’t work.

“You’re lying.”

As the white mask raised his hand, others wearing the same mask gathered around.

“Once you enter to pick a star, you can’t leave until it’s over. You must know that.”

I was about to say something, but then I had a sudden idea.

“Actually, I’m not here to pick a star, but to sell one.”

I immediately pulled out the B-grade mana stone from my pocket and held it out. I didn’t mind since I was planning to sell it anyway. However, it didn’t work this time either.

“You’re lying to the end. You must know what happens when you break the rules.”

The white masks gathered around me, all staring at me. I sighed and said,

“I’ll be honest. I got lost. I was playing upstairs, and I must have gone senile. I saw a passage and came down here, and then…”

I pointed towards the passage but gasped.

…What?

The passage I came down from was gone.

I definitely came down the stairs, but now it was blocked by a wall.

I looked around, but there was no sign of a passage, only white walls.

“Hahahaha.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Had I finally gone completely mad? Was I going back to my past life?

Just then, a low voice came from somewhere, preventing me from returning to my past life.

“Everyone, step back.”

“Yes.”

The white masks parted like the tide, and a black mask walked out.

“You said you want to sell something.”

I held out the mana stone and replied,

“That’s right.”

The black mask examined the mana stone and said,

“B-grade. Not bad quality. Let’s do it.”

The white masks murmured in surprise.

“What? What do you mean…?”

“That’s against the rules. We need to verify this person’s identity.”

“Enough. I’ll handle it. Go back to your seats and prepare without any issues.”

The black mask cut them off and said to me,

“Follow me.”

I followed the black mask backstage, and there was a staircase leading outside.

“Go that way. You’ll find the exit.”

“Thank you, young man.”

I nodded silently. As he said, when I reached the top of the stairs, I saw the door I had entered through.

At the counter, the same young man in white was dozing off. He saw me and smiled brightly.

“Did you enjoy the night’s dream?”

“Indeed. I even sold a star today.”

“Haha, I know. I’ll issue you a certificate, so come back later to receive your payment.”

I felt a sense of unease and stared at the young man before answering,

“…Alright.”

“Yes. Then, farewell, Young Master.”

For some reason, the young man’s voice continued to feel artificial.

* * *

On a dark night filled only with moonlight.

As I returned to my family’s estate, having crossed the eastern part of Khao Tao, I suddenly chuckled. The last words of the phony kept echoing in my ears.

— Then, farewell, Young Master.

I was clearly disguised as Bravo Khan.

But what? Farewell, Young Master?

‘What a cheeky fellow.’

I think I know why I kept feeling uneasy.

————