Night.
On the other side of the world, across another continent.
Michael is currently at a small local eatery in a street called Joseon Street just a block away from Lin’s Butcher Shop.
It’s a place where westerners can eat unique and traditional foods from the Republic of Joseon.
“Haa! It’s been a while since I’ve eaten Jajangmyeon” he said as he slurped a good amount of noodles covered in sauce inside his mouth.
Michael and the other customers in the store were still enjoying their food when a group of people in black suits came in barging rudely, startling the customers and workers.
“Mr. Jo! Good evening! What brings you to my establishment?” a middle-aged man wearing an apron hurriedly came out of the kitchen and greeted a man with bleached hair.
Mr. Jo suddenly snorted when he saw the man, and his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the owner’s hair and pulled his face towards him.
“Hey, Lee Gi Won! Have you forgotten? Today is the deadline for the payment, and you’re already two months behind! Do you know what happens to people like you who don’t pay?”
“But sir, Joseon Street is neutral territory. We don’t need to pay protection fees” Lee Gi Won hurriedly said, and even though he’s feeling pain from getting his hair pulled, he still maintained the smile on his face.
Mr. Jo scoffed while his three men behind him just laughed to themselves, looking really arrogant.
“What? Is it because of what that Lin bastard said?”
Then Mr. Jo pushed Lee Gi Won away so hard that his back slammed on a pillar near the counter.
“Dear!”
“Dad!”
Lee Gi Won’s wife and daughter who had been watching fearfully from the side hurriedly rushed towards him and tried to help him up from the floor.
While this was happening, some of the customers had already left because they didn’t want to get involved in any way, while some just continued eating and watch the scene with eyes filled with interest, with Michael being one of them.
Mr. Jo sat on his two feet so that he could look at the family eye to eye while wearing an arrogant and annoying look on his face.
“We, Wanderers are one of the two biggest organizations in this city. Only the Diabolos could compete with us here”
“So tell me, Mr. Lee Gi Won, did you really think we’d listen to the rules of a second rate organization?”
The Wanderers…is an organization or more so a large gang who had turned legal, who now operates as a legal company.
They are the group behind the Wandering Souls Guild inside the game.
While the Diabolos is a large yakuza organization that backs the Illusionaire Guild.
These two behemoths are competing against each other on who would rule supreme in the underground world of London City.
These large organizations might be considered good or bad at the same time because they operate in the gray area.
They don’t do drugs, selling organs, or human trafficking.
Instead, they are either involved in the food industry, entertainment industry, or businesses related to oil, electricity, and real estate.
And some of them are even involved in the arms race.
So why are they not involved in those “businesses” mentioned first?
Because they would be immediately struck down if they were doing those illegal things, and no matter how powerful they are, the government has already become more fearsome and overbearing on implementing their laws towards organizations like them as they had already learned from the many past regimes.
Where some countries became a puppet to powerful families.
And these huge organizations like War Angel or Black Skull are like the Rothschild, Rockefeller, or the powerful royal families.
“But…but that has been the rule since two decades ago, and we worked hard to earn this place!” Lee Gi Won couldn’t help but raised his voice in anger, and quickly regretted it afterward when he quickly remembered the people he’s facing.
“Dear…just stop talking back” his wife couldn’t help but said in a low voice, her face almost on the verge of crying, while their daughter just glared at Mr. Jo with red eyes.
Mr. Jo had of course noticed it and quickly burst out of anger.
“You brat…! How dare you look at me like that!”
“No!”
“Stop! Don’t hurt my daughter”
The wife and husband yelled out when they saw that Mr. Jo was about to slap the girl, even the customers were surprised by his sudden outburst towards the girl.
“Oya, if it isn’t the dogs from Wanderers”
Mr. Jo had just raised his hand and was about to slap the girl when a hand suddenly gripped his hand, stopping him.
He quickly turned his head around and saw Michael smiling at him, while his boys looked at each other before they slowly surrounded Michael.
“Who are you?”
Mr. Jo wanted to take his hand off from him, but he felt like the hand that’s grabbing his hand is as strong as a vice grip.
Michael gave a raised eyebrow towards the men surrounding him before his eyes went back to the bleach haired dude in front of him.
“You don’t deserve to know my name, but aren’t you ashamed? You can only bully weak that you would even raise your hand towards an innocent girl?” Michael scoff as his grip became tighter.
“Let go, you bastard!”
Jo yelled in anger as the veins in his face started bulging due to the pain, then he glared at his men and yelled.
“You useless f*ckers! What are you waiting for!? Get him!”
His men looked at each other before they jumped at Michael at the same time.
“Hyah!!!”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Two minutes later.
“Urgh!”
The sound of moaning could be heard inside the store.
Half of the furniture of the store had become a mess with people in suits lying on the floor, bruised and battered as they groaned in pain,
And in the middle of it is a man currently wiping off the dust on his clothes.
“Tsk! So much for being gangsters” Michael scoffed, then he took out his wallet and got some bundle of cash from it and handed it towards the daughter of the owners of the store.
“Here, payment for the Jajangmyeon and the current mess,” he said as he handed her two thousand dollars.
The girl who was probably around Athena’s age just looked at him dumbfoundedly while accepting the money.
