“You guys…”

“?”

“Have you ever heard the sound of a pig being slaughtered?”

The eyes of the slaughterer were extremely scary.

This was clearly a warning.

However, his words only made the gangsters inside the shop start to sneer at him.

“I was wondering what this bastard was going to say after sounding so serious.”

“Wow, I'm soooooo scared.”

This was an obvious reaction.

They were extremely experienced brawlers.

In comparison, this Asian bastard was just a butcher shop owner who sold meat.

“The environment we live in is different, you son of a bitch.”

Dan just sighed as if he was tired or as if he didn't want to cause a ruckus.

Ju-Heon had prepared this shop for him.

He was extremely angry because these bastards destroyed the display counter, scared his powerless employee and threw all of the meat on display to the ground so that they couldn't be used anymore.

But none of that mattered.

The only thing that mattered to him right now was the safety of his captured daughter.

“Alright, let the girl go. Then I will pretend that none of this happened.”

They continued to sneer at him.

“Does that idiot not understand the current situation?”

“You're acting all tough but are you an idiot? You don’t know who we are, do you?”

“Ah, whatever, youngest, go fuck him up! Destroy the shop too!”

“Yes sir!”

A thug then stabbed a knife in Dan’s body.

Puuk!

Dan curled forward and the gangsters started to laugh out loud.

“Haha! So who told you to act so tough?”

“Put an end to it! Finish it properly!”

“Let that bastard squeal like a pig like he mentioned.”

They heard a squeal as if to respond to that.

“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeal!”

The gangsters started to laugh even harder, thinking Dan was actually squealing.

“Hey hey, youngest, don’t over do it. How can you really make him squeal like……huh?”

They soon gasped. Dan was not the one who had squealed.

“Y, youngest!”

They turned around and saw that it was their youngest and not Dan who was on the ground.

The man was clutching his stomach as he rolled around on the floor.

“Ow! It hurts so much! I'm going to die!”

They then heard a calm voice respond.

“That’s weird. It shouldn't hurt that much since you’re so fat.”

The gangsters gasped in shock.

They couldn't believe it. Dan was the one speaking calmly right now!

“W, what the hell…… Who the fuck is this son of a bitch?!”

“He doesn't even look pale……! I saw the youngest stab him with the artifact knife!”

“What the hell?! How the hell are you fine?!”

Dan wiped the blood dripping out of his stomach area and continued to speak.

“Uhh……even if you ask me why I am fine, I don’t know anything about artifacts, so…”

“W, what?!”

“It might have hurt more if you used a regular knife?”

“I, is he crazy?!”

Dan started to walk forward to save his young daughter.

“Soo-A, just wait a little bit, okay?”

He was speaking calmly but Dan’s eyes were quite tense as he looked at his daughter.

But the enemies would not just sit still either.

‘Look at him thinking he’s the shit because we went easy on him!’

They were so angry that they started to shout.

“Hey! Stab his daughter!”

“Why don't you see how it feels!”

They then jerked Soo-A toward them.

“D, daddy!”

“B, boss! Soo-A!”

Sparks started to fly out of Dan’s eyes.

Something shocking happened at that moment.

“Squeeeeeal!”

“Squeeeal!”

There were numerous sounds of pigs getting slaughtered in the butcher shop.

Even they didn't know what had just happened.

What they did know for sure was that Dan suddenly disappeared and that they started to hear screams all around them.

Puuk! Puuk!

The five men who had barged into the butcher shop all fell to the ground clutching their stomachs.

Dan had ripped their flesh off in an instant the moment they tried to harm his daughter.

He had swiftly pulled the artifact knife out of the thug on the ground in front of him to do that!

They were rolling on the ground in pain after having their flesh cut off.

“Ow, fuck!”

Dan then said something toward them.

“I guess I should tell Mr. Ju-Heon that I'm bringing pork belly instead of tenderloin today.”

‘This little punk!’

However, they could not understand this situation at all.

‘What the hell is going on?!’

He was certain of it.

‘That bastard used our artifact.’

That was what made it weird.

Why?

“What the hell?! I thought they said that this son of a bitch couldn't use artifacts! It’s completely different from what they told us!”

“That’s right!”

This was clearly different from what they had been told.

They had triumphantly barged in here after hearing that he was a civilian.

But what the hell was going on?!

Kwon Hyuk Soo’s subordinates who were observing the butcher shop were in shock.

‘That man used an artifact?’

This was unbelievable.

The fact that he showed ghost-like abilities made sense since he used a possession-type artifact.

Most weapon-shaped artifacts were possession-types.

However…

‘We were told he was a regular butcher.’

They had finished investigating Dan a long time ago. They knew that Dan had nothing to do with artifacts.

‘How the hell did he use an artifact?’

“Is he the type that has a high Fit with knife artifacts? He is a butcher after all.”

“What? You think it is because he is good with a knife?”

They sneered even as they said that.

“Hey, if that made his Fit really high, all experts in the world would be elite artifact users.”

“Yes, it is just a coincidence.”

“I guess you're right. The knife artifact he just used was a C-Grade artifact.”

That was right.

Most civilians could use up to C-Grade (General-Grade) artifacts if they read a manual.

Why?

A healthy civilian would have the Dominance (Will) and Affinity (Sociability) to handle a C-Grade artifact.

“Fuck, Seo Ju-Heon must have taught him the basics.”

"Tsk, I could see that bastard doing that.”

“It’s fine, he's just a C-Grade artifact user.”

“Did he drink a ton of milk growing up? Is that why his bones are so strong that artifacts don't work on him?”

“Ah, that must be why Seo Ju-Heon rescued this bastard. Now I get it. He let him out of the penitentiary because he's a talent.”

They started to swear as they headed toward the butcher shop.

“Ah fuck, whatever, I guess we have to do it.”

“Yeah. We will use this bastard to take down Seo Ju-Heon. We’ll grab this bastard for the Chairman-nim in the process.”

“The other Monarch candidates are watching what we do as well.”

The other monopolizers were indeed keeping their eyes on what was going on.

Why?

Their fate as Monarchs laid in these people's hands and whether they could take down Ju-Heon and get the Monarch of Fate back.

In addition to the fact that Ju-Heon abducted the Monarch of Fate, they also hated the thought of Ju-Heon becoming a proper Monarch.

‘Seo Ju-Heon is the bastard who destroyed the market.’

That was right. Ju-Heon was selling healing artifacts and defense-type artifacts to civilians for cheap.

To be more specific, his company, Grave Company, was processing artifacts and mass producing medicine and self-defense weapons to sell to the public.

It was leading to a decrease in people suffering from Tomb syndrome and being harmed by artifacts.

This made the monopolizers extremely angry.

Why?

‘Our source of money!’

‘He must be crazy. We can monopolize those necessary artifacts and sell them in the future with extremely marked-up prices!’

‘Why the hell is he handing out those precious healing artifacts and defense-type artifacts to civilians?!’

‘Damn! That bastard gave away a way for us to grab control of the world…….!’

It was something like that.

There was more.

They had no other choice and tried to buy those processed goods from Ju-Heon but he said he wouldn’t sell it to them.

He told the monopolizers to go find some on their own since they had the means to do so.

How could they not get angry?!

They ended up deciding that they needed to get rid of Ju-Heon and his company in order to monopolize the important artifacts and increase their influence.

Although it was unlikely, what would happen if that bastard really did loot all of the Heirlooms?!

That would be the worst!

Their first step to taking care of Seo Ju-Heon was through Dan and his daughter.

‘We will start with him and take down all of the people around him.’

As Kwon Hyuk Soo's subordinates were angrily heading toward the butcher shop…

“Daddy!”

Soo-A had safely returned to Dan.

She jumped into Dan's arms and Dan was urgently looking to see if she had been hurt at all.

“A, are you hurt?”

He looked anxious that she might have even the smallest of injuries on her.

He was shaking so much that it was hard to tell that this was the same manly man who butchered meat all day.

Soo-A rubbed her cheeks against her dad’s chest saying she was okay.

Dan finally sighed in relief before tightly hugging his daughter.

“I'm so relieved, so so relieved.”

“Daddy, I'm okay, so don't w……”

“Like hell she's okay.”

The daughter who had been consoling her dad suddenly fainted.

Dan jumped in shock.

“Soo-A, Soo-A!”

“Soo-A!”

He started to shake his unconscious daughter. Unfortunately, Soo-A showed no signs of waking up.

Kwon Hyuk Soo's subordinates all walked into the butcher shop.

These people in slim fit suits were the aftermath clean-up crew. They were shaking a diffuser-like bottle.

“Don’t worry about the kid. I just put her to sleep for a bit.”

“I don’t want to do anything that’ll get us in trouble with Pandora.”

They were telling the truth. Soo-A was mumbling about wanting to eat cake.

‘Soo-A is okay, but……’

One of the men took something out of his pocket.

It was unexpectedly an airplane ticket.

“Let me give you a warning. You seem to be thinking of Seo Ju-Heon as your benefactor.”

“That bastard is not a good person. He’s on Interpol's wanted list. I have proof.”

“That bastard is trying to use you. He’s probably trying to make you into a Hunter…… Umm, basically, he’s trying to turn you into a meat shield. He wants to use your special body that can't be harmed by artifacts.”

“………”

“So please leave. Leave and receive Pandora’s protection. Your ability will be even more helpful to Pandora.”

He then took a bag of money out of a backpack.

“You won’t need to worry about living expenses either.”

Dan tried to pull the knife he used to take down the gangsters out of one of their bodies.

But they would not just sit back and let him do that.

“Ahem.”

They quickly took the artifact knife away and sneered at him.

“I understand you got some confidence after taking down some C-Grade artifact users, but it’s useless against us.”

“We’re all wearing A-Grade defense-type artifacts.”

The suits they were wearing seemed to be the defense-type artifacts.

Of course, they were enhanced manufactured goods and not actual artifacts, so the durability was low.

‘But it should be able to withstand a C-Grade artifact.’

“Please accept our offer if you understand. Don’t be fooled by Seo Ju-Heon and used by him.”

“That’s right. We are A and S-Grade artifact users. Don't think that we are the same as these gangsters. We won’t be taken down by a C-Grade artifact user like you……”

Something weird happened.

“Haaaaa.”

Dan sighed at them before heading into the back of the shop.

“Hey! Are you ignoring us?!”

He handed the sleeping Soo-A over to the employee before coming out with something.

“B, boss?”

What he brought out was a butcher knife and a whetstone for sharpening knives. They were what he had used to chop up the meat earlier in the morning.

He brought it out and started to sharpen it like a pro.

Kwon Hyuk Soo's subordinates became confused.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing? We’re not here to buy meat……”

“Sharpen that later………”

“Hurry up and accept our offer……”

Someone else urgently shouted at that moment.

“Hey. That’s not it! Take a closer look at that!”

“What?”

Shh, shh, shh, shh.

That was right. The issue wasn't the fact that he was sharpening a knife.

The important part was the identity of the knife he was sharpening.

“Wait a minute, that……!”

That was right.

It was an artifact!

Furthermore……!

“Hey, hold on! That feels like it is stronger than an A-Grade artifact……….!”

“Is that an S-Grade artifact?!”

They were certain of it.

All of Kwon Hyuk Soo's subordinates were talented individuals so they were able to instantly figure out that this was an S-Grade artifact.

Dan was sharpening it and channeling a large amount of Fit into it!

They became desperate after realizing this fact.

“What the hell is going on?! How the fuck can this bastard handle an S-Grade artifact?!”

A C-Grade artifact was understandable since civilians could use them after reading a manual.

However, B-Grade artifacts and higher required time to get used to the artifact in addition to Dominance and Affinity.

A-Grade (Treasure-Grade) artifacts required quite a lot of effort and time to use them properly!

How could a civilian with no training use an S-Grade artifact?!

"Fuck, where the hell did he get such a precious item?!”

“Shit, that’s not important right now! He’s about to activate it!”

They instantly started to move.

“Fuck, hurry up and use the memory modification artifact!”

“Tsk, I didn't want to use the memory modification, but……!”

Unfortunately, forget using the memory modification artifact…

“Haaa, I didn't want to do this.”

“Huh, huh, huuuuuh?!”

“But these crazy bastards want me to betray the Captain?”

Dan had a vicious smile on his face as he activated the Saurabi artifact that Ju-Heon had gifted him.

[1]

1. Saurabi is a Korean compound word that means a father who fights

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