Chapter 15: Dance under the lights (1)

The first thing Lee Do did was draw his staff.

Then, he focused on Maria.

“…Wh-What are you doing! Shoot!”

She pressed a point below her ear and blinked a few times, her vision clearing. Lee Do’s movements, shrouded in darkness, became faintly outlined. At that moment, a tremendous roar erupted beside her ears.

Bang!
Bang–!

Once again, vibrations ran through the floor.

–!
—!
–!

Blue light flashed intermittently, illuminating the space.

Then, Drrr! A low bass sound swallowed even the gunshots.

“…Sh*t!”

The night vision module, designed to amplify light, constantly analyzed and adjusted light intensity. If any light appeared in the darkness, the sensors automatically blocked it to protect the eyes.

The movements appeared to stutter, like frames in a broken film.

Lee Do had somehow dragged Rix’s body closer.

He used the corpse as a shield, its form becoming riddled with bullets.

He tossed the VIP’s body into the air.

The flashing light ceased.

Bang!

Maria quickly looked to her side. One guard knelt, and in the next instant, the guard opposite him knelt with a Bang! and a groan. She looked back at the table, but Lee Do was gone.

The guards’ screams erupted. A crack! Something being hit. Another gunshot. A whizz, a Bang–! Bang, Bang! And another scream.

One guard had been hit by another guard’s stray bullet.

Darkness spread. Even the d@mn night vision was useless.

“Drop your guns!”

Maria yelled, quickly holstering her pistol and drawing her knife.

The clatter of guns hitting the floor echoed. The guards simultaneously drew their folding knives.

The moment she pressed below her ear again, deactivating the night vision, it happened.

Drrr!

With a vibrating hum, a relentless blue beam sliced through the space. Lee Do, who had slipped between the guards, became visible.

He was taking a drag from his cigarette.

The light vanished.

Then, in the flickering light, his eyes met Maria’s.

The light died again. The next moment, a guard lunged, knife plunging down. Lee Do tilted his head back, dodging the attack. The light flashed. With a Drrr-, the blue light returned, revealing Lee Do gripping his staff as the guard crumpled to the floor.

The other guards swarmed.

And the unbelievable scene unfolded: he deflected every attack from all directions.

“…”

Maria instinctively stepped back.

Despite being surrounded, he continued to move, seemingly untouched. He twisted his shoulder slightly to avoid a knife, then swatted away the hand of a guard trying to grab him. The light went out.

A crack! A thud!

The guards’ groans echoed in the darkness, then the light flickered again.

Four guards lay sprawled on the floor.

“F*ck.”

Maria swallowed, reversing her grip on her knife.

It was Lee Do.

He dodged a straight punch by brushing it with his shoulder. Immediately after, a blade flashed towards his exposed abdomen. A diagonal slash. He spun his body as he punched the air.

The knife grazed his waist.

Using his momentum, Lee Do spun back. He raised his elbow.

Thump!

A kick punctuated the music. A flash of blue light. Whack! The guard’s body shuddered and stumbled. He tripped the guard who had thrown the punch.

“…Ugh!”

As he exhaled smoke, he turned his head.

He grabbed the stumbling guard by the hair. He slammed him against the wall with a thud!

The hi-hat stuttered through the speakers.

The body slumping against the wall was no different. Then, a voice from the side:

“Son of a b*tch!”

Lee Do kicked his staff up into his hand.

He swung, knocking the head of an incoming attacker with the staff, then gripped it with both hands, bracing it against the stomach of another charging guard. He pushed. Lifted. He kicked another approaching guard, twisting to stomp on his chest with his heel.

Simultaneously, he threw the guard impaled on his staff at another attacker.

A thwack! of the snare, and a thump! Two bodies hit the floor, the sound vibrating through the room.

“…”

Lee Do took a short breath, smoke curling around him, and surveyed his surroundings.

Not even a full verse of the music had played.

Yet, numerous guards lay groaning on the floor.

The remaining few, huddled in the shadows, didn’t approach.

They were shaken.

Only the image of Lee Do raising his hand to his cigarette flickered intermittently.

Then, he looked up.

He gripped his staff with both hands. Lifted it.

A figure darted through the gap between the guards. The light flickered, then died as she got closer.

Just a couple of flashes.

Maria.

Leaping, she swung her knife downwards at Lee Do’s neck, reverse grip.

It met the staff. But it was that knife. The vibrating blade began to grind into the natural wood of the staff.

The blade sank halfway through.

Lee Do spat his cigarette forward.

“Ah, ugh!”

It hit her eye. Her vision was momentarily blocked. Lee Do kicked her in the stomach, pushing her back.

She stumbled back, clutching her stomach.

Lee Do picked up the fallen cigarette and put it back in his mouth. A guard seized the opportunity and lunged, but Lee Do swatted him away with his staff. He collapsed limply. The guard’s slumping form mirrored the state of Lee Do’s staff, nearly severed in half.

Because of the blade.

“…”

The wood had snapped.

‘…That’s why I kept it at the motel.’

Lee Do discarded the broken staff. Its durability had been deteriorating ever since he started using it to club heads.

He looked ahead.

The blue light continued to flash intermittently in the room. The guards hesitated, gripping their knives. In the center stood Maria.

“…You… weren’t you Unjacked?”

Lee Do silently inhaled smoke.

As the smoke filled his lungs, he felt the Qi in his dantian.

It wasn’t real, but a placebo effect. It was meager, but the fact that he could now use Qi, however slightly, was enough.

Lee Do preferred it this way.

It was a phenomenon he’d never known and couldn’t explain, but he could rely on the forms.

Following the Taeheukgwon manual he’d read earlier upstairs, Lee Do adopted the stance. He simply raised his dominant right hand slightly above his waist.

Taeheukgwon, which emphasized relinquishing everything, even relinquished defense.

It quoted the !diotic notion that “attack is the best defense.” It was vastly different from modern martial arts based on kinesiology.

[TL note: Kinesiology refers to the scientific study of body movement. In martial arts, it involves understanding how muscles, bones, and joints work together to enhance performance, prevent injury, and improve technique.]

Maria’s eyebrow twitched upwards.

“…Martial arts? Eastern?”

He had to demonstrate it anyway.

Lee Do charged.

He targeted the nearest guard. He kicked off the ground, leaping forward, his open palm striking the guard’s stomach.

‘Heo-gwon (Empty Fist).’

Described as the most basic move in Taeheukgwon. Just two movements. Similar to a one-inch punch; it was balgyeong, specifically chon-gyeong.

He channeled Qi into his open hand.

Just that, and a tenth of the Qi stored in his dantian dissipated.

As he transformed his open palm into a fist, Qi flowed through his knuckles.

A thud.

The sound of his fist connecting. That was all.

The guard groaned, momentarily burdened by an unseen weight, then looked down at Lee Do.

The guard, regaining his senses, swung his knife.

Lee Do dodged, then immediately swept his leg.

“Ugh!”

The guard stumbled to his knees. Lee Do placed his open hand on the guard’s shoulder.

‘Swae-gong (Shatter Void).’

This technique focused Qi on the knuckles. Another tenth of his Qi vanished. As his hand formed a fist, his knuckles struck the guard’s shoulder. That was all.

Realizing it was ineffective, Lee Do immediately retracted his hand and struck the guard’s jaw with his elbow.

“…Gah.”

Lee Do instantly turned his head.

The next closest guard. As the guard hesitated, Lee Do kicked off the ground.

He placed his straightened hand on the guard’s stomach.

‘Swae-heo (Shatter Emptiness).’

He tried to force Qi into his fingertips, but this time, it wouldn’t flow.

‘Ap-heo (Press Emptiness).’

He opened his palm again, placed it on the guard’s stomach, and pushed with a fist, concentrating Qi in the center of his palm. A tenth of his Qi disappeared.

Equally ineffective.

A blue flash.

With a crack!, the guard collapsed.

“Get him!”

Three guards rushed him from the side. And Maria among them.

She lunged, slashing wildly with her reversed knife.

Lee Do crouched low. A fist shot towards him from behind. As he tried to block, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He shrugged it off, barely avoiding the punch, and a flash of light erupted.

Maria’s hook, knife reversed.

Aimed at his face.

Blood welled on his cheek. Lee Do stomped on the foot of the guard gripping his shoulder, shaking him off.

“Argh!”

Lee Do turned and placed his palm on the guard’s stomach.

‘Heo-myeol (Empty Annihilation).’

Qi focused in his wrist. A tenth. Again, ineffective.

‘Chim-gong (Invade Void).’

He quickly changed his hand position, extending only two fingers.

The Qi wouldn’t flow.

Lee Do shoved the guard away with a side kick. He slapped away a knife coming from the other side. As the knife clattered to the floor, Maria’s knee shot upwards. He deflected it with his forearm. He immediately kicked the guard who had dropped his knife.

‘…I’m starting to understand.’

He wiped the blood trickling down his cheek.

Maria thrust her knife towards his chest. Lee Do crossed his arms, blocking her wrist. The vibrating blade dug deeper. Another guard lunged with a knife. He kicked. A thud. The guard collapsed. Immediately switching to his knee, Lee Do rammed it into Maria’s side.

“Ugh!”

He kneed her again, and she staggered back, gasping.

But she was drawing her pistol from its holster. The image of her aiming at his head stuttered in the blue flashes. Like individual frames. Then, Bang–!

The bullet lodged in the ceiling.

Lee Do, lifting her wrist, placed his hand on her abdomen. The reversed knife grazed his face. He quickly jerked his head back as her other hand, holding the gun, came down.

Bang–!

The sound was swallowed by the vibrating bass.

Ducking his head, Lee Do drove his knee into Maria’s leg. He dropped down, stomping on her foot, crushing it. She collapsed. But she didn’t release the gun. She swung her knife, then fired with her other hand.

She pulled the trigger.

Lee Do swatted her gun-holding arm.

–!

She spun, clutching her arm in pain.

She struggled to rise, her hand trembling as she aimed the gun, but Lee Do was faster.

He placed his open hand on her abdomen. Taeheukgwon. Heo-gwon, Swae-gong, Ap-heo, Heo-myeol. Open hand, knuckles, center of the palm, wrist.

He inhaled cigarette smoke deep into his lungs. And he drew something up.

Qi.

He abruptly closed his open hand.

A fist. He changed it, thrusting it as deep as he could.

“…Uh… huh?”

A thud.

Not the weak thwack of a slap.

Something resonated, and her breath hitched.

Her body shuddered and stopped. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth. Her lips trembled. As if choked, she gasped shallowly.

Her trembling eyes looked up at Lee Do.

“Ugh… uh…”

The gun clattered to the floor.

Lee Do released her abdomen, and Maria slumped to the floor.

She clutched her stomach, her body trembling as she groaned.

Lee Do looked down at her, touching his cheek.

Blood dripped from the cut. It ran down to his lips, mingling with the cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“…”

He finally exhaled the smoke that felt like it had reached his dantian.

He turned his head.

He retrieved his bag from amidst the women still cowering on the sofa. His hand trembled as he tightened the straps. He’d channeled almost seventy percent of his Qi into that single punch; it was no surprise.

As Lee Do reached for the chip beneath Rix’s ear…

“…You… you.”

He turned at the raspy voice.

“Put it… put it…”

Maria, leaning against the wall, her eyes narrowed, mumbled something.

Lee Do glanced to the side. A guard lay face down on the floor. He was feebly aiming his gun at Lee Do.

But as if obeying Maria’s instruction, he dropped the weapon.

“…”

Taking a final drag from his cigarette, Lee Do silently turned back and ripped out Rix’s chip. He put it in his bag. Then he took the cigarette from his mouth and placed it on Rix’s corpse. The nearly finished butt smoldered like ash.

He stood up.

He walked towards the doorway, where the blue light still flashed.

Just as he was about to leave, Maria stammered,

“…X-Xia.”

She spat out blood, looked around, and forced a smile.

The room was devastated. The guards lay groaning, each one injured. Shot in the leg, or clubbed in the head, their vision swimming.

A scene of utter carnage.

But none were dead. Not a single one.

“Th-Thank you…”

Maria gasped, struggling to breathe.

“For… for saving…”

Her hand trembled as she fumbled on the floor.

She bit her lip, as if in discomfort.

Lee Do stopped.

Just before exiting, he turned as if remembering something.

He pulled something from his pocket and tossed it on the floor.

Someone’s pistol. If Qi and Xia were real, then there must be some truth to the idea of a dead man’s belongings being cursed. The gun landed on the floor with a dull thud.

Maria, watching him, chuckled dryly, more blood dripping from her lips.

It was a weapon of death.

A gun.

Maximal Engineering’s greatest failure, and simultaneously, its greatest masterpiece. A ridiculously stpid weapon that could easily take a life.

Its most common use wasn’t on the battlefield or in hunting grounds, but in the city.

She looked at Rix. A clear bullet hole marked his forehead.

Hesitantly, Maria finally spoke, ceasing to bite her lip.

“…I’ll… I’ll try to feel guilty… so…”

Lee Do opened the door, flipping open his phone.

–[016-151-6488]
Rix? That b@stard
Accidentally killed him
Can you recover the chip? I didn’t put it in a D-tab

He sent the message to Vivian and exhaled smoke. He stepped out of the room.

“Can I… remember you…? You…”

Maria’s distorted voice echoed from behind.