Tang So-yeol, wearing a tilted red octagonal cap and puffing on a pipe, said while standing with arms crossed.
“Contestant No. 8, how many times for the movement?”
“Twenty times!”
“Your voice is too quiet. How many times for forty?”
“Forty times!!”
“Proceed!”
“One…! Two…!”
Today, I yawned lazily while watching the rolling Sacheon Outcasts.
Since coming to Sacheon City, I had been so busy that I hadn’t relieved my fatigue at all.
First, I dealt with the invasion of the Outcast Faction Forces.
Due to the proclamation Jeong Cheol had put up, wandering Outcast guys flooded into Sacheon City, but that would soon settle down. After all, the fact that Sacheon City firmly established itself as the territory of the Righteous Faction would probably deter the influx of external Outcasts.
While organizing the Outcast Faction Forces, I shared credit with the Sacheon City sects, alleviating the suspicion towards the sects somewhat.
Moreover, I successfully tightened the reins so that these guys wouldn’t run rampant too easily.
Sacheon Outcasts are expensive.
Outcast Martial Artists cannot just hire an Outcast because they were extorted a bit. They truly must feel like they’re grabbing a lifeline to place a request with that level of desperation.
Right now, people still depended on the Sacheon Outcasts, as the Righteous Faction in Sacheon City couldn’t carry out proper activities, but naturally, once they started fulfilling their roles, the number of people looking for the Outcasts would decrease.
There was still work to be done, but at least I could say a minimal balance was achieved.
“Gymnastics No. 11! How many times for twenty?”
“Twenty!!”
“Huah…”
Hearing the Outcasts grunting, I flipped through a martial arts novel, and a sense of peace made me yawn involuntarily.
Thinking about it, I really had been running without a break.
During the period I was under the Unknown Elder, I couldn’t even dream of rest, and after that, I was immediately transported by Bicheongmacha to understand the changes in Sacheon and worked hard to stabilize things.
It may have only been six months outside, but it felt as if I had run without stopping for several years.
Anyway, since I’d put out the urgent fire, I should rest for a few days.
…But as I rolled around, it wasn’t long before trouble struck.
“I can’t take it anymore!”
“I’ll collapse from overwork and die like this!”
The Intermediaries stood up in protest.
Everyone in the Outcast Inn gathered in the dining area.
Angry like a swarm of bees, the Intermediaries buzzed. Yu Sa-yeon stood with her arms crossed. The Sacheon Outcasts, who gathered to see what was going on, looked on.
“Hey, Black Cat, got any rice crackers?”
“Let’s all share them.”
I didn’t want to miss this splendid spectacle either, so I occupied a corner of the dining area and shared rice crackers with my group while watching.
“Increase the number of Sacheon Outcasts immediately!”
“I’m so overwhelmed I might lose my hair!”
“Dealing with client anger is fine for a day or two! I can’t stand this anymore!”
In truth, the Intermediaries rising up felt like the inevitable had come.
Receiving hundreds of requests a day, the Intermediaries hardly processed much of that. Even if one Outcast handled one request a day, it wouldn’t exceed thirty requests daily.
Taking into account that the Outcasts didn’t just process requests every day, and that some requests needed several people and would take several days, the number processed in a day would drop further.
Ultimately, most requests just piled up, and the dissatisfaction from clients could only grow, increasing the pressure on the Intermediaries.
Yu Sa-yeon frowned at the complaints of the Intermediaries.
“Do you think I didn’t pick because I didn’t want to? How can I pick when the only people coming are suspicious? Because of Jeong Cheol, all kinds of trash mixed in, how do you think I’m supposed to handle that?”
Yu Sa-yeon’s retort held some truth.
After the Tang Clan issued a rebuttal statement, the requests would have exploded, and as the value of the Sacheon Outcasts soared, everyone would rush to become an Outcast.
From Yu Sa-yeon’s perspective, not wanting to deal with such trash every day would make sense.
“Even so, not picking a single person is a bit too much, isn’t it?”
“Is there any willingness to recruit people?”
With the Intermediaries’ protests, Yu Sa-yeon sighed and replied.
“I’m already at the point where having two bodies wouldn’t be enough. Interests in the personal martial arts tournament are rising, so I need to keep an eye on that, I have to manage relations with the Sacheon City sects, and I can’t count how many places I need to show my face as the representative of the Outcast Inn.”
I munched on the rice crackers while watching the heated exchange between the Intermediaries and Yu Sa-yeon; it was quite a treat.
This situation could be summarized as having reached the limits while handling things in a haphazard manner.
Until now, Yu Sa-yeon had managed all matters related to the Sacheon Outcasts. However, with an additional title for Yu Sa-yeon and the soaring value of the Outcasts, outdoor activities significantly increased, and various problems started appearing.
When the person wielding the authority was busy with other tasks, how could new members be recruited?
While recruiting the Sacheon Outcasts was important, what Yu Sa-yeon was doing was also significant.
“Anyway, we can’t work like this! Recruit new Sacheon Outcasts!”
“Yes, that’s what should happen…”
Hmm, this doesn’t feel right.
Ultimately, the conclusion of the protest by the Intermediaries was that someone had to take on the task of hiring the Sacheon Outcasts.
And currently, I was indeed the most suitable person to delegate this task to.
I quickly stuffed the remaining rice crackers into my mouth, trying to make a run for it.
“Ho Cheon-an!”
Yu Sa-yeon called out just a bit faster than me.
“Stop stuffing your face and get to work!”
“Damn it.”
*
What’s the hottest topic in Sacheon City right now?
It’s the Sacheon Outcasts.
Those Sacheon Outcasts posted an official announcement!
The contents of the proclamation spread throughout Sacheon City in an instant, and those who heard it nodded with joy or glinted with anticipation.
The Outcast Inn is hiring new Sacheon Outcasts!
With the news of the public recruitment of Sacheon Outcasts, Martial Artists and young people filled with hopes of a brighter future fired up.
For them, being a Sacheon Outcast was like a bundle of romance.
Enduring the hardships of time, quietly honing their skills, they wielded heroism as the Brain Knife Outcasts during the tumultuous times of Sacheon due to Jeong Cheol’s actions!
Disregarding the attitudes of the Sacheon people who belittled them, they boldly intervened in the underworld, pursuing their own path as the Sacheon Outcasts!
Those intoxicated by that romance flocked to the Outcast Inn, wanting to become a Sacheon Outcast.
While many were drawn by that romance, they were just a fraction of the applicants.
In their minds, as they rushed to the Outcast Inn aspiring to become a Sacheon Outcast, a single dark figure vividly emerged.
What they envisioned in their minds was one specific object.
That object was the Hero Badge.
Worn after defeating the Bandit Alliance, the Hero Badge!
The impact of the Hero Badge was tremendous.
Even the elders who used to slandered the young people now smiled and offered good wishes to those adorned with the Hero Badge.
Fair maidens, usually high and mighty, looked shyly with favorable glances, worried they might break their necks looking up at it.
And even the men who would shout that they had no pride because they were broke couldn’t help but turn their eyes down as a powerful item emerged.
Everyone looked at the one wearing the Hero Badge with reverence as if they were a divine being, and the young people who longed to become divine aspired to own something similar to the Hero Badge.
However, the era that seemed eternal for the Hero Badge was drawing to a close.
Following Jeong Cheol’s appearance, the misdeeds of the sects in Sacheon City were exposed, and the sects and Martial Artists found themselves in a position where they could no longer boast about defeating the bandits.
In the name of reflection, they had no choice but to voluntarily remove the Hero Badge and their belts.
Now that the Outcast Faction had been eradicated from the underworld, the number of Martial Artists donning the Hero Badge and their belts was on the rise, but the Hero Badge was no longer the absolute symbol it once was.
A new representative item of the present had emerged.
Black Rib!
The Black Rib was not just a substitute for the Hero Badge.
It was something beyond the Hero Badge.
First, the Hero Badge was not so scarce. Ultimately, it was an item that returned to every participant in the end. Since it was given to each participant, it became hard to discern superiority among those who wore it.
Moreover, there was yet another issue with wearing the Hero Badge.
It didn’t look natural!
The Hero Badge, commemorating the subjugation of the bandit alliance, was fine and sleek with its fluttering elegance but, unfortunately, it looked too long and cumbersome to wear casually.
How would people see someone wearing such an awkward piece of gear?
They would look as if they were dying to boast about their own laurels.
There was another alternative item called Hero Amulet, but this Hero Amulet was hard to notice at a glance, so its effectiveness was quite limited.
For these reasons, while the Hero Badge left a sense of regret, the Black Rib was different.
Wearable at all times!
Unlike the Hero Badge, the Black Rib was work equipment, allowing for natural wear. The person wearing it could walk around anywhere without it looking odd due to the need for anonymity!
Just wearing it would make one the deity of Sacheon City—a perfect divine item!
Absolute Black Rib!
“If I can wear the Black Rib, I’ll become the god of Sacheon City!”
“I didn’t know the Hero Badge would become an item like this during the bandit subjugation, but this time it’s different!”
With aspirations to become the god of Sacheon City by acquiring the Absolute Black Rib, the Martial Artists and young people flocked endlessly.
“This is a disaster…”
Upon hearing the news, Ho Cheon-an could only mutter such words.
