Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

45 – A guide for graduate students walking through the slums

Before entering, familiarize yourself with each direction.

Go straight, left, right after five steps. Then go straight.

Until when?

I don’t know, the road may change, so keep walking until you signal again.

Zach, do you have any references?

Don’t look into the alley where I signal in the middle, and be careful as feces and urine may be sprayed from above.

Why is it sprayed there? Is it ghetto hospitality?

No. If there is a space to make a bathroom, one more family can fit in, so we don’t make a bathroom at all.

Oh my God.

Now, any other questions?

……

I don’t think there are any questions.

Move.

It was quite dreary in front of the slums at sunset.

The end of the castle wall was visible between the shabby duplex houses built on the fly.

The sun hanging over him turned his back on things he didn’t like.

And we became pilgrims walking in his footsteps.

For a free drinking party that will fill your stomach, and for paid happiness that will fill the poverty in your head.

Dubok, thump.

Chalbak.

At some point, the sound changed.

The street in front of the slums was definitely different from the roads we had passed through.

Infrequently, there was a difference in the clothes of the passers-by, and the border was severely felt in the eyes,

Even the soil was very wet and made a sound every time I stepped on it.

Is it my imagination that it feels like the edge of a mire?

Steel puck,

Now the mud that was spewing on him was crushed because it couldn’t hold the moisture.

And the first to react to the noise were scruffy children with their heads on the ground.

Six pairs of jewels, probably the brightest and cheapest in the slums, flickered towards us.

Wow!

And in the blink of an eye they ran away.

Wow.

Even while the children who look like rats are spreading everywhere,

Charleureureuk.

Even while the windows that saw the five unknown people began to close the curtains and become wary,

Tuk, tok.

Even while the wary forearms masquerading as peace were smirking somewhere in the alley.

We were still standing in front of him, blankly.

“Well, no one volunteered to go into the slums without thinking about such a reaction, right?”

Zach shrugged his shoulders.

“Welcome to the ghetto, friends.”

At his Gao overflowing words, the mercenary friends spoke one word at a time.

“If anyone sees it, they say it as if they are going to invade the lord’s castle.”

“Set the mood and do something, temporary squad leader.”

“Damn it, I’m going to wear an armband at a time like this or at some point.”

Zach muttered, his face wrinkled.

“Then do whatever you have to do. Let’s check all the equipment and go.”

“I’m pissed off.”

“No.”

“By the way, there is nothing special about equipment, right?”

This time, the newcomer asked that and searched for her waist.

“At most, there are clubs, ropes, and gags. Ruler-“

“Oops, f*ck.”

“Trying to pull it out in the middle of the street.”

As he unknowingly tried to pull out a wooden club, the mercenaries around him stopped him with a single word.

“Huh? Why?”

“After.”

Seeing the rookie’s bewildered expression, Zach sighed and asked.

“Who told you to bring that friend?”

I answered instead.

“A friend with the name first-come-first-served basis selected that rookie.”

As for the sister products, there are Mr. Lee Dong-sik, the worst corruption, and Mr. Nada-jak.

“Damn it. Anyway, don’t be careless. The ghetto is not a place to stay for long.”

Jack spat out seriously.

I listened to what he said and took a closer look.

Certainly, it wasn’t a very good place to fight.

Of course, there is no feng shui in fighting, but at least there are things that can be seen.

A clothesline hangs low between buildings, and the filth that makes you have a habit of never opening a window while eating is occasionally visible on the floor on the street.

This place was a little out of place, even with shiny blades protruding from the alley.

There’s even a rookie who can’t tell the difference between pee and sh*t, so of course, isn’t it good for each other not to make a fuss?

“By the way, these guys won’t touch us if we inform them that we are mercenaries, so why don’t we just inform them and leave?”

“Of course I won’t touch it. People here are people too. Do you know what dungeon you are going into?”

At the newcomer’s question, Zach laughed heartily.

Then he stopped laughing and said.

“But I didn’t say I wouldn’t touch it even if there was a commotion. And no one knows what will happen in the meantime.”

The newcomer kept his mouth shut. It was because he was not an idiot enough to talk about guards in a place with poor security.

“Now, that friend is a newcomer, so even if you say that, even after eating a knife, there won’t be any idiots pulling out their weapons and checking them like an idiot, right?”

“Those guys are already dead.”

“I think there is still one person in front of me.”

“Son, you can finally see me.”

Everybody giggled at someone’s joke and tapped the waistband covered with clothes or coats.

Zach made sure everyone was ready and stepped forward first.

“Come on. Let’s go in.”

As I entered the slums, I felt a strange feeling.

Maybe it’s the laundry hanging on the line that hasn’t dried yet, or the moisture from the puddle full of roaches.

Or maybe it’s the sound of a wooden bowl falling from somewhere, I don’t know if it’s because of the cries.

The chatter of tramps coming from nearby, as well as the sound of clashing.

The sound of a child crying and singing at the same time.

The unwashed white hands that look like a drowned body peeking out of the window as if they were glued together from the bottom of a river.

And the bony hands that hurriedly tried to cover up the ugliness in the room and the news outside the room with rags that would be embarrassing to call it a curtain.

Because it was all natural, just like our bodies breathing, our eyes blinking, and our hearts beating.

This was a slum.

I was feeling the quagmire of my life as a trial version.

Sticky, slick.

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The soles of the soles were stained with mud that had not fully absorbed the moisture and had rotted away.

With that crushing feeling, the rotten smell it contained burst into the air.

My face naturally frowned at the stench that smelt through my nose.

“Ugh.”

But the trial version is 4D. f*ck.

“I never dreamed in my life that I would come to the Hebrides slums to catch thieves.”

“Me too.”

For the mercenaries, chatting was a good way to lower tension.

There was no reprimand, so the chatter continued.

“The air in this place sucks.”

One of the mercenaries muttered softly.

Hearing that, I unintentionally replied.

“But it’s a good place for a motherf*cker to hide.”

“Shh.”

We went quiet a couple of times and then went back to being loud again.

Dubok, thump.

‘Turn left.’

Dubuck.

‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5.’

Chalbak.

Zach took five steps and turned right, and there was a straight alley in front of us.

Now we are out of the maze of buildings.

“We are almost there. It is a ‘corridor alley’.”

The darkness that filled every alley gave the impression of a column in a corridor.

Jack stepped back and uttered only one word.

“Never show nervousness, as long as you are moderately nervous, there is no problem.”

Unlike the horse, let’s follow him as he walks leisurely, ‘Persimmon’ shouted.

―Two on the left, one on the right.

―The second alley on the right. Sixth right alley, one.

“Jack.”

I reported it to Jack.

“That’s what I said.”

He said plainly.

“They won’t bite unless you turn your head.”

I followed his advice.

Because no one will wield a knife first if a vigilant cat gnaws.

That’s why I ignored the feeling in my head and just followed Zach.

“……”

The men with daggers in their arms quietly disappeared into the alley.

We passed the corridor safely.

Ttuk, ttuk, ttuk.

After walking for a while, his feet stopped.

The grey-brown alley, which had become completely dark before I knew it, was emitting darkness from afar, eating up the scattered lights.

“Why are you lost?”

A mercenary approached Zach and asked.

“No. It doesn’t. How long have you been living here?”

Zach shook his head.

“Certainly, according to the information received in Hwaruan, we will arrive soon, and we know the way. However…”

“By the way?”

“According to what I just remembered, the town we are going to now has a lot of affection between people, so thieves don’t enter it often, right?”

He started doing a useless build-up.

“You will have to be careful.”

“So?”

“Just, yes.”

Zach finished his words and went into the alley, and I immediately followed.

Of the four hitmen, the only one who hesitated to follow him was a newcomer who was constantly showing off something on his waist.

***

Chalbak.

I heard the sound of a puddle broken in the sole of my shoe breaking against a narrow wall.

“I have arrived.”

A shabby wooden building appeared in front of us.

But it looked more like an abandoned house than an inhabited one.

Zach said with a nod of his head.

“Looks like you came to the right place.”

As he said, he seemed to have come to the right place, as he could see something faintly orange, something like a shadow, through the broken windows.

“How do you know?”

But our newcomer didn’t seem to see the light of day.

Of course, no one told me, so I opened my mouth.

“I will not give you the answer you want.”

There can be no such thing as an abandoned house in this slum where rooms are being built without space to make a toilet.

Knowledge becomes one’s own when it is acquired through self-exploration.

“By the way, Jack.”

“Huh?”

Raymond, the mercenary who came with him, asked Jack a question.

“Is it okay if we just walk into this street? What you said earlier was a bit harsh.”

“Oh, that one?”

He replied with a shrug.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter if there are mercenaries hanging around in this town.”

“…Why?”

“They are the main customers of the flower girls. What I said is just a warning, so just take it into consideration.”

Zach murmured softly.

There was a hint of remorse in his voice, but it was none of my business.

As I listened for a while, I could hear the occasional chatter between the buildings built of wood and occasionally stone.

I tried my best to ignore him, but I guess he wasn’t my friend.

“Damn it. It’s good to sell.”

The rookie who heard the teaching grumbled.

And then I saw Zach’s face crinkle slightly.

The guy didn’t know that and kept mumbling.

“The first things that appear around the slums are brothels and orphanages, Jin-“

Zach’s expression became distorted, so I called him.

“Shhh. Newcomer, come over here for a second.”

As he drew closer, I whispered in the newcomer’s ear.

“I saved you once.”

“What?”

“No, there was dog poop where I was just about to move my feet. He saved your shoes.”

Ignoring the newcomer looking down in bewilderment, he looked at Zach again and asked.

“Come on. What’s your plan, squad leader?”

“It’s a plan.”

He quietly hid the club in his hand, then opened his mouth again as usual.

“It is a very simple method. Aye.”

– Bang!!

I kicked in the door and went in.

The guys who were holding something inside looked at me in amazement.

Looking at the skull we saw earlier engraved on one of his forearms, we seemed to have come to the right place.

“What is that guy again?”

“Baby…”

That’s why I crossed my arms and looked over at the thieves, provoking them.

“It is a felony not to turn yourself in to the guards even with such a criminal face!”

“Guards?”

“The one wearing the sack?”

At that time, the thief came out of the room and shouted at me.

“What is that bastard!”

Looking at the scabbard engraved on his face, he seemed to be of some rank among them.

At this rate, all five of them are there.

I raised my throat a bit.

“The transport wagons are coming, so quietly lower your weapons and surrender!”

“What do you mean?”

On the faces of those who heard my words, both absurdity and anger coexisted.

“Look, I think only one of them came.”

And after I heard the muttering of one of the thieves standing by the window, I began to see nothing but blood on their faces.

“You’re crazy.”

“That’s right.”

Suddenly, sweat began to seep out of his face.

The reason was simple.

Because the one thing I brought to put on them was f*cking hot with only holes and eyes pierced in the sack.

‘f*ck.’

-Cover your face before you go, because if you miss it you might get retaliated against.

I was tempted to knock Jack for advising me to cover my face before entering.

And as soon as I heard that, I wanted to hit me for using the sack.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have just come and borrowed a piece of towel hanging on the clothesline.

The thieves started responding even while they were criticizing the past me who didn’t think of the future me.

And the method was pretty smart.

“See you later!”

Two of the five run back,

“Awesome!!”

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Because the three rushed at me.

Tadadak!

I can only comment on that action, as if it were training to prepare for unexpected events.

“I guess thieves these days have a fast face too? They move like rats.”

“Shut up!!”

But they didn’t like my opinion so much, so they started running faster.

“Kiaaa!!”

“Die!”

They are daggers, and they have raised their axes.

The blade swaying in the lamplight was brutal.

The three of them’ eyes were pretty glaring, like they’d killed a lot of people.

So you must have come all the way to the Hebrides.

But at this moment all I could think of was a cold beer.

So, I untied my arms.

“Do-mo, f*ck = bastards!! I don’t have a name to tell you guys!!”

Then I just rushed at them while shouting aisatsu of victory.

Today’s ambush has already been used up on the door just now.

“Wow, wow!!!”