Chapter 6: Creation of The Phantom Troupe

POV of Suho Kang

I headed towards the Haegyedong neighborhood to meet this guy named Myeong Seong, but I prefer to always call him PNG. I don't think he'll give me his gang easily, despite the beating from last time.

"No, I'm sure he'll put up resistance," I muttered, looking around once I arrived.

"I'm here," said Myeong Seong, coming out of a nearby alley.

Surprisingly, he was alone with a girl who I assumed was Hansol, my cousin.

"I see you've come alone," I said with a slight smile on my lips.

We both knew that the number of adversaries he could bring with him would be useless against me, unless perhaps he brought abnormally capable people, but I doubted he had the financial means for that.

"Indeed, it would be stupid to come with others, you could misinterpret things," he said calmly with an apathetic expression.

I don't know why, but I started feeling like smashing his face again, but it wasn't a priority.

"I presume you are Hansol?" I said, looking her up and down.

Indeed, she resembled my aunt, but this girl's eyes reminded me of some prostitutes I had seen in my past life.

Precisely those who had dealt with a great deal of filth disguised as human beings.

I remembered more correctly the plot of the manhwa called "The Girl from Random Chatting!" where Hansol made an appearance, but given my aunt's story, I had good reasons to believe that Hansol harbored an enormous hatred towards human beings in general and men in particular.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she said, stepping back slightly.

"I'm just surprised by your resemblance to my aunt," I said honestly before holding out my hand to her.

"I'm Suho Kang, your cousin," I introduced myself with a friendly smile.

"I'm Hansol, the second leader of the 1103 gang," she said without shaking my hand.

I just retracted my arm. It seemed she hated me without any real reason, but I didn't really blame her since she was born from a rape and, moreover, the culprit was her uncle.

"So, you informed me that you want to negotiate with me, PNG," I said, turning my attention back to the leader of the 1103 gang.

"Yes, I would like to remain the chief of 1103 with Hansol and, in exchange, I would pay you a certain percentage of my earnings," he explained calmly.

Frankly, the proposition was fair. I could let him control his gang and come collect money every month, but that option didn't interest me.

The main reason preventing me from accepting this offer was simple: the current income of the 1103 gang was too dirty.

If it was dirty money but laundered intelligently afterwards, I would accept without hesitation, but I remembered that the protagonist of the manhwa "The Girl from Random Chatting!" was able to dismantle their organization.

I didn't want to be tied to these kinds of time bombs, I preferred to change its structure or just take control.

"I can't accept, unless you agree to me changing the way your group operates," I said, shaking my head to clearly indicate my refusal.

"What do you mean by 'changing the way our group operates'?" Png asked, frowning.

"You guys are just too amateur," I said, not mincing my words.

"How so?" the PNG calmly asked, he really seemed curious about the reason for my statements.

"I looked into you guys, and I know you earn your money through harassment and blackmail using a random chat app," I said, observing their stunned reaction.

"I see you've investigated us, but you're not the only ones who did a little digging, taekwondo geniuse," the PNG declared, looking me straight in the eye.

It seemed he wasn't the gang leader for nothing, he didn't come to face the unknown but was preparing himself.

"Well done, you know a bit about me, but you have nothing to threaten me with and it wouldn't be a good idea," I said, making my most menacing smile.

"I don't intend to threaten you, that would be suicide given the identity of your 'tutor'," the PNG declared, stepping back slightly.

"So? Do you accept a reform of your gang or do I take direct control?" I said, looking him in the eye.

This conversation had gone on long enough. If he didn't accept my conditions, I would simply beat him up and take control of his gang the old-fashioned way.

"Could you explain your reform to me?" Hansol calmly asked, without the initial hostile tone.

It seemed that seeing my "dark side" made her understand who was in the position of power here.

"I'm going to introduce a 'point system of organized crime' into our gang," I said with a smile, watching their confused faces.

I then began explaining to them the systems put in place by the 4 major second-generation crews, using Olly Wang's words so they could easily understand.

"Fascinating, I deduce that you plan to create an application to unilaterally contact the lower members of the organization to give them instructions and make the opposite impossible," the PNG declared, clearly looking at me with respect.

"Exactly, I've already started creating an app for my future project called 'Telegramm'. With this app, it will be impossible for the police to trace it back to the head of the gang," I said, smiling.

I spent a few more minutes explaining to them the details of using "Telegramm" and how it would need to be used.

"I think you'd make a better entrepreneur than gang leader," Hansol declared, clearly shocked by my explanation of some of Telegramm's functions.

"You'll understand later, my dear cousin, that there is a limit to my ascension within legality," I said, referring to my pitiful death on Earth.

"So, you must become my direct subordinates or do you prefer to be a gang among others?" I asked with a serious expression.

After looking at each other for a few minutes, Hansol and the PNG burst out laughing.

"Hahaha!"

"Ok, you've both gone mad," I said, looking at them.

"Sorry boss, we're just laughing at our own ignorance," Hansol declared.

"Indeed, I now understand that despite my current support in the police, it's only a matter of time before things go wrong," the PNG said, nodding his head.

"I'm leaving, and from now on our gang will no longer be called 1103 but 'The Phantom Troupe'. We won't leave any trace of ourselves," I said as I was leaving, but I had to turn around one last time, I had forgotten to say one thing.

"I will also need full access to the authority of your 'Random Chatting' app, preferably by tonight," I declared before taking my leave.

...

"What do you think of him?" Myeong Seong asked his collaborator.

"I think he'll make a better leader than us," she said, leaning against a wall of the alley.

"Yes, I think so too, but I don't think our goals will align," he declared, looking at the sky.

"Why do you say that?" Hansol asked, frowning.

"Unlike us two, he wasn't born bad," he said before heaving a sigh.

"Yes, but he's dangerous," Hansol responded before starting to head towards the alley exit.

"I think we should cooperate for now, and you saw it yourself, didn't you? He's competent and very strong," she said before leaving.

"Yes, it's true, he's strong and competent Hansol, but he hasn't suffered the same injustices as us," he muttered before shaking his head to chase those thoughts away.

'For now I'll follow him, after all, I just want to let loose without being punished by the Law and he seems to be the best path towards that goal,' he concluded mentally.