Chapter 142 – The Dog Dealer

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

The shout came from not too far away.

The outskirts of Tapgol Park.

The source of the sound was where elderly men were playing janggi (Korean chess).

Curious about what was happening, Kim Byung-soo walked in that direction.

Min Do-jun naturally followed along, and soon they could see the scene.

“I told you not to give advice, you bastard!”

“What? Bastard? You senile dog!”

Two old men were raising their voices in front of the janggi board.

As insults flew back and forth, Min Do-jun’s brow naturally furrowed.

Kim Byung-soo, who was watching, clicked his tongue.

“It’s unpleasant to see old men fighting like this, but hearing dog-related insults always makes me feel bad. How hurt would dogs feel if they heard this? Tsk tsk.”

Kim Byung-soo seemed displeased with people using dog-related insults.

‘Should I say this is typical of Pet Master?’

While acknowledging his immense love for animals, Min Do-jun was also trying to find his flaws.

That’s when it happened.

He sensed killing intent from Kim Byung-soo, who had been quietly listening to the conversation.

‘What’s this?’

Since he detected it through his ability, there was no way he was mistaken.

Sure enough.

Kim Byung-soo was directing a murderous gaze toward one of the men.

The reason was none other than:

“I used to be a dog dealer in my younger days, you know? If you were really a dog, you’d have been dead by my hands, you bastard!”

‘Is it because of the dog dealer comment?’

Reflecting on when the killing intent arose, it was from the moment the term “dog dealer” was mentioned.

‘Well, to someone who loves animals, a dog dealer is practically an archenemy.’

To dogs, such a person would be a devil, and to Kim Byung-soo, who considered dogs like his children, they would be no different from murderers.

“Hmm.”

Sensing Min Do-jun’s gaze, Kim Byung-soo quickly withdrew his killing intent and turned away.

“They say watching fights is the most entertaining thing in the world, but this kind of fight only makes one feel unpleasant.”

As if he didn’t want to pay any more attention, Kim Byung-soo stepped back, and Min Do-jun felt something was off.

“My mood is ruined, so I’ll be going now.”

“Ah, you’re leaving already?”

“It was nice talking to a decent person after a long time. I wish there were more people like you in the world who love animals.”

Leaving just those words behind, Kim Byung-soo left the park with his hunting dog.

“……”

Min Do-jun, who had been quietly staring at the spot where he left, looked at the message that appeared in the corner of his vision.

[Distance to target: 21m]

……

[Distance to target: 45m]

……

[Distance to target: 68m]

Although the distance was increasing, he didn’t follow.

‘I’ve caught his scent, so I can track him anytime now.’

No matter how skilled at escaping he might be, he couldn’t evade the ghost wolf’s tracking.

‘There will be plenty of opportunities to kill him. What I need to know is whether he’s an old man who deserves to die.’

And judging by the killing intent just now, Min Do-jun felt the old man might do something.

‘Let’s eat first and then start tailing him?’

Min Do-jun left the park after finishing his business.

* * *

Late at night.

There was an old man walking in a zigzag pattern, seemingly drunk.

It was the old man who had caused a commotion at Tapgol Park in the afternoon.

“My distant love~ Hack, ptui! Love in the sky above~♪”

While he appeared to be in a good mood as he sang and walked, the reality was quite different.

“Damn, that bastard reported me to the police just because I gave some advice.”

The old man, suddenly recalling the incident at the park, stopped singing and started cursing.

And his curses always involved dogs.

Perhaps because he used to work as a dog dealer in his younger days?

For some reason, using dog-related insults made him feel good.

“Hack, ptui!”

The old man, who spat out hot phlegm, approached the wall of an alley.

Then, fumbling with his pants, he relieved himself against the wall.

Trickle-trickle-

“Hic. Whew.”

As the old man, who even hiccupped, finished his business and was about to walk away.

“Huh?”

He spotted a dog rummaging through a pile of garbage in the alley.

“There’s a dog here?”

Though it was quite large to be called a puppy, that didn’t matter to him.

The problem was that seeing the dog made his already gloomy mood even worse.

“Damn, I’m already in a bad mood, and now a dog…”

While he enjoyed using dog-related insults, that didn’t mean he liked dogs.

If he had loved dogs, he could never have worked as a dog dealer.

“I was already pissed off, but this is perfect.”

The old man rolled up his sleeves as he walked towards the dog.

“Time to relieve some stress after a long time.”

The old man’s lips curled up into a smile.

The memory of beating dogs to death to relieve stress in the past came to mind.

“Nothing better than dogs for stress relief…”

The old man approaching the dog suddenly stopped and frowned.

“What’s this?”

The dog, which had been rummaging through the garbage, stopped and stared at the old man.

Yet it showed no signs of fear or any intention to run away.

“Did you get shot in the head? You’re just standing there looking at me?”

A dog dealer is nothing short of a devil to dogs.

Dogs with their keen sense of smell would surely recognize a devil who beats their kind to death.

Yet the yellow dog in front of him not only didn’t run away but stared at him with wide eyes, and then, as if uninterested, went back to rummaging through the garbage.

Naturally, the old man’s pride was hurt.

“Ha, I’ve been retired for years, and even dogs disrespect me now?”

The old man’s face twisted grimly, and he looked around as if searching for something.

Upon finding a metal pipe, his face lit up.

“This will be good for beating it to death.”

With the determination to beat the dog to death and release all the stress he had received today.

Just as he looked back at the dog with that resolve.

An old man, who had appeared out of nowhere, was petting the dog.

“Did you scatter the garbage?”

Sniff sniff-

“No, no. Garbage is not for eating.”

Seeing the old man speaking affectionately to the dog, the dog dealer frowned.

“Ah, tsk. So it had an owner?”

The dog dealer lowered the metal pipe as if disappointed, and was about to turn away to find another way to relieve his stress.

But.

“Excuse me.”

He had to stop because the other old man called out to him.

“Where are you going? Weren’t you about to do something to our Byung-hoon?”

“Byung-hoon?”

A look of bewilderment crossed the dog dealer’s face.

“What a senile old… Gasp!”

The dog dealer, who was about to curse, suddenly inhaled sharply.

Grrrrrr-… The seemingly docile dog was baring its teeth with a demonic expression.

Gulp-

The dog dealer, who had never feared any dog, gripped the metal pipe tightly with tension.

“Byung-hoon, what’s wrong? What did that old man say to you?”

Grrrrrr-

“Ah, it seems he’s angry because you insulted me.”

Pet Master Kim Byung-soo looked at the dog dealer.

“It seems Byung-hoon is quite angry because you insulted me. Apologize.”

“What are you talking about, you old… Gasp!”

Startled by the hunting dog that finally charged at him, the dog dealer swung the metal pipe.

“Die! You dog!”

Despite being 70 years old, the old man was still vigorous as he swung the metal pipe wildly.

Any dog would cry out if hit even once, but Byung-hoon was no ordinary dog.

Clang-

The metal pipe hit the hunting dog’s head directly, and a triumphant smile appeared on the old man’s face, but.

Grrrrrr-

The smile instantly vanished when he saw that the dog was completely unharmed.

KWAAANG!

Crunch-

The dog dealer screamed as his shin was bitten.

“Aaaaargh!”

The skin was torn through the pants, revealing the white bone.

Crunch- Crunch- CRUNCH-!

“Aaaah! Aaaah! AAAAH!”

As his leg from shin to thigh was ground as if in a crusher, the dog dealer screamed loud enough to shake the alley.

But since a sound-blocking barrier had already been deployed through a bat summon, the screams wouldn’t leak outside the alley.

Crackle- Crackle-

“Guhhhh…”

Just as the old man was about to die from shock due to the terrible pain.

Kim Byung-soo, who had been watching with cold eyes, scolded the hunting dog.

“Stop. Garbage is not for eating.”

Kim Byung-soo, who seemed to be stopping the dog, pointed to the bag the hunting dog had torn.

“Garbage should be put in garbage bags.”

At that instruction, the hunting dog mercilessly tore the dog dealer apart.

The old man, who couldn’t even leave last words, was dismembered and placed in a garbage bag.

Kim Byung-soo, who had watched the entire process with an expressionless face, turned his head.

“If you’re done, let’s go.”

After dismissing the hunting dog summon, Kim Byung-soo calmly left the alley.

There were no CCTVs in the area, and since he had only used the hunting dog, no evidence remained.

Even if people realized a murder had occurred, it would be difficult to identify a suspect.

Kim Byung-soo might think he had committed a perfect murder, but he was wrong.

There was a witness who had observed the situation, if not from the beginning, then from the middle.

None other than Min Do-jun in his invisible state.

‘……’

After dinner, Min Do-jun had maintained his invisibility and followed Pet Master Kim Byung-soo.

And then he witnessed Kim Byung-soo committing murder.

It was already too late to intervene.

‘What just happened in front of me?’

Min Do-jun couldn’t gather his thoughts for a while due to the somewhat surreal situation.

That was understandable, as he never imagined he would witness a murder, especially one where a person was torn apart so brutally.

‘I feel like the soup I had for dinner might come back up.’

Of course, he was used to seeing people die, having witnessed it hundreds of times.

Hadn’t he even killed people himself at times?

‘But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a brutal murder scene.’

Should he compare the shock to seeing a comrade being eaten alive by a monster?

Looking at the blood-splattered scene, Min Do-jun didn’t mourn the death of the old man who died so miserably.

Not only was he unrelated to Min Do-jun, but he also felt the man was trash who deserved to die.

‘But thinking something and actually doing it are completely different matters.’

Even to Min Do-jun’s eyes, the dog dealer was despicable trash, but if asked to kill him, he would have questioned, “Why bother?”

‘He didn’t meet my criteria.’

According to Min Do-jun’s standards, those who deserve to die are those who try to hinder or defame him, or those who have committed evil acts comparable to murder in the past.

But the dog dealer didn’t meet those criteria.

‘On the other hand, he met Pet Master’s criteria.’

From the perspective of an animal lover like Pet Master, the dog dealer was a villain who deserved to be torn apart.

‘That’s why he killed him.’

It was clear from the killing intent he had shown earlier at Tapgol Park.

‘He actually decided to kill and carried it out.’

The way he identified CCTV locations and the killing process seemed too familiar to be his first time.

‘This isn’t the work of someone who’s done it just once or twice.’

While thinking that, Min Do-jun also felt a strange sense of kinship.

They were the same in that they mercilessly killed those who met their criteria for being trash.

‘In that sense, I’ve decided. I’ll kill Pet Master.’

Min Do-jun stared at the spot where Kim Byung-soo had disappeared.

‘Because you too have been judged as trash that meets my criteria.’