Chapter 134   - Traces of the Mask #4

Anne bit her lip as she recalled what she had just seen. It was an unbelievable sight.

Caterina had once mobilized an elite crew for an assassination. They were those who could fight against the soldiers of other countries.

However, a similar number was now wiped out by only one person. He was also only armed with a submachine gun and a pistol. The mafia members had an anti-tank rocket and sniper rifles that boasted a range of 1000m.

Phantom alone had taken out 30 people. It was a difference that she thought couldn’t be overcome. Phantom had fired his gun without even aiming. However, the result was amazing. The RPG-7 exploded, and the sniper with the PSG-1 had his head explode.

“T-This is ridiculous. How can you snipe a sniper with a submachine gun?”

Phantom scratched his head as Anne made a fuss. It was a feat that was possible due to the Shooting Spree skill. He had no answer for how he did it.

"I just did it?”

“......”

Anne’s answer was a low moan. Then her butler appeared behind her. It was Semon who had gone around the battlefield to see if there was any more danger.

“Young Lady. The enemy has been wiped out, even the snipers waiting at a distance.”

There were more snipers than the one that Anne saw. Anne looked at the man wearing the opera mask. He didn’t have any wounds despite dealing with so many people alone.

Rather, he seemed hungry as he watched his work.

Anne nodded a few times, like she had made up her mind, before speaking.

"Phantom...I followed the traces of the mask. As I said, I was going to use you to deal with the Yakuza and the Triads. Of course, I am going to pay you for your abilities.”

“Well, don’t you know me very well despite just meeting today?”

Anne laughed at his words.

“I have more spies in the police than just art appraisers. I can’t tell you their identities, but I was able to learn about you through them.”

"What, there are more spies in the police? Aigoo. There might even be spies among Mister Park’s group.”

"I won’t deny it. At any rate, your abilities are more than what Mister said. I honestly wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”

It was because he had just gotten the Shooting Spree skill. Phantom smirked. It was a fact that his crime skills were still growing.

"Once today’s incident reaches the ears of the Yakuza or the Triads, they will try to set you on fire. Originally, I intended to promise you the boss seat of the Korean branch. But any other organization can offer that, so I can only offer one more thing.”

Anne looked at the Phantom with a slightly red face.

The person behind the opera mask was definitely a man. Among the Red Mafia, the Yakuza, and the Triads, she was the only female boss. That’s why only she could offer this.

"I will give you all of the Red Mafia. Could you please marry me?”

“...Wait. Is that a proposal?!”

The other person was the boss of the Ivankov family. He knew what it meant to marry her. It wasn’t just the boss of South Korea, but ruling over all of the Red Mafia.

"Fortunately, I am still in my 20s and still haven’t been married. In addition, I think I am fairly beautiful.”

"20s...?”

"Yes, I am 29.”

“......”

Phantom...

No, Tae-hyuk gulped. Although he tried to be as calm as possible, he was several times more nervous than when he was fighting the mafia. He never thought he would receive a proposal from a woman more than 10 years older than him.

‘I thought she was around the same age as Noona, but she is five years older?!’

She was beautiful enough to become a model right now. Furthermore, she would bring along the Red Mafia.

"If your answer is a yes, can you take off the mask?”

At that moment, Tae-hyuk’s spirit recovered.

Anne proposed to Phantom, not Seo Tae-hyuk. In order to protect his precious ones, this line couldn’t be crossed no matter what.

As Phantom seemed to hesitate, Anne moved closer.

"Perhaps you already have someone in mind? First place is good, but I can be satisfied with being the second.”

“Cough. That isn’t the problem. And I’m sorry, but can you back away a little bit?”

"Do you not like me?”

It wasn’t unpleasant to marry a beauty like Anne. However, problems would arise after accepting.

“...At any rate, I will accept half of Anne’s offer. First, I will deal with the Yakuza and the Triads. However, I will be doing it by myself, and will not be working with the Red Mafia. Of course, I’ll be happy if you provide weapons.”

“Hrmm... then are you rejecting my proposal? My appearance...”

"No, don’t you think it is too fast to marry someone after only meeting them for one day?”

Anne clapped in pleasure.

"Then it isn’t a refusal? Shall we date first? It is okay if you don’t want to show my your face. It is like a real phantom so I don’t think it is bad.

Tae-hyuk couldn’t help sighing. It seemed like the number of females around him who gave him headaches had increased.

"First of all, let’s leave this place. The police will soon come swarming.”

"My car... Oh my. The anti-tank rocket destroyed it."

It was probably to prevent any escape. Tae-hyuk scratched his head and replied,

"I already stole cash from the mafia. Let’s try Vehicle Theft.”

As Tae-hyuk touched it, the truck started up without the car keys.

Anne clapped in amazement. It seemed like she wouldn’t have to worry about catching a taxi on the honeymoon.

@

Shin Se-ho, the chief of ABS Broadcasting, opened his eyes as a familiar voice was heard over the phone.

“...P-Phantom!”

-It has been a while.Have you recovered from your injuries?

“Ha, ha, ha! Yes, of course. Thank you for saving my life. I thought you forgot our promise because you haven’t contacted me in a while.”

Shin Se-ho had a deal with Phantom. If he wanted to broadcast something then he would release it only through Shin Se-ho. Shin Se-ho was an ambitious person and didn’t miss the opportunity that Phantom gave him. In the end, he was promoted from being a PD at ABS. Since then, he acted like he was Phantom’s good friend.

-I’ve been away for a while now, so I think I need a big hit.

Shin Se-ho’s hands shook.

Just Phantom alone would cause the audience ratings to skyrocket.

But a big hit? It was a word that Phantom never said despite several broadcasts.

"T-Thank you. I’m sorry but can you give me a quick hint? I would like it to be a dramatic story like the organ trafficking...”

A laugh was heard from the phone.

-Did you know that China’s Triads were behind that situation?

“O-Of course. Due to that, fan clubs were created for Phantom. Then this story...”

Destroying the Chinese criminals that the police couldn’t catch. The public was enthusiastic about the appearance of the criminal who judges criminals. But what about it?

-A few days ago, I was bored and smashed a cult.

He knew about that.

“Ah! Are you talking about the Sun group? The scoop was sent to our station. That was Phantom’s work?”

-Yes.By the way, the Japanese Yakuza were involved.

“Ah...is that so?”

Shin Se-ho’s eyes shone. He had his scoop for the evening.

-The Triads and the Yakuza.Do they think that they could act as they like in South Korea?So I thought I would give them a warning.

"......!"

In other words, he was talking about war. It was a big hit since he was targeting criminal organizations from other countries that were active in Korea.

H-H-Huge scoop.

-Of course, I’m sure that you will do well, but I want to specifically direct this.And make sure the video is registered on the UCC site so that people around the world can see it.ABS Station can have the advertising fees as long as it is spread as much as possible.How about it?

“O-Of course.”

Phantom had only done four broadcasts, but they had earned billions of won worth of advertising revenue. But the scale this time was completely different. Phantom had declared war. The contents were provocative enough to get the public excited.

It would be tens of billions of won. Even if he only took 10% of this...

Shin Se-ho mind thought of a foreign car that he had been noticed for ages. It was more than 250 million, so he had been hesitating. Now it wouldn’t be hard to buy it with a lump sum.

@

The screen slowly brightened and showed the terrible scene of the ‘Doll Play’ incident caused by the Chinese Triads. Then the killer Big Brother murdering innocent Koreans with a gun was reenacted by actors. Finally, the terrible images of children becoming addicted to drugs were shown.

A voice narration flowed over it.

"They came to South Korea to commit crimes that they couldn’t do in their own country.”

The screen changed. It was the Death Circus, where people had to kill someone else to live. Then the fanatics from cults were shown.

"To them, we are just toys that can be played with.”

The narrator took a breath that allowed the viewers to focus on the images of the brutal crimes.

At that moment, the screen cracked. No, it looked like it was broken. Something white started to emerge on the black screen. It was the now familiar Phantom mask.

The voice narration stopped and music started playing. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Heroic. It was the climax, causing an excited atmosphere.

Phantom spoke.

"Everybody, I am sad. Before I knew it, this land has been filled with crimes committed by the Yakuza and the Triads. I remember the tragedy of T Medical Centre. They kidnapped the children and took their lives for their organs. That is why I punished them. Remember the case of the Chinese killer? He threatened me by holding innocent civilians hostage, so I judged him. However, the crimes by the mafia are still occurring. That is why I will give an order as Phantom. Leave this country right now. If you ignore the warning and invade my area---.”

Phantom paused for a moment.

The screen turned black. It faded out. Soon, the music changed to Beethoven’s piano sonata No.2. And a phrase that would be remembered for a long time was heard.

"— I will punish them!”

The melody quieted while the people watching became excited. The public started to pay attention to the movements of the criminal Phantom who judged other criminals.

@

-Did you see Phantom’s video?It has already surpassed three million views on YouTube.

-Soy milk Phantom?

-I’ve watched it over 100 times, and I had to change my panties three times.

-Isn’t it very Korean?We no longer have any imports, so we are now importing criminals.

-Brothers, would you like to use this opportunity to change from a Hahoe mask to a phantom mask?Isn’t a true Hallyu star born? ㅇ ㅇ ㅇ ㅈ! Phantom!

-I will smile as the Yakuza and the Triads get what is coming to them.

The video of Phantom was uploaded to video sites and recorded millions of views in a single day.

Of course, among them...