After the Chaebol Forced Me to Bark Like a Dog

To get the only targeted drug for my sister's sudden rare disease flare-up, I knelt before the city's elites in a grease-stained janitor's uniform and barked like a dog. My wife in name only glared at me with absolute disgust, cursing that I was worse than a dog. The chaebol heir even crushed the medicine bottle under his shoe, forcing me into a "no fighting back" death match in the underground black market.

Enduring the agony of broken bones, I survived ten brutal rounds, only to be handed swapped poison and witness a monstrous fire engulf the clinic.

Watching my sister's life-support indicators gradually fade in the sea of flames, and looking at the female doctor whose legs were shattered while trying to protect her, I shed no tears.

I calmly pulled a glass shard from my ribs and took out the black satellite communicator I had kept hidden and sealed away for three years.

"Command received, Supreme Commander."

Tonight, I will make the chaebols of this city completely vanish from the face of the earth.

——

Ice-cold champagne cascaded down my forehead, smashing against the marble floor and splashing foam everywhere.

"Lick it clean, Arthur. This is a vintage Romanée-Conti. A sewer rat like you wouldn't get to smell this in ten lifetimes."

A bespoke crocodile leather shoe ground heavily into the back of my hand. Just beyond the polished toe, a custom glass vial bearing a German label was pinned under Victor's sole.

It was the only targeted drug that could keep Lily alive this month.

Wearing a janitor's uniform stained with grease and vomit, I knelt on the floor. Around me, the city's wealthiest tycoons and elites stood with champagne glasses in hand, circling me as if I were a circus monkey.

"Young Master Victor, move your foot," I rasped, my eyes locked on the fragile glass vial. My knuckles had turned white from gripping the floor so hard.

The smirk on Victor's lips widened. Instead of pulling back, he pressed down harder. A faint, sickening creak came from the stressed glass.

"Are you telling me what to do?" He suddenly swung his leg, kicking me squarely in the chest.

Agony flared as the impact sent me sliding backward across the slick marble. A metallic taste welled up in my throat, but I swallowed the blood back down. I couldn't fight back. If I caused a scene here, the medicine would be destroyed, and Lily wouldn't survive the night.

The sharp click of high heels against marble approached.

"Victor, don't let the filthy water splash onto your suit."

At the sound of that voice, my clenched fists violently trembled.

Elena, wearing a haute couture evening gown, clung to Victor's arm as she looked down at me from her high horse. She was my wife in name and the centerpiece of this chaebol marriage alliance, yet right now, her eyes held nothing but undisguised disgust.

"Elena, your legal husband is kneeling right at my feet." Victor deliberately pulled her closer by the waist.

"Don't disgust me." Elena took a half-step back in revulsion, covering her nose with a lace folding fan. "He's worse than a dog wagging its tail for scraps. If the old man hadn't gone blind with age back then, this slum trash wouldn't even be qualified to be a doormat for our family."

A chorus of harsh, mocking laughter instantly erupted from the crowd.

Victor bent down, pinched the vial of targeted medicine between two fingers, and dangled it in the air.

"You want this? Fine." Victor spread his legs and pointed at his crotch. "Crawl over here. Bark like a dog while you do it. Entertain us, and this vial will be your tip."

The entire banquet hall fell dead silent. Every gaze locked onto me, eagerly anticipating the grand finale of this twisted show.

Without a second of hesitation, I lowered my body, planting my hands on the freezing marble.

"Woof."

The sound wasn't loud, but it echoed with absolute clarity through the silent hall.

Elena's face flashed with momentary shock before contorting into ultimate disdain. "You really are a spineless wretch with zero dignity."

I ignored her mockery, my vision locked entirely on the vial in Victor's hand. Shifting my knees, I crawled forward, inch by inch.

"Woof."

With every inch I crawled, I let out another bark. Dignity? Compared to Lily's fading breath, my dignity was absolutely worthless.

Just as I crawled between Victor's legs, he snapped them shut, clamping my neck viciously between his knees.

"What an obedient mutt!"

He raised his arm and tossed the vial into a far, dark corner of the room.

"Go fetch!"

I violently wrenched free from his grip and lunged for the vial. But in the exact split second my fingertips were about to brush the glass, several heavy combat boots slammed down onto my back simultaneously.

Victor's four personal bodyguards had surrounded me.

"Loosen his bones," Victor ordered, picking up a freshly poured glass of champagne.

Steel-tipped boots rained down on my back, my ribs, and the back of my head. The sickening, muffled thuds echoed beneath the resplendent crystal chandeliers.

I curled myself into a tight ball, fiercely guarding my chest—I had managed to snatch the vial a fraction of a second earlier and shove it into my inner pocket.

"Beat him! Hit him harder! This trash has thick skin!" Elena's shrill voice pierced through the crowd.

A heavy rubber baton smashed into my left arm, accompanied by a nauseating crack of bone. I clenched my jaw, refusing to let out even a muffled groan. Blood ran down my forehead and into my eyes, dyeing the luxurious gold of the hall into a blinding, stinging red.

I locked my arms tightly around my chest. No matter how savage the assault from the outside became, the fortress protecting the vial remained absolutely immovable. Lily was still waiting for me. In that damp, cramped underground clinic, the faintly blinking life-support monitor was her only tether to this world.

For ten agonizing minutes.

The bodyguards, panting heavily from the exertion, finally stepped back. I lay motionless in a pool of my own blood.

"Boring. Dead already?" Victor walked over and nudged my face with the tip of his shoe.

I slowly opened my eyes. Deep within my pupils roared a suppressed, terrifying storm that could sink a continent. But in a mere fraction of a second, I completely concealed that murderous aura.

Using my unbroken right hand, I pressed against the floor and staggered to my feet. Blood dripped steadily onto the pristine white marble, leaving a shocking trail of crimson.

I didn't look at Victor, nor did I look at Elena. I simply reached up and felt the hard bulge through the fabric of my chest—the vial was completely intact.

I turned around. Dragging a leg that was still bleeding profusely, I limped step by step toward the grand doors of the banquet hall.

"Just a stray dog," came Victor's disdainful sneer from behind me, followed by a fresh round of clinking glasses.

I pushed open the heavy, carved wooden doors, and a biting night wind rushed against my face.

Spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva, I pulled the collar of my tattered janitor's uniform tight and walked out into the boundless darkness.

Lily, your brother got the medicine.

Hold on. Wait for me.