The bandit den stank of chaos — drunken laughter, dice games, brawls. To Jin Mu-Won, it was not a den of wolves, but a pit of wild dogs.
He stood before them in the main hall, eyes cold, the bronze token glinting in the torchlight.
"You are not men," he said flatly. "You are beasts pretending to be warriors. That ends today."
Some jeered. One drunken bandit spat. "Who are you to command us, boy? You killed Harun, fine, but that don't make you—"
The man's words ended with a wet choke as Jin's sword cut clean across his throat. Blood sprayed across the hall.
The jeers died instantly. Silence fell like a blade.
Jin wiped the sword on the corpse's tunic and tossed it aside. "This is my law: Obey… or die."
He turned his gaze over the crowd. "You are no longer thieves and beggars. You are wolves. Soldiers. Each day, you will train until your bodies break. You will fight until your hands bleed. You will kill without hesitation. In return, I will give you purpose, spoils, and a future worth living."
Some looked uncertain. Others stared with awe. A few, with fear.
Scar-face stepped forward, dropping to one knee. "Boss… what are your orders?"
Jin smiled faintly. "We hunt."
---
The next dawn, Jin led thirty men into the forest, every one armed and armored with stolen gear. Gone was the drunken swagger; his presence carved it out of them.
Their target: a rival bandit outpost, smaller but close enough to threaten their supply routes.
At the edge of the camp, Jin raised his hand. "No survivors. Take everything. Leave only fire and ash."
The wolves struck.
---
The clash was brutal, but under Jin's command, it was not chaos — it was slaughter.
When a bandit hesitated, Jin barked orders sharp as steel.
When one fled, Jin himself cut him down before the others' eyes.
When resistance mounted, Jin waded in first, spear flashing, blood soaking his robes.
By nightfall, the rival den was gone — bodies piled, huts burned, treasure seized.
Jin stood at the center, breathing hard, his men chanting around him:
"Wolf King! Wolf King!"
He looked at their bloodied faces, their eyes burning with fanatic fire.
In his heart, a cold flame whispered: Yes. This is the beginning. From bandits to soldiers… from soldiers to an army.