Extra Side Story - Luck of the Devil (Pt. 1) (Patreon)

Hey guys 👋 I've had this idea for quite a while now and it just reached the point where I just had to write it all out instead of just letting it fester in my head 😆 So, I decided to just do it and started writing it as a series of Extra Side Story, which will be available to the public in the next few weeks.

The story is about how Jackal and Luka met each other for the first time, which Jackal actually talked about a bit during his talk with MC in Chapter 5. The story is written in Jackal's POV and it'll also contain some snippets about his past that are not brought up in the main story yet.

The story turns out to be longer than I expected and I decided to split it up into parts. I'm still working on Part 2 and it's about halfway done, but in the meantime, please do enjoy the first part first! 😊

* * * * *

You throw the photos onto the table and Mr. Tang swiftly gathers them and picks them up. Mr. Tang is a jovial man in his early 50s with a round and friendly face and thinning salt-and-pepper hair.

He’s also a fixer, a pretty small one in this city, but you’ve enjoyed working with him more than some of the others so far. Maybe it’s because of his seemingly genuine friendliness that gives him that fun uncle vibe or maybe it’s because he is a Hong Konger as well and you find some form of familiarity with him. Well, you were not born in Hong Kong, but you’ve spent long enough growing up there you might as well be considered a Hong Konger.

Mr. Tang hums as he carefully scrutinizes the photos you provide, shuffling one after another in his hands. You’d be lying if you say that the client’s insistence on having to provide proof for your job does not miff you. It’s honestly a bit insulting—you’re a professional hitman with an almost spotless track record of jobs well-done. You always get your quarry at the end.

You have to remind yourself that you’ve only been in this city for around 2 months—still fairly new. That’s not enough time to build the strong reputation you had back in Hong Kong, but at least it’s enough for you to start building your image as a promising newcomer in the scene. That should be sufficient. For now.

Mr. Tang finally puts down the photos and laughs. “Another job well done!” he exclaims in Cantonese, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbing it onto the ashtray in front of him. “I never doubted you for a second.”

The last sentence makes you scoff, not in a mean way per se, but more in disbelief. You’re aware that Mr. Tang loves to lay it on thick most of the time.

“What?” he chuckles, “Weren’t I the first one in this city to trust your capabilities enough to steadily supply you with decent hit jobs when you were just starting out?”

That is true. Back when you were a new newcomer in this city, you tried to approach some of the other more well-known fixers for jobs and you couldn’t even get an audience with them. Even smaller ones just accepted your contact but never called you for any job, only Mr. Tang did. And from there, you slowly built up your reputation under the name “Jackal”.

Maybe that’s another factor as to why you still spare some time doing business with him and even turn down a few higher-paying jobs from other bigger fixers occasionally to do his jobs instead. Like now.

“Yeah, yeah,” you sigh back, waving your hand off. “No need to rub it in every chance you’ve got, old man.” You gotta be honest, it feels a bit weird to be able to speak Cantonese again. You’ve been moving from one country to another so much, English has basically become your most-used language for years now.

He laughs again as he stands up from his seat behind the desk and saunters over to the mini fridge to grab two cans of beer. He turns to offer you one. “How about a toast to celebrate?”

“No, thank you,” you reply, shaking your head. Sure, you have a good enough working relationship with him, but you still don’t trust him enough to pull down your face mask and reveal your face in front of him or to let him know your true name.

He just shrugs and sets down the two cans on his table as he returns to his seat. “As always, I’ll contact you again in the next couple of days and it’ll be payday time for both you and me.”

Leaning back, he sighs as he leans back in relaxation. He looks around the dingy walls of his office, but his eyes glint as he seems to see some bright future for himself. “Maybe, this is the start of a partnership between us, eh? With both of us working together, we’ll quickly climb up the ladder for sure!”

You’re honestly not interested in tying yourself to one fixer or one group. Moreover, you already have a plan in mind—a crazy one, but at this point, you’re just so tired of having to move from one place to another every year or so in order to outrun your pursuers that you’ll be willing to take the risk.

So, instead of answering him, you decide to start herding the conversation around the question that has been festering in your head for a couple of weeks now.

“You’re familiar with the powerbrokers in the city, right?” you begin.

“Of course! I might be nothing but a humble ant compared to all of them, but I keep my ears on the heartbeat of the city,” he answers, pride evident in his voice. “Why?”

“What can you tell me about the leader of the Morozov Family?”

“Ah, Luka Morozov—Well, at least he is the head of the family branch here; heard his father is technically the head of the whole family but he’s in New York most of the time.”

“What kind of man is he?”

“A very closed-off man, very hard to approach and even harder to talk to. Even other powerful people in the city are not always guaranteed an audience with him—Unless you’re Takashi Aikawa, I guess. Also, scary and intimidating.”

That’s not good at all; the already slim chance you have in executing your plan is now even slimmer.

“What more can you tell me about him?” you push. The more you know about him in advance, the better. “What does he look like?”

“Very tall, black hair, pale skin, really love dark-colored clothes for some reason. Often brooding, but still very handsome—and note, I’m just repeating what most people said,” he says, lifting both of his hands. “Personally, I’ve never seen him face-to-face—couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would go. But from a few photos there are of him, I can see why he’s one of the most sought-after bachelors in the city.”

“Oh, he’s not married yet?” you ask. It’s a bit intriguing because in a lot of cases you’ve seen, these heads of criminal families usually want to marry off their kids strategically. Or, if they’re still single, they’d want to marry not long after they took power to not only make an alliance but to also make sure that at least they’d have successors if anything ever happened to them.

“Nope. Doesn’t even have a girlfriend yet—or a boyfriend—as far as I know. He must’ve been single for like… a decade now. At this point, I’m not even sure the man’s heart is capable of loving anyone… or if he even has one in the first place.”

Well, at least he seems to live up to his last name,  you think amusedly.

“That’s about all I know about him, to be honest,” Mr. Tang continues before quickly adding, “Well, all the certain information on him. It’s only natural for a mysterious man like him to have a lot of rumors swirling around…” he trails off, clearly encouraging you to ask him about it; he’ll take any chance to gossip around.

You shake your head and you see his wide grin fall. You don’t need the rumors to cloud your perception of the man.

He sighs, “So, can I finally know why you’re suddenly so interested in Luka Morozov? Don’t tell me you’re going to try wooing him too?” He chuckles at the teasing. “I don’t even blame you or anyone who tries. I don’t swing that way, but if I were younger and more influential, I’d try too. Ah, what I’d do for that power and wealth…”

Sometimes his friendly and joking nature makes you forget just what an ambitious man Mr. Tang is. Ambition is, of course, almost as crucial as ruthlessness in the underworld, but too much can run you the risk of getting burned and crashing down like Icarus.

“Don’t be stupid. That’s not why I’m asking you.” You frown at him, crossing your arms. “I’m asking because I want to meet him and I’m wondering whether you can help me with that.”

He chokes on the beer he is drinking. You give him a minute to clear his airway as you continue, “I know you can’t guarantee me a personal audience with him, but you must at least know where he usually hangs out. I’ll try to approach him.”

“You’re insane,” he coughs, banging his chest. “Why do you wanna meet him anyway? If it’s help that you need, maybe I—”

You shake your head, “You can’t. Please, just tell me and I’ll figure out how to get close and approach him.”

“You’re about to make a deal with the devil himself, you know that, right?”

As if he’s going to help me for free… You know more than anything that nothing is truly free in this world, much less in the criminal underworld.

“If I were to make deals with the devils, then I would be better off making it with the strongest one of them all. Go big, or go home,” you shrug before adding, “No offense.”

He looks at you with an indiscernible face as he contemplates. “And you must have the luck of one,” he sighs. “I caught wind that Takashi Aikawa is throwing a party in his recently-opened hotel and that Luka Morozov might be in attendance.”

You perk up, “That big one near that’s connected to the luxurious casino?”

“Yup, the one and only. And not only that, I might actually have a way to get you into the party,” he smirks. “But, of course… That’s not for free.”

“I know…” you groan. “We can talk about it after you tell me how you’re going to do it.”

He claps his hand once, a wide grin spread on his face. “It just so happens that my niece’s husband works in the catering company that’s being outsourced to do the food and service for the party. I believe he would be more than happy to let you take his place for the night so he can actually celebrate Lunar New Year with his family. And you’re double lucky because it’s a masquerade party and all the waiters and waitresses have to wear full face masks, so that’ll make it even easier for you to infiltrate.”

“That’s… perfect,” you say, a bit amazed at the turn of events. You might actually be able to do it. “I’ll take it and you can have twenty-five percent of my part of the next hit’s pay.”

“Hmm… seventy-five percent.”

“What?! This won’t guarantee me an audience with him and not to mention you won’t be doing too much of anything,” you complain. “Also, technically, I’d be doing your niece’s husband a favor too. Forty percent or I’d be better off trying to slip in myself.”

“Fifty and we have a deal,” he smiles, extending his hand to offer a handshake.

It’s not the best deal, but whatever; this is the best chance you have right now and his help will actually ease your entry into the party a lot. You sigh, “Fine, it’s a deal.” You take his hand, shaking it curtly before crossing your arms. “You’re lucky I like you,” you mutter.

“Ha!” he barks out a laugh. “Well, the party is in four days. Come again the day after tomorrow. I’ll have everything you need—well, actually, I’m not so sure about the uniform though.” He leans back and inspects you. “You seem to have a similar build to my niece’s husband, although it’s a bit hard to judge with your baggy hoodie. But don’t worry, we’ll have it all sorted out.”

You nod respectfully at him as you stand up. “Thanks, Mr. Tang. I’ll see you tomorrow then—and the day after.”

“Of course, of course!” he replies jovially. “It’s always a pleasure to do business with you, Jackal.”

Grabbing the door handle, you step out into the dim hallway and make your way through the laundromat and toward the front door.