novelraw Chapter 100 : What the...? (3)
Chapter 100 : What the...? (3)
What the...? (3)
The Ryuoh Family, known as one of the great pillars of the Chinese underworld, wielded influence befitting their fearsome reputation.
And beneath the main building of this Ryuoh Family—
It was only after drilling through kilometers of earth that one would reach the underground of the Ryuoh Family, a place of truly bizarre appearance.
The first thing visible was the water that filled the massive cavern to a certain level.
Next was the pavilion in the center of the cavern, and the stone steps leading up to it.
And finally—
Fwoosh—
Red spider lilies.
Surrounding the pavilion—no, far beyond just the vicinity, as most of the water-filled area overflowed with scarlet spider lilies—these strange blossoms glowed with their own light, illuminating the entire cavern.
Thus, the cavern, which otherwise should have been shrouded in darkness, was dyed with the flowers' crimson light, as if the whole world had been stained with blood.
In the very center of that pavilion,
Two people sat.
One was a man wrapped in bandages.
The other was Ryu Chen, the head of the Ryuoh Family, and at the same time, one of the eight great patriarchs—the very pillar of the vast Chinese underworld.
Tap—
Ryu Chen, who had just been looking at the spider lilies while holding his teacup, slowly set it down and shifted his gaze to the bandaged man.
"So what you're saying is... This is a sacrifice made using the King of the Gong as material?"
Then, dropping his eyes to the black pearl placed on the tea table between them, he asked. The bandaged man nodded in response.
"That's right. There's also a trace of maglignant spirit left on it, although just a bit."
"... You want to give this to me?"
"Indeed. For me, it's enough if this moves the plan forward sooner."
At the man's words,
Ryu Chen tilted up his chin, looked at the bandaged man again, and spoke.
"... Preparations on this end are almost complete now. If I use this thing you've given me, I'll be able to draw those preparations to completion even sooner."
"That's good to hear."
"But, you do know, don't you? Even if everything is ready on this end, nothing can be done unless you're fully prepared as well, bonggak."
At Ryu Chen's words, the bandaged man—no, bonggak—replied.
"I know. In order to bring the entire plan to its perfect conclusion, everything must arrive as one. Isn't that right?"
"That's correct."
After Ryu Chen's reply, bonggak nodded and continued.
"Well, I'll take care of that matter on my side."
"..."
Ryu Chen stared at Bonggak in silence at his words, but after a moment of silent contemplation, he nodded.
"I don't care how you handle it, as long as 'I' am not involved."
At that answer, bonggak grinned as though satisfied.
"Then, I'll be on my way."
"Leaving already?"
"Yes, there's so much work to be done on my side as well."
He rose from his seat and tapped his staff lightly to the floor.
Bonggak, once again beginning to fade away like a wisp of dust—
"... We do need to accelerate our plan, after all—"
He stared intently at Ryu Chen, who was in turn staring at him, and said,
"I can't personally step forth on this end either, but there's someone I need to manage from behind the scenes."
With those words finished—
"See you next time."
The bandaged man vanished completely from Ryu Chen's sight.
"Bulipichi (不立理致)... is it?"
Staring at the spot where Bonggak had departed, Ryu Chen murmured softly, then lifted his teacup to his lips and turned to gaze once more at the masses of spider lilies blooming throughout the cavern.
"..."
At the crimson-glowing spider lilies.
####
'Aren't these guys definitely Blue Eyes?'
After searching news sites all around during the morning, Kim Dojun came to a rational conclusion, only to fall into confusion.
As far as he knew, Blue Eyes' Korea branch wasn't supposed to disappear now, but at least a year later.
'If I remember right, it's supposed to be the Player and Choi Yuroun who smash them together.'
So then, what was going on?
Blue Eyes' Korea branch had been utterly wiped out by some unknown party.
So thoroughly, in fact, that it was beyond recovery—they had been annihilated.
'... What is this?'
That's where the confusion began.
Of course, nothing about this situation harmed Kim Dojun in the slightest.
Blue Eyes' Korea branch might have kept appearing as a minor side story and causing annoyance for the Player, but all they ever did was bother you; other than experience points, they were useless.
'That's why I thought, instead of waiting, I'd personally smash them while I was at it.'
Regardless, having Blue Eyes as an enemy would be inevitable.
... Anyway, the fact that they were annihilated here actually meant less work for Kim Dojun, which was a good thing.
'But then, who on earth did this?'
His only curiosity was about who had taken down Blue Eyes.
"Screw it, whatever."
After ruminating for some time, Kim Dojun gave up on thinking any further.
'No point in dwelling on it—no answer's coming.'
He decided to think positively.
'At any rate, I don't have to do anything now. Sweet. So now, the only thing left is that one side story by the time the semester ends.'
Thinking of the tasks that lay ahead until then, Kim Dojun began organizing what he had to do.
'First and foremost is Goryuwon's training.'
Kim Dojun firmly resolved that when he became a third-year at the Sorcery Institute, he would absolutely make sure Goryuwon entered the university.
If for some reason Goryuwon failed to enter university even after Kim Dojun became a third-year, that would be a real emergency.
'There's no way I can wait four years.'
His purpose was to get out of here as quickly as possible, within three years at minimum, so Goryuwon absolutely couldn't fail the entrance.
'... Thinking about it, I feel a bit of a crisis. I'd better make him study harder.'
Thus, Kim Dojun came to a conclusion that would have Goryuwon foaming at the mouth, and moved on to the next issue.
'Next... Shin Se-yeon's training, I suppose.'
In reality, after the Muryu Family was shattered and Azmo of Greed was killed, Shin Se-yeon was no longer someone Kim Dojun needed to be concerned about.
She was no longer a maglignant spirit.
Nevertheless, the reason Kim Dojun intended to train Shin Se-yeon was because he planned to accept her as a companion.
'No matter how powerful you are solo, you can't beat a mob.'
He understood, as always, that there was strength in numbers.
One might be hard, two a little easier, three easier still—and besides, he knew Shin Se-yeon was extraordinarily talented at astrology.
'Shin Se-yeon is sure to be helpful, so I'll need to think about how to train her... And besides that, it seems like Tia's progress is a bit stuck, so I should go see her, and as for Dan...'
Hmm. He fell silent and shrugged.
'Well, he'll manage just fine.'
With that, he thought,
'All right, time to start training in earnest.'
He dialed Shin Se-yeon's number.
####
Dan, to be completely honest, wanted to cry.
No, it was less wanting to cry and more wanting to run away from all this.
But, at this point, he couldn't escape.
Why?
Because, attacked by Gweak at a completely unexpected time, he had ended up fighting and even defeating Gweak.
That sounded like a good thing on the surface, but the problem was what came next.
If Dan were to leave alone now, gweak, who now saw him as an enemy, would surely use information brokers to track him down at the precise moment he left.
In that case, Dan's identity would soon be exposed, and the odds of his dying miserably would spike.
'And if I run, Kim Dojun—who left me in charge here—wouldn't let me off the hook either...'
As a result, ever since he began seriously managing the Yohu Group, Dan had yet to return to the Sorcery Institute, not even once.
... But honestly, life at the Manshintemple wasn't all that bad.
In some ways, living here was better than what he had at the Sorcery Institute.
The real problem was that, right after defeating Gweak and surviving a war, Dan had ended up with Gweak's killers and Jinbon as his subordinates.
'No matter how I look at it, this is...'
Kim Dojun had never explained things properly, but Dan knew.
Jinbon's sorcery pierced right through to someone's "essence."
Which meant that, even if Jinbon didn't know exactly who Dan was, he most likely realized that Dan was not some top-tier sorcerer, but a common, much-weaker-than-him sorcerer.
Yet, despite surely realizing this, jinbon remained under Dan, uttering lines like, "I sense a depth of darkness unimaginable"—the kind of thing only a middle-schooler with a superiority complex would say.
There could only be one explanation.
'This bastard's definitely planning to get rid of me and take over the Yohu Group for himself.'
Honestly, Dan could hand over the Yohu Group if asked.
He never wanted to be the boss, and even his involvement in the Ryuoh Family heir war was ultimately forced.
But realistically, that was impossible, and even if he handed over control peacefully, there was no guarantee of survival. So he wracked his brains for a way out.
After thinking until his head nearly split, Dan finally arrived at a solution:
A way to eliminate Jinbon, the one after his own life...!
"... You called me?"
Yohu Group's office.
Dan, with perfect politeness, looked at the S-class sorcerer Jinbon—who bowed respectfully to him—and spoke without hesitation.
"Take the subordinates who've been with you, go to the mid-zone, and smash up one of Gweak's groups, hoiguzo."
"... You mean the group called Hoiguzo?"
"Exactly. Kill every single one of them, no exceptions. They dared to mess with us, so now it's time we strike first."
"... Understood. I shall obey."
Jinbon nodded at Dan's words with no real resistance, and asked,
"Shall we proceed today?"
"Yes."
"Understood. Then I'll go carry out the mission immediately."
As soon as he'd bowed his head and left,
Dan allowed himself a victorious smile.
'Yes!'
Jinbon was an S-class sorcerer.
But, crucially, despite being S-class, for some reason he had yet to produce a spiritual tool.
Which meant, unlike other S-class sorcerers, jinbon could still be taken down by sheer force of numbers.
'Not that I'm underestimating his abilities, of course.'
Jinbon had been captured in Gweak's arena, but he was still called an S-class sorcerer. So, he wasn't to be trifled with.
And the mission Dan had just given him, which seemed ordinary on the surface—
Was anything but.
'If you give out a mission so obviously intended to get someone killed, he'd just deal with me on the spot.'
Dan had planned for this, using information brokers to track the movements of Gweak's key people—its top fighters.
Today, several of Gweak's key members would be gathering at Hoiguzo's base, and Dan had just passed this information-masked as a mid-level mission to Jinbon.
It seemed a B-rank task, but was actually S-class in difficulty...!
'Besides, the mid-zone is carved up by the various factions, so Jinbon will have to deal not just with Hoiguzo, but other Gweak people nearby... If he takes out both top dogs and then dies himself, I'll be killing poison with poison.'
Murmuring that ancient phrase, Dan nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.
'Now I can finally sleep easy.'
With that thought, he let out a long, relieved sigh. Several hours later...
"I have completed the mission and returned."
"...?"
Staring at Jinbon, who walked in covered in blood from head to toe—
Tap, tap!
"... What?"
Dan couldn't help but blurt out such a sound without realizing it.