The World's Greatest Troublemaker

Chapter 4

Unable to use internal energy. What kind of thunderbolt from a clear sky was this? Martial arts were practically everything to me. It was what I had spent my entire life striving to achieve.

“Ah. Damn it. This is really messed up, isn't it?”

I needed internal energy to do what I wanted. To become the strongest under heaven and live a life of wealth and luxury. But with my dantian shattered, that dream was about to become nothing. Just then, the guy approached me, his eyes sparkling.

“A complete cure might be difficult, but it’s not like there are no other options. Don’t you remember the method we used before?”

“Which one are you talking about?”

“The temporary dantian.”

“Ah… that…”

It was a method that could be used in a pinch when one’s dantian was destroyed. But it was nothing more than a temporary measure. It was also incredibly difficult to create and was a one-time use item. And above all, it was painfully excruciating.

“Damn… is that really the only way?”

“Let’s do it. I’ll handle everything from processing to the procedure.”

The Vampire Lord showed tremendous enthusiasm. He must be thinking of it as a golden opportunity. A chance to experiment and observe. But right now, I couldn't think of any other way.

“Hoo… I guess I’ll have to do that for now.”

“Right? Hehehehe.”

The guy laughed sinisterly. The damn bastard. To be happy about getting to experiment when his friend was in this situation.

I couldn't let him be the only one having fun. I’d have to put him to work.

“I think there’s something you’ll have to do for me.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to watch who comes here and protect me for a bit.”

The guy had a look of incomprehension.

“Looking at it now, it seems like one of the groups that came today was targeting me.”

Someone had used poison and a curse, hadn't they? But Mok Wigeon, whom they had surely thought dead, had survived.

So they would have brought a physician to confirm it. And since they had already made a move, there was a possibility they would try to finish the job on this occasion. The problem was, I didn't know who it was.

“I’ll have to rely on you for a while.”

I asked the Vampire Lord to watch for anyone coming secretly. The guy grumbled with a displeased expression.

“So I just have to stay in the room and guard?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. People here would faint if they saw you.”

So I told him to hide well so that people wouldn't see him. The guy was ridiculously good at hiding, so if he put his mind to it, he would never be caught.

“That’s better for me too, but…”

The guy suddenly transformed into a bat and hung from a corner of the ceiling.

“This should work, right?”

“Yeah. You won’t get caught like that.”

The guy came down again and transformed back into his human form.

“Oh. By the way, it seems like people aren’t saying very good things about you.”

The guy was able to converse freely with me, so it wasn't strange that he could understand what the people here were saying.

“I guess so. This kid lived a pretty wild life.”

The Mok Wigeon in my memories had lived so recklessly it made me wonder if it was even okay to live like that. As the third son of the Mok family, who would dare stop him?

But that wasn't a bad thing. No. It was very good.

“That’s why I like it a lot.”

“You like it? What’s so great about being spoken ill of?”

No. It was a really good thing.

“Think about it. With all the things he’s done in the past, people will just assume it’s him, no matter what he does.”

“I guess so?”

“That’s why it’s good. I can do whatever I want.”

Even if I did, no one would think it was strange, so I had a wide range of movement. Besides, his reputation was already at rock bottom, so even a slight improvement would get a huge reaction.

“I’ve come into a body that’s perfect for moving around. If I can just do something about the dantian, it would be the best.”

Even if I patched it up with a temporary measure for now, I couldn't live like this forever. I had to find a way to fix my dantian somehow.

* * *

Over the next few days, Mok Wigeon recovered his health rapidly. I didn't know if it was because all eyes were on him or for some other reason, but there were no assassination attempts.

I treated myself, which wasn't strange considering my medical skills. But people didn't see it that way. They thought it was strange that I recovered so quickly.

“I think you’ll have to step up.”

“Me again?”

“Yeah. It would be too strange if I said I treated myself.”

So there was only one way. To use the bat-like fellow. Having a capable guy around was convenient in many ways.

“First, you’ll have to transform a bit. Is that possible?”

“It’s possible, but… ah, it’s a hassle. Can’t I just keep watch?”

“You have to go around anyway, don’t you? So you can do your research and all that.”

“Ah. Is that so? I guess that’s right.”

As expected, he immediately agreed when the word ‘research’ came up. The Vampire Lord looked like someone from the Western Regions by this world’s standards. If he walked around with that appearance, he would attract everyone’s attention.

Knowing this, the guy grumbled but followed my words.

“How do you want me to transform?”

“Just transform into someone from here.”

The Vampire Lord thought for a moment, then nodded as if he had decided on an appearance.

“Alright. Then shall I use some of my power for the first time in a while?”

With those words, his body became fluid. Like dough, parts of it sank in and bulged out repeatedly.

If someone from this world had seen it, they would have fainted from shock, but Mok Wigeon had seen it countless times in that other world. Perhaps because of that, he felt no particular emotion.

The transformation was completed in an instant. The Vampire Lord had become a very handsome man. Around his early 30s?

“How is it? Not bad, right?”

“It’s good. Excellent.”

I couldn't help but nod. The transformation was perfect. No matter how closely I looked, I couldn't find any awkward parts.

The guy looked at the bronze mirror in the room and smiled with satisfaction.

“Hmm. It turned out very clean. Such beauty. An appearance that suits my noble self.”

The guy seemed extremely satisfied, unable to take his eyes off the mirror.

Well, he was a guy who absolutely detested anything that wasn't beautiful. Even now, he had the appearance of a handsome man. An appearance that would be well-liked by anyone, regardless of age or gender.

I called out to the guy who was engrossed in his own appearance.

“The appearance is set, so we need to sort out your identity too.”

I told him what I had thought of.

“For now, we’ll say you were sent from my mother’s side of the family. I’ll introduce you as a young but highly skilled physician. Who also knows some martial arts.”

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

When we were fighting the Demon King, this guy and I researched martial arts and medicine together. He was actually at a considerable level. That’s why I decided to make use of him.

“You need a name too.”

I thought for a moment and then said the name that came to mind.

“Pyeon Jeoksu. How about it?”

“Pyeon Jeoksu? The pronunciation is a bit strange.”

“If you have a better name, you can use that.”

“How would I know the names here? Ah, damn. Still, the name seems a bit lame. Pyeon Jeoksu? Pyeon-jeok-su?”

The guy hesitated for a moment, but let out a sigh as if nothing else came to mind.

“Alright. Let’s just go with this name.”

Hearing the news that Mok Wigeon had collapsed, his maternal family sent someone. Specifically, someone sent by his maternal grandmother, who had doted on him. He saved the nearly-dead Mok Wigeon. And so, the story of Pyeon Jeoksu was created.

“It’s plausible.”

Now it was time to treat the poison and the curse. And I would also create a temporary dantian. Pyeon Jeoksu took out the things he had prepared. They were things he had the steward buy for him. He held a silver needle in his hand and said.

“Endure it even if it hurts. We can’t have people outside thinking something is strange. Got it? Hehehehe.”

The guy laughed sinisterly.

“Don’t do anything weird.”

Pyeon Jeoksu, still smiling, said he understood. And then he began the treatment.

“Kkeueueueup!!”

I felt something was off. The process of the treatment and creating the temporary dantian seemed more painful than what I knew.

* * *

A few more days passed, and now he was almost no different from before. But in the meantime, no one from his family came to visit.

“Interesting.”

At first, the physicians thought his incredibly fast recovery was strange, but the appearance of Pyeon Jeoksu put all the controversy to rest.

There was even a physician who looked down on Pyeon Jeoksu for being young and tried to test him with his shallow knowledge. But there was a fact that people didn't know.

“I may not be as good as you, but I also have vast knowledge and immense experience in the medical field.”

“That’s right. You went around with me, researching and treating.”

“So I crushed those know-it-alls. How dare they show off their knowledge in front of this noble one.”

How could they be a match? The doubting physicians raised their hands in surrender after discussing medicine with him. They couldn't compete with his profound knowledge. And so, everyone came to know that Mok Wigeon’s survival was thanks to Pyeon Jeoksu.

“Still, I thought that bastard who calls himself my father would come at least once.”

I could see what Mok Wigeon’s position was in the Mok family. And I once again confirmed that the people of the Mok family were not ordinary.

“It’s better for me if they don’t pay attention, though.”

I had no interest in the position of the Mok family’s head anyway.

“So, what are you planning to do from now on?”

Pyeon Jeoksu asked while picking up a dumpling to eat.

“First, I need to build up my body.”

The poison was mostly removed, and the curse was suppressed. I had created a temporary dantian and could use a little internal energy. Roughly ten years’ worth of internal energy. But this time, the body itself was the problem.

“What on earth did this kid do to his body?”

The body was a complete mess. The bone structure itself didn't seem too bad. But perhaps because of his long, debauched lifestyle, the body’s condition was truly unbearable to look at.

“To treat his body like this. Foolish.”

“It happened right after his mother died. It’s understandable.”

As the Vampire Lord said, Mok Wigeon had started to fall apart right after his mother, Lady Son, died. But he shouldn't have lived in such a broken state.

“That’s when you need to pull yourself together even more.”

To have a lot but be incompetent? That was asking to die. Who would just leave that alone? They would try to take everything you have. What happened to Mok Wigeon was a natural course of events. The Martial World is a ruthless place.

As they were talking, the steward’s voice came from outside.

“Young Master. Someone has come from the main house.”

* * *

When I went outside, General Manager Jang Baekmun greeted me with a smile.

“It is a great relief to see you have recovered so well.”

Mok Wigeon was remarkably different from a few days ago. His complexion was better, and his movements were much smoother.

“Thank you, Uncle Jang.”

The general manager was second only to the family head in the Mok family. I couldn't keep such a person standing outside while we talked. We moved inside first.

“So. Is there any place that is uncomfortable?”

General Manager Jang asked, examining Mok Wigeon’s complexion.

“It was a very serious illness, so…”

I gave a vague answer. That my body was still not fully recovered and my mind was a bit hazy.

“But what brings you here?”

“The Family Head is looking for you.”

What? Why is a person who has never once looked for me in my entire life calling for me?

It seemed like it would be a hassle, and I thought about not going, but it was a situation I would have to face someday anyway. I answered calmly.

“I understand. I will go today.”

(End of Chapter)