Chapter 51: Aftermath
Blink!
When I opened my eyes, the sight of a familiar ceiling greeted me.
The ornate, antique design clashed entirely with my style, but oddly enough, it exuded a comforting sense of stability.
I let out a sigh and relaxed the tension in my body.
“Oh! You’re awake!”
Min Chorong came rushing over to me, her face lit up with relief.
I turned my gaze toward her, smirked, and raised myself upright.
I was fine. Unlike during the Dungeon Blackhole incident, my life hadn’t been in critical danger, though I had gone through a fair amount of hardship.
Thankfully, even the lingering aftereffects like muscle pain had been thoroughly treated.
Rotating my arms and tilting my neck, I adjusted to my rejuvenated, stat-enhanced body and rose from the bed with a satisfied expression.
Now that I had practically claimed this room as my own, I neatly tidied the bed next to mine, which belonged to my sister.
Meanwhile, Min Chorong dashed outside and soon returned with a freshly pressed outfit, as though she had prepared it in advance.
“Here! Wear this! I… I’ll step out while you change!”
With her face flushed red as if she had just performed an act of devotion, she scurried out of the room again.
Watching her antics, I let out a hollow laugh.
No matter how I looked at her, she seemed more like a younger sister than someone my age.
Shaking my head, I started to change into the new clothes.
“A single outfit costing several hundred thousand?”
The price tag was still attached, so I ended up finding out its cost, whether I wanted to or not.
It was an amount I wouldn’t have dared imagine before the regression.
“Tsk. Well, considering how much money I have now, a few hundred thousand is nothing.”
I had several trillion won stored safely in the Black Market. Though I couldn’t freely use it, it was still technically mine.
Moreover, as the largest shareholder of the Miracle Guild, I held over a hundred billion won in equity.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to call myself wealthy.
My current circumstances were worlds apart from the past, where I used to tremble over the price of an expensive outfit.
After finishing dressing, I glanced at my younger sister, still sound asleep, then left the hospital room. Unfortunately, there was no time to relax and take a week off.
I had too many tasks demanding my attention.
The moment I stepped outside the room, I saw it: a proud, haughty cat and a cute, energetic puppy locked in a fierce standoff, tails raised high as they challenged each other.
“Hm… Who are you, kid? Are you the manager of this hospital room?”
“Kid?! Who are you calling a kid? And who are you, ma’am? This is a VIP ward. You’d better leave before security throws you out!”
If looks could kill, hers might. My headache was already bad enough; why did this have to happen now?
I cleared my throat, making my presence known, and their gazes immediately turned toward me.
“Wow~~! The clothes fit perfectly! You should dress like that all the time instead of always wearing weird tracksuits.”
Min Chorong nodded in satisfaction, proud of her coordination skills.
Seo Mina, on the other hand, glared at me as if she disapproved of everything about the situation.
Unfair. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet why was she looking at me like that?
In any case, I had urgent matters to attend to and no time to stand around chatting with these two.
I needed to visit the Black Market to confirm the sale of some gold, acquire a unique-grade or higher item imbued with magic, head to the Association to investigate the perpetrator behind the recent chaos, and eventually enter the Abyss to begin the quest for the profession I’d been planning to obtain.
Obviously, the Association had to come first. I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully until I uncovered who had plotted to kill me.
“Thanks for everything. I have some urgent business to take care of, so I’ll be heading out first. You two can continue chatting and then go your separate ways.”
With those parting words, I turned away from their piercing stares and left Miracle Hospital as if fleeing.
“Take me to the Association,” I told the taxi driver after getting in.
‘I really should buy a car.’
Before long, the taxi dropped me off in front of the Association’s building, a sight that never failed to irritate me.
“Tsk. I handed it over to someone else because I needed help, but…”
Now that my head was clear and my body felt refreshed, I wondered if I should’ve handled it myself. Park Seo-ha, the head of the Intelligence Team, was the Association Chairman’s niece, after all.
‘No, the Association’s access to resources and public authority is unmatched.’
Starting with the nationwide network of CCTVs, the Intelligence Team was composed solely of the best of the best. By “best,” I meant those who had awakened abilities specifically suited for intelligence work.
They were elite professionals, often joked about as capable of uncovering evidence that no longer existed in this world. In fact, they could retrieve completely erased footage using their abilities.
Though Seo Mina might eventually find the culprit, it would take much longer and yield weaker evidence compared to using the Association.
I sighed and stepped into the Association.
Recognizing my face, the receptionist in the lobby immediately escorted me to Park Seo-ha’s office without a word.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Inside, Park Seo-ha was sprawled on a sofa, puffing away on a cigarette with a satisfied look on her face.
“Oh~ you’re here? I thought you were one of the Intelligence Team members coming to report.”
“How did it go?”
“Heh heh heh. Jackpot. An absolute jackpot.”
Laughing, Park Seo-ha tossed a document from the side table toward me with a pleased expression.
“Everything you need to know is written there,” Park Seo-ha said as she handed me the document.
Taking it, I sat down on the opposite sofa and began reading.
‘Moon Kang-un, Scout Team Leader of the Seongun Guild.’
I didn’t recognize his name or face, but I knew of the position.
This was the guy who once sent his team to shove a ridiculous slave contract full of toxic clauses in my face, demanding that I sign it.
Before the regression, the cleverly worded and malicious contract might have tricked me into accepting it without a second thought.
However, having fallen victim to such schemes once already, I was now quick to spot those traps.
I’d cursed at the scout and rejected their offer without hesitation, making it clear there was no point in discussing further.
‘And then, this bastard sent the Vice President of Seongun Group, Kang Cheol-woo, and the Flame Demon, Lee Ji-hyung, to assassinate me.’
Ultimately, the attempt failed. Moon Kang-un was expelled from the guild, charged with exploiting a promising talent, Lee Ji-hyung, for personal schemes and attempting to assassinate Seohwa Group’s heiress.
Though I couldn’t put him behind bars due to a lack of solid evidence, he was forced to pay enormous damages to the Seongun Guild, which led to his ruin.
‘Well, Seongun Group aside, the Seongun Guild Leader had a reputation for integrity.’
The Seongun Guild Leader had worked tirelessly to sever ties with the Seongun Group, a corrupt conglomerate, only to be assassinated later for his efforts.
Following his death, the Seongun Group installed their direct heir, the sole awakened hunter in their family, as the new guild leader and completely devoured the guild’s assets.
‘I’ll prevent that from happening this time.’
The Seongun Group was one of the factions that had colluded with the Changseong Group to murder my parents.
It wasn’t enough to strike a blow against them; I needed to dismantle their power base, starting with the Seongun Guild.
The Seongun Guild Leader’s personality made him a reliable ally if I could place him in my debt.
My parents’ killers were monsters at the pinnacle of power in South Korea. To confront them, I needed to reach their level.
This wasn’t just about money.
I needed allies to support me, a solid foundation to build my strength upon, and the personal power to protect it all. Only with all three could I succeed.
Thinking this, I turned to the next page, and my expression darkened.
“Damn it… Changseong? Lee Jiyong?”
My head throbbed. The one who helped Moon Kang-un was none other than Lee Jiyong, the so-called “rising star” of Changseong.
That C-rank hunter, who had taken a hit from me and faced some backlash for it, was now back in play.
This was going to be a headache.
As I frowned in frustration, the office door suddenly swung open.
A man entered. Startled, Park Seo-ha, who had been lounging casually, sat up straight on the sofa, her cigarette momentarily forgotten.
“Uncle? Why are you here?”
It was the Association Chairman. As if dealing with Changseong wasn’t enough, now he had to appear before me.
What was he planning? Was he here to gloat? To say, “See, you can’t handle this alone without my help”?
I glared at him, my expression filled with displeasure and distrust, but he strode past me confidently and settled into the prime seat on the one-person sofa.
“What’s the matter? Judging by the timing, you must have come here specifically to see me. What is it?”
The Chairman chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
“No need to get so defensive. I’m here to help you. After all, I need to rebuild some trust, don’t I?”
I scoffed at his words, shaking my head in disbelief.
“So, what exactly are you planning to help me with?”
My tone made it clear I was skeptical, daring him to prove his intentions. Yet, the Chairman remained unfazed.
“Changseong is giving you trouble, isn’t it?”
Maintain composure. Keep a poker face.
His bluntness caught me off guard, but I refused to let it show. Of course, Changseong’s involvement was a major issue for me.
If I had disrupted their near-perfect plans with sheer force, they would suspect I was hiding something.
They would either try to eliminate me or, at the very least, significantly increase their surveillance on me.
That cunning old man would have already known his grandson was colluding with Moon Kang-un. He’d also be aware that I escaped their trap.
‘Though he probably doesn’t know exactly how.’
Lee Seoyong was likely deliberating on how to handle me.
“So, what exactly do you propose to help me with?”
“There’s plenty I can do. For instance, I could spread the word that it wasn’t you but the Association who suppressed the dungeon outburst…”
I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Do you really think that would stop them? If you honestly believed that, I doubt you’d be here right now. Have you gotten senile, or were you always this foolish?”
Before Park Seo-ha could protest my bluntness, the Chairman stopped her with a raised hand and continued with an amused smile.
“Of course, I wouldn’t make such claims without evidence or witnesses. Our Association has a few aces up our sleeve, cards that even those monsters don’t know about. Here, take a look at this.”
He opened a subspace—a pocket dimension—and produced a small stone, handing it to me.
It was a pure, sacred-looking stone. The Chairman’s confident smile deepened as he passed it to me.
Using my Golden Eye of the Sun to appraise the stone, I quickly understood why he was so certain he could help me.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment