Chapter 554
The monster wave in Sichuan, later named the Small Great Cataclysm, devoured countless things.
Buildings, people, hope…
Casualties exceeded four million, and property damage ran into hundreds of trillions.
However, just as someone once said that people leave their names behind after death, among all the dead, one name stood out.
[Despite exhaustive search efforts, the hero’s remains were never found.]
[Who was the late Lee Jeong-ryong?]
[The Immortal Hero Cheon Tae-min—there was always one man beside him.]
[Wu Heixing and Lee Jeong-ryong—while their deaths were the same, their nobility was different.]
[Plans for the national funeral of the late Lee Jeong-ryong. Outpouring of condolences from across the world.]
Every headline dominating the major forum sites included the same name.
Lee Jeong-ryong.
The man who wielded full control over the Ares Guild in the absence of Cheon Tae-min, another hero of the Great Cataclysm.
No—now, he was a hero of the past.
Lee Jeong-ryong was dead.
The world believed he had been killed by an Arch Lich, but the one who had actually ended his life was me.
‘Yeah, that day.’
I had snapped Wu Heixing’s neck as he begged for his life, and plunged a spear into Lee Jeong-ryong’s chest, reducing him to ashes.
There were no other options.
Even knowing they might stab me in the back, I went to the Arch Lich’s lair with them because it was their final chance.
And when you say something is the final chance, there is no next time.
‘Even if it hadn’t been then, I would have killed them eventually.’
Wu Heixing was like a fishbone stuck in the throat—annoying but manageable.
Lee Jeong-ryong, however, was like a blade carving into the flesh.
He was as fierce as a beast and as cunning as a fox.
The only reason I managed to bring down the Lee Jeong-ryong who once felt like an insurmountable wall was that my rate of growth had far exceeded his expectations.
‘If only Lee Jeong-ryong had been a bit bolder… the outcome might have been different.’
But his judgment faltered, and this was the result:
Me, looking at news articles about his death on New Year’s Day.
Suddenly, I recalled his final words.
‘I… do not regret it. Never.’
At that moment, Lee Jeong-ryong was definitely smiling.
Covered in blood, body shattered, yet he smiled brightly—his eyes burning with the obsession and rage he couldn’t let go even at the end.
As if declaring that this wasn’t over.
As if, even dead, he would haunt me as a vengeful spirit.
Well, now that he was truly dead, he couldn’t actually haunt me.
But in a way, I agreed with him: this wasn’t over.
Because one person, practically a clone of Lee Jeong-ryong, still remained in this world.
‘Seo Go-jun.’
The bodyguard who had followed Lee Jeong-ryong with blind loyalty.
No, his disciple.
Staring at my smartphone, I clicked on an article.
The moment I clicked, a large image filled the screen.
It showed the Ares Guild members leaving Sichuan, and Seo Go-jun with a stiff, hardened expression.
[The Ares Guild heads home for the funeral of the late Lee Jeong-ryong.]
[Who is Seo Go-jun, the bodyguard of the deceased Lee Jeong-ryong?]
After glancing at the bolded headlines, I scrolled down to the comments.
「Rest in peace.」
「I can’t believe Lee Jeong-ryong died… A great star has fallen.」
「Honestly, I’m not sure if I liked him. I heard some shady things about him.」
「True, but most of that was probably just rumors. And running a giant guild like Ares? There’s no way he stayed completely clean. Just pay respects and move on.」
「But who’s Seo Go-jun? I’ve never heard of him.」
「Those in the know know. You must not be a Hunter or you’re still a rookie.」
「How’d you guess? I awakened by accident after studying in a cram school, I don’t know anything. Please explain if you know.」
「Actually, I don’t know much either. This is my brother’s account, you bastard.」
「Lol, same. I’m a clueless baby too.」
「What a circus. Anyway, if you’ve been around the Hunter scene for a while, you know Seo Go-jun. He’s famous for being Lee Jeong-ryong’s right-hand man. He showed up out of nowhere about ten years ago, and after that, Lee Jeong-ryong always had him around at official events.」
「True. I just searched YouTube, and he was standing behind Lee Jeong-ryong at last year’s UN General Assembly. Probably tons more appearances if you dig deeper.」
「Maybe he was like Lee Jeong-ryong’s personal disciple?」
「Yeah, very likely. Some forums are already digging up Seo Go-jun’s background. Apparently, he grew up in an orphanage Lee Jeong-ryong sponsored. Didn’t take the ranker tests, but rumor says his skills are top-tier.」
「So is he going to be the next Ares Guild Vice Leader?」
「No one knows for sure, but he’s probably the front-runner. Unless Cheon Tae-min shows up, Seo Go-jun will likely take over. Strength and legitimacy—he’s pureblood like Voldemort would cry.」
「Honestly, he looks like someone from Slytherin Dormitory.」
「If you badmouth him, Ares Guild might come after you.」
「Speaking of purebloods, I heard some strange rumors recently.」
「??」
「What is it?」
「Too scary to say specifics, but someone whispered… what if Cheon Tae-min is still alive?」
「What the hell, now I’m scared. No sleep tonight.」
Clack.
At the sudden noise, I looked up from my smartphone.
Team Leader Choi, placing tableware beside me, was staring at me with a slightly disgruntled expression.
“What’s so interesting?”
“An article’s comment section. They were talking about you.”
“Excuse me?”
“It would be quicker to show you directly. Just a moment.”
Turning my eyes back to the smartphone, I clicked my tongue.
The comment was already deleted.
The poster who said they’d delete it must have chickened out and vanished immediately.
“What comment was it?”
“It’s already gone. But it definitely had something to do with you, Team Leader.”
“In relation to… my grandfather?”
I gave a slight nod.
I wasn’t the only one who gained attention after the Small Great Cataclysm in Sichuan.
When the world was still in uproar over the Arch Lich’s monster wave, the media and public had been busy mentioning my name.
But at some point, Team Leader Choi’s existence had started surfacing too.
‘A needle inside a pouch.’
Team Leader Choi was like a needle poking through the fabric.
Having advanced his skills even further through learning martial arts from me, he had performed brilliantly on the battlefield.
And with his movie-star good looks, even the so-called “face fanatics” couldn’t ignore him.
‘And he’s the only living bloodline of Cheon Tae-min, too.’
Yet Lee Jeong-ryong had thoroughly concealed Team Leader Choi’s existence while alive, and Team Leader Choi had done the same.
At the time, their positions were like that of a dinosaur and an ant.
Even if you declared yourself a golden ant, you were still just an ant.
Now that Lee Jeong-ryong was dead, the truths they had both hidden were slowly surfacing.
What was curious was how natural and perfectly timed this all felt.
I stared at Team Leader Choi.
“This… You planned this, didn’t you?”
“To be honest, yes. I judged that the time was right.”
“You’re being surprisingly honest. Were you always like this?”
“What’s there to hide from Jin Taekyung? Of course, even if I’m honest, Jin Taekyung still has plenty of secrets.”
“…Why say it like that?”
A pang of guilt hit me.
Since I acquired the system, Team Leader Choi—who had spent the most time with me—had always harbored suspicions about my true identity.
I had even heard it from his own mouth before.
But now that he confronted me so directly, I had no real excuse.
Scratching my chin awkwardly, I opened my mouth.
“That aside, can I ask a few things?”
“Go ahead. Though you should hurry; the seaweed soup will be out soon.”
“It’s just… If this was your plan all along, wouldn’t it have been better for me to expose the truth about Lee Jeong-ryong?”
Lee Jeong-ryong and Wu Heixing’s deaths were officially announced as the work of the Arch Lich.
The real truth was buried.
And because of that, public opinion remained relatively favorable toward them.
Wu Heixing was already despised for his numerous atrocities, even in death.
But Lee Jeong-ryong was mourned as a fallen star.
‘A national funeral says it all.’
Had the truth been revealed, the story would have been very different.
Even without concrete evidence, given my now towering reputation as a new hero, people wouldn’t have easily dismissed my testimony.
If that happened, Lee Jeong-ryong’s honor would have been utterly destroyed—and Team Leader Choi’s plans could have proceeded even more smoothly.
“But Team Leader, you told me not to reveal what Lee Jeong-ryong did.”
Team Leader Choi nodded calmly.
“Yes. I did.”
“Why?”
The next moment, his answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“Because I didn’t want to dirty my hands.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Vice Guild Leader Lee Jeong-ryong had a vile hidden side. Though he helped my grandfather during the Great Cataclysm and contributed greatly, he eventually became corrupted, seized control of Ares Guild, and committed numerous crimes.”
Team Leader Choi continued in a dry voice.
“The important point is that the arrows of criticism wouldn’t just strike Lee Jeong-ryong. They would strike the entire Ares Guild.”
“Ares Guild’s influence is enormous. Even though my grandfather has been absent for years and Lee Jeong-ryong is dead, people still firmly believe in the Ares Guild’s power.”
Clatter.
“Jin Taekyung.”
Team Leader Choi’s gaze, as he wiped spotless tableware, sank deeply.
“I don’t want tainted food. Even if it has hair in it, even if maggots crawl through it, outwardly it must look flawless I want Ares Guild—with its power and influence—intact and unblemished, to fall into my hands.”
I had overlooked it.
The power carried by the name Ares.
The weight of its influence.
And Team Leader Choi wanted… to claim the Ares Guild completely intact, without a scratch.
To make all that power and influence entirely his own.
Clearing out the hairs and maggots would come afterward.
“I’ve waited a long time. Just for this moment.”
Muttering in a low voice, Team Leader Choi’s eyes gleamed coldly.