Chapter 14
The revenge-filled evening passed.
The next morning.
After waking up and finishing his usual morning exercise, Hyuk-min received a phone call.
[What are you?]
It was Hwang Ji-young.
He couldn’t help but smile.
“Judging by your reaction, you must have met your husband.”
[So, what are you? Who the hell are you to know my husband’s location when even I couldn’t find him?]
“How does it feel to reunite with your long-separated husband?”
[Don’t change the subject. Answer me. I asked my husband, and he said he doesn’t know anything about you. But how do you know that I’m looking for him, and even the exact location of the man I’ve been desperately searching for?]
Hwang Ji-young had always been quick-witted.
But this wasn’t something she could figure out with intuition alone.
How could she possibly know?
That he knew everything because he had regressed from a future past life.
Since it was something he could never explain, Hyuk-min decided to redirect the conversation by leaning into what she cared about instead of answering.
“Don’t forget that I also know the location of your daughter.”
[What?]
“As you saw for yourself, your husband is in no condition to raise a child. And you already know, from what you’ve heard, that your daughter was adopted somewhere.”
[…]
When it came to her husband and daughter, Hwang Ji-young was still a fool.
The cold and rational “Ice Queen” was nowhere to be found.
Her mind, frozen by a single sentence, couldn’t form a response.
“Come back to Korea.”
[Tell me where my daughter is. You bastard! Tell me—quickly…!]
“The Information Guild doesn’t give information for free.”
With that, he hung up.
Click.
As expected—she was quick-witted.
The repeated calls she usually made whenever the line was cut didn’t come this time.
She knew he wouldn’t answer.
Instead—
Ting.
A text message arrived from an unknown number—not from Hwang Ji-young.
[I’m leaving a message after receiving a call from Guild Leader Hwang Ji-young. This is Woo Geun-seok, Left Wing.]
Hyuk-min’s eyebrow twitched.
“So soon?”
The Black Label Guild Leader had two “wings”—a man and a woman—who served as her hands and feet.
Left Wing Woo Geun-seok and Right Wing Jeong Hyang-sook.
These were the middle-aged pair he had seen when he met Hwang Ji-young before.
Either way, receiving a message from one of the wings meant he had been acknowledged by the Black Label Guild Leader.
[Under the authority of the Guild Leader, Bang Hyuk-min has been designated a Black Label VIP and friendly partner.]
He knew her husband and daughter meant everything to Hwang Ji-young, but to grant VIP friendly-partner status to someone she had never met?
The husband-and-daughter cards were powerful.
He felt a twinge of guilt, but he was satisfied. He had finally built the relationship with the Black Label that he had been aiming for.
“Maybe it isn’t that fast.”
Reuniting with her husband and daughter had been her lifelong wish.
He had fulfilled half of it—so of course she would see him as a benefactor.
Thinking about it that way, it didn’t seem too fast.
[You can contact me as well. Please feel free to text or call whenever you need anything. Thank you.]
Well, did speed even matter?
What mattered was that he had become a Black Label VIP and secured a business-friendly relationship.
He chuckled at a word he hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Does this mean my relationship with the Black Label is similar to my previous life?”
He slipped his phone into his pocket.
‘A big step forward.’
Every beginning starts with a first step.
And this was a good start—right on schedule.
Starting by establishing a friendly relationship with the Black Label.
Then monopolizing all the Hidden in the world.
Finally, protecting his family from the danger that would erupt within a month.
He looked at the plan tucked in one corner of his Inventory.
Just seeing it made his anger rise, but he steadied his breath and calmed himself.
‘It’s not time yet.’
The marathon had barely begun.
If the Hidden and the Legendary Title were only the first step…
Then the Black Label—with its unrivaled information network—was the second springboard.
That was why this was a big step forward.
“Hoo.”
The boiling anger cooled.
The burden of his previous life was not something that would be swept away by momentary rage.
After taking a deep breath, Hyuk-min changed clothes and headed to the Rogue Guild.
To achieve his goals.
= = =
On the way to the Rogue Guild.
Hyuk-min recalled the events of the night before.
He had witnessed the truth of how his family had been ruined.
What he once believed was just bad luck had actually been the result of a scheme by Park Chung-ho and Jang Han-bit.
He confirmed it through the Forced Dungeon development plan—and was consumed by deep anger.
His hands trembled. His heartbeat pounded. His head and blood turned cold.
He had always been this way.
The angrier he became, the more twisted things became, the more rational he grew—not instinctive, but calculating.
It was probably because of this habit that he had been able to destroy Hanbit Capital in his previous life, a force untouchable by anyone in Korea.
Unlike others who panic or lash out in crisis, Hyuk-min grew colder.
And that coldness made him face the situation clearly and search for the right solution.
‘Get as strong as possible before everything collapses.’
Unfortunately, that was the best option now.
If he could, he would rush to Jang Han-bit right now and kill him dozens of times.
But instead, he looked at the mountain in the distance, not the tree in front of him.
Think.
What mattered wasn’t Jang Han-bit or the replaceable personnel.
It was Park Chung-ho and the Azure Lake Guild.
Park Chung-ho wouldn’t blink even if someone killed a man like Jang Han-bit.
Just based on what he heard at the mansion last night—
Jang Han-bit was nothing but a puppet doing Park Chung-ho’s bidding, a machine for making money.
Every decision and action had always been made under the Azure Lake Guild Leader’s permission.
So if he killed Jang Han-bit in a moment of rage—would anything improve?
‘Of course not. Park Chung-ho would just make another Jang Han-bit.’
Replaceable pawns can always be replaced.
But Park Chung-ho would never forgive someone who dared draw a knife against him.
The war would begin—not with a rabbit like Jang Han-bit—but with a tiger like Park Chung-ho.
Things would only spiral downward from there.
The risks of acting on emotional revenge were too great.
So he decided:
Let Jang Han-bit live a while longer—a readable enemy was better than an unknown replacement.
His next steps were already determined.
So now—what should he think about?
What would those people do next?
If you know yourself and your enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
‘Will they stop just because they suffered damage this time?’
He had caused them quite a bit of harm while obtaining information.
He had broken the pillars of their building and stolen their plan.
The pillars could be rebuilt.
But the plan—that was an entirely different matter.
Someone they didn’t know now had knowledge of everything Park Chung-ho intended to do on the third basement floor of the department store.
There could be no situation more dangerous for Park Chung-ho and Jang Han-bit.
They should be overwhelmed cleaning up the mess and drafting new plans.
‘Then why…’
Why did it feel like they would continue with the original plan?
As he thought about it, memories from his previous life resurfaced.
—Did you hear? A subjugation squad leader joined the Haeundae Guild. He used to be the Azure Lake Guild Leader.
He had overheard the conversation while eating sundae soup after selling Magic Stones at the Rogue Guild.
—Who was it? Ah! Park Chung-ho. That guy declared war on the Haeundae Guild Leader.
Park Chung-ho had bowed his head… then declared war.
Even with loyal subordinates, waging war against the Haeundae Guild Leader—who ruled the entire guild with just one subjugation squad—was absurd.
—I heard the Guild Leader touched Park Chung-ho’s lover, and he found out.
—It’s tragic, but this world is rotten. Why bow your head to the Guild Leader when you can’t control your anger? Sigh. They’ll find a corpse soon.
—But he’s a subjugation squad leader. Isn’t it possible? That squad is the guild’s main force.
—So what? A guild doesn’t hand weapons to some stone that rolled in from outside. The Guild Leader only gave Park Chung-ho command over the people he brought himself. How do you fight a whole guild with one unit?
He had been listening with interest when—
Everyone went silent as the TV report came in.
—Next news. Haeundae Guild Leader Go Gyeong-chan has died. The suspect has been identified as a guild member within the Haeundae Guild…
The Guild Leader of one of Korea’s top five guilds—who controlled all of Busan—was suddenly dead.
Someone that strong and healthy, overpowered by a guild member?
Unthinkable.
But it happened.
Soon after, the Haeundae Guild’s name changed to the Azure Lake Guild.
Rumors flooded the nation.
Back to the present—
Sitting on a bench in front of the Rogue Guild, Hyuk-min thought carefully.
Should he revise the plan?
Or proceed as is?
The answer was in his memories.
No matter how desperate the situation, the monster known as Park Chung-ho never abandoned a plan once set.
‘Park Chung-ho will definitely proceed.’
He would behave the same way in this life as the last.
“Well…”
His worries ended.
He made his decision.
“Shall we start expanding?”
He rose from the bench with a refreshed expression.
Now was the perfect time—his stats had increased enough.
Park Chung-ho and Jang Han-bit.
The Azure Lake Guild and Hanbit Real Estate.
It was the perfect time to gather a team to destroy them.
He pulled out the notebook from his previous life—stored in his Inventory.
Events scheduled over the next three weeks were written inside.
The number of potential allies he could recruit: two.
He was about to put the notebook away, repeating the names and contact points of the two people, when—
He smiled.
Looking toward the Rogue Guild, he murmured:
“It seems like I’m going to be the one this time.”
He crossed out the number “2” in the notebook and changed it to “1.”