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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 59
"Who?"
Fengyun's cheerful expression clouded over.
As an international crime boss, he had many enemies, but if someone capable of such a curse existed, they would have shown themselves by now.
Baekya picked up a notebook and pen from the desk.
Scribble.
He sketched the halo pattern he'd glimpsed while burning away the curse.
It was a rough, brushstroke-like shape in a poisonous green, with a triangle attached to each side of a larger triangle.
Baekya had never seen this halo before.
'I know most of the high-rankers. Is it a foreign ranker who works in the shadows?'
But there was someone knowledgeable right beside him.
"Haneul, do you know it?"
Even if they were hidden now, they might be revealed in the future.
"Hmm..."
Ryu Haneul furrowed his brow in concentration.
"Yes, I know it, senior. It's the Black Star Cluster. One of their executives had that halo."
Fengyun's jaw dropped in surprise.
"Wow. As expected of the 'Heavenly Demon.' Even among those who dwell in the shadows, there's a difference in class between us and them."
Even as a major crime boss, he'd never even heard rumors of that halo.
"Do you know every Chaotic and Evil Constellation? Are you some kind of all-knowing encyclopedia?"
Baekya turned his head and asked seriously—
"Are you sure?"
Ryu Haneul met his eyes and answered.
"Yes, senior. I'm certain."
'In the future, they were openly active.'
Baekya gestured with his hand, indicating for him to bring a chair closer.
Ryu Haneul scurried over, and Baekya let out a soft sigh.
"If it's the Black Star Cluster, then it's those guys. The international terrorist group founded by the Black Hole contractors."
No matter how many times Baekya had crushed them, they kept coming back.
"That's right."
"...Did you see them often too?"
(Interpretation: Were they active in the future as well?)
"Back then, you were even more famous, senior."
(Interpretation: Back then, you were even more rampant.)
"Damn it."
Ryu Haneul and Baekya sighed simultaneously.
Fengyun, unable to follow their conversation, looked back and forth between them.
"Hey, why are you two leaving me out?"
Baekya waved him off and then grabbed the back of his neck.
"This is getting tiring."
"Yes."
"Those bastards want nothing. Not money, not power, not even some political ideology."
"That's right."
True emptiness, impossible to compromise or communicate with.
Not evil by human standards, but evil as classified by the Aitel system.
"But why would those bastards target me? Our territories don't even overlap."
Fengyun raised his now-functional right hand and stroked his slightly stubbled chin.
"Hmm."
"Perhaps..."
Neither Baekya nor Ryu Haneul could readily answer.
Even though they both operated in the shadows, Fengyun and the Black Star Cluster were fundamentally different.
Fengyun's Black Sea Pearl was a profit-driven organization, while the Black Star Cluster was purely destructive.
"Don't you think they're trying to take over Black Sea Pearl?"
"What would those bastards do with a smuggling operation? I'm a gangster, but this is practically a semi-public company. You know I go to the Blue House often, right?"
"It might not be about the money."
"Then why?"
Fengyun briefly spread his arms wide before returning them to his sides.
Baekya pondered the sailor's words, an odd mix of standard Korean and Busan dialect.
If it wasn't about the money, then they might need the smuggling organization itself.
This was a business the nation could never acknowledge but also could never abandon.
"Maybe they need to... smuggle something in?"
"...!"
Fengyun gasped.
He clenched his fist and shouted,
"Those bastards! They're trying to use me as a pawn? Do they think I'll just let them? Now that the curse is lifted..."
His halo flared brightly, and yellow lightning crackled from the gears.
He was enraged, but Baekya's response was cold.
"Not yet. It's a curse that parasitizes your mind, so I couldn't completely remove it. You'll be fine for a while, but to eradicate it completely, I need to increase the power of Law of Light."
"What, what did you say?"
"If you're going to someone else, go to the Seven Stars of the Holy Church. They can burn it away with holy power."
"As I said before, that's not an option. Losing face in this world is the end. You're the only lifeline I have left."
"Be careful, since it's a rope that's already snapped once."
"But if you're talking about increasing Law of Light, doesn't that just mean I need to get stronger?"
"No."
Baekya shook his head.
His black eyes shimmered mysteriously, like the gems he was about to request.
"Get me an Irregular Polyhedron."
Fengyun's breath hitched.
"That...?!"
A black gem with countless facets that shifted every time you looked at it.
Some called it a fragment of the Aitel system, others a shard of a deceased Constellation. It was a treasure among treasures.
That gem, capable of interfering with providence just like Law of Light, could be used to strengthen it.
Fengyun hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll do my best. My life's on the line now, so I have to succeed no matter what. Thank you. While you're in Busan, do you want the full-course treatment? I'm amazing at setting up blind dates..."
Baekya immediately shook his head.
"Not yet..."
"Ah, that's right, you're a man of devotion, aren't you?"
Fengyun grinned broadly, then turned serious.
"By the way, who knows you're alive?"
"The ones who killed me, him, and you."
"What about the Chairman?"
"..."
"Shouldn't you at least let her know?"
Ryu Haneul saw an expression on Baekya's face that he never imagined possible.
'Senior?'
Baekya, whose presence usually filled any space he was in, now looked like a lonely man occupying a single chair.
Baekya looked into the distance and shook his head.
"Not yet."
Fengyun didn't press further.
"...Alright."
Baekya searched his pockets for his wallet.
"The cost of purifying the artifact..."
Fengyun waved his hand dismissively.
"Forget it. You saved my life, I should be the one taking care of you. Besides, you were going to make the Heavenly Demon pay for it anyway, right?"
"...Do you think I'm some kind of freeloader?"
"Even if you're wearing the ring, it looks inconvenient to keep putting things in and taking them out of the flag, mirror, and scepter, doesn't it?"
Ryu Haneul had no idea what Fengyun was offering.
But judging by what he'd seen so far, Fengyun's crafting skills were exceptional, so anticipation welled up, and he leaned forward involuntarily.
Fengyun smiled contentedly, clearly pleased with Ryu Haneul's reaction.
"Just wait a bit. I'll streamline everything for you."
* * *
"It's really neat."
Ryu Haneul couldn't help but admire it.
The 'Ghost Princess' Scepter' had been disassembled, leaving only the core jade bead, which was then tied with brass wire and leather cord and hung as an ornament on the end of the '22nd Century Katana' handle.
The cyberpunk-style sword and the antique ornament were an unbalanced yet strangely harmonious combination.
The function to summon the Flame Specter was perfectly preserved, and the size was reduced several times over—a groundbreaking modification.
He had also combined the 'Winter Peacock's Standard' and the 'World-Reflecting Mirror.'
"I don't understand why it was so complicated. Why did they make it so inefficiently large?"
He tore off the inscribed part of the Standard, sewed it onto the flag fabric, then folded and stitched the fabric into a suit vest.
The 'World-Reflecting Mirror' was attached to a silver chain in the inner pocket, allowing it to be carried like a pocket watch.
"Try it on. It'll fit you perfectly. You always liked not having to touch anything with your hands, right?"
"How do I activate it?"
"The trigger was set to 'stabbing,' but I changed it so that even a light stomp will activate it. It wasn't difficult."
Ryu Haneul clicked his tongue.
'This is incredible.'
He said it casually, but modifying artifacts was an extremely difficult task.
Changing them into entirely different objects while preserving their functions was a legendary feat, even in the Hunter industry.
Of course, there were downsides.
"Senior, does this mean you can't use the Infinite Manifestation Sutra and Law of Light at the same time anymore?"
'I really liked holding the Standard together.'
Fengyun grinned.
"I already sensed it. The dark mana remaining in the Standard's circuit was yours, Heavenly Demon. I tried my best to preserve the simultaneous activation function. Originally, you had to hold the Standard together, but..."
"But?"
"Now you can just hold hands and use it."
Ryu Haneul felt a halo shining behind Fengyun.
'Hands!? Holding hands with senior?'
Suddenly, his fondness for Fengyun skyrocketed.
'This boss knows what's up.'
His earlier impression of Fengyun being quick-witted was indeed correct.
A smile crept onto his face.
"That's great. What do you think, senior?"
Baekya stood up, walked to the mirror, and replied with satisfaction.
"Yes, I like it. It's always fine."
The 22nd-century katana with the jade bead on its handle hung stylishly from his left hip, and the military vest made him look even taller.
'This guy should have been a designer, not a soldier or a gangster boss.'
'Senior likes it too?!'
Fengyun realized that the two of them were having a conversation with completely different contexts.
But since they both seemed satisfied, he said nothing.
"Take this with you when you go."
Finally, he handed over a key.
"What is it?"
Baekya took the key and asked.
"I have a Mariana yacht in Seoul too. Use it if you ever need to escape to the sea."
Fengyun muttered that Baekya wouldn't go far.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I'll contact you as soon as I get the Irregular Polyhedron."
"Okay."
Baekya and Ryu Haneul left the hotel room.
Fengyun watched them go until they were out of sight.
"By the way, senior, do you know how to sail a boat?"
"I can if it's just a sailboat. I sailed one for decades in a tower somewhere."
"That... doesn't count as knowing how to sail."
"I think so too. Do you know how?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then it's fine."
"Huh?"
"You're not going to sail the boat for me?"
"No? Of course, I'll sail it for you."
The cheerful conversation, laced with laughter, slowly faded away.
'Brings back memories.'
Fengyun closed his eyes, reminiscing about his military days.
'Captain!'
'Captain â– â– â– !'
He had vowed to live like a cloud, even if he couldn't become one.
But the winds of time, which had unpredictably pushed him into the future, now seemed to be pulling him back to the past.
He reflected on his life, from soldier to policeman to gangster.
It felt like he had tried everything he could.
He had faced injustice, but he hadn't let misfortune turn into misery.
He had strived to serve his country and hadn't made excuses for himself.
Thanks to that, even though his life had been full of turmoil, he had been able to glimpse the light from within the shadows.
* * *
Seoul at night.
The bar of a high-rise hotel.
Lee Eunwoo sipped whiskey at a window seat.
Lee Baejeong approached with a cocktail in hand.
For a moment, eyes turned towards them.
Lee Baejeong, with his yellowish-green bob, was eye-catching, and Lee Eunwoo, a high-ranker with a unique halo as a symbol of being chosen by the Constellations, needed no introduction.
But no one tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Unlike Baekya, they didn't have the Ring of Reincarnation, and they had come here to discuss matters that were best kept private.
Lee Eunwoo asked without even glancing up.
"What is it?"
Lee Baejeong gave a bitter smile.
"Unfortunately, we can't kill Baekya right away. We'll have to split the pursuit team."
Lee Eunwoo's eyes widened, but he didn't react further.
"I see. The difference between those who see Baekya's death as a means and those who see it as an end. It's fortunate for me. What's the matter?"
It was as expected, to some extent.
"Some members of the Black Star Cluster have entered the country illegally. They used a route through Busan."
"Should we eliminate Fengyun?"
"No. He's still a patriot."
"Then... you're saying we'll slow down the pursuit for a while."
"Because I have to use 'Precognitive Dream' elsewhere."
Clink.
Lee Eunwoo slammed his glass down hard.
His eyes flickered like a computer screen receiving an incalculable equation.
"Has the future changed? That child would have told us."
Lee Eunwoo's hand reached for the gun at his waist, but then...
"It hasn't changed yet, unfortunately."
He stopped abruptly.
"I'll send half of the personnel assigned to monitor and protect Baekya and Ryu Haneul as a support team. Is that enough?"
"Yes."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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