Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: Father's Debt
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“Light?”
Jae-hyeok’s eyes sparkled.
The unfamiliar expression of having to repay light—not debt—sparked considerable interest in him.
‘Become a great figure like Father and illuminate the world… something like that kind of blessing?’
The people looked at him in bewilderment as he tried to decipher the meaning behind the old man’s words.
“It’s not light, it’s debt.”
Only after the pharmacist old man repeated it did he understand.
“Debt…?”
Jae-hyeok’s expression hardened slightly now that he’d grasped the meaning properly.
Before he could retort, the old man cut him off.
“I’m not fabricating some nonexistent incident while your father lies bedridden. You can just ask Butler Hwang and uncover the truth easily, right?”
“…….”
Jae-hyeok shut his mouth, robbed of words.
He was confused.
His father was one of the greatest figures in the entire history of Korea—one who could be counted on ten fingers.
The nation and its people owed his father countless debts.
He couldn’t believe his father owed a debt to anyone.
“No one can live in this world alone.”
The pharmacist old man chuckled dryly and put his pipe in his mouth.
His gaze, fixed intently on Jae-hyeok, was profound.
It seemed to pierce right through the young boy’s thoughts.
“Your father’s sword could save thousands, tens of thousands because there were people supporting him.”
“And you’re saying you’re one of them?”
“Exactly. Sure, I’m a merchant obsessed with unorthodox paths, but I’m no quack.”
‘Indeed…’
Mixing all sorts of impurities into potions and elixirs without ruining their effects was, in a way, an incredible skill.
Perhaps the old man could even enhance the power of potions and elixirs.
And his father had received help in that regard.
“How much debt do I need to repay?”
Jae-hyeok asked directly.
He could verify the truth later through Butler Hwang, but for now, he wanted to get a rough idea of the amount.
“Hahaha! What a bold kid. Do you think the debt your father left behind can be settled with mere money?”
The old man burst into hearty laughter.
“It’s not something that can simply be converted to cash.”
His laughter cut off abruptly, and his gaze sharpened.
The skill of freely shifting his aura felt like something honed over years of experience.
Gulp.
For once, Jae-hyeok swallowed dryly.
‘Did Father owe this man his life?’
It seemed entirely plausible.
As a National Treasure, his father had always charged into the most dangerous battlefields.
He must have faced life-and-death crises countless times.
“May I… ask the name of my father’s benefactor?”
Jae-hyeok asked politely.
Now, rather than doubting or wary of the old man, he felt gratitude.
He imagined his father consuming the old man’s medicine and recovering in moments of crisis.
But the old man’s reaction was unexpected.
“Benefactor? What benefactor?”
Tilting his head, he began pounding his chest as if his composure had crumbled.
“That’s not it! I’m just the victim. A victim exploited at will by a kid way younger than me for twenty years…!”
“…?”
Jae-hyeok, Hae-rin, and even the middle-aged woman.
Everyone flinched in surprise and stepped back from the old man.
His face flushed beet red, and he wouldn’t calm down, continuing to rage.
“That brat…! Your father used me to his heart’s content and then, in the end, branded me with the [Curse of the Serpent God]! How can such a debt be repaid with mere money!?”
Clutching his side, the old man collapsed to the floor.
Just recalling that day’s memory triggered a severe abdominal spasm.
‘Curse of the Serpent God?’
Jae-hyeok clamped his mouth shut.
There were too many murky details to shout about not tarnishing his father’s honor.
He couldn’t muster the courage to ask exactly what had happened.
But he was the rightful(?) heir of House Kang.
He had to steel himself.
“Your words don’t add up.”
Having sorted his thoughts, Jae-hyeok raised his doubt.
“You said you’ve been steadily brewing medicine even after my father collapsed, right? But now you’re resenting and blaming him—it’s hard to believe.”
“Exactly.”
Hae-rin chimed in.
The middle-aged woman silently nodded in agreement.
Jae-hyeok’s point held considerable merit.
“I couldn’t just let your father die!”
The pharmacist old man bellowed.
“If that guy doesn’t wake up, who the hell am I supposed to beg to lift the Curse of the Serpent God!?”
The old man yanked open his collar.
Revealed on his shoulder was a tattoo of a serpent biting its own tail.
Jörmungandr.
It was an exact likeness of the boss monster that had appeared only once in an SS-grade World Raid.
“So I tried! I poured my heart into brewing medicine every time, praying your father would please open his eyes. But…”
Brain death was beyond the reach of potions and elixirs.
Recalling that hopeless reality, the old man’s vision darkened, and he slumped to the ground.
“Damn it…!”
Pounding the floor in despair.
His pathetic figure was so heartbreaking that Jae-hyeok couldn’t look away.
“Don’t worry too much. Father will definitely wake up. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Spare me the empty comfort! What makes a greenhorn like you think you can revive the Yaksha? He’s as good as dead.”
“I’ll obtain the Elixir.”
“Elixir? Hahaha! You mean the elixir that drops at infinitesimal odds from the highest-grade Gates? That’s one ambitious dream, kid.”
Only National Treasure-level Players qualified to challenge the highest-grade Gates.
Even succeeding in the raid offered no guarantee of an Elixir drop—and if one did drop, you’d need to claim first place in contribution to earn acquisition rights.
It meant outshining the world’s strongest Players with the top performance.
Obtain the Elixir?
It was a dream fit only for a naive child ignorant of the world.
“When I heard through Butler Hwang that you’d enrolled at Lion’s Castle, I secretly hoped. I imagined you growing quickly, fetching the [Scales of the Ghost Arm] in your father’s stead, freeing me from this wretched curse—I daydreamed about it countless times.”
The pharmacist old man sighed deeply.
“But it was all in vain. I saw through you the moment you suggested trading a mere potion for community points. You’re just like the kid who spent half his life cooped up in the mansion—completely out of touch with reality.”
His talent was immense, but his arrogance might lead to the same downfall as Dae-seong?
The old man’s abdominal spasms worsened as he foresaw Jae-hyeok’s future.
He was convinced the boy before him could never repay the Yaksha’s debt in his stead.
“The saying ‘like father, like son’ exists for a reason.”
Hae-rin couldn’t hold back any longer and interjected as she stared at the lamenting old man.
“Jae-hyeok is kind and amazing.”
“Heh.”
The old man let out a hollow chuckle and clicked his tongue.
“Dae-seong was the same—always dragging a girl around. You’ve ambiguously taken after your brother, not your father.”
“What…”
I resemble Dae-seong?
Jae-hyeok, already displeased with the old man’s attitude of slandering his father without details, felt his stomach churn.
“You were here.”
A low, sinister voice pierced his ear.
No—more accurately, it reverberated in his mind.
A voice infused with mana.
A feat ordinary Players couldn’t achieve.
Clack, clack, clack…
In the suddenly silent space, the sound of footsteps approached at steady intervals.
Jae-hyeok and Hae-rin, the pharmacist old man, and even the civilian middle-aged woman—all focused every nerve on the nearing footsteps.
It was akin to being unable to ignore an approaching typhoon.
The man in the longcoat who soon appeared exuded a presence like a calamity itself.
“Indeed. I’ve come to the right place.”
Comparing a photo from his pocket to Jae-hyeok’s appearance, the man nodded.
Does he have OCD?
His perfectly parted 5:5 hairstyle clung flawlessly to his scalp, without a single strand out of place—enough to spark such doubts.
“Just to be sure, I’ll ask. Do you know Jo Seong-hyeon of Class A?”
The man’s eyes gleamed behind his glasses, staring straight at Jae-hyeok.
A chill ran down Jae-hyeok’s spine.
-The student council president’s absence wasn’t a coincidence. Someone who wanted the council in crisis deliberately lured him away.
That night when he’d purged all the beastkin infiltrators from the school.
-Professor Woo Kyohwan of Tactical Studies. He’s the one who made the president leave his post.
Professor Lee So-young’s words flashed through Jae-hyeok’s mind.
The man who knew full well that Lee So-young and the student council were searching for beastkin—and still lured away the president.
Because of him, the fox beastkin had nearly struck the council’s rear with ease.
If Jae-hyeok hadn’t arrived on time, unthinkable horrors would have unfolded in sequence.
Crack.
Flexing his fingers, Jae-hyeok felt the texture of <Cheonbyeon-a> on his left hand as his eyes darkened to the abyss.
“Professor Woo Kyohwan of Tactical Studies. Were you the one who also unleashed a tamed monster to attack Jo Seong-hyeon?”
“A first-year who knows quite a bit. I see how you got close to him—you were at the attack site and helped the kid.”
Twitch.
Jae-hyeok sensed a presence in the air above Woo Kyohwan’s head.
Reflexively drawing [High Inquisitor Alus’s Dagger], he hurled it toward the source.
Clang!
Woo Kyohwan swung his briefcase to deflect the dagger, expressing admiration.
“Detecting an Evil Eye’s presence without even using a search skill. You possess a truly excellent artifact. As expected of noble blood—even in decline, a noble house remains one.”
Reading an Evil Eye’s presence without skills or items required at least 100 Insight.
And Woo Kyohwan couldn’t even imagine Jae-hyeok’s level was 47.
He naturally assumed it was the item’s aid leveraging Insight.
“Shall we see your skills, then?”
Confirming through the Evil Eye’s vision that no other variables lurked nearby, Woo Kyohwan activated his skill.