Chapter 188
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 188.
“Still can’t move your body?”
“Yeah, it feels like I’m tied up with ropes.”
Jin Seo-yeon placed Seol-yeong on her lap while examining Yoo Baek-jun’s condition from various angles.
“Your diantans are a mess. Your magical power also refluxed… But it seems like you’re almost recovered?”
"Please heal me quickly, doctor."
“Why would I be your doctor?”
“Or should I call you a Pharmacist?”
“Stop with the nonsense…”
Jin Seo-yeon let out a deep sigh.
Seol-yeong, lying on her lap, rolled around and let out a purring sound.
—Meow… Mrowww.
“Is this cub really a tiger?”
“Yeah, though it looks like a cat.”
At first, the wildness in the creature was still alive, but as days passed, it became more and more like a cat.
Around strangers, it still acted like its old self, but watching it now felt strangely odd.
“Well, anyway. You should rest until your health recovers for a while.”
Jin Seo-yeon shot him a sharp glance.
“Not that you’d actually do that.”
“You’re scarily accurate.”
Right.
He really had no intention of resting.
As soon as he could move his body even a little, he planned to go purify the Demonic Sword Grandal.
“You’re going to die young at this rate…”
“If I don’t move quickly now, I’ll die young whether I want to or not.”
“Because of your family’s circumstances?”
Yoo Baek-jun nodded, and Jin Seo-yeon clicked her tongue lightly.
“What a complicated family.”
“Yours isn’t any different.”
“What are you talking about? The Magic Tower is peaceful compared to your family. These days, not even monsters are coming out of the World Tree, so it’s even more relaxed.”
“Hmm, really?”
Looking at Jin Seo-yeon, something came to mind.
The Magic Tower—and the <Fall of the Magic Tower> event that Harun and his faction would soon trigger.
Did she know about it?
‘Probably not.’
Yoo Baek-jun knew Harun would cause an incident, but Jin Seo-yeon didn’t.
It might be better to tell her…
‘But spoon-feeding her everything isn’t the way. Giving her a slight hint so she can figure it out herself might be better.’
Jin Seo-yeon would one day lead the Magic Tower, so she needed to learn how to handle such situations.
After some thought, Yoo Baek-jun carefully spoke up.
“Still, make sure to tighten internal discipline.”
“……”
Jin Seo-yeon silently stared at him.
“Be wary when things seem too peaceful. There’s a saying—the calm before the storm. If it’s excessively peaceful, something’s bound to happen.”
“You’re really good at ominous small talk.”
Yoo Baek-jun shrugged.
“Just looking out for you.”
“Hmm, looking out for me…”
As if savoring the words, a faint smile appeared on Jin Seo-yeon’s lips.
“Not bad. I’ll keep your words in mind.”
With that, Jin Seo-yeon stood up.
“Take your medicine properly. If you do, you should be able to move by tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, go ahead. Let me know if you need help.”
With her gone, the room fell silent.
Yoo Baek-jun lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
‘I have to stop the Fall of the Magic Tower event.’
The penalty for failing would be too severe.
The Magic Tower, now a reliable ally, would turn into an enemy—and so would Jin Seo-yeon.
This was something he absolutely had to prevent.
‘She’ll call if she needs help.’
Yoo Baek-jun glanced at the spot where Jin Seo-yeon had been.
“What, am I getting attached?”
***
The next day.
Whether it was Jin Seo-yeon’s sincerity reaching the heavens or not, Yoo Baek-jun’s body finally moved.
“Good, I can finally move.”
Truthfully, there were still many uncomfortable parts.
But at least he could move now, and outwardly, he looked perfectly fine without any visible wounds.
‘Too much piled-up work to rest.’
Though he wanted to rest more, Yoo Baek-jun decided to tackle his duties first.
He stayed in Busan for a while to deal with the aftermath of the <Night of Death>.
“Young Master, I’ll accompany you.”
“Ah, Instructor Han Seong-ah. Don’t tell me you were standing outside the whole time I was recovering?”
“……”
The moment he stepped outside, Instructor Han Seong-ah, who had been waiting, followed him.
She responded to his question with a silent smile.
“The floating island isn’t a dangerous place. You didn’t have to go that far.”
“You never know.”
“Well, that’s true. Thanks for your hard work.”
Yoo Baek-jun left the building with Han Seong-ah.
“There are still a lot of people here.”
“Yes. Many were transferred to hospitals on the ground, but they’re reportedly at full capacity.”
“So they decided to stay here until the numbers thin out, huh.”
The floating island was bustling with people.
Originally, it was a place only for elves, spirits, dwarves, and a few necromancers, but now, the people rescued last time were still staying.
“How are the elves doing?”
“Not bad. If anyone among the humans showed suspicious movements…”
Srrk!
Han Seong-ah unsheathed her sword slightly.
“They quickly became quiet.”
“…No incidents, right?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
For some reason, he felt uneasy.
Hopefully, she didn’t drag someone away and bury them somewhere.
—A large-scale undead outbreak caused by a cult has occurred in the Busan region.
—However, thanks to the hunters’ swift response, the damage was successfully contained…
The sound of a TV playing reached his ears.
Just like in Seoul before, Busan had seen an enormous number of undead appear, and news outlets were now reporting on it.
“Ugh, I was too out of it to notice, but was it this bad? Surviving is a miracle, seriously.”
“Tell me about it.”
The TV screen showed an overview of the incident in Busan.
The sudden devastation of the city.
And the overwhelming number of undead swarming the streets.
“Disgustingly many.”
“Indeed. Busan is currently struggling with corpse disposal.”
“Well, with numbers like that…”
While watching TV, Yoo Baek-jun called Jeon Soo-yeon.
—Yes, Young Master!
“The news is all over Busan’s incident. You know what to do, right?”
—Y-Yes! We’re preparing to publicize the Sword Saint Family’s involvement and emphasize your role in it… Uh, umm!
“Good. Don’t forget about Gun-woo either. He’ll need achievements if he wants to become the Busan branch leader.”
—Got it!
While Yoo Tae-rang stumbled, Yoo Baek-jun planned to score big points from this incident.
He needed to pressure him further.
‘Yoo Tae-rang is a cold-blooded guy, but he’s never been cornered like this before.’
If he kept pressuring and backing him into a corner, he’d eventually make a reckless move.
And that was exactly what Yoo Baek-jun wanted.
“And… What about Lee Ja-yae?”
—She’s been busy lately. She made a big mistake and lost Yoo Tae-rang’s trust.
“Probably under internal investigation.”
—Yeah… She thinks there’s someone in the intelligence division loyal to you, and that there might be a traitor among her own subordinates…
“So Lee Ja-yae suspects that.”
Yoo Baek-jun thought of Lee Ja-yae.
She was competent, but her greed made her unreliable.
Besides, he already had Soo-yeon.
“An opportunity will come soon. When I give the signal…”
Yoo Baek-jun lowered his voice.
“Eliminate her.”
—Understood, Young Master.
The words were chilling.
As Yoo Baek-jun raised his head, he spotted elves and priests treating the wounded.
Among them was Delowin.
“Ah, Human!”
She had been staring at the TV but noticed Yoo Baek-jun and hurried over.
“Human! That box is so fascinating every time I see it. Are there people inside it?”
“Oh… such a cliché line.”
“Huh?”
Delowin blinked her round eyes.
Her ears twitched cutely.
“Ah! How are you feeling?”
“Not bad. I heard you guys helped a lot.”
“Ehh, we didn’t do much. Just brought some herbs, that’s all. Um, that… your fiancée? Fiancée?”
“Jin Seo-yeon. Not my fiancée.”
“Really?”
Delowin smiled warmly.
“Then she must be a very caring person. She took care of you day and night.”
“Ugh…”
Caring.
A word that didn’t suit Jin Seo-yeon at all.
“…She’s not the most honest person.”
“Not honest?”
“Delowin! Come here and check this! Is this how it’s supposed to be made?”
“Ah, just a second! Human, see you later!”
Delowin wanted to ask more, but a busy dwarf called her away.
The dwarves were building temporary shelters for the people, while the elves provided what was needed.
“They seem to have gotten pretty close.”
“They grew closer during the floating island’s defense. Delowin worked hard to bridge the gap between the two races.”
“That’s a relief.”
Like cats and dogs.
A fitting phrase to describe the relationship between elves and dwarves.
He had hoped they’d grow closer by working together, and fortunately, they had.
“Where are the others?”
“All on the ground.”
“I see. Let’s take a walk down there.”
Many owed him favors—the Hunter association, the Peng Family, the Crimson Crusade, and others.
He couldn’t just ignore them.
Fwoosh!
Stepping onto a magic circle, Yoo Baek-jun and Han Seong-ah vanished from the floating island and reappeared on the ground.
The first thing that hit them was the stench—the rotting smell of corpses everywhere.
“They said corpse disposal was a headache. The stench is literally rotting my brain.”
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue.
The smell was so strong it made his head hurt.
“Noel and the other necromancers are helping with the disposal, but it’ll still take time…”
“Hope it’s over soon.”
Yoo Baek-jun walked around, checking the state of Busan.
Broken roads, collapsed buildings—the damage wasn’t insignificant. But compared to Seoul’s devastation, it was relatively small.
‘This is the problem with major events. You can’t just stop them outright, so damage is inevitable…’
It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
To eliminate Vincent’s immortality, the <Night of Death> event had to happen.
“Considering the scale, the number of casualties is miraculously low. Though we can’t publicly announce it since there were still deaths.”
“At least that’s some comfort.”
He couldn’t prevent deaths entirely, but reducing them was something to be satisfied with.
As Yoo Baek-jun toured Busan, he expressed gratitude to those who had helped him.
“Getting used to your new body?”
“Of course!”
First was Peng So-young of the Peng Family.
The gloominess she had during their first meeting was gone, replaced by cheerfulness.
When Yoo Baek-jun thanked her, she waved it off.
“Come on, after all the help I got from you, this is nothing. Hehe! But hey, my dad keeps asking when you’ll visit. What should I tell him?”
“Uh… when my schedule clears up.”
Other Peng Family warriors also approached to thank him for helping their young lady.
“Came to give thanks but ended up receiving them instead.”
The Crimson Crusade members were busy with rescue operations, and Ryu Il-woo was nowhere to be found.
Deciding to meet them later, Yoo Baek-jun headed to the last group he needed to see.
“Well, well, long time no see, Yoo Baek-jun.”
“Not really that long, though.”
“Hahaha! Just a figure of speech.”
It was Deputy Director Chae Jeong-jun.
He laughed heartily as he approached.
The Busan Hunter Association had set up a temporary command post, led by Chae Jeong-jun and his subordinates.
Han Chang-woo was also with him.
“Seoul’s recovery is almost complete. Though once that’s done, we’ll have to deploy them back to Busan.”
“Spread thin, huh.”
“Isn’t that life? Haha!”
Chae Jeong-jun laughed boisterously.
‘Just like my life.’
Looking at that smile, Yoo Baek-jun suddenly felt a wave of melancholy.