Chapter 46
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 46.
The situation had been resolved.
Song Tae-yeon apologized and immediately left, and in his place, Yoon Song-ha remained.
Yoo Baek-jun glanced around the now-quiet meeting hall.
"Can I assume that everyone here will assist in the upcoming Gate raid?"
No one responded.
But that silence was as good as a yes.
Yoo Baek-jun skimmed over their faces.
‘These bastards… if I push them down like this, there’ll definitely be complaints later.’
At this point, it was time to offer a compromise.
Yoo Baek-jun tapped the table with his fingers.
"However, I understand your difficulties. The Gate raid will be conducted by a small elite force drawn from a few guilds, while the other guilds will provide material support."
At those words, the expressions of those present brightened.
Instead of a large-scale raid, a small elite force would handle it, and the rest would only provide supplies.
It was a way to minimize losses while still appearing cooperative.
‘But I’ll squeeze as much as I can out of them.’
Yoo Baek-jun planned to extract everything he could from those whose faces had just lit up.
First, Jeong Seung-hoon of Vulcanus.
"Then, there are a few things we’ll need. First, I’d like the Vulcanus Guild to supply weapons imbued with divine power."
"Divine power? Why?"
"Since dark-type monsters are weak to divine power, I’m assuming demons might have a similar weakness… We’ll test it out."
"There should be some in the guild’s inventory. If needed, we can make more quickly."
"I’d like the highest-grade ones, please."
"Highest-grade… Uh, sure."
Jeong Seung-hun’s expression soured.
Weapons imbued with divine power were expensive, and the profit margin was already thin.
This would be a significant loss.
"And the Peng family."
Peng So-young and Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes met. Her gaze held a hint of admiration.
"I’d like the Peng family’s Hunters to provide support."
"How many? A lot? We have the capacity now."
"No, a small elite force. Since we don’t know what’s inside the Gate, I’d prefer not to send too many people."
"That shouldn’t be too difficult."
Yoo Baek-jun then looked at Ryu Il-woo.
"And Mr. Ryu Il-woo."
"Hmm, just say the word."
"How many paladins and priests can currently participate in the raid?"
"Up to around 20."
“Please choose only the best.”
Yoo Baek-jun also requested assistance from the other attendees.
Top-grade potions, magic scrolls—each one was outrageously expensive.
"Y-you want us to prepare those?"
"Isn’t that too expen— I mean, can’t we go with something cheaper?"
"Is that acceptable?"
Yoo Baek-jun lightly brushed off their complaints.
If they didn’t like it, they could join the Gate raid themselves—this was to minimize losses, after all.
He then turned to Yoon Song-ha.
"I’d like you to participate in the raid as well."
"If that will earn your forgiveness for our rudeness, I’ll gladly do so."
"Good."
Yoo Baek-jun raised both hands.
"Anything else to discuss? Since this is urgent, we’ll begin the raid in three days."
With that, he declared the meeting adjourned.
People hurriedly dispersed one by one.
Even if they moved quickly, three days wouldn’t be enough to fulfill Yoo Baek-jun’s demands.
Only Yoo Baek-jun and Jin Seo-yeon remained.
"Aren’t you leaving?"
"Look at this."
Jin Seo-yeon pointed to Seol-yeong, who was curled up on her lap. The little one was snoring softly, fast asleep.
"After eating so much, of course it would fall asleep. It’s nighttime, so it’s natural… Ugh, it’s drooling."
"Cute."
"Cute? You’ve really lost your mind."
"But it is cute."
Even as her dress got soaked with drool, she still called it cute.
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue.
"What, are you busy?"
"Yeah, I’ve got somewhere to be."
"Where are you going at this hour?"
"To find the bastard who made this drooling little one suffer."
Jin Seo-yeon’s eyes widened.
The Treasure Hunters—the ones who took the Demon God’s Path were currently in Seoul. They were probably looking for buyers.
The ones in Seoul now weren’t Seol-yeong’s direct enemies, but they held clues to where the real culprit was.
"Want to come?"
Yoo Baek-jun subtly asked Jin Seo-yeon. If she helped, things would go much smoother.
She stroked Seol-yeong’s head and replied without hesitation
"Yeah."
***
The meeting ended, and so did the banquet.
The crowd that had flooded the hotel receded like the tide, leaving only the Hunter Association staff handling cleanup and a few Golden Lion Guild members.
"It went better than expected, Chief."
"Yeah…"
Chief Chae Jeong-jun was smoking a cigarette on the hotel terrace with his subordinate.
His gaze was fixed outside, on Yoo Baekjun, who had just left in a limousine
"He wrangled all those difficult attendees in an instant. Damn, that’s impressive."
"You mean Yoo Baek-jun?"
"Yeah, never would’ve thought."
Chae Jeong-jun clicked his tongue.
Before the meeting, he had spoken to Ryu Il-woo over the phone.
Given the nature of the agenda, he had expected it to be hard to get everyone’s support.
But it ended much smoother than anticipated.
"If he’d forced them to join, they would have resisted, so he had those guilds provide supplies instead. And to prevent complaints, he made sure they participated directly in the raid."
"The Peng family, the Sword Saint’s family, the Crimson Crusade, and the Magic Tower—all four are experts in Gate raids."
"Right, with that lineup, no one can complain. And they’ll still get to show off."
The resources requested from each guild were also perfectly calculated. It was as if he knew exactly what strengths and specialties each guild had.
"I don’t believe in charisma…."
Chae Jeong-jun recalled the man who had slipped away before the meeting even ended.
“But seeing him crush that troublemaker like it was nothing—yeah, I think charisma might be real after all.”
"Is that good news for us?"
"Hard to say."
The Hunter Association was weak.
Those with exceptional talents were lured away by guilds and families with promises of massive support.
Having someone like Yoo Baek-jun rise up wouldn’t necessarily benefit the Hunter Association.
"If only we could get some talent of our own…"
"There’s that rookie, right? The one who went into a Gate and found some kind of opportunity."
"That guy will probably leave too."
"He said he’d stay with the Hunter Association, though?"
"Really?"
Chae Jeong-jun’s eyes widened.
"What was his name again?"
"Uh, Han… Han… Ah!"
The subordinate clapped his hands.
"Han Chang-woo!"
"Ah, right, that kid. Hope he turns out well."
Chae Jeong-jun let out a deep sigh.
He could only hope that Han Chang-woo would become a beacon for the Hunter Association’s bleak future.
***
The meeting was over.
On the way back to the Sword Saint’s Seoul branch, Han Seong-ah glanced at Yoo Baek-jun.
"Why are you staring?"
"Uh, Young Master. Does our family… have records about demons?"
"Ah, that?"
Yoo Baek-jun smiled ambiguously.
"Maybe yes, maybe no."
"Young Master?"
It wasn’t a complete lie.
The Sword Saint’s archives contained vast amounts of data, including some about demons—though very briefly.
‘This is firsthand intel I’ve gathered myself.’
He had faced demons more than once or twice.
Yoo Baek-jun looked out the window. The limousine soon arrived at the Seoul branch.
Someone waiting outside opened the door.
"Young Master, as you instructed, all the swordsmen currently at the Seoul branch have been assembled."
The Swordsman from the auction house, Lee Jun-woo, bowed respectfully.
Behind him stood the members of the Sword Saint’s lineage.
‘Treasure Hunters.’
They were strong—but that wasn’t their real strength.
It was more accurate to say their power had been artificially inflated.
‘Their guild leader’s unique ability is… a bit too special.’
The Treasure Hunters’ guild leader possessed a unique ability called ‘Treasure Sense.’
As the name suggested, it let him locate treasures.
It functioned like precognition, allowing him to locate dungeons or ruins containing treasures…
‘Honestly, it’s a pretty ambiguous ability.’
At best, it only gave vague locations.
So, the guild leader recruited members with other unique abilities to compensate for the shortcomings.
‘They thoroughly explore dungeons in advance, devise optimal strategies, and command their guild members accordingly.’
Moreover, the guild members got along well.
They were a mix of those with mediocre abilities or troubled pasts, bound by the guild leader’s favors.
Leaving them alone would only make them a bigger nuisance—they had to be dealt with.
"Good."
Yoo Baek-jun stepped out of the car.
"Let’s go hunt some treasure hunters."
***
The Treasure Hunters were a global organization, operating all over the world.
Since they looted rare artifacts to sell, they also had considerable wealth.
"Hahaha! Hey, drink up! Drink!"
"I live for this drink—I live for it!"
So naturally, guild members throwing a booze-fueled party at a luxury house on the outskirts of Seoul after a successful looting operation wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary.
“Whew! We did pretty well this time. What, hit about three places? A dungeon and a couple of ruins?”
"The payout’s gonna be good this time, right?"
"You even need to ask?!"
The guild members burst into laughter.
They looted artifacts, then sold them at auctions or found buyers.
The profits were split equally.
That was why the Treasure Hunters could gather all sorts of people and still operate smoothly.
"Velvet, aren’t you drinking?"
"I’m good."
A man with dull red hair stood before the treasures piled in the corner.
A fellow guild member approached him.
"What’re you looking at?"
"The treasures from this haul. Selling these should net us at least a few billion, right?"
"A few billion? Try a few trillion, probably."
The guild member chuckled.
"The guild leader and vice-leader put a lot of effort into finding these. They’ve gotta be worth that much, right?"
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"We’ll be able to kick back for a while now. It’ll take time before they can use their unique abilities again anyway."
Velvet nodded.
To those here, the Treasure Hunters’ guild leader was nothing short of a benefactor.
‘If we’d lived as ordinary Hunters, we’d never have made this kind of money.’
Were they exceptional Hunters?
Absolutely not. They were mediocre at best, no matter where they went.
Some even had pasts that made it impossible for them to operate publicly.
‘The fact that we can live like this is all thanks to the guild leader.’
Velvet felt a renewed sense of gratitude.
Bzzzt—!
"Ugh…"
Just then, one of the artifacts in the corner emitted an eerie glow.
It was a strangely shaped jar.
"What’s up with that thing?"
"No idea. It’s been glowing weirdly… I’ve been watching it for a while."
"What kind of artifact is it? Seen it before?"
"That’s the thing—the info window won’t show up."
The guild member frowned.
"Did we pick up something weird?"
"No way. The guild leader told us to take it."
"Guess so."
"Right, let’s just drink."
Velvet nodded and turned to join the drinking.
But at that moment—
"Huh?"
Something outside the window caught his eye.
It was the dead of night, the moon hidden behind clouds, the sky pitch black.
Rumble—!
"...Huh?"
The sound of thunder crackled.
Then—flash!—his vision was momentarily blinded.
Kyaaaa—!
A sound like the sky being torn apart echoed.
Something appeared beyond the heavens. Velvet narrowed his eyes.
It was thunder.
A massive bolt of lightning, visible to the naked eye.
BOOM!
"Danger…!"
"Waaaah—!"
By the time they realized, it was too late.
Velvet tried to warn them, but the lightning struck their hideout. With a deafening roar, the ceiling was blown away in an instant.
"What the hell?!"
"Ahh! I’m pinned!"
Crash!
Debris rained down.
The guild members, who had been partying, scrambled to grab their gear.
But before they could—
Bzzzt—!
"What the—?!"
"What the fuck is happening?!"
As if pulled by magnets, their equipment was yanked into the sky by an unseen force.
And in exchange, a group of swordsmen descended through the now-open ceiling.
"Who—who are you… Ugh!"
"Kuh—!"
Without a word, the swordsmen began mercilessly subduing the guild members.
And then, casually strolling in behind them, someone entered.
“Kill half, leave the rest alive.”
Yoo Baek-jun.
Catching the returning spear, he gave the order.