Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Destroyer Cygnus
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‘Now they want me to take successor classes?’
Han Min-oh’s expression soured the moment he stepped out of the group headquarters.
After his face-to-face with his father, the head of Han Yeon Group, he couldn’t bring himself to relax.
―You have to fill your brother’s shoes, Min-oh.
Since when had he ever called him so affectionately?
His father, who had always gazed at him coldly in comparison to Han Shin.
Did he really think he’d just go along with it now?
The reason for the chairman’s behavior was obvious.
‘Hyung’s gone missing.’
…Han Shin had vanished.
From the ‘Second Night.’
Even after all the trials ended and 860,000 survivors returned.
Han Shin was nowhere to be found.
Han Yeon Group had launched a massive search, but it was like he’d evaporated—no trace left behind.
‘Hyung… is dead.’
The search teams concluded that Han Shin was dead.
He must have met with some accident in the ‘Second Night.’
Han Min-oh couldn’t believe it.
Han Shin had been so strong.
He’d seemed utterly invincible, both physically and mentally.
And yet, he was dead.
Of course, to Han Min-oh, Han Shin had always been a terrifying existence.
More stranger than family, more demon than human.
So there was no sorrow or heartache.
Just utter disbelief.
―Min-oh. Take over Han Yeon Group. I’ll support you as much as I can until you’re ready to take my place.
With Han Shin—who’d seemed unkillable—dead, even the chairman was getting desperate.
From that day on, treatment of ‘Han Min-oh’ changed.
Someone had to fill Han Shin’s void, and it fell to him.
If Han Shin had met with misfortune, Han Min-oh was the only son left to the group’s chairman.
They needed to fast-track the succession.
‘He still has no expectations for me.’
He could hide his expression and tone.
But not his eyes.
Those eyes, brimming with regret.
The chairman still longed for Han Shin.
Believing only Han Shin could lead Han Yeon Group to the top.
Han Min-oh had never even been in the picture.
Not that they’d had much contact in the past ten years anyway.
‘I don’t want it either.’
His face twisted involuntarily.
He’d refuse this pathetic group.
Han Min-oh intended to stand on his own.
‘I want to be a hero like Lee Hyuk-soo. Not a cold-blooded villain like you lot.’
Han Min-oh’s role model was none other than ‘Lee Hyuk-soo.’
The man who’d reached the top with nothing but a single sword.
The world ahead would be led by men like him.
And Han Min-oh wanted to be one too.
Han Yeon Group, the chairman, Han Shin—they were all far from ‘heroes.’
More like villains who scorned, belittled, and tore down others.
“This way, young master.”
“…No need to follow. At least let me go home alone.”
The sheer number of bodyguards was dizzying.
Was Han Shin’s death really hitting them that hard?
One could sense the chairman’s resolve not to lose Han Min-oh too.
This entourage had even started from home.
No—it had been going on for over a week since they’d concluded Han Shin was dead.
‘This is insane.’
People everywhere he went.
Even into the Abyss—they followed.
No idea where they’d recruited these bodyguards, but each one was no slouch in strength.
‘At least level 20.’
The team leader even seemed past level 30.
Few in the Abyss had such high levels.
So escaping on his own wasn’t an option.
They answered to the chairman over him.
Han Min-oh sighed.
In that instant.
Ssssss!
“Wh-what’s that?”
“Abyss!”
“Damn it! Why an Abyss out of nowhere…!”
“It’s targeted! A sniper Abyss!”
Suddenly, purple smoke billowed from beneath his feet.
The telltale sign of an Abyss appearing.
No message.
It started abruptly.
‘Targeted Abyss!’
He’d heard plenty about targeted Abysses.
Stories that Creators opened them when they wanted something from humans or held a grudge—killing directly.
But who was the target?
‘Me?’
…Too soon to tell.
But the surroundings were changing fast.
Cracks spiderwebbed the ground, thick vines draped over buildings.
The sky burned redder than dusk.
Caw! Caw!
Half-rotten crows circled overhead.
Cars that had been driving lay half-wrecked and crumpled, every window shattered.
An eerie, spine-chilling atmosphere.
“A-are you alright, young master?”
“Protect the young master!”
The bodyguards snapped to and surrounded Han Min-oh.
This was now the Abyss.
A demon realm teeming with monsters.
Corpse Crows?
Incarnations’ identities?
What the hell was any of this?
But the moment the message appeared.
“……”
“……”
The bodyguards’ expressions shifted subtly.
They were all Incarnations.
But wasn’t this weird?
What good was revealing Incarnations’ identities?
‘Infighting among Creators?’
‘If we’re exposed as Incarnations, we’re done for.’
They couldn’t keep playing bodyguards.
And that was just the start.
Publicly outing them as Incarnations would drastically impact their lives going forward.
Opinions on Incarnations were already abysmal.
It’d only get worse.
Of course, if it were just them here, no problem.
“S-save us!”
“What the hell is going on?!”
“Mommy!”
Too many witnesses.
Easily a thousand visible to the naked eye.
But it was fine.
“Corpse Crows—those crows up there?”
“Everyone, quiet!”
Kill the target, and it’d clear automatically.
Once they silenced the crowd, the world fell still.
They focused on the sounds of the Corpse Crows circling above.
Caw!
Han! Caw!
Min! Caw!
Caw! Oh!
“…What’re they saying?”
“One syllable at a time?”
“Oh-Han-Min?”
“Min-Oh-Han?”
“Han, Min, Oh?”
Combining the words yielded a few names.
At the same time.
‘It’s me!’
Han Min-oh’s face drained of color.
But there were ways out of an Abyss.
“Use a coin, young master!”
Coin.
The only way to force an exit from the Abyss.
Han Min-oh pulled one from his pocket.
He’d heard you couldn’t survive a targeted Abyss without coins.
He could escape!
As his trembling heart began to settle.
What?
Failed?
The Creator blocked it?
‘Damn it!’
He didn’t have many coins.
Just two at most.
One used—only one left.
Han Min-oh’s face turned ashen, then pale blue.
“Young master. What’s wrong?”
“…The Creator has no intention of letting me leave.”
“Pardon?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
Didn’t coins guarantee escape?
“U-use my coin, sir!”
The panicked team leader handed over his coin.
Han Min-oh looked at him gratefully, as if asking if he was sure.
These were blood-sweat coins.
But the team leader had no choice.
[Hand over your coin. Han Min-oh must escape first.]
…Damn Creators.
As an Incarnation, he had to obey.
“It’s, it’s fine.”
“I’ll repay this kindness.”
Han Min-oh bowed sincerely.
If he escaped, the targeted Abyss would vanish too.
For everyone here, he had to get out fast.
“Hoo…!!”
How many would it take?
No—why wouldn’t they let him go?
“U-use mine too.”
“Take mine!”
Coins trickled in, five more.
“……”
But the result was the same.
All eight coins evaporated into thin air.
Now they had none left.
Han Min-oh stared blankly at the sky.
The Creator wanted him dead.
But why.
‘Why reveal the Incarnations?’
If he didn’t die, the Incarnations would be exposed.
In other words.
There were quite a few Incarnations here.
But was that even possible?
You couldn’t tell Incarnations unless they said so themselves.
…The Creators were just as baffled by this.
Without knowing every Incarnation present, ‘Incarnation reveal’ was impossible.
Not even the Abyss’s Creator had that authority.
Put simply.
[There’s a traitor among us.]
[Who? Which bastard opened this Abyss?]
[Daring to betray us?]
The Incarnations gathered here.
Their Creators had colluded.
To secretly capture Han Min-oh’s contracted divine beast.
And split the spoils among themselves.
They’d revealed all identities—Incarnations and Creators alike.
Everyone knew everyone.
So ‘Incarnation reveal’ only worked if one betrayed the rest.
[I never trusted them from the start.]
[Knew it’d come to this!]
[What’s the goal?]
[Monopolizing Destroyer Cygnus?]
The schism hit the Creators faster than the Incarnations.
…They’d been demons who never trusted each other to begin with.
Park Chan-woo watched the scene unfold quietly.
From the crowd, the cracks forming in reality.
‘The Creators fracture, and that’ll spread to the Incarnations.’
Obvious.
How many Incarnations had he killed?
If his own status as one leaked, his future looked bleak.
How many would sell out their future to protect Han Min-oh?
Two options.
The bodyguards kill Han Min-oh, or eliminate all other witnesses except him.
The former was far more likely.
Then she’d appear.
‘First, confirm exactly what divine beast Han Min-oh contracted with.’
The divine beast contracted to Han Min-oh.
And he’d know.
Whether Han Min-oh was worth saving.