Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Han Yeon Group
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Twelve Races.
The twelve most exceptional lifeforms.
Among them, the dragon race was unrivaled in the field of magic.
From birth, they could wield 5th-circle magic without any instruction. Upon maturing into adult dragons, they naturally reached the 9th circle as easily as breathing.
After a thousand years, the moment they became ancient dragons, the world of 10th-circle magic opened up to them. From there, it depended on the individual's effort and talent whether they climbed higher or plateaued.
Yet the dragon race were monsters who could reach the 10th circle without any real effort. Just by virtue of their birth, they fully embodied the mastery of magic.
And the lord of that dragon race was 'Sepiro'.
He was evaluated as possessing unprecedented prowess even among dragons.
The absolute being who pioneered magic beyond the nonexistent 13th circle!
However, to demons, 'Sepiro' was a forbidden name.
An object of hatred and simultaneous dread.
This stemmed from a war long ago.
There had been a time when Sepiro single-handedly crushed the lords of the Abyss like insects.
Nothing was impossible for him.
He brushed aside all limits with ease.
He always toyed with the Abyss using utterly outrageous methods.
...For such a Sepiro, crossing dimensional boundaries would be a trivial matter.
He could transform into human form or even burrow into a human mind to control it directly.
'Unless it was Sepiro himself, no human should know that name. If this guy is Sepiro, everything fits perfectly.'
No demon merchant or Creator would ever reveal that name to a human.
The same went for claiming to have heard the merchant's rules from Sepiro.
If this human had been closely tied to Sepiro from the start—or worse, if he was a body puppeted by Sepiro—it made perfect sense.
Sepiro, with his infinite wisdom, would see through the merchant's rules without even needing to look.
Bankrupting countless Creators to gather 21 Coins would have been child's play for him.
Every circumstance pointed to it from beginning to end.
This human was Sepiro.
"......"
Dagon silently tallied his abacus in quiet contemplation.
If he truly was Sepiro, he had to figure out what this 'exclusive contract' really meant.
After a long silence, Park Chan-woo spoke to Dagon.
"Still agonizing over it?"
"...Why me?"
"You mean why I want to sign an exclusive contract with you?"
"There must be higher-ranked demon merchants than you. Why pick me of all people?"
Even after running the numbers and scenarios on his abacus, he couldn't figure it out.
As Dagon asked in confusion, Park Chan-woo merely shrugged.
"You said it was impressive how I took the 'World Tree Fruit' without the guild's approval."
"You even know about that...?"
This was 'practical' knowledge not written in the merchant's rules.
Proof that he knew every operational detail.
By now, there was no strength left to be surprised.
Of course, what Park Chan-woo truly valued in Dagon was his 'honesty'.
Even on the brink of bankruptcy, he'd never seen a demon merchant openly admit his own worth.
Not only that, but he'd candidly revealed that the World Tree Fruit was worth about 7 million.
All of it exactly as Park Chan-woo knew.
"...No other options. Fine."
In the end, Dagon nodded heavily.
He'd realized there was no alternative but to sign the contract.
Then, he noticed another shocking fact and asked,
"You... what's your name? Now that I think about it, we did a transaction, so why don't I know your name...?"
To form a contract, they needed to know each other's names.
But they'd already completed a 'transaction' beforehand.
Demon merchants automatically learned the counterparty's name upon a deal.
No effort required.
The true name floated above their head.
Yet he couldn't see it.
No name appeared above his head.
As if he didn't exist at all.
Dagon glanced at the man passed out on the floor.
'Han Min-oh.'
'Han Min-oh' floated clearly above him.
The merchant's ability was functioning normally.
"No way you don't know."
"I really don't... Wait, no way. Is it really 'that name'?"
"'That name'?"
"Sepi... Damn it!"
Even in this situation, uttering Sepiro's name was hard.
But for the omnipotent Sepiro, it was possible. He could bypass the merchant's authority or dominate the mind to hide the name.
Seeing Dagon's bizarre reaction, Park Chan-woo inwardly let out a hollow chuckle.
'...He's mistaking me for Sepiro.'
Mistakes were free, but Sepiro, of all things.
It felt strange.
Yet he couldn't flatly deny it either.
'He can't read my name. The merchant's authority isn't working properly. Is this the Non-Existence's effect too?'
Hiding his true name from demons.
There could be no greater blessing.
Why else would Creators hide their names?
A name was proof of existence.
If he concealed being Park Chan-woo, he could slip out of unfair situations.
...The water was already spilled.
Since it had come to this, fanning the misunderstanding might be a good strategy.
He never imagined Sepiro, that old nemesis, would prove this useful.
"It's the name you're thinking of, Dagon."
Park Chan-woo went all in.
He declared himself the Dragon God Sepiro.
At that moment.
"...!!!"
Dagon's pitch-black face drained to ghostly white.
'Now just one hurdle left.'
Words alone couldn't make Park Chan-woo into Sepiro.
During the contract process, his true name might be revealed.
It was the final test of whether Dagon's perception would hold up systematically.
There was no precedent for a merchant failing to read a trader's or contractor's name, so no experience or knowledge on handling it.
Thus, he was curious.
Worst case, if his real name slipped, he could play it off as a joke.
Park Chan-woo hardened his expression and lowered his voice.
"My patience ends here, Dagon."
"Y-Yes, understood."
Dagon snapped to attention, switching to a deferential tone as he proceeded.
...It worked.
Whether Dagon's perception influenced the system or not, it recognized Park Chan-woo as 'Sepiro' too.
'So this is possible.'
Park Chan-woo was inwardly shocked.
It was utterly absurd.
There were no names demon merchants couldn't read.
The authority to read names was absolute.
Even Creators had their names read if in a merchant's presence.
That's why Creators kept merchants at a distance.
In the Abyss, 'demon merchants' were treated like pariahs. They never got close enough to meet lords.
All as written in the 'Demon Dictionary' distributed by Sepiro.
'Must be purely Dagon's perception.'
Park Chan-woo brushed off the system's 'Sepiro' label.
It wasn't important now.
'Something beyond common sense happened.'
And fortunately, in his favor.
As Park Chan-woo—not Sepiro—he could still contract with other demon merchants or bail on bad deals.
"......"
Dagon wore an enlightened expression.
He seemed to have accepted it all.
No room left for doubt.
Then.
It felt like even squeezing blood from a stone would be more generous.
Altering system figures at will was another impossibility.
"......Ahh."
Dagon, having given up thinking, had misty eyes.
The deal was a resounding success.
He'd secured the World Tree Fruit, a Superior Elixir, and 'Hermes' Shoes' from Dagon.
With the Superior Elixir, he saved the man who'd lost both arms and fingers.
Since it'd played a key role in cornering Dagon, this much goodwill was affordable.
Afterward, Park Chan-woo prepared for the next phase.
'From here on, it's a speed run.'
The 13 uncleared dungeons opened in South Korea.
To clear them all within the time limit, 'Hermes' Shoes' were essential.
The moment he equipped them, his movement speed became ridiculously fast.
Park Chan-woo eyed the feathered shoes.
A description popped up before his eyes.
Excellent.
This would let him clear dungeons non-stop at high speed.
He swapped equipment immediately.
His body instantly felt as light as a feather.
'Save the World Tree Fruit for after clearing all dungeons.'
Eating it now might trigger unknown effects. He needed to be fully prepared first.
Park Chan-woo's eyes gleamed.
And then.
He blitzed through the dungeons at insane speeds.
Han Min-oh felt like he'd woken from a long dream.
He couldn't accept the experience of falling into the Abyss and having his fingers and arms severed as reality.
But it had been far too vivid.
'It wasn't a dream.'
Opening his eyes, he found himself in a small room.
The hellish Abyss was gone.
'The cuts and tears...'
His arms were reattached, but the scars remained.
Proof that everything he'd endured was real.
'That man saved me.'
A fleeting image of the man surfaced.
The nameless stranger had saved his life.
His lifesaver.
'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.'
He didn't know how to repay it, but Han Min-oh offered his sincere gratitude.
"......Faceless, nameless benefactor. I will definitely repay this kindness."
He was the type who had to return any favor received.
Someday, given the chance, he'd repay it.
Bzzzzt!
Suddenly, the cellphone beside Han Min-oh rang.
With trembling hands, he grabbed it.
Tapping the screen revealed the unread message.
「Come to the company immediately.」
The content was straightforward.
Except for the sender: 'Chairman'.
The head of Han Yeon Group, his father.
What he'd told the demon merchant wasn't a lie.
'Not an unwanted child after all...'
But it had been a full 10 years since his father sought him out.
They'd barely been in contact.
For over a decade, he'd holed up in his room.
He didn't want to go, but refusing the summons would mean being dragged there by force.
His father was that kind of man.
The absolute decision-maker who did as he pleased.
"Haa."
Sighing, Han Min-oh dressed haphazardly and headed out.
He drove to the parking lot of a skyscraper in central Seoul.
Into the headquarters of Han Yeon Group, ranked 6th in Korea's business world.
A suited man greeted him.
"You've arrived, young master."
"...The chairman called for me?"
"Yes. I'll escort you."
Following the man, he took the VIP elevator to the 31st floor.
Standing before the conference room,
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded wildly.
The head of Han Yeon Group. His father was a man of steel.
He couldn't even imagine what would be said.
But Han Min-oh clenched his fists.
'I survived the Abyss. This is nothing compared to that.'
He'd been through hell.
No reason to fear meeting living people.
Quietly, Han Min-oh opened the conference room door.
"...No need for bodyguards?"
"None needed."
"Even if you're not quite human, the opponent's a real monster."
"I'll protect myself."
Inside, two men with familiar faces were conversing.
One was his father, the head of Han Yeon Group.
The other...
'Damn it.'
The most terrifying person in the world.
Scarier than his father.
...No way he was summoned too.
But neither paid Han Min-oh any mind.
They treated him like he was invisible.
Biting his lip, Han Min-oh bowed his head and barely forced out words toward them.
"I-I'm here, Father. A-And H-Han Shin... hyungnim."