Chapter 424: Human World[R-18] (62)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 424: Human World[R-18] (62)
After winning the duel, I strolled through the streets of China as if nothing had happened. Even though I was walking around in the open, no one in China dared to curse at me anymore.
“Looks like they’re scared now,” Im Hwa-yeon muttered, glancing around as she walked beside me, arm in arm.
“Well, before, their brains were so pickled in the dopamine rush of a Korea-China showdown that they couldn’t tell up from down. They’re probably just now facing reality.”
“Hey! I want to try that!” Bi-yeon pointed at some skewers being sold by a street vendor.
“Buy it with your own money.”
At my words, she puffed out her cheeks, looking wronged.
“Where would I get money? Hurry up and buy it for me!”
“You’re so annoying… Here. Go buy it yourself.”
I pulled a few bills from my wallet and held them out. Bi-yeon snatched the money with a thrilled expression.
“Yes!”
She then ran over to the skewer vendor and began ordering enthusiastically.
It was then that a group of men nearby started whispering and approached us.
“Excuse me… you’re the Spirit, right?”
When Bi-yeon turned her head, the young man at the front of the group shyly held out his hand.
“I’m a fan! Could I possibly get an autograph…?”
Bi-yeon, holding a skewer, paused for a moment, seemingly flustered by the sudden request. But she quickly flashed her signature mischievous smile and shrugged.
“Hehe, an autograph? Sure. Where should I sign?”
The surrounding crowd began to stir as they watched.
“Hey, me too! I’m a fan of the Spirit!”
“Lord Cheongeom! I’m a fan! Can I get a picture with you…!”
“Unni! You were so cool when you fought Ri Mei!”
The onlookers, who had only been watching from a distance, surged forward as if a dam had broken. A crowd formed in an instant, and people started flocking toward me and Im Hwa-yeon as well.
“Whoa… what is this?”
Im Hwa-yeon grabbed my arm with a panicked look on her face. Glancing at her, I tilted my head at the word the man in front of me had used.
“Cheongeom? Is that… me?”
The man’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.
“Yes! On all the Chinese community sites, everyone is calling you Cheongeom now!”
Cheongeom, huh…
A faint smile spread across my lips.
Well, that’s not bad.
Normally, I would never give an autograph to some guy, but I was in a good mood, so I decided to make an exception for the man before me.
But… this was China, after all. True to its reputation as a country whose population was its weapon, a massive crowd gathered in the blink of an eye. Just as I was starting to get annoyed by the people pushing and shoving, the bustling crowd miraculously parted down the middle.
“……?”
People were voluntarily stepping aside to make a path. Through the gap, a familiar figure was approaching with a blank expression.
…Ryu Ja-ho? Did he come for revenge because he can’t accept his defeat?
I remained wary, in case he was planning a surprise attack.
Thud.
“Please… accept me as your disciple!”
Ryu Ja-ho dropped to his knees before me and shouted.
In that instant, the surrounding murmur died into a dead silence.
Click! Click! Click!
Dozens, no, hundreds of smartphone cameras flashed in his direction.
“……What?”
I was baffled. No, more than baffled, I was dumbfounded.
Ryu Ja-ho bowed his head low and added, “I lost. Completely and utterly. The swordsmanship you showed me! No, that was martial arts. The kind of legendary martial arts you only see in novels…! I want to learn it!”
…He’s insane.
My head started to ache. How many wuxia novels had this guy read to make a country’s representative S-rank ability user kneel in the middle of the city in broad daylight?
“Are you serious right now?”
“Yes! I… want to be reborn!”
…Gasps erupted from all around.
“Haa… let’s go somewhere else to talk.”
“Yes, Master!”
Ryu Ja-ho nodded with a look of profound gratitude, and I quickly led my group away to escape the attention.
*
In the quiet of a hotel suite.
I sat on the sofa, looking down at Ryu Ja-ho, who was kneeling with his head bowed deeply.
His gaze was still earnest, and he remained perfectly still, not even making a sound.
What should I do with him?
I normally had no interest in men… but an S-rank ability user was a different story.
The problem is, can I trust this bastard…
I crossed my legs, rested an arm on the armrest, and slowly stared at the back of Ryu Ja-ho’s still-bowed head.
“Hey, you know the rumors about me, right? That I’m a Sex King, a womanizer.”
“…Yes, I am aware.”
I let out a smirk at his answer.
“And you still want to be my subordinate? You can call me Cheongeom all you want now, but my reputation isn’t exactly clean. I’m the kind of guy who’ll fuck any beautiful woman without a second thought.”
I slowly leaned forward, observing his reaction.
“Could you stand it even if I fucked your wife?”
For a moment, Ryu Ja-ho’s shoulders twitched almost imperceptibly.
A long, heavy silence followed. The only sound was the breathing of the kneeling man.
Then, at the end of that silence, he bowed his head even lower and spoke in a low voice.
“It would be fine. My current wife… is the result of a political marriage I entered into after becoming an S-rank. There is no love between us.”
“…Ha.”
I let out a breath of disbelief and chuckled.
“This guy is seriously insane.”
If Ryu Ja-ho truly pledged his loyalty to me, there was no reason for me to touch his wife. As much of a womanizer as I was, there was nothing to be gained by provoking a useful subordinate.
I leaned back against the sofa and snapped my fingers.
“Fine. I’ll take you as my disciple. But on one condition.”
Ryu Ja-ho quickly raised his head, his eyes shining.
“Just give the word. I will follow any condition!”
I held up two fingers.
“First, my word is absolute. You must be prepared to even feign death if I tell you to die.”
“……Yes. I will keep that in mind.”
“Second—”
I twisted my lips into a meaningful smile.
“You said you have a sect called the Demonic Cult. Are there a lot of pretty girls there?”
Ryu Ja-ho looked momentarily flustered but quickly composed himself and answered.
“……Pardon? Ah, yes. There are many. Perhaps because of my reputation, many women seek me out, so most of them are beautiful.”
“Okay, you pass. From now on, you’re officially Disciple Number One.”
“Thank you!”
*
The moment we returned to Korea, a massive crowd filling the airport entrance greeted us.
“Kyaaa~ Oppa, you’re so handsome!!”
“Hwa-yeon unni! Just one autograph!!”
“Bi-yeon-chan! Haa… haa…!”
I adjusted my sunglasses and sighed.
…This is getting annoying.
But beside me, Im Hwa-yeon waved as if she were used to it, and Bi-yeon was even striking poses for the cameras.
It was amazing how much they enjoyed being the center of attention.
But I slowly scanned my female fans from behind my sunglasses, a smirk playing on my lips.
She passes. When I make an SNS account later, girls like that will be sliding into my DMs, right?
As I was happily imagining that future, the security team sent by Im Hye-rin, who had returned to Korea ahead of us, arrived. We got into the prepared vehicle.
Our destination was the Halcyon Guild headquarters. As soon as we arrived, Im Hye-rin, who had just finished a call in her office, looked up at us.
“Look who it is, the superstars have all arrived.”
“Yes, Mother-in-law. You’re as busy as ever.”
“I guess it’s because I’m in a good mood. Work is going well, too.”
That “good mood” was undoubtedly related to Oh Jeong-seok, the master of the Sun Guild.
“What happened to that bastard Oh Jeong-seok?”
At my question, Im Hye-rin’s smile widened.
“He was arrested.”
“He was actually arrested?”
“Yep. Not only that, but the Association President himself made a move and rooted out all the politicians connected to him. They used this opportunity to clean house for good.”
Im Hwa-yeon spoke, looking amazed.
“Wow, so what happens to the Sun Guild now?”
“There won’t be any major changes. It was still one of Korea’s representative guilds, and there are still powerful ability users left. But the Sun Guild’s reputation has completely plummeted.”
Im Hye-rin paused for a moment, then made a regretful expression.
“As for Oh Jeong-seok, though… well, it’s as expected. His status as an S-rank ability user acts as a shield. It’s hard to touch him recklessly, and some of the crimes were fabricated, so…”
“So what’s his punishment?”
“At most, it’ll be a slap on the wrist, some token disciplinary action like a fine. Neither the government nor the Association has the guts to throw an S-rank ability user in prison.”
“So, in the end, he gets off easy.”
“Well, it can’t be helped. Being an S-rank means you get that kind of special treatment. But…”
Im Hye-rin’s eyes turned cold.
“This incident will greatly diminish the Sun Guild’s influence. Their ties to the political world have been severed, and they won’t be able to wield the same power as before.”
Im Hwa-yeon nodded and said, “In any case, that’s good news. People like him deserve to be punished.”
“That’s right. And now, it’s time for us to be more careful.”
Im Hye-rin looked at me with a serious expression.
“Because your status has completely changed.”
I nodded.
“Your name is a hot topic not just in Korea, but overseas as well.”
“I suppose various countries might try to contact me.”
“Exactly. That’s why—”
Im Hye-rin pulled a thick file from her desk drawer.
“Since it’s come to this, let’s sign an official contract with our guild.”
I looked down at the documents. A lot of annoying things were going to happen from now on.
From that perspective, Halcyon was a pretty good option.
It had been at the bottom of Korea’s top 10 guilds, but that was back when Jo Han-su was running it into the ground. Since Im Hye-rin returned from the US, the guild’s domestic ranking had shot up to third place.
And most importantly, she was my woman.
“Let’s sign.”
I smiled as I signed my name on the signature line.
“It’s not like my mother-in-law would offer me a disadvantageous contract, anyway.”
Im Hye-rin’s eyes narrowed slightly in satisfaction at my words, and she smiled.
“Oh my, but this is a marriage certificate~”
At her joke, Im Hwa-yeon jumped in surprise and looked at the document, then let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, Mom, seriously… you scared me!”
“Hehe.”
Her mischievous laughter echoed softly through the office.
*
The news of my official contract with Halcyon spread like wildfire. The media immediately went into a frenzy, and Halcyon’s stock price skyrocketed. A guild that now possessed two S-rank ability users in one fell swoop—that alone had an unprecedented impact.
On top of that, Im Hwa-yeon’s performance in China had earned her an evaluation as a quasi-S-rank. As a result, Halcyon pushed aside the Sun Guild, which had never lost its number one spot, and proudly rose to the top.
Hmm, it’s all either about the Halcyon Guild or me.
My face was plastered all over the news. My name itself was now the headline.
I tossed the remote aside and picked up my smartphone.
My SNS account, which I had created a few days ago, was still being flooded with notifications. My followers had surpassed two million, and my DMs were on the verge of exploding.
“The quest… there are three days left, right?”
I opened the Libido App.
[Serial Cummer]
As a user of the Libido App, you must ejaculate inside at least one woman per day for the next 30 days.
Quest Duration: 30 days (real-time)
Quest Reward: 2 points per ejaculation inside a woman. Additional reward of +10 points if she is a virgin.
[3 days remaining]
[Accumulated Reward Points: 49,760]
“I’ll have to fuck as many as I can in the time I have left.”
I closed the app and checked my SNS DMs again. There were messages from fans confessing their love, women sending nude photos and begging to suck my dick, and even hate comments from trolls.
“Some of these guys are crossing the line.”
I clicked on a few profiles to check them out. Most were people I had already dealt with, weren’t my type, or were guys pretending to be women.
“Hmm, no one really catches my eye…”
Of course, I could use Ryu Ja-ho to fuck the women in his sect, but the timing wasn’t right.
The media and public attention were too focused on me right now. What if I was photographed getting on a plane to China?
It was the perfect setup for strange rumors to start spreading.
No need to give them any ammunition.
There was already a lot of talk about the Ryu Ja-ho situation. Rumors were flying around daily that he was naturalizing as a Korean citizen, or that Halcyon was just a smokescreen and I was actually moving to China.
At least it’s a bit better in Korea.
Of course, there was a lot of interest. But no one could track my movements here.
I started scrolling through my SNS again, and that’s when an account caught my eye.
The profile picture was a selfie of a voluptuous upper body. Her skin was as smooth as porcelain, and her lips were plump and full. In the photo, she was wearing an off-the-shoulder knit sweater that had slipped off one shoulder, revealing deep cleavage between her breasts.
“Kim Ye-ji, age twenty-five…?”
She had about 300,000 followers. She was a beauty influencer who posted cosmetics ads and daily vlogs.
“Alright, you’re the first one for today.”