Chapter 184
Chapter 184
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 53
>Chapter Title: Submission (2)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Hmm?”
Mok Kyung-un raised one eyebrow as he looked at Ha Chae-rin, whose body was possessed by Go Chan, and Wi Maeng-cheon, who had possessed Jong-im’s body, both of whom had raised their hands simultaneously.
The two, realizing they had both raised their hands, glanced at each other.
Both Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon wore uncomfortable expressions.
Mok Kyung-un spoke to them.
“Looks like both of you want this body.”
At those words, Wi Maeng-cheon hurriedly opened his mouth.
“I desire it greatly. Please, grant this body to me.”
“Wait, that won’t do. We may have skipped introductions, but even cold water has a hierarchy. Are you, a newbie who just arrived, trying to claim this body on your own?”
He had become a spirit servant before Mok Kyung-un was even dragged into the Heavenly Alliance.
Was this fresh spirit servant daring to reach for the prize before a veteran like him could even pick up his chopsticks?
But then,
“Shut it, wench.”
Wi Maeng-cheon snapped at Go Chan with a sharp voice.
Go Chan looked incredulous at the sight.
“What? Wench? Who are you calling a wench?”
“You, obviously. Who else? Don’t get greedy over nothing, you wench, and be satisfied with that body...”
“Hey!”
Go Chan bellowed.
He had already been struggling every moment while possessing the woman Ha Chae-rin’s body.
And now this was poking at his sore spot?
“You think I want to be in this body? You clueless fool, who are you calling a wench so carelessly? Want to die once and find out?”
“Hoo. Wench. Don’t provoke me further.”
“Provoke? Can’t you see what’s right in front of you, you bastard? Fine. Let’s do this then.”
-Swish!
A needle hidden weapon had appeared in Go Chan’s hand before he knew it.
Having possessed Ha Chae-rin’s body for quite some time, he had fully adapted to it.
He was confident he could now utilize over ten-tenths of this peak-level martial prowess.
-Shing!
Similarly, Wi Maeng-cheon had half-drawn his sword.
Though this body was far inferior to his original in terms of martial arts, he still retained his original senses.
He was at least confident he could subdue the wench in front of him.
But then,
“Enough, both of you.”
Mok Kyung-un’s voice rang in their ears.
Unconsciously glancing at Mok Kyung-un, their expressions hardened instantly.
Though he was smiling, the vast energy emanating from Mok Kyung-un pressed down on them, ready to crush them at any moment.
Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon, who had seemed ready to fight any second, quickly sheathed their weapons.
Even if their pride urged them otherwise, as spirit servants, they could not defy their master’s will.
“I was going to let you choose, but it seems better if I decide.”
-Thud!
At those words, Wi Maeng-cheon hurriedly dropped to one knee, clasped his hands together, and pleaded.
“Master. Please grant me Jang Neung-ak’s body.”
He looked utterly desperate.
Mok Kyung-un asked, puzzled.
“You seem to want it badly. Is it because Jang Neung-ak is higher-ranked than someone like Ho Jong-hyeok?”
“......”
Wi Maeng-cheon couldn’t reveal his true feelings to Mok Kyung-un’s question.
At a glance, it might seem like he wanted it because Jang Neung-ak, a member of the Five Evils Alliance, outranked Ho Jong-hyeok, but that held little meaning for him.
It was simply a desire to protect his former lord in this way.
However,
‘If I reveal that, this monster will hate it, won’t he?’
That was why he couldn’t speak his true heart.
And he had no desire to see some wench possess his old lord’s body.
Then,
“Master.”
Go Chan clung to Mok Kyung-un, eyes glistening with tears.
“Didn’t you promise? That if a good body came along, you’d let me switch.”
“Ah, right, I did.”
“I can’t stay in this body any longer. Please, give me that one.”
Wi Maeng-cheon shouted incredulously at Go Chan, who was clinging to his arm and pleading desperately.
“Wench! Where do you get off acting like that?”
“Acting? What nonsense are you spouting? Who’s acting...”
“If what you’re doing right now isn’t acting, then what is?”
“What?”
In that moment, Go Chan realized what he was doing.
‘Oh no...’
Startled, he let go of Mok Kyung-un’s arm.
It seemed he had grown too accustomed to living as a woman, abandoning rational thought.
He had done something he never would have normally.
‘Damn it. Got too immersed.’
His face burned with embarrassment.
Cheong-ryeong, watching from within the wooden puppet, burst into laughter.
-Puhahaha! This guy’s completely turned into a woman.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled and shook his head.
It seemed that when a soul entered a body of the opposite sex, it influenced them greatly, even unconsciously.
“Staying in that body doesn’t seem so bad.”
At Mok Kyung-un’s words, Go Chan prostrated himself on the floor and begged.
“Aigoo, no, please. Master... Didn’t you promise? To move me back to a man’s body.”
‘Man? No way?’
Wi Maeng-cheon frowned and stared at Go Chan.
He had wondered why this wench was so desperate for a man’s body despite her station, but she was actually a man?
Realizing this, Wi Maeng-cheon looked at Go Chan like he was vermin.
It was because even before becoming a vengeful spirit, he had known Ho Jong-hyeok kept this “woman” by his side as if she were his own.
‘No, not a woman, apparently.’
Thus, Wi Maeng-cheon’s gaze turned to outright contempt.
Wi Maeng-cheon pleaded with Mok Kyung-un again.
“Master. If this one’s goal is just any man’s body, then Ho Jong-hyeok’s wouldn’t matter, right? So give me Jang Neung-ak’s body...”
“No! I’ll take that body.”
“You pervert, how dare you...”
“Pervert? Who’re you calling a pervert? Master, ignore this bastard’s words.”
Go Chan desperately defended himself.
Go Chan was determined to possess Jang Neung-ak’s body by any means.
Imagine if this guy took Jang Neung-ak’s body and left him with the subordinate’s— he’d have to obey every whim.
He absolutely had to prevent that.
“Master. Would you entrust Jang Neung-ak’s body— a position of great importance— to a pervert like this? I, who has served by Jang Neung-ak’s side for so long, would be far better...”
Wi Maeng-cheon was equally desperate to secure Jang Neung-ak’s body.
Mok Kyung-un looked annoyed at their heated arguments.
Then, Cheong-ryeong’s voice echoed in his mind.
-You’re not good at everything, huh.
-Huh?
-Well, you’d need experience handling subordinates to deal with this.
-You have an idea?
-It’s not an idea. There are rules even for handling underlings.
-Rules?
-Yes.
-What are they?
-Establish a clear hierarchy.
-Hierarchy...
-They might obey your orders individually, but an organization needs structure to function. And that structure has a chain of command.
-Ah... As expected, you have tons of experience. From dealing with lots of underlings, right?
-......Ahem.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled and spoke.
“Wi Maeng-cheon.”
“Yes!”
Wi Maeng-cheon, who had been passionately arguing for Jang Neung-ak’s body, stopped and replied.
Go Chan’s eyes widened at his response.
‘Wi Maeng-cheon? The real Wi Maeng-cheon?’
He had been curious about this guy’s true identity.
But he never imagined it was the dead Wi Maeng-cheon.
Then,
‘......He’s got guts.’
The culprit who killed Wi Maeng-cheon wasn’t from another alliance leader’s disciple faction— it was Mok Kyung-un.
Go Chan, who had always stuck by Ho Jong-hyeok, had naturally assumed Wi Maeng-cheon was killed by the eldest young master Na-yul-ryang or the youngest disciple Wi So-yeon’s side.
To think he was killed by Mok Kyung-un and became a spirit servant— it was shocking.
‘Ah...’
This felt ominous.
Wi Maeng-cheon knew Jang Neung-ak and the Five Evils Alliance better than anyone.
In that position, Mok Kyung-un might give Jang Neung-ak’s body to Wi Maeng-cheon over him.
But,
“Treat Escort Go Chan here as my right-hand man and superior.”
‘!?’
Go Chan stared at Mok Kyung-un in shock.
Wi Maeng-cheon was a huge asset in this situation, even if dead.
Hadn’t he reached the super peak realm in life?
For such a figure to treat him as superior?
And...
‘Right-hand man?’
-Gulp!
Go Chan swallowed dryly without realizing.
He had seen himself as a disposable pawn to this monstrous guy.
But hearing this made all his past hardships feel slightly rewarded.
Thus, Go Chan puffed up his shoulders unconsciously.
‘......He’s smug now.’
Wi Maeng-cheon gritted his teeth at Go Chan’s demeanor.
To treat such an ambiguous man-woman as a superior— it was infuriating.
However,
“Why no answer? Do you want to just vanish?”
“N-No, of course not!”
Wi Maeng-cheon waved his hands frantically at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
Even rolling in shit was better than the afterlife.
Moreover, as a vengeful spirit, vanishing now would mean true nothingness.
-Smack!
“I’ll serve him as superior.”
Though it chafed his pride, Wi Maeng-cheon bowed his head to Mok Kyung-un’s command.
Go Chan smirked, unable to hide his satisfaction.
From a retired low-rank assassin of the Shadow Assassins to being treated as superior by a future powerhouse like Heavenly Alliance’s Wi Maeng-cheon.
‘Heh heh heh.’
Life was truly unpredictable.
* * *
‘Kuhk.’
Jang Neung-ak— no, Go Chan possessing him— was beyond joy, overcome with emotion.
Possessing the woman Ha Chae-rin’s body had made him fear losing his gender identity; every day had been humiliating and exhausting.
But it had been worth enduring.
Returning to a man’s body made him feel dignified again.
“How’s the body?”
Mok Kyung-un asked him.
Go Chan barely calmed his excitement and replied.
“It’s... truly the best.”
Words couldn’t describe it.
Even in Ha Chae-rin’s peak body, he had only satisfied that one aspect, having been a mere third-rate before.
But Jang Neung-ak’s body was incomparable from the start.
‘Amazing. How does a body like this even exist?’
Jang Neung-ak’s flesh, at the pinnacle of super peak, was monstrous indeed.
Ha Chae-rin’s internal energy was like a drop in the ocean by comparison.
This body felt strong enough to do anything he set his mind to.
‘But...’
Seeing Mok Kyung-un so easily subdue this incredible body made him seem even more monstrous.
Just a month ago, the guy hadn’t even known basic martial arts.
A true monster.
“And you? All good?”
Mok Kyung-un now asked Wi Maeng-cheon in Ho Jong-hyeok’s body.
Wi Maeng-cheon nodded.
“I think I can adapt quickly.”
Wi Maeng-cheon was inwardly astonished too.
He knew the hidden true number one, Ho Jong-hyeok, was strong, but possessing the body revealed just how incomparable it was to his old one.
Even among super peak, the gap between entry and pinnacle was vast.
‘Ho Jong-hyeok... impressive.’
With the mind, he could have claimed one of the Five Tigers anytime.
He wondered what the outcome would be against the undisputed top of the Five Tigers in this body.
-Good thing the bodies suit you both somewhat.
-Yeah.
Stronger bodies tended to reject spirits.
He had worried, but fortunately, both Go Chan and Wi Maeng-cheon had settled in well.
With the second young master Jang Neung-ak, leader of this faction, and the hidden second-in-command Ho Jong-hyeok’s bodies secured, controlling this place should be no issue.
-But is Cheong-ryeong really okay? Even taking that woman’s body...
-No need. That wench doesn’t appeal to me.
Mok Kyung-un had offered the Five Evils Alliance’s evil woman Seo Hye-hin’s body to Cheong-ryeong.
But Cheong-ryeong refused.
Simply because the body didn’t suit his taste.
No helping it if he declined.
-Rather, what about that wench?
At Cheong-ryeong’s words, Mok Kyung-un’s gaze naturally turned to the fallen Ha Chae-rin.
With Go Chan’s spirit leaving the successor of the Shadow Assassins’ body, it was now vacant.
‘Hmm.’
Mok Kyung-un stared piercingly at her.
He had used her conveniently as Go Chan’s vessel, but she was no longer needed.
There were plenty more useful pieces within the Heavenly Alliance.
Thus, Mok Kyung-un,
-Then let’s just kill her.
Smiled faintly and approached Ha Chae-rin nonchalantly to kill her.
Go Chan, satisfied with his new body, startled and hurried over.
“You’re going to kill her?”
“Yes. No immediate use for her...”
“Wouldn’t it be a waste to just kill her?”
Mok Kyung-un looked at him puzzled.
And asked.
“Why a waste?”
“W-Well...”
“After possessing her so long, did you grow fond?”
“No! Of course not.”
Despite his words, having been in Ha Chae-rin’s body so long and read all her memories, Go Chan oddly felt a connection, like she was himself.
Thus, though he denied strongly, killing her felt off.
Like killing himself, somehow.
“Then it’s fine to kill her, right?”
“T-That’s true, but she’s the successor of the Shadow Assassins, a group of elite killers. Wouldn’t it be a waste...”
“Hmm.”
Mok Kyung-un stroked his chin at his words.
Successor of the Shadow Assassins or not, she wasn’t immediately useful— did he need to spare her?
Glancing at the anxious Go Chan, he chuckled and said.
“Can you make her submit enough to be useful?”
“I’ll try.”
“If not, handle it yourself.”
“Understoo...”
Go Chan was about to reply when Ha Chae-rin, her soul returned to normal after Go Chan’s spirit departed, regained consciousness and opened her eyes.
“Huhk!”
Ha Chae-rin looked around in shock.
“W-Where is this?”
The surroundings were unfamiliar.
She furrowed her brow.
Her last memory was dozens of bloodied hands bursting from the floor, grabbing and pulling her.
Nothing after— what had happened?
“She’s awake, I see.”
At the familiar voice, Ha Chae-rin turned her head.
“You!”
The voice belonged to none other than Mok Kyung-un.
The moment she spotted him— the final sacrifice for her hundred days and hundred kills to become Shadow Assassins’ leader— Ha Chae-rin instinctively hurled the Spirit Seal Needles from her Complete Return.
-Pssshhh!
But,
‘Huh?’
Her eyes widened.
The flying Spirit Seal Needles stopped dead in midair.
What was this?
As she panicked, Mok Kyung-un casually nodded,
-Plop plop plop plop!
And all the suspended Spirit Seal Needles fell to the ground.
‘!!!!!!!’
Ha Chae-rin’s pupils trembled wildly in shock.
How profound must his internal energy be to halt her needles with pure qi without touching them?
Ignoring her bewilderment, Mok Kyung-un turned to Go Chan with a smile.
“Can you make her submit?”
“I’ll do it!”
“If you can’t control her, let me know. On second thought, her body might work for Guy So-ha too.”
[End of Chapter 53 Submission (2)]