The Mountain God (1)
Feng Jinghao.
Those who knew of his existence called him Chairman Feng with fear in their voices. His subordinates referred to him as Sir with deep reverence.
He was the hidden supreme administrator of the Central Hero Committee, the organization that oversaw every hunter in China. Yet despite his fearsome reputation, he looked like nothing more than a gentle, simple old man from the countryside.
And that was exactly what he was.
To those close to him, his clean and upright private life earned him profound respect.
“Sir.”
“Oh, it’s you. My little one. What brings you here?”
The term wa’er was a warm, affectionate way rural elders from the southwest referred to someone of their children’s generation.
That was why every time Chairman Feng’s secretary, Liu Xin, heard it, she thought of her own grandfather from childhood and felt a warmth bloom in her chest.
But that warmth lasted only a moment.
Right now, time was of the essence.
“Qingxiao has returned injured. He’s suffering from severe mana exhaustion, and there are signs of mild mental contamination as well.”
Chairman Feng paused mid-motion while carefully wiping the leaves of an orchid.
He resumed stroking the leaf and asked, “What mission was Xiao currently assigned to…?”
“Surveillance of the Sa Oh-jeong fragment, sir.”
“That shouldn’t have been difficult for the child, should it?”
“According to the initial report, one of Zeus’s apostles appeared.”
“…Zeus’s apostle, you say.”
“Because of that, Vajra Hand is also reported dead.”
Even Chairman Feng—who rarely blinked at most matters—could no longer focus on tending to his orchid.
Liu Xin laid out all of Qingxiao’s testimony.
Chairman Feng’s eyes widened slightly.
“Heh heh. Looks like those Asan bastards are going to make a lot of noise.”
“How should we proceed?”
“Who moved immediately?”
“Bingxin happened to be on standby and was deployed. But by then it was already…”
“The temporary gate had closed, I assume?”
Bingxin.
It was a special forces unit that Chairman Feng had recently poured his heart and soul into developing. They had taken the know-how from a certain unit once operated in a small eastern country and recreated it…
There were still many shortcomings, but he believed they would one day surpass their original. After all, the Chinese people had always possessed such latent power.
“I’m sorry. Because Vajra Hand was killed, we had to assemble the minimum hunter response force, which caused a delay.”
Liu Xin bowed her head deeply.
Chairman Feng let out a dry chuckle and waved his hand dismissively.
“What could you have done? You did well. You followed the manual perfectly.”
“…”
“Still, for someone to crush both Qingxiao and Vajra Hand working together… Just who is this person who suddenly appeared? I’ve never heard of any successor to the Zeus mythos.”
Chairman Feng stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming with a strange light.
It was a habit of his that appeared whenever he found something he coveted.
“Is there no way for us to obtain that myth?”
Chairman Feng was notoriously infamous as a ruthless collector of myths.
If necessary, he would spend enormous sums to recruit apostles of famous gods. If that failed, he would kill them and seize their holy relics anyway.
The myths he had gathered already filled his secret underground vault to the brim.
“According to Qingxiao’s testimony, the man doesn’t appear to belong to any particular nation or organization.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“Yes. And he apparently spoke as if he knew you, sir.”
For a brief moment, Chairman Feng’s eyes flashed.
“Heh heh. This old man that even remembering feels miraculous?”
“Yes. He directly mentioned your name, sir…”
“Hmm. I wonder when I might have met him.”
“There were many suspicious points, so I instructed Bingxin not to withdraw but to continue tracking his trail. Several of them are scheduled to visit Korea soon.”
Chairman Feng nodded.
“Be cautious. Although Korea’s overall level has dropped significantly since the disappearance of Cheongroe, that general is still no pushover. Especially after what happened last time—he’s been on edge lately.”
“I will make sure they remain vigilant.”
“Good. Also, look into why this newly appeared apostle of Zeus targeted Sa Oh-jeong. If you dig into that side, something should come up.”
“Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you. You’ve worked hard.”
Liu Xin bowed and slowly left the residence.
Chairman Feng saw her off with a warm smile. The moment she completely disappeared, every trace of emotion vanished from his face.
“Tsk. Useless fools. They can’t even manage one thing properly and cause this much trouble. Have I been too lenient with them all this time? Well, it’s about time for a reshuffle anyway.”
Qingxiao only knew that his surveillance of Sa Oh-jeong had been ordered by Nezha.
In truth, the surveillance using him as bait had been orchestrated by Chairman Feng himself.
Or more precisely, by the god that Chairman Feng served.
A being who could casually manipulate even the Jade Emperor and Nezha…
“What a shame, Master. It was a rare chance to meet your old disciples after so long.”
Chairman Feng’s face returned to a smiling mask as he gazed at the jade orb placed behind the orchid.
Inside the perfectly transparent sphere, a man covered in wounds hung limply from iron chains.
Only his blood-soaked kasaya and shaved head revealed that he had once been a monk.
◈ Type: Holy Relic, Sealing Tool
◈ Origin: Myth — Journey to the West
◈ Effect: Completely seals all mana and divine power of anyone trapped inside. No exceptions.
The Diamond Cutter.
It was a sealing artifact once used by Shakyamuni Tathagata to capture the Single-Horned King.
Anyone trapped within would have all their mana and divine power stolen, rendering them completely powerless.
There were no exceptions to the Diamond Cutter’s effect.
Not even a Buddha who had attained the pinnacle of enlightenment…
“…”
Perhaps that was why the monk showed no movement at all.
He looked almost dead.
But Chairman Feng knew very well that this monk was not someone who would die so easily.
“In any case, I’ll need to look into this further. Zeus’s sudden interference… Just what is going on here?”
If he could, he would visit the heavenly realm himself, but unfortunately his stature was not yet high enough for that.
“Still… if it’s Zeus, he would have used lightning. That reminds me of that child. I wonder how he’s doing these days.”
Chairman Feng quickly erased the person who had briefly crossed his mind.
A half-cripple who could never rise again was no longer worthy of his attention.
Rumors about the Z-Team spread throughout the entire headquarters.
“Did you hear the news?”
“That Z-Team successfully cleared the Hoengseong dungeon?”
“That dungeon was still around? I only ever heard about it when I first entered this industry…”
“It must’ve stayed because the difficulty was so high. I heard the team leader died and the casualties were massive.”
“Huh? I heard the rookie cleared it all by himself?”
“Does that even make sense? How could one person clear a dungeon alone?”
“I thought so too at first, but the rumors say…”
The rumors surrounding the dungeon clear were filled with nothing but speculation. No one knew the exact truth.
That was because the entire Z-Team had been summoned elsewhere instead of returning to the company.
“Team Leader Jeong is dead?”
“Yes. And apparently his skull was split open by Manager Jang Lee-hyun. In a single blow. Bang.”
“…What?”
Lim Won-young blinked rapidly at Section Chief So Seong-hae’s report.
What did I just hear?
So Seong-hae shrugged as if to say he felt the same way.
“I don’t know the exact details either. But because of that, there’s talk of convening a disciplinary committee or reporting it to the Hunter Administration Bureau. For now, we’re suppressing the rumors from spreading.”
Lim Won-young let out a dry laugh.
She had expected some kind of clash between Lee-hyun and Team Leader Jeong—they were never a good match—but she never imagined it would be this extreme.
He said he didn’t want any rumors about himself, yet he goes and causes an incident like this…
Lim Won-young pressed hard on her temple with her index finger.
It seemed she couldn’t just sit here doing paperwork any longer.
“Executive Director Jeong must be going crazy.”
Lim Won-young clicked her tongue.
“He may be shameless, but he was terrifyingly devoted to his son.”
“Let’s head over there first.”
Lim Won-young stood up, grabbing her coat.
Looks like you’re living the good life?
“I spent four years running for my life, but staying like this for a while doesn’t seem so bad.”
In a small solitary cell barely the size of one pyeong.
Jang Lee-hyun stretched his legs out comfortably.
Anyone who saw him would think this was his own room, but in reality, he was being held in confinement.
After splitting Team Leader Jeong’s head open with an axe in front of everyone, he had been locked up in the headquarters’ detention room.
By now, the higher-ups were probably getting headaches trying to decide whether to hand him over to the Hunter Administration Bureau or treat it as justifiable self-defense depending on the circumstances.
Sun Wukong found the current Lee-hyun utterly ridiculous.
He had handled the apostles of Indra and Nezha so brilliantly that even Sun Wukong had been impressed, yet now he was acting without any plan?
Katkatkat. Is this because it’s the first time Senior Brother has taken an apostle? You’re worrying about such useless things.
Beside the monkey, a small blue turtle with an adorable appearance burst into laughter.
It was none other than Sa Oh-jeong.
When we left the dungeon together with the Great Sage, he said his true form consumed too much divine power, so he shrank like this.
When Lee-hyun recalled that Sun Wukong’s true body had been over ten meters tall, Sa Oh-jeong’s transformation didn’t seem strange at all.
…Still, does he really have to look that cute, like an SD character?
Would the gods on earth even know that these beings who should possess absolute dignity had such tastes?
What do you mean I was worried!?
Katkat. Then you weren’t? It looked like you were completely tense, afraid the apostle might get hurt?
Nonsense! I was just worried that if that idiot acted stupidly, I would get dragged down with him!
That’s exactly what useless worry means. Just look at this incident alone—didn’t you see how brilliantly our apostle’s mind works?
‘Our’? Ourrrrr?
Hm? Ah, you’re stuck on that word again? Yes. Our apostle. We all decided to make him our temporary apostle together, didn’t we?
Kaaah! I was going to bring that up! I told you not to mark him as yours!
Watching a baby monkey and a baby turtle bickering created a truly strange feeling.
One couldn’t help but wonder if these two were really the famous divine beings from Journey to the West.
“It’s not like I acted without any plan.”
Lee-hyun subtly changed the subject, worried that Sun Wukong’s face might turn as red as his backside and explode.
Sun Wukong’s gaze turned toward him.
You had a plan?
“Yes. I wanted to see how they would react.”
They?
“Since you were far away, you might not have noticed… but that man called Team Leader Jeong may be connected to the Jade Emperor.”
Instantly, the air surrounding Sun Wukong and Sa Oh-jeong grew heavy.
Explain in detail.
“It’s still only a guess on my part, so I’m not certain. However, the legacy he possessed was deeply related to that side. Even the scent of his mana felt vaguely similar.”
The term Gwiwol, meaning “Ghost Moon,” was actually a Chinese custom.
It referred to the seventh lunar month, when yin energy was said to be at its strongest. During this time, the gates of heaven opened and ghosts descended to earth, where they ate, dressed, and played like humans before returning.
People didn’t call them ghosts during this period so as not to incur their wrath. Instead, they called them “brothers” and offered ancestral rites for them.
Naturally, this was deeply connected to the Jade Emperor, who governed both the world of the living and the world of the dead.
“That’s why I poked him first. To see what would come out. Since there were many witnesses, they won’t be able to openly harm me anyway.”
Team Leader Jeong had been so severely mentally contaminated that he had even threatened his own comrades.
In such cases, active self-defense was considered justifiable.
All he had to say was that he had no choice but to step forward to save his team members.
“White Burn also won’t want to blow this incident up, so they’ll try to cover it up at an appropriate level.”
Lee-hyun added one more thing.
“Besides, I need to get a firm grip on Z-Team. I cleared a long-unsolved dungeon and personally stepped forward to save my teammates in crisis, so…”
They’ll have no choice but to feel indebted to you mentally? And they’ll start watching their behavior around you naturally.
“Since the dead team leader’s father is also an executive director of the company, they’ll have no choice but to side with me to escape the responsibility of failing to protect the team leader.”
So it was all coldly calculated politics?
Katkatkatkat! What did I tell you? Our apostle thinks of everything, Senior Brother!
I told you to stop saying ‘our apostle’!
Katkat. You’re just as petty now as you were back then.
What did you say, punk?
Sun Wukong glared at Sa Oh-jeong with axe-like eyes before speaking again.
So what you’re saying is, since you can hide behind White Burn as much as you want, you decided to freely stir up the grass first?
“Yes. I’m hoping a decent snake will jump out.”
Stirring the grass to startle the snake… Yes. Waiting for an opportunity while gently scratching at them isn’t a bad idea.
Sun Wukong’s Fiery Golden Eyes blazed like raging flames.
I cannot leave those who dared to do such things to my sworn brothers like this.
“For now, I plan to confirm whether they’re connected to the Jade Emperor’s side while quickly gathering the Great Sage’s myths. Aside from that…”
Lee-hyun took a deep breath and continued.
“There may be other brothers among the Seven Great Sages who are waiting for the Great Sage, so I’ll need to find them as well.”
Sun Wukong nodded heavily.
He didn’t say anything more about it,
but Lee-hyun knew that he was inwardly grateful.
However, Lee-hyun also needed to find the gods related to Journey to the West.
If I can be acknowledged as an apostle by Zhu Bajie, the Tang Monk, and even the Seven Great Sages like the Bull Demon King, just like with Sa Oh-jeong…!
Lee-hyun intended to inherit the entire vast myth starting with Sun Wukong, if possible.
…To do that, I’ll need to pick up the pace even more.
Lee-hyun opened his inventory.
He was planning to check the rewards he had obtained from the dungeon.
Especially among them,
the random box.
He was most curious about the reward he had received for completing the dungeon’s narrative.
Random Box (SR) has been retrieved. Would you like to open it?
The box looked similar to the treasure chest he had kept his precious toys in as a child.
Lee-hyun grabbed the lever sticking out beside the lid and pulled it.