Chapter 26
From the moment construction began on the casino building, I stopped staying at the Andong Kim Clan Main House altogether. I was living in my private space in the basement of the building.
“Kim Chang-un, young master.”
It had been a while since I last visited the Andong Kim Clan Main House. As I walked down the antique wooden corridor toward the central training ground, two gatekeepers blocked my path.
“I’m here to see Kim Hyun-woo, young master.”
“You’re not on the visitor list, sir…”
“Of course not. Officially, I’ve never even been here.”
As I said that and waited, a light blinked on the communicators attached to the gatekeepers.
—It’s me. Let him in.
Kim Hyun-woo’s voice. The gatekeepers, swallowing hard at the sudden order, opened the gate without a word.
Stepping into the training ground revealed a space utterly unlike the traditional hanok style of the main house. Alloy partition walls layered multiple times for isolation. Shock-absorbing devices mounted everywhere. Specialized machines to regulate aura wavelengths, and all sorts of measuring equipment. This was the Andong Kim Clan’s prized training hall—a special space permitted only to the clan’s aura users.
Boom—!
Boom—!
Even from a distance, the vibrations reached me. The impacts grew stronger the closer I got to the center of the training ground. At the epicenter stood Kim Hyun-woo in his pristine white training robes, steadying his ragged breaths.
“Young master Kim Chang-un. This way.”
His bodyguard guided me in his stead, without Kim Hyun-woo even glancing my way. He led me to a rest area off to the side of the training hall. As I leisurely sipped the tea a maid had brought, Kim Hyun-woo soon entered, having changed clothes.
“Quite the spectacle—like a ghost wailing. Never thought you’d come to me first.”
“…”
I didn’t bother responding to Kim Hyun-woo as he sat across from me. I just calmly tilted my teacup.
“I know you see me as a thorn in your side, young master, but you can’t keep living like this forever.”
He gestured with his chin, as if telling me to keep talking.
“I never planned to beat you or aim for anything in the clan to begin with.”
“Is that so? Your attitude toward the clan sure didn’t seem all that respectful.”
“I got ambushed on the street, and my bodyguard nearly died. Wouldn’t it be weirder if I played nice?”
“…”
The ambush orchestrated by Kim Hyun-woo’s orders. He fell silent for a moment before brushing it off like it had nothing to do with him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, sir. Whatever.”
Right. It didn’t matter. It was an incident I’d swept under the rug from the start, and thanks to it, I’d bought myself time to build my own forces.
I paused to sip my tea, and Kim Hyun-woo, who’d been watching me intently, finally spoke.
“If you’re not interested in the clan’s succession, what do you want?”
He’d taken the bait. I set down my teacup nonchalantly and answered.
“To survive. What else?”
“Survive?”
“Yeah. I don’t care about Sedao Clans or succession struggles. I just want to live on my own.”
“…”
“And to do that… money’s what matters most.”
Enough money to live independently and comfortably.
Hearing the sincerity mixed in, Kim Hyun-woo narrowed his eyes.
“All that big talk, and it boils down to mere wealth.”
“Yes, sir. That’s all I’m after. I couldn’t care less about grand causes or ambitions.”
“Hah.”
His gaze shifted—contempt, mockery, and beneath it, a hidden relief. That’s how these yangban types always were. They’d preach about frugality and scorn wealth in public, all while burying their own desires deep inside.
“Fine. I’ll hear you out.”
Seeming to have made up his mind, Kim Hyun-woo said, “What do you want?”
“I’ve got a business in the works. Invest in it.”
“A gambling den, wasn’t it? I’d rather not get involved in something like that.”
“No need to sponsor it directly. Just give me the money.”
Of course, I had no intention of taking the money and running. The mere fact that Andong Kim Clan funds were poured into the casino construction? Leak that, and Joseon’s power brokers wouldn’t dare touch my operation.
“And what’s the price?”
“I’ll give you a justification.”
“Justification?”
After a deliberate pause, I continued.
“The continuous challenges to Andong Kim Clan’s authority from Pungyang Jo Clan.”
“…”
“I’ll hand you the justification to crush every last one of them.”
With that, I slid a data chip across to him. An illegal chip, without official clearance. Kim Hyun-woo eyed it like it was something filthy, but I urged it on him with a faint smile.
Wearing a dubious expression, he slowly checked the contents.
“This…!”
His eyes widened like saucers. What I’d given him was memory data extracted from Dokgo-seong’s brain. Specifically, footage blatantly recording the crimes and misdeeds of Pungyang Jo Clan’s heir, Jo Seong-hwan.
“Joseon must be doomed. For a yangban meant to set an example for the people to commit such heaven-defying acts.”
“…!”
“And it’s not just Pungyang Jo Clan. Several families are tangled up in this. For example…”
I picked up the teacup I’d been sipping. Not some mass-produced 3D-printed junk, but one handcrafted by an artisan.
“Nam Dae-wook, the minister who gifted me this teacup, was on the client list too.”
Crunch.
I sent over a few more yangban names, and Kim Hyun-woo ground his teeth as he verified them.
“To think members of prestigious houses, meant to lead Joseon’s future, would pull such idiotic stunts…!”
Kim Hyun-woo might be Joseon’s monopolized old guard, but he wasn’t some lunatic committing crimes like this. Quite the opposite—he clung to the old yangban mindset of upholding clan dignity and honor. And yet, the very retainers pledging loyalty and support were pulling this shit behind his back? No wonder his eyes were bulging.
“I got this intel from Hanseong’s underbelly—the haunts of those so-called lowly scum.”
“And with this, I’ve got life-and-death power over every yangban on that list.”
Having thoroughly checked the data chip, Kim Hyun-woo immediately grasped its value. A place most yangban wouldn’t even glance at, calling it filthy. Diving in there myself, mingling with the scum to dig it up. No other backer could offer him something like this.
“While running my business, I plan to sell you intel, young master.”
Yangban coming to gamble at my place, corporate heads, foreign envoys, the wealthy elite. They didn’t just drop money. With booze and drugs flowing, high-grade secrets spilled out—mutual dirt, weaknesses. Those could prove more valuable than the casino’s cash flow.
“I want you as my main client, young master. You’re family, so it’s reassuring on my end, and I figure the profits will be juicy.”
“You’re offering to cooperate with me? You, of all people?”
“Of course. For the right money, what can’t I do?”
Maybe exposing money as my goal made it more believable. A slow smile curved Kim Hyun-woo’s lips.
“I don’t like a single thing about you from head to toe. Except one.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t call me brother. And you don’t call Father ‘Father.’”
A twitch.
“There’s that line bastard sons from other yangban houses always whine about. ‘I can’t call my father Father, or my brother brother…’ Funny when you think about it.”
This bastard, suddenly trying to get under my skin?
Masking my expression, I stayed silent as he continued in his leisurely tone.
“We give them yangban status, treat them accordingly, and still they’re not satisfied—they chase after more.”
“…”
“Ignoring the fact that half their blood is commoner filth.”
Ungrateful wretches, he muttered. Then he went on.
“But not you. You know exactly where you stand.”
Finished with his piece, Kim Hyun-woo raised an arm to summon his bodyguard. Ho-cheol, was it? After whispering to the black-buzzcut guard, the man nodded and manipulated his interface to transfer funds to me.
“Huh, counting all those zeros is a chore.”
As befitted someone at the pinnacle of the Sedao Clans, his spending was no joke.
“I accept your deal. Keep feeding me useful intel, and I’ll reward you accordingly—more than you can imagine.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I bowed my head, pitching my voice low to stroke Kim Hyun-woo’s ego. From his smug tone, he already seemed convinced the clan was firmly in his grasp.
‘Well, yeah, I suppose.’
The king’s body enshrined in Geunjeongjeon. For Kim Jung-heon to show it to him personally meant acknowledging him as the heir. At this point, with everything lined up, a guy like me probably didn’t even register as competition anymore.
But watching his arrogant display, I had to strain every nerve to hide my leaking grin.
‘Thanks a ton—I’m overwhelmed.’
The new business ready to launch. Loyal hands to run and maintain it. And now, investment from the Andong Kim Clan Main House.
‘Thanks to you, I’ve got everything I need.’
The massive revolution to burn every Sedao Clan to the ground. The groundwork to insert myself into it was now underway.
“Young master.”
After wrapping up with Kim Hyun-woo and stepping out of the main house, Moo-young and Tae-woong, waiting outside, greeted me.
“You’re back.”
“Yeah. But looks like we’ve got another stop to make.”
“Another stop? Where to?”
The deal with Kim Hyun-woo was done—why anywhere else? As Tae-woong shot me a puzzled look,
“Senior.”
Moo-young, sensing something off, called to him with a hand on his sword hilt.
“Oh, here they come.”
Following Moo-young’s gaze, a group of men approached, radiating menace.
“Young master Kim Chang-un?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
A man in Western suit—not Joseon hanbok—addressed me. Clean body, no cybernetics, and that distinctive air of arrogance. I knew exactly who’d sent him.
“What business do Pungyang Jo Clan’s guards have with me?”
“…”
Surprised I’d clocked them instantly, they exchanged glances before slowly bowing their heads.
“Our young lord invites you to the main house.”
“Me?”
“The young lord’s orders: escort you there as swiftly and comfortably as possible.”
With that, the other bodyguards waiting beside him surrounded me.
“Young master!”
“Whoa, easy, Moo-young. Put the sword away.”
I calmed Moo-young, who looked ready to draw steel any second. Surrounding me like this and calling it an “invitation.” Their high-handed style felt almost nostalgic.
Jo Seong-hwan. That lunatic always treated people like this.
“What a day—meeting two VIPs already.”
Following their lead, I climbed into the vehicle Pungyang Jo Clan had prepared. I’d successfully handed Kim Hyun-woo the knife’s hilt. One thing left.
Putting Jo Seong-hwan’s neck on the chopping block.