Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Hyo-rin's Betrayal
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After a brief moment of ecstasy, Hyo-rin descended back to the human realm and immediately made her choice.
"Umm! I've made my choice."
"Wait, hold on, Hyo-rin. Let's think about it a little more."
"Why? I could choose Dad too."
"......You know better than anyone that's not an option, so why even say it?"
Seong-hoon immediately revealed his fear at her choice.
It was because the expression on Hyo-rin's face just moments ago had already given him the answer.
Especially her hazy smile—knowing the outcome since it was her own decision—reinforced his certainty all over again.
Hyo-rin let out a sly giggle.
As Seong-hoon ground his teeth at the meaning hidden in that smile, which overflowed with decadent allure bordering on excess...
"I'll go with that handsome guy over there. Looks promising."
"......!!!"
Finally, Hyo-rin's choice burst from her lips.
Seong-hoon crumbled at the declaration of his own demise.
His face drained of all life, he dropped to his knees on the floor, head bowed low, and lashed out at Hyo-rin in a quivering voice.
"You crazy bitch! Insolent wretch! How could you abandon your own father? If you're truly human! If you're my daughter, you shouldn't do this! Who in the world would love someone who ditched her family for alchemy? You'll spend your life alone in isolation, buried in your alchemy until you die!"
"Hng......"
A torrent of insults too vile to describe.
Even if she had abandoned him, these were far too harsh for final words to his own flesh and blood.
"That wicked-!"
"......Young Master. Shall we take care of him? The contract is already terminated. We can kill him now without any repercussions."
Su-ah, who had been listening, erupted in fury, while even the usually emotionless Man-seok fiddled with the scabbard of his short sword.
But Shin-hyeok raised a hand to stop them and silently observed the scene.
'Lü Bu Diaochan. The nickname symbolizing Baek Hyo-rin from my previous life.'
Lü Bu Diaochan.
A pairing of seemingly incompatible monikers.
The "Diaochan" part made perfect sense, of course.
Hyo-rin's beauty epitomized decadent allure, enough to justify the name.
But "Lü Bu"? That raised questions.
Lü Bu was practically synonymous with unparalleled martial might.
Even as Earth's greatest alchemist, the profession had little to do with combat prowess, so it hardly fit.
Yet everyone who knew Hyo-rin's secret insisted the title belonged to her alone.
Shin-hyeok hadn't understood back then, but now he did.
And Hyo-rin demonstrated exactly why she earned the name "Lü Bu."
"Then isn't that the ultimate goal?"
"......What?"
"It's what you drilled into me since I was a kid—until my ears rang. You were born for alchemy. You could sacrifice anything for it."
"That was only ever-"
"You said sacrifice everything, so why make an exception for Dad? That's just...... pathetic. If it's for alchemy, Dad's expendable too, right?"
"......!!!"
"For alchemy. For that grand cause, Dad's replaceable. Isn't he?"
"Th-this mad......"
Baek Hyo-rin.
The reason she was called Lü Bu Diaochan.
She had cycled through multiple fathers—or masters.
'Before regression, she pulled this 'Lü Bu' stunt three times. First was naturally the quaking Baek Seong-hoon over there. Second, the Villain Union. Third, the United States. She eventually drew the wrath of massive shadow and public organizations alike, vanishing into hiding no one could find—until I tracked her down and made her my exclusive alchemist. Even then, she got assassinated.'
Having done it three times before regression, her Lü Bu tendencies were nothing short of legendary.
She breezed past the dumbfounded, speechless Seong-hoon, placed a steaming fresh elixir in Shin-hyeok's hand, and flashed an eye smile.
"Take good care of me, new Dad."
For some reason, the elixir felt heavy in Shin-hyeok's palm.
Of course—
"You got it, my daughter."
Gulp!
Shin-hyeok intended to devour both the elixir and the daughter who chose him over her blood father—then pull her into his arms.
'But Baek Hyo-rin's supposed to be 25 right now...... Hmm. Is she really?'
He couldn't quite shake the oddity of his "daughter" being older than him.
Whatever. Good was good.
And just like that, everything from the Alchemist Korean Branch—and the far more valuable Hyo-rin—fell into Shin-hyeok's hands.
After wrapping up Hyo-rin's recruitment—adoption, really—
Shin-hyeok promptly set up a meeting with the Player Department Minister.
It wasn't hard at all.
"Young Master wishes to meet the Minister."
-Haha, if Shinwa's Young Master wants an audience, I'd sprint there barefoot. There's a lounge near Yeouido—come here?
"Got it."
Man-seok's brick phone connected to every corner of Korea's political and business elite.
With one call securing a meeting with a national minister, Shin-hyeok brought Su-ah, Man-seok, and the stars of the show—Seong-hoon and Hyo-rin—to the Yeouido lounge.
"Swanky joint. How much for a meal here, you think?"
"Hundreds of thousands easy. And money alone won't get you a reservation."
"You know your stuff."
"Just osmosis from trailing the Chairman."
"Fair enough. Let's head in."
Right in central Seoul.
A luxury lounge in pricey Yeouido's outskirts.
Shin-hyeok shrugged—he could've guessed the shady dealings lurking there—and strode inside like he owned the place.
The hostess startled at the sudden influx but, tipped off ahead and spotting Man-seok, plastered on a smile and led them in.
They were ushered to one of the lounge's largest private rooms, where Shin-hyeok spotted the Minister from his recent visit.
Face flushed from booze, the Minister gave a casual welcome as Shin-hyeok took his seat.
"Ahem. Seen Hong Shil-jang a few times. But why's the Alchemist Korean Branch Chief here? And the other two ladies?"
"Introductions are overdue. The short-haired girl is Han Su-ah, Silver Tier player gearing up for the unified Silver League."
"Ah! Oh yeah! Han Su-ah! Know her, sure do! Hahaha—as Player Minister, it'd be embarrassing if I didn't."
Didn't have a clue till now.
The Minister clearly knew zilch about Su-ah, but Shin-hyeok let it slide.
"This is Baek Han-seong's daughter—now my daughter—Baek Hyo-rin."
"......Pardon? Must be the booze...... sounded weird."
"Baek Hyo-rin. Or Hyo-rin. My daughter now."
"......Whew. Cold water, please."
Gulp gulp!
He had a Hyo-rin bomb to drop, after all.
The Minister's face turned every shade of officialdom.
Looking like his pricey drinks had all evaporated, one glass of cold water wasn't enough—he downed two, then three, before barely regaining his wits.
His eyes still lacked spark, but that wasn't Shin-hyeok's problem.
"R-right. Congrats on the adopted daughter. But you called me here just for that?"
"Hardly. You're aware of my dust-up with Baek Seong-hoon."
"Everyone knows. Biggest racket lately. You two together means it's settled? Or not—since you stole his daughter."
"Both, really. Win-win."
"What the hell happened?"
The Minister had been following the clash between Alchemist Korea and Shin-hyeok.
Catching that the answer had just slipped out, his eyes lit up as he fixed on Shin-hyeok.
Brushing off the blatant curiosity, Shin-hyeok dropped the bomb.
"Baek Seong-hoon......"
"Spit it out already."
"Was a Villain."
"Yeah, yeah, a Villain, su—what?"
"Pretty high up, too. Summoned five Diamond Tier Villains to take me out. Oh, got the footage saved—no worries there."
"......Heh."
A straight-up nuke.
Alchemist Korean Branch was practically a megacorp.
Its chief not just a Villain, but a Union heavyweight?
If this leaked, negligence charges would cost the Minister his head.
True to form as a position-clinging politico, he urgently checked on Shin-hyeok.
"A-any injuries? Damage?"
"None whatsoever. Don't sweat it. Player Department can handle Baek Seong-hoon's custody for now."
"Y-you sure that's fine?"
"Publicly? Say Player Department sniffed him out and nabbed the Villain Baek Seong-hoon."
"......Handing us the credit too?"
"Don't need it. Besides, accolades like that suit a big-shot Minister like you with grand plans ahead."
"Heh, haha, hahahahaha! Right! They said a legend was born in Shinwa—understatement! Damn straight! Thanks! Thank you!"
Classic self-serving play—ripe for a sneer—but Shin-hyeok just smiled warmly, offloading Seong-hoon's fate to the Minister.
Sugar-coated words.
Cunning rhetoric: downplay self, exalt the Minister.
Sure, he'd heard endless flattery in his seat, but praise from one's "betters" always rang sincere.
Shinwa Group chaebol heir.
Guild master holding a legendary blacksmith.
World-shaking player.
Any one had the Minister quaking; all three, with him singing praises? Grins all around.
Not bad for Shin-hyeok either.
'Frame the Villains' deaths as Player Department kills—government players. Keeps the Union from overreacting. Plus, indebting the Minister opens doors.'
Villain Union.
Shadow titans.
Current Shin-hyeok couldn't touch them dead or alive.
Diamond Villains alone numbered dozens, pushing hundreds; execs transcended Diamond.
Had they gone public, the global power rankings would've flipped.
True, the light had its hidden experts keeping balance—but point was, Shin-hyeok needed shielding from them.
Enter Player Department.
Korean government as a wall.
Bonus: leverage this IOU to swiftly assimilate his gains.
Tok.
"What's this?"
"Authorities handed over from Baek Seong-hoon. Memo granting full control of Alchemist Korean Branch's building and alchemists."
"......Priceless. But Villain assets revert to the state on capture......"
"Minister. Care for a taste of 'hoi'?"
"......?"
"Eh, you'll see."
The Minister's eyes gleamed with greed at the papers.
At Shin-hyeok's raised index finger, poor Seong-hoon shuddered violently.
Already scorched once by that "hoi," pure conditioned terror.
Shin-hyeok tapped the documents on the table.
"Anyway, Minister—just one thing to remember."
"......Which is?"
Dull, flat tone.
The vibe shift from the 20-year-old who'd been buttering him up was so stark, a bead of cold sweat trickled down the Minister's back.
"I'm the giver here. So don't try taking from me."
"......So like a pet dog, just lap up your scraps?!"
Bang!
Grasping the weight in Shin-hyeok's even voice, the Minister's rage slammed the table.
Dishes worth hundreds of thousands scattered in chaos, soup splattering everywhere.
Shin-hyeok stayed utterly composed, retrieving the papers before they soaked and pocketing them.
"You get it. Live that way. First offense, I'll overlook. But keep treating my 'kindness' as a given...... and it'll turn into 'hoi.'"
"......"
He rose, delivering the final warning, and headed for the door.
Pausing as if he'd forgotten, he turned and pointed at Hyo-rin.
"Hyo-rin. My daughter. Family. Handle this cleanly—smartly."
"......"
Clunk.
With that, Shin-hyeok ditched Seong-hoon like trash and exited the room.
Alone with Seong-hoon now, the Minister stared blankly at Shin-hyeok's empty spot before righting an overturned cup and pouring premium sake.
But even as it overflowed, drenching the table, he just kept staring vacantly at where Shin-hyeok had sat.