I Became the Successor of the Martial God Chapter 109

I Became the Successor of the Martial God

Chapter 109.

“If I don’t take over the family, I’ll die. To survive, I have to win no matter what.”  

“Hmm, the family.”  

Min Yi-jae fell into thought.  

“Do you really think you can take control within two years…?”

“If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have brought it up. If it takes longer than that, I’ll be dead anyway.”  

“If you die, the contract ends…”  

“Obviously. What, are you planning to wait until then?”

“No.”  

Min Yi-jae shook his head firmly.  

“I owe you… If it weren’t for you, my younger sister wouldn’t have woken up. And like the others… she would’ve died.”  

At least he knows how to repay a debt.  

Yoo Baek-jun listened while nodding.  

“I definitely repay favors… Compared to the days my sister has left to live, giving you two years of my life is nothing…”  

“Good. Then?”  

Min Yi-jae signed the contract and handed it back.  

“Let’s make the deal. No matter what immoral or inhumane things you ask me to do, I’ll follow through…”  

“If anyone heard this, they’d think you’re being sold off.”  

Yoo Baek-jun chuckled faintly.  

Though he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t ask for such things. Inhumane acts might be off the table, but immoral ones were still possible.  

“I’ll help you until you become the family head…”  

“Good. You won’t regret it.”  

The conversation ended there.  

Having said all he needed to, Min Yi-jae tightly closed his mouth. He wasn’t the talkative type to begin with.  

Today might’ve been the day he spoke the most in his life. That thought crossed his mind.  

“Shouldn’t you go see your sister?”  

“…Right. I plan to stay at the hospital for a while, then find a place in Busan. I also… want to spend time with her.”  

“Good. But, hmm.”  

Busan, huh.  

Yoo Baek-jun smiled bitterly.  

“Don’t get her a place in Busan. Find one in Seoul or somewhere else.”  

“Why…?”  

“Well. If you don’t want to regret it, do as I say.”  

Busan.  

A major event would soon take place there.  

Of course, he intended to minimize the damage, but there was no telling how things would unfold.  

He didn’t want to see Min Hye-yeon, whom he’d gone to such lengths to save, caught up in the chaos and harmed.  

“Understood… I’ll do that.”  

“Good. Then I should get going too.”  

—Huh?  

Yoo Baek-jun picked up Seol-yeong, who was chasing butterflies, and tucked it into his arms.  

Just as he was about to leave—  

“Hey, let me ask you one thing.”  

Something suddenly occurred to him.  

Yoo Baek-jun turned his head slightly and asked,  

“Is that way of speaking a persona, or is it real?”  

“…….”  

Min Yi-jae didn’t answer.  

He just stared back with an expressionless face.  

* * *

Min Yi-jae asked for a week’s time. Once that passed, he’d come back.

‘I should report to Father.’  

A Ranker Hunter.  

Moreover, someone who had never once been affiliated with a guild until now.  

Even the family would be surprised.  

‘I don’t plan to keep him in the family anyway. For now, I’ll assign him to the Sword Saint Family’s Seoul branch.’  

Most hunters recruited from outside were placed under the Sword Saint Family’s branch.  

Among them, those who wished to learn swordsmanship would take a test and enter the main family.  

Min Yi-jae had no intention of learning swordsmanship, and Yoo Baek-jun had no plans to let him stay idle.  

‘Espionage, assassination. There’s nothing he can’t do.’  

He was too valuable a card to waste like that.  

While pondering how to use Min Yi-jae, Yoo Baek-jun climbed the endless stairs.  

His destination was a temple in the mountains.  

The reason for going was simple.  

“He’s gone now.”  

Song Dae-san had passed away.  

“Ugh… Sob…”  

“Oh, Master Song Dae-san…”  

“They say misfortunes never come alone. It hasn’t been long since the incident, and now this…”  

The funeral was held at the temple.  

True to a hunter who had dominated an era, many mourners attended, but the atmosphere was quiet.  

‘Not that I haven’t seen this scene before.’  

Yoo Baek-jun also attended Song Dae-san’s funeral, leading the Sword Saint Family’s representatives.  

Since the Sword Saint Family had ties with the Golden Lion Guild, sending people to the funeral was only natural.  

That was when he noticed.  

“Hmm…”  

From his spot in the corner, Yoo Baek-jun watched the mourners arriving and the bereaved receiving them.  

The chief mourner was Song Tae-yeon.  

“Thank you for coming.”  

Though Song Tae-yeon greeted the visitors, no trace of grief could be seen on his face.  

‘Yoon Song-ha… Well, of course she wouldn’t be here.’  

Yoon Song-ha was nowhere to be seen at the funeral. Song Tae-yeon had warned her not to come.  

She could’ve ignored him, but doing so would’ve caused a huge commotion at the funeral—something she wouldn’t have wanted.  

‘I wonder where she’s watching from. Over there, perhaps?’  

Yoo Baek-jun stood before the portrait.  

Song Dae-san in his prime. 

The photo captured him at his peak.  

‘What a terrifying curse.’  

It had reduced this robust man to near senility. 

Even in the game, falling victim to this curse meant certain death.  

An incurable curse.  

‘I’ll have to prepare for it.’  

Yoo Baek-jun turned away.  

“Stay here.”  

“Huh? Where are you going, young master…?”  

“There’s someone I need to find.”  

He had to find Yoon Song-ha.  

He had a rough idea of where she’d be.  

Rustle, Rustle.  

Yoo Baek-jun left the temple and walked for a while.  

After some time, he found the person he was looking for.  

“Here you are.”  

As expected.  

Yoon Song-ha was up in a tree.  

Though far from the temple, distance meant little with the right items.  

“…Yeah, he told me not to come.”  

“And you listened? Though I guess causing a scene at the funeral wouldn’t have been ideal.”  

“I had to let him go quietly.”  

Yoo Baek-jun climbed the tree and stood beside Yoon Song-ha. A glance revealed her eyes were bloodshot.  

It was clear how much she’d been crying.  

“I heard you helped him regain his senses.”  

“He told you that? Yeah…with medicine.”  

“Thank you.”  

Yoon Song-ha bowed deeply.  

“That medicine is why he passed sooner. He would’ve lived longer otherwise. In a way, it’s like I killed him.”  

“No, that’s not true.”  

Yoon Song-ha firmly denied it.  

“That wasn’t living. Besides, Uncle himself was happier this way.”  

“Yeah, that’s how he seemed.”  

“Even if it was short, he got time to put his life in order. Of course I’m grateful.”  

Though Yoo Baek-jun had acted in his own interest, he had no reason to refuse her thanks.  

He sat beside her.  

“Is it okay watching from so far away?”  

“Yeah. I expected I wouldn’t be able to attend the funeral up close, so it’s fine.”  

“Fine?”  

Yoon Song-ha let out a small sigh.  

“But I’d like to see him off one last time.”  

“Then go see him.”  

“Huh?”  

Yoo Baek-jun pulled out a cloak from the pouch he always carried.  

An old cloak Emma used to wear.  

“Stay hidden.”  

He draped it over Yoon Song-ha. When the effect activated, her body turned transparent.  

“This is…”  

“Return it to me later.”  

“…Thank you.”  

Without hesitation, Yoon Song-ha left.  

‘The Yoon Song-ha event is almost over.’  

Yoo Baek-jun looked up at the sky.  

The weather was ironically clear.  

***

On the final day of the funeral,  

Yoon Song-ha watched as the deceased was cremated.  

Once all the rites were over, she sought out Yoo Baek-jun, who had been waiting below the temple.  

“Should I follow you now?”  

Yoon Song-ha asked, her eyes still red.  

Throughout the funeral, she had cried every day without fail. Meanwhile, Song Tae-yeon, Song Dae-san’s own son, hadn’t shed a single tear.  

“Are you coming with me?”  

“Uncle told me to. He said if I followed you, I wouldn’t live a boring life.” 

Song Dae-san’s foresight.  

Uncannily accurate.  

“Well, it won’t be boring that’s for sure.”  

“That’s all I need. Oh, can I drop formalities?”  

“You already did.”  

“Right. Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”  

Her bluntness was refreshing.  

Yoon Song-ha was quite popular among players too. The type people naturally warmed up to.  

A bold, dependable older-sister type who never betrayed anyone.  

Hard not to like.  

“So, do we head to the Sword Saint Family now?”  

“Yeah, but before that…”  

Before his passing, Song Dae-san had done everything he could.  

He took care of those who had served him faithfully, and in case the guild went astray, he arranged places for the members to go.  

Including Yoon Song-ha’s destination.  

“There’s something you need to do, isn’t there?”  

“Something to do?”  

Yoo Baek-jun smiled darkly.  

* * *

After the funeral,  

Song Tae-yeon immediately began the preparations he’d long made to seize control of the guild.  

He expelled all the veterans who had served the guild faithfully, including Yoon Song-ha.  

But,  

“When is that woman going to show up?”  

Yoon Song-ha wasn’t coming.  

She’d been told to report to the guild house today.  

Song Tae-yeon sat in the guild master’s exclusive room on the top floor of the guild house, shaking his leg impatiently.  

“Should I call her again?”  

“You just gonna wait around forever? Call her, you idiot! Tell her to get here now!” 

“Yes, yes!”  

The flustered secretary quickly picked up the phone. Just as he was about to call Yoon Song-ha—  

BAM!  

“What the—!”  

The door was smashed.  

Made of special materials, it was ridiculously sturdy—yet it was destroyed in one hit.  

Song Tae-yeon jumped up in shock.  

“Who the hell—!”  

“It’s me, you bastard.”  

Yoon Song-ha.  

Unlike her usual work attire, she stood there dressed in rough, rugged clothing.  

Behind her, guild members hesitated.  

“U-uh, ma’am. You can’t do this here…”  

“You wanna disappear like this door? Huh?”  

The guild members trembled.  

The thought that the fierce Yoon Song-ha might actually do it crossed their minds.  

“Hey, you called me. What’s up?”  

“…….”  

Song Tae-yeon’s mouth twitched.  

“Right. Ahem, well.”  

Still, he had to say his piece.  

Regaining his composure, Song Tae-yeon began reciting the lines he’d prepared.  

“I called you to tell you to leave the guild.”  

“Leave the guild?”  

Song Tae-yeon looked at Yoon Song-ha with disdain, as if she were a bug.  

“You’ve been leeching off the old man for years, right? Time to fend for yourself.”  

“…….”  

“Parasitic bitch. If it weren’t for him, you’d have died on the streets long ago. Annoying waste of space!”  

“…….”  

The commotion was entirely one-sided. Yoon Song-ha just stared at him.  

With icy eyes.  

“Done talking?”  

“No, there’s more.”  

A sneer curled Song Tae-yeon’s lips.  

“I threw out your stuff. And the old man’s too. No use for it anymore, so I dumped it all.”  

“I see…”  

Yoon Song-ha lowered her head deeply.  

A gesture that seemed pained. 

Song Tae-yeon smirked and leaned back into his chair.  

“…….”  

“…….”  

Yoon Song-ha’s body trembled.  

So furious that blue magic began leaking from her.  

But Song Tae-yeon didn’t care.  

This woman couldn’t lay a finger on him.  

“That’s why you called me?”  

“Yeah, now get out. Scram.”  

“Right. ‘Scram,’ you said.”  

Yoon Song-ha raised her head.  

A terrifying smile twisted her lips.  

“Working under you makes me sick too!”  

“Wha— GAHK!”  

Her fist slammed into Song Tae-yeon’s cheek.  

Too fast, too sudden for anyone to react.  

The force sent Song Tae-yeon crashing noisily to the floor.  

Even a few teeth rolled across the ground.  

“Ugh… Aaargh…!”  

Song Tae-yeon writhed in pain as Yoon Song-ha glared down at him with furious eyes.