I Became the Successor of the Martial God Chapter 124

I Became the Successor of the Martial God

Chapter 124. 

The party was nothing special.  

Given the current state of affairs, it couldn’t be held lavishly, and in fact, it was almost disappointingly modest.  

‘Well, it’s not like I came here to enjoy the party anyway.’  

Yoo Baek-jun waited for the party to end while glancing at Vincent in the distance.  

He was talking to people, collecting donations, and discussing how to use them.  

—Ugh…….  

“Huff, don’t come out.”  

“Young master, the desserts here are terrible.”  

Yoo Baek-jun firmly pushed Seol-yeong’s head back into his pocket as it tried to jump out.  

Just then, Han Seong-ah approached him.  

She held a plate full of desserts, her face sulking pitifully.  

“Is it that bad?”  

“Yes… I was expecting the desserts from the last meeting, but these are much worse.”  

“Well, that place was expensive.”  

Yoo Baek-jun looked around.  

They probably ordered something like a catering buffet. It wasn’t too extravagant, which made sense.  

“This is so sad……”  

“…I’ll buy you something expensive later.”  

“It’s fine, no, ah… ugh.”  

Han Seong-ah tried to refuse, but her instincts stopped her.  

After whining and hesitating for a while, she finally gave in to her instincts and nodded.  

“But seriously, this party is boring as hell.”  

“If people hear you, it’ll be trouble, young master.”  

“Why? It’s the truth.”  

Yoo Baek-jun swallowed a sigh.  

These days, Seoul was hosting an unusual number of charity events—all for recovery funds and relief donations.  

The intention was good, but…….  

‘It’s so tedious, really.’  

Wealthy people gathered, laughing and sharing updates about their lives.  

They bragged a little, talked business.  

And when the time came, they made donations.  

“Can’t we just donate and leave?”  

Time was money.  

He’d much rather just hand over the donation and be done with it instead of wasting time on this nonsense.  

The problem was, he couldn’t.  

“Are you enjoying the party?”  

“Huh? Ah, yes. Of course. It’s so much fun.”  

Vincent approached Yoo Baek-jun.  

Holding a glass of champagne in one hand, he greeted him with a gentle smile.  

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. To be honest, I hesitated before inviting you.”  

“Why?”  

“You’ve already donated so much… I wondered if it was too much to ask you for more.”  

Yoo Baek-jun had already donated a significant amount.  

Inviting him to another charity party to ask for more? That would weigh on anyone’s conscience.  

“It’s fine. If it’s for disaster recovery.”  

“Is that so?”  

“Yes. Besides, money flows endlessly from the floating isl— ahem.”  

Yoo Baek-jun cut himself off mid-sentence.  

As if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.  

Vincent’s eyes gleamed shrewdly for a brief moment, as if he’d caught on to what Yoo Baek-jun was about to say.  

“I see. That’s truly admirable. Thanks to your generosity, many people will be saved.”  

“I hope so. My mother always told me to live a life helping others… She’d be happy, watching from above.”  

“Of course.”  

Yoo Baek-jun and Vincent exchanged smiles and shook hands. Then, Vincent leaned in slightly and whispered.  

“Can we talk somewhere quiet for a moment?”  

“Why?”  

“There’s something I’d like to discuss.”  

There was no reason to refuse.  

Yoo Baek-jun followed Vincent out of the party hall. Their destination was his office.  

“Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink…?”  

“No, thank you.”  

Yoo Baek-jun declined and sat on the sofa, while Vincent prepared a drink for himself.  

The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the room.  

“This is rather small for an office.”  

“It’s my personal office. This size is enough. Though it’s a bit lacking for hosting guests…”  

Vincent smiled wryly as he glanced around the office.  

“I had to come here in a hurry.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“When I heard about the Gate invasion in Korea, I immediately brought the entire Saviors International organization here.”  

Vincent sat across from Yoo Baek-jun, holding a cup of high-quality coffee.  

His gaze was deadly serious.  

“Why? As a global nonprofit organization, you must have work to do overseas as well.”  

“This is confidential, but it’s primarily for research.”  

“Research?”  

“Yes. I wanted to study the reason behind the massive Gate outbreak.”  

Vincent explained slowly.  

Hundreds of years had passed since Gates first began appearing.  

Humanity had adapted to them, using the resources from Gates to advance.  

“But we still don’t understand the principles behind their emergence. Especially in cases like this—large-scale Gates.”  

Vincent clenched his fist tightly.  

“Why do you want to research it?”  

“Because… there’s a reason we must. My life’s goal is to eradicate Gates from this world.”  

A goal so noble that anyone hearing it would be moved. But Yoo Baek-jun’s expression remained cold.  

‘Every word out of his mouth is a lie.’  

It was all false.  

Research on Gates? Nonsense. What he was really researching was demonification. 

Right now, Seoul was littered with the rotting corpses of demons.  

‘Vincent has been using his followers to steal demon corpses for his experiments.’  

It was too difficult to smuggle them overseas, so he concentrated his efforts domestically.  

It had nothing to do with noble ideals.  

“…….”  

“…….”  

Silence filled the office.  

Slurp. 

Vincent took a sip of his coffee.

The way he savored the aroma suited him well.  

He set the cup down and spoke slowly.  

“This is just a hypothetical question… If there were a way to bring your deceased mother back to life, what would you do?”  

“I’d do anything.”  

Yoo Baek-jun answered firmly. Without a moment’s hesitation, resolutely.  

“I see.”  

Vincent’s eyes flashed briefly.  

He slowly stood up and approached Yoo Baek-jun, extending his hand.  

Swoosh.  

Vincent’s hand glowed faintly. Yoo Baek-jun knew exactly what that meant.  

A hypnotic trait.  

An ability to put others at ease and make them more susceptible to persuasion.  

Similar to his own King’s Dignity.

“I understand that feeling all too well. I, too, lost my wife in the past.”  

“Your wife… How did you lose her?”  

“A Gate accident. An unobserved B-class Emission-type Gate suddenly appeared, and my wife was caught in it.”

 Vincent smiled bitterly.

“She was seven months pregnant. My only child…”  

“So that’s why you’re researching Gates…”  

“Yes, that’s why. I also lost my family to a massive Gate.”  

His gaze drifted into the distance.  

“After losing them, I wandered for a long time. Truly lost.”  

“…….”  

“Then one day, I met others who had gone through the same thing. People who had lost loved ones to Gates, monsters, or other tragedies.”  

Vincent’s hand brushed Yoo Baek-jun’s shoulder.

The faint glow at his fingertips was unsettling.  

“Talking with them gave me great comfort. It was then that I realized what I had to do—what I could do moving forward.”  

Vincent rummaged through his sleeve and pulled out a business card. The front was blank, but the back had a small map.  

“It’s a gathering for people like you and me—those who’ve lost someone precious. Perhaps… it might bring you some comfort.”  

Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes gleamed.  

“Would you like to come?”  

There was no reason to refuse.  

The entire reason he’d come here and endured this tedious charade was for this very card.  

“…Of course.” Yoo Baek-jun took the card. With a bright smile.  

* * *  

The party ended shortly after.  

Guests left one by one and Vincent watched them depart from his office.  

A man approached him.  

He looked utterly devout.  

“Park Cheong-mun, how much was donated?”  

“We’re still calculating, but it should be in the billions. The attendees were all quite influential.”  

“Good. The more money, the better. Launder it properly so we can use it for research funds. There are so many people waiting for salvation…”  

“Yes.”  

A faint smile touched Vincent’s lips.  

“How’s the research progressing?”  

“Would you like to see?”  

Park Cheong-mun projected a screen onto the wall.  

It showed an unknown laboratory where two people were tied up—a young woman and an elderly man. Researchers in white coats stood before them.  

—Test subjects 349, 350.  

—Commencing the 160th experiment.  

As they pressed a button, nearby machines whirred to life. Devices armed with countless needles aimed at the test subjects.  

—Injecting modified Metamorphosis Serum.  

The needles pierced the subjects.  

Liquid from the syringes entered their bodies.  

—Ugh, AAAAAAH!  

—KYAAAAAH!  

Bloodcurdling screams echoed.  

The two subjects writhed in agony. Then, the transformation began.  

Crack, snap!  

The sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing filled the air.  

And then.  

—GRAAAAAH!  

The results were revealed.  

Where the female subject had been, there was nothing—only a melted, unrecognizable mass.  

But where the elderly man had been…  

—Gasp, huff! Wh-what is this…?!  

The old man was gone. In his place stood a young man—one who looked exactly like a younger version of him.  

—Test subject 349, failure.  

—Test subject 350, success.  

The screen turned off.  

“We’re finally seeing success.”  

“Yes. It’s been three years.”  

Saviors International had been kidnapping people from disaster zones for experimentation.  

Their goal was to inject monster essence into humans—to see if ordinary people could gain the power of monsters.  

And now, it was starting to yield results.  

“Who would’ve thought demons would be the key?”  

“The demons we captured this time had knowledge of demonification. That helped immensely.”  

“Right… Carousel, was it?”  

“Yes. The remnants who fled after failing to invade Seoul. They planned to turn humans into demons to bolster their forces.”  

That had been of great help.  

Demonification using the Metamorphosis serum. 

With this, they could fulfill the desires of those seeking immortality.  

“People will… trust the cult even more.”  

“Achieving our goals will be much easier now.”  

Vincent smiled as he looked out the window.  

His gaze fell on a man walking outside with a woman—Yoo Baek-jun of the Sword Saint’s family.  

“Hmm…”  

Park Cheong-mun noticed his stare.  

“That’s Yoo Baek-jun.”  

“Right. He’s a famous hunter, isn’t he?”  

“Yes, one of the most renowned these days. He was unknown before, but his name spread during the invasion.”  

The media had extensively covered how Yoo Baek-jun prepared for the invasion and acted during the crisis.  

He’d also made countless large donations without boasting about it.  

His reluctance to appear publicly made some call him humble.  

“He’s a tempting sponsor.”  

“Vincent.”  

Park Cheong-mun disagreed.  

“…Can we really bring him in? He’s not an ordinary person. And he’s backed by the Sword Saint family. If we mishandle this, it could backfire terribly.”  

Saviors International—no, the Cult of Resurrection—was already running smoothly.  

Was there really a need to recruit such a high-risk irregular?  

That was Park Cheong-mun’s opinion.  

“His longing for his mother runs deep.”  

Vincent shook his head and reached out.  

“His status, his background as part of the Sword Saint family… It’s worth talking to him. You never know.”

He lowered the blinds.  

“We might just be able to pull him in.”