Chapter 161: Supreme (2)

A light drizzle falls.

Nothing out of the ordinary in Lake City.

But today, the rain seemed intent on seeping into their very bones, sending chills down their spines.

Swaaaaah.

Near the lake stood a place where tombstones stood in neat rows. Being buried in a cemetery was a privilege reserved for the wealthy.

After all, maintaining such an inefficient space—one that generated zero economic value—even after death required a fortune.

“I won’t forget you…”

Jasbi bit her lower lip and wiped her eyes. Goeun patted her head with a bittersweet expression.

The three characters engraved on the tombstone were the name the deceased had borne in life. Rain pooled in the刻ings before trickling down like tears. Jasbi forced the name out, syllable by syllable.

“…Creator…”

“…”

Goeun lowered her gaze.

Then, out of nowhere.

“Wanna die?”

Someone shattered the mood from behind. Jasbi’s shoulders jerked violently.

Splash, splash.

“Why kill off the living, you bastard.”

Jasbi whipped around, beaming brightly. There came Lee Taebaek, perfectly fine under an umbrella. She offered an excuse.

“I mean! Just in case, you know? I was practicing!”

“Practice my ass. It’s your wishful thinking. You just want me dead quick so you can hog all the streaming revenue.”

“…Creator, did you pick up mind reading in the meantime…? How’d you know exactly what I… Ahh! Foot in mouth!”

“…”

Thwack!

“Waaah! It huuuurts!”

Jasbi clutched her head where she’d been bonked. Goeun let out a sigh and chimed in.

“…Serves you right for saying dumb shit.”

“Sniff sniff. Nobody ever takes an AI’s side.”

“Picking sides is for Megacorp scum.”

Kang Hyeonseong’s voice cut in. He’d brought the 9th Battalion members to the cemetery.

“We’re the polar opposite.”

“Typical Korean, getting all scholarly on us.”

Jasbi pouted dramatically and kicked an innocent tree. Ignoring the AI, the group lined up before the tombstone as usual.

“Taebaek, didn’t know you had a romantic side.”

“Romantic? I killed the guy with my own hands and buried him myself. Perverted hobby, maybe.”

“No need to be modest.”

Lee Taebaek snorted and stared at the tombstone again.

「Muyachi」

It was the Sword Master’s grave.

Lee Taebaek had prepared it at his own expense. The prime spot in the plot, no less. Funded by streaming revenue—which was why Jasbi was sulking.

Money earned by fawning over anonymous viewers, now buried in the dirt.

Jasbi looked like she’d die of regret.

‘That’s why humans make no sense.’

Death was the end, plain and simple.

Yet humans peered beyond it. They even spun religions to imagine horizons afar. Truly an incomprehensible species.

“…”

Lee Taebaek felt an odd pang facing the Mercenary King turned to stone. He hunched slightly, wiped the tombstone by hand, and murmured.

“Damn cold neighborhood.”

“Tell me about it.”

Kang Hyeonseong picked up the thread.

“Most don’t even get to leave a grave behind. Sword Master deserved one, but he left no postmortem instructions.”

“He did leave a will. Specified his funeral wishes too.”

“For real? What were they?”

“Sky burial.”

Kang Hyeonseong winced. Exposure to wild beasts—a Korean taboo.

“Cremation’s better.”

“Was gonna do sky burial originally.”

“…You tried. Why not?”

Lee Taebaek straightened up and replied.

“Eagles went extinct. Global warming hit too hard.”

“Ha, haha, hahaha.”

Kang Hyeonseong barked a hollow laugh. Lee Taebaek smiled faintly without a sound.

For a brief moment, dry chuckles pierced the damp air. Lee Taebaek bowed deeply to the tombstone. Kang Hyeonseong and the battalion followed suit, heads lowered solemnly.

Lee Taebaek raised his first. A single ray of sunlight tore through the clouds, draping his face. Kang Hyeonseong savored the fleeting warmth before speaking.

“So, how was the first Ten Wings meeting? Art Master and Staff Master showed too.”

“Them being there kept things uneventful.”

Art Master and Staff Master ignored each other.

‘Though they both stared right through me.’

Either way, with the two biggest monsters in the room staying quiet, the rest felt the fear and shut their traps. The inaugural Ten Wings meeting ended anticlimactically.

No major agenda to begin with—its purpose was just to show Lee Taebaek’s face.

‘If anything notable…’

Poison Master Tang Munik kept stealing glances at him. Looked like he had something to say, but it never came out.

‘Still hung up on trying to backstab me before?’

Back then, Poison Master had tried to kill him without a backward glance. Even allied with Bow Master, mortal foe or not. Tang Munik moved solely for clan gain.

Lee Taebaek held no grudge, though. Family first—who could fault Sichuan Tang Clan’s inward bend after all these years?

Lee Taebaek shook his head to scatter the thoughts. Not the time.

“Hyeonseong, you got that thing?”

“Right here.”

Kang Hyeonseong handed over a bouquet of chrysanthemums. Lee Taebaek brushed off the water, then placed a few stems on the modest altar.

“…Shameless prick.”

Lee Taebaek gave a wry smile.

‘Never dreamed he’d name-drop me in his will.’

It was a few days prior. Lee Taebaek had visited Chairwoman Ryu Garyeon.

As an aside, she was cooperative with him.

Made sense. He’d laid the cornerstone for her ascension to chairwoman—an unofficial kingmaker.

Ryu Garyeon acknowledged that debt, treating him favorably. She’d sniff out his needs like a ghost and provide. Hard for him to ignore her calls in turn.

Thus, he answered her summons promptly. What she said next shocked him.

“Sword Master Muyachi’s will has been discovered.”

The document requested sky burial if possible. Ryu Garyeon read it with evident discomfort.

“…He bequeaths his entire fortune to Lee Taebaek—you…”

“Muyachi…? To me? Why?”

“It says below…”

The will read as follows.

“…goes to my killer.”

“…”

“That’s the full will…”

That was why Ryu Garyeon had summoned him. Muyachi had willed everything to Lee Taebaek—his slayer.

Muyachi’s final affiliation was Daesung Group. Unlike his freelancer days, this meant corporate care. Postmortem affairs fell to Daesung’s legal team, honoring the deceased’s wishes.

Ryu Garyeon folded the will neatly, her eyes conflicted.

“…Perhaps that’s why Sword Master suddenly quit freelancing for Daesung. The thought struck me reading it first.”

“…”

Lee Taebaek had wondered too.

What wind blew Sword Master to Daesung? He’d designed the boss’s personality himself—made it baffling.

Sword Master Muyachi was like the wind.

Craving freedom. Despising the penned-in. Yet he’d caged himself in Daesung’s framework.

‘Knew it wasn’t mere whim from the start.’

But this reason? Unforeseen.

Ryu Garyeon said,

“Even if you refuse, Daesung will proceed formally. We’ll cover inheritance taxes.”

“…City tax laws are notoriously strict.”

“Special clause attached. Likely Muyachi wanted the beneficiary anonymous. Anyway, once received, disposal is your call.”

“How much we talking?”

She adjusted her glasses.

“Approaching 230 billion at least.”

“…”

“Means he lived minimally, socked away the rest. Rare even among Megacorp execs. Even I…”

Ryu Garyeon cleared her throat awkwardly.

“A-anyway! The will itself goes to the heir. Daesung holds the legally binding original.”

“Hand it over then. I’ll take it.”

Her lips twitched briefly before she offered the paper.

“Thanks.”

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“Not that… Just grateful all around. To you, Lee Taebaek, and this will’s author.”

Ryu Garyeon curved her lips into a pretty smile.

“For showing me this world’s still worth living in.”

Back to reality.

“…I’ll live well.”

Lee Taebaek vowed softly and turned from the tombstone. His people trailed behind in orderly fashion.

“What’s next?”

Kang Hyeonseong nudged him with an elbow.

“Supreme.”

“Keep doing what we’re doing.”

Lee Taebaek adjusted his gas mask.

“Smash Megacorp.”