Chapter 92

Lee Seok-jae, a senior managing director of the Daehu Group, let out a deep sigh.

The incident had started from a tiny spark.

-New Awakening? Where is that? A place that sells Skill Books?

-The Association is getting involved because of a place like that? Choi Gi-woong?

-Crazy bastards. If they want money, they should just say so. They must have nothing better to do. Managing Director Kang, you take care of it.

And so, Kang Cheol-min, the Managing Director and Team Leader of the Strategic Planning Team who was directly under him, stepped in.

And was brutally defeated.

-S-Sir. Choi Gi-woong… is apparently from Head of department Kim Yoon-joong’s direct line.

-?

Because of a single low-level agent, a major figure in the Association, Head of department Kim Yoon-joong, had stepped in.

-Who the hell do you think you are, messing with our Choi Gi-woong? Should I launch a raid and seizure?

A single Choi Gi-woong was not scary, but Head of department Kim Yoon-joong getting personally involved was on a different scale.

Before the spark could grow any larger, Lee Seok-jae quickly tried to grab a fire extinguisher and resolve it.

But he was one step too late.

-Well… Vice President Lee Seok-hwan handled it personally.

Vice President Lee Seok-hwan was his younger brother and a rival fighting for succession of the group.

And what that rival did was,

-I am truly sorry. To think such an unfair contract existed. I will resolve it immediately.

He had groveled before Choi Gi-woong and the Association.

It wasn’t because Choi Gi-woong and the Association were overwhelmingly terrifying.

It was to undermine him.

His brother’s strategy was a success.

-Because of the eldest son of the group, Daehu is forced to grovel before the Awakener Association!

-A single agent blocks Daehu’s abuse of power. Who is Choi Gi-woong?

News broke from the media outlets his brother owned, and Choi Gi-woong’s stock price soared.

Using him as a Sacrifice.

Immediately, the Chairman’s wrath fell upon him.

-You foolish boy. You couldn’t even handle that one thing and let it get to this point?

This incident ultimately affected the line of succession.

He was completely pushed out of the succession race.

It was because he had tarnished the family name, which was more important than anything else.

He had to resolve it, no matter what.

-We contacted Hwang Mu-yeol… but failed.

-We offered a 10 billion won scouting deal to Choi Gi-woong’s team, but it was not accepted.

-Ilseong, JW, and the Black Market all support Choi Gi-woong…

-We tried contacting Seong Yo-han, but…

And he failed at every attempt.

In the meantime, Choi Gi-woong’s reputation grew even more.

-Sir. There are traces of Choi Gi-woong receiving money and goods from Ilseong, JW, and the Black Market.

His right-hand man, Kang Cheol-min, had subtly inquired.

-It should be fine to just hold onto it and report it to the Association. They’re trying to build up Choi Gi-woong’s image, so why don’t you let it blow up?

If he had taken that evidence to the Association back then, Lee Seok-jae would have had quite a bit of fun.

He might have even received the Association’s support and made a spectacular Resurrection as the group’s Crown Prince.

But he didn’t.

-Get rid of this.

-?

His survival instincts, honed by living as the eldest son of a chaebol family for over 30 years, were telling him.

Don’t do it. Better to take Choi Gi-woong’s hand instead.

So, he had planned to be the first to approach Choi Gi-woong when he returned from Jeju Island.

After that, he intended to provide all the support he could.

Although he would be completely pushed out of the line of succession, he thought it would be enough if he could build a friendly relationship with Choi Gi-woong in return.

If only Choi Gi-woong hadn’t shown up at the headquarters as an S-Rank monster.

“Senior Managing Director.”

Lee Seok-jae was jolted from his thoughts. His younger brother, Vice President Lee Seok-hwan, sitting opposite him, was tapping the table.

“What is going on? Why is Choi Gi-woong, who should be on Jeju Island, suddenly here?”

He was pretending, despite knowing everything.

That son of a bitch.

“Did you see the reporters swarming outside? Choi Gi-woong, Choi Gi-woong. They were singing his name so eagerly.”

“I hear you’ve been messing with Choi Gi-woong for a while now, Senior Managing Director. Isn’t that why he’s here?”

“Do you know what the Chairman had to hear because of you, Hyung? If he doesn’t come down quickly, he’ll face a nasty scene in front of the reporters… My goodness. Just how lightly does that fledgling look down on Daehu.”

Among the barrage of pressure, there was one thing that was wrong.

The fact that Choi Gi-woong was no longer a fledgling.

Lee Seok-jae stealthily glanced to his right.

Chairman Lee Joong-seob was seated at the head of the table.

At a glance, he seemed expressionless, but Lee Seok-jae could see it.

His father was extremely furious.

“Chairman. I will go and resolve it.”

At Lee Seok-jae’s words, the Chairman gestured with his chin.

“How are you going to resolve it? That guy, he’s absolutely furious. Can you handle it?”

“No. I can’t handle it.”

Choi Gi-woong’s status now compared to six months ago was like heaven and earth.

First, Ilseong and JW were secretly sponsoring Choi Gi-woong, and second, he had since brought Daehyeon and the Black Market under his wing.

Was that all?

Amid rumors that Association President Yeo Ju-kyung had secretly named him her successor, Oracle went so far as to publicly sign a contract with him.

‘Hwang Mu-yeol. There’s that old man Hwang Mu-yeol, too.’

The old man who had rushed over the moment he heard Jeju Island was in danger.

And now, Choi Gi-woong himself had even risen to S-Rank.

Did anyone in South Korea right now even have the power to stop Choi Gi-woong?

That was why.

“I… will go and apologize. For everything that has happened.”

If he was told to kneel, he would kneel. If he was told to prostrate himself, he would. There was no other way.

After stepping down from the position of the group’s successor, Lee Seok-jae had dug deep into Choi Gi-woong.

So he knew.

Given Choi Gi-woong’s personality, if he groveled, he would be spared.

But if he were to defy him…

His father clicked his tongue, as if displeased with his answer.

“You pathetic fool. Is that the only solution you can come up with?”

“Chairman. This isn’t the Choi Gi-woong from six months ago. Oracle, Yeo Ju-kyung, Ilseong’s Senior Managing Director Bae…”

Lee Seok-jae’s words were cut off.

“Then why, Senior Managing Director, who knows so much, did you keep messing with Choi Gi-woong all this time?”

‘That’s why I’m regretting it so damn much right now!’

He wanted to say it, but he forced it down.

He could only hope that his father wouldn’t make the wrong choice.

His brother did not miss the opening.

“Chairman. The Senior Managing Director’s words are not entirely wrong. You can’t think of him as the Choi Gi-woong from six months ago.”

“His Rank was recently upgraded to a 1st-grade agent. It’s a first. For a guy who’s only thirty to reach 1st-grade. It’s also a first for a guy who was F-Rank six months ago to become S-Rank.”

The Chairman asked with a look of discomfort.

“So, are you also telling me to grovel?”

“Chairman. I will go down and resolve it myself.”

“You, Seok-hwan?”

His father, who had been waiting quietly, turned his attention to him.

“Yes. Last time, during the New Awakening incident, I was the one who resolved it instead of my brother, wasn’t I?”

“Are you planning to apologize to that punk like last time?”

His brother was not one to miss the thorns in the Chairman’s words.

“No. Of course, he must be punished accordingly. We have to make that little pup regret ever daring to say such a thing.”

Riding the momentum, Lee Seok-hwan continued.

“I asked an Association official, and they seemed flustered that Choi Gi-woong came to the Mainland from Jeju Island. Both Association President Yeo Ju-kyung and Head of department Kim Yoon-joong have only just been informed.”

In that short time, it seemed he had looked into it from various angles.

“That’s his method. He makes big corporations like us grovel, then raises his own profile while trying to extort us. We’re not pushovers, and we can’t fall for his dirty tricks a second time.”

“Reporters? Tell him to bring them. Yeo Ju-kyung, Oracle, tell him to bring them all. On what grounds is that punk saying he’ll arrest you, Father?”

“Is that punk Choi Gi-woong so clean? If we release some of the dirt my brother has on him, it’ll turn into a mud-slinging fight.”

“That punk doesn’t have the guts to make an enemy of us. If he really came here with that intention, then we should send an official notice to the Association instead.”

On the surface, it was a series of plausible arguments.

Choi Gi-woong had come to Daehu without a proper justification.

To take on a chaebol group like them, justification was essential.

The only reason they had groveled over something as trivial as a hole-in-the-wall like New Awakening was as a deliberate move for the succession race.

If Daehu decided to push back, there was no way the Association wouldn’t feel the pressure.

Naturally, it would end with Choi Gi-woong apologizing.

But Lee Seok-jae felt a strange sense of unease.

He couldn’t logically refute his brother’s words.

However, his subconscious, which had obsessively analyzed Choi Gi-woong for the past few months, was sending a warning.

That Choi Gi-woong was not a man who would ever act without justification.

“Father. Just give the order. I will take care of it.”

The sight of his father nodding in satisfaction every time his brother’s mouth opened seemed to be the final nail in the coffin.

‘Damn it. It’s over. It’s all over.’

He wasn’t talking about his own future.

He was talking about Daehu’s future.

“Father. Please, think about it again.”

“What is there to think about again? Are you suggesting that Father should kneel before that punk?”

“We have to kneel to survive. We have to live first, then think, don’t we?”

“This wouldn’t have even happened in the first place if you hadn’t messed with him, Hyung.”

“And that’s why I’m trying to fix it now!”

“It’s just that your method is absurd.”

Lee Seok-hwan clicked his tongue.

“You’ve become a complete coward. It would have been better if you had just charged in like you used to.”

His father nodded as if in agreement.

It was then.

The door to the conference room burst open.

A familiar face appeared.

“You weren’t coming down, so I came up myself.”

Choi Gi-woong said in a flat voice as he walked in.

His expression looked so bored, as if he were out for a stroll.

Through the open doorway, the fallen bodyguards could be seen.

“It wasn’t a good look to see a family fighting because of me, either.”

“How dare you come in here…!”

Kwaang!

The A-Rank Awakener, Lee Seok-hwan, was slammed into the wall.

Stomp, stomp. Without hesitation, Choi Gi-woong approached.

Even then, Chairman Lee Joong-seob showed not the slightest flicker of movement.

“What. Now that you’re S-Rank, does the world feel like it’s yours?”

“Like it’s mine? Every single day feels like my blood is drying up.”

Choi Gi-woong chuckled and shook his head.

“Well, I doubt you’d understand even if I explained, so let’s move on.”

Choi Gi-woong leisurely sat down.

In that time, Chairman Lee Joong-seob had been steadily gauging the distance between himself and Choi Gi-woong.

And the result was quite surprising.

‘He’s stronger than me?’

It had been 20 years since Lee Joong-seob had become an S-Rank.

He had thought that, aside from Yeo Ju-kyung, the only people in the country who could match him were Seong Yo-han or perhaps Hwang Mu-yeol at best.

But he was wrong.

Choi Gi-woong, right in front of him, was clearly a cut above.

That wasn’t all.

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

What kind of young man had such a murderous look in his eyes, as if he had roamed battlefields for decades?

But he wasn’t worried.

If one could get their way with strength alone, Yeo Ju-kyung would have overthrown the country and been crowned queen.

“I heard you said you were going to arrest me.”

“You’ve done a lot of bad things.”

In the process of building Daehu to this point, he had done countless bad things.

Breach of trust, embezzlement, murder…

But in a world where such things weren’t crimes if you had power, it didn’t matter.

Especially these days, when things were so chaotic with Dungeons and Gates.

If Choi Gi-woong arrested him with such flimsy justification, it would only hurt Choi Gi-woong’s own standing.

But Choi Gi-woong didn’t seem to care at all.

“Justification is something you can just create.”

By then, the distance between Choi Gi-woong and himself was within five steps.

“You’ve heard the story about how I turned a Demon back into a human, right?”

Somehow, the atmosphere turned chilling.

“Do you think the reverse is impossible?”

Until he was right in front of him, Lee Joong-seob just stared silently at Choi Gi-woong.

“Chairman. Would you like to try becoming a Demon?”

“What?”

“Make your choice. Will you become a Demon and die by my hand, or will you come crawling under me?”