Chapter 141 – Future Vision

“You bastard. You dare lay a hand on your superior?”

Im Jae-ho smirked as he got up, but his legs gave out and he collapsed.

The damage was worse than he’d thought.

He’d only been hit once, but the shock sent his legs trembling.

“You should have worked out more.”

Im Jae-joon chided him, loosening his tie.

“Y-You son of a bitch…!”

Im Jae-ho was flustered.

The man who was usually so gentle was now radiating a murderous aura.

‘Is this bastard a Hunter, too?’

Im Jae-ho had learned some martial arts himself.

Not so much to protect his own body, but to know the feeling of landing a proper hit when striking others.

Thanks to his chaebol status, he had never been hit by anyone, even in his school days.

He never imagined he would be struck by his half-brother.

Just then, a cold dose of reality washed over Im Jae-ho.

Here he was, the heir, crawling on the floor, while Im Jae-ho looked down on him with cold eyes. And his underlings were just standing there, watching.

“Hey, you bastards! What are you doing? Don’t you want to earn your keep?”

Only then did the bodyguards finally move.

Seeing the approaching guards, Im Jae-ho bared his teeth in a sneer.

Before their father arrived, he needed to teach his brother a little something about the family hierarchy.

*Crack!*

Im Jae-ho was sent tumbling to the floor once more.

“Agh, my a-arm! Aaaargh!”

He had instinctively raised his arm to guard his face, but a low kick had shattered it.

“That’s enough. The Chairman will be here soon…”

A bodyguard placed a hand on Im Jae-joon’s shoulder to stop him, seeing he had clearly crossed a line.

In that instant, the guard felt a sense of weightlessness.

He thought he saw the world spin once before the cold floor met his back.

Seeing the guard writhing on the ground, gasping for air, the other bodyguards flinched.

‘Jujutsu?’

It wasn’t just brawling; his movements showed he was properly trained in a martial art.

Im Jae-joon approached the guard who was still standing.

The guard sensed the imminent danger and raised his hands in a fighting stance.

*Thwack!*

The guard took a palm strike to the jaw from Im Jae-joon and collapsed.

It was over in a flash.

“W-What is this…”

Im Jae-ho was witnessing an unbelievable sight.

Im Jae-joon proceeded to take down every other bodyguard who rushed to stop him.

*Ugh, ghh.*

Soon, all of them were on the floor, groaning in pain.

Seeing the floor stained with blood, Im Jae-ho sensed that something was terribly wrong.

Im Jae-ho felt Im Jae-joon’s gaze fall upon him.

“Hey, wait a minute. Jae-joon.”

“Shut up and call the bastards you sent over there. Now.”

“…!”

The moment Im Jae-ho met Im Jae-joon’s eyes, his body froze, like a frog before a snake.

There was nothing he could do.

As if possessed, Im Jae-ho fumbled on the floor and grabbed his phone.

The phone rang, but no one answered.

“They’re not pick—”

Im Jae-joon kicked Im Jae-ho squarely in the stomach. Then he stomped on his hand and snatched the phone.

Ignoring Im Jae-ho’s beast-like howls, Im Jae-joon called the number from the sent messages.

No connection.

Dammit.

Im Jae-joon muttered to himself.

He had wanted to assign bodyguards to his mother, but she hated that sort of thing, so he couldn’t.

And he never imagined they would resort to such a reckless act, especially since this wasn’t some other world.

Im Jae-joon moved to leave the building in a hurry. If he ignored the traffic signals, he could get there in under ten minutes.

As he stepped outside, Im Jae-joon came face to face with the Chairman.

The eyes that had always looked at him with pride were now raw and primal.

Seeing his father’s true colors finally emerge, Im Jae-joon gave a bitter smile.

“Did you not hear me tell you to wait?”

“I’ll listen next time.”

With no time to spare, Im Jae-joon moved past the Chairman.

“I thought you were a smart boy.”

The Chairman continued, his wrinkled brow furrowed.

“Even if you hadn’t been so greedy, I was planning to put you in the position you wanted.”

“A position befitting a hunting dog, I’m sure.”

He didn’t need a position like that anyway.

It was a little sooner than planned, but now all he had to do was devour everything his own way.

“Stop right there.”

The Chairman warned.

As if to enforce his words, the bodyguards following him moved to block Im Jae-joon.

“All of you, get lost. If you don’t want to die.”

“What? Who do you think you’re talking to like that, urk…!”

The Chairman’s words caught in his throat as he felt his body go numb under Im Jae-joon’s chilling gaze.

The Chairman’s body began to tremble. And he wasn’t the only one.

Despite their hefty salaries, the bodyguards were frozen like statues, unable to utter a single word.

The moment he met Im Jae-joon’s eyes, the Chairman tasted absolute terror.

It felt as if a blade was being thrust into his neck.

That terror lasted until Im Jae-joon was out of the building.

“Hah, huuk…!”

Once Im Jae-joon was out of sight, the Chairman finally gasped for breath.

“Ch-Chairman…!”

The bodyguards belatedly started to move. Their slow, sluggish movements made it clear they had felt the same sensation he had.

But that didn’t matter now.

The Chairman ground his teeth and spoke.

“Follow that bastard! And get on the phone!”

An illegal Awakened.

The thought flashed through the Chairman’s mind.

There was no other explanation for that sudden, chilling sensation.

He had lived his entire life without ever feeling fear from anyone.

Money. With money, you could do anything.

Entering the shareholder meeting room, the Chairman became certain of his suspicions.

His bodyguards, men who had even killed people on battlefields, were sprawled on the floor.

Even his eldest son, Im Jae-ho.

The Im Jae-joon he knew could not possibly possess such power.

“Get that bastard and bring him to me, now!”

“B-But…”

“I don’t care if he’s become a Hunter or a Gader, hire someone to catch him! Give an order to that Lee Hyunbin kid from Hanul! Tell him it’s an order from the Chairman, not some mere Guild Master!”

“Yes. U-Understood!”

***

Im Jae-joon sped toward home.

After finding success, he had bought a house where he could live with his mother.

He remembered how happy she had been when she saw it.

Some might laugh if they heard.

That the Demon King, a ruler who should be ruthless and without tears, could be moved by mere affection.

But being a Demon King didn’t mean one was a devil from hell.

They just looked a little different from humans; they, too, felt love and possessed loyalty.

The incident that had made him resolve to become the Demon King.

It was because of the human mercenaries who had invaded his village.

His mother had sacrificed herself to protect her powerless self.

She had hidden her son where he wouldn’t be found and, until her brutal death, shook her blood-stained cheek, silently telling him not to come out.

Forced to watch that scene while stifling his cries, he was left with deep trauma.

He wasn’t anyone special.

He simply couldn’t forgive himself for being so young, weak, and helpless.

He became the Demon King to deny that version of himself.

Though it may have started as self-gratification, he led his people with the belief that he would save all demonkin with his power.

His stomach churned with nausea.

Of course, they wouldn’t kill his mother. No matter how depraved they were, holding her hostage would be more effective than killing her.

Especially if their goal was to put a leash on him.

*Wee-woo, wee-woo!*

He saw an ambulance speeding down the shoulder of the road. It seemed to be heading toward his house.

It wasn’t just a feeling. It had to be.

Im Jae-joon floored it, speeding past the ambulance and arriving at his house.

And he saw it.

‘…!’

The house was severely damaged.

The wall had crumbled, and the main gate was smashed.

The grass and trees in the garden he had made for his mother were broken and torn.

Im Jae-joon bit his lip hard and entered the house.

A venomous killing intent filled his mouth.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been so calm. Maybe it would have been better to just tear them all to shreds.

When had he ever cared about what others thought?

With money and power, you could do anything. Especially in the modern world.

Every relationship was lubricated by the oil of money.

Thanks to that, he had easily won over his father’s vassals.

‘First, I need to find my mother.’

His plans might have to change.

He always thought of himself as level-headed, but deep down, he was the opposite.

He hated to lose and was merely good at suppressing his anger and saving it for later.

Im Jae-joon tried calling again.

It was strange that they weren’t picking up, even though Im Jae-ho’s number would be displayed.

Just then, he heard a phone ringing nearby.

Taking the phone from his ear, he followed the sound and saw people sprawled on the ground.

“You done?”

The Hero was there.

“What are you doing here?”

Im Jae-joon muttered, a sense of emptiness washing over him.

“Came to eat.”

“Eat? Are you serious?”

“Nah, not really.”

The Hero’s expression turned serious.

He was bewildered as to why he was here. But, if he was here, then…

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The worst-case scenario had been avoided.

“My mother?”

“She’s inside. Must have been a bit startled. She’s making kimchi jjigae.”

The Hero’s brow furrowed deeply as he spoke.

That very same kimchi jjigae was being alchemized inside.

“Perfect. You should stay and eat.”

“You thank me by telling me to eat *that*?”

Im Jae-joon shook a potion.

The Hero let out a deep sigh.

“But you, a minute ago, you looked like you were about to murder someone.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. You didn’t happen to kill a few people on your way here, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Be careful. Once the eye-power showdowns start, the story goes down the drain. It all starts with the eyes, and it all ends with the eyes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Letting the Hero’s pointless words go in one ear and out the other, Im Jae-joon gave a wry smile.

Since the Hero had taken care of things here, it was now time for him to deliver some proper revenge.

“Since you’re here, stay a little longer.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you know I’m busy? I have to get back to the guild.”

“Something just came up.”

“Hey, you’re leaving me alone with the kimchi jjigae? You crazy—where are you going?! You think just because I’m a returnee, I’ll eat any kind of kimchi jjigae? Do I look like someone who just came back after ten thousand years? Huh?”

Despite the Hero’s protests, Im Jae-joon watched the approaching ambulance and police cars and made a call.

“Director.”

He was calling the director of a news bureau that primarily covered political and financial news.

“You can proceed now.”

The preparations to bring down the Chairman and his eldest son were complete.

It was time for the counterattack.

***

A few days later, Hanul was turned completely upside down.

A flood of corruption allegations related to the Hanul Group’s Chairman and his eldest son, Im Jae-ho, were exposed, and those involved were dismissed.

“Hey, Im Jae-joon! It was you, wasn’t it? You traitorous bastard!”

Im Jae-joon remained unfazed, even as Im Hyo-jin, with whom he had ‘briefly’ joined hands, shrieked at him.

Hanul was in chaos, and there were few who could lead it.

Even those who had opposed Im Jae-joon at the shareholder meeting, claiming he was too young, were now slowly starting to line up behind him.

Im Jae-joon had swallowed the Hanul Group.

“Raise our salaries.”

“…”

“Get us more training equipment.”

“……”

“Buy us a training dungeon.”

“You…”

I was tormenting Im Jae-joon.

He looked like he was about to die from the stress of reorganizing the Hanul Group, and the sight of me gave him a headache.

“If you’re going to do all that, why don’t you just take over the guild? Then you can buy all the training equipment or whatever else you want.”

Im Jae-joon was trying to hand over the guild’s operational control to me so he could focus on running the group. He said he would provide full support from the corporate level.

“I’m more of a field-type.”

I declined the position of Guild Master.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want it. But taking the Guild Master’s seat meant I would have to focus more on the administrative side of things.

Right now, I was on standby, waiting to attack the enemy. I didn’t have the leisure to run a guild.

Instead, the one who took the Guild Master’s seat was the blacksmith, Graham.

With a tech-tree fanatic as the Guild Master, I figured things were about to get interesting.

“So, what about your side?”

“My side?”

I smiled at Im Jae-joon’s question.

“The team is complete now. They’re the strongest, even without me.”

Kim Tae-yang, Kim In-ho, Seo Hyun-ji, the three foreign brothers, and even Katrinne.

I had trained all seven of them to mastery in everything from individual combat to team battles.

I taught them by personally beating them up in the lab’s virtual reality combat simulator, so their performance was guaranteed.

“I even made some interesting new techniques.”

“Interesting techniques?”

“Yeah. I combined some skills that didn’t exist before.”

“Does that mean you’ve gotten even stronger?”

Im Jae-joon’s expression was less of joy and more of utter weariness.

This punk.

“Now I just need to complete the Synchronization Ra—”

*Thump.*

Suddenly, I felt as if all the surrounding sounds had ceased.

No, it wasn’t just the sound.

*Crackle.*

My vision blurred as if filled with static.

In that moment, my view inverted, and the environment before me changed.

—It’s done.

Huh?

—Because I’d hate it even more if you got hurt, Ajeossi.

The one speaking now was Katrinne.

When did she get here?

Why did she sound so sad?

No, and me, getting hurt? Who would dare hurt me?

My vision inverted again.

The smell of blood filled the air.

All around were people—no, chunks of meat that used to be people.

A familiar otherworldly landscape. And knights who had died fighting.

I knew this place.

—Monsieur Lee. A pleasure to meet you.

A man with curly brown hair flashed a sinister smile, his eyes glinting menacingly.

—It’s a shame. You seem to be a little too late for a rescue.

I had seen his face once before.

The man hailed as a Global Super Hunter.

Jean-Pierre.

He and his companions were greeting me from the floating island—no, from the Rania Estate.

“…just have to… finish.”

The dizzying static cleared.

In the span of a single sentence, I had witnessed all sorts of disgusting things.

-Foresight has been activated.

Looking at the message that appeared before me, I recalled what I had just seen.

A smile crept onto my lips.

How interesting.