Chapter 3
Part 2
“So it really is here.”
Yugeon picked up a small pouch.
Strangely, not a single speck of dust covered it.
Every step inside the room kicked huge clouds of dust into the air, yet this pouch remained perfectly clean.
[Endless Golden Pouch]
Grade: Rare
Type: Summoning Item
A purse of wealth that never runs dry.
A pouch that brings riches to its owner.
[Item Effect]
Once per day, a random amount of money appears.
[Special Conditions]
The money appears in the currency of the user's country.
If the user wishes, the pouch may also produce an item of equivalent value instead of currency.
Yugeon grinned.
“This is exactly what I was looking for.”
The Endless Golden Pouch.
An item that endlessly produced money.
Of course, "endlessly" did not mean it produced a huge amount right now.
At its current level, the maximum was around one million won.
“At its current level, anyway.”
This item could be forcibly upgraded.
In the future, it would eventually reach Mythic grade.
At Mythic grade, the maximum amount it could produce in a single use approached one trillion won.
Of course, once it reaches Mythic grade, it gains a usage limit.
It could only be used five times.
But Yugeon knew something no one else did.
He knew how to manually enter the amount he wanted from the pouch.
The guild that owned this pouch became rich almost overnight because of that.
Yugeon placed the item inside his bag and immediately left the hidden room.
There was nothing else worth taking.
The only other useful feature was that the area could serve as a safe zone.
Monsters could not enter this hidden space.
“But there's no point leaving it open.”
Floor 2 was rarely dangerous enough to require a safe zone anyway.
Creak.
“It's been a long time.”
After relying on his memories to find the way back, Yugeon entered his old home and looked around with a faint smile.
The house where he had once lived with his family.
He had not been here for decades.
Was it eight years from now...?
A huge group of monsters would eventually flood into this area and turn the neighborhood into ruins.
Because of that, Yugeon had been forced to move elsewhere.
“I'm home.”
He put down his belongings and walked deeper into the house.
“It's been a long time.”
Yugeon gave a bitter smile.
He reached out and picked up a family photo.
His family smiled brightly from inside the frame.
“Back then, the emergency alarm went off so suddenly that I couldn't even take this picture with me.”
He removed the photo from the frame and carefully placed it inside his clothes.
His father.
His mother.
His younger brother.
His younger sister.
All four of them had died during the Second Monster Wave.
At the time, Yugeon had been pushed by a panicking crowd and fallen into a sewer.
That accident had allowed him to survive the monster attack.
But his family had not been so lucky.
His parents and younger brother had gone shopping to buy a present for the youngest sibling.
They were caught in the Monster Wave.
His grandmother, who had been at a senior center, had survived with the help of Awakeners.
After that, Yugeon had been raised by his grandmother.
Eventually, she also passed away from old age.
Yugeon returned the now-empty frame to its place.
He turned away.
He did not have time to sit there crying about how much he missed them.
He needed to make his plans reality.
Only then could he truly see his living family again.
For the briefest moment, a thought crossed his mind.
Maybe I should wish to return fifty years into the past, back when my family was still alive.
But he quickly pushed the thought away.
Returning forty years was already an incredible gift.
He should be grateful that he had been given another chance to correct the past.
I still don't know how I regressed...
But now he knew regression was possible.
He was experiencing it himself.
Which meant that if he used the Holy Grail properly, perhaps he could achieve a true regression.
A regression to the exact point in time he wanted.
Creak.
Thud.
Yugeon spent one full day resting at home.
Early the next morning, he stepped outside.
From now on, he had to move quickly.
There is a sword I need to obtain within one month.
After one month, another Awakener would obtain it.
But as long as he claimed it before then, there was no problem.
So right now, I need to go obtain a different weapon.
Yugeon smiled.
In this life...
It was time to recruit the first companion who would become both his sword and shield.
The first member of the Godslayers.
The Heavenly Killing Star.
Cha Mincheol.
The destruction of the world.
The greatest cause was obviously the monsters pouring out of the Towers.
Powerful monsters that appeared without warning.
But there were also several other factors that accelerated humanity's destruction.
About ten major ones.
And one of them was Genocide.
An international group of psychopaths.
A major force that accelerated the end of civilization.
Genocide was made up of powerful Awakeners.
Their goal was to reset humanity and create a new age.
Because of them, mountains of Awakener corpses piled up.
Eventually, there were too few Awakeners left to stop the monsters.
Countries began collapsing one after another.
And the person who eventually became Genocide's leader...
Was Cha Mincheol.
More precisely, it was because of Cha Mincheol's unique ability.
He did not possess only one trait.
Heavenly Killing Star.
He also carried another title.
Mount Tai.
Originally, Mount Tai was his public nickname.
Heavenly Killing Star was his hidden trait.
With both the Heavenly Killing Star trait and a Tanker trait, Cha Mincheol eventually became an unstoppable monster.
A terrifying villain no one could control.
In the end, even Genocide betrayed him and killed him.
So this time, I'll bring Cha Mincheol to my side...
Yugeon would turn him into someone who saved the world.
He checked the time and quickened his pace.
The moment when Cha Mincheol became a murderous monster was approaching.
The basement of an old commercial building near Gwangmyeong City Hall.
WHAM!
“Urgh!”
A heavy impact echoed through the dark office.
“Hey, Cha Mincheol! Why are you making me look like the bad guy? Just say yes while I'm still asking nicely.”
WHACK!
“Ghk...”
A large, muscular man lay face-down on the floor with both arms tied behind his back.
Cha Mincheol.
Despite having awakened only recently, he had already reached Level 50.
He had reached that level through pure effort without a teacher.
He had once worked as a fitness trainer.
His body was packed with muscle.
But after being starved and beaten for several days, he looked terrible.
A tattooed man stood in front of him.
Lee Hyeoksu, boss of the Guseong Gang.
He blew out cigarette smoke and grabbed Cha Mincheol by the hair.
“Your hyung thinks you're too valuable to throw away. Why do you keep acting so proud?”
“...How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want to.”
Cha Mincheol spat out the blood in his mouth and glared at Lee Hyeoksu.
“I told you. I don't work with gangsters.”
“Hey, we're not gangsters. We're businessmen!”
Lee Hyeoksu shrugged as if he were genuinely offended.
“Human trafficking, organ trafficking, and drug distribution are businesses?”
“If there is demand, then there has to be supply. If someone needs a person, we supply people. If someone needs an organ, we supply organs. And when life gets too miserable and someone wants to escape for a while, we supply drugs. We don't force anything on people who don't want it. They want something, and we sell it. If that isn't distribution, what is?”
To him, it was no different from being a merchant.
Someone needed weapons, so merchants sold weapons.
Someone needed Mana Stones, so merchants sold Mana Stones.
Someone needed armor, so merchants sold armor.
Lee Hyeoksu had simply increased the variety of items he sold.
“Organ trafficking? Sure, I've sold organs. But one man who bought an organ from me saved his daughter. Another saved his father. Do you know what those people call me? Their benefactor. They contact me constantly just to thank me. To them, I'm a hero.”
“...”
“Do you understand? Something that looks evil to you might be salvation and a blessing to someone else.”
“...”
“So stop looking at everything with prejudice. In a chaotic world like this, people like us are necessary if more people are going to survive.”
Spit.
Splatter.
Cha Mincheol sneered and spat the blood in his mouth onto Lee Hyeoksu's chest.
“You think I'm going to believe that garbage?”
Anyone listening would think Lee Hyeoksu was some great hero saving humanity.
He murdered people.
Removed their organs.
Cleaned all traces of the crime.
Then sold the organs.
And he called himself a hero?
“If those people knew the organs came from innocent people you murdered... do you think they still would've accepted them?”
“...”
“You think I don't know that when you sell the organs, you disguise the whole thing as a hospital and tell them a donor appeared?”
“...Sigh. You really do make me look like a bad guy.”
Lee Hyeoksu brushed the blood from his clothes.
He let out a deep sigh and stood up.
Then he gestured toward his men.
Creak.
A door farther inside opened.
One of his men dragged someone out.
An older woman.
Her hair was messy.
Bruises covered her face.
Both of her hands were tied behind her back.
It was Cha Mincheol's mother.
“Mom!!”
Cha Mincheol struggled desperately to get up.
WHACK!
Lee Hyeoksu kicked him in the stomach.
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down.”
“You fucking bastards!! You touched my mother?!”
“This wouldn't have happened if you had just cooperated. I'm only asking you to help us clear Floor 45! I'm not telling you to kidnap anyone. I'm not asking you to remove anyone's organs. I just need you to help us clear Floor 45. We need a Tanker.”
Lee Hyeoksu smiled.
“What do you think? I've already compromised a lot.”
