Episode 14.
“A cult that recently started expanding its influence in the vicinity. Its founder, a man called Bak Jangil, with seven prior fraud convictions plus assault and rape on his record—a remarkable gift for deceiving people with words….”
Taewang Group, Chairman’s Office.
Standing before the whiteboard, Chairman Gang’s secretary, Jang Dongjin, was earnestly sketching diagrams as he explained.
“…After the recent incident, all believers have left the cult and are now returning to normal lives.”
Slap!
The moment the secretary finished, he closed the report in his hand.
A sharp, tiger-like gaze turned toward the secretary.
“Dongjin.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“What do you think?”
“…About what?”
“That young man.”
That young man.
He was referring to a youth Chairman Gang had been observing with great interest lately.
“He’s only nineteen. And yet he single-handedly dismantled over a hundred gun-toting gangsters and a cult that was expanding its influence. And do you know what’s even more amazing?”
“I do not.”
“He sent people who had been trapped in that cult for years back to their daily lives.”
That at such a young age he had fought over a hundred armed gangsters was surprising enough.
But completely dismantling the cult and even sending all those affiliated with it back to their ordinary lives was another matter entirely.
“Might and wit. Meaning he holds two formidable weapons in his hands.”
Dongjin nodded.
Yet inwardly, he was greatly surprised.
‘To think there is someone the Chairman would praise so openly.’
It had already been twenty-five years since he had begun working as a secretary at the Chairman’s side.
Their relationship was so close that he could tell what the Chairman wanted just by reading his expression; in some ways, perhaps even closer than Jeong Yujin, the Chairman’s wife, might be.
And yet to see him so excited by such open praise.
What was this feeling?
Like a child who had discovered a small, glittering pebble.
As if captivated by the illusion that simply gazing at it was enough, that something could be made from it—a pureness in his demeanor.
“You must be quite fond of that young man.”
“Fond of him? Haha! You overstate it.”
“Pardon?”
“Of course I like him. The question is whether Yunchan likes me.”
“….”
That was unexpected.
The Chairman of Taewang Group, who had started from nothing and built an enterprise of staggering scale, making an effort to be liked by someone?
The Tiger of Seoul, who wouldn’t even bow to the sitting president?
“They say a person is given three opportunities in life.”
“Yes. My first was meeting you, Chairman.”
“Thank you for thinking so.”
Having read the sincerity in Dongjin’s words, Chairman Gang formed a faint smile.
“In nearly seventy years of life, I’ve never once thought of myself as having been given an opportunity.”
To another’s ears, this might sound arrogant.
But Chairman Gang truly believed he had never received a true opportunity.
Building the colossal enterprise known as Taewang Group had been solely through his unrelenting effort; he prided himself on never once having had a stroke of luck related to “fortune.”
But this time, the only stroke of luck he thought he’d ever had was meeting Yunchan.
‘It may be the only opportunity that will never come again in my lifetime.’
Had he been young, he would have enjoyed that stroke of luck to the fullest, but now was not the time.
He did not have much time.
Before the specter of death approached, he wished to accomplish much more.
“So if anything happens involving Yunchan, do not hesitate and….”
“I will connect him directly to you at once, Chairman.”
Connecting to Chairman Gang was precisely the kind of matter that required utmost caution.
The Chairman’s direct subordinates, including Dongjin, would be busy.
“So. About that matter I entrusted to you this time?”
“Regarding the Church of Salvation, it will be concluded as a suicide, along with a will from the founder repenting his sins.”
“And the press?”
“We’ve fed them enough to fill their stomachs, so it won't be turned into articles.”
It was a major incident worthy of making the front page of the news, but it would never be covered.
Not only had money been fed to every media outlet, but there simply wouldn’t exist anyone who dared to oppose Taewang Group.
“I see.”
Creak—
Though filled with more vigor than before, he still sank his heavy flesh into the chair.
‘If only I were a little younger.’
Anew, his senescent body and the passage of time felt hateful.
But even now, it was not too late.
He would not miss this hard-won opportunity, this supreme opportunity called Sin Yunchan.
*
『Apocalypse, and 15 Years Later.』
Kuhuhuhung—
Its roar echoed out.
“It’s nasty, seriously nasty.”
A man gripping black and white swords complained.
“Really… disgustingly strong.”
Even the muscular man who rarely acknowledged an enemy’s strength expressed agreement.
A group of ten.
Having survived fifteen years in this place where every day was like hell, they had become beings possessing considerable power.
But that power was nothing but weakness before the “Lion King.”
Hide so tough it repelled any physical or magical attack, claws that tore through any metal, and even biting power.
Especially the unique ability possessed only by the Lion King, which rendered joint attacks meaningless.
It was a gigantic existence that could be described as a living calamity, one that even they could not dare to face.
“Where’s Heracles?”
At the question of the man wielding a golden sword imbued with sacred energy.
“….”
A woman wearing a purple pointed hat gestured with her eyes toward a spot.
“Kuaaaa, phew—”
Behind the carriage, a man could be seen snoring loudly.
Dressed only in a leather loincloth like Tarzan, empty bottles emitting a strong scent of alcohol were scattered messily around him.
“Ha—”
A sigh full of dissatisfaction.
“When did he get the booze again?”
“What else would a drunkard be like?”
The one who was supposed to face the Lion King was in a state of drunken incapacity.
It was a sight completely different from the one they knew from mythology.
If only Heracles, this Chosen One, were sober, the mission would have been much easier.
But they couldn’t just complain forever.
Because the source of the roar was approaching.
“….”
They fell silent to the reality.
And thought.
Perhaps the fifteen years of battle would end here.
“Let me hold it off for a bit….”
As always, Yunchan tried to step forward to handle the situation, but.
“Wahahahahaha!”
Buried by the hearty laughter, he failed to do what he intended.
A presence that shattered the silence.
A man wearing a torn dobok covered in all sorts of dust, with a blue headband tied around his head.
“In a crisis, a hero always appears.”
Tightening his red belt, he steeled his resolve.
“And today… perhaps it is my turn to become the hero?”
One step, two steps. The man in the dobok advanced.
“Yeongung….”
Yunchan called out to his comrade walking alone.
Fittingly, the name of the man who kept mentioning heroism was Han Yeongung.
“Yunchan.”
He called Yunchan’s name while facing straight ahead.
“I’ve always gone around talking like you were my rival, but the truth is, I knew. That you are a man far greater than I.”
Having endured the apocalypse for a whopping fifteen years, everyone here was strong.
But if asked to name someone who had sacrificed even his own lifespan in dedication, it would undoubtedly be Yunchan.
He was the one who had borne countless crises all by himself.
“But I can’t back down today. I, Han Yeongung, intend to become a hero worthy of the name my parents gave me.”
The moment Yeongung finished speaking.
Kuung!
The ground heaved once with a thunderous sound.
What revealed itself was a gigantic lion boasting a golden mane.
The beast of Nemesis, the gigantic monstrosity commonly called the Lion King.
“Kuhuhuhuhung!”
Its characteristic roar echoed out.
Jiiiiing!
A golden circle was drawn with the Lion King and Yeongung at its center.
A unique barrier, the Sublime Duel.
The reason the Lion King was such a tricky opponent was that it manifested a unique barrier that prevented anyone other than its desired target from approaching.
Now that this golden circle had been drawn, no one other than the Lion King and Yeongung could interfere in the duel.
“Yunchan, and everyone.”
Without turning around, Yeongung spoke to them all.
“Watch closely. I’ll show you clearly what I’ve always meant by Late Bloomer.”
A hard worker.
Late Bloomer.
That was the obsession of the man named Han Yeongung.
And now, he was trying to show the culmination of that effort.
But.
Fit!
The Lion King did not wait.
Jjeoeok!
It approached in an instant and swiped with its front paw, leaving a long line of blood on his side.
“Bastard, in such a hurry.”
The wound split and blood seeped out, but.
Kkwak!
He compressed his muscles to staunch the bleeding of the torn wound.
The wound was not serious.
What mattered was the Lion King’s movement. That speed which had reached its zenith.
To keep up with movements so fast they appeared blurry even when he focused, a change was needed.
“Huaaaaap!”
And for this, Yeongung used his trait that he had not once manifested since the apocalypse began.
『Limit Break』
Literally, a powerful trait that broke through limits to draw out potential beyond them.
Pushii—
Steam rose from his skin due to the instantaneous manifestation of power.
It was caused by the heat emanating from muscles compressed beyond their limits.
Pat!
The Lion King moved.
A movement at its peak, leaving only blurry afterimages.
But.
Kwang!
He would not be struck twice.
A fist blocked the front paw.
Yeongung’s fist stopped the advance of the sharp claws.
Geugeugeuk!
Claws that could slice through steel like radishes could not pierce mere frail skin.
“You’ve had your fun, haven’t you?”
Ssit.
Yeongung’s left fist, formed in a smile, moved.
Peoreong!
Due to the shockwave generated by that fist embedded squarely in the abdomen.
Hwiik!
He flew to the other side.
And Yeongung, too.
Papat!
Disappeared from that spot.
The place he reappeared was behind the flying Lion King.
Peoreok!
This time, it was the right fist.
Kwang, kwakwakkwakwang!
The Lion King’s body bounced around like a pinball.
Surprisingly, Yeongung moved a step faster than the flying Lion King and delivered bombardments to its body.
Kwang!
The Lion King soared into the air and then crashed into the ground.
Struggling, it stood on four legs upon the earth, but.
“Keoheung!”
It vomited blood as if coughing it up from the lungs.
It had dealt a serious blow beyond that tough hide which repelled all physical and magical attacks.
‘We can win!’
At that moment, the party predicted Yeongung’s victory, but.
“It’s not easy after all, is it?”
Ttuk, ttuuk.
Red drops of blood flowed from his limply hanging arms.
That was also the reason he had not used Limit Break until now.
Due to a past incident, his arms had not been normal to begin with.
Yet how could those broken arms withstand the transcendental power of Limit Break?
The arms with which he had struck the Lion King had been crushed to the point of turning to powder, reaching an irreparable state.
“Kuhuhuhuhung!”
Perhaps from rage at having been struck by a weak human, its mane stood on end.
Hind legs coiled as if to pounce at any moment, the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey.
“….”
But Yeongung was in a state where he could not use both arms, effectively neutralized.
“Yeongung!”
Along with Yunchan’s cry of alarm.
Kwang!
The Lion King, which had struck the earth, shot forward like a rocket.
A movement far faster than before.
And Yeongung merely stared at it fixedly.
Puuk!
A horrifying sound of flesh being pierced.
The Lion King’s front paws pierced through Yeongung’s chest and lower abdomen.
“Yeo…n….”
It was the moment his comrades screamed at the sight of him on the verge of death.
“Keoheung!”
The Lion King cried out as if bewildered.
And there was a reason.
Kkwak.
Because through muscle compression similar to how he had staunched the bleeding earlier, he was preventing the front paws embedded in his body from being withdrawn.
“If you have no teeth….”
Yeongung showed his bloodied teeth and smiled widely.
“…Then you do it with your gums.”
Pulling his head back as far as possible, he then charged forward.
Peoreok!
“Keheng!”
A headbutt struck between its brows.
But that was not the end.
Peok, peoreok!
Once, twice, three times, and ten times.
He continued attempting headbutts toward the Lion King’s glabella.
At first, it merely delivered a shock.
But as the headbutts continued, the Lion King’s hide peeled away, bone was exposed, and even that bone was shattered, after which.
Peoreok!
Thick brain matter flowed out.
Yet he did not stop.
Peok, peok, peok, peok.
The headbutts continued like a broken robot.
Kkeumteul.
There was slight movement, but it was cadaveric spasm.
A kind of twitching caused by nerve cells still alive.
Seuseuseu—
Due to this, the golden circle surrounding the Lion King and Yeongung vanished.
The first to move was Yunchan.
Approaching at high speed.
Cheok.
He placed his hand on the Lion King’s head, stopping Yeongung’s headbutt.
Perhaps having sensed that touch.
Yeongung’s headbutting finally stopped.
“….”
But he was unconscious.
Just as the Lion King’s head had been smashed, his own skull had been shattered as well, and even his brain inside had burst.
Ssit.
But perhaps because he had intuited the final victory, a single smile bloomed at the corners of his mouth.
The Indomitable Han Yeongung.
Having risen to the ranks of the strong through endless effort without ever manifesting a trait, he met a glorious end facing the mighty enemy known as the Lion King.
*
“….”
A dream.
But it was not a nightmare.
He slowly raised his body.
Han Yeongung.
He had been so preoccupied with others in the future that he had forgotten that important name.
“A hard worker. And a late bloomer.”
He had sometimes thought.
If that guy had possessed even a little talent?
If that so-called late blooming had arrived a little sooner, he wouldn’t have met such a dog’s death.
But what was the use?
He was dead, and there was no choice but to move toward the future.
‘But now is different.’
One year before the apocalypse.
And here I am, staying in the present with the trait called Strengthening.
I suppose I should give a good gift to the friend I miss.