“This fucking lunatic?”

I shouted without meaning to.

I didn’t care whether Jegal Jin was sitting in front of me or not.

If I didn’t let it out, I’d explode.

‘Is he actually insane?’

My father causing trouble wasn’t exactly a rare event, so I thought I’d gotten used to it, at least to some degree.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do with this man?’

No matter how useless he’d been my whole life, he was still my father.

‘Does he seriously need to get buried alive by a noble family?’

He’d caused the kind of incident you couldn’t even pretend to overlook anymore.

The reason was written right there in the letter.

“Father-in-law, I heard you still haven’t chosen an heir apparent.”

“My second boy takes after me—he’s sharper than he looks.”

“Since it’s come to this, perhaps you could bring him to the Jegal Clan once—”

CRUMPLE.

I crushed the letter without even finishing it.

‘Fuck.’

The curse came out on its own. If this isn’t being out of your mind, what is?

You bring up the Jegal Clan with an illegitimate child—of all things?

‘Even if there’s a connection, there are limits.’

This wasn’t something that ended with “a bastard” and that’s it.

‘What kind of brain do you have to have to send something like this?’

I wanted to crack open that man’s skull and take a look.

God, I thought I’d given up on my father after I turned fifteen, but this—he was an even bigger butcher than I’d expected.

TRICKLE—.

Cold sweat ran down. My anger kept bursting nonstop as I read, but the important thing wasn’t me.

‘His reaction.’

Jegal Jin’s reaction, sitting right in front of me.

That was the biggest problem.

‘Dry eyes.’

I couldn’t tell what was inside them—rage, resentment, whatever.

But those weren’t eyes holding a good emotion.

What was Jegal Jin thinking, receiving this letter?

‘What do you think? He wants to kill him.’

My father—and me.

Didn’t he want to get rid of both of us because we were both disgusting to look at?

Maybe not Jegal Jin, but I would’ve, if it were me.

While I was watching Jegal Jin’s face like that—

His mouth slowly opened.

*****

The first thing Jegal Jin felt wasn’t interest or anything like that.

It was just a faint irritation and a little... reflection.

No. “Reflection” wasn’t even the word.

‘A bastard I don’t want to look at.’

The thing sitting in front of him—this “grandson.”

A grandson in name only, someone he didn’t even think of that way.

It couldn’t be helped. He was the child of a man Jegal Jin couldn’t chew up hard enough.

‘Bang Cheonho.’

The Bang Clan Head of Liaoning, the man who stole his daughter.

And after taking her, working her to the bone until she lost her life—back then, Jegal Jin truly wanted to wipe out the Bang Clan and everything attached to it.

But he didn’t.

Because of his daughter’s words.

‘Even if you can’t hold them to your chest, please don’t harm them. He’s a pitiful man.’

Don’t harm the Bang Clan.

Because his daughter said that, Jegal Jin ultimately couldn’t lay a hand on the Bang Clan.

And because he couldn’t lay a hand on them, he cut off his interest.

That was the best he could do.

‘Yuhui.’

Jegal Yuhui.

A pretty, brilliant child.

The only daughter among Jegal Jin’s four children, and the eldest.

Even if she wouldn’t inherit the clan head position, he’d never once doubted she would go on to do something great.

And then she met some nobody who didn’t even know what he was doing—and everything became a mess.

He lost his daughter.

Jegal Jin lost even the little laughter he still had.

And time passed... and then this one appeared.

Bang Cheonho’s child.

Yuhui’s son.

His grandson.

And on top of that—Yoo Cheongil, that dog’s successor?

‘What a joke.’

How do you get entangled like this—how can it possibly tangle up this badly?

It was absurd.

Like everything had been twisted together on purpose, begging him to pay attention.

At first, Bang Cheonho came groveling, begging for nothing but a recommendation letter, so Jegal Jin wrote it—and ended it there.

A child who carried his blood?

That wasn’t particularly important to Jegal Jin.

How many grandkids did he even have?

There were plenty who were clever, plenty who caught his eye.

And the reason he hadn’t chosen an heir apparent wasn’t because he couldn’t.

It was just something born out of his own stubbornness.

In other words, it meant there was no reason to keep that child in his sight.

This time was the same.

This was nothing but curiosity.

‘What kind of bastard is he?’

What kind of bastard becomes Yoo Cheongil’s successor?

He’d looked into him, in his own way, but there were strange parts everywhere—and nothing he could pierce through.

Blue Moon Sect acknowledged it.

That Bang Cheonho’s child, Bang Sungyeon, really was the Sword Saint’s successor.

No matter how deep the ties between Yoo Cheongil and Jegal Jin ran—

If Blue Moon Sect acknowledged it, there was nothing for him to do.

So he tried to let it pass.

It was obvious he didn’t want to get tangled up.

But—

‘Divine Spear made a move.’

The current Alliance Leader—that damned bastard—started something on his own.

Whatever he promised the executives, he dragged Blue Moon Sect into the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering participation that had never happened before.

And the reason was just one thing.

He wanted to see the Little Sword Saint—the Sword Saint’s successor.

Jegal Jin knew he was crazy, but he’d never imagined he was this insane.

‘The reason is obvious.’

Why Divine Spear wanted to see Bang Sungyeon was simple.

But he didn’t want to imagine it, so he ignored it.

This was also because he didn’t want to get involved.

Stubbornness.

Because he hated the daughter who left his arms and ended her life that way.

Because he despised Bang Cheonho, who stole her and then lived like a worthless failure.

So he didn’t even want to see that man’s son.

And then—

‘Ha.’

That Bang Cheonho dared to mention the Jegal Clan.

What rose in his mind was pretext.

A pretext to face him. Or—

‘The hope that I might be able to get rid of him.’

The hope that he might be able to completely wipe out that irritating thing sitting in front of him.

With that single thought, Jegal Jin called for Bang Sungyeon.

Calling a participant into a strategist’s room might be something that could interfere with the event—

But he could pass it off under the excuse of “a letter,” so Jegal Jin did it.

And then he faced Bang Sungyeon.

“.......”

“.......”

The first impression he had, upon seeing him—

‘Handsome.’

Good-looking.

A soft-lined handsome face, like he’d been born wearing only his father’s advantages.

And—

‘He resembles her.’

Inside those soft lines was his daughter.

As if proving he was her child, the things Jegal Jin loved were contained within that small face.

Damn it.

He didn’t like that. And on top of that—

“Why did you choose that?”

“Yes?”

Even the tea the bastard chose to drink annoyed him.

Tree Ridge Tea.

‘The tea my daughter liked.’

Before she left home, that was the tea she drank constantly.

And among all those teas, Bang Sungyeon chose that one.

Jegal Jin hated Tree Ridge Tea. The unique taste irritated him, so he didn’t drink it.

And even so, he kept it in this room—because he knew it was only his longing for his daughter.

So he began the conversation—

“Do you want me to call you Grandfather?”

The insolent bastard threw out nonsense.

He answered immediately.

“I have no memory of having a grandson like you.”

“Then we’ll settle on Strategist.”

Like that was exactly what he wanted.

For some reason, that rubbed him wrong.

Then he said he didn’t resemble his father—

“Of course. There’s nothing good about resembling that man.”

He gave an answer that strangely pleased him. It pleased him, and Jegal Jin shook his head inside.

After that, he tested him with a few questions.

And the answers were something else entirely.

“You’ve already done a background check anyway. It’ll be exactly what’s written there. No matter how much you ask, I’ve got nothing else.”

“.......”

A confident attitude without a hint of anxiety.

How many people had ever shown him that kind of posture with him right in front of them?

At the very least, none of those called his grandchildren.

Among those who trembled the moment they met his gaze—how was this one so steady?

‘Absurd bastard.’

He didn’t seem to know why he was sitting here.

So Jegal Jin showed him.

He handed him the letter he’d received from the Bang Clan, and the moment Bang Sungyeon read it, his face flushed red.

“Isn’t he actually a fucking lunatic!?”

At the sight of him cursing his own father, Jegal Jin laughed without realizing it.

The moment he laughed, he covered the corner of his mouth with his hand.

“......Ah, just so you know—our father’s a weird bastard, but I have absolutely zero desire for anything over there. Seriously.”

The way he hurriedly said it looked genuinely desperate.

No desire for the Jegal Clan.

That should’ve been natural—but something pricked at Jegal Jin’s insides.

“No interest? Are you saying the Jegal Clan is so small it sits outside your interest?”

So he stabbed him with a thorned jab that didn’t suit him.

Bang Sungyeon frowned.

“......What are you even saying? It’d be weirder if I did have interest. And besides.”

Then, looking straight into Jegal Jin’s eyes, he said—

“The Jegal Clan looks like it has problems right now, so why would I go out of my way?”

“What did you say?”

“Ah.”

Bang Sungyeon covered his mouth mid-sentence.

An expression that said he’d slipped.

Jegal Jin’s face hardened as he spoke.

“What did you just say?”

The Jegal Clan has problems.

The way he said it like he was sure—heat rose in Jegal Jin’s chest.

How did he know?

“Answer properly. That would be best for you.”

This was something no one could know except those inside the Jegal Clan.

And yet Bang Cheonho’s son found out? Impossible.

When he questioned him in a cold voice—

“Haah....... It’s not like that.”

Bang Sungyeon let out a sigh and pointed somewhere with his hand.

The letters scattered all around.

He pointed to a few of them.

“......It’s not like I wanted to see them or anything...... they just stood out, so I ended up seeing them.”

“......What?”

You saw them? At that, Jegal Jin checked the letters.

They were letters sent to the Jegal Clan, and they weren’t secret enough that anyone reading them would cause a problem.

Except—

‘They’re encrypted.’

If you interpreted the encryption inside, it was a different story.

“......What you’re saying is—”

Did he decipher these encrypted letters?

Jegal Jin stared at Bang Sungyeon like it was absurd.

“Seriously, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose—no, I mean, it’s just...... once I see something, I don’t forget...... and my head just...... ah, seriously, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“.......”

Bang Sungyeon rushed out excuses.

He’d deciphered them.

And he’d done it after only a brief glance—memorized them and interpreted them.

While talking with Jegal Jin.

“.......”

Jegal Jin’s eyes trembled.

This couldn’t happen.

This was a problem.

Reason pressed down on him—

But.

“Hey.”

“It’s not like I wanted to— ...Yes?”

“From now on, I will ask you questions. Answer without leaving out a single thing.”

“Y-yes......?”

Jegal Jin’s mouth began firing questions at Bang Sungyeon, as if following instinct.

And time passed like that.

*****

I entered the late-night inn and sat down quietly.

Normally, I would’ve gone straight back to the room I was staying in and crashed, but tonight I was hungry enough that I felt like I needed to eat something.

[Heh. You look like you got wrung dry.]

I didn’t answer Yoo Cheongil. Just like he said, I didn’t even have the energy to answer.

‘Ugh....... I’m wrung the fuck out.’

I was dying. Jegal Jin had so many things he wanted to ask, he kept throwing endless annoying questions at me.

The current sentiments in the Central Plains.

What I thought would happen if war broke out.

He asked nothing but things that were a pain in the ass to answer, so every time I spoke, I had to clutch my head.

‘What the hell was that?’

Why was he asking stuff like that?

I’m already dying of embarrassment because my father sent insane bullshit......

‘Ah, wait.’

Was he trying to dry me out and kill me with questions? If that was it, it made sense. They were absolutely the kind of questions that could do that.

‘Rotten bastard.’

Yeah, because this brain had to cause trouble for no reason.

‘Why did you even look? Why look at all?’

I glanced at the scattered letters because I was curious.

And something felt off. The moment I got a bad feeling, I tore my eyes away, but my eyes had already taken in all the contents—

And the one “virtue” strapped to me, this memory and this brain, went ahead and interpreted it on its own.

‘......The Jegal Clan has problems.’

It felt like complicated things were unfolding inside the Jegal Clan right now.

And in that situation, my father tried to pull some dogshit, so I blurted it out without thinking.

And that became the problem that made Jegal Jin start firing questions at me.

‘Ah, fuck.’

I don’t know if I just completely screwed myself.

I kept wiping the remaining cold sweat and forcing my breathing steady when—

[That Jin bastard seemed to like you quite a bit. How was it?]

“......?”

What kind of insane shit was this? I looked at Yoo Cheongil.

Like me? What the hell did he like?

‘His eyes were murderous from the start. That’s nonsense.’

How could eyes that looked like they wanted to kill you be the eyes of someone who liked you?

I couldn’t believe it.

He obviously hated me.

Of course he did.

‘How could he like me?’

I’m the son of the butcher bastard who stole his daughter.

And that butcher bastard even wrote insane garbage about how his kid should enter the Jegal Clan.

‘He should’ve torn me to pieces and still not felt satisfied.’

The fact that I walked out alive felt like a miracle.

“FWOOOOOOOM—!!! ...I’m gonna die. Seriously.”

Why was there not a single day my heart felt at ease since coming to Henan?

And tomorrow was the main event, too—I wanted to take it easy, at least a little.

‘Take it easy, my ass.’

There hadn’t been a single easy day.

My life was always like that, sure, but still. Nothing ever went right.

Everywhere I went, something blew up, so I couldn’t live with peace of mind.

‘Ugh.’

Still, the biggest thing was over, so I figured I should at least stuff my face and then get some real sleep—

CLICK.

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a chair pulling out in front of me.

I felt a presence and lifted my head.

‘Huh?’

A familiar but unwelcome figure was standing there.

A friendly smile. Not a big body. The kind of face people would say looks “nice.”

[This bastard.......]

Looking at the young man, Yoo Cheongil frowned. I wondered why he’d react like that to someone who looked so ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) harmless—

But.

‘Look at that energy. Holy shit.’

I wasn’t much different from Yoo Cheongil. No matter how harmless the face looked—

I wasn’t looking at his face.

I was looking at something else.

‘......Is that even human?’

I recoiled inside. No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to call him a person.

Why, when his appearance was that clear?

Because—

‘This is basically a malicious ghost.’

The malevolent aura I felt from him.

Black and murky—an insane amount of filthy, unpleasant energy was pouring off him.

This was practically the kind of level malicious ghosts would have.

‘What the hell is this guy?’

An aura humans weren’t supposed to be able to emit.

Something you could only gain if you were a malicious ghost—one carrying monstrous resentment—

And this guy had it.

“May I sit for a moment?”

He asked with a warm-looking face.

Who was he again? I searched for the name.

He was definitely Seo Pyeong’s teammate.

And there was something I’d already pinned down from that.

“Ah, right. I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am—”

“Baek Cheonin.”

“Oh?”

When I spoke his name, his eyes widened.

His face clearly asked how I knew.

‘It wasn’t hard.’

Everyone attending the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering had their information made public. If you wanted to know, you could find out easily.

The problem was—

‘That won’t be what this bastard really is.’

He had something going on. I was thinking that when—

[Kid.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke to me.

[This one. Demon Cult.]

......?

The moment I heard it, my head turned blank-white.