Chapter 228

Time flew.

One issue followed another, each bigger than the last, while new truths and suspicions continued surfacing everywhere.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Then a new article took over the portal sites.

[GojoseonTV] Christie’s Auction Held in Secret. Winner: Qatar’s Prince Cheonsur. Final Bid: Approximately 500 Billion Won!¹

The short article included only a single photograph, but its impact was enormous.

Behind the broadly grinning Middle Eastern prince in a turban loomed a gigantic carcass.

└ Top Comment: Isn’t that the thing Lord Fuck caught? That Named Monster?

└ Yeah;;; I’ve seen it so many times I can recognize it just from the hide pattern. But some lunatic actually paid 500 billion¹ for that thing.

└ The Middle Eastern prince’s sheer class blew me away, and Lord Fuck making 500 billion¹ in one shot made me shit myself.

└ Son, what did you shit? You haven’t been looking at anything strange, have you? Mom trusts her son. Love you~

Most people were envious or impressed, but some viewed the news less kindly.

└ Top Comment: Jin Taekyung stirred up all kinds of trouble, refused to give a single interview, then sold the monster behind everyone’s backs. Am I the only one bothered by this?

└ Personally, I really don’t like him. Killing Won Myunghoon on his own authority was excessive force, if you look at it one way. But the prosecutors’ office only questioned him as a witness and then quietly let the matter fade away. It feels like they’re giving him special treatment because he’s famous.

└ Same. Upvoted.

There was a saying that when your cousin bought land, your stomach hurt.

If even the success of friends and relatives could make someone jealous, then a celebrity they knew only through the media stood no chance.

Not long after the article went up, a bloody battle broke out among the netizens.

└ Top Comment: Are the bastards commenting above the Three Stooges?

└ I’m more shocked that garbage has over a thousand upvotes lol. Why are there so many bastards who can’t stand seeing someone else succeed?

└ Exactly. What trouble did he supposedly cause? Did the Dodong Sect² punch a hole through their brains? How many people are alive thanks to Lord Fuck by now?

└ Jin Taekyung… Well, look at this rotten son of a—… As a public figure… what a wicked man, filling only his own pockets… Never forget that the entire nation is watching @~!

└ “Self-interest,” lol. The only interest here is the deposits building up in your parents’ bodies; what’s coming out of my mouth is pure profanity.

└ What are you talking about, public figure? He was a hyung³ who was wearing sweatpants and boiling ramen in the corner of his room until a month ago. And that way of talking is disgusting.

└ You young whippersnappers… Such sharp tongues you have~!!!

└ Dentures confiscated for one month.

└ Hearing aid confiscated for two months.

└ Banned from the senior center for three months.

Even as people everywhere had their dentures and hearing aids confiscated and were banned from the senior center, the fighting didn’t stop.

Despite the fierce backlash, Jin Taekyung’s critics stubbornly continued making their case.

└ You little brats… hehe. You’ve put knives on your fingertips… You ignorant, rotten bastards~~!! Ignoring you… is the answer! @!~~

└ Cane confiscated.

└ I don’t use a cane… you bastard~~

└ Wheelchair confiscated.

└ You nameless lowlifes… How dare you come here spouting that commie nonsense…!!!!!

└ Park Hyeongseok. I gave you my name. Happy now?

└ Young Hyeongseok, go back to your mommy, drink some more milk, and study harder~~`!!

└ You go drink some more.

└ You goddamn lowborn son of a bitch.

It was a bloodbath.

In a single day, the article reached one million views and racked up tens of thousands of comments.

As the two sides traded barbed comments and snarled at each other, another article went up.

[HunterTV Exclusive] Jin Taekyung Donates Hundreds of Billions⁴ to Gate Victims and Establishes Support Foundation

Hunter Jin Taekyung has drawn attention by donating hundreds of billions of won⁴ and establishing a support foundation for Gate victims under the name of the Peace Guild.

The necessary procedures had been set in motion even before the Christie’s auction began…

└ Top Comment: Everyone who called him a public figure and accused him of lining his own pockets, assemble. Heads to the floor.

└ Tsk, tsk… Nothing has even been properly revealed yet, and you’re already running your filthy mouths… Open your eyes to the truth…!

└ LOL. Hey, are you crying?

└ LMAOOOOOO

└ But seriously;;; What the hell is with him giving away hundreds of billions⁴? Honestly, that’s even more amazing than the satisfaction of seeing all those bastards who were maliciously stirring things up get shut down.

└ Agreed. What the hell is Lord Fuck? Is it just easy for someone at his level to make money, so he decided to go big?

└ I don’t think that’s it. He just doesn’t seem greedy for money. Either way, I’m genuinely impressed.

└ Height, looks, character, money. He has everything. Isn’t that cheating?

└ P3C, P3C…

└ What does P3C mean?

└ Please have a three-centimeter⁵ dick.

└ Oh.

The battle ended in defeat for the trolls, and public opinion once again filled with admiration for Jin Taekyung.

He had already prevented two major catastrophes and possessed the strength to defeat a Named Monster single-handedly. Now he had shown the generosity to donate hundreds of billions of won⁴ as well.

His image as an unassuming hero and a truly big-hearted man was now firmly cemented.

—Let me update you on the progress of the foundation…

“Team Leader Choi.”

I cut off Team Leader Choi’s voice over the phone in a trembling voice.

“That’s enough. Please don’t say any more.”

—…If it pains you that much to part with the money, should I cancel the foundation?

“No. Absolutely not!”

—Then why are you acting like this?

“It still hurts.”

—Pardon?

“It hurts to give it up, but it needs to be done. Please keep going.”

—Is it like looking at a rice cake in a painting?

“No, it’s a rice cake in my hand. I’m starving to death and barely stopping myself from eating it.”

The secret Christie’s auction attended by wealthy people from around the world had ended not long ago.

Exactly twenty-four hours later, an endless string of zeros appeared in my bank account.

Five hundred billion.¹

To be exact, after every fee had been deducted, it came to roughly 530 billion won.⁶

The unit wasn’t hundreds or thousands. It was eok—hundreds of millions.⁷

It was literally an eok-inducing sum, and I nearly cried out myself.

How much money was this, exactly?

It was an astronomical amount—enough to change my life, no, enough to let me and my descendants live in luxury for generations.

But I had already decided where the money should go and how it could be used in the most proper and worthwhile way.

“So please keep going. I’m leaving it all in your hands, Team Leader Choi.”

—Understood. We’ll begin with the people on the list you gave us last time.

“Please take good care of them.”

The families of the teammates whose lives had stopped on that day three years ago would be the foundation’s first recipients.

The money couldn’t fill the empty spaces left by their lost family members, but it could help them pursue their dreams without having to worry about anything.

—Next are the veterans of the Great Cataclysm and single-parent families. Is that correct?

“Yes. Please proceed that way.”

After exchanging a few more words, I ended the call.

When I left the room, I found Mom and Hayeon sitting at the kitchen table eating fruit.

The moment I approached, a fork with a piece of apple speared on it suddenly appeared in front of me.

“Son, have some apple. It’s sweet.”

“Uh, okay.”

Crunch.

The sweet flesh broke apart in my mouth. I quietly ate the fruit while listening to the two of them talk.

Friends, studying, someone who lived nearby, dramas…

Sometimes I laughed quietly. Other times I nodded along.

Then, without warning, I spoke.

“Everyone’s okay, right?”

“Hm? What do you mean, son?”

“What?”

“I mean… with everything that happened. Anything at all.”

Hayeon cocked her head.

“Are you trying to talk about the money?”

“……”

“I knew it. Mom, didn’t I tell you yesterday? I said this guy would definitely be like this.”

Mom smacked Hayeon’s twig-thin forearm.

“You! How can you call your brother, who’s eight years older than you, ‘this guy’?”

“Ow! That hurts. Stop hitting me.”

Hayeon grumbled, folded her arms, and leaned back in her chair.

“Excuse me.”

“…Excuse me?”

“What would you rather I call you? My family-register roommate?”

She was my one and only little sister, eight years younger than me. Normally, I would have flicked her forehead for the fun of it, but somehow, today wasn’t the time.

Hayeon looked at me and let out a deep sigh.

“Oppa.”⁸

“Hm?”

“What does Mom say more than anything else?”

I wondered. What was it?

I didn’t have to think long. I heard it whenever I came home—or at least once every few days over the phone.

“Be careful?”

“Right. You know it well.”

She poked the apple and held the fork out to me.

“Eat. Eat, and be careful.”

“……”

“What good would hundreds of billions⁴ do us? Forget not being able to spend it all. We obviously wouldn’t even know how to spend it properly.”

I mechanically chewed the apple in my mouth. It was sweet, and it stung like fire—enough to make the tip of my nose tingle.

When did she grow up so much?

This had been a difficult choice for me.

The truth was, I wasn’t particularly good or righteous.

I was just an ordinary older brother who wanted to give his only sister everything she asked for, and an ordinary son who wanted his mother, after all the years she had struggled alone, to finally live in comfort.

And hundreds of billions of won⁴ was more than enough to make every fantasy I had ever imagined a reality.

With this much money…

I had agonized over it. Even after making my decision, I kept agonizing.

But all of it had been pointless.

People praised me as both a hero and a big-hearted man, but they were wrong.

My sister, eight years younger than me, had a far bigger heart than I did.

She had inherited all of Mom’s best qualities. Even her eyes curved into the same crescents when she smiled.

“Son, as I always say…”

“No parent in the world could spend money their child earned by shedding blood. Yes, I know.”

“Good. You know it well.”

“But you’ll have to start spending some now. I plan to earn a lot more.”

“Then buy me a massage chair.”

“A massage chair?”

“Yeah. I wondered what I’d want first if my son became successful and offered me a present, but that was the only thing I could think of.”

I laughed along with Mom.

My heart felt lighter, as though I had finally set down a heavy burden I had carried for a long time.

“Then let’s go look at one together tomorrow. We can look at furniture while we’re at it.”

“Furniture?”

“Come to think of it, the furniture in our house is pretty old, too. Mom, when someone offers you something like this, you’re supposed to accept it.”

I wondered what expression she would make when she learned that the furniture was for the house we would soon be moving into.

Even more so when she discovered it was the place where the three of us had lived back when we were a family of four.

I’d love to go there right now, but…

I wanted to save that pleasure for tomorrow—or rather, for what came next.

Realizing the time had finally come, I rose from my seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Son, there’s still plenty of fruit left.”

I smiled broadly at the two disappointed faces and answered,

“It’s okay. I think I’ll take a nap.”

This time, I was going to sleep for a very long time.

Whoooosh.

The winter wind blew, the season already drawing to an end. Darkness had long since swallowed the world outside, while the brightly lit pavilion glowed against the night.

The old man watching the wavering flames suddenly spoke.

“Who’s there?”

A clear voice answered moments later.

“It’s me.”

“…Is that you?”

At first, he hadn’t been able to tell.

In the span of only one or two shichen,⁹ the young man’s footsteps had grown as light as his voice.

Has he gained some kind of insight?

Before, the old man had been able to sense his presence from fifty paces away. This time, he hadn’t noticed him until he came within thirty.

He wasn’t sure whether to call that impressive or bizarre.

Though a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, his voice was gruff.

“Did I not tell you to come at daybreak?”

“I couldn’t wait. I already know my answer, so why waste time?”

“Tsk, tsk. What kind of martial artist has so little patience?”

“You said it yourself, Old Master. Sleep is a luxury for a martial artist. Spend that time training instead. Am I wrong?”

“Hah! You little rascal.”

He was right. That was how a martial artist should behave—and how a Disciple should treat his master’s words as golden law.

The old man couldn’t hold back any longer and let out a hearty laugh. When he waved his gaunt hand, a gentle blast of heat swept through the pavilion and flung open the door.

Jin Taekyung stood outside, wearing an easy, open smile.

“Old Master. Please teach me martial arts.”

Jeok Cheongang, the Fire King, smiled with delight.

“All right. I’ll teach you everything I know.”