Chapter 220: You Have to Be You

TL: FoodieMonster007

A dais rose from the floor.

A flat box covered with a green cloth sat on top of it.

Seo Daeryong and I gasped at the dazzling object inside the box.

It was a phosphorescent pearl, but unlike any we had collected. It was larger than a top-quality pearl and shone with a more brilliant light.

"It's a Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl!"

This was the king of phosphorescent pearls, the finest of them all.

Seo Daeryong's eyes widened in admiration. He stared at the object, which had only ever been a rumor.

"So it really did exist!"

A groan escaped from the floor. Jisaeng's eyes were bloodshot, the shock driving him to the brink of madness. All the other phosphorescent pearls combined could not buy this single one. Its value wasn't just in its brilliant light, but in the fact that it was the only one of its kind.

I calmly watched Jisaeng suffer.

The pain was not yet enough. He was paying for his sins, but his victims had their perfectly fine lives destroyed. If Jisaeng made hundreds, thousands of lives miserable, he deserved at least this much pain.

It would have been a mercy for him to simply die. Instead, he experienced terminal lucidity, forced to endure his final agony with a clear mind.

I carefully picked up the Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl.

"Director, you're holding what's probably the most expensive object in the world. Please, let me touch it just once. Ah, no. I might drop it. I'll just look."

As I gazed at the mesmerizing light, I squeezed my hand.

"……"

A crack appeared on the Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl.

The sight made the dying Jisaeng try to jump to his feet. Jisaeng's eyes flew open so wide they looked like they would tear.

Seo Daeryong screamed in his place.

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

He probably wouldn't have screamed like that even if a knife stabbed him.

"I don't need to touch it! Why're you doing this!"

I squeezed a little harder.

CRUNCH.

The Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl began to shatter in my hand.

"Aaaaaaaargh."

Seo Daeryong screamed again. If Seo Daeryong reacted like this, I could only imagine how Jisaeng felt. Tears streamed from Jisaeng's eyes.

Seo Daeryong's voice trembled.

"I know you want to make that man suffer, but breaking the Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl?"

His expression seemed to say, 'But this is going too far'.

"Quick, take off your shirt!"

"You really seem like you've gone mad!"

Despite his words, Seo Daeryong hurriedly took off his shirt.

"Spread it out in front of you!"

PATTER PATTER PATTER.

Shattered pieces of the phosphorescent pearl pattered onto Seo Daeryong's clothes.

I searched for something among the fragments.

Here it is!

I picked up something from among the pieces.

It was a single pill, black and lustrous like a pearl.

The Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill.

The Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill was the greatest of all poisons, a miracle herb created by combining countless extreme toxins.

"This Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl is a fake. It was made to hide this, the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill."

Before my regression, I heard that the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill was discovered inside a Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl. The fact came to light by chance after unorthodox martial artists fought fiercely over the pearl.

I knew who had the real Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl, but I had no idea Jisaeng possessed this fake one.

"It's the safest way to hide something in the world. No one would have the courage to break this."

Seo Daeryong and Jisaeng both looked stunned. They could never have imagined such a thing.

"How did you know?"

I answered the astonished Seo Daeryong as I always did.

"Is there anything I don't know?"

As always, Seo Daeryong shook his head and asked no more.

"If it were any other miracle herb, I'd share it with you, but only I can consume this. Only someone with Myriad Poison Immunity can take it."

Seo Daeryong is the only one who knows I have Myriad Poison Immunity.

"Even if I could take it, you should have it, Director."

Seo Daeryong glanced at the fake Jisaeng's corpse.

"If I were threatened like that man, I'd immediately run to you, Director, and tell you everything. I'd ask you to save me. I'd ask you to take responsibility. To save me then, you need to get stronger."

Seo Daeryong would likely yield to me with such words even if it were an ordinary miracle herb. He says I'm a person who returns ten for every one I receive? What about you?

"I wouldn't have gotten this miracle herb if it weren't for you. Thank you, Detective Seo."

If I hadn't noticed Jisaeng's regretful gaze at the wall, it would have stayed buried in this basement forever.

"You should name that miracle herb 'Right-Hand Man's Keen Eye'."

"I'll add 'who also has a keen eye' to your introduction."

"My introduction is so long now, I can't even memorize it anymore."

Seo Daeryong laughed pleasantly. How could anyone dislike someone attaching so much meaning to them? It is difficult enough to gain even a single meaning in our lives.

"I'll stand guard, so please take it now, Director."

I sat down on the spot and crossed my legs.

Jisaeng groaned again at the sight. He was in genuine agony, suffering a pain greater than seared flesh, but the heavens would not let him go easily.

I swallowed the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill in one gulp.

I considered it fate to acquire Myriad Poison Immunity and then find this miraculous poison pill here.

An energy hotter and more intense than any miracle herb I had ever taken passed down my throat. The pill's energy was so potent that my internal organs felt like they would burn away.

I circulated my qi to control my body and began to dissolve the pill's energy. The energy rushed through my blood vessels, spreading to the smallest capillaries in every corner of my body. I could never have handled such an energy without the final stage of the Meridians Strengthening Art and my Myriad Poison Immunity Constitution.

After I completely dissolved the pill's energy and circulated the true qi for one full cycle, an incomparably profound and pure inner arts filled my qi center.

The fullness in my qi center felt different from previous miracle herbs. It wasn't just a sense of having more inner arts, but of having climbed one step higher to the next level.

My inner arts itself seems to be telling me. I am now ready to face a new world.

"Congratulations, Director."

"I'll say it again, this is thanks to you. Thank you, my right-hand man."

I feel truly good. I have to get stronger. I must become stronger to protect everyone.

I composed my gaze, which had grown clearer and deeper. I neatly folded the green cloth that had wrapped the pearl and tucked it into my robes. It would be revealed later, but this cloth was also a very important artifact.

Just then, Jisaeng snapped his eyes open. I had thought he was dead. He was tenaciously alive, his gaze pleading desperately.

He pleaded for me to release the pressure point sealing his voice, just once.

He had so many questions and so much he wanted to say. I remained resolute.

"Have you ever once listened to the pleas of those who begged you?"

His regret and resentment peaked, and then the life faded from Jisaeng's eyes. His lips moved one last time.

It's all mine.

With those last words, he breathed his last.

He could have realized the futility of greed and put his life in order, but he clung to his avarice until the very end. Even in death, he boarded the ferry to the underworld shouldering all the phosphorescent pearls and chewing on the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill.

This is why the orthodox sects can never handle such venomous desire and malice. Someone would be deceived by that pathetic gaze and give him another chance. They would reason that he was begging so desperately, that he was facing death, that he was still human.

Evil doesn't simply grow on its own. It grows by feeding on the goodwill of others. Trying to sow malice in the heart of someone who showed kindness, even while dying, is absolute evil.

With this, all the villains related to the Miracle Deity Loan had finally met their end.

"I don't think I could do what you do, Director. I don't know if I could punish villains so resolutely."

"You shouldn't do it like me."

"What do you mean?"

I stared intently into his eyes.

"You have to be you."

A faint smile touched Seo Daeryong's lips.

"Yes, I will be me."

Seo Daeryong grabbed the sack of phosphorescent pearls. I tucked the fake Jisaeng's corpse under my arm.

I looked down at the real Jisaeng's corpse.

"Your death is only the beginning."

Everything vanished. The villains' lives, their greed, their shallow faith, their betrayal and lingering attachments, the wealth they amassed over a lifetime, and even Seo Daeryong and me. All of it, so intricately entangled, disappeared.

"The Second Young Lord is so outstanding, it seems we aren't needed."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon glanced back at the Poison King.

The two had found it difficult to speak at first, but now they conversed quite often.

"Isn't that so?"

Geom Mugeuk had taken only Seo Daeryong, saying he would handle the finishing touches himself.

"Did you want to follow them?"

"Not necessarily, but."

In truth, the Poison King had wanted to follow. He felt disappointed that only the two of them went, as he wanted to see how things were handled.

"There will be many things in the future that require us to step up. Yayul Han especially isn't an easy opponent for the Second Young Lord to face alone."

A flicker of worry crossed the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's eyes. The Poison King nodded in agreement. Even without going outside, he saw and heard things as a Demon Supreme.

"You could say Yayul Han is the most dangerous of virulent poisons, an extreme poison."

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's worries didn't end with Yayul Han.

"I've heard there are absolute masters protecting Yayul Han, separate from the four. Yayul Han is strong, but those masters will be formidable too. We might have to risk our lives then."

Their opponent was the second-in-command of the Evil Alliance. He surely had hidden blades, but no one knew how sharp or numerous they were.

The Poison King asked the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon.

"Can you really risk your life for the Second Young Lord?"

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon paused for a moment before answering.

"I enjoy fighting alongside the Second Young Lord."

To the Poison King, that sounded like he could risk his life for the Second Young Lord.

The Poison King felt envious. He had no one for whom he could risk his life, and no one who would risk their life for him.

That's why he said something unnecessary.

"As for me, I had no choice but to come out because I received an order from the Cult Leader…"

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon stared silently at the Poison King. His gaze asked, Is that really it?

The Poison King was about to agree, but he paused, lost in thought. Perhaps it was the Second Young Lord's condolences, his efforts, or the enjoyment of meeting him.

He realized other reasons might have influenced him. In the end, he couldn't answer.

"The weather is hot."

The Poison King needlessly opened his fan and began waving it gently.

Geom Mugeuk and Seo Daeryong returned to their residence.

"The job is finished."

Geom Mugeuk told the Demon Supremes everything that had happened and what he had obtained. He didn't have to share the information, but he told them everything honestly, leaving nothing out.

He excluded only one thing, the matter of the Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl and the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill. Explaining how he knew it was inside the pearl was a problem, and it was not yet time to reveal his Myriad Poison Immunity.

"We'll leave early tomorrow morning."

The Poison King asked.

"Who is the next target?"

"It's Aecha, the one with the black snake tattoo. He's also the head of the True Venom Sage, whom you, Poison King, are so eager to see."

"So I'll finally meet that third-rate poison monger."

Only the Poison King could make such a disparagement. The True Venom Sage was not an opponent to be taken lightly. He was a master of poison arts who represented the unorthodox sects.

Aecha had partnered with the True Venom Sage to sell drugs like Gwangpok and Heukbi.

"Poison King, have you ever met the True Venom Sage?"

"Never."

The Poison King shook his head.

"That's a relief. It would be hard to approach him secretly if you knew each other's faces. This time, I'll definitely need your help, Poison King."

The Poison King nodded. He had already decided to help actively. He truly disliked the True Venom Sage for creating and selling drugs with side effects. Putting everything else aside, this was a matter of a poison user's pride.

"According to Strategist Go's information, the True Venom Sage produces Gwangpok and Heukbi in the deepest part of Aecha's residence. Naturally, the security is iron-clad, making infiltration impossible."

Seo Daeryong carefully asked.

"But Gwangpok aside, is it okay to eliminate Aecha? Jisaeng is dead, so if Aecha dies right after, Yayul Han will get suspicious."

"We must give him a death that can't be suspected. One that seems like a coincidence."

"……"

Everyone's gaze turned to me. I had one method in mind, though I didn't know if it would work.

"Since this started with Gwangpok, I intend to end it with Gwangpok."