Chapter 463: Benefactor, Where Are You and What Are You Doing?

TL: FoodieMonster007

You don't realize it on the day itself. Only after time has passed and you look back do you finally understand.

Ah! That was the day my life changed.

For Yong Jamyeong, that day was just such a day. It wasn't just because his life, which was on the brink of death, was saved. It was because his entire outlook on life had changed.

"Back then, I was always full of confidence."

And with good reason. He was young, smart, and had a knack for business, so everything he touched turned to success.

"I even begrudged the time I spent sleeping. It felt like money was scattered everywhere, and if I didn't pick it up first, someone else would."

In his youth, he was completely engrossed in the fun of making money. No other emotion could overcome that joy.

"I succeeded again and again. It felt as if all the world's fortune was focused solely on me. But I didn't become arrogant. On the contrary, I was more humble and worked even harder. Nevertheless, the misfortune that was bound to come eventually found me."

Yong Jamyeong silently gazed down at his cup. In its reflection, he saw the face of his younger self.

"Director, you'll become a god of the merchant world!" Man So declared with a wide smile.

"Don't needlessly flatter me." Yong Jamyeong shook his head and laughed. His smile, which put others at ease, was the same even in his youth.

"It's not flattery. You know how many merchants I've met, don't you? Just you wait and see, you'll definitely become the greatest merchant."

He had known Man So for about three or four years. Man So made a living by doing various jobs for merchants. He would gather information on goods, arrange for laborers, or connect a Trading Company with mercenaries. To put it nicely, he was versatile. To put it bluntly, he took on all the odd jobs.

He helped with the Trading Company's work as if it were his own, so everyone at the Milky Way Trading Company liked him.

Then one day, Man So announced, "We've arrived."

The two men entered a small manor. The reason they had come here today was for Man So to introduce someone.

"Now that the Trading Company is established, it's time to recruit martial artists. We can't put it off any longer."

This was before Yong Jamyeong had even formed a connection with Baek Chong. At this point, the Trading Company had no affiliated martial artists. Transporting goods could be handled by using an escort agency, and the company's work was done by people who had been there for a long time.

Occasionally, when a bodyguard was needed, he would handle it by getting an introduction to a martial artist through Man So.

However, as the Trading Company's scale grew, so did the need for affiliated martial artists. The value and quantity of the goods they handled had increased. It was no longer a problem that could be solved by having a few strong men take turns guarding the warehouse.

Still, Yong Jamyeong couldn't easily make a decision.

What if those martial artists had other intentions?

This worry never left his mind. It was because of his distrustful nature. In the end, however, he was persuaded by Man So to meet a master.

"What kind of martial artist are you introducing me to?"

"He's a trustworthy person. If you don't like him, Director, you don't have to make a decision."

He figured that if Man So trusted the person, he must be reliable. After all, Man So had never once disappointed him.

But he never imagined that today would be the day of that disappointment.

His first impression of the waiting martial artist was not good. A lecherous vibe emanated from his sharp eyes, and he had a vaguely cunning look about him. Not to mention the scar on his face and his twisted lips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

In response to Yong Jamyeong's greeting, the martial artist grinned. Seeing that smile made him feel unpleasant.

Yong Jamyeong glanced at Man So, who stood beside him.

This is the person you introduced as trustworthy?

Man So was smiling as always. Just as Yong Jamyeong was feeling that his smile seemed strangely unfamiliar today, the martial artist opened his mouth.

"Is this the guy?"

At that single phrase, which reeked of impure intentions, Yong Jamyeong's heart sank.

The martial artist picked up a liquor bottle from the table, drank straight from it, and then threw the documents beside it onto the floor.

"Sign it."

Yong Jamyeong returned to the present.

"It was something that man, Man So, orchestrated by bringing in that martial artist. Do you know what I was truly afraid of back then?"

Geom Mugeuk asked as he poured liquor into his cup. "What was it?"

"It was the fact that my death would be a dog's death."

Geom Mugeuk understood the meaning of those words perfectly.

"They were after a relatively small amount of money."

Yong Jamyeong nodded. "The money they tried to snatch was merely a few thousand taels. Of course, that would be a large sum to some, but to me, who was solidifying the foundation of the Trading Company at the time, it wasn't that much."

"It must have been a plan to simply smuggle out the goods that had arrived at the warehouse. It was possible with just a document bearing my signature. Since Man So often helped with our work."

"But that man, Man So, must have had a rough idea of your financial situation, Director?"

"He would have."

"Why didn't he aim for more money?"

"The martial artist he conspired with was no ordinary man. He was the Cunning Evil Ghost, who was notorious at the time."

The Cunning Evil Ghost. He was a lecher notorious in the murim at the time. A man who raped and murdered all sorts of women, regardless of age, and had been declared a public enemy of the murim by the Murim Alliance.

"At the time, the bastard was on the run from someone. He joined hands with Man So while trying to quickly secure funds for his escape. The two had known each other for a long time."

All of that was revealed later.

"Can you believe it? I had lived a life completely unrelated to perverts, yet I ended up entangled like that."

Geom Mugeuk listened to him in silence. His role right now was to listen.

"I asked Man So. 'You have a rough idea of how much I'm worth, don't you? And yet you pull something like this for a mere few thousand taels?'"

Yong Jamyeong's face flushed as if remembering that moment.

"Then that man shamelessly laughed and said this. 'Then you should have offered more.'"

Rage filled Yong Jamyeong's face.

"I was so angry. Not at him, but at myself for being deceived by such a man. He was a vile person from the start, the kind to associate with a pervert, yet I hadn't noticed the slightest hint of it."

"So what happened?"

Yong Jamyeong drank his liquor, and Geom Mugeuk refilled his cup. These were words that couldn't be spoken without alcohol.

"First, they beat me."

WHACK! WHACK!

Under the continuous beating, Yong Jamyeong shouted. "I'll sign! I'll do it!"

The one beating him wasn't the Cunning Evil Ghost, but Man So. He pretended not to hear and just kept beating him.

Yong Jamyeong knew he was trying to break his spirit. Even merchants sometimes have to break their opponent's spirit during a deal. He had chosen the most extreme and fastest method.

Someone who has never been in a fight will easily surrender when exposed to violence for the first time. Shock, pain, and fear. Am I really going to be beaten to death like this? The mind is bound to crumble in an instant. It was a terror that those who have never experienced it could never know.

"Please! Stop!" Yong Jamyeong curled up, covering his head and face.

He despaired. It wasn't because of the beating. It was because they had revealed their faces and were carrying this out so openly.

They're going to kill me in the end.

Man So stopped the beating and yanked Yong Jamyeong to his feet. "Now, sign."

Yong Jamyeong knew that the moment he signed, he would die.

"I'll give you more money. A really large sum…"

WHACK!

Man So's fists flew again. A beating even more severe than before began. Man So knew Yong Jamyeong well. He knew that as a smart person, he wouldn't sign easily. That's why he was trying to beat the sense out of him.

Even as he screamed, Yong Jamyeong had only one thought.

I have to live. I don't want to die by the hands of a man like this!

The man pulled Yong Jamyeong up again.

Meanwhile, the Cunning Evil Ghost was looking out the window. He looked anxious, as if he were being chased by someone.

"Hurry up and finish it!"

At his words, Man So pressed Yong Jamyeong. "Sign."

"I'll give you my entire fortune. So please…"

WHACK! WHACK!

But even the pain couldn't overcome the fear of death. Tears streamed from Yong Jamyeong's eyes. Tears of pain, and tears of injustice.

He had lived so diligently. He had worked, cutting back on sleep. He had tried his best to treat the people of the Trading Company well.

Is this kind of death the reward for all that effort?

I shouldn't have trusted people. Even though I said I didn't.

You'll become a god of the merchant world!

This was the result of being intoxicated by those sweet words. Deceived by someone, he came to his senses only to find the situation was already over.

What if it had been a choice between losing his entire fortune or not? Would he have felt even a little better?

Please save me.

He prayed to the heavens. If there was a god of merchants, he prayed to that god as well.

If you save me! If you save me!

He hadn't made a promise yet, but the door opened.

Yong Jamyeong's face was filled with emotion as he spoke. "That's when that person walked in."

Geom Mugeuk recalled that moment. The image of his young father.

"When that person entered, I felt the air in the room change." Yong Jamyeong closed his eyes and recalled that time. If the previous memories were of pain, from this point on, they were memories of joy and longing.

"How should I describe this man?"

Geom Mugeuk smiled, watching the pondering Yong Jamyeong. It wouldn't be easy to describe him based on such a brief encounter.

"First, I thought he was handsome."

"More than me?"

At Geom Mugeuk's question, Yong Jamyeong nodded firmly.

"I think you've forgotten who I am for a moment."

"Sorry, but he's my benefactor."

"I'll take that as him getting extra benefactor points."

Yong Jamyeong smiled at the joke. Now that it was a pleasant story, he was more at ease. "He was handsome, yet had a strong presence. He was somehow cold and aloof, I just don't know how to describe him."

Father in his youth, I want to see him so badly too. So much so that I wish I had been there.

"The moment he saw him, the Cunning Evil Ghost started trembling. That was the first time I had ever seen such extreme fear on someone's face. I could tell that the reason the bastard had been so anxious the whole time was because of that person."

"And what happened next was instantaneous. A brilliant light flashed, and that pervert bastard crumbled, torn into unrecognizable pieces. As a martial artist, you might like this kind of story, but honestly, my eyes couldn't see a thing."

Seeing him torn to pieces, he must have angered my father. He probably raped and murdered a woman from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"So what did you do?"

"At first, I was frozen and couldn't say anything. When that person turned to look at me, I shouted. 'Please save me. I'm not with these men.'"

I still remember it. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me.

His eyes were asking for a reason. Why should I trust you, why should I save you.

Yong Jamyeong instinctively knew that his life or death depended on his answer. What should I say? His mind raced, but his mouth was already speaking. He could only hope his instincts were working correctly.

"The man who tried to kill me always said it. That I would become a god of the merchant world. I want to achieve that."

He didn't know why he had said that. The words just came out on their own.

The man didn't act on feeling alone. He went to the table and looked at the contract lying there. From the contract, he confirmed that it was a situation where a signature was being forced.

This time, the man looked at Man So.

"He's lying. That man is…"

The man waited, but the next words didn't come. Man So possessed the eloquence to spin a plausible story even in a situation like this, but today was different. The moment he met the silent gaze of the man staring at him, his words strangely caught in his throat.

He had lived his entire life with hypocrisy and lies, but in this final moment, he died truthfully, unable to utter a single lie.

With a flash of light, his body was bisected.

"Please, tell me your name, benefactor."

But the man left the place without a word.

"I'll become the world's number one merchant and surely repay you!"

He made the promise to that man that he couldn't make to the heavens.

It was a shame. If only he had said a word to take credit, or at the very least, smiled at him before leaving. He left just as suddenly as he had appeared.

"That's what happened that day."

Geom Mugeuk raised his cup to him. Yong Jamyeong clinked his cup against it. The two men drank in silence. For a moment, they both thought of the same person.

"You kept your promise to become the world's number one merchant."

"But he doesn't know, does he?"

That was what he regretted so much. He wanted to meet that person and tell him.

Do you remember? I'm the person you saved back then. As I said I would, I've become the greatest merchant.

If only he could say those words, he felt he would have no regrets. It was something he could have just dismissed as 'I was lucky,' but for some reason, he kept thinking of that person. So much so that it felt like they were bound by the chains of fate.

"I even wonder sometimes. Was I just dreaming?"

"I tried everything to find my benefactor, but I couldn't. No one claimed to have seen him. Sometimes, I felt such regret. Year by year, I get older like this. He must have aged too. How would he have changed? What is he doing with his life?"

"Do you happen to have a portrait of him?"

At that, Yong Jamyeong took a piece of paper from his robes. He took it out carefully, as if it would crumble at the slightest touch.

"I always carry it with me."

The paper, carefully folded inside a silk cloth, was old and discolored, its edges looking as if they would tear at any moment.

"This is the original I drew back then. I was going to make hundreds of copies to search for him, but I stopped. I thought it might cause trouble for him."

Geom Mugeuk looked at the face drawn on the old paper. It was so faded that a stranger wouldn't be able to recognize it, but Geom Mugeuk saw his father in it.

Father.

So this is how I get to see my father in his youth.

"I can't remember his face clearly anymore."

I thought I would never forget. No, I was certain I would never forget. But like the paper the portrait was drawn on, it grew fainter and fainter as the years passed.

Yong Jamyeong watched Geom Mugeuk gaze at the portrait. He saw a sense of longing in his deep, clear eyes.

Why is he looking at it like that?

The next moment, Yong Jamyeong flinched. The man's face, which had been fading as if in a fog, began to come to mind. It was a face that had only been growing fainter recently, but now it came to him as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

Benefactor!

He was so happy that the face came to him so clearly. It was as vivid as if he were standing right in front of him.

But why?

What does the reason matter? This happy feeling is what's important.

I've grown so old, but you've remained the same. Benefactor, where are you and what are you doing now? Are you perhaps struggling for money? I have plenty of money. Please, come find me and tell me to repay the grace you showed me back then!

Then, he glanced absentmindedly at Geom Mugeuk. ! Goosebumps erupted all over his body. It was because he felt a similar feeling from the benefactor back then and the Geom Mugeuk in front of him now. It was as if that person from back then was sitting in front of him now. Their appearances certainly weren't that similar.

At that very moment!

"…Could it be?"

Over the face of his young benefactor, another face began to superimpose itself. The face of the person who had summoned him here. The face of the absolute ruler of this era.

And so, the face of the Demonic Cult Leader Geom Woojin, crossing the long years, overlapped with the face of the young benefactor.

The two faces became one.