Chapter 21
Humans Are More Terrifying Than Beasts
Inside the faculty office.
Scratch, scratch, scriiitch!
Kang Hyeon’s brush swept across the paper without hesitation.
He was charting out the secret manuals housed in the Martial Arts Library and filling in the gaps.
‘Baek Yuyeon is one thing, but…’
He had to think of his future disciples.
The [Seven Luminaries Formation] they needed to master wasn’t something they could grasp just by skimming a manual.
It was fundamentally tied to the [Heavenly God Scripture].
They could only turn the first page after accumulating a vast, foundational understanding of martial arts.
That was why he had inspected the library.
To fill the void.
“Wow…”
Lee Seah watched in awe from the side.
‘Did he study calligraphy too?’
Kang Hyeon’s brushstrokes were arrogant yet majestic, stirring the viewer’s soul.
Archaic characters you’d only find in priceless secret manuals!
Lee Seah swallowed hard.
Translating archaic texts was the most lucrative skill in the current Hunter industry. We lived in an era where a guild’s entire military might depended on how accurately a single manual was deciphered!
‘But he doesn’t just know it. He writes like a native.’
Scriiitch! Halt.
Kang Hyeon abruptly lifted his brush.
“Rookie.”
“Yes?”
“Stop staring and do your job. It’s distracting.”
“Ah, yessir…!”
Pouting, she headed straight for the liquor cabinet.
Right. Lee Seah’s current job was restocking Kang Hyeon’s water of life: whiskey.
Clink, clack.
The sound of fresh bottles settling onto the shelves filled the quiet office.
Kang Hyeon paused and turned his head. Something didn’t add up.
“Didn’t you say the government cut off my liquor funding?”
“Ah, about that.”
Lee Seah’s eyes darted around before she flashed a bright smile.
“So, Mr. Kang Hyeon. Could you maybe do a favor for the government this time? Just one thing.”
Kang Hyeon frowned. He stared intently into her eyes for a moment.
“Don’t tell me you bought those with your own money.”
Flinch!
Lee Seah’s shoulders jerked.
“Haa.”
Kang Hyeon let out a heavy sigh.
What was she doing. How much did an agent even make to be stocking up on such expensive liquor?
He had been feeling it lately, but it was really time to start making money.
Fighting Asura required funds, and raising seven disciples to the level of those old monsters would require a staggering amount of elixirs.
Furthermore, before Asura’s descent, there were plenty of bastards plunging the world into chaos. Asura wouldn’t just pop up alone; he had an entire army.
To deal with them, he needed an intelligence network.
“That’s right, I actually used my own money. So I’m going to take a little credit. To be honest, I bought that brush, ink, and paper with my own money too. So please, help me out.”
“Help you with what?”
“Help me get promoted. If you just solve one thing on this tablet, my performance evaluation will skyrocket.”
Of course, she wasn’t being entirely serious.
Just handling Black guaranteed her top-tier marks.
It was just her whining, knowing full well that if this absolute powerhouse stepped up even once, the nation would become far richer and safer.
And Kang Hyeon knew exactly what she was playing at.
“Don’t use your own money from now on.”
“Pardon?”
“Bring it here. The tablet.”
Lee Seah’s eyes went wide.
“R-Really?!”
“Just this once.”
“Yes!”
Cheering, Lee Seah was about to slap the tablet onto the desk like lightning when—
Knock, knock.
A cautious knock interrupted them.
“Come in.”
The door opened, revealing a dignified middle-aged man.
“Apologies for interrupting your work. Are you Professor Kang Hyeon?”
“Yes. And you are?”
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Yoon Taejeong, the CEO of Taejeong Corporation.”
Yoon Taejeong bowed politely.
‘Taejeong Corporation?’
Kang Hyeon tilted his head.
“I am also Cadet Yoon Hyeonjong’s father.”
“Ah, you’re his father.”
Only then did Kang Hyeon stand up.
“I apologize if my sudden visit startled you. I just felt I had to come and greet you in person, regardless of the intrusion.”
“If it’s about saving your son, I already received some excellent liquor last time.”
“That was just my foolish son repaying his own debt. As a father, I nearly lost my child. You spared me a tragedy, so how could I merely piggyback on my son’s gratitude? I was taught that bowing directly to one’s benefactor is the proper way.”
With that, Yoon Taejeong pulled a carefully wrapped paulownia wood box from his coat and placed it on the table.
“This is a set of the Four Treasures of the Study, crafted by Taejeong Corporation.”
Slide.
Kang Hyeon opened the box. A deep scent of ink drifted out, revealing a lustrous inkstone and a brush meticulously fashioned from beast hair.
A single glance was enough to tell it was a masterpiece, painstakingly carved and polished by a master artisan.
Standing behind him, Lee Seah silently swallowed her tears.
‘Haaa, that family really has a knack for this.’
Just a few days ago, right after Kwak Dojin brought some cheap whiskey, Yoon Hyeonjong appeared with perfect timing and whipped out premium liquor!
And now they instantly make the brush and ink she bought with her hard-earned money look pathetic?
Wordlessly, Kang Hyeon picked up the brush and traced its tip.
The texture wrapping around his fingertips and the elasticity of the bristles were superb. Even in Murim, this would be considered top-tier.
“I will put it to good use.”
Kang Hyeon nodded willingly. A faint smile touched Yoon Taejeong’s lips.
He seemed to appreciate Kang Hyeon’s straightforward attitude, accepting the gift without any false modesty.
The feeling was mutual.
‘He is a man of true character.’
Plenty of people in Murim sent riches to repay a favor.
But having an underling drop off a gift was completely different from a faction leader stepping forward in person to offer his respect eye-to-eye.
Men like him understood honor.
It meant they never took the weight of a forged connection lightly.
‘And those eyes.’
Kang Hyeon’s gaze lingered on Yoon Taejeong’s eyes.
It was the piercing insight of someone who could accurately judge the value of things and the flow of a situation.
Kang Hyeon had seen eyes like that a few times in Murim.
‘Eyes overflowing with merchant talent.’
That was the exact gaze of the grand merchants who held the world’s commerce in their hands.
‘So that kid Yoon Hyeonjong inherited his resilience from his father, huh?’
While chuckling to himself, Kang Hyeon noticed something else.
‘Hm?’
His energy channels looked strange.
Dark red energy was clinging around his heart meridians. It was a symptom of long-term toxin exposure.
Gently stroking the box, Kang Hyeon casually threw out a question.
“Lately, when you wake up, do you feel lethargic? Like there’s a heavy weight resting on your chest?”
“Pardon? Ah, well… running a business does come with some chronic fatigue.”
“Give me your wrist for a second.”
“My wrist?”
Yoon Taejeong looked puzzled for a moment, but then his son’s words flashed in his mind.
– Father, our professor is an absolute monster! Not to mention his martial prowess, he even seems to have deep medical knowledge.
‘Is he trying to pinpoint an ailment?’
Rolling up his sleeve slightly, Yoon Taejeong offered his wrist.
Kang Hyeon lightly placed three fingers over his pulse.
He could see the movement of qi with his eyes, but to identify the exact poison, he had to inject a trace of his own true qi.
A brief moment passed.
‘As expected.’
Sticky residue was clogging the circulation of energy and blood throughout his vessels.
‘Red Musk diluted with a microdose of Seven-Step Snake venom.’
It was a concoction frequently used in secret assassinations.
A vile hidden poison that creates the illusion of a lighter body for the first few months, only to gradually harden the blood vessels around the heart to disguise the death as sudden cardiac arrest.
‘At this rate, he must have been ingesting it steadily for about two years?’
Retracting his hand, Kang Hyeon spoke flatly.
“Is there something you’ve been consuming consistently lately?”
“Excuse me?”
Yoon Taejeong blinked.
“Do you mean nutritional supplements or medicine?”
“Tea, fatigue tonics. Something you never skip a day drinking.”
“There is a tea served to me every morning…”
“Hmm.”
Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue inwardly.
He didn’t know the exact circumstances, but since the man gave him an expensive-looking gift, dropping a hint was the least he could do.
“Starting tomorrow, don’t drink that tea.”
“What?”
“Instead, deeply brew White Lotus Root, Licorice, and Smilax Glabra in a 3:1:1 ratio and drink it consistently. Ah, you must brew it yourself. Personally.”
Yoon Taejeong’s eyes wavered.
He was a man of insight. He wasn’t dull enough to miss the hidden dagger behind Kang Hyeon’s brief words.
‘Are you saying someone is tampering with my body?’
“Humans are more terrifying than beasts. No matter how close you are to someone, don’t blindly trust whatever health brews they hand you. It’s a quick way to the grave.”
“…”
“I will put this precious brush to good use.”
* * *
Rushing over after class, Yoon Hyeonjong happily greeted Yoon Taejeong.
“Father, what brings you all the way to the Academy? You should have called ahead.”
“I came to see the face of this professor you praise until your mouth goes dry.”
It was a gruff answer, but Yoon Hyeonjong saw right through it.
His cold father always calculated profit and loss thoroughly, but there was a firm philosophy behind that facade.
‘Trust only sprouts when you move your own feet and meet eye-to-eye.’
Ultimately, he had made this long journey to personally bow his head to the benefactor who saved his son’s life.
“So, what did you think?”
Yoon Hyeonjong asked, unable to hide his anticipation.
“Just as you said, he didn’t seem like an ordinary man.”
“Right? It’s just my gut feeling, but I bet he’s stronger than any other professor here.”
“I saw more than just strength.”
“Then what?”
“The momentum radiating from him. If I had to describe my own gut feeling, he felt like… a man who has crossed the boundary of life and death countless times.”
“…Pardon?”
“Learn well from him. Being able to learn something from a man like that is an opportunity you couldn’t buy with ten million gold.”
Yoon Hyeonjong was stunned.
He had hoped for some good words, but he never expected his father to evaluate him this highly.
“I’ll be going now. I’m busy.”
“Ah, yessir!”
“Make plenty of friends.”
The reason Yoon Taejeong sent his son to the Academy wasn’t for him to become a strong Hunter.
Rather, it was to forge connections with the strong.
Because sometimes, that serves as a far greater power than individual strength.
Shoving his son along, Yoon Taejeong climbed into the backseat of his sedan.
The moment the door clicked shut, his expression hardened terrifyingly.
– Humans are more terrifying than beasts.
Kang Hyeon’s advice echoed in his ears.
Yoon Taejeong tightly clutched his chest.
The recent, sudden shortness of breath and the tightening around his heart.
‘I brushed it off as mere overwork, but it wasn’t?’
The moment he reached the company, he contacted the secretariat.
“Let me ask you one thing. The tea served every morning.”
– Do you mean the aromatic tea, sir?
“Yeah, that one. Whose order was it to start serving that?”
Clack, clack clack!
The sound of typing drifted through the receiver.
– Looking at the records, it was two years ago. Executive Director Park Dongcheol gave the instruction.
“…I see. Understood.”
Click.
Yoon Taejeong slowly lowered the receiver.
‘It was you?’
The man who had rolled in the dirt with him since Taejeong Corporation was nothing, the man who had always watched his back.
His one and only close friend who now shared the shares of Taejeong Corporation.
“Ha, hahaha!”
He threw his head back and laughed aloud.
Of course, he wouldn’t draw an absolute conclusion just yet.
Whether Park Dongcheol was truly a traitor was something he had to verify from here on out.
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