Past Life Returner

Chapter 251

Tae-Han leaned against his arm while sprawled out in the luggage compartment heading to the Sky Guild. Odin was a monster who had not only dealt with twenty thousand people alone, but had also eliminated all the people who had been in power in the South at once. It was hard to believe that the man was human. He was being dragged into the monster’s mouth, but Tae-Han felt fine. He thought meeting Odin could bring him benefits.

***

During the 1997 IMF financial crisis, the Ilsung Group had faced bankruptcy along with Daehyun and Daehoo. To Tae-Han, that moment that occurred more than twenty years ago was more impressive than the day when monsters invaded the earth and the Stage of Advent began as Joshua von Karjan, the head of the German Karjan Group, had predicted. Every time he looked back, he thought that there wasn’t an event that was more shocking than the IMF crisis. After all, it was the turning point of his life.

He was the youngest out of the two daughters and three sons of the Ilsung family, so he wasn’t qualified to even try to get the crown. The succession structure was clear. His eldest sister was smarter and wiser than his brothers, and she was outstanding enough to overcome the limitations of being born a woman back then. Therefore, his father, the founder of the group, had no qualms about having her succeed him instead of his sons.

“Are you sad?”

“No, but my eldest brother must be disappointed. But why did you have her succeed you already, Father? You are still hale and hearty.”

“Jeonil Investment… They are such a lump of greed.”

“...I thought things sorted out after Daehoo collapsed.”

“Their greed is out of control. They took our controlling stake. I have combined our stakes with your sister, but it’s much lesser than the portion handed over to those bastards.”

“Don’t worry. She will take care of it.”

“Do you know how to move a loach?”

“...”

“We put a catfish in the tank because loaches usually struggle and move a lot in order to not be eaten. It’s about creating tension, Tae-Han.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Starting from tomorrow, you will stay at the presidential secretary’s office and be next to your sister.”

Tae-Han didn’t know if it had been his father’s mistake or intention. However, it was certainly an opportunity that developed his ambition, which could have been weighed down. Since then, he had helped his sister.

At that time, Jeonil Investment grew day by day and eventually engulfed the Korean economy. They often randomly held general meetings of stockholders and allocated the stakes as they wanted. Park Choong-Sik, the President of Finance, was another dark secret of the Korean economy. Whenever he threatened his sister under the pretext of a controlling stake, Tae-Han was the one who resolved the problem smoothly between the two.

Yeah, I used to…

His sister was quick and clever. She kept him by her side even though she was aware of what he was up to, then used him as a shield to block the spear and blade that Jeonil threw at them. Every hour was life-threatening back then. To be exact, he could have fallen from his position of ‘chief’ at any time. Of course, his sister was also in the same situation.

Anyway, Tae-Han grew his power while staying by his sister’s side. He had brought the exact structure of the Jeonil Group’s economic board, where Park Choong-Sik resided, to Ilsung.

However, that wasn’t the only thing he copied from them. Jeonil’s economic board was as shrewd as his sister. They reprimanded others with their overwhelming amounts of money and bribed public officials. Of course, Ilsung still didn't have as many resources as the Jeonil group, but they had enough to fill the pockets of public officials. But, if they started giving away money, then they needed to continue endlessly. Also, it became meaningless if they reduced the amount being given. More money should have been invested in politicians who regarded receiving money from conglomerates as evidence of their authority.

Tae-Han spared no funds, and if necessary, he even covered the amount with his own personal funds. He won the presidential board of Ilsung over to his side and strengthened his relationship with Jeonil’s key figures secretly. In addition, he also bribed public officials and politicians.

Despite that, everyone except for the employees in the president’s secretary office was still his enemy. Like the idiom ‘one beat the bush and another caught the birds,’ those who steadily got money from Jeonil failed to protect Ilsung when Jeonil was frantically trying to earn maximum profits from their semiconductor and smartphone business.

Nevertheless, that didn’t matter. Tae-Han’s initial purpose was to keep his sister in check and eventually regain Ilsung’s controlling stake from Jeonil Group. He even supported the protest groups during the Jeonil Gate.

However, he was overwhelmed when the news came out that the Jeonil Group had captured the Goldsteins, the famous French family. The thrill kept him up for a few nights as he couldn’t sleep.

How could they swallow up Goldstein? No matter how foreign they are, their focus is on Korea!

Tae-Han thought that Jeonil was like the Charles Group[1]. Even though Jeonil wasn’t started in Korea nor was its founder a Korean citizen, they were still known as a Korean company. Therefore, it was a huge shock when the Korean ‘Jeonil’ engulfed France.

The founder of Daehoo had talked about how the world was wide, and that there was lots of work to do, but then he became stuck in prison. Unfortunately, he didn’t clarify the succession structure, so the kingdom he created was torn apart. Moreover, Tae-Han’s father, the founder of Ilsung, left the frontlines by leaving his daughter there instead.

Jeonil didn’t just dominate a corner of the market. Instead, they had swallowed an entire European power while everyone was making a fuss on the tiny Korean Peninsula. These were the same stupid people who were praising themselves that their semiconductor and smartphone businesses had made them grow into the main players. From that day on, Tae-Han gave up on the idea of retaking Ilsung’s controlling stake back from Jeonil.

He risked his life and put all his strength into kicking his sister out. Although a large portion of the stake was still in Jeonil’s warehouse, he was now the one who occupied the chairman’s office and made the final decisions. He was Lee Tae-Han, the head of the Ilsung Group.

That was why he felt like he had gone back to twenty years ago, when he had been sent to the secretary's office, when he was headed to see Odin. There was no reason for him to be scared. After all, the current situation was much better than before, and there was nothing for him to start from scratch. He had already grasped the situation, so he decided to go to the south with people loyal to him and prepare for the right timing by pretending to cooperate with Odin. That was how he had occupied the forces that controlled the ten districts of the main city in the early days of the Final Stage.

However!

The most important thing is discerning how far Odin’s power can reach.

That was the first thing he needed to figure out.

***

“We will have to detour if we go that way.”

“We hurried too much to go to the north. There is plenty of time. We should show the king the scene of slaughter to prove Odin’s power.”

“Let’s stop being easy on him. He is our enemy and Odin’s enemy.”

“It’s so frustrating. It will only take about half a day more if we detour. He will realize lots of things when he sees the scene of the massacre.”

“What is the point? He’s already staying quiet because he has chickened out.”

“Don’t you understand? The Northerners will rush in if that guy says one thing. I’m just trying to prevent bad stuff from happening. As you said, let’s make him more nervous so that he won’t even try to do any funny business. That must be why Odin called the king of the north over.”

“...I don’t think he will be able to return to the north, but I understand. Let’s stop by here.”

The conversation stopped there, and Tae-Han was able to stop by the street where the horrors of the massacre still remained. The road was charred and stained with blood, and all the buildings in the ghost town were destroyed. The most noticeable spot was where a huge explosion had erupted. Tae-Han went into the center of the hollow pit that resembled the impact that a meteorite would make. Then, he looked around.

Hours before the start of the Stage of Advent, humanity discovered that outside firepower didn’t work on monsters that appeared from the high-class gates. It was because these monsters had defensive shields. The stone statues, which were the boss monsters of Stage Two, and monsters in a position higher than the commander-in-chief all appeared wearing protective barriers. Also, Tae-Han himself had a high-quality barrier. Presumably, the outside firepower wouldn’t have much effect on him either.

He then realized that Odin, who was equipped with high class items and moved at superhuman speed, would never be defeated by modern firearms. It wouldn’t happen, but Tae-Han wasn’t worried about the case where he would have to go against the military. In conclusion, the Awakened were bound to be controlled only by another Awakened.

Would the military be able to control the Awakened?

He knew that the answer was no. Those who were only at the bronze, silver or gold levels would submit to firepower, but ordinary humans wouldn’t be able to control Awakened at higher levels. The military was in a position where they had to secure Awakened, but it would be practically impossible because the world’s capital forces wouldn’t stand by and let them do so. In addition, the founder of the World Awakened Association was the head of the Karjan Group, a key figure in the capital world. Tae-Han was certain that the Awakened would have their ankles tied up to the private capital markets.

Rub. Rub.

Tae-Han wiped off the ashes of the road after coming out of the pit. Footprints that had destroyed the road left traces of death everywhere.

“Whoa…”

Odin had left traces of how fast he was. Tae-Han couldn’t imagine how fast the other man could have been. As he had heard from the Satellite Squad captain, Odin must have been so fast that they couldn’t even see his shadow. Tae-Han wondered if he could at least figure out what type of skills Odin used. He had no intentions of attacking Odin at all, so there was no need to calculate the other man’s Physical Defense.

On top of that… my attacks wouldn’t even work on him.

Therefore, he had no reason to calculate Odin’s Attack Power. After all, Odin was a person who could reign as an absolute ruler by relying only on his stats alone. He wouldn’t even have to use his skills or traits. He…

How is he this powerful? It’s like a nuclear bomb had transformed into a human being. This is why no one can go against him. Twenty thousand? The result would have been the same even if two hundred thousand people were there.

There seemed to be only one way to pull Odin down. Tae-Han needed to make Odin leave on his own whether it was due to disillusionment, resignation, or indifference. However, doing any of those to Odin didn’t seem beneficial to Ilsung’s future. The entire global economy was dominated by a single capital force, the Jeonil Group, and they were like an impregnable fortress that would never break after generations.

However, a walking nuclear bomb had emerged. If Odin could be conciliated with money, super-large forces such as Jeonil and Jonathan Group would lure him over. Tae-Han knew that was unlikely to work though. After all the captains of the top ten squads had chosen to go to war instead. These people were not idiots as they were the ones who had survived in the midst of petty, clever, and sly liars. They would have made such a decision because they thought it was impossible to reconcile with Odin.

Also, Odin started the mana stone economy from the beginning of the stage, controlled the Sky Guild with minimal intervention, and was a figure in the Karjan Group. Considering these, it was obvious that he was talented in dealing with property and profit and was supremely sensitive to politics. Such a man would return to Seoul with a nuclear bomb-like power. No, he would go to the World Awakened Association founded by the Karjan Group… The association would have a huge influence on all markets and political circles around the world, and the Karjan Group would be consolidated with forces comparable to the Jonathan Group.

The answer was there! If Odin and the Karjan Group sponsored Ilsung, then there was a possibility that he could regain Ilsung’s controlling stake. Moreover, there could be a day when Ilsung could be on par with Jeonil. The politics of the world would get messy, but that wasn’t his priority now.

Tae-Han said while standing up, “That’s enough. Let’s go see Odin now.”

He thought things would be clarified if he saw the man in person.

***

Hunting monsters only gave me a few XP, but it was better than killing time and doing nothing. I returned from hunting at the end of the south region. I had expected Yeon-Hee to be waiting for me, but the guys hanging around my place were the two I had sent to the north, Kim Yoon-Cheol and Choi Sang-Min. They said that the guy who called himself the king of the north was waiting for me at the guild hall.

After Kim Yoon-Cheol finished his report and left, Choi Sang-Min, who remained hesitant, carefully opened his mouth.

“The relationship between Kim Yoon-Cheol and the North is weird. I’ve witnessed Kim Yoon-Cheol doing things to make the king comfortable and they also had secret talks with each other on the way here.”

I nodded. “Okay, bring him.”

“Do you mean Kim Yoon-Cheol?” Sang-Min asked.

“No, the king of the north.”

After a while, the king appeared with his face covered by a helmet.

I remarked, “The King of the North? You have such a great name.”

He responded, “It was easy to run a guild under that name. It’s a great pleasure to meet you, Odin. I’m…”

The king grabbed his helmet with both hands to take it off, but I spoke first.

“There are only two things. One, don’t ruin the mana stone economy, and two, don’t even try to prevent the growth of low-level Awakened by controlling the hunting grounds. If you abide by those two rules, the Sky Guild is all yours.”

He was quiet and instantly stiffened. In fact, he stayed still for a long time as if everything he just heard was unexpected. Then, he took off his helmet, and I recognized him immediately. I had expected that Lee Tae-Han, the head of the Ilsung Group, would enter this world, but I didn’t know he was on the same stage as me. Since I had entered a different stage from the past, there was a fifty-fifty chance of me being on the same stage as him. A hundred thousand Koreans had been divided into three different stages in Act One. Since I didn’t start with him in the past, he could have been in this stage or the other.

“I’m… Lee… Lee Tae-han, f…from Ilsung…”

He couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

I continued coldly, “If you violate those rules, you will be following the footsteps of the dead squad captains.”

He asked, “Why are you giving this world to me? You have worked so hard to…”

I often heard people say that I did a lot of work, but the reality was different. Lee Soo-Ah was the one who had founded the guild and laid the foundation down. The only thing I was involved in was establishing the mana stone economy. Of course, I knew why Lee Soo-Ah was able to establish and easily take control of the guild, but the guild foundation was solely her idea, and everything had been built by her tongue and fingertips.

I got up after that as my business was now over. As a result, my stage would be unified into one force and would start Act Two with great competitiveness. Korea only had three pre-Awakened, but Shin Kyung-Ah had already killed one. On top of that, the main players of the Sky Guild were all dead after they tried to kill me.

Therefore, this was the only way to protect Korea from getting kicked out of the Awakened world in the future. I had a love and hate feeling toward this country, my home country. But it was where my family and my family’s loved ones had to live.

I passed by Lee Tae-Han, who was so shocked that he even forgot to blink. Then I left him with a parting word, “Pray to god that you won’t see me ever again, Lee Tae-Han.”

1. As far as we could tell, this is a made-up group by the author ☜