1440 - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 62
Creak, creak, squeak—. ……Creak.
Whatever they were searching for, the intruder seemed to open doors and immediately leave without stepping inside. They moved so quickly that they’d already passed the second room and were trying to open the third.
Myeonghoo snapped to attention and grabbed his phone to call the police. The building’s security system would activate and guards would arrive soon enough, but better to be safe than sorry.
―Found it?
―No.
The deep voice made Myeonghoo freeze mid-motion. It had sounded far too close.
They should still be heading toward the third room, yet their conversation came through clear as day right outside his bedroom door.
The creaking continued past the third room to the fourth, and even as it did, he kept hearing those clipped exchanges from the hallway—Found it? No.
Myeonghoo scrambled under his bed and hid.
Every horror movie he’d watched, he’d laughed at people hiding under beds—what good did that do them, anyway? But now that he was the one scrambling for cover, nowhere else seemed available.
The instant he wedged himself under the bed and held his breath, the door swung open.
Creak, creak.
The creaking sounded like wood resonating. It only rang out near the doorway. They still weren’t coming inside the room.
Hope flickered—maybe they’d miss him and leave. Myeonghoo covered his mouth with his hand, held his breath, and checked his phone. The academy teacher’s number was still on the screen.
It was already past 3:10 AM, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
He turned off the call tone and dialed. The phone began to ring silently.
The loudest sound in this space was his own heartbeat. It pounded so violently he almost wondered if it was actually echoing from his brain rather than his chest.
Please, please leave. There’s nobody here.
As he prayed and glanced at his phone, he realized the call had already connected. While the sound was muted, several “hellos?” had apparently come through—silent messages waiting for him.
「Eunseong: What’s going on?」
「Eunseong: Are you not speaking or can’t you speak? What’s wrong?」
「Eunseong: I’m calling the police.」
「Eunseong: Myeonghoo, you’re okay, right??」
Tears spilled out of sheer gratitude toward the academy teacher for understanding the situation so quickly. As sobs threatened to burst out, he clamped his mouth shut harder and curled up tighter under the bed.
Finally, the creaking stopped.
Were they leaving? He set his phone quietly on the floor and covered his mouth with both hands, eyes darting around, when—
―Found it?
―Found it.
In an instant, something grabbed his ankle and dragged him out from under the bed.
―Aaaaaaah!
Myeonghoo screamed at the top of his lungs.
―Teacher! Save me, there’s a burglar here. Aaaah!
As Myeonghoo shrieked toward his phone, he finally laid eyes on the attackers themselves—and his breath came in panicked gasps as if he were about to faint.
The hands that had pulled him out were grotesquely large. A single palm was wide enough to wrap entirely around an adult man’s calf. And what of their faces?
At first, he’d thought they were wearing masks. Two massive men stood over him, their heads crowned with bovine skulls, their bodies draped in monk’s robes.
But when he saw the mouth move, the tongue flick out, the enormous eyes positioned in an inhuman way blink and swivel—he could no longer convince himself it was a mask.
‘Uhhgh. Hhhnnngh…….’
―We are seeking Park Myeonghoo, born on December 31st, 199X.
―We have found Park Myeonghoo, born on December 31st, 199X.
The two cow monsters drove the long trident spear they’d been carrying into the floor with a heavy thud, celebrating their success. The wooden beads attached to the shaft clattered.
Ah—so that’s what the creaking had been all along, Myeonghoo thought numbly, his mind going blank.
The cow-headed creatures were weeping. They cried as if grieved and wronged, tears of blood streaming down their faces. Despite his peril, Myeonghoo found himself seized by an odd pang of sympathy at the sight of those tears.
Were they in pain? Or had something sad happened to them?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the trident spear that had been rushing toward him froze in place. And from the creatures’ hooves, a blue flame erupted suddenly, engulfing their massive bodies in a single blazing wave that reached the ceiling.
―Yaaahhh!
Myeonghoo recoiled in shock. The fire consuming the monsters wasn’t hot, but the raw horror of the sight was overwhelming. He was grateful he hadn’t lost control of his bladder.
―Park Myeonghoo!
Just then, a voice called to him from outside the house.
―Get out now! Hurry!
He recognized it immediately—the man’s voice from earlier that day. As Myeonghoo lifted his head, he saw the talisman he’d carelessly tossed on the desk also burning away in the blue flames.
Barely escaping being dragged along, Myeonghoo bolted from the house and made straight for the door.
Yeonsu and Sanghyung were waiting at the Grand Mansion’s great iron gate when Myeonghoo came running out. Yeonsu caught him properly before he could stumble further, and since Myeonghoo was too panicked to speak, she spent the next several minutes patiently explaining things to the guards who’d come running at his frantic screams.
Naturally, she made no mention of talismans or cow monsters. There was no way of knowing which guards worked for Park Geonhoo or had ties to the Baekga.
Yeonsu played the part of Myeonghoo’s friend, throwing an arm around his shoulder while casually claiming she and Sanghyung had been pulling pranks tonight and had scared the boy senseless.
Fortunately, Myeonghoo had enough presence of mind to play along, laughing it off and convincing the guards to disperse. That very night, he moved into Eunseong’s residence.
Myeonghoo owned several other properties, but Park Geonhoo had already compromised all of them. Staying at the home of a man named Eunseong wouldn’t buy him much time—perhaps only a few days—but it was enough to gain that breathing room.
Throughout it all, Yeonsu secretly continued to block the attacks coming at Myeonghoo without the Baekga’s knowledge. She also instructed him to spread rumors that she had lost her mind.
Learning that his own elder brother was trying to kill him in pursuit of the succession threw Myeonghoo into confusion and fury. From somewhere in that turmoil, an unexpected talent bloomed—he proved remarkably adept at playing the part of a madwoman.
By dragging out time without raising suspicion, blocking each assassination attempt, and keeping his sanity intact, Myeonghoo eventually checked himself into the Psychiatric Hospital that Park Geonhoo had recommended. From then on, with the aid of hospital staff whom Yeonsu had paid off, he maintained his pretense of insanity without letting it slip.
And now, at last, the show was drawing to a close.
“I heard Park Geonhoo called a shareholder meeting. With your father and brother both unable to think clearly, he said the company couldn’t be left as it was.”
In any case, it meant he intended to change who led the company.
60
Myeonghoo exhaled a long breath. Regardless of whether he’d received any training as a successor, he couldn’t allow someone so blinded by greed for the seat of corporate power that he’d harm his own siblings and father to sit atop the company.
“Looks like you’re about to become an ordinary employee for the foreseeable future.”
“For now, you’ll need to bring in a professional manager. That part shouldn’t be difficult—there should be plenty of people around you to advise you on it. Anyway, all you have to worry about today is the arrows coming your way, and they’ll be weaker than usual, so there’s no need to be too afraid. It’s just a finishing volley, really.”
“Is it really time now?”
Yeonsu smiled watching Myeonghoo ask the question, his expression caught between resignation and resolve. Still, she felt reassured—he’d grown harder than when they first met, something dangerous settling into his eyes.
Yeonsu nodded in answer.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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