Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 31

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

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 31

Mountain God (1)

 

 

 

Feng Jinghao.

Those who knew of his existence called him ‘Chairman Feng’ with fear, while his subordinates called him ‘Elder’ with reverence.

He was the hidden supreme administrator of the Central Hero Committee that supposedly managed and supervised all Hunters in China,

but contrary to his notoriety, he appeared to be a gentle-looking rural old man.

And he actually was.

He was deeply respected by those close to him for his consistently upright private life.

“Elder.”

“Oh, yes. My child. What brings you here?”

‘Wa’er’ is an expression mainly used by rural elders from the southwest to affectionately address someone of their children’s generation.

So Chairman Feng’s secretary, Liu Xin, felt warmth in her heart whenever she was called that, as it reminded her of her grandfather from childhood.

But such feelings were brief.

Time was of the essence now.

“Qing Xiao has returned injured. She’s currently suffering from severe magic power exhaustion, and it seems some mental contamination has occurred as well.”

Chairman Feng paused momentarily while carefully wiping the leaves of an orchid.

Then he resumed tending to the leaves and asked.

“The mission Xiao was currently handling was…”

“Surveillance of the Sha Wujing ‘fragment.'”

“That shouldn’t have been particularly difficult for that child?”

“According to the initial report, an apostle of Zeus appeared.”

“…An apostle of Zeus.”

“Vajrason also died because of that.”

Even Chairman Feng, who was said to not bat an eye at most matters, could no longer focus on tending to his orchids.

Liu Xin laid out all of Qing Xiao’s testimony.

Chairman Feng’s eyes widened slightly.

“Hehe. Well, the Asan (a derogatory Chinese term for Indians) are going to get noisy about this.”

“What should we do?”

“Who moved immediately?”

“Ping Xin happened to be on standby and was deployed. But by then it was already…”

“The temporary gate had closed?”

Ping Xin.

It was the special unit Chairman Feng had been putting the most effort into recently.

Created by directly adopting the know-how of a certain unit from a small eastern country…

Though it still had many shortcomings, he believed it would someday surpass the original.

The Chinese people always had hidden potential.

“I apologize. Due to what happened to Vajrason, we thought we needed to assemble minimum Hunter response forces, which caused delays.”

Liu Xin bowed her head deeply.

Chairman Feng chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.

“What could you have done? Rather, you did well. You followed the manual.”

“…”

“But to think someone could single-handedly destroy both Qing Xiao and Vajrason working together. Where did such a person suddenly appear from? I haven’t heard of any inheritor of Zeus’s mythology.”

Chairman Feng’s eyes gleamed mysteriously as he stroked his chin with his hand.

It was his habit when something desirable appeared.

“Is there no way for us to obtain that mythology?”

Chairman Feng was also notoriously known as an obsessive mythology collector.

If necessary, he would spend fortunes to acquire famous gods’ apostles, and if that failed, he would kill them to take their sacred relics.

The mythologies he had collected this way already filled his underground secret vault to capacity.

“According to Qing Xiao’s testimony, he doesn’t seem to belong to any particular country or organization.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. And she said he gave off the impression that he knew you, Elder.”

Suddenly, Chairman Feng’s eyes lit up.

“Hehe. Someone remembering this old man would be quite remarkable now?”

“Yes. She said he directly mentioned your name…”

“Oh. Someone I’ve met before.”

“There are many strange aspects, so I’ve instructed Ping Xin not to withdraw but to continue tracking. Several of them plan to visit Korea soon.”

Chairman Feng nodded.

“Be careful. Korea’s level has dropped significantly since ‘Qinglei’ disappeared, but General Lee is still not to be underestimated. Especially after that incident, he’s been quite on edge lately.”

“I’ll tell them to be cautious.”

“Good. Also check why that newly appeared apostle of Zeus targeted Sha Wujing. If we dig into that, something will probably turn up.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m the one who’s always grateful. You’ve worked hard.”

Liu Xin bowed and slowly left the mansion.

Chairman Feng saw her off with a warm face, but once she completely disappeared, he wiped all emotion from his expression.

“Tsk. Stupid fools. Making such a mess when they can’t even properly manage one thing. Is it because I’ve been too lenient in raising them? Well, it’s about time for a purge anyway.”

Qing Xiao simply thought she was surveilling Sha Wujing because of Nezha’s orders,

but in fact, the surveillance using him as bait was being led by Chairman Feng.

No, to be precise, it was being conducted by the god that Chairman Feng served.

One who could casually manipulate even the Jade Emperor and Nezha…

“This has become truly regrettable, Master. It would have been an opportunity to meet your old disciples after so long.”

Chairman Feng returned to his smiling expression and looked at the jade orb placed behind the orchid.

Inside the orb, transparent enough to see through completely,

Clink…

A wounded man hung limply, suspended by chains.

Only his blood-soaked Buddhist robe and shaved head indicated that he had originally been a monk.

 

[Vajra Bracelet]

A sealing divine tool that Buddha Shakyamuni once used to capture Dujiao Si Dawang.

Anyone trapped inside has all their magic power and divine power drained, rendering them powerless.

-Type: Sacred Relic, Sealing Divine Tool.

-Origin: Mythology ‘Journey to the West’

 

There are no exceptions to the Vajra Bracelet’s effects.

Even if one were a Buddha who had attained ultimate enlightenment…

“…”

Perhaps because of this, the monk showed no movement whatsoever.

To the point where one might wonder if he was dead.

But Chairman Feng knew well that the monk was not someone who would die from something like this.

“In any case, I’ll need to investigate further. Zeus’s sudden interference – what could this be about?”

He would have liked to visit the Heavenly Realm if possible, but it was regrettable that he didn’t have such standing.

“Speaking of which… if it was Zeus, he would have used lightning. That reminds me of that child. I wonder how he’s doing.”

Chairman Peng quickly erased the existence he had briefly recalled from his mind.

A cripple who could never rise again was no longer of any interest to him.

 

* * *

 

Rumors related to the spread throughout the entire headquarters.

“Did you hear that news?”

“About Z Team successfully clearing the Hoengseong Dungeon?”

“That dungeon was still there? I only heard about it when I first entered this field…”

“It must have remained because the difficulty was so high. I heard the damage was so severe that the team leader died.”

“Huh? I heard the rookie took care of everything by himself?”

“How does that make sense? How could someone clear a dungeon alone?”

“No, I thought the same thing, but the rumors really…”

The rumors about the dungeon clearing were full of speculation, but no one knew the exact details.

This was because Z Team hadn’t returned to the company and had been summoned elsewhere entirely.

“Team Leader Jeong died?”

“Yes. And his skull was cracked by Section Chief Jang Lee Hyeon. In just one blow. Bang.”

“…What?”

Im Won-young blinked his eyes at Section Chief So Seong-hae’s report.

What did I just hear?

Section Chief So Seong-hae shrugged his shoulders as if he felt the same way.

“I don’t know the exact details either. However, because of that, there’s a lot of talk about whether to hold a disciplinary committee meeting or report it to the Hunter Management Bureau. We’re suppressing it to prevent rumors from spreading for now.”

Im Won-young let out a hollow laugh.

He had expected there would be at least one clash since Lee Hyeon and Team Leader Jeong were definitely not a compatible combination,

but he never imagined it would be this extreme.

‘You said you didn’t want rumors about yourself spreading… but if you cause an incident like this…’

Im Won-young pressed his temple with his index finger.

It seemed like this wasn’t the time to just sit here and watch work.

“Executive Director Jeong must be in chaos.”

Im Won-young clicked his tongue.

“Even if he’s shameless, he was a man who loved his son terribly.”

“Let’s go over there first.”

Im Won-young grabbed his jacket and stood up from his seat.

 

* * *

 

「You seem to be living comfortably?」

“I’ve been living like I was being chased for four years, but being like this for a while doesn’t seem too bad.”

A small solitary cell about one pyeong in size.

Lee Hyeon stretched out both his legs.

He looked so comfortable that anyone would think it was his own room,

but in fact, he was confined.

After splitting Team Leader Jeong’s head with an axe in front of everyone, he was first locked up in the headquarters’ detention room.

By now, those above were probably getting headaches trying to decide whether to hand Lee Hyeon over to the Hunter Management Bureau or consider it justified self-defense depending on the situation.

Son Wukong was just dumbfounded by such Lee Hyeon.

He had handled driving away the apostles of Indra and Nezha so well that even he was impressed,

so why did he act so recklessly this time?

「Kekeke. Since master is keeping an apostle for the first time in his life, he’s having all sorts of useless worries.」

Next to such Son Wukong, a cute-looking blue turtle burst into hearty laughter.

It was Sha Wujing.

‘He came out of the dungeon with the Great Sage, then became small like that saying his divine power would just be consumed in his large form.’

Considering that Son Wukong’s true form was also about ten meters tall, Sha Wujing’s transformation arts weren’t strange either.

‘…Though I do wonder if he really needs to make himself cute like an SD character.’

Do the believers on earth even know that gods who should maintain dignity have such tastes?

「What am I worried about!」

「Keke. Then no? You seem to be all nervous wondering if your apostle might get hurt?」

「Nonsense! I’m just worried that fool might act stupidly and cause me trouble too!」

「That’s what I mean by useless worry. Just look at this incident and see how cleverly ‘our’ apostle’s mind works?」

「’Our’? Ourrrrr?」

「Huh? Ah, you’re hung up on that word this time? That’s right. Our apostle. We all took him as a temporary apostle together, didn’t we?」

「Gaaah! I was going to bring that up anyway! Don’t try to claim him!」

Watching a baby monkey and baby turtle bicker gave him a strange feeling.

Were these really the famous gods and buddhas from Journey to the West?

“I didn’t act without a plan.”

Lee Hyeon subtly changed the topic, worried that Son Wukong’s face might turn red like a butt and explode.

Son Wukong’s gaze turned toward him.

「You have a plan?」

“Yes. I wanted to observe their reaction.”

「Their reaction?」

“Since you’re far away, you might not have felt it… but that Team Leader Jeong might be related to the Jade Emperor.”

Instantly, the air around Son Wukong and Sha Wujing grew heavy.

「Explain in detail.」

“It’s just speculation on my part, so I’m not certain. However, the legacy he possessed was deeply related to that side. The scent of magic power he gave off was also somewhat similar.”

Ghost Moon, meaning the moon of ghosts, was actually a Chinese custom.

The seventh lunar month, said to have the strongest yin energy of the year, was called this. It was known that during this time, Heaven’s Gate opens and ghosts descend to earth to eat food and wear clothes, playing like humans before leaving.

During this time, to avoid harm and tell them to leave quietly, ghosts weren’t called ghosts but were called ‘brothers,’ and rituals were even performed for them.

Naturally, this was deeply connected to the Jade Emperor who governed both the World of the Living and the Underworld.

“So I provoked him first. I was curious what would come out. Since there were many witnesses, they can’t openly harm me anyway.”

Team Leader Jeong had severe mental contamination and even threatened his colleagues.

In such cases, active defensive actions were taken into consideration.

He could just say he had no choice but to step forward to save his team members.

“White Burn also has nothing good to gain from escalating the incident, so they’ll try to cover it up at an appropriate level.”

Lee Hyeon added.

“Besides, I need to firmly grasp Z Team. With the achievement of clearing a long-standing unsolved dungeon, and even personally stepping forward to save team members in crisis…”

「They’ll have no choice but to owe you a mental debt? They’ll naturally become conscious of you too.」

“Since the dead team leader’s biological father is also an executive director of the company, they’ll have no choice but to side with the opposite faction to be free from the responsibility of not protecting the team leader.”

「It was all quite a political calculation?」

「Kekekeke! What did I tell you? Our apostle thinks everything through, don’t you think, master?」

「Stop saying ‘our apostle’!」

「Keke. You’re as petty now as you were before.」

「What did you say?」

Son Wukong glared at Sha Wujing with fierce eyes and said.

「So you’re saying you can hide behind White Burn as much as you want, so you comfortably provoked the grass first, is that it?」

“Yes. I’m hoping a decent snake will jump out.”

「Striking the grass to startle the snake… Right. It’s not bad to scratch gently like that while looking for opportunities.」

Son Wukong’s Golden Eyes of Truth blazed like flames.

「I can’t just leave alone those bastards who dared to do such things to my brothers too.」

“For now, I’m thinking of checking if that side is connected to the Jade Emperor while quickly gathering the Great Sage’s myths. Besides that…”

Lee Hyeon took a deep breath and continued.

“There might be other brothers waiting for the Great Sage among the other brothers, so we’ll need to look for them too.”

Son Wukong nodded his head heavily.

Though he didn’t say much about it,

Lee Hyeon knew that he was inwardly grateful to him.

However, Lee Hyeon also needed to find gods related to .

‘If I could be recognized as an apostle by Zhu Bajie, Tripitaka, and even the Seven Great Sages like Bull Demon King, just like with Sha Wujing…!’

Lee Hyeon was thinking of inheriting the entire grand mythology of , starting with Son Wukong if possible.

‘…To do that, I’ll need to pick up the pace a bit more.’

Lee Hyeon opened his inventory.

He was about to check the rewards he had obtained from .

Especially among them,

‘Random Box.’

He was most curious about the reward he had received for completing the dungeon’s narrative.

 

[You have taken out Random Box (SR). Would you like to open it?]

 

A box that looked similar to the treasure chests he used to keep precious toys in during his childhood.

Lee Hyeon grabbed the lever that protruded from the side of the lid and pulled it.

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