Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 35

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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 35. Perfect Clear
The world divides into two categories.
The strong and the weak.
Those who have and those who do not.
Han Min-o was strong, and he had.
After all, he’d been born the second son of Han Yeon Group.
How many people in South Korea didn’t know of Han Yeon Group?
It ranked among the nation’s top ten conglomerates, pioneering ventures in hospitality, department stores, entertainment, and countless consumer goods and spirits—enterprises inseparable from the lives of ordinary citizens.
Yet across more than fifty years, they were the embodiment of absolute authority, passed down through three generations like hereditary rulers.
Though they wielded familiarity as a weapon, in both political and financial circles they were regarded as “the bloodline most formidable.”
Second son of Han Yeon Group.
A Celestial Dragon Human by birth, the sort everyone envied—and yet Han Min-o’s life had proven far less smooth than one might imagine.
‘Han Shin. Exceptional in every conceivable way.’
Because of his older brother.
Han Shin was like the son of a god.
There was nothing he set his mind to that he couldn’t accomplish.
Whatever he learned, he mastered dozens of times faster than anyone else.
The word “genius” scarcely sufficed.
And that wasn’t all.
He possessed keen intellect and an uncanny gift for reading the emotions of others.
Han Min-o.
…Unlike him.
‘I tried my hardest, but I could never catch up.’
Han Min-o was constantly measured against Han Shin in every regard.
Perhaps he harbored the same genius, some hidden gift waiting to unfold?
In childhood, attention had briefly fallen upon him.
But nothing—
Not a single thing—
came close, not even to the tips of his brother’s feet.
Han Min-o possessed no exceptional talent whatsoever. He was, in every sense, ordinary—a man of Ordinary Talent.
‘…But it was fine. If my brother leads the company, Han Yeon Group will surely become the greatest name in South Korea.’
Still, he’d made peace with it.
The next master of the group would be Han Shin, his older brother.
With his abilities, Han Shin would undoubtedly establish Han Yeon Group on a foundation of permanence.
―I have no interest in group affairs.
…The problem lay in Han Shin’s disposition.
He’d even rejected the position of head of Han Yeon Group.
This happened when Han Shin was ten years old.
From then on, relatives from both sides of the family spared no effort in trying to change his mind.
Eventually, after relentless appeals, Han Shin made a proclamation.
―If there is anyone among my bodyguards who can defeat me in a fight, I will take an interest in group matters.
He’d challenged them to a match.
Invited anyone at all to come and try their luck.
He meant it literally.
He was proposing nothing less than a trial of physical combat.
The head of the security detail stepped forward, but lasted mere seconds before crumpling to the ground.
A veteran bodyguard versed in all martial disciplines, carefully selected.
Defeated ignominiously by Han Shin’s Combat Technique, learned for only three months.
Even accounting for weight class, the dominance was absolute.
‘……My brother’s true talent lies in his body.’
Not merely in combat.
After that, Han Shin faced masters of every discipline.
And he came to understand.
In matters of physical prowess, Han Shin was a transcendent being—a monster.
A national athlete?
A gold medal champion?
A world record holder?
Had Han Shin ever competed openly, every record on earth would have been rewritten.
The group had taken pains to suppress any leak of rumor; it simply never reached public knowledge.
‘I have everything, and yet I have nothing at all.’
To others, Han Min-o was ‘a man who had everything.’
Yet Han Min-o possessed nothing at all.
“Tsk. It would’ve been better if you were just a little more exceptional.”
His father’s contemptuous gaze.
Han Min-o was not even worth being a broken part of Han Shin.
Everyone looked only at Han Shin.
After that, Han Min-o chose the path of seclusion.
“Haven’t I told you repeatedly that your body is not yours alone?”
“Bodyguards would only be a burden.”
“Han Shin. These are no ordinary guards. They’re ‘monster hunters’—carefully selected, every one of them.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Han Shin!”
Han Shin faced the owner of Han Yeon Group with an expression utterly devoid of feeling.
Han Min-o had always envied that composure of his.
‘If I had died in the Abyss…’
Would he have cared at all?
Han Min-o imagined what would happen after his death.
Neither Han Shin nor his father—nor any of the family—would react much.
Han Shin in particular had always regarded Han Min-o as one might regard an insect.
Weak and powerless—a cripple, less worthy than a worm.
That peculiar look in his eyes was utterly terrifying.
So whenever he stood before Han Shin, he couldn’t even open his mouth.
He would only bow his head, thoroughly cowed.
‘Damn it.’
He had died and come back to life.
Wasn’t it something they could at least ask about once?
Anger boiled up inside him.
As though possessed by something, Han Min-o suddenly raised his head and cried out.
“Father! Brother! I’m back!”
“……?”
“…….”
Only then did their gazes turn toward Han Min-o.
His father’s look was one of incredulous disdain, while Han Shin remained unmoved.
Yet even that alone was a remarkable change.
They had always looked at him with such revulsion, as though ashamed to share the same blood.
“What is the reason for summoning me?”
“…A security matter.”
The group’s chairman—his father—nodded as he answered.
Han Min-o pressed further.
“Is it because of the Abyss?”
“Yes. Until the situation develops, you’ll stay at the Safe House with the security detail.”
“The government still hasn’t decided on a policy?”
“It seems they’re determined to intervene minimally.”
The world had fallen into chaos.
The emergence of monsters against which no conventional weapons availed.
A hell called the Abyss that descended upon reality without warning.
Now that all humans had undergone Awakening, the government sought to minimize involvement and shift responsibility onto civilians.
After all, they too had to survive this unprecedented catastrophe.
Each for themselves.
A world was dawning where each person had to forge their own path to survival.
All the group could do was employ powerful Awakened Ones as bodyguards to receive round-the-clock protection.
The executives of other conglomerates were similarly establishing Safe Houses and remaining protected with their families.
“You…….”
It was then.
For the first time, Han Shin opened his mouth.
Then he strode forward in great strides.
Rip!
“……!!”
He tore Han Min-o’s clothes to shreds with his bare hands.
Han Min-o was too shocked to speak.
Han Min-o couldn’t understand why Han Shin had suddenly said this.
“Uh, brother—what are you doing?”
“You made it back alive from the Abyss?”
“…Yes.”
Han Min-o managed a reluctant confirmation.
At that, Han Shin’s eyes swept over Han Min-o’s body, and he opened his mouth.
“Both arms and all ten fingers—they were severed and reattached.”
“…”
The scars were faint, barely visible, but if one looked closely enough, the marks were there.
A careful examination would have been more than enough to guess what had happened.
Yet what followed from Han Shin’s mouth was far more shocking.
“Both arms were torn off by tremendous force, and the fingers were severed at once by something sharp. To reattach wounds of this severity with barely any scarring, you’d need at least a High-Grade Elixir. Who gave you a High-Grade Elixir?”
“…I met a Demon Merchant.”
“Did you trade with him?”
“He tried to kill me.”
“That makes sense. From his perspective, you’d be worthless. So all these wounds came from the Demon Merchant. But how did you survive?”
“Someone saved me—my benefactor.”
“Who?”
It was the first time in his life.
Han Shin had never shown this much interest in Han Min-o before.
Yet Han Shin was genuinely curious.
‘There’s no way this wretch could have survived the Abyss. And yet he did.’
In his view, Han Min-o should have perished in the Abyss.
An ordinary man couldn’t possibly survive an encounter with a Demon Merchant.
Someone might have rescued Han Min-o, but the fact that they’d used a High-Grade Elixir to do so was incomprehensible.
Acquiring a High-Grade Elixir required an enormous price.
That someone would invest such a cost to save Han Min-o—a man with no talent, weak character, and insufficient perseverance—was simply unthinkable by Han Shin’s standards.
After a moment, Han Min-o spoke.
“I have no obligation to answer you.”
“…”
The words came without hesitation.
Han Shin felt a small jolt of surprise.
‘He’s changed.’
Han Min-o had changed.
From childhood, he was the sort who couldn’t even meet someone’s eyes properly.
Yet now Han Min-o stared at him with an intensity that bordered on confrontational.
His very nature seemed to have shifted.
It could be that surviving the brink of death had made him bolder.
It could be that the High-Grade Elixir had transformed his body in ways yet unknown.
Yet an indefinable unease crept over him.
‘It feels like more than just the High-Grade Elixir…’
The thought arose unbidden—perhaps it wasn’t only the High-Grade Elixir.
Who on earth would make such an extravagant investment in someone like Han Min-o?
It was intriguing.
‘A bird without wings cannot fly, no matter what.’
But that was all.
Just as you cannot turn a pumpkin into a watermelon by drawing a line on it.
Even if Han Min-o had changed, he was still Han Min-o.
Han Min-o was a bird born without wings—a creature that could never fly, no matter how much you painted it or made it struggle.
It was premature to take comfort in such meager hope.
A half-baked possibility tends to return as a far greater disappointment in the end.
Ding!
It was that very moment.
Along with the chime of a bell, countless messages materialized before them.
《The ‘Dungeon Abyss’ has ended!》
《Congratulations! All Dungeon Abysses summoned in ‘South Korea’ have been cleared.》
《’South Korea’ is the sole nation to achieve a ‘Perfect Clear’!》
《A ‘Gold Box’ will be distributed to all citizens of South Korea!》
《In recognition of this feat, the ‘Abyss’ will not appear on South Korean soil for one day.》
《Please enjoy this time.》
“…….”
Han Shin’s brow furrowed.
Someone had achieved a Perfect Clear that he’d deemed impossible.
If even the Creators held it in awe, there was nothing left to say.
The fact that they could make the decision not to manifest the Abyss across all of South Korea — even for a single day — spoke volumes.
Knowing how arrogant they were, Han Shin couldn’t bring himself to smile.
‘…Who are you?’
In all his years, he’d never tasted defeat quite like this.
The one who’d stolen his arrangement, the one who’d killed Han Shin. Surely that was who.
Han Shin burned with a hunger to know his identity — maddening in its intensity.
* * *
The instant he cleared the final dungeon,
Park Chan-woo collapsed into his home, utterly spent.
“Ngh…….”
A groan escaped him involuntarily.
He couldn’t move a single finger.
Thirteen dungeons back-to-back with no rest — exhaustion was inevitable.
Yet a faint smile played across Park Chan-woo’s lips.
The countless messages materializing before him now.
“This is insane…….”
The rewards for achieving Perfect Clear were absolutely, utterly staggering.

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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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