Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 7

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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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Chapter 7

It sinks almost to the end of the handle.

After leaving it there, I turned my head.

The beggars were looking at me with eyes full of fear. I ignored them.

“Who is the deputy branch leader?”

One man raised his trembling hand.

“That… would be me…”

“Name.”

“Jang… Jang Seok.”

“Jang Jang Seok?”

“No. It’s Jang Seok.”

“Jang Seok… You’re the branch leader from today.”

“…Me…?”

“The existing branch leader is dead, so naturally the deputy branch leader should become the branch leader, shouldn’t he?”

“That’s… right.”

As I walked toward him, the trembling Jang Seok stepped backward until his back hit the bookshelf. With nowhere left to go, his expression was painted with despair.

I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve been promoted.”

“…Pardon?”

“I truly congratulate you on becoming branch leader. So I’m asking, who do you think is the owner of this Seol-ap?”

“…Do you want an honest answer?”

When I nodded, Jang Seok spoke of what everyone knew but no one talked about.

“…Lord Seol Jung-cheon of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.”

My father and the Palace Lord of the Snow Palace.

The Ice Heaven Supreme, Seol Jung-cheon.

“…Certainly Lord Seol Jung-cheon is the owner of Seol-ap, but I think the practical owner is the branch master of the Seol-ap Branch.”

Jang Seok’s words were correct.

The owner of this Seol-ap is not me but my father.

I have only been delegated the authority to manage it.

Therefore, I could be considered the owner or not.

I’m somewhere in between, but there was no problem in claiming to be the owner.

This is a place I manage, and the commander and the field worker cannot be the same person.

“A decent answer.”

“…Thank you.”

“At least you seem better than that dead vermin over there.”

“…I’m grateful for that as well.”

“So, what will you do about my money?”

Jang Seok swallowed his saliva and began speaking to me as if he had already thought it through.

“First… we’ll ransack the dwelling of that dead Chwi Ui-gae over there.”

“But would all that money still be there intact?”

“…It won’t be. Everyone knows that Chwi Ui-gae brings money to the higher-ups of the Beggar Sect… Even if there is any, he’d certainly only have a portion.”

“Then what do you plan to do about the shortfall?”

Jang Seok was a quick-witted man.

Turning crisis into opportunity is certainly difficult, but there are those who attempt it nonetheless.

Jang Seok was the same.

“We are the Beggar Sect. We will offer the Beggar Sect’s information network to ‘My Lord.'”

“My Lord…”

“…If you don’t like that form of address…”

“It’s not that I dislike it. So you’ll deduct the remaining amount with that information network?”

“…Yes. We usually have set information fees, but we won’t charge the full amount. We’ll discount the price by at most fifty percent, at least thirty percent, and deduct the amount with that.”

I was pleased.

I patted his shoulder and said.

“I’ll give you a gift to commemorate becoming branch leader.”

“…Whatever it may be, I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“Write a detailed report of everything that happened here today and send it up.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m telling you not to make excuses by trying to twist the situation.”

“…”

“I broke Il Gyeol-gae’s bones, killed that nameless beggar, and killed Chwi Ui-gae too. Surely a beggar from the Beggar Sect will be dispatched to investigate this place, so when he comes, tell him everything in detail and send him to me.”

“Yes… I understand.”

I turned around and started walking. The gathered beggars moved aside on their own. I walked to the entrance, then turned my head as if I had forgotten something.

“When you bring the prepared money to the Seol-ap Branch, I’d like you to bring some information that might interest me as well.”

“…I’ll try to prepare something.”

It was then, as I was about to return to the branch.

Jang Seok swallowed his saliva, cupped his fists, and said.

“Please take care.”

Truly well-mannered.

Those who extort others’ money should naturally have that level of tact and courtesy.

I continued walking.

* * *

Seol Woon-hwi returned to the branch with blood splattered all over his long robe.

Entering silently, he looked once each at Cheon Pung and the four branch members sitting injured on the floor, and Manager Seong who was panting as if exhausted, then gazed at the items placed in the center.

As if he had anticipated this entire situation.

As if he had wanted this situation from the beginning.

There was no hesitation in Seol Woon-hwi’s movements.

“Manager Seong.”

“…Yes, Young Master.”

“Have you finished the classification?”

“…That’s not the problem right now…”

“It is for me.”

“…”

“Have you finished the classification?”

“…Yes, I’ve finished.”

Then he handed Seol Woon-hwi a bundle of documents as stiff as new. Taking them, Seol Woon-hwi headed toward the items and began comparing what was written in the document bundle with those items.

Everyone remained silent, and Seol Woon-hwi did his work.

After carefully examining the condition of the spirit pills among the items, Seol Woon-hwi asked.

“What about the spirit pills I mentioned earlier?”

“…I’ve taken those to your quarters.”

“I see.”

Then Woon-hwi shifted his gaze back to the items and picked up one hidden dagger and one sword from there.

They were the Cold Ice Flying Dagger and the Snow White Sword.

The Cold Ice Flying Dagger was literally a dagger imbued with cold energy, characterized by naturally spreading cold qi from the wounded area when it inflicted injury, and it was classified as intermediate grade in the market.

It was a bit disappointing that there was only one, but it was fine.

The Snow White Sword was a sword made by refining Han-reung Jade Crystal, and while not a famous blade, it wasn’t a common sword either. It was a very useful sword. At least it was perfectly suitable for martial artists at the level of the Flame Qi Four Stages.

Seol Woon-hwi quietly planted the Snow White Sword into the ground and looked at Cheon Pung.

“Cheon Pung.”

“…Yes, Branch Master.”

“It seems many of the branch office members are missing.”

They had no choice but to be absent.

They had all fled.

The period Seol Woon-hwi had lived as a scarecrow was a full six years.

There were sufficient reasons why someone like Il Gyeol-gae from the Beggar Sect would look down on him with contempt, and why a branch leader from the Beggar Sect would immediately drop honorifics upon meeting him.

It would have been stranger if only the two men who had died earlier at Seol Woon-hwi’s hands were the only branch office members who had followed Ya Woon-sang, the one who had used Seol Woon-hwi as a scarecrow and claimed to be the real power for those six years.

Among the eighteen branch office members excluding Ya Woon-sang, all but the five currently present had been Ya Woon-sang’s lackeys.

The two who died had simply been out on business related to the Blue Cloud Trading Company, while the rest had all assisted Ya Woon-sang in other matters and had been taking private profits, such as embezzling money.

That was why they had shown fearful expressions earlier when Seol Woon-hwi obtained the ledger.

Cheon Pung answered.

“…They have fled.”

“I thought as much.”

“Did you know?”

Seol Woon-hwi smiled slightly and quietly sat down under the eaves.

“I need to set up a new game, and how foolish would it be to use unverified bastards as my hands and feet.”

Those who had fled totaled eleven men.

“It seems some of the goods are missing.”

“…I tried to stop them, but I couldn’t prevent everything.”

“I see.”

Seol Woon-hwi crossed his legs as he sat.

“Stop dawdling around and come before me.”

Cheon Pung came first, and the remaining four branch office members also took their positions.

Seol Woon-hwi asked.

“Why are you living as branch office members in this Seol-ap?”

Each had their own answer.

Because the pay wasn’t bad.

Because living as a branch office member here meant they could learn Snow Palace martial arts, even if they were the lowest grade.

In the end, regardless of their reasons, they were all martial artists.

If they were martial artists, it was natural for them to covet powerful martial arts.

“The world is vast. In that vast world, obtaining something called opportunity is almost like plucking stars from the sky.”

“…”

“I want to give you a new opportunity.”

At Seol Woon-hwi’s words, all the branch office members and Manager Seong, who had been sitting slumped in the corner, looked at Seol Woon-hwi.

“Two hundred years ago, there was a wandering warrior who stirred up the martial world.”

Seol Woon-hwi’s quiet voice carried resonance.

“His name was Han Cheol, a man like a wolf, and his martial arts were also like those of a wolf.”

Pausing briefly, he recited the incantation in a quiet voice.

(gyowol manseong han-gwanghyeon).

The bright moon and ten thousand stars reveal their cold light.

(gunrang yucheon yeongdan-gong).

A pack of wolves roams the heavens, eternally cutting through the void.

(manroe gujeok pungsogi).

All things fall silent and the sound of wind rises.

(ilgeom bongcheon yeongbulban).

One sword seals the heavens and never returns.

As the incantation continued, everyone’s eyes widened greatly.

At least the five branch office members were martial artists. Because they were martial artists, they could tell.

That the incantation itself was extraordinary.

Beyond containing the mysteries of ascension, wasn’t this an extremely aggressive martial art?

It was clearly a martial art that not just anyone could learn or know. But quite unexpectedly.

Manager Seong, known as an ‘ordinary person,’ had his mouth hanging wide open.

As if he knew the authenticity of that martial art.

Like a master who understood all those incantations.

Seol Woon-hwi paid no attention to anything else. He simply continued speaking silently.

“Between success and failure lies an eon, and heaven and earth have reached the present through countless eons. The lonely wolf’s howl echoes under the moonlight and cold frost falls cutting through the sky—this is the Heaven Killing Wolf Star Formula. It is an ascending martial art composed of three techniques.”

Seol Woon-hwi’s eyes looked at each of the branch office members one by one.

“I want to test you. How faithfully you can follow my commands, whether you can point your swords at those bastards who shared hardships with you until yesterday but are clearly traitors.”

There was no way they couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“Hunt down and kill all those who fled.”

“…Br…anch Master…!”

“Cutting off limbs and bringing them back is meaningless. Either cut off their heads and bring them, or bring them back alive before me. And recover all the items they stole as well.”

Cheon Pung was quick-witted.

He made a resolute expression, and while the other four were confused, it was clear this was an opportunity.

“If you kill all those bastards and return, I will teach you the detailed techniques of the Heaven Killing Wolf Star Formula. Of course, you’ll need Spirit Pills too.”

Seol Woon-hwi pointed with his hand toward where the goods were piled.

“What’s scattered over there are Spirit Pills and cultivation resources. If you satisfy me, I will give you appropriate rewards. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

“Your eyes have changed—it’s a good sight. Go and return.”

“We obey your command!”

Everyone including Cheon Pung began running out like madmen.

Their expressions were those of people who had seized an opportunity, and they were filled with determination to never let this slip away.

The branch office became quiet in an instant.

Seol Woon-hwi spoke.

“Manager Seong.”

“…Yes… Young Master.”

“How long are you going to stay there like that?”

“Ah… I apologize.”

Manager Seong rose from his position and approached Seol Woon-hwi.

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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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