The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 13

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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 13.
Click.
I unlocked the door.
The moment it swung open, a massive man burst inside.
“Jung-seok!”
Whoosh.
Park Gwang-chul engulfed me in a crushing embrace.
The acrid stench of sweat and cheap cologne washed over me.
He pounded my back repeatedly, his voice breaking with emotion.
“Oh Jung-seok! Thank heavens you’re safe! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? You wouldn’t even answer your phone!”
His gestures were exaggerated.
I heard what sounded like muffled sobs from over his shoulder, yet my shirt remained dry.
It was all an act.
I stood motionless, my expression blank.
I neither pushed him away nor returned the embrace.
Sensing my lack of response, Park Gwang-chul awkwardly withdrew.
His bloodshot eyes scanned me from head to toe.
“Are you hurt? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness, truly thank goodness. Your parents must be watching over you from heaven.”
He clicked his tongue, surveying the cramped studio apartment around us.
Moldy wallpaper.
Damp, warped flooring.
A space so narrow that a single person could barely lie down.
Park Gwang-chul’s brow furrowed.
“Why do you live like this? You’re sitting on a fortune and you choose to live in squalor? Did you really spend it all?”
Money.
It always came back to money.
In my past life, I couldn’t bring myself to spend the inheritance my parents left behind.
Or rather, I wasn’t able to.
‘It was their anniversary.’
My parents had embarked on an overseas trip after so long.
The joy on their faces remained vivid in my memory.
The aircraft was crossing the Pacific Ocean.
An unexpected, unpredicted atmospheric disturbance.
And a massive typhoon.
The passenger jet disintegrated mid-air and plummeted.
All passengers died except for one.
An empty coffin sat in the funeral hall—no body to lay to rest.
A substantial insurance payout and inheritance fell into my hands.
It was an amount I could have spent my entire life idling away without depleting.
But as a child, I couldn’t bring myself to touch that money.
Every time I spent it, I felt as though I were gnawing away at my parents’ lives.
Guilt. Longing.
Those emotions imprisoned me in this cramped Semi-basement Room.
‘How foolish I was.’
Now I regret it.
If I didn’t spend it, that money would eventually only fatten someone else’s wallet.
Someone exactly like the man standing before me.
Park Gwang-chul exploited my guilt.
While I turned away from the money, he watched and waited for his opportunity.
And when the world turned upside down, he finally took everything from me.
“I haven’t spent a single won. It didn’t feel like my money, you see.”
In that instant.
Park Gwang-chul’s eyes gleamed.
Greed. A gaze I knew all too well.
I stared directly at Park Gwang-chul.
“But what brings you here?”
“What brings me?”
Park Gwang-chul sprang to his feet.
“I came because I’m worried about my only nephew! Haven’t you seen the news? The world’s gone mad!”
He spewed forth his words, flecks of saliva flying.
“Monsters are appearing, the ground is collapsing, people are dying. How do you expect to survive alone in times like these?”
He seized both my hands.
Damp and clammy palms.
“Your Uncle will protect you. Don’t stay here—come to our house. All right?”
Protect me, he says.
His words are smooth and polished.
But I know the truth.
What he truly wants isn’t my safety.
It’s the personal seal and bankbook hidden somewhere in this hovel, and the deed to the house.
A scheme to pose as my legal guardian while chaos reigns.
The exact same playbook from my previous life.
“Come with me.”
Park Gwang-chul pressed on.
“I’ll protect you. Family must stick together, don’t you think?”
I let out a quiet laugh.
Protection.
Certainly, protection is needed.
Though the one who needs protecting isn’t me—it’s you.
“I don’t want to.”
The curt refusal cut through the cramped room like a blade.
Park Gwang-chul’s expression hardened.
The forced smile he’d been wearing froze solid, brittle as plaster.
“…What?”
“I said I don’t want to.”
“You, what are you saying right now….”
Park Gwang-chul’s eyebrows twitched.
Shock, and displeasure.
How dare a mere nephew refuse an adult’s proposal?
His narrow-minded thinking was written plainly across his face.
But my heart had turned to ice.
When you stripped it down, that was the truth.
Uncle.
He called himself my uncle, but not a drop of blood connected us—he was a stranger.
And this bastard dared approach me spouting talk of family?
It was utterly repugnant.
I tilted my head to the side with deliberate insolence.
“And.”
“….”
“Speak plainly. You didn’t come out of concern—you came sniffing after money.”
“What, what are you talking about! Your uncle cares about you so much!”
“How did you even find our address?”
I cut him off.
“I changed my phone number. Did you hire a private investigator?”
Park Gwang-chul’s pupils trembled.
I’d struck a nerve.
He’d spent money on a background check.
That’s how badly he coveted my inheritance.
“I have no money for you, so leave.”
I waved my hand dismissively.
“And have some shame. Isn’t it embarrassing, at your age, coming to steal money from your nephew? Don’t you feel pathetic?”
“…You little bastard?”
Park Gwang-chul’s face flushed crimson.
The mask had slipped.
His true nature—that of a street thug—was laid bare.
“I was nice to you, and now you show no respect! What kind of manners is that toward an adult!”
An adult.
It was laughable.
I hadn’t lived fewer years than this scoundrel.
Yet here he was, lecturing me simply because he was a few years older.
“Kim Jung-seok. Aren’t you going to apologize?”
Park Gwang-chul shouted with a snort.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Me? You’re the one who should.”
“You, you… disrespectful bastard!”
Park Gwang-chul finally exploded.
He raised his fist high.
“You need a beating to knock some sense into you!”
Whoosh.
His crude fist hurtled toward my face.
Slow.
Painfully slow—I could’ve yawned.
I didn’t dodge.
I simply extended my hand lightly.
Thwack.
“…What?”
Park Gwang-chul’s eyes widened.
My palm had engulfed his fist completely.
Without the slightest movement.
“Let go! Are you letting go or not?”
Park Gwang-chul strained with all his might to wrench his arm free.
But his trapped fist remained immobilized, like stone wedged in a crevice.
I stared at him and tightened my grip.
Steadily.
“Ugh…”
Park Gwang-chul’s face began to contort.
“Ah, it hurts! Let go!”
“You said you’d protect me.”
I smiled coldly.
“How can you protect anyone with strength like this?”
Crack.
The sound of bones twisting echoed.
Even at merely twenty percent, I was an Awakened One.
My grip strength had already transcended human limits.
An ordinary person’s bones were nothing more than cookie crumbs to me.
“Ah, ahhh! Aaaahhh!”
Park Gwang-chul screamed.
His knees buckled.
Unable to bear the agony, he collapsed before me.
“P-please! My hand is breaking! Aaaahhh!”
A scream filled with agony echoed through the room.
I knelt down to meet his gaze.
Park Gwang-chul’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.
Fear.
Primal terror was unmistakably etched in those eyes.
The greed that had blazed so confidently moments before had vanished without a trace.
‘Should I kill him?’
The thought flickered through my mind.
This was the man who had struck me from behind and stolen my inheritance.
Guilt? There could be none.
If anything, he deserved to die.
‘If not for this bastard.’
Memories from my past life surged through my consciousness.
The architect of my ruin—the one who had seized my parents’ legacy and cast me into the streets.
Because of him, despite being an Awakened One, I had been condemned to homelessness.
I had rummaged through garbage bins for a single meal and wandered subway stations to escape the cold.
My growth had been stunted because of it.
While others hunted monsters and climbed levels, I had to struggle merely to survive.
‘Six months.’
A full half-year lost.
Those initial six months were golden time, irreplaceable by anything else.
This wretch had thrown that precious opportunity into the sewers.
My grip tightened of its own accord.
A sickening crunch.
“Ghhh…!”
Park Gwang-chul gasped, foam flecking his lips.
I wanted nothing more than to twist his neck right then.
But.
I slowly released the pressure in my hands.
Killing him now would be far too merciful.
More than that, I knew his true fate.
‘Zombie food.’
When the Cataclysm begins, it won’t be long before he meets a horrific end.
He will be devoured alive by them.
His entrails will be torn open, his limbs ripped apart, and in that agony, he will transform into a zombie.
Then he will become a soulless monster, wandering the streets.
‘My killing him would be far too merciful.’
In this wretched world, after suffering every conceivable hardship, to end as zombie food—that was his destiny.
I had no desire to change that ending.
Right now, you’re nothing but garbage not even worth dirtying my hands on.
I released the fist I’d been gripping, tossing it aside with casual indifference.
“I’ll let you live.”
Park Gwang-chul trembled, his eyes darting between my hand and my face.
Disbelief etched across his features.
I added my words in a voice turned cold and glacial.
“However.”
I raised my index finger, pointing it at the space between his brows.
“If you cross my path again, it won’t end with just a wrist.”
“….”
“Do you understand what will happen?”
Park Gwang-chul swallowed hard, his throat dry.
His face drained of all color at the mere thought of it.
“Staying out of my sight is the only way you’ll live long.”
It was my final warning.
Park Gwang-chul nodded frantically, like a madman.
“Y-yes! I understand! I’ll go! I was wrong!”
Without so much as a backward glance, he crawled across the floor and scrambled out through the entrance.
He didn’t even think to put on his shoes, fleeing in such pathetic haste.
Bang.
The entrance door slammed shut.
Silence returned to the room.
I stared at the door where he’d vanished for a moment, then turned away with indifference.
I’d driven out the rat.
Now came what remained to be done.
‘I need to spend the money.’
Crumbling scraps of paper.
An inheritance I’d never dared touch, viewing it as the price of my parents’ lives.
But now I understood.
Holding onto this money meant nothing.
It had to be spent before then.
On the most worthwhile place possible.
I picked up my smartphone.
I opened the search bar.
‘Hope Welfare Foundation.’
Without hesitation, I dialed the number.
-Yes, this is the Hope Welfare Foundation. How may we assist you?
A pleasant female employee’s voice.
I stated my business matter-of-factly.
“I’d like to make a donation.”
-Ah, yes! You’re inquiring about donations. Is this for a recurring donation or a one-time contribution?
“A one-time donation. Around one billion won.”
-I’m sorry? One billion? What do you—
Silence stretched across the phone line.
The confusion on the other end was unmistakable.
They probably thought it was a prank call.
“Please provide the account number. I’ll transfer it right now.”
-Ah, one moment please! Sir, may I ask your name?
“Kim Jung-seok.”
I continued.
“I’d like to make this a designated donation.”
-A designated donation? Is there a specific recipient in mind?
“Yes.”
I drew a short breath.
A single face surfaced in my mind.
My colleague who had stood by my side until the very end before my return.
Spirit Lord Park Ha-yan.
She was currently in a hospital.
A cold hospital room, a corner bed in a six-person ward.
It had been a plane crash.
The accident had shattered her spine, leaving her lower body paralyzed.
If she underwent surgery immediately, there was a chance she could walk again, but she had no money.
Poverty was a sin.
Later, she would contract with a spirit and borrow its power to drift through the air.
But that would come years later, after she awakened with tears of blood.
Most importantly.
‘…The only survivor.’
She was the sole survivor of the passenger aircraft my parents had been on.
Confirmation would be necessary, but in my assessment, Park Ha-yan is not an avatar of The Deity.
Her past was far too distinct.
If avatars of The Deity were created entirely anew, then Park Ha-yan could not be one.
Of course, ‘possession’ was also a possibility to consider.
However.
‘If The Deity had possessed Park Ha-yan, there’s no way they would have left her legs as they were.’
They would have healed her crippled limbs first.
The amusements of The Deities.
Those who came to enjoy themselves would never tolerate such inconvenience.
I organized my thoughts and spoke.
“Park Ha-yan, currently admitted to the Orthopedic Department at Korea University Hospital.”
-Ah, one moment. Let me verify that.
The sound of typing came through the receiver.
-Yes, it’s been confirmed. But what is your relationship to the patient…?
“Nothing significant. I simply want Park Ha-yan to live.”
I exhaled slowly.
“The surgery, hospitalization, and rehabilitation therapy costs.”
I spoke with measured calm.
“Please cover everything so she can walk without difficulty for the rest of her life.”
* * *
Room 602 of Korea University Hospital.
A corner bed hidden behind curtains.
Park Ha-yan stared blankly out the window.
Her eyes devoid of focus.
Dead eyes—lifeless, stripped of all vitality.
They said the outside world had descended into chaos.
Monsters had emerged and the earth had split open.
But it was someone else’s problem to her.
Her world had already crumbled long ago.
She looked down beneath the blanket.
She felt nothing.
Below her waist, there was no sensation at all.
It was as if a rotted log had been grafted onto her body.
The doctor had said it.
That she could walk if she had surgery.
But it was cruel false hope.
Money.
That damned money she didn’t have.
For an orphan like her, tens of millions of won in surgical costs were as unreachable as a distant star.
‘Maybe I should just die.’
It would have been better if she had died with the others when the plane crashed.
Surviving alone felt like a curse.
The curtain was yanked open roughly.
A nurse and an Administrative Office staff member rushed in.
Their expressions were not their usual bland indifference.
Their faces were flushed with excitement.
They gasped for breath as they cried out.
“Congratulations, patient!”
Park Ha-yan did not respond.
Congratulations?
Was that something to say to someone who had become paralyzed?
Is that something you’d say to someone who’s become paralyzed on one side of their body?
But the staff member’s next words made her doubt her own ears.
“Surgery will begin immediately. The professor has cleared his schedule.”
“…What?”
Park Ha-yan’s lips trembled.
“What… are you saying? I don’t have the money.”
“It’s been taken care of.”
The staff member waved a stack of papers.
“A sponsor just appeared. The surgery costs, hospitalization fees, rehabilitation expenses—everything has been deposited in full.”
“….”
“And it’s a billion won! That’s enough money for a lifetime of treatment!”
Her mind went blank.
She couldn’t comprehend it.
With no family to speak of, who could possibly…?
“W-who? Why on earth…?”

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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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