The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 22

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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 22.
I know only one Chairman Park.
Park Yong-guk.
A towering figure of South Korea’s Underworld, the sovereign of the Back Alley.
Entertainment, gambling, loan-sharking.
A magnate whose hands reached into every corner where money flowed.
I had anticipated his approach.
But it came faster than expected.
Of course, it was inevitable.
I had swept across the country openly, pillaging relics wherever I went.
Having drained the Antique Art Street of its stock, it would have been stranger still if word hadn’t reached the ears of the Underworld’s elite.
The man fixed me with an oppressive stare, awaiting my response.
His demeanor suggested he would drag me along by force if I refused.
I let out a soft laugh.
“Sure, why not.”
I offered no questions, no resistance.
“…?”
The man’s eyebrows twitched.
Bewilderment was written plainly across his face.
Usually, people would dig in their heels—demanding to know who was asking, why, insisting they wouldn’t go.
Or they would panic and attempt to flee.
This was the first time someone had acquiesced so readily, as though they had been waiting for this very moment.
* * *
Park Yong-guk was an antiquities fanatic.
He possessed an instinctive draw toward the ancient.
Especially after the Cataclysm, he realized he had become fundamentally different from others.
Awakening.
With the System’s emergence came the ability to sense magical power.
Through those eyes, the world appeared transformed.
From weathered ceramics gathering dust in warehouses, strange luminescence poured forth.
From corroded blades, he felt an extraordinary aura.
‘Relics.’
He sensed it instinctively.
These were no mere antiques.
They were the power of a new era, and immeasurable wealth.
Chairman Park immediately unleashed his subordinates.
He commanded them to scour every antique dealer and Auction House across the country.
He told them to spare no expense, to acquire everything.
But the results were disastrous.
“We came up empty, sir.”
“There are no items.”
“Someone already took everything.”
Everywhere I went, my hands came back empty.
I was one step too late.
Some mysterious figure was cherry-picking the best pieces and sweeping them all away.
Just as Chairman Park’s mood began to sour, a report came in.
They’d found the culprit.
A young man driving an old one-ton truck.
“Chairman, I’ve brought him.”
The intercom buzzed.
Chairman Park sank deep into the leather sofa.
The door opened.
A young man walked in with heavy, deliberate steps.
Hoodie and jeans.
Dusty sneakers.
He looked like an ordinary college student you’d see anywhere.
‘This guy?’
Chairman Park’s eyes narrowed.
He was impossibly young.
Barely in his early twenties.
This mere boy had monopolized relics across the entire nation.
And when summoned, he’d walked in of his own accord without hesitation.
‘Is it confidence, or is he simply foolish?’
He was no ordinary opponent.
But the goods were undeniable.
Just moments ago, his subordinate had returned from inspecting the truck.
A sharp-eyed one with the Observation skill.
-Chairman, it’s genuine. Everything loaded in the truck bed is faintly luminous. Some of them radiate such powerful energy it’s almost blinding.
A treasure vault had rolled in on its own two feet.
Chairman Park composed his expression.
A benevolent smile played at his lips.
The warm, affable laugh of a kindly neighborhood gentleman.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Chairman Park.”
He extended his hand first.
The young man showed no intimidation.
He didn’t glance around nervously or read the room.
He simply approached calmly and clasped hands.
“Kim Jung-seok.”
His grip was firm.
Chairman Park’s eyebrows rose slightly.
‘Kim Jung-seok…’
I turned the name over in my mind.
‘A name I’ve never heard before.’
Chairman Park scrutinized the man once more.
Not small in stature, yet hardly imposing either.
There was no aura of intimidation or killing intent radiating from his frame.
Just a young man worn down by exhaustion, with dark hollows beneath his eyes.
‘Nothing particularly impressive about him.’
Chairman Park lost interest.
What mattered wasn’t the man’s identity, but the items he’d brought.
Surely just some greenhorn who’d barely awakened a single skill.
A naive child with no grasp of reality.
A little persuasion and I’d have him handing over his goods for pennies.
Show the kid a stack of cash and he’d fold immediately.
“I hear you’ve got quite the collection of fascinating pieces. I happen to have a keen interest in antiques, you see. I’ll offer you a fair price….”
“A down payment of 10 billion won.”
The words hung in the air.
Chairman Park’s expression crumpled.
“…What?”
Kim Jung-seok spoke without emotion.
His tone was as dry as someone choosing a lunch menu.
“The price of the goods.”
“….”
“Of course, in cash.”
Kim Jung-seok added as he dropped onto the sofa.
“Clean money that can’t be traced, if you please.”
“…Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped Chairman Park’s lips.
He was speechless.
Ten billion won in cash, just like that.
And he called it a down payment, no less.
He hadn’t even properly examined the goods.
Only because some trinkets loaded on the truck happened to gleam a bit.
“Are you in your right mind?”
Chairman Park’s voice dropped to a dangerous register.
Killing intent seeped from his presence.
The ferocious aura of a king who ruled the Back Alley and had buried countless men.
Most would cower and retreat.
Kim Jung-seok didn’t even blink.
Instead, he crossed his legs and continued speaking.
“The balance is 20 billion.”
“…20 billion?”
“Total of 30 billion. You can inspect the goods and pay once you’ve confirmed they work as advertised.”
It was absurdity piled upon absurdity.
10 billion already sounded insane, and now another 20 billion was tacked on top.
Kim Jung-seok shrugged his shoulders, clearly enjoying Chairman Park’s reaction.
“Of course, if you’d rather not. I’m not forcing anything.”
He made a motion to stand from his seat.
“I’ll just take it to Chairman Shim instead.”
In that instant.
Chairman Park’s eyes sharpened.
“…Chairman Shim?”
Shim Myeong-hwan.
Chairman of Myeongseong Construction and Chairman Park’s lifelong rival.
He too was a ruthless antique collector.
More importantly, rumors were rife that the old man had also “awakened.”
‘He knows.’
Chairman Park looked at Kim Jung-seok again.
This brat understands the game.
How the world is turning right now.
What value these ancient relics will hold in the future.
And even who desires these items most.
He grasped it all perfectly.
‘If Shim Myeong-hwan acquires these items….’
The thought alone was horrifying.
Since the Great Upheaval, the balance of power has been crumbling.
Money and authority are no longer enough.
Now is an era where “power” is needed.
If what’s loaded on that truck is genuine?
If Shim Myeong-hwan monopolizes and arms himself with them?
My organization would become obsolete in an instant.
“Wait.”
Chairman Park called Kim Jung-seok back.
His mind churned with complexity.
The goods were tempting.
But 30 billion was too much.
No matter how flush with money he was, arranging 30 billion in cash on the spot felt burdensome.
Moreover.
‘Insolent brat.’
The young punk was trying to play games over an adult’s head.
Should I just take it by force?
Dispose of him where no one would ever know, and simply claim the truck. Wouldn’t that settle it?
But I hesitated.
‘He’s far too composed.’
Confidence.
A composure bordering on arrogance.
Like walking straight into a tiger’s den and demanding the beast surrender its meat.
Such an attitude would be impossible without something to rely upon.
‘Who’s backing him?’
The fact that he even mentioned Chairman Shim suggested his information network was far from ordinary.
And those eyes.
He clearly possessed a high-tier Appraisal skill that could discern the true value of artifacts.
Touching him carelessly could invite serious retaliation.
Yet my pride refused to simply hand over 30 billion won.
There are limits to excessive profit.
This was blatant extortion.
“Young friend. That’s not how business is conducted.”
Chairman Park withdrew a cigarette and lit it.
“There’s such a thing as a fair price between us, isn’t there? I’ll value the merchandise generously, but 30 billion won is….”
“Your son.”
Kim Jung-seok abruptly cut him off.
Chairman Park’s hand froze.
The lighter’s flame flickered in the empty air.
“…What did you just say?”
“Park Ji-hoon, sir.”
Kim Jung-seok stared at Chairman Park with an expressionless face.
“He’s in a vegetative state, isn’t he? Three years now, I believe.”
Crunch.
The lighter in Chairman Park’s grip crumpled.
His expression hardened completely.
The reverse scale.
I had touched upon something that should never be touched.
My only son.
My precious child who fell into a coma from a mysterious traffic accident three years ago.
It was my greatest pain and my deepest weakness.
Moreover, it was a fact kept in absolute secrecy.
Yet this mere youth knew of it?
“You bastard….”
Dark mana surged from my body.
This time, I truly intended to kill.
“Did you investigate my background? Are you so desperate to die?”
This man is dangerous.
He knows far too much about me.
And he’s attempting to use it as leverage.
I cannot let him live.
“I can save him.”
“…What?”
“Sir, he can be saved.”
Kim Jung-seok didn’t so much as blink.
Instead, he curled the corners of his mouth upward, as if mocking Chairman Park’s murderous intent.
“Modern medicine would be impossible, of course. His brain is damaged.”
He pointed with his finger toward where the truck lay.
“But the object I’ve brought is different. It carries a power that transcends the laws of this world. Used correctly, he can be saved.”
“You’re lying.”
Chairman Park growled.
“Don’t try to con me. Prestigious doctors have given up on the boy—you’re telling me some antique can cure him?”
“If you don’t believe me, suit yourself.”
Kim Jung-seok rose from his seat.
“Then I’ll go to Chairman Shim instead. I hear his wife suffers from a chronic illness as well.”
His footsteps were resolute.
He grasped the door handle.
Chairman Park’s pupils trembled.
It sounded like a lie.
It bore all the hallmarks of a con artist’s typical ploy.
But.
‘What if it’s real?’
The world had changed.
He, once aged and frail, had become a superhuman who bent steel.
Then might miraculous healing not also exist?
That unshakeable confidence.
It was not the gaze of someone uttering falsehoods.
The desperation of a drowning man grasping at straws.
A father’s urgency numbed his reason.
‘If it’s a lie, I’ll feed him to the fish.’
His resolve crystallized.
“Wait!”
Chairman Park cried out urgently.
Kim Jung-seok stopped.
Without turning around.
“The terms remain the same.”
Kim Jung-seok spoke.
“An advance payment of 10 billion won. Right now.”
Chairman Park bit his lip.
He had no choice.
It could be a trap.
It could be a scheme to take the money and run.
But if there was even a 0.1% chance of saving his son.
What did a mere 10 billion won matter?
“…Very well.”
Chairman Park answered with a trembling voice.
“But I have a condition. Save my son first.”
“No.”
Kim Jung-seok turned his head.
His cold gaze pierced through Chairman Park.
“You give me the money first. Treatment comes after.”
“You insolent bastard…!”
“If you don’t trust me, then forget it.”
Kim Jung-seok opened the door.
A gust of cold air rushed in.
A game of nerve and audacity.
Chairman Park was the one in need.
I knew it well.
What his son meant to Chairman Park.
And just how desperate he truly was.
In truth, it didn’t matter when he paid.
I was confident I could collect it regardless.
But to establish the dynamic of our future relationship, I needed to seize the initiative.
“Fine! I’ll do it! I’ll pay, alright!”
In the end, Chairman Park raised the white flag.
He picked up the intercom.
“Have Manager Kim come in. And… open the vault.”
Kim Jung-seok closed the door and returned.
As if he’d expected nothing less.
A smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“A wise decision.”
Kim Jung-seok settled deep into the sofa.
“An excellent investment, Chairman.”
Chairman Park regarded Kim Jung-seok with an expression of utter bewilderment.
‘…What kind of man is this?’
In all his years, he’d never encountered anyone like him.

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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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