The Mage Who Devours Disasters - Chapter 23

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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 23.
Park Ji-hoon.
Chairman Park’s only son and heir.
The reason I remember him is simple.
He is a powerhouse.
An exceptionally formidable one at that.
According to the original timeline, he awakens one year from now.
It was thanks to the ‘Elixir’ that Chairman Park procured by liquidating his entire fortune.
Upon awakening, he immediately distinguished himself.
Overwhelming might. A cruel disposition.
He inherited his father’s organization and unified the Underworld.
People called him the ‘Demon King.’
But I am certain of one thing.
He is not The Deity’s avatar.
The reason is paradoxical—it stems from his very nature.
Ruthlessly self-centered.
Singularly devoted to his own advancement.
Even as humanity crumbled, he couldn’t be bothered.
When the Final Party ascended the Tower, he did not participate.
-Why should I? Go ahead and die if you wish.
He remained on Earth, content to reign as king.
Had he been The Deity’s avatar?
He would have infiltrated the Fellowship by any means and sabotaged them from within.
That is their way—to corrupt from the inside.
But Park Ji-hoon did not.
That absolute selfishness.
It was proof that he remained human.
‘Useful.’
It depends on how one handles him.
Give him money and power, and he becomes an excellent chess piece.
Knock, knock.
The sound shattered my reverie.
The door opened, and men in black suits filed in.
Apple boxes were clutched in their hands.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The boxes stacked upon the table.
Ten in total.
Chairman Park wiped his brow and spoke.
“One billion won. Verify it yourself.”
I did not even glance at the boxes.
“That’s enough.”
“…You’re not going to count it?”
“Chairman Park isn’t the type to gamble with his own son’s life.”
Chairman Park’s eyes twitched.
I’d struck a nerve.
He was desperate—grasping at straws.
Terrified that I might take offense and refuse treatment.
There was no way he’d play games with money in such circumstances.
“Let’s go at once.”
I rose from my seat.
“To the Hospital.”
* * *
Korea University Hospital’s VIP Ward.
I breached the fortress-like security and entered the Hospital Room.
“…”
Silence reigned.
Only the rhythmic beeping of machines.
A man lay upon the bed.
Park Ji-hoon.
I approached the bedside.
It was far worse than I’d imagined.
Three years was a long time.
His muscles had withered to skeletal thinness, his skin pale—nearly translucent.
He clung to life by the thinnest thread, sustained only by the oxygen mask.
‘This is the Demon King Park Ji-hoon?’
The imposing figure from the future was nowhere to be found.
Only a patient awaiting death remained.
Chairman Park stood beside me.
His hands trembled ever so slightly.
“…Can you save him?”
His voice wavered with emotion.
Even the mighty Chairman Park was merely a weak father before his son.
Instead of answering, I reached into my garments.
I withdrew the prepared item.
One of the relics I’d obtained from Daegu Antique Street.
A jade vial, no larger than a fist.
As I uncorked it, a subtle fragrance suffused the Hospital Room.
“What is that?”
Chairman Park furrowed his brow and asked.
His gaze traced across the jade vial.
He too is an Awakened One.
He must possess skills from the ‘observation’ or ’emotion’ categories.
The information about this jade vessel reflected in his eyes would have been utterly unremarkable.
[Fragrant Jade Vessel].
Grade: Normal.
Its function was merely to emit a subtle fragrance when the lid was opened—nothing more than an ordinary decorative piece.
“Are you joking? You’re going to heal my son with nothing but an air freshener?”
Chairman Park’s voice bristled with fury.
His son’s life hung in the balance.
If this seemed like a jest, he looked ready to draw a gun on the spot.
I walked calmly toward the water purifier in the corner of the hospital room.
“It appears that way on the surface.”
I filled a paper cup with water.
Then I poured the water into the jade vessel.
“But this artifact possesses a hidden option.”
I returned to the bed, holding the jade vessel with water sloshing inside.
Chairman Park watched my hand with suspicious eyes.
Without hesitation, I drove the vessel down against the floor.
Crash!
“What, what are you doing!”
Chairman Park cried out in shock.
Sharp fragments scattered in all directions.
But.
“…Huh?”
Chairman Park’s eyes widened in astonishment.
The floor remained dry.
Instead of scattering across the room, the water inside the vessel rose into the air and coalesced into a single sphere.
A water droplet shimmering with a luminous emerald hue.
A dense vital force permeated the entire room.
“What, what is this…?”
“The jade vessel’s true purpose is ‘purification.’ It’s a single-use alchemical tool that transforms ordinary water into elixir of life.”
I placed the floating water droplet upon my palm.
‘Lesser Elixir.’
While not the legendary panacea said to revive even the dead, it was sufficient to grasp the lifeline of someone on the brink of death.
But this alone is not enough.
I retrieved another item from my inventory.
A corroded bronze mirror.
It was the ‘Mirror of Truth’ I had purchased from an antique dealer on Daegu Antique Street for one hundred thousand won.
“What’s that supposed to be? Just a worthless old mirror.”
“Park Ji-hoon’s inability to awaken is not merely a matter of the body.”
I held the mirror up to Park Ji-hoon’s face.
“His brain is not perceiving reality. He’s fallen into a state of hallucination. Even if his body recovers, if his mind doesn’t return, he’ll remain in a vegetative state.”
Hallucination.
Perception without an object.
Park Ji-hoon’s consciousness was wandering through the labyrinth of his unconscious mind.
This mirror maximizes resistance to illusion-type magic.
In other words, it was a compass that shattered fantasies and revealed reality.
Finally, I retrieved a ring.
‘Ring of Vitality.’
An item that amplified regenerative ability.
I slipped the ring onto Park Ji-hoon’s emaciated ring finger.
“Preparations are complete.”
I brought the elixir of life to Park Ji-hoon’s lips.
Opening his mouth, I let luminous droplets fall.
Gulp.
His throat moved.
Simultaneously, I infused mana into the bronze mirror.
Uuuuung!
A faint light burst from the mirror’s surface, illuminating Park Ji-hoon’s face.
“Ugh, ahhhhh…!”
Park Ji-hoon’s body arched like a bow.
He trembled violently throughout.
Cold sweat poured down like rain, and his eyes darted frantically beneath his closed eyelids.
The elixir of life was breaking through the blocked circuits, while the mirror’s light was dragging his consciousness back to reality.
But it wasn’t enough.
‘I’ll repair the mana circuits.’
The circuits were damaged.
Tangled and twisted, they were on the verge of exploding like a bomb.
Touching another’s mana circuits was dangerous, but there was no time.
If I missed this golden window, I would never awaken Park Ji-hoon.
Ten minutes passed.
I barely managed to reconnect the damaged circuits.
Yet Park Ji-hoon still did not open his eyes.
Silence descended once more.
“…Did it fail?”
Chairman Park’s face turned ashen.
His disappointment was transforming into rage as his hopes had been so great.
He glared at me, his fists clenching tightly.
“It was a scam after all. How dare you toy with my son…!”
“Not yet.”
I shook my head and continued speaking.
“The path has opened. But stepping through that door—that is his burden alone.”
I looked toward Chairman Park.
“Call his name.”
“…His name?”
“Right now, Park Ji-hoon stands before that threshold. But he’s lost between reality and dream. You must call him across with the voice most familiar to him.”
A landmark to guide him back to reality.
That role was not mine to fulfill.
Only his blood father could do it.
Chairman Park swallowed hard.
With trembling hands, he grasped his son’s hand.
Then he leaned close to his ear and whispered.
“Ji-hoon.”
His voice cracked.
“Ji-hoon… It’s your father. Can you hear me?”
There was no answer.
Chairman Park’s eyes reddened at the rims.
He called out with even greater desperation, louder still.
“Ji-hoon! Please… Open your eyes! Dad is here!”
A cry bordering on anguish.
Did that voice reach him?
A twitch.
Park Ji-hoon’s fingers moved ever so slightly.
And then.
Slowly.
His tightly shut eyelashes trembled, then gradually lifted open.
Unfocused eyes wandered through the void before fixing upon the face of the man before him.
“…Dad?”
A hoarse whisper.
But unmistakably a call.
“…!”
Chairman Park’s eyes widened.
His breath caught in his throat.
“Ji, Ji-hoon…! Do you recognize me? It’s me! Your father!”
“Fa…ther….”
Park Ji-hoon smiled with great effort.
It was reality.
After three years, his son had returned.
With a fierce embrace!
Chairman Park pulled his son into a powerful hold.
Pride meant nothing to him.
He wept like a child, stroking his son’s gaunt back.
“Thank you… thank you for living….”
The hospital room became a sea of tears.
I quietly pocketed the bronze mirror.
My work was done.
The Demon King Park Ji-hoon had awakened.
Now he would rapidly expand his power based on Father Chairman Park’s Organization.
Even for personal advancement, he would strive to protect Korea, his true stronghold.
Leaving the overwhelmed father and son behind, I opened the hospital room door.
Manager Kim waited anxiously in the Hospital Corridor.
The moment he saw me, he asked with visible tension.
“W-well, how did it go?”
I grinned and gave him a thumbs up.
“Prepare the final payment.”
* * *
The contract with Chairman Park proceeded without a hitch.
“From now on, I’ll entrust all authority regarding artifacts to you, Teacher Kim. The price? Whatever you ask. Just give us first priority.”
I had even earned the title of “Teacher Kim.”
Boundless trust.
It was a natural response after witnessing the miracle of a dying son brought back to life.
He treated me as his savior, a benefactor of life itself, and as someone with incomparable power.
He promised to transfer the final payment of 20 billion won immediately.
I returned to my Studio Apartment with a light heart.
And the next day.
Knock, knock, knock.
I heard someone knocking on the Entrance Door.
Assuming it was Manager Kim, I opened it.
But standing outside was someone I hadn’t expected.
“…Park Ji-hoon?”
His face was still pale, color not yet fully returned.
A man in a loose black suit instead of hospital garb.
It was the Demon King Park Ji-hoon, who had been lying in that hospital bed.
He carried a thick bag in his hand.
“I’ve brought the final payment.”
“Why come yourself instead of sending someone else….”
The moment I reached out to take the bag.
Thud!
Park Ji-hoon dropped to his knees right there.
And as if that weren’t enough, he slammed his forehead against the floor.
He prostrated himself flat on the ground.
“…?”
I stared down at him, utterly bewildered.
What kind of situation was this?
Whether I was flustered or not, Park Ji-hoon suddenly jerked his head up and cried out.
“Brother! Please accept me!”

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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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