The Regressed Martial God Monopolizes Everything - Chapter 89

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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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Episode 89. Tectonic Shift (4)
Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
Before the Towers emerged, it had once been called the center of politics, though nowadays such things were erased from textbooks in favor of a different epithet entirely—a title this land had earned through far graver means.
The World Hunter Association’s East Asia Branch.
Korea, China, and Japan—competing for supremacy behind only the United States and Britain.
Combined, their strength dwarfed Europe entire, and the Association had deliberately established this branch with its peculiar architecture to contain what amounted to a powder keg, three nations forever at each other’s throats.
Yet even that bitter rivalry between the three proved insufficient to explain the danger. The narrow peninsula itself harbored the Top Ten Guilds, a structure that bred constant turmoil—and so the Association had done something unprecedented: they had constructed a Power-Dampening Zone.
Jeong Hyun-soo descended into a space born of magic, a creation attributed to Association Chairman Seon Woo-hyun himself, and paused to study the Magic Circle that reduced every Superhuman in its radius to an ordinary person in a heartbeat.
‘Cowardly bastard.’
Of course, Seon Woo-hyun himself was exempt.
It was a holding cell for Superhumans too hot-blooded to resist measuring their strength against one another—a space where only he existed undiminished.
Here was both his cliff’s edge, his escape route when disaster struck, and the perfect ground to eliminate any rival he deemed worthy of erasure.
Though none of this was yet public knowledge. The elite at the apex might have glimpsed Seon Woo-hyun’s true nature, but…
“Ah, if it isn’t our savior himself.”
Jeong Hyun-soo lifted his gaze at the voice breaking his reverie. There stood a middle-aged man of strong build, his stubborn jaw cut an impressive figure.
It was Seon Woo-hui, Vice-Chairman of Ilseong, known colloquially as the Little Giant.
“I trust you’ve been well?”
Seon Woo-hui broke into a hearty laugh at Jeong Hyun-soo’s greeting.
“Oh, you know—same as ever. So much work that I sleep and wake to find a year’s gone by.”
Though his title was Vice-Chairman, he had been managing the succession ever since the late Chairman Seon Woo-cheol, the previous patriarch and Seon Woo-hyun’s elder, had passed.
‘In his position, how much of Songkwang’s interests he manages to strip away will matter enormously.’
Outwardly, it looked like he was building appeal with shareholders and Ilseong Group executives, but the real audience was obvious: he had to prove his competence and utility to Chairman Seon Woo-hyun.
“By the way, how is Chairman Jeong?”
“He’ll join us once the Gate assault is concluded.”
“Always busy, that one too. Ha, ha.”
He wore a smile of warmth, yet Seon Woo-hui was arguably the most dangerous Hunter in modern Korea.
At the slightest opening, he would swallow Garam whole.
Using the Magical Revolution built from Jeong Su-jin’s theories, he had become a force to rival America itself—and the number of top-tier guilds he had dismantled spoke volumes.
“Come, then. Shall we?”
One of the Top Ten Guilds lay in ruin, and the remaining beasts circled the vacant throne—yet he moved with the leisure of a king surveying his domain.
Truly, Seon Woo-hui carried himself as the undisputed sovereign of the present age, a mage spoken of in one breath with the Grand Magus himself.
Jeong Hyun-soo showed no deference before such a figure.
His attendants cast disapproving glances, but Jeong Hyun-soo paid them no mind.
“So, any women in your life these days?”
“As you can see, I’m far too occupied.”
“Ha! Well, that’s the age for it, isn’t it?”
The two exchanged easy banter.
Seon Woo-hui could have brought up the recent tournament incident or the Songkwang matter, but he did neither.
‘Ilseong probably knew all along.’
They had been indulging Songkwang, waiting for the moment to yank the leash and rein them in.
Chae Mu-sik of Songkwang had grasped this too, and planned to break through using only overwhelming force—the immortality function he craved.
From the start, Songkwang had been nothing more than a tool for his own advancement.
Tap—tap—
As they walked, Jeong Hyun-soo felt a searing gaze lock onto his profile.
It radiated not mere intensity but naked combativeness—raw killing intent made manifest.
“Go on, greet my boy here.”
Jeong Hyun-soo remained unmoved at Seon Woo-hui’s words.
“It’s been a while, Hyun-soo. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. I was a bit worried you might have.”
Seon Woo-jin approached with playful banter, but Jeong Hyun-soo knew intimately the bear beneath that pleasant exterior.
The public image of bears was endearingly clumsy, cute—creatures now extinct—but that was myth.
They prowled as if ignorant, feigning disinterest, then suddenly lunged to tear living prey apart while it still breathed, savage beyond measure.
Their ferocity rivaled any beast in nature.
To the masses, Seon Woo-jin appeared an affable tycoon and top-tier Hunter, but his true face was that of the vanguard behind Ilseong’s guild assaults—a cold-blooded operator who had torn through his own siblings to rise as the designated heir.
Now, even as Seon Woo-jin smiled at Jeong Hyun-soo, annoyance churned beneath the surface.
‘He caught Chae Mu-sik?’
Seon Woo-jin had received the full briefing on Songkwang’s destruction alongside others, but the account of Jeong Hyun-soo directly confronting Chae Mu-sik struck him as surely embellished.
The reality was almost certainly a coordinated strategy between Hanul and Garam guilds, a gambit to elevate the Sacred Being ahead of their impending marriage bond.
After all, hadn’t idolization always been essential in grooming successors?
Of course, beneath that facade, Seon Woo-jin offered a brilliant smile.
“Man, Hyun-soo, you’re something else. You really pulled off a feat. Huh? I’d better get my head in the game too.”
“You should stay sharp at all times. Inseok.”
“That’s what our father says. Thanks to him, I’ve become the less trustworthy son.”
At the sight of the two men resembling a comfortable father and son, Jeong Hyun-soo smiled faintly as well.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth. We still have a long way to go.”
Since those two were wearing masks, Jeong Hyun-soo would naturally don one as well.
“Anyway, let’s see each other often from now on.”
“Of course.”
The situation would inevitably unfold that way. Both exchanged meaningful glances and extended their hands.
Seon Woo-jin was certainly no novice. He didn’t resort to petty provocations or foolish displays of magical power to assert physical dominance.
He simply held firm, maintaining his composure.
He was acutely aware of Garam closing in rapidly behind, conscious of Ilseong’s posture, and equally mindful of the reporters observing the scene.
“Well, we can deepen our bond over drinks later. Let’s head inside for now.”
Together with Seon Woo-hui, Jeong Hyun-soo entered the conference chamber, where the use of magical power was restricted.
“Well, looks like we have a guest.”
“It’s been a while, sir.”
“How have you been, Chairman Park?”
It was Park Seok-dae, the chairman of the Mirae Guild.
“All is well, I trust?”
Chairman Park’s gaze soon shifted to Jeong Hyun-soo.
Unlike Seon Woo-hui, who concealed his true feelings behind laughter, the Mirae Guild chairman’s eyes betrayed unconcealed contempt.
Such blatant hostility might have made others uncomfortable, but Jeong Hyun-soo made no move to avoid it.
After all, this man was expendable. Moreover, he was one of the key nodes in the disinformation network Jeong Hyun-soo was targeting.
“Can’t even greet an elder properly, you little punk?”
It was crude, contemptuous speech that revealed his notorious arrogance in its full nakedness.
There was wisdom in the old saying: as you sow, so shall you reap. Where Park Seok-min had planted seeds, Park Young-soo had grown.
“Greetings, sir.”
Of course, Jeong Hyun-soo had no intention of matching his tone.
“Didn’t you hear? I said you can’t.”
“I understand.”
For Park Min-gyu, Jeong Hyun-soo represented a future where his successor had been publicly dismantled and his Platinum Hunter had been broken, reducing him to a laughingstock.
When the public relations department had reported that the damage from that blow, calculated in monetary terms, exceeded a hundred billion won, how his blood had boiled.
All because of one man.
And that anger directed at Garam—someone he’d once looked down upon—was something Park Min-gyu was determined to repay many times over.
Other figures soon appeared as well.
Ji Sang-wook of the Hanul Guild, Kim Min-gi, chairman of the Myeongguk Guild, and Jo Myung-heon, chairman of the Sodam Guild, made their entrance.
And finally.
“My apologies for the late arrival.”
Han Do-hyun, the master of Seonhwa, appeared alongside Jeong Cheol of Garam.
Unlike the other chairmen, Han Do-hyun, though leading one of the top-tier guilds, maintained an extremely low public profile.
Jeong Hyun-soo gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgment.
“…What? Does that guy know you?”
At Park Min-gyu’s words, Han Do-hyun’s expression grew slightly uncomfortable.
“How could one not know Garam’s Sacred Being?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“…We’re meeting for the first time. So you’re Hyun-soo. I’ve heard good things about your accomplishments.”
Han Do-hyun extended his hand for a handshake, and Jeong Hyun-soo bowed respectfully and grasped it.
……
Park Min-gyu’s expression twisted further. Though Jeong Hyun-soo had greeted him as well, something about his demeanor felt distinctly off to the chairman.
“…Everyone, take your seats.”
At Seon Woo-hui’s command from the head seat, where he had been carefully observing the situation, everyone sat.
“Those without qualifications should remain standing.”
It was a barb directed at Jeong Hyun-soo, who had been invited not as a chairman but as an attendant. Instead of responding, he took his position behind Jeong Cheol.
“Hmm… What is this, some kind of caste system? The boy just got out of the hospital not long ago.”
At Ji Sang-wook’s words, Park Min-gyu let out a derisive snort.
“Already looking out for your future son-in-law? That’s enough, Chairman Ji. A rule is a rule.”
“I’m fine with this, Chairman.”
Jeong Hyun-soo remained standing behind Jeong Cheol.
“Since this will drag on endlessly otherwise, shall we begin with the agenda?”
The chairman of Myeongguk Guild nodded and opened his mouth.
“As you know, since Songkwang Guild is absent, we’ve arranged this meeting to swiftly divide and assume the mandatory territories that were previously held by Songkwang.”
Since Seon Woo-hui served as chairman, Seon Woo-jin, standing in as vice-chairman of Ilseong, took up the thread immediately.
“Currently, Songkwang has lost influence everywhere except the Pyongyang and Hwanghae Province regions. They’re still obligated to guard the Gaema Plateau and the northern reaches of Hamgyong Province—the northernmost territories in North Korea. The Siberian Ice Realm. It’s a harsh environment with permafrost, but the rewards from the Gates that spawn there are quite generous.”
A textbook example of high risk, high return. It was a position Chae Mu-sik had volunteered to take on.
At first, everyone was wary, but if they harvested the rewards according to Chae Mu-sik’s methods, it would certainly benefit the guild both in terms of capital and influence.
And once everyone was convinced of that, they came to claim their share.
“Before that, I’d like to formally declare here that we hold proxy votes from the guild masters unable to attend this meeting.”
Three of the absent guild masters had submitted proxy votes supporting Ilseong’s position.
Park Min-gyu looked at Seon Woo-hui seated at the head of the table and offered a meaningful smile.
“You’ve made moves while we weren’t looking?”
“Moves? Chairman Park, I was simply fortunate. Heh heh.”
Ilseong had offered sufficient incentives even without seizing North Hamgyong.
Ilseong’s aim was to build their power base in Hamgyong Province, even if it meant taking immediate losses.
As the meeting unfolded, Jeong Hyun-soo fixed his gaze across the room with a meaningful look.
“…?”
The guild master of Seonhwa met his eyes and tilted his head in confusion.
Continued in the next chapter ▶
The Monopolizing Return Martial God
Author
Cheon Ya
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries [email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260515012
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Violators may face criminal and civil legal consequences.
※ Pentagram welcomes precious manuscripts from writers.

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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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