The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 59

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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 59
An emerald-hued sea stretched across the white sand beach.
An elderly man lay on a sun lounger beneath a palm tree, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and dark sunglasses, reading a book.
On the ashtray beside him sat a still-smoldering Cuban cigar and a glass of Hibiki 40-year-old Japanese whiskey—among the most expensive varieties—served on the rocks in an old-fashioned tumbler.
The old man’s muscular forearms, neck, and chest were adorned with elaborate tattoos.
“Chairman.”
A burly man approached the elderly figure and whispered near his ear.
“Some uninvited guests have arrived.”
“Uninvited guests?”
The old man lowered his sunglasses slightly as he addressed the man.
“Simply dispose of them as usual.”
Yongpal Trading Company typically resolved such accidental intrusions by simply turning people away.
Let them wander until they starved to death.
It was an exceptionally effective method—no need to get one’s hands bloody.
“These ones came deliberately, sir.”
“Hmm?”
“They wish to conduct business.”
“Information must have leaked somewhere.”
Displeasure saturated the old man’s voice.
Yongpal Trading Company did not conduct business with just anyone.
They only dealt with existing clients and those introduced by existing clients.
The route itself was typically disclosed through HunterLink direct messages or Telegram once an appointment had been arranged in advance.
After all, this was a place where all manner of illegal goods were traded illegally—there was no other way to operate.
“Someone must have carelessly run their mouth.”
“I-I apologize, sir.”
“From now on, manage our clientele properly. If information keeps leaking like this, it will only cause us trouble.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
“They arrived without even booking an appointment….”
The old man.
Wang Yong-sik, chairman of Yongpal Trading Company, raised his torso slightly from the sun lounger.
Cartier, Boucheron, Chrome Hearts, Van Cleef & Arpels—and more.
Rings adorned each knuckle of his fingers, and a Rolex Day-Date gleamed on his wrist as it caught the sunlight.
“Bring them.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Shortly after, two youthful men were dragged forward by Yongpal Trading Company employees.
Wang Yong-sik’s gaze swept across the youngsters who had arrived unannounced and unbidden.
‘This one’s not worth a second glance. Look at how terrified he is—clearly just a lackey. So that means this one… this fellow here?’
Wang Yong-sik’s eyes gleamed.
The young man showed no intimidation whatsoever despite dozens of gun barrels trained upon him from the front; instead, he sat with his legs crossed, wearing a composed smile.
“I apologize for arriving without an appointment. My name is Cha Eun-sung.”
Cha Eun-sung introduced himself with measured politeness.
“Who referred you here?”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot disclose that.”
“Then I have no reason to deal with you.”
One of Wang Yong-sik’s subordinates smoothly pressed a gun barrel against Cha Eun-sung’s temple.
Cha Eun-sung tilted his head slightly, a smile playing at his lips that suggested mild displeasure.
“Your hospitality is rather aggressive.”
“An uninvited guest who shows up without an appointment isn’t a customer—they’re a nuisance.”
“If you continue like this, I won’t be able to help you either….”
“Help?”
Wang Yong-sik let out a derisive snort.
“Listen here, you green little punk. You don’t seem to know who I am. If you try to play games with Wang Yong-sik….”
“It seems you don’t want your grandson to live.”
“…!”
Wang Yong-sik’s eyes wavered.
“How long do you intend to keep your grandson confined in this small world? Though, looking at how things are going out there, perhaps spending his entire life here might be preferable.”
“How… how do you know that…?”
“Well, considering you yourself cannot take a single step outside this place, it’s understandable you wouldn’t give it much thought.”
Crack!
Wang Yong-sik shot to his feet and seized Cha Eun-sung by the collar.
“Who the hell are you? How do you know that? If you don’t speak truthfully, I’ll flay the skin right off you….”
“Let go.”
Cha Eun-sung’s gaze turned glacial as he lifted his head slightly.
He smoothly brushed away Wang Yong-sik’s wrist that gripped his collar.
“Don’t waste emotions on pointless things. Let’s discuss business instead.”
“You…!”
Wang Yong-sik growled but made no move to lay hands on Cha Eun-sung again.
What Cha Eun-sung had said moments before applied not only to Wang Yong-sik but to everyone residing in the Yongpal Trading Company.
* * *
“…Everyone, get back to your duties.”
Wang Yong-sik commanded his subordinates.
“What are you standing around for? Get moving!”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Wang Yong-sik’s men scattered like startled cockroaches.
“Du-hyun, step outside for a moment. I need to speak with this gentleman.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Du-hyun quietly excused himself.
“The sea is beautiful.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Gentle waves rolled onto an emerald-hued beach.
The sea resembled the Indian Ocean.
“Sit there.”
Wang Yong-sik pointed to the seat across from him.
A parasol, table, and chair that looked like they belonged in a resort.
“Whiskey?”
“No, thank you.”
“A cigar?”
“I don’t smoke.”
“I don’t know what joy you find in living this way.”
Wang Yong-sik shook his head as if tired, then lit a cigar between his lips.
“Still thinking about smoking?”
“Hmm?”
“I know you’re in the terminal stages of lung cancer. With metastasis and all, you can’t last a day without medication.”
“How on earth did you come to know that?”
I didn’t bother answering.
There was no reason to tell him, and I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
“Lee Shin has principles, I see. You won’t reveal anything carelessly.”
“It’s my strength.”
“Ruthless for someone so young.”
Wang Yong-sik’s eyes narrowed.
The gaze wasn’t hostile, so I didn’t pay it much mind.
In fact, it was a good sign.
Wang Yong-sik.
The merchant of death was willing to negotiate with me.
“First… for a transaction to happen, I need to acknowledge certain truths. Yes, I’m living on borrowed time, and so is my granddaughter. Living here is…”
“To postpone death, isn’t it? This is a space where everything stands still.”
That was the secret of Yongpal Trading Company.
Time didn’t flow here.
That didn’t mean it operated on a different timeline from the outside world.
Only the natural decay of all matter was suppressed.
Yet that alone gave Yongpal Trading Company an enormous spatial advantage.
Metal doesn’t rust, food doesn’t rot, and humans don’t age or sicken to death.
For instance, if a terminal patient enters this place, the disease’s progression halts.
Since aging also stops, immortality wasn’t theoretically impossible.
“I have many customers who trade with me, but few know that much. How did you…?”
“First, take this.”
“Hmm?”
Wang Yong-sik accepted the slip of paper I offered and furrowed his brow.
“You want me to procure all of this?”
Wang Yong-sik asked me in disbelief.
It was the reaction I’d anticipated.
A stealth bike equipped with a high-performance Etherium battery.
By stealth bike, I meant a vehicle coated generously with Etherium paint to evade the senses of monsters.
The thing was worth well over three billion won, and since it was difficult to procure, Wang Yong-sik’s furrowed brow was a natural response.
On top of that—compact EMPs, explosives, grenades, drones, machine guns, ammunition, and more.
Even in a world where firearms were legalized and one held Hunter status, these weren’t items one could easily obtain.
How many of the goods traded at the black market Yongpal Trading Company were actually legal?
“If I were to ask what you intend to do with all this…”
“I’m afraid I couldn’t provide an answer.”
“Roughly five billion won worth, I’d say. How do you plan to settle the payment?”
“For now, you can put it on account. I’ll pay you back gradually.”
“What?!”
Wang Yong-sik stared at me with an expression of utter disbelief, as if wondering what kind of person he was dealing with.
“You’re asking for credit? Right now?”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d call it an installment plan instead.”
“Hah!”
“You’ll need to leave here. How long do you intend to stay?”
“Leave here…”
“I promise to get you out of here within two years at the latest.”
“Ahem.”
Wang Yong-sik let out a deliberate cough, as if trying to suppress his excitement.
‘He must be desperate to leave. Absolutely desperate.’
I could see right through Wang Yong-sik’s true feelings, and I had to stifle the urge to laugh.
One could argue that if he remained within Yongpal Trading Company, there’d be no need to treat his illness, and the world would be safe—so why would he want to leave?
But such reasoning stemmed from a fundamental lack of understanding about human nature.
Humans cannot live by mere survival alone.
Only by experiencing diverse environments and situations, making their own choices, and moving in the direction they desire do they truly feel alive.
To use an analogy, Yongpal Trading Company was a kind of zoo.
Safe, but that was all there was to it.
The comfort of a cage came at the cost of freedom.
Humans were creatures that instinctively rejected such an existence.
Just like Wang Yong-sik and the others who lived here at Yongpal Trading Company.
“If you’re toying with me… you’ll regret it.”
Wang Yong-sik spoke with a warning edge to his voice, his tone threatening.
“There’s no need to worry about that. I’m well aware that if I played games with the chairman of Yongpal Trading Company, I wouldn’t have enough lives to lose.”
“Slick bastard.”
Wang Yong-sik squinted his eyes and gestured to summon a subordinate who had been waiting at a distance.
“You called for me, Chairman?”
“Prepare everything listed here right now and bring it. For anything we don’t have, place an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
This time, I didn’t wipe away my smile.
A successful deal was always a pleasant thing, after all.
* * *
Inside HunterLink.
“I’m here.”
Choi Yu-ra visited the nest of an old acquaintance.
“Ah, yes. It’s been a while.”
Jung Mu-jin offered Choi Yu-ra a smile.
He was a Hunter belonging to the Regional Defense Army under the Defense Strategy Department, and had been a high school classmate with Choi Yu-ra’s former boyfriend, now deceased.
Perhaps because of that, a photograph of the three of them together—Jung Mu-jin, Choi Yu-ra, and her ex—sat on his desk.
“You haven’t been in touch much.”
“I’ve been busy.”
Choi Yu-ra replied coldly.
“Are you still upset?”
“Upset? No?”
Choi Yu-ra’s words carried a sharp edge.
“There’s nothing to be upset about in the first place. My best friend was murdered, and you expect me to feel hurt toward someone who did nothing about it? That doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“….”
“That person was your friend of twenty years. Yet when your twenty-year friend was murdered by someone, you stayed silent? How does that make any sense?”
“…Da-hee.”
Choi Yu-ra’s real name flowed from Jung Mu-jin’s lips.
“Don’t call me by that name.”
Choi Yu-ra growled.
“Tell me why you called me here. I don’t even want to look at your face.”
“….”
Jung Mu-jin closed his eyes tightly as if composing himself, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Don’t do it.”
“Do what.”
“Seek revenge.”
“Is that it again? You call me here just to say that? You’re quite something. How can you be so cowardly….”
“You’ll die.”
Jung Mu-jin cut off Choi Yu-ra’s words.
“If you take even one more step down that path, you’ll almost certainly die.”
Jung Mu-jin warned her in a low voice.
“When did death ever scare me… Wait. What did you just say?”
Choi Yu-ra sensed something ominous in Jung Mu-jin’s words and furrowed her brow.
“Do you know something?”
“….”
“Tell me.”
“….”
“Tell me.”
Choi Yu-ra pressed Jung Mu-jin urgently.
“Don’t tell me you know who killed your brother?”
“…Yes.”
Jung Mu-jin answered with his eyes squeezed shut.

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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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