Chapter 67: The Private Debt Apocalypse of Yoo Hajin (3)

There was an ancient society in Europe that delved into the spiritual realm. This ancient society was called the Golden Dawn.As the Age of Reason dawned and shamanism was dismissed as mere superstition, the Golden Dawn gradually absorbed the crumbling mystic groups, adapting to the changing times.

Then, when the power of the spiritual realm reached its peak, the Golden Dawn became the shadow government that effectively ruled Europe from behind the scenes.

Thus, the credibility of the Golden Dawn was synonymous with the credibility of European civilization. But to think there could be an individual whose credibility surpassed that of such a civilization...

‘And it’s still rising.’

So, Rebecca, the team leader of the Golden Dawn, couldn't help but tremble as she bowed deeply.

A monster capable of wiping out Europe with mere connections stood before her.

Survival was the only priority now.

Rebecca trembled, putting on the most pitiful display she could muster.

"S-Spare me, please."

****

"S-Spare me, please."

What’s going on all of a sudden?

Team Leader Rebecca is suddenly bowing to me, begging for her life.

What’s gotten into her? Is my credit score really that high?

I didn’t know why, but that wasn’t the point. The important thing was to use Rebecca’s attitude to erase my debt.

“Spare your life, huh.”

I smirked wickedly.

“If you want to live, you’ll have to show some sincerity.”

If you want to live, you better show some sincerity. A complete debt write-off would be a good start.

“S-sincerity? Could it be that you want...?”

Whether she understood or not, Rebecca immediately started moving.

Yes, yes, start by taking off that suit... Wait, why are you taking off your suit instead of pulling out the contract? What the hell?

“Sob, sob. I thought this was a Japanese culture thing. But I see Koreans also do the nude dogeza...”

“W-wait a second!”

Why is this foreign pervert suddenly stripping?

I covered Mini Nayu’s eyes as I spoke.

“You shouldn’t see this kind of thing. Nayu! Cover your eyes too!”

“N-Nayu only half-cover.”

“Don’t just half-cover them, cover them completely!”

Nayu pretended to cover her eyes but was watching the whole scene with wide, curious eyes.

There were ten Mini Nayus, so I couldn’t cover all their eyes either.

“Rebecca. Stop! What the hell are you doing?”

“Sob. I’m showing the utmost respect according to Eastern customs...”

“That’s not what utmost respect looks like! Put your clothes back on!”

After making sure Rebecca was dressed again, I said,

“Sincerity is expressed through this. Like this.”

I made a gesture that mimicked flipping a coin.

A universal sign for money.

“Sob. I’ll take it all off...”

“You understood perfectly, so why are you saying weird things again?”

Suddenly, Rebecca crawled over and clung to my pants leg.

“H-how about collecting at least half of the principal... no, even a quarter of the principal back?”

“A quarter?”

The amount was so massive that even reducing it by half wouldn't make it any easier to pay off. I glanced over at Bishop Oh Seol-hwa.

Bishop Oh Seol-hwa bowed her head and replied, "It might be possible. However..."

"However?"

"It would require sacrificing a lot of our followers."

In that moment, I recalled the scenes I'd witnessed while touring the full course of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

This place was filled with people who had been broken by the psychic powers.

In fact, most of them were like that. And the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult provided free treatment to these individuals.

Now, it seemed that Bishop Oh Seol-hwa was suggesting that paying off the debt would mean giving up on treating some of these people.

“Sigh, this is...”

I turned to Rebecca.

She was looking at me with tearful eyes.

“I’ll repay the debt, just give me some time…”

“Hajin-nim! Our people have become refugees because of the Demon Kings, living on the mercy of the Golden Dawn. If I, as the representative of my people, fail, the Golden Dawn will punish us.”

“What happens if they punish you?”

At that moment, the other women in suits clung to me as well.

“We’ll be banished to that hellish place, where the Demon King rule.”

The Demon King…

They must be talking about that noble one.

To be honest, I was well aware of this situation. Before the Day of Awakening, Seoul didn’t have so many slums. Most of the Korean Peninsula was a safe place.

But after the Day of Awakening, everywhere except the large cities that could maintain the boundary barriers became dangerous.

Sending a single delivery would cost ten times the usual delivery fee.

The whole world had changed like this. And Europe, in particular, had the worst refugee crisis.

With Africa completely devastated, refugees flooded in, and more than half of Europe was contaminated with strange phenomena.

Rebecca’s people must be among the refugees who arose from that chaos.

“Please, even if it’s just a quarter...!”

“Whatever decision you make, our cult will follow.”

My head was pounding.

Why was I the one making this decision?

The suffering followers of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

The unseen people of Rebecca's nation?

I don’t want to make decisions like this, dammit!!!

But in the end, I made up my mind.

Come to think of it, there was a way out of this, wasn’t there?

“Rebecca.”

“Yes.”

“Does your Golden Dawn deal in information too? Do you buy good information for a high price?”

“Of-of course.”

I opened the door in front and said,

“Then wait right here. Today, I’m paying off all the debt and making the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult rich.”

****

I headed back to the Heavenly Ordeal Sect.

Why? Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Because there was some incredible information.

I distinctly remembered seeing documents detailing the horrific atrocities committed by VIPs, along with evidence of those crimes.

It was likely information the Heavenly Ordeal Sect had gathered to hold leverage over these VIPs.

Among those VIPs were many foreigners

In other words, it was a truly global collection of data.

Even to someone as clueless as me, it was obvious that this information was incredibly valuable.

Just exposing one of the VVIPs listed in those files would be enough to wipe out the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s debt cleanly.

‘Yoo Hajin, you idiot.’

How could I leave such critical information just lying in a trash bin?

Back then, I was too pissed off to even consider using it.

Soon, I arrived in front of the Heavenly Ordeal Sect building, and I quickly got out and jumped into the elevator, heading straight for the Heavenly Ordeal Sect.

Ding-dong—the sect was eerily quiet.

Could it be that everyone’s been killed by the Heavenly punishment?

The thought sent chills down my spine.

But then again, is a Heavenly punishment even real?

Harin did say it existed, though.

“In a world where ghosts exist, I guess Heavenly punishment do too.”

I shook my head and started rummaging through the trash bin.

“Found it.”

It was a thick bundle of files.

Documents detailing the atrocities committed by the VIPs.

The Heavenly Ordeal Sect had convinced me that to avoid heavenly punishment, they needed to know about the evil deeds these VIPs had committed, hence these files.

With both hands full of the documents, I was about to leave the sect when I heard a strange noise behind me.

“Ki-gek.”

“A-gak.”

What the hell was that sound?

Was it a human making that noise?

It was too eerie to be a person.

So naturally, I moved in the opposite direction from where the sound was coming.

Curiosity kills, after all. There was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

I quickly got into the elevator and exited the Heavenly Ordeal Sect.

****

Deep within the Heavenly Ordeal Sect, a man murmured to himself.

He yawned, wearing a lazy expression.

“Hmm, a master. Not falling for the temptation, I see.”

The Heavenly Ordeal Sect had now become something akin to a half-hell.

No, in some ways, it was even worse than the Demon King's hell.

Nagu of the Heavenly Ordeal Sect, despite being horrifically broken beyond words, continued to speak. It was a miracle that she was still alive.

“Ki-gek.”

“A-gak.”

“Kill me, please. Baekdu Jo Baek-nim, I beg you.”

Why was Nagu still alive? It was because Baekdu Jo Baek had opened his Ghost Gate.

The name of this Ghost Gate was the Gate of Life and Death Annihilation. It was a Ghost Gate that erased the very concept of 'death' in the area it was deployed.

The influence of this Ghost Gate now spread across the entire floor where the Heavenly Ordeal Sect was located.

In a place where the concept of death was nonexistent, those who feared death were inevitably drawn in.

However, the intruder had entered the Heavenly Ordeal Sect, taken something, and left immediately.

“What incredible mental fortitude. Are you not afraid of death?”

As a result, Jo Baek had no choice but to acknowledge the intruder. At that moment, Nagu, half-mad, screamed out.

“Monster! How can a monster like you strut around like you own the world?! Kill me! Please, kill me!”

“Why do you want to die?”

Jo Baek asked in a languid tone.

“If you die, your soul will merely reincarnate. Do you wish to repeat such a painful life?”

“I don’t care about any of that! Just kill me! You wretched bastard!!!”

Nagu's body was quartered.

Yet Nagu was still alive.

And Nagu couldn’t endure that fact.

Jo Baek, however, just shook his head as if he found the whole thing bothersome.

“You think I’m wicked? No, we Baekdu are the absolute good. We are the ones who will sever the cycle of reincarnation created by the noble one.”

“Hah, what a joke! You call yourselves good? The day truth rains down like a storm will eventually...”

At that moment, all the Heavenly Ordeal Sect members, who had either lost their lower halves or been sliced into cubes, were sucked into the Ghost Gate.

Some, with only their upper faces remaining, silently screamed without lungs, while hearts, still beating after being ripped from their owners, pulsed with the question, ‘Why am I still alive?’

None of the Heavenly Ordeal Sect members could die.

Nagu muttered as she witnessed this.

“Please, just stop.”

“Nagu, bear the consequences of failing to fulfill Heaven's command with your body.”

“Please. I don’t want to go in there. Please, no.”

After the Ghost Gate had swallowed everything, Jo Baek spoke.

“Should I chase after the intruder? I’m so sleepy.”

But Jo Baek didn’t move.

He found it too bothersome to pursue the intruder.

“Since the scent is likely still lingering, maybe I’ll leave it to the newly appointed Baekdu, the Tiger. She is already a Baekdu, huh? Truly an incredible genius.”

With a traditional Korean flair, Jo Baek, who had passed the troublesome task onto his junior, stepped into the still-open Ghost Gate.

“The demon's gate opens, Chnage, Enter the ghost gate.”

And then, he vanished.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

TL: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead of the release here on Patreon: /Bill94

Join Our Discord for regular updates and have fun with other community members: invite/SqWtJpPtm9 ]