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Chapter 20 — A Prestigious Raider Family’s Youngest Son (4)
Lee JaeSang looked at JaeHyun with a shocked expression at the words that fell from JaeHyun’s lips.
“I’m investing in you because I think you have talent, Senior. How can investing be easy? There are also times when one fails.”
For some reason, he could feel his heart beating quickly.
Had he ever received such respect before in his life?
Until now, Lee JaeSang had been living in pain since he was born into the Lee family.
It was because he wasn’t as skilled at battle as his siblings and was more cowardly.
And because his mother had passed away early.
And also because he couldn’t receive his father’s acknowledgement.
For these reasons, he had lived while blaming himself. As such, having someone believe in him was something that Lee JaeSang couldn’t even imagine.
However—
To him, who was always ignored and compared to others, JaeHyun had said the opposite.
It was alright to fail.
Those words had the biggest effect on Lee JaeSang’s mind.
Lee JaeShin and the Lee family had always taught him that failure was not acceptable. That he had to put others below him. They told him that he must always be better than others.
But what did Min JaeHyun do?
He told him that he would invest in him and that it was ok to fail. And he praised the elixirs he had sold in the black market as ones of great quality.
“Pill. Won’t you make it for me?”
JaeHyun asked carefully. Lee JaeSang recalled the words JaeHyun told him and remained dazed for a moment.
Until now, he’d thought that others having expectations of him was nothing but a burden.
But currently, it felt different.
In a way, a not-so-bad beat ran through his body.
Soon, Lee JaeSang’s face relaxed for the first time, and determination filled his eyes.
“I-I-I-I’ll… try to make the pill o-once.”
“Thank you, Senior. I’ll also come visit everyday, so if there’s anything I can do, just tell me. And here.”
JaeHyun ripped out a piece of paper that had his phone number and stretched it out toward Lee JaeSang.
“This is my number. If there’s any item or equipment you still need—or you get attacked by ruffians like earlier—just give me a call.”
At JaeHyun’s words, Lee JaeSang was moved. While looking worried, he asked.
“B-B-B-B-B-But… if I d-did that and y-y-you got punished…”
“It’s okay. In any case, those gangsters would also be punished because of what they did to you, right?”
“Th-That’s true ,but…”
“Don’t worry. If they want to report me, they would have to be ready to be punished themselves… There’s no way they would take the chance with how difficult it is to enter Millaes Academy. And—”
Lee JaeSang seemed quite surprised by JaeHyun’s sly expression. JaeHyun added with a smirk.
“I have a trustworthy backer.”
***
<At the same time>
Sitting on a bench in the training hall, Yoo Sung-Eun felt her nose itch. The sensation which traveled up inside her nose resulted in—
“Achoo!”
“Guildmaster, did you catch a cold by any chance? You’re even sneezing.”
Park SungJae said as he quickly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Yoo Sung-Eun covered her mouth with the handkerchief and sneezed one more time.
She answered in a stuffy voice.
“No. I think it’s just random sneezes.”
“Haha. It seems like someone is saying bad things about you… but there’s no way that’s true. Haha…”
With a flinch, Park Sung Jae quickly added the second comment at the dark glare Yoo Sung-Eun started to send his way.
But he seemed to have reacted too late, as Yoo Sung-Eun pinched his arm with narrowed eyes. Although she didn’t put a lot of force, it was still a pinch from an S-rank raider.
Park SungJae tolerated the pain as he looked at You Sung-Eun, who was glaring at him dully.
“It sounds like I did a lot of things people might curse me about. Is that right?”
“A-Ack, Th-That isn’t what I meant…”
You Sung-Eun turned away from Park Sung Jae, stood up from her seat, and gathered her mana. Park Sung Jae shivered at her voice which brought out feelings of terror for the first time in a while.
‘It might take 2 days this time…’
With cold sweat flowing down his back, Park SungJae wondered about what to eat for dinner. It was a time-honored fact that women had a weakness for food.
***
JaeHyun, who came out of Lee JaeSang’s workroom, took another portal back to Seoul.
Afterwards, he met Park SungJae and Yoo Sung-Eun, who had an ambiguous air around them, at Yeonhwa Guild. The spar took about 2 hours, which wasn’t very long, but he was dead tired.
However, signs of exhaustion could not be found on JaeHyun’s face. The curved-up corners of his lips showed no signs of coming down.
‘I succeeded in bringing Lee JaeSang to my side. It’s a good start. It would be great to have him become my potion/elixir shuttle.’
After Yoo Sung-Eun, he added another card in his hands which would be immensely helpful.
‘If Yoo Sung-Eun is someone who can help me in the present, Lee JaeSang will be of great help in the future. As expected, my silver tongue really is great.’
JaeHyun nodded slightly with a triumphant expression.
In fact, the thing that decisively convinced Lee JaeSang was ‘praise’.
Since, to Lee JaeSang—who was born as the youngest in a prestigious family but was more used to criticism—it was priceless.
JaeHyun used such a gap toward Lee JaeSang.
“It was fortunate that I thought to buy a potion Lee Jae Sang brewed from the black market ahead of time.”
Before encountering the Night Shade in the past, Jae Hyun had bought some Mana Recovery Potions created by Lee Jaesang from the black market.
It was because the potion which cost at least 1 million won in an open-market was not even half that price at the black market.
Even among those, Lee JaeSang’s potions were especially clear and inexpensive. The potion he showed Lee JaeSang today was the only one he had left.
Of course, at the time he bought them, he hadn’t dreamed that it would be used this way.
‘Unlike his father, Lee JaeSang didn’t have any talent as a raider. Although Awakened, he was only a little better than a normal person. But even so, to kick out his son like that…’
Lee JaeShin and the rest of the Lee family coldly drove Lee JaeSang out when they found out he had no talent as a raider. They helped him until he enrolled to Millaes Academy but didn’t provide him with anything more after that.
His father and siblings who were blood-related to him all turned their backs on him, and Lee JaeSang had nowhere to return to.
It was as if he had suddenly become an orphan.
In such a tragic situation, Lee JaeSang found his talent.
Alchemy.
While handling elixirs and medicinal materials, he felt joy that he’d never felt before.
Although an alchemist didn’t personally fight against monsters on the frontlines, they played a big role in the survival of those that did.
Rather than attacking and injuring, Lee JaeSang preferred to heal those who were injured. That was why he was learning alchemy behind his family’s back.
‘As expected, nothing works better than using the chips in a person’s armor when trying to win them over.’
As a result, JaeHyun succeeded in winning Lee JaeSang over.
Afterwards, he planned to earn money and help him set up an apothecary if they got along. Of course, with the condition that the profits were shared 1:1 between them.
‘I can probably gather all my money and invest in this.’
Walking busily as he thought of his plans for the future, JaeHyun suddenly stopped.
At the last corner in the alley leading to his house… he was able to have an unexpected encounter.
As if they had been waiting for him, four young men wearing black suits and sunglasses surrounded him as they asked.
“Are you Min JaeHyun?”
When Jae Hyun didn’t answer right away, they started to take out magic tools from their clothes—
clearly the act of an enemy.
But JaeHyun merely sighed as he watched the men take out magic weapons.
‘I’m not sure what this is about, but I don’t think they’ll let me go home quietly… I’m already pretty tired, too. So annoying.’
The four men who surrounded JaeHyun pointed their daggers at him.
JaeHyun scoffed.
‘Is that D-ranked Warrior equipment… Are they planning to attack a Millaes Academy cadet with something like that?’
Of course, he was still a prospective student, but JaeHyun was already a lot stronger than the average cadet. Just this afternoon, he had easily defeated cadets much older than him while helping Lee JaeSang.
But the men in front of him, though adults and larger, were weaker than those cadets.
Although Awakened, they were at a level so weak that he almost couldn’t feel their mana. It was only natural that JaeHyun thought the situation ridiculous.
After letting out a sigh, JaeHyun yelled without a change in his expression.
“How can you block the road? It’s not like it belongs to you. Why don’t you move aside while I’m asking nicely?”
“Hy-Hyungnim. He seems like a short-tempered brat like we heard.”
“Y-You’re right. He’s insane just like SunJae-hyungnim said.”
SunJae-hyungnim?
That’s when JaeHyun realized who had ordered these guys to attack him.
Yoo SunJae.
Guildmaster Yoo Sung-Eun’s little brother, whom he had an argument with not long ago, was going as far as hiring guys like this when he’d just hit him once for being noisy.
“That bastard, Yoo SunJae, really is such a loser. To think he sent some gangsters after me for hitting him. It’s not like he’s a toddler.”
“To talk about our client that way… You have guts, brat.”
Looking at JaeHyun scratching his head in annoyance, the man in front shouted.
“Beat him up right now!”
Swip!
Daggers cut through the air and flew toward JaeHyun’s shoulder and leg. But JaeHyun merely rolled his eyes and smirked.
‘Really. So goddamn slow.’
After dodging all four men’s attacks, JaeHyun counter-attacked with his fists. The shocked expressions of the gangsters were not hidden.
‘Keuheuk! He’s still just a little brat…!’
‘How the hell is he attacking at such a speed?’
Counterattacks that were precisely aimed at vital areas rained down.
“Keuheuk!”
“Keuk!”
“Keuk!”
“Keheuk!”
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
The gangsters, who were stuck in the wall, each let out distinct moans.
JaeHyun was speechless at the absurdity of the situation. Even if they were also Awakeners who used mana, they couldn’t compare to a Millaes Academy cadet.
Normally, Millaes Academy cadets did things differently compared to the average Awakener. It was normal for them to possess several times more mana.
That was the standard of Millaes.
“If he was going to send someone, he should have at least sent an active raider.”
Thinking of how Yoo SunJae’s deceitful face would be twisted in the near future, JaeHyun smiled somewhat cockily. He walked toward the guy who led the attack a moment ago and asked.
“Hey. You the leader? Let me ask one thing.”
“Keugh. G-Go away! Do you think we’ll just go along with what you sa— keuk!”
Pow! Pow! Bam!
Indiscriminate attacks came one after the other.
In about 10 minutes, the man’s body was tattered like a rag. JaeHyun continued to kick the guy for exactly two more minutes.
Then, the guy raised his hand and quickly yelled.
“St-Stop! I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, so just stop hitting me!”
“Just stop?”
“Please. Please stop hitting me.”
JaeHyun nodded at the respectful tone in satisfaction.
‘A beating is the cure for guys like these.’
Besides, he had attacked not innocent people but gangsters who were trying to rough him up. There wasn’t any reason to be nice about it.
Of course, beating these guys up just a little and passing them to the police was a way of solving things. But JaeHyun thought of a slightly more interesting alternative.
He crouched down and asked in an apathetic tone.
“Yoo SunJae. How much did he give you for beating me up?”
“Th-That’s… it was 6 million won per person, sir.”
“That’s quite a bit more than I expected.”
JaeHyun simply admired his generosity. He even felt respect toward Yoo SunJae who spent 24 million won just to beat up a middle schooler.
“If it’s 24 million for 4 people… well, it’s not bad.”
Then JaeHyun continued after stepping on the guy’s chest.
“You guys succeeded today. That’s what you tell to Yoo SunJae. And…”
JaeHyun’s face instantly filled with greed.
“24 million won. Bring every single cent to me. If you do, I’ll let you live.”
____