Chapter 298

How to Not Be Consumed by Darkness

Facing the cool gaze of Hong Ki-jun, Jin Yoon-ho couldn’t speak right away.

“You, who worked at Daejung, helped commit a heinous crime. No, should I say you led it?”

“I, no, I—”

As Jin Yoon-ho tried to plead with desperate eyes, Hong Ki-jun raised his hand to cut him off and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“Thanks to your professor parents, you lived abroad in a house with a housekeeper? Couldn’t even get into a domestic university. There’s testimony that you mocked your friends who couldn’t afford education, saying your parents’ wealth was your merit. Tired of that, you even messed with Daejung scholarship students, huh? And the bar exam score manipulation—”

Wow, what a guy. Gotta track them all down and take them out. Hong Ki-jun paused for a moment, impressed.

“You only passed the interview. Dead last in the final rankings at the Judicial Research and Training Institute. You flaunted your way into Daejung’s legal department using your parents’ connections, but your incompetence got exposed, and you couldn’t stick around. You looked for something to do with your license and ended up teaming up with Yonggari. Right?”

Hong Ki-jun’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes emitted a killing intent strong enough to melt the sun.

How could one neglect investigating key figures before a major event?

Hong Ki-jun had ordered that the vicious Go Yong-kwon and Jin Yoon-ho must be captured and brought to their knees.

Go Yong-kwon’s crimes were excessively heinous, and Jin Yoon-ho had assisted without a shred of guilt.

“You’re a real piece of work. Over a dozen residents died in the redevelopment zone, but thanks to your parents’ connections, Jeoksong didn’t even compensate them… You’re worse than Yonggari.”

Hong Ki-jun clicked his tongue at Jin Yoon-ho, who couldn’t even meet his gaze.

“At least Yonggari had the excuse of losing his parents and not being properly cared for. There’s also the blame on those who pushed a man with nothing but his fists and name to seize power. Of course, that doesn’t justify his evil deeds. Pitying a greedy man like that is no excuse. But Jin Yoon-ho, you’ve done too many things you didn’t need to do.”

Hong Ki-jun turned to Go Yong-kwon.

“But does CEO Go Yong-kwon know about this?”

“What…?”

Go Yong-kwon looked up at Hong Ki-jun with a confused expression.

“The money spread to prosecutors, police, and gold badge holders from Jeoksong Construction. That guy took nearly half.”

As Hong Ki-jun pointed at Jin Yoon-ho with a bent fountain pen, Go Yong-kwon gritted his teeth as if he wanted to devour Jin Yoon-ho on the spot. He wanted to curse but had to hold back given the situation. Go Yong-kwon’s jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might shatter, and the scar on his cheek twisted grotesquely.

“A stupid, incompetent person working hard will ruin both the company and the country. That’s why, regardless of rank, people must be chosen carefully. It’s late now, though.”

Kneeling before the much younger Hong Ki-jun.

Watching the downfall of a world ruler, Hong Ki-jun clicked his tongue once more.

“The more they’ve lived like that, the more they’ll want to survive. Their world must have been too comfortable and fun.”

Hong Ki-jun, having tucked away his fountain pen, took a step forward.

“Ah, it’s unfair if only I know all about you, right? It’s only fair I tell you about myself.”

Hong Ki-jun turned around.

“I’ve never been stabbed like Go Yong-kwon, nor have I faced death. I never knew how to live happily by mocking my friends like Jin Yoon-ho.”

He took his hands out of his pockets and continued.

“I was a scholarship student. My father was a lame shoemaker, and my mother was a mute fish seller. My father couldn’t hold my hand and run with me during sports day, and my mother couldn’t sing me a lullaby or call my name even once. Even in my dreams, they couldn’t walk or speak…”

A bitter smile spread across his face, and his jaw muscles tightened.

“…Life wasn’t fun.”

As Hong Ki-jun moved to the back seat of the car, Jeong Sang-tae opened the door.

Before getting in, Hong Ki-jun spoke with a solemn expression.

“But I still have the conscience to not live like trash. That’s the difference between you and me, and why you’re being punished by me.”

As Hong Ki-jun got into the car, Moon Seok-il pulled out two newspaper-wrapped items from his pocket. They flew straight between Go Yong-kwon and Jin Yoon-ho and fell to the ground.

Clang—

Two knives escaped the newspaper with a clear metallic sound.

As Go Yong-kwon and Jin Yoon-ho looked on in confusion, Moon Seok-il took a key from his pocket, shook it, and placed it on Go Yong-kwon’s car hood.

“Only one of you can leave this place alive.”

Go Yong-kwon’s eyes gleamed as brightly as the blades, while Jin Yoon-ho wore a dumbfounded expression.

Moon Seok-il, who had been walking toward Hong Ki-jun’s car, turned back.

“If Go Yong-kwon dies, his assets go to an orphanage. If Jin Yoon-ho dies, they go to his child in Singapore.”

“A child in Singapore—?”

“To the child your housekeeper bore. Must’ve been fun sowing seeds during your study abroad, but you’re too irresponsible. Your wife and parents will handle your Korean children, I suppose.”

He added, watching Go Yong-kwon hesitate over whether to pick up the knife.

“Don’t blame anyone. This is the punishment your sins have brought.”

He delivered his final ultimatum before opening the passenger door.

“If both of you come down alive, you’ll die by my hand. So…”

He paused, loosening his collar uncomfortably.

Go Yong-kwon straightened up.

This man had once taken down several of his subordinates in one strike like paper dolls. Seeing that, even the battle-hardened Go Yong-kwon felt his legs go weak for the first time in his life. The threat that both would die was no empty promise, and he swallowed hard without realizing it.

“From now on, kill each other.”

*

As Moon Seok-il got into the car, Jeong Sang-tae, who was holding the steering wheel, started the car.

Though skilled in combat and psychological warfare, Moon Seok-il wasn’t confident in understanding the inner workings of such people. He cautiously turned his head and asked.

“Vice Chairman, will they really fight?”

“Of course. They’re that kind of people. They’ll never change. Even if reborn, they’d live the same way…”

Hong Ki-jun, who was unusually friendly toward Moon Seok-il, didn’t need to explain further.

Aaaaaah—!

You bastard!

Dieeee—!

Ughhh—!

The sound of a desperate struggle came from behind the car.

“…They’ll both end up dead.”

One there, and the other in a car fire after brake failure.

Or maybe both will die there. If so, at least they won’t be lonely on the way.

The media will report it as a knife fight over interests, so there’s no need to intervene further.

Moon Seok-il and Jeong Sang-tae nodded quietly, and Hong Ki-jun took out a notebook and pen.

‘I should record my evil deeds that have officially begun.’

By punishing evil with evil, and repeating it, I’ll purify the world.

That way, that guy won’t have to get his hands dirty.

Once all the contracts are fulfilled, I’ll make a wish then.

– 【If you fulfill the contract, I’ll grant you one wish. A favor to the only human who stayed with me.】

What wish should I make…

Should I ask for punishment for my evil deeds?

The shadow assured me that no matter what I do, there’s no reason to intervene or judge, so asking for eternal rest might be fine.

Even if there’s an afterlife or reincarnation, wouldn’t I be shackled by the chains of my evil deeds and punished? My head feels like it’s about to split, and it’s so painful.

In the midst of an unbearably long heatwave, the car carrying Hong Ki-jun swayed and split.

Thud thud thud—

The thick dust settled briefly before heavy raindrops hit the roof.

Jeong Sang-tae glanced in the rearview mirror and asked.

“Shall we head straight home?”

“If you’re not tired, let’s stop by Songchu for a drink.”

I already told Yoo Se-ra I was going fishing anyway.

It’s been a while since I visited my parents’ graves.

Even after building an empire worthy of the name and rewriting human history, doing bad things makes me think of my parents first.

“We’ll head to Songchu.”

**

Gasp gasp gasp—

“Honey! Honey! Oppa!”

“Ughhh—!”

Yoo Se-ra shook him awake, and Hong Ki-jun jerked upright.

“Did you have a nightmare? How tired must you be to be like this? Ugh, the sheets and blanket are all wet.”

“Se-ra… what time is it?”

“Four.”

Hong Ki-jun wiped his sweaty face as if washing it.

“Se-ra, let’s… go to the countryside for a bit.”

“Suddenly?”

“Let’s visit your father and meet Jin Hyuk’s family to rest a bit.”

Hong Ki-jun’s expression was filled with sorrow as he spoke.

His tear-filled eyes lost focus and wavered, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

Yoo Se-ra looked at him with pity and brushed his cheek.

“Oh dear, alright. You need to rest. You’ve been running a big company, how hard it must’ve been. Take a shower first. I’ll change the sheets.”

Except when meeting Son Kwang-yeon, he never drank, and he was always focused on his health and work. Even then, he used being busy as an excuse to avoid the countryside. Even though his father-in-law, who handed over the chairman position, was there.

She felt more pity than disappointment.

At home, he was always frowning, making phone calls, flipping through documents, typing on the keyboard—Hong Ki-jun never rested.

“Are we leaving at dawn?”

“Yeah. Soo-jung’s on break too.”

“Oh dear, not Soo-jung. She’s completely obsessed with studying. She’s even taking lessons from a professor to become a vocalist. What’s she aiming for next week?”

Ah, right. Hong Ki-jun nodded with a blank expression.

Hong Soo-jung wanted to do so much that there was nothing she didn’t try. If it were a past life, she’d have lived abroad under bodyguard surveillance, but this time, she’s being fully supported to live as she pleases. The vocal professor was even personally arranged by Hong Ki-jun through a college connection.

“Then should we just take Soo-hyuk?”

“Sure. I’ll call Kim Cheol-min.”

“No, let’s leave the car.”

Hong Ki-jun shook his head as he headed to the bathroom.

“Then?”

Ride a bike?

Like a prisoner?

“Really—?”

It’s over 100 km!

Yoo Se-ra stretched her neck, but Hong Ki-jun staggered into the bathroom.

Click—

Damn it. At least answer before going in.

His face looks so dead, I can’t even push him.

*

Swoosh—

The cool stream of water cooled his head, which felt like it was about to burst.

Phew—

He blew out a rough breath, shaking off the water on his lips, but the nightmare lingered.

‘I’ve been having that dream a lot lately…’

The incident that marked the beginning of the organized crime crackdown.

As the person in charge, he went to inspect and confirm the aftermath, which became the root of the problem.

The scene he confirmed through secretly obtained photos flowed like a video in his dream.

Jin Yoon-ho, who had been in a knife fight, collapsed after spilling all his blood, and Go Yong-kwon burned to death in his car.

A mountain turned crimson before being engulfed in bloody flames, haunting Hong Ki-jun.

‘It wasn’t something just anyone could do.’

He survived by relying on the contract.

He endured years driven by a blind sense of duty to fulfill it.

He implanted it into himself like hypnosis stronger than suggestion, or even brainwashing.

Is that why?

‘My head feels like it’s going to split.’

Even his memories are jumbled.

Once, he ran into a former employee who had been the CEO of Sain Networks in a past life and joked with him like old times, only to both be startled. In this life, a group chairman and a sales employee wouldn’t meet.

He guessed it was because of the time spent with the shadow.

Three hundred years was that harsh for an ordinary human.

It twisted memories, erased them, and even implanted entirely new ones.

By Dugu Elil’s side, watching over Jin Hyuk, he repeated a mantra like a spell.

– ‘Team Leader Son, don’t be consumed by darkness.’

It couldn’t be heard or reached, but it was the only encouragement he could offer to Jin Hyuk, crouched in the darkness.

Jin Hyuk eventually overcame the darkness.

But now, he himself was walking toward the darkness.

‘I want to rest. How did you overcome it…’

Death.

Wouldn’t that be the only rest for Hong Ki-jun?

He thought letting go of life would be a pity, considering his wife, daughter, son, and friends.

But the temptation to let go of everything kept coming, unbidden.

Like a shadow knocking on the window on an autumn night.

He understood why the shadow said it was better to die than to carry memories across the rift.

‘It’s painful. I feel like I’m going crazy.’

When he reaches the highest point in the skyscrapers, his breath catches, and he’s seized by the urge to jump.

What would happen if he jumped? Would he go to where Dugu Elil is? Would his existence be erased, leaving nothing behind…?

‘I want to rest…’

Click—

“Honey? Should I rub your back? Ugh, why didn’t you turn on the bathroom light?”

“Don’t turn it on.”

The darkness is comfortable.

“Should I?”

Hong Ki-jun’s unfocused eyes instantly sharpened.

Because the woman who entered the bathroom wore nothing but air.

Even without the light, her figure burned through the darkness and brought dawn.

Thud!

Rest? What rest, man!

The weakling, full of himself, entertained vain thoughts for a moment.

“Oh? Oh? Why’s the guy who was half-dead acting like this?”

“…I won’t die. I won’t.”

“Why, why, why—why’s he like this! Wait, wait—. I’m washing—”

“It’s dawn. Let’s rest here for a bit.”

Ah… this world is good after all.