Chapter 6  

Nobody had expected Choi Yu-Seong to just lash out like that, but it wasn't something out of the ordinary either. Although it seemed that he had changed in a single day, he was, after all, Yu-Seong—the rascal of the family, a scoundrel, and an authoritative boss. Wasn't it Yu-Seong's specialty to say what he wanted, regardless if it was appropriate or not?

This time, the only difference was that those on the receiving end of the verbal assault had never experienced that from Yu-Seong.

Choi Min-Seok's face stiffened rapidly. Having been mocked, Park Jin-Hyo’s face was no different. He turned flaming red, as if he were an active volcano that could erupt at any moment.

But Yu-Seong's aggressive speech didn't stop there.

"Hey, gorilla. Get down on your knees and apologize right now."

"...?!"

Astonished, everyone in the hallway focused on Yu-Seong.

"Are you deaf? Get down on your knees."

Although small, his voice contained inexplicable dignity.

'Things seem to turn out weird…’

Jin-Hyo tried to ignore the fact that the atmosphere suddenly changed. After all, his opponent was nothing but the rascal Yu-Seong.

Even so, since Yu-Seong is part of the Choi family, Jin-Hyo didn't want to engage with Yu-Seong directly. Jin-Hyo's eyes naturally turned to Min-Seok.

"Yu-Seong, don’t be cocky and come here.”

As if responding to Jin-Hyo's dilemma, Min-Seok gestured at Yu-Seong with an arrogant expression. Purple energy flowing out from Min-Seok's palm surrounded Yu-Seong like water vapor.

"Oh..."

Unable to respond to the dumbfounding situation Jin Yu-Ri could only groan as she stared at Yu-Seong. Yu-Seong's eyes were already dull as the purple energy surrounded him as if it were paint being spread on a canvas.

Yu-Seong was trapped in hypnotism, Min-Seok's best skill. There was no way Yu-Seong could resist the hypnotism cast by a D-rank, level 60 player like Min-Seok.

Rather, it had an even greater impact on Choi Yu-Seong than on other people, as he had a weak mentality.

In the end, as always, Yu-Seong would kneel in front of Min-Seok, sobbing with his snot coming out, as he begged for mercy and fell into despair because of the nightmare he was hypnotized into. But the moment Min-Seok smiled creepily as he imagined the near future, the purple energy that had taken over Yu-Seong's eyes vanished.

Yu-Seong stared at Min-Seok, eyes now sparkling.

"Hmm...?"

Min-Seok looked bewildered.

"Min-Seok."

Yu-Seong called him calmly.

"What did you just call me?"

Yu-Seong always called Min-Seok in a flattering way to create a good impression of himself.

But now, Yu-Seong was confidently calling him by his full name. The whole situation left Min-Seok confused.

"Are you sure you can handle the consequences of barging into someone else's house and causing a fuss?"

Yu-Seong continued with a low and deep tone. Eyes wide with surprise, Min-Seok tried to hypnotize Yu-Seong again. The illusions appeared in front of Yu-Seong again, but he pretended he didn't see them.

"If you think I got the Awakening Stone by pure luck, that would be extremely foolish of you..."

Smiling with clear hostility, Yu-Seong glared at Min-Seok. Doubt flashed across Min-Seok's face for a moment.

'Yeah, he couldn't be this cocky without any support.'

But the problem was that Min-Seok couldn't guess who had Yu-Seong's back and also knew that Yu-Seong wouldn't tell him if he asked.

'You're caught in a trap before you even knew it...'

Although Yu-Seong was glaring coldly at Min-Seok, Yu-Seong was smiling inside as he could see Min-Seok eagerly trying to come up with an answer.

Refusing to back down from Yu-Seong, Min-Seok glared back at Yu-Seong.

"I really don’t understand where all your confidence is coming from. You dare rebel against your older brother?"

Min-Seok couldn't understand why Yu-Seong was suddenly so confident, but Min-Seok had an ace up his sleeve. Which was why he didn't back down when they were going face to face.

Although Yu-Seong was definitely under the influence of the skill, his eyes didn't show it. He wasn't scared or confused; it was as if he didn't know fear itself.

Yu-Seong’s face was calm, even as he gritted his teeth fighting against the dizzying hypnotism that caused his heart to pound from the pain.

'From the very beginning...'

Min-Seok had no chance of winning this fight. Why? Because even though Min-Seok was a part of the talented Choi family and had great potential, he was only a twenty-one-year-old college student. On top of that, as if he was a delicate flower in a greenhouse, Min-Seok was carefully protected in dungeons because of his Mind Control ability.

Then how about Yu-Seong? Yu-Seong had grown up in a different world as an orphan, and he had to overcome countless obstacles in order to adapt to society. In other words, this was like a fight between an amateur and a professional boxer.

In addition, Yu-Seong had already experienced something similar to Min-Seok's hypnotism.

'Choi Woo-Jae.'

It was just yesterday that he had experienced it. Min-Seok's hypnotism felt cute compared to Woo-Jae's aura, which pressured Yu-Seong like he was drowning in a swamp.

In the end, Min-Seok stopped staring and slightly turned away from Yu-Seong. That was the turning point. Yu-Seong decided to use the trump card that popped inside his head.

"You seem to be running a business under the radar... What would father and our second sister say if they found out?"

"...!!"

Bewildered, Min-Seok and Jin Yu-Ri looked at Yu-Seong with widened eyes.

'How did he find out?'

Although the two thought of the same thing, Min-Seok was much more surprised. Only a few people knew that he was dealing drugs throughout Gangnam clubs.

'Who told Yu-Seong?’

Min-Seok started to think rapidly. Naturally, he was too focused on his other things as he didn’t notice his hypnosis was beginning to fade.

"Think carefully. Who in the world would tell me this besides our family?"

Unconsciously being swayed by Yu-Seong, Min-Seok bit his lower lip as he almost tried to refute Yu-Seong's words. Only one person in his family knew that he was involved in drug dealing.

'Did the sixth brother...? No, it can't be.'

Choi Byung-Chan, the sixth of the Choi siblings, was the person Min-Seok relied on the most. That Byung-Chan had betrayed Min-Seok to partner up with a mere Yu-Seong?

Min-Seok thought that it was impossible, but he couldn't help the idea clouding his brain. Yu-Seong grinned wickedly as he looked at Min-Seok.

'Originally, Choi Min-Seok would be arrested for drug dealing and promoting prostitution one year from now.'

This information was revealed by Kim Do-Jin, a regressor in [The Modern Master Returns] when he took care of the gangsters working for Min-Seok. Because of this, the Comet Group was also hit hard. Besides his behavior as a rascal, this was actually one of the biggest incidents that weakened Woo-Jae's power.

'He wouldn't be running any prostitution rings now, though.' Yu-Seong thought inwardly.

But Min-Seok already had a lot of trouble with drug dealing alone. Since his trust towards Byung-Chan had also been weakened, he couldn't hide his emotions even if he tried.

'The hypnosis stopped.'

The horrible illusions in front of Yu-Seong vanished. Then, Min-Seok looked at Yu-Seong as if he was trying to confirm one last thing to resolve his confusion. Without hesitation, Yu-Seong responded by staring right at him.

None of them were backing off, but Min-Seok had no way to stand against Yu-Seong as the hypnosis was over. Min-Seok was tense. It was as if he was in front of a beast.

'What the hell is going on right now?!’

Min-Seok wanted to scream, but considering his opponent was merely Yu-Seong, his pride didn't let him.

"Who... Who the hell are you?"

Even as his heart was pounding ferociously and his forehead was covered in sweat, he tried to deny reality as he questioned Yu-Seong.

‘You can't be the stupid Choi Yu-Seong I know!’

The Yu-Seong standing in front of him was entirely different from the Yu-Seong he knew.

"Can't you see? If I'm not Choi Yu-Seong, who am I?"

Fully regaining a state of relaxation, Yu-Seong shrugged and asked back.

"You're lying."

Although Min-Seok tried to deny the situation, nothing changed. This was like a dream to Min-Seok.

It was taking his all to suppress his incomprehensible emotions. But there was no doubt that it was Yu-Seong himself standing in front of Min-Seok.

'How would he know?'

There was no way Min-Seok would have guessed that Choi Yu-Seong, a reader of the novel from another world, had woken up as the Yu-Seong of this world. Yu-Seong wouldn't have believed it if he didn't experience it himself.

"Ahem..."

Just when Min-Seok dry coughed and turned his gaze downward, unable to continue to meet his eyes, Yu-Seong stepped forward and stomped.

Thump-!

Surprised by the sound, Min-Seok stumbled backward.

"Pfft..."

Yu-Ri laughed. Jin-Hyo glanced at Min-Seok with bewilderment.

But the highlight of this scene was the message box that clearly floated above the hallway.

- The Oldest Hunter is watching player Choi Yu-Seong with interest. Five Karma points have been sponsored.

- The Oldest Hunter laughs at player Choi Min-Seok.

The appearance of a god.

A message from a god, known to be a player's greatest sponsor, was something that every player in this world wished for desperately. Considering that gods only paid attention to the extremely talented few, it was astonishing that one of those gods was interested in and even sponsored Yu-Seong.

Although the number of points wasn't that large, that itself carried extraordinary significance. Something like this was extremely, extremely rare. This would only happen in one in a million—no, one in ten million cases.

The god laughed at Min-Seok at the same time, which was broadcasted to everyone in the scene. This meant that Min-Seok had also been noticed by a god, but in a different way.

Putting these two situations together, what they had just experienced was something that had never happened before.

Min-Seok's face reddened as he had never been this embarrassed in his entire life; he could no longer keep his composure. Possessed with rage, Min-Seok screamed.

"Park Jin-Hyo! Kill that bastard!"

"I beg your pardon...?"

"I'll take full responsibility, kill Yu-Seong right now!"

Hesitation was reflected in Park Jin-Hyo's eyes. If he killed Yu-Seong, Min-Seok would take responsibility for him?

Easier said than done.

Since Min-Seok was part of the Choi family, he wouldn't die even in the worst-case scenario, but Park Jin-Hyo and his relatives may actually disappear from the face of the Earth.

Min-Seok's eyes turned bloodshot with rage as he noticed Jin-Hyo's hesitation. "Jin-Hyo! Who was it that let your sister get a job in the Comet Group!"

Jin-Hyo bit his lower lip as Min-Seok shouted at him.

'Either way, I'm going to die.'

Since Jin-Hyo hadn't experienced Woo-Jae yet, the person he currently feared the most was Min-Seok. Min-Seok knew everything about him—his misconduct, his crimes, his family, everything. Thinking about it differently, Jin-Hyo also knew various weaknesses of Min-Seok, but that wasn't enough to go against a member of the Choi family.

If he was going to die either way, then he would rather die later. Coming to a decision, Jin-Hyo no longer hesitated.

He swung his fist directly at Yu-Seong.

Even though Jin-Hyo's attack was about to reach him, Yu-Seong didn't even blink. Instead, Yu-Seong spoke quietly as he confidently faced the attack.

"Do you really think that'll work? Try me."

Thump-!

With a heavy sound, Jin-Hyo's fist was blocked. In front of Yu-Seong, who was speaking with his hands in his pockets, Jin Do-Yoon had transformed into a werewolf and blocked Jin-Hyo with one arm.

"If you touch the young master, you die."

His voice resembled the growling of a wolf. Although Do-Yoon was full of scars and bleeding, Jin-Hyo trembled at the threatening aura of Jin Do-Yoon.

'Their gaze...it's just...'

It wasn't just Jin Do-Yoon that stared at Jin-Hyo sharply. From the back of Do-Yoon, Yu-Seong was staring indifferently with hard eyes, his mouth was the only part that was smiling.

Jin-Hyo was terrified. He now knew why Min-Seok stumbled backward after going face-to-face with Yu-Seong. Naturally, Jin-Hyo could feel the cold sweat running down his back.

'Th, This is what it means to be a member of the Choi family...'

Although the Comet Group was currently competing for second place among Korean companies, the Choi family was powerful enough to eventually put the Comet Group on top.

Jin-Hyo was now trembling in fear. Yu-Seong clearly wasn't the rascal and coward that Jin-Hyo knew. He wanted to retrieve his hand immediately; in fact, he wanted to run away.

"Park Jin-Hyoooo-!"

Jin-Hyo regained consciousness through Min-Seok's scream. Jin-Hyo was scared, but he realized he would die all the same if he ran away.

"Aghhhhhh-!"

With a reddish aura radiating from his body, Jin-Hyo invoked his full power.

However, even though Jin-Hyo poured in more strength, as displayed by his bulging muscles and popped veins, Jin Do-Yoon didn't budge.

'After all, they're in a totally different league.'

Yu-Seong thought that it was obvious.

"You can't do anything, huh? Mr. Gorilla."

Jin-Hyo was a C-rank, level 50 player. Considering his young age, he possessed great potential. His powers were suitable to serve as the right-hand man of a member of the Choi family. Unfortunately, he was no match for Jin Do-Yoon. According to the novel, the latter could even equally fight with Kim Do-Jin, who would become the greatest player in the future.

'Jin Do-Yoon is already level 70.'

They were literally on a different level.

Yu-Seong grinned wickedly as he stood behind Jin Do-Yoon, one of his few partners in this world.

"Jin Do-Yoon, don't you think you need to repay him for what you received? I'll take full responsibility so don't worry."

"...Yes, sir."

His voice sounded like the growl of a beast. Do-Yoon struck Jin-Hyo's chin with his palm.

Boom-!

Jin-Hyo flew into the air and crashed down as his eyes turned white. One-hit KO.

'A totally different level for sure.'

Smiling comfortably, Yu-Seong turned towards Min-Seok.

"Choi Yu-Seong, do you think you'll be okay after what you've done? If you think you can bear the consequences of..."

Min-Seok suddenly felt a chill around his neck. Shivering, he noticed that Yu-Ri was holding something cold and hard right at his throat.

"It seems the person who has to bear the consequences is you, young master Min-Seok."

"You...You dare try to kill me?"

Gulp.

At the same time that Min-Seok swallowed hard, a clicking sound resonated.

"Nah, why would I kill you, sir?"

Yu-Ri smiled with her eyes as a familiar voice echoed in the hallway.

[Park Jin-Hyo! Kill that bastard!]

[I beg your pardon...?]

[I'll take full responsibility, so kill Yu-Seong right now!]

Min-Seok and Jin-Hyo's conversation had been recorded.

"But since the chairman dislikes his children trying to kill each other like this... I'm not sure how he'll react when he hears the recording."

"Ur...Urgh..."

Min-Seok groaned as he realized he hadn’t been mistaken—that sound recorder really was a steel blade pressing against his throat.

"You can keep quiet about what happened today, right, sir?

Min-Seok nodded slightly as he bit his lower lip.