NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 380
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 380: A New Family (1)
Song Jungho, the second son of the Jinhyeon family.
This man, whom Yeongwoo wished to welcome as new family, made an entrance as grandiose as the rest of the Jinhyeon family.
–I am…! The true master of Jinhyeon, Song Jungho! Today, I’ve returned from hell to judge your sins!
Rumble!
Thunder rolled in accompaniment to his pompous declaration.
At this, Yeongwoo scratched his chin with the end of Bastard and commented to his mother.
“...This uncle is a bit over the top.”
—He’s always been like that.
“By the way, how many masters does Jinhyeon even have? They all claim to be the one.”
—What are you talking about? Of course, the real master of Jinhyeon is...
Jiseon, who was about to spout a similar Jinhyeon-esque line as her brother, clamped her mouth shut at the last moment.
Meanwhile, Song Jungho’s thunderous voice echoed from the sky, seeking an opponent.
–Who dares to challenge me? Name yourself, brave one!
It was a typical confrontation among dragons.
Song Jungho, the second son of the Jinhyeon family, had also returned to Earth, receiving the identity and body of a dragon.
‘Hmm, is it my turn now?’
As Yeongwoo stood up, drawing Bastard in response to his second uncle’s call, an unexpected event occurred.
Sssshhh!
Suddenly, Jiseon, seated opposite him, slammed her fist on the dining table, rose, and thrust an ice greatsword through the dining room ceiling.
Crash!
—The true master of Jinhyeon, Song Jiseon, is here...!
“Wha... What?”
As Yeongwoo widened his eyes at the unexpected turn of events, a startled voice also came from above Seoul’s skyline.
–What... wh-who?
Even Song Jungho, who had returned furious after being voted into oblivion, hadn’t anticipated that his younger sister would be in Seoul ahead of him.
—You moron. If you got sniped, you should’ve stayed dead instead of choosing to mutate.
As Jiseon scolded him, practically a senior among mutants, Song Jungho regained his composure and retaliated with curses.
—You crazy bitch? Fine, let’s settle the fight we didn’t finish in our past lives!
Jiseon smirked derisively.
—What are you talking about? I already won that fight ages ago. If you’re still unsure, tell me—who’s the current chairman of Jinhyeon?
“—You bitch...!”
It was truly an unsightly quarrel.
And to make matters worse, this entire exchange was being broadcast across Seoul.
“.....”
Yeongwoo, watching his mother and uncle argue disgracefully, eventually placed his Bastard sword back on the table and spoke.
“What are you two doing? This is my fight. Mom might be the chairman of Jinhyeon, but I’m the mayor of Seoul.”
Strictly speaking, Song Jungho, who was in the sky, was a guest of the mayor of Seoul.
After all, he was a mutant attempting to invade Seoul.
—What? How is this your fight? This is a family matter.
“Have you forgotten, Mom? You’re part of my family now. That makes Song Jungho my uncle, my family too.”
—Not yet.
“What?”
—I haven’t married your father yet.
“Seriously...”
Jiseon probably knew she was being unreasonable.
But her hatred for her second brother, Song Jungho, was so intense that she found herself being uncharacteristically petty.
“What are you even trying to do?”
—I’m going to beat Song Jungho. You just stand back and watch.
With that, Jiseon stormed out of the dining room and shouted.
Crash!
—Song Jungho! Show me your mark! I’ll remind you why I became the master of Jinhyeon!
As a current dragon, Jiseon clearly understood the ways of dragons.
Realizing that Jiseon was also a dragon, Song Jungho tensed up and responded in a more cautious tone.
—Oh, really...? Fine, let’s settle this with a duel of swords!
Boom!
Thunder rumbled across Seoul’s skyline again.
Then, a blinding bolt of lightning struck Jiseon outside the restaurant.
Crack!
“D-dear!”
Startled, Jeonggu dashed toward the restaurant entrance, but Yeongwoo stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.
“She just received the mark. Don’t bother her, or she’ll hit you too. She’s in a pretty ferocious mood right now.”
“What? But still...”
As Jeonggu hesitated, looking unsettled, Yeongwoo picked up Bastard and stepped outside the restaurant.
A swirling storm of white lightning twisted and churned in the sky over Seoul.
‘...The scale is something else.’
Song Jungho, the second son of Jinhyeon.
There was a reason he ranked below both his older brother and younger sister.
“Mom, will you be okay? Mutation appearance order usually correlates with...”
—Shut up. Stop talking nonsense.
“.....”
Sensing his mother’s fiery temper, Yeongwoo wisely kept silent and took a step back.
Then, he pulled up an old accomplishment he had stored for some time.
Shine!
[Golden Tempest]
| Fulfill any four conditions to summon the golden rain. (2/4)
=When there are seven or more mutants nearby.
=When an entity with a head of state attribute dies.
-In North America.
-When two beings with #Chaebols and #Dragon attributes fight.
-When a 2nd-grade or higher otherworldly entity visits.
Among the four required conditions for completing the golden rain achievement, two had already been met.
And now, only three remained.
-In North America.
-When two beings with #Conglomerate and #Dragon attributes fight.
-When a 2nd-grade or higher otherworldly entity visits.
But now, one of them was about to be dealt with.
‘I always thought I'd have to pit them against each other eventually… If I solve it now, it’ll be easier and more convenient for me.’
Among the three remaining conditions, Yeongwoo was particularly focused on the dragon race battle.
-#Chaebols, #When two beings with dragon race attributes fight each other.
When he first saw this achievement, it was a daunting condition to figure out.
But now it seemed like one of those problems that would naturally resolve itself.
Both Song Jiseon and Song Jungho, who was up in the sky, had both the chaebol and dragon race attributes.
So, while they fought, simply summoning golden rain would fulfill another condition.
‘By now, my brothers must have resumed the construction of the transit route… We should soon be able to reach North America in one go. The completion of the golden typhoon is also just around the corner.’
Though there was some noise here and there, everything was progressing smoothly.
From his parents' marriage to the golden rain achievement, and even the journey toward establishing the family.
—Wait, what’s this guy? His presence just disappeared?
Jiseon, having just finished a conversation with her second brother, looked up at the now-quiet sky and muttered to herself.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
In response, Yeongwoo noticed the symbol on top of his mother's head.
「General」
"Since he’s done what he needed to do, hasn’t he just returned to standby mode? You’d probably know better, Mother. Still, I think…"
The current time was 12:46 PM.
There were about 14 minutes left until the regular appearance time of the mutants at 1 PM.
"He’ll probably show up again in roughly 14 minutes. And this time, for an actual fight."
—So, what do we do in the meantime?
"What else?"
As Yeongwoo said this and turned his gaze toward the sky, where a new presence had emerged, a silver metallic object broke through the clouds and descended.
Judging by its direction, it seemed to be landing near Gwangjin District.
"We’ll be tidying up the wreaths."
—Tidying up wreaths? Another one’s here?
Yeongwoo pointed with his finger at the descending object, which was already almost out of sight.
"Yes. It seems the Mechanical Tower sent this wreath."
* * *
The Mechanical Tower
The base of Lemu, a fourth-tier being under cosmic law and a mysterious fortress dedicated to researching esoteric schematics.
Yeongwoo had never been to the Mechanical Tower and had no idea what it actually looked like.
But this time, he was about to get a glimpse of its essence.
“…Oh.”
The wreath sent by Lemu to the Gwangjin District’s wedding venue was unmistakably modeled after the Mechanical Tower.
‘Lemu’s CEO is definitely meticulous.’
To be honest, Yeongwoo liked this wreath the most among all the ones he’d received so far.
The first reason was that it automatically delivered itself to Gwangjin District while Yeongwoo was dining in a restaurant in Gangnam District.
The second reason was its striking appearance.
Whoooooosh…!
Lemu’s wreath, emitting a low operational hum, stood 20 meters tall.
Its surface, like a cliff carved by waves, was sharply angular.
Upon closer inspection, it was composed of hundreds of smooth rectangular metal blocks rather than a single monolithic structure.
It made Yeongwoo wonder if the actual Mechanical Tower looked exactly like this.
—This looks more like a trophy than a wreath.
Jiseon, wielding an ice greatsword, approached Lemu’s wreath.
"I think it’s modeled directly after the Mechanical Tower. It seems like he still wants to get on good terms with me."
Yeongwoo felt that this wreath from Lemu was a gesture of reconciliation.
After all, showcasing the Mechanical Tower—even as a wreath—felt like an invitation to the tower itself.
"Right, there’s no need to stay enemies with someone wealthy. Especially when he’s the only one I know who can glimpse those schematics."
Of course, since the Chairman despised Lemu, openly befriending him wasn’t an option.
But perhaps, given the chance, a secret meeting could be arranged.
‘So, what kind of function does Lemu’s wreath have?’
Just like the others, this wreath likely had its unique feature.
For example, Kwaya, the prison construction company, had sent a convict detector; Mara, the King of Ten Thousand Demons, had gifted a rival eliminator; and Dogo, the King of Destruction, had included a defense system and even a counterattack mechanism with his wreath.
What, then, had Lemu, the explorer, master of the Mechanical Tower, and architect, sent?
Tap.
Yeongwoo placed his hand on the surface of Lemu’s wreath, bracing himself for a surprise.
But nothing happened.
‘What? Did he seriously just send a model of the Mechanical Tower?’
Then what was the purpose of the operational hum coming from within the wreath?
—What’s this? You don’t know what it’s for?
Jiseon, who had been observing Yeongwoo, tapped the surface of the wreath with her ice greatsword.
Suddenly, the components of the wreath disassembled and floated slightly into the air.
—Huh?
"What… what did you do?"
But that wasn’t the main issue.
Whooooooosh!
The wreath, now running more vigorously than before, projected an electronic circuit-like pattern onto the ground.
Flash!
In that instant, Yeongwoo caught a glimpse of something.
The buildings bordering the Gwangjin District lit up briefly before going dark again.
"What… was that just now?"
Yeongwoo already knew, even as he asked.
The wreath had momentarily powered all of Seoul.
"Hey… Hey, man! Try it again!"
Excited by this unbelievable phenomenon, Yeongwoo kicked the wreath with the tip of his shoe.
The wreath reassembled itself and displayed a small phrase.
Pop!
〔l||-Moro-001-483-0548-20〕
Moro?
Jiseon tilted her head at the phrase.
Yeongwoo swallowed hard before speaking.
"Coordinates."
—Coordinates?
"The Mechanical Tower’s coordinates. CEO Lemu has sent an invitation that’s hard to refuse."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]