Resurrection Chapter 90 - See You Again Then

“Go that way, you go there!”

The footsteps of burly men running around busily were loud. Bewildered customers were pushed aside by them and let out small screams, and the would-be peaceful street instantly became chaotic.

I inwardly clicked my tongue, seeing that Park Gyu’s underlings had already chased me all the way to the Illusion Market district. At that moment, the effect of Invisible ended, and my and Park Gyu’s figures were revealed.

Hiding behind a sign glittering with lights, I shook the drooping Park Gyu’s neck back and forth.

“Hey, get a grip!”

“Ughhh.”

Park Gyu might be South Korea’s greatest information broker, but his combat ability was pathetic. If the Hyeopjukdo-hoe wasn’t protecting him, he would have been a guest in the underworld long ago.

I had no intention of killing Park Gyu either. I had been indebted to him before, and it was possible something might happen where I’d be indebted to him again. That said, I had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by. I let go of Park Gyu, squatted down in front of him, and said.

“Can’t you tell by the fact that I came in here alone? A few of those underlings won’t be able to catch me.”

“Yeah, I admit it. I underestimated our kiddo.”

“Don’t call me kiddo. I wasn’t a kid even when I was working under you, you know?”

Park Gyu let out a snicker and pushed his fallen body up to sit leaning against the sign’s steel frame. I had roughed him up a few times, so his face was a mess. Even so, he didn’t think of wiping the blood and instead took a cigarette out of his pocket.

“Damn, I don’t have a lighter.”

“Who smokes these days?”

“I’m an old-fashioned person.”

“Anyone would think you’re the only one from the old generation.”

“Anyway, if you’re not going to kill me, you’d better run away quickly, don’t you think? Surely you don’t think the Hyeopjukdo-hoe only has underlings like those, do you?”

Park Gyu’s warning was correct. The Hyeopjukdo-hoe had many monstrous guys. If the commotion dragged on, those guys would come rushing in, so I had to get out of here quickly. But before I left, I wanted to get something out of Park Gyu, so I looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“Are you sure you really don’t know anything about Yaksha’s whereabouts?”

“If I do, will you tell me what your secret is as payment?”

Park Gyu didn’t know the fact that I had Resurrection. Whether the Special Task Force’s security was more thorough than I expected, that fact had not yet leaked to the outside.

He had simply noticed that I had some secret hidden within me after seeing Yaksha’s obsession. He probably intended to catch me and find out, now that I was here, but the trap was sloppy because it wasn’t something he had planned.

Now that I had broken through the encirclement and taken Park Gyu hostage, there was no reason to reveal my secret. I said curtly.

“That’s not happening.”

At my shaking head, Park Gyu chewed on his unlit cigarette and said.

“Then it’s not happening for me either.”

“What if the price is your life?”

I bared my teeth and tried to threaten him, but Park Gyu just scoffed. I felt a bit awkward.

There’s a reason why Park Gyu can operate as South Korea’s top information broker and a powerful figure in the Hyeopjukdo-hoe. Park Gyu had the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood. There are many with similar abilities, but in that field, Park Gyu is the best.

Since lies didn’t work on him, threats didn’t work either. He knew I had no intention of killing him and acted nonchalantly.

“I really don’t know Yaksha’s whereabouts. But you don’t have a reason to go looking for Yaksha, do you? If you just sit and wait, Yaksha will come find you. As you know, Yaksha never gives up on something he’s set his sights on.”

“I know, that’s why I’m trying to get the jump on him before he shows up. I refuse to get caught by that bastard again and go through a rough time.”

“Well, I can guess at a place where Yaksha might appear.”

At those words, I rolled my eyes. A place where Yaksha might appear. The first is, of course, where Trishula is. If he, like me, couldn’t grab his weapon while surviving hellfire, then he would have to retrieve it.

The second is…

I voiced the thought that suddenly came to mind.

“The Iicheong Training Center.”

Park Gyu slowly nodded his head.

A few months ago, Yaksha had suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the Iicheong Training Center and caused a disturbance. To stop him, none other than the Special Task Force Captain Kim Piljoong had been dispatched to face him directly, and he had been soundly defeated.

Kim Piljoong’s defeat was so shocking that everyone failed to think about why Yaksha had come there, and I was the same. But if there was something Yaksha was after there, he would surely appear again.

I asked repeatedly.

“What on earth is there?”

“You know, right? That I’m an information broker. Information for information. If I tell you that, what will you give me?”

At Park Gyu’s demand, I got a headache and touched my forehead.

“You really are an annoying Mister.”

Park Gyu just grinned instead of answering. Anyway, he has a side that you can’t bring yourself to hate. Seeing how he was confident I wouldn’t harm him, I couldn’t even resort to torture. He wasn’t the type of person that would work on, so I said, half in a mood of giving up.

“The office sofa I just broke, I’ll buy you a new one.”

“Okay, good.”

Unexpectedly, Park Gyu readily accepted my offer. I blinked my eyes in surprise, and Park Gyu, as if taking the opportunity, smoothly spilled what was at the Iicheong Training Center.

“Strictly speaking, what Yaksha is after isn’t the Iicheong Training Center, but what’s in the basement there.”

“A hidden facility in the basement?”

“You could say that. Well, it’s a bit grand to call it a facility. More like a hospital room of sorts.”

“If it’s a hospital room, does that mean someone is there?”

Park Gyu nodded and said something truly shocking.

“Yes. Shin Lion is there.”

👑

Shin Lion.

He is the most legendary figure among the only seven S-rank awakened in South Korea. He was also the first person to reach S-rank, and the one who defeated the juvenile dragon Leviathan that had caused Seoul’s collapse.

Shin Lion, who perished along with Leviathan, should not have been able to survive, but his numerous comrades restored his shattered body and kept him breathing. Nevertheless, Shin Lion’s consciousness never returned, and he remained alive in a coma.

To think that Shin Lion was in the basement of the Iicheong Training Center. And Yaksha was after him?

I made all sorts of speculations as I moved, leaving Park Gyu unconscious. Why on earth was Yaksha after Shin Lion’s body?

The answer was actually simple. Yaksha was a necromancer, and he knew how to handle the souls of the dead, or spirits. He possessed the ability to freely command ghosts who wandered the nine heavens, unable to find peace. Ghosts are mere spiritual entities and thus can’t exert much power, but it’s a different story if they inhabit a physical body. It would be even more powerful if that body was that of a living person.

However, possessing a living person was a major crime. Above all, a dead spirit could not defeat a living spirit. Usually, it could be exorcised with a single turn, and at worst, an exorcism ritual would suffice. Of course, the vengeful spirits commanded by a powerful user like Yaksha are very strong and difficult to exorcise, but that’s not to say they’re invincible.

The problem was that Shin Lion was in a coma.

It meant his living spirit was asleep, so it was unclear to what extent Yaksha could use his body if he got his hands on it.

Surely he can’t use Shin Lion’s abilities too? That would mean Yaksha can compel not only dead spirits but also living spirits.

Because the gods made contracts not with a human’s body but with their soul, a vengeful spirit could not use the original abilities of the person it possessed. At best, it could only use some of the abilities the vengeful spirit had in life. Even then, the power was weak because it wasn’t its own body.

If it were possible to possess a living person and use their abilities at will, Yaksha would have done so to me long ago. It must have been because he couldn’t that he bothered me with all that talk of taming me.

But I don’t know how it would be with Shin Lion, since he is in a coma. Seeing that Yaksha dyed his hair white, it was clear he had become stronger than before. That’s because that bastard is a concept-addict and wouldn’t change his appearance for no reason. Maybe he learned how to handle a living spirit in a coma while he was laying low.

Shin Lion may be unconscious, but he was the most powerful awakened of his time since he defeated Leviathan. It was not known what his exact level was, but what was officially confirmed was only level 67.

There was a high possibility that he had leveled up after gaining a huge amount of experience from defeating the juvenile dragon. He might even have the highest level in the entire world.

To think such a person would become Yaksha’s subordinate. I didn’t even want to imagine it. It would be the absolute worst if he even had his abilities from when he was alive.

In any case, if Yaksha’s target is Shin Lion, he would try to get him in his hands first before going to find Trishula. It was certain that he would put Shin Lion at the forefront to deal with Kim Piljoong, who was thirsting for revenge.

Once he gets his hands on Shin Lion and Trishula, the next one is me.

It wasn’t hard to guess that Yaksha would have Shin Lion deal with Heesoo hyung and abduct me. Last time, I was lucky and escaped with the help of the Golden Emperor, but it was a foolish thought to expect the same this time.

Yaksha probably prepared thoroughly. If he had gained perfect control over Shin Lion, it might not be difficult for him to do the same to me.

‘Just what is that bastard Yaksha trying to do, getting this strong? Surely his goal isn’t to save the world like me.’

At this point, I grumbled that I was genuinely curious and stopped walking. I was in the middle of finding a way out after knocking out Park Gyu and leaving him, but for some reason, it didn’t seem easy to get back to Heesoo hyung.

Normally, I could have teleported instantly, but like other major locations in Sejong City, devices that suppressed abilities were installed all over the Hyeopjukdo-gil area. It would only be a short distance teleport anyway, so it would just be a waste of mana.