Chapter 159

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 159

Tracing the Roots

By the time we arrived at the front line, the situation had already concluded.
We helped the severely injured Sword Emperor, Yoho, and the Machine Commander to a makeshift supply station.
The Sword Emperor seemed to be in the best condition among them. His breathing was labored, and his eyes, clouded with despair, reflected a heavy burden.
“What happened? Where are the other heroes?”
“…They all got caught in the enemy’s spell and were sacrificed.”
“Sacrificed?”
“The parasitic species deployed a large-scale magical formation in the middle of the front line. Thousands of heroes had their flesh torn apart and muscles disintegrated, vanishing into the sky… With the sacrifices of the Flame Emperor and God Hand… Ugh, only we managed to survive.”
The Flame Emperor and God Hand were dead.
It was a shocking tragedy.
It seemed that all the elite heroes from China, including the Heavenly Martial King, had lost their lives.
‘This can’t be happening.’
As the Sword Emperor had said, traces of an immense concentration of dark energy remained on the battlefield.
Upon close examination of the traces, I realized that the parasitic species had deployed an enormous, unprecedented magical array, sacrificing not only the heroes but also themselves to the large-scale magic.
Through the memories conveyed by Ifrit, I could vaguely identify the nature of the large-scale magic.
‘Blood Sacrifice Ritual.’
It was a heinous dark magic ritual that extracted massive amounts of energy by sacrificing numerous lives.
For some reason, the parasitic species had been massacring civilians and transporting them to the eastern part of the continent. Among them were heroes who possessed spiritual essence.
It was a madness that defied human understanding.
Facing intelligent monster species was, in a way, a true encounter with an alien force.
‘Or perhaps, it might be similar.’
In retrospect, humanity had also secured resources by massacring the monstrous species of the hidden world. Perhaps the world was nothing more than an ecosystem of a food chain where beings devoured each other.
“Rest up and join us later. We need to tie up loose ends.”
Leaving behind Seo Eun-ha, who was in a state of panic, we led the surviving soldiers and martial artists to drive out the parasitic species that had invaded the northern front of the continent, without even having time to mourn our fallen comrades.
Time flew by, and two months passed.
The rebels infected by the parasitic species were completely purified, but China, having lost its population of 20 million and its central figures, Woo Hwa-jin and the Heavenly Martial King, had entered an era of great chaos.
====
***
====
The Korean Hero Association, having lost its president, God Hand, appointed the S-rank hero ‘Machine Commander’ as the next president.
The funerals for the Flame Emperor and God Hand were held as state funerals, and the entire nation mourned the deaths of the two S-rank heroes for five days.
Although their bodies left no trace, their personal belongings were buried, and their graves were enshrined in the Hero Memorial Park.
‘I need to become stronger.’
Our country, humanity, was not yet ready to face a second-tier world. We had suffered immense damage not only from second-tier monsters but also from the bizarre methods of alien species.
However, in the near future, the Celestial Canopy would be lifted, and Earth would face the great disasters beyond the veil.
Following the Flame Emperor and God Hand, many more heroes would lose their lives, and humanity would struggle to survive, just as it did during the Great Cataclysm a hundred years ago.
‘At least until the terraforming of the small world stabilizes.’
I had to buy time.
Only I could face the second-tier monsters.
“From today, Kim Hak-dong here will take over the management of the Harmony Clan.”
The first thing I did to honor the spirits of the Flame Emperor and God Hand was to appoint Kim Hak-dong, a person I had past connections with, as the CEO of the Harmony Clan.
He had been the chairman of Seraville Co., but had recently been ousted in a power struggle and was unemployed.
I decided to focus on breaking through my limits and farming, receiving business reports once a month.
“Just follow the manual.”
“I will make sure to live up to your trust, Sir!”
There were no longer any forces capable of checking the Harmony Clan.
The Seonhwa Group or the Twilight Dawn Clan of Electric Guy, which might have harbored hostility, had started to keep a low profile the moment I returned from the Ark of Trials.
The Harmony Clan, now on track, would run smoothly even without me.
“Noah, transport me to the great city of Eunchun Forest.”
Flash!
When I opened my eyes, the scene before me looked like something out of a martial arts movie.
Eunchun Forest was a region deep in the western part of the small world, surrounded by tall and rugged mountain ranges that isolated it from the outside world.
The Hero Association had only managed to procure the auxiliary ingredients for the elixir ‘Roaring Pride’—Earth Spirit Herb, Water Spirit Herb, and Fire Spirit Herb.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the main ingredient, the Purple Spirit Root, and could only provide me with related information.
The legendary herb, Purple Spirit Root, was said to grow in a certain part of the magic-rich Eunchun Forest.
‘According to the archaeologist’s claims, it should be somewhere around here.’
The dominant force in Eunchun Forest was a secluded tribe, like a flower in a greenhouse, with no interaction with other civilizations.
They were descendants of the neighboring realm, Hwan, where martial arts had developed instead of science, and their power was about one-tenth of Earth’s.
“Hold on a second.”
“Huh?”
“What’s the name of the castle we’re staying in?”
“…What are you saying? Are you an islander? Speak properly so I can understand you. Tsk.”
My quest to farm the Purple Spirit Root hit a snag right from the start. It seemed the people of Eunchun Forest didn’t have translation technology.
“This is going to be a hassle.”
Pretending to have a speech impediment, I exchanged a low-grade mana stone for some silver coins at a shabby general store. The silver coins were plain and round, with no engravings.
Next, I visited a fabric shop and bought a blue silk robe to change into. The strange looks I had been getting on the street noticeably decreased once I changed clothes.
“Is it over there?”
After wandering the bustling streets for about ten minutes, I found a shop displaying books.
The signboard at the entrance had characters that seemed to be a complex mix of Chinese and Japanese.
Inside, various books were piled up, confirming my suspicion that this place was a library. I used my photographic memory to memorize all the books within reach.
Fortunately, among them were a series of beginner, intermediate, and advanced language textbooks that seemed to be used for teaching at a language school.
“I’ve been swindled.”
After learning some basic expressions and visiting an exchange office, I realized that the general store owner who had bought my mana stone had given me an absurdly low price.
The exchange office treated me like a VIP the moment I took out a low-grade mana stone and led me to a reception room.
Not yet fully fluent in the local language, I used the simplest expressions to negotiate and successfully exchanged ten low-grade mana stones for fifty gold coins.
Having obtained the standard currency of Eunchun Forest, I rented a room in a high-class inn, paying one gold coin as a month’s advance.
For the next three days, I didn’t leave my room. With my superior intellect and the help of a language decipherer, I fully mastered the language of Eunchun Forest.
“This place has quite a history.”
Understanding the language allowed me to quickly learn about the history, culture, economy, and governance system of Eunchun Forest through the millions of characters I had stored using my photographic memory.
Noah had dropped me off in a place called Yangpyeong Province, a large city with a population of 80 million.
Eunchun Forest had five such large cities, including Yangpyeong Province, about fifty smaller towns, and countless villages without walls.
The cultural system was almost identical to the martial arts novels I enjoyed reading.
However, their royal family, descended from the progenitor Hwan, had ceased to exist 500 years ago, effectively collapsing the unified state. Eunchun Forest had become a completely decentralized system dominated by large sects and clans.
Yangpyeong Province was a cultural and economic hub governed by two major sects, Yongmu Sect and Hwarang Sect.
“Auntie, I’ll have a large order of sweet and sour pork, a small order of garlic pork (蒜泥白肉), and a bowl of beef noodles.”
Finally able to communicate smoothly with the people of Eunchun Forest, I headed straight to the inn’s restaurant and ordered a hearty meal in Hwan language.
Nom nom.
For the first time in a while, I enjoyed a meal comfortably as Lee Geon-ha, free from the burdens of being the hero Isaac.
Up until that moment, my mind was solely focused on obtaining the Purple Spirit Root as quickly as possible to break through my limits.
Hahaha!
Hohohoho.
That was until a group of three men and two women, dressed in elaborate martial arts attire, noisily made their way up to the third floor of the inn.
Among them, a robust young man stood out as a third-star martial artist.
It was like witnessing the harmonious gathering of handsome men and beautiful women straight out of a martial arts novel.
“What’s with that sissy-looking guy?”
“…Pfft.”
Their sudden insult directed at me made me chuckle involuntarily.
====
***
====
Hwang Cheol, the second son of Hwang Gyu, the head of the Yongmu Sect that ruled half of Yangpyeong Province, was a man who took great pride in the exceptional martial arts talent he had inherited from his father.
With the full support of the Yongmu Sect, his martial prowess was outstanding even among the renowned young swordsmen of Yangpyeong Province.
Like many young martial artists born with extraordinary talent, Hwang Cheol had participated in a friendly martial arts competition at the Sword Martial Society today, winning three consecutive matches and elevating the prestige of the Yongmu Sect.
Naturally, his name became special among the young martial artists, and at some point, he earned the nickname ‘Flying Sword’.
Despite his arrogant nature and disdain for the weak, the number of young martial artists wanting to associate with him continued to grow.
“Are you laughing?”
It was perhaps inevitable that Hwang Cheol, a young master destined to be among the top ten in Yangpyeong Province, would frown at the insolent attitude of a seemingly weak young man in blue robes.
Until now, no one, except his father, had dared to laugh at him.
“Oh my, there’s a face I haven’t seen on the third floor. Instead of being rude, shouldn’t we at least ask which family he belongs to?”
“Sister Bin-hwa, what are you saying? Brother Cheol rented the entire third floor of Unha Pavilion for us. Should we allow someone with no background to join us?”
“Haha, well said, Yun-seon. Miss Bin-hwa, unfortunately, that person has already offended Young Master Cheol. That pretty face will soon be ruined. But Miss Bin-hwa, your taste is surprising. Showing interest in such a skinny fellow?”
The young martial artists believed that the life of the man who had caught Hwang Cheol’s ire was already doomed. In Yangpyeong Province, there was even a saying that if you met Hwang Cheol’s angry gaze, you should immediately kneel and beg until your hands smoked.
But instead of bowing his head, the man had the audacity to smirk at Hwang Cheol. It was obvious what fate awaited such a foolish person.
“You, why did you laugh?”
“Oh, my apologies. I choked for a moment.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You know who I am. If you don’t want to die, convince me. Why did you laugh?”
“There’s a saying that even a dog shouldn’t be disturbed while eating. Let’s just let it go.”
Swoosh—
Bang!
Suddenly, Hwang Cheol stepped forward, sending a gust of wind towards the young man in blue robes.
Clear Wind Fist
Fourth Form
Flowing Windmill
A gentle breeze emerged from his lightly placed foot, transforming into a fierce gale at the final moment when he thrust his fist.