Absolute Regression Chapter 463 : Where is Eungong and what is he doing

Chapter 463: Where is Eungong and what is he doing?

One never truly knows on the day itself.

Only after ti has passed, when you look back, do you co to realize it.

Ah! That was the day my life changed.

That day for Yong Jamyeong was just such a day.

It wasn’t rely because he narrowly escaped death. It was because his perspective on life had changed.

“At the ti, I was always full of confidence.”

And he had every reason to be. He was young, smart, and gifted in business, succeeding at everything he touched.

“Even sleep felt like a waste of ti. Money was lying around everywhere, and if I didn’t pick it up first, I felt soone else would.”

In his youth, he was completely engrossed in the joy of making money. No other feeling could match that satisfaction.

“I succeeded one after another. It felt like the fortune of the world was concentrated solely on . But I never beca arrogant. On the contrary, I beca more humble and worked even harder. And yet, misfortune ca anyway.”

Yong Jamyeong silently looked down at his glass. Reflected in the liquor, he saw the face of his younger self.

“You will beco the god of the trading world, Company Head!”

Manso said with a beaming smile.

“Don’t go gilding my face for nothing.”

Yong Jamyeong shook his head and laughed. His easygoing smile, the kind that put others at ease, hadn’t changed from his younger days.

“It’s not flattery. You know how many rchants I’ve t, don’t you? Just wait and see — you’ll definitely beco the greatest rchant.”

It had been about three or four years since he got to know Manso. Manso made his living doing various tasks around the rchants.

He looked into product information, connected laborers, or linked wanderers to trading companies. Put nicely, he was versatile; put harshly, he handled all the odd jobs. But because he stepped up to help with trading matters as if they were his own, everyone at the Galaxy Trading Company liked him.

Then one day—

“We’ve arrived.”

The two stepped into a small manor.

The reason they were here today was that Manso wanted to introduce soone.

“Now that the trading company has established itself, it’s ti to recruit martial artists. We can’t delay this any longer.”

This was before Yong Jamyeong had even t Baek Chong. At this ti, there were no martial artists affiliated with the company.

For transporting goods, they could use escort bureaus, and the business itself was handled by people who had been working with them from the start. If guards were occasionally needed, Manso would introduce martial artists to get the job done.

But as the trading company grew, the need for in-house martial artists grew with it. The value and volu of the goods had increased. It wasn’t sothing that could be handled by rotating strongn guarding the warehouse.

Even so, Yong Jamyeong couldn’t make a decision easily.

What if those martial artists harbored ill intent?

That worry never left his mind.

He simply wasn’t the kind to easily trust others. That’s why, in the end, it had taken Manso’s persuasion for him to agree to et the expert.

“What kind of martial artist are you introducing to?”

“Soone trustworthy. If he doesn’t suit your preferences, Company Head, there’s no need to decide anything.”

If Manso trusted the person, then Yong Jamyeong felt he could too. Manso had never once let him down.

But who would have thought that today would be the first ti.

The first impression of the long-awaited martial artist was terrible. His sharp eyes gave off a lascivious aura, and sothing about him seed sly. A scarred face, twisted lips…

“Nice to et you.”

At Yong Jamyeong’s greeting, the martial artist grinned. That grin alone left a foul taste in his mouth.

Yong Jamyeong glanced at Manso standing beside him.

‘You’re saying this is soone I can trust?’

Manso, as always, was smiling. Yet that smile felt oddly unfamiliar today—just as he was thinking that, the martial artist opened his mouth.

“This the one?”

That one phrase, brimming with impure intentions, sent a chill straight through Yong Jamyeong’s chest.

The martial artist grabbed a bottle from the table and drank straight from it, then threw the papers beside it onto the floor.

“Sign it.”

Yong Jamyeong snapped back to the present.

“Manso was the one who brought that man in and set the whole thing in motion. You know what I was truly afraid of back then?”

Geom Mugeuk asked, pouring liquor into his glass.

“What was it?”

“That my death would be a aningless one.”

Geom Mugeuk imdiately understood the weight of those words.

“They were aiming for such a small amount of money?”

Yong Jamyeong nodded.

“They were after just a few thousand nyang. Of course, to soone else it might’ve been a fortune, but to —while I was solidifying the foundation of the trading company—it wasn’t all that significant. It must’ve been a plan to steal goods from the warehouse. All they needed was a signed docunt. And since Manso frequently helped with our work…”

“Manso probably had a rough idea of the Company Head’s finances, didn’t he?”

“He must have.”

“Then why didn’t they aim for sothing bigger?”

“The martial artist involved wasn’t just so ordinary man. He was the infamous Bloodshade Fiend back then.”

The Bloodshade Fiend.

He was a notorious lust demon in the martial world at the ti. Regardless of age, he abducted and murdered countless won, and was listed as a public enemy by the Martial Alliance.

“At the ti, he was on the run, fleeing from soone. He was trying to get his hands on quick escape funds, and that’s when he joined hands with Manso. The two had known each other for a while.”

All of that ca to light later on.

“Can you believe it? I had never had anything to do with such a depraved being in my life—and then I ended up entangled with one like that.”

Geom Mugeuk quietly listened to his story. That was his role right now—to listen.

“I asked Manso, didn’t I? You have a rough idea of how much I own, don’t you? And yet, you pulled this kind of stunt over just a few thousand nyang?”

Yong Jamyeong’s face flushed, as if the mory had just co flooding back.

“And the man shalessly smiled and said this—‘Then give more.’”

Anger surged across Yong Jamyeong’s face.

“I was furious. Not at him—but at myself, for being fooled by soone like that. A man who had consorted with a lust demon, soone that filthy, and yet I didn’t sense a single thing.”

“What happened after that?”

Yong Jamyeong took another drink, and Geom Mugeuk refilled his cup. These were words that couldn’t be said without liquor.

“Well, first, he beat .”

Thud! Thud!

As the beating continued, Yong Jamyeong cried out,

“I’ll sign! I’ll do it!”

The one who was beating him wasn’t the Bloodshade Fiend—it was Manso.

He didn’t respond to anything, simply kept hitting. It was clear he intended to crush his spirit first.

Even rchants sotis had to break their opponent’s will during negotiations. He had just chosen the most extre and quickest thod.

Soone who had never been in a real fight before, when exposed to violence for the first ti, usually surrendered easily. The shock, the pain, the fear… The thought—Am I going to die like this?—shattered the mind in an instant. It was a terror unknown to anyone who hadn’t gone through it themselves.

“Please! Stop!”

Yong Jamyeong curled up, shielding his head and face.

He was in despair. Not because of the pain, but because they had openly shown their faces and were carrying this out in broad daylight.

‘They’re going to kill in the end.’

After stopping, Manso suddenly yanked him up.

“Now, sign it.”

Yong Jamyeong knew the mont he signed, he would die.

“I’ll give you more money. A lot more…”

Thud!

Manso’s fist ca crashing in again. The beating this ti was worse than before. Manso knew Yong Jamyeong too well. He knew he was smart and wouldn’t sign so easily. That’s why he intended to beat the resistance out of him.

Even as he scread, only one thought filled Yong Jamyeong’s mind:

‘I have to live. I don’t want to die at the hands of a bastard like this!’

The man lifted Yong Jamyeong once more.

anwhile, the Bloodshade Fiend was gazing out the window. As if soone were on his tail, he looked anxious.

“Hurry it up!”

At those words, Manso urged Yong Jamyeong again.

“Sign it.”

“I’ll give you everything I have. So, please…”

Thud! Thud!

Not even pain could overpower the fear of death.

Tears flowed from Yong Jamyeong’s eyes. Tears from the pain, and tears from the sheer injustice of it all.

He had worked so hard to live an honest life. He had cut down on sleep to keep things running. He did everything he could to treat the people of the trading company well.

And the result of all that effort was death like this?

He shouldn’t have trusted anyone. He told himself he didn’t trust people, and yet—

“You will beco the god of the trading world!”

He had been intoxicated by those sweet words. Fooled by soone, and by the ti he ca to his senses, everything was already over.

What if the choice had been between losing all his wealth or not?

Would that have felt even slightly better?

‘Please spare .’

He prayed to the heavens. If there truly were gods who looked over rchants, he prayed to them as well.

‘If you save —if you truly save —!’

He hadn’t even finished the plea when the door opened.

With a face full of emotion, Yong Jamyeong said,

“That’s when that person entered.”

Geom Mugeuk recalled that mont too. The image of his father in his youth.

“When that man stepped in, I could feel the air in the room change.”

Yong Jamyeong closed his eyes and rembered. If the earlier mories were full of pain, the ones that followed were joy and longing.

“How should I describe that man?”

As Yong Jamyeong pondered, Geom Mugeuk smiled.

That kind of brief encounter isn’t so easy to put into words.

“The first thing I thought was—he’s handso.”

“More than ?”

At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Yong Jamyeong nodded firmly.

“I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to.”

“I’m sorry, but he’s my savior.”

“Understood. I’ll consider that extra credit for saving your life.”

Yong Jamyeong smiled at my joke. Now that the story had turned pleasant, he had room to breathe.

“He was handso, but there was also strength in him. Sothing cold, distant. I don’t know how to explain it.”

I too wish I could have seen Father in his youth. I find myself wishing I had been there.

“The mont he appeared, the Bloodshade Fiend started trembling. That was the first ti I ever saw such overwhelming fear on soone’s face. It beca clear that the man had been anxious the whole ti because of him. And what ca next happened in an instant. A flash of radiant light burst out, and that depraved demon was shattered into unrecognizable pieces, collapsing right there. You’re a martial artist, so you probably enjoy this kind of tale, but the truth is—I saw nothing at all.”

Considering how completely the man was pulverized, he must have enraged my father. He had probably assaulted and killed a woman from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

“What did you do then?”

“At first, I was frozen. Couldn’t say a word. When the man turned and looked at , I shouted—Please spare ! I’m not with these people!”

Yong Jamyeong returned again to that mont in his mory.

He still rembered. The look in that man’s eyes as he gazed at him.

His eyes were asking a question. Asking why he should believe him. Why he should spare him?

Yong Jamyeong instinctively knew that his life or death depended on what he said next. What should I say? His mind searched for an answer, but his mouth had already begun to speak. He could only hope his instincts had worked properly.

“The man who tried to kill always said it. That I would beco the god of the trading world. I want to make that happen.”

He had no idea why those words ca out. They just had, without him even realizing it.

The man didn’t act on intuition alone. He walked to the table and looked at the contract placed there. From the docunt, it was clear that this had been a setup to force a signature.

This ti, the man turned to look at Manso.

“He’s lying. He’s the one who—”

The man waited, but the rest of the words never ca. Manso was soone who, even in a situation like this, had the tongue to fabricate a convincing excuse. But today was different.

The mont he t the gaze of the man silently watching him, strangely, his mouth went dry.

He had lived a lifeti of hypocrisy and lies, but in this final mont, he couldn’t utter a single falsehood—and died, truthfully.

A flash of light, and his body was cleaved in two.

“Please, tell your na, benefactor.”

But the man left without saying a word.

“I’ll beco the greatest rchant in the world, and I will repay this debt!”

He hadn’t been able to promise it to the heavens, so he made that promise to the man instead.

It was disappointing. If only the man had said just a single word in return, or even offered him a smile as he left.

But just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished.

“That’s what happened that day.”

Geom Mugeuk raised his glass to him. Yong Jamyeong toasted it. The two drank in silence.

For a mont, they were both thinking of the sa man.

“You kept your promise to beco the greatest rchant in the world.”

“But he doesn’t know that, does he?”

That was what stung the most. Yong Jamyeong had wanted to et him again and say it.

Do you rember? I’m the man you saved that day. Just like I said, I beca the greatest rchant.

If he could say those words, he would die without regret. It was sothing he could’ve dismissed as re luck, but for so reason, the man stayed with him—like he was caught in a chain of fate.

“I tried everything, searched in every direction, but I never found him. No one had ever seen him again. Sotis I wonder if maybe... I dread it all.”

It was too bitter. Year after year, he had grown older. That man must have aged too. How had he changed? What kind of life was he living now?

“Do you have a portrait of him, by chance?”

At that, Yong Jamyeong pulled out a sheet of paper from inside his robe. He handled it with care, as if it might fall apart at the slightest touch.

“I always carry it with .”

The paper, carefully folded inside fine silk, was old and discolored, with edges that looked ready to tear at the slightest touch.

“This is the original sketch I had drawn back then. I made hundreds of copies to search for him… but gave up, thinking it might trouble him.”

Geom Mugeuk looked at the face drawn on the worn paper. To soone seeing it for the first ti, the image was so faded it might not be recognizable—but within it, Geom Mugeuk saw his father.

'Father.'

So this is how I get to see you in your youth.

“I can’t quite rember his face anymore.”

He had thought he would never forget. No—he had been sure he would never forget. But just like the paper sketch of his face, the mory had faded more and more with ti.

Yong Jamyeong looked at Geom Mugeuk as he stared at the sketch.

In his deep, clear eyes, Yong Jamyeong saw longing.

'Why is he looking at it like that?'

The next mont, Yong Jamyeong flinched.

Like a shape erging through fog, the man’s face began to resurface in his mory.

A face that had been fading away in recent years—now, it ca back to him as clearly as if everything had happened just yesterday.

'Benefactor!'

The image of that face returned with startling vividness. It was as if the man were standing right before him.

'But why?'

What did the reason matter? What mattered was this overwhelming sense of joy and familiarity.

'I’ve grown so old, and yet you’re still the sa. Benefactor, where are you, and what are you doing now? Are you struggling sowhere without money? I’m wealthy now. Co find , and let repay the grace you gave that day!'

Then, without thinking, he glanced over at Geom Mugeuk.

“!”

Goosebumps spread across his body. It was the sensation that Geom Mugeuk sohow carried the sa presence as the benefactor from back then. It was as if that very man were sitting before him now. Though their features weren’t exactly alike—

And in that instant!

“…No way…”

The face of the young benefactor began to overlap with another.

The face of the one who had summoned him here.

The face of the supre figure of this era.

And so, the face of the Demon Cult Leader, Geom Woojin, crossed the gulf of years to align perfectly with the face of Yong Jamyeong’s savior.

The two faces beca one—flawlessly.