The Underworld Judge-Chapter 58 - Ghost of the Past II

He opened Personal Enhancement next.

A new screen popped up.

Rows of upgrades filled the display.

[ Strength +1 ] – 100 JP

[ Agility +1 ] – 100 JP

[ Endurance +1 ] – 100 JP

[ Reflex +1 ] – 150 JP

[ Pain Tolerance +1 ] – 120 JP

[ Stamina Boost (Minor) ] – 200 JP

[ Martial Base Lv.1 ] – 300 JP

[ Basic Combat Sense ] – 400 JP

Hyun Woo stared at the list.

All physical.

All combat.

All things that helped him hit harder, run faster, survive longer.

Still nothing he needed.

He clicked his tongue softly.

"...Not this," he murmured. "Not now."

He backed out.

The screen changed again, showing the last four tabs he hadn’t checked yet: 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Passive Effects

Authority Weight

Rank Upgrade

Justice Artifact

He opened Passive Effects first.

Some small bonuses... reaction speed... pain resistance... nothing that helped him find anything about his family.

"Not this," he muttered and closed it.

He clicked Authority Weight next.

Numbers again. To increase Sin Weight, nothing he needed.

He closed it.

He checked Rank Upgrade for a second.

It only showed one thing.

[ Rank: Petty Judge → Minor Judge ]

Cost: 10,000 JP

"Too far," he whispered.

He backed out. Now there was only one tab left. The last one. The one he didn’t open until now.

[ Justice Artifact ]

"...please," he breathed as he opened Justice Arsenal, his thumb dragging down the list like he was digging through a drawer he’d already emptied twice.

Rows of artifact and strange tools passed by — chains for restraining targets, blades made for punishment, relics meant to judge sinners. All powerful, all dangerous, but none of them were what he needed.

He scrolled again, slower this time.

A small breath slipped out of him, quiet and tired.

"...there has to be something..."

One last swipe.

The list changed, stopped at the bottom, and a single item appeared — plain, barely noticeable.

[ Chain of Móryo ]

[ Cost: 4,000 JP ]

[ Chain of Móryo reacts to Sin within proximity ]

[ Range: 200 meters ]

[ Range Accuracy: Depends on User Rank & Authority Weight ]

His finger froze. He tapped it without blinking.

The description expanded.

[ A chain born from old Móryo remnants.

Can bind a sinner or a location.

Shows hidden traces of past actions, lost memories, and crimes erased by time. ]

Hyun Woo read it once.

Then again.

His heartbeat didn’t speed up — it steadied, like everything inside him finally locked into place. It wasn’t a weapon. Not something to fight with.

It was the first thing in the entire System that could uncover the truth.

His shoulders dropped a bit. He let out a small breath.

"...finally."

He sat up straighter, eyes sharpening with a quiet fire that had been waiting for something to ignite it.

"If this works," he whispered, "I can find everyone involved."

The screen light reflected in his golden eyes.

Hyun Woo didn’t hesitate.

He pressed Purchase.

The screen blinked.

[ 4,000 JP deducted ]

[ Remaining Balance: 700 JP ]

[ Chain of Móryo — Granted ]

A small vibration ran through his palm. Not violent — more like his hand reacting to something new manifesting into palm.

For a few seconds, nothing else happened.

A shadow surfaced on his wrist and moved toward his palm, sliding across his skin in a straight, thin line.

It stopped right in the middle of his hand.

The shadow thickened there, gathering like ink pooling in one spot.

Then the center hardened — a small bump first, then edges forming around it.

One metal link shaped itself, then another, each piece clicking into place until a short chain rested in his palm.

The chain looked old the second it mainsfested—dark black, rough on the edges, like it had been buried for years.

Thin white shapes leaked out of the links, like little ghosts.

Pushing their way through the chain links.

They floated for a breath, hovering just above the chain, then sank back inside as if the chain swallowed them again.

The moment he closed his hand around it, a sharp cold hit his palm.

It wasn’t just cold. It stung that made his fingers loosen without meaning to.

His skin felt like it was holding a piece of ice.

For a moment the chain lay still in his hand, heavy and quiet, with those pale shapes drifting in and out of the links like the chain was breathing.

He wasn’t even sure how to "activate" it.

There was no button. No command.

Just that faint tug he felt earlier, the one that made him think, for a second, about the night his brother was taken from their own house... and the kidnapper’s face he never saw.

He took a slow breath and closed his fingers around the Chain of Móryo.

The instant his skin tightened around it, the chain reacted.

A cold rush slipped through his palm, sharp enough to make his fingers tense.

It wasn’t just cold — it felt like thousands of faint breaths brushing past his skin, each one carrying a trace of someone’s pain, someone’s fear.

A cold feeling crawled up his back, and for a moment it was like all those trapped souls passed right through him, leaving their ache behind as they moved.

Hyun Woo frowned. "Is this... working?"

That cold rush stayed in his hand for a moment, and while the feeling lingered, the chain began to move.

It tightened slowly around his wrist, tightening link by link until it settled against his skin.

Then the Chain of Móryo divided into two parts.

One part slid up his right wrist, climbing toward his elbow in a slow, steady coil.

The other moved across his left palm and wrapped up his forearm the same way. Both chains tightened little by little, after a while both part coiled on each arm.

A thin mist seeped from each link, around his arms as the chains settled on both sides.

Hyun Woo stared down at his arms, and his eyes flashed a dark violet, steady and unblinking as the chains tightened on him like they were waking up.

Hyun Woo blinked.

Just one.

And the whole room changed.

The wall in front of him blurred first, like the wall was getting blurry.

Then the floor softened under his feet, the colors faded and old ones started showing up.