Ch 155
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 155
Sweden's winter is said to be similar to Korea's, but it's chillier than I thought.
Actually, honestly, the reason it feels that way might be because of Teacher Kim who's right in front of me rather than the weather.
When I arrived in Sweden and was unpacking at the hotel, a Nobel Committee official came to visit and informed me that I had been selected as this year's recipient.
It would be great if I could just receive the award and money and be done with it, but apparently I need to give a brief explanation along with acceptance remarks during the ceremony.
Since Luciel reviewed and explained the mechanism of magic before I came, there shouldn't be much difficulty.
The problem is that I'm not the only one receiving the award and giving an explanation.
As expected, the Nobel Committee also sent an invitation to Teacher Kim, who is a joint researcher, and she was already here.
Since the ceremony is tomorrow evening, we spent the night at the hotel, finished breakfast in the morning, and met with Teacher Kim to organize the presentation content.
"Um... Teacher Kim, I think this much preparation for the presentation should be enough."
"Thank you for your hard work. But I'm no longer a teacher."
"Haha... That's right. Then I'll call you Seon-hwa. It's almost lunchtime now, shall we eat together...?"
She didn't even respond, gathered her documents, got up and left... From the first time I saw her, coldness was overflowing from her, and she just greeted me briefly and only focused on work.
It seems her feelings toward me are still not good.
Speaking in hindsight, since I didn't choose either Luciel or Se-jin, it would be nice if I could maintain a good relationship with Teacher Kim like before... But that seems difficult.
When I asked around, I heard she's doing magic research as a guest member at Crimson Guild in New York.
It seems Kim Man-dong introduced her.
When Se-jin went to the WHCU competition, Kim Man-dong introduced several people including the Crimson Guild master.
Since she's still not a full guild member but just a guest member, she could return anytime if she wanted to...
There's supposed to be a banquet after the award ceremony, so I should try talking to her again then.
I also organized my documents and returned to the hotel.
I was thinking of having a simple lunch at the hotel, but decided it would be better to go out and eat, so I used Warp magic.
"Oh! Teacher?"
Se-jin, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, was startled to see me.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"You can travel from Sweden all the way to Korea?"
"Since I'm here, obviously I can, right? Have you already eaten dinner?"
I was going to eat together if she hadn't. It was 11:30 Swedish time, but due to the time difference, it's 7:30 in Korea.
"Yes. Just a little while ago. Haven't you eaten? Then wait just a moment. I'll prepare something for you right away."
"No. I can prepare it myself. Is there rice?"
"Ah, yes there is."
I come to Se-jin's house so often that it's almost like my own home now.
I familiarly took out side dishes from the refrigerator... But Se-jin, that kid, keeps standing in front of the gas stove.
"Don't do anything special. I can just eat with the side dishes that are here."
"No way, a meal without soup isn't right. I'll also make you some fried food while I'm heating up the soup."
Even though it must be bothersome, she quickly brought out warm soup, fried eggs, and even spam.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing special."
Eating a piece of spam with hot rice and gulping down cool clam seaweed soup - it's like heaven.
Swedish food wasn't bad, but after all, Koreans should eat Korean food.
"Ah, Teacher, when I stopped by the agency after work today, everyone said the songs are really good."
Since I gave them popular girl group songs from my previous life as I remembered them, that makes sense.
"Really? That's a relief."
"I didn't know you could make girl group songs so well too. Everyone said they're worried about which one to use for the mini album."
When I gave them the songs, I told them not to use them all at once but to save them.
I can't keep giving them songs forever.
If they release about two mini albums at first and promote with them, they'll gain some popularity and more songs will come in.
Of course, the title tracks will always be the songs I gave them.
"Then shouldn't they go with the song the investor likes? Se-jin, which song did you like?"
"Me? Hmm, I listened to all of them, but I liked the song called 'LOVE' the best."
"Ah, LOVE... That's a good song."
It's a common title, but the song is anything but common.
It was a song that came out when I was in the military in my previous life, and it was a mega hit by a girl group called V-Pink that I really liked.
Come to think of it, I think that song also came out around winter.
Plus, the group concept is also pure, so it would fit well.
"Then tell them to go with LOVE."
"Is it really okay to do that?"
"Whatever song they choose, it'll do well anyway."
Among the songs I brought to the agency, there isn't a single one that wasn't a mega hit.
"You're incredibly confident."
"You liked it too, didn't you? More importantly, how is Se-byeol? Haven't you heard from that guy?"
"Ah, yes. She changed her phone number and deleted her SNS accounts."
"Really? That's good, but like I said before, if he contacts you or if anything happens, make sure to tell the company or me."
"Yes. Don't worry too much. The agency president probably warned him too. I think it'll be okay now. Don't worry about it too much."
Well... Will it really be like that?
I think Se-jin is being too complacent.
If he were someone capable of normal thinking, he would have naturally given up, but he's not.
Since he even caused a traffic accident to threaten her when she refused the sponsor, he won't give up easily.
After finishing the meal, I said I would head back now and used Warp magic.
My vision changed instantly, but instead of the hotel, I was inside my car that I had parked in a public parking lot before leaving the country.
It's not my original car, but a borrowed car I got from a pawn shop near Kangwon Land by paying extra.
I didn't simply come to Korea just to eat dinner - I'm planning to deal with Stevia's former president and Lee Ji-hoon.
Uprooting the source.
I believe that anything that could become a source of trouble should never be left behind.
Not just those two, but I'm also planning to deal with that Manager Kim guy who was subtly pressuring from the sidelines.
None of them are people who have lived virtuously, so they'll have many enemies, but if the police start investigating, they'll start with recently formed grudges.
In that case, the ones most likely to be suspected are me and Se-jin.
Although it didn't receive much attention, there were a few articles about the corporation that Se-jin and I created establishing an agency and acquiring Stevia from HS Entertainment.
Moreover, there's a possibility that other company employees besides the president and Manager Kim know about the sponsor-related story, and there are probably collaborators on Lee Ji-hoon's side too.
It was quite difficult just to find out Lee Ji-hoon and the president's home addresses right away, so it's realistically impossible to find and deal with all of them.
So the plan I came up with is a perfect alibi operation.
I never planned to visit them in my original appearance from the start, but face-changing magic exists in this world too.
But Warp magic doesn't.
Currently, I'm officially supposed to be in Sweden, so no matter how much the police suspect me, it's useless.
As for Se-jin, it will be confirmed by CCTV that she was at home.
Everything is perfect.
The first place I'm going is Lee Ji-hoon's house.
Although the president and Manager Kim's crimes are by no means light, the real culprit is Lee Ji-hoon.
When I investigated, the place where that guy lives is the tallest building in Seoul.
It's a penthouse - there are only two of them - and the price is said to be over 30 billion won.
He uses an entire floor, but 30 billion won... I thought I was quite successful myself, but since he's a chaebol, the scale is completely different.
Driving into Songpa District, I can see the building where that guy lives in the distance even though I'm not even close yet.
Security is extremely strict, and I heard that even if monsters escape from nearby portals, barrier magic automatically deploys as soon as the alarm goes off.
It's completely like a fortress, but it's meaningless to me.
Traffic was too heavy, so I roughly parked in a nearby public parking lot and used Invisibility magic.
According to my internet research, there are magic detectors installed at the building entrance, and the elevator only stops at specific floors when you swipe a card, but that doesn't matter.
I never planned to enter through the front and take the elevator from the beginning.
I used Warp magic to move near the building.
Looking at it up close, it's so tall that I can't see the end even when I look up... But well, shouldn't it be fine?
I took a deep breath and sent internal energy to the soles of my feet.
Then I started climbing up the building by stepping on it.
***
"Um... Director, even though it's your order, this... Really doesn't seem right."
"Secretary Min, did I hear wrong?"
"Um... Young Master, there are women all over the world, so why do you need to... UGH!"
I hit his face with my fist in anger.
"I didn't hit you hard, so stop acting like it hurts and get up. Secretary Min, you're a Hunter."
"..."
"Wasn't it Secretary Min who said he'd do anything I ordered? What, did you suddenly develop some petty conscience?"
"No. But Young Master, this is a problem of a different dimension from the things that happened before."
"What's different? It's not the first time either. That Sera from before? She was also an idol that Secretary Min kidnapped."
"...The situation is different from back then. The actual owner of the agency that woman named Se-byeol joined is Kim Se-jin and Kang Shin-hyeok, isn't it?"
"So what? Am I telling Secretary Min to fight those two? You just need to kidnap one woman. They're not even together."
"The fact that they even created an agency to take Stevia away means they know that you made a sponsor proposal. Even if I succeed in kidnapping her, naturally they won't just sit still..."
"If they don't sit still, what can those lowlifes do? Is there evidence? Are there witnesses? If I say I didn't do it, that's the end of it. What, can they report it or beat us up? Listen, Secretary Min... I'm Lee Ji-hoon. Lee Ji-hoon of the HS Group royal family!"
"..."
"I heard that Kang Shin-hyeok bastard isn't even in Korea right now. Stop talking nonsense and kidnap her tonight and lock her up in the villa in Yangpyeong. When things quiet down, I'll go there and slowly enjoy her."
"Ah... I understand. Well then, I'll be going."
He's had good abilities and handled things cleanly, so I've been using him continuously, but seeing him argue with my opinion today, it seems it's time to get rid of Secretary Min too.
A dog that gets paid to work, how dare he to his master...
Anyway, this is why you shouldn't be too nice to subordinates, I thought as I pressed the intercom.
―Yes, Director.
"I'm leaving work now, so tell Secretary Choi to prepare the car."
―Understood.
I took Secretary Choi's car and returned home.
"Hey, Secretary Choi, what were the names of those girls I called last Wednesday? I think it was Dream something."
"Are you referring to Dream Girls? Should I tell them to come today?"
"Yeah. Except for that ugly pink-haired one and the one with the big face, just have the three others come."
There wasn't anyone as good as Se-byeol, but they were decent enough.
There's a saying about settling for less when you can't have the best.
"Understood. I'll prepare and contact you right away."
"You know I hate waiting long, right? Tell them to come within two hours."
"Ah... Yes, sir."
"Oh, I'll come to work in the afternoon tomorrow, so come around 2 o'clock."
"Yes. Understood."
I sent Secretary Choi away and entered the house.
As I entered the entrance, security guards approached, but when they saw my face, they bowed and stepped back.
Ugh, tsk tsk. Couldn't they tell it was obviously me even from afar?
It's been over half a year since I moved in.
I was about to say something but found it bothersome, so I took the private elevator and went up for quite a while before finally arriving at my real home.
Living up high is nice, but the time it takes to come and go each time is a bit annoying.
Well, at least security is good.
I opened the door and came in, was about to wash up immediately, but just headed to the kitchen instead.
Washing is bothersome too... When the women come later, I should make them wash too.
I opened the refrigerator and saw that the housekeeper had prepared various things, but nothing particularly appealing.
I was about to order food with the smart pad in the living room when somehow the atmosphere felt different from usual.
It felt like someone else was here...
"For trash, you have good instincts?"