Money Is a Superpower
Hotel Lumen had stood for less than a decade.
Yet no one ever dismissed it as a hotel without pedigree.
It was not merely that the facilities were exceptional; the place possessed a dignity that matched them. That was why it was ranked among the finest hotel chains in the world.
And the owner of that chain, Lee Jeong-Hoon, was currently rolling across the floor.
"Butler Joo, why does this feel even harder than before?"
The training had begun at the butler’s firm insistence while Jeong-Hoon was still in the hospital. Even after he moved into Lumen, nothing changed—it continued under Butler Joo’s supervision. Jeong-Hoon could not shake the feeling that it was tougher now than it had been during his recovery.
"At the hospital it was for treatment. Now that you have fully recovered, we must raise the intensity."
Butler Joo laughed heartily as he answered. Jeong-Hoon shot him a puzzled look. The butler possessed a body so thoroughly trained that it was hard to believe he was a man in his seventies. Yet he kept pace with training that left the twenty-year-old Jeong-Hoon sprawled out, without so much as a single heavy breath. That was impossible unless he was an Awakened.
"Butler Joo, be honest with me. You’re an Awakened, aren’t you?"
"…Embarrassingly enough, I am an SSS-class Awakened."
Butler Joo’s words stressed that it was nothing to boast about. Jeong-Hoon shook his head. For a moment he wondered whether his ears had failed him. If the man had said F-class, Jeong-Hoon would have accepted it without a second thought. But he had clearly heard SSS-class.
"I must be more exhausted than I thought. Did you just say SSS-class?"
"You heard correctly."
Confirmation that he had not misheard only made Jeong-Hoon shake his head harder.
"Butler Joo? An SSS-class is the absolute peak among Awakened. There are only thirty-six active SSS-class hunters in the entire world."
Officially thirty-six; unofficially the number was estimated at around a hundred at most. Each one was a walking catastrophe, treated as a one-man army. For someone of that caliber to use the word "embarrassing" left Jeong-Hoon doubting his own hearing.
"When one serves the Gaju, merely being at the top is not enough to feel secure. One must be the absolute pinnacle. That is why it is embarrassing."
"Is my life in that much danger?"
"Such a thing will not happen."
The butler did not give a firm denial. From that alone Jeong-Hoon realized that, whatever the reason, he was in a more precarious position than he had known.
"Shall we begin again?"
Even if his life was in danger, the same had been true when he was a day laborer at the dungeon logistics center. Jeong-Hoon pushed himself to his feet and smiled at Butler Joo. The risks might be greater now, yet with an SSS-class Awakened watching over him he felt safer than before. Still, a quiet resolve settled in his heart: he could not afford to slack on his training, just in case.
"It seems you have made up your mind."
"…Was it that obvious on my face?"
Jeong-Hoon had often been told that whatever he was thinking showed plainly. He averted his gaze at the butler’s remark.
"I am glad the resolve is there. In that case, would you care to try a different sort of training?"
At the mention of something other than the physical conditioning they had been doing, Jeong-Hoon’s expression turned curious. Butler Joo raised his right hand. Wondering if the man meant to teach him self-defense, Jeong-Hoon focused on the raised hand. The butler pressed thumb and index finger together, then flicked them with a sharp snap.
"Give it a try."
Some hunters used a finger snap as the casting gesture for their abilities. It was simple and dramatic enough that many of them employed it. When Butler Joo suggested the same motion, Jeong-Hoon awkwardly lifted his own hand.
"I’m not even an ability user. Doing this won’t mean anything."
He grumbled before he snapped his fingers, following the butler’s example—thumb against middle finger. The sound that rang out was louder and clearer than the one Butler Joo had produced.
"You called for me, Gaju?"
"…Whoa! You startled me!"
The instant Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers, a woman appeared behind him. He instinctively stepped back toward Butler Joo. She carried a thick attaché case and looked to be in her mid-twenties, though Jeong-Hoon did not trust the age on her face. He had heard that Awakened aged more slowly. Anyone who could materialize at the sound of a finger snap was definitely an Awakened.
"This is a hotel, right?"
Yet more than that fact, her attire caught his eye. He glanced quietly at Butler Joo. She wore a black dress with a white frilled apron—the classic image of a maid’s uniform. Not the fetishized costume, but a traditional maid outfit. Even for Hotel Lumen, a maid’s uniform seemed a bit much.
"It is a hotel, and at the same time the hidden headquarters of the family where the Gaju resides."
"So she has nothing to do with the hotel itself and is connected to the family? What kind of family keeps maids?"
"I am not a mere maid. I am the housekeeper—that is, the head maid."
Pride colored the woman’s words. Jeong-Hoon shook his head.
"I don’t care about ranks."
He still barely understood the family itself. Whether she was a maid or the head maid made no difference to him.
"I was simply relieved that Lumen’s female hotelier uniforms are not maid outfits."
If he had no connection to Lumen he might have laughed it off as an amusing eccentricity. But he was the Gaju, and publicly he held the title of Lumen’s chairman. Because he was so deeply involved, the thought made him uneasy.
"Hmm. What do you think, Housekeeper?"
"I take pride in this maid’s attire. However, if that is the Gaju’s opinion, there is nothing to be done."
While Jeong-Hoon felt relief, Butler Joo and the head maid exchanged a meaningful look. He shot them a wary glance.
"You two… you’re not taking what I just said as inspiration to change Lumen’s female uniforms into maid outfits, are you?"
"Heh heh heh. Did I not tell you? The family exists to realize whatever the Gaju desires."
"I never said I wanted that!"
A fleeting temptation had crossed his mind, but he had never voiced it. Jeong-Hoon waved both hands and his head in vigorous denial.
"Everyone would think Lumen had lost its mind!"
He raised his voice in an effort to stop them, yet both simply shook their heads.
"Gaju, no one speaks ill of Lumen. Lumen leads trends. When we do something, others follow."
Seeing the head maid’s eyes light with genuine enthusiasm, Jeong-Hoon pointed at the case she carried.
"Later! We’ll discuss it later. Right now, let’s see what’s in that bag!"
They both knew he was changing the subject, yet they nodded. In the family, the Gaju’s word was law.
"Very well. Housekeeper, open the case, if you would."
At Butler Joo’s request the head maid skillfully held the case in one hand and opened it with the other.
"The training we will begin now is self-defense."
"I figured as much. But… do you really need all this for self-defense?"
Looking at the contents of the case, Jeong-Hoon mentally reviewed what he knew of self-defense.
"Fine, I can accept the pistol and the knife."
The world was dangerous enough that many people carried firearms or blades. That much fell within acceptable bounds. The lighter-shaped rod inside the case, however, did not belong in any definition of self-defense he recognized. It was not an unfamiliar object; he had seen them while working at the dungeon logistics center. It was clearly a compact grenade—highly stable, with respectable explosive power, popular among hunters.
"It is easy to carry, which makes it ideal for self-defense."
"Grenades are weapons strictly controlled by the state. Ownership by a private individual is illegal."
"Only if one is caught. Besides, the grenade is a true last resort. In a crisis that requires self-defense, is there anything one would refuse to use?"
It still felt like overkill, but Butler Joo showed no intention of yielding. Jeong-Hoon raised both hands in surrender.
"Then I shall take my leave."
"Thank you for your efforts, Housekeeper."
"I shall await your next summons, Gaju."
Once every item had been removed from the case, the head maid bowed politely and vanished. Jeong-Hoon had merely nodded as he watched her go when a sudden question struck him.
"Butler Joo? Did I ever actually call for the housekeeper?"
"Did you not?"
"I only snapped my fingers."
He had meant it as a casual check—had the two of them staged the whole event?—and snapped his fingers again without much thought.
"You called for me, Gaju?"
"Gah—! You startled me again! Whew… no, I was just testing it."
The head maid reappeared the moment he snapped. Jeong-Hoon focused on calming his racing heart.
"Just as you did now, we stand ready to come running the instant the Gaju snaps his fingers."
"You and the housekeeper?"
"Not only the two of us. Your vassals are always on standby."
"How do you even tell what I want? If I snap my fingers while thinking ‘I need a doctor—’"
He snapped his fingers while speaking, almost as an afterthought. Instantly the physician who had treated him in the hospital appeared before him.
"Gaju, are you unwell?"
"…No. Just a test."
Having already experienced the head maid’s arrival, Jeong-Hoon managed to hide most of his surprise.
"Weren’t you a hospital doctor?"
"That hospital is operated by the family. And I am your personal physician. You were still recovering, so I refrained from explaining to avoid confusion."
Having introduced himself in response to the casual summons, the doctor vanished just as swiftly.
"As you just saw, the vassals who can answer the Gaju’s call will always appear."
Curious, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers while thinking of Butler Joo. There was a chance the doctor had appeared simply because he had spoken the word "doctor," and he wanted to check.
"Gaju, I am already here. There is no need to summon me that way."
"…How did you know?"
"One must be capable of at least that much to serve as head butler."
Wondering whether any vassal outranked even Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers again.
"That individual is not in a position to answer a summons at this moment."
"So there is someone. This really does feel like I’ve become an ability user."
Simply thinking of what he needed and snapping his fingers made the right person appear. It was impossible not to call it a superpower.
"But how do you even know?"
"Every vassal capable of answering the Gaju’s call is at least an S-class Awakened. Though still immature, they are called superhumans. This much is only natural."
Jeong-Hoon accepted the explanation somehow, yet a new question arose. Even A-class Awakened were either rising stars or guild masters of mid-tier guilds. An S-class was a walking corporation. The thought that people of that caliber waited as his vassals for his summons sent an involuntary chill down his spine.
"This family… it isn’t some secret society plotting to overthrow the government or conquer the world, is it?"
They possessed illegal grenades and multiple S-class hunters. The situation was suspicious enough that Jeong-Hoon asked in complete seriousness. Butler Joo simply smiled.
"If that is what the Gaju desires, we shall make it so."
"No. I absolutely do not desire that. Please never do that."
Jeong-Hoon shook his head and gripped the pistol he had just been given. It was time to learn the self-defense techniques Butler Joo insisted upon.