Please Find the CEO
Sunghyun drove his weight down into the cliff face.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone.
Crrrrack—
Watching the cliff collapse in real time, Sunghyun looked down at the tiger.
"ROOOAAAR!"
The beast bellowed as if begging for its life.
"Ha, look at this bastard. Now you want me to spare you?"
Not a chance.
Sunghyun snorted and struck the cliff again.
Rrrrumble—
"Still… just in case…"
Whooosh—
Peering over the edge, he could still see the tiger plummeting downward.
"Holy shit, how high is this thing?"
By the time the tiger vanished into the fog, Sunghyun flopped onto his back.
"Haaaah! Thought I was gonna die."
As he caught his breath, an alarm chimed in his ear.
Ding—
Enemy defeated. System awakening. Trait granted.
"What?"
Victory against an unbeatable foe. First Battle Bonus — trait rank elevated.
Maximum rank attainable by a human. Further rank elevation impossible.
External intervention detected. Rank forcibly elevated.
Fwoooosh—
A swarm of blue light particles began to envelop Sunghyun's body.
"What the hell!"
He tried to sit up.
But his body wouldn't move.
"Ugh, what now? This is driving me insane."
Even in a situation he might have enjoyed under normal circumstances, Sunghyun refused to let his guard down.
Only for a moment, though.
As if telling him to rest, the particles gently seeped into every part of his body. Drowsiness poured over him in waves, and Sunghyun forced his eyes wide open — but the weight of sleep dragged his eyelids down.
"I… I can't…"
In the end, he couldn't fight it.
User awakening confirmed. Reconstructing body.
Twitch. Twitch.
Sunghyun's body, saturated with blue particles, began to writhe. His muscles grew tougher and denser; his bones hardened further still. Accumulated waste was forcibly purged from his system. Had he been conscious, he would have thrashed in agony.
Fortunately, Sunghyun slept through it all in silence.
Once again, Hayato's group was swallowed by a mass of light. In the next instant, they found themselves standing before a vast crowd of people.
The strangers were speaking words no one could understand. It wasn't Japanese.
Then, from among the throng, a woman appeared. She raised her hand high and gathered blue light into her staff.
"llatsni cigam noitalsnart."
Hayato focused on her words, but he couldn't make out a single syllable. Blue light poured from her staff and wrapped around the group — and suddenly, the crowd's speech became clear.
"Oh! Are those the Hero's party?"
"More people than I expected. Has the oracle arrived yet?"
"What about the translation magic?"
The flood of voices made Hayato's head throb.
"What is this now…"
Detective Narita beside him scratched his head and stood up. The other officers rose with him, and so did Sunghyun's legal team.
In the middle of the chaos, the world-weary adults instinctively checked their appearance first. They knew what they were — outsiders. And for an outsider, first impressions decided everything. This was the critical moment, a truth they had absorbed into their bones after surviving years in Japanese society.
The head of the legal team straightened his spine, tucked his chin close, slipped a hand into his pocket, and squared his shoulders — just as he had when accompanying Sunghyun on contract negotiations.
"Hmm… Looks like the CEO isn't here either."
The team leader surveyed the surroundings.
Ba-ba-bam!
A great fanfare rang out, and the crowd stirred.
"His Majesty the King approaches! Make way!"
A straight path opened through the people. Down that corridor strode a man with arrogant eyes — golden hair, golden irises, a haughty gaze, a sharp nose, and a muscular build. His presence was overwhelming.
Not someone to take lightly.
The team leader's face hardened.
This won't be easy.
The man who appeared to be the king raised a hand. Servants hurriedly brought forward a chair. The king sat, crossed his legs, and propped his chin on one hand.
"Hmm… So you are the Heroes of whom the god spoke. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Euclid Rom Gold — king of this nation and messenger of the divine."
The team leader caught Hayato's head as the boy started to bow, holding it upright. Don't lower your head here. You'll be looked down on, he whispered. Then he spoke with his own chin held high — an introduction as natural as breathing.
"A pleasure. I am the head of legal for SH Group."
The surrounding crowd erupted in murmurs. The king raised a hand to quiet them, then locked eyes with the team leader.
"Very well. Your refusal to give a name is unpleasant, but I'll let it pass for now."
The king bared his teeth in a grin.
"We have a great deal to do today, after all."
That cold face made the team leader's throat go dry. A difficult opponent, just as expected.
The king conjured white light in his left hand.
"You were summoned to this kingdom because I am the messenger of a god."
Hayato and everyone else stared at the king with wide eyes. What on earth was that power? As every pupil dilated, the king threw back his head and laughed.
"Hahaha! To be so shocked by this — you truly are beings from another dimension. Does anyone have questions? I'll answer anything."
The team leader judged the moment ripe.
"In that case, may I make a single request?"
The king looked at him with mild curiosity.
"What is it?"
The team leader pulled out his phone and displayed a photograph.
"Would it be possible to find this man? He was summoned with us, but it seems he was separated."
The king turned his head toward the photo, then gestured for the team leader to come closer when he couldn't quite make it out.
"Hmm? Come a little nearer."
The team leader approached. The king studied Sunghyun's face on the screen carefully.
"Hmm. Summoned together, yet separated alone… I believe I've heard of something similar…"
He smiled at the team leader.
"But that isn't a question, is it? What is it you actually want from me?"
The king's presence crushed down on the team leader's body. He could barely breathe under that pressure.
But he had to find the CEO.
His mind raced.
What I can offer him. I have to put that on the table for a deal to form.
"A trade."
The king opened his mouth.
"And what can you give me?"
To a king who spoke as if testing him, the team leader answered:
"The men behind me, dressed as I am, handle cleanup, politics, and contract acquisition in our world. We will assist you with the knowledge of that place."
That should be enough to make a deal.
The team members were briefly startled by their leader's declaration — but they shared the same desire to find Sunghyun. They nodded and moved to stand behind him.
The king licked his lips.
"Hmm… Like politicians from another dimension? That could be quite entertaining. Very well — consider it a deal."
"Thank you."
The king's eyes went wide, and he laughed so hard the space around him seemed to shake.
"Hahaha! A talent! A true talent! How I envy this Sunghyun who has you in his service!"
To take a king's mana pressure with a body that had none, and still not break — that was the caliber of man who served this Sunghyun. Euclid found himself genuinely envious of a man who commanded such a subordinate.
The king extended his hand. The team leader glanced at it, then clasped it firmly.
"As for this Sunghyun — I shall inquire of the god myself."
He had needed to discuss the anomaly with the god regardless. Being able to make use of such talent in the meantime was a stroke of fortune.
Win-win. A successful deal that satisfied both sides.
Watching the entire exchange, Hayato was losing his mind.
I'm the Hero… so why do I feel like nothing?
The Heroes in light novels weren't like this. When that team leader had withstood the king's presence, Hayato had done nothing — because even exhaling felt like it would knock him unconscious. In fact, several people nearby had already collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
What is this…
Without realizing it, Hayato was beginning to grasp reality.
The king looked at him and smiled coldly.
"Huuuh!"
Sunghyun finally opened his eyes after a full day had passed — looking for all the world like an office worker late for work.
Pat. Pat.
"Am I okay…?"
He prodded himself all over.
Squelch.
"Ugh! What is this?"
Something filthy was caked all over his body.
"Did some animal take a dump on me while I was out?"
It was a reasonable suspicion.
"More importantly…"
His body felt light. Like he'd gone back to being a man in his twenties.
"What the hell. Even the scratches from earlier are gone?"
Sunghyun raised his arm and swept away the black residue. He brought it to his nose — and a stench that made sewer water smell like perfume stabbed into his nostrils.
"Bleeeargh—"
Unbearable.
"Ah, screw it! Nobody's watching anyway — I'm just stripping everything off."
He peeled off his clothes in a hurry and looked around.
"I need to wash…"
Sunghyun closed his eyes and focused every nerve on his hearing. The senses that had activated while fleeing the tiger — he'd felt them a handful of times in his life, but something was different here. He moved as his instincts guided him. Under normal circumstances he never would have, but it felt as if his senses themselves were speaking to him.
That way.
And indeed — following the sensation, he found a body of water too large to call a stream and too small to call a lake, fed by a cascading waterfall. Without a second thought, Sunghyun dove in.
Splash!
Fortunately, nothing lurked beneath the surface. He scrubbed himself clean underwater.
"Something's off. Was my body always this good? And what's going on with my hair?"
Smooth skin. Not an ounce of excess fat. And a haircut that reminded him of his military days.
Sunghyun frowned.
"What the hell happened to me?"
He rewound his memories to after killing the tiger. He had definitely heard those words:
Enemy defeated. System awakening. Trait granted.
As if entranced, Sunghyun called out:
"Status window."
Ziiing—
At his will, his vision filled with a status screen. He exhaled in sheer disbelief.
"Ha… haha! Ahaha! I must be dreaming."
He pinched his own cheek. But he already knew — this was real. The moment the tiger chased him. The moment he entered the water. And this sensation flooding through him now. Not a dream.
Sunghyun closed his eyes calmly.
"Accept it. What good does denying it do?"
All the subculture he'd consumed over the years helped him process the situation.
Name:Kim Sunghyun (38) Male
Trait:Investment [EX] (LV. 1, 0%)
Body:1 (0%)
Mana:1 (0%)
Skill:Coin Market [EX] (LV. 1, 0%)
"Pretty bare-bones…"
He imagined wanting a closer look at the trait.
"Feels just like a game interface."
A new window appeared in his vision.
Investment (EX)
Description: Someone paid a price to forcibly elevate a rank that was once SSS.
Effect: Grants access to the Dimensional Exchange, a marketplace permitted only to gods. (Skill created: Coin Market [EX])
What is this…
"Ha… So that's what 'forcibly elevated' meant earlier. But who the hell is this 'someone'…?"
Faced with a riddle he had no hope of solving, Sunghyun gave up thinking about it.
"Ah, whatever. Whatever. No information, no point spinning my wheels."
He scratched his head out of habit and stopped thinking — and his gaze naturally drifted downward.
Skill: Coin Market [EX] (LV. 1, 0%)
"Let's check this out too."
Activating Skill: Coin Market [EX]
Ziiiiiing—