#68 Yes! Yes! Yes!
"Hum hum, hum~"
King was glued to SNS as usual today. Kang-ho's place was honestly pretty boring, with not much to do. So after waking up in the morning and grinding through intense training, he'd kill his break time scrolling SNS or playing with Seol-a.
Hearing a clattering noise from behind, King glanced over his shoulder and spotted Seol-a reaching for the kitchen cabinet. She'd dragged over a chair and hopped up lightly to pop it open. Inside was a bag of candy—the one Kang-ho had snuck in.
"......"
King stared at it blankly. Seol-a grabbed two candies, then crash-landed back to the floor. Rubbing her head like it hurt, she toddled back to the bed—do-do-do-do.
Seol-a loved fluffy, fuzzy things like her brown sweater, and the new blanket he'd bought fit the bill perfectly. She climbed onto the bed and rolled around happily, beaming.
"......"
King watched her blankly. Noting the static making her silver hair stick out every which way—click—
Soon enough, Seol-a popped one candy into her mouth. Then, like she was doing him a huge favor, she offered one to King.
"Beam-il."
"Huh?"
Seol-a rolled over once more—de-gul.
"Beam."
She pressed her index finger to her lips and repeated, "Il."
"Ah, secret."
She wanted him to keep it from Kang-ho. King stifled a laugh and filmed a video of her sucking on the candy. Dressed in an oversized T-shirt that reached her ankles, she'd wrapped her hair around her neck like a scarf. One chubby cheek bulged out, and her tail—sticking out stiffly—wagged happily at the sweetness.
King added the video to his post and tacked on hashtags.
Soon King flopped down too, propping Seol-a's head on his arm as he dove back into SNS trance.
These days, you could follow the whole world through the internet. Just recently, Kang-ho's speech had blown up into a full-blown international issue.
Reactions worldwide were all over the place. For starters, hardly anyone knew who Choi Kang-ho was.
Some dismissed it as lies; others trembled in fear.
King scowled at the debates. "These idiots talking without knowing jack..."
Amid the back-and-forth, a mega-celeb with 100 million followers chimed in. 100 million! King's own following was around 10 million, so yeah—the power was obvious.
"Whoa."
King knew the guy well.
"Oh snap."
"......?"
King tilted his head. Just then—creak—the front door opened, and Kang-ho walked in. He'd gone shopping, apparently; Furball panted outside the window, plopped down.
"Ah, bro."
"What."
Kang-ho handed King the grocery basket. "Here."
"You know Ian Rampage?"
"Ian?" Kang-ho pulled out the egg carton. "Yeah. Careful with this."
"Whoa, cool..."
King took the eggs, eyes wide with admiration. Next came chunks of meat, then bottles of strong vodka.
"Oh, and you."
"Yessir."
"Package came."
Kang-ho passed him a box. "To here?"
"This address."
"Hm? What's this? Didn't order anything."
King tilted his head and opened it.
"......"
Inside was a single ring.
A gift for King.
[-A-]
"What the heck."
King fiddled with the ring, puzzled. In that instant—whoosh—a pleasant warm breeze swept over his body.
"......"
"......"
Kang-ho and King both stared at the ring. It was an artifact. One tied to wind magic.
"Bro, this an artifact?"
He checked the sender on the box—hidden. King already wore two rings: Wind Breaker and Wind Shield, stripped from Kang Tae-yong. Plus a mana amp necklace and bracelet he'd splurged on himself.
Magic artifacts cost a fortune; you couldn't just buy 'em casually.
"...Bomb?"
Kang-ho took it and inspected. Nope—legit. King shook his head and stashed it away.
A few days later.
Another package.
"......"
Prayers for King's return♡
[-A-]
Another artifact inside. Priced in the tens of billions—sending it as a "gift" was teeth-chatteringly insane.
King finally decided. "Can't let this slide."
......
Theo adjusted the scarf tied to Furball's chin fur.
[How the hell do you even wash this?]
Furball was covered in grime everywhere. The big guy rolled around with Kang-ho constantly, a nightmare for neat-freak Theo.
Pondering how to clean him as he headed inside, Theo spotted King.
"Agh, this won't do. Fans, King fans—love ya, but..."
[What's he up to now?]
Theo walked over slowly and peeked at King's phone screen.
Theo tilted his head. [What's this?]
"Bro, it's a live stream."
[Live stream?]
"Yeah. Streams straight to viewers."
[This world has too much nonsense...]
Theo shook his head and sat at the table. Seol-a bounded over and grabbed his pant leg. Across the room, Kang-ho looked super sulky. King noticed and turned the camera.
"Wanna see Seol-a too?"
Seol-a appeared on screen, wagging her three tails wildly as she milled around Theo. He played with her great and was quick on the uptake.
[C'mere.]
Theo reached out; she leaped into his arms, nuzzling his chest.
"Our Seol-a's super cute, right? Kang-ho bro—say hi. Anyway, not the point—"
Kang-ho waved half-heartedly. Then—
A donated 1,000,000 won!
A fat donation hit the live stream.
"Huh?"
A donated 1,000,000 won!
A donated 1,000,000 won!
"Whoa, hold up. A, you that person sending me artifacts?"
A donated 1,000,000 won!
A donated 1,000,000 won!
"Why spam a million won like this? Stop, A!"
The chat exploded as King panicked.
King floundered, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "Um, A... super grateful, but I'm earning my own cash... and the folks I live with have money too... so... no need for huge sums like..."
A donated 10,000,000 won!
"Argh, screw it. Thanks A!"
King threw his arms wide, cheering wildly. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Thanks for the 10 mil, A!"
A went on a donation rampage, dumping a total of 100 million won in an hour before dipping.
"......"
After the stream ended, King sat at the table yanking his hair. "This... wasn't the plan..."
Around then, Kang-ho eyed him pitifully before turning to the TV. He'd bought furniture and snagged this big-screen TV too. Flipping channels for the first time in ages, he landed on news.
"Hm...?"
Kang-ho cocked his head at the screen with Ian Rampage. "He has a daughter?"
Thinking it over, he nodded—ah. "Kid from 15 years back, so early 20s now."
"Bro, you're like a walking encyclopedia."
Kang-ho gave a wry smile at King's words. "Not sure if that's good."
"Anyway, Ian Rampage is huge."
Not just for being World Rank 2. Not even his sleek, handsome 60s look and suit game. Not his doting dad vibe with his stunning daughter. Not the lonely widower image since losing his wife 20 years ago.
The real reason: He ran the world's biggest magic stone empire—Rampage Corp. Yeah. Billionaire. Top five richest, plus Rank 2 Awakener.