Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Secret Arts
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Familiar faces entered one by one and sat on the sofa.
They were welcome faces I hadn't seen in a long time.
Alice staring at me with sparkling eyes and a beaming smile.
Expressionless Kim Jin-ah.
Yu Jae-eun with a somewhat drowsy look, as if she'd come straight from sleep.
Yu-na glancing at me warily for some reason.
All the women I had on Jeju Island had gathered.
The four of them had recently been hunting together as a party.
Alice and Yu-na were closer to hunter trainees, but...
"Uncle. What’s this about calling all of us together?"
Yu Jae-eun asked.
"Huh? No way? You're not saying we should all do it together, are you? I'm fine with it, but wouldn't it be too much for the kids?"
"I refuse."
Kim Jin-ah stated firmly.
"Gulp... Huff! Huff! I-if Un-ho-nim wants it!!"
Alice seemed rather pleased...
Yu-na just blushed without a word.
"Um... that's not it. After getting some sleep, new knowledge surfaced."
At my abrupt, out-of-left-field remark, all of them looked baffled.
I levitated a bundle of A4 papers—roughly one section printed out—and a USB drive with telekinesis, handing them over.
Alice received the magic manual.
The others got aura training manuals.
They took them in bewilderment.
"Un-ho's Introduction to Magic? W-what is this? Un-ho-nim. And that was telekinesis just now, right? Did you awaken another ability?"
Alice asked in surprise upon seeing my telekinesis.
The others' faces were filled with curiosity as well.
"It's magic."
"Yes? Ma-magic...?"
Everyone looked dumbfounded... no, utterly incredulous.
"The files I gave you contain methods for learning magic or aura. The printouts are just a part—check the rest on the USB."
"Magic? Aura!? You made this, Un-ho-nim?"
Alice cried out excitedly.
"Yeah."
If Liliana heard that, she'd probably collapse grabbing her neck, but I had no intention of spinning some convoluted tale.
"Wha... Ma-magic manual!!!"
Alice hoisted the printed bundle high with both hands, staring at it entranced.
Kim Jin-ah examined her printed aura training method.
"Th-this..."
To the girls still looking skeptical, I sent out party invitations.
"Uncle. Some weird message popped up in the air saying to join the party—did you do that?"
Yu Jae-eun asked, staring into empty space.
"It's my magic. Everyone, accept the party invite."
"Holy moly!! In-incredible magic!"
Alice was wildly excited for some reason.
I funneled all the experience points to them for full allocation.
I figured I'd done everything I needed to for them.
"Take the magic manuals or aura training books I gave you back to your rooms and study them. Jin-ah, stay behind—I have something to discuss."
After hearing Park Un-ho's story, Kim Jin-ah hurried to Seoul.
Hanna's office.
Having heard Park Un-ho's story from Kim Jin-ah, Hanna was astonished yet skeptical.
Magic and aura, of all things.
"Sis, what do you think?"
"Probably... it's the real deal."
Before coming here, Kim Jin-ah had witnessed Alice manifesting something called magic—distinct from ordinary mana expression.
Kim Jin-ah desperately wanted to pore over the aura training manual, but she'd barely glanced at it in her rush.
"R-really? C-can I learn that magic too?"
"Probably... He said elemental mana expressers or those with unique awakening abilities would suit magic, while enhancers would match aura."
"What does Un-ho-nim want?"
"He wants a site where people can access the magic and aura secret manuals—asked us to prep the servers."
"W-what, he plans to release all these secrets?"
"Seems that way. Says he'll sell viewing rights for money."
"In that manner?"
"...I can't figure out his thinking. I don't see him as altruistic..."
"Just server management? Running a site like that... it'd take a ton of work..."
"He said he'd handle the rest himself..."
"Gasp!! With some other company besides us?!"
Even if he partnered with another firm, there was no stopping it.
"That... doesn't seem to be the case. I don't know. Feels like he has collaborators... Even with our servers, without the know-how, he couldn't manage it all alone. Maybe this'll reveal who they are."
"Sigh... Magic, of all things... Is this even reality...?"
She stared blankly at the USB Kim Jin-ah had brought. Park Un-ho had given it as a gift. It probably held magic-related content.
"And..."
"Yes? Something else?"
"I rose to C-Rank."
"Yes? Your rank increased? H-how... From that aura secret he shared?"
"No. It happened before that. I rushed here without even starting aura training."
A unique ability to gauge awakeners' growth potential.
That was Hanna's awakening power.
Until now, it had never been wrong except for Yu Jae-eun. Now even her close aide Kim Jin-ah fell into that category.
In this situation,
Hanna even wondered if she'd been mistaken about her own ability.
Her pupils emitted a subtle purple glow. She was manifesting her power at maximum intensity.
"Huh? This is..."
Examining Kim Jin-ah closely, Hanna's face filled with confusion.
"Why? Something off?"
"Sis... You're similar to Yu Jae-eun now. Now that I think about it, Alice and Yu-na too..."
She'd met Alice once, when she visited the company requesting to go to Jeju, citing reasons.
Knowing they were connected to Park Un-ho, Hanna couldn't dismiss it lightly and met them in person.
She'd sneakily checked their growth potential then. They'd given off vibes like Yu Jae-eun's, which puzzled her, so it stuck in her memory.
"Has my ability changed a bit? Or are there new types of ability users emerging?"
At Hanna's words, Kim Jin-ah realized what they had in common.
"Sis? Any guesses?"
Hanna noticed the shift in Kim Jin-ah's expression and asked.
"......N-no.... J-just... I-I'll tell you once I'm certain..."
Kim Jin-ah couldn't help but panic.
No matter how close they were, she couldn't blurt out that it seemed to be the women who'd slept with Park Un-ho.
It wasn't confirmed yet—just a hunch.
It could be even more absurd than magic or aura... No way could she voice such a perverse theory.
And bringing it up would expose her own relationship with Park Un-ho.
Hanna didn't know about her involvement with him.
Un-ho's tentacle-like dealings with women made their "relationship" ambiguous at best.
She didn't dislike him, though.
Anyway, her initial pretext for getting involved was for the company. If Hanna found out, she'd be heartbroken—no way to casually spill it.
"Took longer than expected."
I lounged alone on the sofa, watching TV leisurely.
On the TV screen.
A neatly pinned-up navy blue hairstyle, horn-rimmed glasses, sharp office attire—Hero Friends CEO Hanna appeared.
-Click click click.
Noisy shutter sounds and flashing lights.
Hanna on the screen, whom I hadn't seen in ages, still boasted a beauty that blurred the line between CEO and celebrity.
Un-ho absent for Un-ho's major announcement.
Hanna's press conference in my place was being broadcast live worldwide.
The other girls were too absorbed in magic and aura to have time for this.
Even I was shocked when Alice formed a mana ring and manifested magic in just one day. Since then, she'd been diving into it obsessively.
Liliana had said that those who awaken mana and manifest attributes would progress quickly.
Stories among awakeners.
But I hadn't expected it to be this fast.
Is magic usually learned so easily?
I'd never studied it myself, so who knows.
Maybe Liliana's introductory manual was exceptionally well-crafted.
Or Alice had innate genius.
Might have to shed blood again sometime.
But as a man, what's tough about bleeding for my woman?
Server preparation had taken over a month.
A huge number... no, impossible to predict the influx, so Hanna had poured serious effort into it.
She even said a month was quick.
I had no rush, so I waited patiently.
Of course, with regular staff, even building the access site would've been no small feat.
But I had Suni.
"Starting tomorrow, the world will undergo a massive upheaval."
Hanna's opening was grandiose.
Sure enough, she was better suited for this than me.
"Park Un-ho-nim is releasing his secret arts in the hope that awakeners will swiftly clear the dimensional rifts and bring true peace to the world."
Not exactly mine, but...
World peace.
Hanna's packaging was masterful.
Not entirely wrong, so no guilt.
"Park Un-ho-nim's se-secret arts?!"
"Is that true?!"
"What exactly are these secret arts?!"
The reporters' excitement seemed to leap through the TV screen.
Hanna charismatically scanned the reporters before speaking.