Chapter 42: Mountain Training (Conclusion)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: Mountain Training (Conclusion)
Whoosh! Thwack!
Gi-chan blocked a punch that swung with the weight of a heavy mace. He gritted his teeth, refusing to yield an inch. He knew all too well that once he retreated, it would become impossible to fend off Seo-un’s relentless assault.
Snap-snap!
Two more strikes followed in a blur.
Thud!
Gi-chan thrust his shoulder forward, bracing for the blow aimed at his chest. A throbbing pain radiated through his arm, but he didn't budge, throwing a counter-punch of his own.
Thwack-thwack-thud!
However, as soon as his counter was parried by a Spinning Strike, a barrage of punches overwhelmed him, sending him sprawling backward.
“Ugh… I really thought I held my ground that time.”
Seo-un smiled as he watched Gi-chan rub his chest with a look of disappointment.
Since it was midsummer in the mountains, the weather was sweltering. A cool breeze drifted between the two men, both of whom were training shirtless.
“You’ve improved a lot. It’s been a good experience for me too.”
“Well, at first, I couldn't even last a single blow without using magic.”
The two men, their bodies tanned a deep bronze from the sun, rested for a moment before resuming their spar. For three weeks now, they had been going all out: focusing on martial arts in the morning and combining magic with martial arts in the afternoon.
After a long session, they headed down the mountain and back to the house. Gi-chan spoke up.
“It’s your turn for chores today, Hyung.”
Leaving it at that, Gi-chan headed in to wash up. Seo-un watched him go, then pulled out a pot to boil water before heading to the master bathroom for a quick shower.
Slurp!
Seo-un sat eating ramen with a towel draped over his wet hair. Gi-chan watched him and sighed.
“Hyung… isn’t it a bit much to settle for ramen every single time?”
“What’s wrong with ramen? Once we go to the Otherworld, we can’t eat this even if we want to. I need to stock up while I can.”
“I guess MSG is a rare commodity over there. Still, I’d like a home-cooked meal for dinner.”
As Gi-chan grumbled and picked up his chopsticks, the muscles in his forearms flexed prominently.
“Is this the system’s influence? Does a normal person’s body usually change this fast?” Seo-un asked, looking at his own biceps as he flexed his arm.
“What was it called? They said the metabolism is different. I saw a post on the community recently saying that the metabolic system of a Player who has learned martial arts is different from a regular person’s. Apparently, recovery is incredibly fast, so the results of the same workout are on a different level.”
“Oh, there’s information like that too?”
“A lot of people access the community. There’s all sorts of stuff on there.”
After finishing his sentence, Gi-chan went back to inhaling his ramen. Seo-un checked the date on his phone.
“Tomorrow’s the last day.”
“Yeah. It’ll be hard to come back down for a while. I have quite a few things to take care of in the time I have left.”
Seo-un wondered what a high school student could possibly have to "take care of."
“Things to take care of?”
“Nothing major. Just company business.”
“Company? You make it sound like you’re a CEO or something. You actually work at a company?”
Gi-chan looked at Seo-un blankly.
“Technically, I am a CEO.”
Seo-un put down his chopsticks and stared back.
“...It’s only natural. It’s a burden to just spend cash from Otherworld items without a paper trail. How else is a young head of household supposed to get the money to buy a house? Tax issues can get messy, so I registered a business.”
“Ah…”
For some reason, Gi-chan started to feel a lot more distant.
“It’s all over the community. Having a business is a must. On paper, I’m the CEO of an online shopping mall. I even have employees.”
“Employees? Plural?”
“Yeah. Two of them—one to manage the site and another for inventory. I even have an office with a small warehouse… To the outside world, it’s a perfectly normal online mall.”
“Does… does it actually make money?”
“It’s been operating at a loss for eight months. Between salaries and office rent, I’m losing about 8 million won a month.”
Seo-un’s expression stiffened. “That’s nearly 100 million won a year…”
“The mall’s revenue is gradually increasing, and officially, it’s a respectable business with 1 billion won in annual sales. Spending 100 million a year to launder the money from items without any hassle isn't a bad deal.”
“I-is that so?”
Seeing Seo-un look at him as if he were from another planet, Gi-chan took a long sip of the ramen broth before speaking again.
“You’ll probably have to start a business too, Hyung. Even if not right now, you’re going to be bringing back items to liquidate soon, aren't you?”
“I plan to.”
“Then you’ll eventually need a way to process the cash. Unless you plan on living your whole life only carrying around physical bills. If you want to buy a house or a car, you have to set it up.”
Seo-un fell into thought for a moment, then spoke with a hint of discomfort. “So the money from selling items just gets tied up in the company?”
“There are countless ways to take money out of a business. If all else fails, I can just give myself a massive raise. I’ll just pay the taxes. Besides, I use the corporate card for almost everything, so it doesn't really matter. The company’s money is my money.”
Seo-un felt like he was listening to a line from a corrupt businessman.
“Oh, and I’ve already looked into a place for you to move into, Hyung. It’ll be better than where you’re living now. I’ve already finished the lease agreement under a borrowed name, so it’s best if you live there from now on.”
Hearing that Gi-chan had even taken care of his living situation after their brief conversation last time, Seo-un could no longer see him as just a kid.
“Don’t give me that look. The deposit is a loan, so make sure you pay me back.”
“H-how much is it?”
“120 million won.”
Cough!
Seo-un, who had been drinking water, choked immediately. “You think 100 million is pocket change?”
“That’s just how much deposits are these days. It’s a villa about five years old. Three bedrooms, separate living room and kitchen. Two bathrooms.”
Seo-un was speechless at the mention of two bathrooms. Having grown up in modest circumstances, living in a house with two bathrooms felt like a luxury reserved only for the successful.
“Rich people really do live differently.”
“You’re a Coin millionaire, yet you keep calling me rich? I’m just living like everyone else.”
“What kind of 'young head of household' lives like you?”
“I’m lending it to you interest-free, but it’s a lot of money for me too, so make sure you pay it back.”
Seo-un sighed as Gi-chan already started hounding him for repayment. Still, living in his current place, where troublesome people might keep showing up, was a burden.
After finishing their meal, they climbed the mountain one last time to finish their final training session. By the time they descended, the sun was setting.
Vrooooom!
Seo-un climbed onto the Hayabusa, which let out a cool exhaust note, and headed toward his new residence.
*
Jeong Su-hwa. Having followed an elite path within a military family, she had been an agent of the NIS until just seven months ago.
However, after participating in Cloyd Survival, her successful life began to take a 180-degree turn.
As soon as she returned alive from Cloyd, she discovered that there were Ability Users among the NIS agents, and naturally, they recognized her as well. Following that, she was transferred to the newly established Korea Homeland Security Department by order of her superiors, where she served as a Team Leader managing these Ability Users.
Slam!
When she struck her desk, the office windows vibrated slightly. Outside her office, agents whispered to one another.
“What’s wrong with that Witch again?”
“Who knows? Anyway, the agents on surveillance duty are the ones going through hell.”
“Phew. The team atmosphere is going to be gloomy again today.”
The man standing in front of Su-hwa was rolling his eyes, not knowing what to do.
“How long are you going to let those thugs run wild? Don’t you realize the Resistance keeps doing dangerous things because of them?”
“T-Team Leader, that’s not something we can control. We are simply following orders from above to…”
“To only monitor and report?”
“That is correct.”
“But isn't this report so late because you wanted to screw with me?”
An incident that happened three weeks ago was only being reported now. This was by no means a normal report. The man glanced at Su-hwa’s expression before speaking.
“T-that… there was some kind of mistake, and the report was omitted…”
Slam!
Her palm struck the desk once more, and the large desk finally shattered.
“Do you take me for a fool?”
Of course, the man knew that such a flimsy excuse wouldn't work. But what could he do? It was an order from above. Since she had arrived as Team Leader, she had interfered in every single matter involving the Pro-China Alliance, and unable to bear it, several members of the alliance had voiced their complaints to superiors higher than her.
As a result, she, who was supposed to manage the field agents, was instead being shunned by them.
“Omission of report. Intentional delay of reporting. I’m calling a disciplinary hearing. From this moment until the disciplinary process is over, stay away from all duties.”
At her words, the man’s face finally crumpled. This was the third disciplinary action against a surveillance agent this month alone.
She watched him walk out with an expression like he’d chewed on something foul, her own face remaining entirely unchanged.
The Ice Witch. It was a nickname she was well aware of. Whether something good or bad happened, her expression never shifted, and she spoke in a cold, emotionless voice. That was why people called her that.
Since being assigned to the Korea Homeland Security Department, she had been in constant conflict with her superiors, and it only worsened as her Cloyd Rounds repeated.
— Protect national security while embracing those pieces of trash? What kind of bullshit is that? —
Suddenly, the words she had heard not long ago echoed in her mind.
“Sigh.”
Looking down at the shattered desk, a heavy sigh escaped her lips.
*
“Wow… why is it so big?”
“It’s just a standard 20-pyeong unit.”
To Seo-un, who had been living in a studio, just looking at a living room wider than his entire previous apartment made his heart feel open.
“Money really is great.”
Even though it was night, looking at the living room balcony, which seemed like it would get plenty of sunlight during the day, made him feel good. It was bound to be different from a basement room where the sun barely reached.
Gi-chan spoke as he watched Seo-un, who had been standing in the living room in awe for five minutes.
“It’ll feel smaller once the furniture comes in. Go look at the rooms.”
Seo-un gave Gi-chan a quick glare for spoiling the mood and then looked around the three rooms. There was a small room that seemed fit for storage, a slightly larger room, and the master bedroom, which was large enough for his voice to echo.
“Wow, it echoes.”
“Because there’s no furniture at all.”
Watching Gi-chan speak, Seo-un pulled a mattress out of his Subspace and pushed it into a corner of the room. Even after laying out a blanket and a pillow, having just a mattress in the large room didn't look particularly great.
“I’ll get furniture slowly as I earn money.”
“You’ll have to earn a lot of Coins in the next Round, Hyung. You need to focus on item farming too.”
“I have some Coins saved up. I need to farm items that can be liquidated into cash.”
“That’s a hit-or-miss depending on which Map you get.”
“So I’ve heard. Well, my luck’s been pretty good lately.”
“Then… there isn't much to unpack, but get some rest. I’ll be going now.”
“Yeah. You worked hard, and thanks. I’ll call you.”
“Yes.”
Even though they had become quite close, Gi-chan gave a polite bow before leaving. Once he was gone, Seo-un lay down on the bed and pulled out his old laptop.
Just in case, Gi-chan had installed a security tool he’d made, along with a tool that allowed direct access to the community. He could access the community and item trading sites without having to log in separately.
As he looked through the list of items that could be liquidated, he saw posts from Alchemists every now and then, just as Gi-chan had said. There were quite a few posts from people wanting to trade items they’d made rather than selling them for cash.
‘He said all the scrolls are made and sold by Alchemists too.’
It had seemed strange that scrolls were being bought for only 3 million won, but it turned out the source was mostly Alchemists. As he was looking at posts from people trying to acquire items, he felt a powerful surge of mana.
‘Huh?’
Seo-un closed his laptop at the unfamiliar sensation of a mana surge near a residential home, not in the Otherworld. He crept toward the window and looked outside. An orange light flashed on the rooftop of the building across from him.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar echoed at the same time. Never expecting such a thing to happen in a residential area in the middle of the night, he racked his brain for what to do.
‘Why are Ability Users raising hell in a neighborhood like this?’