Chapter 16

Yesterday, Ulsan was raised to the status of a metropolitan city from a former local ward, and Sia Automobile Corporation ended up bankrupt.

I was in a boxing gym the following day.

Whoosh.

I whipped back my left fist as I slammed the sandbag with my right. It jiggled with a big motion while it flew backwards, and the sound my punch made was satisfying. The entire gym suddenly became quiet, and everyone working out was staring at me. The manager approached me.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but are you a professional? Who is your coach?" The manager glared at me.

"I don't belong to any gyms," I answered.

"Do you have a license?" He asked.

"I don't," I replied.

He asked again, "You said you're 21 years old this year, right?"

The manager wasn't doubting me. When I saw myself in the mirror, I even thought that my physique was that of someone in his early twenties. Of course, my face still looked young.

"That's perfect!" He was amazed. As the manager beamed, I shook my head.

"I work out only as my hobby," I said.

"Your talent is stunning. Hit the sandbag one more time. Let's see you put your weight into these punches," he went behind the sandbag and hugged it as he talked to me. Then, he tapped where I should hit with his palm. His reaction was natural.

[Strength: F (20)]

[Sense: F (20)]

My current stats were closing in on the initial stats of professional athletes. I could move flexibly and accurately like those who had been specially trained.

I did what he wanted, and the manager grinned after feeling the force being punched into the sandbag. He called over a young man who was a professional athlete that belonged to the gym. When the manager told me to spar, I didn't refuse because I came to this gym specifically for that.

"Fuck!" The young man couldn't control his temper and shouted as he spat out his mouthpiece. He glared at me with a fierce look.

It was something unimaginable in the future because an ordinary guy picking a fight against an Awakened? It was the same for fights between the Awakened. Unless it was between comrades who trusted each other, provoking an Awakened like that clearly meant for a fight until death. No country's law or army could interfere in that battle.

This young man was lucky. Blood was coming out from the ripped gloves, so he had to go down from the ring to stop the bleeding.

"Manager," I spat out the mouthpiece and looked towards him.

"Yes! Hey, you don't belong to any gym, right?" The manager replied as if he had been waiting.

"Wait, is there anyone else? I'm not warmed up yet," I said.

"Gi-Chan, go up!" He shouted at another guy.

"Okay!" The guy named Gi-Chan answered and prepared to enter the ring. He briefly scanned me while he put on a band and bit into a mouthpiece. His gaze was somewhat familiar because it reminded me of the way hunters looked at guild members from foreign nations in the future. I was a stranger here, too.

Ding!

The bell rang. The new guy was slightly better than the previous one, but he was still an amateur. The only thing I could compliment him on was the fact that he endured the pain better when I accurately hit his abdomen. His movement became slower then, and it allowed me to counter-attack.

Smash!

The feeling of hitting him wasn't that satisfying because I was too weak, at least, compared to my old days of being Awakened. Even though I punched him with all of my strength, he still wasn't knocked out instantly.

The manager yelled, "Gi-Chan, come down!"

"I can keep going," Gi-Chan grunted but he looked like he would collapse soon.

"What do you mean? You can't," the manager replied.

The manager went into the ring and sent Gi-Chan down, then began to prepare himself. Of course, I didn't stop him. The trophies in the cabinet were won by the athletes affiliated with the gym, but the old picture hanging at the most visible spot depicted a young man holding his fist in front of him and smiling. He had to be the manager, and a champion belt was around his waist. Although the manager had retired as an athlete, he was still much better than mediocre amateurs.

After letting the manager smash my face a few times, I remembered the days when I was an E class. I had entry training with eight other E classes.

That was a good punch. I could still taste blood despite the mouthpiece in my mouth. The manager was going all out on full strength, and he was relying on his muscle memory. While his power and reaction speed were not like his professional days, his expertise and skill remained in him despite the time. The manager knew that he couldn't beat me unless he did his best, and his smiling eyes turned firm. Then, I threw an uppercut between his eyes.

There were many ways to take the manager down when I found a gap in his defense, such as kicking, elbow slamming, tackling and striking his joints. However, I had to abide by the rules of boxing since I was at a boxing gym.

Baaam!

The manager stumbled, and I moved to the corner of the ring to put a distance from him. He admitted his defeat without hesitation.

"Hey! What was your name, again? Something Ho?" He asked.

"Jeong-Ho. Kim Jeong-Ho," I answered.

"Let's go for the Rookie of the Year Award, Jeong-Ho! You can do it since you don't have a license! Jeong-Ho!" He screamed with excitement.

"...Is there anyone else?" I asked.

"Huh?" He seemed to be bumfuzzled.

"Anyone who took the Rookie title or professional. I'm still not warmed up yet," I replied.

"You are taking blows well! But kid, I know you're strong, but let's stop here. It's no good," he said.

"I'm sorry," I responded.

"Why are you taking this as a hobby when you're so passionate about it? If you're willing to take boxing seriously, I'll set you up with another one!" he said.

It was then a young guy who had been standing quietly in the corner of the gym approached me. He was wearing a black sweatsuit and had been watching us spar after pausing his workout.

The guy said, "Let me do it, manager. We're of a pretty similar size, and most of all, he hasn't been trained for boxing. As you know, letting him go like this is embarrassing for us."

He had sharp eyes since he was correct. I had never received proper training for boxing.

"Your name is Jeong-Ho, right? How about sparring with me?" He started wrapping his hands instead of waiting for my answer. The manager didn't stop him, and the guy came up to where the manager used to stand.

"I'm a pro. I'll go a bit harder on you because of what you said, okay?" He said while smiling at me like a real man when I stared at him.

"Okay," I responded.

"How long have you been boxing?" He asked.

"I'm a beginner, just doing jumping ropes," I answered.

"Yeah, I could tell from your boxing skill. You filled up the gaps with your skill with other things," he bluffed, "You can say that you transferred these skills from other sports. You must like sports, right?"

I asked, "Are you ready?"

"Let's go slowly. I'm not going anywhere. You should take a breather since I don't want to hear your excuses later," he replied.

He was right because I was breathing heavily after sparring with the manager for three rounds. I nodded and calmed down. There was no one working out at the moment in the gym because everyone had gathered around the ring as an audience. According to them, the guy fulfilled the conditions I had asked for. He was a pro boxer in the light heavyweight class. His name was Park Dae-Soo, and he was quite famous in the boxing world.

Anyway, there were three reasons why I came to the gym. First, to confirm when the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' became effective. Second, to familiarize myself with my currently lowered stats. Last but not least, to secure the stats that I could increase by training to my limits. Until I was completely prepared, I shouldn't even be looking toward entering a dungeon.

However, every time I allowed a light heavyweight boxer's hammer-like punches hit my face and abdomen, I felt a swift surge of anger that came from deep inside me.

Huff. Huff.

He latched onto me, and we grabbed each other's necks as our breathing became hot and rough.

We went back to the corners when the bell rang in the gym. No one could hide their shock when I defeated the manager. So after I fought in the fourth round against a pro boxer, they cheered on every punch I landed. Some of the new members looked at me like they were my fans. Someone even handed me a towel to wipe my sweat. As I wiped my sweat off, I mumbled in a faint voice so no one could hear me.

"Status window," I said.

[Name: Na Seon-Hu

Health: F (2), Strength: F (20), Agility: F (13), Sense: F (21)

Total points: 87]

Ah! My Sense had risen by 1. The sparring with Dae-Soo was as intense as the actual professional game. I must have missed this message when it popped on the screen.

[Your Sense has increased by 1.]

Someone asked, "You're not going soft on him, right Dae-Soo?"

"That boy…Where did he come from? You hit the jackpot today, Manager," someone else said.

The manager beamed, "Hahaha!"

"Stop laughing. I feel like I'm dying here," Dae-Soo grunted.

"You shouldn't lose, right?" the manager looked at Dae-Soo.

"Don't say that. I have to save my image as a pro," Dae-Soo replied.

However, Dae-Soo was thinking that it would be difficult to win even as he forced himself to smile. It was not easy. He stood up as he tapped his head with both of his gloved hands. Then, he shot a cold look at Seon-hu as he started to calm down.

I'll do my best with all my full power. Don't blame me for this, Dae-Soo thought.

Chapter 16

Yesterday, Ulsan was raised to the status of a metropolitan city from a former local ward, and Sia Automobile Corporation ended up bankrupt.

I was in a boxing gym the following day.

Whoosh.

I whipped back my left fist as I slammed the sandbag with my right. It jiggled with a big motion while it flew backwards, and the sound my punch made was satisfying. The entire gym suddenly became quiet, and everyone working out was staring at me. The manager approached me.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but are you a professional? Who is your coach?" The manager glared at me.

"I don't belong to any gyms," I answered.

"Do you have a license?" He asked.

"I don't," I replied.

He asked again, "You said you're 21 years old this year, right?"

The manager wasn't doubting me. When I saw myself in the mirror, I even thought that my physique was that of someone in his early twenties. Of course, my face still looked young.

"That's perfect!" He was amazed. As the manager beamed, I shook my head.

"I work out only as my hobby," I said.

"Your talent is stunning. Hit the sandbag one more time. Let's see you put your weight into these punches," he went behind the sandbag and hugged it as he talked to me. Then, he tapped where I should hit with his palm. His reaction was natural.

[Strength: F (20)]

[Sense: F (20)]

My current stats were closing in on the initial stats of professional athletes. I could move flexibly and accurately like those who had been specially trained.

I did what he wanted, and the manager grinned after feeling the force being punched into the sandbag. He called over a young man who was a professional athlete that belonged to the gym. When the manager told me to spar, I didn't refuse because I came to this gym specifically for that.

"Fuck!" The young man couldn't control his temper and shouted as he spat out his mouthpiece. He glared at me with a fierce look.

It was something unimaginable in the future because an ordinary guy picking a fight against an Awakened? It was the same for fights between the Awakened. Unless it was between comrades who trusted each other, provoking an Awakened like that clearly meant for a fight until death. No country's law or army could interfere in that battle.

This young man was lucky. Blood was coming out from the ripped gloves, so he had to go down from the ring to stop the bleeding.

"Manager," I spat out the mouthpiece and looked towards him.

"Yes! Hey, you don't belong to any gym, right?" The manager replied as if he had been waiting.

"Wait, is there anyone else? I'm not warmed up yet," I said.

"Gi-Chan, go up!" He shouted at another guy.

"Okay!" The guy named Gi-Chan answered and prepared to enter the ring. He briefly scanned me while he put on a band and bit into a mouthpiece. His gaze was somewhat familiar because it reminded me of the way hunters looked at guild members from foreign nations in the future. I was a stranger here, too.

Ding!

The bell rang. The new guy was slightly better than the previous one, but he was still an amateur. The only thing I could compliment him on was the fact that he endured the pain better when I accurately hit his abdomen. His movement became slower then, and it allowed me to counter-attack.

Smash!

The feeling of hitting him wasn't that satisfying because I was too weak, at least, compared to my old days of being Awakened. Even though I punched him with all of my strength, he still wasn't knocked out instantly.

The manager yelled, "Gi-Chan, come down!"

"I can keep going," Gi-Chan grunted but he looked like he would collapse soon.

"What do you mean? You can't," the manager replied.

The manager went into the ring and sent Gi-Chan down, then began to prepare himself. Of course, I didn't stop him. The trophies in the cabinet were won by the athletes affiliated with the gym, but the old picture hanging at the most visible spot depicted a young man holding his fist in front of him and smiling. He had to be the manager, and a champion belt was around his waist. Although the manager had retired as an athlete, he was still much better than mediocre amateurs.

After letting the manager smash my face a few times, I remembered the days when I was an E class. I had entry training with eight other E classes.

That was a good punch. I could still taste blood despite the mouthpiece in my mouth. The manager was going all out on full strength, and he was relying on his muscle memory. While his power and reaction speed were not like his professional days, his expertise and skill remained in him despite the time. The manager knew that he couldn't beat me unless he did his best, and his smiling eyes turned firm. Then, I threw an uppercut between his eyes.

There were many ways to take the manager down when I found a gap in his defense, such as kicking, elbow slamming, tackling and striking his joints. However, I had to abide by the rules of boxing since I was at a boxing gym.

Baaam!

The manager stumbled, and I moved to the corner of the ring to put a distance from him. He admitted his defeat without hesitation.

"Hey! What was your name, again? Something Ho?" He asked.

"Jeong-Ho. Kim Jeong-Ho," I answered.

"Let's go for the Rookie of the Year Award, Jeong-Ho! You can do it since you don't have a license! Jeong-Ho!" He screamed with excitement.

"...Is there anyone else?" I asked.

"Huh?" He seemed to be bumfuzzled.

"Anyone who took the Rookie title or professional. I'm still not warmed up yet," I replied.

"You are taking blows well! But kid, I know you're strong, but let's stop here. It's no good," he said.

"I'm sorry," I responded.

"Why are you taking this as a hobby when you're so passionate about it? If you're willing to take boxing seriously, I'll set you up with another one!" he said.

It was then a young guy who had been standing quietly in the corner of the gym approached me. He was wearing a black sweatsuit and had been watching us spar after pausing his workout.

The guy said, "Let me do it, manager. We're of a pretty similar size, and most of all, he hasn't been trained for boxing. As you know, letting him go like this is embarrassing for us."

He had sharp eyes since he was correct. I had never received proper training for boxing.

"Your name is Jeong-Ho, right? How about sparring with me?" He started wrapping his hands instead of waiting for my answer. The manager didn't stop him, and the guy came up to where the manager used to stand.

"I'm a pro. I'll go a bit harder on you because of what you said, okay?" He said while smiling at me like a real man when I stared at him.

"Okay," I responded.

"How long have you been boxing?" He asked.

"I'm a beginner, just doing jumping ropes," I answered.

"Yeah, I could tell from your boxing skill. You filled up the gaps with your skill with other things," he bluffed, "You can say that you transferred these skills from other sports. You must like sports, right?"

I asked, "Are you ready?"

"Let's go slowly. I'm not going anywhere. You should take a breather since I don't want to hear your excuses later," he replied.

He was right because I was breathing heavily after sparring with the manager for three rounds. I nodded and calmed down. There was no one working out at the moment in the gym because everyone had gathered around the ring as an audience. According to them, the guy fulfilled the conditions I had asked for. He was a pro boxer in the light heavyweight class. His name was Park Dae-Soo, and he was quite famous in the boxing world.

Anyway, there were three reasons why I came to the gym. First, to confirm when the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' became effective. Second, to familiarize myself with my currently lowered stats. Last but not least, to secure the stats that I could increase by training to my limits. Until I was completely prepared, I shouldn't even be looking toward entering a dungeon.

However, every time I allowed a light heavyweight boxer's hammer-like punches hit my face and abdomen, I felt a swift surge of anger that came from deep inside me.

Huff. Huff.

He latched onto me, and we grabbed each other's necks as our breathing became hot and rough.

We went back to the corners when the bell rang in the gym. No one could hide their shock when I defeated the manager. So after I fought in the fourth round against a pro boxer, they cheered on every punch I landed. Some of the new members looked at me like they were my fans. Someone even handed me a towel to wipe my sweat. As I wiped my sweat off, I mumbled in a faint voice so no one could hear me.

"Status window," I said.

[Name: Na Seon-Hu

Health: F (2), Strength: F (20), Agility: F (13), Sense: F (21)

Total points: 87]

Ah! My Sense had risen by 1. The sparring with Dae-Soo was as intense as the actual professional game. I must have missed this message when it popped on the screen.

[Your Sense has increased by 1.]

Someone asked, "You're not going soft on him, right Dae-Soo?"

"That boy…Where did he come from? You hit the jackpot today, Manager," someone else said.

The manager beamed, "Hahaha!"

"Stop laughing. I feel like I'm dying here," Dae-Soo grunted.

"You shouldn't lose, right?" the manager looked at Dae-Soo.

"Don't say that. I have to save my image as a pro," Dae-Soo replied.

However, Dae-Soo was thinking that it would be difficult to win even as he forced himself to smile. It was not easy. He stood up as he tapped his head with both of his gloved hands. Then, he shot a cold look at Seon-hu as he started to calm down.

I'll do my best with all my full power. Don't blame me for this, Dae-Soo thought.

Chapter 17

Ding!

The bell in the gym rang, and the fifth round started. Dae-Soo's mood had changed. He had decreased the frequency of punches he shot out, and he focused on adjusting the distance between us more. At the same time, he was saving his energy by withholding unnecessary movements. But, he couldn't fool me with that because I could tell he was actually aiming to put all his energy into this round. He was waiting for me to come in like a hunter who had set traps to catch monsters.

I went in, pretending that I didn't know what he had planned. I threw a clearly visible punch. Since I already confirmed that I still had stats left over that could be raised through physical training, it was time for me to set my eyes on my next achievement.

Bamm!

His punch hit my chin, and everything went black. My gaze turned sideways as I opened my eyes. I saw blurry glimpses of the facial expressions of the spectators for a quick second. My legs were shaking, and I couldn't get my strength back instantly. I barely managed to go back into the corner of the ring, but Dae-Soo caught me fiercely. Being punched in the chin by a pro athlete at my current weak state was more dangerous than I had anticipated.

Even though my original goal was to find out what conditions would activate the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity', my experiences of escaping from the throes of death didn't allow me to be beaten by him so easily.

The next thing I noticed was that I was instinctively shielding my face and body with my gloves as shields. I was also searching for a moment to counter-attack. His punches were swinging in between my gloves, and, at that moment, I could see the gap where I could punch him in the chin. My entire body was itching as if ants were crawling all over me. This must have been a biometric sign to teach him a lesson by smashing his chin. It also felt like an order from God to use the skill, Odin's Wrath.

I was sure that as soon as I used Odin's Wrath, Dae-Soo's whole face would burn beyond endurance. No ordinary guy could handle it. His face would not only collapse but crumble into ash immediately after the hit. Black burnt flesh would splatter everywhere, and the blue flames would dance in the air. His headless corpse would fall heavily. The world would be chaotic with no trace of peace.

I stopped defending myself.

Smash!

I tasted something sour in my mouth. Even with my eyes being blurry, I could feel that my balance had been destroyed. I was mentally more vulnerable since my body was weak. My blacked-out vision shifted into a screen, and I saw my comrades who lost their will and whose minds were dominated by the others there. I hallucinated and heard their screams in my mind. The only good thing from this was that I knew things like this couldn't happen in this boxing ring.

"Stand up."

I could hear Dae-Soo's furious voice over my head. I had dropped to the ground. But why didn't the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' pop up on the window? I almost fainted for a second.

Dae-Soo shouted furiously, "I told you to stand up. Right now!"

"Chill, Dae-Soo. You're going to kill him!" The manager tried to stop him. Their voices and my vision became clear.

"You can keep going, right? Jeong-Ho?" Dae-Soo seemed like he would force me to stand up. He picked up things quickly. I nodded and clearly expressed my refusal to go down from the ring to the manager. The manager looked concerned, but the audience became wilder.

Dae-Soo looked at me as if he was telling me, 'You brought this on yourself!' As I stood up, he returned to the center of the ring and posed. I also prepared to spar again, but I was short of breath. It felt like rocks had been placed on my chest, suffocating me. He also seemed to be tired, but his eyes were sharper than before. His sharp stare was saying that he was going to do his best to resolve his rage as much as he could before going down from the ring.

I was able to feel his anger with my entire body. It was inevitable since I had purposely let a pro athlete punch my chin twice as an incompetent F class fighter. Everything was always relative. Although the punches were slower and weaker, each one of them was more threatening. I had brought this on myself, just like his eyes said. If I had faced him in the usual manner, I wouldn't have been driven to a corner like this.

Smash! Smash!

His punches landed into my entire body with loud thuds. I already couldn't strengthen my stomach, and I clenched my teeth to prepare for the next hit as he punched my abdomen again. My back bent with extreme pain, and my eyes were filled with his gloves' movements.

Smash! Smash! Smash!

My head was wrenched multiple times without mercy. One thing that came to mind at the moment was that I felt something really familiar in my mouth. It was the taste of blood. I couldn't feel the mouthpiece that was filling my mouth. It might have been flown away without me knowing.

"Stop! Hey! I said stop! Are you trying to kill him?"

The manager's voice was faint, and it sounded like he was talking three hundred feet behind me. I couldn't hear anything after his last words because I allowed Dae-Soo to punch me right on the face. I realized that this blow was enough to knock me unconscious the moment I got hit.

However, the feeling of falling into the mire disappeared in an instant, and my eyes opened easily. I felt like I regained my strength.

['The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' has been activated.]

A message popped up in front of me.

[Your Health level has changed. Change: F E]

[Your Strength level has changed. Change: F E]

[Your Agility level has changed. Change: F E]

[Your Sense level has changed. Change: F E]

[Your Odin's Wrath level has changed. Change: F E]

[Your injuries will recover slightly.]

[You will forget about the pain temporarily.]

As expected, the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' kicked in only when I was unable to fight.

The manager and some of the audience jumped into the ring. It was chaotic for a while.

"Are you insane? This was too much!" The manager lost his temper on Dae-Soo while he was staring at me.

We had sparred without any headgear. I couldn't see how horrible my face was, but I was able to guess from the manager's and the audience's reaction. Dae-Soo's anger seemed to have subsided, and he looked regretful.

I stood up, and I could feel that my injuries were healed a bit. My heart was now just pumping wildly when it used to beat as if it would explode before.

"I'm fine," I said.

Rough breaths and blood came out with each word. The floor of the ring around me was a mess with my blood.

"You said we would have three rounds. There's one more KO left," I looked at Dae-Soo.

"I'm sorry, man. I must have gone crazy," Dae-Soo apologized.

He wasn't a bad person; it was because I had just bruised the pride of a professional boxer.

The manager was fired up, "What do you mean by three rounds! Dae-Soo, take him to the hospital! How can you beat someone like that…Gosh. Do you feel any broken bones inside you?"

Unfortunately, I had to admit this was the end of the fight. When I wiped my face with a towel someone gave to me, it was soaked with blood immediately. The manager performed emergency aid on my eyes and nose, then forced Dae-Soo to take care of me. I said it was all good a couple of times, but the manager didn't listen to me. I left the gym with Dae-Soo.

"I'm so sorry, Jeong-Ho," Dae-Soo said.

"You really don't need to apologize since I brought this upon myself," I replied.

"Why did you do that? Not that I'm blaming you, but…" he left his sentence vague.

"I thought I had to be knocked out by you in front of everyone. I was stupid," I said.

It was then my entire face began aching.

"You did all this to save my pride? Hey, kid. You're not in a spot to do that. Oh gosh, your face has been beaten to a pulp," he looked concerned.

"Please spend some time, and go back to the gym, Dae-Soo. I'll go to the hospital alone," I said.

"No," he responded firmly.

"I don't have any broken bones, and the bleeding stopped," I said.

"I'm sorry to say this, but you need lots of stitches," he said.

He had no idea that an Awakened had crazy regenerative power. Light wounds like these would be completely healed within three days without stitches.

"I'll come again, soon. Good-bye!" I barely managed to pull him off.

"The Man Who Overcomes Adversity…" I thought of what just happened while walking on the street. I only came back to my senses as the effect of the trait wore off.

Self-harm couldn't activate the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' since it only worked when I got into a state where I could no longer fight from external forces or attacks. I believed there would be a deep meaning behind turning the situation around and allowing me to continue the battle with stronger powers. Apart from the physique, I thought that those who were mentally weak didn't deserve the title 'Awakened'. Oh well, The man who overcomes adversity had to have a strong mentality.

I had attempted not to remember when I came out of the birth canal during my birth because it was so painful. However, I also thought that I couldn't just repress it as my experience of overcoming hardship would help me one day.

While I was wandering around, the television news broadcasted in an electronic store's showcase window grabbed my attention.

「Development Bank, 'The Southeast Asian crisis has had no impact on South Korea.' 」

A large caption was placed at the bottom of the screen, and the main anchor was delivering the news. Even though there was no sound from the television, I could understand by reading her lips.

"The drop in Thailand baht is not settling down. There has been a domino effect in the entire Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia as their currencies continue to plunge. Regarding the situation, Jo Il-Joo, the Head of the International Planning Department of Korea Development Bank stated, 'We've been monitoring Thailand's economic crisis since the end of last year and have been preparing. Therefore, there should be zero impact on our nation.' This was by the reporter, Kim Cheol-Jin."

He said that we would not be affected, but Korea was one of the countries with the biggest hits. I scowled at the news. The IMF shock was greater than the shock received on the Day of Advent.

Chapter 18

My lips were cracked, and my face was filled with scratches. My left eye was so swollen that it looked like it was shut, and my reflection on the window of the mall looked like a victim of a gang. I had anticipated this to happen, so I used my imaginary friend's name, Seong-Ho, to stay out of the house. Also, it was final exams season, so I was supposed to stay at Seong-Ho's place to study until tomorrow, which was Constitution Day.

I had the two ten thousand won bills in my pocket that my mother had given me to buy some treats while studying with Seong-Ho.

Before I headed to the Internet cafe, I stopped by a public washroom at the park. Thanks to a hot midsummer tropical night, my clothes dried quickly even though I wore them wet right after washing. When I put on a wrinkled baseball cap, pedestrians no longer glanced at me.

The smell of cigarettes in the Internet cafe made me feel nostalgic, and the old analogue vibe was still here in this period. Instead of a membership card, I sat down with a note that was given to me by the owner of the cafe. It had the start time of when I began renting hand-written on it. I accessed an American messenger platform and searched for the current market conditions while waiting for Jonathan.

There were monsters called the Abaddon Ants. They were smaller than the human palm and could be stomped to death, but there were two reasons why the Awakened disliked them. They were voracious eaters and tended to swarm. I had never seen them move around alone. They moved for only one purpose: to eat. Unfortunately they went around in clusters, numbering from hundreds to tens of thousands, and they were always hungry and gnawed everything in their path.

Everything went to ruins when the Abaddon Ants passed by, and they kept moving in search of new prey since their hunger never ended. The word 'satisfaction' wasn't in their vocabulary. The hedge funds and the investors that were supporting this situation were just like them. They swarmed in groups and ate anything they could. Their tour of Southeast Asia was starting now.

Almost all of their money was now in my pockets, and so they would be desperately thirsty by now. Their actions were more aggressive than they had been in the original history since they were attacking the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia at once. Originally, Southeast Asia was treated as a bundle in the financial world, but this case was a bit different. I could feel the impatience in their movements.

They must have noticed that an unknown group monopolized the position that the baht would plunge on July 1st and took all their profits.

- J: Sun.

- N: I was waiting for you. Don't you think they noticed?

Jonathan would have known what I was talking about based on this vague hint.

- J: They would be so curious as to who emptied their pockets.

- N: They are attacking the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia at once as a group. Don't you think they are rushing things from this?

- J: They are afraid of us? Isn't that a good thing?

- N: It might cause some problems in my calculations because mistakes are made when things are rushed. It's hard for me to calculate what mistakes they will make.

- J: That's enough. You can miss the details. Have you checked your email?

- N: Yes.

- J: I have gathered a task force of six people as you have told me. Should I invite them to Korea? They should know who the real owner of Jonathan Investments is.

- N: Wait, you haven't told them about me, right?

- J: Of course not.

- N: Do you remember what I said before? I'm in your shadow. Please keep that in mind, Jonathan.

- J: Okay, I will.

Jonathan began to report on the new situation in our company. He had commissioned the processes for dividing the company into a new start-up firm, then selected eight other companies to continue the process. If we changed firms after each step was completed, the one in charge of the final process would only work with the documents they received without knowing what they were actually dealing with.

- N: How many paper companies do you think will be laid out?

- J: If you include the ones in tax havens, there will be over a thousand. The commission fees are beyond imagination. How are you planning to distribute them? You must have thought about the plan, right?

- N: I'll send you an email in the morning.

- J: Morning? I forget that you are in Korea sometimes.

- N: What about Jeffery K?

- J: He is positive about it.

- N: That's good. There's one more thing for him to do, along with taking over the investment firms.

I couldn't continue using other people's servers when emailing, chatting, or even phoning. Even though I chose GOL messenger after checking its security system, it was terribly vulnerable to talented hackers no different from the speculative forces in front of Asian countries.

- N: Do you know Predict?

- J: Of course.

- N: It's our top priority target to take over.

There was no point in choosing Predict if it was only for their database products. The fact that Predict achieved a record-breaking rise from late 1998 to when the dot-com bubble exploded, and that they reached a market capitalization of two hundred billion dollars before the Day of Advent were just minor reasons.

The database language they created was the ubiquitous standard in the eighties. Data considered as top secret such as dungeons, monsters, skills, traits, items, seals, box rates, and others were handled in the database written in the language they created. Each country and guild established their own databases using Predict's expensive development tools, but the best data program was the product their headquarters was directly involved in .

The guild controlled by the Second Virtue was called Revulution[1]. In this era, people highly praised their database as much as their battle skills. If there had been a chance for me to look over Revulution's database at least once, the battle against the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues might have been a little different. Of course, I knew that my intervention would change history such as a change in the internal development team members. Therefore, it was important to minimize the fluctuations as much as possible.

- J: You are driving me nuts, now IT?

- N: As I've told you before, I'll put anything that I can earn profits on our portfolio. If I get an opportunity, I will make an aggressive investment in other IT firms.

- J: I don't think it's just a concept of investment in the case of Predict?

- N: That's why I want to hold on to the current CEO, Donald Pinn, as much as I can.

- J: You will enjoy the company's growth without interfering with their management? However, Donald won't sell his company. Even if he succeeds in a hostile MA (Merger Acquisition), he'll leave the company in anger.

- N: Predict is our priority, and we can give Donald the largest stock options ratio with the highest possible annual income. But if he still insists on leaving, there won't be anything we can do.

We would keep him motivated with stock options and purchase Predict above their current value at the maximum price available. Would he be able to resist the temptation?

The owners of massive capital were not mentioned in Forbes. They either monopolized the basic resources of minerals, oil, and grain or hid in conspiracy theories embedded in history.

However, there was a symbolic honor in being ranked as one of the richest people in the world by Forbes each year. Even if the counting only included stock options and other benefits, Donald Pinn's assets was ranked seventh in 2017, with 50 billion dollars total. If we took out the commission fees and other expenditures, that was around how much we earned in Thailand. It felt like we still had a long way to go.

- J: It would be better to make one of the paper companies into a normal one and treat it.

- N: That's true. That's the reason why we are dividing our investments.

- J: Huh? Aren't we doing it because of tax reasons?

- N: No. As I said before, I don't want our finances to be disclosed in public. We can't transact everything like real estate and business under Jonathan Investments' name.

- J: Hmmm.

- N: Then, let's begin with Predict so that there's no mistake.

- J: Okay.

- N: Don't let Jeffery handle the MA.

- J: Why?

- N: You've already approached him in person, and he knows you. Jonathan Investments will expand only as an investment firm. You will be only known as the major shareholder and CEO of the company. However, you won't be known in other fields.

- J: It's hard to do that for now. It's not that I will take my eyes off of him, so I will keep watching him.

I crossed my arms as I leaned against the chair. Jonathan was misinterpreting the meaning of separating the company. It was not simply for taxes.

A long time later, he restarted the conversation.

- J: I want to get into your brain to see the big picture you are planning, Sun.

- N: I should have made things clear last time. It's my fault.

- J: Nah, you had made a clear statement that no one should know the actual owner. I misunderstood your meaning.

- N: Do you get it now?

- J: We will buy Predict, but the world shouldn't know that we were the ones who purchased it.

- N: Yes, that's how all the transactions will proceed.

- J: During that process, the selected paper companies will be made into real ones, and those CEOs won't know anything about Jonathan Investments and us, right?

That was the point. They were our companies, but the CEO and employees wouldn't know about our presence.

- J: But there have to be connections, like the ones that would link our subsidiary companies and us.

- N: That's why you should make lots of imaginary friends under a detailed plan.

Like my friend, Seong-Ho.

- N: You don't have to worry now. It won't be difficult when we complete dividing up our company. We will select holding/parent companies that would be in charge of controlling other companies, and selecting other companies that would control our controllers. We will build several steps for this method.

- J: So, no one would know who is giving command…

- N: The parties would believe the commands came from right above. That's why the larger the size of the company division, the better. It's because there will be more layers of control we can build.

- J: Forget about your master plan for a second. Where did you learn about all these things?

- N: Do you now get a sense of what you should do?

- J: Yes. But Sun, you do know what we're doing…Right?

If we got caught by the U.S. authorities, we would be sentenced to life in prison.

- N: I know. I understand that you'll take some time to prepare for the Predict MA. Oh…I can't believe the time has already flown by so much. We should earn money. Our next investment is …

Chapter 19

The giant was so massive that Jonathan couldn't see its face properly even if he fully raised his head. Jonathan, who was standing blank in shock, struggled when the giant's hand grabbed him. Only his face stuck out of the giant's fist, and when the giant raised its fist close to its face, Jonathan could finally see the enormous facial features.

Its face seemed familiar to Jonathan. Sun? The giant was a mysterious Asian boy. Jonathan opened his eyes right before getting swallowed by Sun, who had become a giant.

It was such a vivid dream. Even though he woke up, Jonathan still felt the terror and helplessness from his dream, and his heart kept racing.

Jonathan was in a bad mood, and he knew the source of this anxiety. Sun was thirteen years old according to the documents, but his intelligence and physique were definitely not thirteen. Jonathan had met boys who would have been called geniuses in his Ivy League days, and their brains certainly outclassed others. Although Jonathan couldn't help but be humbled by them, those genius kids were still young children at heart.

"However, Sun is…" Jonathan mumbled.

He had thought Seon-Hu was one of those geniuses until Seon-Hu predicted the date of the plunge in Thailand stock prices and the baht. Jonathan had heard of something similar before.

Something that was unfathomable like: 'I have tens of thousands of rooms in my brain, and I'm taking things out from them to use in my plans.'

Jonathan believed that Seon-Hu's calculations also came out of those countless rooms, and Seon-Hu's genius intellect simply lay in the financial field. Of course, it could be true. However, genius could not be explained by ordinary people. It was like a blind man estimating how an elephant looked just by touching it. Jonathan was thinking about the way Seon-Hu thought in general.

Thirteen was the age when people were confident that they understood the world and started dreaming. It was an age people boasted of how incredible they would be after one or two decades. However, Seon-Hu was beyond that level because he knew what he had to do. He seemed to prepare a lot before finding Jonathan, and Seon-Hu had enough intelligence to embrace ambition and had the expertise to act on them. He also had the determination to proceed with work that could lead to imprisonment for life. It was like he had no fear of the unknown.

Before Jonathan had realized it, he was now closely connected with Seon-Hu despite not knowing him that well. They now shared a common destiny. In other words, if the U.S. government found out about the company's hidden funds, Sun would not be the only one being sentenced to decades in prison. Jonathan's eyes were wide open when his thoughts arrived there.

He murmured, "No matter how much I think about it, it doesn't make sense."

Everything that happened so far had been so great that it could be made into a movie. However, what they had to do now was even more dangerous than before. Jonathan picked up his phone because he remembered the phone number of a skilled private detective, but he couldn't dial the number.

What is the point of investigating Sun now…

When Jonathan established an investment firm with his total assets of four hundred thousand dollars and gave away fifty-one percent of the shares as if a devil had whispered to him, he did so thinking that he was investing in Seon-Hu.

I should continue thinking like that and not think of anything else.

Jonathan sat in front of the computer, and there were many emails in the inbox. Some of them were from the companies in charge of dividing the company, and there was one from Seon-Hu. The first step of the division process had been completed, and eight paper companies had been created. What was left was distributing billions of dollars based on Seon-Hu's plan.

"Most of them are offshore…. He's crazy…" Jonathan muttered.

The time had come. Jonathan began writing a reply to Seon-Hu with his trembling hands. He had already made a decision a while ago.

- I'll proceed as we discussed.

Then, a few weeks passed after that night.

The lights never went out on Wall Street because there were markets around the world, and their opening and closing times were different. It was the same for Jonathan's office. Everyone was gathered around late at night. However, they were silent, unlike the other offices. It was because Jonathan had revealed the company's assets to his team members before the actual meeting. All the team members knew there were no investors for their company, which meant that all that money was Jonathan's. Jonathan had become a billionaire in just a few months.

"Could you please explain how you came about this? I cannot understand even with all of my imagination," one of the team members asked.

Jonathan replied in a matter-of-fact manner, "It's simple. I invested and earned."

"Jesus Christ! Jonathan! Do you know what you're saying? I know how much money you could have raised at first. I'm so sorry, but it would have been less than a million dollars," the team member said.

"It was four hundred thousand dollars, not a million," Jonathan responded.

"Stop joking around," the team member frowned.

Jonathan rebutted, "Do you think this is a joke? Where would your salary come from?"

Jonathan pointed at the account status on the monitor.

"H…how can this be happening?" All of the team members were standing in awe.

"I told you. Okay, I understand how you guys are feeling because I felt the same when I earned this much money in the beginning," Jonathan said.

"Jonathan!" The questions didn't stop, and everyone was calling his name.

Jonathan sighed and spoke sharply, "Where else would I have earned this much money for current times? It was from Thailand. I bet all of my money on two chances, the second week of May and on July second. Do you guys understand now?"

The team members' looks of disbelief and shock felt burdensome to him. He was cheekily taking all the credit, but Seon-Hu was the real genius. Also, the numbers he had shown to the team members were not true. The actual numbers were currently being split by paper companies according to Seon-Hu's plans.

"...You…you made four hundred thousand dollars into this? You, Jonathan?" A team member asked as if he still couldn't believe it.

"I understand your surprise, but please stop there. This is not a frat party," Jonathan replied while looking at their astonished eyes.

He continued, "Don't you guys realize what kind of chance this could be for you?The six of you, along with one more, are the only employees of this company. I will treat you all as well as I can, and that's why I hired you."

Gulp.

The room filled with the sound of people gulping.

"So…we're talking to the legend right now," someone remarked.

No one in the office thought that phrase was childish. Actually, it was insufficient to describe the situation. Everyone would agree that Jonathan could be called as God of Investments.

Crack!

Jonathan stood up from the desk.

"I'll go over this once more. Jonathan Investments hired you guys. I'm the director, and you're traders. Individual investments can be handled as you have done in the past, but my orders are the law regarding the big projects. I don't accept any objections. If you want to leave, do it right now. I'll pay you a nice compensation fee for your time," Jonathan said.

"Who else…knows about this?" One of the team members asked.

Everyone was still in shock.

"Just you guys. Did you forget already? Jonathan Investments is a hedge fund that was established on solely my funds," Jonathan answered.

Hedge funds were not obligated to submit regular business reports to the government, and Jonathan was talking about that.

"As long as you don't talk about this, it won't be known by the public. But they are aware," Jonathan said.

There was no point in identifying who he was alluding to.

Jonathan repeated what Seon-Hu had explained to him, "They know that even though they were the major players in the war, someone else took all their profits. That's why they're more aggressive in Southeast Asia now."

"That's all because of you?" A team member asked.

"What world do you live in, Jonathan?" Another one questioned.

No one could actually believe Jonathan's story, but the numbers on the account didn't lie. Everyone looked back and forth between the computer monitor and Jonathan and blinked.

"I'll tell you after this project ends. We will take Wall Street's Champion Belt," Jonathan said.

Everyone thought now that Jonathan was no longer one of them. His success would bring in much more fame than just simple numbers, and customers would line up with all their money. The future of Jonathan Investments would be…

"Just be aware that Jeffrey is searching for investment firms we will buy out," Jonathan stirred up another storm in others' thoughts by that statement.

"Jeffrey!" "Jeffrey Kay is one of us?" Everyone was in shock again.

"We will perhaps end up being there after this project ends," Jonathan nodded and pointed at the window.

It was an area with sky-high land taxes across a road. Jonathan was pointing at the building that had towered over all the traditional landmarks of Wall Street.

"You guys now know that your voice was not wrong," Jonathan said as he made eye contact with each of the team members.

"Congratulations. You have become one of the majors by joining Jonathan Investments."

Chapter 20

Teenagers were teenagers, and it was the era when school-based action genres were popular in both comics and films. When I went training at the gyms downtown and came home sore every day, my parents supported me. However, my schoolmates made lots of noise. Rumors about me were so childish that they made me cringe. People were claiming that I fought against a gang alone and that I was a hidden candidate for a leader of a clan.

However, the young kids' silly antics ended after summer vacation. Today was one of my vacation days, an ordinary day where I went to summer cram classes and played basketball with my imaginary friend Seong-Ho. At least, that's what my mom thought.

"Hey Seon-Hu, invite Seong-Ho to our place one day. I've never seen the face of my son's best friend," my mother told me.

"Okay," I replied.

She asked, "Also, are you going to continue boxing?"

"I will quit if you want me to," I answered.

"You always go too far. I like that you started working out again," she smiled.

"Oh yeah," I responded.

My mom took out a tube of ointment from her apron pocket. For the past few days, she had been applying the anti-scarring ointment on my scars after stopping me from going out.

"I'm okay if you get a bit rebellious," she said.

I smiled silently instead of giving a verbal response.

"My son is so handsome. Come home early. Oh yes, do you have your pocket money?" she questioned.

I already used my money, but there will be no reason for me to live on an ordinary middle schooler's pocket money from today onwards. Soon, there was money that should have come into my pocket.

「Il-shin Financial Holdings held a board meeting on the twenty-first and announced that they decided to establish 'Jeon-il Investments', a joint investment firm with a foreign company specializing in international investments, called Golden Wish. The decision made under the benefits by the government was…」

Although it was just a short article, it was not yet at the level that would be announced in a newspaper. A VIP in a high position would have ordered this press release to give the public something hopeful during a foreign exchange crisis.

The attached black and white picture was small. There was no specific information regarding how much foreign currency this deal would bring in, and the picture just showed an unnamed foreign CEO shaking hands with the CEO of a small holdings company. The article exaggerated that the foreign company specialized in international investments, but Gold Wish was a bogus paper company. However, the government was already promising multiple benefits.

Foreign capital was flowing out like a low tide, and even domestic investors were stepping out since the fear was spreading out in the market. I understood that they would like to grasp anything at this point, but...I felt so bad.

A shadow leaned over the newspaper I was reading. When I looked up, a foreign guy from the picture in the article was staring at me. He was wearing a hat, but his jaw exactly matched the picture.

We exchanged a signal. His facial expression wasn't good. He seemed to have lots of complaints about why he had to deal with this dirty work, but he quickly handed me the briefcase and hurriedly left.

I moved to a quiet place. The briefcase was filled with bundles of hundred-dollar bills, and they were a million dollars in total. It was around a billion won in today's currency, and it was a part of secret funds that came out during the division of our company!

An identification card was mandatory to exchange currencies of a million dollars or above in the financial field. However, the back alley in Myeong-dong still used the transaction methods that were in place before the real-name financial system was introduced in 1993.

The old owner who dealt with dollar trades welcomed me with open arms. A million dollars would be nothing for her as she was also known as "Myeong-dong's Big Mama", but no one was exchanging dollars into won these days. Therefore, the black market had become frozen, and I became a precious client for them in these hard times.

"Do you think you can take all these by yourself? Do you want me to put them in your car?"

Big Mama said while pointing at the stacked money boxes. Her actions were gentle, unlike her firm face.

"I called a delivery truck. Please load these in it, and let me use your phone once," I said.

Big Mama picked up her phone on the desk and brought it to me. I pressed the buttons, then heard the call connection.

Speed Real Estate: Hello, this is Speed Real Estate.

Seon-Hu: Hello, it's me. Kim Jeong-Ho.

Speed Real Estate: Oh, Mr. Kim! I've been waiting for you.

Seon-Hu: I'll leave now. Could we meet up at the Gangnam station in thirty minutes?

There was a delivery truck outside that I hired on my way to Myeong-dong. I climbed into the passenger seat after loading all the boxes. It was best to have one billion won in cash because it would be tied up if I put in a fake bank account, and some of the account brokers were swindlers.

"Mr. Kim!"

The realtor was waiting for me in front of the station. He helped me move the money boxes from the truck, and his sedan trunk and backseats were filled with money boxes.

The realtor said with a sincere expression, "You look so young, but you must be running a huge business. I envy you."

It didn't look like he would care even if the money in the boxes was from the black market.

"Are there any changes in the contract terms?" I asked.

"He said he'll meet your conditions. This is President Choi, the owner of multiple buildings in Gangnam we're talking about. Everyone in my field knows about him, so you can trust him."

The realtor said it indirectly, but he clearly meant that President Choi was a billionaire so he wouldn't care about his tiny under-the-table contract.

There was one condition I put out as I rented the office. It was that I would pay a two-year rental fee at once with cash but would not use my legal name and identification for the transaction. Of course, it was illegal, but the realtor and the leaseholder agreed to my condition.

The only reason why I rented an office in Gangnam at a high rent cost was that the buildings around here met my security conditions. Only people with ID cards could enter the office building, and guards were available 24/7 in the luxurious lobby. Even the realtor had to accompany a security guard and a deputy of the leaseholder as our escorts in order to guide me to the office.

"You don't have to bring any furniture, and the cleaning is complete," the realtor said.

As soon as the office door opened, I saw the deciding factor that made me rent this place. There was a terminal, a phone cable and an office phone that was on the empty floor. Finally! Those were more valuable than the money boxes the building employees were bringing in. At the time when asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) was only beginning to be available, the internet network equipped in this building was a rarity in ordinary households.

I said instantly, "I'll pay you the rent right now. These two boxes of money should be the right amount for it."

Suspicious looks crossed my way, but cash transactions like this were common between the rich. The deputy smiled lightly as he welcomed this deal since it would become a secret fund for President Choi.

"If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me here," the deputy left his name card and my building ID card, then left with the two money boxes in his hands.

I paid the realtor with cash as well. Although it was a deal with money flowing out of paper boxes, it was a natural occasion in this high-class building. Realtors and the deputies met many people with lots of cash, and my name would be on their list of clients from today. Me.

That evening, I completed setting up a safe and a computer. In other words, I finished my 'secret base' in one day. Instead of supplies and every kind of item, there was only a single computer plugged into ADSL. I looked at the cable connected to the computer with a pleased expression and pressed the power button.

I had been waiting for this moment when I could finally connect the internet with this cable at decent speed instead of with a slow phone wire. I picked up the phone while waiting for the computer to boot. There was no need to be concerned about the international call fees since I had now received the secret funds, and Jonathan would be in his office. It was 7 PM in Seoul, and 6 AM in New York.

Jonathan: Sun?

Seon-Hu: I received the money, and thanks to that, I could rent my office. Do you have a pen beside you?

I gave him my office phone number, then dove into the reason I called him.

Seon-Hu: You're making such fast progress. It seems like you'll be able to wrap up things very soon, right?

Jonathan: Yeah, that's possible. We should talk about the details in person. I'll fly over to Korea as soon as I can.

Jonathan had been having long flights quite often, but I couldn't set up a middleman for these visits.

Two days later, I brought Jonathan to my office. Various exercise equipment had been installed, and they actually occupied half of my office. Jonathan was filled with astonishment, and he tapped the sandbag. Since I remembered the way the awakened Jonathan acted in my past life, his clumsy movements kept bothering me.

"I kind of guessed it, but you must be addicted to working out. Wait, isn't that a sword?"

Jonathan even found a sword that I had placed in the corner of the room. There was a sparkle in his eyes as if he forgot about his restlessness. He was ready to enjoy the unique vibe of my office. While he was heading to the sword, he changed his direction after he discovered something else.

"You're not the one who drew this, right?" Jonathan asked as he stood in front of the picture I hung on the wall.

I didn't reply, but Jonathan seemed certain that he was right. The drawing was not framed, and there were lingering traces of the mechanical pencils used in the piece. Jonathan began talking about how realistic the monster looked in the picture to explain how talented I was at drawing. He seemed relaxed rather than enjoying himself. He sat at the table while asking me about my hobbies, my parents, whether I had siblings, and in what environment I had grown up. Then, I changed the conversation to the suitcase he brought along.

"Could I check the documents you brought?" I asked.

The list of paper companies filled a book. The classification numbers exceeded a thousand, and it also described the procedure of how the funds had been transferred through them. Jonathan's face was rigid after taking out all the documents, and I knew why. The files in front of us were our fatal weakness that could imprison us for life in America.

"If we hire competent judges and lawyers, it will end at the charge of offshore tax evasion or embezzlement. Either way, the amount is massive to be considered a financial crime, but everyone does this. The only difference is the scale of impact," I said.