MRUCM 21

Chapter 21

*Clank.*

*Zzzzzing.*

The mansion’s gate slid open to both sides.

In front of it, two middle school girls in uniforms stood frozen, their jaws dropped.

“Is this the right place?”

“The address is correct.”

They couldn’t bring themselves to step inside.

Then, Baek Ha-yun’s voice came through the intercom.

―What are you doing? Hurry up and come in.

Her best friends, Su-jin and Ji-young, hesitantly set foot into the garden.

“……”

A wide gravel path and pine trees that looked at least several hundred years old.

It was a scale that would only appear in TV dramas as a conglomerate chairman’s residence.

Soon.

The front door opened and Ha-yun appeared.

She was wearing a flowing dress.

A subtle radiance emanated from her skin, and a pleasant scent, hard to describe in words, wafted over.

“Baek Ha-yun, you’re oozing elegance today.”

“Hurry up and come in. The food will get cold.”

Ha-yun took her friends’ hands and led them into the living room.

A chandelier cast a soft light in the center of the living room.

“Wow…”

Even taking off their shoes felt careful to her friends.

At that moment.

Someone walked down the stairs from the second floor.

“You’re here?”

A man wearing jeans and a white knit casually thrown on.

It was Baek Kang-jin.

“Yeah. These are my friends.”

Ha-yun gestured toward her friends.

Baek Kang-jin nodded lightly and smiled.

“So you’re Ha-yun’s friends. Feel free to hang out and have fun.”

Baek Kang-jin walked toward the kitchen.

Su-jin, who had been staring blankly at his back, pinched Ha-yun’s arm.

“Ow! Why are you pinching me!”

“Ha-yun.”

Su-jin lowered her voice to a whisper.

“You said he’s your uncle. Who is that oppa?”

“Huh? He’s my uncle, really?”

“Don’t bullshit. He looks at most in his late twenties. He’s totally actor-material, and you call him uncle?”

Ji-young also nodded vigorously from the side.

Baek Kang-jin’s appearance was perfectly frozen in his youth.

It was the result of controlling cell division to stop aging.

Moreover, his mana-refined body was toned without any excess.

To teenage middle school girls, he could only look like an incredibly handsome older oppa.

Thanks to that.

Ha-yun’s shoulders lifted slightly.

She seemed secretly pleased with her friends’ reactions.

“Our uncle is originally super youthful. Let’s just go eat.”

The dining table was already laden with a feast.

It was an ultra-luxurious menu prepared by the personal chef, Alain Park.

Salmon carpaccio with premium caviar.

Cream pasta generously shaved with truffles.

Butter-grilled lobster as big as an adult’s arm, and dry-aged steak dripping with juices.

“Wow… This is insane. It smells amazing?”

“I’ve seen this on YouTube mukbangs. Isn’t this like hundreds of thousands of won per plate?”

Her friends sat down, their jaws nearly dropping in astonishment.

The savory smell of melting butter tickled their noses.

The girls’ hands holding forks began to move busily.

Every time the food entered their mouths, exclamations poured out.

“Hey… The meat melts before you even chew it.”

“This is the first time I’ve been this moved eating pasta.”

Ha-yun hummed a tune as she cut her steak with a knife.

The traces of her poor and gloomy past were nowhere to be found.

The fact that she could invite her friends on her birthday and treat them to delicious food.

That simple, ordinary daily life was an overwhelming happiness for her.

*Ding-dong.*

Just as the meal was in full swing, the mansion’s doorbell rang.

“A guest?”

“Yeah. Uncle’s acquaintances.”

Footsteps came from the hallway leading to the living room.

It was Go Jin-hyuk in a neat suit and Min Seol-hee, stylishly dressed in casual clothes.

Both were carrying large shopping bags and boxes in their hands.

“Happy birthday, Ha-yun.”

Min Seol-hee approached with a bright smile.

She took out a pretty envelope from her bag and handed it to Ha-yun.

“This is my gift to you.”

“Wow… Thank you. Can I open it?”

“Of course.”

Ha-yun carefully opened the envelope.

Inside were three stiff tickets.

Ha-yun’s eyes widened as she read the letters on the tickets.

“Gasp! This… Hyper Boys concert VIP seats?”

“KYAAAH! No way! Jackpot!”

Su-jin and Ji-young, who had been peeking from the side, let out dolphin screams.

It was the top-tier idol group currently most popular in South Korea.

The legendary VIP tickets that were hard to get even with hundreds of thousands of won in markup.

It was the result of mobilizing an S-rank awakener’s connections and information networks to secure them.

“Seol-hee unnie, you’re the best! I love you!”

Ha-yun jumped for joy.

Min Seol-hee raised her chin with a proud expression.

It was the perfect moment to prove what a tasteful gift truly was.

Then, Go Jin-hyuk, who had been standing behind her, cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Ahem. I also prepared a gift.”

Go Jin-hyuk placed a heavy paulownia wood box on the table.

Even the packaging was extraordinary.

Wrapped in an elegant silk cloth.

Ha-yun swallowed her saliva and carefully opened the lid.

“……”

“……?”

Silence fell over the dining room.

Inside the box was a large calligraphy frame.

On a hanji paper background, six Chinese characters were written in bold brushstrokes.

―盡人事待天命 (Jin-insa-dae-cheon-myeong).

Do everything in one’s power and await the will of heaven.

A very excellent and instructive saying.

But the birthday girl today was a middle school girl who had just turned fifteen.

“……”

Ha-yun blinked.

Su-jin and Ji-young also froze with their mouths open.

Baek Kang-jin, sitting by the window drinking coffee, shook his head.

*’Lacking in taste.’*

Bringing a gift suitable for a foundation chairman’s inauguration ceremony to a middle school girl’s birthday party.

Go Jin-hyuk’s sense was beyond salvation.

“Oh ho. This isn’t just any calligraphy.”

Go Jin-hyuk, completely oblivious, puffed out his chest and added an explanation.

“This is a work personally infused with spiritual energy by Master Il-pil, an Intangible Cultural Property No. 7. If you hang it in your room, evil spirits will retreat and your focus on studying will skyrocket.”

Ha-yun’s lips trembled as she forced a smile.

“Ah… Yes. Thank you so much. I’ll… hang it on the wall.”

Min Seol-hee facepalmed and shook her head from behind.

Before the atmosphere could get more awkward, Alain Park pushed in a huge cart.

“Here is the main dessert.”

It was a premium handcrafted strawberry cake stacked in three tiers.

Gold powder was generously sprinkled over the white whipped cream.

Candles in the shape of the number 15 were lit.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.”

Everyone clapped and sang.

Baek Kang-jin had also approached and stood at a corner of the table, lightly clapping along.

“Ha-yun! Make a wish and blow out the candles!”

Urged by her friends, Ha-yun clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

*’Please let my uncle stay by my side for a long, long time. And please let us keep living happily.’*

A very simple and earnest wish.

She opened her eyes and blew out the candles with a puff.

Then, applause burst out.

“What did you wish for?”

“It’s a secret. They say it won’t come true if you tell.”

Ha-yun stuck out her tongue and smiled playfully.

Baek Kang-jin watched her and smiled faintly.

His gaze was soft and warm.

“Chairman Go. Step inside for a moment.”

As the party’s excitement was reaching its peak.

Baek Kang-jin gestured with his chin toward Go Jin-hyuk.

The two passed through the living room and headed to the study at the end of the hallway.

*Clank.*

As the door closed, the outside noise was cut off as if by magic.

Baek Kang-jin leaned back diagonally in the chair in front of the desk.

Go Jin-hyuk sat on the opposite sofa and swallowed dryly.

“You said you had something to say. What is it?”

“The other three major guilds have made their move.”

Go Jin-hyuk’s voice sank heavily.

“Shinwa, Geomho, and Ares. Those three have formed an alliance. Outwardly they’re quiet, but behind the scenes, they’re amassing enormous funds.”

“The rats are thrashing about. So?”

“They’ve hired foreign mercenaries.”

Baek Kang-jin’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

“Through the black market, they’ve commissioned strike teams from the Russian mafia and Black Iron, a major American mercenary company. The target is, of course, you, Kang-jin.”

A preemptive strike to avoid following Kang Chul-min’s footsteps.

Their plan was to directly import the highest level of armed force money could buy from overseas to counterattack.

The contract was a mammoth one worth hundreds of billions of won.

“I will handle this matter.”

Go Jin-hyuk clenched his fist and spoke with resolve.

“I will immediately freeze all their corporate accounts using my authority as Association President. I’ll force tax audits and fully restrict access to the gates they own.”

An economic sanction that would suffocate them without shedding a drop of blood.

“The moment the foreign mercenaries enter the country, I’ll pressure them with visa issues and send them back at the airport. They won’t last a month and will self-destruct.”

Go Jin-hyuk’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“There’s no need for you to get blood on your hands, Kang-jin. Isn’t that why you appointed me as your proxy—to handle this dirty cleanup?”

A very rational and safe method.

A way to completely crush enemies within the bounds of law and system.

It was practically an oath of loyalty, offering to use all his power as Association President for Baek Kang-jin.

“……”

Baek Kang-jin tapped the desk with his fingers.

The corners of his mouth naturally curled up.

“Interesting.”

“Pardon?”

“They’ve emptied their entire fortune to set the board just to kill me. They even spent a fortune to bring mercenaries from the other side of the planet.”

Baek Kang-jin spoke in a low voice.

“Isn’t it only proper to greet them in person, considering their sincerity?”

Go Jin-hyuk’s shoulders flinched.

There was no room for compromise in Baek Kang-jin’s words.

Just as he had sent Kang Chul-min into the abyss, he intended to send the remaining three into the same hell.

“Baek Kang-jin. I’m not warning you because it’s dangerous. There’s no way you’d lose to those mercenary nobodies. But…”

Go Jin-hyuk leaned forward urgently.

What he truly feared wasn’t a physical threat.

“It’s about your reputation.”

“Reputation?”

“Yes. The image of a single individual trampling the established powers of the entire awakener society by force. When only Baekho Guild collapsed, everyone just watched, but if the three major guilds are also destroyed overnight, the story changes.”

Go Jin-hyuk swallowed his saliva and continued.

“The majority of awakeners could perceive you as a public enemy, showing extreme fear and backlash. If you’re branded a tyrant, all the arrows in the world will point at you.”

Awakener backlash.

No matter how powerful a superhuman, they live within the social system.

And being the target of public hostility is exhausting.

Moreover, if everyone unites in fear, no one knows what variables might arise.

Go Jin-hyuk was warning him about that.

“……”

Baek Kang-jin leaned back deeply into his chair.

His expression remained indifferent.

“You’re not wrong, Chairman Go.”

At those words, Go Jin-hyuk sighed in relief internally.

He understood.

A rational, reasonable person would naturally accept his proposal.

“Then I’ll proceed as I—”

“But you know.”

Baek Kang-jin coldly cut Go Jin-hyuk off.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“……!”

Go Jin-hyuk’s breath caught in his throat.

“Whether awakeners like me or hate me. Whether they tremble in fear or unite in anger. Why would that be any of my concern?”

“B-But…”

“Do I have to watch my step just because a pack of mutts gather and bark?”

Baek Kang-jin snorted.

Public opinion? Reputation?

That’s a shackle for those with mediocre power.

To a true absolute being, others’ gazes didn’t carry even the weight of a speck of dust.

“I have no desire to be loved by them.”

Baek Kang-jin slowly rose from his seat.

An auditory hallucination of space itself groaning under the weight of his mana filled the room.

“If they want to curse me in a democratic society, let them. I won’t stop them until then. But if they bare their claws, they should be prepared to have them pulled out. Isn’t that only natural?”

“……”

There was nothing to say.

Go Jin-hyuk pressed his lips tightly shut.

The man before him couldn’t be swayed by plausible logic.

All he could do was quietly clean up the aftermath of wherever Baek Kang-jin swept through.

“Understood. But if there’s anything I need to do, please let me know at any time.”

Go Jin-hyuk bowed his head deeply.

Just as that heavy silence lingered in the study.

*Knock knock.*

Someone knocked on the tightly closed study door.

“Uncle, what are you doing in there?”

It was Baek Ha-yun.

Kang-jin replied lightly.

“Ha-yun, you can come in.”

Ha-yun poked her head through the door crack.

In her hand was a pretty plate.

On it sat a large slice of strawberry cake.

“If you don’t come out soon, I’m going to eat this all myself?”

Ha-yun pouted her lips and urged him.

In an instant.

The heavy air that had filled the study melted away like snow.

“……”

Baek Kang-jin’s icy expression thawed in an instant.

The face of a transcendent being was replaced by that of a doting uncle.

“Yeah. I’m coming out now. Just let me have one bite.”

Baek Kang-jin beamed as he stepped out of the study.

It was a complete contrast to the man who, just moments ago, was about to dismantle South Korea’s armed groups.

Go Jin-hyuk was at a loss for words at the incredible shift in temperature.