Arena Chapter 69:
Chapter 69 – The Turning Point
The smartphone vibrated and Min-jeong instinctively reached out her hand in her sleep .
Next to her was a deeply sleeping man who gave her a very expensive gift .
Still blurry, Min-jeong opened her eyes and stared at the screen and for a second, didn’t believe what she was seeing .
[Chairman Park Jin-seong]: $1 million every day, the amount is too big so keep it separate in a Swiss account]
The sleepiness instantly disappeared . Only then did she realize that this wasn’t her own phone .
Min-jeong quickly turned off the phone screen and put it down . She covered herself up and pulled the blanket over her head .
Her heart was pounding relentlessly . Her chest was shaky and she couldn’t calm down . Min-jeong dug herself into Hyun-ho’s arms .
‘I have to erase it from inside my head . That is Hyun-ho oppa’s business . ’
But she couldn’t help what stays occupied in her mind .
A million dollars a day?
From chairman Park Jin-seong?
A Swiss account?
The men from Jin-seong group that he said he had a skirmish with, she recalled the events of that night . Then really, is it that Park Jin-seong chairman?
‘Just what kind of person is oppa?’
She looked at Hyun-ho’s face, peacefully sleeping, and felt anxious .
She dug deeper into his arms .
“Hmm… . ”
Hyun-ho hugged her in his sleep .
‘Oppa, you can’t . ’
Min-jeong felt Hyun-ho’s warm embrace .
‘I want to take back what I said back then . Please be an everyday ordinary guy . ’
The reason she became interested in Kim Hyun-ho was because she thought he was a man unlike other men .
But now that was what frightened her .
Because he might be a guy that she can’t handle . Because to be near him, she might not measure up .
Now, it wasn’t just interest anymore, she genuinely liked him .
Expensive presents, a rose-lit future, she didn’t need any of that . She just wanted to be with him always .
Min-jeong truly only wanted that .
***
I opened my eyes to the morning sun light, Min-jeong was already awake and looked unusually tired .
“Did you not sleep well?”
“I must not have . I woke up in the middle . ”
“Yeah?”
I washed and put on clothes and check the phone, and I see a text message from chairman Park Jin-seong .
‘$1 million every day? Then every week that’s $7 million . ’
That means that the effects were that good .
Anyhow, that’s $7 million a week!
It is too much money for a single individual .
Like chairman Park Jin-seong said, it was probably a good idea to put it in a Swiss account . Since Swiss banks effectively protect client information, or so I’ve heard .
‘Was Switzerland close to Denmark?’
Might as well go to Denmark and meet up with Odin while I’m over there in Switzerland .
Speaking of, I should contact Odin too .
“Oppa, eat breakfast . ”
“Oh, thanks . ”
I sat down at the table and got ready to eat the meal Min-jeong made . Today was wonton soup with beef and eggs and tofu and other things .
“Wow, this looks tasty . ”
“Eat lots . ”
“This must have taken a lot of work to make . Aren’t you working too hard?”
“I tried it as practice, so . ”
I just stared straight at Min-jeong .
Min-jeong was startled by my gaze .
“What is it?”
“Oh, just wondering why you seem down today . ”
“Me? Not at all . ”
“Really? Then okay . ”
Min-jeong was unlike her usual cheerful and joking self and it was weird .
‘Did she?’
A thought occurred to me .
I thought possibly not, not that I suspect it, but it also explains why Min-jeong looked so tired .
Should I check it?
I raise my smartphone and pretended to check something . My eyes were pointed towards my screen but I was observing Min-jeong’s reaction .
Indeed .
Min-jeong kept glancing over at me . I had conveyed my concern over my smartphone .
‘Min-jeong…’
And I got all confused .
Regardless, I pretended not to notice and ate my meal . The wonton soup was delicious . She has good cooking skills .
Suddenly, Min-jeong carefully opened her mouth .
“Oppa . ”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry, oppa . ”
Min-jeong came right up next to me and spoke .
“What?”
She hung her head down low .
“Last night in my sleepiness, I accidentally saw your phone . I thought it was a text to my phone . ”
“Whew . ”
I actually let out a sigh of relief . I grabbed Min-jeong in a huge hug .
“Op, oppa?”
“Thanks for telling me . ”
“Oppa…”
Then Min-jeong realized the situation and sniffled .
“I’m sorry I looked at your phone . ”
“No, it’s okay, it was just a sleepy mistake . ”
“I’m sorry . Hiing (crying noise) . I couldn’t sleep after that . ”
“Did you worry a lot about it?”
“Yes . ”
“Min-jeong stuck to my body and whispered .
“Oppa, you don’t hate me do you?”
“Ayy, of course not . ”
I stroked Min-jeong’s hair .
I gave her a simple explanation for the text from chairman Park Jin-seong .
“I have a business relationship with chairman Park Jin-seong . I made a small business with my friends but it happened to catch the interest of chairman Park Jin-seong…”
This time too of course, I spit out some bogus story .
It kind of overlapped with the business deal with friends story I gave Hyun-ji so I think it’s a good idea .
“Then oppa, when your business succeeds you’ll become a millionaire?”
“Yeah, I already am . ”
“So that’s why you brought that expensive gift yesterday?”
“Um, that’s because I’m a pushover . ”
“Hehehe, no . A capable man isn’t a pushover . ”
“It’s already too late . I’m a pushover . ”
“Aw, oppa . ”
Min-jeong acted cute next to me throughout the whole meal .
***
Min-jeong had a morning class so I dropped her off at school and I headed straight for the mountain lodge .
Like always, I gave chairman Park Jin-seong a flame of life .
“Like I mentioned, I think I’ll go take a trip to Switzerland . ”
“Go ahead . ”
“I’ll be gone for 2 nights 3 days . ”
“What 2 nights and 3 days for setting up a bank account? I can’t go with you this time . ”
“I want to tour around and visit Denmark too . ”
“Oh you bumpkin, that damned tourism…”
“It must’ve been nice for you having travelled all over the world . Anyway, you’ll have to miss your flame for a day or two . ”
“Ay, when will you be going?”
“I’m not sure . First, I’ll give Odin a call . ”
“Do what you want . I can skip a day or two . ”
“Wow, really?”
“I got an exam yesterday and the cancer cells have definitely shrunk . The doctor says if they continue to shrink at this rate, I might be in complete remission in about 20 days . ”
“That’s good to hear . ”
“When I hit remission, I’ll give you another big sum so don’t worry about that part . ”
“I don’t worry about that . You are the republic of Korea’s richest man, I’m sure you’ll compensate accordingly . ”
“Haha, you **** . The ways for you to make money are endless . ”
I looked at him with a ‘what does that mean’ face .
Chairman Park Jin-seong spoke .
“Chairman Han Man-Young from Future Cars is also in poor health these days . When you get to our age, we all end up breaking I suppose . ”
“Ah!”
It’s true, amongst the rich people there are handfuls that are aged and ill .
‘This will make me an incredibly rich person . ’
Not tens of millions, but thousands, no, I could accumulate all the won in the world .
But on second thought, I wonder if there’s a need for any of that .
“Please keep it a secret, my skill . ”
“Why?”
“What do you do with all that money? I think it’ll become annoying and burdensome . ”
“Then again, that is true too . Oldies might come from here and there and bother you while you prepare for exams and they might distract you . ”
“True . ”
“Understood . I will keep it a secret . ”
“Thank you . ”
“Don’t mention it, I’m thankful you saved me . ”
That day I passed the day practicing two skills, the teleport and transmission .
I teleported next to a tree and then used transmission to just pass through the tree .
At the beginning, I felt a little dizzy, but with the 1 hour cool down time and practicing it over and over, I got used to it .
In the instance of the transmission skill, I threw a rock up in the air and used the skill to test it . The rock passed through my body and fell to the floor .
‘I should be careful with this one . ’
The transmission skill is 3 seconds .
Everything passes through my body in those 3 seconds . But after those 3 seconds, if something doesn’t complete its pass through?
Then I get the grotesque incident of having that something remains in me .
‘I really shouldn’t use this unless I have no other option . ’
Like in a very dangerous situation or to use when I am sure that it is completely safe .
Or if the skill level increases and the effect time gets longer . Because if the effect time gets longer I would feel like it would be safe to use .
I was training like this when it happened .
As if he’d been waiting, I got a call .
“Mr . Kim Hyun-ho?”
“Yes, Mr . Odin . ”
It’s Odin from the Nordic exam group .
-I called you back as soon as my exam was over . Thank goodness you are well .
“Did you just finish?”
-Correct . I was in the Arena for 40 days . Did you clear your exam?
“Yes . ”
-Whew! Thank goodness, indeed! I am sorry I could not help you .
“Huh? What do you mean?”
-Oh? Did you not know? The suppression was unsuccessful .
“A fail?”
-That is strange . Wasn’t your 4th exam, this past one, to do with the lycanthropes?
“It wasn’t completely unrelated . But I had no reason to fight with the lycanthropes . But a failure, was the silver clan strong enough to counter the army you sent?
-It was not the silver clan . Loyalty and skill, I sent 300 trustworthy knights and soldier . Those lycanthropes were no problem .
“Then what is it that happened?”
-Do you remember Bastian?
“Yes, uses violence to oppress the citizens… . ”
-We were defeated by those **** . Hearing from a knight who survived by the skin of his teeth, they had entered the death forest when Bastian’s army surprise attacked them .
“…!”
I began to tie the silver clan with Bastian .
It began to explain a lot of the situations from the Arena .
-How about we meet and talk about this?
“Will do, when can I come see you?”
-It doesn’t matter, any time works . Oh, right, I guess I’ll need a separate time to practice .
“Practice time?”
-I wasn’t able to keep my promise . I want to compensate you for that with something else, is there by any chance an item you need?
“Huh? No, theres no need to go that far…”
-There is the money I received from chairman Park Jin-seong and most importantly, I broke the promise so it’s a matter of my honor . Because I couldn’t keep my promise, you could have died .
Well, I’m sure that wouldn’t have happened .
I didn’t say it out loud but I spent a leisurely time in the elf village .
-Within 1000 karma, I will comply no matter what it is so just say the word .
“A, a thousand karma? That much?!”
-It is not a small amount, but to me it is not all that burdensome an amount either .
“How so? And still . No matter how small the amount, karma is of all importance . There is no need for this . If I need your help later, I can come to you again . ”
-Just try and say something . I might already have it or I can acquire it in the Arena and I might not have to use the karma at all .
“Um, then…”
At the end of pondering, I carefully say .
“Can you acquire a rifle?”
-Rifle?
“Yes, I have a Mosin-Nagant but due to a lot of things, it has a lot of uncomfortable factors . ”
-A Mosin-Nagant, it is a rather old rifle . I’m sure it is uncomfortable .
“Of course, it is difficult to get a gun without using karma to itemize it, isn’t it?”
After saying it all, I ask out of embarrassment .
But surprisingly, Odin replies with a laugh .
-No, if it is just that, there is a way to get it in the Arena . Without using any Karma .