《Hunter World Chaebol Household》


 Chapter 1 - Hotel Aristocrat

    Hotel Aristocrat


    It was ten years ago when the world¡¯s first dungeons appeared and the hunter¡¯s supernatural powers were awakened.


    Since then, Jeong-Hoon has had a dream. He had a dream that one day, he would also become a hunter and attack the dungeon.


    After that, he would become immensely rich and live in a palace-like mansion.


    ¡°Congratulations. You have achieved your dream.¡±


    ¡°¡­And exactly how did I achieve it?¡±


    It certainly was not a palace-like mansion, but it was splendid enough to call it one.


    Although the building is 13 stories above and 8 stories below the ground, it gave the impression that it is long and stretched horizontally rather than just being tall.


    It was a building that was constructed with a futuristic design done by numerous designers.


    Hotel Lumen. A five-star hotel located in Seoul.


    As the headquarter of the hotel chain, it is also currently the best hotel in the world that has been created ever since the world changed.


    Jeong-Hoon, who occupied the royal suite in such a hotel, shook his head while looking at the butler who stood in a polite posture.


    ¡°You have become incredibly rich, yes? Your dream has come true.¡±


    At the butler¡¯s words, Jeong-Hoon glanced at him and let out a short sigh.


    Of course, it was important to be rich, but it was also the process of awakening supernatural powers, hunting monsters, and accumulating fame that were part of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s dream as well.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like that was the purpose in life, so let¡¯s move on.¡±


    Shaking his head, Jeong-Hoon recalled an orphanage where several people shared a small room.


    When the world changed, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s parents had awakened their supernatural powers and became F-Class hunters.


    However, that didn¡¯t last long. Both of his parents died in a dungeon, and Jeong-Hoon was sent to a state-run orphanage.


    This was back during the days when hunters were killed in battles inside the dungeon day by day, and people were frequently dying from monsters that managed to escape the dungeons.


    As a result, the orphanage was always at its max capacity, and Jeong-Hoon¡¯s childhood was spent in destitute.


    By the time he left the orphanage at the age of 20, the amount of self-reliance he received was so small that he stayed in a PC-bang or a jjimjil-bang.


    T/N: Jjimjil-bang means korean sauna / korean steam room.


    E/N: PC-bang is an internet cafe designed entirely for gaming. Both ¡®bangs¡¯ are low-cost so many people who are in need of a temporary place to stay spend most of their time there.


    ¡°May I ask what it is you find so funny?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing. Pfft!¡±


    Before he came to this hotel¡­ Jeong-Hoon recalled the time he first met Joo Young-Chul, the butler who is standing in front of him right now.


    As the butler smiled unknowingly at him, he tried hard to hold back his laughter.


    ***


    The first time he met the old butler in his 70s was at a jjimjil-bang.


    At that time, Jeong-Hoon was in bad shape.


    Thanks to the dungeons and hunters, this is an era in which daily labor is overflowing.


    It was thanks to that that Jeong-Hoon, who had just left the orphanage at the time, was able to survive.


    However, his body would be so exhausted and fatigued that he had to take a day off for every other day he worked.


    If the labor wasn¡¯t as hard on a day, he would stay in a PC-bang, and if the labor was hard, he would resort to a jjimjil-bang.


    On that particular day, he was so tired that he went to a jjimjilbang.


    After a simple shower, Jeong-Hoon soaked his body in the hot bath and let out a long breath in the feeling of relieving all his fatigue.


    Just as he was about to let himself immerse in the comfort of falling asleep, an old man entered the bath.


    His body was so well-built that it was hard to believe he was an old man.


    At the moment, I thought he was a hunter, but there was no reason for Hunter to come to such a local dry sauna, and it was hard to see the old man as a hunter.


    First of all, the job of being a hunter was only 10 years old.


    If an old man was a hunter, news or whatever would have come out. Oldest Hunter, like this.


    So Jeong-Hoon only thought of the old man as someone who had done some sports in his youth.


    Their meeting meant to end there.


    However, when Jeong-Hoon entered the sauna, the old man followed in, and when Jeong-Hoon left, he also came out.


    Even when Jeong-Hoon sat down to wash himself properly, the old man took a seat right next to him and began to wash himself as well.


    There was no way it was a coincidence, so Jeong-Hoon simply thought it was because the old man was bored.


    But no matter how much he thought about it,it wasn¡¯t right for the old man to keep following him around in the jjimjil-bang.


    Jeong-Hoon walked away and lied down on a spot to sleep.


    ¡°What a strange old man.¡±


    Feeling a sense of liberation, he tried to sleep, but Jeong-Hoon, who felt a similar presence next to him, opened his eyes.


    It was the old man.


    Holding a plate of sikhye and boiled eggs in his hand, the old man started peeling the egg shells under Jeong-Hoon¡¯s gaze.


    E/N : Sikhye is a sweet rice punch. In a jjimjil-bang, they are normally served in clear plastic containers in colored lids with straws.


    ¡°Hey, what are you¡­¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t nourish yourself properly, you will be sick. Why don¡¯t you have some?¡±*


    *E/N: The old man is speaking quite formally to Jeong-Hoon.


    When the old man suddenly offered the sikhye and peeled eggs to Jeong-Hoon, Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t overcome his hunger and received them.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon just thanked the old man for the unexpected gift and ate sikhye and eggs.


    They were especially delicious, because for Jeong-Hoon, he never had enough money to buy himself food.


    ¡°Would you like some more?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. Thank you for the food.¡±


    When the old man politely asked after seeing Jeong-Hoon who ate in a hurry, Jeong-Hoon shook his head.


    Perhaps it was because of the small-sized clothes the people at the counter had given him due to his small physique, for they looked like it was about to rip open because of his muscles.


    Although the old man looked ridiculous to look at, his act of kindness made him seem like a god who came down from heaven in the eyes of someone who received such grace.


    ¡°You have worked hard today, so you will need to eat more. You don¡¯t have to decline.¡±


    ¡°¡­Sorry?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon looked at the old man with eyes full of suspicion at the old man¡¯s words.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just today and yesterday that the work Dungeon Logistics Center gives out is hard. Isn¡¯t it even more tiring to sort the guild¡¯s coalition raid supplies?¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    What Jeong-Hoon did for a job wasn¡¯t exactly a secret, but it was still suspicious that the old man knew exactly what Jeong-Hoon did.


    The fact that both of his parents were hunters, that they were F-class, and were killed in combat. And the fact that he¡¯s a day-to-day worker.


    The old man came to him, a person from the bottom of society, with an intentional approach, so there was no choice but to be suspicious.


    ¡°Are you from the Guild Association?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think so?¡±


    ¡°As this dungeon attack is large-scale, we need a lot of porters, so I heard that recruiting people is difficult.¡±


    E/N: Porters are people who carry bags of supplies and enter the dungeon together with a party. It¡¯s not a very respected job.


    When most people think of dungeon raids, they think of some hunters forming a party and fighting monsters like an RPG game.


    That¡¯s what the word feels like in the first place.


    However, the reality is that military operations are entrusted to the civilian population.


    Although they are called hunters with superpowers, firearms, a modern weapon rather than superpowers, are used to hunt monsters more often.


    The Dungeon Logistics Center is a Hunter specialized delivery center that serves to supply the guild with supplies needed to attack such firearms or dungeons.


    Even though it is a time when the government has delegated dungeon attacks to the civilian sector, it cannot force military weapons to be rolled by the civilian sector.


    Therefore, the government established a dungeon logistics center and controls the logistics center to crack down on supplies to hunters.


    Jeong-Hoon, who thought so far, assumed that the old man was a person from the logistics center.


    ¡°I did a lot of work at the distribution center, so you didn¡¯t come here because you thought I was perfect for luggage and supplies, right?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who was about to say ¡®porter¡¯ instead, hurriedly changed his words.


    It is commonly referred to as a porter, but its official name is Supply Unit.


    What you do is support the Hunters.


    A porter carries all kinds of equipment, including bullets and food, supplies them to hunters when needed, and collects monster bodies.


    Considering Hunter¡¯s abuse of power in the dungeon, it is the worst thing you can do after a part-time delivery job.


    In addition, it is an occupation with a high fatality rate.


    ¡°I never intended to go into a dungeon, just so you know. Oh, I enjoyed the sikhye and the eggs, thank you.¡±


    Before the old man could say anything, Jeong-Hoon said what he wanted to say, shook his head and turned away.


    His parents died in the dungeon, but there is still a sense of revenge.


    It¡¯s an era where successful hunters are treated like celebrities, and Jeong-Hoon admires those hunters too.


    He has had a dream that one day he will awaken his supernatural powers and become a hunter, and become rich by attacking dungeons.


    However, it was no good to be recklessly thrown into a dungeon and killed.


    ¡°Your deduction wasn¡¯t too bad. However, that isn¡¯t the case. Why would I endanger Jeong-Hoon-nim?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon frowned at the old man¡¯s kind attitude and the way he faked cluelessness.


    If his deduction was wrong, it cannot be explained why and how the old man knew about him and is speaking to him so politely.


    ¡°My name is Joo Young-Chul. Please feel free to call me as the head butler.¡±


    Seeing Jeong-Hoon in deep thought, the old man, the head butler, politely bowed his head towards Jeong-Hoon and introduced himself.


    He had followed Jeong-Hoon from the bathhouse, but he introduced himself to Jeong-Hoon for the first time.


    ¡°And I will be serving Jeong-Hoon-nim from now on.¡±


    ¡°What? Me?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t even think those words to be a scam because it sounded just so absurd.


    ***


    It was Jeong-Hoon who thought he had no relatives.


    But there were. He found out that his  grandfather¡¯s younger brother, or Jeong-Hoon¡¯s father¡¯s cousin, existed.


    His grandfather¡¯s family is said to be very rich. However, his grandfather rebelled against his family, so he cut ties and left the house.


    However, after Jeong-Hoon¡¯s uncle, there was no one to succeed the family.


    So his uncle secretly released a man to find Jeong-Hoon, and appointed Jeong-Hoon as his heir after his death


    As a result, my life changed from being worried about where to find food, to becoming a chairman of a chaebol.


    Whenever I think back to that time, when the old man, Butler Joo, told me such an important story at a jjimjil-bang, wearing overly tight clothes, it makes me laugh.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve come to pick me up in a dramatic or cool way. Why was it a jjimjil-bang?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the deduction you made was half right that day, my Lord.¡±


    ¡°Deduction? What did I say that day¡­ ah, the porter?¡±


    I thought Butler Joo was a person sent by the Dungeon Logistics Center, so I had changed my way of speaking from ¡®porter¡¯ to supply carrier.


    Since that wasn¡¯t the case, Jeong-Hoon openly mentioned the word.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. There were certainly people moving with the intention of hiring day laborers like your grace because, as you said, there were difficulties in hiring porters for parties that are attacking the dungeons.¡±


    Therefore, although he wanted to pick Jeong-Hoon up in a mannerly fashion, Butler Joo had no choice but to rush to retrieve him, and that just so happened to be at a jjimjil-bang.


    He had stayed close to Jeong-Hoon on purpose to prevent the person who was sent to hire a porter from approaching him.


    ¡°But who would come all the way to a jjimjil-bang in order to hire a porter?¡±


    ¡°When we are talking about a Guild Association, it looks grand, but when you look at the reality, it¡¯s actually nothing. If you tell the logistics center workers you¡¯ve already hired an incentive to bring in a porter, they¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±


    There was a high possibility that Jeong-Hoon would have rejected their offer, but Butler Joo wanted to hurry and bring him in out of cautiousness.


    ¡°And as you may have known from the hospital, within three days in that state, your grace would have either collapsed from overwork or malnutrition.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. That was a bit of a shock. I didn¡¯t know my condition was that bad.¡±


    He thought he was okay, but Jeong-Hoon¡¯s body was in a quite dangerous condition.


    Because of the numerous ailments stemming from malnutrition, Jeong-Hoon had no choice but to focus on treatment.


    After meeting the head butler and staying in the hospital, I came to Hotel Lumen, which can only be called the family¡¯s stronghold today.


    ¡°Jeong-Hoon-nim is the first to rise to the position of family head at hospital.¡±


    At the words of the Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon smiled bitterly as he recalled that the inauguration ceremony to announce him as the head of the family was cancelled because Butler Joo wanted to resolve the matter right away.


    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t really say that was the best idea¡­ but do you have to call me the lord?¡±


    ¡°I understand it sounds a little unnecessary, but it is a tradition.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon smirked at the word ¡®tradition¡¯.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a lot of people I would understand, but I¡¯m the only one so isn¡¯t it too much to call me that?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean there is only one. Of course, the head of the family refers to you, my Lord, but there are people other than I who work for this family.¡±


    In response to Butler Joo¡¯s objection, Jeong-Hoon looked around the royal suite he was staying at.


    This is a luxury room that costs billions of units per day.


    However, Jeong-Hoon has no reason to worry about such money.


    Lumen is one of the businesses that Jeong-Hoon inherited.


    He heard that the family has several such businesses, but Jeong-Hoon has yet to get the full picture.


    One thing is for sure¨C


    ¡°Butler Joo, what am I supposed to do as the head of the family?¡±


    ¡°You can do whatever you wish, my Lord. This family exists for your purpose.¡±


    Numerous businesses, including Lumen, and the never-ending stream of money all belonged to him, and him only.

 Chapter 2 - Money is a Superpower

    Money is a Superpower


    Hotel Lumen is a hotel that was built less than 10 years ago.


    But no one denigrates Lumen as a groundless hotel.


    It¡¯s not just because the facilities are good, but because they have the class that justifies their reputation.


    It is not a hotel chain that is selected as the best in the world for no reason.


    And Lee Jeong-Hoon, the owner of such a hotel chain, is rolling on the floor.


    ¡°Butler Joo, I feel like it¡¯s become even harder?¡±


    The training that started when he was hospitalized at the strong request of the head butler.


    Even after entering Lumen, the head butler continued to watch over and aided Jeong-Hoon, but Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t erase the feeling that the training was even harder than it was when he was in the hospital.


    ¡°Treatment and recovery were the main goals when you were at the hospital. Now that you are fully recovered, we need to increase the intensity.¡±


    Looking at Butler Joo who just laughed, Jeong-Hoon gave him a puzzled look.


    Butler Joo has a body that is hard to believe that he is an old man in his 70s.


    However, it was still strange that he didn¡¯t seem a bit tired as he trained with Jeong-Hoon, who was in his 20s. On the other hand, Jeong-Hoon seemed like he was about to pass out. Mr. Joo¡¯s stamina and strength. Such a thing was impossible to see in ordinary older people unless you¡¯re an awakened being.


    ¡°Be honest with me, Butler Joo. You¡¯ve Awakened, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m embarrassed to say it myself that I¡¯m an SSS-class awakener.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the butler¡¯s words, who spoke as if it was nothing to brag about.


    The words of the butler made Jeong-Hoon doubt if he heard him correctly.


    If he had said he was F-class, Jeong-Hoon wouldn¡¯t have cared, but what he heard was definitely ¡®SSS-class¡¯.


    ¡°I think I heard you wrong because I was too tired ¨C did you just say SSS-class?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you heard correctly.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head when Butler Joo confirmed he heard him right.


    ¡°Hey, Butler Joo? Speaking of SSS-class, isn¡¯t it the top level among the awakened? You know there are only 36 SSS-class hunters around the globe right?¡±


    Although it was impossible to estimate the numbers of unofficial awakened beings, officially, there were less than 100 ¨C 36 people to be exact ¨C SSS-class awakened beings.


    Each and every one of them is a walking disaster and is treated as an one-man army.


    Jeong-Hoon had no choice but to doubt his ears because Butler Joo used the word ¡¯embarrassed¡¯ when speaking of a mighty SSS-class awakening.


    ¡°As someone who is serving the Lord, it would be worrisome if I was some low class awakened being. It is a pinnacle. That¡¯s why I say I am embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°Hey, is my life in such a threatening position?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not gonna happen.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who noticed Butler Joo did not deny the idea, realized that he may be in a dangerous position.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start our training once more.¡±


    Although his life may be in danger, Jeong-Hoon smiled at the butler, thinking that it was no different than when he was a worker at the Dungeon Logistics Center.


    It is said to be more dangerous than then, but it was much more reassuring to know he had an SSS-class Awakened being protecting him.


    However, Jeong-Hoon decided that he should train just in case.


    ¡°You seem to have made up your mind.¡±


    ¡°¡­is it visible on my face?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who had heard that what he thinks usually shows on his face, avoided his gaze at the words of the head butler.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you have made up your mind. Would you like to try the other forms of the training?¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon made a puzzled expression at the idea of doing other ??training than the physical training he had been doing, Butler Joo raised his right hand.


    Thinking he was going to learn self-defense, Jeong-Hoon paid attention to the butler¡¯s right hand.


    Butler Joo put his thumb and index finger together and snapped, making a ¡®click¡¯ sound.


    ¡°Give it a try.¡±


    There are hunters who snap their fingers as a motion of showing their superpowers.


    It¡¯s simple and pretty cool to see, so everyone uses it.


    When Butler Joo recommended such a move, Jeong-Hoon awkwardly raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not even a psychic, so it wouldn¡¯t make any sense if I tried.¡±


    Before following the move Butler Joo demonstrated, Jeong-Hoon grumbled.


    Compared to the sound Butler Joo made when he snapped his fingers, the ¡®click¡¯ Jeong-Hoon made was much louder and clearer.


    ¡°Did you call? My Lord.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Holy crap!¡±


    When a woman suddenly appeared behind him the moment his fingers snapped, Jeong-Hoon unconsciously stepped back toward Butler Joo in fright.


    The woman was carrying a thick briefcase called an Attach¨¦ case. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, but Jeong-Hoon did not believe the age that showed on her face.


    It¡¯s been said that awakened beings have late age-progression.


    If she was able to appear in a snap of a finger, it was certain this woman was an awakened being.


    ¡°Hey, wasn¡¯t this a hotel?¡±


    However, the woman¡¯s attire that didn¡¯t seem suitable for a hotel employee caught Jeong-Hoon¡¯s eye.


    A black dress and a white apron with frills.


    When we think of maid clothes, we often think of a certain attire. What she was wearing wasn¡¯t the maid outfit mixed with a fetish element that we sometimes see, but a proper, traditional one.


    Although this was Hotel Lumen, Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t feel the need for such a uniform.


    ¡°It may be a hotel, but it is also a home to your Grace¡¯s hidden family lineage.¡±


    ¡°So you guys who work for a concealed family have no relations to the hotel? Just what kind of work does this family do to have a maid here?¡±


    ¡°My Lord, I am not simply a maid. I am a housekeeper, or the head maid.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the proud remarks made by the woman wearing a maid¡¯s uniform.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think positions really matter.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t even know much about this family in the first place.


    It didn¡¯t matter to him whether she was a maid or a head maid.


    ¡°I¡¯m just relieved that Lumen¡¯s female hotelier uniforms are not the maid outfits.¡±


    If Jeong-Hoon had nothing to do with Lumen, he could just laugh and think this was a funny business.


    However, he is the lord and, ostensibly, the CEO of Lumen.


    He had no choice but to be worried about little things.


    ¡°Well, what do you think? Head Maid?¡±


    ¡°I take pride in this maid uniform. However, if your Grace thinks otherwise, then there is nothing we can do.¡±


    Contrary to Jeong-Hoon¡¯s relief, Butler Joo and the head maid discreetly exchanged words as soon as she finished her sentence. Jeong-Hoon looked at them.


    ¡°Hey, you two? Are you guys by chance taking my words as an idea to change all of Lumen¡¯s female hotelier attires into maid uniforms?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, didn¡¯t I tell you? This family exists to achieve what the Lord wants.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t say I wanted whatever you guys were planning!!¡±


    Okay, there was a tiny bit of desire to do that, but Jeong-Hoon shook his head and hands in objection.


    ¡°Everyone will think Lumen¡¯s out of its mind!¡±


    It was Jeong-Hoon who shouted in order to stop them, but the other two shook their heads.


    ¡°My Lord, there is no one who looks down on Lumen. Lumen is a trend leader. Whatever we do, others will follow.¡±


    Trying to look motivated, Jeong-Hoon pointed to the bag held by the head maid.


    ¡°For now, next time! Let¡¯s discuss this next time, and let¡¯s see what is inside the bag now!¡±


    Although the two clearly knew Jeong-Hoon was trying to change the topic on purpose, they still nodded.


    Whatever the Lord of the family says is law.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that. Will you open your bag, head maid?¡±


    At his words, the maid skillfully opened the bag with one hand, while holding it in place with the other.


    ¡°The training we will be doing will be on self-defense.¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought so. But¡­ did we need this for self-defense?¡±


    Looking at the contents of the bag, he recalled the definition of self-defense.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s put the pistol and the knife to the side.¡±


    Since the world is so brutal, many people carry handguns and knives.


    Up to this point, Jeong-Hoon accepted everything.


    However, the lighter-shaped stick in the bag did not fall into the category of self-defense.


    I saw this tool while working at the Dungeon Logistics Center.


    It¡¯s obviously a small grenade. It is a favorite item of hunters because it is safe and has a good explosive power.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to carry, so it¡¯s perfect for self-defense.¡±


    ¡°Hey, grenades are strictly state-controlled weapons. In other words, isn¡¯t it illegal for a civilian to own it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t get caught. Grenades are a real means of emergency in the first place. There¡¯s nothing you can¡¯t do besides use one of these in a situation where you know self-defense moves won¡¯t be enough to protect you.¡±


    Since Butler Joo didn¡¯t seem to have the willingness to step down on the argument, Jeong-Hoon just went along with it.


    ¡°Then I will leave you in peace.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, head maid.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to your next calling, my Lord.¡±


    After packing all the contents in the bag, the head maid politely bowed and disappeared.


    Jeong-Hoon, who was just watching with his head nodding, suddenly became suspicious.


    ¡°Butler Joo? Have I ever called the head maid?¡±


    ¡°Did you not call her?¡±


    ¡°I just snapped my fingers.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon accidentally snapped his finger without thinking.


    ¡°Did you call, my Lord?¡±


    ¡°Argh! Ah- no! Whoa, no, I just did it to¡­ practice!¡±


    When the head maid appeared before him again once he snapped his fingers, Jeong-Hoon focused the rest of his energy on calming his startled heart.


    ¡°Like you have seen earlier, we are ready to run to you whenever you call us with the snap of your fingers.¡±


    ¡°You and the head maid?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the two of us. Your retainers are always on standby.¡±


    ¡°How do you tell them apart? If I snapped my fingers thinking ¡®I need a doctor¡¯¡ª


    Jeong-hoon snapped his fingers once more. Then, the doctor who was in charge of him when he was hospitalized suddenly appeared in front of him.


    ¡°My Lord, do you feel unwell?¡±


    ¡°¡­ No, it was just a test.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who had already been prepared for surprises to some extent thanks to the head maid, was able to hide his emotions as much as possible this time.


    ¡°But weren¡¯t you a hospital doctor?¡±


    ¡°The hospital is run by a family. And I am your doctor. I avoided explaining this to you at that time because I thought you might become confused since you were recuperating.¡±


    The doctor, who finished introducing himself, disappeared in an instant after hearing that Jeong-Hoon had called for no reason.


    ¡°Like how you just did there, there will always be vassals who can always answer your Grace¡¯s calls.¡±


    Hearing that, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers, thinking to call upon Butler Joo.


    ¡°Lord, I am right here. You do not have to call me.¡±


    ¡°¡­ How did you know?¡±


    ¡°Being a good butler also means knowing how your master thinks.¡±


    At those words, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers, wondering if there was a vassal more senior than the head butler.


    ¡°It seems they are unable to answer your call right now.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so it means there are certainly more people. I feel like I¡¯ve become a psychic.¡±


    The idea of someone being able to appear right next to you in a snap of your fingers is so surreal that he couldn¡¯t help but think he was using true superpowers.


    ¡°But just how was he able to do it?¡±


    ¡°The vassals who can respond to your call are at least of S-class and above. It¡¯s questionable, but those kinds of people are called superhuman, and this is natural.¡±


    Although Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t question how the mechanics of the power worked behind his new found ability, new questions arose within him.


    Usually, A-class awakened beings are able to become guild masters. Therefore, S-classes can be called walking businesses.


    Jeong-Hoon got goosebumps when he heard that such people were waiting for his call.


    ¡°So¡­  isn¡¯t the family a subversion or a secret organization to conquer the world?¡±


    An organization with multiple S-class hunters and a hand grenade that is privately prohibited.


    When Jeong-Hoon calmly asked about the growingly suspicious environment, Butler Joo smiled.


    ¡°If the Lord wishes for it, I will make it happen.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want it. Please, don¡¯t ever do it.¡±


    Shaking his head, Jeong-Hoon grabbed the pistol he had just received.


    It was time to learn the self-defense technique that the Head Butler insisted on.

 Chapter 3 - Do you know who I am?

    Do you know who I am?


    In the inner-part of the training room, the shooting room can be found.


    There, Butler Joo intended to give Jeong-Hoon basic training on firearms.


    ¡°It seems you are not new to this.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s attitude of checking and aiming at the target by handling the pistol wasn¡¯t the pose of a beginner.


    ¡°Well, I learned it at school.¡±


    Speaking as if it was nothing impressive, Jeong-Hoon shrugged his shoulders as he placed his pistol down in front of him.


    ¡°No way, you didn¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°I did know about it. I am just asking because your Grace is so skilled.¡±


    As monsters appeared, the world changed rapidly. One way was that students were taught how to handle guns.


    Some criticized and opposed it in thought of it leading to militarism, but there was no choice.


    ¡°It was a system created after the Bong-Ak High School disaster.¡±


    At Butler Joo¡¯s words, Jeong-Hoon nodded and responded.


    The Bong-Ak High School disaster shocked the entire world.


    ¡°I was a middle schooler at the time, and I was pretty scared, too.¡±


    There were fears that monsters could appear anywhere ever since the school changed. However, that fear wasn¡¯t as high as it was compared to now.


    Considering the possibility that monsters could appear from anywhere, weapons were kept in schools and teachers would protect the students against monsters, holding out until the rescue teams arrived.


    However, the incident at Bong-Ak High School casted doubt on the practicality of that system.


    At the beginning of the incident, all the teachers were killed and only the students remained.


    And all the students who failed to escape were slaughtered by monsters.


    Even though they had guns, the fact that they were unable to properly handle them resulted in the massacre.


    ¡°After that, the law was amended to teach students to shoot in cases of emergency. Of course, your Grace must have received it as well.¡±


    ¡°My middle school was located near that school, so the training was a lot vigorous.¡±


    ¡°That must have been hard.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon had actually also watched countless videos because he was personally interested in Hunters, but he intentionally left that part out.


    ¡°By the way, can I shoot this?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Although he was putting his gun down, Jeong-Hoon had wanted to shoot it once more. The grip he had on the gun was too good that it was a waste for him to not do so.


    Such a gun was in front of him, so he was starting to get bored of keeping it in his hands.


    ¡°Then I will go ahead.¡±


    Wearing headphone-shaped shooting earmuffs, Jeong-Hoon picked up the pistol and quickly shot the target.


    Taang!


    The gunfire rang loudly, but Butler Joo looked at the target without a change in his expression.


    The expression he had was quite interesting.


    ¡°Ho, this is amazing.¡±


    Every single shot had met the target. It wasn¡¯t just on the target; it hit the marks that were placed in certain areas of the target.


    ¡°Whew, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve last held a pistol, so it¡¯s quite hard.¡±


    ¡°Well, most of the training is done with rifles.¡±


    Butler Joo, who decided that there was nothing to teach Jeong-Hoon after seeing his shooting skills, handed Jeong-Hoon the magazine containing rubber bullets instead of actual bullets.


    ¡°My Lord, let¡¯s return to the training room. I think we can place our focus on learning self-defense.¡±


    Showing a smile that was of a loving grandfather, the training Butler Joo gave Jeong-Hoon for the rest of the time was close-quarters combat using a pistol and a dagger.


    ***


    After taking a shower after training, Jeong-Hoon stumbled and walked down the hallway of the hotel.


    ¡°Are you very tired?¡±


    ¡°Give me a break, please. My entire body will be sore by tomorrow.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon grumbled, thinking he was suffering a lot more than when he worked at the logistics center. On the contrary, Butler Joo smiled very brightly.


    ¡°My Lord was doing so great that my excitement got ahead of me.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head as Butler Joo spoke as if he was being sincere, but Jeong-Hoon knew that he was not.


    If Butler Joo, who is an SSS-class, was sincere and took the training seriously, Jeong-Hoon knew Butler Joo could make him disappear from the world without a trace with a flick.


    In other words, Jeong-Hoon knew Butler Joo purposely lowered his standards to match his.


    ¡°Haa, give me some muscle pain medicine.¡±


    ¡°You can snap your finger like I have told you before.¡±


    Assuming that meant Butler Joo didn¡¯t have it, Jeong-Hoon snapped his finger.


    At that moment, the head maid in a maid uniform appeared in front of his eyes as if she had originally been there.


    ¡°Did you call, my Lord?¡±


    ¡°Here comes the head maid. Anyway, get me some muscle pain medicine.¡±


    E/N: Even though it seems like Jeong-Hoon is speaking informally, he continues to speak formally to everyone.


    ¡°I would like to say that there is no such medicine for muscle pain, but coincidentally, it exists in Lumen.¡±


    When the maid handed over a bottle that looked like a fatigue reliever with a smile, Jeong-Hoon stared at her as he received it.


    ¡°¡­ Miss head maid, did you just make a joke?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, I¡¯m just telling you the truth. Rather, you do not need to speak formally to me.¡±


    Although she was denying it, it was obvious that she tried to make a joke and failed.


    However, Jeong-Hoon, who wasn¡¯t the type to tease others, changed the topic of the conversation.


    ¡°Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t get your name.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Lord, I¡¯m nothing but a servant. You don¡¯t need to be nice towards me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it from Butler Joo, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s uncomfortable to speak informally towards someone much older than me.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who thought that he would one day speak informally anyways, shrugged.


    ¡°My Lord, you said I¡¯m much older than you, why do you think so?¡±


    ¡°Miss head maid, aren¡¯t you like 34 or 36?¡±


    As Jeong-Hoon started getting worried that he must¡¯ve made a mistake, the butler and the maid made a confused face.


    It wasn¡¯t because he got the head maid¡¯s age wrong. Rather, she physically appeared to look like she was only in her mid-twenties.


    So, she had her hair tied up with a hairpin, and tried to make herself seem like a strict person to create an image that she was older than she looked.


    Hence, except for those who knew her exact age, everyone else thinks she is in her 20s.


    But Jeong-Hoon saw through this as if it was nothing.


    ¡°I¡¯m exactly 36, but I am curious about how you knew that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, there are some awakened beings who age late, right? And it¡¯s been about 10 years since the dungeon appeared, and you¡¯re at least an S-level awakener. On top of that, I don¡¯t think just anyone can hold the position of head maid in their 20s.¡±


    Butler Joo and the head maid nodded as Jeong-Hoon spoke briefly about how he was able to figure out her age.


    Jeong-Hoon lacked knowledge, not wisdom.


    The two people who realized the fact were very satisfied.


    It felt good to know that the person you serve is competent.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jung Yi Young, my Lord.¡±


    Having seen Jeong-Hoon¡¯s wisdom, head maid Jung Yi-Young introduced herself in a bright voice.


    ¡°Mm. I¡¯ll remember for sure.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon handed back the now empty bottle of medicine he had taken in one-shot.


    ¡°I wish that you would continue to keep calling me head maid.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will.¡±


    When the maid, who received the empty bottle, disappeared in an instant after leaving that comment, Jeong-Hoon just nodded and spoke to Butler Joo.


    ¡°Hey, Butler Joo? If I become S-level, can I do something like teleport?¡±


    ¡°Unless you have the superpower of teleportation, it is impossible. She was either just moving so fast that you couldn¡¯t see her, or was digging into your blind spot.¡±


    Thinking that this place was the realm of superpowers anyways, Jeong-Hoon inquired about superpowers in detail.


    From the point of view of someone who cannot use superpowers because he is a non-awakened being, Jeong-Hoon was full of curiosity.


    Even if a superpower of an F-class was to ignite a lighter, Jeong-Hoon still found it interesting.


    Therefore, there were many questions to ask.


    Jeong-Hoon had asked many questions even when his parents were alive, but his parents were F-class, so they did not have the answers to satisfy Jeong-Hoon¡¯s curiosity.


    However, Butler Joo had a vast knowledge on superpowers, so it was possible to answer Jeong-Hoon¡¯s questions in detail.


    ¡°Are you looking down on me, too!¡±


    However, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s joy was broken by the sudden shout.


    A middle-aged man who couldn¡¯t hold back his anger and a young man who collapsed, bleeding from his nose and lips caught Jeong-Hoon¡¯s eyes.


    It seemed that the two people came in on their way to the hotel¡¯s restaurant in time for dinner.


    The red face of the middle-aged man who appeared to be wielding his fist seemed like he was under the influence of alcohol.


    ¡°How, dare! You, useless piece of trash of a porter! Get in my way!¡±


    Briefly watching the middle-aged man beating the young man, perhaps out of anger or due to the alcohol, Jeong-Hoon looked back at Butler Joo.


    ¡°He¡¯s the guild leader of the AP Guild, which is the backbone of this guild alliance raid. It was said that it was difficult because the recruitment of a supply unit to support the raid was not going well, so the stress seems to have reached its limit.¡±


    ¡°¡­ If it¡¯s an AP guild-centered coalition raid, ah! At that time in the jjimjil-bang?¡±


    Recalling the time when he met Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon was surprised that the guild still hadn¡¯t completed the recruitment.


    He had guessed the guild would have a hard time anyways because of its bad reputation, but to think they haven¡¯t finished recruiting yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little too much of him to relieve his anger out on his subordinate.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it that far. You are truly brilliant.¡±


    ¡°This is basic. More than that, shouldn¡¯t we stop the fighting?¡±


    The young man probably won¡¯t die, but the AP Guild is a middle-sized guild, and the guild leader, the middle-aged man, is an A-class hunter.


    The person who is being beaten is likely to be a hunter as well, but if left alone, he will be carried out on a stretcher.


    ¡°Yes, it should be stopped. The reputation of the hotel will be damaged if the police were to arrive related to a violent incident.¡±


    When such an incident occurs, Lumen¡¯s staff usually stops it. The hallways is one of the many places where incidents take place.


    However, there is a time when employees routinely go on a patrol, but this incident just so happened during the time they weren¡¯t around.


    Therefore, Butler Joo started to move toward the AP guild leader in order to step up.


    ¡°What the! Did you come to watch or something?!¡±


    However, before Butler Joo could intervene, the guild leader whipped around and shouted at Jeong-Hoon.


    Upon being attacked all of a sudden, Jeong-Hoon flinched and took a step back.


    ¡°Dear customer, why don¡¯t you refrain from creating a fuss in the hotel?¡±


    Quickly after seeing Jeong-Hoon¡¯s reaction, Butler Joo skillfully intervened.


    The AP guild leader flinched at the sight of the butler, avoided his eyes, and deliberately stared at Jeong-Hoon.


    ¡°Who are you to tell me what to do! Do you know who I am?¡±


    Perhaps the guild leader thought Jeong-Hoon was an easier opponent than Butler Joo, so he was yelling at him instead. Watching such a scene, Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t help but snort in laughter.


    Although he had flinched earlier, Jeong-Hoon never thought such a person like him was scary.


    A typical petty and crafty person. That¡¯s why Jeong-Hoon had the courage to go in strong.


    ¡°Then what about you? Do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°Wha, what?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this fuss about in someone else¡¯s hotel?¡±


    At Jeong-Hoon¡¯s retort, the guild leader became speechless.


    ¡°I, I¡¯m a guest here! Why would you care about what I do with my men!¡±


    ¡°Why would I care? Because it¡¯s unsightly. We¡¯re in Lumen, so we need to keep to our formality, right?¡±


    While responding to the AP guild leader¡¯s retorts, Jeong-Hoon glanced at the main butler.


    This was a sign for him to protect him if the situation was to escalate.


    No matter how much you say that you are not afraid, that¡¯s a psychological problem, not a physical one.


    The opponent is a hunter. As someone who has superpowers, Jeong-Hoon cannot physically defeat him.


    However, the AP guild leader did not understand the glance Jeong-Hoon gave to the butler.


    Even from the start, if he had been rational, he should have caught onto the word ¡®customer¡¯ that Butler Joo had said.


    But now he was busy venting his anger out on the situation that wasn¡¯t going in his favor.


    ¡°What, are you the president of Lumen or something!¡±


    The AP guild leader finally lost his reason and reached out to grab Jeong-Hoon by the collar. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he swung his fist too.


    ¡°Keo-ok!¡±


    ¡°How dare you try to lay a hand on the president of Lumen. There¡¯s a degree as to what you can and cannot do as a customer.¡±


    But whether it¡¯s by the collar or by the fist, whatever the guild leader attempted to do failed even before it happened.


    In a blink of an eye, Butler Joo had already overpowered and restrained him.


    The scene that can be seen now was the guild leader kneeling in a begging position, with Butler Joo holding both of the guild leader¡¯s arms to his upper-back in one hand, and a foot placed on the lower back to prevent any form of struggles of escape.


    The AP guild leader tried to use his strength to escape, but he was unable to move in the slightest.


    ¡°Butler Joo?¡±


    Flustered by the quick action of the butler, Jeong-Hoon swallowed his spit when he saw the butler let out an aura of killing intent.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill him, president. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who wanted to say that¡¯s not the problem, turned his head to the sound of running from behind.


    Whether they were contacted by someone or had checked the CCTV, what seemed like a mob of Lumen¡¯s staff were running in Jeong-Hoon¡¯s direction.

 Chapter 4 - Disposing it Sm

    Disposing it Smartly


    Most of Lumen¡¯s customers are hunters and businessmen. Therefore, it is a must to pay extra attention to the levels of security.


    There are times where hunters cause accidents and place the safety of businessmen at risk.


    So, there¡¯s a security team, and the mob of people who are running towards Jeong-Hoon right now are that security team.


    ¡°Director! Are you all right?!¡±


    As the security team members were rushing to reach Jeong-Hoon, their faces were pale.


    This is not the etiquette that the Lumen¡¯s staff should be showing, as staff of the best hotel in the world.


    ¡°¡­Director?¡±


    From their cries, he was convinced why they were here.


    ¡°They are talking about me.¡±


    ¡°Really? You were the director of Lumen, Butler Joo?¡±


    ¡°For now, I am registered as a director of Lumen. Your Grace is the president.¡±


    E/N: Notice that he calls Jeong-Hoon ¡®president¡¯. This is not a typo. He will refer to Jeong-Hoon in this title for some time.


    After a brief explanation, Butler Joo tidied his collar while with his foot still on the AP guild leader.


    ¡°Y-you were the director of Lumen?¡±


    Because we were speaking in a low voice close to a whisper, the AP guild leader was sweating in response to the word ¡®director¡¯ rather than ¡®your Grace.¡¯


    Lumen is not just any hotel. It is a large company that dominates half of the Hunter industry.


    And because the AP guild leader picked a fight against the director of such a company, there was no choice but to be extremely terrified. Basically, what he had done was truly the action of a guild suicide.


    ¡°That is correct, I am the director of Lumen. And the person you showed such rudeness towards is our president.¡±


    Just by the fact alone that Butler Joo was the director had made the AP guild leader have breathing difficulties, but his eyes almost seemed to pop out upon hearing that Jeong-Hoon was the president.


    He had yelled at Jeong-Hoon asking if he was the great chairman of Lumen, but to think that those words he spit out would come back around and hit him from behind.


    ¡°Do you have anything to say?¡±


    Butler Joo had no intention of forgiving him, but he asked the AP guild leader intentionally to at least hear his apology.


    But the wide-eyed guild leader didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Do you need time to organize your thoughts? I don¡¯t have much time to give you.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Hey, Butler Joo? This guy fainted.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon sighed as he saw the faint body of the AP guild leader on the ground.


    Jeong-Hoon looked at the young man who had been with the guild leader, internally thinking that the AP guild would be in big trouble if the guild leader had the nerves of a thread.


    E/N: The direct translation leads to ¡°small nerves of steel.¡± This means the AP guild leader wasn¡¯t able to comprehend the situation of him raising his voice/attempting to assault the president of Lumen and wasn¡¯t able to withstand his own shock and fainted.


    The young man stumbled to his feet and carried the fainted AP guild leader on his back.


    ¡°Mr. President, I deeply apologize for the disrespect we have shown in Lumen.¡±


    He spoke with a faint trembling voice, either from nervousness or from the pain, and bowed towards Jeong-Hoon.


    ¡°He has the talent of a guild leader more than the actual guild leader himself.¡±


    He nodded in approval at the calm, polite response of the young man and looked around him for a bit.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we call an ambulance? That guy, the guild leader, seemed like he may need to go to the hospital.¡±


    As Jeong-Hoon called out the instructions to settle the case, Butler Joo bowed his head towards Jeong-Hoon and ordered the employees behind them.


    ¡°I will escort the president. Call an ambulance for now.¡±


    When Butler Joo said the word ¡®president,¡¯ the employees glanced at Jeong-Hoon.


    They¡¯ve heard the previous conversation, but they still couldn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°What are you doing just standing there? Go on, move.¡±


    When Butler Joo spoke as if to warn them of their actions, the staff moved quickly.


    However, they continued to keep glancing at Jeong-Hoon.


    They were the elites of the greatest hotel called Lumen, and yet they were unable to release the tension and nervousness due to the fact that their president was standing in front of them.


    Moreover, the fact that it was the president and the director and not them who were the ones to respond immediately to the incident was terror itself.


    ***


    After waking up in the morning, Jeong-Hoon got up to move from the bed to the sofa only to lay down again.


    He basically got up only to lay down again, but no one pointed it out.


    Yesterday¡¯s training was so hard that he didn¡¯t want to move because he was mentally exhausted.


    Rather, he made quite an effort just by turning on the TV subconsciously while lying down like that.


    ¡°Have you woken up?¡±


    When Butler Joo appeared behind Jeong-Hoon and asked, Jeong-Hoon nodded and opened his closed eyes.


    ¡°Now onto the next news. Whistleblowing within the AP guild has led to an intensive investigation of the guild¡¯s guild leader, Mr. Yang.¡±


    Listening to the news coming from the TV, Jeong-Hoon shook his head to a familiar guild name.


    ¡°¡­ Isn¡¯t that person from yesterday, Butler Joo?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct. All we can do as a hotel is to deprive all membership given to the AP guild.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who was still half-asleep and in a daze, recalled his memory while sipping the morning tea given by Butler Joo.


    Ever since he sent the AP guild leader and the young man off in an ambulance, he hadn¡¯t care much about them after that.


    Except, he didn¡¯t expect to see their story appear on the news.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming the whistleblower was the young man who was assaulted by him?¡±


    ¡°¡­ He¡¯s still being treated at the hospital. The whistleblower turned out to be another guild member.¡±


    At those words, Jeong-Hoon turned his head and looked at the butler.


    Butler Joo was making an unknown expression, but Jeong-Hoon could read something out of that face.


    ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence that a whistleblower stepped out at this time.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a coincidence.¡±


    At such timing, it can¡¯t be helped but see that Lumen made their move from behind.


    Lumen is a hotel for hunters and managers.


    The only official retaliation that can be made at such hotels is the deprivation of membership.


    However, the fact that Lumen can operate with both Hunters and its managers means that it has hidden power.


    The part that Butler Joo knew in detail about the whistleblower was because of that hidden power.


    Well, this situation had escalated to this point because Butler Joo had used some ways.


    ¡°The head of the guild Mr. Yang is currently faithfully responding to the investigation and has pleaded guilty to all charges.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s basically a life sentence without parole.¡±


    Watching the charges on the news, Jeong-Hoon, who was tongue-tied, was surprised that the guild leader readily admitted to his crimes.


    As a hunter, he will most likely go to a Hunter-only prison.


    He has to live there for the rest of his life without parole.


    Nevertheless, the guild leader readily admitted.


    Except for the assault of subordinates, most of the charges involved are related to corruption. One would think that it¡¯s too strict of a punishment to be given a life sentence without parole, but it¡¯s because the AP guild leader is a Hunter.


    Hunters have supernatural powers and they are needed especially at this time.


    As a result, they enjoy various privileges, and as much as they enjoy privileges, criminal punishments are also as great.


    After all, just by depreviating them from those privileges alone won¡¯t comfort the non-Awakeners. The greater the power, the greater the punishment should be.


    Given that factor, if the AP guild leader is convicted, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.


    Of course, he can always try to use a lawyer to reduce his sentence.


    Even so, all it will do is add a possibility to receive a review for parole if he serves his life sentence well. That is, he must be on his best behavior and not cause a single trouble.


    From this, it can be seen that punishments for hunters, no, for those with superpowers, are heavy.


    To avoid heavy punishments, awakened beings involved in serious crimes spend a fortune in hiring lawyers, but even with that it¡¯s still rare to get away under the judge¡¯s eye.


    Under the current circumstances, the AP guild leader will be less likely to be acquitted, but parole could be possible.


    ¡°Is that attitude of his just a show to tell the audience that he is reflecting on his actions? The evidence is too certain for him to attempt to escape from his crimes.¡±


    ¡°That will not happen.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to convict him with the power of this family?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m saying that the other party won¡¯t be willing to do that. Rather, they will be afraid of being released.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon almost dropped the cup of tea at those remarks.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than dying. Do you happen to feel sorry for being alive?¡±


    ¡°Wha- I have never thought of that!?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shuddered at the thought of what would happen to him if he responded to the question with a yes.


    ¡°Is that perhaps part of the hidden powers of this family?¡±


    ¡°¡­ This family exists to do what the Lord wants to do.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon has already heard a similar reply, but hearing it now felt completely different for some reason.


    It sounded like essential, beyond wealth or power.


    ¡°Speaking of which, your Grace. Is there anything you wish to do today?¡±


    Reading his heavy heart, Butler Joo spoke to Jeong-Hoon to change the mood, who in return straightened up and nodded.


    ¡°Well, to think of it, there¡¯s nothing at the moment. However, there¡¯s just one thing I¡¯m sorry about.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, while savoring the morning tea, recalled yesterday¡¯s incident.


    There were employees who did not recognize him at all until Butler Joo introduced him as president of Lumen.


    It can be understandable that they did not know him, but Butler Joo, the doctor, and the head maid knew who he was even before meeting him.


    ¡°Yesterday you introduced me to the other employees as president and not as a Lord, right? Is that a secret to Lumen¡¯s staff as well?¡±


    ¡°Is that what you felt sorry about?¡±


    ¡°No, I just became curious as I was about to talk about it.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon quickly denied it because his intention wasn¡¯t to insist on the title of ¡®Lord.¡¯


    Jeong-Hoon had thought that the title ¡®Lord¡¯ was a bit uncomfortable in the first place anyways.


    ¡°That is because not all Lumen¡¯s staff are members of the family. Only those who have a position in the management of Lumen at the very least can be a family member.¡±


    ¡°So Lumen itself isn¡¯t the family but a camouflage to hide the existence of the family. And no one knows about this family except for the key figures who belong in it. Got it, I understand.¡±


    In other words, Lumen consists of employees who do not know about the family and employees who have been members of the family from the start.


    It was questionable why the family is hidden away and not revealed to the world, but Jeong-Hoon decided not to care about that matter for now.


    He only guessed that the reason was closely related to the ¡®dangerous situation¡¯ that Butler Joo had mentioned before.


    ¡°Then what is it that you feel sorry for?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. Isn¡¯t it strange that the employees know the director¡¯s face, but they don¡¯t know the president¡¯s?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t have a desire for fame, but he thought it was an important issue to address.


    Although he was told that he can do whatever he wants, he had suddenly become a Lord of a mysterious family and the president of Lumen.


    In addition, Jeong-Hoon has yet to adapt to either position.


    Due to this, he found himself following whatever Butler Joo says.


    It¡¯s not that he didn¡¯t trust Butler Joo, but in order to move about freely Jeong-Hoon felt it was necessary for other people to recognize his position.


    ¡°I will prepare for the big announcement.¡±


    What Jeong-Hoon wants.


    The fact that the first thing he wanted was to reveal himself as the president of Lumen placed a determined look on Butler Joo¡¯s face.


    Jeong-Hoon inherited everything from the family as he became the head of the household, but the inauguration ceremony for his entitled position was never held.


    It wasn¡¯t held because it was not important, but because it shouldn¡¯t.


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s uncle, the former head of the household, created many businesses and placed false personalities as its head but never showed himself to the public.


    Knowing that he didn¡¯t have much time left, he was satisfied alone to have paved the way for his nephew and heir, Jeong-Hoon.


    So, the position of the CEO had been occupied by a mysterious figure in the eyes of the public.


    All of this was part of the plan to announce that the original representative had always been Jeong-Hoon.


    Instead of viewing Jeong-Hoon as some lucky guy who won the inheritance, he would be seen as a great person who chose to hide himself away from the world from unwanted fame and recognition.


    This is why Butler Joo called it a big announcement, not an inauguration ceremony.


    ¡°You would be quite busy preparing for that, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I will make sure to not make your Grace worry.¡±


    ¡°No, that wasn¡¯t what I was trying to say. If you become very busy, I think I can take a break from all this training.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon looked genuinely happy that there was no one in charge of training if Butler Joo became busy.


    Because it was necessary, he tried not to show the tiredness, but Jeong-Hoon believed Butler Joo¡¯s training was extremely difficult.


    Since yesterday, he has been training on shooting and all kinds of self-defense techniques for several hours, making it even more difficult.


    Jeong-Hoon smiled happily at the thought of resting, but Butler Joo shook his head.


    ¡°My Lord, allow me to tell you that such a thing will never happen.¡±


    Smashing Jeong-Hoon¡¯s hopes and dreams with his clean answer, the butler replied with a smile.

 Chapter 5

    E/N: From this chapter on, the title ¡°president¡± that was used to refer to Jeong-Hoon will change to ¡°chairman¡± for the sake of the flow and understanding.


    Butler Joo¡¯s training is hard, but it¡¯s not something they do all day.


    The training usually lasts for about three hours, so Jeong-Hoon was able to rest on the sofa in his room. While resting, he stared at the manuscript in his hands that was given by the butler. It was a speech for the announcement day.


    ¡°So you want me to read all this?¡±


    ¡°You have to memorize it, not read it.¡±


    ¡°Who wrote this?¡±


    ¡°I wrote it. Is there perhaps something that isn¡¯t to your liking?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡±


    It was surprising that the butler wrote the speech, but since it was Butler Joo who wrote it, Jeong-Hoon was convinced that it was possible. And on top of that, it was written well.


    It was written so well that even Jeong-Hoon, who has absolutely no knowledge of speech, thought so.


    In addition, he forged Jeong-Hoon¡¯s past as a chairman of Lumen to a great extent.


    According to the speech, Jeong-Hoon can be seen as a monster who built the current Lumen from nothing even before he became a middle school student due to his brilliant mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one making the speech, but I¡¯m a little uncomfortable because I don¡¯t think this guy I am talking about is me.¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be good to create such an image for the audience.¡±


    The story was that he is not a lucky man who suddenly inherited his family¡¯s will one day, but he is a precocious young boy with brilliant ideas.


    However, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s actual life was not this colorful and secretive.


    He was just an ordinary boy who was swept away by the changed world.


    ¡°When I was 10 years old, my home was that of an ordinary home like many others.¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon was 10, the world changed. The dungeon opened and monsters poured out of it.


    Society was momentarily in turmoil, but quick to patch up the disaster.


    This is because awakened beings appeared, and monsters that poured out were able to be cut down with modern weapons.


    However, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s family was in trouble.


    This is because the company that his father used to work for fell into bankruptcy.


    It was quick to fail because it was just such a small and medium-sized company, not a large company. During that time, smaller and local companies were more prone to failure.


    Since then, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s life has been going downhill.


    From his father¡¯s company that had collapsed in an instant, to the society that turned upside down.


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s father¡¯s re-employment chances were a long way off, but eventually his father became a chauffeur, and his mother worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant.


    Then suddenly, his parents awakened at the same time. Although they were F-class, they became hunters because they thought they could make more money as a hunter than as a chauffeur or a dishwasher.


    After that, three years ago when Jeong-Hoon became a high school student, they died in a dungeon.


    At that time, the death toll during the dungeon attack was similar to that of those killed in a car accident.


    E/N: Along with suicide, the other top leading cause of death in South Korea is car accidents.


    Since then, Jeong-Hoon entered an orphanage with a small amount of consolation money.


    To summarize, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s life consisted of living in an orphanage, graduating from high school, giving up on college, becoming a day laborer, and becoming a Lord.


    ¡°The person that stands before you all today is someone who lost his family in an incident that happened when he was 10 years old, but grew to run the huge fortune that he inherited to become a successful businessman.¡±


    Thinking that there really was no other way to filter this, Jeong-Hoon stuck his tongue out.


    It was cleverly written in a convincing way, so even if a person who knew Jeong-Hoon meets him, he or she will think that he is a completely different person with the same face, age and name.


    ¡°Come to think of it, if someone who knew me before dug up my history wouldn¡¯t they know all of this is a lie?¡±


    ¡°I have already taken care of that part, so please don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t know how he would have done it, but he definitely thought Butler Joo did something.


    Perhaps the Jeong-Hoon who is remembered by those who knew him no longer exists in the world. The Jeong-Hoon from this speech probably took the former Jeong-Hoon¡¯s place.


    Judging by the story in the speech, that¡¯s how it seemed like it would be.


    ¡°But aren¡¯t we talking too much about the past? It¡¯s a big announcement, but I don¡¯t have any aspirations.¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon realized that the most important thing was missing from the speech, Butler Joo gave him a troubled smile.


    Certainly, the reason for making a big announcement as Jeong-Hoon pointed out is for the goals and aspirations.


    Butler Joo also struggled with that part, but he couldn¡¯t help it.


    ¡°Your Grace will have to fill that part out yourself. It¡¯s not my place to say why you decided to show yourself to the world after years of not doing so.¡±


    As this part of the speech is about the future of the family, Butler Joo wouldn¡¯t dare decide on that in the place of Jeong-Hoon.


    As the head of the family, this was Jeong-Hoon¡¯s role.


    ¡°That means I can say whatever I want to do, but that¡¯s no good.¡±


    He didn¡¯t have a grand goal, but if it¡¯s something he wanted to do, he just wanted to eat delicious food, drink whatever he wanted, and relax without a single worry.


    But since he was being asked to set a goal for basically where he plans to spend the huge amount of money on, Jeong-Hoon felt troubled.


    ¡°Do I have to decide right now?¡±


    ¡°It is up to your Grace whether you wish to present your decision or not. In the end, your Grace can just do whatever you wish.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    According to Butler Joo, he didn¡¯t have to present his aspirations if he didn¡¯t want to, but Jeong-Hoon sighed at the thought of having fingers pointed at him for presenting the most awkward announcement in the world if he didn¡¯t.


    ***


    Lumen, a hotel that is proud of being the best in the world, boasts a large banquet hall.


    It¡¯s a very fancy facility to live up to its pride.


    A huge space reminiscent of a ballroom of a royal palace rather than a banquet hall.


    And a light yet subtle chandelier shines on the marble floor.


    The platform, where the band would normally play, was decorated for the day. The banquet hall was filled with celebrities and reporters, including hunters and entrepreneurs, along with Lumen¡¯s employees.


    All of them were invited to the important presentation held in Lumen.


    Faces of people of high status can also be seen.


    They are people who have high self-esteem and strong pride, and do not have the time out of their schedule because they are highly important people. However, they are here at Lumen to listen to the subject of the important announcement.


    As mentioned before, Lumen is a hotel that is the center of society and holds a high reputation.


    Companies cannot just own guilds, and guilds cannot enter industries other than dungeon raids and monster subjugation.


    Attacking the dungeon does not yield items like in video games.


    Catching monsters doesn¡¯t immediately bring forth profit either.


    Instead, dungeons are a treasure trove of resources. It is a trove that could produce oil, fossil fuels, or gold mines.


    As a result, it is inevitable for companies to not drool over dungeons.


    However, guilds cannot operate on their own due to the law.


    In addition, guilds cannot directly develop such resources they gain from the troves as well.


    After all, businesses and guilds are playing a very subtle tug-of-war, and it is Lumen that mediates the tenses.


    Although Lumen is not active in affairs, it naturally became a mediator between the two sides because of its peculiarity.


    As a hotel, it¡¯s where entrepreneurs and hunters can gather in one place.


    In other words, the better impressions you show in Lumen, the easier it is to make a mark with a trading partner.


    Of course, besides the mediation and managing, it¡¯s the government that actually supervises. But in the end, because it¡¯s the people that do the job, it¡¯s the people that are the most important.


    ¡°From top ten guilds to entrepreneurs you¡¯ve only seen on the news, to government officials¡­ It really is no joke.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon broke into a cold sweat as he checked on the guests from the prepared place behind the platform.


    The pressure to speak in front of those people of high status was no joke. He suddenly wondered if it was possible to die from feeling this much pressure.


    ¡°Would you like a Cheongsimhwan?¡±


    TL/N : Cheongsimhwan is a pill to clear your mind.


    E/N: It also has calming effects.


    As Jeong-Hoon felt like he was about to pass out from suffocation, Butler Joo smiled bitterly and offered Jeong-Hoon a round pill, to which he swallowed right away.


    It will take time for the medicine to start taking effect, but Jeong-Hoon felt a bit relieved knowing that he took the medicine.


    ¡°Then, my Lord, I will go and greet the guests. After my speech your Grace can enter the stage.¡±


    Just in case Jeong-Hoon forgot about the steps out of nervousness, Butler Joo reminded him of the order once again and naturally stepped forward to the podium.


    Bbababam!


    At the exact timing, the band played a few notes to announce the appearance of Butler Joo.


    Seeing the butler walking to the beat of the music, it seemed as if he was the actual chairman, not a butler.


    With the applause of the guests, Jeong-Hoon felt like he was looking at another world.


    ¡°Thank you all for being here today. My name is Joo Young-Chul, the director of Lumen.¡±


    Butler Joo smiled slightly as he politely introduced himself.


    That smile wasn¡¯t just a smile out of politeness, but it was sincere one, as if to show how proud he was of the person who he served, Jeong-Hoon, as he is finally revealing himself to the world.


    ¡°I am sure you all know that I¡¯ve been acting as Lumen¡¯s spokesperson at the direction of our chairman.¡±


    Although everyone nodded at the butler¡¯s words, their expressions hardened.


    With the words spoken by Butler Joo, there was no one here who didn¡¯t know what this important announcement was about.


    ¡°And now our chairman has decided to come out to the front. Please allow me to introduce to you¡­ The chairman of our hotel Lumen Group, Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon!¡±


    As Butler Joo¡¯s speech ended, the band¡¯s performance resonated again. This performance was quite different from the one played at the butler¡¯s appearance. It was the kind of music that made the listeners feel intimidated even without realizing it.


    ¡°¡­ Mr. Chairman, sir, you must enter.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who had gone blank from the music, came to his senses when he heard the voice of the butler through the earpiece he was wearing.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s my turn.¡±


    Murmurs can be heard between the dignified music.


    Hearing the murmurs of the guests made Jeong-Hoon realize how much time he had spent zoning out and began to move his feet.


    ¡°This is Lee Jeong-Hoon, the Chairman of Lumen. Please give him a round of applause.¡±


    The beat of the music played on par with Jeong-Hoon¡¯s footsteps.


    Standing on the podium at the pace of music, Jeong-Hoon grabbed the microphone.


    ¡°Uh, um, I¡¯m Lee Jeong-Hoon, the chairman of Lumen.¡±


    He felt his voice shake as he was making introductions, and Jeong-Hoon tried to recall the next words.


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    The moment everyone¡¯s eyes focused on him Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t remember anything he¡¯d memorized so far.


    Someone recited the speech through the earpiece, but none reached his ears.


    ¡°I have gathered everyone here today to announce that I¡¯m the Chairman of Lumen.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon just said whatever was on his mind as he tried to organize his thoughts.


    He wasted too much time at this point and recalling the speech was irrelevant now.


    Jeong-Hoon resisted against the gazes that seemed to look down on him.


    He was already used to that kind of look.


    At that moment, Jeong-Hoon was able to think of what he wanted to say to them.


    ¡°Why is such a young fellow the chairman? How old is he? I¡¯m sure some of you think this way.¡±


    Looking around, he saw people nodding their heads as if they agreed.


    ¡°Those kinds of questions don¡¯t matter. It¡¯s the fact that I am the chairman of Lumen that¡¯s important.¡±


    It was a remark indicating that he downright ignored the people who had gathered at the hall, but everyone nodded.


    If you are the chairman of Lumen, who has money and power, then those miniscule questions didn¡¯t matter. Because that¡¯s how the world is now.


    In reality, they didn¡¯t come to see Lee Jeong-Hoon, who seemed like a rookie to their eyes. They¡¯re here to listen to Lumen¡¯s big announcement, even if they are looking at Lumen¡¯s chairman right now.


    ¡°So let me just say this.¡±


    The aspirations Butler Joo had mentioned.


    Jeong-Hoon did not know if what he will say from now on can be called aspirations.


    But he did want to say this.


    From the moment Jeong-Hoon spoke his own words, his earpiece had gone silent.


    ¡°Lumen will change in the future. Beyond guilds and companies, the world will move to remember the name Lee Jeong-Hoon. That is all.¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon made eye contact with Butler Joo after finishing his speech, the butler bowed politely.


    The greetings sent to Jeong-Hoon who had shown his aspirations¡­


    A declaration of purpose that is completely different from the original speech¡­


    That is not just what comes to mind.


    An orphan worker who nobody would know if he disappeared from the world¡­


    Lee Jeong-Hoon refuses to live such a life anymore.


    It was a declaration to engrave his name in the world.

 Chapter 6

    In the center of a large site that can accommodate dozens of 5-ton trucks stands a container building with three long layers of large containers stacked on top of each other.


    There were dozens of 5-ton trucks circling around the container building, so it¡¯s like a huge logistics center made of containers.


    ¡°Looking at the photos, I thought it was too shabby to call it the headquarters of Shine Mall, but the massive size makes it a bit overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Though simple, the visual effects are greater due to its large scale.¡±


    Shine Mall was a distribution company created after the world changed.


    It operates only online without offline stores and is a company with a nationwide distribution network. It is also a company that has signed a supply contract with the Dungeon Logistics Center based on its distribution network.


    It is no exaggeration to say that all of the hunters¡¯ supplies go through Shine Mall, and when Jeong-Hoon worked at the Dungeon Logistics Center, he carried hundreds of Shine Mall boxes per day.


    ¡°I would have never imagined that Shine Mall would be ours.¡±


    ¡°To be exact, it is the Lord¡¯s. And has your Grace ever thought about the possibility of having a convenience store in Shine Mall even though it¡¯s part of Lumen?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Convenience store? I¡¯ve seen an underground department store with duty-free shops.¡±


    E/N: Duty-free shops are retail stores that exempt the payment of import tax, sales, value-added, or other taxes. They are commonly found in airports.


    He did think of a convenience store on the basement floor, but the only one that Jeong-Hoon saw was a department store named Lumen 24 on the fifth basement.


    ¡°The former head of the family said it was a convenience store, so I believe it is a convenience store.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Seeing that Shine Mall belongs to the family, the real power of the family must be endless.¡±


    ¡°If you complete all the required tasks, even founding is possible.¡±


    E/N: ¡°Founding¡± refers to the founding of- (a country, building, nation, monument, land, etc)


    Butler Joo smiled softly.


    Tasks. This is the homework that Jeong-Hoon¡¯s uncle had left for him.


    To be honest, Butler Joo had planned to inform Jeong-Hoon about this ¡®homework¡¯ as slow as possible once he thought Jeong-Hoon was ready.


    However, he changed his mind once Jeong-Hoon declared that he would make the world remember his name in the announcement yesterday.


    Therefore, Butler Joo brought up the fact that there are businesses other than Lumen and that 12 vassals, who are key figures in the businesses, are leading the businesses. It was also announced that businesses other than Lumen cannot be handled by the current owner, Jeong-Hoon and that Jeong-Hoon must pass the tasks left by the former householder to handle them freely.


    Of course, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s aspirations in the big announcement were only made at the moment, but he was not in a situation where he could take back what he had already said, so Jeong-Hoon took part in the task at the recommendation of Butler Joo.


    The first task was getting his hands on Shine Mall.


    ¡°About the founding that you mentioned. It only includes those that are within the business¡¯s potential, right? And you¡¯re excluding the other 3,000 vassals?¡±


    ¡°There are more than 3,000 vassals in the business, so of course it¡¯s included.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon smiled bitterly at the word ¡®include.¡¯


    Among 3,000 people, only 12 were representing them.


    Butler Joo stood in the frontlines of those 12 vassals. He is an SSS-class awakened being and is part of the 12 vassals under the title of the ¡®Head Butler of the Family.¡¯


    Jung Yi-Young, the maid of honor, is an S-class awakened being.


    E/N: Recall this person is Miss Maid, and her title is head maid -> maid of honor.


    The rest of the 12 vassals were at least S-class awakened beings. In other words, there are 12 people who can respond to Jeong-Hoon¡¯s finger snap.


    Lastly, excluding the 12 vassals, about 3,000 other vassals are all A-class awakeners.


    With that much power, Jeong-Hoon wondered if there is anything in the world he couldn¡¯t do at this point.


    ¡°What a mess I got myself into.¡±


    Even if there was no one else to inherit the family leader position, why appoint an ordinary man who knew nothing about this ¡®world?¡¯ Although he was given so much power to use in his hands, Jeong-Hoon felt weak in his knees when he thought of the coming tasks.


    ***


    The inside of Shine Mall was very neat considering it¡¯s a container building.


    The steel structure looks as it is, but rather than giving the impression that it is not organized, it gave off the idea of an intentional interior design.


    Without taking the massive size in count, it would¡¯ve been thought to be a small start-up company that had just started.


    The mere sight of the crowded salespeople and the numerous Shine Mall employees serving them reminded Jeong-Hoon of the fact that this was indeed the Shine Mall.


    The scene was the battlefield of Shine Mall, where companies somehow try to get into Shine Mall¡¯s distribution network, and the cold evaluations they received in return.


    Jeong-Hoon and Butler Joo passed through that battlefield with ease.


    Lumen¡¯s chairman Jeong-Hoon and Lumen¡¯s director, Butler Joo, were classified as important guests in Shine Mall, so they were able to come up to the Shine Mall representative¡¯s office without any problems.


    ¡°Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun! The Lord has arrived!¡±


    Jeong-Hoon wondered if there was a need to keep the secret about the family if they¡¯re just going to yell it out like that.


    Even though it is run by the family, not all Shine Mall employees are vassals of the family.


    Even Lumen, where Jeong-Hoon, the head of the household, is staying, looked closely upon the confidentiality.


    Entering the room he saw a middle-aged man with a two-block regent hairstyle.


    He had a slender jawline with slightly slanted eyes. He was wearing a light gray suit and a tie with a flaming fire pattern, giving off a look that he was part of a gang.


    For someone who looked like a gangster, the way he stood behind his desk, body turned at a 45-degree angle towards the door made him seem like a dog that had waited for his owner to come home.


    The man smiled broadly, lifted his arm in an attempt to wave, but hesitated under Butler Joo¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°My Lord, this is Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun. As you¡¯ve heard, he is one of the 12 vassals, and trivially, he is an SS-class awakener.¡±


    ¡°Ah.. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s not trivial.¡±


    ¡°I look forward to your kind cooperation. M¡¯name is Yeo Tae-Hyun.¡±


    ¡°Yes? Ah. I look forward to working with you.¡±


    ¡°Butler Yeo!¡±


    Speaking in a tone that cannot be found polite, Yeo Tae-Hyun reached out his hand for a handshake. Jeong-Hoon inadvertently reaches out in return, but Butler Joo yells at Yeo Tae-Hyun.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve matured as you¡¯ve gotten older; why can¡¯t you abandon that attitude?¡±


    ¡°Eh. I, too, keep my dignity if it¡¯s in the eyes of the public or in a public event.¡±


    ¡°This may seem like a private event for you because the Lord is visiting, but it is still a family event.¡±


    While listening to the nagging of Butler Joo, Yeo Tae-Hyun smiled widely and bowed his head towards Jeong-Hoon, with whom he finished shaking hands with.


    ¡°As Boss Joo said, my name is Yeo Tae-Hyun. You can call me Butler Yeo.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? I feel like it may be confusing for me to call others with the butler title.¡±


    Of the 12 vassals, except for Jung Yi-Young the maid of honor, all men are butlers, so it may be more confusing if there are members that happen to share the same surname.


    ¡°Then¡­¡±


    ¡°Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun is the representative of Shine Mall, so I¡¯ll call you CEO Yeo.¡±


    ¡°Lord, except for Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun, there are others who lead the businesses of the family with the title of a representative.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll think about that later. For now, let¡¯s differentiate between the butler and the representative.¡±


    ¡°If that is the will of your Grace¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t care. I like it because it sounds like a nickname, it makes me feel like we¡¯re close.¡±


    Yeo Tae-Hyun raised his chin and looked down at Jeong-Hoon and smiled, shrugging while putting his hands on his waist.


    ¡°Butler Yeo! What is with the rudeness!¡±


    ¡°Oops, I¡¯m sorry. My force of habit came out naturally because the Lord is treating me comfortably.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me. You¡¯re about the same age as my father in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What do you mean? I¡¯m 42 this year. I¡¯m still up and running.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m 20 years old. If my father was still here today, he would¡¯ve been 47, so you are around his age.¡±


    At Jeong-Hoon¡¯s words, Yeo Tae-Hyun had an extremely shocked expression.


    He had approached Jeong-Hoon like a friend in his own way, so it was obviously a big shock to him that Jeong-Hoon took it as almost a father-son relationship.


    ¡°Anyways, why don¡¯t we finish up on introductions? There¡¯s something more important to be done.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, are you here because of the task the previous head of household left you with?¡±


    ¡°Yes, under the recommendation of Butler Joo.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded and looked at Butler Joo, who in return nodded back.


    At that, Yeo Tae-Hyun opened the safe in the office with a grim look and took out a small envelope.


    ¡°I will now begin reading.¡±


    ¡°Is that perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This is the assignment left by the previous head.¡±


    Butler Joo knelt on one of his knees down on the floor when he saw the envelope in Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s hands.


    At the scene, Jeong-Hoon seriously considered whether he should also kneel down as well.


    ¡°Your Grace doesn¡¯t have to do this.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I appreciate your words, but I feel hesitant when I see you kneel down as if you¡¯re about to receive a royal command.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, please don¡¯t worry. We do it because we like it.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon remembered the fact that there is a guild among some famous ones that keep to the etiquette in this way. Of course, it¡¯s a guild¡¯s concept of a play, not something they do seriously.


    That guild became quite famous thanks to its unusual concept and became a popular guild, if not as much as the top guilds.


    In addition, that very guild makes a lot of money through advertisements by breaking through loopholes in the Hunter Act, which is limited to only dungeon attacks and monster hunting.


    ¡°That¡¯s what this is all about, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s similar. The difference is that it¡¯s a long-standing act that started from the era of the first lord to the era of the 238th lord.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s a tradition?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon is the 238th head of household


    In other words, it¡¯s a long-standing tradition from the beginning to the present, not just a play.


    ¡°Can I abolish¨C¡°


    ¡°This is a will left by the 237th head of the household. If the 238th head of household wishes to take Shine Mall in his hands, then he must find and verify the most valuable item at the Shine Mall headquarters. I hereby appoint the person in charge of Shine Mall, Yeo Tae-Hyun as the examiner.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon failed to sneakily try and abolish the kneeling tradition because Yeo Tae-Hyun stepped in and read the letter in the envelope.


    ¡°That is all. Here¡¯s your seal. It¡¯s not fake, it¡¯s real. You can check it out too, Boss Joo.¡±


    ¡°¡­ I checked it. This is certainly the seal of the Lord.¡±


    When Butler Joo received the letter and confirmed it, Jeong-Hoon approached and confirmed it as well.


    Seeing that the seal of a wonderful pattern is stamped at the end of the letter, Jeong-Hoon inadvertently thought of the national seal.


    The seal didn¡¯t look like Chinese or Korean characters, but it was large and splendid enough to carry the same level of dignity.


    ¡°Butler Joo, do you know if there are any royal seals that have been passed down from generation to generation?¡±


    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s not a seal, but there is something handed down.¡±


    Speaking as if it was obvious, a realization flashed through Jeong-Hoon¡¯s mind.


    A family is like an independent state hidden in modern society.


    A king named ¡®Lord¡¯ and 12 servants named ¡®vassals.¡¯ It is an independent country where there are other people called vassals. Therefore, their scale always exceeds that of the country.


    The family has enough force capable of overthrowing the country, with the financial power that governs even the state, and the potential for foundings.


    The threat of the family is the country, not a single organization or a group. The ruler of such a hidden independent state is himself, an orphan in his 20s.


    ¡°¡­ Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said I¡¯d do this?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who is deeply regretting that he should not have picked up on the task, snapped out of his daze when he felt the eyes of Butler Joo and Yeo Tae-Hyun.


    ¡°My Lord, do you feel unwell somewhere?¡±


    ¡°No, I was just thinking about something else.¡±


    ¡°If the task is burdensome, I will ask Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun for more time.¡±


    ¡°There is no time limit for the task. Any time is fine, so you don¡¯t need to feel pressured.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fortunate to hear. Is that at your discretion, Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Instead, I¡¯ll give you only three chances. You only have three chances to guess the most valuable item in this headquarter. For your information, it¡¯s not a person, building, or land.¡±


    Yeo Tae-Hyun smiled brightly as he gave the hint. The hint pointed out exactly 3 things that one can easily consider the most valuable.


    His smile was so refreshing as if he had no doubt that the Lord, Jeong-Hoon, would get it right.

 Chapter 7 - The Most Valuable Thing

    Chapter 7


    The Most Valuable Thing


    Shine Mall is a big contributor in the distribution industry that supplies materials to Hunter Logistics Center, but there are no offline locations.


    Since the business is carried out online, orders that are placed are delivered by the branch and warehouse offices that are set up across the country.


    The headquarters stood at the center, controlling all of the logistics while acting as the largest warehouse. Thus, it was always crowded with people working multiple shifts.


    ¡°This much workforce is quite surprising.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I am surprised as well.¡±


    There are employees who go around looking for specific items ordered from the logistics warehouses.


    In the meantime, Jeong-Hoon is showing off his presence.


    He wasn¡¯t showing off much presence compared to Butler Joo or Yeo Tae-Hyun, and nor was he wearing a fancy suit either.


    He was simply walking around in an outfit that the employees wore: a short sleeve shirt and jeans. He was pushing a cart with one hand while holding a tablet in the other.


    However, he held a presence different from the employees.


    ¡°Jeong-Hoon-ssi, could you tell me where I can find this item?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that? That should be on block C13.¡±


    When employees came up to him, showing him the item on the tablet that they were looking for, Jeong-Hoon would answer right away, pointing in the direction the requested items are located at.


    It may not seem like a big deal, but this was quite an impressive skill considering employees who worked here for years couldn¡¯t memorize every single item on the list and their locations.


    ¡°If I had known him before he became the head of the household, I would have offered him a position as a full-time employee.¡±


    ¡°If that were to be the case, perhaps it would have lessened the Lord¡¯s hardships in his previous days.¡±


    Butler Joo nodded at Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s words, agreeing to his recognition of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s skill.


    It has been almost a week since the task had started. Rather than searching for the most valuable item in Shine Mall, Jeong-Hoon had decided to jump directly into a job as an employee.


    But instead of working in operations that also dealt with other company¡¯s items, he specifically worked in a position that separated Shine Mall¡¯s own products into categories.


    At first, Jeong-Hoon had been looking around in the storage, trying to search for that valuable item. After a whole day of futile searches, he decided to work as an employee, pushing a cart like the others, along with a tablet that showed a list of all the products Shine Mall produced.


    The people working in the storage were mixtures of part-time and full-timers, and Jeong-Hoon introduced himself as a part-timer. Ever since then, he has completely turned the working site around.


    ¡°Hey, you over there! That belongs in the 2nd storage room!¡±


    ¡°Sorry? Isn¡¯t this the 2nd storage room?¡±


    ¡°This is the 1st storage room. The 2nd storage room is that way.¡±


    Forget searching for that valuable item, at this point Jeong-Hoon is doing a clean sweep of any mistakes found in the workplace.


    ¡°This is odd. The Lord didn¡¯t seem like a special person from the information I read.¡±


    ¡°I, too, am very surprised. Whether it¡¯s the position that made the person or if he was always like this but never had the chance to let the talent show, I do not know.¡±


    E/N: ¡°Position makes the person¡± is a saying in Korea. It means that you become a person who acts appropriately for that position without even realizing it.


    Butler Joo said as he shook his head while looking at Jeong-Hoon with bleary eyes.


    It was unknown whether he had been living his life hiding his talent or hadn¡¯t known about his talent until now, but during the time Butler Joo had been watching Jeong-Hoon, he thought Jeong-Hoon was someone with a different nature.


    ¡°Anyways, I worried for nothing. It¡¯s relieving to know he has the ability to take control of his surroundings.¡±


    ¡°What is there to worry about? Isn¡¯t the reason why we exist in the first place to fulfill the lackings of our Lord? It is our duty.¡±


    ¡°Aw, c¡¯mon Boss Joo. Do you really believe an ordinary person as he is able to comprehend the truth of the family?¡±


    When Yeo Tae-Hyun touched on that sensitive subject, Butler Joo scrunched up his eyebrows.


    ¡°I am being careful of that.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon simply believed that he inherited a huge amount of fortune, owned a couple of buildings, and became a head of the household of employees with overwhelming strength.


    ¡°Heh? But shouldn¡¯t he have had enough clues to guess?¡±


    ¡°¡­ He has been trying to guess from the start. Even if we were to let him now, it would only end up spoiling his mood. I will at least wait until he asks in detail.¡±


    At those words, Yeo Tae-Hyun let out feigned laughter.


    ¡°I can guarantee that the Lord already made his guess and just chose not to ask to avoid feeling pressured.¡±


    Although he only conversed with Jeong-Hoon for a little bit, Yeo Tae-Hyun nodded in confidence that he had Jeong-Hoon all figured out.


    And at that confidence, Butler Joo couldn¡¯t deny those words and could only laugh bitterly.


    ***


    Find the most valuable item in Shine Mall.


    It has almost been a full week since he was given the task. Jeong-Hoon hummed a little tune while pushing a cart full of items he had found today.


    ¡°¡­ finished my work for today.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon slyly smiled towards the CCTV he had noticed that was facing in his direction. He then looked around in search of something.


    E/N: CCTV is another term for security cameras.


    No, it was more of a pretend to search.


    To be honest, on the day he had returned back to Lumen the moment he had first heard of the task, Jeong-Hoon was already sure of what the item was.


    He had an item in mind and he was sure he was 99.9% correct. If it was incorrect, then there would be no hope.


    The reason why he wasted a week¡¯s worth of time working at Shine Mall while knowing what the answer was from the start, was simple.


    ¡°I was never given the chance to be hired to work at Shine Mall, but since now I have, I will settle with this experience.¡±


    One would call this a bucket list. The only job he had worked part-time for was the Dungeon Logistics Center.


    He had wanted to work part-time at Shine Mall, but he couldn¡¯t due to the competitiveness.


    Hence, working at Shine Mall was one of the things on his bucket list and he was able to fulfill it.


    On top of that, since he wasn¡¯t technically ¡®working¡¯, it felt like he was playing more than he was working.


    ¡°Although, I wonder if CEO Yeo might not like the fact that I controlled the workplace too much.¡±


    Feeling as if he made it too obvious that he was showing too much charisma while working, Jeong-Hoon shook his head in worry.


    Since he wasn¡¯t there to actually work, he got carried away by his feelings and got ahead of himself.


    He was actually surprised that he had such talent for this.


    Now that he thought about it, he had been slowly discovering his talents ever since he became the head of the household.


    From martial arts to shooting guns, he had been showing various talents enough to impress Butler Joo and the maid of honor, who were teaching him etiquette.


    And they weren¡¯t the type of people to say empty words. If Jeong-Hoon had made a mistake or gotten something wrong, they were the type to strictly re-teach him to fix those errors.


    The base standard they had in mind was the previous head of the household.


    Although the previous head of the household was a family member Jeong-Hoon had never met before, he was someone who was born and raised to become a family head.


    One can believe that the two had very high standards. And it was these two people who had accepted Jeong-Hoon¡¯s talents.


    Butler Joo even brought up stories of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s grandfather after saying ¡®it runs in the family¡¯ every time he was impressed with Jeong-Hoon.


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s grandfather was said to have been disowned by the family for going against the family¡¯s principles at the time, but until then, he had shown the qualities of an exceptional family head.


    However, because his grandfather¡¯s opinions would bring danger to the family, none responded to cases when he would run away from home.


    As a result, when the world changed and his life fell into jeopardy, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s uncle searched for a new head of the household candidate and found Jeong-Hoon, the only survivor of the family, and appointed him as the new family head.


    ¡°Up to this point is what I know so far about the family¡¯s secret.¡±


    If he tried to know more in detail, he would develop doubts.


    Butler Joo had said this: if Jeong-Hoon brought all of the family businesses together, completed all the tasks, and become recognized as the true head of the household, then establishing the power of the family will be possible.


    And Jeong-Hoon knew that this was not a joke. He knew it was not a joke from the moment he had checked the list of all businesses operated by the 12 key vassals, on top of additional 3,000 vassals.


    No matter how much money and loyal subordinates he had, it was far too suspicious.


    To include, all 3,000 vassals were ideally A-class awakeners.


    And among the 12 vassals, 3 were SSS-class, 4 were SS-class, and 5 were S-class.


    Among the top 10 that were selected as the best guilds, S-class hunters are rare, and they are either given the position of guild masters or vice guild masters.


    SS-class or higher is classified as a major national figure, so they don¡¯t carry out guild activities for a while.


    Even among the top 10 guilds, only three have SS-class hunters.


    However, the number of awakened beings in the family is already at the national level.


    Aside from the power of founding, it is an armed force that can certainly aim to overthrow the entire nation.


    Can this amount of force be made in 10 years¡¯ time with the wealth and loyalty accumulated over the years?


    ¡°Definitely not.¡±


    Shaking his head, Jeong-Hoon thought of Butler Joo who always tried to make Jeong-Hoon approach the family secrets.


    It probably had relations as to what secrets the family was hiding and why monsters started to appear out of nowhere.


    Perhaps it was the family that released the monsters into this world.


    Because of all those what-if and bad thoughts, Jeong-Hoon refused to approach the topic of the family¡¯s secrets.


    But that didn¡¯t mean he planned to reject the position of the head of the household.


    ¡°In the end, it¡¯s the fact that I make those decisions that matters.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon smiled widely at the person at the counter he parked the cart in front of.


    ¡°Jeong-Hoon-ssi, good work today as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you as well. Uhm? You¡¯re not going to check?¡±


    ¡°Eh, is it possible for Jeong-Hoon-ssi to be wrong?¡±


    ¡°But you should still check.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon tried to stop the person from sending the items he had brought in the cart to the release section for not checking along with the list first, but the person paid no attention to the list.


    This kind of behavior is acceptable if Jeong-Hoon was a manager, but as someone who only worked for a week, Jeong-Hoon felt troubled by the person¡¯s trust.


    ¡°But please still check. It¡¯s my last day so it doesn¡¯t feel right to let it go like that.¡±


    ¡°Last day? I thought Jeong-Hoon-ssi was an employee here?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m only here to help out. It¡¯s about time I return to my actual job.¡±


    Because he had enough fun working at Shine Mall, Jeong-Hoon had decided to end his work here.


    Come to think of it, family businesses are perfect to knock down Jeong-Hoon¡¯s bucket list.


    ¡°Is that so? Well, there¡¯s no way someone like Jeong-Hoon-ssi be unemployed. You¡¯ve done well while you were here.¡±


    At the disappointed tone, Jeong-Hoon nodded his head twice and shook hands with the person.


    He considered saying his farewells to other employees, but since it wasn¡¯t his style to leave splendidly, he decided to leave as quietly as possible.


    If he accidentally ended up exposing his position as the head of the household while speaking to the other employees, it would be quite bad.


    ¡°¡­ Shall I go and give them my guess now?¡±


    Exiting the warehouse, Jeong-Hoon headed towards the area where there weren¡¯t many people.


    After confirming that there was no one around him, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers.


    ¡°Have you called?¡±


    ¡°Have you found the answer?¡±


    As if they¡¯ve been waiting for his call, Butler Joo and Yeo Tae-Hyun appeared in front of him.


    Jeong-Hoon opened his mouth.


    ¡°Where is the agreement contract that was made with Dungeon Logistics Center?¡±


    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s in my office. May I ask why you¡¯re looking for that?¡±


    As Jeong-Hoon spoke of the item, Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°Because that is the answer.¡±


    As the world changed, Shine Mall was created. It has become a big contributor to the distribution industry.


    It was created by the nation in an effort to deliver items to the Dungeon Logistics Center to make it easier for hunters and guilds to interact.


    As soon as the contract is over, Shine Mall¡¯s business will crumble in one shot.


    Therefore, it is the most valuable item to a business called Shine Mall.

 Chapter 8

    P.S. Towards the end of the novel, a new character will be introduced. But of course, knowing how KNovels work, we can go a long way before finding out the gender of a character. Because the character¡¯s name is most closely used for those of female sex, we decided to use ¡°she/her¡± pronouns for this character. However, this can change anytime once we are clear on the gender!


    Brilliantly passing the assignment, Jeong-Hoon walked to Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s office.


    As he entered the office, the maid of honor was standing by the office desk with a cart. The cart held teacups and a teapot.


    The maid of honor bowed to Jeong-Hoon.


    ¡°Miss Maid? What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I am your Grace¡¯s servant. It is natural that I am at wherever my Lord is at.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you at all while I¡¯ve been going about in Shine Mall though?¡±


    ¡°I was always there.¡±


    The fact that it wasn¡¯t just Butler Joo who was following him around in secret made Jeong-Hoon subconsciously let out a sigh.


    ¡°And my Lord, although it doesn¡¯t mean much, I am still one of the 12 key vassals. Even if I don¡¯t give off my presence, I hope that you will still remember me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s true that it doesn¡¯t mean much.¡±


    ¡°Not at all. It really doesn¡¯t mean much.¡±


    Discreetly disagreeing with her words, Jeong-Hoon walked over to the sofa in front of the office desk and sat down.


    ¡°My Lord, your seat is over here.¡±


    ¡°Pardon? Isn¡¯t that CEO Yeo¡¯s seat?¡±


    ¡°Not anymore. Since you have passed the assignment, it¡¯s now your seat.¡±


    Smirking, Yeo Tae-Hyun said it was fine and walked over to where the safe was. He opened it and took out a piece of document and a desk plaque.


    ¡°This is the Dungeon Logistics Center¡¯s Distribution Contract with the Shine Mall that you had guessed correctly, and this here!¡±


    With a loud thud, Yeo Tae-Hyun swept aside his own desk plaque and placed a new desk plaque on the desk.


    [Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon]


    ¡°This is your Chairman desk plaque.¡±


    ¡°Why did that come out of the safe?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s been readied since a long time ago.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head at that comment that sounded as an excuse to cover up the fact that they had actually readied it during the week.


    ¡°Even Lumen doesn¡¯t have a desk with a desk plaque, but it seems there is one here.¡±


    Whether or not it was prepared recently or a while back, looking at the plaque on the desk made Jeong-Hoon feel strangely excited. So he jokingly made this comment, but Butler Joo shook his head at that statement.


    ¡°There is one in Lumen.¡±


    ¡°Yes? There is? But I never saw it at the royal suite room I am staying at?¡±


    ¡°That is because your Grace had never entered the office.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Ah, that¡¯s right. Well, now that I think about it, there wouldn¡¯t be a desk plaque in a suite room.¡±


    Of course, there are spaces which provided units for industrialists or businessmen to do their work in the royal suite room Jeong-Hoon was staying at, but the specific area he stayed at was solely for resting.


    On top of that, even if he¡¯s ¡®staying¡¯ at Lumen, he is still the chairman, not a guest. There weren¡¯t any reasons to do work in a resting space.


    ¡°So did we come to this office just so you can show me these?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. Since you have Shine Mall in your hands now, shouldn¡¯t you at least take a seat?¡±


    As Yeo Tae-Hyun pointed to the desk, Jeong-Hoon nodded.


    Since Shine Mall is now his, Jeong-Hoon figured he should at least get a taste of his reward.


    ¡°¡­ Hmm, does it suit me?¡±


    As Jeong-Hoon posed and smiled towards the three people, all three frowned at once.


    ¡°It suits your Grace very well, but there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s missing.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°I think I placed them here somewhere¡­¡±


    Them?


    Jeong-Hoon tried to stand up immediately when he saw Yeo Tae-Hyun reaching for the ¡®missing¡¯ thing that he had mentioned. It was a big pile of documents.


    ¡°My Lord, we need to take a commemorative photo.¡±


    But Butler Joo prevented Jeong-Hoon from standing up and took out a cell phone from his pocket.


    ¡°W-we do? But why do I feel anxious?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing for you to feel anxious about. You just need to read these and sign the ones you like!¡±


    Jeong-Hoon put on a difficult face as he looked at Yeo Tae-Hyun laughing at the pile of documents on the desk. He had been acting all along when he seemed like he was searching for those documents.


    ¡°Even if you tell me to pretend to work, I still won¡¯t know how to do this?¡±


    E/N: This is derived from the Korean saying ¡°If you can¡¯t do the work, at least pretend to do the work.¡±


    ¡°My Lord, you won¡¯t be pretending.¡±


    ¡°Since you are now sitting in the chairman¡¯s seat, you must now do the basic tasks of a chairman.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much. The Head Butler, Butler Yeo and I will be there to help you, my Lord.¡±


    It was at this moment when Jeong-Hoon realized he had fallen for their tricks. They had him sit down at this seat not for a commemorative photo, but to teach him the work of a chairman. At that, Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t help but laugh in half-distress and in half-anxiety.


    ***


    The day after Jeong-Hoon was tricked by the three vassals, he turned on the TV, sprawled out on the sofa staring with blank eyes.


    The news channel comes on. It wasn¡¯t because he liked to watch the news, but it was because the TV was set to that specific channel.


    <Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. The first news I have for you today is regarding the hot issue revolving around Hotel Lumen for the past week.>


    ¡°¡­ Did an incident happen overnight that I am not aware of?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon turned his head to look behind him, where unlike the usual, Butler Joo, the maid of honor, and Yeo Tae-Hyun were standing.


    ¡°The only thing that your Grace might not be aware of in Lumen are the colors of the guests¡¯ underwear.¡±


    Butler Joo tried to reassure Jeong-Hoon with a joke, but Jeong-Hoon found that oddly scary and was still skeptical on why Lumen appeared as the first topic on the news. He turned back to the TV.


    <Last week, Lumen¡¯s Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon made his first appearance in public and indirectly presented a change in his aspirations.>


    <That¡¯s correct. In addition, Shine Mall¡¯s CEO Yeo Tae-Hyun moved to reside in Lumen. Moving to reside in Lumen at this time can be seen as a sign to cooperate with Lumen in the future.>


    When the contents of the news seemed overly familiar, Jeong-Hoon whipped his head back at the three people behind him.


    ¡°You leaked this information to the media?!¡±


    He was very busy yesterday so he didn¡¯t inquire about it, but now that he thought about it, it was suspicious that Yeo Tae-Hyun was at Lumen.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t leak it, but it got leaked somehow.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so sorry. But Lord, Shine Mall¡¯s a large business. Of course they¡¯re gonna keep track of my movements.¡±


    The way Yeo Tae-Hyun spoke was always provocative, but at this point it was known it¡¯s just his way of speaking.


    ¡°I did not want the people to forget about your aspiration to bring the companies together so I did not prevent the information from being leaked. I¡¯m sure your Grace would have made a similar decision?¡±


    ¡°¡­ It¡¯s true I did think of it, but I don¡¯t think this is it.¡±


    On the surface, the contract is seen as an exchange of some sorts with a signature but Jeong-Hoon still hadn¡¯t expected that this would be leaked so implicitly.


    ¡°I understand how your Grace feels, but this was a decision that was made yesterday after the three of us put our heads together along with the consideration of other 12 vassals.¡±


    At the words of Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon remembered the matters of the 12 vassals along with other vassals.


    Not just the five remaining companies, but also popular individuals in the society are also mixed into the group.


    In order for all of those people to gather in one spot in Lumen, the current method is easier in the future.


    ¡°Well, if it was you guys who made the decision, then there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon started to get up from the sofa.


    ¡°My Lord, would you like some tea?¡±


    In order to wake himself completely, Jeong-Hoon accepted the tea. While savoring the tea, the second topic popped up on the news.


    <Now for our second news. Around 2:30am, monsters started to pour out from a dungeon. This dungeon was scheduled and to be targeted by the AP guild and its allied guild.>


    ¡°Pfmt!¡±


    The tea was pleasantly fragrant so Jeong-Hoon had kept a sip sitting in his mouth, but he spit it out at what he heard on the news. The maid of honor handed him a handkerchief and he used it to wipe his mouth.


    ¡°Wha-t this topic should¡¯ve been the first one they presented!¡±


    Luckily, although the scheduled attack was delayed, it was never cancelled, so hunters who stood standy were able to subdue the situation.


    On top of that, there were no casualties. Because of that, this topic wasn¡¯t breaking news, but instead seen as an incident where monsters escaped from the dungeon.


    The reason for the monster¡¯s escape was never revealed yet but usually when dungeons appear, monsters are continuously generated at the heart of the dungeon. And when the dungeon reaches its max capacity, monsters will escape from the dungeon.


    In other words, the news is that the monsters of a large dungeon that was supposed to be targeted by the AP guild and its allied guild had reached its saturation.


    And this topic had been pushed back to be presented second.


    ¡°Even if that dungeon isn¡¯t that dangerous because it only produced low-level monsters, to leave it unattended like that is¡­¡±


    ¡°It is not the dungeon that produces the monsters.¡±


    ¡°Sorry? Ah, wait, I don¡¯t necessarily need an explanation right now.¡±


    When Butler Joo tried to tell him a bit of the secret of this world, Jeong-Hoon held up his hand. Knowing those secrets will bound to drag him into a deeper mess.


    ¡°Rather, this situation with all the monsters pouring out like that is a lot more important and dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Does it bother you, my Lord?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Would I not be bothered? When the world changed like this since I was 10 years old?¡±


    No matter what, Jeong-Hoon was an indirect victim. This is why he mentioned the ¡¯10 years old¡¯ part.


    Even if the world felt like it was going to be ruined, Jeong-Hoon has never seen a monster with his own eyes. However, that didn¡¯t mean he had no idea about the danger level of these monsters.


    Ever since his parents passed away in the dungeon, he was aware of the monsters¡¯ scale no matter what grade-level threat they were.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I aspire to eliminate all monsters or sacrifice myself to save the world. I¡¯m just bothered because I may be a part of the cause.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t think that he was entirely at fault for the situation.


    If they hadn¡¯t socially buried the AP guild leader, then there were bound to be more victims of the guild leader.


    But since Jeong-Hoon did take part in burying the guild leader, it was burdensome to not take the blame for the escalated situation.


    ¡°Then we will figure this out.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Companies aren¡¯t allowed to form guilds¡­ Does the family have some sort of guild hidden away?¡±


    Through Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon was able to check the list of all companies and businesses managed by the family, but he never saw a guild on there. However, since Butler Joo spoke as if he could easily resolve the situation, Jeong-Hoon looked at him skeptically.


    No matter how independent this organization-like family was, stepping in would be crossing the line.


    ¡°I will simply ask for help from the guilds that have a connection with us.¡±


    ¡°Really? Are you sure it¡¯s not a guild that¡¯s not under the family¡¯s command?¡±


    ¡°My Lord, even if we are an independent family, we still follow the laws.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon let out a flustered laugh at those words when he suddenly remembered that this was the same person who had given him a grenade saying it¡¯s a form of self-defense. No, in fact, he had told Jeong-Hoon that it¡¯s not breaking the law if you don¡¯t get caught¡­


    ***


    Among the top 10 guilds, there is one named Saturn Guild that is led by an S-class hunter named Choi Jae-Yeon.


    Due to the lack of control she had on her power, Choi Jae-Yeon was ranked as an A-class. But one day out of nowhere, she showed significant growth, which promoted her as an S-class.


    She was the reason for her guild¡¯s current standing among the top 10 guilds.


    ¡°So what I¡¯m hearing is, you wish us to cooperate with the other two guilds and launch an attack on the dungeon that the AP guild had originally targeted?¡±


    While seated in the reception room of the highest-quality room provided by Lumen, Choi Jae-Yeon sharply looked at Jeong-Hoon.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct. There isn¡¯t a lot to gain, but wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous to leave such a dungeon alone when it is about to break?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s that, but are you truly doing this for the sake of the community, Mr. Chairman?¡±


    When Choi Jae-Yeon asked, she started to release a bit of her dominating aura. Jeong-Hoon put on a clueless face that showed he had no idea what she was trying to say.


    ¡°Then why else would I be doing this?¡±


    While engaging in the conversation, he tried to think of what he would gain from doing this, but nothing came up. He had only requested for just community service purposes, but he didn¡¯t expect to be here, being pressured by a dominating aura.


    If Yeo Tae-Hyun wasn¡¯t next to him, Jeong-Hoon was sure he would be suffocating from the aura because the opponent was an S-class hunter.


    Strangely, the reason why Jeong-Hoon and the S-class Hunter Choi Jae-Yeon was meeting like this is because Choi Jae-Yeon had requested to meet Jeong-Hoon in person once she received the request.


    This is because it is more effective for both parties if they meet in person to gain cooperation.


    When Jeong-Hoon reached out with the request to the three guilds that had connections with Lumen, they all belonged to the top 10 guilds. And among those three, only Choi Jae-Yeon requested to meet with Jeong-Hoon.


    ¡°Our chairman is an non-awakened being. As the Master of Saturn, what¡¯s with this behavior?¡±


    E/N: Head of the guild/guild leader = guildmaster, or master or ___ guild.


    ¡°¡­ Pardon me. I simply did it to figure out the chairman. I wanted to see if it wasn¡¯t actually for community service, but if there was a different motive, perhaps regarding the declaration made at the announcement last time.¡±


    E/N: The dominating aura CJY let out can force lower-classed awakened beings or non-awakened beings to give out under the pressure.


    While apologizing and looking at Jeong-Hoon with searching eyes, Choi Jae-Yeon gave a dirty smirk to Yeo Tae-Hyun.


    Seeing that, Yeo Tae-Hyun almost blew his top, but Jeong-Hoon raised a hand to stop him and gracefully smiled.


    ¡°If that was my intention, I wouldn¡¯t be making my move discreetly.¡±


    As Jeong-Hoon stated his pure intention of community service, he realized the aspiration he had made during the announcement day was a big problem. Due to the declaration he had made, many people continued to misunderstand.


    ¡°Hmm, if it¡¯s true you¡¯re doing this for the community, then all I can say is that you¡¯re truly amazing.¡±


    ¡°Not at all, I only believed that it was the right thing to do since after all, the AP guild has been one of Lumen¡¯s valuable guests.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon really wanted Choi Jae-Yeon to quickly make up her mind at this point because he was running out of patience. By patience, he was worried that he may mess up on any of his wordings that he had learned from the maid of honor and Butler Joo. If the conversation dragged on, he would run out of ideas for sure.


    ¡°I have never forgotten the debt I owe you for helping me to become an S-class hunter. I can only say that you¡¯re an incredible person for always moving for the world.¡±


    Upon hearing the first sentence, Jeong-Hoon side-glanced at Yeo Tae-Hyun. This was something that he had never heard about. He was only told that this guild had a connection with Lumen, but he was never told what that connection was.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we hope that you will make your decision right now, Guildmaster Choi Jae-Yeon. The chairman is a very busy person.¡±


    Reacting to the glance Jeong-Hoon had given him, Yeo Tae-Hyun spoke to interfere with the conversation. Nobody knew about the fact that it wasn¡¯t actually Jeong-Hoon who built Lumen, and they must keep it that way.


    ¡°I apologize. On top of my rudeness for asking to meet with you, I also took away too much of your time. Then I shall get to my point.¡±


    Choi Jae-Yeon released her dominating aura again. However, this time it wasn¡¯t to pressure Jeong-Hoon. It was to emphasize her seriousness to what she was about to say.


    ¡°The skill that was used to turn me into an S-class. If you give it to Saturn, I will take part in the operation.¡±

 Chapter 9

    In his room, Jeong-Hoon let go of the teacup and let out a long sigh.


    ¡°Your Grace, please calm down.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry at all.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who was lost in thought, realized that he had already drank more than half of the tea in the kettle at the words of Butler Joo.


    Jeong-Hoon seemed angry because he was drinking tea without saying anything, but in fact, he was shocked to know that there is a skill to nurture one¡¯s awakening that he presumed was not possible.


    ¡°Do we have such skill?¡±


    ¡°Yes we do, but only awakeners can use it. Advancing to S-class is only possible for those who are talented.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who had hoped for the impossible, turned his head away, clicking his tongue.


    ¡°Saturn will not be participating, but AJ¡­ It¡¯s an abbreviation similar to AP, so I call him by his full name, Ace Jack. Ace Jack and X-ONE, you said they¡¯ll cooperate, right?¡±


    ¡°They said they would cooperate without any conditions.¡±


    That¡¯s good news, but Jeong-Hoon frowned.


    The reason why he contacted the three guilds from the beginning was due to the calculation that three top guilds¡¯ power is needed for the attack to have no casualties.


    He replied to Saturn¡¯s offer, refusing it. This leaves the needed three top guilds lacking one more.


    It seems like the issue will be solved by giving her the skill, but as soon as he returned to Jeong-Hoon¡¯s room, Yeo Tae-Hyun expressed his displeasure.


    Because it¡¯s a skill too dangerous for Saturn to have.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to find another way.¡±


    ¡°Before that, you have to dispose of Saturn.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be too much to retaliate against them for refusing to pay their debt?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon believes that Saturn¡¯s Choi Jae-Yeon certainly owes Lumen, but he cannot make her a slave who moves unconditionally because of it.


    However, the butler shook his head and denied it.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you refuse, but when I contacted Ace Jack and X-ONE, I told them that I was also in contact with Saturn.¡±


    Ace Jack and X-ONE are part of the ten guilds who owe Lumen like Saturn, but Saturn refused to cooperate.


    If Lumen doesn¡¯t retaliate, a tower that the family has built to protect the world from behind for up to 10 years could collapse.


    ¡°In other words, whether you like it or not, you have to take minimal measures.¡±


    ¡°But if one of the top ten guilds goes down, wouldn¡¯t it cause a gap in the hunters¡¯ power?¡±


    When he pointed out that the opponent was too powerful for them to retaliate, the three vassals hardened their faces.


    ¡°¡­ Was that the least amount of disposition that the Lord thought?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not true.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who thought it was right to smash his opponent because he got used to hearing it from Butler Joo, shook his head.


    He got goosebumps at the fact that he was slowly being tainted with this way of thinking.


    ¡°You just have to show a warning that rejecting Lumen¡¯s request will be burdensome.¡±


    ¡°How do you warn them? You¡¯re going to deprive them of their membership like before?¡±


    ¡°The Ten guilds do Lumen a huge amount of promotion just by staying in Lumen, so it¡¯s a loss for us. We have to make sure that only they are harmed.¡±


    In other words, if they use their hands, they need to move without letting anyone know that it was Lumen behind it.


    ¡°How do you do that? Well, we can¡¯t push Saturn to the front line and do a tax audit, right?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who recalled two terrible things that can happen to a guild anytime, grumbled. But the three nodded in unison.


    ¡°Hmm, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I think so too. After all, the wisdom of the Lord is astonishing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time to change the order of the front lines, so it¡¯s appropriate. We will contact the government.¡±


    When his grumbling suddenly became the plan and was decided without much thought, Jeong-Hoon, who spoke those words, felt absurd.


    Frontline. It was called the Armistice Line in the past.


    E/N: A place/area where forces withdraw and disengage also called ¡®cease fire line¡¯.


    As the world changed 10 years ago, North Korea collapsed and is now a huge territory full of monsters.


    Therefore, it is currently South Korea¡¯s responsibility to block monsters from going south and getting past the Armistice Line or the Northern Limit Line.


    And such a front line is being handled by guilds, led by the military.


    This system is being widely used and even top ten guilds can¡¯t avoid it.


    ¡°As such, Saturn can¡¯t avoid it either together with the tax audits¡­even if the audit doesn¡¯t show anything suspicious, going through it is tiring in itself. So Saturn will surely know that they¡¯ve been warned.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded and decided that their actions serve as a warning, not to ruin the guild entirely.


    People in the Saturn Guild may go to the front line and die due to their actions.


    When I think about it, I feel heavy, but if Saturn Guild does not go, people from other guilds die.


    On top of that, the side where the top ten guilds go have less casualties than those with small and medium guild alliances. In fact, the number of victims is overwhelmingly smaller.


    ¡°Then, you can proceed with it like that. What are you going to do now?¡±


    You can also consider the direction of enlisting other guilds. But Saturn is the problem,


    when word leaks out, Lumen will be implicated in some way.


    Although there is no practical way to hide the connection between the company and the guild, the government sanctions a company that tries to control the guild by investing huge capital.


    Therefore, it is unreasonable to contact other guilds as it is necessary to deal with them swiftly so that the words do not leak out. Unless it¡¯s Saturn, you have to somehow gather the power of the ten guilds, then you have to assemble small and medium-sized guilds that are in contact with Lumen.


    Then it is impossible to make a quick decision.


    ¡°¡­ We can¡¯t deal with it ourselves, so this is difficult.¡±


    ¡°Can I really do that?¡±


    ¡°¡­ It sounds like you can do it.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s enough for me to go in alone.¡±


    It was Jeong-Hoon who wanted to say that they should suggest something that makes sense, but he remembered that it was actually possible if it was them.


    From S-class and higher, they are called superhumans among the awakened people with superpowers. People who like martial arts even call the S-class a Hwagyeong.


    T/N: ??(hwagyeong) ¨C A term referring to the fact that one¡¯s skill in martial arts have almost reached the level of a god.


    Jeong Yi-Young, who surpassed the level of an ordinary human, and Yeo Tae-Hyun, who reached the highest peak of ascension, that is, the Hwagyeong. And SSS level¡­ Butler Joo.


    The power of these three people is stronger than three of the top ten guilds combined.


    ¡°Hiding information is not difficult. It was something I didn¡¯t consider from the beginning because the head of the family didn¡¯t seem to like it.¡±


    Upon hearing the reason for not telling in advance, Jeong-Hoon nodded and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s do it ourselves.¡±


    The supposedly complicated dungeon raid issue has been concluded just like that.


    ***


    A dungeon is a dangerous area, you¡¯ll never know when monsters will pop out but it is also a treasure trove of countless natural resources.


    In fact, the guild does not reap big profits by hunting monsters.


    Because catching monsters does not produce items like in games, nor does the energy source of a new era come out.


    They make a profit by attacking the dungeon and selling the development rights of it to a company.


    For that reason, there are hunters at the entrance of the dungeon who deal with monsters that may come out, and there is a guard outside to ensure that no one enters the dungeon secretly.


    ¡°I thought it was work to break through the security, but it¡¯s so easy¡­¡±


    Jeong-Hoon muttered as he released the transparent device, looking down at his suit.


    This is the suit I wore while announcing that I am the chairman of Lumen and whenever I go to Shine Mall.


    I heard it was quite expensive, but I didn¡¯t know there would be an invisibility function.


    ¡°Butler Joo, wasn¡¯t this a bulletproof suit?¡±


    ¡°It also has a bulletproof function.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon entered the dungeon using invisibility, but still can¡¯t believe it.


    This transcends modern technology.


    Some hunters, or awakeners, have invisibility skills. However, there is no case of implementing it with technology.


    Such technology is comparable to those who have the skill.


    ¡°Lord, invisibility functions consume a lot of energy, so you have to slowly exchange energy packs.¡±


    When Yeo Tae-Hyun approached and held out his hand to Jeong-Hoon, Jeong-Hoon unlocked the watch and handed it to him.


    It is a micro energy pack that looks and functions like a clock.


    Yeo Tae-Hyun used his rare subspace ability to keep the watch, making it seem like it disappeared after he received it.


    He is not in charge of the logistics business for nothing.


    ¡°¡­ If I had the technology of my family, I would already be an awakener.¡±


    Just by wearing the watch, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s suit provides a safe defense even if the C4 explodes from the side.


    E/N: C4 a kind of explosive that can destroy a tank.


    If you activate it as it is now in the dungeon, it is only an F-class, but it gives you the same physical ability as the Awakened and even the ability to become fully invisible for a limited time.


    ¡°It¡¯s a technology that the government would rush to get their hands on if they knew.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still incomplete. It is the family¡¯s goal that one day, the entire human race will benefit from this technology.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the most reassuring story I¡¯ve ever heard of.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who nodded satisfactorily because the family seemed to be an organization that protects the world from behind, not a world conqueror, looked around the dungeon.


    Contrary to the name of the dungeon, a wide meadow spreads out.


    The gate of the dungeon is huge enough for dump trucks to come in and out. This is why it is strange to be called a dungeon, but is called as such because the initial area after opening the gate is a narrow closed space.


    ¡°It definitely feels good to see what I¡¯ve been seeing on the Internet.¡±


    ¡°Are you satisfied?¡±


    ¡± I shouldn¡¯t have said I¡¯d follow you, but seeing this, I think it¡¯s a good thing I followed.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded and smiled at the good scenery of nature that could not be reached by humans.


    While determining who will go after deciding to deal with it themselves, Jeong-Hoon said he wanted to join because he would be safe with the three of them there and any possible risk can be eliminated. So, it was accepted that Jeong-Hoon will also join the group. For the three people to struggle, they must face SSS-class monsters.


    However, if there are SSS-class monsters, lower level monsters will already flock out of the gate, and will already be all over the news.


    In other words, it was very safe, so there was no problem for Jeong-Hoon to follow.


    For that reason, the bucket list of dungeon viewing and the wish of waking up to attack a dungeon one day has been achieved somehow.


    Of course, that is not always the case, but when three of the 12 vassals entered, the fate of this dungeon was decided.


    ¡°Then, my Lord, I will start hunting from now on¡­¡±


    ¡°Butler Joo, don¡¯t you need a weapon?¡±


    ¡°Butler Yeo, would my level need a weapon here?¡±


    ¡°I know that, but you are not alone, don¡¯t you need to match the weapon we are going to use?¡±


    ¡°¡­ I hadn¡¯t thought of that. Thanks for pointing it out.¡±


    When three people armed with pistols and daggers took the lead, Jeong-Hoon also took out pistols and daggers from the inside of the suit.


    It¡¯s not because he wants to hunt with the three, but because it¡¯s easier to see when we hold it in our hands.


    Although the purpose was to watch, the reason that  Butler Joo recognized Jeong-Hoon¡¯s accompaniment was that it could be helpful in training self-defense.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started.¡±


    At the sudden words of Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon looked in the direction of Butler Joo¡¯s gaze.


    A group of monsters who gathered at some point and were wary of this side.


    Along with Goblins, the butler jumps toward the group of Kobolds, who is selected as the weakest monster.


    Following that, two other people rush in.


    And then gunshots and the sound of kobolds cracking can be heard.


    There was nothing that Jeong-Hoon could see. He  can only hear the sounds and the things that used to be Kobolds flying around


    The movement of the three people?


    If he could see an S-class or higher moving, Jeong-Hoon would be awakened by now.


    One must at least be a B-Class to see blurry movements of an S-Class awakener.


    ¡°How is it? Kobold is a weak monster, so it¡¯s easy to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? I couldn¡¯t see anything.¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon grumbled, pointing to what was once a Kobold, the three looked troubled.


    For them, they just hunted normally.


    However, Jeong-Hoon, who is the most important part of the group, saw nothing.


    ¡°Oh, I know one thing for sure.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Whether it¡¯s an awakener or non-awakener, I heard that people have no objections over the death of monsters, that was true.¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon, who thought Kobold¡¯s body was scattered and didn¡¯t think it was terrible or gross, shrugged, the three nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s like it¡¯s engraved on the genetic level.¡±


    No matter how fragile a person is, he becomes bolder when it comes to the death of monsters. That doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re being cold, it¡¯s that they often panic over the fear of dying themselves.


    However, Jeong-Hoon did not have such a worry as he came in with the three awakeners of Grade S or higher.


    At that time, a pig-headed monster started approaching from far away.


    Looking at the orc, he moved his hand to aim his pistol.


    Ta-ang!


    The gunshot went off and the orc collapsed.


    ¡°Lord?¡±


    ¡°I like this pistol.¡±


    ¡°Did you just shoot it in the eye?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I did aim for it. I didn¡¯t know it would really hit.¡±


    No matter how good the pistol is, he thought it wouldn¡¯t penetrate the Orc¡¯s head, so he aimed for the eyes.


    However, Jeong-Hoon, who succeeded in getting it right at once, was surprised by himself and looked at the pistol then his three companions alternately.


    ¡°You always hit the target while training to shoot. Why are you so surprised?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a stationary target, and this is a moving target.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who was even more surprised knowing the difference was huge, realized that he had a talent for shooting.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad your Grace is motivated. Then, let¡¯s practice in earnest.¡±


    He inadvertently grabbed an orc, but Butler Joo smiled happily as he observed the scene eagerly.

 Chapter 10

    Wondering if it was really okay to attack the dungeon like this, Jeong-Hoon shot the Orc in the head with a pistol that he was gripping firmly.


    An orc came tumbling down after a gunshot.


    And behind Jeong-Hoon¡ª


    ¡°It¡¯s a great shot.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a hit again this time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll slowly bring the next guy.¡±


    The three vassals are applauding modestly and praising Jeong-Hoon¡¯s shooting skills.


    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re clearing the dungeon, right?¡±


    ¡°You can say it¡¯s true. Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°No. It feels like I¡¯m playing golf instead of attacking a dungeon.¡±


    He never actually played golf, but he did felt like he¡¯s playing golf that¡¯s common in dramas and movies,


    Jeong-Hoon smiled bitterly, it was like a dungeon version of the scene shouting ¡°Boss, nice shot!¡±


    ¡°If you want to play golf, I¡¯ll make a schedule next time.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to play golf.¡±


    It¡¯s just that the situation is the same.


    Golf is a common hobby only for the upper class because dungeons form easier in crowded places.


    He thought it didn¡¯t suit him that much.


    ¡°Oh. Golf is said to be exhausting but dungeons are dangerous because you don¡¯t know when it will be opened. It¡¯ll be better and more popular if rich people make a hobby of shooting monsters in the dungeon.¡±


    There, the rich can enjoy their hobbies as the rich do, and killing monsters does not feel repulsive, and the more monsters die, the more beneficial to mankind.


    In other words, it is a hobby that benefits in many ways.


    ¡°Then shall we run a business?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kidding.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon was just joking around as he wasn¡¯t nervous anymore, but Butler Joo answered seriously.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°What if a huge accident occurs inside the business? The escorts will risk their lives to get the rich to escape safely, and if there are any casualties, the business will be ruined.¡±


    If done wrong, it can become a hobby with the highest injury and mortality rates.


    In addition, in order to open and operate such hobbies into businesses, negotiations with the government must be made, and Lumen¡¯s reputation, which influences various societies, is also flawed.


    The tragedy caused by a dungeon left unattended for a long time had already been seen in another country.


    Representatively, North Korea is a prime example.


    ¡°You have grasped the strengths and weaknesses of being a businessman, not just  humanitarian issues. You are wonderful.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s particularly great. Just by looking at the news in the morning, you can tell how futile operating a business is if countless victims come out of it.¡±


    In other words, Jeong-Hoon, who emphasized that this was only a joke they could make, looked around.


    ¡°Why is the maid of honor so late when she said she¡¯ll be luring monsters out?¡±


    It was time for her to come back, but when she didn¡¯t come, Jeong-Hoon was worried.


    It is said that there is no pressure at all, but that¡¯s because the trio is too strong, not because this dungeon is easy.


    As such, Jeong Yi-Young¡¯s late return, the lowest ranked among the three, is a worrisome part for Jeong-Hoon.


    Something unexpected might have happened and a monster that is too powerful for her to handle may have appeared.


    Jeong-Hoon is still at the entrance of the dungeon, so the dangers lurking inside are still unknown.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°I know, I¡¯m not worried about anyone, but still¡­¡±


    ¡°The 12 vassals are not weak.¡±


    Certainly, it can be said that S-class is not weak, but it is Butler Joo who decided that it is possible to raid the dungeon safely by mobilizing three of the top ten guilds to which an S-class belongs.


    In other words, even if it is an S-class, it is a dungeon where you may face a crisis.


    However, Butler Joo did not worry about Jeong Yi-Young at all.


    ¡°I was a little late because I couldn¡¯t see the Orcs nearby.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon was surprised and relieved at the voice of Jeong Yi-Young, who suddenly appeared from behind and reported.


    As Butler Joo said, she was safe.


    ¡°Really? Then, should we go a little further inside?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who took the magazine given by Yeo Tae-Hyun, reloaded his pistol and regained his stance. He concentrated his mind as he watched the orc running from afar.


    ***


    Jeong-Hoon, who lacks knowledge about dungeons, doesn¡¯t know if they were at the entrance, center or the second half. But as the two other vassals including Butler Joo said they¡¯re at the center, he did not say anything. However, he kept looking around as he doubted that they¡¯re already in the middle of the dungeon.


    ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re in the middle?¡±


    ¡°If you feel the reaction from the core of the dungeon, you¡¯re in the middle.¡±


    ¡°But why does the monster that comes out weaker?¡±


    The core of the dungeon that the awakened instinctively feelsis nothing to Jeong-Hoon, who can¡¯t feel the core¡¯s reaction. He made a face saying that he couldn¡¯t understand.


    I can¡¯t see the orcs that used to come out well at the beginning, and most of them only see monsters such as Kobold and Goblin.


    However, the numbers are quite large, so I am assisted by three people, throwing grenades, and gaining experience in this and that.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a bad day again.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who killed one Kobold with a dagger, which the three of them deliberately pushed towards him, saw that the blade was damaged and clicked his tongue.


    The appearance of Jeong-Hoon holding a broken dagger in a blood-stained suit was quite bizarre.


    But no one cared about the appearance.


    Among the blood on the suit, there is no drop of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s blood. All of them are monster blood caught by Jeong-Hoon in a close combat.


    And the damaged dagger has already eaten the blood of dozens of monsters.


    Rather, it is surprising that Jeong-Hoon, who is a beginner and non-awakened, can fight so neatly.


    ¡°13 monsters. You¡¯re getting better and better.¡±


    Therefore, Yeo Tae-Hyun gave a new dagger and exclaimed pure admiration for Jeong-Hoon¡¯s skills.


    Even with the first dagger alone, the blade went out after killing 5 of them.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s strange to compare with you guys, but it¡¯s already the fifth dagger. It just feels like a waste of money.¡±


    Yeo Tae-Hyun wanted to say that it was more surprising that he had only used 5 daggers so far, but, anyway, he stayed quiet because of the words of the lord, Jeong-Hoon.


    It said that the blade was damaged, but compared to the first dagger, it¡¯s just drenched in too much blood which makes it hard to lift.


    It is enough to clean it well and change the blade once. It¡¯s not that it cannot be used anymore, so it cannot be compared with the first one, which has to be treated as scrap metal.


    ¡°Lord, I know it well because I am leading the Shine Mall, but it is rare among hunters to use a dagger so well.¡±


    It¡¯s not just that the supply squads follow and carry a bunch of bullets and daggers.


    Moreover, daggers are treated as one-time consumables, not as many as bullets.


    An object that can be said to have already done its purpose by killing one.


    Jeong-Hoon, who caught 13 with such a thing, is rather strange.


    ¡°Are you sure you only worked at the Dungeon Logistics Center?¡±


    ¡°No. I did other things besides the Dungeon Logistics Center. It was just 80% of the dungeon logistics centers.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon smiled bitterly because he was praising him for his good skills.


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s self-defense teacher is Butler Joo. He is an SSS-level Awakener who is said to be treated as a member of the national government.


    He is a person who can only rely on his abilities, but he is not satisfied with that, and he is an SSS-level man who honed his skills.


    Learning from such a master, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s technique had no choice but to be sophisticated.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Butler Joo. He¡¯s a bit strict, though.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Lord, Butler Joo is kind.¡±


    When I saw Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s face, which had turned dark, as if something had touched the trauma, Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t say anything and looked at the monster lured by Butler Joo from far away.


    ***


    The second half beyond the middle of the dungeon. Jeong-Hoon, who entered the area called the core, still looked around in a relaxed manner.


    Then he looked at the orcs in the distance, and Jeong-Hoon made a welcoming expression on his face.


    ¡°Oh, I can see the Orcs again in the second half.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this dangerous?¡±


    Unlike Jeong-Hoon, who has no tension as the Orcs he had caught countless times so far, Butler Joo and Yeo Tae-Hyun had a hard expression on their faces.


    And the figure of Jeong Yi-Young, who was standing still from behind, disappears.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°The maid just went on a reconnaissance. Let¡¯s wait for a moment.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded at the relieving words of Butler Joo, and watched Butler Joo and Yeo Tae-Hyun, who were cleaning up the orcs around him in an instant.


    The battle of the Butler Joo, who is an SSS-class and possesses supernatural powers of body strengthening, is simpler than expected.


    He attacks the orcs with overwhelming physical abilities.


    He doesn¡¯t wield it just because he believes in his strength, he wields it based on his skill.


    Yeo Tae-Hyun, who has a subspace power, approaches the orcs and cuts them off with his superpowers.


    Jeong-Hoon scratched his head when he saw him catch the Orcs with the control of opening and closing the subspace, calling it the best supply unit ability.


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s possible only in theory, But it really works.¡±


    It is said that even if you do it with a moderate grade, it¡¯ll be pushed out of the subspace, not into the subspace, but when you see him using it to cut monsters, the control is impressive, I understood how great the output of SS class is.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s an escapee¡±.


    Jeong-Hoon, who believed that the Butler Joo and Yeo Tae-Hyun can never miss one, thought that they let it escape on purpose.


    ¡°Coooo!¡±


    The pistol doesn¡¯t pierce or injure the leg.


    Rather, an orc-like monster would have scratches on its legs.


    However, Jeong-Hoon, who was aiming for the gap created by the scratch, quickly grabbed the rifle he was carrying on his back and shot it at the orc.


    Penetration cannot be expected, but if you shoot for a vital point, it is enough to cause fatal injury.


    And Jeong-Hoon, who rushed to the gasping Orc after suffering a fatal injury, took out a dagger and stabbed the Orc in the neck that was exposed.


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, a first-timer to catch an orc with a dagger, frowned at the huge amount of blood spattered from the orc.


    ¡°I want to throw away my suit.¡±


    It was so uncomfortable that I wanted to take it off right away, but it was not just a suit, but a suit with tremendous technology that was not announced to the world.


    On top of that, it is also a valuable defense device that protects Jeong-Hoon¡¯s life.


    ¡°When we return, we will dispose of it immediately.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Throwing away this expensive thing? Aren¡¯t you gonna wash it well before using it again?¡±


    Even without considering the function, it is expensive because it is a tailored suit, but it is not unusual from the fabric.


    The option of throwing it away already does not exist, but Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the words of Butler Joo, who treats it as a disposable item.


    ¡°It¡¯s a transitional product under development anyway, so there¡¯s no need to feel sorry for it.¡±


    And Jeong-Hoon nodded reluctantly to hear that washing could break the function.


    ¡°How much is this, Butler Joo?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little less than 100 million won.¡±


    Thanks to his gentle answer, Jeong-Hoon felt his head spinning.


    He came in to fill his bucket list, but thanks to that, 100 million won was lost.


    Even that 100 million is purely the price of a suit.


    If he includes the amount of weapons they used and the labor costs of 3 vassals with S rank or higher, it will rise several times more.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even do a dungeon raid.¡±


    ¡°This is a good deal. When the three guilds were moved, the labor costs needed were roughly 1.2 billion won.¡±


    Considering Lumen¡¯s enormous capital, that amount of money is a firefly in front of the sun, but Jeong-Hoon, who has no sense of reality at all, just sticks his tongue out.


    E/N : It¡¯s a metaphor. It¡¯s saying the sun gives off light and fireflies also gives off light, but the light made by fireflies is little compared to the sun. This means the amount of money the labor costs are little compared to the lot of money Lumen has.


    ¡°My Lord, Butler Joo, there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    Meanwhile, Jeong Yi-Young, a superpower who uses telekinesis, came back from reconnaissance and made a serious expression.


    As an S-class Awakened woman, making such an expression means that something unusual has happened, so Jeong-Hoon¡¯s expression hardened in an instant.

 Chapter 11

    There were only a few things that Jung Yi-Young could see as she scouted the core.


    However, Jeong-Hoon could only shake his head because the information she brought back was shocking.


    ¡°An orc boss, you say?¡±


    ¡°To be exact, several orc bosses.¡±


    The sight that Jung Yi-Young saw was a group of orcs led by several orc bosses.


    Orcs were monsters classified as D-class. With that point, defeating A-class monsters wasn¡¯t a problem as long as they had support.


    However, it¡¯s a different story if there are orc bosses leading many of those D-class orcs.


    An orc boss, an A-class monster, is a monster that is not much different from an orc, except for its ability to strengthen the lower-classed orcs.


    Hence, the orcs that are led by the orc bosses can be classified as C-class in this case.


    Taking into the fact that more manpower is needed to defeat higher classed monsters, the herd of orcs that is in this dungeon can be considered even higher than C-class and A-class. Heck, it may even be that of S-class.


    However, if there are several of such orc bosses, something can be inferred.


    ¡°Perhaps, is it the orc lord?¡±


    ¡°I believe that has to be the case. Without an orc lord, it is impossible to gather such a large herd of orcs.¡±


    The number of orcs ¨C that can¡¯t even be considered as an S-class by itself ¨C is a sign of the appearance of an orc lord.


    Personal firearms won¡¯t work on monsters that are S-class and up. They¡¯ll need high-definition power such as a tank.


    The idea of fighting an S-class monster was already a pain, but to think they actually had to fight an orc lord that was S-classed¡­


    Orc lords always left behind extraordinary records.


    There was a case in China where an orc lord had to be lured into the coast to be taken care of using a battleship.


    It¡¯ll sound absurd to have battleships in the modern time, but battleships have been rebuilt in order to face such monsters.


    With the help of the navy, the orc lord was dealt with, but it didn¡¯t necessarily erase the terror it brought to the world.


    Another case happened in the US, where three SS-class hunters formed a guild alliance to defeat an orc lord.


    It may sound strange that three SS-class hunters fought one S-class orc lord, but that may help to illustrate its terrifying fighting power.


    And so the orc lord may be classified as S-class in the system, but it can be realistically defined as SS-class.


    Now Jeong-Hoon is here, with only four, no, excluding the powerless Jeong-Hoon, only three had to deal with the herd of orcs, along with the orc lord.


    ¡°Maybe we should have brought a tank?¡±


    It may sound like a useless idea when they¡¯re inside a dungeon, but it also sounded like the most effective at the same time.


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head when he imagined a future of himself requesting dozens of tanks, combat helicopters, and fire net until his last breath.


    No matter how much power the family had, this situation wasn¡¯t something that seemed to be within reach of those ¡®hidden powers.¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s possible to mobilize tanks and helicopters, but preventing the information from leaking out is the problem.¡±


    ¡°¡­we have tanks and helicopters?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon looked at Butler Joo with an incredulous face, but couldn¡¯t bring himself to say anything more when Butler Joo looked back with a face that said, ¡®that¡¯s nothing to be surprised about.¡¯


    ¡°Anyways, what will happen if tanks and helicopters aren¡¯t enough? Should we call over the other two guilds outside?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon thought of the temporarily allied guilds, Ace Jack and X-ONE, but then shook his head.


    If members of those two guilds came to help them fight an orc lord that was specialized in mass violence, there may be casualties on their side.


    ¡°Or we can let the Hunter Association know so that they can respond accordingly- ah. That won¡¯t do.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon clicked his tongue as he canceled what he just said. This was because the Hunter Association had a fault in this escalated situation.


    They had classified this dungeon as an A-class dungeon when S-class and SS-class monsters could be pouring out of it at any second.


    ¡°My Lord, there¡¯s no need to concern yourself too much.¡±


    Butler Joo smoothly smiled at Jeong-Hoon in reassurance.


    ¡°There are many ways to take care of situations like this.¡±


    Looking at the excited, sparkling eyes of Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon nodded.


    He didn¡¯t know what sort of way could be used to resolve this problem, but he felt like he needed to rely on the senses of an SSS-class Awakener.


    ***


    To be completely honest, Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t believe it when the SSS-class Butler Joo said he had an idea.


    He simply believed that Butler Joo planned to suppress the monsters with pure strength.


    However, that was not the case.


    ¡°Miss Maid, any movements from the opponent?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. They haven¡¯t spotted us yet.¡±


    The idea was to kill as many of them as possible before the orc lord gathered the orcs to march out.


    Traditions are traditions, but in a realistically impossible way, the three vassals planned to launch an attack on the orcs.


    While nobody ever dared to launch an attack on the orc lord by themselves, it didn¡¯t mean it was impossible to succeed.


    The problem was that even if they successfully defeated the orc bosses, the orc lord had the ability to call the other orcs to regroup, which would make after attacks difficult.


    However, the three vassals were about to make do with this plan.


    First, Butler Joo will eliminate the orc bosses before they notice him coming.


    As the surprised lower-classed orcs try to run away, Jung Yi-Young will tie them together using psychokinesis.


    Yeo Tae-Hyun will then place the orcs¡¯ corpses into a subspace using his skill to erase any traces.


    ¡°By repeating these steps, do you believe it will prevent the orc lord from making a move?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Without subordinates to use its power on, there¡¯s nothing more it can do. All it will be is a stronger version of the orcs we will have fought.¡±


    Listening to the plan that Butler Joo organized, Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t help but think that his butler truly is an SSS-class Awakener.


    ¡°In fact, if we stretched our limits a bit we could try to gather them all together and annihilate them at once, but I didn¡¯t introduce this plan in the thought of endangering you in the process, my Lord.¡±


    ¡°You sound so prideful right now.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be proud of when going up against those trivial orcs.¡±


    Trivial? Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t know what to think as he is the one who has to run away, trying to keep his life intact once they enter the battleground.


    He was barely able to kill one or two orcs with the help of the vassals.


    ¡°Boss Joo, there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    ¡°Instead of reporting to me, how about reporting to our Lord first, Miss Maid?¡±


    ¡°¡­ I apologize, but now is not the time to quibble over procedures.¡±


    Jung Ji-Young¡¯s expression had gone stiff in seriousness due to the need for Butler Joo¡¯s quick judgment.


    Because she was in charge of scouting, Butler Joo, too, became serious and nodded for her to speak.


    ¡°What is the problem? Is the orc lord perhaps trying to leave the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I was able to confirm a big horde of orcs making its move to the entrance.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t able to see the orc lord, but when the entire herd of orcs moved as one, it only meant one thing.


    ¡°If the orc lord, the boss of the dungeon, leaves the dungeon¡­then it would create a big mess since the dungeon will collapse, right?¡±


    ¡°¡­that is how it¡¯s known to be, yes.¡±


    Butler Joo, who opened his mouth to say something, closed it and nodded with moderate affirmation because it was now a race against time.


    They must block the orc lord from leaving the dungeon.


    ¡°It seems you¡¯ll need to push your limits.¡±


    ¡°I ¡­have nothing to say about that.¡±


    Butler Joo smiled bitterly and Jeong-Hoon just shook his head.


    ***


    3,000. That¡¯s a huge number.


    It may seem like a small number for mass violence, but the number 3,000 seen with your own eyes is a lot more than you can imagine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see the end of their number.¡±


    If they were standing on top of a higher terrain like a hill, they could have seen where the number of orcs stopped, but since they were on equal grounds with the orcs, all they could see were endless bodies of marching orcs.


    The opponents were 3,000 while on their side were only four.


    Well, in exception to Jeong-Hoon, who was a non-awakened being, there were actually three on their side.


    Logically, their numbers were no match for that horde. However, the three on their side were Awakeners of at least class S or higher.


    ¡°Then shall we go?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good you have your drive going, Butler Yeo Tae-Hyun, but please note that the safety of our Lord is the top priority.¡±


    ¡°Eh, Boss Joo, I know that much.¡±


    ¡°Secondly¡­¡±


    ¡°To not leave any traces of us, of our family.¡±


    Yeo Tae-Hyun and Jung Yi-Young nodded as Butler Joo conducted a mini brief before entering the battleground.


    ¡°There are only two things to watch out for. Since it¡¯s been a while, let¡¯s go about it as much as we want.¡±


    As he said those last words, Butler Joo rushed forward. At his signal, the other two rushed towards the orcs.


    ¡°Wait, if everyone goes out, what about me¡­¡±


    Jeong-Hoon was taken aback at the fact that there was no one left to guard him, but his jaw dropped when he saw something even more shocking.


    The three that had charged forth were of at least class S, where Butler Joo was the strongest as someone who was SSS-class.


    ¡°Roarrr!¡±


    However, when the orcs shouted all at once, the three faltered as if they were blocked by an invisible barrier.


    ¡°As expected, these orcs are worthy of being led by the orc lord.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you charge at them knowing that already?¡±


    When their advance was blocked by the orcs¡¯ roar, the three had quickly returned back to where Jeong-Hoon was, shaking their heads and sighing.


    ¡°Just like how we had known the orc bosses would strengthen the orcs, I had also expected the orc lord to have a similar ability, but since we don¡¯t know how far its abilities could go, it was an experiment.¡±


    ¡°So what was the result of the experiment?¡±


    ¡°The normal orcs are A-classes and I believe the orc bosses are S-classes.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon realized why the orc lord was considered a disaster. Its ability to strengthen D-class orcs to A-class was frightening.


    ¡°And we need to stop that disastrous orc lord here, right?¡±


    ¡°Eh. I think we¡¯ll just need to do whatever we can do now ¨C go wild. Let¡¯s go crazy.¡±


    Yeo Tae-Hyun said this as he brought out several firearms. In contrast to Jeong-Hoon¡¯s grim expression, the other two smiled at the idea.


    ***


    Currently, a blindly-aimed gun rampage was going on. Jeong-Hoon frowned when his gun became jammed when he pulled the trigger.


    ¡°CEO Yeo! Gun!¡±


    ¡°That was the last one!¡±


    Earlier when they had entered the dungeon, the orcs were killed instantly with a headshot.


    However, these same orcs were at a different level once they became strengthened by the orc lord¡¯s ability.


    The firearms and ammunition that had been stored in Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s subspace had been serving its worth until the subspace became empty, but the orcs they killed were only 30% of its original count.


    ¡°Roarrr!¡±


    Seeing the orcs rushing in ignorance to their own death, Jeong-Hoon quickly tried to throw a grenade but frowned when he realized his waistband, which held the grenades, was empty.


    ¡°Damn it! I ran out of grenades!¡±


    He was in a situation where he didn¡¯t have any guns or grenades. He couldn¡¯t run away, so Jeong-Hoon took out a dagger he had prepared in advance, and threw it.


    ¡°Grrr¡­¡±


    The dagger struck the orc exactly in its eye and the once running orc fell down.


    Seeing that, Jeong-Hoon threw more daggers to intercept some of the orcs running towards them.


    Unfortunately, the number of daggers he had wasn¡¯t a lot. There were only five remaining at most.


    However, Jeong-Hoon looked at the other three people in hope, knowing he was able to be of help in making effective hits.


    ¡°Please recover the dag¡­¡±


    As he spoke, Jeong-Hoon realized he had been too immersed with his own accomplishments.


    The others were S-class awakeners. They were not people who would be lost from being weaponless, like him. They were already dealing with orcs using their abilities without the use of weapons.


    The only problem was that the four people were being pushed almost all the way back due to the orcs¡¯ tactics.


    ¡°Roarrr!¡±


    Seeing the entrance to the dungeon was almost of reach, the orcs roared for victory. They must have instinctively recognized that getting out of the dungeon would be their victory.


    ¡°What should we do now? Do we need to retreat back out and form a siege?¡±


    ¡°That is one way, but the moment the orc lord goes out of the dungeon, the dungeon will collapse at an accelerating rate.¡±


    ¡°Then are there any other ways?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon could tell Butler Joo was trying to sprinkle some of the family secrets to him, but Jeong-Hoon deliberately ignored it. Rather than learning family secrets, it was more important to subdue the orcs first.


    ¡°There is something I wasn¡¯t able to explain to your Grace yet.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just move on; it¡¯s not just one thing you kept from me. It¡¯s the hidden secrets, right?¡±


    At his words, Butler Joo, along with the other two people, nodded.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s put off the details for later; can you first solve this situation with those hidden secrets of yours?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who said this, had actually expected the ¡®hidden secret¡¯ to possibly be a steel suit flying out of nowhere for them to wear and fight. However, he noticed that that wasn¡¯t the case and that something about the orcs had changed. They stiffened in fright.


    It wasn¡¯t like the three people were holding weapons or anything, but the orcs were shaking.


    ¡°Since I received permission, I will go at it with all my might.¡±


    The moment the butler rolled his right foot forward, the ground split, and a small earthquake occurred.


    As he brought his fist down from above, a type of gray energy caused the orcs to burst.


    ¡°Um, wait. That move- isn¡¯t that the thing we commonly see in martial arts¡­¡±


    ¡°As you imagined, it is kwon-kang.¡±


    T/N: Kwon-kang (pronounced as kwon-kahng) is often seen commonly in genres with martial arts. Derived from geom-gi (??) and geom-gang (??) ¨C a solid form of aura that is emitted from a sword; you see this when the wielder is slashing the sword. Butler Joo is using his fist, so you can imagine it as a solidified aura of his fist smashing down on the orcs.


    When Butler Joo confirmed his thought, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s common sense smashed to smithereens.


    The common sense from his idea that ¡®for the past 10 years, mankind developed superhuman strength, the possible existence of monsters, and no martial arts and magic exists in the world¡¯, completely collapsed.


    ¡°Is the skill that turns A-class into S-class perhaps¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s martial arts and magic.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon could only see martial arts happening in front of him, but when he turned his head in the direction of where he suddenly felt scorching heat, he found himself looking at the maid with a half-translucent circle on her opened palm.


    Numerous shapes and indecipherable characters were on the circle.


    It was a magic circle.


    ¡°Hellfire.¡±


    Blue flame emanated from the magic circle upon the maid¡¯s calm command, incinerating the orcs into ashes.


    ¡°Then I, too, will go and warm up my body!¡±


    Last but not least, Yeo Tae-Hyun pulled a huge sword from his subspace and rushed towards the orcs.


    Whenever he wielded his sword, an energy of some sort, that is, geom-gang, sliced through the orcs.


    ¡°What the- why didn¡¯t CEO Yeo use that weapon earlier?¡±


    ¡°That is because that sword¡¯s existence is Butler Yeo¡¯s martial arts.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, a cold aura rose from Yeo Tae-Hyun¡¯s sword and froze the orcs.


    Then, the sword smashed through them.


    ¡°Ah, it must be a magic sword.¡±


    ¡°Butler Yeo is the vassal who manages the family¡¯s armory. This is why I recommended Shine Mall as your first task.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who realized that the tasks he was given weren¡¯t just a simple ordeal of integrating businesses to become the head of the household, collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°If you already gave the skill to the Saturn Guild¡¯s master, then why is the guild master asking for more?¡±


    ¡°That is because the form of martial arts I gave was suitable for Saturn¡¯s guild master only. If another individual took up the art, their body would end up having to pay a hefty price.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon shook his head at Butler Joo¡¯s last sentence. He could now understand why the Saturn Guild¡¯s master coveted the skill so much.


    ¡°Could I possibly learn¡­ that won¡¯t do. The minimum requirement to earn the skill is being an S-class awakener, right?¡±


    ¡°Squeal!¡±


    Behind the silently nodding Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon could see the flying head of an orc boss Yeo Tae-Hyun cut off.


    It was unbelievable to think that someone who had been pushed back earlier was now flying here and there, making orcs¡¯ heads rain.


    ¡°Only now does it feel like having something as a tank as a hidden weapon was a form of deception.¡±


    ¡°Were you able to guess with this much information? You are correct; Tanks are just a camouflage to hide the true power of the family.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon had wondered which organization in the world would use a tank to hide their true power, but on second thought, it was plausible.


    The secret was something definitely worth hiding when imagining the S-class maid using a magic skill to fry the hell out of the orc lord.

 Chapter 12

    The next day after subjugating the Orc Road.


    ¡°Uh-huh!¡±


    After taking a shower, Jeong-Hoon, who had just fallen asleep, let out a small scream at the muscle pain he had forgotten for about a month.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I obviously drank the potion before going to bed, so why is it hurting so much?¡±


    It¡¯s so painful that Jeong-Hoon can¡¯t feel the effect of the fatigue recovery medicine he drinks every day.


    Jeong-Hoon frowned from the muscle pain.


    As a habit, he stands up from his bed and tries to go to the sofa, but it¡¯s so intense that he stretches to the floor instead.


    ¡°It seems that it has exceeded the recovery amount of the potion.¡±


    ¡°¡­ When you say that, it sounds like a real magic potion.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic. To be precise, it¡¯s called alchemy.¡±


    ¡°Can you say that out loud?¡±


    ¡°What is there to hide from the Lord?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who thought that the potion was the result of supernatural power and medicine so far, frowned when he had a convulsion in his neck while trying to nod his head at his calm confession.


    ¡°Oh, no. I can¡¯t even turn my head!¡±


    Jeong-Hoon feels pathetic when he tries to scream while lying on the floor.


    Fortunately, this is not the usual PC room or Jjimjilbang, but Lumen¡¯s Royal Suite.


    That might make him less pathetic, but the gaze of the three vassals made him feel more pathetic.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just look at me, help me.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to the hospital?¡±


    ¡°No, who in the world goes to the hospital with muscle pain? The hospital is not mine.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Why not make it yours? It will be yours anyway.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon frowned at the absurd reaction that returned to his playful remark.


    Come to think of it, there was a hospital where I had to solve the family¡¯s business, namely the task left by my uncle.


    ¡°It was Myeongil Hospital, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is where Your Grace was hospitalized for malnutrition a while ago.¡±


    ¡°¡­ To do my homework, let¡¯s go get a medical checkup.¡±


    If you snap your finger, the doctor will come to you, but Jeong-Hoon thought it would be good to visit him for his homework, so he nodded his head and frowned at the sudden pain.


    ***


    Myeongil Hospital is a hospital operated by the Myeongil Medical Foundation, one of the camouflages of the family.


    It is a disguise that was operating before the world changed and a hospital that has led the treatment of awakeners since the advent of monsters.


    Originally, it was one of the world¡¯s leading hospitals with the best medical staff.


    It is always crowded with patients as it runs as a leader in Hunter treatment.


    On top of that, treatment costs are low, so it is a place where everyone, whether rich or ordinary people, can meet equally as patients.


    ¡°Thanks to you, I¡¯m waiting too.¡±


    After drinking the potion like water, most of the muscle aches were now relieved, and Jeong-Hoon sighed as he sat down on one side of the hospital lobby.


    ¡°If you want, you can get medical treatment right away.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s cutting in line.¡±


    ¡°Director Woo Do-il is your doctor. It¡¯s not cutting in, it¡¯s a legitimate exercise of rights.¡±


    ¡°Do you think there are other people whose doctor is your primary care physician?¡±


    A person who is called a doctor by Jeong-Hoon, Woo Do-il is a very capable person as a doctor.


    Although one of the 12 family members, he is the director of one of the world¡¯s leading hospitals and an authority in the medical field.


    Rather than a vassal, he deserves to be a doctor for others than Jeong-Hoon because of his superficial status.


    ¡°No, Director Woo Do-il is only for the chairman of Lumen, he¡¯s just taking care of others because he has time left.¡±


    In other words, there is no problem cutting in line, but that is only systematic, not morally.


    And all of the patients who Woo Do-il is taking care of are celebrities that can be seen in newspapers.


    Canceling such people¡¯s reservations and letting Jeong-Hoon come is also bad for Lumen¡¯s image.


    ¡°You even thought about management. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be sorry.¡±


    Shaking his head at the sight of Butler Joo, speaking while bowing his head, Jeong-Hoon took out his cell phone from his pocket.


    There was still plenty of time before meeting Woo Do-il, so I thought I¡¯d have a good time.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you, Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon?¡±


    He only focused for a moment, but when a man in his thirties approached and talked to him, Jeong-Hoon unconsciously nodded his head.


    ¡°Oh, yes, that¡¯s right¡­ .¡±


    A man in his 30s suddenly approached me. You can tell he¡¯s a businessman in a custom suit that isn¡¯t that expensive, but his look doesn¡¯t suit him at all.


    Neat, but nicely decorated with a curly impression. Balanced body.


    He wanted to be a hunter, but Jeong-Hoon, who was observing him slowly, quickly realized who he was.


    ¡°By any chance, Chairman Kim Sang-myung?¡±


    ¡°Oh! You recognize me. This is an honor.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. Rather, I am honored.¡±


    Confused when he met someone he had never thought of meeting, Jeong-Hoon couldn¡¯t resist holding and shaking his hand.


    Chairman Kim Sang-myung. Age 34.


    As a businessman in an era where Hunters are as famous as celebrities, he is a person who is highly recognized.


    In particular, he is one of the most influential people in the world in terms of economy.


    If you were a 34-year-old chairman, you usually come from the second generation of a chaebol, but he¡¯s not.


    16 years ago, at the age of only 18, he emerged as an investor and attracted attention, and founded his own company at the age of 20.


    When Dungeons appeared at the age of 24, he contributed to the stabilization of the world by giving up his fortune, but he is a businessman who is still on the rise up to this day.


    If Jeong-Hoon is disguised as a young entrepreneur, he is a real young entrepreneur who started as a student.


    ¡°I have always wanted to see you, but I never imagined that I would see you here.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, is that so?¡±


    ¡°I started my business at an early age, and I was proud that there was no businessman younger than me, but when I got to know the chairman, I realized that I was arrogant.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon did not necessarily correct that it isn¡¯t true, not because of pride.


    Jeong-Hoon only disguised what he inherited as what he made, and a business he worked on.


    He thrives in everything he does there, so now that superpowers are taken for granted, people are jokingly calling him a regressor.


    ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who had nothing to say, turned the words around moderately.


    The place is a hospital, so it¡¯s a perfect situation to talk with worries.


    ¡°Of course, I came to see Mr. Woo Do-il. This is a regular health checkup, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it. Don¡¯t you feel the same way?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here for a medical checkup.¡±


    Fortunately, Jeong-Hoon was a little relieved to hear that there was no health problem.


    Among the projects of Kim Sang-myung is a welfare foundation, and Jeong-Hoon, who spent his high school days in an orphanage, also benefited from the welfare foundation.


    In a still chaotic world, Jeong-Hoon was able to receive even a small settlement thanks to Kim Sang-myung¡¯s Welfare Foundation, so Jeong-Hoon also has a heart of respect for him.


    ¡°I want to talk for a long time because I met you like this, but I shouldn¡¯t keep you waiting, so I¡¯ll go first. How about having a meal next time?¡±


    ¡°Should I? I¡¯m not bragging, but Lumen¡¯s meal is great, so I¡¯d like to treat you someday.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s Lumen¡¯s meal, I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±


    Kim Sang-myung, who greeted him with an expression of genuine anticipation, entered the treatment room, and Jeong-Hoon took a short breath.


    ¡°This makes me feel like I¡¯ve become a really high-ranking person.¡±


    ¡°You are a really high-ranking person.¡±


    Up until now, Kim Sang-myung was a benefactor and he felt that he was a being above the clouds, but Jeong-Hoon, who was surprised to be able to talk with him on an equal footing, made up his mind again.


    Jeong-Hoon himself is aware that there is no end to his change and the power of the family.


    ¡°Butler Joo, Kim Sang-myung is not from the family, right?¡±


    ¡°No. As you can see from the list, if he was a member of the family, you would have guessed that he would be one of the 12 vassals.¡±


    ¡°By the way, everything he touches is successful, and he¡¯s acting fast in an era when you¡¯ve changed into a huge asset. Isn¡¯t it similar to what the family is doing just by looking at it?¡±


    The family concealed it, but except that Kim Sang-myung did it openly, the behavior was similar, so Jeong-Hoon¡¯s question is valid in a way.


    However, the question was not valid at all for the Butler Joo.


    ¡°Lord, the family is not the only one who has a will to protect the world.¡±


    At the voice of the serious Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon still felt that the world was still a worthy place to live in.


    ***


    Woo Do-il, one of the 12 family members in charge of Myeongil Hospital, is a man in his 50s with a very hard expression.


    He has a good physique, and when he sits with his head over his shoulders in a modest posture, he looks like a soldier rather than a doctor.


    ¡°The Lord is in good health. Are you here for an assignment?¡±


    As soon as he saw Jeong-Hoon, Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the remarks that neatly blew away one of today¡¯s schedules.


    He had felt it from the moment he was hospitalized, but he is such a hard person that conversations cannot be established.


    It¡¯s surprising that such a person appeared right away when he first learned to snap his fingers.


    ¡°I¡¯m here for a medical checkup. Can you conclude that at a glance?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying this because the results have already come out.¡±


    It was understandable because it was Jeong-Hoon, who already had blood drawn and tested, but even the lord himself was terrified of Woo Do-il¡¯s attitude, treating him like a normal patient.


    If this had been the case so far, the Butler Joo would have yelled right away, but the Butler Joo shakes his head as if he had already given up.


    ¡°Well, what should I expect when I come to the hospital because of muscle pain? It¡¯s true that I came here for an assignment.¡±


    Since Butler Joo also had no intention of arguing that he had resigned, Jeong-Hoon immediately brought up the task.


    Then, Woo Do-il opened the safe under his desk and took out an envelope.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll execute it.¡±


    With a calm declaration, Woo Do-il stood up from his seat, and Butler Joo immediately looked at the envelope and immediately knelt down on one knee.


    In that atmosphere, Jeong-Hoon was slightly surprised, saying that even Woo Do-il, who was just stiff, had this kind of appearance.


    However, when Woo Do-il boosted his momentum, Jeong-Hoon was under intense pressure.


    Of course, Woo Do-il, an SS-class awakener, did not seriously boost his momentum, but it is a posture that shows how sincere Woo Do-il deals with the task.


    ¡°It is left behind by the 237th head of the family. The 238th head of the family who wants to acquire Myeongil Hospital. Take care of a terminally ill patient for a week and realize the preciousness of life. The examiner appoints Woo Do-il, the butler in charge of Myeongil Hospital.¡±


    After Woo Do-il had read all the assignments, he gathered momentum, and he approached Jeong-Hoon, bowed politely, and handed out a letter with the assignment written on it.


    ¡°Can you change it to another project?¡±


    ¡°The task is an absolute thing left by the previous head of the family.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who felt burdened by the fact that he was using human life to complete the task by accepting the letter, turned it around and refused, Butler Joo and Woo Do-il began to persuade him that the task was necessary.

 Chapter 13

    In the end, Jeong-Hoon, surrendered to the persuasion of Butler Joo and Woo Do-il, but did not hide his reluctance while visiting the hospital room.


    ¡°It¡¯s not right to use terminally ill patients just for assignments. I have a guilty conscience.¡±


    ¡°Think of it in a good way. The patient we are visiting this time is an unrelated person who has no family and no guild to protect them. To comfort such a person, the motive is good deeds.¡±


    If you do it without being eliminated, you will pass the task.


    However, since it was a task carried out with a person¡¯s life, my heart was heavy because my motivation was impure.


    ¡°To be honest, this is hypocrisy.¡±


    ¡°The hypocrisy is also part of the task.¡±


    At the straightforward words of Butler Joo, Jeong-Hoon sighed and looked at the hospital room in front of him.


    Single ward. It is a room that is burdensome for ordinary patients to use, but Myeongil Hospital also provides it to Hunter who have worked hard for the world.


    One of the patients who became the subject of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s assignment is Lee So-Hyun.


    She¡¯s currently 25 years old. Although she is still young, she is a woman who waits for her death due to an incurable disease that only Hunters suffer from.


    Jeong-Hoon, who knocked on the woman¡¯s hospital room, found Lee So-Hyun looking out of the window in the hospital bed.


    So-Hyun, looks blank but has an aura of a veteran who has been through quite a mess, had short hair up to her shoulders and sharp eyes.


    A healthy face that seems to have only a week left to live there.


    It¡¯s hard to believe she looks so healthy, but it¡¯s true that she only has a week left.


    The so-called Hunter¡¯s disease, which only awakeners suffer from, is such an incurable disease.


    The detailed cause is unknown and treatment is also unavailable.


    It was an indicator of how much she, a D-class hunter, used her superpowers as the illness is observed in hunters who overused their abilities.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°This is Joo Young-Chul, the director of Lumen. And this is the person I serve¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Lee Jeong-Hoon, chairman of Lumen.¡±


    ¡°Ah! That young businessman? But what are you doing here?¡±


    When asked what was going on, Jeong-Hoon was in a hurry to answer.


    Even ordinary people may not know, but the fact that he, who leads Lumen, a large corporation, came to see her, felt as if there might be a way to cure it, giving her hope.


    In fact, her expression brightens up whether she expects it.


    ¡°I volunteered for Hunter who worked for the world.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you said you¡¯re a young businessman who¡¯s the president of a conglomerate. You must be quite free.¡±


    The glimmer of hope that had flashed her for a moment was extinguished, but she still smiled politely.


    ¡°It¡¯s not because I¡¯m free, but because I¡¯m literally a volunteer.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no camera? Celebrities volunteer in front of cameras.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that kind of thing.¡±


    Blurring his words, Jeong-Hoon pulled himself together not to be drawn into her bright smile.


    If you get caught up in this way, I think you¡¯ll break up saying, ¡°Take care of yourself and overcome the illness!¡± And it¡¯s like a failure of a task.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be straightforward. Is there anything you wanted to do? If possible, I¡¯ll make it come true.¡±


    What came out of Jeong-Hoon¡¯s mouth, who decided to do his best while keeping himself together, was simple.


    As the saying goes, money can control ghosts. Jeong-Hoon decided to spend a huge amount of money taking care of So-Hyun until the end.


    TL/N: Money can control ghosts means money can do even the impossible.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to do¡­ I want to grab the head of the incompetent Hunter Association by the collar, can you make it happen?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. Shall we do it?¡±


    I thought she would want luxuries, but I sensed it from the start.


    And that wish was no big deal in the family standard.


    ***


    Hunter Association. As the name suggests, it should be a group that represents the interests of hunters, but it is actually an affiliated organization of the government.


    Originally, it was an organization that was founded byLumen and it was to help hunters both physically and mentally under the name of the Association.


    However, Lumen, to be exact, the Hunter Association, was the only one who properly responded to the emergence of awakening people, but the government hampered it.


    The government did not welcome the Hunter Association, which they had no control over.


    However, it is impossible to manage Hunters without any know-how or system.


    So, the government negotiated with Lumen and put the Hunter Association under them.


    It was a one-sided tyranny of the government, but it was a family that could not establish a confrontation with the government, so all of their people registered as awakeners and even made cooperative gestures.


    At first glance, the family seems to have lost the association to the government¡¯s checks and was unilaterally defeated, but the influence that it started from Lumen has not yet disappeared.


    And its influence made it possible for Jeong-Hoon to grab the head of the D-class Hunter¡¯s association by the collar, who doubted, ¡®Is it really possible?¡¯


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense for these kids to side with the guild and not protect each hunter¡¯s rights!¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s the law, so there¡¯s nothing you can do about it¡­ .¡±


    ¡°How dare you! How can a monster invade by following the law? This is why a person who is not a hunter should not be the head of the association, asking if it¡¯s civil control or not!¡±


    Lee So-Hyun, who was forced out of the guild after stepping down due to an incurable disease, shook his collar as she poured out her anger on the head of the association.


    No matter how sick she is, she is a D-Class Hunter. Since her physical abilities surpassed that of ordinary people, he wondered if the president of the Association, who was an ordinary person, would be okay, but he did not stop her because it seemed that she was controlling her power.


    In fact, Butler Joo, who is watching from behind, is just watching.


    ¡°By the way, since we introduced ourselves under our name, wouldn¡¯t it be bad luck if we do this?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Without their know-how, the Hunter Association cannot function. In fact, the government is still wary of Lumen because of that.¡±


    It looks like a one-sided defeat for a person who only knows a little about the situation, but the family never lost the association.


    It has created a means to exert influence on the association at any given time.


    One of them is the magic and martial arts passed down to hunters with talents.


    Therefore, even if he is grabbed by the collar, he cannot make a loud noise and complain with his eyes to release his frustration while looking at Jeong-Hoon and the Butler Joo.


    ¡°Excuse me, Hunter Lee So-Hyun? I think that¡¯s enough.¡±


    ¡°No, this isn¡¯t enough.¡±


    ¡°I understand how you feel, but there¡¯s no hospital room for such a person in Myeongil Hospital.¡±


    When I turned to say that he would be taken to the hospital if she continued further, she frowned and put her hand down.


    ¡°Do it properly from now on! I¡¯ll be watching from the afterlife!¡±


    She seems to be shaking her hands so hard to the point where they don¡¯t know if she¡¯s really an incurable patient, but she is definitely a patient.


    She is just an awakened person, and because her physical abilities surpass those of ordinary people, she moves quickly even though she is seriously ill.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop being angry. It¡¯s a waste if you spend the rest of your time on someone like this.¡±


    Although he made remarks that openly ignored the head of the association, Jeong-Hoon was relentless.


    He has a Hunter Otaku tendency and his parents were F-class hunters.


    So now I know how problematic the Hunter Association is, and that the head of the association is really incompetent.


    It is just a parachute sitting in contact with the current regime.


    ¡°What the chairman said is true, but I¡¯m still angry.¡±


    TL/N: Parachute here means that someone got the position through connections.


    ¡°Is there anything else you want to do now?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who barely managed to soothe So-Hyun, clicked his tongue when he saw the head of the Hunter Association, who had become worn out.


    I had something to say, but when I saw So-Hyun¡¯s tatteredness, my eagerness to say something cooled down.


    ¡°Lumen¡¯s cuisine is said to be so good that three stars are not enough, would you like to try it?¡±


    So-Hyun made a request that seemed a bit difficult the first time, and then made a surprisingly simple request the second time, and Jeong-Hoon nodded his head.


    As much as that is possible.


    ***


    The best room in Lumen was provided to Lee So-Hyun, who not only enjoyed eating in Lumen, but also enjoyed all the facilities of Lumen.


    And on the second day, what she wanted, rather, Jeong-Hoon himself was nervous and swallowed his saliva.


    ¡°Chairman, would you like a cup of Cheongsimhwan?¡±


    TL/N : Cheongsimhwan is a pill to clear your mind and it also has calming effects.


    ¡°¡­ Do you think I am that nervous?¡±


    ¡°Very much so.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I heard you¡¯re a 20 year old young businessman, but you are not as much of a risk taker as I thought.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m a human anyway, so there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Would I have put the main director as my representative in public?¡±


    So-Hyun, who decided to speak casually within a day, burst into laughter at Jeong-Hoon¡¯s appearance.


    In her eyes, Jeong-Hoon didn¡¯t appear to be a young man who made an ambitious declaration that ¡®I will make the world remember my name¡¯ on TV.


    He just seemed to be an ordinary young man who existed everywhere.


    On top of that, there is even a simple appearance of treating So-Hyun like a sister, saying that she is older and talking comfortably.


    She hasn¡¯t seen Jeong-Hoon for a long time yet, but Jeong-Hoon has a fascinating charm with various aspects, so she thinks he has created a huge business called Lumen.


    And now he was just an ordinary young man. Who is also nervous about meeting his favorite idol.


    ¡°It¡¯s my wish. Why does it feel like it¡¯s Chairman Lee¡¯s wish?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, good things are good things.¡±


    In fact, it is also his wish. The wish that came up at the top of my bucket list.


    Therefore, Jeong-Hoon smiled helplessly while drinking Cheongsimhwan given by Butler Joo, and opened the door to a drawing room with guests who had been invited.


    Currently, the highest-grade room where Lee So-Hyun stays is large enough to have a living room.


    It is a room given to the chairman of a large company or to one of the best hunters, and Jeong-Hoon greatly fulfilled her desire to sleep in Lumen.


    Considering that Lumen¡¯s chairman, Jeong-Hoon, stays in a royal suite rather than Lumen¡¯s first-class room, you can imagine how great he was treated.


    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting. This is Joo Young-Chul, the director of Lumen, and this is¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Lee Jeong-Hoon, the chairman of Lumen. And¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Lee So-Hyun, a former D-class hunterI owe this to the chairman. Hello.¡±


    When the three smiled quietly as they entered the drawing room and introduced themselves, a woman who appeared to be a girl drinking tea bounced and stood up.


    A young appearance that looks like an adult but still a high school student, and neatly tied hair in a ponytail. She looks pure, but nervous, she bows to the point where it is close to 90 degrees.


    ¡°Oh, hello! I¡¯m Han Si-Eun of FC Guild! I look forward to your kind cooperation!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so nervous. I brought you here at her request.¡±


    It is a small minority elite guild named FC. Friendship Castle.


    Han Si-Eun is the face of FC and the youngest S-class hunter.


    She is a female hunter who Jeong-Hoon said he wanted to meet while watching TV, and almost got Butler Joo called.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be invited!¡±


    Si-Eun looked at Jeong-Hoon, the chairman, and looked at Butler Joo and So-Hyun alternately.


    It seems that she couldn¡¯t even refuse because it was the Chairman of Lumen¡¯s call without even knowing the reason why she was called.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, but Hunter Lee So-Hyun is currently struggling with the Hunter¡¯s disease, and she said she wanted to meet Han Si-Eun, so I forcibly invited you using my authority. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon put So-Hyun at the forefront of expressing gratitude, not apology.


    ¡°Oh, Hunter¡¯s disease¡­¡±


    Han Si-Eun couldn¡¯t speak properly because she knew what disease it was.


    There are only tears in her eyes when she sees So-Hyun.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to meet me because I wanted to be comforted, so you don¡¯t have to be sad. I just said I wanted to meet Han Si-Eun, I¡¯m a fan of the youngest S-class hunter.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Thank you. I just did what I could, but please call me a fan too.¡±


    ¡°I become a fan because you do what you can properly.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon took a step back at the sight of So-Hyun shaking hands with all her might, who became the face of a fan who met someone she really admired regardless of age.


    ¡°I want to ask for your autograph and a picture. Is it okay?¡±


    ¡°As much as you want!¡±


    When Si-Eun nods at So-Hyun¡¯s request, Butler Joo takes out the paper and pan and hands it over to Si-Eun.


    Jeong-Hoon envied the sight of handing over the signed paper and taking pictures together naturally.


    Although it is a fan meeting for only one person, it is enough to make a small desire, ¡®Can I ask you a favor during this time?¡¯


    ¡°Wow! It came out well. Director Joo is good at taking pictures.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a must to take a picture with the chairman.¡±


    ¡°Chairman Lee! Please use this as a portrait picture! It came out so well that I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have any regrets even if I went.¡±


    When So-Hyun spoke skillfully while looking at the two-shot with Si-Eun, Jeong-Hoon shook his head left and right.


    ¡°Who uses a portrait photo with two people in it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a wise answer!¡±


    ¡°So let¡¯s do this.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who snatched So-Hyun¡¯s camera naturally, stuck it out to Si-Eun.


    ¡°Hunter Han, will you take a picture of So-Hyun for me, so I can use it as a portrait?¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s awesome! Okay! Good!¡±


    She was very satisfied, so when So-Hyun raised her thumb and liked it, Si-Eun took a picture of her even though she was very satisfied.


    ¡°Excuse me, Hunter Lee So-Hyun. Are you in critical condition?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so there¡¯s a week, no, there¡¯s six days left.


    As she calmly tells the rest of her life, tears fall from Han Si-Eun¡¯s eyes.


    Now, a person who lives less than a week said she wanted to see her.


    ¡°What about Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon?¡±


    ¡°All I have is money and power, which is my grandfather¡¯s volunteer work. I¡¯m trying to achieve what I¡¯ve always wanted to do, even if it¡¯s small.¡±


    Excluding the part about the task, Jeong-Hoon only told the truth.


    Fulfilling what So-Hyun wants to do now is not included in the task. It¡¯s just what Jeong-Hoon wants to do.


    If you just want to do your assignment, it¡¯s enough to talk to the person for a week at the hospital.


    So-Hyun¡¯s¡¯s life is less than a week away anyway. He only allows her to do what she wants to do.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing a really good job. You said it¡¯s the next 6 days, right? I¡¯m not busy either, so if you don¡¯t mind, can I keep talking with you?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon looked at So-Hyun when Han Si-Eun declared that she would stay together for the next six days, not because of Lumen¡¯s call.


    To be honest, Si-Eun said what she wanted to ask first, so So-Hyun happily nodded her head.


    And in that situation, Jeong-Hoon said, ¡®It¡¯s Han Si-Eun, who is also rumored to be kind. I¡¯m glad I¡¯m a fan.¡¯ He smiled with satisfaction.

 Chapter 14

    Jeong-Hoon, who opened his eyes in the morning, quickly finished preparing and left his room. He then arrived at So-Hyun¡¯s room on the top floor.


    ¡°So-Hyun, did you have a good night¡¯s sleep?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Chairman Lee, good morning.¡±


    Already woken up and blankly watching the TV screen, So-Hyun nodded and frowned when she saw Jeong-Hoon. The hunter disease is known to be unimaginably painful for ordinary people. Therefore, So-Hyun is receiving an enormous amount of painkillers. However, it is Jeong-Hoon who felt that So-Hyun¡¯s current expression was different from that of pain.


    ¡°Did something happen? You don¡¯t look so well.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Was it that obvious? I thought it would look as if I was sick.¡±


    ¡°Your expression seemed different from that of being sick.¡±


    She had an expression of concern. Of course, people with only five days left to live can¡¯t help but have worries. However, Jeong-Hoon intuitively felt from her expression that she was thinking of a different matter than her lifespan.


    ¡°Yeah, so about that. Chairman Lee, are there any lawyers you know well?


    ¡°Do you need a lawyer? Don¡¯t tell me you were sued overnight.¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t even happen. I didn¡¯t step a foot out of my room.¡±


    ¡°Can I hear what the problem is?¡±


    If she needed a lawyer, he was willing to call a truck-full of them. However, Jeong-Hoon expressed his curiosity because he was curious about why she needed a lawyer.


    ¡°It¡¯s because the guild that my sister is part of said some nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Sorry? Wait, didn¡¯t hunter Han Si-Eun return home yesterday?¡±


    Just then, Si-Eun entered the room. Jeong-Hoon opened his eyes wide. To think that she didn¡¯t return home and instead stayed with So-Hyun.


    ¡°I contacted the guild and our family that we won¡¯t be back for a while.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that really okay? Aren¡¯t you busy because you¡¯re an S-class hunter?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not that busy. Our guild is pretty small, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Is there something else?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s not time like this, when would you ever stay in one of Lumen¡¯s luxurious rooms?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded and smirked at the fact that she had her own purpose of fulfilling her self-interest. It may seem like that was her true intention, but it¡¯s not really the true intention. Si-Eun had just made an excuse to stay with So-Hyun as long as possible. She wasn¡¯t good at lying to the point where he couldn¡¯t notice her true feelings.


    ¡°Ah. You said that the daily stay here is definitely more expensive than Si-Eun¡¯s monthly income, right?¡±


    ¡°Money is money, but the conditions are quite tight.¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­ Well, that just makes my worries seem pathetic. I¡¯m trying to stay in a room that¡¯s more expensive than the monthly income of an S-class hunter and scrape off for a small sum of money.¡±


    At So-Hyun¡¯s sudden sigh, Jeong-Hoon realized that the reason behind why she needed a lawyer was because of money.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a money problem, I can solve it for you.¡±


    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s not a matter of needing money, it¡¯s a matter of my severance pay.¡±


    Feeling that there was something strange behind the word ¡®severance pay,¡¯ Jeong-Hoon frowned.


    Perhaps the guild she belonged to was a black company- no, a black guild.


    ***


    It¡¯s not a rare case that a guild abuses its power against its hunter. Unfortunately, the object of its power abuse applies beyond the hunter to the hunter¡¯s family, but to be more exact, to the family of the hunter who died. Jeong-Hoon was also a victim of a guild¡¯s power abuse. Therefore, he had a serious expression when he heard this case from So-Hyun.


    ¡°Just what kind of brain must a bastard have for him to tell her to donate it all instead since she can¡¯t use it anyway?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, slowly emitted an aura of murderous intent. Watching this, Butler Joo thought it was fortunate that Jeong-Hoon had returned to his room for investigation. The aura that Jeong-Hoon was emitting right now was something that non-awakened people can never do.


    Judging by the aura alone, it can be determined that he had the strength of an A-class hunter. This was the aura emitted by a person who had only been to the dungeon once. Although the orc lord was the opponent at that time, the aura was abnormally strong. It was fortunate that he did not emit it in front of So-Hyun, a patient, even if she was D-class.


    ¡°Human beings become ugly when it comes to money.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Jeong-Hoon nodded at the words of Butler Joo, who had said it to calm him down.


    ¡°So, which guild did you say it was that So-Hyun belongs to?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small guild of 28 members called Odyssey.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a guild that I¡¯ve never heard of.¡±


    One could easily tell that Jeong-Hoon was ignoring Odyssey in that sentence. However, Jeong-Hoon wasn¡¯t simply ignoring it. Jeong-Hoon is a hunter otaku. Meaning, he memorized the names of quite a few guilds and hunters, including the top 10 guilds. If such Jeong-Hoon claimed that he had never heard of a certain guild, it meant that the guild was literally nothing.


    ¡°He¡¯s just telling her to donate but in reality, he¡¯s trying to eat away her severance pay, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    So-Hyun retired from the guild due to Hunter¡¯s disease. Her guild contacted her to donate the severance pay to the guild. They even went as far as to say why she was trying to receive it when she couldn¡¯t even use it since she only had a week left to live.


    ¡°So, is the investigation over?¡±


    Since he had asked to investigate this case while on his way to his room, Jeong-Hoon snapped his fingers and called the most competent lawyer in Lumen. A thin man in his early 40s appeared, his bangs neatly parted in 2:8 ratio.


    ¡°Did you call for me, Lord?¡±


    ¡°How did the investigation that I asked for go, Lawyer Ko?¡±


    ¡°I have finished everything.¡±


    Lawyer Ko, or Lawyer Ko Yu-Yeon. He is one of the 12 vassals leading Lumen¡¯s legal team. As he handed over a document with a slight smile, Jeong-Hoon let out a long sigh after briefly looking through it.


    ¡°I see a human being who shouldn¡¯t be left alive.¡±


    When looking at the name and career of Odyssey¡¯s guild master, Jeong-Hoon let out a long sigh.


    [Kim Kyung-Hwan. B-Class Hunter. Former Ilias Guild Master]


    Ilias is a guild that was disbanded after the annihilation of guild members. At that time, the guild master stole even the compensation to be paid to the bereaved families of hunters and completely disappeared. But to think that he would shamelessly create another guild. Jeong-Hoon¡¯s hands trembled as he remembered his late parents.


    ¡°Is this true?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no flaw in Lumen¡¯s information collection- no, my information abilities.¡±


    A person who dismantled the guild and disappeared. Jeong-Hoon shook his head at the fact that a person who can be called a criminal was proudly leading a guild. Seeing him shake his head, Ko Yu-Yeon looked uncomfortable, perhaps thinking that Jeong-Hoon¡¯s behavior was out of distrust of the information.


    ¡°Lord? I¡¯m an undefeated lawyer, but I¡¯m also a vassal with the best information collection ability from an SS-class family. That information is for sure.¡±


    At the words of the proud Lawyer Ko, Jeong-Hoon¡¯s murderous aura shot up. And as the direction of the aura headed toward Lawyer Ko, Butler Joo quickly intervened between the two. Jeong-Hoon¡¯s aura can¡¯t harm Lawyer Ko, who was an SS-class awakener. It was all just to soothe Jeong-Hoon¡¯s anger.


    ¡°Lord, I think you only have to make a decision based on the information Butler Ko Yu-Yeon has brought you.¡±


    ¡°Ha? I mean, yes? What do you mean by decision?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, who lost his words in anger, hurriedly returned to his original tone. Come to think of it, this wasn¡¯t something to be mad at Ko Yu-Yeon. He was just annoyed at him.


    ¡°The level of punishment to give to Odyssey.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Lawyer Ko, to what extent can we punish the guild based on this information?¡±


    ¡°If I come forward in this case, I can turn even white into black. Death penalty is also possible.¡±


    At Ko Yu-Yeon¡¯s confident declaration, Jeong-Hoon nodded and beckoned him to leave. His anger has subsided now, but he was not confident that he would not be angry again at the lawyer¡¯s confident and tactless attitude.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go and meet with Hunter Lee So-Hyun¡¯s side. Didn¡¯t they say they needed a lawyer?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon, nodding at those words, snapped his finger shortly after Ko Yu-Yeon left. Then Woo Do-il, the director of Myeongil Hospital, appeared in front of him.


    ¡°What do you need me for, Lord?¡±


    ¡°Doctor, this is an absurd request, but will it be possible?¡±


    ¡°What is your order?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon¡¯s careful words made Woo Do-Il¡¯s eyes flash. Putting aside his anger at the intense gaze, Jeong-Hoon turned his eyes and looked at Butler Joo.


    ¡°My Lord is the ruler of the family. No matter what your order is, it is our duty to fulfill any demands.¡±


    ¡°But I haven¡¯t gotten my hands on Myeongil Hospital yet. I think the order that¡¯ll mobilize Myeongil Hospital is a bit too much.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ve already passed the assignment.¡±


    Knowing that there were deadlines for the assignments and it was just that he wasn¡¯t told of the ones he passed, Jeong-Hoon nodded without any burden.


    ¡°Then, are there beds for about 17 people to be hospitalized at Myeongil?¡±


    ¡°We can do 170 people.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and! I need to crack down on Myeongil¡¯s internal affairs. We can¡¯t allow people who aren¡¯t even family members to know the remaining lifespan of an ill patient.¡±


    Odyssey knew even the remaining lifespan of So-Hyun after being kicked out of the guild. This meant that somewhere in Myeongil information leaked out. Jeong-Hoon smiled to emphasize that point, but no one took that as a smile.


    ***


    Visiting So-Hyun¡¯s room again with Butler Joo and Woo Do-il this time, Jeong-Hoon opened the room door.


    ¡°Hahaha, is that so? Oh, if I had more time to live I¡¯d like to go out with you, Lawyer Ko.¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s an honor. But aren¡¯t you too young to date a man over 40?¡±


    Jeong-Hoon thought that she would be swept with anger and detest over Odyssey¡¯s power trip. However, the scene right now was completely different from what he imagined. Jeong-Hoon¡¯s hand, which was holding the doorknob of the room in a friendly atmosphere, slipped.


    ¡°Hmm, Butler Joo, what did I just see?¡±


    ¡°The scene you saw was Lawyer Ko Yu-Yeon¡¯s unexpected amiability.¡±


    ¡°Is it Lawyer Ko¡¯s amiability or So-Hyun¡¯s amiability?¡±


    When Jeong-Hoon murmured while staring blankly at the closed door, Woo Do-il¡¯s murmur was heard from behind, confirming, ¡°It¡¯s definitely So-Hyun¡¯s amiability.¡± He wanted to ask in detail the strange sense of dislike he seemed to have towards Lawyer Ko, but the door opened from inside the room.


    ¡°Mr. Chairman, why aren¡¯t you coming in?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Oh, my hand slipped.¡±


    When Si-Eun, who had seen the door open slightly earlier, came out and asked, Jeong-Hoon answered in moderation and came inside the room.


    ¡°Oh! Chairman Lee! Lawyer Ko is so talented¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the best lawyer in Lumen after all.¡±


    Jeong-Hoon confidently replied to So-Hyun¡¯s smile, tapping Lawyer Ko¡¯s shoulder lightly. Ko Yu-Yeon smiled proudly as if he was satisfied with the answer, but Jeong-Hoon could hear Woo Do-il clicking his tongue from the back.


    ¡°By the way, do you have any plans today? You¡¯re different from usual.¡±


    Recognizing at once that Jeong-Hoon¡¯s outfit was different from usual, So-Hyun asked. Jeong-Hoon nodded in response. Jeong-Hoon usually wore a dark monochromatic suit. Some of them were recommended by Butler Joo, but they are dark suits, so no matter how luxurious they are, they are not noticeable. That was not the suit he was wearing now.


    It¡¯s true the suit he had on currently was still of dark color, but it gave off some color and presence due to its blue, red, and gold lines. On top of that, he even wore glasses ¨C even though it was for fashion ¨C so his impression was definitely different.


    ¡°Oh, this? Would you like to go together?¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Odyssey guild. Let¡¯s go smash them to pieces.¡±


    He can pressure the Hunter¡¯s Association to vent all the crimes of Odyssey and make Kim Kyung-Hwan unable to come back to this world. However, that method would take a long time, so Jeong-Hoon decided on a different plan.


    To physically smash Odyssey.


    And this was why Jeong-Hoon had on an exceptionally cold smile.