"Man, you've become a doenjang doctor. How do you know such random stuff?"

Jongil became proud at Youngho's compliment.

"Dude, you need to study. I've been studying since I'm teaching Karajan about Korean fermented foods these days."

Sure enough, Karajan who had been listening to Jongil was putting her spoon in doenjang-jjigae. Jongil had been putting a lot of effort to make Karajan like Korean food. Living with foreigners needed effort due to the cultural differences. Youngho was the same. Whenever he missed Korean food, he just had to satisfy himself with instant ramen and kimchi. However, it changed after Insoo's parents moved to the farm. Insoo's mom felt bad for Youngho, who had not been eating well, so she had been providing meals for the farm family. Even though something like doenjang-jjigae could not be on the table often since the siblings hated the smell, she made it for special occasions like the barbecue party today.

"Mother, do you need more doenjang? Should I tell Yunush to send some more from Korea?"

"No, you don't need to go through the trouble. I brought enough for this year, and father had just planted beans in the garden. We'll be able to make our own deonjang next year."

"Mother, I'll get to see how doenjang is made because you're here."

"Phew, how did you manage to live here if you missed Korean food that much?"

"Mother, there are a hundred Koreans living scattered around Azerbaijan; you've got to make some more so we can provide doenjang under Zeynep Farm's name."

"Of course. There's not much I can do here but I'll cook a plenty of Korean food for you. All you guys need to do is stay healthy."

There were benefits that Youngho could enjoy while having elders in the farm. Insoo's parents were generous, since they had lived in a small rural town in Korea.

"Insoo. You've got to learn the Azerbaijani language and take your fiancé and parents for trips."

"Hey, I'm still busy learning English. You think I'd have time to learn Azerbaijani?"

"Study during the night, man. Don't just cuddle with your fiancé all night."

At Jongil's joke, Youngho slapped his back with full force. Jongil acted exaggeratedly, like he was dying in pain. Youngho stopped him because even though he said this in Korean, Karajan and Fatima could understand some Korean since they had been studying the language. Everybody laughed, including Szechenyi, which meant that they all understood.

The night of May was getting deeper.


***


Yaniv contacted Youngho with good news. He had received the approval of President Putin. The mission could only succeed with Russia's cooperation and President Putin thought it was a great opportunity to raise Russia's voice to Azerbaijan. Yaniv laughed, saying he was complimented by the president.

After hanging up the phone, Youngho immediately called Michael. Now that Azerbaijan's side was ready, they needed to let the other camp, the Armenian government, know. The place of the battle would be picked by Armenia.

The fake battle would work the same way as Pakistan and India's battles. To maintain the tension of the war, they would often fire cannonballs into each other's camp. Without making many casualties, they had been doing the same thing over and over for years. It was neither for a battle nor for a provocation. It was almost like a ceremony to show that they were still at war. Now, Armenian and Azerbaijan would be having a similar ceremony soon too at the borderline.

A few days later, a TV anchor was broadcasting the two countries colliding again. The camera showed exchanges of cannonballs and explosions, but no casualty list was reported. The people of Baku were somewhat stirred, but they were also relieved that the war was not expanding any further. The government also issued a statement that the frontline was stabilized and reassured the people to go back to work.
Michael, the director of the CIA's European chapter, called Youngho in excitement and said that the mission was a success. He promised Youngho a reward bonus since Youngho was the one who made it all possible.

From Panama, Edward also called Youngho to thank him. Although he still felt bitter toward his people, he was relieved that the war had not expanded. The situation of Nagorno-Karabakh was also getting better. At the borderline, they bought whatever they needed to continue to live on.

Because Youngho had been busy for the CIA's work, he called Mustafa in Turkey to buy grape plants for the new farm that he bought from Charles Wine Company. Knowing that Youngho had been working for Armenians, Mustafa gladly helped Youngho and did not forget to say to help more Armenians. He was pathetically patriotic. Armenians living outside the land supported the country unconditionally, but the government was putting up a show now to keep the support.

Youngho loved the Armenians' pure and compassionate attitudes, but he despised their politicians. He wondered where all the money remitted from overseas were used for. Of course, they would use the funds for strengthening their army, but the gap between the rich and the poor in Armenia was unbelievable. Youngho had seen so many luxury brands in the downtowns of Armenia, which generated the national income worth half of Azerbaijan's. It did not make sense when poor people were dying in poverty.


***


Yaniv from Volgograd visited Baku.

He came to oversee the construction of pipelines for oil production at the request of the Azerbaijani government. The deal for investment was already sealed, and he came to Baku to meet President Aliyev and give him a little gift. He was also recognized for his role behind the current mission, so President Aliyev also started looking at him highly.

Youngho was invited as well to the presidential palace because of Yaniv's recommendation. Although Yaniv could not say that Youngho was part of the mission, he could inform the president that Youngho was a great business partner and provider of wine. Yaniv complimented Youngho in front of President Aliyev. It was Youngho's third time meeting the president.

Now that he had a meal with the president, his status is Azerbaijan was lifted even higher. Policemen on the road even saluted Youngho when they saw Youngho's car. Korean corporations that made a foray into Azerbaijan were even being benefited by Youngho unwarily. Korean ambassadors in Korean embassy of Baku often came to Youngho to discuss the difficulties that Korean construction companies and corporations faced in Baku. If he could help solve the problems, Youngho called officials he knew to request resolutions to the problems, and they often granted his requests. Youngho tried his best to help Korean companies since he felt bad that Korea could only survive when businessmen worked hard enduring difficulties they faced in foreign lands. Therefore, Korean corporations usually sent presents to Youngho's farm in appreciation for his help.

Many of them also came to build great relations with Youngho because he was known to be a successful businessman in Baku, who even met the president personally multiple times. They were busy flattering Youngho. When they left the farm, Youngho did not forget to fill their cars with gifts of Korean foods and farm products because Youngho did not want to hear that he acted high and mighty to people for his high status in Azerbaijan.

Many representatives of Korean corporations visited Youngho's farm, and a lot of times, they had meals together with the visitors. Cha Insoo's mom and dad welcomed them because she liked hosting and sharing foods. They treated the guests as if they were their own children.

Moreover, they started learning Azerbaijani from the siblings. Every evening, the conference room in the management quarters got loud with their language class. Even nearing their sixties, their enthusiasm to learn the language was great. It seemed that they were frustrated with not being able to communicate with the farmers working on the farm. 

Since Cha Insoo was wholly focusing on the farm work, Youngho could move around freely without worrying about the business if needed.

Regarding Russian matters, Sergey often called Youngho to discuss any issues going around the nation. It was because he trusted Youngho's business insights. He asked for advice to see if he could make money out of different situations. Youngho also asked him to tell even any small piece of information for his business, but he was actually collecting money for the CIA. The quality of Youngho's information was great since he was meeting many high officials. The director, who was now promoted to chief manager, was a good information source for the Azerbaijani government's directions.

Now that Youngho had saved some money from distributing wine, he paid off the mortgage on the Charles company's farm early. He also planned to buy more oak tanks since he would be earning three million dollars from this year's profits. Youngho had not expected that he would make this much money from the farm when he started. After all, the spontaneous decision to install the wine production facility because of the Charles company's unethical business manner was beneficial to his farm.
This year, Youngho would be planting seedlings on the former Charles company's farm and it would make him even more money next year as he could produce double amount of wine. He decided to hire more local people for the farm for the expansion of the business. Also, if he hired more local people, he would have more influence and power in the Azerbaijani government.

However, Youngho's hasty actions were becoming another cause for other tradesmen's wrath. It was a mistake to have forgotten Baku's tradesmen's manners.

Empire of the Ring is a Korean modern fantasy epic adventure novel that sets in the nations of the Caucasus mountain range which separates Europe and Asia. The nations of Caucasus are regions of many conflicts over territories, ethnicities, and religions. The story begins as Lee Youngho, a warm-hearted Korean merchandiser, takes a business trip to a disputed territory of the Caucasus nations to sell Korean unmanned security systems only to get misconstrued as a spy and caught by Armenian militia. Youngho eventually gets involved with the militia and CIA to help out people of the regions from conflicts and works toward a birth of a new empire in Caucasus.

This is an ongoing novel from Korea with more than 750 chapters as of today. The pace can feel a little bit slow in the beginning but as the story unfolds, you will be drawn into the world of Caucasus. If you are a modern fantasy/adventure lover, you will enjoy learning about different regions and cultures in Eurasia and Eastern Europe as Youngho travels around the places. Happy reading! 

*Disclaimer: The following contains depictions of religion and ethnic disputes. We do not support the author's views, we are only translating and editing the novel. This fictional novel is inspired by real-world people, places, and events — the author has taken these people, places, and events and embellished them as characters with conversations and backgrounds as done in fiction.

"So you are saying that you were unable to uncover anything?" Lu Shaoming asked.
"Yes, President. Everything is normal."
Lu Shaoming laughed with a mysterious tone, "It's not normal because it's too normal… What is Ning Qing doing today?"
"Today Miss Ning is filming a commercial with a long legged oppa who is famous in Korea. President, they are shooting the commercial in the skyscraper that is under Guang Qing's management."
Lu Shaoming looked at his luxurious watch on his wrist. It was around noon now, and she also did not reply his WeChat messages last night. He stood up and said, "Let's go and have a look."
Lu Shaoming brought along Zhu Rui to rush to the skyscraper. Ning Qing was filming the commercial with the Korean oppa. She was wearing a grass green cheongsam.
Lu Shaoming felt his eyes contract and was frightened for a few seconds.
This was his first time seeing her dressed in a cheongsam.
The grass green cheongsam perfectly accentuated her curvy S figure, and the retro inspired mandarin collar complemented her tender neck. The cheongsam was knee length and had splits at the side, and her fair legs were faintly discernible.
She had her hair up in an updo. In the middle of her hair was a beaded flower hairpin. She had a greyish green paper umbrella in her hand, and she was laughing light-heartedly. Her beautiful figure was swaying like a lotus floating on the surface of a pond. She was fluid, graceful, and absolutely stunning.
Lu Shaoming's first reaction was to swallow his saliva.
He knew from the start that she was beautiful, but he did not ever notice how youthful she was.
Very quickly, Lu Shaoming frowned again because the Korean male celebrity standing beside Ning Qing. He heard from Zhu Rui, this was the most popular and hot long legged oppa in Korea right now. Every time he came to China, he would stir up a huge fanfare.
Lu Shaoming burst out in cold laughter. He felt disdained, and he scanned that artist from head to toe… His face was handsome, his figure was also pretty good, and his legs were definitely long…
But, was he as good as him?
He hadn't entered the entertainment industry. If he did, would these people even have a chance to survive?
Lu Shaoming's gaze stopped again on the girl's figure. The more he looked, the deeper he furrowed his eyebrows.
They were striking poses where the Korean artist was on the chair, and Ning Qing was holding an umbrella. She bent down her waist, and one slim arm was placed lightly on his shoulder. Their pose was intimate…
Lu Shaoming: Stay in control.
Then the assistant took away the umbrella. The production team made a bunch of bubbles. They were face to face, her small, white hand held the bubble wand, and she was smiling as bright as a flower as she blew bubbles in the direction of that person…
He was standing so far away, but he still could hear the duo's laughter.
Lu Shaoming: I still need to keep control.
He kept it in, and one hour passed. Finally, the cameraman shouted, "Cut." The filming of the commercial officially ended in success.
Xiao Zhou brought over a shawl for Ning Qing to put on. She reminded her softly, "Ning Qing, Young Master Lu is here. He has been standing there looking at you for very long. He has had an upset expression for the entire duration."
Ning Qing nodded her head to indicate that she had gotten the message. At this time the Korean oppa walked over, she bent down and curled her lips into a sweet smile and used the shoddy Korean that she had just learned to say, "Oppa, it has been hard on you."
The Korean oppa revealed a row of sparkling white teeth. He was in a good mood as he said a long list of words.
His assistant helped to translate and said, "Miss Ning, our Xiu Ze complimented you, saying that you are the most beautiful and professional female artist that he has worked with in China. Our Xiu Ze said that this collaboration was very pleasant, he had long heard of your skills as a director. He hopes that he would have the chance to work with you to film a movie in the future."
Ning Qing let out a bright smile and said, "There would definitely be a chance in the future."
After she spoke, the assistant spoke again, "Miss Ning, our Xiu Ze wants to perform a magic trick for you."
"Magic trick?" Ning Qing's eyes brightened up.
Thereafter, the Korean oppa stretched out both of his hands. There was nothing on his hands, but after flipping a few times in the air, he pulled out a rose from his back. He bent down gentlemanly and gave the rose to Ning Qing.
"Wow…." The staff were all in a daze, and they all covered the mouths to exclaim. "He's so handsome."
"Thank you." Ning Qing stretched out her hand to receive the flower.
But before she could do so, a handsome figure floated in front of her, and a large palm with defined bones helped her to receive the flower.
Lu Shaoming.
Ning Qing looked at the man. The man's deep and black eyes were fixed on the Korean oppa. He had a gentle expression on his face. His thin, maroon lips were moving sexily, and he was conversing in fluent Korean.
"Wow." Some young females were excitedly discussing behind her, "The oppa that I saw just now was so handsome, but now I feel that Young Master Lu is even more handsome."
"That's right, Young Master Lu speaking Korean sounds so good! He instantly stole the thunder of the oppa."
Ning Qing lowered her gaze, her heart had wave after wave of sweetness in it.
Xiao Zhou said that he had an "upset expression the whole time." That was something she expected. He always had a strong desire to dominate, and he never liked her having too many interactions with other men.
But no matter how upset or jealous he was, his expression would appear calm. He stood by her side and was conversing elegantly with the Korean oppa. He was the poster image of a gentleman. Actually, he was a stranger with this Korean oppa, and did not have any need to communicate. He only did so because of her, taking the role of her boyfriend to do so.
This was the mature charm of a 31 year old man; he stood by your side to give you a sense of security.
Furthermore, he was originally the focus of the crowd. He was a pure and outstanding man. Once he appeared, he would always be the focal point of everyone present.
When he spoke Korean, it was really very melodious. In the past, when she heard him singing a French song, she was beyond mesmerized. Now she felt whatever she was hearing now was like an orchestral score.
Ning Qing's small, blushing face quickly glanced at his attire. He was wearing a dark blue striped shirt paired with grey trousers. Under the thin material of the cloth was his built and firm chest. The black metal belt accentuated his perfect Adonis Belt.
Ning Qing had always felt he was the man who brought out the best essence of someone dressed in a shirt and trousers.
Lu Shaoming and the Korean oppa conversed for a bit, then the Korean oppa looked at Ning Qing with a friendly vibe and waved to say goodbye.
The staff also left.
….
Lu Shaoming stood up straight and looked at Ning Qing directly in the eyes. She did not have the smile on her face anymore. He knitted his handsome eyebrows and asked, "You like the roses that others give to you?"
Ning Qing did not have the chance to reply. "You!" The rose was accurately thrown into the rubbish bin.
Ning Qing stomped her feet angrily and said, "Lu Shaoming, what are you doing? Why are you not allowing me to accept a rose given by others?"
She still was not afraid to ask?
"Ning Qing, don't you know what roses mean?"
"I know. I still thought that Young Master Lu did not know. If not, based on our relationship status now, why have you never given me roses?"
Lu Shaoming was stumped.
"You are unable to speak right?" Ning Qing pouted her pink lips and said in an upset tone, "Because you are not aware of this subconsciously. What would an old man like you know what romance is?"
The man pursed his lips and did not speak.
Ning Qing turned around and did not bother with him, "Xiao Zhou, let's go. Let's go have a meal. We still have to return to set in the afternoon."
Xiao Zhou: "…" A fight is a fight, but please let go of me.
Ning Qing did not take a step forward, because her slim arm was hooked by the man.
Lu Shaoming looked at Xiao Zhou and gave her a deathly expression. Xiao Zhou said, "Ning Qing, my stomach hurts, I have to go to the restroom. I will look for you later."
Xiao Zhou ran away.
"Xiao Zhou!" Ning Qing wanted to chase after Xiao Zhou.
But the man had a tight grasp. She immediately fell into the man's embrace. Her frail shoulder still banged onto the man's chest. It was one word: pain.
"Lu Shaoming, what are you doing? Why are you so rough? Once you see me, other than touching me what else do you know how to do? Others don't behave like you when they date, without roses, without candlelight dinners and also without a promise to pledge undying love. You just want to take advantage of me."
Lu Shaoming held her tight in his embrace. He had never comforted a girl before. Looking at how she was fluttering around so aggressively, he furrowed his brows tightly and said seriously, "Ning Qing, don't make a fuss okay?"
But his words were ineffective. The girl was still making a fuss. He was in despair and could not help but soften his tone. "Okay, baby. What you want me to do? I will go learn how to do it. Would that be okay then? Romance? I am capable of that; don't despise me. Also, I am not taking advantage of you, but it is just that the moment I look at you, I cannot control myself. I don't believe that other couples are not like that."
Ning Qing sneakily curled her lips. She quickly became expressionless and frowned saying, "Would you really learn? You should watch Korean dramas, look at how others do romance."
Korean dramas?
In the 31 years of Lu Shaoming's life, he did not hear of this word before. He was only 16 when he made his powerful entrance into the corporate world, and he had used every minute and second to rush forward.
And he was never so bored that he had to watch a serial drama.
"You won't watch it? You said that you would go learn. You are cheating me again."
The center of Lu Shaoming's handsome forehead was squeezed together, and 3 lines ran across his forehead. He compromised and said, "Okay, okay. I will go watch some Korean dramas. Will it be settled once I go watch them?"
"This is more like it. Let go of me, quick."
Lu Shaoming raised both of his hands to concede defeat and let go of her.
The girl's small face was slightly red. She pouted and puffed up her delicate cheeks and was still angry. She still did not bother with him, and she lifted her heels and turned to leave.
"Ning Qing, where are you going?"
"I am going to have my lunch. I am very busy in the afternoon, Young Master Lu, goodbye."
Lu Shaoming: "…" He was willing to compromise, but she still ignored him?
Ning Qing took two steps, and suddenly her entire world spun around. She was picked up and put onto the man's shoulders.
His shoulders were exceptionally tough. When they poked her abdomen, Ning Qing felt a faint amount of pain. She stretched out her hand to punch him. "Lu Shaoming, what are you doing? I am in pain…."
He opened a door and threw her directly inside of a room.
Ning Qing did not stand steadily. Her entire being was perched on a long meeting table. This was probably a meeting room.
She wanted to stand up, but the man press one large hand against her waist. Although he did not use much strength, she could not get up.
"Lu Shaoming, you let go of me. This is someone else's place; someone will be coming in anytime…"
Her delicate cheeks were cupped by the man's large palms. He came from the back and the man's low charming voice had a tone of brash roughness. He said four words: "This place is mine."
It was his territory.
Ning Qing, "…"
"Ning Qing, speak. What happened exactly? Why do you suddenly treat me like this? Do you not want to date me anymore? Or, is someone threatening you?"
Ning Qing was silent for 3 seconds and denied it. "No."
"Is that there is no one, or is it that you do not dare to say? Tell me, the matter involving Liu Wenlong, your mum getting hit… When did she have her eye on you? What does she want to do? Does she want you to leave me?"
"No, Lu Shaoming. Let go of me."
"You are not telling the truth, are you? Baby, why are you so stubborn? You know that you being like makes me really want to hit you?" Lu Shaoming said while he lifted her cheongsam and used strength to tug. Pa! He tightly slapped her firm butt.
Ning Qing was in so much pain that her tears came out. This rough person. But it made her even more shy and embarrassed.
Her small hand went to her back to tug down on her safety shorts. She wanted to cover herself up and be decent. Her voice was shaking, and she cried as she scolded him. "Lu Shaoming, you are totally shameless!"


Trying to drown her sorrow with alcohol after her boyfriend hooked up with her sister, Ning Qing ran into the rich and powerful Lu Shaoming in a bar. "I need a wife," Lu said, and the two got their marriage license. 

Soon, she who became a pop star won many pretty boys’ hearts. Singlehandedly, he got rid of all her potential flings and acted innocent. Ning Qing bristled, “Lu Shaoming, what happened to staying out of each other's private life which we talked about?” Turning the light out, he came over her and whispered, "Now our priority is to make a baby."


With a wave of tremble, the Wuling Hong Guang drove up to the sidewalk and stopped in front of the pet shop.
The door opened and Zhang Zian got off the car.　　
The chic ladies glanced at him while they passed by, then covered their noses in disgust and kept a distance from his car.　　
Despite the fact that he didn't specialize in the seafood business, he drove to the beach each day, and often took rare marine creatures, such as fish, shrimp, and crabs, back. He could not wash the containers in the car everyday, so after some time, the car inevitably smelled like fish.　　
Wang Qian and Li Kun greeted him, and carried the new marine creatures into the aquarium. They sorted them and put them into different quarantine tanks so that they could adapt to the new environment.　　
Zhang Zian walked into the shop. The cleaning job was almost done, so he didn't have much to do. He took the underwater loudspeaker battery upstairs to charge.　　
He met Old Time Tea on the stairs. He hinted Old Time Tea and asked gently, "How is it?"　　
Old Time Tea smiled gently. "Everything is under your expectations."　　
The man and the cat looked at each other and smiled.　　
"Quack! What are you talking about in secret? What are you hiding from me?" Richard had sharply sensed the unusual atmosphere while it flew by. 　　
"Right. We are discussing you behind your back––specifically plucking your feather and making you into a stew," Zhang Zian threatened. "After you become stew, the world will be quiet."　　
"Quack! My meat is old and dry––it wouldn't taste good in a stew. I suggest you pick another bird!" Richard flew away quickly.　　
Old Time Tea walked downstairs slowly for the television, while Zhang Zian headed upstairs to wash his hands. They carried a fishy smell after they were soaked in the sea. He could still feel some fine, sea salt granules after his hands were dry. 　　
As soon as he entered the bathroom, he saw Sihwa hide something in a hurry.　　
He pretended not to see it. After turning on the tap, he asked, "Why aren't you broadcasting today?"　　
Sihwa was angry and humiliated after hearing his question. "Today… I'm not in the mood today! I don't want to broadcast!"　　
"Okay. It's nice to take a day off sometimes." Zhang Zian wiped his hands, then left the bathroom.　　
"Wait a moment!" Sihwa shouted behind him.　　
"What is it?" Zhang Zian stopped.　　
"Emm… This… Emm… That…" she stuttered. Her pale face turned red because she needed his help. After stammering for a long time, she took out a book from under a towel. "I can't read. What can I do?" she asked, troubled. "I know a few Korean words, but not any Chinese words…"　　
She could play with the phone, as the phone functions were simple––as long as she remembered the icons. She could make guesses on others, or ask Zhang Zian if it was too hard to guess. However, reading a book full of Chinese characters was mission impossible to her.　　
In fact, she had learned a few Chinese words since she had arrived in China. But she had learned them mechanically; she didn't have any formal, systemic teaching.
"You must be laughing at me, aren't you? You absolutely are!" She pointed at his face in fury before Zhang Zian had even said anything. She was almost embarrassed to tears.
"I'm not laughing at you. It's normal to be illiterate. Nobody is born literate." Zhang Zian shrugged. "Otherwise, they'd be a freak."　　
After hearing his words, Sihwa's mood calmed down a little.　　
"Well… Is there anything you can do to make me literate?" she asked, lowering her head.　　
"Yes. Lend me your phone for a moment." Zhang Zian took her phone and downloaded a few early childhood education apps from the app store. They were all basic-level, but entertaining word learning apps nonetheless; he started with Pinyin, which had real people's voices. The apps were already quite developed, and the functions were complete.　　
He compared a few quickly, then left the most user-friendly one and deleted the rest.　
"Here you are. Follow this. You'll learn them soon." He gave the phone back to her.　　
"Wow! So childish!" She complained as soon as she saw the interface for young kids. "Are there any long-legged Oppas or big-boobed girls teaching the lessons?"　　
"Save it. I'd love to learn if these teachings existed!" Zhang Zian took up her book and flipped through it. The book from Old Time Tea was not suitable.　　
He returned the book to Pi, then found a few fairy tale books with pictures from his childhood book collection. Each character was marked with a Pinyin illustration.　　
"After you learn Pinyin, you can read these books. Just learn the words while reading the stories." He piled the books on the bathroom closet. "Oh, right––books are not waterproof. Dry your hands before you read them. These are books from my childhood. Most of them can't even be found these days."　　
"Books from your childhood?" Sihwa seemed skeptical. "Could there be… Any dirty content in them?"　　
"These are all fairy tales, okay?" Zhang Zian said with frustration. "What kind of person do you think I am? These are the books I read at the age of five or six. What kind of dirty content can there be?"　　
"Fairy tale books? I'm not interested… too childish." She shook her hands. "Let's get something dirty!"　　
Did this fish get contaminated by that bird? What was in her head all day?　　
"You are wrong. In fact, fairy tales are not necessarily childish," Zhang Zian said. "Even adults could interpret content differently sometimes."　　
"What do you mean? I don't understand." Sihwa grew slightly interested.　　
Zhang Zian thought about it, then made an example she could understand. "In fairy tales, you often read stories of Cinderella meeting the prince…"　　
"I know this! It happens a lot in Korean dramas, too!" Sihwa suddenly turned excited, as if she finally found someone with the same interests as her.　　
"Yes, right. That's why people often call Korean dramas 'fairy tales for adults.'" Zhang Zian suddenly changed his tone. "But have you ever given thought to the fact that, in the end of fairy tales and Korean dramas, the story stops where Cinderella marries the prince?"　　
She nodded in agreement.　　
"What about the story after?" Zhang Zian continued to ask.　　
"What story after? It's over!" She didn't understand.　　
"I mean, two people from completely different worlds… Are they really happy after marriage? The prince and Cinderella had completely different educations, family backgrounds, and growing experiences. After marrying the prince, Cinderella must have faced a truckload of royal relatives. Did they really respect and accept her? Did love really defeat all the challenges? Even if it did for a while, what happens after the passion dies out?"　　
Zhang Zian's series of questions made Sihwa astonished.　　
"The boring, everyday life of the world after marriage is never mentioned in fairy tales, nor in Korean dramas. They always end with the line that Cinderella and the prince lived happily ever after. Although they didn't mention this, you can try to imagine, then tell your audience about your thoughts in the live broadcast. Isn't this great?"　　
Sihwa was drawn in gradually. In the past, she had never used her brain to watch dramas. She either laughed or cried as the story went along. She had never thought about the questions Zhang Zian had brought up.　　
"Would the audience like to hear this?" she asked.　　
"Of course," Zhang Zian said in certainty. "You can also try to make up sequels to fairy tales and tell everyone. You have such lovely voice. I'm sure people will like it."　　
"Really? I have lovely voice?" Her confidence was already shaken from one blow after another. She was no longer as arrogant as before. 　　
"It's absolutely lovely. I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, ask the other elfins," he said, suddenly feeling that his words might have been too mean in the past. 　　
"Oh… okay. But don't lie to me…" she mumbled gently as she picked up the fairy tale books.　　
"What are these?" She browsed through the covers one by one.　　
"They are all classic fairy tales written by great writers all over the world, such as fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop's Fables, One Thousand and One Nights, Zhang Yuanjie's Fairy Tale Collection, etc. They'll last quite a while," Zhang Zian said, introducing them one by one.　　
"Oh." Her eyes glided through the colorful and entertaining covers. She saw a prince with a sword on a white horse, a grey wolf wearing a pajama hat, a little girl with a match stick in a snowy night, a tin man with big belly, a little duckling staring at the sky, a fox with a broken tail, an ugly toad, a mouse driving a tank… She also saw a little mermaid sitting on a rock, overlooking the sea. 　　
For some reason, the figure seemed so lonely.　　
Under an unrecognizable impulse, she opened up one of the books, even though she didn't know a single character in it.　　
"I can't read it…" she said in disappointment.　　
"It's fine. You'll understand it once you learn the characters." Zhang Zian encouraged her. "Be patient! These fairy tales may seem childish, but in fact, you can find non-childish stuff in it. As long as you read them with your whole heart, you'll surely discover something different… Then, you can share your thoughts boldly with your broadcast audience."　　
"Okay. Let me try." Sihwa looked at the fairy tale covers again. She was more eager to learn now than ever before.　　
She wanted to be able to read the fairy tales. She wanted to do what Zhang Zian described––to write sequels for the finished fairy tales. She was the only one who could do it, and who was qualified to do it.　　
She picked up her phone and entered the child education app, imitating the mouth and sound movements against the image on the screen.　　
"A… A… Bo… Bo… Ci… Ci… De… De…" she read off while peeping at Zhang Zian's facial expressions; she wanted to confirm that he was not laughing at her. She then continued reading boldly.　　
"It's fine. You can read loudly. Raise your head and straighten your back. Read every word boldly," Zhang Zian encouraged her.　　
"A… A… Bo… Bo… Ci… Ci… De… De…" she read even louder, like a baby learning to talk.　　


1. Download a suspicious game
2. Catch a few magical pets as partners
3. Go through interesting daily routines and lead the pet shop to a whole new level

"Did you hear about the new game created by Exotic Pear Gaming?"
 "There's a new game? What is it called? What is it about? Has it been released yet? Hurry and tell! Tell me! TELL ME! TELL ME!"
 "Dude chill, I just heard about it today, apparently it's supposed to be the best new game of the decade! It's called Imperium it's an mmorpg that has a xianxia theme. Registration will be open on Saturday at noon."
 "What the hell?! Why noon? That's such an inconvenient timing. I'll have to miss class if I want to register."
 "It's not my fault, who told you to have extra classes on Saturday."
 "Hmph, if it wasn't for my old man do you think I would go to these stupid classes?"

 Huang Hualing was currently eavesdro- ahem- I mean overhearing a conversation between two of her classmates, Xiao Chonglin and Long Fan, two infamous gaming nerds at her school. After hearing the word "game", Hualing's ears immediately perked up as she intently listened to their private conversation. 'Hmm a new game huh?' she thought to herself, 'maybe I'll just have to give this one a try'. 
 As a bonafide gaming addict, Hualing was constantly searching for new and addicting games to pass her free time with. She was average in all aspects regarding academics, however, she is known as the queen of tech within her friend group. No matter the issue, as long as it had to do with tech in some aspect, Hualing was the person to look for. Sadly, she was completely clueless in every other aspect of life, leaving her to be rather ignorant.
 Born into a wealthy family, Hualing didn't particularly care for her grades or academics in general, but ever since she was able to walk and express her thoughts, she has been addicted to all technological devices. At a tender age of four, she was introduced to gaming by her indolent brother, Huang Yong Rui; ever since, she cared about nothing else. Other than learning some skills dealing with tech, she didn't bother with any subjects at school. Regarding this, her parents were rather exasperated, as they already had a lazy son to deal with, they truly hoped to have a hardworking daughter. However, the heavens are unkind and gave them two slothlike entities who only knew how to laze about and play games. 
Sadly, they could never truly get mad at these two seemingly hopeless children, as they both were geniuses in some aspect. Their son, had a gift for business, making investments on what seems like a whim, yet earning millions after the projects were highly successful. He was already named the heir to the family's large luxury hotel chain at the age of 19.
Their daughter on the other hand was an abnormal genius at programming; even winning several national programming competitions and coming in third in a world wide competition at the age of 15. After learning that she couldn't access her games at school, Hualing even decided to learn some basic hacking skills which allowed her to hack into her schools mainframe and unblocking the games. However, she wasn't particularly skillful in that department and a couple days later she was discovered. Consequently she got suspended for a week leading her parents to become exasperated and helpless. 
 Not only that, because she was so addicted to games, she took it upon herself to learn several language, English, French, Korean, and Taiwanese. This led her to become fluent in English and Korean, while being able to read and write sufficiently in Korean and Taiwanese. How does this correlate with gaming? Well of course it's because this lazy gamer was bored with her current server and wanted a change in scenery, leading her to learn these languages in order to communicate with people in the other servers across the world. At only 17 years old, she has already become this unreasonable. Truly, this girl is a hopeless maniac when it comes to gaming.

A new game called Imperium has been released and as a bonafide gaming addict Huang Hualing decides to try it out. 

Huang Hualing is a lazy good for nothing who would've been disowned if she wasn't a genius in tech. As a sloth like entity Hualing spends her days lying about and playing games to satisfy her addiction. 


Author's note: OOF

Meanwhile, in the dining room, everyone was already seated. Ji Zhiyao first placed the dishes down, then dropped into the only empty seat that was beside Mo Huaifeng.
There were indeed huge bowls of kimchi and spicy rice cake on the table, a sea of fiery red but nothing had been touched. It was evident that everyone was waiting for him. 
Ji Zhiyao thanked them.
Lucia said gleefully, "Since everything is ready, let's dig in. The aroma is already making me slightly impatient." 
Hyun Woo stopped him. "Hold on, hold on, have you forgotten about my kelp soup?" 
Lucia exclaimed with an "aigoo" and frantically questioned, "Hyun Woo hyung, did you forget to turn off the fire?" 
"I did not off it, but Yao might have, I better go take a look." Hyun Woo prepared to stand up as he spoke.
Although they used Korean in their entire conversation, Ji Zhiyao saw that Hyun Woo was about to enter the kitchen and quickly said, "Is Hyun Woo going to turn off the fire? I already did."
Hyun Woo then sat down again. "That's great then, everyone can serve themselves later on when they want some soup. Let's eat?" 
Hence everyone began to eat.
At the start the table was very quiet, as they weren't too familiar with one another. But later on, Sung Min tested a bite of a piece of sweet and sour pork and was surprised. "This is absolutely delicious, sour and sweet, how did you make this?"
He looked at Ji Zhiyao with eyes full of admiration, though Ji Zhiyao could not understand what he had said, but he thought that his expression did not look like he was complaining of a bad taste, hence he replied with his blind guess, "Very simply, it's a very easy dish to make." 
Then Sung Min hugged Hyun Woo's arm and began to chatter away, Hyun Woo appeared especially resigned as he said, "This rascal is insisting that I learn this dish from you, he's really impolite." 
Ji Zhiyao waved his hand. "It's alright. If you would like to learn, I can teach you."
Hence the atmosphere at the table started to warm up, everyone also spoke a little more… Nuo watched on the entire time and could not help but sigh. "When we return home NoHomo would be able to release a book, called "Back When I Conquered South Korea with Sweet and Sour Pork". Your pseudonym would be 'The Chef Held Back by His eSports Career', how does that sound?" 
Ji Zhiyao answered him, "You talk too much."
A lunch ended in liveliness. As Mix with the exception of Ji Zhiyao had not helped during the cooking earlier, the moment lunch ended, they jumped to help clean the table and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. Seeing that they could not stop them, the members of Vita could only allow them to do as they wished. 
While Ji Zhiyao openly sat and slacked, exchanging a few words with the Vita members from time to time.
Qee asked, "When did you learn to cook?"
Ji Zhiyao blinked dazedly, thinking to himself, what kind of f*cking question what this, typically, shouldn't he be asking when he starting gaming and when he joined the team? 
Who would ask when he learned to cook on the first day of meeting? It's not like he was a chef!
The corner of his lips lifted into an awkward smile, not knowing whether he should answer that question.
Lucia seemed to also sense that the question was slightly impolite and grabbed the impish Qee, his tone fierce as he ordered, "Apologize now!" 
Qee exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I was just curious, I didn't mean to offend you."
Ji Zhiyao quickly shook his head. "It's okay. As for cooking, I learned when I was young, but I only some basics, I can't cook things that are too complicated." 
"Is that so? Yao is amazing at gaming and can cook too, you must be very well-liked."
Well-liked?
Ji Zhiyao recalled the overwhelming amount of haters that he had and his fan club with the name of "Haters Support Club" and suddenly felt a slight sting of his conscience. 
They continued to chat for some time. Finally the chores in the kitchen were done, the others from Mix walked out and sat on the sofa.
Sung Min said, "All of you don't look too good. Since we are starting training from tomorrow, why don't all of you go get some rest now?" 
Mo Huaifeng translated it, all of them agreed that they felt a little tired and wanted some rest. Hence after parting from the Vita members, they all headed upstairs to sleep. 
Ji Zhiyao sprawled on his back on the bed, bringing out his phone to scroll Weibo and Tieba. Mix's official account did not announce that they had arrived in Korea for their training, as of now, the public only knew that they are overseas for isolated training, but did not know the exact location.
As it was the off season period and the fight for spots in the international league would only begin in a month's time, everyone was either in the phase of resting and recuperating, holding training tournaments or doing advertisements to raise their popularity, the entire eSports scene was rather peaceful and calm.
The thing that could get everyone moving was the international league happening eight months from now.
By then, all eyes would be upon them, full of anticipation. 
Ji Zhiyao smacked his lips, placed his phone aside, rested his head on his arm and slowly dozed off.
…
The first day in Korea, all was calm. 
From the second day onwards, they were officially entering the training phase.
Early in the afternoon yesterday, Mix's coach had already fixed up a preliminary training plan, dividing into aspects of time, response capacity, handling speed, overall health, standard of game play for training. 
Everyone was expected to begin training at 10 AM in the morning, ending at 10 PM in the night. Unless there were exceptionally special situations, they were not allowed to apply for leave. Response capacity and handling speed would mainly be trained using an enhanced version of the color blocks program from Kang Kyung Chwa, with the addition of the aspect of response to sound. As for their overall health, they had to exercise for at least an hour after training every day, to improve the condition of their bodies, to avoid their physical capacity lagging behind when they needed to play extra-long matches in the future. Physiotherapists would be there every week to provide massages for everyone. Lastly, the standard of game play would be seen in the matches between various groupings. 
This training plan may be said to be very comprehensive, but was also much stricter than before. When they saw it last night, everyone was shocked.
Nuo finally came up with something after suppressing it for a long time. "… Boohoo!"
The others all looked like they were wishing for death.
Though painful, they still had to follow the training plan.
Hence all the Mix members who had never woken up before 11 AM at their own base headed downstairs with yawns echoing amongst them on the next day. When they went past the second level, they realized that the Vita members were also rather listless, looking dispirited. All the internet-addicted youths in the world were the same, few could accept waking up early. 
They walked into the training room.
The training room in the villa was huge, about three times of theirs. The seats were also very dispersed, unlike the sequenced seating that was often used in competitions. Everyone casually found a table and sat down, then turned on the computers.
The game configurations of Heroes in the Korean servers were about more than 10% better than China itself. To professional players, it was a total dream-like existence. 
Of course, demands on capabilities were also higher.
As the level of eSports in the Korean servers were in the leading position, other than professional players, many amateur players in the Korean servers were also very strong, like Big Fish who was bought by Bug battleteam. Hence the amount of professional players who continuously lost after just entering the Korean servers were also not in the minority. 


The handsome, skilled newbie livestreamer, Ji Zhiyao, has a dream. 

"One day, I want to become the most famous crosstalk actor amongst the livestreamers."

Later on, this dream is forgotten by him and secretly becomes another.

"I want to overthrow Fi-god! I want to become Mix's new team dictator!"

The rich and aloof idol of the eSports scene, Mo Huaifeng, also has a dream. 

"Two years later, Mix will definitely make it into the International League."

Soon after, subtle changes happens to this dream.

"I want to make it into the International League with Ji Zhiyao and after winning, I will f**k him on livestream."

Livestreamer to eSports pro, Captain to boyfriend, will their dreams come true?

Gun-Ho went to the Intercontinental Hotel to see Professor Wang.
Professor Wang's room door was slightly opened, showing that he had been expecting Gun-Ho.
"Jien Wang! Long time no see!"
"Oh, Gjien Hao (Gun-Ho Goo)! It's really good to see you again!"
They hugged each other.
"Hey, President Goo, you seemed to gain some weight. You are probably doing well back in Korea."
"You look great too. So, you are done with all the official events scheduled?
"I have one more day left."
"Whoa, what are these?"
There were tons of shopping bags on Professor Wang's room floor.
"Yeah, I did some shopping this morning for my family and friends in China. Korean products are indeed high-quality products."
Professor Wang put his thumb up.
"Where is Deputy Mayor Seukang Li?"
"Oh, he is staying next room. He is arranging his shopping bags right now, I guess."
"Really? I'm so glad to see you both. Let's go have dinner. It's almost dinnertime. There are many good restaurants in Starfield COEX Mall around here."
"Sure. But let's wait for a moment. I'm expecting someone else."
"Who is it?"
"He is a friend of mine. I went to Yale University with him. He is Korean. He is on his way here."
"Really? What is he doing for a living?"
"He is a lawyer. He practices international law mostly. He is also the same age as us."
 
Gun-Ho and Professor Wang spent some time in Professor Wang's room while waiting for the man who Professor Wang was expecting.
Gun-Ho walked to the window and looked down; he could see Bongeunsa.
Professor Wang came to Gun-Ho and asked.
"President Goo, what is that building? It looks like a traditional Korean house. Is it one of the cultural assets?"
Professor Wang was pointing to Bongeunsa.
"No, it's a Buddhist temple."
"Buddhist temple?"
"Yes, it is called Bongeunsa. You can visit there when you go jogging in the morning."
"Oh, can anyone enter?"
"Of course, anyone can enter. It's free."
While Gun-Ho and Professor Wang were conversing about the Buddhist temple, a man entered the room. He was a tall and slim good-looking man.
"Hey, Attorney Kim!"
Professor Wang hugged his guest who just came into the room.
"Oh, this is President Goo I told you about on the phone."
"I'm Young-Jin Kim. Nice to meet you."
Gun-Ho gave him a handshake. Young-Jin pulled out his business card from the inner pocket of his jacket and gave it to Gun-Ho. Gun-Ho handed his business card to him as well.
"Attorney at Kim&Jeong Law Office?"
Gun-Ho thought that this guy was an attorney working in that famous Kim&Jeong, but he was wondering why Kim&Jeong was a law office, rather than a law company.
"Isn't Kim&Jeong a law company?"
"Actually, we are more like a partnership."
Attorney Kim grinned. He looked like someone who grew up in a good affluent family. Attorney Kim looked at Gun-Ho's business card again.
"I like your business card design. It's pretty. GH Development Company… is it then a real estate development company?"
"Yes, that's right. It's a small company with only two employees. Haha."
"You are the CEO of the company."
Professor Wang cut in on Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim's conversation.
"Hey, give me your business card to me too. Both of you!"
 
While Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim were handing their business cards to Professor Wang, Deputy Mayor Seukang Li came into the room.
"Hey, Seukang Li!"
"Oh, Gun-Ho Goo! Good to see you, man."
They hugged each other.
"I heard you quit your director position and now you are working as a deputy mayor in some city!?"
"Yeah, it's right next to Shanghai. What about you? How have you been?"
Gun-Ho gave his business card to Seukang Li. Gun-Ho's business card was written in Korean on the front page and in English on the back of the page.
"Is it a real estate development company? GH Development?"
"That's right. Bangjisan (a realtor's office)!"
 
It seemed that Seukang Li and Attorney Kim had never met each other before. Professor Wang introduced them to each other.
"This man went to Yale University with me, and this guy is the deputy mayor in Kunshan City right next to Shanghai. He is my hometown friend."
They bowed to each other.
"Let's go downstairs! We can continue to talk while having dinner."
 
The four men walked to the Starfield COEX Mall.
Professor Wang seemed to be envious of Korea's economic growth. He commented while looking at the commercial stores in the Starfield COEX Mall.
"I'm impressed by Korea's economic growth. All these commercial stores are sophisticated. I think we, Asia can surely compete with Western countries."
"China has developed remarkably. China is G-2."
"China is large in size, but we still have a long way to go to improve ordinary Chinese people's life. All those Korean people walking on the street right now, they looked wealthy."
"Oh! There is a restaurant."
"Its name is weird. It says 'Porchetta.'
"It sounds like an Italian restaurant. Let's just have dinner here. We don't need to go further to look for another one. This one looks good."
"Italy? Haha. So, I will have an Italian food in Korea, huh?"
Those four men entered the restaurant.
 
Gun-Ho ordered chicken, knowing it is Chinese people's favorite meat.
He also ordered Buttered Chicken Rice, Vongole Bread, and Crème Pasta, etc.
"Let's have some wine."
"It's tasty!"
The four men started eating. Professor Wang and Attorney Kim talked to each other in English. Gun-Ho was just listening to them while being impressed by their fluent English even he couldn't understand a thing. Attorney Kim raised his voice showing off his fluent English knowing that Gun-Ho didn't speak English. Deputy Mayor Li seemed that he didn't understand English either.
Attorney Kim then asked some cliché questions to Gun-Ho; he might feel sorry for Gun-Ho.
"So, where do you live, President Goo?"
"I'm living in Dogok Town."
"Oh, I live close to Dogok Town, in Daechi Town. My parents are living in the same town in a Mido condo. You live in Dogok Town… then do you live in TowerPalace?"
"That's right. I live in TowerPalace building A."
"Oh, I see."
Gun-Ho felt that Attorney Kim was showing a bit more respect to Gun-Ho when he heard that Gun-Ho was a resident of TowerPalace.
 
While Gun-Ho and Attorney Kim were talking in Korean, Professor Wang felt bored and cut in on their conversation.
"Hey, Gun-Ho! Deputy Mayor Li has no schedule tomorrow. He only attended the event on the first day and he won't attend the academic conference that is scheduled tomorrow."
"Oh, really? Then he has his own agenda coming to Korea?"
"He wants to visit a few industrial complexes. So, I was wondering if you know anyone who could help him tomorrow."
"I can do that."
"That would be great, but do you have time for it?"
"I will make time for a friend! My friend came all the way to Korea!"
"Thank you, Gun-Ho. I really appreciate that."
While Gun-Ho and Professor Wang were talking in Chinese, Attorney Kim became quiet. He then talked to Gun-Ho while feeling envious.
"Oh, President Goo, you sound like a native Chinese. When did you learn your Chinese?"
"I just had to learn to survive. Haha. Let's drink."
Three different languages were all mixed together at Gun-Ho's table: Korean, Chinese, and English.
 
Once they started drinking, Professor Wang and Deputy Mayor Li began to talk in Chinese. When they talked to each other, they spoke a Chinese dialect of the southern area. It was hard for Gun-Ho to understand.
Gun-Ho talked to Attorney Kim in Korean.
"I heard it is hard to get a job in Kim&Jeong, but once you get in, you get a significantly high salary."
"Whew. Don't get me started. The work is extremely hard. I usually work until 11 PM or even midnight every single day. That's normal and expected."
"Really? There is no easy job, huh?"
"I have a pile of work in my car trunk right now."
"What kind of work do you do?"
"I have a law license from the USA, so I usually handle international finances and M&A."
"Oh, I see. Did you go to high school in the U.S.?"
"No, not at all. I was born and raised here in Korea, in Apgujeong Town, Seoul specifically. I went to Seoul National University. I actually went to the U.S. after graduating from college."
"So you get your master's degree and Ph.D. from Yale University."
"I went to Yale Law School and came back to Korea after getting my law license. I sometimes feel difficult to get along with attorneys who studied law in Korea. Haha."
Attorney Kim lifted up his shiny gold metal frame glasses with his finger and smiled with his white teeth.
Gun-Ho thought that this guy looked like the typical guy who was born and raised in a wealthy family in the famous school district, Gangnam District-8. On top of that, he was smart and good-looking. He was the UmChinAh*.
 
 
Note*
UmChinAh – A Korean word. If directly translating it, it is 'my mother's friend's son.'
It indicates a person who seemed to be so perfect that my mom always talks about him who is her friend's son. And she doesn't stop there usually, but she compares that guy with me and that makes me feel really bad and stressed.

This is the story of a poor young man whose poverty even shreds apart their family willing to climb his way through society and into the top. A very realistic novel that moves away from fantasy and sci-fi and focuses solely on the issues of society and life.

I'm walking into school and I see Adam waiting for me at the door and I walk to him and hand him a book, on the cover it says "How to learn Korean for beginners"
He looks down and says "What the hell is this?" I start to walk away and say over my shoulder "Learn Korean yourself so you don't need me." and walk away.
       I walk In the classroom an go up to Muriah and ask "Can you speak English well?" She stares at me for a minute Then says "Yes why? Want me to help you with lover boy Adam, I can help you because I'm really into him" then I ask "Can we switch seats please, He is getting on my nerves." Muriah takes a deep breath in and sighs and says "Sure, but this is the only favor I'll ever give to you." I go over to Adam with Muriah at my heels and say "I'm moving desks and Muriah is you new desk mate okay, and she can speak English like me okay?" He nods and Muriah sits next to him and as I walk away they start talking together. I sit where Muriah's old seat was, James comes in and saw me sitting where Muriah usually sits and asks me "What are you doing, your seat is...." He sees Muriah sitting in my old seat and then just sits down and passes me a note. I open it and it says "Are you still mad at me?" I crumble the paper in my hand and look up and say "No, not any more" and lean in and kiss him on the cheek and I say to him "This is my dream life forever when I'm with you" I smile and look up at him into his deep blue eyes that are like a endless ocean of water and I wish this moment could last forever.



Author:Sorry I've been in the hospital for a week and couldn't have my phone with me, and thank you for the 110K views. I would like to end the book here because I think this is the perfect time to end the book for a happy ever after. I will be starting a new book called "Vampire Taboo." it's a gay Novel and would like your support because this is the first time I'm writing some thing like this.

My name is Hinita Hanclok and I'm a freshman at international academy in japan. on the first day of school I run into a idol of the school, I don't even know this guy but he confessed his love to me on the first day of school and now I'm dating the most popular guy in school.Well at least I think. 

The Art work is not mine and i give the drawer his full credit.

This time, Hayden woke up at 3:30 AM, feeling refreshed. "What the heck? I slept only for 5 hours and 30 minutes, yet I already feel vigorous?"
 
"There can only be two possibilities here," Hayden speculated as to what happened. "Either Divine Perception's usage wasn't as bad yesterday because of me playing War of Honor in alternative of playing the keyboard, or Indestructible Devil evolved, which is unlikely as I don't use it all that much..."
 
Thinking more, he changed his conjecture. "Wait, I always exercise and dance in the morning intensively, which uses Devil's Persistence to give my body energy and repair the muscle tears… Well, both are possible, so, let's just say that both contributed as factors."
 
Hayden closed the matter as it was no use theorizing about it. After stretching, he learnt seven routines from CHORUS, TITANIUM, and from one of the best dancers in Korea, Sungha.
 
He performed all of them perfectly without any mistakes. "It seems that the adoptive muscle memory of Divine Perception is getting stronger."
 
Because of the constant usage of Divine Perception, and the continual use of Devil's Persistence, Hayden thought that both Abilities were starting to evolve.
 
Shrugging this matter off once more, he proceeded to exercise for an hour. When he finished, he smelled bacon being cooked downstairs.
 
Going down, he saw his mom cooking food. A rare sight, but a welcome one!
 
"Good morning, sweetie." Hayden's mom said as she cracked an egg to make a sunny side up. "How's your dancing?"
 
Hayden froze at the mention of this. "What dancing? I don't dance…"
 
"Psh," Hayden's mom laughed. "I opened your door to see the commotion, only to see you concentrated on your dancing. I didn't know you were such a good dancer! You hid it well."
 
"I was simply practicing," Hayden awkwardly laughed. He didn't like his parents seeing him doing anything like practicing as they always bragged about how good their son was on things he was merely trying. "On top of that, because of Aswang, I don't like going out, I feel unsafe."
 
"True," Hayden's mother agreed with him. Abruptly, she brought up another topic that made Hayden freeze in his tracks. "You've never touched the keyboard we bought for you. It's such a pity it's gathering dust on your bedroom closet. Jeez…"
 
"I-I play at times…" Hayden scratched his head. "You guys purely don't know because I play the keyboard when you're out of the house."
 
"Sure, sweetie," Hayden's mom gave him a meaningful look. She finished cooking, plated it, put in rice, and handed the perfectly cooked egg and bacon to Hayden. "Eat up."
 
"Thanks mom!" Putting the bacon in his mouth, along with egg and some rice. "Food cooked by you really is still the best!"
 
Sometimes, when a person cook for you, especially your mother, food tastes much better. When Hayden cooks for himself, it tastes good, yes, but it doesn't taste as good even if he was following the exact same steps his mother do.
 
"The real secret ingredient is love, honey," Hayden's mom winked at him as she cracked another egg and put another batch of bacon on another pan. "You'll learn that when you get a girlfriend."
 
Hayden's bacon got stuck in his throat when he heard that. "Jeez, mom, why do you have to make me depressed!"
 
His mom simply laughed, which cracked a smile on Hayden. This was a nice peaceful moment for Hayden that made him lose any sense of having powers, feeling like a regular teenager again.
 
After eating, he immediately went to shower before going up to his room again to put his uniform on. "Oh, yeah, it's Friday…"
 
Due to using his Divine Perception to listen in on his lessons, giving him a calm mind, time always passed so quickly for him. Unlike in his previous years, he wasn't bored at all, resulting in his perception of time becoming faster.
 
"First Friday of the school year, huh?" Hayden put on his black uniform, took his bag, and went downstairs to put on his shoes. Subsequently, he waved goodbye to his mom so that he can go to school.
 
He passed the day like regular without interacting with anyone willingly. Of course, Hayden didn't complain that nobody bothered him, laying low again. The basketball matter a few days ago was already off the mind of others as they were stressing of what to do the next few weeks, which will be the real start of the school year. Assignments, projects, and everything will be given out more often starting next week.
 
Going home, he wanted to visit a sports store first. He had the perfect store in mind, which was the John's Sports Goods in the marketplace near their house. This was where their family bought Hayden's first workout equipment.
 
Nearing the place, Hayden heard a hubbub in an alleyway. Turning on his Divine Perception, he saw five men that looked like extorting a student from his school. Hayden felt perplexed as to why the kid was in this kind of a situation as the world was a much better place ever since decades ago, this kind of thing rarely happened.
 
"I guess he is in the same generation as me, after all…" Sighing, Hayden decided to take action. When he was about to go in the alleyway, through his Divine Perception, he noticed a glow on the chest of the student. "Fuck, a wielder?"
 
Hayden knew he had to rush. For the first time, he activated the superhuman strength and speed of Indestructible Devil, allowing him to appear inside the alleyway in an instant.
 
As Divine Perception was still active, Hayden deduced that there were four thugs among them, and one student belonging from Makati City Scholar Academy. When he arrived, Hayden saw what they were doing to the student.
 
His initial thought was that they were extorting the poor student; on the contrary, hearing their conversation, they were harassing him for being a student of the Scholar Academy!
 
"You guys, using physical force because you can't compete in the brains department, huh?" Hayden's sudden appearance startled the six people in the alleyway, including the student who was about to use his Ability.
 
"What did you say, kid?" One of the gangsters asked in a menacing manner. "You picking a fight, eh? Oh, another smarty-pants bitch?
 
The hooligan noticed Hayden's uniform, which belonged to the Makati City Scholar Academy. As a result, all six of them knew that Hayden was a student of the revered academy.
 
"Heh, smarty-pants bitch? Don't have any other word in your vocabulary?" Hayden coldly smiled as he mocked. "Birds of the same feather truly do flock together. A bunch of low-lives are harassing a single student. Ahh, I thought the world has already become a better place. To think that it is still harboring such trash!"
 
Hayden spat out on the man's shoes. This will look rude to others, but they disrespected him first. Plus, bullying a person with the reason that they had higher intellect than them was such a bullshit reason!
 
This action of Hayden angered everyone. The rich-looking student's face twitched as he smiled. "What a silver-tongued smartass!"
 
"Just because you're smart doesn't mean you can fight!" The rich student smirked. "All of you, what are you doing? Attack already!"
 
Hayden turned off Indestructible Devil as he thought that fighting regular humans with his current strength would be enough. At that moment, a soothing calmness spread from his body towards his mind, which in turn made him see the world as if it was in slow motion.
 
'Holy shit!' Hayden didn't expect this development. Seeing the world in slow motion was a cool power, and Hayden always liked this power! 'Now, this is something!'
 
Analyzing every single movement of the four men, he knew that they had little to no combat experience. With this, he was confident that he can win this fight. The alleyway was relatively wide, allowing the four men to surround him.
 
Of course, Hayden wanted to be surrounded, because if he didn't want to be surrounded, he would've already reacted.
 
"Feeling scared now, eh boy?" One of the hooligans laughed because he thought that Hayden not making a move was him being terrified. "Too late for regrets now! You have thoroughly offended that young master already. Now, you have to face his wrath!"
 
The man who talked threw a punch at Hayden's back. Hayden felt the airwaves from this punch, allowing him to know the exact velocity, angle, and power of this punch. With his perfect reflexes, he reacted to this punch by stepping to the right, turning around, and countering the man's punch with another punch.
 
As the man put all of his weight into this punch, with Hayden's strength and the weight from the man's own attack, his head was thrown back. The man was instantly knocked out!
 
This single retaliation from Hayden made all the others re-evaluate him. Punching a person out cold with a single punch was a feat that only boxers will be able to do against a regular human! However, the one in front of them was a regular high school student, how can he possibly possess such power?
 
"Boys, we have to charge at the same time." The one who Hayden mocked at the start of this whole mess spoke. They all nodded when they heard this as seeing Hayden knocking out their comrade left a big impression on them.
 
Seeing the three thugs charging towards him, Hayden snorted. He was surrounded, so he was being assaulted in three directions. The three arrived before him at arm's reach, punching Hayden with a right hook almost at the same time.
 
Observing this, Hayden ducked and did a sweep kick, making the two unfortunate enough to receive this sweep kick lose their balance, with their arms hitting the cement ground first. Hayden deliberately left the leader, basing on the looks, for last.
 
Looking at his comrades writhing on the ground because of the pain they experienced on the arm they fell on and the ankles they were kicked by Hayden, he was absolutely scared out of his wits.
 
"Boss, I think we have to run," The leader turned around hurriedly. "Run, boss!"
 
The rich kid was also scared and astounded at this moment. The hooligans' leader's shout woke him up from his daze, wanting to run away. When the fellow student from the Scholar Academy saw this, Hayden noticed that his Origin Crystal lit up, as his eyes changed color.
 
"Don't." Hayden said as he put his hand on the shoulder of his schoolmate. "I'll handle it, don't use your power on regular humans."
 
Gathering energy on his legs, Hayden rushed towards the two people escaping, easily catching up to them with his speed. He did a karate chop with both of his right and left hands simultaneously towards their neck to make them faint, which was successful.
 
Turning around, Hayden saw his fellow student was speechless. "Are you okay? You're also from Makati City Scholar Academy, right?"
 
"Yes," the student was speechless. "How do you know I was planning to use my power? You're also someone who has a power?"
 
Hayden simply nodded. "Don't casually use that power, it's dangerous. Imagine if the Triple A caught wind of you using your power."
 
When the student heard this, his face changed. "Fuck, I forgot about them. True. I have you to thank for stopping me. My name is Daniel, Daniel Luntiang-Dahon (1). 9th Grade, Class 1-5."
 
"Hayden," he similarly introduced himself. "Hayden Emperador. 9th Grade, Class 1-8."
 
"Let's talk tomorrow at school, lunch, for now, go home, you look tired." Hayden said towards Daniel.
 
"But, it's Saturday tomorrow…" Daniel awkwardly said. "You mean Monday, right?"
 
"Yeah, yeah, right," Hayden smiled with embarrassment. "Monday, you rest for two days. Look out for Aswang, most likely, he's also someone like you and me. Oh yeah, don't forget to touch that prism on your chest, with the question 'how can I hide this' in mind. You're smart enough to figure out the next part."
 
Daniel nodded, acknowledging Hayden's warning, before picking up the bag he dropped and scurrying away. Hayden, who saw this, felt delight on finally finding a fellow wielder.
 
Eyeing the people who was knocked out on the ground, he snorted once more. "Utter trash. Bullying people with such a shitty reason."
 
He then left them lying on the ground as he went back to his original plan of looking at exercise equipment. He wanted to buy so many workout equipment. Despite that, he refused to give in when he saw the credits in his account.
 
Shaking his head, he went to leave, dispirited. Arriving at his home, Hayden changed clothes and learned Korean again. When he finished, he tried practicing what he learned.
 
"It's already been five days, huh?" Hayden spoke in perfect Korean. "I'm pretty eloquent already, knowing the sentence structures, and many more… I can also read Korean now. In fact, I've pretty much mastered the language…"
 
Nodding his head, he was fulfilled of what he was able to learn in a short five days. He was still speaking Korean as he talked to himself. "It seems that I can go to Korea without ever having to get lost. I want to meet those girls…"
 
Hayden exhaled as he thought of those girls. The girls he was referring to was naturally CHORUS, specifically, Kim Eun-Ha. "Why is she so pretty? And her personality is utterly flawless… Well, if that's her true personality even while off camera anyways…"
 
He knew that sometimes, celebrities, as long as they were famous enough, were conceited and arrogant in real life, only having respect for their fellow artists, always looking down on non-celebrities. Hayden wished that Kim Eun-Ha wasn't like this at all, hoping that what he saw on camera is what she was really like. "I mean, KTM Entertainment does find people with good ethics…"
 
"Well, time to move on to Japanese!" Throwing the matter out of the window, feeling it was too farfetched to meet them, Hayden moved on. With the intent of watching anime raw, he must learn the Japanese language! "There're also some Japanese members in CHORUS, perhaps I can impress them…"
 
At the thought of this, he became more eager to learn Japanese (2). Thinking of it, there was also a Taiwanese member in CHORUS! Thinking of this, he was also excited to learn Chinese Mandarin now!
 
"Wait, three weeks to learn three languages? Wouldn't polyglots, some of whom dedicated their entire lives learning languages, kill me?" Hayden bemused to himself. Laughing at his own joke, he turned on War of Honor. "I'll learn tomorrow, there's no rush."
 
Playing five ranked games, Hayden's team won, solo-carrying every single game with perfect strategies and micromanagement skills. Hayden was delighted because, without Divine Perception, his rate of improvement was still something to behold.
 
Finishing the last game, he heard their doorbell ring. The stuff he ordered was here! Going downstairs with fast steps, he opened the door to see the package in his front door.
 
He then carried it towards his room and opened it. He set up the computer for recording. For now, he didn't set up the backdrop yet as he wouldn't record his face anyways, only the keyboard. Instead, he put the backdrop on one corner of the room, leaving it there for the future.
 
After testing recording for a single War of Honor game, he was satisfied. "Wait, this camera can also be used to record piano tutorials, which is equally as popular in Streamlink!"
 
Once he realized this, he felt that his income already doubled. The remaining question is where he would post the piano tutorials, in his channel where he game, or in another channel?
 
"I guess I'm going to post it in my gaming channel. I'm named Supremacy anyways, showing two talents at once to show to the world isn't really odd compared to the narcissistic-sounding name." Hayden promptly made a decision before going to sleep.
 
"Tomorrow, I'll record and edit for the entire day! Releasing three videos at once!" Saying this, Hayden closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he went into deep sleep.
 
…..
 
1 Luntiang-Dahon – Can be directly translated to English as Green-Leaf.
 
2 I'm not using the official language names of the languages I stated. I apologize for referring to Pyojun-eo as simply Korean language. Why would I do this? For the sake of simplicity. I humbly apologize for any offense I would've brought upon to anyone. For those of you all who don't know, Japanese in its native language is Nihongo, while Chinese Mandarin is Putonghua. Note: Putonghua still has tone marks. I will keep referring to these languages as simply Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Mandarin now for the sake of keeping it simple, thank you for understanding!

Wouldn't you just want to possess superpowers in this modern world? What would you do if you suddenly come to possess superpowers? Would you want to play the hero? Or perhaps the villain? Or continue living your life, using your superpowers for your own personal gains and well-being, instead of planning evil acts, or trying to save the day?

Well, that is the precise situation that Hayden Emperador, the main character of our story, is going to face.

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