"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.

"One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been that I
                         have never stopped learning about good cooking and good food."      
                                   - Edna Lewis

=========================

"Hey Delilah. Don't forget about the report, okay?" 

Delilah turned around and saw Aubree waving at her as she walked towards the exit of the office. 

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll continue it tomorrow. There are still some points that I haven't highlighted yet." 

Aubree just nodded before disappearing. 

Delilah quickly packed her things after shutting down her computer. She waved goodbye to those who passed by her cubicle. 

Shortly after, she was at the office lobby, with her phone in her hand. 

Instead of heading straight home, she was planning to go straight to her language class. She had just texted her father in the family group chat, saying that she's going to her class straight away. 

Few weeks ago, she had applied for a Korean Language class. Although she had attended once, she was still nervous. Probably because she still would not be able to learn much. Learning a new language was difficult for her. 

People say that it was easy. But she had argued that it depends on one's determination and will to learn. Even though she has the determination and will, she had to admit that it wasn't that strong. Learning a new language was something she wanted to add to her skill. 

The class was a few minutes drive from her office in one of the shopping centres in the city. 

Parking her car at a designated parking lot, she got out of her car and headed straight for the shopping centre. The class was on the second floor and she used the stairs to get there, instead of a lift. She thought maybe she could get a little exercise by climbing the stairs. 

Opening the door that leads to the class, she was greeted by the admin, who was manning the front desk. The place was similar to a school, albeit a private school or 'cram school'. 

Other than Korean language, they also offer language classes for Japanese, Arabic and Chinese. 

Nodding 'hello' to the admin, Delilah walked towards her class. Since it wasn't her first time, she knew where her class was. 

Entering the room on the left, she noticed that the class was crowded this time as well. Most of the students were those who were younger or more or less the same age as her. 

There were only a couple of males in the class. She presumed that either they were interested in learning or they were 'forced' to join the class by their girlfriends or wives. 

The class hasn't started yet. But it seems like everyone has already arrived except for the songsaenim [1].

Delilah took a seat that was a couple of seats from the teacher's table. She did not want to sit in the front nor did she want to sit at the back. 

While waiting for the songsaenim, she reads her Korean notebook where the first lesson was to read hangul [2].

She sighed. Although it was interesting learning the alphabets, it seems confusing as well. Especially when some of the letters can also be used for different letters. For example, one of the letters can be used for either 'r' and 'l'. 

Just as she attempted to practice her writing, the songsaenim arrived. The songsaenim was from South Korea herself. Her name was Kim Sanghe. She looked like she was in her late thirties. She was tall with a round face and fair skin with small eyes and nose. 

She was smiling as she walked to her desk. She then greeted the class, 'Annyeonghaseyo', which literally means, 'Hello'. 

After her students had greeted her back, she immediately started her class. She first revised back on the topics that they had learned during the first class, which was learning the hangul and the basic greeting words. 

The class was a two-hours class with a fifteen minutes break in the middle. 

Although they don't actually eat during the break, rather just drink, Delilah spent her breaks, just recalling the topics that they had learned. It was not because she was a diligent student. It was just that she needed more practice. She really was weak when it comes to learning a new language. Truth be told, she was weak in her own standard language. 

After the class was over, Delilah went to pack her things and said her thank you to her songsaenim. 

Leaving the school, she realized that she was getting hungry. She really needs some brain food at that moment. 

Fortunately, on the ground floor of the shopping centre, there were many food stalls being set up. She decided to buy her dinner at one of the stalls. 

Walking around, she finally settled on a Korean food stall. 

The tteokbokki [3] looked delicious. But it looked really spicy by how red it looked. She does not have the craving to eat spicy food at that moment. Studying the menu that was placed near the stall, she was surprised to see corn cheese being sold. 

It was not because it was difficult to make but rather, not many stalls would sell this. She did not know why. 

She decided to place her order for that and also some japchae [4]. Since there wasn't any place for her to sit and eat, she ordered her food to go. 

Few minutes later, she arrived at home with her two steaming food. She immediately went into the kitchen and placed her food on the dining table. 

She then went up to her room to take a shower. 

Once done, she went back to the kitchen. She took the take-outs from the plastic bag and began to open the cover. The food was still steaming hot, much to Delilah's delight. 

Before eating the japchae, she decided to eat the corn cheese since it's more delicious to eat it when it's hot. 

Scooping the corn, the cheese was stretchy as she pulled her spoon higher. The steam still came out from the food, indicating that it was still hot. She blew on the corn and took a bite. The corn was sweet and savory, giving out a heavenly flavour. It was loaded with butter mixed in it, making the taste more palatable and rich.

She loved how the corn seems to burst into flavour as she chewed on them. 

Few minutes later, she cleaned up after herself, already done with her dinner. Cleaning the kitchen, she then went up to her room to sleep.

The next day.

Delilah was rearranging her papers into a neat pile when Aubree knocked on the wall of her cubicle. 

"Hey Delilah. Howard's here."

Delilah turned around and nodded. She picked up the papers and her mobile phone and went out of her cubicle, heading straight for one of the meeting rooms. Aubree went back to her cubicle.

Inside the meeting room, Howard was sitting alone, in front of his laptop. He was typing on his laptop, not noticing Delilah's knock.

Delilah loudly cleared her throat. "Um, Howard?"

Looking up, Howard looked surprised at first when he saw Delilah, as if he forgot that he had called for her. He then gave her a smile and gestured for her to sit.

She took a seat across him and waited patiently as he finished off what he was doing.

Soon after, Howard set his laptop aside and held out his hand. "Are those the reports that I requested?" he asked.

Delilah nodded and handed him the papers.

Howard immediately looked through the report, turning the pages numerous times.

A few minutes later, the two went into a deep discussion. Delilah mainly talked about her opinions and reasons as to why she had changed some of the words. She showed Howard the little post-its that she had stuck on the reports, summarizing the words.

The discussion took them nearly three hours. And when Howard finally stopped the meeting, the two went their separate ways. Delilah immediately went to lunch whereas Howard went straight to the other branch, since he had another meeting with another employee of the company.

In the office cafeteria, Aubree was having her lunch, sitting at the table, together with Fawkes and Shazzy.

The three of them looked up when Delilah had approached them, pulling out a chair for her to sit. 

"How was the little meeting?" Aubree asked.

Delilah shrugged as she took out her lunch box from her lunch bag. "The usual," she said nonchalantly. 

Fawkes shook his head in bemusement. "I don't know how you two could spend hours in a meeting," he said. "What do you guys even talk about?"

Delilah shrugged again. "This and that," she said. "And of course, knowing Howard, he likes to talk off-topic."

Aubree laughed. "Yeah, he does," she agreed.

"I've never been in a meeting with him before," Shazzy said softly. She was one of the newest employees in the Kang Company. She has been in the company for a few months now.

Aubree, Delilah and Fawkes turned to her and said, "Be grateful that you haven't!"

They all continued to talk while Delilah listened on as she ate. She does drop some comments in-between but that was it. It seems like she had a lot of things in her mind. Not only was she still thinking of the meeting but she was thinking of her language class.

She sighed inwardly. 'How does one improve their language skill?' she thought to herself.    

-----

[1] Songsaenim - Teacher in Korean (선생님) 

[2] Korean alphabets

[3] Korean rice cakes

[4] Sweet potato starch noodles

Life as an HR officer isn't easy. 

Delilah faces everyday struggles like any other office worker, but are they enough to hinder her chance to enjoy life? Thankfully, good food is always there to save the day.

=======

Every Saturday, 8PM GMT+8. Once a week.

Please do not kill the author if you are feeling hungry from reading this. It is advised that readers should eat and drink before reading this novel. Thank you.

=======

All the characters and places in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

=======

Cover-page made by @blackmaya

=======

If you would like to see pictures of the foods that were described in the novel, come and join my foodie server! Meet other foodies as well! Here is the link to the server! Hope to see you there! 

https://discord.gg/uwE9yeF

Kim Na Hee trusted the Kirukawa Mai matter with Ahn Soo Ho. That meant she respected what he would do whether he convinced her or kidnapped her. What was unfortunate was that despite his magical powers, it was quite difficult to suppress reason.
Dating techniques and intelligence weren't directly proportional.
Ahn Soo Ho didn't really know what women were interested in. The only reason why he didn't run away was because of his magic. Jang Seol Hyun wasn't the only woman in the world who would listen to his old man jokes.
The Rosette Hope Volunteer Group was busy with their schedules. It was a big team that included celebrities, famous people, the filming team, as well as guards to ensure their safety.
And the bigger the group, the harder it was to control everyone. Han Chae Kyung was cut out to be a boss. She didn't have strong charisma like Kim Na Hee, but she had the type of leadership of a young woman.

"Please check your group every once in a while, and if anything happens, please report it to me."

The first destination of the volunteer group was a native village in the East of Nairobi. Kenya played a leading role as a native nation in Africa. There was a reason why many international rescue groups came to Nairobi.
There were almost no civil wars within Kenya since its establishment.
There were some conflicts and protests here and there, but there weren't little boys shooting guns like in the other African countries. After America's Nigerian War, Central Africa was in the middle of a dispute with Ethiopia, but Southern Africa didn't seem like they were going to back down easily either.

"What's funny is that most of the countries fighting over dominance of Africa are a part of the Common Wealth."

South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria were all a part of the Common Wealth.

"Why is that? Because England is great?"

In the same way, France, who colonized Africa were on the decline, but British colonists weren't completely gone. Why? Because they were less cruel than France? Not at all. Both England and France had a great number of colonies.
As soon as Ahn Soo Ho paused, Go Ah Jin raised her hand.

"Is it because of America?"
"Why?"
"Because they speak English, too."
"Oh."

Ahn Soo Ho exclaimed in surprise.

"Am I right?"

Go Ah Jin was surprised.

"You're right. England is America's biggest asset and strongest weapon."

Culture came from language. In order to understand an English-speaker, one had to know English, and in order to learn about the basis of English, one had to know English literature. People had to learn about the identities and customs of other people in order to predict how they would think and act.

"Then why are they joining England instead of America?"

No one could answer that question.

"That's because America stresses democracy. They have a sense of duty to protect human rights and democracy. However, that's another type of imperialism. Luckily for England, they've shared many aspects with America, and America needed a bait in order to hide their intention."

Following the Second World War, France managed to become a leading country, but they were unable to rid themselves of their image associated with Germany. And that caused them to speed up their break away from the colony. International order functioned based on the reasoning of power. If a country grew weak, its uncivilized side would begin looking elsewhere.
The reason why England's colonial empire didn't collapse like that of France was because people saw America and England as one. And that was a misunderstanding. But the fact that they shared the same language worked in their favor.
America didn't have anything to lose either. In order to have more power in the following generations, the influence of the English language had to grow bigger. Unlike how French used to be the common language in Europe, it was now English, and America didn't hesitate to invest in England for that reason.

"America and England filled in what was lacking in each other."

The American and British empire's strategy was a success. After all, not everyone in the world had the kind of intelligence that was needed to graduate from Harvard. While America sold freedom, England sold the royal family. They sold the past and future at the same time.

"America used England as a shield while England used America's superiority in order to regain their reputation."

The topic that Ahn Soo Ho raised on the bus was random. However, there wasn't a single person that didn't listen. The fact that they came out to volunteer meant that they had an interest in the public interest. Just because they were young didn't mean they had no interest in politics or diplomatics.

"So are you saying language is also a national power?"
"Being able to communicate is more influential than you can imagine."

The worth of a language depended on the number of people that used it. Korean was a superb language, and it was impressive to know it. However, that was all.

"People have different mindsets depending on what language they speak."

People who mainly used Korean died as Korean. That was why Ahn Soo Ho had no choice but to be Korean. He was able to use his magic to speak all the languages in the world, but since Korean was his first language, that was his default basis for his beliefs and way of thinking. Even if he spoke English, French, and Spanish, he interpreted them in a Korean way.
Ahn Soo Ho didn't only talk about difficult topics. He even added some humor and some stories of corruption here and there. As soon as he revealed a president that had an affair with an actress and how much slush funds a famous dictator had, loud exclamations could be heard. 
The best story was the one of the kidnapped reporters in Nigeria. As soon as their rescue stories came out, their eyes sparkled. They couldn't hear these stories anywhere else, so it was more stimulating than any affair story.

"To be honest, affection fell upon Korea. Not Onami."
"Wow!"

Go Ah Jin looked impressed. No one expected him to pull out an old man joke at a time like this.

"I'm sorry."

Ahn Soo Ho immediately apologized. Do Min Ho's joking skills were definitely trash. There was nothing to learn from him.

"We're here."

After racing through the empty roads for 5 hours, they arrived at a village. As soon as they got out of the bus, Ahn Soo Ho realized what was going on.

'They're actors.'

Just like how foreigners looked at traditional villages in Korea and marveled at how Korean it seemed, the volunteers looked at the shabby-looking houses and marveled at how African it looked.
One of the main industries in Kenya was volunteer experience. When considering the safety of the volunteers, they couldn't bring them to remote areas. What if they got hurt, kidnapped, or even killed? That would be the Kenyan government's responsibility. So they secretly made a native village for volunteers to gain their experience.
Every single adult, elder, and children were educated actors. And the volunteers that knew nothing believed that they were actually volunteering. If one compared them to a real African that require help, they could be distinguished quite easily. But foreigners were unable to tell them apart.
He had no intention of ruining the fun for the volunteers who were handing water to the natives. Ignorance was bliss. Ahn Soo Ho approached the native guides gathered at the entrance.

"Where are we going today?"

Their eyes flinched when they heard Ahn Soo Ho speak their language so fluently. His pronunciation made him sound like he was a native.

"Huh?"

One of the bewildered guides got a hold of himself and stepped up.

"We're going to go to two more places after this."
"I see. Well, let's see. Then today's accommodation must be in… Garissa?"
"Um, yes."

Ahn Soo Ho took out a cigarette and handed one to him. He turned happy. Just because they were a guide in Kenya didn't mean they made good money. Africans also had a tendency to become friends if someone gave them something.

"How are the borders these days? Is it still hectic?"
"Somalia? It's always crazy there."

He obtained all sorts of information by smoking with the guide. During the days of the European empire, all sorts of borders were drawn, but they were rarely followed. Borders didn't mean much in Africa. Even the concept of a nation was vague, and the tribal mindset was so strong that not many thought of themselves as citizens.

"The UN is also planning to reduce the size of the refugee village. So the vibe has been strange these days."
"Why is that?"
"Do you seriously have no idea? It's because of the Al Shabab. They've already penetrated deep into Nairobi."

Al Shabab.
Just the fact that their name started with "Al" suggested that they were an Islamic group. They were one of the worst terrorist organizations in Eastern Africa.
Ahn Soo Ho thought that SI was actually worse than Al Shabab. Al Shabab at least didn't kill any Muslims but not the SI. They were close to heathens, and they punished Muslims.
After Boko Haram went to shit from the Nigerian war (they were actually shit on by Ahn Soo Ho), the African Islamic organizations naturally took over Eastern Africa. Due to the baseless rumors claiming that the US military's next target was Sudan, there was an energy of an oncoming war, but the Islamic terrorist groups exploded rather than reducing in size.
People with intelligence felt doubtful.
'Where did all that money come from?'
Where did they get the money to create a military of thousands of people? Some claimed that they must have made an agreement with the Somalian pirates. There were rumors that their funds came from those pirates.
Ahn Soo Ho shook his head. There were limits to how much money pirates could secure. And since there was no guarantee that they would succeed, it was common for the account of the pirates to take the money and leave.
And on top of that, the US marines were going in and out of Djibouti, so it was hard to be pirates nowadays. In order to protect the paths to the Suez Canal, India, Japan, China, Korea, and even Australia, they sent their Marines to help.

'That's why they needed the label of being environmental activists.'

The inside of Somalia was always chaos, but toward the ocean were marines of multiple countries. The NR Peace Keepers worked toward saving the Somalian refugees, and as a result, James Bungee's black heart decided to go a different direction.
The IAEA was huge with more resources than anyone could imagine. And when it came to modern civilization's nuclear fuel tracing technology, they were at a level of hitting below the pictogram range.
In other words, there was no hole to crawl out of.
Despite never having been near North Korea's nuclear facilities, the IAEA was able to predict what kind of experiments they were conducting. However, the IAEA weren't perfect either. If they targeted a region, they would find it 100%, but when looking through the entire world, it was impossible for them to detect nuclear materials.
And if they were hidden well, it was possible they would never find it.
After serving the native actors, the volunteer group proceeded to their next destination. That place was probably going to be similar to this one. Thanks to the photographer's passion, the famous people holding a black child and looking sad would probably be reborn as art.
Humanism
It could be described with that one word.
It had been a long time since rescue became a business. Average people believed that their small donations went to children in need, but the truth was, it all went toward a reserve. The money that actually went to the sites came from large sums, not small ones. Most of the small funds were spent on the preparations of the rescue operations.

"Huh?"

The bus was blocked by cars on their way to their next village.
They were Japanese cars in disguise.
While they loved Toyota cars, they killed way too many Japanese people. Just like Boko Haram, their flag was always a black background with white letters on top.

"#w$@^%#$!"

The bus driver immediately turned the handle, but as soon as he could, gunshots were fired.

Bang, bang-

As soon as the bullets went through the bus, it was pandemonium. The cars suddenly popped out of nowhere and shot at the bus from all sides.

"Agh!"

The guards that were supposed to protect everyone ran away, and some of them got killed in the process. Rosette Group's guards didn't have real-life experience.
Ahn Soo Ho felt weird.
He had very little memory of being attacked in such a way in the mercenary world. Just as Do Min Ho put it, this was a very fresh and new experience. He whispered something to Go Ah Jin, who was frozen beside him, and got up.

"Get down and lower your heads."
"Pardon? Ok… okay!"

As soon as Ahn Soo Ho got out of his seat, he met eyes with Han Chae Kyung. Ahn Soo Ho mouthed the words to her, and she reflexively nodded.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-

An automatic gun landed in each of his hands, and as soon as he pulled the trigger, the heads of the assailants blew up like watermelons. A huge smokescreen followed.

Bang, bang, bang- Bang, bang-

The terrorists were taken aback by the sudden impairment of their vision. The shabby mercenaries ran away while the rest were taken care of quite easily, but the resistance grew stronger.

"Agh!"
"Agh!"

The screaming of his allies could be heard from within the smoke.

"W… what's going on?"

On their way from kidnapping the National Geographic filming team, they found another delicious prey and pounced. The more hostages they had, the better their negotiation would be.

'A… a trap?'

Was this a trap of the Kenyan government? He hadn't heard of anything like that though. While the command panicked, Ahn Soo Ho sniped the bastards one by one. As the gunfires slowed down, the smoke cleared up, and among the dead assailants was Ahn Soo Ho.
And with him at the center, red flowers bloomed.
And then there was a sunset.

"Gulp!"

It made no sense.

'This is crazy.'

Wasn't war a cruel thing? However, among the dead assailants' blood and death was Ahn Soo Ho looking more beautiful than ever. A famous Korean photographer, Yoon Ki Hyun captured this beauty on camera.
He blamed it on the instincts of an artist.

< Protect – Episode 225 – Green Peace [4] > The end.

Original Synopsis:

In a world where money and power trumps all, Ahn Soo Ho, A.K.A. Magician, uses his superhuman abilities and his knowledge of the intelligence world to climb to the very top of the totem pole.
 
Due to his intimidating stature and cold personality, most would assume he’s doing it out of greed, but what many don’t know is that he has three weaknesses: His mother, his little sister, and his top star girlfriend, Jang Seol Hyun.
 
Join Ahn Soo Ho on an adventure through the mercenary, the establishment of his own entertainment company, and a trip around the world as he makes his way to become the richest man of Korea and protects what truly matters to him.

------
Translator's Introduction

In a world where money and power trumps all, Ahn Soo Ho, A.K.A. Magician, uses his superhuman abilities and his knowledge of the intelligence world to climb to the very top of the totem pole.
 
Due to his intimidating stature and cold personality, most would assume he’s doing it out of greed, but what many don’t know is that he has three weaknesses: His mother, his little sister, and his top star girlfriend, Jang Seol Hyun.
 
Join Ahn Soo Ho on an adventure through the mercenary, the establishment of his own entertainment company, and a trip around the world as he makes his way to become the richest man of Korea and protects what truly matters to him.

--------

We corrected the title from "Protect" to "Sooho" when we discussed with Munpia Editorial Team

<018. Frog Out of the Well(2)>

"182cm to 189cm?"
"That's right, Ho Yung."
"Yes!"

Ho Yung pumped his fists.

Basically unlimited height growth. 

This was an ability that he couldn't have ever earned with effort. His height wouldn't even cause any rumours concerning the matter of if he was the true child of his parents, as Hwang Sun and Ho Yung looked amazingly similar.

His mum was on the taller side, anyway. 

He made his mind up to treat Hyung Jun Suk to a meal if he ever ran into him on the world stage. 

"So is this it for the medical test?"

All he had done was a blood test, X-ray, and some heart tests; all just regular health tests. 

"Yes. Right now, it's just very basic health checks. We'll start more extensive medical tests before you officially enter the team."

So the inbody tests that measure general body balance like muscle density will be conducted later. Lukas then took Ho Yung through the current schedule laid out for Ho Yung. 
First, information regarding the youth team and the academy.
Second, information regarding FIFA transfer laws, article 19. 

"Do you understand?"
"Yes. So I don't have to worry, I just need to focus on soccer?"
"Yes."

There was no reason to worry - there were other players under 18 years of age from Mexico, Bolivia, Chile and Korea who belonged to the team. 

"Even if that becomes a problem, later on, it's not going to be a huge issue. Ho Yung, you won't live here forever, right?"

He was right.
He wasn't going to belong to San Paolo for all of his life. 

Brazil was just a step in his career - it wasn't the league he would forever live in. In fact, Ho Yung's thoughts couldn't be further from that. 

'There are so many teams I want to go to!'

He wasn't a one-club man - more of a journeyman. It would be frustrating to be stuck in one place. 

Of course, it wasn't something he could decide before he experienced it himself. 

"So when do we sign?"
"In April, there will be a signing season for new players. Then you'll be officially in the youth team. Until then, you'll learn the fundamentals at the academy. You'll be judged personally and given training - the results and the medical test will be combined to make the GPA."
"GPA?"
"It's basically a score. That you need to sign."
"Oh ~ to judge whether I get into the team or not?"
"Yes, the cut is 6.5 out of 10, and the contract will differ with your score."
"Hmm."
"Haha. I know it's a bit hard. To explain again…"
"No, I understand."

Ho Yung decided to ask about something else.

"What if the score is less than 6.5?"
"Then you train at the academy and wait for the next opportunity. You've come all this way, you can't just go back!"
"Haha, of course!"

He began to understand the relationship between the youth team and the academy. 

"What's the personal judgement test?"
"Well. It judges whether you, Ho Yung, have the mental health to be able to cope with the youth team's training. You'll also want to learn Portuguese."
"Portuguese?"
"The personal test has a Portuguese test section."
"Ah…"

Nothing was truly easy. 

4 days later, there finally came the time to say goodbye. 
"Ho Yung, take care and keep in touch."
"Yes, don't worry, I'm a big boy now~"
"You talk like a big boy haha."

His son was his son, whether he was 20 or 40. A parent always saw their child as a child, no matter their age, so Hwang Sun naturally worried. 

"Ho Yung Wu, you can do this!"
"That's right!"
"I'm very proud of you."

Hi Sun couldn't seem to make herself walk away. She hugged Ho Yung tightly. 

"If you ever feel exhausted or bad, tell us."
"Yes."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."

Later that day.

It would have been understandable to spend the first few days lazily with the excuse of getting adjusted, but Ho Yung didn't waste any time. 

His parents were paying his living expenses so he couldn't afford to do that. 

Plus, he was going to attend grade 5 in a private primary school next month; it was vital that he learnt the language. It was lucky that he knew some Spanish from his mum. 

It helped a lot that Spanish and Portuguese were very similar.
Moreover, Maria Cho held classes for all the kids from foreign countries so Ho Yung was able to build his skills incredibly fast. 

He purposely didn't use Korean. 

From the morning to the afternoon, he was trained in the U9 (under 9) academy. 

Truthfully, the academy was not of a high standard. It was only a stage to build a foundation before entering officially. 

He entered the highest skill-level class but actually, it was a system designed that anyone with money could get into the academy. There were more Asian international students than Brazilian kids - that should say enough. 

This might have been why there were nearly no kids with skills. 

It could be taken as a warm-up for the entrance to the youth team?

The real thing started after getting into the U11 or U13, which were official teams belonging to San Paolo FC. 
The signing season was April, so he would wait for that deadline while training. 

Communication was hard but since the sport was played with the body, it was bearable. Every day, he returned home after sunset.

He wanted to kick the ball around alone into the night but there was a higher crime rate in Brazil than in Korea. The problem began there. 

He didn't have a phone or a roommate and it was incredibly lonely and frustrating to be alone in a room.

"I wish I could have a beer…"

After becoming independent, all his repressed urges came back.

'Ha. I need to make friends to learn the language quicker, too.'

Ho Yung's strength was in socialising. He hoped that he could communicate with body language and make some friends. 

'Let's just try it.'

That was his way of handling everything.
Squeak. 

"Oh!"

The moment he opened the door, he ran into her. 

Monica.

She smiled and waved.

"Hello."
"Um, hello. Are you…"

Ho Yung closed his mouth. He wished that he could speak more but actually speaking was a lot more difficult. 

'Did I forget?'

Language was a problem.

Ho Yung searched for anything to say at all and scratched his head. 

"Do you know how to speak Korean?"
"Huh?"
"No, I'm an idiot for asking."

It wasn't like K-pop was big yet so he would be lucky if she even knew where Korea was. There was no way that anyone would know Korean. 
"Wait."

Monica called him in a familiar language.

"Do you speak English?"
"Very little."
"What about Russian?"

He shook his head.

"Spanish?"
"Huh?"

Ho Yung got a flash of recognition in his eyes. 
"My mum used to live in Spain!"

He made his first friend that day. 

Her room was full of amazing smells. 

That was Ho Yung's review. Monica had invited him into her room. 

"So your dad is Brazilian, your mum is Russian-American and your grandma is Spanish?"
"Yeah, I was named by my grandma."
"That's amazing!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"

'How many races did she have in her…?'

Ho Yung truly felt how he was in a multicultural country. 

"How many languages do you speak?"
"Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and English, but I don't speak every one of them fluently."
"Wow… you're that?"
"That?"
"Prodigy."

Monica's eyes sparkled as she looked at Ho Yung. 

[Monica Stoki]
Skills Possessed
Gymnastics prodigy (B)
Natural talent in linguistics
Centred body balance (B-)
Soft flexibility (C)

(A skill can be taken if the criteria are fulfilled.)
(Criteria 1: Converse 6000 minutes in a foreign language)
(Criteria 2:  Pass the certificate of proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese, CELPE- Bras)
(Criteria 3: Stretch together for 300 minutes)

'Talent in linguistics… tempting.'
You didn't absolutely need to have talent in linguistics to speak multiple languages but he had also seen the skill 'excellent sense of language (C)' in Maria. 

The criteria of speaking a foreign language made it a little difficult but he would be able to achieve it with his housemate, Monica, with some time. He just needed to slowly build it with Spanish even if it's frustrating. 

"Do you… learn a sport?"
"Yeah."
"Ah~"

Kids who were in homestay situations around here were mostly elite athletes.

"What do you learn?"
"Rhythmic gymnastics!"

Of course, the Russian heritage…!

"But aren't Russia and Spain famous for rhythmic gymnastics?"
"I was living in Rio de Janeiro with my family and I started it as a hobby. My coach told me I've got some talent, so I came here to learn it for free. If I do well here, they might let me train in Spain too."

He felt once again that this was the birthplace of Brazilian elite sports, Victoria Hashpe.

"Yeah. Even I can see that you have gymnastic skills."
"Hahah. You're a funny one."
"Yeah? Let's be good friends, Monica."
"Okay!"

Monica felt refreshed at Ho Yung's manners compared to boys his age. 

Time flowed fast.

He studied hard, trained hard, and developed his skills with fire and passion. One month was a breeze.

In February, he started at a school that was 10 minutes away by bus. Thanks to his open personality, he was able to make friends quickly.

There was the occasional racism and practical jokes, but all trouble was solved with soccer. 

Brazil was a soccer nation after all!

In Physical Education class, the students went outside to kick the ball around and Ho Yung drew eyes with his outstanding skills. The best part was that there was so much more time allowed for students to be outside than in Korea.

This also helped him develop his skills. 

However, the $7000 yearly school fees always stuck out in the corner of his mind. This motivated him to think about the future and focus on soccer.

Eat, soccer, eat, soccer. 

In the evening, Monica's tutoring. 

He had never lived as passionately and as busily as now. Every day was hard, but he thought about his future and his family. He stayed with sheer willpower. 

His loneliness was lessened by good friends, including Monica. 

It was April before he knew it.

It had only been 2 months but there had been a lot of changes in Ho Yung.
Even though his communication skills weren't perfect, he acquired 'rhythmical flexibility (C)' and 'quite showy footwork (C+)' and kept improving his skill set. 

On top of that, he achieved the beginner ranking in the CELPE-Bras test which he needed for his personal judgement. 

On the contrary, the world did not change.

The war in Iraq or natural disasters and other heavy events happened. There was nothing Ho Yung could do about it.

It was hard, but he focused on his future only.

Thursday, April 3rd, 2003; the day he had been waiting for. 

Bianca, the TSN Manager of the San Paolo FC youth team, spoke to Ho Yung who had just finished the entrance process.

"Ho Yung. Good job for your effort."
"Then…?"
"Congratulations, your GPA is a 9.13. Would you like to look at the contract?"

10-year-old Ho Yung, finally, had climbed his way to the front of a negotiating table. 

Months of effort and determination lead to this moment. He felt as if he could cry.

Woo Hoyoung has returned to the past and gained the ability to steal the abilities of others!

His goal is to now become the greatest soccer player to have ever existed.

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.

Along the way, there were so many people, but no one felt that this was anything strange. Everyone took the initiative to give up their seats. Some people even mistakenly thought that Yan ru was sick or something, and even gave Dongfang Mo a thumbs up.
Yan Ru was almost angered to death. She gritted her teeth in hatred. When she saw good people, she could not help but shout for help. In a moment of desperation, she used Korean again. The others in the elevator could not understand at all, so no one came forward They still looked at her with a smile on their faces.
Dongfang Mo immediately explained to everyone in French. After listening to his explanation, everyone looked at Yan ru with sympathetic eyes, and then looked at Dongfang Mo with pity, pity, and admiration.
Yan Ru did not know what kind of bird language Dongfang Mo spoke to these French people, because she did not speak French. Only the languages that she did not understand were classified as bird language.
She knew three languages, Chinese, Korean, and English. She only learned Korean when she went to Korea. That was because she had to integrate into that city. She had to learn it.
Yan Ru had no choice but to ask for help. She could only be carried out of the elevator by Dongfang Mo and walked towards his presidential suite.
"Dongfang Mo, what did you say to those French people just now? Why aren't they willing to save me? " Yan Ru shouted angrily Fortunately, she had already spoken Chinese because she was angry. In fact, she did not know that Dongfang Mo could understand Korean.
"They didn't say anything? " Dongfang Mo responded to her words this time He said indifferently, "I just told them that you're not in a normal state of mind. I just picked you up from the mental hospital and told them to keep a distance from you so that they wouldn't be accidentally injured by the mental patient. "
When Yan ru heard this, she almost couldn't catch her breath. This d * Mn Dongfang Mo, what the F * CK! He was the one who was crazy, the one who was mentally deranged!
Dongfang MO completely ignored Yan ru's feelings and killing gaze. After the assistant at the back helped open the door, he lifted his leg slightly and kicked the door open. Then, he carried Yan ru and walked in Then, he threw Yan ru heavily onto the SOFA.
"Dongfang Mo, what are you trying to do? " Yan Ru jumped off the SOFA and glared at Dongfang Mo with her clear eyes.
If looks could kill, she would have killed the devil, Dongfang Mo, because he was not human at all.
"What are you trying to do? " Dongfang Mo frowned slightly when he heard her. At the same time, he took off his clothes that were wrinkled from hugging her and threw them on the SOFA As he tidied up his sleeves, he said coldly, "Xi Muru, I think I asked you when I first met you? Where's my child? "
"Child? " Yan Ru was completely stunned. Then, she took two steps back and stared at him with wide eyes, as if she was looking at a monster.
She had long heard that some people had no bottom line when it came to BT. She did not really believe this sentence in the past, but now she did. With Dongfang Mo's extremely shameless question, she knew that this person was not an ordinary BT person. He was indeed extremely BT.
Child His Child Did he feel that there was something wrong with his question?
Would she have a child with him He was a eunuch, and every time he used a simulator with her, could it be that the simulator could make a woman pregnant?

Five years ago, she replaced her twin sister to marry him who was burned beyond recognition and even became a eunuch. Five years later, when they met again, he pressed her against the wall in the corner A low voice sounded with doubt. "Is your daughter mine? " The corners of her mouth curled into a sneer. "Are you sure you have the ability to do that? " His originally cold face instantly turned into the darkness before the storm His voice was fierce and low as he growled, "woman, you are challenging me! "

Gun-Ho received a book from Jae-Sik Moon.
"Hmm. Finally, Professor Jien Wang's book has been published. It's thick."
Gun-Ho opened the book. On the other side of the cover page, Professor Jien Wang's profile was listed. It said that he obtained his Ph.D. from Yale University and taught at Yale. He is currently teaching at Zhejiang University in China. There was a brief profile about the translator who translated this book into Korean too. He was an instructor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
 
Gun-Ho turned the first page over. There, he could see the name of the publishing company and publisher, etc. The publishing company was GH Media, and the publisher was Jeong-Sook Shin; the chief editor was Jae-Sik Moon. The name of the design team's leader—Jeong-Sook Oh was shown there too. The price of the book was 15,000 won. Maybe given the thickness of the book, it was priced high.
"Let me see if there is any book review on this book in a newspaper."
Gun-Ho searched the Internet. The three major newspapers: Chosun, Joongang, and Donga Ilbo were making an issue of the book. Even a small newspaper in a province was talking about the book. Maybe because the author was a college professor in China, who used to teach at Yale University. Moreover, the economy prospect in China for the 21st century as the book title indicated is closely related to people in Korea.
"I hope it sells very well."
Gun-Ho opened the book while saying that. There were many charts and diagrams, it certainly looked not a fun book, unlike a novel.
 
Gun-Ho asked for the general affairs manager.
"How many workers do we have, who is above team leader?"
"We have 62, sir."
"Then, please buy this book, 62 of them from online and hand it to all of them."
"It's Economy Trend in China for the 21st Century."
"Tell them to read it and make a book report. The one who submits the best book report will be awarded."
"Yes, sir."
The general affairs manager made a note about the name and the publisher of the book while standing in front of Gun-Ho."
"GH Media? It's one of our companies?"
The general affairs manager seemed to be delighted.
 
Gun-Ho went on a business trip to China. He was carrying the book that Professor Wang authored. He was carrying several Korean versions of the book. Once a book was published, the publisher usually sent the book to the author by mail. Gun-Ho wanted to bring it to Professor Wang himself.
Once he arrived in China, he didn't go to Suzhou City where Min-Hyeok was, but he went to Hangzhou Jien Wang was living in.
Gun-Ho was thinking of calling Jien Wang and asking him to come to the hotel where he was staying, but he decided to visit him to his workplace instead, which was his research office at Zhejiang University.
"Professor Wang? It's me, Gun-Ho Goo. I just arrived in China and I am on my way to your research office."
"What? You are coming to my office? I am in the office by myself and writing a paper. I will be here waiting for you."
 
When Gun-Ho and Jien Wang met, they hugged each other.
"It has been a while."
"Guess what? I brought you the book you wrote. It's a Korean version that has just been published in Korea. The publishing company will send it to you soon by mail, but I wanted to give it to you myself. I brought two of them."
"You could just send them by mail. It is kind of heavy to carry."
Jien Wang looked delighted, he was smiling.
"The Korean language is so beautiful. It is a phonetic language. I am envious of it."
"The Chinese language contains profound meaning."
"The Chinese characters are not easy to use on the Internet, and it is hard to write a foreign language in Chinese. If we want to write a foreign name such as Obama or Trump, we have to make it with Chinese characters. That's difficult."
"We have 24 letters in the Korean language."
"Exactly. I am so jealous. It's so easy to learn. You know what? There are three things that Chinese people will never know in their entire lives."
"What are they?"
"First, since the land of China is so big that they won't be able to visit them all before they die."
"That makes sense."
"Secondly, we have so many different cuisines in each province that they won't be able to taste them all before they die."
"Hahaha. Really?"
"Can you guess the third one?"
"I don't know."
"Chinese people die without knowing all of the Chinese characters. Even I sometimes encounter a Chinese character that I don't recognize because it is rarely used."
"Hmm. That's a bit sad."
"Well, I have my good friend here who came all the way from Korea. I will have to have a drink. I will buy you a drink today. I received a royalty from GH Media."
"That was already several months ago."
"Well, I at least want to buy you a drink, President Goo. You helped me to publish my book in Korea. Let's go and have Shaoxing wine."
 
Professor Jien Wang took Gun-Ho to a shabby bar at Hubin Lu.
"I come to this bar sometimes after work. I enjoy drinking by myself. My favorite menu here is a bottle of Shaoxing wine with a seasoned eggplant."
"This seasoned eggplant and water parsley taste similar to a Korean dish. I like them."
Gun-Ho ate a lot because he really liked those seasoned vegetables. They sautéed the vegetables with a little bit of oil, and they were really good. A pork dish came out.
"This pork dish is a special order for you, my friend. You eat pork, right?"
"Sure. It's good."
The port was sautéed with sliced onions.
 
Gun-Ho thought that the bar was a type of bars where a professor with not much money would come just like Jien Wang.
"I once wrote something while I was drinking at this bar. I sent it to a newspaper. The title is 'thinking of my friend.'"
Jien Wang took out a newspaper from his bag, it looked a bit dated. Jien Wang's writing was in the newspaper.
Gun-Ho started reading it. In the writing, Jien Wang talked about his Korean friend—Gun-Ho as well. It talked about how he met Gun-Ho for the first time, and how Gun-Ho was developed into a successful businessman. He also talked about how kind Gun-Ho was to him when he attended a conference in Korea along with Korean people's sense of public order and cleanliness.
"Thank you, my friend. You talked good about me."
"I really meant it."
Gun-Ho truly appreciated it.
"Let's keep our friendship forever."
"Sure. We will be friends until we die."
Gun-Ho was feeling good and enjoyed his drink with Jien Wang that night.
 
Gun-Ho headed to Suzhou City to see Min-Hyeok. Min-Hyeok seemed to gain some weight.
"You gained some weight. Maybe because Chinese food here is a bit oily."
"I think that's because I ate too many dish when I drink with customers as part of my sales activities. My fiancée already nagged me."
"What did she say?"
"She said I need to lose weight. She even gave me some kind of pills that would help me lose weight."
Min-Hyeok showed a bottle of pills to Gun-Ho, which said Jianfei.
 
The factory in China was doing great, it was vibrant. Min-Hyeok gave a brief report to Gun-Ho on the company's current loss and profit status. Gun-Ho could see how hard Min-Hyeok had been working because of the stock option.
"You have been working so hard."
"Yeah. I actually need some extra money, so I worked as much as I could. I am expecting to get some extra income from the stock option at the end of this year."
"Is it because of your wedding?"
"I will have to find a place to live with my fiancée. The rent is too high, so I am thinking to buy a home in Suzhou City. I will live with my wife right after we marry next spring."
"Do you think you would get a good dividend this year?"
"If things go well as expected, the ordinary income will be 2 billion Korean Won. My stock option is 5% of it, so I will receive an extra 100 million won. There is a condo complex in Suzhou City and it is called Cui Yuan Huayuan. It is close to our factory. I think I can buy a 25 pyung condo there with a loan. It costs 150 million won."
"The price of the condo will increase in the future?"
"I think so."
"Did your fiancée see that condo already?"
"No, she hasn't yet. Her name is Dingding. She will quit her job at school in Shanghai once we marry."
"Dingding? The teaching job in Shanghai International School is hard to get, isn't it?"
"Since she studied in the U.S., she can easily find another job here too. She was already offered a position from Suzhou International School."
"Really? That's great."
Gun-Ho thought Min-Hyeok was doing really good with his life.

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.

"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

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