Even Loren is a strong omega who likes to write and learn new things. How unfair to be born blind. However, his life may change with a unexpected friendship with another omega really different to him.

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

"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."


"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.

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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.

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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

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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

Choi Han looked refreshed after saying everything he needed to say. Strong passion could be felt coming from him.
He then waited for Cale's response.

Cale opened his mouth to respond.
However, someone started to speak first.

"There is no way the smart Choi Han would say something like that!"

Choi Han and Cale both looked toward Raon after hearing the sudden shout.
Raon shook his head side to side before looking toward Choi Han the same way that he looks at Mercenary King Bud and continued to speak.

"We have all been fighting together since the beginning! Why do we need to combine our powers again when we have already been doing that?! Choi Han! You cannot become like the Mercenary King!"

Cale started to chuckle. He then responded in a serious tone.

"Choi Han is definitely smarter than Bud."
"That is true! Human, you really are smart! You are sliiiiiiiiighty! Just slightly less smart than I am!"
"Yes, yes."

Cale patted Raon's soft back.
He then realized something.

'…Did he lose some weight?'

Raon's cheeks that had been chubby until they got to the Castle of Light were slightly less chubby. Cale started to frown.
He recalled Hong's haggard face that had been shaking. He also thought about how On did not gain weight, unlike Hong and Raon.
Then those trashy bastards from the Cat tribe and the White Star popped up in his mind.

"…These damn bastards that need to be beaten to death."

Choi Han and Raon flinched.

"Raon."
"What is it, human?"
"Take out an apple pie."
"Oh! Alright!"

Raon quickly took out an apple pie and pushed it toward Cale with sparkling eyes. Cale picked it up.
He then started to speak.

"Ah."
"Ah?"

Raon, who repeated after Cale, felt a slice of an apple pie being pushed into his mouth. Raon closed his mouth with a part of the apple pie dangling outside.

"Eat up."

Raon grabbed the slice of apple pie with both paws and started to eat even though he didn't know what was going on. Cale mumbled to himself as he watched.

"…Can't believe he lost some weight."

Choi Han, who was watching this from the side, started to think.

'Who?
Who lost weight?'

Choi Han blankly watched Raon's chubby cheeks becoming extremely full because of the apple pie in his mouth.
He then started to laugh.

"Haha-"

It felt as if his heart was being tickled.

He really did choose the right path.
Everything was the same as usual and there was no despair, loneliness, or pain even though he said that they needed to all fight together against the White Star.

"Human, do you know why Choi Han is laughing by himself like that?"
"I don't know. How would I know? Well, I guess it is good to laugh."
"Mm, that is true! It is good to laugh! Choi Han, laugh a lot! I will cancel the comment about you being similar to the Mercenary King!"

Choi Han started to laugh even louder.
Raon continued to nibble on the apple pie with wide eyes as he had never seen Choi Han laugh this loudly before.

However, Raon soon stopped eating and blankly stared at Choi Han.
Choi Han had started to speak after laughing for a while.

"To be honest with you, Cale-nim, I have been alive for a very long time."

Plop.

The apple pie in Raon's two paws fell to the ground. Choi Han didn't care as he continued to speak.

"That is why I am actually older than you, Cale-nim. I am older than Mr. Ron as well."

Raon's eyes blinked a few times as he looked toward Choi Han.
Choi Han was still smiling as he continued to speak.

"I age very slowly. I think I will live for a very, very long time."

Choi Han wanted to let everything out. He thought that this was the right moment to do it.
He thought it would be okay to say it now in front of these people.
He couldn't tell them everything, but he thought that there was no need to keep it so tightly hidden away.

"I also came from a very far away place. I am probably the only one in this world who can read the words in this book."

Choi Han could see Cale looking at him without many changes to his expression.
Cale was always like this. His expression changed sometimes when he was scamming his enemies, but usually, it was always this stoic and emotionless.
However, that expression quickly changed if something happened to one of their group members.

It was something that everybody other than Cale himself knew about.

It was not just for the people in their group.
During the war that started at the beginning of the year, Cale's face was filled with emotion every time he activated his shield with his allies standing behind him.

Choi Han felt the silence in the room for a moment before continuing to speak.
His voice was as pure as his usual expression.

"My family and friends are all in that far away place. I came here when I was 17 and have lived alone for tens of years, for an uncountable number of years since then. But that is not the case anymore."

Raon was still unable to pick up the piece of apple pie from the ground. Choi Han smiled at Raon before looking toward Cale.
Choi Han could see Cale starting to frown. Cale looked as if he was contemplating something for a while before finally starting to speak.

"…Choi Han."
"Yes, Cale-nim."

Choi Han responded gently with a smile on his face, however, his emotions were neither gentle nor calm.
He felt refreshed after sharing a part of his secrets. However, there was a small amount of fear on his mind as well. Although he had lived for tens of years, his appearance looked as if he had not even aged a single year.
Would Cale feel repulsed by that fact?

Choi Han's mind that had been relaxed until just now slowly started to become complicated.
Choi Han could see Cale's expression becoming more complicated as if Cale knew what Choi Han was thinking.
Cale, who had been hesitating for a bit, started to speak.

"Are you trying to tell me you want to be called, 'hyung,' like his highness? Is that how I should address you?"
"…Excuse me?"
"…Or maybe grandpa? If not that, Choi Han-nim?"

Cale's expression became more serious with every word while Choi Han's expression turned even odder. He then started to smile again and responded in a serious tone.

"Please keep things as they were."
"Sure, Choi Han."

Cale finally returned to his usual expression after saying that.
Cale then turned away from Choi Han and handed Raon another piece of apple pie as he continued to speak.

"Eat without dropping your food."
"…A, alright. H, human!"

Raon quickly snapped out of it and started to eat the piece of apple pie. He then approached Choi Han and took another apple pie out of his spatial dimension and offered it to Choi Han.

"Choi Han! Eat this!"

Choi Han knew Raon's methods by now.
He happily took the apple pie from Raon and patted him on the head.

"I am the great and mighty Raon Miru! Just trust me!"

He was the same as usual.
Choi Han felt completely relieved after seeing Raon quickly returning to normal even after hearing his story.

Cale confirmed that Choi Han had a relaxed expression before slowly starting to walk.

'Should I tell him too?'

Cale had that thought the moment Choi Han told him about his situation.

He had no way of knowing what happened to the original Cale Henituse.
He could be dead, or he could have ended up in Kim Rok Soo's body.
He had no way of knowing anything.

Cale could not say anything in such a situation.
The Henituse family and people related to them were here.
Sometimes, certain things were better left as baggage to carry alone.

Cale looked toward Choi Han's refreshed face with no regrets.

Choi Han was different from him.
There was no point in having any regrets about not having that refreshed expression himself.

There was nobody close to him left in Korea.

However.

The future of Kim Rok Soo who had been enjoying his first day off in a long time.
The location of the real Cale Henituse.
The Korea that was finally starting to adjust to the changes as well as his subordinates at work.
Large and small feelings of guilt, regrets, concerns, dilemmas, and responsibilities.

All of those were recorded in Cale's mind.
He chose to walk on while carrying all of these on him. He didn't know whether this was the right decision, however, there were too many other issues in front of Cale to think about that right now.

The book that carried the clues to solve those issues was in Cale's hand right now.

"Cale-nim, are you going to take the book with you?"
"Yes."

He had left the book here the first time because they had to go back and fight the White Star.
Honestly speaking, it was so that he could keep Choi Han away from the book for a while and formulate a plan as well.

Cale put the book in his spatial pocket bag before continuing to speak.

"Choi Han, please explain what you read to me as we head back."
"Yes, Cale-nim."

All of them headed back toward the secret passage without saying anything else.
It was faster to use this secret passage to return to where Lord Sheritt and the others were located.

It was at that moment.

"Human! What is it?"

Cale had stopped moving.
The book was in his spatial pocket bag and a golden top's whip was in his right hand instead.
A corner of his lips oddly started to go up.

He could hear the voice of a Wind Elemental.

'It's a jackpot! I found some information extremely quickly! Hehehe!'

He was pretty sure it was one of the Wind Elementals that chased after the White Star's group, but it had returned earlier than Cale expected.
Of course, there was a reason this Elemental came back so quickly.

'A few of the White Star's subordinates are standing at the end of the entrance to this village! Not the secret passage from the white castle, but the real exit!'

It was the exit that Cale had used when he left the village to smack the White Star from behind.
A door on the ceiling would appear if they followed that path.
The ground with white pebbles was located on the other side of the door.

Cale had moved stealthily from that point to strike the White Star from behind.

"…He's uselessly smart."

The White Star did not know about the secret passage from the white castle, however, he knew about the original entrance.

'This is what the White Star said as he sent his subordinates here! He said to guard over this path to see if anybody comes out this way!'

The White Star needed to find out how Cale's group had escaped from the castle to get behind him and so he sent his subordinates to guard the entrance to the village.

However, his subordinates would not be able to open the door and could only stand outside.
That was because only the person with the crown controlled all of the gates in this village.

And while the White Star had the crown before Cale, he could not use it to come into the village.
That was because this village was something precious to him.

The oath of death, the curse from breaking it would make it so that he could not enter.
That was why he had told his subordinates to guard around the door.

'Guard it for 100 days for all I care. I'm not leaving that way.'

Cale chuckled as he started to walk again.
Choi Han and Raon followed behind him.
However, the two of them soon stopped walking again.

"Ah."

Cale stopped walking and turned toward Choi Han as he started to speak.

"The words that you read."
"…The Korean?"

Cale nodded his head after hearing Choi Han slowly ask back.

"Yes, that. That Korean thing. That seems to be a language that cannot be translated using Eruhaben-nim's translations spell."

He casually commented as if it was nothing.

"Teach it to me later."
"Ah."

Choi Han let out a short gasp. He then watched as Cale continued to speak.

"It's kind of hard right now, but later when we go back home. Teach it to me then. By then I won't have anything to do since I'll be a slacker."

Cale nodded his head as if he was satisfied with his own words.

'It is hard to pretend that I don't know Korean, so I might as well pretend to learn from Choi Han so I can use Korean as well. Ah, I'll need to make sure Raon's name isn't revealed.'

It was a brilliant plan.

'I'm just going to be a slacker after we take care of the White Star anyway. His highness promised that he'll let me be a slacker.'

Cale trusted Alberu's words. Of course, he was planning to make it happen whether he trusted Alberu's words or not.
Choi Han remained quiet for a moment before slowly responding.

"Yes, Cale-nim, I will definitely teach it to you!"
"I'm going to learn it as well! I am smarter than the weak human, so I will learn it faster."

Cale shook his head after hearing Raon flutter his wings and shout with passion.
Choi Han chuckled thinking that the way Raon had shaken his head earlier looked the same as Cale right now.

"I will teach whoever wants to learn."

Choi Jung Gun had not taught anyone Korean.
However, Choi Han wanted to teach his new family the language of his hometown and chat with them in Korean.

"I will tell you stories about my hometown at that time as well."

That was Choi Han's method.

"You returned so quickly."

Bud waved his hand as he sat in a corner of the castle drinking.
The two Dragons, Beacrox, and Ron also welcomed Cale, Choi Han, and Raon who returned through the secret passage. On and Hong had already run over to Raon as soon as they entered.

"Did you find anything?"

Ancient Dragon Eruhaben approached as he asked.
Then the ancient Dragon had a slightly confused expression after seeing Raon's actions.

Ooooooooong-

Raon took out a video communication device as soon as he came out of the passage and into the castle.
The video communication device surrounded in black mana started to glow as it connected.
Cale was making a call.

Eruhaben who was watching this could hear Cale's voice.

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim, we found something big."

'Found something big?'

Eruhaben turned toward Cale.

"…What did you find?"

Cale looked toward Choi Han. Choi Han smiled and nodded his head.

It had happened on the way back to the castle through the secret passage.

'The book has clues about two earth attribute ancient powers.'

Choi Han had explained about Choi Jung Gun's records.
Of course, Cale remembered all of the information as well, however, he calmly listened to Choi Han's explanation.

'First is the earth attribute ancient power you gained from the Forest of Darkness's underground area, Cale-nim. The owner of that power was the Guardian of Boulder.'

Cale turned away from Choi Han and looked toward Eruhaben.
Choi Han had talked about the second earth attribute ancient power that the ancient White Star had possessed. Of course, the story was already in Cale's mind.

Cale recalled a portion of Choi Jung Gun's records.
It was the part that was written in Korean so that only a foreigner from Korea would be able to read it.

< I have no way of knowing exactly where the White Star's earth attribute ancient power went, however, there are potential locations for it. >

"Human, it is connected!"

The call was connected before he could respond to the ancient Dragon.
Cale thought about the potential spots that Choi Jung Gun had listed.

< The land with the strongest earth power in both the Eastern and Western continents combined. That was where the final battle happened. That was the place the Guardian of Boulder blocked the sky. >

Cale knew about that place.

The Roan Kingdom.

< I'm certain that the White Star's power is located not far from where Mr. Super Rock's power is located. This is because the two powers are similar. It is almost like they are twins. >

Cale turned toward the video communication device.

…You- you-

A person who seemed to have been woken up had a shocked expression on his face.

"Ah."

Cale finally remembered how he looked right now.
The fake blood he received from the Mercenary King. He had rinsed his mouth, but he was covered in fake blood from head to toe.

Cale smiled and started to speak to the person on the call.

"I didn't get hurt very much. I am fine, your highness."

…You're driving me nuts.

Crown prince Alberu Crossman started to frown.

When I opened my eyes, I was inside a novel.
[The Birth of a Hero].

[The Birth of a Hero] was a novel focused on the adventures of the main character, Choi Han, a high school boy who was transported to a different dimension from Earth, along with the birth of the numerous heroes of the continent.

I became a part of that novel as the trash of the Count’s family, the family that oversaw the territory where the first village that Choi Han visits is located.

The problem is that Choi Han becomes twisted after that village, and everyone in it, are destroyed by assassins.

The bigger problem is the fact that this stupid trash who I’ve become doesn’t know about what happened in the village and messes with Choi Han, only to get beaten to a pulp.

“…This is going to be a problem.”

I feel like something serious has happened to me.

But it was worth trying to make this my new life.

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?

"Eriksson, what do you think about our mega project?"
 
"Well, I didn't have to say a thing because you've made a perfect decision. It'll feel like an excessive amount of fund is used in the beginning, but you'll, in fact, save money in the end."
 
"Well, I'm flattered to hear your compliment."
 
"Also, please make sure to produce tap and sanitary wares at the royal territory. They are items that can be export-driven products if their designs are great."

"Is that so?"

"In advanced countries, labor costs are too expensive that they can't make products locally. But we have a huge workforce, don't we?"
 
"If we don't discriminate against them and treat them just like other residents, they will be a great power for us someday."

"I'm sure they will because they're given a new life because of you. Western Kazakhstan and the Arirang royal territory will become the hometown of Kurds."

"The problem is when more than a million people have settled here. I hope they don't ask for an autonomous state or independence."

"You won't have to worry about that at all. Kazakhstan is the only country in the world where more than 120 ethnic groups live in a single state system without any conflict. The Kurds will also learn about that soon. And the bottom line is that Princess Jelyan is also a Kurd. The fact that there was a kinship in the royal family means that this is a Kurdish country as well. Over time, they'll have a stronger perception of being a citizen of Kazakhstan."


Just like what Eriksson said, the Kurds were quickly finding stability because of Jelyan.
Nevertheless, there must be some people advocating nationalism, so Youngho could not put down his guard until the Kurds were fully assimilated here.
That was why he was rushing to build a multi-unit residence.
If they had a home, a job to look after their family, and a school for their children, they would make this their second home even if they did not want to be attached to the royal territory.
The longer they lived in the camps, the lower their quality of life would be, and they would not feel that they were residents of the state.

***

It was less than a week after confirming the partnership with Kim Joo-hyuk that South Korean builders came to the royal territory. Each of the leading Korean construction companies was lobbying to supply a little more supplies with their project plans.
Even though it was already announced that the lead manager was H Corporation, they believed that they could get more work if they targeted the leaders of the royal territory.
It was natural to think so since the project was paid directly by the Kazakh royal family, not by the financial sector.

Suh Min-seok was also one of the main targets of Korean companies. He was complaining that there were too many requests for a meeting to the extent that he could not even focus on his duties as a secretary.


"Your Grace, why don't you make an open bid? They even came to my office to bother me which is enough to paralyze my work."

"Is H Corporation not doing its job as a lead manager?"

"That's not true, but other companies are all working to get more orders because the royal family is financing the mega project."

"Summon President Kim. I'll decide after hearing what's going on."

In some cases, bidding for open competition could only raise the unit price of supplies through collusion, and companies could even lower the quality of building materials.
Although Youngho was not in a position to interfere with the situation, he worried that those companies might have approached Park Jong-il to lobby him if they approached Suh Min-seok.
Park Jong-il, who still had a lot of connections in Korea and Korean companies, would find it difficult to refuse requests from them. Then, only the Kazakh royal family would suffer from a bad reputation.


"Your Highness, I have no words to say. The competition for overseas orders is so intense that I can't control the companies these days."

"If we can't control it, we have no choice but to have an open bid."

If there was no answer to the competition among Korean companies, Youngho was going to attract other foreign companies as well.
When "open bidding" was mentioned, Kim Joo-hyuk's expression was solidified at once. He got eager to think that he would lose the state of being the lead manager of the mega project.

"We've agreed to set the construction volume by construction capacity, but it seems like some companies are trying to get more."

"Please let me know which companies are breaking their promises. I'll rule them out."

"If you give me another chance, H Corporation will take responsibility and control this. Please take into consideration the fact that some companies are suffering from job shortages."

"I don't intend to do charity work to help out Korean companies that have been hampered by lax management, so please take care of this situation by tomorrow."


Kim Joo-hyuk, who had never seen Young-ho speak so firmly before, was very embarrassed.

"Your Highness. The unsavory situation will be sorted out this time. Let go of your anger. I'll clean up the traffic by tomorrow."

The situation in the Korean construction industry, which was thirsty for overseas construction orders, was serious.
The reason was that the business environment deteriorated extremely due to unrest in the Middle East and Europe.
Looking inside, however, was largely due to the chronic over-the-top competition among Korean companies over overseas project orders.
First of all, the competition to win and lose work and reckless low-priced orders were causing huge losses and even a management crisis.
Now, they were bent over to make money over the multi-trillion-won project held at the royal territory.
If Korea's economy faltered, it would affect Korean companies in Kazakhstan, so Youngho wanted to help Korean construction companies but seeing their behavior made him sigh.


After many twists and turns, 14 Korean companies took charge of large and small blocks and signed construction contracts with the royal family.
Each company had won 400 million to 200 million dollars in order to build residential areas. Since there would be a series of other projects after the first part of the mega project, the companies seemed to expect more from the royal family, but Youngho did not mean to put the work on the Korean companies alone.
 
After the first housing construction was completed, the second city construction should also be given work to countries that had provided loans for the settlement of Kurds.
The first order was not only given to Korean companies since some civil engineering projects such as roads and water supply works and the two-block housing complexes were given to Kazakh construction companies.
For them, this would be an opportunity to learn Korea's advanced civil-building techniques while working with Korean construction companies.

By increasing the capabilities of domestic companies, Youngho was planning to win large-scale domestic construction and overseas work.
Some people might wonder about the capacity of Kazakhstan's builders, but they had been participating in various plant projects and construction projects in the country.
Foreign companies operating in Kazakhstan were required to have Kazakh construction companies as their own contractors as their business partners, so they were diligently acquiring advanced technologies.
If more engineers and technicians would be trained with advanced construction methods, Kazakh construction companies would not lose their construction business to foreign companies.

***

"What? When did that happen, and why hasn't anyone approached us? Dang, I missed a chance to get a free drink."

"I'm sure they've avoided us because they thought we'd all be like you, ignoring them after only getting a free drink."

Park Jong-il casually said.

"Certainly. Who here would fall for such a trick?"

"What would you do if your brothers in Korea asked a favor?"

"Hmm? Why are you talking about my brothers?"

"Wouldn't the builders know our personal information? They'd find a way to connect with your brothers in Korea somehow. Would it be easy to say no if your friends followed you and asked you for help?"

"That makes sense. I don't know about my first brother, but the second brother will definitely fall for it. But is the situation that bad for Korean builders?"

"The competition in the industry ruined it for all. Some of the companies that participated this time are said to be in a situation where they have to close down if they didn't win our order."

"Don't you have to stay away from such companies? If they were about to shut down, we don't know if they'll be able to complete our order."

"I thought it was a waste to let go of skills and know-hows accumulated for decades. I'd like to put my hands on them after seeing their work here."

"You want to take over those companies?"

"I'm just thinking about it."

"Would the situation change when you take over a company that's collapsing? Let's not take defeatist-ridden people and think about giving them a decent paycheck but make a new company instead. If you create a construction company in the royal family, talent will flock like clouds."


Park Jong-il's opinion sounded quite plausible as Youngho had only thought of taking over construction companies but did not think of creating a new one.
However, establishing a new company was a lot of work. Just because construction-related engineers were gathered, there was no guarantee that it would work.
Each company had its know-how, and such know-how and teamwork that was built from working together with each other for a long time could not be ignored.
That was why Youngho was trying to see if there were any construction companies that could be useful.
Aside from the housing project that was ordered this time, construction-related work pushed by the royal family was overflowing.
There was also a canal project in Russia and a Siberian development project.
Moreover, the docking and base work on the Greek island should be done. Such military facilities were a secret to the outside world and could not be entrusted to just anyone.

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.

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

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! "

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