Chapter 627

Chapter 627

Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa chatted about many different topics while eating meat. Actually, Yong Seol-Hwa was the one asking all the questions, while Tae-Sung simply answered.

“Where do you live, oppa?”

“I live near the Gangnam District Office.”

“Do you like cars? That car is a limited edition version, and it’s really expensive.”

“Not really? I just didn’t know where to spend my money, so I bought a few cars. My tax accountant told me to spend money so...”

“What does your mother think about you playing the game for a living?”

“She likes it. Well, she didn’t before, but she’s become proud of me these days.”

Yong Seol-Hwa bombarded him with all sorts of questions, and Tae-Sung answered them one by one.

It was then.

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“How many girls have you dated so far?”

“Huh?” Tae-Sung muttered, his eyes turning round.

Girls? Dated?

“T-That is...”

“Were there a lot?”

“N-No...?”

“Then?”

“Not even... one...”

“Huh?” Yong Seol-Hwa muttered, looking flustered. Then, she narrowed her eyes and said, “Come on, you shouldn’t lie about it.”

“B-But it’s true...”

“Liar.”

“It’s true...” Tae-Sung replied, looking gloomy. Then, he muttered, “I haven’t dated a single girl yet...”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah...”

“Why? How?”

“How am I supposed to answer that question? I just lived a busy life and—”

“Ah...” Yong Seol-Hwa muttered.

It was then.

“Ack! Catch that guy!”

The head of security eating at the table beside Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa stood up and screamed. Then, Tae-Sung’s bodyguards rushed out of the restaurant in the blink of an eye.

Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa looked out the window and saw a man scurry away with a camera.

“It's the paparazzi! Oppa!” Yong Seol-Hwa exclaimed.

“Papa...razzi...?”

“You know! Dispatch!”

“Heok?”

Dispatch was the number one news outlet in South Korea when it came to stalking celebrities, professional athletes, professional gamers, etc. They called themselves a news outlet, but they were no different from a professional tabloid, as they had been rumored to hire freelancers to stalk famous individuals.

In other words, Tae-Sung had become famous enough for the paparazzi to stalk him, which was probably the reason he managed to sign two commercial contracts to begin with.

“W-What should we do, oppa?” Yong Seol-Hwa asked, sounding worried.

“What else? Let’s just keep grilling meat,” Tae-Sung replied with a shrug.

“That’s it...?”

“We still have a lot of meat left. Don’t mind it, and let’s just enjoy our food.”

“Okay...”

Five minutes later, the head of security and the bodyguards returned, drenched in sweat.

The head of security reported, “I apologize, Young Master... We lost him. He had a scooter prepared in an alley and escaped with it... We will pay more attention next time.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. Thank you for your hard work as always. Please wipe away your sweat and finish your meal.”

“I apologize once again, Young Master.”

“It happens. Thank you once again.”

Tae-Sung was not bothered by the paparazzi and gave words of encouragement to his bodyguards before resuming his meal.

‘What article can he write with those pictures? It’s not like I did anything, right?’ Tae-Sung didn't bother thinking deeply about the incident with the paparazzi.

***

“I don’t sense that unique energy. The soul fragment usually announces its location, but...”

“Kyuuu!”

“Tsk... This is starting to get on my nerves.”

“Kyu? What’s wrong, owner punk?”

“It’s none of your business,” Siegfried grumbled.

It seemed the tabloid news about him dating Yong Seol-Hwa was bothering him.

“Ah, forget about it. Let’s just go,” Siegfried said.

“Kyu! Alright!”

Siegfried and Hamchi continued their journey around the Espadrille Province in search of the soul fragment.

Meanwhile, Cheon Woo-Jin, who had been quite busy in the headquarters of the Guardians these days, gnashed his teeth at the news article he had stumbled upon this morning.

“That damned Han Tae-Sung...! He’s fooling around instead of searching for the soul fragment?” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled.

After breakfast, Siegfried immediately logged into the game to search for the soul fragment, but Cheon Woo-Jin had no idea about that. He was under the assumption that Siegfried was busy going on dates rather than searching for the soul fragment, and it was all thanks to the recent news articles about him.

“Tsk... They say the tame cats are the first to cause trouble. Who could have known that he was secretly dating someone?

"Hold on... Is this news even true? That guy is as dense as a brick, so there’s no way he can get a girlfriend... I have a feeling they just had dinner once, and some presstitute made stuff up...”

Cheon Woo-Jin was about to deduce the truth behind the news articles when the alarms nearby simultaneously went off.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

— Alert! Alert!

— All forces on the bridge!

— The soul energy has been detected!

— I repeat! The soul energy has been detected!

— All forces prepare to deploy at once!

The Eye of Behemoth had picked up traces of the Soul Fragment of Apocalius, and it announced the news throughout Heaven’s Eyes.

***

Siegfried finally ended his search for the day and returned to the Cabochon Territory.

“Is it even here...?”

He had been staying in the Espadrille Province for ten days now, but there were still no traces of the soul fragment.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: Your level has risen!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 283!]

The effect of his title "Ruler of Proatine" was activated, and he leveled up once.

“Whoa! Jackpot!”

He was delighted by the message, as leveling up had become extremely difficult at his current level. He could barely raise his experience bar by one percent, even after killing so many monsters, so leveling up from his title’s effect was definitely something to be delighted about.

[Alert: 59 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds remaining until your next level up!]

[Alert: The Ruler of Proatine will pause when you are not within the territories of the Proatine Kingdom!]

There was the drawback of having to stay in the Proatine Kingdom for sixty days if he wanted to level up once again, but that was not that big of a deal, as he'd barely fill his experience bar, even if he were to grin in a dungeon for sixty days.

If he only wanted to level up, then spending time in the Proatine Kingdom was far more efficient than killing monsters.

'Hmm... I guess I should log out and give Seol-Hwa another call, Siegfried thought.

Just as he was about to log out from the game...

“Your Majesty! Your Majestyyy!” A herald rushed in and fell on his knees. “Urgent news, sire!”

“What is it?”

“That is... That is...”

“Calm down and catch your breath first.”

“Something unbelievable has happened, Your Majesty! Something completely unbelievable!”

“What is it?”

“A god has appeared!”

“Huh? Did an evil god descend onto the continent? Or is it a demon lord?”

“N-No, it is not that! This is a real god! A real god has descended upon the world!”

“...?”

“Your Majesty! Count Arial is bringing the dead back to life!” the herald exclaimed.

“Eh?” Siegfried doubted his ears.