CH 53

How does one set up a fancy birthday party? He’d need to get a large place, lots of decorations, delicious food, and so on. However, if anyone were asked to name the most important of the preparations, they would unanimously agree:

Guests.

Different kinds of guests should be there. They determined the quality of the party. That was why Chan-young carefully chose who to send the invitations to.

First, he had to send invitations to all the guilds in the top 5 in Korea.

He carefully evaluated the guilds. Thanks to rumors going around of a birthday party being held, he received many requests for invitations, but he had no intention of accepting them all.

Although time was extremely short, invitations had already been sent abroad.

‘I hope we can get most of them to come.’

The time had come for RSVPs to start coming in. Chan-young checked them and moved busily.

—

“What. A birthday party invitation?”

Ga-jun looked at the invitation before him and made a puzzled expression. To this point, Seon-woo hadn’t had a birthday party, so why now? Was it because his brother returned? Ga-jun took out the invitation and looked inside.

The party was at a building on the outskirts of the city. It was an area people didn’t go out to often, but if the organizer was Seon-Hyeon, it’d definitely get some traffic.

‘Should I go or not?’

Considering his relationship with Ji Seon-woo, it might be better not to go. However, it was a party held by Seon-Hyeon Guild, recognized even abroad as the number one guild in Korea. It was clear that many of the world’s influential people would gather. Missing out on a party like that? It’d be a shame to miss such a party just because of their poor interpersonal feelings.

‘I should go.’

Hye-sun would go, of course, and the little ones Ah-yun and Ja-yun would also go. Needless to say, Han Do-jin lived with him and would attend. It was a bit weird for the Baekho Guild to be left out. His arguments were short-lived.

“Tell them we are going.”

Ga-jun told the secretary who had brought the invitation and sat down. Now it was time to choose a birthday present.

“This is really annoying.”

Come to think of it, Ji Seon-woo had never come to his birthday parties. He felt like he was losing somehow.

“Damn it.”

Curses escaped from his mouth.

—

Somewhere in Japan, Junichi, who was training at a training center, woke up to a sudden feeling of another presence. And he received an invitation from an aide who came inside.

“Is this the first birthday party Ji Seon-woo has thrown?”

“Yes, from what I hear.”

“Then we should go. Please tell him we’re coming.”

“Yes, I’ll as you say.”

“And try to get an invitation list. Of whom all are coming.”

“So far, Ivan from Russia and Leon from America have responded yes. I’ll get the rest of the list as soon as possible.”

“Alright. You may go.”

“Sir.”

When the aide left, Junichi closed his eyes again. Maybe this time if he went to Korea, he might be able to have a fight. Most countries disliked fighting Awakened for the drain on national power it caused, but Junichi didn’t care. He was driven only by the desire to become stronger.

He was going to the party, but that didn’t mean he agreed to the rules. Ji Seon-woo had never refused his duels though. So he had to prepare thoroughly from now on.

He definitely wanted to beat Ji Seon-woo. No, Ji Seon-woo wasn’t the only one he wanted to win against. Ivan of Russia, Leon of America. In addition, prominent Awakened from each country would be there. He wanted to overcome them all and stand on top.

All his training was for that end. Junichi finally got rid of his thoughts and fell into deep meditation.

—

“Birthday party?”

A pale hand pulled out the invitation and the person raised the corner of their mouth. The party was held in a small country, but it was a party that could not be ignored — a small country that happened to have a lot of strong Awakened and opened portals.

“Then I shall go.”

It was a good opportunity. The white hand stroked the black crystal.

“Now, it’s time to check the results.”

Recently, the passageway from the Demon Realm had been opening little by little. Most notable thus far had been the successfully passed Black Drake, and based on this result, it was possible to open a larger portal. A stronger demonic creature could be summoned.

Even so, the many notable figures on this guest list would undoubtedly catch on quickly, but that was unimportant. This was just bait. Bait for more chaos.

-–

As the size of the birthday party grew, Chan-young took over most of the planning, leaving Hyeon-woo with less involvement. But even so, he wasn’t all that relaxed; he hadn’t chosen a present for Seon-woo yet.

“Argh!”

Hyeon-woo, who had been looking at the tablet for a while, slipped off the couch and rolled over on the rug. It was his birthday present for his younger brother with whom he had been separated from for a decade, and he didn’t know what to give him. He was given the payment from the show, but the amount put him in an awkward spot. It was an excessive amount to buy an ordinary gift, but it was far from enough to buy something exclusively made for an Awakened person.

“Are you still thinking about it?”

“Yes, I don’t know what to buy.”

When he was in the Demon Realm, he had somehow prepared gifts despite the setting. The environment was better now, but why was it so difficult? Hyeon-woo stretched out his hand and pulled Kero into a hug.

Come to think of it, Kerberos’ teeth were fairly strong. Spotty’s teeth could also be used.

“Ke-ke-keng!”

As he thought about this, his hands moved. Because of that, Kero, whose mouth was forcibly opened, jumped backwards in fright. Spotty had already been hiding behind Do-jin for a long time.

“Ji Seon-woo seems to be happy with whatever I do for him.”

That was it. A kind and gentle younger brother would smile and accept anything his Hyung gave him. However, the desire to give something better was in Hyeon-woo’s heart. As he now had access to more money, he began to think a lot. He couldn’t do simple anymore.

“Can I help?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can help find out what Ji Seon-woo wants.”

This was a bit tempting.

“Then may I ask you a favor?”

“Whatever you need.”

Do-jin replied with a smile.

Apart from these worries, the preparations went by just fine. An old building in the outskirts had been transformed into a building with a modern atmosphere, and the rough ground had been properly tidied up. The interior was decorated to fit a party, and the airport was noisy every day from all the Awakened coming in for Seon-woo’s birthday.

“I don’t think it was like this even when the Baekho Guild leader threw a party.”

A subordinate who followed Moo-hyuk to the airport exclaimed.

“The gap between the 1st and 2nd guilds is huge. And Ji Seon-woo is still young.”

Awakened had an advantage when they awakened at a young age. Because from the moment you awakened, you could grow according to your efforts. If that was the case, someday Ji Seon-woo would truly be able to stand tall as the world’s No. 1.

“That’s why so many Awakened are coming to the country.”

“That’s right.”

“But why are monsters brought in?”

“I guess it’s because his Hyung is a tamer.”

“Is it a ploy to buy favor through the monster?”

“I suppose so.”

In reality, Hyeon-woo wasn’t even a tamer, he only tamed them with his fists, but no one knew about it.

“Focus more on this than that. Now the Awakened from Russia, Japan and America are entering the country.”

At those words, his subordinate also swallowed and straightened his posture.

“Ah, it’s annoying.”

[1] A Honam-type young man with red hair appeared first. He was half-Russian. He was an Awakened flame handler, just like Moo-hyeok. For some reason, one side of his chest was pounding. He wanted to fight. He wanted to, but he knew he couldn’t do that now.

Then, the people sent from the Seon-Hyeon Guild began to move.

“Welcome.”

“Ah, the Seon-Hyeon Guild?”

“Yes, welcome to Korea.”

From that point on, Ivan stepped back, and someone else dealt with a person from the Seon-Hyeon Guild. Ivan yawned the whole time and moved slowly. Then he spotted Moo-hyuk and stopped his steps.

Just as Moo-hyuk recognized him, Ivan also seemed to recognize him.

“It’s the same fire ability user.”

The silence had turned into an unbelievably noisy atmosphere. Long blonde hair and a uniform unique to the Guardian Guild. Some people dressed as if they had come out of a cartoon. They heard that it was less common because they were in Korea, and there wasn’t even a fuss when he visited Japan.

“Here, Please look here!”

“Aaaack!”

People waved their hands vigorously. Leon passed by, waving his hand between the paths paved by the bodyguards. He could have sneaked out behind the scenes, but seeing him do that, they felt his showmanship was amazing. After those three had passed, it became a little easier for him to control the others.

‘But the problem will be after this.’

Until the day Ji Seon-woo’s birthday passed, he had to keep an eye on them all the time. The Seon-Hyeon Guild would take care of it, and there was also the Hunter Administration, but even so, he couldn’t take a step back.

Moo-hyuk sighed quietly.

—

[1] Honam is the Southwest region of Korea, comprising the provinces of Gwangju, South Jeolla and North Jeolla.