CH 382

A vacant two-lane asphalt road cut through the land and extended ahead. A section of the road that passed through the pine forest terminated at a villa that was formerly used by a hunter.

The broker had asserted that it was ideal for hunting due to the various colonies of untamed creatures scattered beyond the mountains, but Kayden simply desired to distance himself from the city.

Adapting to city life was challenging for him, likely due to his low rank. Whenever he encountered conceited agencies who belittled him, he couldn’t help but feel angry. They were clueless about the Stage of Advent, yet they pretended to be more knowledgeable than him. The Awakened and mercenaries were the ones handling violent conflicts in outer space, not those who believed they were on par by simply jotting down figures a few times on a document.

Idiots. I would never let them determine my life and death and handle my item tradings.

He wouldn’t have been so infuriated if those companies had demonstrated significant accomplishments in their past attempts at conquering land. Nonetheless, there were several instances where he desired to teach them a harsh lesson, yet he had no other option but to restrain himself when he considered the consequences of offending the Safety Bureau of the association.

Today was just another mundane day for Kayden. He was disheartened as he had been unsuccessful in finding a suitable agency or military company.

As he made his way back to the villa, it was dark outside since it was nighttime. However, since the Awakened possessed the ability to see through the darkness, there was no need for him to use the car’s high beam.

However, Kayden switched on the car’s high beams when he noticed a man wandering in front of the villa. The man had a powerful scent of the Awakened, so Kayden wanted to warn him with the light. As expected, the moment the man hit the ground forcefully, the entire ground in the vicinity quaked.

Kayden checked the man’s face and got out of the car. Then, he showed his left arm to the man. To be precise, he was trying to convey a message by revealing the spot where the microchip was implanted.

This is not the Stage of Advent, and this world is governed by the rules of the Association. No matter who you are, you can’t control my life and death.

Then, the man smirked as if it was funny and raised his left hand. He was Imir, the vice-captain of Kayden’s squad in the Final Stage. Kayden was about to ask how he found him, but stopped himself. Since Imir had been in a high social status before entering the Stage, it would have been easy for him to make connections with the association.

“What brought you here?” Kayden asked.

Imir didn’t answer his question and instead said, “You don’t seem happy to see me.”

He looked around the darkened villa surroundings before continuing, “Did you spend all your support fund in this old villa?”

Kayden shrugged. “Where else would I have gotten the money? Before that… Why are you here looking for me?”

“You don’t have to be so defensive. I’m here to talk about something constructive.”

Kayden’s Sense was naturally focused on Imir as the other man suddenly took out his ring and threw it at him. Kayden grabbed the ring in the air.

The other man explained, “It’s an advance payment.”

Nowadays, the item window didn’t appear even with Night Eyes activated. However, determining the item’s class was not challenging, even if the exact level was unknown. When Kayden activated his Sixth Sense, a brilliant light fluttered from the ring. Despite the absence of a diamond set in the ring that refracted light, it exuded a gorgeous radiance akin to one.

A B-class accessory?

Seeing that it made him more sensitive, he knew that the ring had the ability to raise one’s Sense.

Imir said, “Join us as soon as possible after you finish rebuilding, Kayden.”

“Which company do you belong to?” Kayden asked, somewhat suspicious.

Imir waved a hand. “You will be satisfied. Odin ruled the Stage of Advent, but there is someone else who has governed our mainland for a long time before the Stage. This is a capitalist world. His strength is comparable to Odin here.”

“...Is it the King of Hell?”

Imir nodded proudly. “Yes, we are with super-large capital, the Jonathan Investment Finance Group.”

***

East Potomac Park in Washington D.C.

The park was renowned for its cherry blossoms due to the cherry blossom trees that were gifted by Japan during the imperial era, which symbolized amicable relations between the United States and Japan.

The U.S. acknowledged Japan’s control of Korea, and Japan acknowledged the U.S.’s control of the Philippines. If Japan had not committed the invasion of Pearl Harbor, then the park would have been filled with sculptures symbolizing the friendship between the United States and Japan.

What if the Stage of Advent didn’t take place? What if the power of WAA was much weaker than it was now?

Under those assumptions, it would have been impossible to relocate the heart of Washington, encompassing this entire park, with the White House nearby, to the territory of the association. Additionally, such a sign wouldn’t have existed if that was the case.

「Warning

Civilian Restricted Area:

This area is subject to the World Awakened Association Member Status Agreement and is strictly prohibited from unauthorized individuals’ entry.

World Awakened Association

― United States branch 」

Kayden couldn’t help thinking about the King of Hell as he went through the entry procedure. This man was the head of the supermassive group who defended on the Day of Advent. His assets were so vast that they were beyond estimation, and he possessed an unparalleled degree of influence over the world.

What would have motivated the WAA to stifle the activities of Awakened on the mainland and incorporate private civilian capital into their realm? It was possible that the King of Hell was in charge of the association, not Odin. Kayden thought Odin wouldn’t have left the mainland in this peace if he was the leader.

That was what mattered. The rules were the same here like in the Stage of Advent as the low-class Awakened didn’t know the situation between higher-ups in the leadership. Therefore, he had to remain firm with his decision without being swayed by the flow.

Now, Kayden was proud of himself for not rushing to sign contracts with other companies. If it was the King of Hell, then his vision was guaranteed!

He completed registering and evaluating his items in the United States branch, and it was now late evening. The only people who walked around the branch, which used to be a park, were the Awakened or properly trained U.S. soldiers. Therefore, it was much better than a city where morons were gathered. They were weak and wouldn’t have survived without the Awakened. No one gave him funny or scared looks in the park.

“It’s not too late to start rebuilding now. If you exchange items of a similar class at the time of selling yours, there won’t be any major concerns regarding market fluctuations.”

Kayden sat down on the bench, recalling what the branch employee said.

He knew why the vice-captain had directly come and scouted him. Kayden was in the platinum section, and his level was 281 the last time he saw it on the status window before it disappeared. The fucking disclosure of the ranking said he was in 83,626th place out of 182,329 Awakened.

Imir, who held a rank of ten thousand, directly came to see Kayden, who was ranked at eighty thousand, because of Kayden’s trait, ‘Forerunner.’ Thus, it was appropriate for him to focus on rebuilding with items that would help that trait.

The trading platform was not hard to handle, yet that was a problem. There were items he wanted to buy but he couldn’t. If he had lots of money, he wanted to fill up his set with eight A-class items, but he couldn’t even afford to buy one A-class item.

The Stage of Advent was over, but nothing had changed. Those named after gods were still exclusive to the leadership. The only difference was that the price was converted into numbers here when it had been mana stones in the Stage of Advent.

They would be exchanged only between them as each was worth over a billion dollars. Another difference from the stage was that the exchange revealed what formidable abilities were in those items.

「Name: The God of Wind’s Protective Ring

Category: Item

Class: A

Selling price: $ 210,000,000

Seller: Iljoo OA Co., Ltd」

「Product information: Contains 5000 Physical Defense and 10000 Magic Defense. There is no improvement in the basic ability, but if the user activates ‘Blessing of the God of Wind’ at the same time, the user’s ability surpasses its original state. ‘Blessing of the God of the Wind’ significantly heals injuries and negative impacts from opponent's attacks, and significantly increases the resistance to any negative effects. In addition, the regeneration speed significantly increases in proportion to the Health of the user. 」

The significant increase in resistance to negative effects included toxicity and plague, as well as damage caused by an opponent Awakened’s attack. Merely checking the item details made him comprehend the magnitude of power it would bestow, and his mind began to conjure up vivid scenarios.

What would I be afraid of if I fought under the protection of the Blessing of the God of Wind? Monsters and other Awakened would become nothing to me.

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Kayden now realized that people in leadership were equipped with such formidable items.

「Special note: Caliber Kwon Seong-Il’s item」

The reason why the market price, which used to fluctuate around one hundred fifty million dollars range, rose more than two hundred million was because of the value in Caliber’s name. Caliber was one of the top leaders.

I should buy this…

If Kayden had that kind of money in his hand, then he would have purchased it immediately. He lost track of time while looking at A-class items for a while, so it was already 8 PM.

Pie in the sky… He stopped rolling while looking at the pie in the sky and started disposing of the lowest-class items in his pockets. After getting rid of the B-class accessory he received as an advance payment, he filled his list with Sense-related items.

He wasn’t restricted to acquiring items solely from the Stage of Advent as the spoils obtained by those venturing into outer space provided comparable benefits. For instance, a ring from the Xyliver kingdom guaranteed increasing one’s Sense. Although it didn’t create a protective barrier, it was not bad due to its cost-effectiveness.

It was almost 10 PM.

Hmm?

「 Announcement: The auction of ‘Xi Wangmu's Ten Thousand Year Old Spider Egg’ has begun.」

「Name: Xi Wangmu's Ten Thousand-Year-Old Spider Egg

Category: Item

Class: S

Selling price: $ 1,000,000,000

Seller: SOW Co., Ltd

Bidding period: Until July 11th 16:00」

「Special note: The user can check the content only if they ‘open’ with an unopened item.」

“...S-class?” he gasped.

「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,100,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,150,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,155,000,000」

“Who are the people who can afford this…”

「 7.11 / 12:01 ― $ 1,500,000,000」

He was envious for just a second. Kayden could finally start enjoying the moment after he admitted that he would never be able to access the item. A battle between huge amounts of money was happening right in front of his eyes.

***

I remembered.

During the fall of 2014, when I came out of the dungeon with Yeon-Hee, I received news that made no sense. A fierce bidding war between Daehyun Motor Group and Ilsung Group ensued over a small KEPCO[1] site situated in Samseon-dong, with Daehyun Motor Group offering a whopping 10.55 trillion won for the land alone.

Putting KEPCO’s stake structure together, it basically meant transferring capital from my right pocket to my left pocket. Nevertheless, what was astounding at the time was their willingness to invest such a colossal amount solely into one piece of land.

Jamie claimed that it was necessary to move Daehyun Motor Group’s money accumulated in their warehouse to resolve KEPCO’s deficit. She said it was a beneficial choice for both as KEPCO could resolve their problem and Daehyun could resolve the Oner family’s desire to possess a small company.

Jamie had a deep understanding of the Korean conglomerates family. Of course, this was with the help of the Finance President Park Choong-Sik.

Of course, I understood their position. In order to effectively manage Korea’s business conglomerates, they needed to not only exercise persuasive language but also coddle them like infants.

Daehyun had no choice but to guarantee the Oner family’s influence to a certain extent. If they were to expel the Oner family from the conglomerate group and appoint employed CEOs in their stead, the truth about Jeonil Group would be exposed to the public.

The interests of the Jeonil Group and Oner family were like that. The Oner family had forgotten that they were no different from the employees they looked down on as Jeonil Group didn’t intervene much. That was the story behind as to why Daehyun Motor bid for KEPCO’s small land with ten trillion won.

Ten trillion…

It wasn’t the Oner family’s money as it belonged to a new identity, called ‘Daehyun Motor.’

In addition, the intelligent elites said the interests between the company and family were the common asset of all who are related to their relations, unlike the reality.

However, all of the money was mine.

The reason why I remembered this incident was that it was ambiguous as to whom I was fighting with. I wondered if I was going against my other pocket like when Daehyun Motor and Ilsung were fighting over the KEPCO land.

Of course, that wasn’t always the case. The money might have come from a dictator’s slush funds, the dollars amassed by a wealthy individual at the start of their success, or the illicit funds of a criminal organization. It could have also been the stake released to prevent a market collapse by another group that had secured some form of defensive rights.

That was why it was unnecessary for me to check out the guys who participated in the bidding.

「 7.11 / 12:03 ― $ 1,560,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:03 ― $ 1,600,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:03 ― $ 1,610,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:03 ― $ 1,640,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:03 ― $ 1,650,000,000」

Shortly after, Lee Tae-Han replied to my message.

「 7.11 / 12:06 ― $ 1,830,000,000」

He mentioned thirteen names, including companies and Awakened who had enjoyed wealth even before the Stage of Advent. However, he paused for a few seconds before mentioning the fourteenth company name. Lee Tae-Han sounded surprised.

Jonathan? I had never heard of him establishing a military corporation. Still, it didn’t take long for me to make a decision.

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to give my returning comrade Xi Wangmu’s Ten Thousand-Year-Old Spider. I would just have to search for another option for my new vehicle.

Around that time, I took my hands off the keyboard.

「 7.11 / 12:06 ― $ 1,850,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:06 ― $ 1,850,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:06 ― $ 1,852,000,000」

「 7.11 / 12:06 ― $ 1,856,000,000」

The opportune moment for me to reemerge would be when only one person remained after the rest had given up.

1. Korea Electric Power Corporation. ☜