What happened next was a whirlwind that included more than twenty executives from accounting and legal firms. After several calls to the appropriate governmental institutions and Leon crying on the phone while talking to his business partner, I heard a lawyer speak up.
“Can the owners of Gold Wind and Kripp Burgers step this way?”
The result was that Leon gave up his share of the fast-food chain with the promise that the board members would remain the same. He barely glanced over the contract as he signed it and looked at Yeonhee more than four times all the while. (EN: Sun is evil. ^_^ )
**
“You asked for this, so get in.”
All the agents in the car stared at Leon as I opened the door.
“Where…are we going?”
“The Training Center.”
“Are there other members there?”
“You will see for yourself. Also, keep in mind that you have to watch your mouth from now on.”
Leon got in the car like a prisoner, and I motioned to Mick.
“He’s not a dangerous Cat, so don’t be too harsh. However, he does need to learn discipline if he tries to resist things.”
“How far can we go?”
“Just don’t kill him.”
“Yes.”
“Place people to monitor his calls, health condition, mindset, and everything else.”
“Understood.”
“Then, go.”
Prior Awakened were like dungeon boxes in their potential. While Yeonhee had gone over my expectations, I still had to see how Leon would do. He may be a blessing or a curse, and I would take care of him if he was the latter.
I went back to the hotel room. Yeonhee was so deep in thought that she did not feel my footsteps, and I thought I could see rainclouds over her head.
“Don’t mind Leon.”
“It’s not that.”
“That Murder Quest? It’s very rare, so don’t think about it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why does the System give out such quests?”
“I believe the System is programmed to achieve a single goal and does not care about the methods.”
“A System that forces people to murder each other should not exist.”
Yeonhee spoke like one of the Eight Evils.
“The System may be ‘encouraging’ competition. To the extremes.”
I was paraphrasing the argument that the Eight Virtues used.
“Yeonhee, I told you not to place meaning in the System. We’re only using it to get stronger and prepare for what is to come. There is no other meaning.”
“But…”
“No buts. Let’s go. We still have time.”
“For what?”
“Shouldn’t we see Cats if we’re staying here longer?” (EN: ^_^ )
Yeonhee’s eyes brightened for a moment like a child at my words.
**
“Nano Soft’s stock prices have fallen from 45.84 dollars to 39.1 dollars and APE has also fallen from 23.22 dollars to 15.01…”
The IT boom was falling, and the stock market was plummeting. However, even though 60% of the market has disappeared, the fall has been steep enough for the prices to continue to drop. Most of the companies had gone down by 90% and were going bankrupt. Even if I didn’t know the future, all my internal alarms would have gone off when I learned some CEO’s of DOT-com startups had remodeled their offices to resemble the Oval Office in the White House. Rampant ego and narcissism rarely mixes well with business where profitability is the only criteria for survival.
Yeonhee again came back with the show pamphlets today.
“It will take a few days until the agents come back. You noticed how other people are becoming interested in us.”
People were greeting us, and I knew there would be rumors about the Asian couple staying in the Wilson Hotel’s penthouse and making big bets in the casinos.
“They were friendly.”
Yeonhee was talking about the wealthy crowd who had been sitting next to us. They even tried to invite us to their party.
“We will remain in the hotel until tomorrow.”
“That’s all right. I had enough fun.”
She did not know what went below the glossy exterior of Las Vegas, especially in parties loaded with money. They were primitive and wild to the extreme. However, I had another event in mind, and Yeonhee looked at me sensing my excitement.
“Finally? I need to wash up.”
Yeonhee rushed to the bathroom while I thought over the boxes we had earned so far. We had earned thirty Silver Boxes and thirty Gold boxes. I had removed my Earthquake skill and had not added others, as I felt my skill set was enough for the moment. I wanted my skill points to be allotted to skills with the highest potential from now on.
“Status Window.”
I saw that most of my stats were nearing D class, and it was time to party.
[You have opened a Silver Box.]
[Your trait Interdiction has increased by 2 points.]
[Interdiction has been raised a level. F -> E]
[Interdiction (Trait) Effect: You gain an accomplishment reward when you destroy a dungeon or meet the conditions to destroy a gate. Class: E(0) Reward: 0] (EN: Chapter 76)
I had received this Trait as a reward for the achievement “Buried”, for destroying a dungeon for the first time as an Awakened. I kept this Trait despite it being useless at F class because I thought such a Trait could have potential and that I had not known anything about accomplishment rewards in my past life. I knew I had discovered something new about the system and would need to investigate it. I opened other Silver Boxes.
[You have gained an Insignia (Plunder).]
[Will you remove the Insignia?]
[You have gained 2 Stamina Points.]
…
My Speed-up Insignia (EN: Chapter 54..so Insignias can be upgraded. ^_^) and Keenness trait both increased from F to E class and had gained skill points. (EN: Chapter 101)
[You have received 1 Strength point. Your Strength Class has increased from E -> D.]
I stopped opening Silver Boxes and changed to Gold Boxes.
[You have opened a Gold Box.]
[You have gained 29 skill points for Night Eyes.] (EN: Chapter 46)
[You have gained 15 Stamina Points.]
[You have gained an item ‘Agile Trap Hammer.’]
[You have gained 11 skill points for the Man Who Overcame Adversity.]
[You have gained an Insignia (Assassin).]
…
[You have received 31 Agility points. Your Agility Class has increased from E -> D.]
[You have received 30 Perception points. Your Perception Class has increased from E -> D.]
My stats were now all D class except for Stamina, and the notable thing was that my Perception was now D class. That meant I could see various item effects in numbers now.
“Status Window.”
[Name: Sunhoo Na
Stamina: E(85) Strength: D(0) Agility: D(0) Perception: D(0) Accumulated points: 100
Traits (8) Skills(4) Insignias(8) Items(8)…]
I had gotten this far by only going through F class dungeons. Monopoly was amazing, and things were only beginning for me.
(EN: In an earlier chapter, it was mentioned boxes only lasted 24 hours, before they automatically opened. Obviously the author forgot. ^_^ )