It was now early March.
[Congratulations. You are the first Awakened to upgrade all your stats to S-class.]
[You have obtained a ‘challenger box’ for being the first one to achieve all S-class stats.]
I glared at the brilliant glow, but it wasn’t an item or insignia. With the Second Round of Privileges in mind, the contents from the box were basically a loss. The Awakened in the past would have grieved when they heard that obtaining a challenger box was a failure.
I waited for a message that would soon pop up. It would have been nice if it didn’t take this long, but it was now the time to celebrate achieving the conditions required for the Second Round of Privileges.
Yes, let’s be happy about that.
This meant that I didn’t need to waste time in the Stage of Advent.
[Would you like to proceed with the Second Round of Privileges?
*Any remaining, unopened boxes you currently have will disappear.]
Ah, seriously?
The System had blocked all the tricks in advance. I thought I would dither when this moment came, but I guess I was more prepared than I had thought. I was determined to proceed without any hesitation.
[The Second Round of Privileges will begin soon.]
[Congratulations. You have obtained the trait ‘Challenger’ as a reward.]
Challenger…?
***
Woo Yeon-Hee wanted to raise my stats as much as possible before I entered the Stage of Advent. She had wanted to conquer a C-class dungeon with me, but it was no good as she hadn’t acquired all three conditions needed to attack higher-class dungeons. A good balance between skills, traits and items was required, but Woo Yeon-Hee didn’t have the decent skills and traits needed to fight against monsters.
If she had to go against another Awakened, she would have aced it. However, our enemies were monsters swarming the dungeon. Not only did she not possess a tanking skill to protect me, but she also had difficulty defeating monsters alone even in D-class dungeons. She could upgrade my stats by only one class with each item, so all I could do was blankly stare at the dwindling defensive points while waiting for Woo Yeon-Hee to finish the battle. Wait, since the class of my Night Eyes had been reset, the only way to determine how many points remained would be to look at the color of her barrier.
Anyway, I didn’t have much time left. We had to end any dungeon attempts by mid-March as I had to concentrate on the Day of Advent after. Basically, I only had one week left. From then on, I needed to secure the safety of my family and loved ones while fighting against a desperately dangerous crisis the global economy would face.
Therefore, the only option for us was to conquer a D-class dungeon. The following were the stats and abilities that I would have when entering the Stage of Advent.
[Name: Na Seon-Hu *Second Round*
Health: E (0), Strength: E (5), Agility: E (13), Sense: E (0)
Total points: 250
Accomplishment Reward: 2076
Trait (9), Skill (10), Insignia (10), Item (10)]
So far, the System had only emphasized the name of the Seven Demon Kings, and it had also begun to emphasize the words ‘*Second Round*’ on my status window in the same way. However, my eyes were fixed on the numbers ‘9,’ ‘10,’ ‘10,’ and ‘10’ of the traits, skills, insignias and items that I had broken through the S-class ceiling.
***
People often wished they had the opportunity to go back in time to their youthful years but Jeon-il’s perspective was different. He had poured everything into his current life. He now had a high social position, wealth, a marital relationship that had always been maintained amicably, and a son who had grown up wonderfully. If someone told him to start all over again, he wasn’t confident that he would do better than this.
His best friends had retired already, and he was hoping to spend his last years as relaxed as those who had voluntarily retired from the group. The female CEO had visited him several times and tried to convince him to join the executive team, but he ultimately refused. Of course, he was aware of the group’s considerations. He was on the road to success from the moment he joined the group that had the same title as his first name. He had believed it was fate.
However, the reason why Jeon-il had truly become fond of the group was because of their consideration toward him. He had great qualms working at Jeon-il Group more than twenty years ago when Korea was suffering from the IMF crisis. They had just been born and were unidentified foreign funds that had gulped down the country’s economy in an instant. When Jeon-il realized that his firm had taken over the economy and power of this country, he had always had his resignation letter in the drawer.
The Jeon-il Group was the main culprit that invaded the country. Their exploitation was more horrible than what had occurred during the Japanese colonial period, and the foreigners began to suck all kinds of Korea’s money into their mouths. The Jeon-il Group ended up abandoning their conscience when Jeon-il’s son was invited to a company that had emerged as the core of the global capital market. His son had grown up enough to know everything about this country. Jeon-il had been ashamed of himself for working at a thief firm as a founding member.
However, it was also impossible for him to resign recklessly. Time had passed by like that, and Jeon-il was stuck at his job at Jeon-il Bank. His promotion occurred faster than anyone else, and his company had supported the youngest bank president to a great extent. They had looked after him to a degree that he didn’t have to be worried about swaying by internal politics.
The group’s care had been consistent. During the holiday season, the CEO visited the headquarters to offer him a vacation and even took care of not only his family but also his relatives. In fact, the female CEO was busy as the group acquired France’s Goldstein family. The Jeon-il Group had become one of the leading firms in Europe as well as in Asia.
Nevertheless, her attitude and conduct couldn’t change Jeon-il’s mind. He, of course, loved the group, but that wasn’t enough for him to give up his peaceful last years. He hated the life of working until his vision became blurry like Park Choong-Sik, the President of Finance. He wanted to age with his wife who had always been by his side. If possible, he also hoped to have a grandchild as he envied his colleagues whenever they uploaded pictures of their grandchildren on social media. Therefore, Jeon-il decided to retire.
If he accepted the CEO’s offer, he would have become the second President of Finance, but it wouldn’t have brought any joy to him. No matter how powerful the position was, Jeon-il felt he had already enjoyed the authority that many people hadn’t experienced before. On top of that, he had more than enough money to spend until his death, and his son was so successful that it was meaningless to leave his assets to him.
Jeon-il said to Jamie, who had come to see him again, with a smile, “I should leave for the younger ones in the group.”
“Then, I’ll get you a spot for a non-executive director. You can just stop by the headquarters once in a while…”
“I’m always so grateful to work under you.” Jeon-il’s smile became brighter.
“There would be nothing else I can do since you have made up your mind, right?”
“I do appreciate it.”
“Then, this will be the last piece of work for you.”
Jamie put a file on the desk, and there was a Jeon-il Resort’s promotional pamphlet inside the transparent plastic cover. Since they were affiliates of the same group, Jeon-il was their main bank.
Since Jeon-il had completed transferring his duties to juniors, his box and document file were now light. Then, his eyes shook as there were resort vouchers in the thick file.
“As a token of our appreciation, we have prepared a small gift.”
However, this gift wasn’t ‘small’ at all to Jeon-il. At first glance, it looked like there were at least a hundred vouchers, and the lowest room rating among them was the VIP suite. Each voucher was worth at least one hundred million won.
“Please invite your relatives, friends, and everyone you love. There are only a hundred there, but don’t mind the number.” Jamie continued, “Our group will guarantee paid leave during their vacation for those who work for firms in this country. We will make sure not to cause any negative impact on the properties of those who run their own businesses.”
“W…what do you mean negative impact…”
“You have worked hard for our group, Mr. Na. We really appreciate it.”
Tears welled up in Jeon-il’s eyes as Jamie’s consideration wasn’t simply convertible into money. He was embarrassed but couldn’t stop his tears. He also felt so warm in his heart that he was about to burst into emotions.
“Thank you… But…”
“You must not forget that this is your last job as the President of Jeon-il Bank. Make sure you complete it. If you refuse, I’ll take care of it myself. However, there will be a limit if I handle it.”
Jeon-il became speechless.
“Ah… I forgot about this. Our group will also support any minors’ academic matters and attendance. On top of that, we will also manage other issues that might happen during your stay, so don’t worry.”
“Okay, ma’am.”
“Please invite your loved ones and families to the resort on behalf of our group. You shouldn’t refuse since we’ve already left the resort quite empty!”
Jeon-il widened his eyes in surprise as he couldn’t believe her words.
***
“So…?”
Mi-Hee’s voice also shook with emotion. As the wife of the President of Jeon-il Bank, she was well informed with how things worked in his group. The Jeon-il Group had fully supported her husband even at the moment of his retirement.
What kind of company in the world can do that?
Mi-Hee sniffed along with her red-eyed husband as he explained all of this to her. He took out the document file from his briefcase instead of answering. In fact, he had enough money to buy a hundred resort vouchers himself as his son had sent him money whenever he received the bonus every quarter.
However, he would never have thought of inviting that many people at once without the group’s support.
Invite all my loved ones and families? And they will guarantee paid vacation during the stay? That’s unbelievable.
Jeon-il and Mi-Hee imagined hanging out at the resort with everyone they loved. This couldn’t even happen in their dreams.
Mi-Hee asked while wiping her eyes with her hands, “What about Seon-Hu? It would be nice if he can make it…”
It was then the intercom rang. The face shown on the monitor was Seon-Hu, their only son. On this happy day, their proud son had returned home.