Chi-Hyun stared silently at the flustered and nervous hero before him. He didn’t even remember who this person was. If Chi-Hyun must describe this visitor, he would say his head looked exactly like a 100 minerals-worth creature in a simulation game he used to sometimes play on Earth. But besides what this guy looked like, Chi-Hyun was more baffled by the process of how this hero came to his office.
He had been focusing on his work when he suddenly heard an alarm; it was a message from his brother. ‘What?’ When he checked the message, he was astonished to read that his brother was sending someone to talk to him and he should hear the person out. It was like his brother expected him to act like a dog doing his becking. Next time, Chi-Woo was going to ask him to play fetch or something. Even if he could’ve at least let that part slide, though, the message that came after that was even more unbelievable.
[Chi-Woo -> (Sent): Just to clarify, I am contacting you, Mr. Choi Chi-Hyun, under my master’s orders. As the disciple, you must know that I cannot defy my master’s orders. I hope that you will keep this in mind to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.]
Chi-Woo basically meant, ‘I would rather die than send a message to you, but I had no choice’; but he said it in a twisted and roundabout way that irked Chi-Hyun. Especially the part where he wrote ‘Mr. Choi Chi-Hyun’ made him instantly clench his fists in anger. If Chi-Woo had been standing next to him, Chi-Hyun would’ve hit his brother hard on his head a couple of times to knock some sense back into him.
‘This bastard. I should really…’ Chi-Hyun had a strong urge to chase after his brother now and smack his bottoms, asking him how he dare act so insolent to his older brother. But it was Zelit’s words that held him back.
—Um…ah…are you really Chi-Woo’s…no…anyways…are you really his older brother, sir?
This guy knew Chi-Woo’s identity, and currently, there weren’t many who did. The only ones who knew were a couple of close companions and the Celestial Lights. While there were a lot more in the know compared to before, in general, it was still a very small number. Chi-Hyun realized there was one more to that number now. As the older brother, Chi-Hyun wasn’t pleased, but it seemed Chi-Woo was the one who revealed his identity to this hero given the circumstances. This changed things since there must be a reason why a guy like Chi-Woo, who didn’t like to receive unnecessary attention and liked privacy, would tell his secret.
Thus, Chi-Hyun calmed his anger and decided to hear Zelit out. “Did you come all this way to ask that?”
“Ah, no,” Zelit answered even in his unsettled state. His face was bright red. He wanted to slam his forehead onto the wall hundreds of times when he remembered what had just happened, but he needed to focus on this conversation. “Sorry, I was just a bit taken aback… Anyways, this is my second time seeing you, sir. I am honored that you agreed to meet me once more.”
“We met before?”
“Sorry? Ah, yes, we did at the former capital of Salem…”
“Is that so? I don’t recall that. I only remember things that have value.”
With his keen senses, Zelit quickly caught on that Chi-Hyun was telling him to not waste any more of his valuable time and tell him something worthwhile. Thus, Zelit immediately got to the point.
“I’m working on a project, but I lack the necessary funds to complete it. Thus, I want to ask if you could lend me some money.”
“Money…? Did Chi-Woo say that I would lend you money if you asked me?”
“No, sir. He told me that he would help arrange a meeting with you, but it’s up to me whether I can get the money from you or not.”
Chi-Hyun smirked hearing Zelit’s response. It wasn’t a friendly or welcoming smile.
“Even if that’s the case, is that enough of a reason to come to me?”
“…”
“If it’s just about borrowing and lending money, I don’t know why you would have to come all the way to my office to ask me.”
“I already borrowed many times from Chichi…no, Choi Chi…ah, damn. Anyways, the amount of money I want to ask for is on another scale from before, and he was the one who suggested the arrangement,” Zelit explained the situation as it was without embellishing anything. Hearing this, one of Chi-Hyun’s eyebrows rose.
“That guy just lent you his money?”
“Yes, a couple of times at that, sir.”
And instead of chasing away someone who didn’t pay him back and came to borrow more money, Chi-Woo introduced him to Chi-Hyun… This made Chi-Hyun wonder. Chi-Hyun knew his brother’s personality better than anyone else. His brother wasn’t the type to be overly greedy, but he also wasn’t one to risk losses. If something came within his grip, he didn’t let go of it easily. Thus, it was more astonishing that Chi-Woo gave his money away not just once, but two times, which stirred up Chi-Hyun’s curiosity. He wondered what exactly made Chi-Woo open his wallet.
“…Tell me about your project,” Chi-Hyun gave his permission. Thus, Zelit began, and when Chi-Hyun heard the explanation, he looked uncharacteristically taken aback. If everything went according to what this long-headed guy planned, it would be an acceptable investment—no, not just acceptable.
‘Very good,’ Chi-Hyun thought after hearing the whole explanation. This project wasn’t for one person’s self-gain; it was something that needed to be done in the long run for the general population; moreover, it was quite a refreshing idea.
‘Divided into classes according to tiers, individuals operating in autonomy…even while supporting public institutions, their private jurisdictions aren’t violated. Of course, that runs the risk of extralegal activities increasing, but…' The more Chi-Hyun thought about it, the more the idea impressed him. It combined individual authority, duty, and freedom in a way that worked.
‘It might not be easy to solidify the system, but since he said that he had experience establishing this system on his planet, it won’t be a problem.’ Chi-Hyun wanted to implement the idea. He had been wanting to do something about the Celestial Lights one of these days since recently, they had gotten overboard. Though they didn’t do anything against the law, they were essentially abusing the system. With the way things were going, it appeared that resources would be excessively concentrated on one side. But if they established Zelit’s new system, they would be able to keep the Celestial Lights in check, and a new organization that they wouldn’t be able to easily do anything against would form.
In short, Zelit’s plan would help get rid of all the bothersome things Chi-Hyun had to deal with eventually, and there was no reason for him to turn away from this project.
‘This was worth my time,’ Chi-Hyun concluded. This plan was beyond his expectations. If he could, he wanted to discuss it all night long. In the end, Chi-Hyun turned to Zelit.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Zelit, sir.”
‘So, it’s Zelit instead of Zealot?’ [1] Chi-Hyun nodded and thought he should remember this name. Then, suddenly, he became curious about another thing. Did Chi-Woo know the exact worth of the dream that Zelit was trying to bring into reality that he kept lending his money? A guy like Chi-Woo, who didn’t know a thing about the way an economy and society worked?
“Did that guy also agree with your plan and give you your money?”
“No, sir.”
“?”
“I just told him that I was trying to do something and needed money for it, and he easily gave me the funds.”
“He didn’t even ask about the plan?”
“Yes, he didn’t. Even I was taken aback then, but he told me he had an intuition that it would be all right…”
Chi-Hyun made a humorless laugh. ‘It’s that intuition again.’ As someone who abided by the axiom that ‘data and research never lie’, this was completely foreign territory to him.
‘What should I do?’ Chi-Hyun thought. Even if it was a good idea, it was still all armchair theory at the moment. There were no faults to it on paper, but as they put the idea into reality and got into the details, cracks between the two—idea and reality—would slowly reveal themselves. Yet Chi-Hyun didn’t ponder for long. Though he had been forced to back away before, he decided to believe his brother’s judgment this time. He could take the risk since nothing catastrophic would happen even if the implementation of the plan ended up lackluster.
In the end, Chi-Hyun turned on his celestial device and called somebody. He exchanged a couple of words with them and ended the call. Not long afterward, a woman with long ivory hair opened the door and came inside.
“Where should I put this?” Noel asked. Chi-Hyun jerked his chin at Zelit’s direction, and Noel placed a bundle before him. Thump! The bundle made a heavy thud as it hit the table.
“Here’s 300,000 royals.”
Zelit coughed roughly before he could even look inside the bag. Not 30,000 royals, but 300,000? He came to Chi-Hyun expecting to borrow about 10,000 to 20,000 royals, and thus, this sum sounded so astronomically high that it shocked him.
“I-It’s too much, sir.”
“I’m sure you are planning to start with a small to medium-sized organization first considering the situation, but there’s no need for that.” In other words, Chi-Hyun was telling Zelit to expand the size of his project and act all out on his dream.
“But…”
“The money includes your living expenses and the taxes you’ll have to pay. And a building…no, it’s probably better for you to just set up a new one.”
Zelit once again caught onto what Chi-Hyun was telling him right away with his quick wits: that he shouldn’t focus on anything but this project.
“That’s all the funds I can offer you at the current time. Take care of the most urgent matters with that money for now, and I will tell Noel to make separate preparations for this, so come to me again if you need more.”
Noel nodded with a smile on her face. Zelit was at a loss for words. He hadn’t imagined getting this level of support.
“By the way, what is your tier?”
“…I’m not in a contract yet, sir.” Zelit’s head lowered slightly at Chi-Hyun’s question. He was embarrassed that he still hadn’t managed to get a denomination yet. Then, he asked, “Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all. It’s actually better that way.”
Zelit looked curious at Chi-Hyun’s response.
‘It’s better that way? Which way?’ Zelit thought.
“It’s the perfect timing too. Luck is also on your side.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying, sir. Is something else going on?”
“You don’t have to concern yourself with that,” Chi-Hyun said, and Zelit didn’t ask anymore. He simply filed it in his head for later.
***
Chi-Woo didn’t leave Shalyh for the time being. He stopped doing group activities because of what Zelit told him after meeting his brother. It appeared that something was going to happen soon, so Zelit advised Chi-Woo to halt his activities and wait to see what happened. And as expected, Chi-Woo soon got a secret message from Noel telling him to come to Chi-Hyun's official residence for a meeting.
Ru Amuh also got the same message, so Chi-Woo went to the meeting with him. Instead of the uppermost floor, they went to the third floor of the official residence and saw a large conference room.
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“There’s no one here,” Ru Amuh said while looking around. As he said, the conference room was empty. It seemed they were the first ones to arrive. They took a seat nearby and waited, and eventually, more people began to gather. The second to arrive was the young noble from the Eustitia family and the carefree lady from the Mariaju family. Emmanuel bowed his head toward Chi-Woo, and Chi-Woo responded with a short greeting. For some reason, Mariaju looked embarrassed and waved softly. Chi-Woo did the same, and she turned to Emmanuel looking giddy and hitting his arm. Then entered a pretty lady with platinum blonde hair: Apoline. She came in walking haughtily and model-like as usual, but halted when she saw Chi-Woo.
“…Hmph.” She quickly flicked her head away and sat on the completely opposite side of him. She didn’t look toward Chi-Woo while sitting next to Mariaju. Her whole demeanor seemed to scream, ‘I will never acknowledge you or talk to you first.’ But in reality, she took secret glances at him and bit her lower lip when she saw that Chi-Woo wasn’t even looking at her.
Finally, the last person to enter was Alice from the Ho Lactea family, who brought an ash-colored cat with her. For some reason, Ismile from the Nahla was nowhere to be found. This was strange since he wasn’t the type of hero to miss meetings like this.
“Oh, it’s been a while, boss.”
“Yes, it’s been so long, Mr. Nangnang. How have you been?”
“Hm, I’ve been doing well. It’s been a while, but did you know I reached gold tier?”
“Of course. I heard the rumors. This is a long time coming, but congratulations.”
“It’s thanks to you.”
Abandoning his current companion, Nangnang curled up to Chi-Woo’s shin affectionately. And while he did this, Apoline felt suddenly threatened and wondered, ‘Don’t tell me that cat is also female?’ And she wondered what criteria the legend had when picking the attendees for this meeting.
‘There are five Celestial Lights…and two ordinary heroes.’ Ru Amuh was understandable, but Nangnang’s attendance was unexpected. The legend was strict. He didn’t consider other people’s circumstances or make exceptions. Alice must be aware of this too, and the fact that she came with Nangnang must mean…
“Ah,” Apoline let out a small gasp. She realized a commonality of everyone gathered in this place, but soon her forehead crinkled again.
‘But no? If you consider that…’ Apoline glanced at Chi-Woo and chewed on her lip. She was curious, but it hurt her pride to initiate a conversation with him first. Thus, after contemplating for a while, she turned around and poked Yeriel on the side.
“…Yeriel.”
“Huh?”
“I need to ask you something in secret.” And Apoline began to whisper in Yeriel’s ear.
“Yeah, yeah,” Yeriel was nodding when she began blinking hard. “…Huh? What?!” Then she shouted, “You are curious about Chi-Woo’s tier, but you don’t want to ask him yourself? So you want me to ask him instead?!” Her voice rang loud and clear inside the conference room. It was certainly loud enough for not only Chi-Woo, but everyone in the room to hear.
“Hey!” After freezing up from shock for a moment, Apoline quickly regained her senses and tried to stop her, but it was too late.
“You are so funny! Can’t you just ask him yourself? Why do you have to ask me!?” Yeriel shouted.
“Are you crazy?!”
“Ah! Did you two fight?! Okay then! I will ask him!” As Apoline’s face looked like it would explode in embarrassment, Yeriel got up from her seat. She spun half a circle and plopped herself down on the seat next to Chi-Woo.
“Hey~” She twisted around and leaned toward him. “Can’t you tell me your tier please~?”
“…It’s gold,” Chi-Woo responded with a stunned face.
“Aha!” Then, with a bright voice and face, Yeriel cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Apoline! Chi-Woo oppa’s tier is gold!”
It was a perfectly clear relay of information.
“…” Apoline didn’t respond. She simply stared at the floor with her head down. There seemed to be little drops of tears collecting in her shaking eyes. In the end, she put her arms on the desk and buried her head into them.
“…Was I too much? Ah, but can I call you oppa? Hehe?” Yeriel scratched her head seeing Apoline despair and smiled brightly back at Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo thought Yeriel didn’t seem normal on their first meeting, but the more he saw her, the more she seemed to surpass his imagination. Nevertheless, he got why Apoline wanted to know his tier. It seemed everyone gathered in this room was at least gold tier.
It was then the sound of footsteps approached, and the closed door finally opened again. A man and a woman quickly entered the conference room: it was Chi-Hyun and Noel. The atmosphere inside the room completely changed. All signs of laughter disappeared from Yeriel’s brightly smiling face, and Apoline warily sat back up and fixed her posture. Chi-Hyun scanned the conference room left and right. Then, without any greetings, he announced the start of the meeting and immediately got to the main topic.
1. Name of a character in StarCraft (game that was popular in South Korea) that Zelit looks like. ☜