Arena

Regular chapter. 1/2 chapters this week. Finally back to the Arena.

When I got back to the hotel I attempted to use the skill synthesis.

"Muzzle loading magic rifle synthesize with guider."

-Synthesizing muzzle loading magic rifle with guider (a.s.sist skill).

Pat!

-Synthesis successful. You have acquired shooting (synthesis skill).

-The muzzle loading magic rifle will be used.

-Shooting (synthesis skill): In the instance of using firearms, 100% accuracy to target within a determined range.

*Entry level 1: applicable distance range 10 meters

"Nice!"

I rejoiced. It was exactly the skill I wanted.

When I use a firearm for an object within 10 meters, even without Sylph"s help, I can now hit it with 100% accuracy.

Sylph can shoot from a long distance and I can from a closer distance, it"s a double shooting pattern.

Min-jeong had excitedly toured Copenhagen with Hyun-ji, kept a cheerful happy mood and was very pa.s.sionately cuddling with me.

Thanks to it we spent a sweet night and the next day, with a regretful heart, we loaded ourselves onto a flight to Korea.

"We are on our way."

Incheon Airport.

Lee Soo-hyun had even prepared a private taxi for us timed to our arrival to the airport.

I felt thankful towards her for taking care of our itinerary down to the last detail and all the way to the end.

"I am very thankful. We owe you a lot."

"Then you can treat me to a meal sometime."

"… Huh?"

"Oh, good! I"d love to come too!"

Min-jeong quickly stuck to my side and blocked the gaze.

I can"t tell if Lee soo-hyun is joking or for real or not, but she smiled and then departed.

[Chairman Park Jin-seong"s lightning recovery!]

[Deteriorating health of Chairman Park Jin-seong "I have no health issues"]

[Jinseong Electronics" downhill performance brings a return of Chairman Park Jin-seong, failed attempt at successor?]

[Chairman Park Jin-seong, displays excellent health]

[Jinseong Group affiliates/company/subsidiary value/worth rapid rebound in stocks "the return of the king effect"]

[The comeback of Chairman Park Jin-seong "we need to be aware that everyone is always on the verge of death" business management proclamation]

News and papers were all abuzz.

Chairman Park Jin-seong, more than just being healthy, re-appeared with a rejuvenated appearance.

Biggest net worth in the Republic of Korea.

Influence at level 0, this great man.*

(TN: 0 comes before 1? It is supposed to mean he has more influence than anyone.)

In order to reorganize the financial world, the king makes a shocking return.

Compet.i.tors" stocks nearly crash completely with the return of Jinseong Electronics leader.

"Incredible."

Watching the loud news, I couldn"t contain my amazement.

The healed chairman Park Jin-seong, as he ate his last flame of life, had said something when he was eating it.

"Jinseong groups declining condition was actually not the fault of my children. The climate was headed in that direction. With smartphones and tablets, all of was too saturated."

"Was it?"

"But as I return to the scene, interestingly as I was getting the spotlight, the antic.i.p.ation will increase the stock prices."

Chairman Park Jin-seong smiled giddily and talked confidently.

"The increase of stock is temporary, but the atmosphere will change. Originally when you overcome an obstacle, that"s how you start it."

"Anyway, congratulations. I guess we won"t be seeing each other anymore."

"What are you talking about? You are an examinee that is managed by the Jinseong Group. If you forget that, it complicates things."

"But that is just the official t.i.tle. Your goal has already been met."

"My relationship with you will continue. Who is to know that I won"t get sick again?"

"If you"ve lived this long, that should be good enough. Well, are you planning on becoming Jangsu the king? Did you know that Jangsu"s son, the crown prince Joda, was the origin of the word "peck"?

(TN: This guy basically unified Korea. I have no idea about the peck thing he is talking about.)

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

We went back and forth like that when chairman Park Jin-seong said this as we say goodbye.

"If there is anything you need, contact me. As a reward for giving me new life, in a little while, there will be a supplement, you can antic.i.p.ate it."

"I have enough money already though, so."

There is 30 million dollars in my swiss account.

I have become a rich man so suddenly that I hadn"t really gotten used to this new reality.

It could also be because I didn"t know how to use money.

Anyway, after his return, he was showing a storm-like happiness, seeing that made me happy.

Drastically organizing a useless product lineup, aggressively scouting IT and designers and starting promotions, chairman Park Jin-seong looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

He had a serious expression on his face but having hunted and hung out with him for a while now, I think I understand how he must have felt.

The joy of being alive.

The great grat.i.tude he felt for being given another chance at life.

With this new life that Chairman Park Jin-seong had been given, he wasn"t wasting a minute nor a second; he was living hard.

Since the top executive was being like that, the workers below him also followed suit and became busy and the whole of Jinseong group became energized.

According to chairman Park Jin-seong"s plan, the atmosphere had changed amazingly.

Anyway, due to chairman Park Jin-seong"s full recovery, separate from that, my remaining rest period is creeping to an end.

"Oppa, aren"t we meeting too much?"

It was the night of the day before the exam.

We had spent the night together at her place when Min-jeong suddenly asked the question.

"You think so?"

We did meet nearly every day.

When the 5th turn exam begins, it is because I didn"t know how long I wouldn"t be able to see Min-jeong so I wanted to hang out with her a lot in advance.

From Min-jeong"s perspective, it could have been a little bit too much.

"Are you annoyed I come over every day?"

"Of course not, oppa. That"s not what I meant."

Min-jeong cuddled herself into me.

"I"m just afraid that we are aflame and it will burn out fast. What if you don"t go that far and get bored of me?"

"That won"t happen. I can promise you that."

"Tsk, like that can be something that can be promised."

I can definitely promise it.

Soon, tomorrow, I have to spend a long time in the Arena.

And after that, if I do return, I had no doubt that after a long departure, I will be aflame for Min-jeong.

"It"s actually, I heard that you haven"t dated anyone for long periods, that"s what I heard from Min-jeong."

"d.a.m.n, she just spills everything!"

"You do the same too. Let"s not tell Hyun-ji things she doesn"t need to know now, okay?"

Min-jeong chuckled.

"This time, it"s different. I want to be with you for a long, long time."

"Me too."

Honestly, I"m not sure.

This relationship…I started it just thinking of it as casual dating.

That even if I were to die, she would be a little sad and then forget it, I wanted it to be a relationship with little affection, like that.

But Min-jeong, unlike her first impression, isn"t the kind of casual girl I thought she was. I opened the lid, unlike the carefree Hyun-ji, she turned out to be the opposite and sincere.

It worried me.

"No doubt she"ll be sad if I died?"

I looked to Min-jeong and secretly sighed.

There was no other way, I had to survive. No matter what, desperately, persistently, I have to come back.

The next day in the morning, I took Min-jeong to school and I went to work at the mountain lodge.

Nowadays, unlike before, chairman Park Jin-seong doesn"t come here every day, but instead he had an employee deliver the things I asked for.

I wondered if he is treating me carelessly now that his business is taken care of.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

I took the box that chairman Park Jin-seong"s 3rd secretariats gave me and load it into my car trunk.

It"s a box full of magnum .357 bullets.

I had needed .357 bullets to load into my newly acquired 2 semi-automatic Neils" H2 guns.

I headed straight home and placed the boxes inside the house.

"Now that I think of it, I"ll be 30 soon."

In no time, it had turned to December.

When I come back from my 5th turn exam, Min-jeong and Hyun-ji, they"ll be done with their college studies.

Min-jeong, when she graduates, is going to go to work at a relative oppa"s company and will have to move to Seoul.

I get the feeling she is already looking for a one room apartment online.

"Should I be independent too?"

I don"t think it would be a bad idea to follow Min-jeong to Seoul with her.

I want to move in with her but, having only been dating for a month, I think that"s moving too fast. It was just my own wish.

"When I get back, I"ll get my own place."

I have lots of money, shouldn"t I just spend some of it?

Thinking though this and that, the time arrived.

"Let"s go."

I laid in bed and closed my eyes.

I took deep breaths and braced myself. And then in an instant, I lost consciousness.

"Wake up. How late are you going to lay around and sleep?"

In my ear, I hear a familiar and revolting voice and at that I open my eyes.

I come to and I am laying down.

Flap, flap, the baby angel is flying around and the first thing I see is the baby angel"s face and it put me in a bad mood.

"What"s this exam?"

I asked.

The baby angel chuckled and laughed.

"This is a very easy exam."

That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, as the words easily came out of his mouth, I got an uneasy feeling.

If it was easy, why are you chuckling?

"Board summons."

-Name: Kim Hyun-ho

-Cla.s.s: 10

_Karma: 0

-Mission: Revive the tree of life

-Time limit: unlimited

"As expected."

Indeed, the mission is to revive the tree of life.

My decision to invest my karma in the flame of life was good.

But there is a word that is unsettling to me.

"Unlimited?"

"Wow, that"s nice. There is no time limit and without any danger, you can just leisurely spend your days with the elves."

"Wait, why is it unlimited?"

"Does that upset you?"

"Well, no, it is not that it is upsetting, per se…"

"What are you going to do if you have a time limit? Would that change anything?"

"…no."

Regardless, there is only one way to revive the tree.

Every day, feed it two flames of life.

There was nothing I can do by trying to rush.

That"s why there was no time limit. There was no point.

… hold on.

"There"s not point? No way."

There"s no such thing as not having a point.

This too, has a point/meaning. In an exam, everything is a hint.

A hidden message.

The meaning of this exam.

There is definitely something the G.o.ds want from me.

"Is it possible that this will take longer than a year?"

"There are people who spend 6 years in an exam. What crime is a year?"

I recall Neils and shuddered.

"It is not like spending time in that world ages you so it doesn"t matter. Oh, but you"ll be lonely every night, is that it? Hehehe."

I wanted to shoot that b.a.s.t.a.r.d with my gun.

"Now now, don"t harbor animosity towards me, be on your way."

The exam door appeared before me.

I sighed and opened the door and enter.

A bright light swallowed me.

"Hyung, wake up! How long are you going to sleep?"

"The sun is already midday, you think we"ll leave you to sleep?"

"We won"t allow this, humph."

Playfulness incarnate, these heartless child elves have invaded my tent and surrounded me.

I got dragged by the children to the outside and I saw a scene, children and women playing.

The girl elves are playing the gong-gi I taught them, and the more I watch, the level is amazing.

They have 10 gong-gi in each hand, playing both hands at the same time!

"Do all elves originally have good reflexes?"

I summon Sylph and Kasa and got away from the kids and headed towards the tree of life.

Underneath the tree of life, the mothers were gathered.

"Have you come? Today you are late."

I bowed my head.

"Yes, I am sorry."

"No need. We ask of you again today."

"Yes. How is the state of the tree of life? Is it effective?"

The eldest mother nodded her head with a happy face.

"We inspected carefully and there is minute, but definite, progress. At this rate, the tree of life will be completely revived within 10 years."

10 years?!

I shivered.

"It"s not like spending time there ages you, so it doesn"t matter, no? Is it because you will be lonely every night? Hehehe."

The bundegi b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s words lingered like an alarm in my ear.

"It, it won"t take that long!"

Surely.