‘Euk!’
Bi Mak-heon, a.s.sistant manager of the vice-chairman, looked at Chun Yeowun with a puzzled expression.
When he was asked to draft a contract, he had doubts whether it would work or not.
He knew that Chun Yeowun had something going on in his mind.
However.
‘This isn’t a negotiation…’
This was intimidation.
Bi Mak-heon knew who Chun Yeowun was, so it didn’t sound like nonsense to him.
However, the Jinan city hall knew nothing about Chun Yeowun.
‘Is this guy crazy?’
‘I was concerned because he was a young vice-chairman…’
As expected, their expressions weren’t good.
Mayor Jae-hyun, an ordinary politician, was speechless at Chun Yeowun’s unique intimidation.
But Yang-hyeon got angry and jumped up from his seat.
“Kill? What do you think you are saying in front of the Mayor who controls the whole Jinan city? No matter how much you want to show your power, do you think that it would be considered as a joke when you talk about killing government affiliated Gate Keepers and registered Murim warriors? Take your words back! vice-chairman.”
As a person with military power under him, he had the courage.
The air in the room turned cold.
It was safe to say that amicable negotiations were not possible anymore.
‘I am p.i.s.sed off. How can you avoid registering in Murim a.s.sociation by giving us donations and then say something like this?’
So Yang-hyeon shook his head.
It sounded absurd.
He thought that with the warning he gave, the talks would pa.s.s.
“Joke? How funny! Do you think I can’t do that?”
Chun Yeowun didn’t intend to back down.
‘M-my lord!’
Only BI Mak-heon was going crazy.
The relationship the company had with Jinan city hall was on the verge of being disturbed.
There was no way that Chun Yeowun didn’t understand that, but Bi Mak-heon still couldn’t figure out why he was coming out so strong.
‘This…’
As expected, So Yang-hyeon’s face turned red with anger.
“I don’t care how young you are, I never thought that a person in the position of vice-chairman would be this foolish. We will have a separate talk with the chairman of your company, I have nothing more to say to you.”
“You haven’t signed the contract yet.”
“I won’t!”
So Yang-hyeon was unable to tolerate Chun Yeowun’s words and shouted.
“Call security! Call the guards right now and get them out…”
That was when deputy Mayor Mi-chuk interfered.
“Wait.”
“Deputy Mayor?”
“Calm down chief So. Do you really want to sever our relationship with the Yongchun group when the Gate Warning is around the corner?”
Jinan city was in a state of tension.
It was because it was forecast that the Gate might be B-cla.s.s or higher.
The barrier has already been breached by B-cla.s.s and higher ent.i.ties several times before.
Considering that, the Yongchun group, which played a defensive role from within the barrier, was a necessary force.
“But deputy Mayor…”
“Calm down and let me talk for a bit.”
“Uhm.”
At those words, So Yang-hyeon went silent.
‘Deputy Mayor Mi-chuk.’
Bi Mak-heon looked at him.
For a long time, their company had been trying to contact the prominent politicians in the city.
However, this person couldn’t be reached.
He was the most influential politician in Jinan city, serving as the deputy Mayor for three consecutive times.
Mi-chuk looked at Chun Yeowun and said.
“Because you are a young vice-chairman, you certainly say a lot. To annihilate all the warriors and Gate Keepers of Jinan City.”
“Did that sound like a joke?”
Chun Yeowun’s voice was getting colder and colder.
Mi-chuk put his hand on his chin as he spoke with a serious look.
“You seem to believe in something. If so, can you let us know what it is? A proposal without a vision won’t have the power to convince. Tell me what the Yongchun group can do to protect the city.”
The question was very cold.
Mayor Jae-hyun and even So Yang-hyeon nodded their heads at the deputy Mayor"s wise response and then looked at Chun Yeowun.
However, Chun Yeowun’s answer was extremely unexpected.
“My existence is the answer.”
“What?”
Deputy Mayor couldn’t believe his ears.
He expected to hear what kind of power was hidden within the company, but this answer was completely unrelated.
“W-what. What absurd…”
Shhh!
Deputy Mayor raised his hand and stopped So Yang-hyeon from speaking. He then added in a soft voice.
“What is that supposed to mean vice-chairman?”
“Exactly what you’ve heard. I am Jinan’s greatest strength.”
“Ha!”
So Yang-hyeon had completely lost it.
In the end, they were back to the starting point.
Deciding that he could no longer endure it, he wanted to call for security.
When Mi-chuk said.
“Then by strength, you mean your martial arts prowess?”
“Yes.”
Mi-chuk went silent at Chun Yeowun’s affirmative answer.
Stroking his chin, he spoke again.
“The world has changed a lot since the Gate opened. Warriors who transcend human limitations such as warriors and superpower holders have appeared.”
And their partic.i.p.ation in war made it easier for the humans to cope with the Gate.
Among the warriors transcending the limits of human beings, there were a few called the one-man army.
“SS-cla.s.s Gate Keeper, the Gravity Witch Yu So-hwa is a typical case. I might understand if it was her saying those words, but the young vice-chairman is…”
“I am no match for him.”
Mi-chuk’s words were cut by Yu So-hwa.
The Mayor seemed shocked.
“An SS-cla.s.s keeper can’t compete with him?”
SS-cla.s.s Gate Keepers were the pinnacle and the strongest of all Gate Keepers.
One of them was enough to subdue a C-cla.s.s Gate.
“It makes no sense. To face an SS-cla.s.s Keeper, the Murim warrior must be at least in the Tiger zodiac level…”
Despite being an ordinary human, the head of security was well aware of the power levels in Murim.
The Five Strongest Warriors standing at the pinnacle of modern Murim were rumored to be at Tiger level.
But they were all over 60 years old.
‘He is only in his early twenties and is claiming to be that strong?’
A Tiger level warrior.
The strongest warriors.
If that was true, then the current Murim rankings would be overturned.
“I-I can’t believe it.”
“Chief So. I don’t think that this is a discussion fit for this room anymore.”
“What do you propose?”
Deputy Mayor spoke with a strange smile.
“Isn’t there only one way? Let’s see if the vice-chairman can really prove his power.”
Next to the city hall was a large dome-shaped stadium.
It was managed by the Murim of Jinan City hall.
n.o.body expected the Mayor, who was busy with his meetings, to move to the place.
Chun Yeowun spoke.
“Keep your word.”
“The Mayor has already given his word. If the vice-chairman can prove his power, we will approve of the contract.”
“Huh.”
Unfortunately, the method to prove the power wasn’t suggested by Chun Yeowun.
Since a Gate Warning was going to be issued, there was no way Jinan City wouldn’t accept more power.
It was a good opportunity to deal with all problems if Chun Yeowun really had that much power.
While moving into the dome-shaped stadium, So Yang-hyeon said.
“This is a place where the warriors of the city hall train, and they take the test to register themselves in the Murim a.s.sociation.”
Murim registration was handled by the state.
However, since it wasn’t possible for all warriors to come where the Murim Department of State Council was registered, Murim departments were established at each city hall.
‘Test…’
The registered warriors were graded according to the standards of the Murim a.s.sociation.
“It was originally a test for Murim registration, but we will use it to measure the vice-chairman’s strength.”
His words reminded Chun Yeowun of his days in the academy.
At that time, he was given a plate for each stage.
“Are you here?”
As they entered, a strong man in his mid-forties, who appeared to be an employee of the Murim department in city hall, approached and greeted the deputy Mayor.
“Manager Oh, is everything ready?”
“Yes. The moment I got the call, we got everything done.”
The man called manager Oh pointed to the right side of the place.
On the right side, eight layers of slabs were piled up. Each slab was 20cm thick.
“That one…”
Bi Mak-heon knew what the blue color meant.
Manager Oh smiled and responded.
“I see that you are a Murim warrior. That is sapphire.”
Sapphire, the blue stone, was much harder than ordinary stones and impossible to cut or break.
Since old times, Murim people have used that to test their strengths.
Manager Oh stood in front of it and said.
“There are four tests. Three basic measurements and one battle. We can conclude the level afterwards.”
The tests were prepared.
Manager Oh looked at Bi Mak-heon and said.
“Okay. Move on to the first test.”
“Ah… that will be done by our vice-chairman, not me.”
“Huh? Weren’t you the vice-chairman?”
Manager Oh thought that Bi Mak-heon was the vice-chairman of the Yongchun group since he seemed older.
“It is this person.”
As So Yang-hyeon’s words, manager Oh scratched his head with embarra.s.sment.
‘Hmm? Him?’
It was natural for manager Oh to be puzzled.
Chun Yeowun was nothing like a Murim warrior.
His internal energy didn’t seem that great either.
He was skeptical, but since he was a high-ranking man, and the deputy Mayor asked for it, manager Oh spoke with a calm face.
“Haha, I made a mistake. The vice chairman is so young that I misunderstood. Hmm, let’s test it. I will show you an example.”
Manager Oh said while holding a sword and standing in front of the slab.
“You can use any weapon you want. Because the stone is hard, the blade may be damaged. Look here.”
Woong!
Blue energy condensed on manager Oh’s hands.
Manager Oh created sword qi, placed it onto the sword and slammed it at the edge of the sapphire slab.
Swash!
The sword had gone to one slab and a half.
At first glance, it didn’t look like much, but it was impressive.
The slab can only be cut down with sword qi.
“Ah!”
Bi Mak-heon exclaimed.
He didn’t expect the Murim department to have such a strong person.
Manager Oh put the weapon on the shelf and said.
“Okay. Do it like this. You need to be Snake level (End of Super Master level) to cut one slab.”
Since he thought that he did a good job with it, manager Oh looked proud.
“For reference, the chairman of Six Essence, the best in Jinan, could cut up to five.”
Six Essence was the subsidiary of Blade.
In other words, a member of the Blade G.o.d Six Martial clan.
“He got Dragon level.”
That meant he was at the beginning of the Superior Master level.
Sarcastically, So Yang-hyeon said.
“The vice-chairman can cut down six or seven.”
And if he couldn’t do that, that meant that he was bluffing.
Manager Oh stepped away and pointed to the slab.
“Okay. Try it. The sword… uh?”
Chun Yeowun pa.s.sed him and stood in front of the slabs. Without any weapons.
‘Is he going to cut the slabs without any weapons?’
Manager Oh couldn’t hide his shock.
If that was the case, it meant the man could use sword qi with bare hands.
In other words, Chun Yeowun had to be Superior Master or above to do it.
“Come to think of it, I don"t think I have ever done this in the academy.”
“Huh?”
“What is the point of breaking a stone?”
Tik!
Chun Yeowun placed his hand on the middle stone.
There was a gleam in manager Oh’s eyes.
He wasn’t sure what Chun Yeowun was planning to do without even raising his qi.
It was then.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
The moment Chun Yeowun touched the stone, a crack appeared from above.
‘W-what?’
And then Chun Yeowun slowly lowered his hand from the top slab to the bottom without lifting it, as if playing with mud.
Kwakwakwa!
Chun Yeowun’s hand smashed the slabs and rested on the floor.
‘!!!’
Everyone was shocked.
All the people who belonged to the Murim department were astonished.
So Yang-hyeon was no exception.
‘No… No way!’
Manager Oh stood agape while looking at the shards of sapphire slabs that were crushed down like cookies.
He had done a lot of tests in his life, but this was something he saw for the first time.
‘He didn’t even use sword qi and just crushed them with internal energy…’
He couldn’t make a proper a.s.sessment as Chun Yeowun’s methods weren"t normal.
All the slabs were crushed down by the pressing energy which came down from above.
Chun Yeowun laughingly said.
“Test? You people are funny. This is such a silly joke.”
“Joke?”
“What do you do with this? Wood, tile, stone… sapphire. Cutting and breaking an object. The opponent can’t even resist as it isn’t alive.”
With those words, he lightly swung his hand.
Slash!
The sword went right for the target and split the slab.
Thud!
The split slab fell on the ground.
It wasn’t sword qi or energy.
‘W-what was that?’
Manager Oh was so shocked that he was at a loss for words.
Chun Yeowun turned to manager Oh and asked.
“Are you the one who will fight with me?”
‘!?’
Gulp!
Manager Oh’s face turned pale at that question.