287 Training Together 2 Translator: | Editor:

Junhyuk put on his Max mask and headed over to his company. GST was changing quickly every day.

They had hired secretaries and a cleaning crew, on top of their security team. The company had been created to make use of Ganesha, so they didn’t need a lot of people working there.

Junhyuk looked at the ones surrounding Ganesha. There were eight people working now, and all of them were Sungtae’s friends. Junhyuk gathered everyone in a meeting room, and two of them always got his attention since they possessed mana: Tirot and Brita.

Looking at them both, he said, “This is the first time we’re actually introducing ourselves. I’m Max, GST’s CEO.”

Everyone was paying attention to him. They all liked working there. It had been the best environment they could find. It even had a supercomputer, which was a big help to them.

They all had had trouble doing their jobs previously because of their computers’ inefficiency, but now, they had Ganesha’s help, so they were all satisfied.

Junhyuk looked at them and said, “Do you know about the Dimensional Battlefield?”

Everyone nodded. Sungtae had previously published news of it, if only for five minutes, but they had heard about it.

Junhyuk continued, “The lowest-ranked monsters of the Dimensional Battlefield are the ones appearing here. Humanity is gathering mana stones and bloodstones from those monsters, and by using those, we’ve been able to produce iron soldiers and people with extreme regenerative capabilities.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, and he looked at each of their faces.

“Guardians has sole control over that technology, and it is developing quickly.”

After making the monster decomposition liquid, Guardians was making an astronomical sum of money. The company monopolized the world market in selling military equipment, raking in the money.

Junhyuk knew that was all because of Elise, but he couldn’t make her one of his workers.

“Guardians’ main researcher is called Elise. Do you know her?”

Everyone eyes widened, and Brita spoke up, “You mean Elise from Robotics?”

“I have heard that she had worked for Robotics.”

Brita scowled at that, and he asked, “Do you have a problem with her?”

Sungtae smiled bitterly and said, “Brita tried to patent two items, but Elise already had patents on them, so Brita doesn’t like her much.”

Junhyuk looked at Brita. If she could create what Elise had created, he had high hopes for her.

“Elise is a robotics engineer!”

Sungtae cackled.

“Brita majored in robotics engineering, but because of patent incident, she decided to go into computer engineering.”

Elise wasn’t simply a robotics engineer, however. She also had skills in biological engineering.

Junhyuk looked at Brita and said, “OK. How do you feel about competing against Elise?”

“On what?”

“I’ll tell you more about mana stones. The iron series makes use of a new energy source produced by the mana stones. The mana stones are the iron soldier’s main energy source.”

Brita hesitated for a moment and said, “I have to see an iron soldier’s core. I have to know how advanced it is to know where to advance it further. I’ll retrace Elise’s path, but to catch her, there is nothing else I can do.”

Junhyuk took a moment to think and said, “OK. I’ll get you two iron soldiers.”

Everyone was shocked by what he said.

“Can a civilian purchase an iron soldier?”

“I’ll use unofficial means to get them.”

Sungtae scratched his head.

“Even Brian can’t help with that.”

“I know. I’ll make the purchase myself, so don’t worry.” Then, he turned to Brita and said, “Start research on the mana stones. If you need anything, just let Sungtae know.”

Junhyuk turned to Sungtae and added, “Just get everything she asks for.”

“Do you mean get whatever she asks for officially?”

“No. Unofficially. If anyone finds out we are researching mana stones, they will monitor us.”

Only the world’s ruling cla.s.s was researching mana stones at that moment, and Junhyuk did not want to draw their attention.

“Then, the unofficial purchase prices will be higher than normal.”

“Don’t worry about the money.”

Looking at Brita, Junhyuk said, “I’ll give you everything you need for your research.”

After some hesitation, Brita said, “The most important thing is the mana stone. I’m not sure what mana stones are, but I need to have one to research it.”

Junhyuk pulled three mana stones from his chest and gave them to Brita.

“These are mana stones. Each one costs about $20 to $30 million.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, but Junhyuk continued calmly, “Start your research at once.”

He simply and calmly handed her tens of millions of dollars worth of stones, leaving everyone astonished with him. Junhyuk looked at them and then turned to the security team leader.

“Protect Brita well.”

“We will.”

After getting up, he said, “Use any s.p.a.ce in the building you need for your research.”

Brita looked at the mana stones and answered, “I’ll take the entire fifth floor.”

“Sure,” he said, nodding at her.

Junhyuk was willing to invest as much as he needed to catch up to Elise, even though it would not be an easy thing to do.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

He walked out of GST and got on the subway. He would be having a meeting with Sarang later, but he got his phone and made a call to Elise.

“I’ll buy two iron soldiers,” he said calmly.

“Will you be overseeing them, or will we have to control them?”

“I’ll be in control. All you have to do is let me have them.”

“OK. It’ll cost you $300 million. I can have them sent to you.”

“I’ll go and pick them up myself.”

“They’ll be ready by Monday.”

Junhyuk held tightly to the handles in the subway, which were moving with the train.

He met Sarang and Eunseo at a high-cla.s.s hotel restaurant and introduced them to each other.

“This is Sarang, the country’s number one girl genius.”

“What?!” Sarang tapped his shoulder lightly, and Eunseo frowned a bit.

He introduced Eunseo as well, “This is Eunseo, Guardians’ CEO.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The two shook hands, and Junhyuk explained further, “Sarang is, unofficially, an expert. She was the third activation on Earth.”

As Eunseo looked at Sarang, the high school student made a V sign with her middle and index fingers and said, “Just like big brother said, I’m Sarang, the country’s number one!”

Junhyuk laughed and continued, “You don’t need any explanations on Eunseo, right?”

Sarang nodded and smiled at Eunseo.

“Can I call you big sister?”

“You may.”

The two of them talked like old friends, and he stopped worrying about them. They talked for a while until their meals came out. That’s when Junhyuk explained why he had called them.

“I have a private training facility.”

“A private training facility?!” Sarang asked, and he answered, “Yes. Artlan gave me a living spirit, and to train with it, I needed more mana. I had brought some mana trees and started to train with them. I had also received an item the pulled dimensional tear coordinates to me and used it.”

Eunseo fixed her gla.s.ses.

“There is such a thing?!”

Junhyuk nodded and continued, “After fighting a bunch of monsters, a manager from the Dimensional Battlefield showed up.”

Both of them became nervous at the mention of the manager, but he continued calmly, “And he made a training facility for me. I can fight B-ranked monsters there until I get bored, so I fight them twice a day.”

“How do you fight them twice a day?”

“They come in the morning from six to eight, and in the evening from eight to ten. A wave triggers every five minutes, and each succeeding wave has more monsters than the previous.”

Sarang turned the subject to other things.

“What kind of monsters are B-ranked monsters?”

“Twin-headed ogres, for example.”

She frowned.

“Big brother, you had such a hard time killing those!”

“Not anymore. You have your own orb too, so you might also be able to kill them easily.”

He turned to Eunseo and said, “If you don’t use your power, you won’t be able to kill them.”

She was still a novice, so while she was able to kill ordinary monsters, B-ranked monsters were an entirely different story. Eunseo frowned at what he said, but he continued calmly, “However, I have a regenerative basin, so unless you get killed, I can save you.”

Looking at Eunseo, he said, “I wanted to tell you all of this, but you lack equipment, so I am worried about you.”

Eunseo took a moment to think and said, “I want to experience it and find out what kind of monster it is.”

He nodded.

“I wanted you both to see it tonight.”

While eating her steak, Sarang asked, “Where is it?”

“You can get in from anywhere as long as you are with me.”

“Really?”

Junhyuk nodded and said, “In short, I can get there from anywhere I want, but I have to exit from where I’ve entered.”

Eunseo took a moment to think and asked, “How about we go from my office?”

“Is it close from here?”

“It’s in Yeouido.”

He nodded and said, “Then, let’s use it.”

After settling on that, he pulled out the bracelets.

“And look at these.”

“What are those?”

“I met a dragon at the Champions’ Battlefield, and he gave me these. It absorbs mana and transfers it to whoever wears it.”

“Mana?”

Junhyuk showed them the bracelet he was already wearing.

“Mana is an essential form of energy. If you wear this, you can stay healthy. But we are all different. I use mana to get stronger beyond my limitations.”

Sarang’s eyes widened.

“Then, you are stronger here than when we were on the battlefield?”

“Correct. Thanks to this, I’m getting even stronger.”

Sarang took a bracelet and put it around her wrist, saying, “This is mine!”

Eunseo was envious of Sarang’s juvenile actions, but Junhyuk offered her one as well.

“Even if you can’t handle mana, wear this, and you’ll live a long life. Take one.”

“Thanks.”

She put the bracelet around her wrist, and as he watched her, he said, “We have to make it to the eight o’clock evening round. Let’s hurry.”

Everyone nodded and got up. They all got inside Eunseo’s car and took off. Junhyuk and Sarang thought it would’ve been a simple office, but when they got there, they saw a tall building.

Eunseo said calmly, “Just go to the top floor.”

Seeing the incredibly expensive office building, they went to the top floor and washed their hands. Looking at both of them, Junhyuk said, “It’s almost time. Let’s move first and talk later.”

“Right.”

He had never entered with others before, but he knew what to do and offered them his hands to hold. They all held hands, and with his eyes closed, Junhyuk said, “Enter.”

Suddenly, he heard a soft voice.

[Will you allow this group to enter the training facility?]

“Allow,” he said, and their surroundings changed quickly.

As Sarang and Eunseo looked around, they saw a large s.p.a.ce with trees from the Dimensional Battlefield. Both women were nervous, and Junhyuk smiled at them.

“Welcome to my training facility.”