Junhyuk left Elise and Eunseo and went to see Sungtae on his way home. He wanted to tell Tirot to submit a budget proposal and he also wanted to talk to Sungtae.

With Max’s mask on, Sungtae greeted him, and they went into Ganesha’s control room.

“Ganesha, I need information on monster areas,” he said calmly.

[Do you mean the information that’s been gathered so far?]

“Right. Can you delve deeper than the news?”

[Of course.]

He could have asked Elise, but he didn’t want to be a burden to her, so he told Ganesha to do it instead. If there were any problems with the monster areas, he would know right away.

Junhyuk hoped the areas wouldn’t grow too fast, and he turned to Sungtae.

“With the appearance of monster areas, the world will experience a revolution.”

“I know.”

Sungtae knew this event was revolutionary. Dimensional tears had appeared all over the world, and armies were in place to blockade them, but those armies were unable to go inside the tears.

The monsters remained within a certain limit.

“To deal with these monsters, Tirot’s Bioengineering Lab has to work properly.”

“We aren’t making iron soldiers?”

“No. The iron soldiers have limitations.”

While dealing with dimensional tears, the iron soldiers had shown their limitations. Their weapons were limited by the laws of physics. However, powered people broke the laws of physics.

In the end, they would fight with objects made out of monster bodies rather than use iron soldiers.

“So, let’s make the necessary equipment. We should register the Bioengineering Lab and make the resulting equipment official. What do you think?”

Brian could get them the stuff that they needed, but within secrecy, Brian had his own limit.

Sungtae took a moment to think and said, “That’s possible, but Brian won’t like it so much.”

“Don’t worry too much about it.”

“OK.”

He continued calmly, “I will move the Bioengineering Lab to a place not far from here.”

“The building’s inner construction is not done yet.”

“Even if it takes more time, we will move the lab. It is too small now.”

They had bought a nearby building and started construction, but the building could only grow so much. Junhyuk wanted to increase the s.p.a.ce, so it would be best to move the lab to a nearby province and get a larger lab.

“It won’t be difficult to get a larger s.p.a.ce, but construction will take time.”

“If possible, we’ll do it fast. We also need a bigger security team.”

A single security team was enough for now, but when he moved the lab to the Gyunggi province, he would need more security.

Sungtae nodded in agreement.

“I’ll ready that myself and make reports on the progress.”

“Do it.”

When Junhyuk finished talking to Sungtae, he went over to Max’s building. Sora was staying in that place, and it wasn’t hard to find her. She was in the private training facility, where she could use her ma.s.sive speed at will, swinging a sword.

As Junhyuk watched her, he clicked his tongue. She didn’t have any special attacks or powers, so she was probably having a hard time picking up equipment from enemy heroes.

She had to work diligently to get herself equipment and she might have to purchase Bebe’s basic equipment like he had. Her power would be enormous against ordinary humans, but she couldn’t do much against people with their own equipment.

Junhyuk walked over to her as she trained, and Sora put down her two-handed sword and gathered her breath, smiling at him.

“You came!”

He bowed slightly and said, “Let’s have coffee together.”

Sora wiped her sweat with a towel.

“Can I wash first?”

“Sure. Come to roof garden when you are done.”

He got two cups of coffee from a vending machine and went to the garden on the roof, where he sat looking at the sky, relaxed. Sora might have used her powers to get herself ready because she showed up only a moment later.

Her hair was still wet, and she took a seat opposite of him. He gave her a cup of coffee and said, “You should have taken more time bathing!”

“I’ve formed a habit of doing things fast.”

She meant she used her power frequently, and he became curious of something.

“Has your power evolved?”

Sora smiled.

“The active time has doubled!”

Her power used to last for only one second, but now she could keep moving for two. That meant that the distance she covered had doubled as well.

“That’s nice!”

Sora raised her arm. She was wearing the bracelet, and his eyes beamed.

“I’ve been wearing this while training. Whenever I use my power, I feel it absorbing mana, which is how my power finally evolved.”

Junhyuk already knew mana was good for the body, but he hadn’t known that it would help in a power’s evolution. Would everyone have a different way of generating mana? He came up with explanations of his own, but he couldn’t reach a definitive answer. Her power had increased, and that was a good thing.

“There are monster areas appearing all over the world, so countries will start gathering their own novices,” he said.

“To attack those monster areas?”

Junhyuk shook his head.

“They may be able to decrease the number of monsters within it, but they can’t destroy them.”

If they sent people to destroy the tears, they wouldn’t be able to escape unless someone was able to warp like that infected women could.

“You may get other offers.”

Things were happening all over the world, and Guardians was also gathering novices. Guardians might want Sora to join the company.

Sora’s eyes widened.

“Do I have to go?”

Junhyuk shook his head.

“Dealing with monsters is a good way to train. When your life is in danger, you may activate other powers, but right now, it’s too dangerous.”

“I feel confident that I can run away.”

“After you use your power, you’ll be helpless.”

While she had greater health than normal people, she was still a novice. After some thought, she asked, “What should I do?”

“I am making new equipment by using monster bodies. When the equipment is ready, you could wear it and go to a monster area.”

Sora’s power was high-ranking even at the Dimensional Battlefield, so she should train within monster areas. However, Junhyuk couldn’t let her go practically naked. It would be like letting a baby swim in a lake.

Looking nervous, Sora nodded.

“Sure, but I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“When I become an expert, do I get better treatment?”

He smiled at her.

“I’ll pay you three times more.”

Sora pumped her fists, and Junhyuk smiled and drank his coffee.

“You’ll still have to use the weapons they give you at the Dimensional Battlefield. You should prepare for becoming an expert, so train with dual swords,” he said.

“Dual swords?”

Junhyuk nodded, and Sora raised her two-handed sword.

“This is good enough.”

She had been training with a two-handed sword for a long time, so it might be better that way. Nevertheless, she should have a nice one. Junhyuk had requested that Eunseo look for antiques, and if she found a two-handed sword, he would give it to Sora.

“By the way, is the narcolepsy incident over?”

Junhyuk shook his head.

“No. Right now, the Dimensional Battlefield is in recess, but they’ll call again.” Sora grimaced, and Junhyuk continued, “This is a secret, so don’t tell anyone.”

“Sure.”

He got up first and said, “Focus on your training. Sounds like you earn mana when you use your power. Use your power willfully to get more mana.”

“I will.”

They said goodbye, and Junhyuk walked out. He was heading to his house in Seoul when his phone rang. When he saw the number, his eyes widened.

After Junhyuk had moved to Seoul, he hadn’t seen Jeffrey, so he picked up the phone.

“Long time, no see.”

“You didn’t tell me you were moving!”

“I haven’t really moved. I’m still looking for a house. What’s up?”

Jeffrey was silent for a moment before saying, “I have a chance to get stronger. Can you help?”

“What do you mean?”

“The monster areas have monsters that are stronger than the ones I possess. I want to capture some.”

Junhyuk smiled bitterly. Because he didn’t fully trust Jeffrey yet, he hadn’t invited him to his training facility. But now, those monsters had appeared in the wild.

The monster areas were filled with B-ranked monsters, while A-ranked monsters stayed within the dimensional tears. Jeffrey wanted to tame some. B-ranked monsters would be able to attack heroes.

Junhyuk refused Jeffrey.

“I’ll help you in South Korea, but I won’t go abroad.”

“Whew… OK.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll ask Doyeol. The army can capture some monsters.”

Jeffrey wanted to tame monsters without going to the monster areas. There was a lot of danger in going straight there, but Jeffrey could summon up to three monsters.

“Be careful. Don’t die outside of the Dimensional Battlefield.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“I am. Be careful.”

Jeffrey was an expert, so he wouldn’t get killed easily. On top of that, his equipment focused on defense.

Junhyuk hung up the phone.

“If Jeffrey can summon three B-ranked monsters, he will be much stronger.”

He knew Jeffrey was strong, but after meeting Lujet, he stopped thinking that summoning was a weak power. Lujet was called a Vampire Lord, and he was able to summon a demon far more powerful than Junhyuk could have imagined possible.

It was a power of the absolute highest rank.

Thinking about Lujet, Junhyuk shook his head.

“I’ll make Jeffrey an ally.”

Junhyuk was thinking about making a team, and he put Jeffrey in the column of potential human heroes. But, he had yet to trust Jeffrey completely.