Junhyuk had just made an explosive statement, and everyone stared at him in surprise.

“What?!” Sarang interjected, expressing her true concerns.

Elise was speechless. As Elise stared at him, he gave her a wide grin.

“Hmm… You mean you want to live with me?”

“You can call it that.”

“Why?”

Junhyuk answered calmly, “I haven’t thought about the logistics, but I believe that the dimensional managers consider you the most dangerous human to their plans.”

Thinking about his statement, Elise shook her head.

“That can’t be true. Both of us can be problematic for them,” she said, but she walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, adding, “I’ll spare you a room.”

Sarang shouted suddenly, “No way!”

Junhyuk laughed at her and pushed her head down.

“I can support Elise this way.”

Junhyuk had realized that while talking to Eunseo. Elise had to be protected at all cost.

He could take over guarding her. There were a few unarmed iron soldiers, but he wasn’t sure about how much they could accomplish. If the dimensional managers really meant to harm Elise, he had to be there to prevent it.

Sarang was extremely unhappy, but the issue had been decided. Junhyuk already had a spare set of clothes in his Spatial Bag, so since he was already there, he figured he would stay.

Sarang expressed her willingness to protect Elise as well, but Junhyuk disagreed with the idea.

Sighing, he said, “Go to school and help me with the training at Guardians.”

“I understand.”

Junhyuk would train the champions, and some of them might even get injured. He needed Sarang’s healing power to put them back together.

Sarang nodded and said, “I have to be home early today. Aren’t you going to visit your family as well?”

Junhyuk merely smiled at the idea. He had been living as either Max or the Dark Knight, so he hadn’t been home in a long time.

“Maybe I’ll do that.”

Elise shrugged.

“You are leaving already?”

“I have to.”

“OK, but be back tomorrow. I’ll have a room arranged for you.”

Junhyuk nodded and replied, “I’ll be back.”

—

Sarang had gone to her parents’ house, and Junhyuk was visiting his. He was carrying a fresh slab of beef with both hands as a present. Junhyuk had already called his mother, Haejung, and because of that, she had prepared enough food to collapse the dining table.

Junhyuk walked inside, and his mother, in an ap.r.o.n, ran to him and hugged him.

“Son! Long time, no see.”

Junhyuk hugged his mother and said, “It’s been a while.”

His mother smacked his back hard many times.

“Why don’t you call more often?! The world is in danger!”

“You’re right. I’ll make time to visit you.”

“That’s all talk. Anyway, wash your hands and take a seat.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

His father, Sukhoon, walked out of the living room and smiled at him.

“Go wash your hands quickly. I’m hungry.”

“Yes, dad.”

Junhyuk washed his hands and returned. His father and mother were already sitting at the table, so Junhyuk sat down, and Haejung said, “What have you been doing? You never call!”

Junhyuk hadn’t told her that he was the Dark Knight. If he did, his mother would become extremely worried.

“I’ll call more often.”

His mother was talking incessantly, but Junhyuk simply listened to her without asking her to stop. When his mother was about to complain about him, his father grabbed her hand and said, “Let’s eat first.”

Junhyuk winked at his father. It was Junhyuk’s way of thanking him. His father knew all about how heated his mother could get.

It was the first time in a long time that the family dined together. The topic of the conversation was the appearance of the monsters. His parents asked him about the situation around the world, and he told them what he knew.

He knew everything about the monsters, but he only gave them a vague explanation about that. He did not want to give them the impression that he knew too much. After that, he told them that he was spending the night there.

Hearing that, his mother nagged him constantly about him needing to find a wife, but she was happy that he was staying. Looking at her, his father smirked.

“She’s all talk.”

“I know.”

Junhyuk looked at his father, who asked, “Are you well? Do you have any problems?”

“I’m fine. No problems.”

“I’m glad.”

His father didn’t ask him any other questions, simply patting his son’s back. With that simple gesture, Junhyuk felt his father’s love for him.

A bed was made for him, and his mother asked, “Are you leaving early tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Have breakfast before you go.”

Junhyuk hugged his mother tenderly and asked, “Can I sleep with you?”

“Don’t be creepy! You’re a grown man.”

“I’m against that as well,” his father said, chuckling, and Junhyuk agreed with him.

His parents left him in bed in his room. Junhyuk felt cosy for the first time in a long time, and soon, he fell asleep.

Junhyuk had breakfast at his parents’ house. On his way back, he went to see Sungtae at the GST campus. He hadn’t visited his own company in a while, so that day, he gathered all of his employees.

Junhyuk was wearing Max’s face when he webcalled Elise. His employees had finished the project on the mana stone power generators. Tirot had finished his project as well. He presented an umbrella-shaped item that bore no magitek, but Elise could add that later.

The new item had the lowest level of health buffs, but it did increase health. It had been made for novices, and GST would sell it in order to earn money. The mana power generators would be used on city-development projects to save on energy costs.

GST had also developed a new type of iron soldier. Previously, when Brita had worked alone, she hadn’t been able to make a lot of headway. However, under Elise’s guidance, Brita had made significant advances in her work.

Elise didn’t have time to work on new iron soldier models, so she let Brita handle that. Brita’s new version was more powerful than the ones being used by Guardians.

He inspected the new model, only ten of them existed, the Iron Soldier MK-IV.

Guardians was still using MK-IIIs, but GST didn’t know how to develop iron soldiers from monsters like Elise had done with hers. She was still the best at combining bioengineering with mechanical engineering.

Still, GST was advancing in its development of new products. The new iron soldiers were much nimbler, and they had been preloaded with modern martial arts techniques. They were as nimble as humans, and by implanting bloodstones into them, they could work like R-agents. When under threat of destruction, the new iron soldiers could also fly to flee.

Once the time came for them to sell the new model, many would oppose GST. Charles Rockefeller would definitely not accept it. He was Robotics’ major shareholder, but if people found out about who Max really was, GST would be fine.

Junhyuk encouraged his employees in their work and walked out of the GST building, heading to the MAX building. It had been a while since he had met with Sora Shin.

Sora had been his first apprentice novice, and she was still a novice, which made him rather disappointed. But, Sora’s power had increased significantly. She told him she could cover four hundred meters in two seconds now, and her basic stats had also increase. Sora had used her power to consume mana many times, training her mana consumption, and now, her body was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with mana. Junhyuk could tell.

Sora was now a master with the broadsword. Her speed was unmatched, and by taking advantage of it, she could easily attack with her sword.

She hadn’t gone through any dangerous experiences, which was why she hadn’t activated any new powers, but she was getting more powerful. A new power would eventually show itself.

Her strength was superior to that of any other novice. Her health was also much higher, twice the health amount of the other novices Junhyuk had met.

Junhyuk hoped that she would become an expert, a champion, and then, a hero. For that reason, he told Sora to partic.i.p.ate in the new training regimen he was developing. Only experts and champions had been called to partic.i.p.ate, but Junhyuk still invited her, which showed just how strong she was.

Junhyuk had to use his acceleration to keep up with her.

Sora agreed to partic.i.p.ate. She had been training by herself, so she wanted to train with other people.

After Junhyuk finished talking to Sora, he went to Elise’s house. The iron soldier did not come for him that time. Instead, Elise showed him in.

She locked arms with him as they walked. Junhyuk had been there before, but now, he would live there. That made him a little nervous. It was his first time living with a woman.

Elise gave him the room right next to her bedroom. When Junhyuk entered it, he saw that it was really clean.

She smiled at him and asked, “How is it?”

Junhyuk couldn’t find anything odd or out of place with it. The room was immaculate, and everything he needed to live was there. He walked up to the window and looked at the Guardians building in the distance.

“How are the house’s defenses?”

“The defenses? They are just like Guardians.”

Guardians’ defenses were incredible, which meant that Elise had her house under significant protection. It could withstand attacks from B-ranked monsters.

After thinking for a moment, Junhyuk said, “I’ll need more teleportation devices.”

“Where can you get them.”

Shrugging, Junhyuk said, “I’ll have to ask Vera.”

If Vera could give him more teleportation devices, he would install one in Elise’s house first. That way, even if he was elsewhere, if Elise was in danger, he would be able to return to her instantly.

He contacted Vera right away. Junhyuk hadn’t seen her in a very long time, so he was happy to be able to do it again.

“I heard you are doing well! Why is my Junhyuk calling me now?”

Smiling, Junhyuk answered, “I need more teleportation devices. Could you get me some more?”

“I heard you destroyed all the tears in your dimension.”

“How did you know?”

“Sarang told me.”

Junhyuk smacked his lips.

“We have, but I feel like this is only the beginning of our problems.”

“So, you need more devices.”

“Yes.”

Vera smiled brightly and said, “That’s no problem! But, you are a hero now, so they won’t be free.”

“How much do you want?”

“I’ll give them to you for 20,000G each. Deal?”

Junhyuk wanted to save his gold, but he knew that Elise was worth it. He also needed more teleportation devices to keep the Earth safe.

Biting down on his lip, he said, “OK. Send me five more devices, please.”