This letter implied that our New York fund was large enough to pose a significant impact on the global economy. The current White House was keeping an eye on me even though they were busy dealing with the current lame-duck status[1], sex scandals, and abysmally low approval ratings. They wanted to know who owned fifty-one percent of Jonathan Investments, which was me hiding behind Jonathan. 

“They might already know your identity. That means they want to publicly reveal you to the world, or…”

I thought Jonathan’s ill-tempered attitude yesterday had merely been a setup for his joke, but he probably wanted to talk about the pressure from the White House, not the group’s success. He must have been stressed out, and I felt sorry for him.

“Or I should prepare for the hearing after checking their real damn agenda,” Jonathan said and began making several phone calls. 

He added, “Their intention is obvious. While they won’t subpoena me outright, they will put me on the witness stand and make me say your name somehow. I’ll refuse to testify.”

Then, the IRS would rush in unexpectedly and pack all the computer hard disks and ledgers in the Jonathan Group. I had piled up paper companies in tax havens to prepare for this day, and it would take at least three years for the National Tax Service to grasp the structure of our group. However, an aggressive audit was a waste of resources in this golden era.

“It’s natural that they are curious about me,” I said.

The power of the New York company had gone beyond the government’s control after they had given us their pension accounts. 

“Tell them who I am. We have to comply this time,” I said.

“What they’re actually curious about is probably…”

“How much I actually intervened in our investments,” I replied.

“Yes, they are not idiots and are probably guessing why I had given that many shares to an Asian teenager,” Jonathan responded.

“It’s all good. I’ll disclose my identity to the world next year,” I said.

Jonathan’s face brightened up, then it fell as he suddenly remembered something.

“But maybe…” he hesitated.

“Tell me.”

“It might be because the chief executive of Russia had become their prime minister. Sun, did you know he would be elected? It happened last week,” Jonathan said. 

I then realized that time had gone by so fast.

“Has he contacted you?” I asked.

“Not yet, but he will after we settle his profits at the end of this year.”

I didn’t know if the history would remain the same or not, but he would become the president after the current Russian president resigned. Then, Russia’s dictatorship would begin. 

“Continue watching him,” I said.

“Okay.”

Jonathan took a deep breath.

“By the way, are you not going to invite me to the party tonight?”

He wanted to change the subject. 

***

Some of the profit that Gillian made during the Russian financial war was used to purchase a company called Gold Land, which was officially located on the Isle of Man. I was now the CEO of Gold Land with my fake name, Ethan. 

The opening ceremony was held at a New York penthouse which would become the main office. Glamorous models were walking around under the instructions of professional party planners. I had planned this in my spare time during the entire semester, and now it was the perfect time. 

“Please gather the guests. I’ll be in there,” I whispered to the planner. 

The party was held on the balcony, and the space inside the building was limited. My employees came in one by one without knowing who their boss would be. So far, they likely thought that I was a male model lighting up the party. However, they soon noticed I was their boss and looked at me with varied emotions. 

“Nice to meet you, everyone. I’m Ethan, and I invited all of you.”

All of them were professionals in the real estate industry in North America, and the only thing they had to do was buy the land where dungeons were sealed. Then, they would travel around the world and do the same thing. According to my memories, dungeon locations were focused in Korea and North America. The others were the special ones above A-class that had been famous for all the Awakened in the past. I had to purchase as many as possible to monopolize the field before things began. Then, guilds in the same group wouldn’t need to fight over their turn to conquer dungeons and conspire to take away dungeons from other guilds. 

***

When people were overwhelmed by stress and were lost in fear and anxiety, men and women hugged each other to forget about those in the dungeon. However, this could lead to their life being in danger later. Such an act was a last-ditch effort, not to satisfy one’s desires. 

Anyway, I spent the last days in New York relieving the stress I had felt in dungeons. I spent one night with the call girl Jonathan sent the other day and with a model last night. They all knew it was a carefree one-night stand, and I just exchanged GOL’s messenger ID with the model. I came back to Seoul two days before school started.

<Seon-Hu: Where are you?>

<Yeon-Hee: I’m in Hwasung. I’ve tried contacting you for a while, but I guess you were busy, right?>

<Seon-Hu: I’m glad that you got better. I’ll meet you there.>

<Yeon-Hee: Here?>

<Seon-Hu: Yes, I’ll be there in two hours.>

I took the taxi and headed to Hwasung. While the monolithic walls were still the same, I could see seedlings growing as I stepped inside. The front yard was covered with grass and streetlights brightly lit up the newly paved access roads. 

This was the first time I was visiting Woo Yeon-Hee’s workplace, and she was waiting for me on the bench. I thought she would be dressed in a suit like a corporate manager, but she was wearing casual wide pants. No one would know she was hiding a dagger there as her eyes were innocent as she looked up at me. 

Meanwhile, the ward seemed to be maintained decently. Since it was more like a nursing home without an emergency ward or surgical suites, people were busy wrapping up for the day. 

“Aren’t you busy?” she asked.

“Don’t you have something to ask me?” I questioned back.

Then, she quietly nodded, and we moved to her car in the outside parking lot. Even though no one was around, we went deeper into the by-corner. When Woo Yeon-Hee turned off the engine, it became completely dark, and the small lights of the ward in the distance were the only thing we could see.

“You…haven’t used it before, right?” I asked.

Woo Yeon-Hee looked surprised as if what I was saying made no sense. I was referring to Isis’s Gaze, the best attack skill that a healer could obtain. 

“Do you even know what that is?” I questioned.

“It looks too dangerous. I mean, I can use it on a person,” she replied.

The skills from the System were not limited to monsters. If that was the case, the history would’ve been different. The government and unions would have controlled the world instead of the Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues, and things would have been better. However, it would have been the worst for us, the Awakened, as the military authorities treated us quite poorly in the beginning.

“Right?” I said.

Woo Yeon-Hee must have opened up her skill list as her eyes alternated between the air and me. I took off the Deva King’s Protective Gloves and placed them in front of her since they would block her skill with her current stats. 

“Test if the skill does what it says.”

I had wondered about its effects for a long time because my will had never been controlled before. Those who had experienced it said it was similar to suffering from nightmares. They were aware of the situation but couldn’t control themselves because of some powerful commands.

“Let’s test it,” I said.

Woo Yeon-Hee looked distressed and hesitated.

“Woo Yeon-Hee, if you want to use this skill in the future, you should understand its effect first,” I emphasized.

She seemed to be ready, and I nodded when she looked at me. Then a black aura came out from her body and seeped through me before I could even realize it. The rumors were true. I felt like I was trapped in a ferry on an ocean where nothing else existed, and I was seized with unpleasant emotions. It also felt like I was stuck between dream and reality. Although everything was hazy, it was possible to recognize the surroundings. I saw her face contort before she screamed. 

Her shriek was so loud that it broke the effect that overwhelmed me.

“Ahhhhh!”

Woo Yeon-Hee was shaking with her face buried in the steering wheel, and I noticed she had failed. Her skill didn’t work on me. 

“Woo Yeon-Hee! Are you okay?” 

I knew she wasn’t as she didn’t even blink. Even though she had overcome dread in  the dungeons, her eyes were filled with fear that she couldn’t bear. I forced her head up, and she started blinking. Then, she spoke in a quivering voice.

“It was…h… hell…”

Ah…she must have seen one of my memories.

1. An elected official who is approaching the end of his tenure ☜