137. Connections from Daeseong (2)
Mm.
Yoo Jia frowned.
A terrible hangover came crashing over her.
Her head felt heavy, a crushing pain pounded through it, and the sunlight felt so bright that even opening her eyes was a struggle.
Just how much did I drink?
“Mmm, water.....”
Murmuring from thirst, she turned over toward the other side of the long cushion.
At that moment, a strange sensation brushed against her palm.
Why is something hard, like a washboard, on the bed.....?
‘Gasp!’
In that instant, her mind snapped fully awake.
Because she remembered who was lying beside her!
‘.....Baek Jinwoo.’
What her hand had touched was his abs.
After her grandfather had disappeared saying he was going to the bathroom last night, she and Baek Jinwoo had kept drinking together.
Both of them had gotten drunk, and as if competing, they had kept pouring drink after drink down their throats.
It was the first time.
The first time she had ever drunk like that without any guard up at all.....
Her memory after that was blurry, but a few scenes remained lodged in her mind like scattered fragments.
As they spoke honestly about their feelings for each other, maybe it was thanks to the courage brought on by alcohol?
She had kissed him first.
And that was the end of it.
If a hot-blooded man and woman could endure that situation.....
Then they were monks, Taoist immortals, or Stoic philosophers from ancient Greece.
No, forget that, they were just Buddha himself.
‘Aaaah!’
Yoo Jia squeezed her eyes shut, her whole body going rigid with tension.
More and more of it came back. Those fiery, heated scenes from last night.
Judging by the sensations all over her body, she was not wearing any clothes either.
There was only one thing she could do.
‘Play dead…’
No, play asleep.
Unlike Yoo Jia, Baek Jinwoo remembered everything.
Alcohol tolerance was mental strength!
The higher his mastery of the Clear Heaven Heart Technique rose, the more his alcohol tolerance seemed to increase too.
That was why he had not forgotten even Explosive Dragon.
Around 3 a.m.?
He had briefly flown over, resummoned her, and come back.
Anyway.
‘Whew.’
Yesterday, he had heard Yoo Jia’s true feelings.
- Isn’t it strange? On days when I meet you, Mr. Jinwoo, my work efficiency goes up even more. Today too. Normally, I would’ve had to work overtime to finish it, but I got everything done before 3 o’clock. Why do you think that is?
- Ah, right, what do you think of these clothes today? It’s actually my first time wearing them. They don’t look awkward, do they?
- Ah, damn. Why does my heart keep pounding? Hmm, this kind of feeling is new to me.
-Ah, by the way, when are we going to start speaking casually? Come to think of it, I’m older than you. Hehe! I’ll be cool about it. Just speak comfortably to me!
Her face flushed red, she babbled with a drunken slur, then suddenly tried to smash her lips against his.
It would be a lie to say he had not liked it.
And if Baek Jinwoo were ever to form a bond with someone, he thought it could only be Yoo Jia.
Her looks, her ability, her personality.
‘And my heart too.’
He wanted to protect Yoo Jia first.
She was the person who had recognized his potential when she knew nothing about him.
Yoo Byeongcheon had apparently gotten drunk and gone inside.
Fortunately, it also seemed that he liked Baek Jinwoo quite a lot.
If that was the case, then what was there to hesitate over?
They desired each other, and gradually became rougher.
That day, Baek Jinwoo became a man.
* * *
“Want to go get something for the hangover?”
It was a little awkward, but the awkwardness began to dissolve with Baek Jinwoo’s very first words.
“.....”
Yoo Jia trembled, then soon opened her eyes.
She had been pretending to sleep, but it seemed she had been caught.
“You were awake?”
“Yeah.”
“The way you’re talking casually, I guess you remember everything from yesterday.....”
“Of course.”
Baek Jinwoo’s hand gently stroked through Yoo Jia’s hair.
“I even remember that we agreed to date.”
Why was it?
To Yoo Jia, those words brought an enormous sense of relief, and in that brief instant, made her picture an enormous future.
‘Looks like I’ll have to squeeze all of Grandfather’s shares out of him somehow.’
Those shares would become Yoobaek’s.
That would make Daeseong a subsidiary of Yoobaek!
And Baek Jinwoo owned 70% of Yoobaek.
‘I’m going to make it all Jinwoo’s.’
Yoo Jia clenched her fist tightly.
People move according to their goals.
She had already been working hard, but now she had even more motivation.
If she ended up marrying Baek Jinwoo?
Then 95% of Yoobaek would become “ours”, so of course her greed would grow even more, wouldn’t it?
“Good.”
“Hm?”
When Baek Jinwoo tilted his head,
“I said good. Let’s go get something for the hangover. First, let’s get up and pull ourselves together.”
And once we do?
We should make our relationship a little more definite.
Yoo Jia smiled brightly.
It was a radiant smile on an entirely different level from anything she had shown before.
* * *
After finishing the meal with Yoo Jia and returning to Yoobaek City, Baek Jinwoo first went to find Explosive Dragon.
“Explosive Dragon.”
—Yes, Jinwoo!
Patter patter!
Explosive Dragon, who had been training in the corner, came running over with a delighted expression.
Because of the drinking, Baek Jinwoo had been away for quite a long time.
He first checked the status, worried that maybe it had reset.
[Train the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer (EX-grade) beside Fiery Body for 100 days!]
[If separated for more than 1 hour, the period will reset.]
[Current period - 98 days, 10:20:00]
“Whew.”
What a relief.
It seemed Hwang Jiwoo had kept approaching her every hour.
—Now there are only exactly 37 hours and 40 minutes left. My heart feels hotter and hotter.
“Really?”
The being sealed inside Explosive Dragon’s heart, the Ancient Explosive Dragon(S-grade).
It seemed that bastard’s authority was writhing, preparing to awaken.
‘Devour.’
Of all the skills Baek Jinwoo knew, it was the most absurdly broken growth-type enhancement skill.
Now it would not be long before it awakened.
‘Though I don’t know if it’ll be the same as before.’
If anything, it would probably be better, not worse.
There was even a sudden event mixed into it, after all!
“Huff, huff!”
As he was checking on Explosive Dragon, Hwang Jiwoo, who had been exercising in the distance, came over.
She too was definitely different from before.
The baby fat that had filled out her cheeks was all gone, and her body had changed into one with a healthy beauty.
“Sir Jinwoo, you’re here? I was about to reset it, huff, huff!”
“Jiwoo.”
“Yes.”
“For exactly the next 37 hours, let’s stay focused and keep a close watch. Stay beside Explosive Dragon as much as possible while training too.”
“Huff, huff! Yes, sir!”
In truth, Hwang Jiwoo had a lot of questions.
Baek Jinwoo, who normally even joined the evening training, had not come in at all, and even through dawn. Then the next morning, he was still absent.
The problem was that the day before, he had gone out all dressed up with Yoo Jia.
But.
“I’ll take responsibility and make sure we hit 100 days!”
She could not ask outright.
Even now, Baek Jinwoo was still a difficult person for her to approach.
‘Even if I ask?’
Asking would not change anything.
Hwang Jiwoo knew that too.
She knew that the way Baek Jinwoo treated her was exactly like the friend of his younger sister Ajin.
So.
‘Let’s just train hard.’
* * *
As soon as Yoo Jia returned, she started by drawing up plans to expand Yoobaek City.
A 1 trillion won bill of exchange received from the Bank of England!
On top of that, she had secured all the national land around Geomdansan, as well as the development rights.
“We’re going to build a planned city around Geomdansan and inside the mountain itself.”
That was what she said after gathering all the capable managers in one place.
“I don’t care how much money it costs. The existing Yoobaek City will remain the center, and behind it we’ll build an even larger training ground. We’re going to use the mountain itself as a training ground. And to the east, we’ll expand the apartment complex even more. All the way along the Han River line! You understand what I mean, right?”
Any apartment built in Yoobaek City had to be so luxurious that absolutely anyone would want to own one.
Forest access and a Han River view.
It had to satisfy both.
“Please make them more valuable than any apartment brand currently in existence. And make the central shopping district the finest commercial space as well. I want the residents to enjoy a convenient lifestyle while living in harmony with nature. Should we just build an open mall altogether?”
An open mall.
A commercial space also known as a mixed shopping area, where commerce, culture, and themed streets are blended together.
At Yoo Jia’s command, one of the managers asked in return,
“Hmm, in order to open an open mall, we would need a large inflow of customers. But this isn’t a densely populated area, nor is it an active commercial district..... And it’s not like the transportation access is especially good either.”
“That’s fine.”
Yoo Jia smiled softly.
It was, of course, a natural concern to have!
“That’s why we’re going to build a landmark. That’s also why we’re building more apartments. And you don’t need to worry about customers. We’re going to make it so that not only domestic players, but most players in the world can stop by here.”
“I-Is that possible?”
No matter how Baek Jinwoo might shine as the world’s number one super player, people would not come flocking here just to hang around.
There might be some one-time tourists at first, but that would be the end of it.
To properly secure a steady population flow, something even more attractive was needed......
“We’re going to establish the headquarters of Yoobaek’s newly planned luxury rune brand, 「Rune Éclat」, right here.”
“......Rune Éclat!”
The managers gasped in admiration.
The world already knew.
That Baek Jinwoo had the legendary scam-level summon known as Rune Dwarf, and that this summon could create all kinds of rare runes.
That was why the Yoobaek site was always overflowing with people.
Just the inquiry emails flying in from people wanting to buy runes numbered in the millions every single day.
“And since rare runes are limited in quantity, we plan to make them purchasable only in person at this headquarters.”
Jackpot!
This was huge!
If that happened, the issue of foot traffic would more than solve itself.
Because players were obsessed with runes.
And there were also quite a lot of people who were obsessed with those players.
And would the government really stay still?
Just from the tourism business alone, imagine how much tax revenue it would generate!
Once it was built, they would try somehow to connect transportation to it.
They would change the GTX routes, bring in subway lines......
At this rate, they might even build another international airport altogether......?
“And we’re also going to bring in all the various brands owned by Daeseong here as well. And the training ground!”
Yoo Jia raised her voice for emphasis.
“You know this, right? The most important thing in Yoobaek City is the training ground.”
The place where Baek Jinwoo stayed the longest was the training ground.
They absolutely had to pay attention to it.
Even now, all 10 guild members were apparently summoning out their summons, so there was already a shortage of space.
“The Yoobaek City training ground is used by SKY Guild members, the top elite of the nation. Please do your best to preserve the mountain environment as much as possible while still equipping it with state-of-the-art facilities. And create an environment so beautiful that people would want to stay at the training ground all the time. Make it stylish.”
Even as she spread out blueprints, Yoo Jia made demands that were both demanding and precise.
The various construction firms and project managers had no complaints.
Normally, building a massive complex like this required enormous capital.
Usually, that funding would be raised through project financing from banks, construction loans, investors, or presales......
But there was none of that here.
Interim payments? Final payments?
Without any of that, they were being asked to expand it as quickly as possible with a lump-sum payment.
What was more, the amount being paid was extremely high, and the government was even guaranteeing it.
Who would complain when they were being paid that much?
If anything—
‘This is an opportunity. We have to build it beautifully, no matter what.’
‘They’re probably going to keep developing more in the future, so we need to stand out!’
‘Woof woof! We’ll work like dogs! Just pay us!’
Everyone’s eyes burned with determination as they prepared to work with all their might.
In a capitalist world, there was nothing better than money for driving people hard.
“Well then, everyone.”
Yoo Jia smiled faintly.
“Please work hard.”
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