Fortunately, Se-jin allowed Shin-hyeok to wield a hammer.
Meticulous artisans chose even their apprentices only after careful consideration, but from Se-jin’s perspective, Shin-hyeok was no different from a savior.
If someone like him asked to become his apprentice, Se-jin was in no position to do anything but take him on and wait on him hand and foot.
And so, after Shin-hyeok became Se-jin’s apprentice—
“Then let’s get Su-a some equipment and be on our way.”
“Sure.”
“Wow, I’m nervous. I never thought I’d get to buy equipment at Oseong Department Store.”
The three of them began shopping for Su-a’s equipment in earnest.
And that was the beginning of hell.
***
“This is made by Carlson Workshop, one of the top two workshops in the United States. It’s expensive, but the quality is guaranteed.”
“Oh, this is good. I know Carlson Workshop well—”
“Let’s look around somewhere else.”
“……”
Even after visiting more than ten stores, Su-a kept walking out, saying they should look elsewhere. Growing gaunt, Shin-hyeok pleaded with her.
“Su-a, let’s just buy it all. Yeah? I’ll pay for everything.”
“No. Just because you have a lot of money, does that mean you can buy anything and everything? Besides, like you said, Shin-hyeok, we’ll only be using this stuff for a while. How can we buy so much?”
After several hours of shopping, Su-a flatly rejected Shin-hyeok’s exhausted plea.
She was not wrong, so Shin-hyeok had nothing to say in response. Instead, he looked desperately at Se-jin.
Se-jin, help me out.
I told you, I don’t know anything about women either!
Of course, Se-jin had nothing to say either.
In the end, the two men had to wander through the department store like zombies for another three hours.
“Going to the workshop today is out of the question.”
“……Sorry.”
“Fine. At least she picked something reasonably good, so that’s a relief.”
Night had long since fallen, making a trip to the workshop impractical.
“Since it’s getting dark, why don’t you two stay over at my place?”
“Your place?”
“Wow, what’s gotten into you, Shin-hyeok? You would never invite anyone into your home, even if it killed you.”
“Well, people change. So, are you coming?”
“Of course I am. It has to be better than a shack.”
“I’ll go too. I’ve always wondered where you live, Shin-hyeok.”
That was why Shin-hyeok chose to invite both Su-a and Se-jin to his home.
The Shin-hyeok of the past had disliked bringing outsiders home.
The same was true even for a friend like Su-a.
But that was only in the past.
It was no problem at all for the current Shin-hyeok.
Once the decision was made, the two immediately got into a luxury sedan and arrived at Shin-hyeok’s home.
“……Didn’t you say you weren’t raised like a third-generation conglomerate heir?”
“Wow, a penthouse in Gangnam…… Your home is incredible!”
Shin-hyeok’s home was a penthouse in Gangnam.
The penthouse on the top floor was well over 3,500 square feet, with more than five rooms inside.
Naturally, there was more than enough space for the two of them to spend the night.
Shin-hyeok shrugged.
“Even if you sold this place, it would not come close to the mansions my grandfather, eldest uncle, second uncle, and aunt live in.”
“……I see.”
As Se-jin was looking around the penthouse like someone who had just arrived in Seoul, reminded once more that everything in life was relative—
“You must be the older friend our Shin-hyeok said he’d made. I’m Shin-hyeok’s father.”
“Ah, apologies for the late introduction. I’m Bang Se-jin. I do a little hammer work for a living.”
“Ha ha, could someone our son chose really make a living by doing only a little hammer work? I am certain you will accomplish great things.”
“Thank you for saying so. Please feel free to call me Se-jin.”
“Really? Then I will. You should feel free to call me Uncle too, Se-jin.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
At some point, In-gyun had approached and, smiling broadly, introduced himself to Se-jin.
Se-jin was shy around the unfamiliar In-gyun only briefly.
Before long, the two were calling each other Uncle and Se-jin. Seeing this, Shin-hyeok gently nudged Su-a’s back.
“You go introduce yourself too.”
“Ah, I should. Uncle! I’m Su-a! Han Su-a!”
“Oh, you’re Su-a? I’ve heard a lot about you from Shin-hyeok. I hear you were assigned to Silver Tier this time…… Perhaps I should make sure you think well of your uncle, shouldn’t I?”
“Hehe, I’m still only a Silver-tier nobody. Gold-tier…… no, you have to reach Gold Tier before people treat you like a real player.”
“That’s true.”
True to her friendly nature, Su-a quickly got close to In-gyun as well, chatting pleasantly with him. Watching them from a short distance away, Shin-hyeok smiled softly.
“I’m hungry, so let’s talk while we eat first. The night is long, after all.”
“Shall we? It has been a while, so how about we order delivery food today?”
“Is Mom’s cooking not good enough for you?”
“……Ahem! Do not say that anywhere! Our So-yeon’s cooking is excellent!”
“Then Father can have home-cooked food. We’ll order delivery just for ourselves—”
“But Shin-hyeok’s friends have come over. It would be a shame to make them eat home-cooked food. Chicken? Pizza? What would you all like, kids?”
“Dear. Once you order the food, come talk to me for a moment.”
“So, So-yeon. Since when were you……?”
“Yes, yes~ I heard everything from beginning to end, so hurry up and order. Choi In-gyun?”
“……Yes.”
In-gyun ended up breaking out in a cold sweat after inadvertently putting down So-yeon’s cooking, but there was no denying that everyone had a good time.
***
Pizza, fried chicken, sliced boiled pork, braised pig’s trotters, and more.
Even considering that Shin-hyeok’s younger brother, Shin-woo, would be eating with them, the amount of delivery food was excessive enough to leave one speechless.
“Players really do have hearty appetites.”
“Hehe, you have to eat well to fight well!”
“But Su-a, weren’t you a cleric?”
“More precisely, I’m both a cleric and a paladin. I got a Dual Class after the Placement Exam.”
“A Dual Class? Congratulations.”
“It’s nothing compared to Shin-hyeok.”
The problem soon disappeared as Su-a, who had developed a hearty appetite while training her body as a player, practically inhaled most of the food.
They had only been chatting pleasantly over their meal for a short while when—
“Father.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
In-gyun, who had been smiling happily at the stretching cheese on his pizza, tilted his head toward Shin-hyeok.
“Isn’t it about time you found a place for yourself in Shinhwa too?”
“……!”
Shin-hyeok threw a weighty straight fastball at In-gyun.
At present, In-gyun was no different from an unemployed man.
He merely lived on the money that came in every month.
In truth, that was also Choi Cheol-ho’s warning.
I am giving you this money, so do not loiter around outside needlessly.
In-gyun knew that well, which was why he had not tried to do any work until now.
If he did, even what he already had might be taken away.
But at his son’s words, In-gyun felt something burn hot within his chest.
“……What do you think I should do? Electronics is already handled by my eldest brother, and the guild by my second brother. The department store and hotel are about all that remain, but our elder sister already took those. I do not think there is anything left that could be called a core part of Shinhwa Group.”
As though proving that he too was one of the children of Chairman Choi Cheol-ho, the man who had built the current Shinhwa Group, he rattled it off in a torrent as if he had prepared the answer in advance.
As In-gyun said, every important part of Shinhwa Group was already managed by his siblings.
In other words, there was no place for In-gyun to step in now.
“Why not? There’s one. A place that affects Electronics, the guild, the department store, and the hotel.”
“……Are you talking about Distribution?”
“Yes. Electronics would be difficult, but what if you monopolized the supply of the weapons and armor Se-jin makes to the guild and the department store?”
“……!!!”
Distribution.
It was less prominent than the other companies, yet still indispensable.
The licorice root in an apothecary.
That was exactly what Shinhwa Distribution was.
But there was one important question.
“Is Se-jin really that skilled?”
The question was whether the equipment Se-jin made was truly of a quality that Shinhwa Guild and the department store would have to beg and plead for.
Shin-hyeok looked directly at In-gyun’s extremely serious face and nodded.
“Yes. Equipment will come out at a level that leaves the United States stunned, makes Japan clutch at trouser hems, and makes China wail in grief.”
“……You do not seem to be joking.”
It sounded like a joke, but what Shin-hyeok said had actually happened before his regression.
The United States had been astonished by the equipment Se-jin made, Japan had clung to trouser hems to acquire it, and China had wailed in grief because it had no talent like him.
Despite its small land area, Korea had many outstanding combat and production players.
From Shin-hyeok, the sole Challenger, to the Saintess Han Su-a and Bang Se-jin, the Hand of God.
Every single one of them was a Korean player capable of shaking the entire world.
That said it all.
After deep consideration, In-gyun nodded.
“All right. I will give it a try. My son is even pushing me to do it, so I cannot refuse.”
“For someone saying that, both of your eyes are blazing.”
“Ahem. As you know, I have spent more than ten years unemployed and idle, so I am itching to do something. But if I am to take charge of a company like Distribution, I will need Father’s permission…… What do you plan to do about that?”
In-gyun’s question, posed after responding to Shin-hyeok’s smiling joke with a cough, was a fair one.
No matter how much they talked about Distribution or equipment, it would be impossible unless Choi Cheol-ho gave his permission.
But Shin-hyeok already had a plan.
“I received a reward from Grandfather in exchange for placing Se-jin in Shinhwa Workshop after the Placement Exam. So, if Se-jin, whom I placed in Shinhwa Workshop, does exactly as I expect…….”
“Father will grant another wish, and you will use that wish to ask that I be allowed to run Distribution?”
“Yes. Easy, right?”
“Hah, you are probably the only person in the world who would win control of one of Korea’s leading conglomerates from his grandfather as a wish.”
“I am a little one of a kind.”
Choi Cheol-ho rewarded those who made the impossible possible.
That had been the case with the Placement Exam, and it was the same with Se-jin this time.
If Se-jin accomplished a feat that made the impossible possible, just as he had during the Placement Exam, the reward would be Shinhwa Distribution.
“In that regard, Se-jin is the most important person in this operation.”
“Huh? Me? I-I ate both drumsticks because it has been so long since I last had chicken, and I forgot myself…….”
When everyone’s gaze suddenly turned to him, Se-jin, who had eaten both chicken drumsticks, was startled with a guilty start.
At his extraordinarily humble response, Shin-hyeok let out a small laugh and shook his head.
“I’ll order you a meal with only drumsticks later, so for now, let’s focus on Shinhwa Workshop tomorrow.”
“Shinhwa Workshop…….”
“Yes. The place where the people who did horrible things to you are standing their ground, posing as artisans.”
“But what are you going to do? They may be terrible people, but their ability is unquestionable.”
At the mention of Shinhwa Workshop, the young man who had been beaming over chicken drumsticks vanished, leaving only Se-jin burning with vengeance.
Still, it was only natural for him to be worried.
Their skill and achievements, built over years as artisans at Shinhwa Workshop, could not be ignored.
Of course—
“We’ll go with Operation Name: ‘Stop Workplace Violence!’”
“……What exactly is that?”
Shin-hyeok had already thought it through.
Operation Name: ‘Stop Workplace Violence!’
Its beginning unfolded in secret at the dining table of the penthouse in Gangnam.