Ch.632Chapter 24. Real Estate Never Die (10)

Morning at Mount Geumgang.

The five-star hotel’s breakfast buffet required staff to be busy from dawn, and Kim Ki-woo, one of the breakfast buffet servers, felt a chill down his spine when he saw three people arriving in the morning.

“Wow.”

Celebrities?

No.

This hotel was a place even celebrities couldn’t easily book.

Moreover, these three who came down an hour after the breakfast buffet’s regular operating hours were clearly special beings, especially marked as VVIPs by the manager who had instructed staff to treat them with particular care.

But none of these people matched anyone in his mental catalog of important figures.

The two women—one with white hair and one with chestnut brown hair—were incredibly beautiful, perhaps even surpassing the beauty of typical S-class powered beauties, if he were to exaggerate a bit.

If there were comparable figures, they might be Baek Seol-hee, an S-class in Korea, or Seong Ji-eun, recently registered as the hero “Black Rider” in America.

But logically, they couldn’t possibly be here.

One was in Busan, the other in America.

And even if they had come here on business, they wouldn’t behave like this.

“Ughh…”

“Are you okay?”

“It hurts… Geez, it’s all because you suggested we do it together…”

“…You enjoyed it though. You were enjoying it more than me later, so why complain?”

Both Baek Seol-hee(?) and Seong Ji-eun(?) were clinging tightly to a man, refusing to let go.

The man even had his arms around both women’s waists, slowly matching his pace to theirs as if supporting them.

“Are you alright? Should we go back up and order room service?”

“No, it’s fine. We’re already down here. We came all the way to Mount Geumgang, so we should eat. You said the breakfast here is something you should try at least once before you die.”

“You look like you’re about to die right now though.”

“Says the person who nearly killed me last night? Ugh…”

The two women, clearly exhausted from whatever ordeal they’d endured the previous night, looked tired but had remarkably glowing skin.

“Hmm.”

Kim Ki-woo examined the man.

He looked very much like someone Ki-woo knew, so he took a moment to organize his thoughts.

This was Mount Geumgang.

A hotel accessible only to VVIPs.

If that man was who he thought he was, there was no need to overthink things.

He would simply do his best in his role as a server.

“What would you like to eat? Should I get it for you?”

“Ugh… I’d appreciate that. We’ll sit and rest a bit, so could you go get it for us?”

“Yes. After tormenting us all night without letting us sleep, the energetic one should go. Oh, isn’t this being demanding? I’m asking for consideration. You know…?”

“Better than spilling food because your legs are shaking.”

Though he tried not to listen, the three people’s conversation kept reaching his ears.

Others didn’t seem to hear it, but as an E-class powered individual with some sensitivity to magical energy, Kim Ki-woo couldn’t help but hear their exchange.

Besides.

It felt like they were speaking loudly enough for him to hear.

As if they wanted any misunderstandings to spread as rumors.

“Excuse me. I know it’s a buffet, but could you bring us something like a course meal?”

“Of course. Please take a seat, and I’ll prepare it right away.”

“Thank you. Ah. Please give lamb to the white-haired girl over there…”

“I’ll prepare everything as you requested.”

There’s no such service.

But premium server Kim Ki-woo didn’t have the courage to tell these apparent SSS VVIPs—or perhaps S+S+VIPs—to “go serve yourselves.”

“Alright. You heard him. Prepare it like a course meal. Remove anything with alcohol. Think of it like preparing an early lunch course and rearrange the food.”

“Team leader. Even so, this is…”

“It’s fine. I’ll take responsibility. And…”

After all.

“These are special guests specifically instructed by the manager. They want this service, and you’re refusing? Do you want to get fired?”

“N-no, sir. I’ll get right on it…”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Kim Ki-woo checked the three people’s skin and movements again while placing his hand on his Taeguk Watch.

“For the male guest, four abalones. Grilled with butter.”

“Four?”

“Yes. Four.”

Probably.

“He could easily handle four, not just two.”

It seemed like Do Ji-hwan had been brought here by Baek Seol-hee along with America’s hero “Black Rider” Seong Ji-eun, and they had gone through some kind of awakening process together, but Kim Ki-woo decided to simply fulfill his responsibilities.

“They’re patriots. We should give them our best service.”

* * *

After the meal.

I boarded the Mount Geumgang cable car with the two women and checked internet reactions on my Syndicate watch.

“…The rumors don’t seem to be spreading as much as I expected. I wonder why?”

I was quite puzzled by the quiet internet communities.

“Do Ji-hwan and Baek Seol-hee spotted at Mount Geumgang Hotel. Plus an unidentified woman. This gossip should be spreading.”

“How about crudely spreading it yourself? Right, Seol-hee?”

“I don’t think it’s crude. Should I upload it myself?”

“Why not? Come on, make a V sign.”

Click.

Baek Seol-hee and Seong Ji-eun took a picture together with their arms linked, Mount Geumgang in the background.

“Hey. Did you just pull your head back? You were trying to make my head look bigger, weren’t you?”

“It would look big even if I didn’t pull back. It’s naturally big.”

“You’re so mean, really.”

“……”

Could these really be the same people who had been criticizing and sniping at each other until yesterday?

“How did you two become so close overnight?”

“Why ask the obvious? We ate something delicious together and became friends.”

“That’s right. We were actually kind of friendly before, weren’t we? It was the government that drove us apart.”

“It seems any resentment or misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

“Thanks to someone who worked hard to clear things up all night.”

“What I cleared up wasn’t that—”

Poke.

Both women simultaneously kicked my shin with their toes.

“That really hurts.”

“You just blocked it with magic, what are you talking about?”

“When S+ class people do a joint attack, of course I have to block it with magic.”

“What if other people see us?”

“It’s fine since there’s no one else here.”

I pointed outside the cable car.

There were no people in the cable cars moving ahead and behind us, and in the opposite cable car coming down from the other side—

Clunk, clunk.

“Wow…”

“That’s impressive.”

The cable car had a Taeguk flag attached to its exterior, fluttering in the wind.

“Seol-hee, did you see that just now?”

“Yes, I saw it. Amazing…”

“They don’t value their lives. Tsk.”

“Huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

Both women tilted their heads at me.

“Didn’t you see?”

“I saw the notice here.”

I pointed to the safety notice inside the cable car.

“Do not engage in dangerous behavior.”

“That means it’s okay if it’s not dangerous.”

“Right. That’s meant for ordinary people anyway.”

“…Were they powered individuals?”

I turned my head again.

They had gone quite far down, and noticing our gaze, the shaking stopped momentarily, but…

“Ah.”

Our eyes met.

I couldn’t help but see.

“Was that the Italian A-class couple?”

“Yes. I believe they’re participating in the World Cup…”

“They’re probably trying to increase their magical power by absorbing Mount Geumgang’s energy. It’s a good idea, actually.”

Many people visit Mount Geumgang.

There are tourists who come to see the natural scenery that opened up after North Korea’s collapse, but there are even more foreigners than Koreans.

“Those people were probably looking for wild ginseng in Mount Geumgang.”

“Or maybe honey or stone honey. I wonder if they’re doing that on their way back after eating some?”

“…Well, Mount Geumgang probably has more wild ginseng than the Sobaek Mountains.”

It’s not just Koreans who target medicinal herbs growing on the Korean peninsula.

In fact, foreigners seek them out even more.

Just like the elixirs and magical herbs in martial arts novels, foreigners are desperate to consume all kinds of medicinal herbs from the Korean peninsula.

The fact that pine mushrooms grown on Mount Jiri have replaced truffles as one of the world’s three greatest delicacies already shows how different this world is.

And all these things become targets for powered individuals exploring this region, especially those who have secured accommodations ahead of the World Cup and are traveling around the country.

Like that Italian A-class couple who were enthusiastically shaking the cable car, making the Taeguk flag flutter, whether from the power of mushrooms or wild ginseng.

“I wonder if they might ‘awaken’ during their first World Cup preliminary match.”

“To S-class? That’s possible. They’ll claim they became S-class after eating Mount Geumgang pine mushrooms.”

“Usually it would be wild ginseng, but…”

It seems.

“Some people appear to be envious of others enjoying good things.”

Though we didn’t come purely for travel, this was a convenient time to move.

“You two rest here. I’ll be back soon.”

Drrrr.

On the cable car wire passing by.

There was a man in white, walking barefoot in traditional Korean socks along the wire like a tightrope walker.

“Wow…”

Watching him run down the wire like an acrobat, Baek Seol-hee looked down from the cable car.

“It’s so high up here.”

“……”

“Ji-eun, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Just…”

Seong Ji-eun pressed herself against Baek Seol-hee and smiled awkwardly.

“……”

For the sake of Seong Ji-eun’s honor.

I won’t mention that she doesn’t ride airplanes, helicopters, or anything similar.

Even as an S+ class awakened powered individual, though it’s related to her abilities, she can’t overcome her innate fear of heights.

‘Despite being S-class.’

Strong powers come with strong prices.

She can easily stand on one foot at the top of the 63 Building and look down without a second thought, but she’s too scared to ride a hovercraft rising from the ground.

A woman who needs to feel something solid beneath her feet to feel secure.

Right now, this cable car is suspended by just one wire in the air.

[I’ll be back soon.]

I left the cable car using spirit form, then summoned my magical power to escape outside.

Then I immediately followed the cable car’s wire in the opposite direction.

And.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Click, click, click!

Screams and shutter sounds from inside the shaking cable car.

[What are you doing?]

“Oh, if it isn’t a scholar’s topknot. Coincidentally, I also have a scholar’s topknot. Nothing special, just capturing evidence of those who plundered forest resources.”

The brown-haired man with a scholar’s topknot, his white traditional robe fluttering, held a somewhat rugged DSLR camera and pointed downward.

“Not content with stealing Mount Geumgang’s honey, they’re using it in their marital activities. How despicable!”

[……]

“Not only did they take honey that bees collected inside trees for years without permission, but they’re also applying it to strange places and licking it! In a cable car!”

[……]

The unidentified scholar pointed at the couple trying desperately to cover themselves.

“And they’re foreigners!”

[It would be okay if they were Korean?]

“Of course!”

[That’s such a…]

I drew my weapon.

[Hwalbindang logic.]