Thirty minutes before the start of the event, everyone was already inside the venue for the event, Clancy Hall, the biggest luxury hall on the island, as well as one of its iconic places.
The place already had a big crowd, with all types of businessmen, invited Heroes from the Association, invited press, and even some famous or upper-class people from all over the world, were currently here in their best luxury clothes to attend to one of the most expected events of the year.
While everybody was around doing their own thing, Chae Nayun in the bathroom, Yoo Yeonha walking around building connections, Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan looking around the place, and Cristopher looking for something to drink, Kim Hajin was sitting alone in his best cool pose while looking around.
At least until someone came close to him.
“You’re here too.” Li Xiaopeng, Boss’ fake identity, came to him from behind.
“Oh, you came too, Xiaopeng-ssi.” Hajin said after turning around.
“Right, as a Hero in charge of guarding-” She started to speak, before stopping. “What bullshit…?”
She cursed at Jain’s words that came through their communication device.
[You finally met your crush Boss. Congratulations.]
“*kuhum, kuhum.*” Hajin coughed to bring back her attention and to ignore Jain’s words.
“Ah… S-Sorry. My colleague was saying something strange through my earphone…” She said while tapping the earphone on her ear.
“Ah, don’t worry…” Hajin said.
Boss then sat down beside him and started making some small talk while the event started, while at the same time ignoring some of Jain’s rambles, something Hajin did too, slightly embarrassed about her words.
Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, one of the servers of the event came and offered them some refreshments, including chocolates, which Boss accepted quite eagerly, while Hajin only grabbed a glass of champagne.
“Nom, nom.” While Boss focused on eating her chocolate, Kim Hajin looked at her from the corner of his eye. Trying not to laugh at how her eyes were currently shining brightly with how much she liked the chocolate.
He was also thinking about the events that would soon appear.
The White Crystal was an important element that couldn’t fall in the hands of Djinns. Something that wouldn’t normally happen. But with all the changes that have been happening recently, he wasn’t really certain if things would go as in the original story.
Also, he was looking at some of the executives of Roton Corporation, one of the more corrupted organizations in his setting. Even if they didn’t have any Djinn among the executives, it wasn’t any better for them.
{In a sense… Cristopher’s right. Some humans can really be worse than any Djinn…} He thought.
At that moment he could see Cristopher getting close to them with a glass that had some kind of clear purple drink.
“‘Supp? Everything good around here?” Cristopher asked him while sitting down in front of them. “Should I go?”
“Huh? Why?” Hajin asked, looking at him with his head tilted.
“Pfft… Nothing, don’t worry.” He smirked before shaking his head. “Also, cheers.”
With that, he raised his glass, while Hajin did the same, both of them choking glasses to cheer.
“I see that you’re learning a thing or two. Nice.” He smirked at Hajin.
“Yeah, I guess that it’s slowly rubbing off on me or something.” He shrugged his shoulders while sipping on his drink. “By the way, what’s that?”
“Mm?” Cristopher tilted his head before looking at his glass. “What? This?”
“Yes. It looks weird.”
“Oh, they didn’t have a beer, that uncultured bunch. So, I just went inside the bar to make something to drink.” He shrugged.
“Did they let you…?” Hajin just asked with wide eyes.
“No.”
“*sigh…* What did I expect.” Hajin shook his head. “But why didn’t you just take some champagne? Don’t you like it?”
“Mm? Yeah, I do.” Cristopher shrugged. “But I just wanted something strong.”
“I’ll be honest, that doesn’t look strong at all… It looks like a girly drink.”
“Well, you can have a taste.” Cristopher smirked.
“…” Hajin considered it for a moment. “No. I’ll pass.”
“Pfft… I’ll tell you. Do you know the Long Island Tea? This is something similar, though I lost count on how many things I mixed in this one.”
“You’re insane sometimes…”
“Relax, don’t you know that grape soda solves everything?” Cristopher rolled his eyes.
“Waiter.” Boss, who was looking at them both interact, smacked her lips and suddenly called to one of the waiters, who politely came to her.
“Yes, madam?”
“Do you have any more of those chocolates you gave me before?”
“Yes, here you go.” The waiter answered with a smile while taking out one more bar of chocolate.
“No, not one. I think I’ll be satisfied with about three.” Boss said while making the number three with her fingers.
“Yes…?” The waiter stopped, before taking out two more chocolate bars.
At the same time, while Boss started opening the first chocolate bar, Kim Suho and Chae Nayun came back to the table.
And before looking for their seats, they found Boss who was eating chocolate beside Hajin, which made them move towards him.
“Hajin, who’s that next to you?” Kim Suho asked while pointing at Boss.
“Who?” Hajin tilted his head for a moment, but after remembering that they didn’t have any idea about her and this was their first meeting. “Ah, she’s someone I know, her name is Li Xiaopeng-ssi. She’s a high-intermediate rank Hero. We met coincidentally.”
He said while putting his hand over Boss’ shoulder, acting friendly.
“Nom, nom, ah, nom, right, I’m Li Xiaopeng.” She quickly said before eating more chocolate.
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.” Chae Nayun greeted her awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you, Li Xiaopeng-ssi.” While Kim Suho bowed to her.
“These are Chae Nayun and Kim Suho-” Kim Hajin was about to present them both, but was interrupted by Boss.
“I already know. They’re famous cadets.” She spoke.
After the introductions, they both sat beside each other and started making some small talk.
It was at that moment that another person came to the table.
“You guys are here too~?” Kim Junwoo, who they met before, was also here.
He came to their table and waved at them while talking with the same soft voice until his eyes met the chocolate-eating Boss.
He narrowed his eyes at her, while Boss also looked straight at his eyes, both of them measuring their strength.
“This is…?” Kim Junwoo said with a calmer voice while pointing at Boss, but she didn’t answer and just looked at him while eating chocolate.
“Oh, this is senior Li Xiaopeng, a high-intermediate rank Hero, and Kim Hajin’s acquaintance.” Chae Nayun answered in her stead, to what she just nodded. “By the way, Li Xiaopeng-ssi, how do you know Kim Hajin? You’re really pretty, so how did Kim Hajin-” She started to ask, but was interrupted by Kim Junwoo.
“You’re right, she’s a beauty.” Kim Junwoo nodded with a smile. “May I ask, how old are you?”
“No.” She gave a short and direct answer. For her, the topic of her age was always a sore thumb.
Being quite young, twenty-four to be exact, she always had a complex of being too young for someone that was the leader of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations.
“Mm, okay…” Kim Junwoo smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.
“You shouldn’t ask a girl’s age man, that won’t take you anywhere, haha.” Cristopher commented while trying not to laugh too hard.
“Haha, I guess you’re right, also, thanks for the drink, man. I was skeptical about it, but it tasted quite great. Strong, but great nonetheless.” He smiled. “Well, kids. I’ll take my leave, so bye. Call me if anything happens.” He waved his hand before leaving.
“Okay, see you later, Oppa! Let’s grab some food after this.” Chae Nayun waved back at him before turning to look at Cristopher. “By the way, what was he talking about?”
“Mm? About what?”
“About the drink!” She frowned.
“Ah, that? Just something I made for him.” He shrugged.
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“Wait…” Hajin looked at him. “Did you also make one of those for him?” He said while pointing to Cristopher’s glass.
“Yeah, he was there while I was making it, laughed about me going inside the bar, and asked one for himself, curious about it. Didn’t I tell you?” He tilted his head while rubbing his chin.
“No, you clearly didn’t.” Hajin rolled his eyes.
“Let me taste it!” Chae Nayun said, trying to grab the glass, something Cristopher didn’t allow.
“Nope. This isn’t a kid’s drink.” He smirked.
“Argh! Fine!” Not wanting to fight here, Chae Nayun only crossed her arms and sat down.
“I have to go to my guard duty, so…” A few moments later, Boss also stood up to leave, saying her goodbyes to everyone.
She was replaced by Oh Hanhyun and Yoo Yeonha, who came a few moments later after she left.
Everyone made some small talk until the event started, drinking and eating some refreshments.
“By the way, are other club members not coming anymore?” Kim Suho asked Oh Hanhyun.
“Probably not, they’re going to be third-year soon.” Oh Hanhyun said, as all the cadets that were currently here were from the first year. “The second semester of the second year is one of the busiest times for cadets.”
After a little small talk, the lights of the hall started to diminish, meaning that the event was about to start.
Meanwhile, the curtains covering the stage were slowly being lifted, while a man dressed in a suit was slowly walking into the center of the stage.
It was Roton’s CEO, Zelen.
***
At the same time, Rachel just arrived at Clancy Hall’s second-floor VIP balcony seats, where a guarding Hero received her and Randy with a bow.
“It’s an honor to have you here tonight.” He said to her, to what she just answered with a smile, before sitting down.
From there, she started to look down at the first floor, after all, she had this suspicion that there may be someone among the attendants that she knew.
And while she couldn’t look well with the low lights of the hall, she could actually notice the person she was looking for, after all, his weird white hair was quite noticeable, even more, while looking at him from the second floor.
She also found Kim Hajin and other cadets, but that wasn’t what caught her attention, it was actually his attire and the way he combed his hair.
{He looks good like that too…} She merely thought for a moment, before getting red out of embarrassment. This was, after all, the first time she has seen him that trimmed and wearing such a fancy outfit.
Randy, who was standing close to her, caught on quite quickly that she was embarrassed about something, after all, he has known her for quite a lot of time. Turning to where she was looking, he noticed the young guy that he drove this morning.
With a small, almost unnoticeable, mischievous smile, he leaned towards Rachel.
“Princess, maybe you would like it if I send someone to look for him?” He whispered to her.
“!” She flinched, getting even redder than before. She turned towards him, and after thinking for a little bit, she just shook her head. “No, he’s with his friends. And it would interrupt the event.” She said in a soft almost inaudible voice.
“As you wish, Princess.” Randy just nodded while smiling.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s great to have you here tonight.” Zelen’s voice resounded through all the hall, bringing Rachel’s attention back to the stage. “I’m Zelen, the CEO of Roton Corporation, a leader in innovative technology.”
He smiled, making a small pause to look at everyone present in the audience, and giving a glance at Rachel on the second floor, which made her feel quite disgusted, after remembering how he looked at her earlier.
“Before we begin, let me introduce to everyone, the English Royal Court’s jewel.” He said, pointing at Rachel on the second floor, leading everyone’s gaze up there.
Immediately after that, a spotlight shone on her, blinding her slightly, as the light was so strong that it was difficult for her to open her eyes.
“…” Still, she slowly stood up and smiled at everyone that was currently attending the event. Something that started a round of applause from the audience. The spotlight turned off, and she then sat down, not before looking down.
There she could see, all the cadets from Cube looking up at her. She nodded at them, before noticing Cristopher smiling at her, she blushed slightly before quietly waving her hand with another smile. He just raised his hand back at her, with a small wave.
“Now, everyone!” Zelen’s voice resounded again. “What is the power that forms the origin of all things?” He asked rhetorically,
He looked around before smiling.
“That’s right, it is mana! Somewhere in this world, mana naturally coalesces into natural treasures. Even among these natural treasures, White Crystals are especially precious, fully deserving of the phrase 'humanity’s blessing.'” He said while pointing at a screen behind the stage.
On the screen, the picture of a White Crystal appeared, it was a small beautiful crystal.
The White Crystal, in Hajin’s setting, was an essence of Magic Power that was formed by the natural accumulation and condensation of mana. In a sense, it was similar to Dragonite, which was the accumulation and condensation of Draconic Power.
Just by existing, a White Crystal was able to increase the Magic Power density in the atmosphere, making it a valuable treasure for any Hero.
“Currently,” Zelen continued. “480 of these crystals have been found. However, there has not been a way to properly utilize this precious crystal.”
He paused and smiled at everyone present.
“From now on, we, the Roton Corporation will present the true method of using the White Crystal.”
His words made a small round of applause and excitement appear in the audience, while the staff dragged a cart with something over it that was being covered by a cloth.
Once the cart was dragged to the middle of the stage, Zelen didn’t wait even for a second to lift the cloth off, presenting a cubic glass tube with a White Crystal floating inside of it.
The image of the beautiful and pure White Crystal made everyone shout in amazement, but Zelen’s attention wasn’t in the crystal, but in the cubic glass tube.
“This vacuum cube-Ah.” He said before stopping, turning to look at the audience with a small smile. “Don’t misunderstand this with the Korean Peninsula’s Cube.”
The audience laughed at his bad joke, as a way of humoring him. While smiling at their reaction, he asked them to calm down with his hands before continuing.
“This cube can trace its origin all the way to the Persian Empire.” He once again placed his attention on the cubic glass tube. “This cube was originally an earthenware. But we, in Roton Corporation, are a leader in the partial artifact industry, where artifacts are dismantled and reforged. We decomposed this earthenware into soil and sand, then recreated it into a glass tube using a state-of-the-art mana engineering technique.”
At his words, the audience stirred, but it wasn’t entirely because of what he said, but because there was an irregular movement from some places among the audience, something that Rachel saw.
From the pathways on the sides of the VIP seats, strange black figures began to appear. Rachel first thought that they were Heroes or guards, but the strange movement they were making didn’t make sense to her, so she turned to the Heroes guarding her.
“I’m fine, so keep your eyes on them.” She said while pointing to these strange figures.
Having the same thought, the Heroes started to move downstairs, leaving only the bare minimum personnel to take care of Rachel.
At the same time, Rachel noticed some movement on the first floor, it was Hajin who was suddenly shooting up from his seat and moving away.
This reminded her of all the accidents that occurred before. Somehow, Kim Hajin was always in the middle of some accident. Which meant, that even now, something could occur.
She turned to look at Cristopher, but only noticed that he was leaning back on the chair, moving some glass on his hand while looking around him, at the black figures that were slowly moving.
“Wait just a moment.” She said to her guards before leaving the hall, stopping them from following her.
Taking the chance, she went towards the stairs, to go to the first floor where it seemed he would be. While doing so, she activated her necklace’s special effect, which was ‘Shade’, an ability that made her presence disappear, including any noise from her movements.
But contrary to her expectations, Kim Hajin was currently climbing the stairs to the second floor, which surprised her.
“Hiik!” She ran to hide from him, quickly hiding behind a wall before he could run into her.
From there, she saw him, while he was wearing sunglasses, going up towards the emergency stairs that were on the second floor. She quickly followed him all the way to the rooftop.
Normally, this wasn’t a place any guest could enter. Actually, only engineers came three or four times a year to make some maintenance, which meant that the fortified door was currently closed and secured.
She stood on the stairs, watching him from behind. As she expected, the door didn’t open when he tried to use the doorknob. He needed the key, after all.
But instead of going back, he merely took out a small worn-out hammer, which looked really old in her eyes, with steelhead and a wooden handle.
She didn’t know what he would try to use it for, but she was sure that the hammer wouldn’t be enough to bring down the door that was made from mana alloy, which was why she was confused when he took a striking stance with the hammer.
*KWONG!*
Contrary to her expectations, when Hajin hit the door with the worn-out, small hammer, not only the door dented, but the walls surrounding it were demolished. Leaving behind a thunderous vibration.
“…” Her mouth was wide open now. She couldn’t believe that such a small and normal hammer would have enough power to break down the door like that.
She knew that he wasn’t normal, after all, she had expended some time with him and her master, so she at least knows there’s more to him than what he shows.
But she couldn’t believe that his power would be enough to destroy a fortified door and wall with just a mere hammer. It could either be because of an insane amount of physical strength or an insane amount of Magic Power, something she doubted because she didn’t feel any Magic Power being used.
She just stood there, trying to find how all of this happened. At least, until she heard screams coming from below.
*KYAAAA*
Some woman screamed, which took her out of her daze, as something would surely be happening downstairs, as the sounds of screaming and disturbance were only increasing.