Legend of Legends

After he got the report from Sukhoon, Doyeol smiled bitterly. He should have taken care of it before Robotics found out. Eunseo sent her materials so fast, he did not have a chance, and now Robotics knew. Doyeol clicked his tongue and said:

"Dinner is this Thursday?"

"Yes."

"And he won’t sell it for ten million dollars?"

Sukhoon shrugged.

"It’s a family heirloom, and he doesn’t want to sell it."

"I want to see that pendant even more."

"He just showed it to us when we asked."

"But he did not take if off?"

"No."

He was sure that it was a runestone pendant, but runestones were for heroes!

Doyeol shook his head and said:

"Right. I will find out when I meet him."

"Then, I will see you on Thursday."

"OK."

Sukhoon left, and Doyeol hit the desk.

"Clinton! Then, he must be after it!"

---

After the meeting with Clinton, Junhyuk was extra careful. He felt like someone was watching him, but he had no evidence.

On his way home, he watched everything carefully, closed the curtains on his windows, turned on the TV, and trained. He practiced using spatial relocation and the force field. Then, he moved on to dual-blade swordsmanship before going to sleep.

Nothing happened during the week, and on Thursday, he joined Sukhoon at the Royal Hotel. Like Tuesday, they rode in a limousine, but this time, Eunseo did not join them.

On his way to the Royal Hotel, Junhyuk realized how his life had changed. It was all because he had been to the Dimensional Battlefield and had gone beyond human limitations. Filming the ad had earned him more money than he had imagined.

He had one and a half million won in his bank account, and they would pay him more after the broadcast, and he had experienced many things he had not experienced before.

He shouldn’t let his guard down. Someone was watching him, and that meant somebody was curious about him.

They got to the Royal Hotel and went to the top floor where the restaurant was. The host took them to a man, alone and without a secretary.

Junhyuk looked at him and was surprised. ST Capsule was a powerful company, but he was still so young. He could be in his 40s, but his eyes were like nobody else’s.

He looked at Junhyuk and understood everything, Doyeol greeted him first, and Junhyuk did not want to make eye contact.

"Nice to meet you. I am Junhyuk Lee."

"Greetings. I am Doyeol Kim."

Doyeol had a presence just by sitting across from him. He was very young and a CEO of a major corporation, so he couldn’t be an ordinary man.

He offered Junhyuk a seat.

"Seat."

Everyone sat, and Doyeol said:

"I ordered for you. Is steak cooked medium OK?"

"I like it."

They brought out the soup, and Doyeol said:

"Let’s eat."

Junhyuk ate his soup while checking out Doyeol. He was the president, so why did he want to see him? He didn’t speak and just ate his meal.

They finished their steaks and waited for their dessert, and all the while, Doyeol did not speak. Junhyuk was thinking that Doyeol might have just wanted to dine with him, and that’s when Doyeol spoke:

"Because of you, our image has improved quite a lot. I also watched your ad and the movie."

"It’s just a good concept."

Doyeol smiled at him.

"You are modest."

Doyeol was serious when speaking to him.

"Do you have any problems at work?"

"I don’t."

Doyeol started drinking his tea when Sukhoon said:

"Your pendant. I told him about our meeting with Clinton, and he was really curious. Can you show it to him?"

Junhyuk looked at him and nodded. Sukhoon must’ve made a report. Junhyuk pulled out his pendant, and Doyeol looked at it and smiled.

"Clinton is interested, but you won’t sell it even for ten million dollars?"

"No."

"It must be precious to you."

"You can’t buy it with money."

Doyeol didn’t speak further about that.

"I wish I had something like that."

Doyeol was no longer interested and got up. Junhyuk got up as well, and Doyeol offered him his hand and grabbed Junhyuk’s hand as hard as he could.

"Do your best for the company."

"I will."

Doyeol tapped on his shoulder lightly and looked at Sukhoon.

"Take him home."

"I will."

Junhyuk watched Doyeol leave. They’d dined, and he hadn’t spoken much.

He put the pendant back under his shirt. Doyeol hadn’t looked at it carefully, and Junhyuk shook his head.

"My brother is reticent, but he means to look after you," Sukhoon said.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn’t dine with his employees."

Junhyuk frowned. He had to think about that situation. He wasn’t special; he was just an employee.

After meeting Clinton, he had developed the habit of being suspicious. It wasn’t a good thing overall, but someone was still following him, so for now, it was a good thing to be suspicious of people.

Sukhoon smiled at him.

"I will take you home."

"No need. I can go back on my own."

"My brother will scold me."

"My neighborhood is not a place for a limousine," Junhyuk said.

Sukhoon relented and smiled.

"Keep it a secret from my brother."

"Of course!"

There was no need to meet Doyeol again, and he could keep it a secret. Junhyuk called for a taxi.

Inside the taxi, Junhyuk looked at his pendant. They had all been focused on it.

"I will ask him if I can hide this."

He meant to hide it like he did his longswords. As he thought about it, his phone rang. Junhyuk looked at the number and laughed. The screen read "comrade." He felt like someone was after him, so he changed the name of the number in his phone.

"Why did you call?"

"Whoa! Is that your attitude after answering a call from a high school student?"

"Speak."

"Big brother, what do we do tomorrow?"

"I’m thinking about it."

Somebody was watching him, so he shouldn’t get Sarang involved. Someone might end up watching her as well.

"I have tomorrow off. So, should we go on a trip?"

"No, not really."

He would be defenseless for an hour, and that was a problem. He should pretend to be sleeping.

"Can you sleep at your house at that time?"

"I can. They won’t bother me."

"Right. Just make sure no one find out about it."

"Then, tomorrow we will be sleeping at our own houses?"

"Right. That’s the only way."

"I understand. We will meet there. See you tomorrow."

"OK."

Junhyuk hung up the phone and leaned back on his seat when the driver said:

"It must be nice to have the day off tomorrow."

Junhyuk looked at him. He was driving a private taxi and looked old.

"One has to be over forty years old to drive public transportation on Fridays, isn’t that right?"

"Ah, you mean that law? It passed. It passed with unbelievable speed."

"That law had to be passed since it concerns the safety of the public."

"Right? The young drivers protested, but they still passed it."

The new law made sense. They should’ve passed it a long time ago. After the new law was passed, people could use public transportation on Fridays without worry.

Junhyuk answered the driver’s questions perfunctorily* and looked out of the window. It was already time to return to the battlefield.

"It’s almost Friday."

The next day, he would practice for the entire day. He had to prepare before going back. Every Friday from then on was a holiday, so that was a big relief.

Junhyuk closed his eyes slowly. He needed to rest on his way home because he would train like crazy that night.

---

Official world wide holiday.

That Friday morning, he put a piece of tape across the gap between the door and the wall, so If someone entered his room, they would leave a trace, and he jogged around his neighborhood, but didn’t notice anyone.

He ran toward the mountain. He ran so fast that if someone was following him, he would know. He got to the top of the mountain, checked the path, and saw no one following him, but he was still suspicious.

"They must be professionals!"

He had doubts, and the doubts wouldn’t go away easily. Was there any way to lose them?

He needed to think about it some more.

On his way home, he saw some parked cars, but there were no cars near his home.

That day, he trained and had to go to the Dimensional Battlefield, and he didn’t know what they would do. Junhyuk checked the tape and saw that nothing was wrong and went inside.

He noticed nothing out of the ordinary, pulled down the blinds on the windows and turned on the TV. He was afraid someone was listening in, so he turned the TV on first and then summoned his swords. He would focus on his training until the time to go to the Dimensional Battlefield.

He trained all day and, in the evening, he sat on his bed.

At night, his TV was still set on a high volume when he pulled out his cell phone. A voice whispered back to him from the end:

"Big brother!"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Make sure no one finds out."

"What about you?"

Junhyuk laughed.

"Can you hear it?"

"You mean your TV?"

"Right. Just in case."

Sarang believed in everything Junhyuk said. He told her someone was watching him, and she was extra careful herself.

"All right. I will see you later."

"Right. Later."

He hung up the phone and lay on his bed. It was time for him to leave, and he pulled out the Bloody Sword.

"Can I take this with me?"

He got it in South Korea, so he wasn’t sure if he could take it to the Dimensional Battlefield, but he held on to it. He checked the time and slowly closed his eyes.

Soon, the bright light covered his vision.

------

perfunctorily - doing something without being interested in it, with indifference.