Chapter 142: New Novice 1
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Junhyuk had impressed Eunseo big time that day. She had written the official cooperation documents, and he had very nicely translated them into ten languages. He sent her the cooperation documents and asked, "Every time an iron soldier is deployed, it costs a lot of money. Can it be sustained by the monsters' residual product?"
Junhyuk's cooperation document stated that they wouldn't be paid at all for the iron soldier's deployment. Instead, they would get the leftover monster materials.
Eunseo was not worried and answered, "Guardians is a way to stop the monsters. We aren't here to make money."
"That's fine, but Guardians still requires an astronomical amount of money to run!"
They didn't use ordinary weaponry when the hunted for monsters, and Junhyuk was curious about how that would work.
Eunseo adjusted her glasses and said, "I know what you are curious about. The iron soldiers use weapons supplied by the defense industries. They make new weapons and advertise them that way."
After making new weapons, they had to find buyers. If their weapons could be used against the monsters, it would be an advertising boon for those companies. The iron soldiers accumulated data while fighting monsters, and during the process, the weapons could be showcased to the world.
"And we want the monsters' residual materials so that we can study their weaknesses. If the army kills the monsters instead of us, we will still buy the materials so that we can analyze them further."
"Research the monsters' leftover materials?"
"Some monsters' materials are already on their way here. Chief Developer Elise will analyze them."
Junhyuk was surprised.
"Elise is alone with her supercomputer. Can you give her that many assignments all at once?"
"I have access rights for her supercomputer, Zaira. Don't worry about information monopoly."
But Elise had created Zaira, and wouldn't she only reveal information she wanted to?
Eunseo cleaned up her desk and said, "You've worked hard today. We will hire more employees for the Executive Department. Meanwhile, it'll just be the two of us."
Junhyuk looked at his watch and smiled. It was time to go home, and Eunseo was taking care of the rest of the business.
"What are you doing after work today?"
"It's a long commute, so I'm looking for houses around here."
"Good thinking. Long commutes can be taxing."
"Yes. I already know which houses I'm seeing, and I'm planning to sign a contract for one today."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Eunseo went out, and Dohee followed her. Junhyuk watched her go and then packed his belongings and looked around the Executive Department's office. He was the only employee in that large office. That day, he had Eunseo working with him, so he wasn't bored. Soon, however, he would be because he would be working there alone.
"But I get to leave at the right time!"
The newly established company allowed him to get off work on time, and he was grateful. Junhyuk hummed, got his bag and went to his car. He would go look at three houses, and he would get one.
He looked at all three houses. One of the houses had been overadvertised online, the other had an owner that would take another month to move out. At the last house, the owner was moving abroad and needed someone to move in right away. The house was large, and Junhyuk liked its structure.
The garden was big, and the building itself was also large. He especially liked its huge underground floor. Diagonally from end to end, it was about sixty meters long and it was a large space.
The floor had plenty of exercising equipment, and there was a boxing ring in the center. The owner's father used to be a boxer, but he was living abroad on business now.
Junhyuk could buy the house for cheap. It was 1,652 square meters, and he paid $2 million for it. He decided to pay in cash and put down a $200 thousand deposit. He would pay the rest in cash when the owners moved out, and they told him they would move out by Friday.
If they did, Junhyuk could renovate the house on the weekend, so he agreed.
He looked at the place. Housing in Paju was cheap in comparison, but he was still lucky to get such a big house. Two million dollars was a lot of money, but it was cheap for the size of the house. They prefered cash, so he had been able to lower the price. The going rate had been much higher than what he had paid.
Junhyuk didn't want to settle down in Paju, but he had no regrets. He would earn more money, and if not, he would sell the mana stones to Jeffrey. Then, he wouldn't have to worry about money again.
He had spent $2 million, but now, he had the space he wanted to train. The price had been worth it. He couldn't spend money if he died, so he needed to invest on his training, and he felt good about it.
Junhyuk got in his car, started the engine and called Sarang with the burner phone. He wanted to talk to someone, and the first person he thought of was her. The burner phone rang three times, and Sarang picked up.
"Tomorrow, the Sun will rise from the West. Are you going to keep calling me first?"
"Don't be silly. I went to work today and signed the contract for a new house."
"You bought a new house? And went to Paju for work?"
"I needed space to train and I didn't have a choice."
He needed to renovate the new house, and renting created problems.
"Is it a large house?"
"You'll be shocked when you see it. It cost me $2 million."
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!" she shouted at the mention of the price, and Junhyuk held the phone away from his ear.
"I am not crazy and I have the money," he said.
"This is a lot, too much! Are you that wealthy?"
"You didn't' know?"
"If you can afford a $2 million house, you have to be wealthy. I will leech from you."
"Look for a place where I can disguise myself."
"I already have."
Junhyuk laughed.
"I learned more about the iron soldiers. I need to be more cautious."
"Why?"
"They haven't used the iron soldiers at full power for the monster hunts yet. It's equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry far beyond our imagination."
"Are you there to learn more?"
"That's right, but one day wasn't enough to learn much. I'm also there to work. I'm not a bum."
Sarang smiled brightly.
"Have a housewarming party."
"Sure. I'll send you the invitation."
He was afraid there was someone always following him, but now his teleportation had increased. He could cover a hundred meters if he teleported twice. With that distance, no one could keep up.
Junhyuk was driving.
"See you tomorrow," he said.
"Be careful."
Junhyuk hung up and stepped on the accelerator. It was already late, and there weren't many cars on the road, so he drove fast.
---
Second Day at Work
On Thursday, he wanted to get to work before Eunseo, so he woke up at dawn and got there by eight o'clock. Eunseo wasn't there yet, and Junhyuk passed through the metal detector and went to his office to read the cooperation documents again.
While he was reading, Eunseo arrived at work with her team of secretaries. Junhyuk walked out of the office and greeted her.
Eunseo bowed toward him and said, "Today, we have five international conference calls. I'll need you for simultaneous interpreting."
"Sure."
She looked at her watch.
"We start at ten. Take the cooperation documents to the meeting room and get ready."
"Yes, ma'am."
Eunseo went to her office, and Junhyuk gathered the documents. He had translated them in ten different languages, so he went to the meeting room and took a seat.
At 9:50 a.m., Eunseo entered the meeting room and moved her wheelchair next to Junhyuk.
"The first meeting is with China. You won't have any problems, correct?"
"Sure."
Junhyuk pulled out the documents in Korean and in Chinese and placed them in front of Eunseo and waited. Dohee walked over to one of the walls and pressed a button. A seventy-inch monitor slid down from the ceiling, and its screen turned on. Dohee pressed more buttons, and a person appeared on the screen.
Junhyuk saw who it was and was surprised. After connecting with China, he couldn't believe at who had appeared on the screen. It was Jowee Jhang a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. Junhyuk didn't know who he was, but he had an impressive title.
China's Communist Party had 73 million members. The Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China was the very top of those people, and there were only nine senior members in it. The man was a high ranking member of the Politburo, and Junhyuk didn't think he would have the time to participate in that conference call.
At ten o'clock, Mr. Jhang appeared with an interpreter, and Eunseo bowed toward him.
"Nice to meet you, Guardians' CEO Eunseo Kim," Jowee said, bowing slightly.
"It's good to see you, Jowee Jhang."
They started a light conversation, and Junhyuk acted as the simultaneous interpreter. He didn't have any problems keeping up, so Jowee and Eunseo started the serious conversation.
Jowee raised the cooperation documents and asked, "These cooperation documents don't have any compulsory enforcement. Isn't that right?"
"Of course."
"If that's the case, we won't sell the monsters' residual products. You need to recognize that the residual materials belong to China even when resulted from iron soldiers killing the monsters."
Eunseo adjusted her glasses, and Junhyuk could see that she was uncomfortable.
"When the Chinese army kills the monsters we will relinquish the residual materials, but when iron soldiers kill the monsters, we have the rights to the leftovers."
Jowee smiled coldly.
"You sound very dangerous. Is it OK if China expels the Guardians?"
"No, we will augment our detachment in China. Guardians needs more than ten places to support China effectively from the monsters."
"Then, why don't you cooperate?"
"The monsters situation requires worldwide attention, so research on the monsters must continue."
"So, we will do our own research."
"There are many different types of monsters showing up all over the world. China has blood wolves, and they only appear there. To research more about them, we need the leftover materials."
Jowee laughed.
"You don't have any ulterior motivation?"
Eunseo didn't speak further and stared at him. Junhyuk, who had been interpreting so far, looked at her. She wasn't giving an inch while dealing with one of China's leaders. Jowee was about to speak when his assistant whispered something in his ear. He frowned and looked at Eunseo.
"Let's talk another time," he said, and the feed cut off suddenly. Junhyuk thought Jowee had been rude and didn't have any manners, but Elise appeared on the screen.
"There is another worldwide monster attack. Korea has monsters at the Seoul National Cemetery. Allow me to deploy the iron soldier."
Eunseo nodded and said, "Deploy the iron soldier!"