Chapter 45. Businessman Kang Chul-In

Lee Chae-Rin decided to return to the Pangaea continent first and wait for Kang Chul-In there.

5 days later.

After making the excuse that he was taking a vacation, Kang Chul-In spent lots of time with his mother. After that, he went to met Old Man Kwon before deciding to meet Lee Chae-Rin again. It was to discuss the trade going on between the Pangaea continent and Earth.

“Soon, my territory’s economy will be able to grow.”

While heading to Yongsan (a place in Seoul), Kang Chul-In thought of the contract he had made with Lee Chae-Rin with his eyes shining.

The contract was wonderful.

It was beneficial to both sides, and even Lee Chae-Rin was right when she said they would both be happy with it.

It was good for her as she would gain the protection of Kang Chul-In, and it was good for him as his economic might would increase. It was time for the immense synergy of both economic and military might.

Since he was so broke, he couldn’t even use his “cosmic force” ability. Instead of expanding his territory or buying units, he had to spend his precious money on hunting the Peacock Dragons.

But by being able to solve this request well, he would be able to aim for total domination of the Eastern Plains. Dominating the Pandemonium region. This was Kang Chul-In’s number one priority right now.

“Hey, it’s you! Good thing you came. Kuhahaha.”

Old Man Kwon was greeting him as if they hadn’t met for 30 years.

“You disgust me.”

He waved his hands.

“What is a dying old man like you doing?”

He hated men who stuck close to him like that.

“It’s because I’m so happy and thankful! Because of the ring that you gave me last time, I was able to win the Seniors University Tennis competition.

“… You go to a senior’s university?”

“Since I regretted how I spent my youth, I’ve been going since this year.”

“This shouldn’t be the school term though?”

“Kuku! For old and dying people like us, there’s no such thing as a school term or a vacation. It’s just that we’re bored and that we want to go out. It’s always like that when you’re old.”

Although it was a sad and bitter tale, it seemed like Old Man Kwon seemed happy about going to the university.

“Let’s get to business.”

Of course, Kang Chul-In didn’t really care what Old Man Kwon did in his leisure time.

“Yeah, I think that we will be able to officially become partners today.”

Old Man Kwon’s eyes were full of hope and expectations.

The dimension travelers, as well as the items from the Pangaea continent, were receiving attention from all over the world. He had no choice but to put his hope onto Kang Chul-In.

“Before that…”

Before they discussed terms, Kang Chul-In decided to tell Old Man Kwon his requests and terms. It was like the basics of cooperation.

“Well, say it quickly. I’m getting dizzy because you aren’t saying anything. Are you going to take responsibility if I die because of that?”

“Well, that’s your fate, not mine. There are many businessmen out there.”

Kang Chul-In responded casually.

“Hmph. Are you really going to pull that on a senior like me?”

“Well, I would be able to do much worse things to a criminal.”

“… Okay, name your terms.”

Old Man Kwon decided to give up.

“I need a house and a car.”

“A house and a car?”

“It would be much better if it’s a manor, but it’s not easy to get those kinds of houses in Seoul. And it has to be bigger than 100 square meters. Make it in Seocho (another district in Seoul) if possible. Well, since I won’t be living there for long, it doesn’t really matter.”

“Hmm… that’s not very hard. I have spare mansions. I’ll lend you those. But why a car? The one that you ride right now, isn’t it a Ford Mustang? It’s not a bad car. Why, did you get ignored by someone riding a Lamborghini?”

Old Man Kwon seemed to know some things about cars.

“Ignored? Haha.”

Kang Chul-In burst out laughing.

“It’s a hobby.”

“Collecting cars? Ha. That’s a very expensive hobby… you are quite extravagant.”

“So, what car do you want then? For example, an Aston Martin?”

“Tell James Bond to ride something like that. Those cars are for gangsters as well as psychos.”

“Wh-What makes you think that? The Aston Martin is the perfect fusion of a Sedan and a sports car. There are no other cars that can exemplify a young gentleman like the Aston Martin! Those cars are perfect with suits.”

“I just don’t really like them.”

Kang Chul-In’s tastes were quite straightforward. Although he didn’t really know why, he just didn’t like Aston Martins.

“Well…since you yourself don’t like it, there’s no choice. Just tell me what you want.”

Old Man Kwon said so with a crestfallen expression.

“Jaguar, F-type Coupe.”

“Hmm… Jaguar F-type… You really know how to look at cars. How about the model year?

“Make it a 2013 one if possible. And color has to be black.”

“And of course…”

“5000cc.”

“Of course, if you’re a man, you need 5000cc.”

“The house and the car, both within 3 hours. As well as moving my baggage. For the mustang, tell one of your underlings to move it to the new house.”

“Sigh… all within 3 hours.”

“I don’t like rent or lease.”

“….”

Kang Chul-In’s ridiculous requests made him unable to speak, but he didn’t object nonetheless.

Although it would be tiring, it wasn’t impossible. They didn’t call Old Man Kwon “The King of the Underworld” for nothing after all. And Kang Chul-In knew this.

“Manager Oh.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Did you hear him? 3 hours.”

“I’ll start immediately.”

Manager Oh started moving with precise movements, took Kang Chul-In’s car, and drove off outside.

“Now, are you satisfied?”

“Let’s begin then.”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head and took out a huge bag and dropped in on the table with a loud BANG.

“I brought a lot of items that can be mass-produced and found easily. Today, we will discuss what we will use.”

“Hmm…It really wasn’t a waste of money buying a Jaguar for you. Good, let’s talk.”

“Here.”

After holding the bag up, he flipped it upside down, making the contents of the bag all fall out. With a sound that made one think of dominoes, a bunch of items from the Pangaea continent all fell down at once.

“Oh? Are these all items with special abilities?”

“Of course. For example… this is the ‘Blinding Ring’.”

Kang Chul-In took out a white ring from the bag.

“The ‘blinding ring’?”

“It blinds the enemy for 3 seconds perfectly. Although it isn’t of much use against monsters, I think it could be effective for self-protection.”

“How do you use it?”

“Like this.” Is what Kang Chul-In said before putting it on his right index finger and pointing at one of Old Man Kwon’s underlings.

FLASH!

It seemed as if white sparks flew.

“Arghh…”

The underling of his grabbed his face and rolled on the ground in pain.

“MY EYES!”

The only bad thing that the underling did was catch Kang Chul-In’s eyes. He became a lab rat because of that. No wonder why they called him a gangster.

“Y-you…”

“There are no side or aftereffects. Well, isn’t it best to experience something first-hand?”

Although Old Man Kwon was extremely surprised, Kang Chul-In said it off-handedly. After 3 seconds, the underling seemed to regain his sight and felt confused.

“Hmm… It really is effective, but I think it’s a bit over the top.”

“Well, I think they are better than using Gas Guns for self-defense.

“You are right… but the only good thing about this country is copying and taking. Since guns, swords, and other weapons are banned here, the government would try their damnedest to take it from us. No matter whether it has any way to kill or not.”

Although he sold guns to the Chinese and Japanese criminal syndicates, it was something sensible coming from Old Man Kwon.

“Well, there really were some problems that came from that in the past.”

Kang Chul-In thought of the things that happened in his past life after Old Man Kwon brought up the topic of selling.

It was too early.

He needed more time.

As the spec and power of the dimension travelers rose, the items’ ranks would go up, and the government’s intervention would grow weaker as well.

Now was not the time to take the world by storm.

“Then, another one.”

He had brought a variety of items. Although some weren’t items used for attacking, there probably was something here that could be mass-produced.

The conversation grew longer.

“What’s this?”

“Hmm… Not this.”

“It’s too expensive.”

“There would be problems if you sold this.”

There were many discussions going on.

“What’s this? Is this for drinking or for applying on the skin?”

Old Man Kwon took out a flask that contained a milk-like liquid inside and shook it.

“It seems to look like ‘that’. Are you sure this is not a drug?”

Kang Chul-In knew what Old Man Kwon was thinking.

Old Man Kwon probably thought what was inside was something similar to propofol (a drug that you inject in your body to get high). It was fitting for someone known as the King of the Underworld.

“Ha. The way you think.”

He smirked.

“Some people can only see some things.”

“Eh hem. Kuhum.”

Old Man Kwon started making fake coughs with an embarrassed face.

“This is a liquid extracted from the Talking Tree.”

Kang Chul-In explained.

“Talking tree? Extraction?”

“As I said, it’s a liquid taken from the Talking Tree.”

“What is the Talking Tree?”

“It’s literally a tree that talks.”

“… Unbelievable.”

“It’s not that it talks because they have thoughts. Just that they read the brain waves of the nearby humans. After that, they can talk, so people decided to call it the Talking Tree.”

“Ooh. The Pangaea continent truly has many things. Fascinating… What does this liquid do then?”

“You can learn languages.”

“What?!”

Old Man Kwon’s body shook.

“A-are you serious? Speak in greater detail.”

“After you drink this liquid and you think of a language, it’s like data about that language comes into your body. If you drink one every day, you would be able to learn one language within a week. If it’s something many people speak, like Chinese or English, it would only take around 3-4 days.”

“This is it! It’s this!”

“……..?”

“Let’s do it with this!”

“Is this really that good?”

“Of course! Korea is the haven of academia as well as education. Things like TOEIC (English test for international countries) cause people to spend a bunch of money on it. With this, we would be able to earn a bunch of money!”

“……..!”

From the Old Man Kwon’s words, Kang Chul-In seems to understand something too.

Yes.

South Korea really was the haven of education. It was a country where people went into serious debt and risked the future to let their children get a better education. By selling the liquid in a country like this, they would be able to dominate the education market in not just Korea but also in other countries.

“And there is no need to worry about regulations either. If it’s good for their children’s education, Korean parents would make their children eat whatever. If the government tries to regulate this, they would taste some of their own medicine. Kukuku.”

Old Man Kwon spoke as if he had already achieved his dream.

“I will create an academy. I will allow the students to drink this liquid and make a curriculum for them!”

“As well as a business for adventurers.”

“Yes, that’s right! Now, I understand what you are truly talking about. This business is truly one that will let the goose lay the gold egg! There are infinite possibilities that can branch out from this! By using this extracted liquid as a signal flare in order to gain the people’s trust, it would be easier when selling new items.”

“This is just the beginning. Old man, you don’t need to try and rush.”

“There will be regulations. Although the plan of the academy is great, there will be regulations and rules made against it.”

Yes, he was right.

It would be a fight. A tough and long fight.

But that was obvious. Living life itself was like participating in a cruel battlefield.

It was a society of infinite battles.

The second you were out of your mother’s womb, it was a competition, a competition against all odds.

Starting from primary school was a fight of grades until one fought for salary when one was an adult, a fight to get a job after college. Especially Korea in the 2020s was an era when competition was very ruthless.

In an era like this, they had to wage war in any way possible.

“I will help you,” Kang Chul-In said.

“However, I won’t do absolutely everything. This is not my fight, but yours. The one controlling this business will be you, not me.”

Kang Chul-In’s fight was in the Pangaea continent. He had no time to wage war against the civilians of earth.

“Your words, I understand them well.”

Old Man Kwon took his wrinkled fists and gripped them hard.

“Just leave it to me. I will succeed.”

“Of course you will. If you fail…”

“You will immediately switch partners.”

“You know me well.”

“Looking at you, I think of my elder brother of yesteryear when he had yet to pass.”

“……?”

Old Man Kwon started talking about the past.

“He was not just a businessman, but an emperor. He had more charisma than anyone and was absolutely strict in management. I know what you are going to do to me if I fail. But I also know how you will treat me if we succeed.”

Talking about it, Old Man Kwon said.

“Thank you.”

“…….?”

“From this conversation, I can tell how our future business relationship and business will be like. With this, I truly will be able to leave the underworld and clean up. My dream will finally come true. For letting me escape my fate of being a criminal, thank you.”

Kang Chul-In didn’t respond. He didn’t know much about these kinds of conversations after all.

“Eat this meat later.”

He handed some of the Peacock Dragon’s meat to Old Man Kwon.

“What is this? Is it steak? Are you trying to revitalize this old man?”

“It’s dragon meat.”

“……!”

“It’s good for your health. Don’t eat things like Ginseng or Viagra and eat this instead.”

“I don’t eat Viagra…. yet…”

Old Man Kwon tried to make an excuse when Kang Chul-In’s phone started ringing. He saw that there was a message from Park Doo-Sik.

“…….!”

However, Kang Chul-In’s face turned stiff when he saw the message.

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