Chapter 222: Ganesha 1

Junhyuk was trying very hard to gather his thoughts when the phone rang. When he answered, he heard Sarang’s voice.

“Big brother! Have you returned?”

“Yes, I’m back.”

“Big brother, I had heard you’d been killed, and you didn’t come out. I was so worried!”

He comforted her cries, “I’m fine. I was waiting to revive, but the battle must’ve ended, and I woke up here.”

He didn’t want to worry her, but he pressed his temple with thumb and middle finger, trying to withstand dizziness.

“That’s a relief. But how many times did you die in the last battle?”

“Three times.”

“Are you OK?”

Sarang had died once, so she knew what it was like and sounded worried.

“Don’t worry. Champions can die five times, which means a champion can endure that many deaths,” Junhyuk said things he only guessed at without thinking.

“You were killed today for the first time, so you must be tired. Get some rest.”

“Sure, big brother.”

“Good.”

“Take me out for a meal sometime this week.”

“Sure. Tomorrow?”

“Yes!”

Sarang sounds excited, and Junhyuk smiled and said, “Get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow. Let’s do lunch together.”

“OK. Go to sleep.”

Junhyuk hung up the burner phone and opened his Spatial Bag. He pulled out the bloodstones, and the seeds and the fruit given to him by Diane.

Artlan had given him a bloodstone worth $100 million, and he had picked up thirty more smaller ones. Looking at all the things gathered there, he clicked his tongue.

“Crap! I didn’t bring the mana stones from the Dragon’s Valley.”

While fighting dragon, he had been focused on the probable appearance of his enemies and had forgotten to pick up any mana stones.

“I’ll get some next time.”

He didn’t have the $700 million mana stone, but had brought back a $100 million bloodstone and the seeds and fruit, whose price he didn’t know yet. There were also thirty bloodstones, and if he got $10 million for each, that would be a total of $300 million.

“It’s about the same amount as the Dragon’s Valley mana stone.” Then, Junhyuk put all the things bag in his Spatial Bag while saying, “This should be enough for a while.”

He had purchased a building and a supercomputer and had spent all of his money, so he was relieved that he would have some more money. He lay on the bed and complained.

“I’m dizzy.”

The feeling hadn’t passed, so he closed his eyes.

He felt like he had only slept for a little while when his cell phone rang. Junhyuk woke up covered in cold sweat and frowned, shaking his head and looking at the caller ID on his phone. Then, he picked it up.

“It’s so late! What’s up?”

“Can we talk?”

“I’ll be there on Monday. We can talk then.”

“I can’t wait. I’m standing in front of your house right now.”

Junhyuk looked outside through the interphone monitor and saw a Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 parked there. He could see Eunseo sitting inside of it.

“Wait a second,” he said and teleported to the bathroom to have a quick shower. After that, he teleported out to dress himself and went outside.

He looked at Jeffrey’s house and saw the lights were out.

“Now, everyone knows, so it doesn’t matter!”

Only Eunseo knew he was a champion, but many people knew he had been to the Dimensional Battlefield. Now that others knew about it, it was important for him to become strong so that they wouldn’t be able to control him.

That was what he was thinking about as he walked outside and toward her car. She opened the door and said, “Get in.”

He did so without speaking as he felt the need to talk to her anyway.

Eunseo started driving while remaining silent. She looked puzzled, and Junhyuk leaned back on his seat without speaking. He could endure the physical exhaustion, but his soul had to rest at that point. The window was open, and the cold wind on his face made him feel more relaxed.

Eunseo drove somewhere secluded. There was no one around and no lights. He looked up and gazed at the sky full of stars, smiling at the fact that it was not purple. He was enjoying the ride when Eunseo stopped the car.

He turned to her, and she fixed her glasses and looked at him.

“I want to hear it from you.”

“What do you want to hear?”

“I want to hear everything about the Dimensional Battlefield.”

Junhyuk laughed and asked, “Why must I tell you about it?”

He felt Eunseo shaking and he looked into her eyes and said, “We went to the battlefield together, and I felt the need to save you and helped you out. But I don’t feel like telling you about the Dimensional Battlefield.”

He knew information was power, so Junhyuk couldn’t budge now.

Eunseo stared back at him, inhaled deeply and said, “Right. OK.”

She relaxed, and her gaze looked different. She was much calmer then, looking like a businesswoman.

“Do you want money for that information?”

“Information is power. You know that.”

“Right, and I also know what it means to get the information first.” Eunseo fixed her glasses and added, “How much do you want for it?”

Junhyuk stared at her silently. The car sat two people, and they are looking at each other at a distance of about fifty centimeters. The conversation was cold and distance, and he said while staring at her, “It’ll be more expensive than you think.”

“Don’t forget I have more money than you imagine.”

He laughed. How much money she had or was willing to spend wasn’t important to him. Doyeol could pay him $500 million, and she probably didn’t have that much to spend at once.

He looked at her calmly and said, “I want you.”

Eunseo’s eyebrows twitched. Her haughty expression crumbled, and she avoided his eyes.

“What, what are you talking about?”

Junhyuk knew she’d misunderstood the situation, but he did not correct her.

“I want you.”

Eunseo gathered her breath and looked at him. While hiding her blushing face, she said, “You already have Catherine.”

She had not heard her real name, but Eunseo knew the two were close. Nevertheless, he looked at her and replied, “I want someone with power.”

“What?”

Eunseo’s demeanor crumbled, and he thought she was cute.

“Earth already has people with powers. There are those who control them, and I don’t want to be controlled by others.”

He looked intently and piercingly into her eyes and spoke the truth, “So, I need you.”

Her heart was pounding, but she hid it and looked at him. His eyes were drawing her into him, and he felt bigger that any monsters to her. With three powers and the strength to go against a hero, he was at a higher level than any other she had met before.

She looked at him and said, “I need time to think about it.”

“When you make up your mind, we’ll talk.”

Junhyuk had laid bare his intentions. He had revealed a lot, but he still wanted Eunseo.

Up until then, he had just been an employee, but now the dynamics would reverse.

He leaned back on his seat, and she started driving. With the cold wind on his face, he closed his eyes. She drove fast, and the ride ended quickly, and soon he was back to his house. When he got out of the car, he looked at her.

“Then, I’ll see you Monday.”

She stared at him without speaking. Behind her glasses, her eyes were shaking, and Junhyuk entered his house without uttering another word. After closing the door behind him, he heard the car leaving and felt that he had earned the friendship of another novice.

He changed his bedsheets and lay down.

After rolling on his bed for a while, he teleported to the basement and started training. He summoned his swords and moved around to get rid of the thoughts in his head.

He couldn’t rest just because his soul is tired; it was not his style. His swords moved in a light rhythm.

Saturday.

Junhyuk had made a promise to Sarang to meet her, but before that, he went to Guro district to see Sungtae. He hadn’t been starving himself. The floor was full of empty ramen noodle cups.

Junhyuk went inside the room, but Sungtae continued to mash on his keyboard busily, so he waited a while.

Sungtae’s hands suddenly stopped, and he got up from his seat and started dancing like a madman.

“What are you doing?” Junhyuk asked.

“Ahh!” He was surprised and landed on his butt. After collecting himself, he said, “You scared me!”

“I asked you what you were doing.”

Sungtae smiled and got up.

“The installation is over.”

“Is it operable?”

“Yes.” Sungtae was still smiling. “Look!” He cleared his voice and said, “Ganesha.”

Junhyuk looked and heard a slightly husky, but very attractive woman’s voice.

[Did you call me, master?]

Sungtae started dancing like a madman again, and Junhyuk looked at him and asked, “Is that an AI?”

“How did you know?” Sungtae asked after he stopped suddenly.

“Why are you its master?”

“I made it, so it’s only natural!”

He laughed hard, and Junhyuk walked closer to him.

“I am your employer.”

“Sure.”

Junhyuk turned to look at the monitor and said.

“Give me all of the rights.”

Sungtae smiled and said, “Certainly! I programmed Ganesha, but I needed a supercomputer to do it.” Then, he said, “Ganesha, this here is Max. He has full rights and clearance to use you.”

[Everything?]

“Correct. The same as me.”

[Wait a minute.]

Ganesha stopped for a moment, and all of the information on Max showed up on the monitor. Then, Ganesha said, [Please, tell me your name.]

“Max.”

[Your voice has been recognized. Max, you are now my master.]

Junhyuk laughed and looked at Sungtae.

“What is Ganesha’s capability?”

“Anything you desire. At least as far as worldwide information goes, it should be the best.”

Sungtae was very confident, and Junhyuk smiled. He had underestimated Sungtae’s abilities.

Junhyuk had wanted Zaira badly, but it was possible he possessed something better now.