A Thriving Business (2)
Ordinarily, other magic power users traveled between Earth–001 and Earth–104 on average once every three months. Even at the shortest, there were almost none who went back and forth between the two worlds within two months.
However, since Seon Yul often returned to Earth–001 in less than a month, Cha Seong Hyeon was extremely curious about what kind of activities Seon Yul was carrying out in that other world.
Of course, even if he was curious, he had no intention of directly asking about it or using other magic users to investigate behind the scenes.
By now, from the perspective of the Republic of Korea Gate Management Bureau… no, from the Republic of Korea itself, Seon Yul was no longer just an individual, but a presence significant enough to be called a reliable ally.
To betray someone like that? That was unthinkable.
So instead, Cha Seong Hyeon focused on how to maintain a better relationship with Seon Yul.
In fact, Cha Seong Hyeon had already been designated as the next director of the Republic of Korea Gate Management Bureau.
Surprisingly, the current director, Jeong Yeonwoo, had already been decided as the next presidential candidate, and even opinion polls showed that he would smoothly become president.
Given this situation, Seon Yul could not help but be treated as an even more important figure.
That was why, even now as he was going to meet Seon Yul, Cha Seong Hyeon was bringing along something that could be called a gift.
A relationship cannot be maintained without effort, so Cha Seong Hyeon always tried to accommodate Seon Yul as much as possible.
“Congratulations.”
After hearing that Cha Seong Hyeon would soon become the next director, Seon Yul offered his congratulations.
“Oh, and if the current director becomes president, I’ll prepare an inauguration gift then.”
Just as Cha Seong Hyeon made efforts, Seon Yul also tended to give returns of equal value.
In particular, Seon Yul was well aware that the current director Jeong Yeonwoo and Cha Seong Hyeon had put in a lot of effort for him, so he tried his best to be considerate toward them.
In that sense, he was thinking of preparing a really worthwhile gift if Jeong Yeonwoo became president.
“Oh, the director will be very pleased.”
Of course, Cha Seong Hyeon also knew that the gift Seon Yul mentioned would not be a simple personal gift. From the start, Seon Yul was not the type to give something like a bribe, and whenever he showed consideration, it usually benefited the Bureau or the Republic of Korea. So he naturally took it as that kind of gift this time as well.
“This is the gift we prepared.”
Cha Seong Hyeon held out the present he had brought.
The item he handed over was a single round of ammunition.
“What is this?”
“This is a mana bullet developed by our Magitech Research Institute. We inserted a small fragment of a mana stone into the bullet to replace gunpowder, but development of a ‘mana gun’ that can actually use this mana bullet is progressing slowly… so it’s something we can’t use right now.”
“But I might be able to use it. Is that the idea?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Since Cha Seong Hyeon did not fully understand the mechanism of Seon Yul’s powers, he had brought a bullet-shaped mana round to show him.
However, in truth, Seon Yul did not need this kind of bullet-shaped mana round.
“Hmm… could you enlarge this and make it like a high-explosive shell used in a 155mm artillery round?”
“A high-explosive shell? Hmm… it seems possible with more research…”
“That’s actually what I need.”
After all, the gunpowder in a bullet was needed for propulsion, not for explosion after hitting the target.
All kinds of firearms, even Gatling guns, destroyed targets by firing projectiles rapidly and powerfully using gunpowder, relying on the kinetic energy carried by the projectile.
“I apologize. I thought that if it were you, Seon Yul, you’d be able to make full use of this mana bullet… I was short-sighted.”
“Not at all. Rather, I’m very grateful that you thought this much about me.”
The fact that they had gone out of their way to bring this meant they were even willing to produce it for him, so naturally Seon Yul felt thankful.
“I’ll make sure to develop the high-explosive type mana shell you mentioned.”
“No, you don’t have to go out of your way to do something that wasn’t even in your plans because of me. But! If you do develop it, I’ll make sure to pay the development cost appropriately and purchase the entire production.”
The first statement was just courtesy; Seon Yul’s true intention was fully contained in the second statement.
Naturally, after confirming Seon Yul’s sincerity, Cha Seong Hyeon decided that this absolutely had to be developed.
“But I heard that both communication satellites and mana-stone mobile phones are being produced without issues… so the reason you wanted to meet separately today is…?”
Today’s meeting had been requested by Cha Seong Hyeon, not Seon Yul.
Seon Yul had only contacted him to collect about two weeks’ worth of produced communication satellites and mana-stone phones, but Cha Seong Hyeon said he had something urgent to discuss and requested the meeting.
“A week ago, we obtained some unexpected information through an unforeseen route… and we thought you’d be the one who could analyze it most accurately, so I contacted you to ask for your help. I apologize if this was presumptuous.”
“No, not at all. But what kind of information is it?”
“It’s related to BRICS…”
“What’s BRICS?”
Seon Yul didn’t know what BRICS was.
“Ah! BRICS is an economic bloc formed by five countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa… but after the Great Cataclysm, it had practically become a meaningless organization. So I was quite surprised when it suddenly reappeared this time.”
Cha Seong Hyeon gave a brief explanation of BRICS and continued.
“BRICS… more precisely, the five countries belonging to it, have joined hands with a major force on Earth–001 and are planning to take over all of Earth–104.”
“A major force? Which one?”
The most important point in this information was with whom BRICS had allied.
“We don’t know the exact name, only that on Earth–001 it’s referred to as the ‘Empire.’”
The moment Seon Yul heard that, one name naturally came to mind: the Kanon Empire.
There was only one place on Earth–001 called the Empire.
“If that Empire is the Kanon Empire… this could become quite serious.”
BRICS… Brazil, China, Russia, India, and South Africa, what kind of terms or intentions led them to join hands with the Kanon Empire was unknown, but from Seon Yul’s perspective, it definitely didn’t seem like anything ordinary.
“Is that so? The Kanon Empire… isn’t an ordinary place, I suppose?”
“Far from ordinary, it’s the hegemon of Earth–001, and it treats irregulars… no, magic users like tools. BRICS might think they’ll benefit by receiving powerful support from the Empire and gaining dominance over this world… but from what I see, BRICS might instead end up putting Earth–104 in danger.”
“Is it that serious?”
“To know for sure, we’d need to understand their relationship in more detail… but for now, keep your distance from BRICS. There’s a high chance it could become a dangerous powder keg.”
“We weren’t very close with them anyway.”
The Republic of Korea had never been particularly close to the BRICS countries even before the Great Cataclysm, so there was no need to deliberately distance itself.
“And if possible, observe BRICS’ movements more closely. If they’ve joined hands with the Kanon Empire, there’s a strong chance they’ll do something very unusual.”
“Understood.”
Cha Seong Hyeon listened carefully to Seon Yul’s words.
Seon Yul was curious why the Kanon Empire had suddenly joined hands with BRICS. From what he had observed on Earth–001, the Kanon Empire was an extremely dangerous nation.
They never acknowledged irregulars from other dimensions as equals. To them, irregulars were merely weapons like swords or spears.
And such a group joining hands with BRICS and even letting them take over Earth–104? There had to be some hidden agenda.
‘It already felt uncomfortable dealing with them on Earth–001… and now they’re targeting Earth–104 too? That’s not acceptable.’
Naturally, Seon Yul couldn’t have good feelings toward the Kanon Empire. It was the place that had tried to capture him and forcibly put a slave collar on him, and he even intended to settle that score someday.
And now that same place was targeting his dimension?
That made it very hard to just sit still.
After exchanging a few more work-related conversations, Seon Yul and Cha Seong Hyeon parted ways. The produced communication satellites and mana-stone phones would be collected all at once the next day as planned.
Additionally, Seon Yul asked Cha Seong Hyeon in detail about the current situation in the Republic of Korea.
What Seon Yul was really curious about was Korea’s production capacity.
After all, to sell various goods from Earth–104 to Earth–001, production capacity in Korea was the most important factor.
Unfortunately, after hearing Cha Seong Hyeon’s answer, Seon Yul realized that production capacity had not yet recovered to a satisfactory level.
So this time, he asked whether any supermarkets had remained intact after the Great Cataclysm.
Most large marts had become completely emptied for various reasons, but he wondered if any had survived.
Unexpectedly, Cha Seong Hyeon said there was one place with quite a lot of goods remaining.
However, it wasn’t a mart… it was a warehouse.
“It was originally a bunker built by the head of a chaebol group who foresaw the Great Cataclysm and poured all his personal wealth into it. It was so massive and filled with all kinds of goods that it was rumored hundreds of people could survive there for hundreds of years.”
“Then doesn’t it have an owner?”
“It did. Now it doesn’t.”
“Ah… did he die?”
“Yes, he died during the Great Cataclysm. The problem is that he alone knew the password to enter the bunker and never shared it with anyone. So while many people knew its location, no one could actually get inside.”
“Couldn’t the government break in if they tried?”
“They could, but… it would take significant effort to break through such a solid bunker, and it wasn’t considered worth it since there wasn’t anything that extraordinary inside. So the government decided to just leave it.”
“Oh…”
“If you’re looking for a large mart, that place would be perfect. I heard he bought up all kinds of goods at extremely low prices before the Cataclysm and stuffed them all into that massive bunker. If you’re interested, you should check it out.”
After hearing this, Seon Yul thought it was exactly the kind of place he had been looking for.
He didn’t know which chaebol chairman had built it, but he even felt grateful to him.
“Please tell me the location. And I really can just take everything there, right?”
“You can take everything without worry. The location itself is deep in the mountains of Gangwon Province, so most people can’t even approach it.”
“Thank you.”
After a bit more casual conversation, Seon Yul ended his meeting with Cha Seong Hyeon and immediately returned to Seoul.
In Seoul, he briefly met his aunt, Lee Hyun Ah, to take care of some matters, then headed straight to Gangwon Province.
For others, even knowing the bunker’s location would require considerable effort to reach it, but Seon Yul arrived there easily and quickly.
The bunker looked even larger than Cha Seong Hyeon had described.
And he could understand why Cha Seong Hyeon had said breaking into it would require great effort.
Not only was it surrounded by thick concrete walls, but it had been built by hollowing out a mountain, making it extremely difficult for an ordinary person to break in.
“But…”
With a faint smirk, Seon Yul opened the entrance to his Absolute Space right beside it.
It was only difficult by ordinary standards… by Seon Yul’s standards, it wasn’t difficult at all.
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