A few days after Chairman Han Kang-seong’s funeral.
I received a separate call from Attorney Shin Jong-seop.
He said he wanted to meet privately without letting anyone else know.
“Is there a reason to meet this secretly?”
Interestingly, Attorney Shin Jong-seop had even specified the meeting place for me.
It felt a bit ominous since he told me to come alone without anyone else.
But when I actually arrived, it wasn’t like that at all.
“Nice atmosphere.”
The view of the wide-open sea.
The cafe in front of it was like a painting.
Seeing this made me realize I couldn’t even remember the last time I went on a trip.
“I should go on a trip once work is done.”
Once everything is over, that is.
I set aside the sentiment and entered the cafe, my destination.
The inside was quiet, as if it had been cleared of people, and empty.
It was like he was signaling that he didn’t want anyone to know about this meeting.
“Is anyone here?”
When I called out in front of the counter, Shin Jong-seop came out from the back.
“You’re here.”
“Yes, have you been well?”
“I’ve been busy, but that’s the nature of our work. This way, please.”
We went further into the cafe.
It was already quiet with others excluded, but the inner part was especially so.
Only the distant sound of the sea echoed.
“Since this matter was a special instruction from the chairman, I moved with extra caution.”
“Special meaning no one knows about this?”
“Yes, he said not to inform the family either.”
A story not even told to the Han family.
Would it be something profitable?
Or something that could cause a fatal problem for my business.
Given his personality, it was more likely to be profitable.
He probably wanted to make a deal through that profitable matter.
‘The person is dead, yet a deal. How bizarre.’
It reminded me of the case where the dead Zhuge Liang deceived the living Sima Yi.
As I sat facing Shin Jong-seop, he poured me a cup of tea.
“This is the tea the chairman liked. Have a cup first.”
“Thank you.”
The tea tasted the same as the one I had in the study before.
I could tell it used high-quality tea leaves, but I never figured out exactly where they were sourced.
Sip.
As I quietly drank the tea, Shin Jong-seop began.
“Regarding what I’ll tell you this time, he said not to let any outsider know.”
“Who counts as an outsider?”
“Everyone except President Kang Jisung.”
A fact that only I should know.
Thinking about what ‘that’ Chairman Han Kang-seong had prepared made me tense for no reason.
“Tell me.”
“First, I’d appreciate it if you accept this.”
Shin Jong-seop pushed a letter he had been keeping toward me.
The envelope in front of me wasn’t very thick.
Maybe enough for one sheet of letter paper?
“Inside is a letter the chairman left for President Kang Jisung.”
“Can I read it?”
“Before that, there’s something the chairman left to say first.”
Shin Jong-seop spoke slowly.
“He said that the moment you read the letter, the deal with him is sealed.”
“He’s someone with a lot of greed even after death.”
“Haha, I think so too.”
“What’s the deal content?”
“Um, well….”
Shin Jong-seop rolled his eyes in deliberation before speaking.
“He said the condition of the deal is to take good care of what’s contained inside.”
“…Is that all?”
It didn’t seem fitting for someone like Han Kang-seong.
What’s inside is highly likely information.
Yet, to keep this information safe?
Information isn’t something to be kept.
It’s to be used or concealed.
And if it was to be concealed, there’d be no reason to deliver it to me.
‘Hm…. Maybe I shouldn’t take it.’
As I stared at the envelope in front of me, conflicted, Shin Jong-seop smiled and said.
“Just as the chairman said.”
“Did he leave any other words?”
“Yes. He said you’d probably have quite a headache over this.”
That old man could see the future or something.
He’s no ordinary person.
“Then there must be more he left.”
“He said it’s unconditionally advantageous to accept it.”
Unconditionally advantageous to accept.
I’m not sure if that’s from his perspective or mine.
I downed another cup of the tea in front of me and pondered.
‘I don’t know what this is now. But let’s calculate the risk of not accepting versus accepting.’
Do I have leeway right now?
Can I handle it?
After several rounds of such deliberations, I pulled the envelope toward me.
“I’ll take it, then. Since Chairman Han Kang-seong thought a lot, there must be a reason he said it’s beneficial.”
“Yes, then I’ll take my leave first.”
“You’re not confirming?”
“Since you’ve accepted the envelope, doesn’t that mean the deal is sealed?”
He smiled faintly and left his seat.
Thus, I was left alone in the place.
I took another sip of tea, then opened the envelope.
As expected, inside the envelope was exactly one sheet of letter paper.
And on that paper, only a few characters were written.
But.
“…How do you read this?”
The problem was that they were characters I couldn’t interpret.
“Not English or French, and not Chinese either.”
I even pulled out dictionaries to translate the characters, but no luck.
Just as I suspected the chairman wrote in some otherworldly language near death.
[Coordinate information has been confirmed.]
The system reacted.
My mind went blank at the system message that popped up in front of me.
Why is it suddenly?
“System, is there a problem in One Direction?”
[No. Average happiness is 35. No social issues are occurring either.]
“Then what’s this coordinate information? Did another dimension secure our dimension’s coordinates?”
[The aforementioned coordinate information refers to the coordinates written on the note you are holding, Master.]
The system was saying that the writing on this letter was dimensional coordinates.
That means…..
“Han Kang-seong was a dimension’s master?”
It was a truly shocking truth.
Grumbling alone in the cafe would just make me look crazy, so I moved to home first.
Then, I immediately checked the history of the Kangseong Group.
“Starting from the largest rice distributor after the Korean War, and investing that capital into the steel business, laying the foundation for modern heavy industry.”
This is a fact anyone can find with a little research on the Kangseong Group.
But now, it seemed strange.
“The largest rice distributor, but where did they get that rice?”
Right after the war, it was a time when Korea was receiving aid from the US military.
If distributing rice, it should have come from the US military, but Han Kang-seong had no connections with them.
Then, possibly from Japan or China?
No to that too.
Other countries were also suffering food shortages right after the war.
“Where did they get this rice?”
The question arose and dissipated like haze.
As if there was an obvious answer, so why question it.
This feeling was extremely unfamiliar.
But I’d seen someone experience this right in front of me.
“Yuha was like that when she saw the wheat.”
She didn’t question where I got the wheat from.
As if it was natural that I brought it.
“Heh, heheh.”
Only then did I understand.
That I wasn’t the only dimension master, and the previous one was Chairman Han Kang-seong.
“I didn’t know there was such a behind-the-scenes story.”
Anyway, leaving these coordinates to me means Han Kang-seong knew I was a dimension master.
‘How did he know?’
Did he approach me after knowing?
My head started getting complicated and throbbing.
“Hoo, let’s check one by one. System.”
[Yes, Master of the Dimension.]
“Can you connect a passage to the dimension at these coordinates?”
[It is possible using the apostles’ powers.]
“Then….”
I straightened my posture and took a breath.
The opponent is someone who built the Kangseong Group from zero base.
Naturally, he wouldn’t have neglected the dimension’s growth.
I don’t know to what level the civilization has grown, but I have to consider up to modern tanks.
“He said to protect them, so the possibility is low, but if war breaks out by any chance… it would be horrific.”
I don’t know what race is there, but the difference between tanks and carriages is too vast.
If it comes to that, I’d have to mobilize all forces and prepare before opening the passage.
“Gather the first apostles.”
[Calling the first apostles.]
The consciousness of three soon flowed into my mind.
-We greet the Master of the Dimension.-
“First apostles, propagate to all apostles. Gather the troops in each city and assemble them at the Holy Land from now on.”
-The Holy Land, you say?-
-Is it perhaps dimensional war?-
“There’s a possibility.”
At the mention of dimensional war, the blood noble apostle tensed up sharply, and the aquatic apostle was ecstatic.
-We’ve been in an era of peace for too long. It’s time to advance toward a new dimension!-
…Why is that one so enthusiastic.
It was bewildering, but better than refusing.
“Gather all troops as quickly as possible and reorganize into one unit.”
-We obey.-
The consciousness of the two first apostles faded quickly.
Before the Tinyfolk first apostle’s consciousness also receded, I called separately.
-Speak.-
“Prepare to open a dimensional passage to the coordinates I’ll tell you now.”
-Understood.
“System, transmit the dimensional coordinates.”
[Transmitting the information on the coordinates of that dimension.]
The Tinyfolk first apostle gained some realization and soon the consciousness disappeared.
Now, preparations are complete.
“Dimension Observation.”
When I unfolded the map, I could see troops from various cities moving at high speed.
Soldiers who had undergone formal training and various tactical drills.
The barbaric appearance was nowhere to be seen, instead giving the exact feel of a military made for war.
‘It would be good if such a military doesn’t increase….’
But since things turned out this way, I regret not developing military technology more.
If the technology had advanced just a bit more, I could have secured gunpowder technology and developed musketeers or cannons.
“But developing that and going would be too late.”
I don’t know what preparations Chairman Han Kang-seong made.
It’s right to secure information quickly and decide whether to accept them or make a deal.
As I was pondering various possibilities, the blood noble first apostle’s consciousness flowed into my mind.
-Master of the Dimension, we have gathered and reorganized all soldiers.-
“That was fast?”
-Because we’ve conducted such military training every year, it was not difficult.-
Training to gather and reorganize all troops?
You guys are doing well on your own without me telling you.
“Good work.”
-Master of the Dimension, preparations to open the passage to that dimension are complete.-
Just in time, the Tinyfolk first apostle also finished preparations.
I downed a glass of cold water and looked at the gathered soldiers through observation.
“Let’s do this. Apostles.”
-Speak.-
“Beyond the dimensional passage, there are other races. First, negotiate through dialogue with them, and if that doesn’t work, use force. Understood?”
-We obey.-
“Then go.”
The conversation with the apostles ended.
And a massive dimensional passage opened in the Holy Land.