I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 115

115

“He’s coming!”

“Wow, I never thought I’d see a celebrity this close. This is awesome!”

As Elijah Rowe’s vehicle approached, the Yanghwa Guild members began to move more busily.

Shin-hwa stood at the end of the line of Guild members, away from the executives.

Since he wasn’t an executive and planned to leave the Guild soon, he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.

The Guild members were so focused on the situation outside that they didn’t even notice Shin-hwa behind them.

Besides, even if they did, Shin-hwa was a celebrity, but perhaps because he belonged to the same Guild, they didn’t seem particularly amazed by his appearance.

‘This is crazy.’

Meanwhile, Shin-hwa was keenly aware of the ring’s resonance intensifying.

To an outsider, it would seem like he was just wearing a ring, but it was different for Shin-hwa.

He could constantly feel the vibration of dimensional energy through the finger wearing the ring.

Moreover, the unique energy within the ring reacted with the mana [magical energy] in his body.

It was a rather unpleasant sensation, like facing the chill of the abyss.

Soon, Elijah Rowe entered.

Welcoming the guest of honor was Jin Sung-tae, the other key figure of the day.

And with his introduction, the executives took turns greeting Elijah.

His forehead was exposed, with his black hair swept back in a neat all-back style.

With blue eyes like sapphires and a stylishly grown beard around his mouth.

Elijah Rowe had such a handsome appearance that it was easy to mistake him for a Hollywood actor.

The image in the montage only showed his unadorned face, so there were some slight differences.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about Guild Master Seo Ye-hee. You’re going through a lot.”

“Ah, is this the Chairman’s daughter? She’s beautiful. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Elijah greeted each of the executives introduced by Jin Sung-tae in a friendly manner.

The conversation was entirely in English, but Shin-hwa, who was fluent in eight languages, had no problem understanding it.

“I heard Elijah donates a lot.”

“I heard he does a lot of good deeds too. He even went to Africa to help build wells and provide medical services.”

The Guild members’ reactions were full of praise for Elijah.

Shin-hwa had no way of knowing his true intentions, but Elijah’s public image was very good.

Shin-hwa thought it was just image-making, considered an essential element for celebrities.

‘Should I do some packaging too?’

Shin-hwa chuckled to himself.

Image-making… If he had to, he would, but he didn’t want to do anything pointless by putting on fake pretenses.

Of course, recalling his past life, Nicholas would unleash all sorts of ‘BS’ [bullshit] on the Nine Lords team members until the camera lights came on.

Once filming started, he would put on an angelic smile and act like the kindest person in the world.

Perhaps Elijah and Nicholas had something in common in that regard.

Meanwhile.

Elijah, who had started moving with Jin Sung-tae’s guidance, approached within a few meters.

Shin-hwa could see it.

Elijah was sharing friendly greetings with a good-natured smile, but he was also diligently searching for someone.

Shin-hwa read his emotions in his busy eyes, seeking out his ‘kin’.

Just then.

‘Elijah, bite the bait. Let’s see what you’ve got.’

Shin-hwa brazenly rolled up his sleeve, naturally revealing the ring on his left hand.

It was shown off so openly that even a glance would catch it.

The next moment, as if drawn by a magnet, Elijah’s head turned sharply, his gaze fixed on Shin-hwa.

“…….”

Gazes met in silence.

A smile formed on Shin-hwa’s lips as he stared at Elijah.

Shin-hwa’s smile, more relaxed than ever, revealed an unyielding confidence.

‘Bite it. It’s a sign that only we know, isn’t it?’

Shin-hwa conveyed a silent, intense message to Elijah with his eyes.

And there was a reaction.

“Oh, Chairman Jin. Isn’t this Kang Shin-hwa, the pride of the Yanghwa Guild and a promising Korean prospect?”

“That’s right. Kang Shin-hwa, why are you standing over there? Come over here.”

Jin Sung-tae, surprised to see Shin-hwa, whom he didn’t expect to be there, greeted him and introduced him to Elijah.

“Oh…….”

“Two handsome men from Korea and the United States are caught in one frame. What a great picture!”

The attention of all the Awakened [people with supernatural abilities] on the scene was focused on the two of them.

However, thanks to Shin-hwa being much taller than Elijah, the picture looked a bit better on Shin-hwa’s side.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kang Shin-hwa.”

“I’m Kang Shin-hwa. I’ve heard a lot about Elijah Rowe. It’s an honor.”

Elijah extended his left hand, wearing the ring, to shake hands, and Shin-hwa also grasped his hand with the ringed hand.

“I can definitely feel an extraordinary aura from Shin-hwa.”

“Even so, I’m just a rookie who still has a long way to go to match Elijah’s skills.”

Wooong! Woo-woo-woo-woong!

The ring’s intense reaction resonated madly from within, unseen!

Everything became clear from the two hands clasped together.

The two rings that had crossed dimensions recognized each other in one place.

* * *

Four hours later.

A banquet was held in the grand ballroom located in the Yanghwa Building.

Not all Guild members attended, but only team leaders and higher-ranking executives of the Guild were present.

According to Jin Bo-mi.

For four hours, Jin Sung-tae and Elijah had been in a closed-door conversation in the conference room.

It was probably about coordinating detailed business matters.

As someone who would soon be an ‘outsider,’ I didn’t have access to that information, so I just assumed that was the case.

Only one piece of information was officially reported to the outside world, but its impact was significant.

[Yanghwa Group signs a large-scale contract with Elijah Group for 1 trillion won [approximately $750 million USD] worth of security construction and architecture!]

That was the content of the data that each media outlet rushed to report around the start of the banquet.

With this scale, it was understandable that Jin Sung-tae had rushed out barefoot to welcome Elijah.

Anyway, I, as a Guild member without a position, wouldn’t normally be able to attend a meeting attended only by team leaders.

However, Jin Bo-mi returned to the office, saying it was a ‘special request’ from Elijah Rowe, and took me to the banquet.

“I came in a hooded zip-up and jeans, thinking of cleaning up the office, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“What does it matter? Shin-hwa doesn’t care much about what he wears anyway, right? That’s part of his charm.”

“I guess so… By the way, you look beautiful. This is the first time I’ve seen Bo-mi dressed up like this.”

“Hehe, do I look pretty?”

“You do. Clothes make the man, and the person wearing those clothes is an angel.”

“Oh my! Are you praising me as an angel with wings right now?”

“I’m saying it because you really are pretty. If you weren’t, I would have kept my mouth shut and followed you quietly.”

I nodded, watching Jin Bo-mi, who was beaming with pride.

I had never seen her dressed up before, as she always pursued comfortable clothes like me.

But today was definitely different.

It felt like she was showing off her unique dignity and aura.

“Oh, right, Shin-hwa. About the Krivia Island purchase I asked you about earlier. I have something to tell you regarding that.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. The progress seems to be fine. However, the Kingdom of Rolana, the actual owner of the island…”

“It seems they’re asking for a separate contribution and voluntary investment.”

“That’s right. They’re definitely asking for a piece of the pie.”

Kingdom of Rolana.

It is a monarchy in the South Pacific that owns Krivia Island, which I want to purchase.

With a population of 430,000, it owns many large and small islands in the South Pacific.

The land area is about 10 times the size of Jeju Island [a large island in South Korea], so it is by no means small.

“Say we’ll pay it. We’re not just buying the island, and if we’re going to build there, we’ll need a lot of local workers from the nearby Kingdom of Rolana.”

“It seems like it will be at least 100 billion won [approximately $75 million USD]. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“We can always earn more money.”

I nodded coolly.

This is not a matter of saving money.

It’s about the relationship with the country that has influence over the island where I’m going to retire.

In addition, although we say purchase or acquisition, it is actually closer to ‘long-term lease’ of the island.

Of course, the lease period is usually set at 100 to 200 years, so it is practically the same as a purchase.

Anyway, since it is officially a long-term lease, the relationship with the ruling country was very important.

In other words.

If we can win the favor of the higher-ups there, our future plans will be much easier.

Wiiiing.

The closer the elevator got to the banquet hall, the more the ring resonated again.

As I unconsciously fiddled with the ring, Jin Bo-mi asked curiously.

“What kind of artifact is that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much. It’s a ring for physical strength assistance.”

“Is the ring next to it a Blink Ring?”

“That’s right. I got it from Park Hyung-san.”

“I still think it’s so cool! Shin-hwa eliminated Park Hyung-san, who was so hard to catch…”

Just as Jin Bo-mi’s unexpected praise was about to continue, the elevator arrived at the banquet hall at the right time.

‘Can’t I stop this damn ring somehow?’

My finger was tingling because it kept reacting violently from the moment Elijah appeared.

I guess he’s the same.

However, judging from the fact that he even made a special request to call me.

It seemed that there was definitely an effect of showing off the ring in the first greeting.

What will he say to me?

I was curious about what he was thinking.

* * *

The banquet atmosphere quickly ripened amidst the friendly conversations.

It was a place where only the executives of the Elijah Group and the Yanghwa Guild gathered, so the quality and level of the stories were high.

Among the contracts that Elijah and Jin Sung-tae signed today, there was also a cooperation agreement between the two guilds.

Since the two guilds will have to cooperate in the future, it was natural that the atmosphere was good.

Quite a few Awakened people spoke to me as well.

They were members of the Elijah Group, and they were very interested in me, a promising Korean prospect, and eagerly took commemorative photos.

And they were diligently posting on SNS [Social Networking Services], proudly showing off their meeting with me.

Just then.

Ttak. Ttak.

With the sound of restrained footsteps, Elijah Rowe approached me.

As he approached me, all the Awakened stepped aside as if the Red Sea had parted.

‘The guy’s rank was known to be SSS- 5 years ago. Then… he could be EX rank now. He was definitely EX rank in 2052.’

I couldn’t easily guess his skills.

Since I had no contact with him in my past life, I was only able to speculate with some fragmentary information.

And.

“You’ve arrived, Mr. Kang Shin-hwa. If you don’t mind, could you spare me some time?”

Elijah offered me a glass of wine with a sly smile.