We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 31

31

First Birthday Party (1)

‘Anything has both good and bad aspects. Human minds are the same, so how can we classify everything into just two categories? I don’t think so. Then, weren’t good and evil originally one before being separated?’

Whoosh!

A tremendous amount of dark magic suddenly surges in.

Thump! Thump!

My heart beats violently, and the evil spirits dormant within the circle go wild. Their movements suddenly become uncontrollable.

“Cough!”

“Dad!”

Soojung, who was training, gets up in surprise.

Spitting up a little blood is no longer surprising. It feels like all the blood in my body is boiling and evaporating; it would be stranger if I didn’t spit up blood.

Can I really break through the 3rd Circle now?

Swish, swish, swish.

Then, at some point, it was as if a switch was turned off, and I couldn’t advance any further.

The dark magic subsided without crossing the threshold of the 4th Circle.

“Ah!”

“Dad, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Soojung asks worriedly.

I simply wear a slightly disappointed expression.

“Soojung, I think I’ve found the path to the 4th Circle.”

“Re, really?”

Soojung looks genuinely surprised.

Well, it’s only been less than two months since I started learning dark magic, and I’m already looking at the realm of the 4th Circle, so it’s no wonder she’s surprised.

“Who do you think your dad is? I received the blessing of the Demon God, didn’t I? Hehe. I might be able to surpass it soon.”

“If Dad reaches that level, you can summon a Mage!”

“A Mage?”

“A Mage who uses dark magic!”

“You mean I can summon a magician?”

“Yes! Yes!”

I think I’ve seen such a passage before.

The moment a dark magician starts functioning properly is when they reach the 4th Circle. It not only enhances various dark magic spells but also makes things possible that were previously impossible. Among them, the most overpowered ability is the existence of the Mage.

A Skeleton Mage could use magic on its own. If intelligent ones appeared and evil spirits assisted, they could carry out complex commands on their own.

If only I could reach that level.

“Developing a deserted island would be a piece of cake.”

“Wow! Dad’s the best!”

Soojung jumps up and down with joy.

Soojung had a deeper understanding of dark magic than I did. So, she knew better what would be possible when I reached the 4th Circle.

The day of the first birthday party.

Today, I talked to the building owner and rented the entire rooftop.

The rooftop was quite well decorated, with an elegant gazebo, benches, and flower beds creating a harmonious atmosphere. It’s a prime example of how much the building owner cares about this building.

A hotel-style buffet was set up here.

Since it’s the middle of winter, it’s very cold, so we couldn’t just have the party outdoors. We mobilized some manpower to put up enclosures on all sides.

These days, there are very luxurious tents available. I bought one of them and assembled it for half a day yesterday.

Inside, I installed several heaters to raise the temperature, and the ceiling was made of transparent material to let sunlight in.

It was decorated with various balloons and banners.

[Congratulations! Lee Soo-ah’s First Birthday!]

People from the first birthday setup rental company also came and decorated the ceremonial table [a table laden with symbolic foods and objects for the baby’s future].

Tteok (rice cakes) were ordered from a tteok shop and piled on the table, and professional companies were hired to set it up. Of course, my wife was also busy preparing food from yesterday, going back and forth between the rooftop and the house.

Although relatives didn’t come, I invited the neighbors. And I called Lee Seo-kyung, and just in case, I also sent an invitation to Chief Han Cheol-soo.

I wonder how many people will come today?

Actually, the number of people isn’t important. Is the number of people important for a first birthday party? It’s just important that I can do this for Soo-ah.

Since my connections were all cut off anyway, and there was no one to come, I was planning to start the first birthday party as soon as the people who were coming arrived.

But more people are coming than I thought.

“Hello. I came from the downstairs apartment.”

“Oh, thank you. I appreciate you coming!”

“It’s a small token, but please accept it. A gold ring is too much, so I brought a half-don [a unit of weight in Korean, approximately 1.875 grams] ornament.”

“Oh my, thank you!”

It’s the couple living downstairs.

We greeted each other as we passed by, and my wife and the woman from downstairs seemed to get along reasonably well, but to bring half a *don* of a gold key. Gold prices must be no joke these days.

Seeing this, I realize that my wife’s sociability is considerable.

Besides them, ten neighbors came, and Lee Seo-kyung also arrived soon.

“President! Congratulations! Wow, Madam. You’re still beautiful!”

Lee Seo-kyung hands over a gold ring.

It’s a one-*don* gold ring.

“You brought a whole *don*. Thank you.”

“Thank you. I heard that my husband’s business is doing well thanks to Director Lee.”

“What are you talking about? It’s all thanks to the President’s skills. I didn’t do much.”

Lee Seo-kyung keeps looking around.

Then, she finds Soojung and snorts.

“Soojung!”

“A, Auntie.”

Soojung awkwardly comes over and greets her.

But what’s this?

Lee Seo-kyung hugs Soojung and starts rubbing her all over.

“How have you been? Wow, you’ve grown taller? Hehe, Barbie doll.”

“Ugh. Ugh.”

Soojung dodges her face here and there.

She was held captive for almost five minutes. When Soojung barely escapes, Lee Seo-kyung comes to her senses.

“Ahem. President. I heard that the General Manager will be arriving soon.”

“Ah, yes.”

From a slightly crazy woman, she receives a call from the General Manager and suddenly returns to a businesslike mode.

No matter how I look at it, she’s definitely a woman with a screw loose.

Perhaps she maintains a stoic mode at the company because acting so crazy makes it difficult to get promoted.

Lee Seo-kyung’s true self is probably the way she is when she hugs Soojung.

Not long after, General Manager Han Cheol-soo really came up to the rooftop.

He hands over a huge gift box, which looks heavy at a glance.

“Oh, President Lee. Congratulations!”

“General Manager! It’s truly an honor for you to come all the way here.”

“Haha. What are you saying? I’m honored that you invited such an old man.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m this person’s wife, Lisa Cotton.”

“Ms. Cotton! It’s an honor to meet the heir to a prominent British aristocratic family.”

“It’s a forgotten name already. I’d rather be called Lisa Lee.”

“Hahaha. Then I’ll call you Mrs. Lee.”

Buzz, buzz.

At this point, various rumors spread among the neighbors.

“I thought she had an unusual background, but she was a British aristocrat?”

“The Cotton family is a cadet branch of the royal family. She’s the heir to a baronetcy, right? If that’s the case, the media would have gone crazy, but did the British royal family stop it?”

“Besides, that person is the head of the H Group’s restructuring headquarters, right?”

I’m indifferent to people’s attention now.

In the past, they were interested in my wife and daughters, but today they’re just talking about General Manager Han Cheol-soo and his wife’s unusual backgrounds.

I secretly open the box that Han Cheol-soo brought.

Sure enough, there was a 30-*nyang* [a unit of weight, approximately 37.5 grams] gold key inside.

Who would say that he’s not the right-hand man of a *chaebol* [a large South Korean business conglomerate] chairman? It was truly a gift of an enormous scale. Doesn’t that person have a considerable stake in the group?

As the guests arrive, the MC announces the start of the first birthday party.

“Attention, guests. We will be starting the first birthday party soon, so please take your seats.”

Where else would the word ‘overwhelmed’ be more fitting than here?

Although there weren’t many videos or photos left when Soo-ah was born because it coincided with the time when my business was failing, I pieced together the photos that were available and made them into a video.

After the video playback ends, the birthday song and congratulatory song follow.

The congratulatory song was originally omitted, but General Manager Han Cheol-soo called singer Rien to sing it.

I’ve lived my whole life and finally see a celebrity. And it’s at my daughter’s first birthday party.

My wife holds my hand tightly.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

“There’s nothing to thank. I’m just sorry. To you, to Soo-ah. I’m just a sinner to our family.”

“Don’t say that. Where is there a life without passing typhoons?”

My wife was comparing the difficult times to a typhoon. Typhoons always pass eventually. And no matter how severe the damage, it will eventually be restored.

I’m just restoring the damage from the past typhoon.

Finally, it’s time for the *doljabi* [a Korean tradition where a baby chooses an object to predict their future].

Traditionally, money, a pencil, and thread were placed, but a little further away, gold keys were placed.

But Soo-ah stubbornly reaches out to where the gold keys are and struggles to grab the 30-*nyang* key.

She barely lifts the huge key, and even the MC looks surprised.

“Wow! A 30-*nyang* gold key! I’ve been in this business for 15 years, but it’s the first time I’ve seen such a big gold key and the first time I’ve seen a child pick it up. Congratulations! Soo-ah will probably become a *jaebul* [tycoon]!”

I scratch my cheek.

“I was hoping she would grab the pencil.”

“I don’t think that’s bad either. A 30-*nyang* gold key. I don’t think any other babies have had that experience.”

Finally, we take commemorative photos and finish the first birthday party.

I greet the guests who came.

Soo-ah’s first birthday party is finally over.

Now, as a father, I can stand a little taller. Although it’s late, isn’t it the earliest time to start when you think it’s late?

If I hadn’t left even one *doljabi* photo this time, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Still, Soojung’s first birthday party was during my heyday, so it was lavish and there were quite a few photos.

I think Soojung was already thinking at the level of an average child back then. Come to think of it, that means Soo-ah isn’t as much of a genius as Soojung. Would she be at the prodigy level?

I chuckled.

What are the chances that both daughters in the world are geniuses? I wonder if there has ever been such a case historically.

As people leave and we start cleaning up, I finally have some free time.

I smoked a cigarette on the rooftop.

“Can I get a light?”

“General Manager. You haven’t left yet?”

“Haha. I have something to say to you.”

“To me?”

What could the head of H Group’s restructuring headquarters have to say to me?

That’s a bit 부담 [burdensome; a weight on my shoulders].

“I want to hear about your plans for the future.”

The General Manager smoked deliciously even at that age.

At that age, he should be quitting drinking and smoking, but he doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. Does that mean he’s going to do everything he wants in his old age?

Anyway, my plans.

“I’m planning to start with a kimchi company and expand into various Korean food-related businesses.”

“Haha. Korean food-related business. It wasn’t just empty words that you were going to carry on your father’s legacy. But as time goes by, you’ll expand into fields other than the Korean food business, right?”

“I don’t know about that. I don’t have any plans to do that yet.”

“It’s a waste to just bury your skills and talents. So, I was wondering if the company could invest in whatever you do. What do you think?”