Past Life Returner - Chapter 41

I was currently dealing with four tasks at the same time. 

Logging the hill where the F-class dungeon was sealed.

Expanding Jonathan Investments.

Establishing a new investment company worth fifteen billion dollars on the British Isle of Man.

Finding that bastard the First Evil and my last knight Kim Cheong-Soo. 

The manuscript I had finished proofreading on the plane back to Korea was the second one that I had prepared to expand Jonathan Investments. 

“The negotiations had gone well but ANC and Blue Rock are concerned that the Financial Supervisory Commission won’t approve and we are worried about that too” Jonathan said.

“I have a few things to tell you so let’s start there” I said while taking out my laptop.This novel is available on bit.ly/442AmPS.

I felt Jonathan staring at me and Jonathan noticed a difference in my tone as I had always used formal and polite language when I spoke to him. 

“Now look at this first.”

I opened the manuscript and handed him my laptop. Jonathan’s blank face slowly brightened and then he turned and stared at me. 

I was bemused. “What are you doing? Look at the monitor.”

Then Jonathan turned his head from my face to my laptop. 

“What is this?” Jonathan asked.

“It is shameful that ANC and Blue Rock  mentioned the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission. They are basically saying that it was sheer luck that you hit the jackpot” I said.

“It’s not me it’s you Sun. So…this is…umm…a manuscript. Did you write it?” He questioned. 

I sidestepped his question. “Let’s have a look before we talk.”

Jonathan showed great interest and began to read over the manuscript. His scrolling slowed down as he read and looked back and forth at me and the manuscript several times. 

“This is an investment manual not an autobiography. How can a thirteen-year-old think of this? Okay you could have predicted the trend and monopolized the position because I don’t know how a genius’s brain works. But your analysis of Predictive Modeling…damn…You don’t have a degree do you?” Johnathan asked.

There was no point in replying and Jonathan immediately answered his own question. 

“You were planning on revenge. Whoa this is something. Everyone will be blown away by this and no one will talk shit about us Sun!”

Jonathan could have over exaggerated things but everything was about the results. I applied theories I remembered from my past life that had not yet been published by the actual authors to explain our investment strategy to clients. That was why it looked so plausible. I had downgraded the investment method from the realm of God to the realm of genius investors. 

I pointed at the monitor. “Look I’m not the author and I left the preface empty. So put your story from childhood until now there including why you became a manager and how you got into Wall Street.” 

Swoosh. Swoosh.

As expected Jonathan shook his head roughly at my words which was a clear refusal. 

“Do you know the Asian concept of Yin and Yang?” I asked.

“Yes to some extent” Jonathan replied.

I explained “There can’t be only one Yin or Yang since both should exist to create a harmony for things to work. I’m saying that you and I should work together like that.”

“I wish you would step out of the shadows but I guess it won’t happen” he responded.

“Yes that argument is over for today. Don’t think that you’re stealing my credit because you’re just doing something that I can’t” I added.

He retorted “Until you become an adult.”

“Yes so enjoy it while you can and don’t regret it later. I’m sure the moment will come when I have to get it back” I said.

I had grown apart from my childhood friends when I studied abroad in England for several years and worked as a manager in New York. Since then I only had colleagues and it was the same when I had become an Awakened.

Friendship could never exist between the Awakened and it was the same for Jonathan and I. Back then our relationship had been all business so we had shared profits and points not friendship. I had thought that would remain the same in this life but the current Jonathan was different from the one in my memories. His nature right now didn’t belong in Wall Street as he was emotional and gentle. 

When he asked me to become friends apart from business partners I thought that I could afford this luxury just once….

***

Jonathan had returned to New York with the manuscript yesterday and it was quiet compared to when he arrived in Korea. It was because the political and business figures who welcomed him were at the inauguration ceremony of the new president. The news that he left the country was briefly covered in the daily newspaper the next day.

That morning my email inbox was piling up with pictures of Bobbys from New York and there were greeting emails from Carl and Jane’s staff and the progress report from Gillian who had returned to England. However the news I had been waiting for the most was delayed.

< Seon-Hu: Hey Mr. Choi. Is there still a long way to go? >

< Mr.Choi: Oh I’m sorry. It snowed last week. When will you be able to visit the site? We shaved it very cleanly and you’ll be satisfied. >

< Seon-Hu: I’ll leave right now. >

I drove a car I had rented under Jeon-il’s name. During this period the traffic cops were more interested in cash than checking a driver’s license so I was fine as long as I avoided big accidents. 

As Mr. Choi had said the hill had turned into a big hideous blob. Since the mountains around it were all green and covered with trees the hill caught my eyes. It was a relief that the three-story village hall had been completed first. 

I passed the new building as I drove into an alleyway. I saw Mr. Choi waiting for me at the base of the hill.

“I like it. I’ll send you the rest of the payment by tomorrow” I said while looking up at the bare hill.

“When will you proceed with additional construction…?” Mr. Choi mumbled.

“That’s a much bigger scale. I’ll put your firm on the list but there’s a high chance that you won’t be selected” I responded.

“Oh…Is that so…” His body drooped down.

“By the way have you seen a rock? It looks like an eagle’s beak and is about ten meters wide. Somebody must have noticed it it looks pretty unique” I said.

Mr. Choi asked me to wait and ran to the workers then came back with a middle-aged laborer. Fortunately I didn’t need to search the entire hill. We drove up to the hill with Mr. Choi’s truck then moved based on the laborer’s memories. While the dirt under our feet tended to crumble we still made much faster progress than when I was in the forest full of thorn bushes.

Suddenly I saw the rock even before the laborer pointed at it. It must have popped out after all the weeds and trees were blown away. It was just as I remembered. I couldn’t forget it since the thoughts I had while passing under that rock were still as clear as if they had happened yesterday. 

Wouldn’t there be a chance to run away if I break that rock? But can I even break it with my ability? Shit…If I had managed to rest I could’ve outrun these officers…No…if my Strength was increased instead of my Sense…

The memories of me being dragged to the dungeon under the military guard easily came back to me. I first sent Mr. Choi and the laborer back to the site then I started to mentally draw a map of the camp the military had made by using the rock as the landmark.  

The entrance of the dungeon was about two hundred meters northeast and the point that could unseal the dungeon would be somewhere in the area. I began to walk faster as my whole body became energized like I had swallowed a bunch of pills. Then I started running. 

The spots where the dirt would collapse on the ground caught my eyes even before I stepped on them. It reminded me that I had been an Awakened even if it was incomparable to the powerful intuition I had back then. 

Within an instant I ran up a steep two hundred yards and looked around. The dungeon must have been somewhere near there. All I needed to do was get within a radius of the entrance like how the Awakened used to accidentally discover dungeons. Then it would naturally reveal itself.  

I wandered around and found a spot where a spark of light flickered momentarily. The light disappeared as quickly as the speed it flashed. Then a notification message popped up in the center of the light.       

[You have completed the quest ‘Like the Deep Sea’.]

And another message followed!

[You have achieved the trait ‘Explorer’.]

That was not the end!

[Congratulations. You are the first to discover a dungeon.]

Another notification followed!

[You have gained a ‘challenger box’ as a reward.] 

It was not bronze silver or gold nor even platinum or diamond. A box appeared that glowed in a tantalizing way as if it was screaming at me to open it as soon as possible. I felt my heart thump and reached my hand into the rays of light to open the box.