CHAPTER 229: THE SEVEN STARS ASSEMBLY (5)

“Haha... So you two are a couple. My apologies.” Namgung Hui scratched his neck irritably with an awkward smile. Red scratch marks could be seen where his fingernails dug in. He glared at Kwon Oh-Jin with fuming eyes and squeezed out a few words. “Then, I hope the two of you enjoy the party.”

Namgung Hui quickly turned away and practically fled the scene. Even as he returned to his seat, he kept stealing glances at Song Ha-Eun sitting on Kwon Oh-Jin’s thigh.

Kwon Oh-Jin could hear Namgung Hui grinding his teeth from a distance.

Grit.

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled and wrapped his arm around Song Ha-Eun’s waist.

“Looks like he fell for you.”

“Hehe. Well, I’m quite the beauty, don’t you think?” She flipped her ponytail back.

“Oh, please.”

She giggled and tightened her arm around his neck. He could vividly feel her soft skin due to her revealing party dress.

“Pretty dress, right?”

“It’s too revealing.”

“That’s what makes it better, no?”

“Only if I’m the one seeing it.”

Kwon Oh-Jin took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. Song Ha-Eun wrapped herself in it and smiled sweetly.

She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, “Okay. I’ll only show it to you, Oh-Jin.”

He knew full well how painfully cheesy that line sounded, enough to make anyone cringe. Why did it still make him smile?

Song Ha-Eun giggled and ran her fingers through his hair before frowning and looking at the empty table.

“But seriously, did you really eat everything?”

“Of course not, I stashed some away.”

Kwon Oh-Jin revealed the food he had hidden with Illusion. He had also used faint electromagnetic waves to control the temperature, keeping the food still warm.

“When did you learn this kind of trick?” Song Ha-Eun gasped as if she was impressed, and slipped off his lap to sit beside him. “Cut it for me.”

“You can do that much yourself.”

“Tsk. Are you disobeying your one and only girlfriend now?” Song Ha-Eun opened her mouth like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

Kwon Oh-Jin laughed and cut up the steak, placing a piece into her mouth.

“Hehe. It’s yummy.”

“Eat lots.”

With her arms wrapped around his, she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder like an affectionate cat.

Watching this unbearable lovey-dovey public display of affection from the side, Han Jun-Man swallowed the tears welling up in his eyes with a deep sigh.

“Life is unfair... but I guess it’s my fault for being this old and never even being in a relationship.”

Tonight felt lonelier than ever.

***

The next day after breakfast, Kwon Oh-Jin met with Han Jun-Man to ask about the day's schedule.

“So I just need to be at the conference room on the fiftieth floor by 12:30?”

“Yes, that’s what I was told.”

Han Jun-Man handed him the schedule provided by the assembly, but Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t understand any of it in Chinese.

“Did you study Chinese, Jun-Man?”

“Yes. Although Astral Relics can help with interpreting, they can’t help with reading or writing. I also speak some English, Japanese, and Russian.”

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at him in surprise. “Oh, wow.”

Han Jun-Man looked like the farthest thing from an intellectual with his healthy tan complexion, gorilla face, and muscles bulging like they’d burst out of his shirt. Here he was, a polyglot fluent in five languages.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Han Jun-Man asked.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Ahem, I’ll have you know I’m an elite! An elite!”

“Haha. I know, I know.”

He wasn’t just any elite. In reality, he was already a division head in his mid-thirties and someone Chairman Han Tae-Ho fully trusted.

“Oh, and I recently reached a seven stars.” Han Jun-Man thumped his chest proudly.

“Wow, congratulations.”

“Hearing that from you, Oh-Jin, feels kind of strange.” Han Jun-Man sighed as he recalled the day he first met Kwon Oh-Jin. “Back then, you were a two-star, and now you’re an eight-star. Meanwhile, I’m only now hitting seven.”

“That’s because...”

“I know. Your case is not normal, but...”

Even after seeing it with his own eyes, the speed of Kwon Oh-Jin’s growth was hard to believe.

Kwon Oh-Jin could only nod with a bitter smile.

Thinking about it this way, it really doesn't make any sense.

Now he could understand why the other candidates gave him envious looks.

“I don't think anyone has grown as quickly as you have, except for Phecda.”

Han Jun-Man shook his head and took back the schedule.

Kwon Oh-Jin turned his head and checked the digital clock on the wall. It was 11:23 A.M. He still had about an hour left.

“Do you know anything about the other participants?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Well... I do know a few Awakeners who are considered strong contenders.”

Han Jun-Man pulled out his phone and showed him photos of the top candidates.

“First, Namgung Hui, who represented the candidates yesterday. Like his title Wind God suggests, he’s known for freely controlling wind. He’s also an Awakener of Leo like Lee Woo-Hyuk, but their fighting styles are quite different.”

If he remembered correctly, Lee Woo-Hyuk used a sword.

“Well, the Stigma of Leo’s main strength is the ability to control wind and not necessarily a weapon.”

Even with the same Stigma, the way Awakeners used them varied widely from person to person.

“The next strong candidate... is Jason Hardy from the U.S., aka the Iron Fist. He’s not a ten-star like Namgung Hui, but he’s still among the most skilled as a nine-star.”

“Is Namgung Hui the only ten-star among the participants?”

“Yes,” Han Jun-Man replied with a nod. “There just aren’t many Awakeners above ten stars, and even if there are, most of them avoid applying for the Seven Stars.”

“I guess. With power like that, there’s not much to gain from becoming a Seven Star.”

Becoming a Seven Star brought massive honor and influence, but it also came with heavy restrictions on personal freedom. If an Awakener disliked being worshipped as humanity’s hope or hero, they would naturally avoid becoming a Seven Star in the first place.

Even I wanted to refuse at first.

If it hadn’t been for the need to grow the Black Heaven, he wouldn’t have even considered joining the Seven Stars.

That means there are Awakeners out there on that level who aren’t Seven Stars.

Those types usually stayed out of the spotlight, so no one had much information about them.

“Besides Jason Hardy, there’s Orlando Vale from the UK. He’s known as an extremely skilled Awakener of Sagittarius.”

“As expected, the top candidates are mostly from the U.S., China, and the UK.”

“Well... that can’t be helped.” Han Jun-Man bitterly smiled and nodded.

China had the largest number of Awakeners overall while the U.S. had the most high-ranking ones. Meanwhile, the UK boasted the highest number of Seven Stars with Allen Oskal of Mizar, Rebecca Bell of Phecda, and Bianca Bennett of Alioth.

Of course, it would be a stretch to say these countries owned those Awakeners since only a few Awakeners were truly patriotic. Still, most didn’t want to see the country they were born and raised in destroyed by monsters. Naturally, that boosted national power.

In a world run rampant by monsters, safety is a sign of national power.

“We’ll only know their true strength once the tournament begins.”

“I truly believe you have what it takes to become a Seven Star, Oh-Jin.”

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled because Han Jun-Man’s gaze didn’t have the slightest bit of flattery, but only sincerity.

“I have to become one.”

He had no other way of stepping into the Milky Way Spring without becoming a Seven Star.

“It’s about time,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“Ah, yes. Good luck.”

While chatting with Han Jun-Man, it was somehow almost 12:30. After saying goodbye, Kwon Oh-Jin took the elevator up to the fiftieth floor.

Is it that way?

After checking the map on the wall, he prepared to head to the conference room when a large man stepped forward and blocked the entrance.

“You can’t enter right now.”

“What do you mean I can’t enter?”

“The meeting about the tournament rules and schedule began at twelve sharp. We can’t let anyone in once it’s started.”

What kind of bullshit is this?

“I was told the meeting starts at 12:30.”

“Seems there was a mix-up. The actual start time was noon.”

The man with a square jaw and solid frame firmly shook his head.

As Kwon Oh-Jin tried to make sense of this absurd situation, his eyes landed on the Shanghai Tower emblem embroidered on the bodyguards’ suits.

“You guys work under that person named Wei, right?”

“Mr. Wei is the top sponsor who made the Seven Stars Assembly possible. Naturally, we’re working under him to ensure things run smoothly.”

Ah. So that’s what it was. They gave me the wrong schedule on purpose, huh?

Kwon Oh-Jin dryly chuckled. They had blatantly mocked him in front of everyone yesterday, but he hadn’t expected them to pull something this petty too.

This was probably Namgung Hui’s doing.

He had already suspected that Namgung Hui and Wei, the assembly sponsor, had a close relationship from the fan stunt yesterday.

“So you’re saying you won’t let me in even though I’m a candidate?”

“I apologize. We’ll send you the meeting summary and tournament schedule later.”

The square-jawed man maintained his stony expression as he shook his head.

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair. “Let’s see...”

He started folding his fingers one by one.

One, two, three...

“Yup.”

Looks like this is the third time now.

“What are you—”

“Exceed.”

With electricity crackling all over him, Kwon Oh-Jin kicked the man in the stomach.

“Kugh!”

The man flew like a missile and smashed through the door, tumbling into the conference room.

“W-What the?”

“Kyaaa!”

“What’s going on?!”

The room turned chaotic.

Kwon Oh-Jin casually strolled into the room through the shattered doorway.

He walked up to the long table with twenty-eight seats and pulled out the empty chair to sit down.

“This is my seat, right?”

A heavy silence fell over the conference room.