Chapter 180

*** A New Daily Life ***

Unless there was some special occasion, a president’s security detail constantly operated with the greatest diligence. After all, the president was the figurative representative of their nation, and if they were ever assassinated, the ensuing instability could usher in major changes that may alter the country’s fate.

The security team that protected the President of the United States always conducted on-site pre-screenings, called ‘Advancing,’ several days prior to the President’s scheduled appearance. Their task was to search the vicinity for locations where explosives or snipers might be hidden.

The President’s Private Detail, or PPD, agents performed security missions near the President and were prepared to take a bullet for them; they also received special training in various assassination situations, such as car bombs and chemical weapons.

In addition, the presidential security vehicle, code-named ‘Beast,’ was uniquely made for security purposes. It also acted as a high-tech device that had a bomb detector, oxygen supply, self-recovery fuel tank, and the ability to operate even after its tires were shot and blown out. There were only two things the vehicle couldn’t do: fly and float on water.

Unless an organization spent a fortune, took advantage of an unexpected opening, and could deploy a plethora of spies, it was virtually impossible to approach the President. It was even more unlikely that anyone could sneak into the President’s private room.

“Hello, sir.”

“What… who are you? How did you get in here?”

***

The President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Yoon Hyeon, had just entered the Korean government’s version of the Oval Office when he looked back in surprise. Instead of shouting, he expressed confusion. Unless the head of his bodyguards went rogue, there was no way someone could enter the office without him knowing in advance.

Yoon Hyeon responded calmly. If the other person wanted to harm him, provoking the trespasser wouldn’t help. Thus, he reached for the emergency button hidden under his desk. Once pressed, his security staff would rush in immediately, but at that moment, he froze.

“Don’t do anything stupid, and listen to me, sir.”

The young man hiding behind the door, Yongno, already had glowing red eyes.

***

In the modern world, no one had supernatural abilities. This was best seen when James Randi searched for supernatural beings for several years in a television show called [Challenge: $1 Million to Find a Supernatural Being]. In the end, he was only met with scammers, and as such, James Randi concluded that supernatural beings weren’t hiding amongst everyday people; they didn’t exist in the first place.

Humans today didn’t possess spiritual meridians or pathways, so there were essentially no beings with special abilities. This also meant that objects and animals didn’t have special powers either, let alone superpowers. Due to this lack of supernatural beings, if someone could use extraordinary powers in modern times, no one would be able to stop them.

With teleportation, the Magic Eye’s mental suppression, and invisibility, Yongno could come and go anywhere as if it were his own home. Materials such as silver and lead also existed in other worlds, and they had intrinsic magic resistance properties there. However, on Earth, this property didn’t exist in those metals. Even if someone were to hide in a nuclear bomb shelter, Yongno could easily find and subdue them.

As a result of this characteristic, no matter how powerful someone was, in front of Yongno, they were defenseless.

In other words, Yongno could approach the president of a nation with the same ease as going up to a homeless person. Nothing could stop him. Since this was the case, Yongno decided to use his abilities for maximum results. In the United States’ capital… in the Oval Office….

“As you may be aware, my existence is considered one of the United States’ top secrets. I am the only supernatural being that exists on Earth. Communication with me is only possible from the sitting President directly contacting me. So, how would you define our relationship?”

“As President of the United States of America, I respect and maintain a cooperative relationship with you for your mighty abilities. The world may not know, but you have saved America from utter meltdown and chaos many times.”

“These are documents describing my actions. I live by the principle that ‘If there is a problem, fix it and document it.’ So, I keep a record of everything.”

“Of course. You are America’s friend.”

The President of the United States nodded calmly. His expression didn’t have a single iota of confusion, and Yongno smiled after seeing that his special abilities were properly working.

“Don’t contact me too often. However, I’ll allow you to seek advice from me in case something beyond your understanding or control arises. Oh, and who has the power to control the USA from behind the scenes?”

“Carls Mayer von Rothschild of the House of Rothschild, Charlie Harrison, president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and….”

From the President’s mouth, all kinds of influential people were named, one after another. Each individual possessed enormous power and could easily shake the world’s economy. Yongno memorized the names and continued asking.

“How can I meet them?”

It was difficult to talk to the people named, but Yongno wasn’t worried. This was because, no matter who they were, it wasn’t easy to ignore a request coming from the sitting President of the United States.

***

Just as he did in Seoul, Korea, and Washington DC, Yongno traveled around the world for about a month and met the leaders of the major powers: the United States, Russia, Japan, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. During his trip, he ensured that he left a firm, notable image in each of their minds.

Of course, in the mundane modern world, Yongno’s ability to use martial arts, aura, and summoning skills were exceptionally powerful powers, but his greatest advantage was his ability to psychologically manipulate anyone. With no countermeasures against the mind-controlling Magic Eye, modern humans had no choice but to do as Yongno wished. If he wanted, Yongno could even rule the Earth as its god.

‘However, that’s assuming there aren’t any existing divine beings.’

Regardless, Yongno never publicly revealed his existence. Despite contacting the world’s most prominent figures to instill the importance of his safety, his presence had not become common knowledge. In fact, it was considered top-secret information. Moreover, Yongno had other backup measures in place, so even if his presence were leaked, those in power would go to extreme lengths to stop and control the flow of information.

‘Yet, why are the DIO developers so quiet? They haven’t stated anything or confronted me in-game….’

Even Yongno, with his genius mind and capabilities, didn’t expect such a response. What Yongno didn’t know was that Tan’s rebellion to overthrow Jenica, DIO’s first developer, led to a period of uncertainty and uproar within the executive ranks of DIO.

The dragon species, which possessed the greatest authority among the many forces that comprised the [Union], cooperated with the Noblesse and forcibly took control over DIO. However, other groups in the Union opposed these actions and were trying to keep the dragons and Noblesse in check.

Although these other forces were also powerful existences within the Union, they couldn’t ignore or directly contend with the Noblesse, so they didn’t immediately rush into DIO. At the same time, however, other powers were able to restrict the Noblesse from entering and influencing Earth, a Second Stage Civilization.

Moreover, there was Union Law (or Union Agreement). This was an agreement meant to create balance amongst numerous species and transcendents, and like modern law, it was a rule that everyone had to follow, even high-ranking and all-powerful beings.

Within Union Law, there was a clause that stated, [No interference from any higher civilization is allowed on a planet that has not entered the Third Stage of Civilizations]. This law was created to prevent civilizations with advanced scientific powers from subjugating lower-stage civilizations.

When life appeared on a planet, it was deemed a Zero Stage Civilization. This was the most basic and primitive stage. Then, as soon as these beings could use fire or other energy sources, they entered the First Stage of Civilization. When science and technology advanced and made it possible to contact others through networks, like the internet on modern Earth, the planet entered the Second Stage of Civilization, the information age.

A civilization was considered a Third Stage Civilization when it could conduct interstellar movement, and its residents could leave their home planet for another place. It was in the Third Stage of Civilization when it became possible to manipulate space and open a Warp Gate. Then, as civilization started dealing with the concept of time, better understood the structure and fabric of the world, and when universal information integration became possible, a civilization entered the Fourth Stage of Civilization.

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, Earth was a Second Stage Civilization, as it couldn’t readily travel to its own moon at will, let alone use a Warp Gate. As such, external interference on Earth was clearly illegal under Union Law. Of course, the formidable Noblesse were known to commit illegal acts from time to time, but as the other major forces vehemently voiced their protest, especially from the Spirit World, the Noblesse had no choice but to withdraw from Earth. Obviously, DIO was still operating on Earth, but any further interference by the Noblesse would be a challenge.

When Yongno reconciled with Merlin, they unknowingly took advantage of that brief opening made by Tan’s uprising against Jenica. If Yongno had done something similar before the hostile takeover, the DIO developers, including Tan, would have focused all their attention on Yongno and investigated how he could use his special abilities in real life. However, now that everything had already happened, there was no way for Tan and the others to know of Yongno’s awakening and current state.

Of course, Yongno was unaware of the unstable situation and felt uneasy for a while, but once he found that there was no pushback, he started moving in earnest. Even if he didn’t know what exactly was going on, he possessed unnatural intuition and reasoning powers. From his experience with DIO’s management, he judged that they would not sit idly by after knowing what had happened to Yongno in real life. Hence, Yongno surmised that something was up with DIO’s higher-ups.

“Well, that’s why I moved quickly and with purpose.”

However, it wasn’t revealed to the wider world that he had made any move. When he boarded an airplane, he utilized both invisibility and mental suppression. Also, Yongno frequently used teleportation whenever he couldn’t utilize his other two special skills.

Once Yongno reconciled with Merlin, Yongno’s ability to use his special power in the real world increased exponentially. He could freely use magic and martial arts, and above all, his strongest talent, magic stone crafting, became possible on Earth.

Yongno had obtained a world-class network seemingly overnight, and thus, he completely rid himself of the Institute’s interest in him. If he wanted, Yongno could completely destroy the Institute, so the simple task of diverting their attention was like child’s play.

In addition, Yongno made sure to visit and mentally suppress the agents who had kidnapped him in the past, as they still had a personal interest in him. With that, he took care of any future issues stemming from those individuals. Furthermore, Yongno knew that if he was careless and left things in an awkward state, an unexpected, dangerous result could occur, so he made sure to handle things thoroughly. He was tying up any loose ends.

After finishing all this, Yongno found a new house and left his old apartment. Now, his home was a considerable size, and he lived in a detached house with a basement. Since he was already receiving financial support from various countries every month, money wasn’t an issue.

Also, Eunhye left her position in the secretive USA organization.

However, since it was difficult to get out of her contractual responsibilities entirely, it was more accurate to state that she became a contract worker to help conduct research within DIO rather than leaving her organization. Since she was employed in a secret institution, it wasn’t easy to change positions, but due to Yongno’s newfound influence, he successfully brought her back to Korea. Currently, she was living on the second floor of his new home.

In truth, she didn’t want to return. Even if Yongno regained his memories, she wanted revenge on the lab. However, Yongno easily convinced her to stay in Korea.

‘Revenge… that’s something I’ll be doing.’

If Yongno had given any other reason, she wouldn’t have been convinced, but since Yongno said that he was going to seek vengeance personally, she couldn’t oppose him. This was the correct approach anyway, as Yongno was the victim. And, unlike before, Yongno possessed the strength and power to take matters into his own hands.

Yongno continued to train and research to develop his abilities in real life, but he also regularly connected to DIO to continue his missions and hunting.

And so, half a year had passed since Yongno and Merlin’s reconciliation.

It was now July.