Chapter 36: The Passage of Time, Part 12 (Final)

(T/N: it took a whole 4 hours to do this chapter! I'm super annoyed right now ugh. I seriously hate long chapters. 5.5K words)

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"I understand, but there's something else I need. I need one more invitation, it does not matter what grade it is, as long as it is not a contract, any invitation will do. I am not asking for it for free, you can name your price for it and I will pay," I said.

"Why do you need another invitation? Are you recruiting someone else? If it is an assistant you need, then the special invitation allows you to bring one, so you don't have to worry," she responded immediately.

"There is no one who knows better than me about the special invitation. That is why I know I can bring an assistant and that spot is already reserved for you. I will not be taking you to the Tutorial with me though since that will only cause more problems, believe me. So whilst you will be my assistant, that will only be during the Neutral Zone. For now, I need an extra invitation to take my uncle there; he's in a coma and I am sure that in that place I will easily find a cure for his condition, but for that, I need another invitation," I said.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying you want to take someone who can't fend for themselves to that place? You're crazy! It is not a party or a picnic that you're going to. If you take that place lightly just because you have some abilities and were specially invited, then you're wrong. Don't make me regret my decision so quickly," she said quite exasperated.

"I'm not crazy, nor do I underestimate the situation, but it seems like you are seriously underestimating my capacity. If I said I didn't go there when they asked me years ago and I'm going now, it is because I know I'm prepared, and not just barely prepared, but I am at the level that I'm going to overcome any situation that arises," I replied while taking a pitcher of water from the table and tossing it into the air.

The water spilled and clearly, at any moment, it would fall and splash everywhere, and the pitcher would break, but before that happened, I activated [Physical Reinforcement] to the maximum, took the two empty glasses that were on the table, and filled them with the water that was still in the air, then I took the pitcher from the air and filled it with the rest of the falling water.

All before it touched the table, I placed the now full glasses one in front of Kim Hannah and the other in front of me, and in the middle, I placed the pitcher with the rest of the water. All this took only about 2 seconds at most.

Kim Hannah was clearly startled by my action of throwing the pitcher of water into the air, but seeing how I moved almost like illusory images capturing everything in less than 2 seconds left her perplexed. She rubbed her eyes to see if it was a problem with her sight, but clearly, it wasn't, and the proof was how the glasses were now full and the pitcher was half full, all in a matter of a few blinks. And of course, I made sure there were no cameras in the room before performing any superhuman act.

"You have to understand that I was not chosen just for my intelligence, but for my physical capacity and innate abilities. If I say I can go to that place while taking my comatose uncle to look for a cure, it is because I'm sure I can protect him and wander through that place without any fear. I have been preparing to go there for years and have trained more than 20 martial arts at the master level. I am titled as a deadly weapon by different masters of the highest level of the deadliest martial arts on earth," I said calmly while taking a few sips of water and looking at the open-mouthed Kim Hannah.

Bragging about my abilities is fun, and now I will be able to do it more often in Lost Paradise. It will be fun. I'll be like those arrogant young masters from the Xianxia and Wuxia stories, only without being a walking piece of trash like them.

"Alright, I admit it, that was impressive. I'll help you with the invitation, but it won't be easy. A contract is easily within my jurisdiction and rank in the company, but any invitation other than the special one that was considered my personal possession is different. I need to request authorization from above and they won't give it easily. They will ask questions and they are questions that I obviously can't answer," she said clearly frustrated.

"Let's try on the commercial side of things first. Tell them it is for someone with a lot of money and that I'm willing to buy it. Let them ask for the amount they want, if it is not something exaggerated, then I'll buy it," I said resolutely.

If it doesn't work, I'll have to call Yun Seohui and ask her for one. She is the current director of the company now that her father decided to retire publicly, but he still leads from the shadows, so I don't want to involve her directly and get her into trouble, so she will only be my last resort.

Kim Hannah took her phone and started a call, began some kind of exchange and negotiation until she finally hung up, looked at me exasperated and said, "They are willing to sell, but I tell you now it's a complete scam. They want 1 million dollars for a bronze rank invitation, they clearly want to bleed you dry."

"1 million dollars? Seriously?" I asked, clearly surprised, but not because it was a lot, if they really knew how much I want to save myself trouble and how much I would be willing to pay for that invitation, they would surely cry for asking so little.

"I told you, it's a clear scam, give me a few days I'm sure I can get one for about 50,000 dollars from another organization," she said confidently.

"No, you misunderstood me, I will pay the million dollars. I don't want to waste more time and I have more important things to do than worry about than getting the invitation. One million dollars is a low price compared to the problems I'll be saving myself from, tell them I accept," I said calmly while Kim Hannah looked at me as if I were a rich idiot who doesn't know the value of money.

"Hey, I made my own fortune, I decide what and how to spend it, besides, for me One million dollars is just pocket change... If I can get what I want without problems for that amount, then it's a good deal," I told her annoyed by her accusatory look.

"You multimillionaires really think differently. It's almost insulting to see how you just spent more money than I've been able to earn in my entire career in a moment without blinking and call it pocket change," she said annoyed as she started to make a phone call once more. I heard her negotiate and say she would pay a maximum of 300 thousand dollars and if not, she would look for another source, she talked for a few more minutes, but I didn't keep focusing on her conversation so I'm not very clear if she managed to get the discount or not. Finally, she ended the call.

"Alright, deposit the million into this account," she said and passed me a number. I made the electronic transaction and it didn't even take me a minute to send her the money. The next moment, her phone rang and she too a look at it and was stunned for quite a while as she whispered, "damn rich people."

"Done, I've deposited the money. Although for a moment I thought you had managed to lower the price during the negotiation, you know," I said intrigued, because if I had wanted to, I just had to reinforce my body to hear the whole call, but I didn't.

"Yes, I actually managed to lower the price to 300 thousand dollars. It's still much more than it's worth, but since you really wanted the invitation now, I had to concede so as not to delay you. I just sent the 300 thousand to the company's account, the remaining 700 thousand is my prize for the negotiation, or what, do you want it back?" she said the first part as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but she asked me the last part with a look of "Dare to ask me for the money?"

"By no means. It's yours, you earned it fair and square, I was just curious, that's all. I'm glad you also benefited from the deal, it shows how capable you are," I said calmly.

"Alright then. I've really spent more nerves than I'd like for one night, I don't think I can eat anymore, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave," she said sounding tired and exasperated as she handed me a bronze seal and another card.

"I understand, in that case, the negotiations have concluded. I'll send you some things I will need when I go there later," I said as I accompanied her to the exit of the restaurant. Although we did not eat or order anything, the employees treated us well during the exit. The reason is simple, even though we didn't order or eat anything, that's not their problem, just the fact of reserving the private room means that I've already paid in advance for the cost of food we could have ordered.

Now that I've finished the negotiations with Kim Hannah, I headed back home, where other more difficult negotiations await me. At first, I thought about covering up my entry into Paradise with the company I created, but in the end, I decided that deceiving my family with this would be problematic and as time passed it would get worse.

Especially seeing how Seonhwa who was abroad, found it difficult to hide her situation. So, it would be much more troublesome for me who lives in the same house as everyone to try to cover up my stay in Paradise. Once for a month in the Neutral Zone would be possible, but later on, where I would have to disappear for days at a time every so often, that would only cause suspicions and a breach of trust, so I decided to reveal to them part of the truth, that I will go to Lost Paradise.

I arrived home where everyone was waiting for me in the living room. I had sent them a message before coming from the restaurant, the message was that I needed to talk to everyone and that they should wait for me in the living room, and also to dismiss the servants for today so we could talk quietly.

After the greetings calmed down, dad was the first to speak.

"So, who's your new girlfriend, is it Yuhui? Is that what you're going to tell us? Or will it be something more surprising and you finally decided to make us grandparents again? Tell us, who's pregnant, is it Seonhwa or Roe? It better not be Seunghae, she's still young and that would restrict her chances of continuing her university studies," dad said a series of alarming things, each more alarming than the last.

At his words, everyone looked at me intensely, even Seonhwa, Roe, and Seunghae, which isn't fair... Well, it's okay, just based on my actions I already deserve the accusations in these kinds of things from the family.

I sighed and said, "It's none of that," 'yet'. I whispered the last part softly and continued, "I've made an important decision, and soon I'll be away for a month. Later, I may also have to be absent for some short periods of time," I said seriously.

Everyone looked at me puzzled and wanted to say something but I interrupted them and continued before they began to ask questions.

"I have decided to go to Roe's world. I have several reasons for doing it, but I'll mention the two main ones; First of all, the medicine that Seonhwa used to heal auntie is definitely from there, Roe confirmed it. And she is certain that in that place there are more and better medicines, but bringing them is the difficult part, in that case, I thought that if bringing those medicines is the complicated part, then I would take the easy route and instead take uncle with me there and get him healed..."

"The second reason, Roe is now my girlfriend. I will go to her world to seek justice for what they did to her and look for a way to allow our peaceful passage between both worlds so Roe can return to her home and that we can also come and go as we please."

"And I clarify, this is already decided, so you won't be able to make me change my mind about going. But if it is about taking uncle Jung with me, then aunt Seonmi, Seonhwa, and Seunghae have the right to decide whether they want me to do it or not. I promise them that I will keep him safe and make sure he is healed. But in the end, you decide if you trust me with that responsibility," I said very seriously, I think the family has rarely seen me so serious.

"Son, we have heard about the situation in that place from Roe, so I really don't want you to go there, it's a war zone, there are deaths every day and going alone will put you in danger, please reconsider," Mom said while urging my dad to say something.

"Is there no way you can change your mind?" asked Dad, clearly overwhelmed. To which I simply shook my head as I said, "I've already decided."

"Oppa, please don't go, it's dangerous. While It's true that Roe unnie told us that those who go there return to Earth alive even if they die, but she had no way to verify it. So she doesn't know if it's true. If it's a lie and you die Oppa *sniff*" Jinhee couldn't finish saying it and started to cry. It hurt me to see it but I can't not go.

"You don't have to worry about my safety. I have trained all my life and learned many martial arts, and according to what Roe said, humans who go there get supernatural powers. So if someone as well trained as me goes, surely there will be nothing that can hurt me," I said trying to reassure them, but it didn't seem to work much.

"Jihu, do you really have to go? If so, let me accompany you. Although I've never trained like you, at least let me go with you and cover your back. It is better to go with someone you can trust, I know that even if I'm just your shield I can help you. You are smart and capable, with your brain we can get out of any situation," said Hyung with determination, he would jump into the fire without hesitation if it was to protect the family. But I can't let him come, he is not made for that kind of place.

"I can't Hyung, it's better that you stay here and take care of everyone, I won't be around here that often. The entrance test alone already lasts a whole month. Besides, you have to take care of Jungseok, I can't let my nephew be too long with his father absent," I said.

"Jihu, I would really like Jung to recover, but not if it puts you both at risk. Please desist, I don't want to see my daughters sad for losing you. If Jung were awake and knew the situation, he would refuse as well. He would prefer you to be here and safe with everyone than to go to that place to take unnecessary risks," said auntie, clearly worried like everyone else.

"Sorry auntie, but as I said, I also have other reasons to go. If you allow me, I will take uncle Jung and promise to return him safely, but if you don't agree, I will respect your decision," I said sounding resigned.

"Oppa, I know you're super cool and amazing, but I'm scared. Are you really going to go? There is a war going on there, you could die, you wouldn't dare leave me a widow before we get married, right?" said Seunghae about to cry like Jinhee.

"I promise you, I'm not going to leave you a widow before we get married. Even if I die, I will threaten everyone in the other world and force them to bring me back to life. You know there's nothing your Oppa can't do, right?" I said half seriously and half jokingly to lighten her mood, although it didn't seem to work much.

"Why Oppa? What are the other reasons apart from the ones you mentioned do you have go to there?" asked Seonhwa clearly distressed.

"I didn't want to say it, but it seems I have to. I had a dream, and in my dream, several years later, we were living in peace and happiness as we are now, but that quickly ended. A kind of dimensional door opened in the sky, and from there, thousands and thousands of grotesque creatures of all kinds and shapes came out and began to invade the Earth. No matter what weapons we used against them, they were all ineffective and we began to lose. And finally, as a last resort, nuclear weapons were used, but they only did moderate damage to the main enemy forces. In the end, we lost, and the Earth was conquered in a short time, and humans suffered a horrible fate. For a while, I thought it was just a simple dream, but if what Roe said is true and if there is already a path that connects both worlds, then if that place falls, the next can only be ours," I said helplessly.

Although the dream is a lie I made up, I didn't invent the idea lightly. I have thought very carefully about the possibility, and it is real. Although the earth has the Martial God who can sweep the floor with the Parasite Queen without problems, the real problem is that the Martial God does not only spend his time on Earth, he also travels through the other world that is connected to Earth apart from Paradise. If Causality is a bitch, then surely if I don't save Lost Paradise as I was Destined to, the Parasite Queen will inevitably attack the Earth. And with Causality in force, it will surely happen at a time when the Martial God is not available to stop her, and by the time he returns, the damage will already be done. So that is a risk that must be avoided at all cost.

Seonhwa turned pale when she heard my words and said nothing more. Of all those present, she is the one who has truly experienced and fought against the Parasites and is the most aware of their power. Surely the idea that the Parasites will invade here after finishing with Lost Paradise scared her a lot, especially because she doesn't know about the existence of the Martial God.

"Jihu, on one hand it's my home of origin, on the other hand it's you, you are now the most important person in my life. As much as I would like for you to save my home, if you feel that you are at risk or that the problem overwhelms you, please back down, escape and live. I prefer to have you alive and safe than to save my home. I couldn't bear to lose my family again, I couldn't bear to lose you," Roe said in tears.

I sighed and approached to console the girls, I hugged and kissed them, and whispered that everything would be fine. Then I went to Jinhee and gave her a hug and told her that her Oppa is the strongest of all and that just like when I returned from military service with a tank, this time I would return triumphant with a dimensional portal. That finally seemed to calm her down a bit, but not completely.

"How confident are you of achieving your goals son?" Dad asked.

"100% sure," I said with total confidence.

"Good, you are intelligent and capable. If you have that degree of certainty, then I will support your decision. But if you fail, I myself will go wherever it takes and drag you back here, understand?" he said seriously. To which I nodded. Mom started to cry a little and hugged dad. Hyung could only hug Hyo-ri Noona and Junseok, who didn't seem to understand the conversation.

Auntie was discussing something with Seonhwa and Seunghae and finally asked me to take care of uncle.

Finally, the discussion ended, and I cooked them a light dinner. Even though they were eating my food, they were still sad. I could only sigh. I really would have preferred not to tell them, but in the long run, it would be very complicated to try to cover up my stays in Lost Paradise. It is better this way.

And so the conclusion of this discussion with the family was reached, then we went to sleep. Tonight, the girls and I did nothing intense, we just cuddled and slept as close to each other as possible. They hugged me tightly as if they feared that if they didn't, I would disappear from their lives forever.

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The days went by, and the final preparations I needed were also completed. We moved uncle Jung from the hospital to the house. In reality, we could have done that a long time ago, but we feared that he would wake up from the coma, and given the nature of his injury, he would need specialized medical attention as soon as he did, so it was better to have him in the hospital. But now that I will take him with me to Lost Paradise, we brought him home.

In these few days, I had to learn how to feed uncle Jung through a nasal tube. The truth is that my plan is to be able to heal him during the Tutorial if possible, or at the latest with some priest in the Neutral Zone, but if it does not work, I will have to continue caring for and feeding uncle throughout the entire Neutral Zone, which lasts for 3 months, so it was necessary to learn how to feed him through a tube and how to prepare his food.

There are 4 days left to enter, and at this moment, I am heading to the master's house. It didn't take long to arrive there and see the familiar training field in his yard and several of the newest members of The Shadow training.

When they saw me arrive, they immediately halted, got in order by rows, and greeted me military-style. I just nodded and signaled for them to continue.

I walked over and saw master Maldong sitting on a bench while watching them train and scolding one or another from time to time.

"What brings you here, kid? You haven't visited me for months now, and look, your disciple is becoming more and more troublesome every time. The other day she managed to animate the house, and we had to flee for our lives until the mana was exhausted and it returned to normal. I don't know if you saw the American movie called 'Monster House,' well, let's just say the house ended up just like that," said the old master, clearly amused and exasperated.

"Sorry master, I have been quite busy lately and had not been able to come to visit. As for Yuri, you know that there is no mortal force that can control a force of nature like her," I said in a somewhat defeated tone.

"Heh, yes, the kid definitely sounds more like a natural disaster, good nickname, I'll remember it. And by the way, I will tell her that you came up with it so that she is left speechless... Anyway, why are you here? You obviously did not come for a visit or to train. Do you need my help with something?" said the master, laughing.

"No, I just came to inform you that the time has come; I will enter that place in a few days at the opening of this month," I said seriously, and master tensed at my words and then burst into laughter.

"Well, well, well, that's good news. I suppose I'll also have to cut my vacation short and return sooner than planned. I can't wait to see what storm you will cause in that place and how you start to put things in order. I have all my hopes in you, boy."

"It's still too early to celebrate master, but if everything goes according to my plans, it won't take me long before I at least deal a good blow to the enemy and turn the board around. But don't be disappointed, master. The final changes will come after turning the board around and when it is time to bring the natural disaster with me along with the rest of The Shadow. At this moment, I will go alone to prepare the way for them," I said seriously.

"Alright, I understand. I know I can't just leave you with all that responsibility. So leave it to me to train these guys and have them ready for when that moment comes. I'm sure that with all these guys there, and with the kid and you, that place will really suffer a catastrophe of epic proportions. Heh heh, now I can feel my blood running," said the master, excited.

"It's fine for you to get excited and all, master, but don't overdo it, we don't want you to have a heart attack at such a critical moment," I said jokingly, and the old man looked at me as if I were his worst enemy.

"Bah! I'm old, but I'm like an oak. You are more likely to have a heart attack before me. Go on, finish your preparations, I have to celebrate and increase the intensity of these kids' training. I have to make them reach the level of their elders within a year," he said while gesturing with his hand for me to leave and not get in the way. I just laughed and started walking towards the car.

"Say hello to Yuri for me, she will certainly be angry because I came on a weekday when she has classes, but there's nothing to be done about that, I have very little time and many things to finish," I said before getting into the car, starting it, and heading to my next destination. A restaurant where I reserved a private room to talk to someone.

The person I invited did not take long to arrive, it was Yun Seohui.

When she entered the room and saw me, she dropped her facade of a cold and calculating businesswoman and instead, a big smile adorned her face, she ran and hugged me.

"Oppa, I missed you, I've been very busy taking over the company that the old man forced on me, and now I hardly have any free time to visit everyone," she said clearly annoyed with the situation but happy to see me.

"I'm also glad to see you, do you want us to order food first, or do you want to talk first?" I asked as I stepped out of her embrace and helped her take a seat. She did not seem very happy to let go but got excited about the question.

"Let's order food, I haven't eaten peacefully these days, those annoying old men from the company are a bunch of problems, they can't solve anything by themselves and it bothers me so much that I have not been able to eat or sleep peacefully these days. I've even hardly had time to talk to Seora even though we were starting to get along well," she said while pouting. I just laughed and passed her the electronic menu, where she began to order several things. I also ordered a few dishes.

We did not talk about anything serious while waiting for the food, just one thing or another that has happened at the house on my part or an exchange between her and her sister Yun Seora. We also exchanged a few jokes.

The food didn't take long to arrive, and we started digging in, but when Yun Seohui was halfway through her plate, she stopped and looked at me expectantly. I know what she wants, a bad habit she developed shortly after joining us for meals at our house. As she saw Seunghae asking me to feed her, she started doing the same since then.

I got up and started feeding her the rest of the food on the plate. She finished eating everything happily and rubbed her stomach, expressing that she was full. I smiled at her and stroked her head.

"What do you want to talk about, Oppa?" asked Yun Seohui. Now that she is finally satisfied, she became curious about why I invited her.

"I just want to inform you that in a few days, I will take the test to go to that place. Since you haven't come to the house in a while and you seem very busy, I decided to let you know so you won't be angry later because I didn't tell you," I said as I stroked her hair.

"Do you need an invitation? I can get you the second-best ones. If you had told me in time, I could have even gotten you the best," she said calmly while purring from the caresses.

"No, I already got it by my means, this is just to inform you," I told her.

"Oppa, will you join my group on the other side? I can promise you all the support you want, and I assure you that no one will force you to do anything you don't want," she said, expectant of my answer.

"I'm sorry, but I told you before, your organization has some very bad people who have done and continue to do bad things. In the end, I will end up becoming enemies with your organization," I said, and she shuddered a little.

"Oppa, will you also make me your enemy?" she asked hesitantly and trembled a bit as she spoke.

"Silly, you're not a bad girl, right? So why would I have to be your enemy? Instead, why don't you join me, instead of those bad old men from your company? If you join me, I will make you food more often," I said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"No, I'm not a bad girl, I know Oppa doesn't like bad girls, and you don't have to ask me such silly things, Oppa. It's obvious that if I had to choose between Oppa and those annoying old men from my company, I would always choose Oppa, but you already promised that you would cook for me more often, so you have to keep your promise, Oppa," she said as she relaxed again while I stroked her hair.

"Alright, it's a promise," I said, and we stayed like that for several minutes. But then her phone rang, and she stood up showing quite a bit of annoyance.

"Again with those old men who can't do anything by themselves, sorry Oppa, I have to go, oh, before I forget, if you go to the test one of these days look at the other candidates, I know Seora will also go during these days. If you see her in the test please help her, she is a very capable girl, but she is very proud and will surely get into trouble on her own, so again please help her. Also, you won't confuse her, she looks a lot like me, only younger, uglier, and fatter, so you'll recognize her easily." she said the first part clearly worried and the last part like someone who is saying what they are eating is horrible so as not to share it, her intentions are very obvious.

"I understand, a younger and prettier version of my Yun Seohui, so there's no way to confuse her, don't worry I will take care of her," I said jokingly and she began to pout saying that she is prettier and that Seora is fatter and uglier and that I would not like her. Then she said goodbye to me, changed her facade to cold and business mode, and left in a hurry.

Well, with that, all the people who need to be informed have been informed, now all that remains is to wait.