A APPARENTLY QUIET DAY

(The Next Day – Robert's Apartment)

"Let me get this straight. You invited Anna and Sophie to my place so they could study for the literature exam without even telling me. Is that right?"

Robert, our protagonist, was standing at the door of his apartment with a sleepy face since he had just woken up. He had only slept a couple of hours after eliminating the old bag of bones as the system had asked him to do.

However, due to his great vitality, sleeping wasn't too necessary an action. Robert preferred to enjoy it, though he had to wake up early to receive a visitor.

In fact, important people were supposed to come to his place today, but he didn't expect Mia to show up first thing in the morning to tell him what she had just told him.

"Yes... so I hope you can help me with this favor," Mia, standing in front of our protagonist, clasped her hands together in a gesture of apology.

"And did you tell them it was my place?" Robert asked again.

"Uh... I think I forgot," Mia replied with a forced smile. "You know things aren't going well at my place... Besides, I know this will help with your plans."

Robert stood there for a moment, analyzing Mia's words.

"You know, what you just said sounds like I'm planning something bad that would involve those girls."

After a moment of silence, our protagonist stepped aside with a smile and let the girl in.

"Well, the truth is that your future plans don't seem to be good," Mia murmured with a smile.

Aside from the things he always taught her, Robert had shared some future ideas with her about matters concerning fashion. He told her that he planned to open his own talent agency, which would cover many fields like music, modeling, acting, etc.

So he would need trustworthy people, models who were not only beautiful girls with spectacular bodies but also knew how to think and reason.

Robert told Mia that she would be his lead actress, the "flagship" for his future agency, but she needed to start recruiting girls to lay the foundations for everything he would achieve later.

Some names like Sophie or Anna came up when Robert mentioned the girls he was interested in for that project. However, those were just words he sometimes said aloud, never concretizing anything specific.

Nevertheless, Mia remembered those words and took advantage of the opportunity when both Anna and Sophie asked her for help. With this in mind, she invited them today, hoping to help Robert get along better with them.

Perhaps this could be a good plan in the brunette's mind, but she hadn't considered some things that were beyond the information she had.

Upon entering, Mia paused for a moment, looking around as if trying not to forget what her eyes were seeing. She looked through the window overlooking a large and beautiful spacious park where the small pink cherry blossoms could be seen, as well as multiple residential buildings and other socially important constructions.

"Wow... even though it's not the first time I've been here... I'm still not used to it," she whispered. "It really is like on TV, huh."

These words did not go unnoticed by our protagonist, but he said nothing about it as he could understand why Mia was saying that.

The first time Mia came to this place two weeks ago, she couldn't believe that her schoolmate lived in such an area. The mere comparison with where she lived was already painful.

"Well, I can't deny that this place is pretty nice, but the price for having it is also high," our protagonist responded absentmindedly while heading to the kitchen after returning to his room for a moment. "Have you had breakfast yet? I'm going to prepare something to eat."

"I've already eaten, thanks."

Mia thanked him politely, but her gaze focused on Robert's back after hearing what he said. She was very sure that when he said "the price for having this apartment is high," he wasn't referring to the monetary value or anything like that, but something else.

That, coupled with his constant absences from school and his mysterious connection with people capable of granting significant favors like the one given to her family, made the girl's mind worry a bit.

"Robert, I..."

Ding, dong

Suddenly, just as Mia was about to express how worried she was about her companion's absences from school, the doorbell rang.

"Haaa... and I thought that old geezer would take longer to get here," Robert muttered with a sarcastic smile.

"Were you expecting visitors?" Mia asked with a bit of anxiety. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd be free, so I came unannounced. I'd better go."

"Well, I don't think the old man will let you go so easily, and he'll use your presence to hold me by the balls," the young man sighed, saying things Mia didn't understand. "Go to my room and stay inside. Don't make any noise; they'll leave soon."

Ding, dong

Mia didn't quite understand, but she realized that her presence might cause problems for Robert, so she complied. She grabbed her things and walked to his room. Although being hidden by a man when visitors arrived was typical behavior for cheaters, Mia believed the current situation was entirely different.

After she closed the room door, Robert stood silently in the middle of the living room.

"Haaa, I really didn't expect things to develop this way, but I have to thank the heavens for this opportunity," the young man smiled with a bit of mischief.

Ding, dong

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Good heavens, how can they be so bothersome early on a Saturday morning," Robert walked and opened the door, lazily looking at the people on the other side.

For anyone else involved with military matters, seeing this entire delegation outside their door would cause a great sense of unease and anxiety, as they wouldn't know how to react to this scenario.

And it was no wonder, for receiving a visit from General Commander Kim of the South Korean Army, along with five high-ranking military officers, would make anyone shit themselves!

"I hope you've had breakfast; I don't have enough to prepare something for everyone. Come in, make yourselves comfortable."

But for Robert, the presence of these guys was only ruining his morning!

"Brat! Show more respect for the person in front of you!" an officer in a military uniform bellowed furiously.

This middle-aged man was Major Chen of the Army, one of the most trusted people who always accompanied General Kim everywhere as part of his personal escort. Normally, this guy was someone who kept his cool in any situation, but whenever he was in front of this brat, he lost his composure due to his lack of discipline!

If it weren't for a direct order from the General, Major Chen would have already broken his legs to teach him a lesson in respect for his elders.

"Stop, Major Chen, you know the brat just wants to annoy you," General Kim raised his hand nonchalantly and silenced his subordinate.

"Good morning to you too, Robert," Kang Ham Chan, one of the people who had arrived, entered and spoke in a mocking tone. "You're supposed to get up early to train. Have you forgotten?"

"I trained at dawn today, so I've got that covered," Robert replied as he entered and sat casually on his couch. "By the way, let me congratulate you on your promotion, Captain Kang."

The former lieutenant, now Captain Kang, nodded with a slight smile and proudly raised the insignia on his shoulders to show off the distinction of his new military rank.

The rest of the people entered and sat around or near General Kim. The group was completed by three lieutenant colonels, a colonel, and a brigadier general, each with their respective escorts, and a couple of guys with an academic appearance.

Almost twenty people were inside the apartment! Despite this, the place didn't feel crowded, as there was plenty of space even for all of them.

"It seems you have no issues with space," General Kim spoke nonchalantly. "Are you enjoying the place?"

"Yep, a lot," Robert replied with a smile. "Give my thanks again to Colonel Moon for the gift, although, now that I remember, he was discharged. Too bad."

All the people present grimaced upon hearing these words, as they understood their meaning.

More than a month ago, when Robert had decided to attend high school, the Army's high command began looking for student housing near the school. However, Robert had other plans.

Without prior notice, the boy told General Kim and the rest of the officers that he had already found the ideal place to live, which surprised them. However, when he mentioned the area and type of apartment he wanted, almost everyone thought it was a joke.

Was this brat insane? He must have lost his mind if he thought the Army would spend a large amount of money to rent him an exclusive apartment in Hannam-dong.

Not even the high-ranking military officers would think of asking for something like that!

However, after most of the officers mocked him, the words the boy said left them speechless!

Robert told them they wouldn't have to rent it because that apartment had been bought by an Army colonel using embezzled funds, disguising it as part of administrative expenses for ceremonies in the name of third parties, all done to give it to a mistress.

At that moment, while Robert was telling them everything, he showed them several photos, videos, receipts, and other documentation that corroborated his story. He mentioned that if they wanted him to keep quiet, they should transfer the apartment to his name.

That was a vile and complete extortion!

How did this kid have the balls to try to blackmail the South Korean Army in this way?!

But as much as they all wanted to shoot the damn brat for such an offense, they could only clench their fists, because the mentioned Colonel Moon was not like the other officers. He was none other than the older brother of Moon Joo-jin, the current President of South Korea!

This was a really delicate situation!

And, to make matters worse, within the documentation presented by Robert on that occasion, there was more evidence of other cases of military budget embezzlement and other high-ranking officers involved, making it an extremely serious case.

If this leaked to the press, it would become a real earthquake!

It was for this reason that, albeit reluctantly, the Army's high command decided to give in to Robert's request.

However, thanks to all the documentation presented, General Kim was able to clean up the high command, getting rid of those who were not favorable to him and firmly consolidating his power.

Due to this purge of officers, many of lower rank were promoted, with Kang Ham-Chan being one of the beneficiaries.

This set a precedent within the Army, as everyone wondered how the hell this brat managed to uncover all the hidden filth.

"Well, gentlemen, let's get down to business. Early this morning, I was running all over the city, making the NIS agents spin around like idiots. However, I think we have at most an hour before they stop searching and come back here, so let's hurry up."

Hearing Robert's words, everyone nodded.