Arena - Chapter 106

“It can be healed?”

A middle-aged white man with a long and scraggly dark brown beard and shaved head asked with eyes wide open.

Chairman Smith Maglun’s voice was trembling.

He was the head of one of America’s top political families and, several years ago, was a senator with  good backing for a presidential candidacy.

And unofficially, he was the owner of the largest majeong research centers in the world.

The Maglun family had, since long ago, been researching the ways that the majeong could be used from what was brought back by the examinees from the Arena.

Like the oil tycoon Rockefeller, the Maglun family believed that majeong was going to be the thing that would give them power in the future world’s economy.

In reality, the Maglun research center had many advances in skill/tech development and had a lot of things that were used everyday life.

If the secret of majeong from the Arena was divulged to the public, everything that the Maglun had developed off the record would all be patented and they would be able to grow rich.

Because of this, the Maglun family held a lot of influence when it came to matters that were related to the Arena.

“It was news leaked from Odin so I am sure of it.”

At the young man’s words, Smith Maglun jumped out of his chair.

“Where?”

“I heard he is a Korean examinee.”

“Contact the Korean Arena Research Agency.”

“He is not affiliated with the Korean Arena Research Agency.”

Smith Maglun smirked.

“But of course. There’s no way those pushovers would have a talent like that.”

“Jinseong Group’s Chairman Park Jin-seong has him.”

“Then give Chairman Park Jin-seong a call.”

“Yes.”

That afternoon, Smith Maglun got on a plane to Korea.

***

“Smith Maglun?”

Maglun?

I think I’ve heard the name on the news.

“He was a senator in America.”

“Oh! Right. He was a subject of discussion as a presidential candidate or something, right?”

“Yes.”

“That person is coming to meet me? So, he knows about the Arena?”

“He more than knows.”

Said Cha Ji-hye.

“You could say that he is most powerful figure for the Arena.”

“Really?”

“The research center that the Maglun family runs has made the most advances in majeong technology.”

“Then China has to be careful of him.”

“That is a given. The fact that they are moving for their own personal gain is the same whether it is China or Maglun. China is just more forward about it but if Smith Maglun put his mind to it, he is more than capable of being extremely dangerous.”

“And a person like that is coming to Korea to meet me, is he sick too?”

“I haven’t heard of any news like that. As I recall, he had no prominent health issues. He is only just in his mid-50’s so I think he has some other situation.”

Does he have a sick family member like Odin?

Anyway, having such a figure come see me so soon, it made me happy.

While I am working with smith Maglun, I have no doubt that the Chinese won’t touch me.

About later that afternoon, I get a call from an unknown number.

-Is this Mr. Kim Hyun-ho?

I’m caught off guard.

This is a young man’s voice, in the Arena language.

“Yes, it is.”

-I am the man escorting Chairman Maglun. We have just arrived at the Incheon Airport.

“Already?”

I got the news that Smith Maglun was coming earlier this morning.

But he’s already here. The fact that a figure like him hurried so much to meet me was interesting. Just how significant is his illness?

-The chairman does not wish to draw the attention of the press. We will be staying at a nearby hotel so please meet us there.

“Will do.”

I ended the call and asked Cha Ji-hye.

“Would you like to come with me?”

“I am already considered as dead so it would be best not to draw any eyes towards me.”

“I think if you came with it would be of help when I make a deal.”

I thought Cha Ji-hye would mull that over for a bit but she nodded her head.

“I see. Okay.”

We went down to the basement garage together and got in the Porsche cayenne.”

***

I parked the car at the hotel near the airport and we took a ride up in the elevator.

“Welcome.”

The man I had talked to on the phone was a tall and handsome white male with black hair.

“I am Kim Hyun-ho.”

“I am Cha Ji-hye.”

We greeted each other using the language from the Arena. The handsome black-haired man lightly smiled and led us in.

“Please, this way.”

It had already gotten dark and the stars could be seen on this terrace where a middle-aged man was seated at the table.

With a shaved head and long beard, he looked like someone from a Hollywood movie. From his suit to his shoes, his watch, everything on him looked super expensive.

He said something in English. I understood up to the “nice to meet you.”

“The chairman says nice to meet you and he has really been looking forward to seeing you in person.”

Said the handsome black-haired man. He must be in charge of translating.

Through his interpreting we carried on the conversation.

“I heard that you have the skill that healed Jinseong Group’s sick Chairman Park Jin-seong. The chairman would like to be healed with this skill of yours.”

“I would like to know what he is sick from. To be honest, he looks very healthy.”

At that, the chairman’s face turned stern.

The black-haired handsome man said.

“He does not wish to divulge that information. Is that a part of the skill that you must know in order to heal it?”

“That is not so, since it is a skill that gives life energy and treats sickness and curses. But I too cannot guarantee anything. So how about he receives treatment for one week and then decides whether to continue or stop them after the trial week instead?”

The handsome black-haired man relayed my message to the chairman and Chairman Maglun nodded his head.

“He says that sounds good. He wishes to know what that cost will be and when it can begin.”

“I cannot do it today, treatment is possible starting tomorrow. And the price……”

I let my sentence trail off and looked over to Cha Ji-hye.

Cha Ji-hye said in Korean.

“Unofficially, the Maglun family has ten times the wealth of Jinseong group.”

“Really?”

“Yes, they do. About how much have you received for your treatments since you started healing people?”

“About 40,000,000 USD, 70,000,000 USD.”

“Is what you want most, money?”

“No. Honestly, I want the money to purchase karma.”

“Then say you want $300,000,000 or an item worth 20,000 karma.”

I asked according to Cha Ji-hye’s suggestion.

The handsome black-haired man gave a look of disapproval while conversing with the chairman.

Chairman Maglun said something. The black-haired man translated it to us in the Arena language.

“You want karma.”

“Yes.”

“But getting such a large amount of karma is not easy. How about we pay $100million and 10,000 karma.”

“Hmm……”

Honestly, it was an unbelievably good deal for me but, first and foremost, I have to stay in control of my expression.

Then, Cha Ji-hye spoke up.

“Okay but half of that needs to be put up as a deposit. After that, starting tomorrow for a week, you will get a trial period of treatment and if you are not satisfied, that will be the end of our arrangement.”

The handsome black-haired man spoke with the chairman and afterwards, nodded his head.

“That is acceptable. Only, the karma cannot be acquired within a day. For the deposit we will put up the $100 million.”

I shook my head.

“I want karma immediately. We are currently being targeted by the Chinese examinees.”

“Chinese?”

“Yes, Lee Chang-wee came to Korea due to a matter related to me. If I become his target, wouldn’t I be in danger? I have to immediately acquire karma and get stronger.”

“Lee Chang-wee you say. Are you worried about him?”

The handsome black-haired man smirked.

“Would you stay here at this hotel with us for the week you do the treatments?”

“But what if Chairman Maglun gets caught up in this business?”

“Even if Lee Chang-wee himself were to attack, we would not have a problem. If I am here, Lee Chang-wee would dare to just attack.”

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Dana Litalin?”

Asked Cha Ji-hye.

The black-haired handsome man smiles and nods his head.

Cha Ji-hye nods her head in acceptance.

“Then I have no doubt we will not have any problems with Lee Chang-wee.”

“Who is he?”

I asked in Korean.

Cha Ji-hye replied.

“He is officially ranked in first place as the examinee with the most karma.”

My jaw dropped to the floor.

The man in front of me is the number one examinee in the world?

Finally, I realized why the only person Chairman Maglun brought with him was this handsome black-haired man.

The amount of aggregated karma isn’t the only deciding factor in ranking how strong an examinee is, but being the official first place in it isn’t a small feat.

Eventually I decided to take the 100 million dollars as the deposit for a week of treatments.

In the instance that he is cured, I will receive a karma prize item worth 10,000. When I change that into karma I will get 5,000 karma. It would be about the same as clearing an exam or two.

“So, ultimately, will we never get to know what the illness is?”

The handsome black-haired man, Dana Litalin, smiled at me.

“It is an embarrassing matter to divulge. Do you understand?”

“Oh, yes.”

I understood right away. That old magnate, it’s definitely a matter of impotence!

…… for a problem like that, he’d be glad to pay any amount. Yes, definitely. I understood, as a man.

Starting that day, Cha Ji-hye and I stayed in the suite across from Maglun chairman.

Just the two of us staying together in a hotel did seem a little weird but thankfully the suite was so big that it wasn’t awkward.

Actually, Cha Ji-hye is a fairly beautiful woman and as a man I couldn’t help but be attracted to her.

After having to live apart from Min-jeong, I hadn’t seen her much either. We sent text message back and forth every day but oddly, physically being apart for so long, I got the feeling that our hearts were growing father too.

Every day, I gave chairman Maglun a flame of life. It was because I thought there was no need to heal him so fast.

I gave the other flame to Sylph and Kasa to share.

About four days since starting the treatment, Chairman Maglun looked very pleased with it.

“He says there is progress. He wishes to keep receiving these treatments.”

Dana Litalin relayed the message from Chairman Maglun.

“By progress he means……”

“I’m sure he means he had a normal morning.”

Said Dana, with a smile. I’m a guy and when I looked at him, he’s so handsome my eyes would get big.

Anyway, having a normal morning after only a few days of treatment, sounds like he’ll be healed soon.

‘He’ll probably need about 2 weeks of treatment?’

In my Swiss account, Swiss francs worth $100 million USD was deposited.

I called Odin and told him I wanted to get some karma.

-Lately it has become very difficult to acquire karma. I have heard that the Maglun family is amassing large amounts of karma. It is probably because of you.

“Oh, really?”

-Before, you bought karma with $100 million. How many examinees do you think there are that sell their karma for money.

“I guess that’s that then.”

-I will try to find out more but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

“Yes, I am very thankful to you for many things.”

-Please don’t mention it. Let’s meet again sometime. Bella misses you a lot.

“Haha, yes. I miss her too.”

It looks like it will be difficult to get any additional karma on top of the 10,000 karma that Maglun was getting for me.