**Geongyang Bay**
"You are headed to Hanmiryeong?" Soo-Min eyed her elder sister, who was dressed in a crisp black suit. She smiled, appreciating her sister's beauty before her very eyes.
"Yes," Hye-Jin nodded.
"May I come?"
"It was not for a tour."
"Does this have something to do with the new successor of the Kai Consortium?" Soo-Min arched an eyebrow. "Is Mother worried about him? I thought he never activated his Essentia."
"Mother is not worried. However, mother intends to take over Hanmiryeong. Still, why are you outside?"
Soo-Min pouted, ignoring her question. "I want to come."
Hye-Jin eyed her younger sister who had been sickly since she was born. Right now, she looked too skinny, too weak, too fragile. Hye-Jin had no intention of making her sister upset. "I will take you for a tour when I get back."
"You promised?"
Hye-Jin nodded and smiled. "Now, it is getting colder, you are wearing thin clothes. Go inside. I will see you when I get back."
Soo-Min beamed, showing her two cute dimples. "Alright. Bring some souvenirs, alright?"
"Alright," Hye-Jin patted her younger sister's head and watched her run back inside the mansion. Almost immediately, the gentle expression in her eyes vanished. "Ji Ae, tell me everything about Ethan Kai," she said.
"Young Miss, Ethan Kai has been confirmed to be useless. No Essentia or any other useful skills. He studied martial arts when he was a kid but never fought back abroad. He was a coward who only liked to study human bodies."
"He never fought back?" Hye-Jin arched her eyebrow at her assistant.
"Never. Our people said that he was bullied in that school and never fought back. Here's his latest image that we took before he boarded a plane back to Yeonsin. Right now, everything about him has been deleted. It seems that Kai Consortium is taking action to protect him."
"So, the new head of Kai Consortium is Master Wu?" Hye-Jin asked. It was known that Kai Consortium had more than five masters, but the most powerful of them was Master Wu. Everyone, including her mother, expected that Master Wu would stay neutral until the new CEO was elected. Who would have thought that the man would actually step in in the absence of the old chairman?
"This is not going to be a problem; the madam is sure that one can easily convince Master Wu to switch to our side, considering that Ethan Kai is weak and needs protection."
"What does that mean?" Hye-Jin arched an eyebrow.
"We believe that the Madam intends to propose a marriage. If the Eldest Young Miss is going to fail, it seems that the Madam wants to marry off the youngest to that Ethan Kai."
Almost immediately Hye-Jin's face turned black. What does that mean? She gritted her teeth. Soo-Min is weak. She might have an Essentia, but her body is not strong enough to handle it. She had grown up sheltered and always protected.
Yet their mother wanted Soo-Min to step into that chaotic place?
"Young Miss, please do not be upset. The Madam is confident that we can protect both Ethan Kai and the Young Miss when the time comes."
Protect Ethan Kai? Hye-Jin's expression worsened. She suggested to her mother to eliminate that man instead. It would be easier that way. However, her mother, the current leader of Yangpando Triad, told her that violence is not the answer to everything.
This time, her mother wanted Ethan Kai to owe them. She wanted her to protect him. Why can't she just kill such a useless person? Yangpando Triad never needed the help of anyone. Why must they lower their heads to a weakling like this Ethan Kai?
Jin, who was walking next to Hye-Jin, could easily see all the expressions that she was making. The madam knew that the eldest miss wanted to eliminate Kai instead of working with him. So, the madam wanted to test the eldest to see if she would use her head and make the right decision this time. After all, she was aware of what had been happening inside Yangpando Triad.
Is she going to lower her head and delay her gratification? Or let her pride rule her head? The outcome would be enough to make the madam know if Miss Hye-Jin is suitable to inherit the Triad. If she fails, then the Madam can only consider other options.
"Have you prepared everything?"
"Yes, the ticket—"
"Prepare the private jet. We are leaving as soon as possible."
Ji Ae sighed inwardly. The madam already expected this approach. "It will be done," Ji Ae responded before making a call.
Meanwhile, Ethan had no idea about the storm that would come his way. He was currently staring at Old Man Li and the two women who came along with him.
One of them was the woman who tried to take over the company using the company's stocks, the Eldest Odette Li while the other... the other should be Ethan Kai's fiancée, Olivia Li.
"It is impolite to stare at women like that," Odette said, her tone cold.
"Oh…" Ethan immediately lowered his head. He was simply curious about this fiancée, ah. He vaguely had memories of this woman. All he knew was the fact that Olivia immediately wanted to cancel the engagement when Ethan's Essentia did not appear.
So, Ethan had been very curious about this woman. It turns out… she was just average.
"May I know if Old Man Li came here to cancel the engagement?" Ethan said as he took the cup of brewing tea before him. He decided to be more direct this time as he did not want to spend his precious time being glared at by two women. Moreover, he still needed to meet a lot of people who decided to come to his grandfather's funeral.
"Young Ethan, is this how you greet a senior?" Old Man Li was a man in his seventies. Although he still looked like a man in his fifties with his robust stature and sharp gaze.
"Greetings?" Ethan looked at the older man. "I thought we already greeted each other earlier?"
"This is why I never want my granddaughters to leave this place. The customs abroad are much different than what we have in Yeonsin. It is not only inferior but they created it to make children weak and defy authority. I can see that the customs abroad have affected you. So, I will simply forgive you this time. However, I can only hope that next time, this will not happen again."
"…" Ethan was at a loss for words.
"My grandfather did not come here to cancel the engagement," Odette said when Ethan did not say a word. "We came here to give our support to the young master of the Kai Family."
"Support?" Ethan sneered inwardly. What support? All he could see was the mission on the screen about some killer coming his way.
**MAIN QUEST**
Mission Name: Survival Mission Part 1
Objective: Safeguard your life during the meeting with the Li Family member, identify and neutralize the assassin without resorting to violence if possible, and capture the assassin for further investigation.
Description: Your primary objective is to protect yourself. Violence must be avoided at all costs, with a secondary goal of capturing the assassin for interrogation.
**Rewards for Successful Completion:**
Experience Points (EXP): Earn 3 Experience Points (EXP) for adeptly safeguarding yourself and demonstrating exceptional crisis management.
Reputation: Gain 2 Reputation points for ensuring your safety and preserving the reputation of the Kai Consortium in the face of a dangerous enemy.
**BONUS REWARD FOR SUCCESSFUL CAPTURE OF ASSASSIN:**
Unlock Skill Level Progression
Skill Unlocked: Persuasion
Key Information: NONE
Status: INCOMPLETE
"…" What do you mean by Part 1?
.....