<Gillian: When will you stop calling me boss?>

<Jessica: You will always be my boss. Did you get the proposal?>

<Gillian: I knew you would talk about it.>

<Jessica: But…>

<Gillian: It’s because of the long-term proposal, right?>

<Jessica: I thought I was going to faint. I think the directing department has hired aliens. Stop laughing. I’m not kidding. I’m actually being serious right now.>

<Gillian: We should talk about this in person on behalf of each group.>

<Jessica: We don’t need to schedule anything. I’ll leave tomorrow, so hang in there.>

Although Jessica lived on the British Isle of Man, it was her first time visiting the City of London. While under the sign that showed the entrance of the city, she took a deep breath.

“Sigh-”

It smelled like paradise to her.

But the British don’t know that this is a paradise.

Jessica walked into the sea of high-rise buildings. Only a few people knew that this place provided the best rights and privileges that no other country on Earth could offer to those with lots of cash. Those advantages were kept under confidentiality, and it was an extraterritorial jurisdiction with autonomy under Article 39 of the Magna Carta. Even the Queen needed the Lord Mayor’s approval to visit here.

“Welcome.”

Gillian greeted Jessica without taking his eyes off the monitor, and Jessica stared at his face.

As expected, he must not have slept a wink.

In fact, she did the same. The long-term proposal had brought estimates and facts together into an expensive conclusion, culminating in a prediction of the world’s fall. According to the draft, the world’s economy would grind to a halt, and, if that really happened, it would be an unprecedented jackpot for them.

“I think that it’s possible. It sounds fictional for now, but the data and estimates are too realistic…Who would have expected Russia would collapse like that?” Jessica said.

“This proposal cannot be compared to the Russian bankruptcy. But that’s not why I called you,” Gillian responded.

“Then?”

He explained, “The rules are the same this time. If we base our investments on the proposal, we aren’t responsible for our losses with the group funds. I don’t like that.”

“Your group is also receiving pension funds, and it’s not too late to watch the results of Super Tuesday,” she replied.

“Jessica, you haven’t felt it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“We are becoming fools, Jessica. Relying on the genius of the draft is enough for once. If we keep doing this…”

Gillian tapped the monitor, and there was the long-term draft he received yesterday on the screen.

“Where does it stop?” Jessica questioned.

“...”

“Silverman? AP Morgan? Rothschild? I don’t know how much they offered, but boss, aren’t you making a mistake?”

Jessica approached Gillian.

“We are just getting the ingredients, so it’s up to us to decide what to cook with them. Why are you blaming yourself for having good ingredients? We are neither farmers nor fishermen. We’re cooks.”

Jessica was standing behind Gillian when she finished speaking, and she waited for his answer. However, he remained silent, and she felt sympathetic as she understood his emotions. She slowly hugged him around his neck and whispered, “We’re in different fields, so there’s no need to feel defeated by the proposal’s ingenuity and sheer brilliance. They are a group of geniuses, but we do our work well by ourselves.”

“...”

“Without us, this would mean nothing,” she added.

“Jessica…”

“Be quiet. A young and cute girl is setting up the mood,” she said.

“Why ‘us?’ Since when did we get to this step?” he asked.

“What do you mean? You said to meet up as the ‘representatives’ of each group,” she answered.

“Nevermind.”

“Then, how about as a man and a woman?”

That night, Gillian put a blanket over Jessica’s naked body as she slept and came out to the living room. When he opened the window, the midwinter breeze slapped him, cooling him down. Gillian was lost in thought. In fact, he agreed with Jessica that there was no need to be overwhelmed by the proposal’s genius.

The proposal had predicted and analyzed ranging from the next U.S. presidential election, the current Texas Governor’s behavior, the U.S. economic cycle, the world affairs, the FED’s interest rate policy, the U.S. real estate market, the major banks’ expected investment scenarios due to interest rate cuts, the four major oil markets’ actions, and macroeconomic trends.

A single person couldn’t oversee all these as the proposal had to be drafted by at least a hundred experts in various fields. Also, if they considered all the organizations under Jonathan Investments, then almost ten thousand people would have worked on the proposal. Therefore, it was foolish to compare himself to that.

The directing department should be working right now. Where could they be…?

Gillian began to look at the distant dark sky as if he could see the department.

***

Construction for the dungeons had been completed in Suwon, Incheon, Pyeongtaek, Imsil, Jinan and Jeonju.

“Six places?”

When I told her we would conquer them, Woo Yeon-Hee blinked her widened eyes.

“It’s possible,” I replied.

Although I could do it alone, having her accompany me would shorten the total time and I could share quest points with her. Therefore, training her was required to target another E-class dungeon.

“The points one could get from conquering an F-class dungeon ranges from four thousand to seven thousand, so five thousand five hundred on average. We can expect thirty-three thousand after going through all six of them which is worth thirty-six silver boxes,” I explained.

This was the achievement we could get from Korea alone, and the E-class dungeons could wait after sucking up all the points from F-class dungeons. It was a huge advantage as it was a privilege that only the group that monopolized the dungeon could enjoy. I didn’t think Woo Yeon-Hee realized we were monopolizing the Korean dungeons, but she seemed passionate.

She asked eagerly, “When are we leaving? I’m ready at any time. Let’s go-!”

Woo Yeon-Hee had tried hard to overcome her fears since the day after she saw one of the Seven Demon Kings in my memories, but it was impossible. Instead, she seemed to have reached an unexpected conclusion. She was determined to prepare as much as she could as her mentality was getting stronger day by day. I was proud of her as a leader and trainer.

Woo Yeon-Hee asked, “But…Are you sure we won’t encounter Seven Demon Kings in an F-class dungeon?”

“Yes, I guarantee. That day is far away,” I replied.

Of course, she had asked me how I managed to survive when I met one of them, but I told her that she had seen my prophetic dream. She must have accepted my excuse as she was also a member living in the supernatural world. Even now, I still couldn’t tell her I had traveled back in time.

“Let’s pack our own backpacks,” I said and opened the safe.

“Take this.”

I threw the F-class Protective Gloves at her. I had handed over items to her before, but it was only to let her get the trait ‘Collector.’

“This is yours. Although it’s only worth three hundred points, it’ll save your life,” I said.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

Woo Yeon-Hee was happy. She probably desired better items, but she was still sticking to the deal with me. I wondered if it was because of money.

“Tell me if you want to change the contract,” I said.

She smiled. “Don't worry. I would’ve turned this into money if I really wanted it.”

“I…I’ve never worried about you,” I replied all in a fluster.

“Thanks for your concern. I’ll let you know if I want to change.”

“Hey, I said I wasn’t worried about you,” I said.

“Hehe.”

Woo Yeon-Hee seemed to have forgotten that she had been my homeroom teacher and smiled like a puppy.

“Bring something so you can practice speaking English.” I looked at her.

“I should follow a leader’s rule…but do I have to study English in the dungeon?” She widened her eyes.

“We’ll target dungeons in the U.S. after. Do you have a passport?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then, apply for it first. We’ll do a tour of all the F-class dungeons that have shown up in my prophetic dreams. Do you have someone to trust to take care of the hospital for you?” I questioned.

“Yes, but umm…how many dungeons in total?”

“Six in Korea, four in North America, ten in Japan, and two in Europe. That might be it,” I replied.

Woo Yeon-Hee widened her eyes and asked again. “Might be…?”

“I’m expecting around thirty,” I replied vaguely.

The actual number may increase as I was counting on remembering more dungeon locations after we started the conquests. I looked forward to that.

“We’ll find out then. We’ll focus on the ones in Korea now,” I added.

“Ah…”

Woo Yeon-Hee became speechless. If her mental ability had been more powerful and could read the memory of the object, I would have asked her to help me recall my memories of when I had been a guild leader. Then, I would have remembered more than a hundred locations of F-class dungeons. Most of the memories I had of dungeons below C-class were from when I was a guild leader. In those days, I had to manage dungeons in East Asia and North America, and it was quite similar to the days when I dealt with thousands of stocks and bonds on Wall Street. I had to collect information about dungeons we could target. In addition, I had to find ways to enter them to train my guild members in order to make profits and maintain my guild.

“We will be on a tight schedule after getting ready for at least half a year. You’ll need to plan around that, Woo Yeon-Hee.”