The rhythm of the next few days became a familiar, albeit exhausting, cycle. Every morning at 4:00 AM, the cold air of Gangbuk bit into our skin as Seojun, Seohee, and I stood in the yard for our morning session. Seojun is becoming strong every day, his movements becoming sharper, while Seohee, despite her initial complaints, was developing a tenacity that I knew would serve her well. After the burn of the workout, we would head to school, putting on the masks of ordinary students. It was a tedious necessity, but as I sat in those boring lectures, my mind was constantly elsewhere, calculating the future of my crew and the expansion I need to do .
My seven original crew members were doing a solid job maintaining the bars and clubs we had already secured. I didn't have much time to train them personally, so I left them to their own , encouraging them to practice their drills and I allowed them to train in the headquarters , where they spar among themselves.
My two intelligence specialists, Eunhyeong and Seonu, were managing the business side of things with efficiency. However, they had started bringing me whispers of unusual movements. They noted strange faces lingering near our territories and minor disruptions in the usual flow of information. I didn't want to spark a panic, so I simply told them to keep a close watch and inform me of any specific activities that felt out of place. We were a new power, and it was only natural that the shadows would start to move in response.
After the final bell rang each day, Seojun and I would pick up Dowoon from his home and head straight to Hansu Seong's dojo. Hansu was a demanding teacher, but his guidance was invaluable. We had moved past the basic footwork and were now deep into the technical peaks of Taekwondo. He began training us in his signature moves—the kind of techniques that made him legend of taekwondo. We spent hours practicing the 1080° and 1440° kicks, rotations so violent they seemed to warp the air around the foot. Then came the Art of the Four Guardians which he was hesitating whether he should teach us or not but finally agreed these art include: the absolute defense of the Black Tortoise, the overwhelming speed of the Phoenix, the crushing linear power of the White Tiger, and the fluid, spiraling grace of the Azure Dragon.
It was during these sessions that the gap between my hard work and their natural genius became a bitter pill to swallow. I watched Dowoon and Seojun with a mixture of genuine pride and envy. Because of Seojun's and Dowoon copy ability , they were absorbing these complex, near-mythical forms with a speed that felt like a cheat code. I, however, was stuck in the slow lane. My learning speed was a bottleneck; I could understand the mechanics, but my body required hundreds of repetitions to make the movements fluid. I was getting a hold of the other techniques, but the Four Guardians remained frustratingly out of my reach for now. I had the strength and the speed, but I lacked that effortless "spark" of the bloodline. Still, seeing my friends grow so rapidly under Hansu's tutelage made the frustration worth it.
While we were training our bodies, our base of operations was finally coming together. The interior of the old factory was fully built out now, transformed from a derelict shell into a high-tech fortress. We had high-end sparring rings, a massive command center, and living quarters that actually felt like home. All that was left was the exterior work and a few personal touches we wanted to add to reflect our own preferences. It was becoming a place where Constellation will spread its roots .
However, I wasn't just focusing on what was happening within the walls of the factory. I knew that to win the long game, I had to think beyond the borders of Gangbuk. Using my Cloud Copy ability, I had initiated several secret operations that I hadn't shared with the others. I sent my two Cloud Copy outside the territory of Gangbuk, a move made possible because the system's physical restriction only applied to my original self.
Its mission was to find and copy specific geniuses I knew would be pivotal for the future. I directed it to find Kouji, the bratty hacking genius and one of the 10 Geniuses of Charles Choi.
Charles Choi 10 Geniuses [ Image ]
Having him with us will help us provide protection against any cyber attacks and he's useful in many ways that no one in korea could match. Other was sent after Byeon Kim, the media genius who also served Charles.
If I wanted to control the narrative of our rise, I needed to understand how the masters of the press operated. He will help in developing a media under constillation which I can control according to my wish .
I also created three more Cloud Copies of mine, I gave slime to one of these copy to handle the heavy lifting of our financial expansion. This copy would handle my international dealing . It took a flight to Japan, acting as a high-end traveler. Once there, it met with the smugglers I had identified through my earlier interrogations. The process was simple and devastatingly effective: the copy would meet the smugglers, the Slime would swallow the entire shipment of product into its infinite storage void, and the copy would walk back onto a return flight. With no physical traces and an invisible mule that customs couldn't detect, we were generating millions in risk-free capital. It was the ultimate engine to fund the growth of my empire and my grandfather's political ambitions.
The other two Cloud Copies were sent to wander throughout Korea. Their task was to act as talent scouts, roaming high schools, gyms, and streets while utilizing the Peek At You card on every youth they encountered. I wasn't interested in average fighters anymore. I was looking for anyone with potential above A-rank. I wanted to create an elite team of powerful men with good potential, not useless mobs with trash potential, and I needed to fill the final six spots of the Elite Ten.
Tonight, the house felt different. My mother was in high spirits, clearly happy to have Seojun and Seohee around. She didn't see them as crew members or strategic assets; she looked at them with a gaze full of maternal warmth, as if they were her own children.
I sat with them for a long time, enjoying the lively chatter and the simple comfort of being together. We talked about school, about the dojo, and even about Seohee's plans for the final touches on the headquarters. I made sure to stay present, laughing at their jokes and listening to their concerns. I wanted them to know that while I was the leader, I was also their friend. We weren't a hierarchy of master and servants; we were a family building a future.
But as the night wore on and I eventually retreated to my room, the cold calculation of the leader returned. I looked at the golden timer flickering at the edge of my vision. Tomorrow was the day everything would accelerate. My grandfather, Kim Rak-hun, was prepared to release the corruption leaks to the media, a move that would set the political world on fire and distract our rivals. But for me, tomorrow was the day I would finally acquire the last club in the North. That final acquisition would complete the "Nightlife Monopoly" quest and reveal the Master Card I had been waiting for.