A Wrong Place
'This is a ship?'
A literal question mark formed in his mind.
He'd only ever heard of it by name; this was his first time boarding a true luxury cruise.
It felt as if someone had transplanted everything necessary for life onto a vessel.
And not just anything—everything was the very best that money could buy.
'When I make some real money, I should live on one of these for a month.'
Adding a new item to his future plans, Jin-hyuk moved with Jin Seo-hee toward the opening venue.
"Oh my! Hello, Representative Jin!"
"Goodness, isn't this Miss Seo-hee? Long time no see."
The moment they stepped inside the entrance, people swarmed around them.
Cheon Se-yeon had told him.
Jin Seo-hee wasn't just the granddaughter of a chaebol family—she was one of Korea's top influencers.
"Welcome! Representative Jin, we've prepared your seat right up front!"
As expected of one of the New Cali's biggest sponsors.
People scattered around the venue began approaching one by one to greet her.
"Yoo Jin-hyuk."
Knowing the greetings would go on for a while, Seo-hee rolled her shoulders and lowered her voice.
"Your seat is right in the front. I'll see you there in a bit. No need for you to endure this boring part with me."
'She might be a tsundere.'
Her tone and expression were utterly dry, yet she found subtle ways to be considerate.
Jin-hyuk nodded and turned away.
Honestly, he had wanted to escape—this worked out perfectly.
Leaving the still-preparing event hall behind, Jin-hyuk leisurely wandered the cruise.
He soon found a quiet, deserted corner and headed toward it.
His friends materialized as if they had been waiting.
"Uugh."
The moment he appeared, Darc clamped a hand over his mouth.
Seems he hadn't been exaggerating about the seasickness.
'An undead gets seasick?'
He swallowed dryly.
Nothing about the situation was actually strange, yet something about it felt bizarrely incongruent.
"This won't do. I'm going back in."
Barely thirty seconds after manifesting, Darc dispelled himself.
Seyra shook her head.
"As weak and pathetic as ever."
A sharp critique flew immediately.
Good thing she'd waited until after Darc had vanished.
Jin-hyuk looked at the three lined up beside him.
All of them were wide-eyed with excitement, taking in the luxury cruise for the first time.
"Seyra… you know, right? You have to keep the sunglasses on."
A hat and mask wouldn't work here, so Se-yeon had lent him a pair of sunglasses the size of cannonballs.
They were big enough to cover half of Seyra's tiny face.
"Understood."
Seyra adjusted the sunglasses perched on her nose.
Even like this, she drew attention—but today's guests were an exclusive, handpicked few.
With how absurdly large the cruise was, there wouldn't be many encounters with others.
And with a face that could outshine most influencers, anyone who did see her would just assume she was one.
"Momo, hold Seyra's hand and stay with her. Like you're her younger sister."
"Okay!"
Momo grabbed one of Seyra's hands.
Just like that, they became a pair of influencer sisters.
Then Kancho grabbed Seyra's other hand.
Trying to pass himself off as the sisters' pet raccoon or something—but no. Absolutely not.
"No, Kancho. Go invisible."
"Puhehe! You caught me, huh?! Okayyy!"
He cloaked himself and dashed off across the cruise.
As long as he didn't get caught sneaking food, things should be fine.
"All right, go explore freely."
"Understood. Momo, we're going to the very top now."
"I love high places!"
Jin-hyuk flinched and stuck out an arm.
"You're not planning to just jump up there in one go, right?"
"What are you talking about, Master? Of course we'll take the escalator."
He gave the adaptation-queen Seyra a thumbs-up.
Maybe she was ready to be independent now.
Once the two left, Jin-hyuk sat by a fountain.
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
'Peaceful.'
It finally felt like he was taking a real break.
Yep—his homebody tendencies were alive and well.
"Good afternoon."
He'd sensed someone approaching, but he hadn't expected them to be coming to him.
Jin-hyuk opened his eyes with a polite smile.
A man in a black suit had approached.
"You came with Representative Jin, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Im Cheon-woong, vice president of Dayrofe."
Dayrofe—one of the major name-brand jewelry houses.
Even Jin-hyuk, who lived far from the world of luxury goods, knew the name.
"I'm Yoo Jin-hyuk."
They exchanged a brief handshake, and Im Cheon-woong offered his business card.
"Oh… I'm afraid I don't have a card to give you."
"Haha, that's fine. If you don't have one, you don't."
Though he said it with a smile, Im Cheon-woong's eyebrow twitched.
'No business card? What kind of guy is this?'
Im Cheon-woong attended every influencer gathering worth mentioning.
If he didn't recognize a face, then the person was definitely not an influencer.
So he'd assumed the guy was some hidden chaebol heir—but that didn't seem to be the case either.
'No way Seo-hee would come with just anyone.'
Jin Seo-hee had never once attended an event or party with a man her age.
Naturally, his curiosity grew.
"The New Cali is a magnificent ship, isn't it?"
"Yes. It really is."
"How does it compare with other cruises? The Parmella, which sails the Mediterranean year-round, or Japan's two-month Sakai cruise?"
"Hmm… this is my first time on any cruise like this."
Im Cheon-woong's lips twitched.
Now that he noticed, Jin-hyuk's watch and clothes all looked brand-new—like he'd bought them today.
'Ah.'
Now he understood.
Some rich people were like this.
They felt compassion for those far beneath them and extended excessive generosity.
'A charity cruise experience for a pauper, huh? Guess he picked one with a pretty face.'
Im Cheon-woong chuckled and spoke.
"No need to sit around here. Why not take a look at the buffet? You might never get another chance like this."
"True. The buffet was over that way, right?"
Jin-hyuk rose immediately, as though he'd been waiting for the suggestion.
He was fully aware of the barbs in the man's words.
But the reason he didn't react or bother engaging was simple.
'Too much work.'
He was trying to enjoy a rare moment of pure rest, and this guy had come buzzing in with childish nonsense.
To Jin-hyuk, Im Cheon-woong was nothing more than a pesky fly interrupting his peace.
We will begin the opening ceremony shortly.
Good timing—the announcer's voice came through.
Better to stay with Seo-hee so the fly wouldn't follow him further.
"Shall we head in?"
"Yes, let's."
Straightening his posture, Im Cheon-woong walked beside him.
Standing next to someone this lowly made him feel all the more superior.
Of course…
"Oh wow, who's that next to the VP? A new influencer?"
"He stands out more by comparison. Should we go talk to him?"
Out of earshot, the comments were the exact opposite.
One of the influencer friends waved her hands frantically.
"Don't. He came with Representative Jin Seo-hee."
"Really? Ugh, shame."
"Good thing we didn't say anything."
Among influencers, Seo-hee's status was absolute.
Getting on her bad side would be disastrous.
"You're here? This is your seat, Mr. Yoo."
Seated already, Seo-hee gestured to his chair.
"Oh, right. Thank you."
As Jin-hyuk sat—
"Hello! Representative Jin!"
Right behind them, Im Cheon-woong greeted loudly.
Heads turned instantly.
"Yes, hello, Vice President Im."
"Hahaha! You're radiant as always! If you don't mind, could I use the empty seat here? I'll return to mine after the opening remarks. There's no better spot than right here for the view."
He didn't seem to expect—or accept—any refusal.
He grinned and pulled out the chair.
"Oh dear. That's where I put my bag."
Seo-hee lifted the bag from her lap and placed it on the seat he'd aimed for.
"Haha, then I'll just grab another—"
His face froze for an instant, but he didn't back down.
Backing off now would mean total humiliation.
But more than that—
"No. I need to have a private conversation with my partner."
Seo-hee was firm.
Jin-hyuk swallowed.
Of all the firm rejections he'd seen recently, this was the strongest.
"Pfft!"
"He totally got dumped."
"Shh! Be quiet, he might cry."
Whispers bubbled throughout the area.
Face burning red, Im Cheon-woong forced a smile and bowed.
"Then… I suppose there's no helping it. I'll greet you again before the event ends."
"Yes."
Seo-hee barely nodded before turning her head sharply away.
As he stomped off, she clicked her tongue.
"He really loves to force greetings."
She muttered to herself, shaking her head.
Jin-hyuk kept his eyes glued to the front.
Otherwise, Im Cheon-woong might've seen the smirk tugging at his lips.
Poke poke poke poke.
He looked down.
Kancho was poking his shin, invisible.
"Seo-hee, I'm going to the restroom for a moment."
"Okay."
Confirming the restroom was empty, Jin-hyuk bent down.
"What is it, Kancho?"
"Boss, there's something weird on the ship."
"Weird?"
Kancho rummaged through Jin-hyuk's bag and held out a small plastic cylinder.
Jin-hyuk took it, puzzled.
"What's this?"
"A bomb."
Jin-hyuk froze, frowning hard.
He cupped it carefully with both hands, afraid he'd drop it.
"A… a bomb?"
"This one won't explode. I disarmed it and turned it into my clay."
Kancho showed him a hefty lump of clay.
It was the newly unlocked skill: Explosive Conversion.
A skill that transformed anything with explosive properties into clay.
Judging by the size of the converted lump, the original bomb must have packed serious power.
"Where was it?"
"It smelled funny, so I went to look. It was under the ship."
A bomb on a luxury cruise freshly setting sail today.
The two things did not match at all.
"Good work. Was this the only one?"
"Nope. There are more than twenty. And probably even more. The scent's faint—I have to go check to know for sure."
"If they go off, how strong would the blast be?"
Kancho spread his arms wide.
"This whole area would be blown to bits. Boss will be fine since Seyra and Darc are here."
"Holy—"
Jin-hyuk leaned against the wall and pulled out his phone.
Out of service area.
He'd assumed the sea caused the drop, but…
Thinking about it, it was way too early for that.
The New Cali hadn't even left Korean waters yet.
Jin-hyuk peeked out toward the event hall.
This… really was the wrong place to be.
"Kancho, listen carefully."
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T/N:
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