HappyVainGlory

No set schedule for this yet. Still trying to work it into my daily routine. Couldn't let Thanksgiving pass without a small gift though to show my thanks for you guys, so here's another chapter.

I frowned and looked around.

I was still in Hannah's house. After all, there wasn't really a reason for me to leave right away, and since we were married... at least on paper, I had every right to be here.

Though it seemed like that decision might be brewing up trouble... At least my instincts were telling me I'd have to think fast soon-

"Ah."

One of the crimson threads connected to the girls I was involved with suddenly turned into a thick chain. And it wasn't Hannah or Claire, so...

"...It's probably Resa, huh?"

I wasn't sure if she found out what just happened or if something was going on in Paradise, but I had a feeling that she had reached her limit. And considering how much she had been holding back since the first time she asked me to marry her...

"Note to self. Ambush Resa before she has a chance to ambush me."

Might be a good idea to do that ASAP after sorting out Sinyoung and the assassins before Resa goes off the deep end and uses her Divine Oath to head to Earth to hunt me down like Claire-

Oh. Right. And then I had to deal with her too. I *did* kind of just leave her there with Hao... and let her collapse without helping her up...

I sighed and conjured an orange soda before cracking it open. Taking a sip, I muttered, "Dammit. I knew playing dumb so long was going to have some consequences."

It was like that movie once said. You should never go full dumbass.

Well, it used a different word, but the sentiment was the same.

I finished my soda and then pulled out my phone.

Since things were settled with Hannah, I should sort things out with the others.

Flone and Jinhee... those bastard assassins planned to grab Jinhee, but I wasn't worried. Since Flone was there, and since she was so in-tune with negative emotions due to being a former vengeful spirit, I was sure that they'd be fine.

Hao should be sorting out the criminal underworld with the help of my new floozies and Claire, so that was taken care of. And I had a few of those guys on protection detail for the rest of my family, so that was good.

Seonhwa... Like she mentioned, she was a big girl now. Even if she didn't have her powers here, considering she was one of the two Level 8s in Paradise, it would be a simple matter for her to avoid danger.

What else...?

The Yi siblings were squared away now that their mom was healed. Sora was running her business and taking care of her friends, so no worries there. Most of Carpe Diem was off doing their own thing and could take care of themselves... Though Chohong was heading here.

I'd have to remember to pick her up and give her a gift as well for ignoring her... As well as explain everything else probably.

Dammit.

I crumpled my soda can and tossed it in the air, dispersing it back into pure energy. After that, I rubbed my temple and muttered, "What a headache..."

This was *exactly* why I wanted to wait until the important stuff in Paradise was settled first before sorting out all my relationships. But it looked like the world, reality, or whatever was making sure that I didn't get that luxury.

"Argh. Whatever."

I'd worry about the girls later. It was a dick move, but I *did* have Flone and Hannah on my side right now to help deal with that. And from how Flone seemed to know how to call in to help handle Hannah, I could probably rely on her to help with the other girls.

Hopefully.

If not... Well, I suppose breaking their hearts and letting them find happiness with someone else is better than stringing them along in constant agony as I kept things ambiguous.

In any case...

First order of business: Sinyoung.

And to start with that...

I pulled out my phone and clicked on my contacts to make a call. But the moment I did, I got an incoming call from an unknown number.

I blinked and then checked who it was with my insight... and then sighed. "Claire, huh? Karma's really living up to her reputation..." I grit my teeth and then answered. "Hello?"

"That was quite rude of you to leave a lady on the ground, Jihu."

I winced. "Sorry. I had something important to do."

Silence. And then Claire sighed and said, "I suppose it's to be expected. You are a man in very high demand, after all."

I let out a nervous laugh.

Hao's voice echoed in the background. "What do you expect from a man fit to be Emperor? Though, I didn't think he'd start pawning off his troubles so quickly. Especially his women problems."

I sighed. "Again, sorry. I'll make it up to you, Claire. And you too, Hao."

Claire spoke up and said, "You will. Mister Hao has given me the address to both your parents' home as well as your own. If you do not pick me up soon, I will go there and demand that you take responsibility for having me cast out from my home."

I started to sweat. "That's... You're joking, right Claire?"

"Would you like to test that theory?"

"It's fine!" I cleared my throat and said, "I mean... Of course I'll pick you up. Like I said, I'll take responsibility." I frowned and muttered, "It's a bit much that Cinzia tossed you out, but I'll make sure to take you in. It'll just take a bit to get things sorted."

Like wracking my mind for an explanation to Jinhee and my parents about why I had so many beautiful women around... especially two foreign ones.

"Good. Then I expect to be picked up at 8 PM sharp for a romantic dinner date. If not... Well, among the few belongings I have after Boss sent me away are some positive test results."

Hao's laughter echoed in the background and he started talking in Cantonese. "Ai, bro! You unlucky bastard!"

"What?"

"...I am joking. But please keep me in mind, Jihu. I truly have nowhere else to go but to your side."

Claire hung up, ending the call.

I stood there for a bit with my phone up to my ear before lowering it. I ran my hand through my hair and muttered, "Yeah. Someone out there hates my guts, huh?"

What a freaking mess...

To get my mind off of things, I decided to clean up Hannah's house for a bit. Sorting out her clothes, a bit of dusting, making some lunch and dinner for my wifey... and leaving a note to remind her to eat properly.

...All of which took a total of five minutes to do. And that was with me dragging my feet.

Staring at the clean house, I shook my head and said, "Alright. Enough stalling."

As much as I would love to just hide out here and let things settle down on their own... I was sure that a bomb was going to go off if I did. Metaphorically, of course. It wasn't like an actual bomb was going to explode. Not even Sinyoung would be that crazy.

But speaking of Sinyoung...

Judging from the recent assassination attempt and the plans I learned about from the local criminal organizations, it seemed like my reputation was getting ahead of me.

Sinyoung was speeding up operations to try and get rid of me as well as solidify their own positions. And they were planning to do that by exploiting people, treating lives like commodities.

I narrowed my eyes, a flicker of anger passing through me as I remembered what I saw and the plans I read after taking over that compound. But I forcibly let out a breath and calmed down.

I couldn't stir the boat too much here. While I would love to charge in like a superhero and rip Sinyoung to shreds, Earth wasn't meant for that. This was a peaceful world... well, relatively peaceful. The moment superhuman powers were involved, the balance would be changed forever.

So I had to take my time with things. Lay the board, lay traps, and then sweep everything away in one blow.

And to start with that...

I hummed and said, "I suppose it's about time I talked about that with Seora."

I focused on her position, finding it with Transcendent Insight. Then, after concealing my presence, I took a step and warped towards her.

xxx

"So this is Oppa's place, huh?" Maria lowered her phone and then looked at the apartment building in front of her.

It wasn't bad. Not the absolute best Seoul had to offer, but also not the average apartments that salarymen around Jihu's age would be living in while trying to make ends meet. Upper mid-tier at least.

But considering the amount of money Jihu threw around over in Paradise, it didn't match up. Just taking the equipment he gave her alone would have been enough to buy the entire building, let alone just rent one apartment.

...Then again, Jihu *was* a stupidly modest person when it came to himself. Hell, he barely wore any armor when he fought. If not for the fact that Ian and Flone made that automatic armor thing for him, he would be charging into battle with just the clothes on his back.

Maria sighed and slipped her phone back into her pocket. After that, she adjusted her bag and checked on the gift she brought for Jihu.

It was a simple plan. First, Maria didn't dress up too much. Just a casual gray sweatshirt and jeans, along with a canvas bag. Nothing that would tip Jihu off that she was scoping out his place to see what he was like in private.

Anyway, the bag. After some quick searching and calling in some favors, Maria managed to get her hands on an old martial arts manual. It liked fake as hell, but knowing the crazy person Jihu was, he'd probably find some inspiration from it. That manual was currently tucked away in Maria's bag and only to be used if somebody answered.

"...It shouldn't come to that, right?"

From what she knew, Jihu lived alone. And from that text, he seemed to be out right now doing lord knows what... Stupid guy, never knowing when to rest.

Maria sighed and then walked inside the lobby, striding towards the elevator.

"Let's see... Oppa lived on one of the higher floors, right?" Maria mumbled and pulled out her phone again to double check the address. As she did, someone bumped into her.

"I'm sorry!"

A female voice.

Maria clicked her tongue and lowered her phone.

There was a beautiful woman standing there. Lightly curled brown hair, a kind face... The sort of girl-next-door beauty that could pick up a guy anywhere she went. Like Maria, the woman was wearing some casual clothes... In fact, it was the exact same outfit: a casual gray sweatshirt and some jeans.

Maria blinked, caught off-guard at the coincidence.

The woman blinked as well, her eyes growing wide as she stared at Maria.

Maria noticed and then huffed. "What are you looking at? If you want me to apologize, you've got another thing coming, lady."

The woman shook her head. "No. It's just that you- I mean, it's nothing Ma- Miss."

"It'd better be nothing." Maria adjusted her bag and walked past the woman. "Honestly. People act like they've never seen a foreigner that can speak Korean or something..."

As Maria walked towards the elevator, she felt the woman's gaze still on her back. But she ignored it. Instead, she checked her phone for the address and absently pressed the proper button when she walked inside the elevator.

A soft chime echoed, and then the elevator started moving.

With that, Maria moved to put her phone away again. But when she did, she got a message. And then another message.

"Hm?"

Maria frowned and checked on the first message.

[I added you to the new group chat, Miss Maria!]

That was Seol-Ah. And so was the second, which was a group chat with Seol-Ah writing out a clumsy intro in English and saying that they were planning a secret party for Jihu.

Maria sighed and slipped her phone in her pocket. That girl was cute in how hard she worked, but she should really leave things like these to people who can actually coordinate with the different languages...

Another soft chime echoed. The elevator arriving on the floor to Jihu's apartment.

Maria adjusted her bag and then walked out, mentally reciting Jihu's apartment number. She scanned the doors, marked down the numbers... and then she arrived.

"...Do I really need to do this?" Maria hesitated in front of the door.

It was a whim. She had kind of gone ahead with this without much thinking... But since it came to this...

Maria took a deep breath and then knocked on the door.

Silence.

Maria winced and then adjusted her bag. "This was a bad idea."

Right. She should just leave. Who cared if Oppa was straining himself? Or if he wasn't relaxing well? He was a goddamned god slayer. He was fiiine.

So, now that Maria knew the place, she could tell the Yi siblings and coordinate with the others to-

Footsteps echoed. From the other side of the room.

Maria froze.

A deep sigh echoed and then the door flung open. "Oppa! You're such a jerk, leaving your fiancee alone all night to hang out with some- huh?"

It was a woman- No, a cute young girl in her late teens. In fact, someone who was probably Maria's age.

She blinked and then narrowed her eyes. "You're not Oppa."

Maria blinked as well and then quickly glanced at the door number.

It was the one that Jihu sent her... And come to think of it, the girl there looked a bit like Jihu as well... And didn't he mention something about having a younger sister?

Then-

The girl started to shut the door.

"Wait!" Maria spoke up and said, "Are you Jihu Oppa's younger sister?"

The girl stopped and then she let out a deep sigh. "Oppa really became a womanizer after he broke up with Seonhwa, didn't he?"

"...A womanizer?"

Him? Jihu?

Wait, broke up? And come to think of it, did that girl say something about Jihu leaving his fiancée alone all night?

"Ooh!" A cheerful voice echoed from deeper in the apartment. "Is that you, Miss Maria?" More footsteps echoed and then a silver-haired beauty came into view.

One that Maria recognized, but that she definitely didn't expect to see here in Seoul.

Flone let out a bright smile and ran up to hug her. "It's great to see you! Come in! Jihu's still out, but we can chat while we wait for him to get back!" Flone pulled Maria inside and then started chatting. "How've you been? No, how about we get to know each other a bit? What's your favorite food? I've recently tried these small pastries called macaroons, and they're really yummy!"

Caught off guard by the rapid-fire questions and the bubbly attitude, Maria could only let Flone lead her inside while she tried to process what was going on.

Off to the side, Jinhee shook her head before closing the door. "Geez... How many women does Oppa *have?*"

xxx

In a private office building a few blocks away from Sinyoung's main HQ. There, a fashionably dressed young woman sitting behind a desk sneezed.

A man nearby, her usual driver and go-to handyman, tilted his head and pulled out a handkerchief. "For you, Miss."

Seora waved her hand. "It's fine, Shin." She frowned and said, "Probably just more people talking behind my back."

The man, Shin, frowned and said, "Are you certain? Miss has been working fairly hard recently... Master Jihu would be upset if he found out."

Seora shook her head and said, "He won't find out-"

"I won't find out what?"

Seora jumped out of her chair and then flung it in the direction of the voice.

At the same time, Shin stepped forward, pulling out a revolver from inside his shirt. But then he saw who the voice belonged to and sighed. "I don't mean to be rude, Mister Jihu. But could it be that you are an actual devil?"

Jihu let out an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahaha... sorry about that?"

Seora groaned. "Goddammit, Oppa."