A tense atmosphere filled the air.

Yuhui and Teresa both gave me a sharp glare before looking at Flone, Hannah, and Claire.

Chohong looked conflicted, idly tugging at the collar of her dress.

Seonhwa... She gave me a thin smile and a small wave. But after that, she looked at Hannah and Flone, her eyes pausing on the rings they wore. As she did that, she subconsciously rubbed her left ring finger.

Coach Maldong looked like he was an old man enjoying a good drama unfolding in front of him... which was pretty accurate.

Sora looked the same way, sitting back with her arms crossed and a shit-eating grin on her face.

Seol-Ah looked worried, glancing around at all the other girls before looking at me.

Sungjin looked worried too. Though he also seemed a bit sympathetic.

As for Maria... she just looked annoyed.

I let out a nervous laugh and waved. "H-Hey everyone. What a surprise."

Maria rolled her eyes and said, "Just sit down already, Oppa. You're the one delaying everything."

"Right, right."

Easier said than done.

Perhaps anticipating my arrival, all the girls had a seat open next to them.

There was also an open lounge chair that could fit three people.

I could sit there with Flone and Hannah on either side and Claire seated on top of me...

And then get glared at by everyone else probably.

But that was true no matter which girl I sat next to.

So...

I put my luggage away and then sat next to Sungjin. "How've you been, Sungjin? You keep up with your training?"

"Y-Yes?" Sungjin looked surprised.

At the same time, I felt deathglares settle on me from every direction.

But that wasn't a first, so I pointedly ignored them.

Sungjin started to sweat. Unlike me, he wasn't used to all the hostility from beautiful women, it seemed.

Good on him. That was a luxury he didn't appreciate.

Sungjin cleared his throat and then said, "I-I've been fine, Hyung. But what about you?" He looked at me and then said, "Has your body healed well?"

Hannah sat down with Flone and Claire before mumbling, "With how much he's been using his sword, I'd say it's healed enough."

It was a soft grumble. Barely audible to anyone but herself.

At least, that would have been the case if we weren't all basically superhuman from our training in Paradise.

Seol-Ah's face turned red.

Maria looked at me with a blank stare.

Chohong... Thankfully, it seemed like she didn't know Korean so she just seemed confused.

Maldong struggled to keep his laughter suppressed.

Seonhwa looked hurt.

...And both Yuhui and Teresa suddenly looked really thirsty. And not for water.

I cleared my throat and said, "I'm fine now, Sungjin. The effects from that place didn't carry over here too much. I've just been a bit out of it, but that's mostly because of other things."

Like a certain grumpy guy occupying my headspace in my downtime critiquing every aspect of my life. And the aftermath of Sinyoung's collapse. Also Roe Scheherazade and thinking about what to do when we got back to Paradise.

Eva was a thing. And there was Sung Shihyun to deal with too. Then the reputation of me being a Godkiller...

Yeah. Lots.

I sighed.

Sungjin looked sympathetic and patted my shoulder. "It'll work out, Hyung. But remember. If you make Noona cry, I'm going to beat you up."

"What?"

Seol-Ah flushed and then swatted Sungjin's shoulder. "S-Sungjin!"

I suddenly felt killing intent- Ah, no. It wasn't that bad. But it was definitely a lot of hostility.

I cleared my throat and then looked around. "So. When exactly do we-"

At that time, a male voice echoed over the intercom.

It was Korean. And it was also vaguely familiar.

"Esteemed guests, this is your pilot speaking. Please take your seats and put on your seatbelts. We will be departing shortly. And Mister Jihu, Lady Seora and Lady Seohui send their regards."

@#$@#%@

It's that freaking guy! Shin! Seora's butler/right hand man person!

Doesn't that mean that those two know about this flight too then? No, does that mean that when we get over there-

*bing*

A soft chime echoed and then seatbelt lights flashed on the ceiling. At the same time, there was a soft 'click', and the seats adjusted to reveal seatbelts.

I sighed and then put on my seatbelt. "Well, that answers my question." I looked at the others and said, "Strap in guys and girls. We're in it for the long haul."

Yuhui's eyes lit up and she said, "I can wear a strap if you want me to, Jihu~"

Teresa stared at me, gulping.

Seonhwa's eye twitched and she cleared her throat.

"What?" Yuhui turned to Seonhwa and said, "Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head and said, "Just put on your seatbelts, everyone... Oh yeah." I frowned and said, "Most of us speak Korean here, but it'll probably be an issue later..."

Apparently, we were going to meet the other members of Carpe Diem over in... wherever we were going. Which meant language would be an issue.

And Claire had been following along when I was speaking English with Hannah and Flone, but it'd be better if she understood everything. Not to mention that Chohong over there looked like she was starting to get grumpy...

Maldong looked at me and then waved his hand. "Relax. I can interpret for-"

"Let's try this."

[Energy Manipulation] had turned into [Conceptual Manipulation]. And from my experimentation, it let me do some crazy shenanigans. Especially when paired with [All as One].

So, using the bonds of karma connecting us, my eyes, All as One, and the fact that I never lost the handydandy auto-translate ability given to us by the gods in the Neutral Zone...

I looked over at Chohong and spoke in Korean. "Hey, Chocho. Can you understand me?"

Chohong flinched and then glared at me. "I told you to stop calling me that, Oppa!"

I tilted my head and played coy. Scratching the side of my cheek, I said, "Did you know? My bad. I must have forgotten about it. Like how you keep forgetting to call me by name."

Chohong growled.

And then Maria gasped. "Oppa!"

...Just how did I get so many beautiful women to call me Oppa anyway? Honestly, people were going to misunderstand...

I resisted the urge to sigh and then looked at her. "Yeah, Maria?"

"Magic! You! Translator!"

Did that short-circuit her brain? Maria's eyes were darting between me and Chohong, and I could almost see the steam rushing out her ears.

At that time, Maldong groaned. "Of course. This crazy bastard would-"

"This is your pilot speaking. Brace for lift-off."

Great timing, Shin. I'll tell Seora to give you a raise later.

I looked at everyone and smiled. "Like the pilot said, buckle up and hold on tight guys."

Maldong narrowed his eyes.

And then the plane lurched, suddenly taking off.

...Huh. I thought that a luxury plane would have a smoother departure, but I wasn't about to complain.

xxx

Shin glanced at the monitor displaying the lounge with the passengers and then chuckled. The middle-aged man rubbed his chin and said, "That should give you a bit of breathing room, Mister Seol."

It was a mess. The man was surrounded by friends, sure. But he was also surrounded by hostiles. At least, in terms of having a peaceful experience.

"Still, to attract so many beauties and wear your heart on your sleeve... Should I be envious, or pitiful?"

A quick glance was all Shin needed to know about Jihu's romance situation.

Beautiful women all around the lounge, including a few Western beauties. All of them looking at him for approval and affection.

Fortunately for him, Jihu wasn't the only male on board. Master Maldong and that Yi Sungjin who helped Lady Seora in the past were there to serve as a bit of a buffer. Not only that, but Shin was present as well, so Jihu wasn't completely tossed to the wolves.

For now.

Shin focused on the horizon and then muttered a small prayer. "I hope you can pull off another miracle, Mister Seol. For your sake alone."

After all, having heard that their hero was heading to foreign lands, there was no way that Lady Seora and Lady Seohui were going to sit by when there was an opportunity for them to secure their stake as well.

Especially since Lady Seora had already managed to obtain U.S. citizenship through certain expedited processes...

xxx

Thankfully, the departure provided a quick and timely distraction. Because of it, I managed to dodge the more troublesome questions. Like how everything happened.

Well, dodge for a brief moment.

It didn't take long for the plane to level off and reach coasting height... or whatever it was that planes did. Either way, there wasn't any turbulence after the lift. Just smooth sailings... flyings?

Anyway, the plane went back to normal in no time. That meant that it was just me, alone with a bunch of women who loved me in various stages and amounts, my coach who looked ready to chew me out, and Sungjin, the high school kid basically dragged along into a mess he wasn't expecting.

Fortunately for me, Flone and Hannah were being MVPs and helping me reduce the trouble.

Flone dragged Yuhui and Teresa into a conversation about how Earth was like and where they were going, as well as fun sights and activities.

As for Hannah, she grabbed the bull by the horns and directly talked to Seonhwa, asking about past stories and sharing how I was like since I met her. Aided, of course, by copious amounts of fancy red wine.

That left Maria, Chohong, Sora, Maldong, Sungjin, and Seol-Ah for me to handle.

So. Plan A... execute.

There was a fold-out round table in one part of the plane. While Flone's entourage had fun in a private booth in the back and while Hannah was drinking with Seonhwa, I set up the table, sat down, and pulled out a deck of cards.

While I sat there, shuffling the cards, Sungjin took a seat on my right, with Seol-Ah next to him.

Coach Maldong sat across from me, fixing me with a stern gaze. As for Maria, Chohong, and Sora...

Well, Sora didn't make a fuss and just sat to Maldong's right, but Maria and Chohong had a little scuffle to grab the seat on my left.

After a bit of fighting though, we ended up like this:

Me, at the head of the table... as much as there could be at a round table. Sungjin to my right, followed immediately by Seol-Ah. After that, there was a bit of a gap until Coach Maldong, who sat directly across from me. To his immediate right, there was Sora. And finally, both pressed as close to me and as far from Sora as possible, Chohong and then Maria.

I started dealing the cards around the table, keeping calm and ignoring everyone around me.

"Um, Hyung." Sungjin glanced at me and said, "...Are you seriously just going to play cards?"

I shrugged and kept dealing the cards around the table. "It's a long trip, and we need something to do. And I'm sure everyone has a lot of questions for me, so we can have a bit of fun this way and answer those questions."

[You mean you can control what you want to answer by blatantly cheating with 'Heart of the Cards.']

Oh hey, Blackie. How's Paradise?

[Roe has now created a certain 'luxury club' loaning out some 'royal escorts' to people in good standing. As well as a 'happy hour' where anyone can take a run at the escorts.]

Ew. TMI.

I finished dealing everyone a pair of cards and then shuffled the deck again before dealing three cards in the center, followed by two on the right. The 'river' in poker.

Because of course we were playing poker. A zero-sum game was the only way I could keep things under wraps while I sorted out how I was going to talk my way out of this mess.

[Heh. It's funny how you two are running parallel events but with completely different context. That guy's having a hell of a time right now too.]

Could you slide into my DMs some other time? Kind of busy right now.

[Sure, sure. I'm in a good mood after smacking Sung Shihyun around a bit again, so I'll go bother my past self. Don't forget about Seonhwa though.]

I won't.

Maldong rubbed his chin and said, "Poker, huh?" He looked up at me and said, "Not planning to give up your secrets so easily, Kid?"

I laughed. "Don't misunderstand. I'm plenty happy to spill all my secrets to you guys. I mean, you've earned that much for putting up with me. But it's a bit much to dump in the open at one time... And I also want to know some more about you guys too. So we'll do it like this." I set the deck of cards down and then snapped my fingers. When I did, a small pile of casino chips appeared in front of everyone, each with a picture of the respective person they appeared in front of.

I picked up my pile of chips and let them run through my hands onto the table. "These chips represent our 'secrets.' We'll bet them each round for other people's secrets, and at the end of each, you can ask the person whose chip you own to redeem some secrets with the chips you earned. Of course, that person gets to decide the price." I smiled and said, "What do you say?"

Silence.

And then a tense atmosphere developed.

Maria straightened and began carefully stacking her chips. Looking at me, she said, "Careful, Oppa. I'll have you know that I haven't lost a bet since I've met you."

Chohong snorted and started sorting her chips out too. "Says the penniless priestess who had to scam people to earn her wages." She glanced at her chips and then looked at me. "But betting to get Oppa's secrets, huh? I'm game."

Sora chuckled and pulled her cards close, leaving her chips in the messed up pile. "Well, well. A chance to embarrass you after all you did at my restaurant?" She gave me a cold smile and said, "I hope you're ready to bare your heart to the world, Dear."

Coach Maldong tossed one of his chips in and said, "Like what Sora said." He looked at me and said, "You'd better get your story straight, Kid."

I laughed and said, "I believe in the heart of the cards-"

[Oh right. Gula gave me this neat authority.]

[You are facing a Karmic Tribulation.]
[Your innate abilities have been temporarily sealed.]
[Resolve the tribulation to the best of your capabilities.]

I froze.

Maldong noticed and raised an eyebrow.

Maria laughed and said, "What's wrong, Oppa? Scared of losing?"

"Of course not."

Keep it calm. Keep it cool...

[By the way, Gula told me to let you know that if you lose this poker match, she's changing your class to Harem God when you get back. Just an FYI.]

SON OF A-

"Um." Seol-Ah looked at me and said, "Oppa? Are you alright?"

I let out a deep sigh and said, "Let's just get this started." I grabbed one of my chips and tossed it in.

Everyone else did the same, and then I flipped open the first three cards.

An Ace, a King, and a Queen of spades.

Perfect. Just like I planned. Then, if I did things right...

I pulled my cards close and stared at them.

And then I froze.

Red cards. Hearts. And not just any hearts, the lowest of hearts. A two and a three... meaning that it was near impossible for me to get any winning hands unless a miracle happened.

And judging from how pleased everyone else looked... I was screwed.

Maldong looked at me and smirked. "Well, Kid? You gonna raise or check?"

I smirked back and said, "Isn't it obvious?" I grabbed five chips and tossed them in. "I'm raising."

Please fold, please fold, please-

"Mm... I think I'll go along with you, Hyung. Call." Sungjin nodded and then tossed in five chips as well.

...Fuck.

HappyVainGlory

Trying to get more frequent updates for everything, piece by piece. On the up side, I've got a routine of writing at least 100 words per day, so you can expect an update for sure every ten days. On the down side... it's every ten days. >.> Hopefully I get more efficient at my new writing scheme with more use.