D.I.O

“All right. Everyone, stop.”

There was a deep ‘Bam!’ sound like that of a clap and its subsequent reverberation, and the entire party stopped moving.

However, they didn’t stop voluntarily.

They could no longer move; it was as if someone had forcefully stopped time.

“This… What’s going on?”

The pause only lasted a moment. It was only for a very short period of time, less than a second long, but it was still surprising to everyone that their bodies, which were equipped with spiritual pathways, could be forcibly taken over. For those equipped with artificial spiritual pathways, a second was enough time to inflict considerable damage on one’s opponent.

“I told you guys to prepare a meal for our guests… What’s up with this heated atmosphere?”

The side of a wall opened and revealed Yongno. Behind him as always was Youngmin, who calmly followed after Yongno, and Miho, who followed closely behind them with her six tails gently swaying behind her.

“Wow! What are all these dishes? I’ve never seen this type of food before.”

“I prepared Korean food to commemorate my visit to Korea. I referenced the Surasang, the Korean traditional royal dining spread. According to Korean tradition, there are supposed to be three tabletops filled with various starters and dishes, but I decided on preparing a twelve-dish spread as a base. Moreover, I didn’t know if the food would fit everyone’s taste, so I also added some Western and Chinese style cuisines.”

Cruze released the materialized dual pistols after seeing how Mary—no, Snowflake Flower—had filled the dining table with an overwhelmingly bountiful spread. It was to the extent that it seemed the dining table would give way under the heft of the dishes. Cruze sat down in front of one of the many dining sets, which consisted of a spoon and chopsticks, that adorned the gorgeous dining table.

“What is all this? It doesn’t seem like a normal spread… It’s imbued with mana.”

“You can think of it as a kind of medicinal food. If you eat any of the dishes, your energy will be restored, and you won’t be as sensitive to cold or heat for a while.”

Mary was a complete being as she was composed of many [selves] from various dimensions. If she had prepared the food as DIO’s Skill Master, Marionette Hold, her food would have [extended the lifespan of the person who ate her food and made them look at least ten percent younger]. This was because she was capable of creating medicinal food beyond one’s imagination. However, after she had gained independence from the DIO system, Mary became Snowflake Flower, the Snowflake Sword Master, so she only possessed a few remnant abilities of her previous self.

‘Well, even those few remnant abilities are still overwhelmingly useful and powerful.’

After gaining independence and becoming Snowflake Flower, she lost most of her abilities and was only able to use martial arts, but she was able to master most of the arts that didn’t belong to the realm of [supernatural abilities].

This allowed Snowflake Flower to be an excellent cook, a proficient accountant, and an all-around generalist who could handle politics and business at an excellent level.

“Big Sis, Big Bro… it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, long time no see. We actually tried to come over a few times, but Dad kept stopping us, so we never got around to it. You’ve become so amazing and popular that it’s been hard to get a meeting with you.”

As expected, Boram spoke in a lively manner and smiled. She then sat down in one of the dining table chairs. Yongno also sat down, and Eunhye, who had just appeared and walked right beside him, naturally sat next to Yongno. The moment Miho tried to sit on the opposite side of the table across from Yongno…

“Phew.”

Seeing Snowflake Flower sneak in front of her and plop down on the chair she was moving to, Miho cried out with wide eyes, “Ah! Snowflake Flower! That’s where I was planning to sit!”

“Hahaha, there’s no seating chart, right? Whoever sits down first gets the seat.”

“Eh? But…”

Everyone’s eyes gathered on the two, who were having a weird exchange, but Snowflake Flower maintained a confident attitude.

“Yongno is so busy all the time, so it’s hard to get close to him unless we eat a meal together.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

For a moment, the room fell into silence. Eunhye, Miho, and Leaf—who had just sat down in a position diagonally across the table from Yongno but was facing Sungmuk—all flinched.

‘We were all coexisting so quietly, but she’s now throwing a curveball out of nowhere…’

‘Is it because his family members are present?’

In truth, all the women present were great beauties—even Eunhye, who wore a men’s business suit. Eunhye had distinct features and a well-trained body; her looks were good enough for her to pass off as a celebrity. Meanwhile, Miho’s pointy fox ears, which protruded above her head, and her six tails gave off a cute, girlish charm. Then there was Leaf, who possessed the title of Korea’s national younger sister and was beloved by the entire nation. She possessed good looks and a slim body on top of many other mesmerizing attributes. Even Boram, Yongno’s older sister, possessed an urban charm-type of physical beauty.

However… Snowflake Flower’s beauty was on a completely different level.

Shiny silver hair, tall height, and a slender body… a voluptuous chest and an alluringly concave neck… Snowflake Flower’s beauty harmonized all aspects of her being, from her physical appearance to the way she carried herself.

She was a woman of great mature beauty. The word ‘beauty’ was more appropriate for her than the descriptions of pretty or cute, which were more apt for the other women in the room.

Even when Yongno, who wasn’t particularly interested in women, first saw Mary, he immediately thought that if an entertainment agency or studio got ahold of her to model something, she’d be able to earn hundreds of millions of won, if not billions, even if she were just a foot or hand model.

Plop!

While everyone was motionless and momentarily stunned by Snowflake Flower’s words, Miho walked towards Yongno and plopped herself down on Yongno’s lap.

“Ah! Miho!”

“What?”

“Uh, sitting like that… That’ll make Yongno uncomfortable.”

“Ah~ it’s fine. I sit like this on his lap all the time. He’s never mentioned that it was uncomfortable for him before.”

Yongno sighed at the sight of Snowflake Flower and Miho bickering while Eunhye observed the two from the side.

“Let’s just start eating.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Okay!”

“Miho, come see me later.”

“Hmph! I’m not afraid of anyone who tells me they want to see me later!”

“Here, try this.”

Boram’s eyes narrowed at the sight of these unique beauties arguing with each other while dutifully following Yongno’s every word.

‘Oh, this little brother of mine…’

Yongno was previously a person who was reluctant to interact with others. Boram, on the other hand, could easily approach everyone, no matter what group she joined—even if it was a group of jealous, beautiful women. Yet, even Boram hadn’t been able to completely crack Yongno’s shell, which just showed how much Yongno kept to himself.

‘I guess he’s gotten a lot better.’

Yongno was currently one of the most famous people in the world, and his influence extended beyond Korea.

However, what Boram meant when she said that Yongno had gotten better wasn’t about his ability to interact with others or his popularity. Boram felt that Yongno had overcome the unique dark and depressing aura that he exuded whenever he met others.

‘What the hell happened? What the hell did dad, mom, and Taewoong do to him? Why was he in such a terrible state for so long? What the heck happened that was so terrible that no one wants to talk about it?’

Although Boram’s thoughts were turbulent and jumbled, the mealtime went by quite swimmingly.

The food was surprisingly delicious. Taewoong was silent, but the rest of the people in attendance actively talked about various subjects.

“Wow. By the way, your place is huge. There are so many celebrities who want to come here…”

“Celebrities want to come here? Why?” Yongno tilted his head at Leaf’s comment.

Politicians and entrepreneurs not just in Korea but all around the world wanted to enter Yongno’s mansion as they were all eager to have a word with Yongno. Why though?

“It’s obvious. This place is the most famous and trending place in Korea—no, in the entire world. It’s ‘the’ hot place. This place is considered to be the headquarters of magic items that produce infinite energy, which is then distributed and used by everyone all over the world. Above all, Merlin Emrys is the world’s most powerful mage and the strongest being in the world alongside the Knight of Light. If anyone stays here, even if it’s just for three days and two nights, that person would probably receive calls from all sorts of media outlets for the next three years minimum to talk about what they saw and experienced in this place. Wow! This is delicious!” Leaf chattered and ate while speaking to Yongno.

As Leaf was an accomplished singer, her tone of voice was pleasing to the ears. Additionally, she was so full of energy while giving her explanation, so she looked like a bird chirping in satisfaction. If her fans saw this image of her, they would have saved a video clip and kept it in their families for generations.

“Oh, Leaf, by the way…”

“So, back then, at the apartment, the CEO… Ah! What were you going to say Yongno?”

Leaf took a sip of her fruit drink and then turned her head toward Yongno. For some reason, Yongno felt that Leaf seemed more feminine than before.

Once Yongno realized the source of that feeling, he said, “Your chest is huge.”

Spit!

Leaf spit out her drink. Her projectile-like spit was so strong and had such great coverage that it seemed like it would drench not only Yongno, whom she was looking at, but also Snowflake Flower and Eunhye, who were seated on her left and right respectively.

However, the moment Yongno raised his right hand, the liquid moving across the air stopped as if someone pressed pause while playing a video game.

“Be careful.”

“Ack! Hey! How can you be so direct and indiscreet about such a personal matter!?”

“Did you get breast enhancement surgery done?”

“No! No, of course not! I equipped an artificial spiritual pathway and these two mounds popped out! Besides, it didn’t get that much bigger!!”

Of course, Leaf didn’t have a particularly large bust. If one were to say that she was previously a flat wall, one would now say that she was now a solid A-cup. However, looking at Leaf’s new image, Eunhye murmured something under her breath.