As soon as the National Exchange Tournament ended, I pondered where the safest place in France might be.
Of course, if safety is the only concern, “Hexagone Balard” in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, where the French Joint Staff Headquarters is located, would be the number one choice.
However, I always had to keep in mind that nothing is scarier than people—more terrifying than ghosts or weapons of mass destruction.
Assuming everyone is an enemy, there are not many factors I can control in the Hexagon.
The area is surrounded by plains, sparsely populated, and heavily guarded.
Yet, it is still a place where I can at least live a somewhat human life.
By some coincidence, there was exactly one place that met all these conditions.
The village of Vosne-Romanée in Burgundy, France.
“Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.”
It was a winery that produced the most famous and valuable wine in the world.
The population of Vosne-Romanée was less than 300, but it operated a barrier comparable to the National Defense Force.
This meant that magic was completely banned within the village.
“Hmm… Is that the real reason?”
“What?”
Without any hesitation, I decided on my next destination.
A beautiful vineyard bathed in lush greenery.
I drove smoothly along the winding road lined with endless rows of grapevines.
Seeing the dark red grape clusters rising told me that harvest time was just around the corner.
“Is anyone going to steal that?”
Looking at the low stone wall that even a young child could jump over, Cheon Saetbyeol voiced her concerns.
“What would they do with it? It’s just grapes.”
“Back when monks cultivated the vineyards, the concept of land ownership wasn’t clear, so they used stone walls to mark boundaries.”
“Ooh.”
As we entered the village, one by one, quaint stone buildings began to appear.
The self-driving car led us to a humble winery with a cozy courtyard.
“Is this the right place? There are no signs or anything.”
“Wait, let me call again.”
In front of an iron gate that reeked of medieval vibes, we parked the car.
The peaceful atmosphere, with the wind gently rustling, was interrupted by the sounds of a call connection failing sporadically.
“No one is picking up.”
But shortly after, I heard footsteps approaching from the building.
A middle-aged woman dressed in a comfortable white dress took off her sunglasses and pressed a button that looked like a car key.
Beep beep—
The iron fence began to slide open.
She approached us and greeted us warmly.
“Ooh la la! I can’t believe it! I thought it was just a prank call. No-Name, welcome!”
“Thank you for the warm welcome. But I thought Monday was a day when visitors aren’t received…”
“Oh, it’s perfectly fine, please come in!”
“Okay.”
Under the guidance of Madame Vilain, who introduced herself as the granddaughter of the winery owner, we headed to the reception room.
“Grandpa Bertrand will arrive in about three hours. Congratulations again on winning the National Exchange Tournament, No-Name. And this is…?”
Clears throat. “This is Cheon Saetbyeol.”
Madame Vilain hesitated for a moment before reaching out to shake my hand.
“Is it really okay if I touch you? I mean, what if you melt or something…?”
“I’m not a snowman, you know?”
Saetbyeol quickly grabbed her hand and shook it.
I explained the situation and asked if she could help us find a vacation home for a few days.
“I do have an unused vacation home, but I think it’d be better for you to stay in my grandpa’s place. It’s much better equipped. Can you wait until he arrives?”
“That’s no problem. We have plenty of time right now. Do you have capsules as well?”
“Yes, we have plenty. In this day and age, if you’re dining with kids, capsules are a must. I think we have about ten in total?”
I brought up how the unique lengthy dinner time in France wouldn’t hold up for young kids.
“I was shocked to hear the presentation, but seeing it in person is even more surprising. I figured you must be going through a lot.”
“Yes, reality is tougher than I imagined.”
“Really?”
“I even got a call yesterday from North Korea. They claimed to be from the Workers’ Party of Korea Organizing Guidance Department.”
“Gasp, that sounds terrifying.”
Honestly, I was shocked to see an email starting with ‘The Respected Supreme Leader Comrade.’
Currently, my manager Lee Bo-reum sorts out important emails every few hours.
From the Dankote business family in Nigeria to the Saudi royal family, IT company CEOs, professional athletes—the variety was endless.
They claim there are over 10,000 people in this world with assets exceeding 200 billion, so my inbox was getting ready to explode.
While waiting, I explored the winery with the CEO’s granddaughter.
Sadly, the tasting experience wasn’t available for us but only for Saetbyeol and Dad.
Still, given the environment, I believed an opportunity would arise someday.
Eventually, I had a brief chat with Grandpa Bertrand, who was nearly 90 and the owner of Romanée-Conti.
“Is it magic that makes you younger?”
“No, not like that.”
“But I don’t see why everyone is so interested in that. Just to preserve the value of this mere wine, we put in so much effort. We manage temperature and humidity, control lighting, purify the air with HEPA filters, and wine is so sensitive to vibrations that we store it tilted on specially made racks to suppress vibrations. Anyway, people nowadays want to live too easily—tsk tsk. Clemence, do you know where the vacation home is on the way to the city? Let’s guide them there.”
Thanks to Grandpa’s unwavering pride in wine, we were able to reside in a lovely vacation home with a swimming pool.
“Since a precious guest has arrived, let’s open a good bottle of wine? Is everyone okay with barbecue tonight?”
Thump-thump—
Hearing those words made my heart race.
Is my dream coming true already?
“Grandpa! No-Name is only 10 years old! What business does she have with alcohol!”
“Ah, right right, I almost slipped up there. Haha! What kind of meat does No-Name like? How about T-bone steak or lamb chops?”
“I’d be grateful for whatever you serve…”
I pouted as I got into the car.
Meanwhile, Saetbyeol, occupying the seat next to me, whispered.
“Hehe, we gotta drink it up right.”
*
For three days after the barbecue party at the vacation home, I dedicated myself solely to game development.
Even trying to sever ties with my annoying past life only sparked nostalgia.
I cleared my mind completely as I constructed mountains, drew rivers, and planned the city.
I tweaked the designs of the demon beasts a tad.
No need to expose myself to grotesque visages born merely from my recollections in a game created for healing.
Instead, I opened up paths to allow for creative appearances using a breeding system.
At this rate, I might be able to rapidly open the next area soon.
“Yeah, this feels healing.”
During that time, Love Unni returned to Korea and received a car parade welcome.
In terms of scale, she couldn’t match Giselle Fischer, but reportedly 5 million people gathered to praise her at one location.
Resonance – Ending Kaizen World.
Pushiiing—
After laboring intensely, evening rolled around.
“Why is it so hot?”
I instinctively wiped sweat-soaked hair with my hand.
That crazy cat must have turned off the capsule air conditioning before leaving.
If I had waited a little longer, the emergency mode would have kicked in and automatically activated the air conditioning.
I immediately barged into Cheon Saetbyeol’s room.
“Hey, are you trying to die?”
“Hey hey! Phone phone! I’m on a call with my friend. Speak nicely, Name-ya!”
“Name-ya? Have you lost your mind?”
GYaahhh! Ugh! Gah!
I lightly poked her in the solar plexus and side.
Why is she being so dramatic all of a sudden?
Flopping around like a fish caught on a fishing line, she eventually rolled under the bed.
Saetbyeol? Are you okay?
“Ughhh…”
I picked up the phone that fell with her and answered the call.
“Hello.”
[Yes, hello?]
“Who is calling my Saetbyeol at 1 AM?”
[Gasp…! Are you No-Name? Yes, yes! Oh my gosh! @$#@@&&!]
A piercing, high-pitched scream pierced my ears.
[Miss Name, I’m such a big fan! Congratulations on your win! I can’t believe you’re 10 and using kendo so well and executing difficult magic so perfectly—]
“Friend?”
[Yes, yes! I’m Saetbyeol’s classmate!]
“Oh, I see! I’ve been so curious about how Saetbyeol usually thinks of her little sister. Doesn’t she talk about that often?”
[We talk about it a lot! She often says that if she touches her little sister, she feels like she’d go to heaven… And she definitely said that she really likes her little sister and that she’s such a good little sister who runs errands without complaint. Eep! Your voice is so cute too…!]
“Thank you. But we need to go have dinner, so I’ll hang up now.”
[Oh! Time to eat! Take care of yourself!]
Click—
I softly pulled on the hem of Saetbyeol’s clothes trying to sneak out of the room.
“I still have my own dignity—”
“What?”
“Nothing like that, oh heavenly sister.”
“Right. Make sure to tell your friends exactly what you just said tomorrow.”
“Huuh?”
I used the white T-shirt casually tossed on the bed to wipe my sweat.
Bouncing down the stairs, I found a delicious Korean meal waiting for us.
Most ingredients were delivered by drone, and for anything else, our fellow traveler, Professor Cheon, who had a relatively low profile, often did the shopping.
As everyone settled down and picked up their chopsticks, I took out the camera I had prepared and pointed it at Saetbyeol.
“What is this?”
“I need you to help me vlog. You gotta become famous, right?”
“Eh, I’m not that ambitious about such things. I’ll take my time with that.”
“2.1 billion.”
“…”
Upon hearing that staggering amount, Saetbyeol began to cough.
“Should I repay you?”
