Chapter 82: Gateway Between Fiction and Reality

Butler Yoo stood frozen for a second, unsettled by the fact that he hadn’t even registered A-Ji and Ji-Ga’s movements.

Quickly shaking off his shock, he remembered his young mistress being thrown out of the ring. He rushed to Si-Yeon’s side, only to find her already standing on her own feet, casually rubbing her throbbing forearms.

"Making quite a fuss over nothing, aren’t you, Butler Yoo?" Si-Yeon remarked calmly.

"Forgive me for my inappropriate behavior, Young Miss." Butler Yoo bowed, apologizing.

Si-Yeon just waved her hand to tell Butler Yoo not to mind it.

Despite losing the spar, the brief exchange had served its purpose. She had confirmed several key suspicions.

First, Ji-Hong clearly no longer suffered from his defective constitution—though how he had cured it remained a mystery, even if she had a sneaking suspicion it was tied to a certain stuff.

Second, his martial fundamentals were far more precise and refined than before. His execution was razor-sharp, even if his raw physical power still seemed intentionally restrained.

If Ji-Hong had truly the strength to overwhelm her with raw force, that final kick would have left her pinned to the floor, unable to move for minutes rather than standing upright brushing off dust.

Across the ring, Ji-Hong squatted at the edge of the arena platform, resting his elbows on his thighs as he looked down at her.

"Why the sudden request to spar? And why come all the way to my estate?!" Ji-Hong asked, tilting his head. "Aren’t you afraid Elder Si-Jin will find out and punish you for visiting me? Besides, acting this friendly out of nowhere is a bit cringe, don’t you think?"

Si-Yeon crossed her arms, looking up at him unimpressed. "Where are your manners? Aren’t you going to invite your guest to sit somewhere decent and serve tea?"

Ji-Hong blinked, turning his head toward Butler Lee.

Butler Lee offered a subtle nod, silently agreeing with Si-Yeon’s sentiment.

Ji-Hong, however, shook his head. "Yeah, no. I refuse. We can talk right here. Butler Lee, have someone bring tea and snacks down to the training room."

Without waiting for an answer, Ji-Hong hopped lightly off the raised platform, landing casually on the floor in front of Si-Yeon.

Si-Yeon simply stared at him with a deadpan expression, while Butler Yoo’s eyebrow twitched at Ji-Hong’s utter lack of etiquette.

Butler Lee could only sigh in quiet resignation at his young master’s shameless behavior, turning to signal Ji-Ga to head to the kitchen and alert the staff.

The atmosphere shifted subtly, even though they hadn’t left the training hall.

Servants had quickly set up a small round table with cushioned chairs beside the arena platform, placing down teapot sets with practiced precision.

Si-Yeon and Ji-Hong sat across from each other, steam rising gently from their cups of fine tea.

"You’re here to ask about Origins VR Cafe, aren’t you?" Ji-Hong asked, taking a slow sip before getting straight to the point.

For the first time since coming, Si-Yeon was caught completely off guard. ’Did this wastrel not only fix his body, but somehow acquire a brain too? How on earth did he figure that out?’

She stared at him, unable to hide her genuine astonishment.

Seeing her stunned expression, Ji-Hong broke into a smug, childish grin. "Hehe! Look at your face! You’re wondering how a genius like me saw right through you, aren’t you?"

He puffed out his chest proudly, pointing a thumb at himself. "Well, it’s simple! Butler Lee told me right before you pulled up to the front door that you’d probably come here asking about the shop!"

Behind Ji-Hong’s chair, Butler Lee closed his eyes and let out a faint, long-suffering sigh. Having spotted Si-Yeon outside the Origins VR Cafe long ago, he hadn’t found it difficult to infer her motives for coming—though he certainly hadn’t expected his young master to blurt them out so shamelessly.

Si-Yeon’s surprise instantly evaporated. Her expression defaulted back to a blank, deadpan stare, inwardly cursing herself for briefly believing this wastrel had developed a brain.

She glanced toward the surrounding bodyguards and servants before leaning in slightly. "Are you sure it’s fine to talk about that place so openly here?"

"Why not?" Ji-Hong waved a hand dismissively. "It’s not like it’s some life-or-death secret. Besides, the more people who find out about the shop, the better! If the customer count blows up, the shopkeeper will have to expand the place, add more VR Capsules, and release new games and food items faster! Hehehe."

Si-Yeon and Butler Yoo stiffened, both of them staring at Ji-Hong as if their ears had malfunctioned, their brains momentarily refusing to process such absurd logic from an idiot.

Si-Yeon pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a long moment, forcing herself to maintain her composure.

"Yeah, whatever," she sighed, adopting a nonchalant tone to fish for a reaction. "Either way, the shop did just upgrade. They added two new games and expanded the food and drink menu, so it actually functions like a proper cafe now."

Ji-Hong slapped the table, leaning forward with an exasperated groan.

"See?! This is exactly why I tried so hard to explain it to Grandpa! If he’d just listened instead of keeping me under house arrest, I wouldn’t be stuck here! Now who knows how long it’ll be before I can go back? I’m falling behind in both my martial arts and my cultivation progress!"

Behind her, Butler Yoo had a difficult time controlling his expression. A mixture of utter disbelief and subtle mockery flickered across his face—a slip in composure so obvious that even Butler Lee caught it from across the room.

Ji-Hong, however, remained completely oblivious.

"Cultivation?" Si-Yeon asked, choosing to address his wild claim with grounded pragmatism.

"Have you been consuming too much entertainment propaganda lately? Do you actually believe that stuff from NovelPhoenixs and action movies—channeling energy through your veins—is real? Is that what you think cured your body?"

She kept her voice smooth and neutral. In a world where anything supernatural was dismissed as stage tricks or wirework, the idea of internal energy sounded like pure fiction. Yet, whether Ji-Hong was talking nonsense or tapping into something genuine, she could filter the truth later.

After all, her main objective for visiting was already becoming clearer by the second.

"You surely wouldn’t deny it after experiencing the shop yourself, would you?!" Ji-Hong practically squawked, nearly slopping his tea over the porcelain rim.

"You know what my condition was like—you were right there alongside our other cousins, occasionally ridiculing me for it. Yet you sparred with me just now. That alone should have shattered your doubts! Do you honestly think current medical science can rewrite a human body’s broken constitution on a whim? In your dreams!"

Si-Yeon didn’t flinch. She tilted her head, her cold, analytical gaze taking in every detail of his flushed face. "A breakthrough in modern cellular therapy or specialized gene treatment could account for a sudden medical recovery. That doesn’t prove you’re channeling mythical energy."

"The world’s research is developing fast, but right now, nothing on Blue Star can rewrite a defective constitution overnight. Besides, it’s not about wielding magical energy yet—I haven’t even reached the level where I can actually cultivate internal force. It’s all because of the character stats," Ji-Hong explained, leaning in.

"Boss Don told me the entire key to the VR Capsules is the Synchronization Rate. It’s a cutting-edge function that transfers your character’s physical experience directly into your real-world nervous system, bypassing the need for decades of repetitive physical labor. It’s essentially the ultimate, hyper-safe training tool."

He leaned back into his chair, resting his hands in his lap.

"Ask my butler or my personal bodyguards—they all know about it. Because my character stats hit the maximum cap in-game, that data transferred directly into my real body, even with my Synchronization Rate at a mere 10%.

It might sound like a tiny fraction, but for a body that started in a massive physical deficit due to congenital defects, that ten percent was enough to reset my baseline to normal completely."

Si-Yeon narrowed her eyes slightly. It sounded absurd—like a plot point pulled straight out of cheap serial fiction. Yet she couldn’t deny the physical evidence sitting right in front of her. Ji-Hong wasn’t just healthy; his baseline physical efficiency was soaring past normal human limits.

"So," Si-Yeon said slowly, swirling her tea. "You’re saying the game isn’t just a simulator. It’s a medium."

"It’s not just a medium—it’s a gateway!" Ji-Hong declared, a triumphant smirk breaking across his face. "The Shopkeeper isn’t just selling coffee and game time, cousin. He’s handing us the key to a higher realm. That shop is the bridge where fiction bleeds into reality."

Si-Yeon’s core shook. Her fingers trembled so slightly that only the faint clatter of her teacup against the saucer betrayed her shock. For the first time in her life, her rational worldview faltered. The line between pop-culture fiction and reality was dissolving right before her eyes.

"You remember those assassin teams sent to kill our Patriarch at the birthday banquet, don’t you?" Ji-Hong dropped his final, decisive piece of evidence.

"They were completely dismantled by Boss Don. Ji-Ga witnessed it with his own eyes—Boss Don launched himself directly into the air toward a high vantage point with a single, explosive stomp, leaving the concrete floor cracked and cratered beneath him. No normal human or even the strongest human can do that without tools!"

Behind Si-Yeon, Butler Yoo scoffed, unable to swallow such an absurd, physics-defying claim about the banquet incident.

Si-Yeon, however, could no longer maintain her stoic facade. Her spine straightened instantly, her eyes widening in pure, unadulterated shock as the pieces finally clicked together.