Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 528:

Chapter 528

Two days before returning home.

Seo-jun and his children enjoyed their last destination, London, England.

They rode the giant Ferris wheel, the London Eye, on the banks of the Thames River and saw the cityscape of London. 

They also took pictures in front of the clock tower, Big Ben, at the north end of Westminster Palace.

Next, they headed to Buckingham Palace, a must-see tourist attraction in England, through St. James’s Park.

They passed the golden statue, the Victoria Memorial, and saw Buckingham Palace.

Seo-jun and his children turned their heads to the direction Mina pointed. At the top of Buckingham Palace, a flag was fluttering on the flagpole.

The Royal Standard, the king’s flag.

It was the flag that was flown when the queen was staying at Buckingham Palace.

When the queen was not there, they flew the national flag, the Union Jack.

“The queen is there right now… That’s amazing.”

“Indeed.”

It was amazing to think that the people of the British royal family, whom they had only seen in videos or photos, were in that building right now. The tourists around Seo-jun and his children also seemed to know that fact and took pictures of the Royal Standard at the top of Buckingham Palace with their cameras.

A little later.

It was time for another attraction of Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guard ceremony. People were standing in rows in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. They were the familiar guards, wearing black hats, red tops, and black pants.

Seo-jun and his children were watching them from near the entrance of Buckingham Palace.

The black gate with the golden emblem of the royal family opened on both sides. The first group of guards, playing instruments, marched out in formation.

Because of the large scale, more guards with new instruments followed behind.

“I guess this is the last one.”

As Ji-woo said, the guards with guns came out in formation and the black gate slowly closed. They saw the backs of the departing guards. Police on horses followed them.

When the guards were out of sight, some of the tourists started to leave.

“Shall we go too?”

“Yeah!”

Seo-jun and the children left for the next tourist spot with excited faces.

***

That night.

As usual, Seo-jun was reading a book in the Library of Life and closed the book he was holding with a satisfied expression.

[The Golden Mermaid]

He started reading in March and it was five months later now.

He finally finished reading the books of Parvita, the god of cooking and commerce, who was born as the second prince of the mermaid kingdom, led a huge trading company that could live on the continent, and eventually ascended to the throne of god.

“I read some other books of life in between, but it definitely took longer than the other books.”

Seo-jun grabbed the bead that appeared in front of him. It was a bead with a compass pattern.

[(Gift/Craft) The Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass – Top Grade -]

It is the compass of Parvita, the god of cooking and commerce, the golden mermaid.

It helps the owner achieve what they want most.

The description was simple, but it had a great ability as a top grade.

For example, this is how it works.

There is a person who owns Parvita’s compass.

He dragged his tired body and looked at the approaching bus stop after working hard today. Fortunately, the heavy rain had stopped.

He got off at the bus stop and had to decide which way to go home today. It was about the same distance whether he went to the right or to the left. He thought, ‘I feel like going to the right today’, and moved his steps to the right.

But was it a wrong choice?

Where the road and the sidewalk met, there was a big puddle.

A large truck passed by his side, unaware of it. The truck’s wheels swept the puddle quickly at high speed. Of course, if it was inevitable, the muddy water mixed with rain and dirt splashed into the air.

Splash!

He lost his words at the sudden baptism of muddy water. The people walking on the sidewalk moved away from him, who was a mess from head to toe.

‘…I should have gone to the left.’

He thought he had no luck at all, and went to a nearby convenience store to buy some wet wipes.

He smiled apologetically at the surprised part-timer and asked him to bring some wet wipes. 

The part-timer who didn’t want to clean the floor quickly brought the wet wipes. He paid with the cash in his pocket and had some money left.

His eyes went to the lottery that was advertised on the counter. It was natural for him to buy a lottery ticket automatically. He took out a wet wipe and wiped it here and there. But it didn’t make any difference.

‘…Let’s just go home.’

He arrived home with tired steps and vowed never to go to the right again as he showered.

A few days later.

He found the lottery ticket he had bought without thinking and checked the winning numbers.

<First Prize>

‘…Huh?!’

That’s how he became rich, as he wished for his once-in-a-lifetime.

That was the ability of [(Gift) The Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass].

If he hadn’t gone to the right, if he hadn’t been baptized by muddy water, if he hadn’t gone to the convenience store. He wouldn’t have bought the lottery ticket.

Turning crisis into opportunity, opportunity into bigger opportunity.

[(Gift) The Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass] looked into the future and unconsciously interfered with the owner’s choice, making the result that made him think that everything he thought was a crisis or misfortune was necessary after all.

Like a protagonist in a novel who gets a fate even if he falls off a cliff.

Whether his wish was world peace or world domination. Even if it was a frivolous wish to become a god, [(Gift) The Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass] would gladly grant it.

“Of course, since it’s a gift ability, it has to be a good one.”

World peace, world domination. It was amazing.

Ordinary(?) Seo-jun shook his head at the scale he couldn’t even imagine.

There wouldn’t always be a chance for such a result. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of terrible trials and hardships there would be.

There was one more problem.

Seo-jun looked at the bead with the compass pattern and pondered.

“I can’t specify the owner’s wish…”

What the owner wants.

Seo-jun’s wish was to be a superstar.

Ji-yoon’s wish was to be a best-selling author, Mina’s wish was to be a famous chef, Ji-woo’s wish was to be a great doctor, Ji-ho’s wish was to be a world-class soccer player.

‘Then what about Da Ho hyung?’

The manager’s wish was usually,

“…Independence?”

Seo-jun sulked without knowing it.

With the top-grade ability that could make wishes like world peace or world domination possible, independence would be a piece of cake.

“…Or maybe he unexpectedly wants something like longevity?”

[(Gift) The Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass] had the ability to grant what the owner wanted deeply in their heart, even if they didn’t realize it. He thought it might be something like that.

“It’s pretty vague for a top grade.”

He couldn’t set the wish, nor could he know the process of the wish being fulfilled.

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders after a moment of thought.

“Still, it’s a line ability and a top-notch one at that, so it should be fine.”

He wondered what kind of wish Da Ho hyung hoped to come true.

He thought it might be something trivial, and opened his eyes.

***

Seo-jun and the kids toured around London, sightseeing and buying souvenirs.

“This is pretty!”

“The price is reasonable too.”

They had bought some small souvenirs while visiting different countries, but they had restrained themselves a bit since they had to move to another country and didn’t want to have too much luggage.

“We can buy a lot since we’re going to Korea tomorrow!”

Ji-yoon’s eyes sparkled. Seo-jun, Mina, and Ji-woo also looked excited as they busily browsed through various shops to buy gifts for their family and friends in Korea.

“Shall we go to the flea market too?”

“Let’s do that!”

The flea market in London was called a car boot sale.

There were all kinds of antique items, such as clothes, bags, jewelry, toys, etc. It was a popular place for tourists as well.

Seo-jun and the kids arrived at the largest car boot sale venue. It was crowded with people who wanted to buy and sell. Seo-jun and the kids quickly joined the crowd.

“I’ve seen movies where these things have ghosts attached to them…”

Ji-woo said, looking at a pale porcelain doll that looked a bit scary. Ji-yoon and Mina nodded and moved away from the doll.

Seo-jun smiled and looked over the table. This table had mostly antique ornaments, and there was one item that caught his eye. It was also something that Seo-jun needed.

“/Excuse me. Can I take a look at this?/”

“/Sure./”

Seo-jun picked it up.

It was a compass with a silver lid that was open. Seo-jun held the compass and closed the lid, then opened it again. It was unusual to have a lid on a compass, as it was more common for pocket watches. He was curious about the compass.

The old man who had been reading a magazine put it down and adjusted his glasses.

“/I made it when I was young. I didn’t have the skill to make a watch, so I barely managed to make a compass./”

“/Wow. You made it yourself. That’s awesome! What kind of flower is this?/”

There was a flower pattern engraved on the silver lid. The embossed flower motif had rich petals and delicate stamens and pistils.

“/It’s a peony. It’s been used a lot in England for medicinal and edible purposes since ancient times./”

The old man smiled and said.

“/They also used to string them into necklaces and use them as amulets./”

Oh.

That sounded like a good meaning.

Seo-jun liked the compass and asked for the price. The old man who came to the flea market every week as a hobby smiled and gave him a fair price.

“What did you buy?”

The kids who had been looking at other items nearby came over when they saw that Seo-jun had bought something.

“Yeah. A gift for Da Ho hyung.”

“It’s pretty. Is it a watch?”

“No. It’s a compass. What did you buy?”

“I bought this! A handkerchief! They made it themselves.”

Seo-jun and the kids chatted and moved on.

***

The kids stayed up late, feeling sad that they would return to Korea the next day.

Seo-jun, who had been awake the longest, moved quietly. It was to make [(Line/Production)Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass].

The materials he needed were a huge amount of mana that matched the top-notch level and an item to engrave the ability, a compass.

So that Ji-woo wouldn’t wake up, Seo-jun sat at the table and turned on a small light. He took out the peony-patterned compass he had bought at the flea market today and started working.

[(Line/Production)Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass is being produced.]

The white line energy that came out of Seo-jun’s body swirled like waves and seeped into the compass. It kept seeping in.

‘…How long will it take?’

The amount of line energy that went into the small compass was enough to make him worry that it might burst, even though it was an intangible energy.

The only top-notch ability that Seo-jun had used was [(Line)Small Mimic’s Tempting Package]. [(Line)Small Mimic’s Tempting Package] was an exceptional ability that even Seo-jun, who was a baby, could use. But he had no idea how much mana he needed for the top-notch ability he had acquired properly.

‘Will it take a little longer?’

If Seo-jun didn’t have enough mana, it might be a bit difficult to use the top-notch ability in the future. In the case of production, he could collect mana for a few days, but in the case of an ability that had to be used in a flash, he would run out of mana.

‘Well, as time goes by, the amount of mana I have will increase.’

Seo-jun didn’t know how long that would take.

Fortunately, contrary to Seo-jun’s expectation, after he poured out all the line energy he had, he got a notification that the production was completed.

[(Line/Production)Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass has been completed.]

The dull silver peony engraved on the lid looked strangely blue and gold. Just like Parvita’s book.

Seo-jun looked at it with a curious face and activated the ability.

He wondered how [(Line/Production)Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass] would react to his wish of ‘superstar’.

[(Line/Production)Golden Mermaid Parvita’s Compass points the direction.]

The compass needle that had been pointing north and south spun around and slowly stopped moving.