A Different Path

Can you touch the Peak?

It's been quite some time since Workers added a new affiliate named Cipher, led by Johan Seong.

Since then, Eugene and Johan have worked together to set up a talent agency to hide the shady business of Cipher Affiliate.

The Cipher Entertainment was founded a while ago, and Workers have recruited many talented individuals from around the world.

However, Johan is currently bugging Eugene about recruiting a certain superstar to be part of Cipher Affiliate - none other than Diego Kang himself.

At first, Eugene didn't want to involve DG in any way possible, but he knew that Johan wasn't stupid enough to meet DG without a plan. With that in mind, Eugene contacted DG and organized a meeting between Johan and DG.

Officially, the meeting was for Johan to try to recruit DG into his company, but in reality, they were meeting for other reasons.

Eugene used his knowledge to convince DG to meet Johan, and Johan wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

After all, he had been waiting for it for a long time. He wanted to see if he could reach his peak or not.

Currently, Johan was on his way to meet DG at the main office of Cipher Entertainment, riding in his Rolls Royce and speaking to Eugene on the phone.

Eugene warned him not to make a mess, telling him that DG was not what he seemed. "I am aware of his true identity," Johan informed Eugene, surprising him.

Eugene asked how he figured it out, but Johan lied, saying he learned it in prison from people who were part of the first generation.

"The first generation can recognize James Lee in a glance," Eugene said. "But be even more careful now that you know his identity." Johan assured Eugene that he wasn't afraid of DG, saying, "Don't worry Chairman, he won't kill me."

Eugene was surprised at Johan's confidence, and Johan hung up as he arrived at the main office. The workers of his company greeted him as he stepped out of his Rolls Royce.

"Welcome, Mr. President!" the staff greeted Johan as he entered the office. "Greetings, sir," they continued.

"Have a good day, sir." Johan smiled at all of them as he walked straight into his office and looked at the receptionist.

"Is DG here?" Johan asked simply. The receptionist nodded and replied, "President, Mr. Diego is waiting for you in your room."

"Thank you," Johan said with a small smile as he left the receptionist, who said, "Have a nice day, Mr. President."

Johan walked to his office, where James Lee was waiting for him. DG turned his chair around to see who had invited him, and James Lee gave his usual gentle smile to Johan. "You must be the president here. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.

"The pleasure is all mine, DG," Johan replied with a smile as they shook hands. "To be honest, I wasn't really expecting you to take time out of your busy schedule to meet me."

"How could I not come when Eugene asked me with so much love?" DG said with his usual gentle smile. Johan nodded with a smile and took a seat in front of DG.

James Lee looked at Johan and, after waiting for a while, asked, "So, Mr. President, why did you want to meet me?"

"You are DG, but I was interested in meeting James Lee," Johan said, catching DG completely off guard. DG then smiled, but he was emitting a scary aura.

"Did Eugene tell you that name?" DG asked with a 'sweet' smile. But Johan gave him an innocent yet carefree look, saying, "It's not that hard to spot the legend himself."

"So, what do you want from me?" James got serious, and his smile faded away from his face. So did Johan's.

Both of them looked serious, and James spoke first. "Nobody was supposed to know that name. You can be dangerous for me. So, why should I not kill you right here?"

James Lee stood up in front of Johan, towering over him like a wall, but Johan wasn't even that weak.

Johan also stood in front of the Peak and said, "I don't think you want to talk nicely, but this is way faster, I guess," as he cracked his neck and threw a punch at James. However, James Lee caught his fist and gave him a disappointed look, saying, "You're not even that good, like Eugene talked about."

"It's not like I was expecting anything from someone from the second generation," James said as he jumped backwards to create distance between them.

Meanwhile, Johan had a lot of thoughts in his mind. "Focus, Johan, focus. This might be your only chance to copy him," he thought to himself, getting serious. "I have to make him use as much of his power as possible here. I will do what I can before using 'that'."

Johan said to himself mentally before he was surprised when James Lee appeared right in front of his face. "Time's up," James said.

Johan found himself caught off guard as James Lee suddenly appeared in front of him. He quickly took a step back, narrowly avoiding a punch from James. Johan then jumped back, putting some distance between them.

As they circled each other, Johan was analyzing James's movements, trying to come up with a strategy to defeat him. James seemed to be holding back, not using his full power, which frustrated Johan.

"You're not going to use your full strength, are you?" Johan said, trying to goad James into unleashing his power.

James just smiled and said, "I don't need to use my full strength to defeat someone like you."

Johan was about to respond when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see that James had landed a punch on him. Johan stumbled backward, gasping for breath.

"Gotcha!" James said as he threw an invisible kick at Johan's face. But Johan used his 360° vision to barely dodge it.

James Lee was taken aback because it wasn't normal for someone to be able to block his attacks, let alone dodge them. Obviously, James didn't know that Johan had 360° vision that gave him invulnerability.

Seeing Johan dodge his attacks, James Lee smiled at him and said, "I take my words back, maybe the second generation isn't disappointing after all."

"Of course it's not!" Johan said as he threw a barrage of punches at James, but it was child's play for James to dodge them.

Meanwhile, James Lee was just playing around with Johan, but Johan wasn't backing down either. He was trying his best to keep up with James and copy his fighting style completely.

"You're actually good, kid," James said while dodging Johan's attacks. But he then caught one of Johan's fists and said, "I might let you live on one condition."

"What?"

"Land a proper hit on me, and I will let you copy me," James Lee said. Johan had his eyes wide open and asked, "How do you know?"

"You are obvious. Alright then, do you accept my condition?" James asked while doing a handstand and kicking Johan away to make distance between them.

"Alright, Legend, I will take up on your challenge," Johan said, getting up on his feet. James felt something change in Johan. His stance and his eyes were different now.

James felt a similar presence from Johan, which made James Lee smile, and he said, "You copied Gun too?"

"But can you touch the Peak?" James said before getting serious, and Johan felt as if James was a wall standing in front of him. A wall that was too huge for Johan to climb right now.

But he would surely climb up that wall one day. That was his will.