Chapter 84
The family head watched silently as Kang Moon-soo, Seo Hye-ju, and their great-granddaughter vanished beyond the outskirts of Daejeon.
Creak—
Thud.
Only after the door had closed and a long moment passed did he finally speak.
“...They’re gone?”
A middle-aged man answered cautiously at the question.
“Yes, they’ve left the shrine just a bit ago.”
“Any chance we were spotted?”
“None.”
“Good! It went off without a hitch!”
The slightly somber, serious expression on the family head’s face vanished in an instant as he flopped back onto the wide chair.
“Dear...”
“Don’t talk to me about dignity. I thought my back was gonna snap!”
He shot back at his glaring, scolding wife with a groan of pain.
And this was just the beginning.
“Everyone, good work.”
“Auntie, you’re not getting married?”
“Uncle! Uncle! Play with me!”
The heavy silence, so quiet you could hear breathing, shattered. It turned into the lively bustle of a big, happy family.
Someone flung off their stuffy shaman robes—the ones they hadn’t worn in ages...
“Finally, I can breathe!”
Others stretched out their numb legs from the unfamiliar seated position and sprawled on the floor...
“How’s the business going?”
“So-so. And you, bro?”
They chatted about topics having nothing to do with shamans...
Whatever the case, it was worlds apart from the image of the family that Kang Moon-soo had seen. That much was certain.
“Father.”
“What?”
“Did you really need to call in even the busy kids for the act? What if it gets out later—how do you plan to clean it up...?”
The family head replied firmly to his worried eldest son.
“Of course.”
“Is his aptitude really that impressive?”
“You think the world’s one-and-only shaman aptitude isn’t impressive?”
“Even so...”
“You pathetic fool. That’s why your aptitude landed you as a house husband.”
“Ah, Father...!”
The son’s face flushed beet red at his father’s merciless jab.
His aptitude was a women’s counselor. A fine profession, empathizing with and advising women struggling in society. But if that counselor happened to be handsome with a great voice?
The family head chuckled.
“Just kidding.”
“Father...”
“You’ve already done more than enough by bringing home a wife above your station.”
“...So you’re making our great-granddaughter do the same?”
The eldest son wasn’t pleased. He agreed his wife was too good for him, but it hadn’t been some calculated approach like this. There had been love.
“The same?”
“Yes.”
“I just introduced our great-granddaughter to a fine husband prospect. Sure, I nudged a bit of pity for wanting to rescue her from our stifling family...”
“Quite the schemer, aren’t you.”
The family head’s aptitude was schemer. He had a natural talent for deceiving or manipulating others.
“You making fun of me?”
“If that’s how it sounded, then yeah.”
“Poor kid. How’d she end up with a punk like you...”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
The family head shifted the topic, pulling a face like he knew it all and felt uncomfortable.
“Give him our full support. You don’t want your pretty, lovable granddaughter marrying a thug like you, do you?”
“Understood...”
Even without a shaman aptitude, their divinations boasted a high hit rate. Naturally, it wasn’t coincidence. They gathered info the client hid or didn’t even know, then predicted the most likely future using probability and statistics—math.
“Still dissatisfied?”
“......”
“You heartless punk.”
“Pardon?”
“A family that cons people with fake divinations passed off as real—and you’re the only one pretending to have a conscience? Makes me wanna puke.”
“Th-that’s...!”
“No matter how great you are in bed, if the family was worthless, you’d never have married her. You gonna deny the family you owe that much to?”
“I’m sorry. I was short-sighted. I’m... just a house husband, after all.”
“If you get it, do it right.”
“Yes.”
The family head turned away from his son, sunk in self-loathing, without a shred of lingering sympathy.
He muttered softly.
“May the great spirits wrap that child in their molrang protection.”
* * *
Riding in Manager Seo Hye-ju’s personal car to Elmolrans Hospital, we settled into her private office-cum-training room for a proper talk.
“Hello. Allow me to introduce myself properly once more.”
Her name was Jeon Ji-eun. Daughter of a shaman family with 700 years of history, and a year older than me—my noona.
Recognized for her outstanding beauty and client-handling skills, she’d been the family’s public face since age 17. That was her self-intro, more or less.
“Kang Moon-soo, Teacher Seo Hye-ju. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
Jeon Ji-eun’s role was gathering patient personal info. Secrets even a spouse like Nam Hae-su’s wife might not know could exist.
Divination, my ass...
I’d felt it since seeing that self-proclaimed genius shaman Yuil-am’s pathetic antics, but there were no real shamans.
Even Jeon Ji-eun’s 700-year shaman family was just inferring futures from collected data—pure probability!
But however the process worked, their high hit rate made it look like real divination. That much was fact.
“Kang Moon-soo, anything you want to know, just say it. The family head ordered full support.”
“Speak casually. I’m younger, after all.”
“I can’t do that.”
I didn’t back down from her firm stance.
“We can’t work together if it feels awkward.”
“...Fine. But you speak casually too, Moon-soo.”
“I've done convenience store part-time for so long, this feels natural...”
“......”
“Ahem! Got it.”
We ironed out various other details too.
“For smooth communication and teamwork, I’ve booked lodging three minutes from the hospital by foot.”
“Whoa! Isn’t housing around here insanely expensive?”
“......”
“...It’s not?”
“No need to worry. It’s the family’s will. Or should I look near the university dorms?”
“No! This spot’s perfect!”
Having her move near my main dorm at the university would feel way more burdensome. Marriage. A woman from that family approaching me with that goal in mind, living nearby every day? I’d politely decline.
“Contact me whenever you head out past the university.”
“Why?”
“Yuil-am. Remember that name?”
“That weirdo shaman? Why?”
“Legally clean, but he’s been dropping hints on broadcasts that he’s your master.”
“Huh?”
What was this about?
“But his lies are hitting their limit, so he needs you now. He’ll approach pretending to be chummy soon.”
“I can just meet him and say no...”
“They’ll edit it.”
“Hm.”
Jeon Ji-eun’s words had no guarantee of truth, so I hesitated.
“You recently knocked out Yuil-am’s brother, Yoo Il-chung, right?”
“Ah...”
How insane was their intel network?
“Yuil-am spun that into a nice story on broadcast—‘rival clash between brother and disciple.’”
“That bastard’s lost his— Ahem! Sorry.”
It was so absurd, a curse slipped out.
“Don’t believe me? Check his broadcast channel.”
“......”
If she said that much, it had to be real.
“And tomorrow, you’re sparring with Yoo Il-chung’s girlfriend, the women’s taekwondo world #1, Go Yun-kyung?”
“How’d you even know that?”
“Yuil-am’s already hyping it big on his channel.”
“......”
Unbelievable.
“What Moon-soo needs is a manager to handle the miscellaneous crap. Or keep getting played with your eyes wide open.”
“A manager for me...”
Someone to manage schedules and contracts—supportive stuff. With my main work keeping me from athlete activities, I’d thought managers were distant.
Coach Jang Seo-yeon’s around too.
Most athletes had coaches doubling as managers. I hadn’t worried about it...
But Yuil-am’s abnormal interest in me was the problem! I didn’t want to get used by that guy who’d kicked a fainted female student—Song Seon-yeong.
“What’ll you do?”
“...That manager gig isn’t free, obviously?”
“Trial basis, so free for now.”
“Aha!”
Seo Hye-ju, who’d been listening quietly, let out a deep sigh.
“Moon-soo. No idea how many times I’ve said this, but there’s no such thing as free in this world.”
“Department stores have free samples, though?”
“That’s salesmanship.”
“I’ll work on it.”
I knew my personality was hopeless, but passing up freebies left me regretting it all day. No helping it.
Judging things settled, Jeon Ji-eun smiled faintly and slid a crisp contract onto the desk.
“Simple contract. Essential if I’m to handle legal issues as your agent.”
“...You predicted this from the start and prepped.”
“Divination.”
I could see how her family maintained trust and fame as shamans.
“Mind if I take a look? Not doubting you, but I can’t have them monopolizing Moon-soo.”
Manager Seo Hye-ju cut in with a meaningful smile.
“Of course. Take your time.”
Jeon Ji-eun handed it over without a hint of concern.
“Hm...”
“How is it?”
“No issues. The no-other-partners clause is standard...”
“Lemme see too.”
“Sure.”
With my bad experience from the ex-swim coach, I checked the contract carefully.
No unfavorable terms for me, no extra cost? Nice.
Scribble—
I signed.
“When introducing me from now on, say manager.”
“Ji-eun, you’ve got real knack for this.”
She replied to Manager Seo Hye-ju’s words with a sales smile.
“Thanks to your kind view.”
I’d only planned to get Ranubel patient info, but suddenly I’d signed a manager contract. Felt like a multi-level scam? No loss, so whatever, but it left a weird aftertaste.
“To the main topic?”
“...Yeah.”
“The man who commissioned us is Mao Zai. Aptitude: pianist. But with his family’s immense wealth, he ignored it and wasted his youth on traditional martial arts.”
“Traditional martial arts?”
“Ancient Chinese martial arts. Quite a long history.”
“Strong?”
“Never used once in any world-class fight sport.”
“...I see.”
I got why they called it wasting youth.
“Mao Zai’s an oddball, but has a solid rep. Hobby: collecting ancient Chinese martial arts novels.”
“Wuxia?”
“You know it. Yeah, that’s what they’re called.”
Wuxia novels. Epic tales of love, revenge, and more among martial artists in ancient China’s jianghu. Info the patient’s family hadn’t provided.
“They lied.”
“About what?”
Manager Seo Hye-ju showed clear displeasure.
“Mao Zai’s family said he played piano as a hobby. And did VR games occasionally.”
“Aha!”
Jeon Ji-eun added,
“The VR games part is true. With a pianist aptitude, rough stuff like traditional martial arts didn’t suit him. So he got vicarious thrills in VR... but he’s a natural klutz, so he bought gear with money to cover his skills.”
“Kinda... sad.”
But thanks to Jeon Ji-eun’s intel, I now had a detailed picture of this patient.
Not enough? She provided even more specifics.
“Mao Zai treasures one wuxia novel above all. He even used the protagonist’s name as his VR avatar.”
“Ah...”
“The novel’s title is Is This Heavenly Demon Real? A whopping 215 volumes.”
“215 volumes...?”
Now this real?
“What’ll you do?”
“...No choice.”
To boost my survival odds even a bit, no complaining.
Besides, if it really is a wuxia world...
There’d surely be ways for me to get strong there too.