Boy, Take Courage
Boy, become a legend.
— The last words left by the Steel Guardian of Neo Kyoto.
A child grows by crashing into the walls of reality and breaking against them. When the waves of hardship that even a parent’s cradle cannot fully hold back break through the breakwater of the heart and reach the childhood still nestled deep inside, the heart is seared by those piercingly cold waters, startles in frantic shock, and at last, salted by that water, comes to see the world as it truly is.
Sowol had learned the truth of the world.
He had already faced many truths in the course of living. There was no Santa. The Backrooms executioner was fake. And Mom was planning to remarry Big Brother Gong Ryun.
“Waaaaahh… What do I dooo…”
The boy was terrified of the change bearing down on him. But he couldn’t just stay like this. He couldn’t just keep crying. The only one who could protect Mom was him.
Boy, spread your wings. Become a legend! Just like the hero of a giant mecha robot anime!
The way one gains knowledge from textbooks and lessons from fairy tales, a child draws courage from the cartoons he loves. And so entertainment, even when it teaches neither knowledge nor morals, still grants reckless drive to a child who does not yet know the world. That might be called the one true virtue of the idiot box that exists only for fun.
So Sowol resolved to muster his strength and act.
“Isaac!! Lend me just one of your things!!”
“Huh… Out of nowhere?”
“You dad-dissed me twice! Think of it as compensation and lend it to me!”
“I didn’t dad-diss you…”
“I’ll give it back when I’m done! Hurry!”
“This is expensive…”
Good. Preparations complete! From now on, he would uncover the truth!
Back to the present. The tteokbokki shop.
“Big Bro…!”
Sowol came to stand before Gong Ryun. His face was grimly set.
“Yeah. What is it?”
Gong Ryun asked, sipping his cinnamon punch. Sowol’s expression grew even more earnestly adorable as he spoke.
“I need to talk with you, Big Bro.”
“Hm?”
“Man to man. We’re going to have a sincere conversation…”
Then Sowol pulled something from his pocket. It made a sharp click-clack. A familiar sound. What Sowol produced was… an extremely familiar silver-white muzzle. A six-shot revolver.
“?”
Gong Ryun blanked. The revolver barrel leveled right at his face seized his gaze like a black hole. It had been a long time since he’d seen a powder firearm. He’d seen plenty of them on the Slave Planet. It brought childhood memories rushing back. The neighborhood thugs had made such a fuss with guns. Just because they had weapons, they strutted around as if they’d become kings. Slaves had weak protective qi, so a bullet could actually kill them, and everyone was terrified. The people above deliberately distributed guns to foment conflict and hierarchy among the slaves. Truly vicious to the core.
Still, in a civilized place like this, barbaric weapons like powder firearms shouldn’t exist. It had to be a fake model. A fresh sigh of relief escaped him.
“…It’s not a real gun, right.”
But why would they make a kids’ toy like this? Why did it look so realistic?
“What are you trying to do with a toy?”
“Mom’s out grocery shopping right now, so there’s no one here to help you, Big Bro… It’s just the two of us…!”
“Yeah. Right, right.”
“I’m aiming the Truth-Telling Pistol at you right now!”
“What kind of pistol is that supposed to be?”
“Huh? You don’t know this? It shows up in Mobile Stronghold: Mecha Unit One!”
“Never heard of it. You brought something only you know about again.”
“Gasp! You don’t know a seventy-year Superhuman series tradition? It’s a story based on a true tale from Kyoto! All my friends’ dads watched it when they were kids! If you don’t know this, you’re a communist spy!”
“Nope. I don’t know it. Why does that gun make people tell the truth?”
“Ah, so what this is—it has residual Machine Spirit traces left by the old civilization, so it can read the other person’s unconscious. It resonates with every metal, heart, and soul in this world. This thing is seriously crazy powerful, you know? If you get hit by this, Big Bro, you’ll have no choice but to hit the truth! Because the metal bullet resonates with your heart and soul!”
“Wooow. That’s really amazing…?”
Sowol’s plan went like this. He would ask about Gong Ryun’s relationship with Mom, just like this! Hmm… What was he supposed to ask again. Right. First he needed to ask if Big Bro was a freeloader. And then? He would ask if Big Bro really liked Mom! Yeah. Ran’s mom had said so too. If you love each other, everything’s okay! She said there are all kinds of love in this world! So he had to confirm whether Big Bro truly loved Mom!
The boy wanted the truth! For the family he loved! Go! Boy! Right now you shine brighter than anyone! Believe in the Machine Spirit! Believe in the power of friendship and love! Pull the trigger with conviction!
And Gong Ryun snickered.
“Ah. So it’s a model toy, then? Aww, how cute. But aren’t you past the age of believing in that stuff? Don’t people usually graduate from that kind of faith in kindergarten?”
“Eiiit! I know it’s fake too! This is for giving me courage! It’s like a talisman of courage! Anyway, just answer my questions! Answer them truthfully!”
Yes. This was only a cartoon toy. Sowol knew that too. But cartoons have a way of granting courage. Because cartoons are fantasy, they are absurd, and because they are absurd, one can spout all sorts of bizarre antics. Sowol had borrowed a cartoon for courage. It was a little embarrassing, but it seemed to give him strength. So he tried to ask Gong Ryun about Mom. He did… but—
“Aww, Sowol. There’s no force compelling me to answer, is there. And if it doesn’t have the ability to discern truth, how would you know if I’m lying? And what if I just keep my mouth shut and say nothing? For a threat to work, you need clear certainty, you know? You’re learning something new today. Got it?”
Gong Ryun picking nits. So annoying.
“Tsk. There is force, okay? Do you know how much this hurts when it hits you! In the cartoon, if you keep getting hit by this, the power of truth accumulates in your body and you end up confessing!”
“…Isn’t that just torture? Is that really a kids’ cartoon?”
“If you get hit too, Big Bro, it’ll hurt so much you’ll want to open your mouth!”
“You said it was a toy? How do you even shoot it? Does it fire rubber bullets or something? So our Sowol was preparing something like this while he was missing for a few days?”
“Eiiit! I’m being serious and you keep doing this? I’m really gonna shoot? Even if it’s fake, it still hurts!!”
“Heh heh. Go on, try it once? Just what kind of toy is this…”
But there was something Gong Ryun had overlooked. In that “truth-telling gun,” the fake part was the “truth-telling” part. There was no truth-discerning function of any kind. But he had never once said the “gun” part was fake.
BANG--------!!!!!!!!!!
A gunshot rang out. The sound of gunpowder. The smell of gunpowder. Gong Ryun’s eyes went wide. A lead bullet struck dead center between his eyebrows.
“There! How does it feel getting hit, Big Bro! Really stings, right? If you don’t want to get hit again, hurry up and tell the truth…”
“Ugh…”
“Uh… Big Bro, does it hurt a lot?”
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-YOOOOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!!!! You little bastard!!!!!!!!”
“Hwaaek?!”
Of course, Gong Ryun was fine. The lead bullet couldn’t pierce his skin even a little. It didn’t even leave a graze. The bullet just flattened big and went clink as it fell to the floor. How tough are martial artists. Even if you shot a random passerby in the galactic age, they wouldn’t be seriously hurt. Getting hit in the eyeball would sting quite a bit, though.
But that wasn’t the problem. Gong Ryun was furious. It was a real gun. It was a real gun!!! A real powder-operated revolver. Lead bullets, even. You said it was a toy!! What kind of toy is this!! Childhood trauma seemed to well up afresh. Gong Ryun instinctively lashed out his hand and roughly seized the gun barrel. Then crushed it with his grip strength. In an instant, the front of the pistol crumpled like aluminum foil.
“Aaaahhhhh!!!!! The gun I borrowed from my friend!!!”
“You little shit!!! Pointing a gun at a person!!! Brandishing a murder weapon!! Do you have any idea how rude that is!!”
Actually, it wasn’t that rude. By elementary school age, dying from a bullet was virtually unheard of. Kids could go blind if they got really unlucky and got hit in the eye. But anywhere else, it only hurt about as much as a forehead flick. So in the galactic murim, powder firearms were toys. Finding a use for them beyond toys was difficult. They couldn’t even pierce skin. Kids would shoot each other for fun. But it was too loud, so they did it in some distant empty lot. And they had to attach silencers. Fortunately, every powder firearm made as a toy came equipped with a micro-silencer, so the sound wasn’t loud enough for martial artists with sensitive hearing to complain of pain. Loud enough to be exciting when you heard it. There were occasional adults who used guns, but they got treated as a bit of a kidult.
Anyway. The gun was wrecked. And with it, Sowol’s courage crumbled to pieces. The boy’s dream!! Had flown away!!
“Waaaaahhhh!!! I hate you, Big Bro!!! I really hate you!!!”
“You brat!! You do something that bad and you’re crying like you did something right!”
“Our family is going to fall apart noooow!!! I’m sorry, Mommm!!!”
“Do you even know how bad guns are!? When I was your age, I still have the scars from getting shot! A bullet was embedded in my body! How can you brandish a weapon made to kill people!”
“Don’t lie!! How can a person have a bullet stuck in their body! You’re not a newborn!! I hate you, Big Bro!! Big Bro is a freeloader for sure!! Waaaahhh!!”
“What are you crying for like you did something right! Until you realize what you did wrong, guns are banned for you!!”
Wrongdoing had to be scolded. Even if it was a kid. Especially because it was a kid! Scold them now so they don’t get hurt later! That was Gong Ryun’s principle, so he entered lecture mode.
And just then, the Boss Lady came into the shop.
“Oh my! What’s going on? Why is my son crying?”
“Moooom!!”
Sowol tried to tattle right away. But Gong Ryun was faster.
“This kid shot a person in the face with a gun!”
Gong Ryun’s exposé. And he submitted the wrecked gun as evidence. Then veins rose on the Boss Lady’s face.
“Whaaat!!!! You little punk!!!!! You shot a gun!!!!!! A gun!!!!!!! Have you gone crazy!!!!!”
The Boss Lady’s back-smacking struck Sowol’s back with a satisfying whap.
“Aaack!! Ow!! Nngh!!!”
With every hit, Sowol twisted his body violently.
“Didn’t Mom tell you not to shoot guns!! Did I say that was not allowed or didn’t I!!”
Gong Ryun was moved. As expected of the Boss Lady. She well understood the viciousness of guns! He had believed in the wisdom that wells up from long years of life.
“I told you guns are what communists use!! Are you a communist? And you call yourself a succubus after that!? I can’t live like this, really!!”
Huh? The reason seemed a little strange. Well, anyway, he’d been scolded stingingly, so Sowol wouldn’t use barbaric things like guns again. That could be called fortunate.
“Waaaaaahhhh…!! I hate you!!! I hate Mom too!!! I was doing it for Mom!! You don’t even know my heart!! Just go live together just the two of you!!!”
And so the wronged Sowol burst out of the tteokbokki shop.
“Oh my, you!! Where are you going!! I haven’t finished scolding you!!”
“I don’t care!! I’m running away from home!!!”
“Ugh, who did he take after to be such a troublemaker. He’s going to go sleep at a friend’s house again after this.”
The Boss Lady pressed her forehead.
“Gong Ryun… Just in case, could you follow him? I’m still worried.”
“Sure. I’ll go find the kid, so you watch the shop, Boss Lady.”
“Aww, how reliable~~ Thanks, Gong Ryun~~”
And so Gong Ryun set off at a leisurely pace after Sowol.