Chapter 163
Chapter 163
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: 38. Hot Night (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“No, that’s…….”
“…Huh?”
“No way.”
The figure appearing on the television.
Yet not a single person in the room could bring themselves to say it out loud despite seeing it with their own eyes.
For one thing, it was so utterly unrealistic that they couldn’t trust their own vision. And for another, a sudden fear gripped them.
What if saying that name out loud made the man on the screen hear it?
So they all passed the buck, reluctant to be the first to spot him.
Finally, one man called out the name.
“Hey, what the hell. Isn’t that bastard Kim Jong-un?”
Only after the name was spoken did the man on the screen truly become ‘Kim Jong-un.’
Taking that as their cue, the people in front of the TV began murmuring the controversial name one by one.
“That really is him.”
“Wh… Why is Kim Jong-un there?”
“Is that really him?”
Young-woo snatched the remote from Jeong-gu and drove the point home for everyone.
“Yep. Kim Jong-un.”
“Really?”
“Ugh……?”
Kim Jong-un.
General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea.
But now, he was an entity banished from this world after receiving a massive wave of votes from North Korean citizens.
More precisely, a mutant waiting to return to this world as a future enemy.
“I went to North Korea myself and heard it straight from the source. Kim Jong-un’s a mutant too. He’s planning to come back as a Vajra Yaksha.”
“…My God.”
“What’s a Vajra Yaksha?”
“Well…….”
Young-woo started to point at Kim Jong-un on the screen but hesitated.
His current appearance was exactly as Young-woo remembered him from his human days.
‘Oh, so mutants look human in the waiting room too.’
Was it the same principle as the Returnee Rooms where his friends stayed?
“…….”
With no choice, Young-woo spread his arms wide to both sides in a gesture that looked like he was trying to scare everyone.
“It’s a monster with six arms and six weapons. And three heads.”
“Three heads?”
Jeong-gu reacted to Young-woo’s description of the Vajra Yaksha.
“So he’s coming back with his dad’s and grandpa’s heads attached too?”
“…Heavens.”
“Hey, what kind of talk is that in front of the kids.”
Seon-ok furrowed her brow and protested at the rather crude conversation.
But Young-woo was surprised by the unexpected perspective.
“Hm……? That could be it, actually. With all those monsters out there, I wondered why it had to be a Vajra Yaksha.”
And if that really was the case, Kim Jong-un’s return would be the worst disaster in North Korean history for its citizens.
They’d have to face all three generations of the Kim family at once—the ones who had squeezed them dry.
—Right now, the Pyongyang First Sword’s very purpose is to assassinate the General Secretary. Most of the people are waiting for it.
According to Jo Seong-ho, the late Sinuiju First Sword, assassinating Kim Jong-un was what the vast majority of North Koreans yearned for.
‘It’d definitely be one hell of an event.’
Even the Sinuiju First Sword had entrusted Young-woo with the aftermath before passing.
—But if you end up killing the Pyongyang First Sword before we can carry out the deed.
—If that really happens, unfortunately… at least you’d have to honor his dying wish, right?
Young-woo thought it was a perfect illustration of how much North Korea’s—Sinuiju’s—survivors feared and hated Kim Jong-un.
‘Once Kim Jong-un cleans up North Korea, what’s next? He’ll come south.’
So even without Sinuiju’s last words, Young-woo was destined to fight Kim Jong-un anyway.
Coincidentally, the ‘Chosun Supreme Sword’ title—originally North Korea’s secret weapon meant for battling Kim Jong-un—had ended up with him.
“Young-woo!”
Seon-ok sharply called his name, snapping him back to reality.
“What about the kids’ dad? You said you’d let us see our husband.”
Kim Jong-un was still muttering creepy soliloquies on the screen. She wanted him to change the channel already.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Young-woo glanced at Kim Jong-un on the screen.
Seeing him vow revenge every moment in that pitch-black space, Young-woo could somewhat understand why the mutants who’d returned to their home world were so furious.
Beep!
Young-woo worked the remote to change the channel, and this time a pitch-black screen appeared.
“Huh.”
“Wh-what’s this now……?”
The people in the room wore frightened expressions.
It was because everyone now knew, starting from the Kim Jong-un sighting, that this was no ordinary television.
So.
“Y-Young-woo?”
“What is this?”
They all turned to Young-woo, who had the most otherworldly experience in the room.
In response, Young-woo said.
“Hm, uh…….”
He watched as a square logo slowly appeared in the all-black screen.
Then.
“…Huh?”
He recognized it immediately. This channel was connected to the pan-galactic smut producer 「Lemu」.
“…This is the Lemu logo.”
Young-woo muttered in a daze, and Seon-ok asked.
“Lemu……? What’s Lemu?”
At that question, Young-woo couldn’t help glancing at Seon-ok’s children.
How could he say in front of them that they were watching a pan-galactic adult channel right now?
Whoosh.
The Lemu square logo faded away, replaced by a message in Earthling-readable language.
「This is a paid channel. To make a payment, pick up the receiver and dial 992 0909# .」
‘…As expected.’
Just as he thought, this was indeed a Lemu adult channel broadcasting their videos.
And one that required paid access at that.
“…….”
Naturally, Young-woo’s gaze drifted to the phone by the bedside.
He’d only thought it was for morning calls until now, but apparently it could handle paid purchases too.
“For now, sh-should we switch to the next channel? Looks like CEO Kim Tae-jun isn’t here.”
As Young-woo said this, Jeong-gu jumped up like he couldn’t believe it.
“Hey, you said you have tons of money. Aren’t you curious what this is?”
“…Please be quiet. We’re short on time, so we’re skipping it for now.”
Young-woo signaled Jeong-gu to shut up, then worked the remote again.
Beep!
Finally, the channel Young-woo wanted appeared.
The screen turned pure white in an instant.
“Ugh.”
“Eek? What’s that.”
While everyone but Young-woo shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness, voices came through the TV speakers.
—Getting duped by some fresh-faced kid at my age.
—That’s normal around this point. Time’s hard to track, so those thoughts creep in.
It was none other than General Kim Young-heum and Hong Young-tae.
“Oh… General.”
Young-woo stepped closer to the TV in delight.
Like his other ‘friends,’ General Kim Young-heum appeared in human form inside the Returnee Room.
—When the hell are they gonna call us?
—No one knows for sure. All we can do is wait. Want me to spin the hourglass?
Young-tae handed over the large hourglass rolling at his feet.
Kim Young-heum, who took it, was pure white all over—evoking his mutant form. He wore white pajamas, and his hair and eyebrows were stark white too.
—Argh, damn it!
After clutching the hourglass for a while, Kim Young-heum lost his temper and smashed it on the floor. Kim Tae-jun, who’d been walking over from afar, picked it up and set it right.
—Pretty pissed, huh? I was the same at first.
As soon as Kim Tae-jun’s voice leaked from the TV, his family’s eyes widened.
“Honey?”
“D-Dad!”
“Dad……!”
He even looked like his full human self on screen, not a mutant.
For his family, it was nothing short of joyous.
The only downside was.
‘One-way communication. Still, if they buy a TV over there, it’d be better.’
Young-woo wore a regretful expression as he watched Seon-ok and her two kids hugging the screen.
Of course, there was no guarantee the TVs available in the Returnee Room would show this side.
‘But the odds are pretty good. At least one channel out of a few should broadcast this world.’
As Young-woo thought that, Kim Tae-jun on screen brought up TVs right on cue.
—By the way, when can we buy a TV?
It was perfectly timed, as if he’d unconsciously sensed his family watching.
Young-tae pulled out a white menu-like sheet he’d been sitting on.
—Who knows… Points from expeditions vary wildly, so it’s hard to predict.
—Come on, you can average it out.
That furious voice belonged to General Kim Young-heum.
—Points depend on merits too, so if you get to fight Kim Jong-un like you want, General, we could solve it in one go, right?
—Oh… Yeah. We haven’t faced that bastard yet.
The magic words—Kim Jong-un—slightly calmed the general’s rage.
—On average? Two more times? Still a ways off. TVs are pretty pricey.
Young-tae soothed the two middle-aged men like a seasoned vet.
—But we’ve waited this long, right? Bet we’ll get called soon.
Hong Young-tae’s timing was eerily spot-on.
In fact, they’d soon enter the nighttime dungeon and summon the trio.
‘At this rate, I’ll have to call them even if I don’t need to.’
As Young-woo fiddled with his whistle, Jeong-gu sidled up and asked cautiously.
“…Hey.”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell’s all this? Who’s in there?”
“Oh.”
Of course, Jeong-gu knew nothing about the ‘friends’ or the whistle.
“Those guys are mutants.”
“…What?”
“Were mutants, technically. They’re my allies now.”
Young-woo showed him the whistle around his neck and explained that blowing it would summon the three ex-mutants.
Then.
“Goddamn, this punk really thinks I’m an idiot.”
As expected, Jeong-gu didn’t buy it.
It was too outrageous a claim, even for a current First Sword to swallow easily.
“You think you can just whistle up mutants like some errand boys? That make sense?”
“I’ve got a sword that flies around on its own. Why not mutant summons?”
“That’s totally different, man.”
Jeong-gu said that, but his eyes rolled upward.
Imagining mutants bursting out when the whistle blew.
As Young-woo’s biological father, his curiosity was off the charts.
“More importantly, have you thought about the dungeon? You started to say something earlier but stopped.”
As Young-woo tried to wrap up the dungeon talk, Jeong-gu stepped back with a troubled look.
“Why are you so hell-bent on tormenting me?”
“Why’d you have me then? Like you said, you bore that karma, so now you get the reward.”
“No, I keep telling you, I didn’t…….”
As Jeong-gu tried to deny his son’s existence again, Young-woo cut him off.
“Grade 1 supporting character.”
“…What?”
“You’re a Grade 6 extra. But according to the Fate Ledger, Mom’s a Grade 1 supporting character.”
“……!”
At Young-woo’s words, not just Jeong-gu but everyone in the bedroom held their breath and listened.
“Grade 6 humans don’t live great lives. So a connection to a Grade 1 supporting character is a huge event. No way you’d forget it.”
“Wh-what are you saying, and this isn’t the time or place for…….”
Flustered, Jeong-gu sweated bullets and glanced around.
Seon-ok, her two kids, today’s newbie Jong-su, and active cop Kwon Tae-young were all there.
But this insane orphan, who’d been through hell, heaven, and the cosmos, didn’t back down.
“Tell me, Father! You’ve never met a woman too good for your fate? Not even once……!”