Chapter 53: A Glass of Soju with Warm Seafood Stew (1)
Chapter 53: A Glass of Soju with Warm Seafood Stew (1)
Crunch. Crack.
As the crustacean shells, turned bright red from the heat, crumbled in my mouth, the flavors hidden within burst forth.
The juices, infused with the spicy kick of the broth, flooded my palate. Combined with the tender white meat, the flavors of various other seafood melded together, creating a profound depth of taste.
"You're supposed to pick the meat out of a crab."
Crunch. Crunch.
"Mind your own business. If I don't eat it like this, I can't even feel the texture."
I could still feel the chewiness of the undercooked flesh and the slimy sensation of the tentacles.
Life is unfair.
Setting aside my lamentations, I turned my gaze toward the pot bubbling away on the plastic table.
A Seafood Stew brimming with red pepper paste.
The seafood was piled so high it threatened to overflow the pot.
A seafood feast like this is hard to find anywhere but the coast.
Next, I popped a shrimp into my mouth and downed a shot of the Soviet distilled spirits I’d brought along.
The sensation of spicy juice and stinging alcohol sliding down my throat was exquisite.
A surge of intense flavor—something I usually couldn't feel at all—wrapped around the back of my throat.
"Kyah. Now this is the life."
With the stimulation of warm, salty food and alcohol, what was there to fear?
If I had a cigarette to go with this, I’d look like a cool Middle-aged Man straight out of a movie. But since I’m quitting, those "cloud snacks" vanished from my pockets years ago.
Though I still crave the nicotine these days.
"…Since your body doesn't even get drunk anyway, wouldn't it be better to just drink cheap soju?"
"If you've got a problem with it, take it up with my body. Anything less than this doesn't even register."
Was it really that strange to see me chugging spirits straight from the bottle?
"By the way, I'm surprised."
"About what?"
Hyun-seok used his chopsticks to pry a clam from its shell and placed it on his spoon.
He then scooped up some broth and downed it in one go along with a shot of soju.
"Phew. I thought you'd pick a more expensive place. I didn't expect you to lead me to a spot like this."
"I told you I wanted something warm. It's not like I don't enjoy steaks or high-end Chinese restaurants."
I like thick cuts of meat, and I love the greasy food from Chinese places.
I just chose this place for a different reason today.
Besides, this place isn't exactly cheap.
How many seafood joints are there that pile the ingredients so high they spill out of the pot?
Even if the giant crab did disappear into my mouth, shell and all.
"It's a bit awkward to come to a place like this alone, isn't it? With this appearance, eating out is a struggle."
I could eat alone if I just acted thick-skinned.
But a little girl demanding alcohol and shouting for "something warm"?
I’d be uploaded to a video site and become an internet star in an instant.
The embarrassment would be the cherry on top.
"That's rich coming from a Hero who's brazen enough to never pay back his debts."
Well. When he puts it like that, I don't have much of a comeback.
Hiding my awkwardness behind the bottle, I searched for the right words.
After a moment, as bubbles rose in the clear bottle...
"I do have a sense of shame, you know. Don't you agree?"
"I suppose."
Even though I was talking to Park Hyun-seok, who wasn't much of a conversationalist, the words flowed out surprisingly easily.
"Besides, you're supposed to eat stuff like this while sharing drinks with others. How many people do I actually have to do that with?"
"Wouldn't it be fine to come with the old Heroes?"
Ah, that group of eccentrics. We are close.
Watching Prohibition get drunk on carbonation and cause a scene makes me feel tipsy myself.
Heavenly Sword starts self-deprecating after just one beer.
And the Lord of Infinite Castles' drunken habits are a bit scary—he looks like he might accidentally level a whole village.
But it’s different. How should I put it?
"I've rolled around in the dirt with those guys so much they feel like family or brothers. You're a friend. That's the difference."
That’s how relationships are.
It’s actually harder to have a drinking session like this with people you're too familiar with.
A close friend is someone you can hide your true feelings from to some extent, yet still feel comfortable revealing them to.
"I think I understand."
"Yeah. You'd feel it in your bones if you were in my shoes. Be glad you don't look like this."
With that, our conversation ended, and we returned to indulging in the seafood.
The clams and octopus in the pot vanished, replaced by the bounty of The Sea filling our mouths.
A brief silence followed.
The clams were opening well, and I felt a gaze on me as I used a spoon to crack a shell and harvest the meat.
"What, you got something to say?"
Park Hyun-seok was looking at me, swirling soju in his glass.
His face was slightly dark, as if he were about to say something serious.
"Why don't you step back into the spotlight?"
The spotlight.
He probably wasn't just talking about me specifically.
He was talking about the old Heroes. The Heroes who hid their existence and had their records erased.
Aside from Heavenly Sword, who leads the Martial Alliance, only those who participated in the old war or The High Command of the Management Bureau even know we exist.
When I stared at Hyun-seok with a hardened expression, he seemed unable to bear it. He downed his soju and continued.
"I know that many illegal and inhumane acts were committed to establish the Management Bureau. But that was unavoidable given the situation at the time. Personally, I believe you've paid your debt to society by protecting humanity from behind the scenes for fifteen years."
Having spat out the words in one breath, Hyun-seok downed more soju as if the alcohol were burning his throat. Not even waiting for me to pour, he filled his own glass.
"Lee Ha-ram. I see the progression of your story as an omen. From now on, the invasions from the Otherworld will likely become more intense. If that's the case, we need a Hero to lead the Heroes. Someone like you all..."
Paying the debt, huh? I wonder.
Have we really paid our debt over the last fifteen years? Or have we just piled it up even higher?
That’s why everyone is broken. All of us.
"We already reached a conclusion on that in our internal meeting."
Unfortunately.
"...Is it an answer I'll be happy to hear?"
"It's the same as always. Information blocking, relationship deletion, perception manipulation. The usual. We don't hold power, and we don't stand in the front. That's what Macbeth said."
The footage of our battles will be erased from the records, and through that thing sleeping in the basement of the Management Bureau, the human relationships formed during this war will be reset.
"You stubborn fools."
For the first time, Hyun-seok let his composure slip and scratched his head.
His neatly groomed hair becoming disheveled was a direct reflection of his complicated emotions.
"You have to be stubborn to do this for thirty years. Who else would?"
"That's true."
He said that and tilted the bottle to his lips. The transparent liquid poured directly down his throat, bypassing the glass.
"Aren't you going to work tomorrow?"
"Don't underestimate me, Lee Ha-ram. A little alcohol like this won't do anything to me."
The two men looked at each other with smiles on their faces.
In the midst of that warm atmosphere...
-Next, in other news... The Management Bureau... Manage... Bzzzzzzzt. Man... Bzzzzzt-
The old television, which had been dutifully doing its job, began to spew loud static.
Is it broken?
It was annoying, so I was about to tell the owner to turn it off...
Bzzzzzzzt. Pop.
The noise stopped abruptly, and the television screen cleared up.
The TV itself was old, so the picture quality wasn't great, but what appeared on the screen was something that made me doubt my eyes.
A girl with black pigtails.
She opened her mouth from behind the screen with a look of utter confidence.
-The Heroes of today are all corrupt.
Yumil.
There she was, wearing a black dress and holding a Red Pry Bar.
-Look at how they handled this recent incident. If it were the Heroes of old, they would have dealt with it much faster.
What the hell is that?
"Hyun-seok. Am I dreaming right now?"
"Unfortunately, this is reality."
I wish he’d told me it was a dream.
I was ready to drive your car into the ocean just to wake up.
-This is all because the Management Bureau has raised Heroes to be too weak.
Listening to her prattle on in a strangely bold feminine tone felt completely surreal.
What? Seriously, what is this?
Did I order her to do that?
Do I have a split personality I don't know about?
Did my other self give the order?
-A Hero is someone who grows through hardship and choice. Today's Heroes are like flowers in a greenhouse... Bzzzt. Static.
The noise returned.
Speechless, I stared blankly at the screen. Soon, the static vanished, and a clean broadcast returned.
-Regarding the broadcast accident just a moment ago...
What was that?
"Hyun-seok. It's a dream, right?"
"It's reality. Since the last war, Black Marauder has been hijacking broadcast signals frequently to spread videos like that."
I felt a strange sense of cognitive dissonance seeing Hyun-seok calmly sipping his soju.
He showed no reaction, as if this were a common occurrence.
"Wasn't I unconscious for about two weeks?"
"Thirteen days, to be exact."
"And the Management Bureau still hasn't caught her? What the hell are they doing?"
I mean, can't they at least stop the signal hijacking?
"She's so elusive that there's no way to stop her. There is a record of the Hero Baek Si-hyun charging in to catch her and accidentally destroying a broadcast tower, though."
So my boar of a disciple couldn't sit still and had to cause trouble? Destroying a broadcast tower... she really went all out, didn't she?
The boar disciple is causing trouble.
The Yumil I trusted is causing trouble.
Now, all I have left is Han A-bin.
"A-bin didn't do anything weird, did she?"
"I happened to see a scene of her running along with Oxymoron, giggling while carrying a bunch of strange medical tools. But no specific damage reports have come in yet."
A-bin!
As I slammed my head onto the table in despair, a gentle warmth radiated through me.
The warmth from the heated Seafood Stew.
Let's just drink and forget.
"Hyun-seok. Let's drink."
After pouring soju into Hyun-seok’s empty glass, I filled an empty rice bowl with my Soviet distilled spirits.
The alcohol sloshing inside the stainless steel bowl was lifted into the air by my hand.
Hyun-seok understood my intent and raised his soju glass.
"For humanity."
Clink.
"Cheers."
I wonder if there's an Otherworld Erosion that can actually get me drunk.
I really want to get wasted and forget everything.
* * *
"I thought you said you were a strong drinker."
"There's... a limit to everything... Ugh..."
"If you puke, you're dead."
Specifically, I’ll dunk him in the seawater and roll him back and forth.
Thinking that, I supported the large man's body.
Don't these guys feel embarrassed being supported by someone so much smaller than them?
"Does a Management Bureau Branch Manager not even have a driver?"
"I sent him on vacation to get some rest."
Well done, Mr. Korea Branch Manager.
"What about the car? If you're planning on drunk driving, I'll shove you into the deep sea until you sober up."
"I'll just call someone."
"Should I drive you?"
I don't know where he lives, but I can just use the navigation.
When I looked at Hyun-seok’s face with that thought, he snapped his eyes open and spoke in a clear voice.
"Are you planning to scrap my prized car too?"
Why does this guy think everything I drive will end up destroyed?
It’s true that about 80% of the vehicles I’ve operated went straight to the scrapyard, but less than half of that was my fault.
In the first place, safety standards are too lax. Breaking just because it hit a monster?
In this day and age, a car should be prepared to eject a passing Mutant into the Otherworld upon impact.
"If I leave it here, I'll call someone. You go back to your lodgings first..."
"I can't go, you bastard."
Emotion seeped into my voice.
A faint fear and a prickly irritation.
Did Hyun-seok read something in my voice? His face, which had been red from the alcohol, regained its natural color in an instant.
"...I see. That was a slip of the tongue."
Straightening his posture and checking his stance, he continued.
"I'll call someone, so please watch over me for a moment."
"I should."
Supporting Hyun-seok, I slowly moved my legs toward the car.
His sobriety was only temporary; after just a few steps, his gait became precarious again, and his head began to loll.
I opened the door with The Key from his suit pocket and tossed him into the backseat.
"Hey. Wake up. Call someone before you sleep."
"I'm... doing it..."
He was already half-drunk and half-asleep, but Park Hyun-seok managed to pull out his phone and make the call.
He closed his eyes the moment the call ended, but it seemed he’d conveyed all the necessary information.
I closed the door and leaned against the car.
The dark night.
There was no telling who might target him.
I refuse to lose a friend again.
I focused my senses to prevent any potential mishaps.
Until the Management Bureau staff arrived. I stayed right there.