29. Just Give Me One
Choi Jeong-il stood frozen, robbed of words.
The reservoir had been purified, with not a trace of takgi remaining. He could hardly contain his astonishment that land designated as a Restricted Area — polluted ground — could transform like this in a single stroke.
"Don't just stand there. Sit down."
Oh Hyeon-seong waved him over. He had already unfolded a fishing chair he'd apparently brought along at some point, and settled into it, while a dazed Choi Jeong-il sat down beside him and accepted a rod.
"I don't know if we'll get to taste anything today, but at the very least, we fish."
Two floats landed on the crystal-clear water. In this secluded, peaceful place, the two men were granted a stretch of time as leisurely as could be.
"I can't remember the last time I went fishing."
"For me, the last time was with you."
"Haha... that's a distant memory."
Choi Jeong-il fiddled with his rod. He had once been so passionate about fishing that now, merely holding the thing felt awkward. Work had buried him, and he'd already let it slip away years ago. Even back in the Special Task Force days he'd never put down the rod — what on earth could have kept him so busy? The thought struck him anew.
"That favor you mentioned earlier. Why not tell me now?"
"Ah."
At Oh Hyeon-seong's words, he nodded.
"If my guess is right, the crops grown in your fields, Senior, have the effect of suppressing or removing the takgi that accumulates inside the human body. Nothing else could explain their potency."
"So?"
"I need the crops grown by your spirits."
Choi Jeong-il was blunt and to the point. His intent wasn't hard to guess.
"For your lab's research, I take it?"
"That's right. It's uncharted territory, so I can't be certain, but if we could extract the compounds from those crops, we could develop a treatment for the aftereffects caused by takgi. We might even be able to prevent it from accumulating in the first place."
He pressed on with considerable fervor.
"And even if mass production succeeded and the treatment was distributed to hunters, it would go through our own processing facilities. The crops themselves would never become public knowledge, so you'd never be bothered by it, Senior."
"Sorry, but... I'm going to have to say no."
Oh Hyeon-seong answered flatly. Choi Jeong-il flinched — he hadn't expected a refusal this swift and clean.
"I understand where you're coming from. But whatever effect these crops have, it's not going to be some grand discovery that saves humanity."
"...Why not? This is the first method ever found that can neutralize takgi inside the human body. It's a discovery that could change the future of mankind itself..."
"The problem is that for the crops to grow properly, they have to pass through the spirits' hands."
Oh Hyeon-seong replied briefly, and Choi Jeong-il's words caught in his throat.
"For this treatment to become meaningful on the scale of humanity, it would need to be supplied to enormous numbers of people. But at the size of the fields I'm building right now? Not a chance. Naturally so — I'm barely growing enough to feed myself as it is."
So what would it take for his plan to succeed? The scale of the farming would have to expand dramatically. Not just a few times over, either — it would mean putting the spirits to work building some colossal automated factory.
Choi Jeong-il, it seemed, hadn't considered this, but crops with such potency weren't simply manufactured on demand. They were the product of the spirits' devoted, careful hands.
If it came to that... these guys would follow without a word of complaint.
Oh Hyeon-seong looked down at the low-tier spirits sleeping soundly in his shirt pocket. The spirits would, by nature, do anything their contractor asked of him. Add in an appeal about saving humanity, and these soft-hearted creatures would meekly comply — it was obvious. Even if they were treated as produce factories, they'd work without a single grievance.
And of course, Oh Hyeon-seong had no intention of letting that happen.
"I learned, right before I retired, that when a lone individual tries to grandly save humanity or the nation, all he ends up doing is devouring himself."
A bitter smile touched Oh Hyeon-seong's lips.
"Taking good care of the people around me is enough. Rather than carving my name into the history of mankind, it's plenty to help each other out when help is needed, and to share a good meal together. That's the full extent of what the current me can do."
Gentle in delivery, yet firm at the core. Handing over a few samples for research was one thing, but mass-producing a treatment had been impossible from the very start.
After a brief silence, Choi Jeong-il spoke.
"...I was shortsighted. My vision narrowed again, it seems."
"It happens to everyone in front of a goal they desperately want."
The two of them returned their attention to fishing.
About an hour passed, and — for once — it was Oh Hyeon-seong who hauled in a crucian carp before Choi Jeong-il did.
But the fish was in poor condition. No close inspection was needed; it was clearly afflicted with fish disease, its skin hideously ruined.
"So even though the water has been purified, the fish that were already affected by the contamination can't simply return to normal."
"It's not that simple, though."
Oh Hyeon-seong examined the carp closely before speaking. The one he'd caught here last time had been completely riddled with sickness, but this one was in far better shape. They caught more fish after that, and the later the catch, the more quickly the fish's condition improved.
A meaningful difference, occurring within mere hours.
Splash! Splash!
Over in one corner of the reservoir, an otter could be seen lounging about in leisurely contentment. Even at this very moment, the reservoir, sustained by the spirits' power, had become clearer and cleaner than any water found anywhere on Earth. A pure environment utterly free of pollutants — takgi above all. Perhaps because of it, a meaningful effect was already showing. The fish caught later, the ones in good condition, were already at the point where they could be eaten.
But they released everything they caught that day. Fish still bearing the lingering influence of takgi would taste no better than cheap factory-produced fare, and that wasn't why they'd come fishing in the first place.
The next morning.
Oh Hyeon-seong woke up late and discovered Choi Jeong-il had vanished from the house. Wondering where he'd gone, he headed to the reservoir — and sure enough, there was Choi Jeong-il, already with his fishing spot fully set up.
"Investigator Choi, weren't you heading home today?"
"...Just one more day, please."
Choi Jeong-il's flushed face turned a shade redder as he spoke. There was nothing wrong with it — he'd been invited to stay longer in the first place — but he wasn't the type to change plans easily, which made the reversal all the more embarrassing for him.
"When on earth did you come out here?"
"I couldn't sleep before dawn, so I came out early. More importantly, look at this. A monster catch."
"A monster catch? You caught one over 30 centimeters here?"
"A 40-centimeter crucian carp."
"What? Seriously?"
Stunned, Oh Hyeon-seong scrambled over — and there it was, a genuinely massive crucian carp in the keep net. The reservoir's venerable old spirit of a fish, breezing past 40 centimeters.
"What in the world did you do?"
"Haha! The early bird catches the monster, doesn't it?"
Choi Jeong-il declared, swelling with pride. It was comical to see an angler so genuinely delighted — and yet, this time, Oh Hyeon-seong couldn't help but give him some credit. It was a native crucian carp with the bulk of a bodybuilder mid-bulk-up.
And what was astonishing wasn't only the size. On the first day, the fish had been too sickly to even consider eating, covered in every minor ailment imaginable — but today they were completely clean.
"The fish are healthy. At this rate, they'd probably taste proper too?"
"That's exactly why I was waiting. Let's taste them right away."
Choi Jeong-il, who had already set up all the equipment, skillfully cleaned the carp while Oh Hyeon-seong brought ingredients over from the house. He'd thought about bringing Ju Ji-hye too, but she was still half-asleep and threw a fit about hating fish, so he left her behind. Unlike the two of them, who carried faint memories of fish from early childhood, she belonged to a generation whose entire frame of reference for the taste of fish was the factory-made variety.
Anyway, once setup was done, they gathered seasonings and fresh ingredients and set a pot of spicy fish stew simmering. Then they took their first bite.
"Unbelievable..."
Oh Hyeon-seong and Choi Jeong-il both let out the same gasp of awe.
So this was a flavor that could exist. Words barely formed. The world's most luxurious meal, built from ingredients unobtainable anywhere on Earth, all heaped together in one pot.
"...What have I been eating all my life?"
A single spoonful of the fiery broth moved Choi Jeong-il profoundly. He had lived a lifelong angler's life, yet this was the first time he had ever truly tasted real fish.
Oh Hyeon-seong, deeply sympathetic, picked up his phone.
"That settles it. I'm calling Ji-hye."
On the third day.
Ju Ji-hye had gone to Seoul to work through several days of filming schedules, but Choi Jeong-il remained in Changyeong-ri. When Oh Hyeon-seong finished his farm work and made his way to the reservoir, there he was, faithfully holding his spot — sashimi already sliced and waiting.
"It's freshwater fish. Why is there sashimi? Don't go on about a hunter's iron stomach — I told you I'm not eating it."
"I've verified it myself. These fish have no parasites."
"That's impossible—"
Oh Hyeon-seong examined them personally with dubious eyes. But even after a thorough inspection, there truly were no parasites in the flesh. Not only the fillets, but deep into the organs as well.
"...Why is this actually true?"
Was this, too, the influence of the spirits? Clean water alone doesn't eliminate parasites — had this place become somewhere different laws applied? In any case, if parasites weren't an issue, there was no reason to refuse freshwater sashimi.
Chomp!
Fresh sashimi from genuinely healthy fish. Instead of the dreadfully mealy texture of synthetic fish, the nutty savoriness and rich umami within its springy bite flooded his mouth at once. The condition of the fish, fully adapted to their new environment, seemed to have climbed to its absolute peak.
They demolished the sashimi in a frenzy before belatedly coming to their senses.
"Eating this only strengthens my conviction."
"What are you talking about now?"
"I... am going to catch a 6-jja crucian carp."
Choi Jeong-il spoke with a fresh note of grim resolve. The response, naturally, was sheer incredulity.
"What...? You're going to catch one? From this backwater reservoir, is that even possible?"
"I've fished every famous spot there is, but this place is, truly, a legendary fishing ground the likes of which I've never once seen. It's entirely possible. As an angler, I know it the moment I look at it."
"You're a CEO, you know..."
"Wait and see. I'll land you the monster catch of your dreams."
So declared Choi Jeong-il, full of confidence. He kept his vigil and fished on without pause, and before anyone noticed, the sun had fallen and the sky had gone dark.
"How long are you going at this? However dedicated you are, you need to sleep."
"The big crucians bite better at night."
"Unbelievable."
Oh Hyeon-seong shook his head — then, before long, couldn't suppress a chuckle. At some point, a side of him that had gone dry and invisible seemed to have vividly returned. It was nostalgia doing it.
"Well... maybe I'll give it a try too, then."
He plopped down beside Choi Jeong-il. They built a small campfire off to one side from firewood brought from the house, watched the moon reflected on the water, and stayed up through the night.
Naturally, that blasted monster catch never even showed its face.
Before anyone knew it, a full week had passed.
Choi Jeong-il still hadn't gone to Seoul. He had set up a tent and makeshift camp facilities at the reservoir, and stood watch over his fishing rod with a patchy stubble growing on his face.
"Hey... are you not going home?"
"A 6-jja... just one 6-jja..."
"You lunatic."