Where Evil Vanished (5)
The psychoanalyst Carl Jung once said, “Where your fear is, there is your task.”
Looking back on my last life, what was I most afraid of?
First, powerlessness.
The whole world was overflowing with monsters, and there was nothing a powerless man like me could do. Every time one family member after another disappeared, a hollow ache rose in my chest. I spent my entire life trembling, trapped by the knowledge that I could do nothing at all.
So what did I do? I gave up and submitted.
I locked myself away in a factory, as if I were mutilating myself on purpose, and kept inventing excuses. I told myself it couldn’t be helped. That this was the only way to live.
After I regressed, I obtained hero powers. I brought the superhuman abilities I’d only ever seen in comics into reality. And just like that, powerlessness became power.
So my task was decided for me.
I would smash my enemies to pieces with my new strength, in style. And to do that, I would become the strongest hero there was.
Now, back to the present.
“Where your fear is, there is your task.”
The second thing I’d been afraid of was, of course…… money.
I admitted it. I’d been shackled to poverty all my life, so I used to quake in front of money. More precisely, I was afraid to spend it. I’d hoard it desperately, driven by the obsession that I had to escape poverty no matter what. If I spent even a few coins, my mood would be wrecked for the rest of the day.
So what was the conclusion?
This time around, I was going to overcome that fear and faithfully carry out my duty. Which was why I’d prepared this outing.
“You’re Mr. Choi Yongki, correct? I’ll take your coat.”
A waiter in a suit greeted me. The interior, decorated with cypress wood in a style that felt almost as if I’d been teleported to Japan, was impressive. A soft classical tune drifted from somewhere on top of the faint, fragrant scent of wood.
Grandmother and Sungmin followed behind me.
“Hey now. Yongki, what’re we doin’ here?”
“……Hyung. I thought we were just gonna grab something simple.”
This was an omakase restaurant in Cheongdam-dong. Lunch was 250,000 won. Dinner was 450,000 won. Since we’d come for dinner, that meant one meal for a family of three would cost a whopping 1.35 million won.
No, no. I shook my head.
Let’s not think of it as “whopping.” If I could spend 1.35 million won and share a happy time with the family I loved, wasn’t that practically cheap?
……That was how I tried to comfort myself, but my heart was still pounding.
“You’ve booked a private room, right? This way, please.”
Following the staff member’s guidance, we moved to the room.
“Would you like alcohol as well?”
“What’s the most expensive thing you’ve got here?”
I answered without hesitation. Today was the day I faced my fear head-on. I was going to spend freely, lavishly, without a shred of restraint. When I died, I wouldn’t leave even a single won behind. I’d spend every last bit of it in this life.
“Then how about a Juyondai Ryusen?”
The waiter opened the menu and recommended a sake. At a glance, I saw the price.
What? Five million won?
For a place this upscale, that wasn’t a problem for me at all. If I added in what I’d stolen from Jeong Myeong-su’s secret vault, I had enough money to eat omakase at every meal for the rest of my life and still have plenty left over.
And yet.
Like Pavlov’s dog drooling at the sound of a bell, I couldn’t help the way my pulse was threatening to burst through my chest.
I spoke with more gravity than I ever had when facing a monster.
“I’ll take it.”
After a few simple appetizers, the sushi course finally began.
“Minced sweet shrimp with caviar.”
Grandmother and Sungmin picked up the food with their chopsticks and put it in their mouths.
“Well I’ll be. What’s this salty little egg thing?”
“Mm. It tastes like the sea in my mouth……”
Both of them wore strange expressions.
“Well? Is it good?”
Grandmother nodded.
“It’s all right, I guess. But what does it cost?”
“Not much.”
That was, of course, a lie. If I told them the truth, Grandmother would instantly bark, “You little son of a bitch! For that money you could’ve just……!”
Bluefin tuna belly, sea urchin sushi, blackfin barracuda…… I couldn’t even remember half the names. One after another, beautifully plated slices of fish kept coming out.
I usually ate anything. I wasn’t picky.
……It really is delicious.
The lavish treatment, something I’d never once experienced in my life before, felt strangely moving.
What’s the big deal about this, anyway?
Hadn’t I gone without it even once until I’d saved up a billion won?
Sungmin just kept eating noisily without saying a word.
“Hey. Choi Sungmin. Eat slower.”
“Mm-hm. How long is this stuff gonna keep coming out? Feels like I’m being fattened up for slaughter.”
His attention drifted to the sake sitting beside me.
“Hyung. Can I have a drink too?”
It was Sungmin’s first time at omakase too.
Seeing how excited he was made me feel a little guilty for some reason. When I stayed silent and just looked at him, he shrank his shoulders.
“Ah, no, I was just kidding—haha.”
He wasn’t even being hit, but he still watched my mood like this.
Fine. Since I was in the mood.
Wasn’t alcohol something you learned from adults anyway? I should play the role of father for my younger brother, who’d grown up without one.
“Take it.”
“Oh. Really? Nice. Pour it nice and full.”
“Here. Use both hands.”
I picked up the cola sitting beside the sake and poured it into his glass.
“……Tch.”
Sungmin glared at the fizz popping over the rim.
Grandmother held out her own glass.
“You little bastards. Even cold water knows to mind its manners. Does this old woman’s mouth not count as a mouth? Hurry up and pour mine too!”
And just like that, the three of us filled our glasses.
As I lifted mine toward my lips, Grandmother spoke up.
“Yongki. What’s that thing you youngsters call it? Give us a toast or whatever.”
A toast? That was embarrassing. Still, it wasn’t often we got together like this, so I thought about what to say and then opened my mouth.
“Let’s all stay healthy. Every once in a while, let’s eat something good like this and live without making a big fuss over it.”
Looking back, happiness was never as grand as people made it out to be. Not taking misery upon yourself—that alone was something to be grateful for, wasn’t it?
“Well now. That was a good thing to say.”
“Cheers!”
The three of us clinked our glasses together. Sungmin took a sip and let out an admiring breath.
“Ah! Sweet. Right, omakase goes with cola, not soju.”
“Since when do you know what soju tastes like?”
“Huh?”
Sungmin froze for a moment and set his glass down.
“N-no, I mean, that’s just a figure of speech.”
“If you go off the rails even a little, I’ll kill you that day.”
“Got it. I’m studying hard these days, too.”
And he really was. His grades had gone up thanks to the expensive tutoring I’d paid for last time. He was still holding on to first place in the school, so if things kept going like this, he’d have no trouble getting into the medical school he wanted so badly.
Academics really did improve when you threw money at them.
It was bitter, but that was reality too.
Grandmother jabbed a finger at me.
“You little bastard. You were guzzling booze every damn day since you were a kid, and now look at you.”
“That’s because I was hanging out with the other kids while going to vocational hunter school……”
“And that’s not all, either! You were always tearing around on a motorcycle! You gave me so much grief I nearly died of it!”
“……Hyung. I’m disappointed.”
“Damn it. Why’re you bringing up old stories, Grandma? Hey, Choi Sungmin. Pour me another.”
“Honestly, you’re making a big deal out of me giving you cola!”
Once the alcohol started to take hold, everyone’s voice rose. We laughed uproariously over nothing at all.
Only then did I realize it.
The reason I called myself a hero.
To protect my family.
To protect others too.
To safeguard the modest lives of the ordinary people living on this land.
That was why I fought.
Sometimes I was afraid to put my life on the line and step forward in front of my enemies.
But that was where my task lay.
Before I knew it, the meal was over. As we naturally headed toward the register, Sungmin spoke to me.
“That was good. Thanks, hyung.”
“Yeah. If there’s anything else you want to do, just tell me anytime.”
“Ah, then…… could we go somewhere for summer vacation too? A valley, or the beach, or maybe even a staycation…….”
Swimming for fun, going on trips overseas, lounging around in a hotel with a pool—those were things I’d never had any connection to, either.
I ruffled his hair.
“Why wouldn’t we be able to go? Let’s go.”
While the brothers were talking after such a long time, Grandmother quietly rummaged in her wallet.
“Grandma, I’ll pay.”
“Do I look like a beggar? Always letting my grandkids buy everything for me! Get lost! I’m paying today.”
Then she strode out ahead of us with complete confidence. And the card she held wasn’t the one I’d given her for living expenses—it was Grandmother’s personal card.
……Huh? Grandmother?
It wasn’t a trivial amount of money. What if it got declined for insufficient funds……?
“How would you like to pay? One lump sum or installments?”
At the waiter’s question, Grandmother answered, “Installments? What nonsense! One payment!”
Sungmin, who’d been standing nearby, instantly changed his tune. He bowed politely toward Grandmother and said, “Thank you for the meal, Madam.”
Still a little dazed, I asked him, “Grandma’s got money now?”
“Hyung. You didn’t know?”
He lowered his voice.
“Grandma’s gukbap restaurant got featured on Baek Jongheon’s Three Great Kings. These days, you have to wait in line for over an hour just to eat.”
I had no idea.
I knew the place was doing well because it was across from Dio Guild headquarters, but I never imagined it was doing that well.
“Grandma said Baek Jongheon asked if she’d ever consider opening franchises nationwide.”
A nationwide chain owner?
What the hell. Was Grandmother going to make more money than me now?
￦751,014,006
Grandmother pulled 100,000 won out of her wallet and held it out to the waiter.
“You worked hard too, you know. This is your tip. A tip!”
“Thank you very much, customer.”
I swallowed hard.
Then a thought struck me.
I wasn’t the only one who had awakened.
Maybe Grandmother had a truly incredible talent for business?
Had I just poked the whiskers of a sleeping lion?
Grandmother turned back and said, “What’re you standing there for? Let’s go hit up Starbucks and grab something sweet and fruity.”
In front of the victor who had survived this capitalist world on her own two feet, all I could do was bow my head in respect.
“Grandma, I ate well too.”
I was standing in Dio Guild’s physical training room, sending a message to someone when the door opened.
Panicking like a student caught cheating, I shoved my phone into my pocket.
For the first time in months, a welcome face appeared.
“Yo, slacker.”
He sauntered over and stopped in front of me.
It was the mad dog of Dio Guild, Na Sang-min.
After infiltrating Cheonyang-ji, I’d been neglecting hunter work.
“Your classmates are busting their asses, running in and out of dungeons and stacking up achievements, and meanwhile our great Hunter Choi is sitting on his thumbs?”
Na Sang-min snickered as he mocked me.
“Especially your classmate Lee Ji-jun. I heard he’s already made it up to B-class?”
He wasn’t wrong.
After the Gangnam Station multi-Gate incident, I hadn’t really accomplished much. While everyone else was sprinting ahead like rabbits, I’d fallen behind like a turtle.
It didn’t matter.
What they couldn’t do, I would accomplish soon enough.
“What brings such a busy man to seek out a lowly wretch like me?”
Na Sang-min and I stood facing each other in the training room.
On a battlefield, what else was there to do?
Fight.
“I want to get better at using the sword.”
I still hadn’t received the full transmission of Ilcheon-illyu, the One Heaven Style. The reason I’d been able to wipe out the Cheonyang-ji enemies wasn’t because of my swordsmanship.
It was because of my hero powers.
￦751,014,006
I checked the floating number.
The more the Purple Devil acted, the faster my money disappeared. I couldn’t rely on hero abilities forever. In three months, when I had to face the unprecedented monster waiting for me in Busan, I would need more than raw power.
I had to get stronger.
Na Sang-min clicked his tongue.
“Good. You’re ready for this?”
Amusingly enough, my two teachers always asked me the same thing.
“Yes.”
Na Sang-min picked up a practice sword. Since he’d already decided to teach me, he didn’t waste any time with extra talk.
That’s one of the things I like about him.
Na Sang-min nodded toward the sword hanging at my side.
“Is Heoksikdo actually useful?”
“Very much so.”
I still couldn’t draw out its true capability because I wasn’t skilled enough yet, but I had no doubt that one day I’d swing this legendary blade to my heart’s content.
“Want to warm up a little?”
Na Sang-min struck first. I deflected his sword with the blade of my own.
“Oh? What’s this? You’ve improved.”
In a single exchange, he’d already measured me.
The way to grow quickly was simple: accumulate experience through real combat. Thanks to the Twelve Apostles and Jeong Myeong-su I’d faced recently, my movements were much lighter than before.
“I’ve been training hard while I was resting.”
“Hmm.”
Na Sang-min tapped his shoulder with the practice sword, looking dissatisfied.
“You didn’t go and pick up another teacher besides me, did you?”
“No way.”
Of course, that was a lie. I’d been in contact with Simon right up until just now.
One Heaven Style, specialized in offense.
And on top of that, Ganro-ryu, known as absolute defense.
I wanted both spear and shield in my hands.
“I want to become a master under Hunter Na’s guidance.”
Na Sang-min lifted the corner of his mouth and made a strange sound.
“You fox-like wolf bastard. Not even bothering to wet your lips before lying.”
A black blur lunged at me in the blink of an eye.