[Raccoon Man Beginning]
[Raccoon Man Beginning]
After the medal ceremony ended, we had a bit of a chat time. Only, this chat wasn't official; it was private.
President Drape also spoke with a much more relaxed face. It seems he's speaking comfortably since there are no plans after the medal ceremony. Before the ceremony, he spoke about topics pre-arranged by the advisory group for the sake of national interest, but after this, it's personal freedom.
"By the way, Raccoon Man. How do you intend to return? If you need it, I can arrange a private jet flying directly to Korea."
"Ah, I'll refuse that."
I am a criminal in Korea. To begin with, I'm a criminal who stowed away in the US, but that became innocent once I received the honorary citizenship along with the medal.
The honorary citizenship itself is entangled with political issues... it's like, 'The US has dibs on this Master User, so if you touch him, you're dead,' so it's not purely well-intentioned.
Actually, I expected offers for naturalization or immigration, and even the medal, but the fact that they gave me honorary citizenship must be due to Shion's influence. Catching me is equivalent to automatically getting a Master User plus a genius on Dr. Alion's level.
Anyway, if I return to Korea legitimately on a US plane, I'll be arrested the moment I hit the airport. No matter how much influence the US has, they'll definitely intend to arrest me first and then try to cajole me into becoming a state asset.
"I trust in the trust between individuals, but I don't trust in the trust of organizations and society. Because it's the nature of an organization to be able to ignore individual freedom at any time for the sake of its own benefit."
"That's not necessarily true. As the US is a land of freedom, we guarantee individual freedom."
"What would you do if I said I wouldn't act as a Force User in exchange for immigrating to the US?"
"Hmm..."
A Master User is only useful if they exert effort for national defense. Even the sharpest sword is meaningless if you just leave it at home as a decoration.
"If I enter Korea proudly like this, they'll pretend to be welcoming on the outside, but on the inside, they'll act as if it's an arrest. Well, honestly, it is my fault."
"I cannot say anything about that."
"It's only natural to admit when I've done something wrong."
In the end, I'm the one who committed the crime. Regardless of whether I'm a Force User, for the sake of social balance, all Force Users must register. They say even bad laws are laws when it comes to taxes, so I'm a tax evader for not paying.
But looking at it from the perspective of human rights or equality, it's really not right. Aren't Force Users just people who are a little stronger? Looking at what Lieutenant Lee Yu-seong does, whenever a crime involving a Force User occurs, all Force Users living nearby end up as suspects. That's the extent of it, even when they've done nothing.
Furthermore, if I'm not affiliated with the state, I feel like paying taxes is just admitting I'm a citizen, so I really don't like it.
If the youngest among my coworkers saw this, they'd frown.
"Just look into a direct flight back to Korea for me. I stowed away when I came, so I'll have to stow away when I go back."
"There is a way to return without notifying Korea, you know?"
"That would be a burden on your end."
Comparing the US and Korea, the US is clearly above, but as times changed, the status has shifted.
Ah, of course, that doesn't mean Korea is above, but it means the US can no longer boss Korea around with things like US Forces in Korea or economic sanctions. That's because Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin is in Korea.
There are only eight Master Users in the whole world. When push comes to shove, they have to be dispatched, but there are few countries with enough exchange to send them to the US.
Japan is ambiguous, exclude China, exclude Russia, the UK is... I don't know much about the UK, Turkey is busy, Australia has a huge landmass so defending that would be hard. Honestly, including Korea, it's about two or three.
Besides, the US has a huge landmass, which is more of a problem. Thinking about the time it takes to move, one body isn't enough.
However, a country with a Master User means they have a Joker. They have their own Joker, but in the end, it's a battle of numbers.
Of course, the US has more cards, so if they set their mind to it, they could win, but it means they have to accept losses. The presence or absence of a Master User is that important.
If the US treats me overtly friendly while ignoring Korea, Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin might ignore a dispatch request when push comes to shove. Or they might try to get more benefits.
Then, in the end, that's my debt too. A debt created without me knowing is hard to pay back, and hard not to pay back.
"Pure goodwill is rare in this world. Among them, all the goodwill shown by a President is impure."
"I won't deny that. But it is sincere that I want to provide convenience. Raccoon Man."
"If possible, please do it next time we meet."
I don't know if there will be a next time, though.
Who cares, future me!
Things in the US were roughly wrapped up. I adamantly refused the offer to be taken by private jet, snuck out, and looked into direct routes to Korea.
And I sat on the rear wing of the flying aircraft and flew straight to Korea. Anyway, thanks to my ability, if I create a Force Field, wind and such don't really have a big impact.
It took almost a whole day, taking as long to cross as it did to come. But fortunately, I was able to make it in time for Yejin's first day of school.
"Welcome back. Did you buy a gift?"
"Ah, right."
"Goodbye."
"Hey! Wait! Wait! Open the door!"
Shion welcomed me by opening the front door, then closed it again. No, come to think of it, I forgot to buy a gift.
Honestly, it took so long that I couldn't buy food, and at best, I only have the medal I received in the US.
"Instead of a gift, please give me a passionate kiss for the time we didn't see each other."
"Ah, I can do that."
I pulled Shion, who had opened the door again, and kissed her deeply. I hugged her so hard I wondered if I was suffocating her, to the point where I mistook if I had used too much strength.
Just when we were in a good mood, Yejin was peeking out from beyond the door to the living room, checking the situation.
"Are you done?"
"Oops. I don't know if it was too passionate with a high school girl around."
"I know everything, too. I just wondered if I was interrupting a good time for a married couple."
Yejin was in a much better state than when I last saw her. Her complexion might look a little bad, but health-wise, there are no problems.
"You haven't seen any other premonitions since you saw Yejin last time, right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. By the way, Ahjussi. You went all the way to the US because of me... thank you so much."
I glanced at Shion. Honestly, there were three big reasons I went to the US: first, to stop the future Yejin saw; second, to protect Lee Yoon-yang, Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin's daughter; and lastly, to prevent New York from flying away, thus preventing Shion's property loss.
The biggest reason among those three is the third one. It's better for me to leave troublesome things alone, but if it's something Shion loses or is related to, it's worth it.
Children's innocence must be protected... let's keep my mouth shut for now.
"What, it was nothing. Oh right, I got this medal along with honorary citizenship in the US, right? Decorate it in some corner of the house."
"Won't it be a big deal if someone comes and sees it?!"
"Ah, that would be the case. Then just shove it in some drawer. They said it was made of rare ore collected from a meteorite, so it'll be worth some money if I sell it later when I need it."
Shion received the case containing the medal and examined the contents. And she looked at the medal, which was heavier than expected, and tried biting it.
"It's not even gold, why are you doing that?"
"This is Adamantium from the Demon World."
"Ah, right. I thought I saw it somewhere, it was Adamantium."
When you reincarnate, you are born in various worlds and gain all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge. Among them, there are surprisingly many related to metals.
Among them, Adamantium is one of the metals that remains in my memory. The characteristics of this Adamantium are not that special, actually.
It's fucking sturdy and fucking heavy.
As I recall, it has higher strength than titanium alloys and its mass is much heavier than steel. It's a metal that ignores common sense, but if that common sense is from Earth, it's a common sense that needs to be changed in the outer world.
Napoleon also said there is no such word as impossible in his dictionary. Ah, then the dictionary is defective, I should exchange it.
"But if it's real Adamantium, it would be tough to smelt with pure scientific technology, right? How did they make it into a medal?"
"It's not pure Adamantium. Well, it's not like Adamantium would melt from the friction heat of the atmosphere when a meteorite falls, right? It's in a state where various impurities are mixed in. So, I think crafting it was possible, even if smelting wasn't."
"Ah, is that so?"
Shion rolled the medal in her hand, then looked at an empty wall and wedged the medal between her fingers.
Hey, don't throw that.
"It's a star shape, so it's a perfect form for throwing."
"Don't do it, I promised the President-ajussi that I wouldn't do that."
"Tch."
Remembering that this is Adamantium, I suddenly had that thought.
No, I received something cheaper than I thought!
If I do a good job and get paid, it doesn't look cool, so I didn't take money and just took the medal, but if it's Adamantium, not gold, it's quite cheap.
If you go to the place of origin of Adamantium, one of its satellites, the moon, is made entirely of Adamantium, so the price is practically at the level of iron. It's expensive when viewed from Earth because it's an ore that doesn't exist on Earth. It's not common for us, but it's a metal you can get if you want to.
"Shall we melt it and make something else? If we make it into an alloy, we'll get enough for one mask."
"An Adamantium alloy mask? What would I use that for, it's heavy? Forget it, just leave it as a decoration."
I put the medal back in the case and shoved it into a corner of a drawer in the house. I'll take it out if I need to use it later.
Looking at the time, it was almost time for Yejin to go to school. Anyway, I had no accumulated fatigue, so I decided to drop her off at school and go to work.
"Ahjussi, you can just rest if you're tired. It's not like the school is that far, do you really need to?"
"I know well that girls make cliques and hang out at school. It's hard for a kid who just transferred to blend into that. You grew up in a facility too, so you know how kids from facilities are treated, right?"
".......Of course."
I'm also from a facility. So, when I went to school in the past, there were often kids who were a bit reluctant.
Those kids were better off. There were rarely bastards who would insult my parents even though I was an orphan... I talked about that last time. The bullies who became paraplegic or vegetative due to a car accident.
Anyway, since they were minors riding motorcycles without protective gear while drunk, it was a situation where an accident was bound to happen, so the situation where I was suspected didn't happen.
"This time, since I'm here, you won't hear that you're a kid without parents, but since I'm not your biological parent, you'll be the subject of gossip. So, I have to block that beforehand. As they say, there's nothing bad about looking rich. Troublesome bugs will swarm, but it's better to pick out the gems among those bugs."
"Sometimes you look more experienced than you look, Ahjussi."
"Well, that's true."
I haven't told Yejin yet that I'm a reincarnator. I told Baek-ri because we've known each other for a while, but I haven't interacted with Yejin for that long yet.
I came out, pulled the car in advance, and waited in front of the house, and Yejin came out with her school bag. Come to think of it, this is the first time Yejin is riding this car.
"Wow, it's a real Lamborghini. It's a 2-seater, so it's a bit much for many people to ride, but it's really nice, right?"
"Your mindset is similar to mine? Indeed, it's efficient for many people to ride in a car."
"Can it transform too?"
"Even if it's a Lamborghini, what are you expecting from a car? Transformers?"
Of course, if Shion worked on it, it might be possible, but then even the local car repair shop wouldn't be able to fix it.
Yejin's school is not far from here. I deliberately looked for and chose a nearby school, so it only takes about 15 minutes by bus. If you have a private car, you can do it in 10 minutes.
Still, there's the time it takes to leave the house and walk to the bus stop, so if I wasn't there, she would have to leave about 30 minutes early. If I want to drop Yejin off at school every day, I think I'll have to wake up a bit early.
When we arrived near the school, there were plenty of students wearing school uniforms going to school. The students wearing the same uniforms as Yejin had a half-and-half gender ratio, perhaps because the school was co-ed.
I thought about going inside the school to drop her off, but Yejin stopped me, so I decided to just drop her off in front.
"There, we're here. It was quick."
"Ah, thank you for giving me a ride, Ahjussi."
"What, it doesn't take that long. I'll drop you off often from now on."
I know well how sad it is for a child who hasn't received parental love. So, even if it's lacking, I have no choice but to give love now.
Even if I can't be a substitute for a parent, I can play the role.
"The gaze is a bit... I was worried about this, but there are more gazes than I thought."
"Honestly, even I think, where would you find a high school girl going to school in a Lamborghini? If someone asks, just say you have a lot of money at home."
"Can I really say that openly?!"
"When you come back from school, I'll give you my card, so take that and go shopping with your friends. As they say, money is the best thing to win kids over."
"Would a friend made like that be a proper friend?"
"It's your job to pick them out from among them. If push comes to shove, bring the kids home. I'll read their physiognomy for you."
My ability to read physiognomy isn't absolute, but I can say it's almost accurate. There are people who don't fit occasionally, but that's because that person is unique.
"It would be a bit much to go in and talk to the teacher yourself, right? I don't think that's right either. I'll put that off for later."
"What, are you going to treat the class to hamburgers or something?"
"Would hamburgers be enough for kids who are at the age where they eat a lot? I should treat them to chicken. But our shop is small, so we can't fry that much, so I'm sorry if you were expecting our shop's."
"Ah, come on! Just go now! It's embarrassing!"
The gathered kids were taking pictures and it was chaotic. I waved my hand with a smile, and Yejin greeted me reluctantly and walked into the school.
Have a good school life.
Wishing that, I headed to the shop.