A New Commission (2)
"Huh?"
"This should do the trick."
The man leading that protest had come up to Tokyo, swearing that he would become a wonderful father to his wife and children.
And what was he actually doing? Leading a bunch of fake cult protesters.
Japan was a country that cared about face. If he showed his wife and son this humiliating spectacle, then dragged it in front of the workplaces and schools where they all spent their days, they’d be thoroughly delighted.
Kim Soo-hyun approached him with a sour expression, said a few words, and not long after, the fake protest group dispersed at speed.
"But this won't be the end of it, will it?"
Those protesters were nothing more than one of Magoda Trading’s pieces on the board. They could always call up another one.
So if I wanted to stop Magoda Trading, meeting Oda Ryuki came first.
"How am I supposed to meet him and talk to him..."
Kim Soo-hyun let out a sigh.
He looked like he had no idea what to do.
"President Hong. Is there any way to meet that man?"
"I'll look into it."
As expected of Hong Si-yeon!
I knew I could count on her!!
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In any case, I couldn’t just keep hanging all my attention on this one matter.
So we went sightseeing.
Well. It was fun enough, in its own way.
"Good grief, I'm beat."
"What do you mean you're beat after barely walking around?"
"I'm basically a shut-in..."
Just being outside felt like taking dot damage.
"A nice soak in the hot springs should fix that."
"Should we?"
"Yeah. This ryokan is run by someone I know well. The food is good, and the hot springs are excellent."
We headed to the ryokan Kim Seokchun had booked.
It was supposed to be a very traditional inn, but honestly, I wasn’t sure I felt much one way or the other about that.
Still, just like the old man said, the dinner itself was delicious.
"Mister Cheolhon, let’s go to the large bath."
There was a hot spring attached to the room I was staying in, but if there was a grand communal bath, shouldn’t I at least go see it once?
So I went with Mister Cheolhon to the large bath.
Wow. It really was impressive.
The large hot spring, with Mount Fuji visible in the distance, was so empty I couldn’t see a single soul.
It practically felt like we’d rented the place out.
"Thanks to you, I’m enjoying a little luxury myself."
"That’s just how things are, isn’t it?"
Cheolhon and I laughed together as we entered the bath and sank into the water.
The fatigue I’d built up from wandering around all day seemed to drain away little by little.
Then I heard movement at the entrance.
What now? Another guest?
When I looked over, a man who seemed to be in his fifties was coming in.
Even in a hot spring, instead of undressing, he wore a spotless suit. He came to stand before me and bowed politely.
"Are you Kang Noah, the gentleman from Korea?"
Cheolhon tensed up.
But I stopped him.
I already knew who the man in front of me was.
"You must be Oda Ryuki. Your Korean is excellent."
"It’s merely the basics."
The middle-aged man smiled.
Oda Ryuki.
The steward of one of the five biggest private lenders in Japan.
"I hadn’t even been looking for you, and yet you found me all the same."
"The gentleman I serve has long wanted very much to meet you."
Me?
If he’d seen my broadcast, it made sense that he’d want to meet me.
"It isn’t especially difficult."
The old man he served, whose past and future I could see, was Japanese—but he wasn’t a bad man.
No, if anything, he leaned toward the good side.
That was saying something, given how much money he had and the nature of his work in private lending.
"Should I go to him?"
"He said he would never dare summon you as though ordering you around."
He really was absurdly polite.
Honestly, it was almost making me uncomfortable.
"I’ll escort the gentleman to Korea. How would it be if he met you there?"
That was fine with me.
Meeting all sorts of people in Korea wasn’t exactly rare for me anyway.
"That works for me."
"Thank you, sir."
"Ha ha. Think nothing of it."
"And as for the construction work for Kim Soo-hyun..."
"That’s been taken care of."
"I won’t ask how... but I’ll take your word for it."
I’d seen it when he came in earlier.
The future I’d seen had already been carried out.
The future where the president of Magoda Trading ended up on his knees in dogeza, only to get ripped to shreds by his own guest, had been realized far faster than it should have been.
"Thank you for understanding."
Things had been resolved more easily than I expected.
After Oda Ryuki left, we finished bathing, and I told Kim Seokchun what had happened.
He put on a grave look and called his son.
"Looks like I got a good break. How should I repay this?"
"Just take care of it later, when the time comes. More importantly, looks like I’ve got us a reservation. And not just any reservation—this one’s with a heavy hitter."
"If someone like that is serving under him, then he can’t be an ordinary man."
We were chatting while sipping milk with the old man when Hong Si-yeon came out, looking pleasantly warmed through.
"Why are you all making such serious faces?"
"Ah. Well, you see."
When I told her about what had happened at the hot spring earlier, Hong Si-yeon’s pretty face stiffened just a little.
For always-smiling her to react like that meant this really was serious.
"Grandma said we should be wary of that man too."
"Did she?"
"I don't know why he came to meet you, but in any case, we should increase the number of bodyguards around Noah."
"If that’s what you think is best, then let’s do that."
Still.
It didn’t seem like it would be that dangerous.
"All right then. One more round today?"
Kim Seokchun grinned and pulled a deck of hwatu cards from his bag.
Hah. So he was confident, was he?
Then I’d have to strip him clean.
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After that, nothing much happened.
According to what I heard from Kim Soo-hyun, once Oda Ryuki had come and gone, the construction had started moving forward without a hitch.
Which meant we could now do nothing but relax.
I rode around here and there with Hong Si-yeon in Kim Seokchun’s car.
"Wow! Let’s go there!"
"If you come to Japan, you have to eat sushi."
"Wow! Clothes that would suit Noah!"
"If you come to Japan, you have to eat ramen."
"Wow! Noah! What do you think of this necklace? It would look so good on you!"
"If you come to Japan, you have to eat unagi don."
Kill... me...
For an indoor type like me, it was a pretty exhausting trip.
But if I judged it by whether it was fun or not, then yeah—it really was fun.
All the different things we ate were delicious, too.
"I’m going to head out separately with Mister Cheolhon today."
"Huh? Why?"
"I’m going to Akihabara."
"Why would you go there...?"
"There’s a Dungeon & Saga event."
Turns out they were selling Dungeon & Saga event merch in Akihabara.
I’d also gotten a coupon, so I was going to pick up the new pet.
"Should I come with you? I can drive you there..."
"I heard the traffic gets awful over there. I’ll just take the train."
By car, it would take thirty minutes.
By train, ten.
Then obviously I should take the train.
"Hmm... all right. Mister Cheolhon, please go with him."
"Yes. Understood."
Hong Si-yeon said she’d take it easy today.
I left the old man, who said he was going to visit his son’s company, and headed for the station with Cheolhon.
We bought our tickets, went down inside, and I pulled up the Dungeon & Saga event merch on my phone.
With the coupons I got from buying the merch, I could receive the new pet, a title, and various other small items.
Should I also pick up one for Han Yu-na?
Then I spotted a child.
The kid was holding a ball.
He was smiling brightly, as if he’d come out for a stroll with his mother, and it was adorable.
That smile didn’t last long.
His mother got a phone call.
While she answered it, the child bounced the ball on the ground.
It was nothing significant.
There was a small stone on the floor.
There were still many stations in Japan without platform screen doors installed.
Something tiny. Something utterly ordinary.
But for that child.
For that mother, it was a tragedy of unbearable proportions.
The ball struck the stone, bounced unpredictably, and rolled toward the tracks.
With their sense of danger still undeveloped, the child went after it and jumped down onto the tracks.
That’s how children are.
Their sense of danger is low.
Even if something is taller than they are, they think it’ll be fine and do it anyway.
The child landed badly, twisted his ankle, and burst into a scream.
His mother screamed too.
So did the people around them.
The train was coming in.
The child’s mother forgot her fear and leapt down after him, trying to save him.
Someone slammed the emergency button, and the train began to slow.
But it was too late.
The steel beast was bearing down on them by the ton.
That was the last thing the child, held in his mother’s arms, ever saw.
"Let’s go over there."
"Understood."
Cheolhon didn’t say anything else.
He simply followed my lead obediently.
That was when we reached the mother and child.
Ring-ring!!
The child’s mother’s phone rang.
While she answered and continued the call,
the future I had seen began unfolding exactly as it had before.
The child headed toward the tracks.
"You little brat!"
"Eh?!"
I caught him just before he could fall near the edge.
Startled by my sudden move, the child’s eyes went wide as he stared at me.
Then he started to sniffle.
"It’s dangerous down there."
Of course, the child didn’t understand Korean.
But it didn’t matter.
What mattered was that the child’s future had changed.
Then the mother, who had stopped her call, hurried over.
Her face had gone white.
She must have seen that I’d caught the child just before he fell.
I waved her thanks away with a casual flick of my hand while she bowed over and over in gratitude.
The train was about to pull in.
The ball had rolled to the opposite track, and a station attendant on the other side picked it up.
That should do it.
"Mister Cheolhon. Let's go."
"Yes... yes? Ah. Right."
Let’s go! Time to pick up event merch!
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And so four nights and five days passed.
After eating, drinking, and having fun to our hearts’ content, we returned to Korea.
The day before we left, I’d visited the old man’s business, and honestly, I still didn’t really get it.
Still, Hong Si-yeon seemed to know exactly what she was doing, so I decided to leave it to her side.
"You’ll make a huge profit! I’ll have your share deposited into Noah’s account as dividends."
"Thank you."
"Then you’ve worked hard~! Get some proper rest~!"
Hong Si-yeon got out of the car and waved with a smile.
I watched her receding figure and let out a sigh.
I’d brought back more luggage than I had when I came.
That was thanks to Hong Si-yeon and old man Kim Seokchun buying me all kinds of things at the Japanese department stores.
Still, a T-shirt that cost a million won apiece was honestly a bit much.
"Isn't this all thanks to your abilities, sir?"
"Even so, I’m still just a commoner, you know."
"Heh heh heh."
"Anyway, you really worked hard. Mister Cheolhon, you should go and rest too..."
Ring-ring!!
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
"Hello?"
- Have you returned home?
A familiar voice.
It was Oda Ryuki.
I’d told him I’d be home around this time today, and he’d called right on schedule.
"Yes. When would you like to meet?"
- If possible, we would like to see you today. The gentleman has been waiting.
"Hmm. Very well, then. In that case..."
I gave him the address of the only café near my place that was still worth going to.
When I hung up, Cheolhon’s expression was dark.
"Are you meeting that man?"
"Yes."
"I’ll go with you."
"Aren’t you tired?"
"This much is nothing."
Then let’s go.
I changed into something comfortable at home and headed to the café.
Inside the quiet café were Oda Ryuki, whom I’d seen before, and an elderly man of about the same age as Kim Seokchun.
"Ah. Here..."
"Please. Mister Kang. Please...!!"
The old man.
He performed dogeza in front of me.
As expected, everyone in the café turned to stare our way.
Ha.
Well, this café was off-limits to me now too.