Chapter 178 – What Happened on the Beach (3)
The woman Ian brought was of a similar age to Yoo Jaehan. Yoo Jaehan subtly looked her up and down. He felt like something was wrong.
“This is it.”
“Is it this person?” She asked.
Yoo Jaehan looked at Ian and laughed, “What is this?”
“What about it? Eat a lot, pray a lot, and love a lot.” Ian laughed. “I found someone for Doctor-nim.”
“No, why didn’t you ask me?”
“I didn’t intend for it originally.”
Ian grinned and spoke to the woman, “Noona, he is handsome, intelligent, and a good surfer.”
“I can’t see that…”
“His mind is very good. He is a Mensa member.”
“Oh, my god. Really? His mind does seem nice.”
Yoo Jaehan instantly shook his head, “Mensa is just a mega society. It is a group that anyone can enter.”
“Mensa?”
“Hahaha. How about it? He is clever.” Ian laughed.
She replied, “I came here, but I still don’t believe it. Will you take responsibility?”
“Why are you already like this? Talk together for a little bit more. However, I will take responsibility. This person is gentle inside and out. He is a genius who remembers everything. Isn’t he great?”
Ian moved her to sit beside Yoo Jaehan. The woman shrugged like she was still unsure if she was interested, but she started talking to Yoo Jaehan.
She was the guest staying in the room next door to Ian at the hotel. They had encountered each other outside their rooms and started chatting. As she was a similar age to Yoo Jaehan and bored being by herself, he said he would introduce her to a nice man. The woman followed because deep down she was interested in Ian, but a genius had his own charm.
“Have fun.”
Ian slipped away. The wall broke down slowly, and Yoo Jaehan and the woman laughed as they exchanged a few words.
Ian grinned. He had wondered about what type of person the genius Yoo Jaehan was, but he seemed more free and easy than Ian had thought. Ian had thought about letting Ji Hayeon know, but it was better to hide his available resources.
“What should I do?”
Ian walked alone on the beach at night. It was night, so the atmosphere was cool. Exotic bars were lit up along every street, and the food trucks parked in the streets sold a variety of food. Ian bought an American-style chili hot dog. He also received a cup of beer. It was delicious. The beer was a domestic brand, but it wasn’t bad.
He walked around the beach with food in his hands and sometimes saw youths who had bought firecrackers. Here and there, people were laughing. There were young people busking, playing musical instruments, singing and dancing.
Somehow, it all seemed distant. It felt like a type of world which he couldn’t join. Ian was a similar age to them, but he was more accustomed to pointing a muzzle at an enemy’s head than playing music or having other talents.
“You should enjoy life…” Ian’s boss had said this when Ian was discharged. How had Ian looked at that time?
However, now he enjoyed it enough. Was there anything as joyful as being Crockta?
“……!”
At that moment, Ian recoiled. A face he had seen many times belonged to a person sitting at a BBQ party on the beach. This was a face that shouldn’t be here. It was a person with green skin, rough eyes, a heinous face, and a red headband.
“C-Crockta…?”
The person was Crockta. Ian froze in confusion, but when he looked closely, he saw that Crockta wasn’t the only one. There were various faces next to him, such as the popular pokemon, Pikachu. They were masks to be pulled down over the head.
People laughed as they moved. Ian couldn’t help laughing. When did these products come out?
“I should be paid royalties.” He muttered as he kept staring.
The people were laughing as meat cooked on the open air barbecue grill. Then suddenly, someone waved at Ian. The face was familiar. It was the woman who hit Ian during the day. He couldn’t ignore her due to her intense gaze.
“What are you doing alone?”
“Nothing. Well…” He looked down at the hot dog and beer in his hands. “I am walking alone.”
“Ah, so you came to the beach. It must be lonely. Is your body okay?”
“It’s okay.”
Her face was already red from the alcohol.
The people sitting with her wondered who he was. When she told them that Ian was the person she hit during the day, they welcomed him with strange eyes. It seemed like they had already talked about Ian.
On the other hand, the men were looking at Ian with appraising eyes. The man wearing the Crockta mask took it off. He was a young man.
He asked, “Do you know this person?”
“Kind of.”
“I’m sorry, but only our guests are able to attend. The amount is fixed.”
It seemed to be a BBQ party for people staying at a guesthouse. Ian had no intention of attending, so he shook his head.
“He was injured because of me, so can’t it be allowed just this once? It is okay for one person.”
“Please, Oppa!”
“I was really looking forward to seeing him!”
The young man was troubled because he couldn’t ignore a bunch of girls.
“I understand. Please have a drink.”
As the young man working at the guesthouse soon realized the atmosphere, he quickly handed Ian a drink. Ian tried to refuse. However, the idea of enjoying life suddenly flashed through his mind again. Sometimes, it wasn’t so bad to participate in things like this.
Ian received a cup.
The people were from all over the country. The young man wearing the mask had come because the boss had asked for his help. Meanwhile, the rest were office workers, university students, and young men just about to go to military service.
Ian asked, “Where did you get that mask?”
“I bought it on the Internet. Do you know about Crockta?”
“I know.”
“I’m a fan.”
Everybody was drunk, and their intentions could be seen in their eyes. There were people hitting on those they liked. The guesthouse employee was interested in the woman called Jieun, and Jieun was interested in Ian.
Ian smiled wryly as he was sandwiched between the two of them.
“I think I should go now.”
“Where?”
“I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep.”
“Are you going to sleep already?” As Ian left, the man felt sorry as well as glad, so he didn’t try to stop it. “It can’t be helped if you are tired.”
Ian said thanks and rose from his seat after finishing his drink. Anyway, everyone was so drunk that they wouldn’t remember him.
He walked around for a while after leaving the beach. In fact, he wanted to be left alone. This time alone was needed. Ian looked at the distant lights in the sea and thought about Elder Lord and Yoo Jaehan.
He asked himself why these things happened. It was almost like someone had given Ian a mission. Strange things would keep happening to him in the world of Elder Lord.
Yoo Jaehan… Ian went on a trip, met Yoo Jaehan, and heard about Elder Lord. Elder Lord seemed to be born from some strange idea about reversing entropy, and the grey god seemed to be yearning for it.
***
He felt the sea breeze one more time before deciding to return to his hotel.
“……”
Ian witnessed a suspicious sight. The guesthouse members at the BBQ party were either still partying or had returned separately to sleep. However, the man who wore the Crockta mask was supporting the woman called Jieun and heading somewhere else.
She seemed drunk and dazed, while the man was leading her somewhere. It was in the direction where the bright lights of a motel flashed.
“Ah, really.”
Ian bit his lips. Where were her friends? He didn’t know, but they seemed swept up by the atmosphere and didn’t pay attention to her. The man’s hand was busy moving in the direction of her waist.
Ian went up to them. “Excuse me.”
The man looked angrily at Ian. Jieun hadn’t recovered yet and was leaning weakly against the man. She occasionally muttered nonsense.
Ian spoke softly, “Just take her back to the guesthouse.”
The man looked around for a moment and saw it was just them. Then the man’s face distorted as he replied angrily, “What is it? Are you her boyfriend?”
He had dropped all honorifics. Ian smiled bitterly.
“You shouldn’t take advantage of a drunk person. It is fine if you listen to my proposal.”
“Don’t interfere in my business. Why are you meddling?”
The man placed Jieun on the ground and approached Ian. He had a good physical appearance, and he was tall, so he looked down at Ian.
“Why did you have to meddle in my business?”
Ian thought about it. The man’s words… Ian wasn’t a good person to meddle in other people’s business. When he looked back at his past, he would shrug rather than meddle with other people’s problems.
However, he couldn’t just walk on by now.
“So, listen well.”
“What?”
“Maybe if you hadn’t used that mask…” Ian muttered. “Crockta is exactly why I…”
Ian stretched out his hand at a speed was so fast that the man couldn’t respond. The man’s balance was disturbed…
Kung.
And he fell on his back.
“Ack!”
Ian shook his hand.
“You can’t pass.”
The man held his back and rolled around on the ground. Ian had done it gently, but the man seemed to be shocked. Ian ignored him and went to the woman called Jieun.
“Are you okay? Can you stand?”
She was sitting down and dozing off. Ian sighed inwardly. He had to call the police or find one of her friends.
“You bastard…” In the meantime, the man stood up and ran forward with a red face.
Ian said, “Just lie down.”
“I’m going to kill you!”
He rushed towards Ian. It was a posture which showed he had some training. Powerful punching and kicking followed. If the opponent were an ordinary person, he wouldn’t be able to resist the attack of this trained person.
However, the opponent was Ian. The man collapsed after being hit in the solar plexus, and Ian kicked his side. The man couldn’t breathe and curled up. Ian kicked the man’s belly one more time.
“Don’t ever wear Crockta’s mask again, or I will kill you.”
Ian looked down at the man as he warned. Suddenly, he saw the woman’s friends in the distance. They were looking for her.
Ian waved his hand.
***
“Boss-nim.”
“Huh?”
“Did you enjoy your trip?” Han Yeori asked as she watched Ian.
“I did.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t let go of your phone since you returned.”
Ian hesitated. Then he started typing on his phone again.
“It’s not like that.”
“Hrmm…”
Han Yeori stared at Ian from where she was wiping the tables. Ian hurried to finish the message and pressed the send button.
Since traveling to Gangwon-do, the number of people in his messenger had increased by two. There was the woman called Jieun, whom Ian had rescued. To be exact, she was Han Jieun. Why was he in contact with her? She seemed to have a crush on Ian after he rescued her from the dangerous situation.
A new message appeared.
[It is quiet. Aren’t you playing Elder Lord today?]
Yoo Jaehan…
The other new person was Yoo Jaehan. The genius scientist and creator of Elder Lord whom the Myeongsong Group was chasing. Yoo Jaehan had become close friends with Ian. Ian couldn’t help smiling as he remembered Yoo Jaehan’s unique tone.
[You should watch the broadcast.]
[I’m looking forward to it.]
More messages were exchanged. Ian rested for a while, and now he was returning to Elder Lord to meet Tiyo and Anor.
Han Yeori frowned as she saw Ian smiling at his phone. “Annoying.”
“……?”
Ian’s eyes widened at the irritation which he rarely saw from Han Yeori.
Han Yeori shrugged. “What? Don’t bother me for the rest of the day.”
Then she went to wipe the other tables. Ian scratched his head as he gazed at her.
