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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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After an hour of learning consonant and vowel combinations, Gang-so then studied a book that Ha-young brought, which explained tricky letters.
For example, it was a book that explained the difference between ‘앉다’ and ‘않다’, and how to use spacing.
After reading the book, Gang-so closed it and said,
“I’ve learned this thing called Hangeul.”
Surprised, Lim So-young asked him back,
“Huh? Uncle Gang-so? Did you really memorize it all?”
Lim So-young had decided to call Gang-so ‘uncle’, and Gang-so had readily agreed, so she called him ‘Uncle Gang-so’.
At Lim So-young’s words, Gang-so nodded.
“Yes. I’ve mastered it all.”
“What? You’ve mastered it all?”
Yoo Soon-tae, who had just come up to the second floor, was also surprised and rushed over to Gang-so.
“Really? You really mastered Hangeul? It’s only been about three hours!”
At that, Ha-young said,
“It’s true! I even gave Oppa a lot of dictation, and he got a hundred percent!”
Yoo Soon-tae shook his head.
“You’re a genius!”
“Just think of it as the result of hard work.”
In fact, one of Gang-so’s specialties was his excellent memory.
As he desperately racked his brain to survive after completing his assassinations, his already good memory improved even more.
‘I had to memorize martial arts manuals after reading them just once or twice.’
Because he didn’t want to die, he made an effort, and as a result, he could remember almost everything he saw.
Thanks to this, he was able to survive in the assassin organization, where the survival rate was hellish, and earned the name ‘King of Death’.
“Actually, it’s not so much that I’m smart, it’s that Hangeul is an easy language to learn.”
That was true.
Compared to the characters he used to use, Hangeul was a language that elicited admiration the more he used it.
“How could someone create such a language! If he were alive, I’d like to meet him.”
“King Sejong and the scholars of Jiphyeonjeon have already passed away, so you can’t meet them.”
“That’s a shame.”
* * *
Lunchtime began.
While Yoo Soon-tae and Lim So-young were busy serving customers, Gang-so played with Ha-young in a corner of the shop.
‘So, if you don’t have a food handling permit, you can’t handle food? Well, that makes sense. Hygiene is important in a restaurant.’
Just then, Ha-young touched the back of his hand and said,
“Oppa! You have to be the prince.”
In Gang-so’s hand was a male doll dressed as a prince. And in Ha-young’s hand was a Barbie doll in a fancy dress.
That’s right.
Gang-so was currently playing with dolls with Ha-young.
“Hello, Prince. Princess Ha-young has come to play.”
“Ahem, ahem. Welcome, Princess.”
“I’m happy to be greeted by you.”
Yoo Soon-tae, in the kitchen, looked at Gang-so with an expression that said he was dying of laughter.
After lunch, Yoo Soon-tae put up a sign on the door indicating break time.
Then he looked at Gang-so, who was slumped over the table.
“You must be tired from playing with Ha-young.”
“I didn’t know playing with a child was so tiring. Especially playing with dolls, which requires you to use all your imagination.”
“Hehehe, I understand.”
Yoo Soon-tae took off his chef’s uniform and said,
“Let’s go out. I’ll show you around the neighborhood.”
Yoo Soon-tae went out to the front of the shop and started the motorcycle.
Vroom! Vroom-vroom-!
The motorcycle started with a loud noise.
“Here, take this.”
Thud-!
Gang-so caught the object Yoo Soon-tae threw and asked,
“What’s this?”
“A helmet.”
Yoo Soon-tae put on his helmet and said,
“You wear it like this. It’s to protect your life in case of an accident, so you have to wear it even if it’s uncomfortable.”
Gang-so put on the helmet and smiled at the feeling of it snugly fitting his head.
It was much more comfortable than the helmets he used to wear.
Yoo Soon-tae got on the motorcycle and shouted to Gang-so,
“Get on behind me!”
As Gang-so got on behind Yoo Soon-tae, he said,
“Hold on tight to my waist! You’ll get hurt if you fall off!”
Soon, the motorcycle they were on roared and sped off.
Vroom-!
“Are you okay? Is it too fast?”
At Yoo Soon-tae’s words, Gang-so tilted his head.
‘This is fast?’
This speed was slower than when Gang-so used his lightness skill casually.
“What’s the name of this vehicle?”
“It’s called a motorcycle!”
“Why do you ride a motorcycle?”
“Jajangmyeon is a noodle dish, so it gets soggy quickly! So we need to deliver it fast, and this motorcycle is perfect for that!”
“I see.”
But Gang-so didn’t really feel the need for this thing called a motorcycle.
‘It would be faster for me to deliver on foot than this noisy and slow vehicle.’
Eventually, they arrived at an apartment complex.
Twenty-five years ago, when the monsters first appeared, apartment buildings were تباہ destroyed by them.
But as the land was gradually reclaimed, the reconstructed apartments were equipped with self-defense systems that incorporated magic stone technology, so they remained intact even under considerable impact.
“One of the places that orders delivery often is this apartment complex. It’s called Blue House. The building numbers are written next to the apartments, and on the first floor, it’s 101, 102, on the second floor, it’s 201, 202, and so on.”
“I see.”
Yoo Soon-tae explained the nearby geography and addresses in detail.
“Hmm, so the addresses are based on the street names?”
“That’s right.”
Gang-so was fascinated that each house had an address, but he thought it was efficient.
In fact, addresses where he came from were nothing special. Place names or family names were the addresses.
Yoo Soon-tae soon stopped the motorcycle in front of a convenience store.
Screech-!
“Ah, I’m thirsty from talking so much! Shall we have a can of cola each?”
At Yoo Soon-tae’s words, Gang-so asked back,
“What’s cola?”
“Heh, I’ll show you a taste you’ve never experienced before. Wait a minute.”
He went into the convenience store, and when he came out a moment later, he had two red cans in his hand.
“This is what’s called cola. If you pull this tab up here, it creates an opening where the contents come out.”
Yoo Soon-tae opened the can of cola.
Hiss-! Pop-!
A refreshing sound was heard, and a hole appeared on top of the can.
He handed the cola to Gang-so.
“Here, drink this.”
“Uh…”
Gang-so took the can and carefully took a sip of the cola.
“…!”
His eyes widened instantly.
He held the can of cola and trembled.
“Gah-!”
He shuddered.
He felt a tingling, electrifying sensation from his throat to his stomach.
It was like the shock he felt when he finally attained enlightenment after agonizing over a martial arts technique for days and nights. He was feeling that same shock now in this unfamiliar world.
He took another sip of the cola.
“Gah-!”
What he had felt was not an illusion.
In addition, there was a sweet taste that stuck to his mouth.
‘Th-This is a devilish concoction!’
He had once tasted a fizzy drink similar to this before.
‘The oil from the North Sea Ice Palace also had a fizzy taste like this.’
But this cola in his hand was incomparable to those.
It was definitely sweet, but it was a peculiar taste that couldn’t be described as just sweet, and it kept begging him to drink more.
He felt it for sure.
Cola was a drink that should never have been touched in the first place!
But contrary to his thoughts, Gang-so’s hand tilted the black cola into his mouth again.
“This is truly like a devil’s temptation. It stings my throat, but I keep drinking it!”
Yoo Soon-tae drank his cola and said with a laugh,
“Hehehe, it’s an electrifying taste you can’t stop, right? And if you have indigestion, a can of this will clear it right up.”
“Oh! Does this also act as a digestive?”
“I heard it was originally made as a digestive medicine. Then it evolved into this.”
“Oh-! I see!”
Gang-so emptied the can to the last drop and threw it in the trash can in front of the convenience store.
Of course, in the one marked ‘Recyclables’.
“By the way, there’s something I’m really curious about, that motorcycle.”
“Motorcycle? Why? Do you want to try driving it?”
Gang-so shook his head.
“No, that’s not it. Do you really have to ride that motorcycle to make deliveries?”
“Why?”
“I want to deliver on foot.”
“Then the deliveries will be late, and the customers will complain…”
“Late?”
Gang-so chuckled.
“Delivering on foot would be much faster than that noisy vehicle.”
Yoo Soon-tae was about to tell him to talk sense, but then he remembered Gang-so’s identity.
Gang-so was someone whose abilities were estimated to be at least A-rank.
“…Can you really get there faster?”
“Of course. You can test it if you want.”
“Hmm… Then, do you know where our house is?”
“I remember.”
“Then let’s try it. I’ll take the motorcycle, and you go on foot to the house.”
“Alright.”
Yoo Soon-tae said with a worried expression.
“If you get lost, ask people where Yang Chun Gak is.”
“Don’t worry and just go ahead.”
Yoo Soon-tae kept looking back with concern, but eventually started the motorcycle.
Vroom-!
Gang-so watched Yoo Soon-tae getting farther away and chuckled.
“Then, shall I go?”
Gang-so stomped his foot once, and in an instant, his figure, wearing a silver helmet, disappeared from the spot.
One of the reasons Gang-so earned the name ‘King of Death’ was because of his elusive footwork.
The lightness skill taught by the assassin group he belonged to was called the Shadowless Movement Technique (無影身法).
As the name suggested, it was a footwork technique that allowed one to move so fast that not even a shadow was cast.
However, Gang-so unconsciously realized that there was something lacking in that footwork, and after several trials and errors, he improved the Shadowless Movement Technique himself.
That was the Grand Void Shadowless Movement Technique (太虛無影身法) that Gang-so was using now.
‘If I arrive too quickly, Soon-tae might be surprised, so I should move slowly, using only 10% of my power.’
Even so, Gang-so’s speed was by no means slow.
No, his speed far surpassed that of a motorcycle. But the people he passed by didn’t notice Gang-so’s presence at all.
The Grand Void Shadowless Movement Technique was a footwork technique that blended into nature, making it impossible to sense one’s presence, and it boasted not only speed but also excellent stealth.
It wasn’t for nothing that he was called the King of Death.
Whoosh-!
He could feel the wind brushing past his ears.
He had already memorized the surrounding geography.
From killing his assassination targets to escaping, he needed to be familiar with the geography.
So, Gang-so had a habit of checking the geography first, no matter where he went.
Thud-!
He stopped in front of the sign for Yang Chun Gak.
He had arrived in just five minutes at a place that would normally take twenty minutes.
And that was even when he was going slowly on purpose.
Clang.
The door of Yang Chun Gak opened, and Lim So-young poked her head out.
“You’re here?”
Next to her, Ha-young said with a smile,
“Oppa’s here! I was waiting!”
Ha-young was holding two Barbie dolls in dresses.
Seeing that, Gang-so unconsciously took a step back.
He suddenly regretted not arriving later.
* * *
A little while later, Yoo Soon-tae entered the shop.
“You’re here?”
“Welcome back, Daddy.”
“Are you back?”
Yoo Soon-tae was so surprised that he forgot to respond to Gang-so, Lim So-young, and Ha-young’s greetings.
“When did you get here?”
Lim So-young answered.
“Uncle Gang-so arrived fifteen minutes ago.”
“Whew-! That’s incredibly fast! You really can deliver on foot, as you said. But… what are you doing now?”
Gang-so, holding a Barbie doll in a dress, answered.
“We’re playing Cinderella.”
“R-Really?”
“She said I’m the stepsister.”
Gang-so, he was a good babysitter.
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