Jinwoo answered Baek San’s question calmly.
“Yes. I am the Constellation’s Avatar. I became one by chance when I started traveling.”
In a way, Jinwoo technically had many backing stars. The Constellations watched over his life and sponsored him, after all.
“…I see. As I thought.”
“Keep it a secret, everyone?”
“How could we not keep this secret? We are all indebted to you, Hunter.”
At Baek San’s words, Kang Su nodded, and all the other Baekpung Squad Hunters followed suit.
In truth, every Hunter in the Baekpung Squad had received help from Jinwoo. Among them, Kang Su had even been promoted to a Rank S Hunter.
Kang Su looked at Jinwoo and wiped away the tears that were falling.
How hard had he worked until now? He had hidden his identity and dedicated his life to the country. It was a hollow existence where, even if he died while performing a mission, the cause of death would remain unknown, and even his family would never know what he did.
Nevertheless, he had never complained once. The same went for every Hunter in the Baekpung Squad, and they were proud of their lives sacrificed for the country.
Jinwoo had sensed their background and their hearts implicitly as they exchanged blows. With a faint smile, Jinwoo spoke his mind to the Baekpung Squad Hunters.
“My help was nothing. This is simply the reward for all your hard work until now. Thank you for dedicating yourselves to this country.”
Jinwoo recognized the life that even their families did not know about.
In the Association and the government, the Baekpung Squad was unknown to anyone except those at the very top.
Jinwoo was the only civilian who recognized the identity and the pain of the Baekpung Squad.
“I will always remember the pain you’ve endured.”
Jinwoo probably didn’t realize how much strength those words gave them. The Baekpung Squad Hunters were far more moved than he imagined.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you so much!”
They stood in a line and bowed to Jinwoo.
Jinwoo returned the gesture with a shallow bow.
***
Before long, it was sunrise.
By the time he finished sparring with every Hunter in the Baekpung Squad and providing them with feedback, this much time had passed.
After receiving many thanks from Baek San and promising to meet again, he left.
“Hehe, that was fun.”
“It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah! Dad, are we going to Jeju Island now?”
It was time to start preparing for the trip to Jeju Island.
I returned to the camper and went to sleep first. I moved Byeol, who had been sleeping in a corner of the Association’s break room with the spirits, to the camper’s bed and let the spirits rest comfortably as well.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
[Anonymous 1]: Sure, good work.
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: Today was fun.
[Father of Crops]: It was a broadcast worth watching even without any farming today.
[Cheongha’s Water God]: It was very enjoyable. Good work, descendant.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: Sleep well, Jinwoo.
[Last Chef]: Thank you for treating me to such fine cooking.
[Endless Waiting]: Sleep well, Jinwoo.
[Liberated Swordsman]: It was fun.
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: Mm, it was truly interesting.
[Anonymous 1]: LOL true.
A bit of time passed as we did some more sightseeing in Busan.
“Hehe, Jeju Island!!”
We boarded the ship heading for Jeju Island.
It was great being able to bring the car on the ship. While flying was faster, I would have had to use a rental car on the island. For me, since the camper was my home, the ship was much better than a plane.
Moreover, since I had boarded a fairly expensive ship, it felt like I could enjoy the long journey.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: I’ve only ever been on planes, never a ship… This is better than I thought.
The bedrooms were excellent, practically hotel-grade.
Actually, the whole ship felt like a hotel. The sky lounge looked luxurious, and there was everything from a bathhouse to a sauna and even a pet room.
The view of the spreading ocean was great, as were the dining rooms, restaurants, and convenience store.
‘It won’t be boring even if it takes 12 hours.’
It felt like I could spend the idle time getting to Jeju Island meaningfully. As soon as the ship departed, we went up to the sky lounge.
On the highest floor of the lounge, I opened my laptop while looking at the beautiful sea.
I enjoyed the relaxation of watching a movie and eating snacks I bought from the convenience store.
“Hehe, this is fun!”
Of course, since Byeol was with me, we watched an animated movie, but it was quite entertaining.
I’ve been thinking lately that sometimes adults enjoy children’s animations more than kids do.
The stories are simple yet have a certain depth… It makes it easy to get immersed.
[Anonymous 1]: …This is sad.
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: Is this really an animation for kids? LOL.
[Father of Crops]: …The character’s narrative is deep.
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: Indeed it is.
I nodded as well. After enjoying the movie, we headed to the coin karaoke room.
Since I loved playing music whenever I drove, there were many songs I wanted to sing. Byeol sang an animation soundtrack, and I sang a few old ballads.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: Jinwoo’s taste in music… is even older than I thought.
“A song— I want to give to you tonight.”
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: But I try calling out— your name!
Since Kang Minseok knew the song too, I felt like I was unintentionally singing a duet with him.
“Hehe, the song is great!”
Byeol seemed to like hearing me sing and begged for more.
— Uncle, you’re good at singing!
— That’s right, you’re good!
— Hehe, it sounds nice!
— Uncle, I think you’re a really great singer!!
I decided to sing all the songs I had wanted to sing for a long time.
…
…
…
After enjoying everything the ship had to offer, we arrived in Jeju Island.
“Wow—!! It’s pretty! It’s so pretty!”
From the Dol Hareubang statues standing here and there to the wide expanse of the sea. We had watched the sunrise from the ship. I had intentionally eaten buff-type ingredients that help with fatigue recovery and stayed up all night, marvelling at the sun rising over the horizon and the reflecting sunlight from the sky lounge, but seeing the ocean in Jeju Island made my jaw drop again.
The ocean was something I could never get tired of looking at.
‘Of course, the thrill might fade a bit if I lived here forever… but I don’t think I’d ever stop thinking it’s beautiful.’
The endless layers of blue water, the horizon sparkling in the distance as if merging with the sky, and the constant crashing of waves stimulated a person’s sense of adventure.
I liked this kind of scenery very much.
That was why I immediately felt that coming to Jeju Island was a great choice; since it was an island surrounded by the sea, I could keep seeing the sights I loved.
“Where should we go?”
After finishing the process of unloading the camper, I asked Byeol as I fastened her seatbelt.
“The ocean! Let’s go see the ocean!”
Even though she had been on the water for over half a day, Byeol wanted to see more.
I didn’t mind it either, so I nodded. Since I had planned a fairly long stay in Jeju Island to do various things anyway.
‘Maybe today I’ll try a self-sufficient trip where we eat what we catch fishing.’
I had always wanted to try a trip where I spent the whole day catching fish at sea and cooking them right away.
Since Jeju Island was overflowing with seafood, wouldn’t it be much more fun than the mainland?
[Anonymous 1]: That sounds good. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I’m quite the expert at fishing.
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: I’m pretty good too.
[Father of Crops]: I have no interest in that sort of thing…
[Cheongha’s Water God]: If you tell him to just go farm instead, I’ll kill you.
[Father of Crops]: …It’s my first time hearing Ha Baek be so blunt, so I’m sad.
[Last Chef]: Does this mean we get to see seafood dishes as delicious as that Alpha Kraken we saw recently?
[Endless Waiting]: There’s nothing as fun as fishing. Once you get a taste for it, you can’t stop.
[Liberated Swordsman]: I’m looking forward to it.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: I like fishing too… I really love it!
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: I too was once the greatest fisherman in the Central Plains in one of my many lives.
True, they say there are a few things a man can never escape once he falls for them, and two of them are gaming and fishing.
Come to think of it, back when I caught freshwater fish, I had offered salt-grilled fish as a tribute to the Constellations.
“That was back in the very early days. Do you remember?”
[Anonymous 1]: I remember. Back when you took Meteor Strike from me?
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: You took the Stealth skill from me back then.
[Father of Crops]: What memories, what memories.
[Cheongha’s Water God]: Indeed.
[Endless Waiting]: ….
[Liberated Swordsman]: ….
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: We only saw those scenes through Anonymous’s edited videos.
[Last Chef]: If it was that early, it was before I even became a Constellation…
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: That was when I was still a gatekeeper.
[Anonymous 1]: Hahaha, you little fledglings.
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: LOL true.
[Father of Crops]: You cute little things!
[Cheongha’s Water God]: They really are children.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: Hahaha, seeing the early members act all triumphant is kind of annoying.
[Endless Waiting]: Seriously, how is a slave who was a gatekeeper back then supposed to live with all this sorrow!
[Liberated Swordsman]: Totally. You fledglings who have never been slaves to the System…
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: I truly sympathize.
I chuckled at the Constellations’ chatter. Even during this boring moment of worrying about what fishing rod to buy, the Constellations kept me entertained with their funny remarks.
***
Jinwoo headed to a nearby fishing shop.
Jeju Island has many places to fish and many places to camp. It was a place frequented by car campers who spent their days fishing while parked right in the middle of a sandy beach.
That was why shops selling fishing rods and bait were scattered near the beaches, and Jinwoo entered one of them.
“Huh?”
“Oh?”
And then, he ran into someone by pure chance.
“Brother Jinwoo!”
“Why are you here?”
[Anonymous 1]: …Wait, why is he really here? It’s been a while.
[God of Rain and Sunlight]: You’re right. It really has been a long time.
[Father of Crops]: It’s good to see him after so long.
[Cheongha’s Water God]: Indeed.
[Returned from the Demon Realm]: …Another person I saw in Anonymous’s edited videos.
[Last Chef]: Dammit, how are we Constellations who became viewers late supposed to live with all this sorrow!
[Martial Artist Living for Death]: …I sympathize.
Today was a trip full of things that made the early-generation Constellations particularly excited.
“Brother Jinwoo, it’s been a while.”
“Hehe, Uncle!”
“Byeol!”
“Hehe, hello!”
They greeted each other with smiles.
“Sejin, it really has been a long time. It’s good to see you.”
The person he met by chance in Jeju Island was Sejin Bin. He was also someone Jinwoo had met in the very early days, a painter who had recklessly left home to broadcast his nationwide tour.
Jinwoo had heard news that he was doing well and they contacted each other occasionally, but this was the first time they had actually met since then.
“I’m really glad to see you.”
“Me too. Did you come here to fish?”
“Yeah, I was planning to.”
“I came here to fish too!”
Sejin said with a grin. It was his way of saying he wanted to fish and hang out together.
He was still looking forward to Jinwoo’s food.
Jinwoo also grinned after realizing what Sejin meant.
“Let’s hang out together today.”
“…! I’d love to! I’d really love to!”
Sejin wore a bright smile as if he had just won the lottery.
[Anonymous 1]: It feels like we’re really going to get those old-school vibes today. This is great!