Chapter 41: History Flows (2)

Saturday morning.

I am driving to Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam.

Before heading to the exhibition, I am picking up Professor Park Ahjeong.

Today’s schedule is very simple.

1. Pick up Professor Park Ahjeong.

2. Head to the National Museum of History.

3. Tour the exhibition with Professor Park Ahjeong.

4. Get paid for the part-time job and return home. Done!

……This is really an easy-money gig.

Getting paid to have fun.

If it were the me from the days of loading and unloading cargo, my grin would have stretched from ear to ear all day.

Of course, today has a much more important purpose.

A moment later.

SCREECH-!

I arrived at the address marked on the navigation.

A newly built apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam, prime real estate in Seoul.

Wow, how much would rent be in a place like this?

As I was lost in such thoughts, the apartment entrance door swung wide open.

VROOOM-

Professor Park Ahjeong came walking out, looking around.

Her hair tied tightly in a ponytail, revealing a snow-white nape beneath.

Paired with a white T-shirt, jeans, and a beige eco-bag slung over her shoulder.

Anyone who didn’t know better would mistake her for a college student.

Soon, Professor Park Ahjeong began looking in my direction.

“Huh? Could it be…… Hasang student?”

Professor Park Ahjeong approached with wide eyes.

She clearly hadn’t expected her student to show up in a Bentleys-Royce.

I rolled down the window and greeted her.

“Good morning, Professor. Please get in.”

“Oh my, Hasang student! What is this? A Bentleys-Royce! I never imagined~ Wow, the car is totally awesome!”

“Ah, yes…….”

Scratch what I said about mistaking her for a college student.

The words she uses reveal her experience(?).

Professor Park Ahjeong smiled brightly and said.

“You have such a nice car and yet you diligently do part-time jobs instead of joyriding. How commendable?”

“Well, I need to earn money for repairs.”

“Hm? What repairs? Where does it need……. Ah……. Oh……. I see?”

Professor Park Ahjeong nodded only after inspecting my car.

The body of the multi-million-won luxury sedan, a Bentleys-Royce P-Class, was covered in scratches and dents.

“Hasang student is…… that type? The kind whose racer blood boils the moment you grip the wheel? What do the MZ kids call it these days~? A ‘beast man’~? Still, what can you do. The car must have hurt a lot~.”

“I do drive carefully, but all sorts of cars swarm at me like bees. I haven’t caused a single accident myself; it’s all other cars crashing into me.”

At that, Professor Park Ahjeong lightly patted my shoulder and laughed.

“Who would dare crash into a Bentleys-Royce~? They’d stay far away and steer clear. Come on, it’s fine~ A few scratches are okay~ It still looks cool! Super awesome~.”

She clearly didn’t believe a word I said.

But it’s the truth.

Because of the Rozchild’s curse, all sorts of creative incidents and accidents never cease around me.

There was even a time when vehicles from the left and right lanes simultaneously rammed into me from both sides.

Who would believe that? I wouldn’t believe it either.

But it didn’t take long for Professor Park Ahjeong to believe me.

SCREEEEECH~! SCREECH-!

Less than a minute after setting off, we nearly had a collision.

Some vehicle tried to cut in front of me by changing two lanes at once, almost causing an accident.

Needless to say, it didn’t use the turn signal.

The other vehicle was an old Carnage 5.

A car notorious as a ‘yangka.’

In that instant, the Carnage 5 pulled up close beside us and rolled down the window halfway.

In the driver’s seat sat a chubby man.

A tight fluorescent T-shirt, his left arm covered in dark tattoos.

His face even looked flushed, as if he’d had a drink first thing in the morning.

Soon, the Carnage 5’s owner began shouting loudly.

“Hey, you fing bastard! Can’t you drive properly? You goddamn car-poor loser.”

He hurled insults right off the bat.

Then, as if he’d said his piece, the Carnage 5’s owner drove off.

……Is that the legendary ‘science’?

Professor Park Ahjeong, sitting in the passenger seat, looked considerably shocked.

“Good heavens. How can there be such an ill-mannered person? Should we report it to the police…….”

“No. No need.”

The anger management therapist has already arrived on the scene.

Soon after.

SCREEEEECH- THUD!

The speeding Carnage 5 swerved and crashed into a ginkgo tree by the roadside.

It hit so hard that the tree’s trunk was deeply gouged.

But the Carnage 5’s antics didn’t end there.

SCREEECH- SCREEEEECH! THUD!

It suddenly accelerated and crashed into another ginkgo tree.

Again sudden acceleration. 

Again sudden stop.

Sudden acceleration. 

Sudden stop. Sudden acceleration. Sudden stop…….

SCREECH- THUD-! SCREECH! THUD~! SCREEEEECH! THUD-!

Only after demolishing seven ginkgo trees did the Carnage 5 finally come to a halt.

The driver’s door burst open, and the Carnage 5’s owner stumbled out in a panic.

He looked back and forth between the car and the trees with a dazed expression.

He seemed unharmed and intact……

But the front bumper was crumpled beyond recognition. 

Black smoke billowed from the engine hood.

At the very least, the Carnage was now automotive history.

But the real problem was elsewhere.

Seven ginkgo trees teetering and fallen onto the roadside.

There are three things you absolutely must never hit in a traffic accident.

Utility poles, traffic signal controllers, and finally, ginkgo trees.

In our country, ginkgo trees line the streets everywhere, but globally, they are designated as an endangered species.

Therefore, crashing into a ginkgo tree with a car requires paying the government around 8 million won in compensation.

In short, he’s screwed.

At that moment.

Tick-!

Something small, like a bean, flew in through the half-open driver’s window.

It was Mini Jeanne in her miniaturized state.

“Master. I have thoroughly taught that arrogant coachman the truth that life is a battlefield.”

Well, let’s live kindly. Kindly.

I silently nodded and firmly pressed the accelerator.

***

[─You have arrived at your destination. Ending route guidance.]

A short while later, we arrived at the National Museum of History.

……We did arrive, but we couldn’t enter.

Dozens of protesters were surrounding the museum entrance.

“How can they lend out our cultural artifacts!”

“Stolen artifacts are not yours!”

“Japan! Ogura! Return Korea’s cultural artifacts!”

“Return them-! Return them! Return them-!”

At that moment, Professor Park Ahjeong looked at the protesters and said.

“Hasang student, do you know how many Korean Peninsula artifacts are on display at today’s exhibition?”

“I believe around 500.”

I had skimmed through the related artifacts beforehand.

“Oh~ You studied? Then you also know that half of them are artifacts ‘lent’ from Japan?”

The majority of the artifacts in this exhibition are personal possessions of a Japanese man named ‘Ogura.’

Naturally, they were artifacts stolen during the Japanese colonial period.

They were ‘lent’ to the exhibition as if doing a favor.

They said they’d take them back after the exhibition ends, right?

Well, such arrogance is something I’m grateful for.

Professor Park Ahjeong and I passed the protesters and entered the exhibition hall.

Soon, men in suits blocked our path.

Among them, a boy who looked high school age spoke up.

“Stop. Present identification. Korean. From here, only authorized personnel may enter.”

Stiff and awkward speech.

Moreover, his attitude seemed to subtly look down on us.

I looked at the name tag attached to the man’s chest.

[Aqibatu]

He seemed to be a Japanese official.

Fortunately, I can read some hanja.

Let’s see.

Hill A(阿), that Gi(其), extract Bal(拔), capital Do(都).

Put together……

“Mr. Agibaldo. Here’s my ID.”

“Rude bastard. My name is ‘Akaboshi.’”

The man who introduced himself as Akaboshi scanned my ID with his smartwatch.

Then he glared at me with even greater contempt.

“You, hunter? Rank…… F? Utter trash not even worth considering.”

At that, a piercing killing intent prickled my skin.

Soon, Jeanne’s voice rang in my ear.

How dare he insult my master. A barbaric ape dares!

She seemed ready to draw her sword and charge at any moment.

I cleared my throat with a cough cough and lightly tapped my shoulder.

Then Jeanne’s voice came again.

“I’m sorry. Master. I will restrain myself.”

Unnecessary commotion is declined.

If we got kicked out for no reason, it would ruin everything.

Only after Professor Park Ahjeong’s identity was verified could we enter the exhibition hall.

At that moment, Professor Park Ahjeong glanced back and said.

“The Hunter Association must be paying a lot of attention to this event. They even assigned Japan’s A-rank 2nd for exhibition security.”

“A-rank 2nd?”

“That prickly kid from earlier is Japan Hunter Association A-rank 2nd, the Red Demon Akaboshi.”

Akaboshi.

A name I’ve heard before.

A super rookie who awakened at age 15 and rose to Japan’s Hunter A-rank 2nd in just one year.

Said to possess innate talent and outstanding potential, the next-generation prospect of Japan’s hunter world.

Though his personality seems thoroughly shattered.

Anyway. Right now, whether it’s Agibaldo or Akaboshi isn’t important.

I quickly scanned the surroundings.

Under soft orange lighting, various artifacts were neatly displayed.

From the Three Kingdoms period to the Joseon era.

Traces of civilizations that blossomed on the Korean Peninsula were gathered in one place.

A smile unknowingly spread across my lips.

Ding-dong!

[Inventory]

– Coffin of the Dead

→ Can replicate the deceased’s body exactly as in life. However, an artifact related to the deceased is required.

– Archlich’s Finger

→ Can summon a soul existing in the hell underworld. However, a body to serve as the soul’s vessel is required.

Coffin of the Dead and Archlich’s Finger.

To utilize these two artifacts, a body to serve as the vessel is needed first.

Moreover, the effect is greater the more the shadow is embedded in the original body.

Create a body with the deceased’s artifact, then summon the shadow into it.

In simple terms, this exhibition is no different from a treasure warehouse piled high with gold and jewels.

At that moment, Professor Park Ahjeong threw a question.

“Hasang student, is there any artifact in this fair that interests you?”

“There are several for now.”

“Mmm~ If you had to pick the one you’re most looking forward to?”

The artifact I’m most looking forward to.

A question that required no thought.

I pointed to a photo of the artifact in the exhibition pamphlet.

“As expected, this one.”

An artifact with a graceful, smooth form, like two hills gently rising.

The bow used by Joseon’s greatest master archer.

‘Eogunggu.’

It was the bow of Taejo Yi Seonggye.