003 – The Past is the Best!
“Instant noodle party!”
Bubblingbubblingbubblingbubbling-.
I threw five packets of instant noodles into a large pot and boiled them vigorously.
Sizzleeee-.
I squeezed an entire bottle of ketchup into the pot, and the savory smell was so powerful it gave me goosebumps of pleasure.
“Samjang? You have samjang too? One spoon of samjang in noodles? This is─.”
─This is no longer just food, it’s art destined to be recorded in history.
Kekeke, noodles, you crunchy, plump hussy.
Today, let’s d*e together!
“Is it right for me to eat something this delicious alone? Hehehehe, all you noodles are about to meet your doom.”
Five packets of noodles.
It would have been nice to add some ham, but even back then, our fridge was barren.
And we had no money either.
Bangbangbangbang-!
Just then, someone knocked on our door.
When I opened it, several extremely ugly men with dangerous faces stormed into our house.
“Hanamjin. Today’s the day to pay the interest. Do you have the money ready?”
Ah.
They’re debt collectors.
I remembered that my parents’ late-in-life business venture had failed spectacularly, and we’d resorted to borrowing from loan sharks, causing me a lot of trouble.
I didn’t expect them to come today since my legs were supposed to be crushed by a truck and I should’ve been rushed to the hospital.
But they took all the insurance money and medical fees I received back then.
“What’s this? You were cooking noodles?”
“Great, we’re hungry. Little brother, nicely serve some to your big brothers.”
“sh*t, what is this smell? Ketchup? Who boils noodles like this, so stupidly!”
Swishhh-.
The loan sharks poured the noodles I’d carefully prepared down the sink.
At that moment, I heard a ─snap─ sound in my ear.
“Eaters who don’t value food! Attention!”
“What?”
“What is this guy saying?”
“Has this son gone mad?”
Memories of my hard struggles to secure food flashed before my eyes.
The long, humiliating days of degradation-.
Remember how I whipped Kim Jangdong, the store manager, with a whip to get that one bag of rice?
“Do you know how I sold my dignity for two potatoes? You eaters who don’t value food need some punishment!”
Tadaaaat-!
I shouted with all my might and leaped into the air, delivering a powerful kick to the loan shark’s head.
Phewwwk-!
The main loan shark, struck by my ‘Tae Kyuck’ ability-enhanced leg, flew through the air and crashed into the wall.
His eyes rolled up, and I couldn’t tell if he was dead or just unconscious.
「Name: Kim Do-jun
Condition: 《Unconscious》 – Lost consciousness due to a major shock.」
“Mr., Mr.!”
“You son of a dog!”
“Piece of poop, let me handle you!”
I rushed over and kicked two men in their groins with all my strength.
Phooockphooock-!
“Aaaah~”
“Guaaaak!”
The men were left foaming at the mouth before they could react, allowing me to steal a total of 230,000 won from their pockets.
230,000 won!
That’s how many packets of instant noodles?
Forget it, d*mn it!
“I’m rich! Hehehe! The past is the best! Aren’t you guys happy? Huh?”
“Uuhhh…”
“Iii…”
「Name: Kwon Young-min
Condition: 《Pain》 – Experiencing severe pain.」
「Name: Kim Tae-yang
Condition: 《Shock》 – Suffered a great shock as the sensation in the lower body has disappeared.」
If they’re this weakened after just one kick to the groin, there’s no way they can survive in the challenging world ahead.
‘So what should I do now?’
I racked my brain, supposedly the smartest among middle school dropouts, and the future became clear.
If I let these guys go, they would definitely come after me.
“That’s just how people are.”
When people cause trouble for others, they always retaliate fiercely when they become slightly inconvenienced themselves.
Those guys are exactly like that.
“I’ll just bury you guys in my yard. I’ll plant flowers on top, isn’t that nice? You’ll be reborn as flowers, ultimate recycling.”
Gaaaah-.
As I tied their fingers with cable ties, the loan sharks struggled and resisted.
“S, stop it! Hey! Hanamjin! You’re not that kind of person!”
“Hey! You’re serious about burying us? This isn’t a joke! Hanamjin! m*rder is m*rder! Someone, save him! Help!”
“Don’t waste your energy. You know better than anyone that there’s no one in the neighboring house to hear your screams.”
It’s good to live in a run-down neighborhood where redevelopment failed.
No matter how much you scream, there’s no one to hear.
“Ah, this guy’s gone insane!”
“Yeah, we should have stopped collecting after you paid off the principal! This is killing me! Hey, you son of a dog! Mr., do something!”
They kept wriggling, so I grew annoyed and kicked their groins a few more times.
Now they’ve calmed down.
But I need a shovel to bury them in my yard…
“Huh?”
I suddenly remembered that we didn’t have a shovel at home.
There’s nothing I can do. Burying them is out.
“You should consider yourselves lucky. I’ve become so good at salvaging recyclables from the trash that I might as well recycle you guys.”
Wouldn’t they be surprised to hear that even they have some use?
But with my exceptionally brilliant mind, I already have some ideas about how to use these guys.
“Hey, have you ever kidnapped anyone? Can you do it again?”
At my question, the loan sharks who had turned blue after being kicked in the groin winced like a homeroom teacher looking at a student who wrote ‘Emiya Kiritsugu’ as their future aspiration.
How do I know this expression? I’d rather not.
“If you’re talking about kidnapping, who do you have in mind?”
“The president.”
The boss’s only daughter would have presidential-level security, wouldn’t she?
That’s essentially the same as kidnapping the president.
Moved by the profundity of my plan, the loan sharks looked at each other and burst into laughter.
“Shovel and pork belly. This is life.”
Leaving the neighborhood, I bought three servings of pork belly at a large mart and a shovel from a nearby hardware store, making my bag heavier.
Money is truly wonderful. With money, you can easily get whatever you want.
Even in a ruined world, money is important.
Of course, back then money was called “cap lids” for a pretty funny reason, but I’ll tell you about that later.
After deciding to splurge on three servings of pork belly,
Thinking about the pork crackling on the iron plate made my tailbone quiver and my buttocks twitch involuntarily. It’s the fat dancing on my tongue.
A normal person would be excited by this too, right?
“Kekeke-.”
When I came home in a good mood, thinking about grilling some meat, I was surprised to see a group of men dressed in black suits gathered at my house.
“Did someone hear about the meat I bought and come asking for a share? Though it might not be enough for everyone.”
Could they be the loan sharks’ gang?
Five people. There wouldn’t be enough space in my yard to bury them all.
This is exactly why people need more space to live.
“Piece of poop, come at me if you’re crazy.”
Swoosh.
When I brandished my shovel at the suited men, they burst into laughter.
“Is this the guy who beat our young lady and ran away?”
“Yeul, is this him?”
Swooshh.
A familiar figure appeared among the suited men.
As her short hair and school uniform reminded me of someone, she suddenly shrieked.
“Hey! You!”
“What is it, Bangdaengi?”
The high school girl from the truck accident.
This ill-fortune has chased me all the way here.
Doesn’t it feel like this when the cursed demon doll you’ve lost keeps coming back?
“Why do you keep interfering in my life! Why are you tormenting me! Why! Whyyyyyy!”
I’m really angry to the point of foaming at the mouth.
“Bangdae? Interfering? Hey, who are you to act like the victim! You broke my phone! Do you know how much that phone costs? It was more than two million won! What are you going to do about it?”
The sight of the high school girl waving her bizarre-looking phone made my brow furrow. To demand two million won for just a broken phone is worse than those loan sharks.
Is there such a person out there?
“Bangdae, to you, is a broken phone really more important than 40,000 lives?”
“40,000? All of a sudden?”
“According to UNICEF standards, at 30,000 won per month, you can buy vaccines for 600 people, meaning that two million won could save approximately 39,600 lives.”
Taken aback, the high school girl made a stunned face and started counting with her fingers, muttering, “Two million divided by three is…” Soon, one of the men in black suits quietly gave her the right answer.
“Yeul, his calculation is correct.”
“By the 30,000 won standard, it’s about 39,600 people.”
“Is that really true?”
The trembling high school girl.
To drive the point home to a girl who doesn’t appreciate money and doesn’t know math, I added:
“Can’t I just fix the broken phone properly? That way, there’s no need for compensation, it’s good for me, and it’s also good for you to have saved 40,000 lives. It’s a win-win. What do you think?”
“Win-win… Don’t joke around! Hey, this is a specially customized Awakening One smartphone from Yeongsa Academy! It synchronizes with a smartwatch. What can you possibly do to fix it? Just call your parents. Two million won is a lot of money, so it’s better to discuss this with your parents instead of students.”
“Ye, Yeul…”
“Calm down!”
Seeing the tall men beside her turn pale was quite amusing. Aren’t you men supposed to be embarrassed when controlled by a woman?
Thinking I should never be like them, I said confidently:
“Hey, my mom and dad aren’t people you can just meet whenever you want. If you meet them, that would mean things are escalating.”
“What? Are your parents some kind of president?”
“My name is Baek Yeo-ul from Bak Clan. My family used to supply ingredients to the presidential residence.”
“My mom and dad… they’ve passed away.”
“Passed… passed away?”
The high school girl, who had been throwing tantrums, became quiet and flustered.
The suited men were also in an uproar.
After about five seconds, the high school girl, Baek Yeo-ul, awkwardly scratched her forehead. She looked quite embarrassed.
“Do you have no family? Are you living alone here?”
“Not alone. There were definitely three brothers like family here.”
“The people bound up over there? Right over there.”
The loan sharks were tied up in the midst of the suited men.
They were listening to our conversation quietly like dead mice, trying to flatter the suited men and the high school girl.
“Miss Yeul from Bak Clan Pharmaceutical, don’t listen to this guy! He’s completely insane! He was talking about kidnapping the president, for goodness’ sake!”
“Our parents both died in an accident, and we took care of him like a younger brother, but his brain seems to be fried now. He started cooking strange instant noodles, and then he flipped out! Look at the noodles left in the sink!”
“Sink? Strange noodles? Gaaah-. Gaaah-. Oh, geez…”
After looking into the sink, the high school girl, Baek Yeo-ul, heaved a few dry heaves and her expression grew strange.
“Eating stuff like that? Is it because you have no money and no parents…?”
「Emotion Sense is reading mental fluctuations.」
「Name: Baek Yeo-ul
Condition: 《Compassion》 – She feels sympathy for the boy who eats discarded food remains. At the same time, she’s shocked by the economic disparity and somewhat relieved about her own life.」
“…Alright, I’ll leave it at that. I don’t want to make things worse for our company’s image, but you better believe I won’t forget you, Hanamjin. We’ll see how things go.”
SWISH-. While saying “We’ll see,” the high school girl handed me a piece of paper.
「Hero Academy」
「With the nation in our hearts, and the era in our arms」
「To Hanamjin」
“You’re an Awakening One, right? Since I saw the enrollment papers arriving in your mailbox, we’ll probably meet often at school in the future?”
Hero Academy attended by Awakening Ones. More sophisticatedly called 「Stage」.
My previous life ended with my legs being crushed, and I didn’t plan to enroll this time either, though I had always been curious about why 「Stage」 was called 「Stage」.
Flash!
At that moment, a brilliant idea struck my wise mind like a lightning bolt.
“Is Segaeul going there too?”
