Chapter 3: Aren't You Being a Bit Harsh?
Dongbangsu tried to understand this situation in some way or another.
At first, he was so bewildered that he listened to the old man's ravings as if they were the truth.
He had no choice.
He had clearly died by knife and brick.
Yet when he came to his senses, a mountain spirit in jeans was standing there, comforting his difficult life.
Thinking he had finally met someone who understood him, and immersed in a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time, he had engaged in conversation.
But he had assumed it was a near-death flashback, a hallucination, or perhaps a dream.
However, after prattling on about happiness to a dead man, the spirit suddenly said he would teach him skills.
The emotion he had felt from the mountain spirit shattered completely, and it finally felt like his mind had returned from wandering.
'Is this kidnapping? No. What do I have to be kidnapped for? A hidden camera prank? That's not it either.'
He couldn't pinpoint exactly what the situation was, but it didn't seem normal.
The old man seemed completely out of his mind.
Still, seeing that he existed in such a strange space, he seemed to truly possess some real skill, yet it was utterly incomprehensible by common sense.
After sitting and thinking for a while, Dongbangsu made up his mind, stood up, and approached the old man standing like a statue to one side.
"Old man."
"Looking at your expression now, it seems you have something to say."
"Yes, that's right."
"Shall I guess?"
An uneasy feeling was triggered by the old man's beaming smile.
What was he going to say this time?
"It seems you cannot quite accept the current situation."
"Uh... y-yeah. It seems that way..."
The old man smirked at Dongbangsu's flustered appearance and added,
"Say whatever you wish comfortably."
"Sigh. Since you tell me to speak, I will. I'm not that smart, but I'm not naive enough to believe this situation. It's way too strange. Excessively so."
After his father passed away, his family's circumstances had gone terribly downhill, and there wasn't a part-time job he hadn't done.
The intuition he had developed gave him an exceptional sense, and that sense was ringing alarm bells right now.
"Hmm. Naturally, you might think that. Then this old man should dispel such thoughts. Do you perhaps think this situation is a dream?"
"...No. It's too vivid to be a dream."
"Then do you know a way to return home by your own power?"
"Of course... I don't."
For some reason, there wasn't a single wound on his body.
That was why he had thought he died, but he had never heard of a dead person thinking so clearly like this.
'Could this be the afterlife?'
Well, he had never died before, nor had he seen someone who had died and come back, so he couldn't know for sure.
"Then do you want to die even now?"
"No. I told you I wouldn't die."
"Then wouldn't it be better to judge this situation later? Just accept the situation and try learning for now."
"I roughly understand what you're saying. But what could I properly learn in this situation? Can't you just send me home?"
Dongbangsu spoke as politely as possible.
He wasn't sure if he could even go home, but this mysterious old man seemed like he could help.
If possible, he wanted to return quickly and reassure his mother, who would be worrying.
"Going home. Those are good words. Good words."
"Right? Then will you send me?"
He asked with full expectation, but the reaction was discouraging.
"I do not want to."
"Why not?"
"Because there is no reason to."
"Sigh. Then at least explain the reason so I can be convinced."
Dongbangsu, still retaining some manners, asked sincerely.
"You must find this situation hard to accept by common sense. Is that not so?"
"Of course. Does a story about living hundreds of years and possessing tens of thousands of skills even make sense?"
"Right. Yes. By common sense, it doesn't make sense."
When the old man admitted it, Dongbangsu finally felt they could communicate.
"That's right. Exactly."
"Yes. Yes. You have a point. Then can you accept that your body, which was stabbed by a knife, has no wounds?"
"..."
"And can you accept that you are here with an unknown old man in an unknown place?"
"..."
There was nothing he could say.
That was the reason that confused Dongbangsu the most.
He had clearly been stabbed and struck.
At least some scars should have remained, yet there were no traces whatsoever.
What about the location? A strange space dyed in gray—wasn't that something you only saw in comics?
Moreover, time barely flowed in this place.
He couldn't believe everything, but he was certain this wasn't a normal situation.
"First, try grabbing my hand."
Having nothing left to say, Dongbangsu thought he might win with strength and grabbed the old man's arm with all his might.
His part-time-job-trained strength was nothing to be ashamed of anywhere.
Perhaps it was that confidence that had made him not fear thugs very much.
"Done?"
Seeing Dongbangsu's confident smile, the old man shook his head and clicked his tongue.
Swish!
The arm of the old man, who had clicked his tongue, drew a beautiful parabola in the air.
Dongbangsu's eyes widened to the point of splitting.
The muscular arm, unbelievable for an old man, moved lightly as if there was no resistance whatsoever.
"Uh! Uh!"
With the arm that flicked him off like dust, Dongbangsu's body floated up with a whoosh.
Literally as light as a rubber ball.
"C... crazy..."
Dongbangsu, who had risen more than ten meters in the air, flailed frantically.
But there was no way to overcome gravity.
"Kyaaaaaaak!"
Letting out a strange scream without realizing it as he fell.
Thud!
Something snatched the falling Dongbangsu.
It was none other than the old man's thick arm.
Considering his body of over eighty kilograms and the falling speed from that height, the impact should have been hundreds of kilograms, yet the movement was so light.
"How about it? Will you try to process this with your meager common sense too?"
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
"Tsk, tsk. Come to your senses. I shall give you the first lesson. There are words this old man hates very much. Limits, common sense, ordinary. Forget such words. From now on, what you will learn from this old man is not common sense, has no limits, and is very special."
The old man conveyed his opinion with the most serious expression and tone he had shown so far.
Dongbangsu listened to those words blankly, as if in a trance.
"Even if your head is bad, your body is pathetic, and you have no talent, you have no need to feel ashamed or frustrated. This old man can teach you plenty, even if I call you a blockhead."
His briefly wandering mind instantly returned at the insulting words.
"What? A blockhead! Th-those words are too harsh, aren't they?"
Although he hadn't studied very well, Dongbangsu had never once thought he was stupid—he simply hadn't had the chance to study.
He didn't want to clash with the old man who possessed insane strength, but he couldn't help but flare up at those words.
"Hehehe. Seeing you get angry, you seem to be alive indeed. So, do you now understand that common sense does not apply to this old man?"
"That... that's right."
Having thrown an adult male of over eighty kilograms more than ten meters and caught him lightly.
He concluded this was not a matter of common sense but the realm of mystery.
"Then do you admit that there is something worth learning from this old man?"
"...There is something worth learning. But it's a bit difficult. I have to go home."
He fully understood the old man's intention.
A place where common sense did not apply.
He finally acknowledged that this was an environment where no matter how much a human thought, nothing could be solved.
But that was that, and Dongbangsu had to return anyway.
"I do not know why you are so obsessed with returning. Even if you go back, your life will not be much different from now."
"Because I don't want to see my mother worrying alone."
There was nothing bad about learning special skills in a place where time barely flowed.
Yet the reason he wasn't readily inclined to learn was entirely because of his mother.
"That may be so. I do not want to send you, but if you insist, how about a bet?"
"Wh... what kind of bet? If it's strength, I don't think I can win."
Having seen the old man's superhuman strength that transcended common sense, physical bets were the last thing Dongbangsu wanted.
Unless it was using his wits.
The old man spoke with an interested tone, as if reading these inner thoughts.
"Hoo. Still, it is fortunate you seem confident in other areas. It does not matter what. Let us bet on what you are most confident in."
"What are we betting?"
"If this old man wins, you simply learn skills here until this old man is satisfied."
"And if I win?"
The old man burst into laughter at the question.
"Hahaha. You think you can beat this old man? I believe this is the first time I have laughed like this since meeting that friend 2,717 years ago. Puhahahahahaha."
Over 2,700 years ago.
He was at the point where he couldn't tell what was truth and what was bluff.
He didn't know what was so funny, but the old man rolled on the floor laughing like crazy.
"...How long are you going to laugh?"
Snap!
"I am sorry. It has just been so long since I heard something so amusing. An ant defeating a human—how amusing is that?"
A vein throbbed on Dongbangsu's forehead.
He had tried to respect him as an elder, but the tone was openly provocative.
'Still, comparing me to an ant is too much, isn't it?'
But thinking about strength, he realized it might really be the case.
Moreover, in this unknown place, the old man's help was essential to return home.
Dongbangsu calmed his anger and carefully opened his mouth.
"Anyway, if I win, send me straight home."
"Very well. I will send you back anytime. And I will especially engrave a few skills into your mind. Will this suffice?"
"I think it would be fine if you just sent me back."
"So, what competition do you want?"
Dongbangsu stood still and thought about what he was best at.
He had done various part-time jobs, so he had diverse skills, but most were physical, so his choices weren't wide.
"Ah! Since you called me a blockhead, you must be confident in your memory, right?"
"I was not exactly referring to you, but it is true I am confident in my memory."
"Good. Then let's play the 'If you go to the market' game."
Working at a busy restaurant, there had been countless times he had to process many orders with only his instant memory.
He hadn't known he would use that trained memory here, but he was confident he could beat an old man who was only strong.
"'If you go to the market.' Well, that should be fine."
The old man called out immediately without hearing the explanation, which made him a bit uneasy.
No.
He might lose in physical contests, but there was no way he couldn't beat an old man with dementia or mental illness.
Dongbangsu steeled his resolve and started getting into the rhythm.
It was a game he had never lost even once.
Though he hadn't actually played it many times.
"Here goes! If you go to the market, there's ice cream."
"If you go to the market, there's ice cream, and chicken."
"If you go to the market, there's ice cream, chicken, and mackerel."
"If you go to the market, there's ice cream, chicken, mackerel, and tomatoes."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"If you go to the market, there's ice cream, chicken, mackerel, tomatoes... and udon."
"Wait!"
"Yes?"
"Didn't udon come after cheese earlier?"
Ah! Right.
He had forgotten it had come at the thirty-ninth turn and repeated it again.
"Ah... ah...."
Thinking that he would now learn something from this crazy old man, tears of sorrow flowed without him realizing it.
A crazy old man he couldn't beat with strength or brains.
"Hehehe. There is no need to be so moved. This old man will es.pe.cial.ly take great care in teaching you."
With those words, the crazy training of the old man and Dongbangsu began.