The Delivery Man from Murim
Episode 2. Stranger (2)
The A-0128109 Gate incident was immediately made known to the world.
In the past, the government and the Awakened Association had controlled the press regarding Gate-related incidents, but the side effects were far worse than expected.
In particular, the Great Clash in the Land of Death ten years ago had seen its damage worsen considerably due to media suppression.
Had the media not been suppressed back then, ordinary people would not have been sacrificed so needlessly.
Afterward, with a change in administration, the government appeased public sentiment by assigning reporters to Gates.
Every media outlet covered the A-0128109 Gate incident as a headline.
[What Really Happened at the A-0128109 Gate?]
[S-Rank Awakened I Sin: "Impossible Unless it Was a Zero-Rank Awakened."]
[United States and China: "It Was Not Our Zero-Rank Awakened."]
[Is the Republic of Korea Now Also a Nation Possessing a Zero-Rank Awakened?]
[Awakened Association: "No Press Conference Scheduled Yet."]
The world was in an uproar, but none of that mattered to Yu Suntae, a young thirty-five-year-old chef who was diligently spinning his wok, stir-frying jjajang.
A two-story house located not far from downtown Seoul.
On the first floor of that house was the Chinese restaurant 'Yangchungak (陽春閣)'.
Famous for its jjajangmyeon, that place was Yu Suntae's workplace.
It was nearing 2 P.M., the tail end of the lunch rush, but the place was still bustling with people.
"One bowl of jjajangmyeon here!"
"Yes!"
"Can we get more pickled radish here!"
"Yes, yes! Coming right up!"
Im Soyeong, Yu Suntae's wife, who had a rather robust figure, frantically carried out food and pickled radish.
As the lunch hour slowly passed, the customers began leaving one by one.
Only then did Yu Suntae emerge from the steamy kitchen, draw cold water from the purifier, and down it in one gulp.
"Kha! Refreshing! Cold water really is the best!"
"You've worked hard."
"You're the one who's worked hard."
Gazing at each other with loving eyes, they were a young couple in their fifth year of running the Chinese restaurant.
Ding-a-ling.
Just then, the door opened and a young male customer entered.
"Welcome!"
"Ah! It's been a while since you last came, hasn't it?"
The customer sat down with a sigh.
"I've been busy with work lately."
"I heard a Gate appeared in the Land of Death?"
The customer shook his head at Yu Suntae's question and answered.
"Don't even mention it! Because of that, the Association is in chaos, and I've pulled two all-nighters and feel like I'm going to die...!"
"Oh dear!"
"The Red Dragon Guild is the only one reaping the benefits. Just why do Gates keep appearing! If I ever meet the bastard who made the Gates, I'd grab him by the collar and shake him dry! Damn it!"
His name was Baek Eunho.
A B-Rank Awakened and an employee of the Awakened Association.
"Ah, I'll have a large jjajangmyeon, please!"
"Just a moment, please!"
Yu Suntae went into the kitchen, took out his wok, placed it over the fire, and began stir-frying the jjajang.
The world had changed greatly since he was young.
When he was ten years old—twenty-five years ago—he had watched demonic beasts pouring down from the sky and thought:
Ah, so this is the apocalypse I read about in books!
But it wasn't an apocalypse; it was a cataclysm.
Because Gates and demonic beasts appeared, and at the same time, Awakened emerged and began hunting the demonic beasts.
Lands once teeming with demonic beasts were reclaimed through the unity of the Awakened Association, Hunter Guilds, and the people.
There were still demonic beasts deep in the mountains or under the sea, but the speed of reclamation was unprecedented anywhere in the world.
The world called this the Second Miracle on the Han River.
Because there were still many countries that had not reclaimed their lands.
Anyway, when demonic beasts died, they left behind mana stones and corpses, and mana stones came to be used as alternative energy sources, leading to several revolutionary advancements.
The kitchen appliances Yu Suntae was currently using were also products of mana stones, requiring no gas or electricity.
However, nothing concrete had yet been discovered regarding the cause of Gates.
Clack!
"Your jjajangmyeon is ready!"
"Thank you!"
Setting the finished jjajangmyeon in front of Baek Eunho, the man put on a delighted expression.
He mixed the jjajangmyeon vigorously, wound a large bite around his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth.
Slurp!
"Haa!"
Baek Eunho exclaimed in admiration.
"As expected, it's delicious!"
"I'm grateful you like our jjajangmyeon so much."
"Sometimes when I go inside a Gate for investigations, I go crazy craving this jjajangmyeon, but I suppose delivery isn't possible inside a Gate, is it?"
"Hahaha."
"I'm joking, joking."
After exchanging this and that, Baek Eunho finished his large jjajangmyeon, received a call, and left, so the inside of the store quieted down once more.
It was then.
Ding-a-ling!
The door opened roughly and someone came in.
He was a young man holding a motorcycle helmet—Gu Sangok, who was in charge of deliveries for Yangchungak.
"You worked hard."
Before Yu Suntae could even finish speaking, Gu Sangok roughly set down his metal carrier.
Bang!
And he tossed his motorcycle helmet aside as he spoke.
"I'm quitting the delivery job today."
At Gu Sangok's out-of-the-blue words, Yu Suntae and Im Soyeong asked in surprise.
"What! What do you mean? Quitting so suddenly?"
"Why? Did something happen?"
"It's too hard."
"What? Even so, how could you quit so suddenly like this? Don't do this—just one more month, no, one more week, can't you do that?"
"I'd rather not?"
Yu Suntae and Im Soyeong's insides boiled at his rude tone.
In fact, Gu Sangok was absolutely not a deliveryman they liked.
There was no way they could look kindly on someone who blatantly shirked work.
They had tried to hire another deliveryman, but strangely, no one was available.
If a Chinese restaurant didn't do deliveries, sales would drop by half, so they had no choice but to employ Gu Sangok.
"Then can't you do just three more days?"
"That's impossible. Since the boss is begging me this much, if you raise my salary, I might think about it."
Now Gu Sangok's true intentions had come out.
In the end, he wanted a raise.
At those words, Yu Suntae and Im Soyeong's expressions changed.
Giving Gu Sangok a raise was quite a burdensome matter.
Their only daughter was growing up, and it was reaching the point where living expenses would increase significantly.
In fact, Gu Sangok's salary was quite high, far from low.
Because public safety had deteriorated due to Gates and demonic beasts, delivery work wasn't easy, but even so, his pay was nearly double that of an average Chinese restaurant deliveryman.
Even so, Gu Sangok was not satisfied.
Yu Suntae knew guys like Gu Sangok all too well. Such men knew no satisfaction.
Sooner or later, he would make unreasonable demands for another raise!
Better to nip it in the bud now.
"Understood."
Gu Sangok asked with a face full of greed.
"You made the right choice! If you raise it by about three hundred thousand won..."
"What are you talking about? You're quitting, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"You've worked hard all this time. I'll calculate your wages up to today and transfer them to your account."
Gu Sangok's face contorted terribly.
"You said you're quitting? So I'm letting you quit, but why that expression?"
Yu Suntae was soft-tempered and gentle, so he had humored Gu Sangok's tantrums until now.
But Im Soyeong, his wife, knew very well that once he made up his mind, no one could dissuade him.
"You've worked hard."
"I, uh, that's..."
"The next time I see you, it'll be as a customer."
Gu Sangok snorted at Im Soyeong's final remark.
"You think you can easily find another deliveryman?"
Yu Suntae frowned.
"That's my business. Why do you care?"
"Hmph! We'll see. You'll definitely regret this."
"Whether you watch or not, I'd appreciate it if you left quickly. I have to prepare for the dinner rush."
Slam!
Gu Sangok, his face red, kicked the metal carrier beside him for no reason and stormed out the door.
"He's gone..."
"Yes. He's gone."
They felt refreshed watching Gu Sangok's retreating figure, but they soon couldn't help but worry about practical matters.
"Phew, what are we going to do about deliveries starting tomorrow?"
"It can't be helped. We'll have to tell them we can't do deliveries until we find someone."
Considering the wages they had paid Gu Sangok all this time, they could endure not being able to do deliveries for a month or two.
Yu Suntae took out a paper and wrote a job posting.
Part-timer wanted
Must be able to do deliveries
Meals and lodging provided
Salary negotiable
He posted it in front of the store and prayed.
'Please, let me find a good deliveryman this time!'
* * *
Gang So, who had come to the area around the Silver Tower, admired the cars driving along the smooth, refreshingly straight roads.
"How can a carriage move on its own without horses pulling it?"
He let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the tall buildings and colorful electronic billboards.
"Hah-! Is this a different world? The picture on the signboard changes in the blink of an eye! Just what kind of sorcery is this?"
Looking at the people passing by, their clothes were similar to what he had seen before, but the colors and materials were clearly different.
He decided to observe people to find out more about where he was.
It was a method he had used during his days as an active assassin, and it was the best way to grasp the nature of a place.
The language used here was unfamiliar, but understanding people's speech and reading writing was no problem.
This was thanks to a spell he had learned from a Westerner in strange clothes who had come from the Western Regions long ago.
The man had said he was someone who wandered the world to preach about the god he believed in.
Since language was the biggest obstacle to preaching, he had created a spell to eliminate the language barrier, and he taught it to Gang So as thanks since it was the only thing he could offer in return.
'I had forgotten it since there was no use for it in the Central Plains, but to think it would prove so useful! I must give thanks to that Westerner.'
The advantage of the nameless spell was that it changed every language into one he knew.
The disadvantage was.
"Did you get hit in the face with... something? Look how taut your face is?"
"Ohohoho! I must have applied that new Gold Anti-Aging Power Lifting... cream!"
Because all languages were converted into ones he knew, meanings could occasionally come across strangely. Moreover, for languages whose meanings he didn't know, they would sound only in that country's language.
'What does 'Gold Anti-Aging Power Lifting whatever' mean?'
He looked at the picture the two conversing women were looking at.
The splendidly shining golden picture was of a cosmetic product advertised by a top actress.
Below it was written in sparkling letters.
[Turn back time for your skin. Gold Anti-Aging Power Lifting Cream.]
Unlike spoken words, which were automatically translated into the language of the spell's user, letters could be read as they were.
Since it was written in Hangeul rather than English, it was read in Hangeul as well.
'Is it something like rouge... It certainly has a long name.'
Gang So shook his head.
It was dazzling and amusing to look at, but it was maddening and dizzying, to the point where he felt he might panic.
Honk! Honk honk!
Vrooom!
"Hey! Why are you handling it like that?"
Tap tap! Tap tap tap!
"Sorry! Just wait a bit! I'll be right there!"
Amidst the endless waves of information flooding through his senses, which transcended human limits, Gang So felt the urge to cover his ears for the first time in his life.
'At this level, one could call it torture without exaggeration, yet the people living here are amazing! To think they look so unfazed!'
* * *
Through two days of observation, Gang So was able to grasp quite a lot about this world.
First, this was also a place where one needed money to live. Eating meals and wearing clothes both required money.
And it seemed to be a place that cared about cleanliness far more than where he had been, filled with all sorts of convenient items he could never have imagined.
During his observation, Gang So was relieved to find that they also used Hanja here.
'It doesn't seem to be a place entirely different from where I lived!'
But he still had no idea how to return to the Central Plains where he had lived.
'If he finds out I've disappeared, he'll worry...'
Though many people walked the streets, Gang So was a stranger in this land that was nothing but unfamiliar.