There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 461

462. Side Story – Whereabouts of This Star (3)

I stiffened, staring at the ‘father’ who had reappeared.

‘Does he resemble him?’

He did.

Uncannily so.

Like Yi Bang-won, who left me his last words after sending all the family members out.

‘Is it because he’s from a collateral line of the Imperial Family?’

When you think about it, the people of this family I was reborn into are also my descendants.

So, that means they are also descendants of Taejong [King Taejong of Joseon, personal name Yi Bang-won].

Though the blood has been diluted over the generations, and the genes are almost non-existent, it’s possible that Yi Bang-won’s genetic traits manifested in this man’s generation by chance.

‘There’s also such a thing as atavism [the reappearance of a characteristic after a period of absence].’

Even if the probability is very low.

While I was frozen, the ‘father’ holding the gyeokgu mallet [a type of polo mallet] twitched his hand again.

Perhaps the sound I made earlier felt absurd to him as well, causing him to freeze for a moment, but his anger hadn’t subsided yet.

Fortunately, my amazing evasive maneuver seemed to have broken his will to fight.

‘Yes, yes, violence is bad.’

Especially domestic violence.

I thought as I watched ‘father’ lower the gyeokgu mallet.

Maybe such domestic violence (killing siblings and brothers-in-law) was tolerated 200 years ago, but not in this enlightened era.

‘You’d think this was Seonjuk Bridge [site of Yi Bang-won’s assassination of Jeong Mong-ju] all over again, the way he just swung the gyeokgu mallet without a word.’

Oh.

Without realizing it, I’m comparing this man in front of me to Yi Bang-won.

‘He’s such a familiar style.’

Between his appearance and personality, it can’t just be a coincidence.

‘Well, I was resurrected too.’

Could it be…?

Really…?

===

“Is it true that the accident was caused by drunk driving?”

Yi Bang-won… no, this assemblyman in front of me sat on the reception room sofa, crossing his legs.

The gyeokgu mallet he was swinging earlier was placed beside him.

His attitude suggested he might swing it again depending on my answer.

I glanced at him and resolutely stretched out my hand, shouting.

“That’s not true!”

I showed him the photos of the meteor that struck my car on my phone, prepared for this moment.

It was to argue that it was just a terribly unlucky accident.

“So, all the noise in the newspapers, including the Yeoheung Daily, is made up?”

“Of course!”

Sorry.

I don’t actually know.

It’s true that the meteor I rode down struck the car, but considering this rascal’s behavior, it’s likely he was driving drunk in the first place.

But I don’t know the exact truth, and there’s no way to verify it.

So, I have to insist I’m innocent.

“How would reporters know what happened in a foreign country on the other side of the world? Even you didn’t know the details until just now, Father.

They’re just writing nonsense to get views. Look, they’re writing it in a roundabout way, like ‘Some netizens suspect this.’ Would they write the article like this if they were sure?”

I emphasized forcefully.

“I am innocent.”

“Really? Really, really?”

“Come on, have I ever been honest with you in my life?”

“It’s not like it’s only been once or twice that you’ve lied to me and caused trouble.”

Father shook his head and lit the cigar he was holding.

“Oh, come on.”

I quickly waved my hand at the rising smoke.

Oh no, don’t try to fill my pure lungs with such toxic smoke.

Even though it doesn’t look like it, I’ve lived 70 years without smoking.

I don’t know about the original body I’m inhabiting, but it probably wouldn’t be much different.

‘I don’t feel any withdrawal symptoms, so maybe he was a non-smoker, surprisingly.’

That’s a relief.

At least cigarettes are okay, but if he was a real rascal and did drugs, I would have been stuck in a treatment center after being resurrected.

Or a rice chest [a method of execution during Joseon dynasty, where the condemned was sealed in a wooden rice chest until death].

Yi Bang-won… no, this assemblyman sighed in relief and waved his hand.

“Alright then. I have to go to the Hanlim Academy [a research institute], so please don’t cause any trouble and just stay home. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

I saluted at my father’s words.

He received the salute with a subtle expression.

‘So, the salute is the same as in my original world.’

I almost thought so without realizing it, but when I thought about it in detail, I introduced it to Joseon a long time ago.

My memories are starting to fade.

Lowering his hand, Father turned around and scolded.

“A guy who hasn’t even been to the military salutes like that…”

No, how many wars have I fought that this veteran is hearing such a thing?

In my original world, I went even though I was an orphan because of the shortage of military resources, and after falling into Joseon, I fought a full-scale war with the Ming Dynasty.

There probably aren’t many people living in this era who have wandered around the battlefield as much as I have.

‘I feel unjustly accused.’

Still, it’s definitely better than being told to go now since I haven’t gone yet.

I’m an Olympic gold medalist in my original world, so I should have received a military exemption.

===

‘No, it was a conscription system from the start.’

I muttered as I looked it up, remembering it.

Why did I naturally assume that this country of Joseon was implementing a conscription system?

It’s the sad idea of a man from a conscription country, even after living in another world for 70 years, that he would unconsciously think that way.

Of course, it’s fortunate because if that had been implemented, I might have been dragged to that cold northern wasteland where Gangwon-do looks like the rear.

‘I’m bored.’

You might ask how I can be bored when I’ve got a smartphone in my hand for the first time in decades, but my main interest right now is looking around this changed world.

I could look it up on my phone, but I honestly want to observe the changes with my own eyes.

But I can’t leave the house right now, so I’m incredibly frustrated.

I thought about looking around the house, but it doesn’t seem polite to go into someone else’s room when they’re not there.

After wandering around the places I could roughly go, I noticed a display case with awards.

‘Are these all my awards?’

Most of the sports-related awards and trophies seemed to be mine, but there were quite a few other awards as well.

There were medals of military merit from someone I didn’t know, and awards from competitions in very difficult fields.

Adding to that the letters of appointment and plaques that Assemblyman Yi received from various organizations, you get the feeling that this is a family that does pretty well, no matter what.

But even that got boring after a while.

‘Are there any family members left in the house?’

I heard from the conversation between the aides earlier that three generations live together.

I should at least say hello and get acquainted based on ‘my’ standards, so I moved my feet.

‘Is this my uncle’s room?’

And the next moment.

When I opened the door to say hello,

– Creak!

A middle-aged man wearing motion capture devices was dancing enthusiastically.

– Clack!

“……”

‘I didn’t see anything.’

I didn’t see anything.

‘Damn it!’

There’s no way I can ignore that!

“What is that?”

I calmly turned around and asked the head butler, who bowed his head and replied.

“I heard that the broadcast is very popular, even though it looks like that.”

“Is that real…?”

“I heard that there’s no one among young people who doesn’t know about it…”

It’s surprising that there are virtual YouTubers in this world, but it’s even more surprising that it’s my uncle.

Is this how Neo felt when he took the red pill [a reference to the movie The Matrix]?

I slapped my cheek with my palm.

‘I’m going to go crazy if I keep being stuck in this house.’

I need to go outside after all.

I was told to stay home, but I wasn’t exactly good at following my father’s words in my previous life!

‘I’ve avoided curfew several times.’

Looking back on it now, they were truly fun memories.

I went straight to the garage I had seen when I came home earlier and picked up the smart key.

The butler, who belatedly followed, shouted in great surprise.

“Didn’t the assemblyman just tell you not to go out?”

“I’ve cleared up all the misunderstandings with Father. Father was just telling me to rest because he thought I would be tired, right?”

That’s not entirely wrong.

It’s true that I cleared up the misunderstanding that I was driving drunk and had an accident in a foreign country.

Considering that there’s no longer anything to scold me for, if you interpret my father’s words, telling me to stay home was clearly just out of concern for my condition.

And my current condition is perfect.

I put forward such solid logic, but the butler still looked uneasy.

“Still, it hasn’t been long since the accident, so driving yourself is…”

“Come on! Do you think I’m going somewhere strange?”

When I asked, the head butler looked troubled.

Judging from that reaction, the original body seemed to frequent strange places quite a bit.

‘Should I take an oath or something?’

I felt a sense of rejection that it wasn’t right, no matter how you looked at it.

Instead, I grabbed the steering wheel and asked gently.

“Or should I tell you where I’m going in advance?”

“Then I’ll tell him that you went to pick up the third young master. It’s almost time for his lecture to end today…”

“Third?”

Isn’t that referring to the younger brother who received a lot of awards earlier?

“Where is he now?”

“He should be at school right now.”

“So, where is that school?”

The head butler replied with an expression that said, ‘Isn’t this too much?’

“Seoul Taehak [Seoul University].”

“Ah.”

From my perspective, there was no way I could have known, so I asked, but from the butler’s perspective, he must have thought, ‘Does this bastard not even know where his younger brother’s school is?’

‘Well, a rascal is a rascal for a reason.’

It’s okay since I know now.

===

The name of Sungkyunkwan [Joseon’s highest educational institution] was changed to Taehak during the reign of Dan’s son, Yun.

It was also a time when territorial expansion was almost at its last major stage, and it was said that something like Goguryeo pride was slowly rising as the Gwanggaeto Stele [a monument celebrating the achievements of King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo] was discovered and historical research progressed.

So, while reorganizing the education curriculum itself in a ‘modern’ way, they changed the name of Sungkyunkwan to Taehak, a naming from the Goguryeo era, according to the internet.

Of course, it’s not written this way outright, but that’s how I understood it.

In fact, if you trace the origin of the name Taehak, it seems that the Han Dynasty was the originator, but there was such a sentiment at that time, so it can’t be helped.

In any case, Taehak is strictly a national educational institution, so other higher education institutions cannot use the name Taehak.

For this reason, only national universities are called Taehak, and the rest are called Daehak, taking their names from Confucian scriptures.

No matter how you look at it, in this world, the naming of Daehak itself seems like a downgraded name with one dot removed from Taehak, but they insist that it’s a fundamental name that teaches the purpose of learning, so let’s just go with that.

In fact, Taehak itself is not just one, so there is superiority and inferiority even among them.

I heard that the Indian Institute of Technology has 23 campuses, and the existing Hanyang Sungkyunkwan alone could not meet the educational demand of Joseon, which had grown enormously.

So, considering the importance of the city and regional distribution, they established Taehak in other regions as well.

Of course, the most popular among them is still Seoul Taehak in Hanyang.

Just by naming it ‘Seoul Taehak’ instead of ‘Hanyang Taehak,’ doesn’t the pride that we are the Taehak in the capital shine through?

Anyway, Seoul Taehak, which my younger brother attends, is the same as ‘Seoul National University’ when written out.

The best university in Korea that existed in my original world overlaps.

Even more so when I see that Seoul Taehak, Gangnam Taehak in Nanjing, and Ya-eun University are called the top 3 universities in Joseon.

‘Is it SKY [the top 3 universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University] here too?’

Even if it is, they wouldn’t take the alphabet initials and call it that here in Joseon.

“Let’s see… Lee Man-ju Auditorium at Seoul Taehak…”

Since it was my first time in the neighborhood, I drove around for a long time, but the destination didn’t pop up easily.

Damn it, I shouldn’t have trusted the navigation.

I had no choice but to get out of the car.