The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 142

Moon Seok-il quickly composed his expression and shook his head.

He had been overly delighted at the news that the person who had driven South Korea’s young men to such hardship had died. Of course, to an outsider, it might have seemed like he had only slightly twisted the corner of his mouth.

‘You can cut off limbs, but not the head.’

Moon Seok-il used the term ‘fortress’ to describe Pyongyang’s security.

It meant that it was impossible to eliminate someone surrounded by such tight and strict security.

‘Maybe it would be possible if we threw in a hundred fully armed S agents with bombs strapped to them.’

Regardless of success, it was a remarkable display of confidence.

To predict success with just 100 people, Moon Seok-il’s pride and faith in the SSS [Special Security Service] were absolute. They were agents that didn’t exist anywhere else in the world.

‘Money is good after all. They must be amazing if Uncle Moon-skill is praising them so much.’

Jin-hyuk nodded.

Since they were such agile individuals, it might be possible if they were thrown in for a short period without expecting them to return alive. More than a quarter of them would be sacrificed to anti-aircraft guns before even attempting a high-altitude assault, and half of the remaining half would be annihilated during the descent. Of course, this was also just a hypothetical.

‘Or maybe, Kim Il-sung got so worked up about the rocket that Sein launched recently that he clutched his neck and died.’

Moon Seok-il, uncharacteristically, spoke at length and added a joke.

Jin-hyuk, who had been off guard, unconsciously bared his teeth.

So, is that why he died a few days earlier? Jin-hyuk nodded.

He seemed to have died during the World Cup before, but this was a bit early.

That was the end of that topic.

Neither Jin-hyuk, who knew the political situation, nor Moon Seok-il reacted sensitively. It wouldn’t lead to any events that could be called a cataclysm.

‘Please submit a report on the new building construction.’

‘Alright.’

Even though he had already reported to the Vice Chairman without being asked, it was better to follow the established procedure. Moon Seok-il didn’t add any unnecessary comments.

It didn’t matter if Moon Seok-il didn’t report properly. It could be handled through Min Yong-rak, but he thought Moon Seok-il should also be aware of matters related to the SSS and Sakdo.

Jin-hyuk liked Sakdo.

It was the perfect place to do something in secret. A solitary island amidst the busy fishing boats and coast guard patrol boats. It was a well-known secret what kind of facility it had been in the past, and the coast guard didn’t pay attention because they knew it was currently under government approval.

‘Is the rocket launch site close from here?’

‘It’s a 20-minute boat ride. Southwest.’

Moon Seok-il pointed somewhere, but all that could be seen was sea fog.

Still, that direction would be accurate. He was someone who didn’t need a compass.

From where he pointed, a satellite launch vehicle had successfully broken through the atmosphere a few days ago. It was a launch vehicle capable of placing a 1-ton practical satellite into Earth’s low orbit, and it was a project led by the private sector, not the government.

300 billion won had been invested, and about 400 small and medium-sized companies, including Sein Aerospace, had participated in the production. It was truly a masterpiece by Hong Ki-joon, who had purely absorbed Russian technology. What he had given to Russia in return was never revealed, but Hong Ki-joon was not someone who would engage in a losing deal.

‘Just how much did he shorten the time?’

It was reasonable to assume that he had secured the necessary personnel in advance for today. Such high-level personnel wouldn’t just appear out of thin air overnight. Even Jin-hyuk had to admit Hong Ki-joon’s preparedness. Hong Ki-joon was actively recruiting engineers, both domestic and foreign.

With such preparedness, realizing Jin-hyuk’s plans was definitely not a dream.

‘What are you going to make by building a research center?’

‘We’re not making anything right away. We just need a place to do research, as the name suggests.’

‘I’m still curious, though.’

It was Moon Seok-il’s pure curiosity.

He had heard that the mobile phone had already been developed and was being tested, and that the radio-controlled drone was just waiting for government approval. It could be equipped with cameras or bombs. It could also deliver supplies to places that were difficult to access by car. With such remarkable progress, what more could be developed?

‘It’ll sound like nonsense. That’s how future technology is.’

‘That’s true.’

‘First, we need to launch a lot of satellites.’

It was just a test launch for now.

To fully operate the business, they needed to conduct two more test launches to secure reliability, he said.

‘Is it something like a self-driving car?’

Moon Seok-il recalled a technology he had once heard from Hong Ki-joon. Something about sending and receiving signals via satellite communication, and a car dancing the blues on its own.

However, Jin-hyuk smiled and shook his head.

‘That’s something anyone can think of. Like unmanned fighter jets or unmanned navigation systems.’

Jin-hyuk paused for a moment.

There was nothing he couldn’t say to the taciturn Moon Seok-il. He just needed some time to organize his thoughts.

‘Robots.’

When Jin-hyuk finally opened his mouth, Moon Seok-il let out a silent sigh.

Even though he was big and strong, he was still a kid. Robots? Was it something like Taekwon V or Mazinger [popular Korean and Japanese robot anime]? In Moon Seok-il’s mind, an image of a fist being launched like a rocket and then returning flashed. That wasn’t science fiction, it was more like a delusion. Even with a chaebol [large family-owned conglomerate] sponsor behind him, it seemed like he was going too far.

‘They’re deployed in dangerous places instead of people. Machines can be fixed even if they die, but people can’t. We minimize location errors by using satellites and mobile communication base stations, and people control the robots from a safe place.’

Jin-hyuk explained simply, wearing a pleasant expression. It was like the look of someone who had a dream come true right before their eyes.

Moon Seok-il, who had only understood bits and pieces, blinked.

‘You’d need to be good at controlling them.’

‘There’s no need for that. You just need to be good at using your body. We attach sensors to the joints and muscles, and the robot moves as the person moves. They’re connected through real-time long-distance communication. How is it?’

Moon Seok-il, averting his eyes from Jin-hyuk, who was sparkling like a child spinning a fantasy, awkwardly scratched his cheek.

He understood what he was saying, but was it really a feasible technology? This was a world where people were already cheering for the incredible convenience of automatic cars.

Moon Seok-il was a natural-born warrior. He had only sought to improve his martial prowess out of a competitive spirit, and had neglected the pursuit of knowledge. As a result, Moon Seok-il felt limited in having an in-depth conversation with Jin-hyuk.

‘It’ll take a long time. A long time…’

As if reading Moon Seok-il’s mind, Jin-hyuk muttered like an old man.

A sigh, like an echo, was mixed in, whether it was because of the heat or because his heart was heavy.

‘But if we prepare early, maybe we can speed it up a bit…’

The end of his tone was not clear.

Jin-hyuk’s eyes, as he spoke, held the sea fog that filled the ocean. The future was like that, like a fog, and it felt like the sea, where you couldn’t know what was beyond it unless you pushed through it.

It was a technology that hadn’t been realized even in the days he had lived.

There were endless superficial reasons. There was a lack of active participation from large capital, and it was a project that the government couldn’t readily lead even if they had the money. It was a natural thing since technology was the primary issue. There was also the calculation that death benefits were cheaper than replacing soldiers and firefighters who lost their lives in the field with machines.

‘Where is there a life that isn’t precious? What is more precious than life?’

The packaging of heroes was only for that moment, and the families left behind had to live with the memory of the person who would never return for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, they had to worry about their livelihood after losing their breadwinner.

The sorrow of those left behind was something that could not be imagined without experiencing it. In the past, Jin-hyuk had never collapsed or cursed the world as if he were the only protagonist of a tragedy. After growing up, he was someone who empathized with and felt sorry for the sorrow of others, even if he didn’t show it. That was perhaps due to the personality he had inherited from his parents, more than anything acquired later in life.

‘Whether it takes 20 years or 30 years.’

Developing robots to replace people in dangerous situations was one of the things he definitely wanted to accomplish.

That wasn’t because of some grand intention to value the lives of others. It was a selfish act to comfort himself, who had been consuming his emotions by empathizing with sorrow or anger, and to conserve his mental energy.

Jin-hyuk turned to Moon Seok-il.

‘Definitely.’

Moon Seok-il, with a somewhat blank expression, looked back at Jin-hyuk.

‘Please tell him.’

To Hong Ki-joon.

Since Hong Ki-joon had a keen eye for talent, he would find them even if he had to search the entire Earth. If there were no suitable talents, he believed that he would create an environment to nurture and bring them in. His influence already extended beyond Asia, not just his abilities.

The Sein Group had already introduced a system of young and capable professional managers. Therefore, Jin-hyuk believed that Hong Ki-joon would have the capacity to do so.

If Moon Seok-il couldn’t convey it properly, he could go through Min Yong-rak.

‘Since I don’t have connections or information, it’s right to leave the rest to him.’

Moon Seok-il, with his mouth firmly shut, only nodded. He figured that this guy would have already noticed that he was particularly connected to Hong Ki-joon, so there was no reason to feel intimidated.

‘Let’s leave the long-term projects to Hong Ki-joon and do what we can do right away.’

‘What we can do right away?’

At the unexpected words, Moon Seok-il blinked.

‘We need an instructor.’

If they were going to have a training camp, they needed a guide to lead them according to the schedule.

He thought a red hat would look good on Moon Seok-il.

He had plenty of sunglasses, so he just needed to buy him a hat.

‘Is your head size 56?’

Jin-hyuk, who was walking down from the top of Sakdo, turned around and asked. He would buy a free size, but he was asking out of courtesy.

‘Yeah.’

He has a good eye. Moon Seok-il muttered as he grabbed a tree branch and descended the steep and slippery path.

***

The silence in the car on the way home was longer than the asphalt road.

Moon Seok-il was the type of person who wouldn’t open his mouth unless someone asked him, and Jin-hyuk was the same. So, the conversations between the two of them were of an official nature. Even if it was nonsense.

‘Can you get me some bombs?’

‘What kind of bombs?’

Moon Seok-il asked back, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, as Jin-hyuk, who had been looking out the window, asked in a low voice.

‘Bombs that can destroy steel-reinforced concrete structures.’

‘It would be good if you were more specific.’

Was there any structure made of concrete that didn’t have steel reinforcement? Unless it was a deliberately shoddy or rushed construction, there were no exceptions. That was common sense that even someone who didn’t major in architecture would know.

‘Enough to collapse a bridge pier on the Han River would be sufficient.’

‘……’

A sigh escaped from Moon Seok-il’s nostrils.

‘Is it because the safety inspection operation didn’t go as planned?’

‘Yes. That’s right.’

At Jin-hyuk’s request, Moon Seok-il had been traveling between Seoul, Mokpo, and Gunsan, meeting all sorts of people to influence shipping companies. It was a job that utilized his special skills, and since no one was injured in the process, he had let it go. He had also thought that there must be some unspoken reason.

When he had asked for a secure phone, Jin-hyuk had confessed that he had made prank calls to the airport. When he heard that the bomb threat suspect on the news was Son Jin-hyuk, he wondered if this kid’s puberty had gone too far. To put it bluntly, he was in shock.

But now, he was asking him to destroy the Han River bridge.

There had been a preliminary operation. The purpose was not to point out the poor construction of the construction company or the inadequate supervision of the supervising officials. It was simply to highlight the safety issues and induce reconstruction. However, Moon Seok-il’s attempts had been in vain.

There were no responsible parties or people in charge of the construction that had been completed a long time ago. It was the transparent limitation of an organization made up of civil servants.

In such a situation, who could he threaten?

‘At least the Minister of Construction and Transportation.’

Moon Seok-il, reviewing his past actions, shook his head weakly. It was impossible, even for the most skilled operative.

But was it possible that the grim reaper lurking in this guy’s shadow was acting up?

‘If it weren’t for that grim reaper, I would ask him directly.’

The restrictions of the non-disclosure agreement, which he had signed with his life on the line, were too strong.

As he was pondering, Jin-hyuk asked.

‘Can’t you get them?’

It was a rather disappointing tone.