The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 152

It was a terrible summer.

Even without the news of workers collapsing from heatstroke due to the record-breaking heatwave, it was hard to find anyone working in the rural fields.

It was so hot that there were even claims that the Korean Peninsula’s heat affected the national team’s performance at the American World Cup. Of course, since it was Jo Il-heon who said it, the credibility was close to zero.

Jin-hyuk realized the need to revise his plan.

‘My plan was a little, just a little, too much.’

He knew that even the best-laid plans wouldn’t yield the desired results if not executed properly. He also needed to be flexible and incorporate the participants’ opinions. How could he call himself a planner if he lacked such adaptability?

Even a perfectly designed machine can malfunction or fail to perform optimally if handled improperly during assembly or break-in. Jin-hyuk swallowed his tears and had no choice but to admit his mistake. He wasn’t a complete idiot, after all.

“Let’s take it easy starting tomorrow. Let’s sleep an extra hour and have an extra hour of rest…”

“Yeeeah!”

Seeing his friends clench their fists and shout, Jin-hyuk felt reassured.

That aside.

“Jin-hyuk, what kind of training do we do at the beach?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much.”

***

The training at the beach was nothing much.

The first exercise was piggybacking each other and running on the beach.

“Uwaaaah!”

“Let’s goooo!”

Each time they completed an exercise, Kim In-rang would reward them with watermelon and drinks, which he had brought. The kids began to be tamed to survive.

Another essential exercise was moving forward using only their palms while their ankles were held by another friend.

Some might call this an arm exercise, but it was actually for increasing lung capacity and strengthening the abs, cervical transverse muscles, and various muscles that support the spine… well, you know the drill.

“Byung-taek! Head up! Don’t look down!”

“Uwaaaah! The sand is too hot!”

If their posture faltered even slightly, Kim In-rang’s scolding would come down sharply.

“Seul-chan! Chest out!”

“Jo Seul-ah, don’t wiggle your butt! It’s heavy!”

“What? Why are you being so harsh? Butts are for wiggling!”

Another mandatory course was lifting their knees as high as possible while running on the soft sand.

“Sang-gi! Lift your knees higher! All the way to your chest!”

“…It’s been a while… or is it… the first time…”

It was a typical training exercise that athletes often did during summer training.

“You’ve all done this before, right?”

“…”

Apparently not.

Jin-hyuk scratched his cheek at his friends’ resentful glares.

Park Sang-gi was sprawled out, barely breathing.

His eyes were unfocused, but it was clear that his pupils were not aligned.

“We’ll go swimming when the tide comes in.”

“Oh! Are we really going to do that?”

“Of course? We came to the beach, so we have to play in the water.”

“Alright…”

Park Sang-gi, who looked like he was about to die, suddenly stood up like a zombie, as if he had never been exhausted.

The catch was that they had to run on the mudflats and sand until the tide came in.

No one objected to Jin-hyuk’s explanation that it was too hard to run all the way to the water, so they should wait for the water here.

Jin-hyuk deliberately didn’t mention that they had to wait for more than two hours for the tide to come in. For the sake of his friends’ peaceful minds.

‘Easy guys.’

If this were at the group headquarters, people would be raising their hands and objecting. How pure and kind these friends were.

Jin-hyuk smiled brightly, showing his white teeth. He didn’t realize that his friends found his smile sinister.

***

Kim In-rang, who had found a spot in the shade, watched the kids who were enduring the scorching sun.

Watching them full of energy as they trained on the mudflats and sand, a thought naturally arose in him as a still-vigorous young man.

‘I’m glad I didn’t join them.’

He took off his sunglasses and looked around at the scenery.

It was a strange beach.

The sandy beach stretched out about 300 meters wide, and since it wasn’t a developed beach, there were many trees and rocks. A little further into the sea from the sandy beach, there was a mudflat.

Beyond the cape to the north, there was a mudflat with no sand at all. They said there were a lot of clams there.

Far out on the mudflat, where the water had completely receded, there was an island full of pine and oak trees, and people lived there too. An island in the mudflat.

‘It’s a wonderful place.’

He took a deep breath as a cool breeze swept through the shade of the rocks.

He had lived in the demilitarized zone [the border area between North and South Korea], where there were no stars, listening intently to the rustling of dry leaves, and until a few years ago, he had nightmares of fighting enemy soldiers to the death.

‘My nightmares disappeared after I met that guy.’

He was glad he had persuaded his mother, who lived alone, to move to this village. His mother, who went for walks around the neighborhood and tended to a small garden, had a smile on her face that had never been there before, like a spring flower.

Maybe it was time for him to meet a woman and get married. Now that he had a place to stay for a long time, he also had the desire to settle down and start a family.

‘The accounting staff at my brother’s company was pretty.’

Was her name Lee Myung-ja?

He had a normal childhood and spent 10 years in the military.

Thinking about the years he spent digging bunkers and living in tension in the demilitarized zone and somewhere in North Korea, this place was heaven.

He smiled contentedly and looked at Jin-hyuk, who was rolling around with the kids on the mudflat.

That guy, who was already taller than Kim In-rang, who was 180cm [approximately 5’11”].

‘It’s hard to believe that he was that monster.’

He was strong, so he was living without any major aftereffects, but if he had been an ordinary person, he might have suffered greatly or even died. Even Kim In-rang had lost consciousness for a while.

‘What was that?’

When he lost consciousness, someone spoke to him in the darkness.

It was a simple message delivered in a deep, low voice.

– 【Do you want to live?】

Maybe it was like a grim reaper who comes before death.

He couldn’t dismiss it as a nightmare or delusion.

As time passed, the memory didn’t fade but became clearer.

– 【The contract is valid until I release it. It doesn’t seem like it will take long.】

Since both his mother and Kim In-rang were satisfied with their peace, there was no reason to worry about contracts or anything else now. However, the still-clear voice had the effect of preventing Kim In-rang from having other thoughts.

No doubt, Heon-chang and his brothers had heard the same voice. They just didn’t mention it because they were told not to.

“Uncle! Help me! Ugh!”

Kim In-rang, startled by Jo Seul-chan’s urgent cry, snapped out of his thoughts and stood up.

The safety of the kids was his responsibility. Had something dangerous happened?

Kim In-rang soon let out a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha, you guys.”

The kids were wrestling on the mudflat.

It looked more like a one-sided beating than a game, with Jin-hyuk throwing his friends down.

The tide was slowly coming in.

It seemed they were enjoying a game while waiting for the tide after finishing their training.

Kim In-rang’s pectoral muscles swelled grandly as he watched them.

Whoosh-.

“Oh, well, whatever.”

He took off his t-shirt, revealing his solid, muscular body.

He carefully took off his sneakers and charged towards Jin-hyuk in his shorts.

“Yiaaaaaah!”

He stretched out his arms, intending to do a body check.

If he hugged his waist and pushed, even the monster Son Jin-hyuk would be—.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, Jin-hyuk’s face disappeared, and the mudflat appeared.

Yes, that black, dark, and muddy ground is generally called a mudflat.

Jin-hyuk had put his arms under Kim In-rang’s armpits and used the momentum of his charge to flip him over his head.

Splash-.

He flew up, but instead of landing awkwardly, he performed a breakfall and rolled.

“Oh…, he’s a terminator…”

“Wow, uncle’s body is just like Jin-hyuk’s.”

“Hey! Beat up uncle!”

Park Sang-gi and Jo Seul-chan were impressed, while Yeom Byung-taek shouted.

“Beat up? You disrespectful brat! Beat him up!”

Jo Seul-chan charged fiercely and backed up Yeom Byung-taek.

Jo Seul-chan knew that when the boss monster was too strong, you had to level up by defeating the mid-boss first.

Yeom Byung-taek hugged Kim In-rang’s waist from behind as he stepped back. Because of his strength, it was impossible for Yeom Byung-taek to knock him down alone. Jo Seul-chan wrapped his arms around Kim In-rang’s neck and hung on his back.

“Ultra Super Killer Tackle!”

When else would he get to tackle someone with his feet? Park Sang-gi tackled Kim In-rang from below, a move that would have earned him a red card immediately.

“You brats!”

Kim In-rang, sprawled out on the mudflat, struggled and yelled.

Jo Seul-chan tickled Kim In-rang’s side.

“Hehehehe! I surrender!”

“No surrender!”

Hehehehe-.

Jin-hyuk, who was watching the men covered in mud, put his hands on his hips and heaved his chest.

‘Heh, that looks fun.’

But he had to hold back.

It would be better for everyone if he stayed as a spectator rather than intervening and escalating an unplanned situation.

The tide, which had been coming in slowly, quickly reached their knees.

***

Even though they had gone into the sea up to their chests and swam until they were all exhausted.

The summer sun was mercilessly long.

The three track and field members of Tae Yang Middle School trudged along behind Son Jin-hyuk and Kim In-rang, who never seemed to tire.

“Jin-hyuk, why are you carrying the sandbag again?”

“I have to bring it tomorrow too.”

How could he ask such an obvious question? Was he an idiot? Jin-hyuk answered nonchalantly without looking back and tilted his head.

‘He didn’t ask because he didn’t know. It didn’t work.’

Yeom Byung-taek was seized by a sad premonition.

20kg [approximately 44 pounds] wasn’t that heavy.

But carrying it every day for a month with an exhausted body was another matter.

“We—.”

“Whoever wins the 100-meter race against me is exempt.”

Shit.

Yeom Byung-taek, who was about to try to reason with him, shut his mouth.

He was a good friend, like a nice older brother, but he was a pain in the ass when it came to training.

Before going home, they stopped by the stream to wash off with fresh water.

Their skin, which had been tight from the salt, relaxed when it met the fresh water, and they felt much better.

They picked a ripe watermelon each from the watermelon patch by the stream and headed home.

“Uncle, did you do track and field?”

Jo Seul-chan asked, admiring Kim In-rang’s muscles glistening in the sunlight.

It wasn’t just his muscles. Kim In-rang didn’t get tired when jogging in the morning, and he was unstoppable when climbing mountains.

“I’ve been doing it lately.”

Thanks to Jin-hyuk, not only Kim In-rang but also the bodyguards dispatched from Se-in were running every morning and evening.

They also had long jump competitions with Jin-hyuk, but no one could beat Jin-hyuk, who could jump over 7 meters [approximately 23 feet] even when he wasn’t trying.

*

The athletes had a honey-like rest after having samgyetang [a Korean ginseng chicken soup] with more garlic and ginseng than glutinous rice for lunch.

While his friends were playing with Yoo-jin and Jang-gun, Jin-hyuk put his friends’ laundry in the washing machine. Then, he went to his room for a moment and looked at the supplementary class worksheets he had received from the school.

‘They were planning to get ahead on the second semester curriculum during the vacation.’

As expected, it was a preparation for the high school entrance exam.

He could see why the wrestling team was also required to attend the supplementary classes during the vacation.

‘Well, it’s nothing special.’

He had already covered the entire second semester of the third grade with Chae Gyu-ho, and Jin-hyuk knew all the content. He thought that if he solved the supplementary class materials along with the textbook that Chae Gyu-ho had made, he could help his friends with their studies.

The problem was time.

There was a lot to study, but the evening free time was short.

It was also a problem that he had extended the afternoon rest time too much for recovery.

“Hey—.”

Jin-hyuk, who was about to call his friends, closed his mouth.

They were having so much fun, they might actually curse at him if he suggested canceling the afternoon rest.

“Kyahaha! Try to catch me—.”

“…Stop right there… My legs are sore, it’s hard—.”

Even the stoic Park Sang-gi was smiling brightly while playing tag with Yoo-jin.

Jin-hyuk was a man who knew when to back down.

‘Let’s go hard at night.’

As the sun began to wane, the afternoon training began near the mud house.

It was a sprint training session held at the place Jin-hyuk used as a long jump training ground. It was about 50 meters long, and surprisingly, Park Sang-gi’s instantaneous speed was better than the other two friends. It was the result of the elasticity and explosiveness of a middle school wing forward soccer player combined with spikes.

‘If Sang-gi had a better signal reaction speed, he could start well.’

That’s probably why intensive training is usually called tempering.

A grueling journey to remove impurities, which are disadvantages, and obtain high-purity metal, which are advantages.

‘What kind of metal is Seul-chan, and Byung-taek and Sang-gi—.’

Jin-hyuk, who was looking at his friends with a serious face, quickly shook his head.

If he delved any deeper, he felt like chemical symbols would appear above his friends’ heads.