The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 171

“Wow, that’s really amazing.”

“Heoya-. What is this watch-thingy… doing?”

Lee Dongho, who had been exposed to various toys early on because he had two older brothers, was amazed by the toy he was seeing for the first time. It was just as unfamiliar to Kim Hojin, the youngest child who monopolized his parents’ love. They say the world is wide and there are many toys, but was there such a product?

Kim Hojin and Lee Dongho, with their eyes glued to the toy viewfinder, kept pressing the shutter with expressions of pure delight.

“Woah-, how did you take a picture of an eagle? In our neighborhood, even kites fly so high that you can’t see them.”

“I can see a ship. The sea is big.”

A ship?

Like Janggun, who would dig in the ground with his snout and react to the sound of people calling him, Son Yujin suddenly raised her head.

‘A ship-?’

She had made a promise with her brother sometime, hadn’t she?

It seemed like it was when Son Yujin was younger than she was now, but her brother had definitely made that promise. To build a ship and ride it in the waterway.

But her brother was busy, and it was hard to even see his face.

“I want to ride a ship.”

There was no ship at Son Yujin’s house.

There was a pear tree that bore sweet and crisp pears, and there were also the pot-bellied Ajji Bear and Uncle Min Yongrak, but there was no ship to ride.

“We have a ship at my house. Wanna go?”

Ah, Kim Hojin’s dad said he would ride a small boat every winter to cross the sea and scrape something. It was something that sold for quite a high price, so thanks to Kim Hojin’s dad’s hard work, they even built a second floor on their house. It seemed like it was called ‘gamtae’ [a type of edible seaweed]. If you wrap rice in seaweed made from gamtae, dip it in soy sauce, and eat it, it’s really delicious.

“If Son Yujin goes, I want to go too.”

“It’s dangerous to play without adults.”

Her brother was in Seoul, and her dad was at work. Even the SSS Ajjijji [a term of endearment for a close male figure] and uncles who always protected Son Yujin had left for Seoul for work, leaving only two behind.

“Hey-, it’ll be fine if we don’t play dangerously. There are two guys here, what’s there to worry about?”

Is that so…?

It was pathetic that those guys, who weren’t as tall or strong as her brother, were trying to act like men, but somehow it sounded plausible. Whether they were children or adults, people’s ears are always drawn to the words they want to hear.

The adults wouldn’t let children go to the beach alone because it was dangerous, but wasn’t today a good opportunity?

“Let’s go!”

It’s an adventure!

When Captain Son Yujin shouted, the two friends, who had put their camera toys in their kindergarten bags, quickly gulped down their tomato juice.

Woof!

Janggun, who was bored because Son Wangwang wouldn’t play with him, wagged his tail so hard it looked like it would fall off.

“Janggun, let’s go too!”

Woof-! Heheheh-.

As the leader dog stood up, the subordinate dogs quickly gathered.

And so, three kindergarteners and four dogs headed to the beach in the inner village under the scorching sun.

The heat was causing headaches, but the children’s faces were flushed with excitement, and their steps towards the unknown world with their companions were full of energy.

*

“Whoa-, the water’s really high?”

Looking at the lapping sea, Kim Hojin let out an old man-like exclamation.

“Tomorrow is the new moon tide.”

“How does Son Yujin know that?”

She knew something that even Kim Hojin, who lived by the sea, didn’t know. She really was smart.

“My dad wrote it on the calendar.”

Lee Dongho’s eyes and mouth turned round.

“Can our friend read letters too?”

“I can only read them. I can’t write them.”

That alone was something.

Kim Hojin and Lee Dongho’s eyes shone with respect. She really was the leader.

Lee Dongho had also pestered his older brother to teach him how to read, but was refused because he would learn it all when he went to school. His older brother was probably just being lazy, but his mom said it was better to play when you were young, so he couldn’t pester him anymore.

“There’s too much water, so we can’t get to the ship.”

“Shouldn’t we be able to pull it if we try hard?”

Kim Hojin said that and pulled the rope.

Lee Dongho helped, and Son Yujin, who couldn’t stand watching, also added her strength.

It was a small boat made of sheet metal without a motor. When the three kindergarteners pulled, it slowly came closer to the shore. The way it slid smoothly through the water, gently parting the waves, was reminiscent of a water strider.

“Ouch, my hands hurt and it’s really hard.”

“It’s hot. Huff huff-.”

“We’re done!”

When the boat finally came within reach, the little ones cheered. They had only pulled the rope together, but even this was a thrilling adventure for the kindergarteners, as if they had become pirates who had won a naval battle.

“I’ll hold it, so who wants to get on first?”

Kim Hojin held the side of the boat so it wouldn’t shake, and Lee Dongho awkwardly climbed aboard, while Son Yujin jumped in.

It was when Kim Hojin grabbed Lee Dongho’s outstretched hand and got on the boat.

“Uh?”

The boat, having lost its restraint, slowly slid towards the sea.

In times like this, you have to show a brave side!

Temporary captain Kim Hojin began to control the crew.

“Sit down gently, sit down-.”

The feeling of being the main character in an adventure didn’t last long.

First of all, because it was tied to a rope, the boat wouldn’t drift out to the open sea.

But the small boat swayed from side to side every time the children moved, and every time a small wave rippled. Because it didn’t have a keel and the bottom was flat, the direction it moved in was also inconsistent. The children’s hearts pounded with the movement of the boat, and fear clouded their eyes.

“Uh? It’s moving too much!”

“Eee-, it’s okay. We can play a little and then gently pull it back out.”

Ah, is that so?

It was still a little scary.

Woof woof!

Janggun could be seen barking at the boat from the shore, but Son Yujin decided to believe Kim Hojin. In an adventure, there was nothing as reassuring as the words of an experienced person, and since they had pulled it once, it didn’t seem like it would be difficult.

“Boating isn’t fun. It’s bigger than the boat my brother made, but…”

Lee Dongho’s three brothers had planned a boat trip to celebrate moving to the countryside. It was that boat trip that had been called off by Son Jinhyeok’s persuasion. If they had gone boating in that washbasin back then, it would have definitely capsized.

“That’s right. This isn’t the kind of boat I wanted.”

They had come for a boat trip, but without a mast or oars, it was just aimlessly swaying, which didn’t suit Son Yujin’s independent and self-directed taste.

And what about the ride? Her stomach was churning like she was going to throw up, and it was hard to keep her balance. The water was murky, so she couldn’t see the bottom of the sea, and there was no shade to block the sun, so it was getting hotter and she was quickly getting tired.

“Our friend, how deep is it here? I can’t see the bottom, so I don’t know.”

“It’s deeper than our height. The water’s so high-.”

“It’s scary. Let’s go out now.”

At the leader’s suggestion, Kim Hojin and Lee Dongho, who were already quite scared, gathered at the side of the boat.

It was easy to pull while standing on the ground in a line. Because there was enough space.

But the rope was tied to the side of the boat, and there wasn’t enough space.

The kindergarteners, who were trying to pull the rope, got tangled up and their feet got twisted.

“Uh-?”

Splash-!

***

Everyone has a destiny they are born with.

At least, that’s the case in the studies that Cheon Gillyong reads and deals with.

Yes, his older brother, Cheon Giryung, argued that emotions should be cast aside and dealt with as reason through scholarship.

‘What’s the point of studying your ass off if you don’t have a heart for people, you old geezer.’

Cheon Gillyong only expressed half his agreement with his brother’s theory.

That’s why he got hit on the head with a bamboo pipe even after he turned seventy.

“We are born as beasts with hearts, so how can we exclude emotions?”

Everyone has a destiny they are born with, but Cheon Gillyong considered it a vessel called destiny. Some break that shell and create a bigger vessel, while others close it up and enter a narrow world.

A hero who meets luck and timing creates his own path without a vessel, making it the path of a noble man that everyone imitates and follows. It was said that even imitating a noble man was a great achievement, so noble men increased in the world, and with that energy, the sun and moon, while staggering, eventually found the right direction.

“Hehehe-. Like me.”

Sasaasa-.

A nasty wind blew through the bamboo forest.

It seemed like Cheon Gillyong’s self-praise was seen as insignificant.

“I took in those rotten bastards, and they only show their ugly hearts. Because you’re so ugly, your ascension is a dream, and you’ll remain as bamboo ghosts, you bastards-.”

Hum-.

Is it because he can’t erase his emotions and is swayed by every little thing that he can’t exert as much divine power as his brother?

Ah, what can he do if the ghosts who live by leeching off him don’t agree with him? How can Jinaek and Yujin be so good at getting along with people and making him feel good?

“Whee-, what a nice day-.”

When you enter the bamboo forest, the heat is someone else’s problem, and the scorching sun is rather a welcome presence. Because the sun’s light creates shadows, the atmosphere of the bamboo forest is enhanced, and the yang energy makes the wind clean.

Kya kya-.

The sound of children playing could be heard from somewhere.

Hooh-?

Cheon Gillyong’s right eyebrow twitched upwards.

There was only one child who could be called a kid in the inner village, but it was so noisy as if the children were having a party, so it was a strange thing.

Cheon Gillyong’s facial wrinkles curved kindly as he watched the children playing from a distant hill.

“Ohoho-, one is a kid named Yujin, and the other is a young master from Seoul.”

Saaaa-.

The bamboo forest shook eerily once.

‘What?’

It was Changrim, a grim reaper who had the most spiritual power among the resident gods of the bamboo forest.

The evil energy that had fallen from the Seoul young master’s brother was lingering near his younger brother.

“That’s really out of the blue. Is my power all used up? There’s no reason for that?”

Evil spirits were rampant on the new moon full of yang energy?

Cheon Gillyong, who hadn’t felt anything within a ten-mile radius, was just puzzled.

Why wouldn’t he be?

Just the night before, he had gone out to the sea because of a strange evil energy and saved one of the young men in the neighborhood.

It was a young man who had gone night fishing to catch conger eels before the new moon.

When he examined the young man, his complexion was pale and he was complaining of weakness in his limbs. All he did was prick his finger because he had indigestion, but if he had stood on the beach like that, he might have collapsed and disappeared under the breakwater at any time.

“How long has it been since that evil energy fell off, and it’s sticking back on again? A guy who can’t even do his job as a grim reaper properly and is left in this world.”

Saaaa-.

Changrim said that there were some unchanging destinies.

Deep wrinkles formed on Cheon Gillyong’s brow.

As someone who didn’t believe in the word ‘absolute,’ he needed to keep in mind the variable.

‘You never know. Should I go myself-.’

He had unknowingly passed on the task of protection to Jinhyeok, but since the guardian deity was absent, it was his duty as the predecessor to do it.

“Eing-. Whenever Jinaek is away, the evil spirits run wild-.”

Even the relatively calm evil spirits during the day lose their self-control and go berserk when an incident occurs. For example, if a person falls into the water, they pull them down strongly… That’s why there are frequent testimonies that when people fall into the water while fishing, they feel something pulling them from the water.

The day before yesterday, there was a commotion at Yuk Seongchan’s house. Of course, it was invisible to human eyes, and only Cheon Gillyong’s eyes and ears caught the commotion.

The kitchen god who guarded the kitchen and the god who ruled the livestock had a fight, and they started fighting because they were both claiming to be the right-hand man of the house guardian god. The chicken fight that started in the yard ended when the kitchen god tripped over the feed trough in the chicken coop.

It was a moment when the old saying that if a chicken suddenly flaps its wings and crows in a quiet chicken coop, it means that the gods guarding the house are being mischievous, became a reality.

In that ridiculous commotion, a strict hen laid a double yolk egg. They were truly insignificant and petty ghosts.

It was when Cheon Gillyong, who was smiling as he recalled the interesting spectacle, was about to move his feet.

“Janggunaaaa!”

Kkyaaaaa-!

Son Yujin’s voice, desperately shouting, shook the bamboo forest violently.

It was a frail voice, but it was no different from a sonic boom that roughly tore through the air.

Cheon Gillyong quickly covered his ears at the mythical sense of intimidation.

He was a Taoist who wasn’t surprised by the mournful and pitiful wails of ghosts, calling them cute, or by the sound of thunder, calling it the fart of a mountain. But he was experiencing all sorts of things as he lived longer.

The energy was so strong that dozens of bamboo leaves imbued with spiritual energy fell to the ground like flower petals.

The grim reaper Changrim also shrank his spirit as if he had never been pretentious.

“What… is this?”

His eyes widened for a moment.

Cheon Gillyong dropped his cane and ran down the hill as if he was flying.