The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 218

Indeed, ramen is a beneficial snack. It sharpens the consciousness that wanders in pitch-black darkness.

‘Dugu Elil. That’s his name.’

It was the name he heard when Yujin was sleep-talking, fumbling around the wall looking for her brother’s room.

That’s why he remembers it.

He couldn’t understand everything Yujin mumbled, but he could guess that Dugu Elil was a name due to the subtle changes in her intonation.

“Thank you for the delicious meal!”

Yujin patted her full belly after eating every last bit of the ramen and even mixing rice into the broth.

“I’ll clean up, you stay here with Jeongwon.”

“Yes, ehehe-”

After the meal, he moved the clean, empty pot and dishes to the kitchen.

“Hmm-. Knowing the name doesn’t change anything…”

He muttered, giving the leftover ramen that Jeongwon hadn’t finished to Jang-gun.

It was just that, he only learned the name.

It’s like hearing that a person named Kim Sang-deok lives in Alaska—something very distant and unrelated.

The real gain was realizing how to release his power.

‘You just need to clear your unconscious and consciously blow it out.’

Like blowing air to cool down ramen.

Why hadn’t he thought of that?

Perhaps it was because he had been breathing unconsciously, as his body dictated, that he had forgotten the method. It was largely because he had completely internalized the method of breathing even while sleeping, in preparation for Yujin taking his power in an emergency, so that it wouldn’t interfere with his daily life.

It was similar to the habits of people who used to go to work like zombies. They would get out of bed in a daze from accumulated fatigue, wash, dress, and even pack their ties and bags, without missing their smartphones or employee IDs. It was a habit where their bodies moved on their own, even when they themselves couldn’t remember.

‘You just need to consciously exhale. You don’t have to use the power anywhere.’

When he first returned to the past at the age of nine, he had emptied himself of the accumulated grime in his body. And then he filled it anew.

The theory was ready.

Now he just needed to put it into practice, but there was no rush since he had figured out the method.

After finishing the dishes, Jinhyuk was briefly caught up in a trivial dilemma.

‘Should I clean the cauldron after taking a nap?’

He was full, and he was also concerned about his siblings dozing off on the floor.

Even though the dogs were there, they could get hurt if they fell off the floor.

“Aigoo-, is our Jeongwon sleepy? Should we sleep together on the ‘malrae’ [a dialect term for the floor] with your sister?”

Even now, the old soul Son Yujin was coaxing her younger sibling on the floor.

She was also swaying back and forth due to postprandial sleepiness.

Judging by the fact that she called the floor ‘malrae,’ Yujin seemed to have a knack for dialects.

***

Kaaa-.

The three warriors, having finished the ramen and even eaten cold rice mixed in, were sprawled out on the floor, enjoying a nap. Yujin had taken her brother’s right arm, and Jeongwon had taken his left arm.

Haengun took advantage of Yujin’s sleep to fly off to rummage through the compost pile, which was full of bugs. Even a small wren had to forage for food to survive.

The gentle breeze from the wall-mounted fan, along with the chirping of the baby swallows and the sound of cicadas, blended into a lullaby.

“Aigoo-, these kids. You’re doing a great job.”

Han Yooyoung, who had appeared without a sound, showered them with sincere praise.

She had gone looking for them because they hadn’t come even after lunchtime, and it was easy to find the children because the dogs were guarding the yard of the mud house. It was more like the dogs were sprawled out in the shade of the dirt floor, but it was enough that she had found them.

Han Yooyoung wiped the corners of the mouths of the children, who were sleeping soundly side by side, with her thumb. The dried ramen broth made them look quite a sight.

“Our Jang-gun has worked hard to protect my babies.”

She also stroked and praised the dogs, who smelled of ramen from their snouts.

After entering the kitchen, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the broken ramen noodles, soup bits, and a bit of broth left in the cauldron.

“Did you hide and eat it without your mom knowing?”

She went back to the yard and looked at the three children.

Han Yooyoung’s happiness was lying there, fast asleep.

‘The proof that I lived, the history I will leave behind.’

People leave their names behind when they die, but it’s not something everyone can achieve.

And what is there to gain from leaving a name? If life is going to fade away anyway, she thought it was better to nurture her descendants carefully and help them stand firm in the world, rather than clinging to a name.

‘They’re so pretty.’

The eldest, who would soon become an adult, and the youngest, who had not yet learned to speak. Her daughter, who was appropriately placed somewhere in between. The children who were born with long intervals between them, as if they had promised not to make their mother suffer.

They were the lives that would give her strength and the joy of living until the moment she faced death.

The mother, who was not yet forty, sniffled.

“Let’s keep living healthy and kind. Okay, my babies?”

She stroked the cheeks of the children, swollen from the ramen aftermath, one by one. They all looked alike, as if they weren’t siblings, but maybe it was because they were so puffy that they all looked the same today, just different sizes.

She covered them with a light blanket and turned away.

She wondered if it would be okay to sleep with the fan on, muttering nonsense.

***

One of the things he realized again while living was the summer in the countryside.

No matter how high the temperature was, if it wasn’t humid, it was comfortable enough to stay in the shade. It was too long ago in the past, and he hadn’t known this fact because he had lived in the city.

“Aigoo-, our baby. You had a good pee-”

Jinhyuk, who had woken up first, changed Jeongwon’s swollen diaper.

Yujin and Jeongwon were sleeping so soundly that they stretched like cats while yawning, but showed no sign of opening their eyes.

He rolled up the diaper and put it aside, then went back to the kitchen.

He sat on the edge of the fireplace.

Whoooooo-.

When he exhaled, his power drained away.

When inhaling, he only took in enough oxygen to keep his brain from being deficient, lightly like ordinary lung-breathing animals.

‘I can feel it.’

Even though he couldn’t see it, and didn’t need to explain it, another consciousness beyond his own was sending a signal. The power he had gained from nature was returning to nature.

It was probably when he had gone to hear the erotic story of Jo Ilheon’s father.

Cheon Gilyong, who was gulping down makgeolli [Korean rice wine], had exhaled like this.

Fuuuuuuu-.

At the time, he had been so focused on the ending of the story that he hadn’t paid attention to the old man’s words, but now the words he had muttered like a soliloquy resonated with him.

– “If you drink too much, you become someone else.”

Well, it might have been about alcohol, but wasn’t that how the world worked?

An unyielding truth fits anywhere. Like water, like air, it naturally permeates everywhere, and if it is needed somewhere, it moves again due to gravity and pressure differences.

Fuuuuuuu-.

Tada-da-da-dak-.

As his exhaled breath touched it, the embers that had been huddled under the ashes in the fireplace, where the firewood had burned out, flared up and spilled out of the fireplace. It was a phenomenon that could only be described as miraculous. How could he explain the flames that were burning without even kindling?

‘It’s dangerous. I need to move the location.’

He hadn’t even started properly, but if he started working in earnest, he would probably burn the house down.

There was a good place to do secret things.

It was also mentioned in the folktale, ‘The King’s Ears Are Donkey Ears.’

They say to pour out secrets in a bamboo forest.

First, he needed to move his siblings back into the house.

***

In the old days, it was called Gyeongseongbu [the old name for Seoul].

Even though it wasn’t just the name that had changed, Cheon Gilyong, who had visited Seoul after more than half a century, didn’t seem very surprised.

He lowered his sunglasses halfway and glared.

Out of pride, he couldn’t bring himself to tilt his head back to look up.

“I’ve seen these buildings on TV from time to time.”

“How do you find it in person?”

“It’s desolate. Aren’t those all prisons?”

A strange smile suddenly appeared on Yoo Myungseon’s face, who had asked proudly. It was the dismay of someone who had briefly forgotten what kind of person Cheon Gilyong was.

Fortunately, as the car entered a place with a lot of pedestrian traffic, Cheon Gilyong’s interest shifted to the people on the street.

“The ladies’ attire is quite nice. Heo-, if I were sixty years younger…”

Yoo Myungseon and the SSS agent who was driving both pursed their lips.

They had to hold back. If they laughed, they might get a scolding.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to dress neatly? We are the Land of Eastern Courtesy, after all.”

“Ah, this fellow, the Land of Eastern Courtesy is bull-”

Cheon Gilyong, who was about to speak casually as he did when they were together in the countryside, glanced at the people in the driver’s seat and passenger seat and lowered his voice. Yoo Myungseon had his pride to consider.

“That all started from a phrase left by those rootless yellow bastards to belittle us. Now, the old people use it to get the better of the young people.”

“Hoo-. Please tell me more about that.”

Was another interesting story about to come out?

Yoo Myungseon turned his body towards Cheon Gilyong.

“A name carries a wish. Live long, become rich, it has many meanings.”

“Yes, it’s common to give a name with a wish.”

“There’s no way those bastards would have looked kindly on our ancestors, so wouldn’t it be right to say that they gave us a name with the intention of making us, the barbarians living in the east, pay respect to them?”

It sounded like sophistry.

But Yoo Myungseon, who was not as quick-witted as before and did not have a deep knowledge of history, could not find anything to say.

“They call them the X generation and whatnot, but they’re still just people. The old people shouldn’t define them as unknowns just because they don’t understand them. From their perspective, that’s just natural.”

The driver’s head nodded noticeably.

“That’s how names are. They’re called derogatory terms. They attach dirty things as nicknames to those they want to insult, and they wrap up the pretty ones with fancy titles.”

The car, which had stopped at a traffic light, started moving again, and Cheon Gilyong pointed to a newly visible building.

“Those bastards are good at that. They give fancy names to those like hooligans and use them socially. They call them phenomena, or groups, and so on.”

Yoo Myungseon nodded without realizing it. It wasn’t just a perfunctory nod.

This senior had a knack for telling interesting stories that were both plausible and implausible.

“Look over there.”

Cheon Gilyong pointed to a line of citizens.

“If you put the name ‘chaos’ on that, wouldn’t people who don’t know think they’re people trying to hoard something? And over there-, I don’t know what they’re doing, but if you take a picture and call it ‘order,’ wouldn’t it look like order to those who don’t know?”

Cheon Gilyong was pointing at a store that was having a sale, where people were reaching out their arms in a disorderly manner, trying to grab even one more item.

“Hehehe-, your words are a bit difficult today.”

“We’re old friends, there’s no need to be humble when you know everything. Oh, it might be difficult. Our Chairman Yoo, who is handing over the world to his son-in-law and giving his back to the young punks in the countryside, wouldn’t have such habits.”

“Still, I understand it vaguely.”

“Of course, of course. If you don’t understand, you’re a fool. Even that fellow driving is nodding.”

The SSS agent holding the steering wheel couldn’t even glance at the rearview mirror and kept his upper body straight.

“It also means that it’s not good to simply define something with words.”

“That’s right, that’s right. The moment you put a name on it, you’re trapped there-. You can’t see anywhere else.”

“Well, that’s all temporary, isn’t it?”

“Of course, of course. There’s no need to confine them to the old people’s framework.”

“Yes. The world where they become the rules will come soon.”

“That’s what I’m saying. We’ll go, and they’ll get old too. That’s how a generation passes. That’s why they say that even grasshoppers have their season.”

“Will good changes come?”

“Where is there good or bad in change? Chairman Yoo, who sees the world as a playground, may have changes he desires, but what does it matter to the majority who live day by day, whether change comes through the front door or the back door?”

“Change seems to be very slow.”

“Of course. It’s the same principle as people not dying suddenly but slowly aging, isn’t it?”

“Hehehe-. It sounds like you’re saying that change will come when we die.”

“That’s right. Death is change.”

Like a tree sprouting through the burnt ashes.

After a brief serious conversation, Cheon Gilyong’s eyes rolled blankly.

Eing, all the good sights have passed. He smacked his lips as the sedan entered a deserted street. Because of the question that started with the topic of the Land of Eastern Courtesy, he hadn’t been able to fully take in the young ladies.

“Hehehe-! Senior, you still seem to be in your prime.”

“Prime, my ass. The king’s dick is a donkey’s dick-”

Cheon Gilyong smacked his lips strongly once more.

Ehehehehehehe!

Yoo Myungseon laughed so hard that the car might shake, and the SSS agent who was driving and Kwon Jehak in the passenger seat bit their lips until their faces turned red.

“How about we stop sightseeing in Seoul? I’ve been sitting in the car for too long, and I miss the mountain air. I feel strange too-”

“Why is that? Are you feeling unwell?”

Ah, it’s nothing like that-. I just feel strange.

Even though the air conditioner was running at full blast in the car, a drop of sweat ran down Cheon Gilyong’s sideburns.

***

Swoooooosh-!

A storm.

Yes, a storm is generally called a violent and fierce wind.

On a clear day with no wind or clouds, a storm raged in Cheon Gilyong’s bamboo forest.

If Cheon Gilyong had been home, he would have heard the cries of the spirits begging for help.

But Cheon Gilyong was not here.

Only a cross-legged teenager and a small dog.