The Genius Decided To Live An Ordinary Life [EN]: Chapter 78

Wild animals, always wary of humans, possess an innate condition, a kind of chronic fear. It’s why they flee at the mere sound of human footsteps and avoid places that smell of people. This is also why wild animals often fall ill and die after contact with humans, as if they’ve contracted a disease they have no immunity to, wasting away or refusing to eat.

But this wild boar had overeaten hallucinogenic mushrooms, and the effects had taken hold, causing it to get up close and personal with a human. When it finally came to its senses, exhausted, the boar was shocked to its core to realize it had been embraced by a human. Suffocation was suffocation, and shock was shock.

It was like a shock death combined with suffocation.

‘It’s definitely dead, right?’

Jinhyuk checked the boar’s breathing once more.

That’s when it happened.

Grrr-.

Janggun approached the boar and sniffed at it.

“Janggun, what are you doing?”

Jinhyuk thought that the sensitive Janggun had sensed something, but…

Janggun was licking the boar’s nose and snout as if he were possessed.

Seeing a dog licking something was a common sight, something you could see any time, so Jinhyuk was relieved.

‘Whew, I was nervous.’

It seemed that Janggun had also given the boar a definite death sentence. He was even licking the whitish foam flowing from the boar’s nostrils and mouth, and even when Jinhyuk, who was frowning, tried to pull him away, he kept lunging back.

“Janggun, that’s dirty.”

Grrr-.

Has this mutt gone crazy? Since coming to the past, he had barked before, but he had never bared his teeth so fiercely.

Grrr-clack clack clack-!

The sound of his teeth clashing was scary, so Jinhyuk didn’t try to stop him anymore.

Anyway.

‘If my sister wants to eat it, there’s nothing I can do.’

Jinhyuk picked up Yujin and held her securely in his strong arms. With his other hand, he grabbed the boar’s hind leg. It was quite heavy, but he strained his back, lats, and arms, and it was dragged along. He had thought about carrying it on his back, but decided against it for hygiene reasons.

Heheheh-.

Janggun, his eyes bloodshot from licking the boar’s mouth foam, wagged his tail with a happy expression.

At this moment, the fact that he could lift the heavy boar was not important.

‘I look like a beggar.’

His southern-style shirt and t-shirt were torn by the boar’s fangs, and one of his sneakers had its sole ripped off, causing his foot to keep slipping out. His shoe flapped with every step.

He was briefly annoyed by his miserable appearance, but there was something else that was bothering him.

Heheheh-.

Janggun had somehow climbed onto the boar and was wagging his tail with a happy expression. Is that what a triumphant general looks like when they are in high spirits? A triumphant general, with ‘general’ in his name, it seemed there was no better word to describe Janggun.

“Hup-!”

He unleashed his strength as if to vent his anger. His forearms trembled from bearing Jinhyuk’s strength. Even when the boar got caught on tree roots or stones, he would grunt and pull, and the boar would be dragged along. That’s how he managed to drag it all the way to the bus route.

As they emerged from the shaded forest, the dazzling sunlight of the early autumn afternoon greeted the siblings.

‘Ha, what should I do with this?’

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, but he had no experience in butchering a pig. He had managed to butcher a chicken somehow with his mom’s help. Ah, speaking of chicken, that reminds him of Chicken Johnson. The guy who had greatly contributed to improving Jinhyuk’s starting ability and also contributed to the fathers’ stamina boost.

That summer, his dad and Hong Gijun were both ailing at the same time, so he had to catch it with tears in his eyes for their health. His mom had offered to catch it, but Jinhyuk didn’t want his mom doing hard work, so he did it himself. It was heartbreaking, but it was an unavoidable choice. He had hung a cauldron in the yard and boiled it for six hours.

‘It tasted good.’

It would have been impossible without the help of the all-around farmer, Choi Janghwan.

‘Right. If it’s Mr. Choi, he’ll be able to handle a pig too.’

Jinhyuk pondered for a moment and then headed to Choi Mikyung’s house. He was the one who would load pigs into sacks and bring them on his tiller for village gatherings and feasts, and he would butcher them himself, so he would probably be able to handle a wild boar too. It was something that was only possible in the countryside.

The sedan that had been parked since the morning was still there, and two men were sleeping in the back seat. Coming all the way here during the Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving] holiday and taking a nap in the car… And two men were up on a nearby rock.

‘They keep looking at our house?’

He had thought they were people who had come to look at land, but for some reason, they were only looking at one place. The only thing they were intently looking at was the three-story house where Jinhyuk lived.

Drrr-drrr-drrr-.

The men sleeping in the car were startled and looked outside as he dragged the boar along with a heavy sound. The men who had been pretending not to notice also looked at Jinhyuk intently.

Jinhyuk walked past the men, acting like an ordinary middle school student from the countryside. His clothes were tattered, he had a young sibling in one arm, and a wild boar in the other. It was truly the image of an ordinary rural teenager.

Jinhyuk’s poker face, which had been glancing at the men, faltered for a moment.

‘They’re like ghosts.’

They smelled different from the usual smell of people. If you asked how he knew, Jinhyuk had no way to explain it. It was just that the fine hairs on his body stood up, his pores dilated, and the top of his head felt hot, it was just something he felt with his body.

When he had faced the wild boar with its bloodshot eyes, his neck and ears had tingled, but when he looked at these men, he felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head.

‘Is this what it feels like to see a ghost in the moonlight?’

Just looking at their indifferent eyes was enough. They were watching him calmly as he carried a young child and dragged a wild boar, without showing any agitation or curiosity. They were not agitated, but rather had calm and languid eyes. Their indifferent gaze made Jinhyuk nervous.

‘They’re suspicious and strange.’

He needed to find out. Before his parents came back.

Usually, ominous premonitions are never wrong.

“Hello there-”

Yujin smiled brightly and greeted the suspicious men. She tightened her arms around her brother’s neck.

***

Moon Seokil was dumbfounded by the sight he was witnessing, unable to believe his own eyes. His friend who was with him was the same, and the reactions of the two younger men who were resting in the car were no different.

‘What… is that?’

He had actually witnessed a wild boar biting a man’s pants and dragging him. It was probably when he was training in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do. Because he had to maintain stealth, he had hit the boar’s neck with his bayonet and saved the man.

But now, a young man was dragging a wild boar along.

‘Is he a soldier?’

When he was training in Hwacheon, they would hunt wild boars to supplement their lack of calories. When transporting wild boars, they would usually tie their legs to a steel pipe and have four men carry it on their shoulders, or put it in the back of a truck… No, that’s not important right now. A wild boar of that size would probably weigh close to 200kg.

The young man, judging by his hairstyle, might be a soldier on leave. He was tall and had a sturdy build. Anyway, the young, almost youthful-looking man was transporting the heavy wild boar with such ease, without even looking like he was straining.

Drrr-drrr-drrr-.

Moon Seokil, who had been unable to close his mouth until the wild boar was out of sight, opened his mouth.

He was so shocked that his voice was weak and his eyes were still hazy, as if he were in a hallucination.

“Sangtae…”

“Why…”

“That guy came out of that house, right?”

“Right.”

“But why is he going that way?”

“How would I know…”

“Is that his sibling from that house?”

“Looking at their faces, they do look alike…”

His friend was just as out of it as he was, so he was barely able to answer Moon Seokil’s questions. His voice was languid, as if he were about to fall asleep.

Moon Seokil’s lips were dry and his throat was parched.

“Is he our junior?”

“…He must be our junior.”

It’s disrespectful to talk down to him. The friend called Sangtae moved his lips.

If there was an agent who showed such monstrous strength, it was only right to use honorifics, no matter how far down the ranks they were.

He gently nudged Moon Seokil’s arm.

“I think we took on the wrong job this time, don’t you?”

“I guess so, but that guy isn’t our target.”

“If we get on the wrong side of that junior, we won’t even be able to collect our bones, right? He’s got the strength of a mountain?”

“There are four of us. Are we going to do this operation with strength?”

Even as he said that, there was still a sense of helplessness in Moon Seokil’s voice.

Moon Seokil shook his head hard to clear his mind and took a long breath. Then, he slowly nodded and recalled his mission. He also re-examined his colleagues. They were agents who were called the elite of the elite.

“I don’t know where he went, but he won’t be away from home for long, right?”

“Of course. Country bumpkins don’t go out after dark. He’ll be back soon.”

That’s when they’ll strike.

***

“Kyaaaaaaak-!”

There was chaos at Choi Mikyung’s house.

People from the neighborhood had gathered to watch the ssireum [Korean wrestling] competition that Choi Taeyang was participating in for the holiday, but Choi Mikyung had screamed when she saw the wild boar. Everyone came out to the porch and looked Jinhyuk up and down.

“Oh my! What happened to our Jinaek! Did you roll down a mountain?”

“No.”

The wild boar tore me up. But Yujin and Janggun are safe.

He did roll, but it wasn’t that kind of roll, so it wasn’t a lie.

“Father, could you take a look at this…”

“Eii? What is this? Where did you get this?”

Only then did Choi Janghwan discover the wild boar and was shocked to the point of fainting. Other residents who had not been visible came rushing out to see the wild boar at Choi Janghwan’s horrified shout.

“I went to pick chestnuts in the back mountain.”

“If you eat something that’s been dead for a long time, you’ll get sick?”

It hadn’t been dead for even 15 minutes.

Choi Janghwan examined the wild boar from side to side. The all-knowing Jo Ilheon also put a cigarette in his mouth and began his inspection with narrowed eyes. Its nose and mouth were wet, its body temperature was still there, and rigor mortis hadn’t set in, so when he pressed it with a lighter, it went in.

“Hyung, this hasn’t been dead for long. The blood hasn’t even clotted yet?”

Choi Janghwan, agreeing with Jo Ilheon’s words, nodded with his chin in his hand.

“Eii-. It’s fresh. The condition is very good. Did our Jinaek carry this all by himself?”

“No, well, I just…”

He didn’t carry it, but he did bring it alone, but how should he explain this? Jinhyuk had no way to explain it, so he waved his hand vaguely, pointing at the mountain and then at the bean field. He looked like a maestro who had missed a beat.

“Please share it among the neighbors. Goodbye.”

“Jinaek, what should we give you?”

Choi Janghwan’s voice pierced Jinhyuk’s back as he quickly turned to leave.

He had brought it because his sister had said she wanted to eat it, but he didn’t really want to eat wild animals. What should he do?

After pondering for a moment, he met Yujin’s eyes, who was staring intently at her brother.

There were many adults watching, so Yujin couldn’t say it outright, but when he saw her shaking her brother’s hand gently, it seemed that Yujin had no intention of giving up on the wild boar.

“Eung- eung-.”

Yujin shook her hand and even made a whining sound that she didn’t usually make. Quietly, so that only her brother could hear.

Ah, Yujin really likes meat. How could he ignore those pitiful eyes?

“If you could give me a few ribs…”

Jinhyuk answered in a barely audible voice, and Jo Ilheon jumped up.

“What are a few ribs! It’s Jinaek’s, so you have to give him a hind leg!”

“What hind leg! The front leg and belly are the tastiest!”

“Ah, no! No! Please just give me a little bit. I’m going!”

“Okay! This hyung will prepare it so that it doesn’t smell gamey, so come back in the evening!”

Leaving behind Jo Ilheon, who was older than his father but called himself ‘hyung’ [older brother/male friend], Jinhyuk picked up Yujin and headed home.

He could hear Choi Janghwan and Jo Ilheon whispering.

“Can we eat this?”

“We eat deer, so a wild boar is much better.”

“But why did this guy die?”

“It looks like it ate poisonous mushrooms. There’s a lot of powder on its snout. Why does this side of its snout look so clean, like someone licked it?”

“Does a wild boar die from eating poisonous mushrooms?”

“It would. It’s poison. It’s right here, dead, isn’t it?”

It was something that sounded like a joke, but Jo Ilheon’s face, flushed with alcohol, was very serious.

“If we eat this, won’t we die too?”

“Ha! Come on. This hyung is talking nonsense again. This is so precious. If you just take out the innards, you can eat the rest.”

“But do wild boars come out around here?”

“Who knows? It came here and died on its own. A person’s hometown is where they live, and an animal’s hometown is where it dies.”

Jinhyuk thought that Jo Ilheon’s words made sense. He had once considered Seoul his hometown instead of this place, which he would never have visited if his parents’ graves had not been there.

“Hehehe, what is this? Did it fall from the sky because our Taeyang became a Halla Champion?”

Choi Janghwan’s words made him feel resentful. If you become a Cheonhajangsa [the highest rank in Korean wrestling], you’ll get a Hanwoo [premium Korean beef].

He had almost died and suffered a lot to catch it, but he absolutely could not agree with the theory that it had been given to them from the sky for free.