There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 242

< Duel of Darkness (2) >

‘Could this guy be…?’

I suspected Nam Jae might have a hidden side.

But a man with children and grandchildren couldn’t be, right?

I narrowed my eyes and stared straight at Nam Jae.

Is this guy testing me right now?

“Alright.”

I answered coolly, taking off the *gat* [traditional Korean hat] I was wearing.

Clothes and hats are one, so the *gat* should be included in the clothing.

“Haha, I didn’t think Your Highness would really accept.”

Nam Jae burst into a hearty laugh.

Why, did he think I’d be flustered?

“A man’s word is as good as gold.”

I didn’t know it was a strip bet, but I have no intention of making excuses now.

It’s definitely a perplexing request, but I can’t just shout “You idiot! Pervert! Die!” and slap Nam Jae across the cheek in this situation, can I?

Because this is Lee Bang-won’s quest. [Referring to the historical figure and the political maneuvering involved.]

It’s a decision point on whether I can bring Nam Jae, a high-ranking official with strange tastes, over to my side.

Questioning Nam Jae’s rudeness might get me an apology, but it wouldn’t be very productive.

He’s the kind of person who has the guts to tell the Crown Prince to take off his clothes according to the rules.

That’s how you survive even after suggesting a Grand Prince take the Crown Prince’s position.

“Your Highness truly has the demeanor of a monarch.”

But when I kept my promise without saying a word, Nam Jae was rather impressed.

Without hesitation, he cleared the Go stones and suggested another round to me.

At this point, I’m curious.

“How far does this bet usually go?”

Then Nam Jae said firmly.

“Until we see the end.”

How serious is this guy about strip Go?

It was an area hard to understand even for me, with my modern sensibilities.

Of course, I’m more familiar with these kinds of games as a modern person.

‘It was Jenga back then, though.’

Good memories are flooding back.

In that sense, Nam Jae was a trendsetter who transcended eras.

But playing strip Go with a man like this is just crazy.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I will also take off a layer of clothing if I lose.”

Seeing Nam Jae confidently declare that he would also fairly follow the rules, I clicked my tongue.

‘I don’t really want to see the old man take off his clothes.’

Nam Jae has a taste for enjoying watching his opponent take off their clothes, but I’m a perfectly normal person, so how can this be a fair match?

Muttering, I picked up a Go stone, but soon realized that wasn’t the only unfair thing.

I realized that I didn’t have many clothes on to begin with.

‘What a mistake.’

Originally, scholars had to dress neatly, so when going out, they wore layers of clothing, including a *dopo* [a type of traditional Korean overcoat].

But why did I bother to dress so thinly?

‘I don’t usually care about that stuff.’

After being the Crown Prince for a while, no one says anything even if I come out wearing just a ramie shirt.

In the first place, if I wore so many layers in this weather, I’d get heat rash and die.

There’s no way I, who showers every day for fear of dying from skin disease, would make such a mistake.

Although it’s early autumn, the summer heat hasn’t subsided yet, so it was a mistake to wear thin clothes.

‘At this rate, I’m going to lose…’

Nam Jae and I are evenly matched in skill.

In that case, Nam Jae, who has more ‘life coins’ [referring to the layers of clothing as a form of advantage], will inevitably win.

I doubt he’d really make the Crown Prince take off his underwear, but…

‘I can’t let my guard down.’

There are people in this era who harbor madness in their hearts. Nam Jae’s obsession with undressing is cute by comparison.

I think I’ve heard stories of vassals getting drunk and breaking the king’s arm back in modern times.

I started making my move with tension.

===

‘I knew it would come to this.’

I was left with only my underwear and was sweating profusely.

The win rate was similar, but since Nam Jae had more clothes on, he still had much more leeway.

‘It’s okay so far.’

Anyway, it’s hot, so I can just think of it as men playing Go without formalities.

But I can’t give up my last resort.

Only the last resort…

But can I defeat Nam Jae to the end with only one coin left?

I made a decision.

Let’s get out of here with some excuse.

‘Is there a topic that could divert Nam Jae’s attention?’

Thinking about it, Nam Jae seemed more interested in betting than enjoying Go itself.

‘He seems obsessed with undressing rather than Go… wait?’

A good way to overcome this crisis came to mind.

“Does the Grand Scholar often enjoy this strip Go?”

“Go takes a long time to play a single game, so I can’t play it as often as I’d like. But I try to play it at least once every ten days…”

“This strip Go seems like it could take all day if you play it. I think that’s why the Grand Scholar can’t play it often, isn’t it?”

“But what can I do? This is the easiest game to play.”

Exactly.

Nam Jae is more interested in the reward than the ritual.

Perhaps the pleasure of seeing the other person embarrassed by taking off their clothes is greater than the pleasure of playing Go.

The reason it’s Go is probably because there’s no other game in Joseon with such widely known rules.

I cautiously brought it up.

“Grand Scholar, if there’s a game that takes much less time and can be learned even by children, would you be willing to try it instead?”

“Is there such a thing?”

“Seeing is believing. I’ll make it right away and send it to your house, so please wait just one day.”

“Oh, uh…”

Before Nam Jae could say anything, I quickly put on my clothes and hurried out of Nam Jae’s house.

Phew, I’m alive.

I almost did a strip show in front of a high-ranking official as the Crown Prince.

And in my in-law’s house, no less.

If my father heard about it, he might try to disown me.

I wiped away the cold sweat and moved my feet.

===

The thing I wanted to make was Jenga.

First of all, the fact that it’s very easy to make was a priority. You just have to cut wooden blocks evenly and grind the surface.

With the skills of our military supplies division, matching the size is a piece of cake.

The second reason. It’s easy to learn.

No, to be exact, there’s nothing to learn.

If you know the rule that the person who pulls out the wooden blocks one by one and collapses the tower loses, even a first-timer can play right away.

“It looks like the wooden pagoda of Hwangnyongsa [a famous Buddhist temple in Korean history].”

Nam Jae, who saw Jenga for the first time, even added such storytelling on the spot.

“It’s a game where the person who pulls out the blocks one by one and collapses it first loses.”

“This wouldn’t take much time at all. Anyone could learn it.”

I nodded.

But there’s one thing Nam Jae missed.

It’s easy to play Jenga, but it’s hard to be good at it.

‘This also requires some skill.’

Nam Jae and I are about the same skill level in Go, but if it’s Jenga, which I’ve played like eating rice [very frequently] in modern times, I can make Nam Jae take off his underwear.

“Oh ho!”

Nam Jae exclaimed.

The Jenga collapsed when he tried to force out a tightly wedged middle block.

“D-Do you count socks as clothes, Your Highness?”

“I’ll acknowledge it if you take off both pairs.”

Nam Jae was flustered and took off his socks, but he couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Only the time it takes to play one game of Go has passed, but we’ve already had several matches, so with this, we can quickly undress each other!”

“……”

Nam Jae has been losing every game since he started playing Jenga.

He’s making such a happy face after being stripped as much as I was yesterday.

I’m afraid because I feel like I’ve glimpsed a fragment of madness that I can’t understand.

‘He seemed normal in the court.’

But I didn’t say this out loud.

‘I and my vassals aren’t exactly close.’

Of course, it’s true that there are quite a few officials classified as the Crown Prince faction, but they’re still at the working level.

The meritorious subjects are close to me, but if you think about it, they’re on the side of capitalism, not me.

‘Isn’t it a honey deal to gain the support of a high-ranking official like Nam Jae with just one Jenga?’

Of course, I don’t care about the people around me who will suffer from strip Jenga in the future.

I’m never coming to this house again once this is over!

‘Nam Jae’s skills are improving faster than I thought.’

“Hoo, hoo.”

Nam Jae, who collapsed the tower without even pulling out twice at first, is now sticking to the Jenga and controlling his breathing to pull out the wooden blocks.

Judging from Nam Jae’s personality, he’ll only do this after eating, so it’s only a matter of time before his skills catch up.

Of course, not today.

Nam Jae, who was gently pulling out the Jenga, shouted with a sinking heart.

“Oh, it almost collapsed again!”

“Try to do better.”

You can just take off your clothes if you keep losing, but I have to suffer from eye terrorism.

===

“Father. Did you talk a lot with His Highness the Crown Prince… Ugh?”

Nam Kyung-moon screamed as he entered the room.

He saw Nam Jae, who was only wearing underwear and fiddling with wooden blocks.

“I knew that His Highness the Crown Prince was wise, but I didn’t know that he had the character of a saint.”

Nam Kyung-moon looked bewildered as Nam Jae stroked his beard.

‘What on earth happened inside?’

The Crown Prince placing a *madu* [a type of poultice] on himself is widely praised as the achievement of Shin Nong [a legendary Chinese ruler and deity associated with agriculture and medicine].

If Nam Jae praises the Crown Prince as a saint for that, it’s not particularly strange.

But Nam Kyung-moon’s mind was dizzy when his elderly father looked at him in his underwear and said that.

‘Could it be that he even played strip Go with His Highness the Crown Prince?’

Nam Kyung-moon wanted to ask that, but he didn’t have the courage to look into the abyss, so he barely swallowed the question that had risen to his throat.

“His Highness the Crown Prince followed even this eccentric old man’s rude request for the sake of the promise, so it is truly the same behavior as Zengzi catching a pig [an allusion to a story about keeping promises].

Moreover, he even made a gift for this old man’s mere amusement, so how can I repay this grace?”

In the old days, when Zengzi’s wife went to the market, she promised to catch a pig to appease her child, and Zengzi caught the pig, saying that even a promise to a child must be kept.

‘He’s a man of unusual behavior. Isn’t this what a monarch means?’

A smile naturally formed on the corner of Nam Jae’s mouth.

It is not right to gain the throne just because he is the eldest son of the king.

The Crown Prince of a country should have the qualifications for it.

And in his opinion, the qualifications of a king are not in his personal talent.

The king is the one who employs vassals and buys their talents.

The achievements that the Crown Prince has shown are great, but can that alone be enough?

But the Crown Prince has now proven his qualifications as wonderfully as he has done so far.

If necessary, he is willing to bend down and indulge in his strange hobby.

‘Even if this old man doesn’t have many days left to work for His Highness, others will be different.’

Some may criticize him for not having the dignity of a king, but those who associate with him will be willing to give their lives for him.

‘Well, all three generations of our royal family have been like that.’