Chapter 140
We booked a room at the hotel where Yoo Yi-myeong was staying.
It was a good hotel.
My school could only afford a school trip to Jeju Island because we were broke.
Kids these days have it fucking good...
Anyway, while we were there, I called Yoo Yi-myeong over and made a plan.
A plan to use him as bait, lure the culprit in, and catch him at the scene.
And Yoo Yi-myeong volunteered to be that bait.
"Hey. If we make even the slightest mistake, you'll really die."
It was a dangerous operation.
But the kid was a real man.
"Will there be an accident in the future you saw, hyung?"
"No."
"Then I'll trust you and go ahead, hyung."
"Are you out of your mind...?"
"No! It's the future you saw, hyung!"
"That's true."
"I trust you 100%, hyung!"
Yoo Yi-myeong volunteered to be the bait himself.
Honestly, he was manly enough that I wanted to trust him, but if this kid became the bait, an actual accident would happen.
When I told him that, Yoo Yi-myeong fell silent.
"Ugh."
"To be frank, when a train is approaching, do you think you can keep your body from freezing?"
"Mmm... You have a point."
"It's better to leave this sort of thing to people who are good at it."
So I chose one of the NIS agents who had come as our covert security detail.
If someone fell onto the tracks, they could avoid danger by slipping into the emergency shelter beneath the platform.
Of course, in a sudden situation, they might not think of that, which could be disastrous.
But surely NIS agents could manage something this basic.
Just in case, I checked the future with the agents in place, and saw a future in which exactly one person was pushed.
"Agent Kim Hyeong-sik."
"Yes."
"I'll be counting on you."
His build was similar enough to Yoo Yi-myeong's that he seemed to be the target.
That left the police and bodyguards who would be waiting nearby.
After going to all this trouble, we couldn't let the culprit get away, could we?
"Hyung! Is there any way we can help, too?"
"If you really want to, perhaps you could secretly film the situation?"
"Oh. This feels like some sort of secret operation."
"It is a secret operation."
Because it wasn't an operation we could carry out in the open.
Yoo Yi-myeong was delighted.
He seemed excited that he could help, too.
"Anyway, hyung. Please take care of me tomorrow."
"All right. Don't worry. It won't be a future where you guys get pushed. And don't act like you know everything. You know..."
"The future can change any number of times?"
"That's right."
"Heh. Don't worry. Ah. I'll keep this operation secret."
"All right. I'm counting on you. Hey. Since you're here, why don't you stay and eat something delicious? We're going out to dinner later."
I suggested it, thinking it might be okay if it was only for a little while, but Yoo Yi-myeong thought for a moment, then pointed beside me.
"No way~! I can't get in the way of you having a date, hyung."
What Yoo Yi-myeong's fingertip was pointing at was Hong Si-yeon.
.
.
。
Thus, the planning meeting ended.
The kid left, and Prosecutor Keigo left, too.
At the hotel café, with only Hong Si-yeon and me left, I stood up.
"Then shall we go get something delicious?"
"Something delicious... What? Isn't food you consider delicious usually either hamburgers or pizza, Mr. Noah?"
"Heh. I did some research before coming. I found a delicious place."
"Where?"
"There's a Mos Burger right in front of here..."
"....."
"That was half a joke."
"So half of that was serious. What about the other half?"
"Let's go there first."
The place I took her to was a gyukatsu restaurant.
It was pretty famous, apparently, because there was a wait.
"My goodness... Mr. Noah eating something other than hamburgers and pizza..."
"I like pork cutlets, too."
Gyukatsu was just the difference between beef and pork, wasn't it?
It was still a man's food.
Anyway, after waiting a little, a table opened up, and we sat down.
We placed our order, waited a little, and the food soon arrived.
Oh...
This is tastier than I expected.
"The gyukatsu practically melts in my mouth."
"Have some more."
As she said this, Si-yeon gave me a few more pieces.
Did that fill her up...?!
"Hehe. The portions are pretty big, aren't they?"
"If you don't drink beer, I think you could finish it all."
"I have to drink beer."
After grinning and taking a bite of the gyukatsu, she stared at me.
"Why?"
"Are you going straight back as soon as this is over?"
"That's what I'm planning... Why?"
"I was thinking it might be nice to do some sightseeing while we're here."
"Huh? Is that all right?"
"Oh my? That's an unexpected reaction. I thought you'd say, 'Let's just go since there's nothing to do.'"
"Actually, there is something to do."
There happened to be an event nearby.
I wanted to attend while we were here.
"What is it? Tell me. I'll always be by your side."
The sight of her smiling gently put me at ease.
"Really? Actually, I heard there's a Dunsa Festival."
"Oh. A game?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Han Yu-na is going too, right?"
"Yes. Are you interested?"
"I tried it before, but it wasn't for me."
"What a shame."
You can't force it on someone it isn't suited to.
Even so, Si-yeon smiled with ease.
"But I can at least go to the event venue with you."
"Oooooh...!! A goddess...!!"
"Ahaha! Are you that happy?"
"Yes. They have random merchandise exclusive to event attendees."
Originally, I'd planned to go with Mr. Cheolhon.
But if Ms. Si-yeon comes too, wouldn't that make three random items?
No, if we count Ms. Si-yeon's bodyguards, too...?
I couldn't pass that up.
I absolutely had to go and claim them.
***
Suzuhara Endo, a Japanese man living in Osaka, had a lot of complaints.
That was because the number of people coming to Japan had recently increased.
'These fucking bastards...!!'
He struggled to get by on a monthly salary of 300,000 yen, paying taxes and rent, and could barely afford even domestic travel, let alone going abroad.
So why did these damn foreigners come to someone else's country on a whim and cause such a nuisance?
People who took pictures in the middle of the street.
People who dumped their trash wherever they pleased.
Foreigners who knew nothing had even started showing up at his favorite café.
And that wasn't all.
"Th-th-those bastards!!"
His sole hobby was taking railway photographs.
As the number of travelers had increased recently, they rudely took railway photographs and would casually wander into his shots.
So he hated foreigners even more.
"Do these bastards not even know what meiwaku is?!"
It was lamentable.
Rude scum who knew nothing of manners had come to this beautiful country and behaved like this.
The government that let in tourists who didn't even know not to inconvenience others could only be called a bunch of fucking idiots.
Then what should he do?
While pondering this, he saw a traveler taking a picture of a young child by the roadside.
His discontent surged.
So.
-Whack!!
"Waaaaah!!"
He bumped into the child.
The child, no more than five years old, fell over and began crying, while the people who seemed to be his parents hurriedly helped him to his feet.
For a moment, a thrilling sense of satisfaction washed over him.
'Yes. This is it....!!'
He had learned that Japan hadn't been like this in the past.
When samurai were around, anyone who caused trouble was simply beheaded.
But now it wasn't like that.
That was why people didn't know their manners.
Then?
'I am a samurai...!!'
A righteous warrior protecting Japan's meiwaku culture.
A fine Japanese man teaching people about manners and etiquette.
An inexplicable pride surged within him.
From that day on, he walked the streets and boldly bumped into people.
Of course, he didn't bump into large men.
He had important things to do.
If he ran into trouble after bumping into people like that, it would be a headache, wouldn't it?
So his targets were children, women, and tourists who looked weak.
Sometimes he even brazenly shoulder-checked elderly Japanese people who seemed not to know what meiwaku meant.
It was exhilarating.
A sinister pleasure reverberated in his chest.
I am a man of this caliber.
I am the one maintaining order in Japan.
Sometimes there were people who glared at him, but what did that matter?
If he glared back, they simply looked away.
So he strode on boldly, smiling.
Then one day.
"Huh?!"
He was particularly angry that morning.
It must have been because that bastard of a department head had given him hell yesterday.
Thinking he ought to deliver some justice today, he went to the station for work.
He saw a swarm of male high school students in a place that was usually already crowded with people.
Why were there male high school students here whom he didn't usually see?
"...Korean."
That's right.
It was Korean.
They were foreigners.
Bastards who visited another country without thinking and caused trouble.
Of course, they weren't exactly littering or talking loudly.
But they were still a nuisance.
Why?
Because he had decided they were.
Because they had come to have fun in another country, laughing like that on a lousy day when everyone else had to go to work.
Then what was he supposed to do?
A boy with his hood pulled over his head caught his eye.
He was a skinny kid.
He looked about as tall as Endo and was staring only at his phone.
'Stupid bastard...!! Doesn't he know it's dangerous to stare at a phone like that in front of the tracks?!'
Ah. Then this champion of justice had to teach him a lesson.
He slipped up behind the boy.
Then, naturally exerting some force, he pushed him with his shoulder while pretending to walk past.
This much wouldn't cause a problem.
Just as he thought that.
"Aaargh?!"
The boy fell onto the tracks.
For a moment, Endo flinched.
This wasn't just a shoulder check.
This was.
This was.
At worst, he might be charged with attempted murder.
-Bwaaaang!!
The train was approaching.
The boy didn't get up.
If he stayed like this, Endo might become a murderer.
The courage that had filled his chest vanished in an instant, replaced by anxiety and fear.
He had to run.
He had to get away from this place.
No one was watching him.
So now...
"Hey."
A hand grabbed his shoulder as he tried to pull away.
Startled, he hurriedly shook it off and tried to disappear into the crowd.
And at that moment.
"Secure him!!"
A burly man and woman in plain clothes grabbed Endo and pinned him down.
Screams erupted.
And the train stopped.
A little later, the student who had fallen onto the tracks—or rather, the man who had merely looked like a student—came walking out, while other Korean students holding phones pointed at Endo.
Dozens of people had been watching.
More than five phone cameras had been recording.
Endo.
Had tried to kill someone by shoulder-checking them.
Everything went black before Endo's eyes.
***