Chapter 56
***
Bill Stanley of the FBI couldn’t hide his disbelief as he watched TV.
'So you're saying this Eastern mystic predicted a mass shooter would come and stopped it?'
Was this even remotely believable?
He didn’t know whether he was supposed to take seriously the police chief on Atlanta local TV spouting off like that.
"The scammers I’ve busted so far would be impressed."
Eastern mysticism.
Divination.
Occult.
These were all things con artists loved to exploit.
Men who simply dazzled people with an air of mystery and flashy talk to swindle them for profit.
They were bastards who ought to be thrown in a cell immediately.
If that man Kang Noah had been American, he might have gone to investigate him right away.
"Bill!! Bill!!"
"Ah. Yes."
He tore his gaze away from the TV and stood up.
His superior was standing there.
"I need you to make a trip to Korea."
"...Huh? Me? Why Korea...?"
"Go meet that Kang Noah fellow."
Could he have caused trouble in the U.S.?
But according to the news, Kang Noah had never even come to the U.S.
The one who had relayed his words was merely Kang Noah’s friend, a woman who happened to be there.
"Go ask him to look into the Hazard matter."
"...The Hazard? That Hazard?"
He was a member of the terrorist group called Allah’s Moon.
The CIA had announced that the organization called Allah’s Moon was currently plotting a terrorist attack somewhere in the U.S.
In the end, they had worked with them to capture one of the group’s members, Hazard Mohiman, but he still hadn’t said a word.
"Right."
"Wait, isn’t that something our side is handling? And you want to leave something like that to some scammer peddling Eastern mysticism?"
He was dumbfounded.
Of course, it was true that Bill liked Korea enough to speak Korean fluently like a local.
But this was ridiculous.
"Oh, boss. Please come to your senses. That’s all a scam, I’m telling you."
"Shut up. The Georgia governor strongly recommended him."
Good grief.
No matter how powerful he was as governor, he couldn’t put pressure on the FBI.
And this was a matter of U.S. security, wasn’t it?
Bill scowled.
He had so much to do—why did he have to go to Korea and round up some fraud like that?
"It’s an order from the deputy director too, so get going!"
"Yes, yes."
And just like that, Bill’s trip to Korea was decided.
.
.
.
Investigating the man named Kang Noah wasn’t very difficult.
A little digging on the internet was enough to find out.
[I work at a convenience store in Jongno and I saw hyung Noah!]
[Last time I was at a café in Jongno, I saw an old man doing dogeza in front of hyung Noah]
[I saw hyung Noah eating at a galbi place in Jongno with a really gorgeous woman. He ate really well.]
From the posts online, he learned that Kang Noah lived somewhere in Jongno District.
Then it was time for the next step.
Would it be better to request cooperation from the Korean government?
Or from that site?
Or maybe they could even talk to him directly on a broadcast.
'I still have time, so let’s have a cup of coffee first.'
Maybe it was the time difference, but he felt tired.
Just then, he spotted a small but nice-looking café nearby.
That was the moment he opened the door.
'Good grief.'
What on earth was going on?
His target was sitting in a secluded corner of the café he had wandered into on a whim.
And he was with the red-haired beauty he had seen on TV last time.
"Hello. Mr. Kang. I’m..."
This was his chance.
He’d approach the target and introduce himself.
Then he’d try to ask for cooperation.
Of course, Bill didn’t trust Kang Noah in the slightest.
Because he thought Eastern mysticism and the like weren’t scientific and were nonsense.
There were plenty of colleagues who were crazy about that stuff, but at the very least, he considered himself a sensible American.
But the other party was a foreigner, and someone he had to invite under orders from above.
He had to be as friendly as possible.
"Would you mind flipping this first?"
A card was held out to him.
The broadcast had said he could glimpse the future using cards.
In any case, he was in a situation where he had to ask the other side for cooperation.
There was no need to provoke him for no reason, so he flipped the card over,
"You’re Bill Stanley of the FBI. Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Noah."
His common sense collapsed.
***
I smiled when I saw the FBI agent in front of me stiffen.
From his past, I could see he didn’t trust me in the slightest.
Then all I had to do was make him believe me.
"Uh, uh...."
"Wait. Did you say Bill Stanley? You. Were you tailing me?"
Hong Siyeon’s eyes turned cold.
Seeing that, Bill hurriedly said,
"Miss Hong. Absolutely not."
"Then how did you find this place exactly? Right when I happened to arrive?"
"CEO Hong. Please calm down. It’s not like that."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes."
"Ahem. I-I see. Um. You said Bill, right? I’m sorry. I made a huge mistake. I’ll apologize properly."
"Ah, no. It’s a perfectly reasonable thought. If it had happened to me, I would have judged the same way."
Perhaps surprised that Hong Siyeon had been won over by a single word from me, he accepted her apology.
Then he sat down.
Not beside either me or Hong Siyeon,
but he brought over a chair from the neighboring table and sat facing away from us.
"Bill, your boss Raton said it, didn’t he? He told you to ask me for cooperation."
"......"
"And the Powerball merch you lost is with your younger brother, Lorenchi."
"That son of a bitch!! I knew it!!"
If your own younger brother is a son of a bitch, then that makes you one too.
I shrugged at him as he blew up in anger.
"Well? Is this enough for you to believe that I’m different from some scammer spouting off about Eastern mysticism?"
"I-I believe you!"
Good. Excellent.
"...Then this should go much faster. Mr. Kang Noah, could you come to the United States?"
"It’d be difficult to bring that man Hazard here, right?"
"Uh, yes. I suppose so."
The organization called Allah’s Moon was dangerous.
If it became known that Hazard was boarding a plane, they might even try to hijack it.
Avoiding the worst-case scenario was the right thing to do, he explained calmly.
"Please help us."
Bill asked politely.
"We’ll provide first class so your trip here won’t be uncomfortable."
"First class?"
Was that a good thing?
The internet said it was good, but honestly, I couldn’t really tell.
Maybe it was because the flight to Japan was so short...?
"Just because it’s first class doesn’t mean it isn’t uncomfortable."
"Is that so?"
"But... I suppose putting the FBI in my debt wouldn’t be bad."
"That’s true, but. Hmm..."
I was torn.
I looked in the mirror.
My future reflected in the mirror.
Nothing much, huh.
If I got captured and turned into some machine for reading the future, or if my brain started floating, I’d tell them to cut the crap and run—but nothing like that was happening.
It was just the kind of trip where I’d go and come back normally.
And this man asking me for help counted as a good person, so...
I guess I can go.
"All right. I’ll cooperate."
"Huh?! Really?"
"There are just a few promises I’d like you to make."
Bill’s expression grew tense.
What did he think I was going to ask for, to make that face...
It wasn’t anything serious, so I wished he wouldn’t be so scared.
"Please provide meals."
"Of course."
"I’m going to file for travel expenses."
"That’s only natural."
"And I’d like you to provide internet access at all times. A fast connection."
"That’s not difficult, but why...?"
"Because I have to game and stream."
Bill grinned.
"We’ll comply unconditionally."
And just like that, the trip to the U.S. was decided.
Other than that, nothing much happened.
Bill kept marveling at the coffee’s flavor, and only left in high spirits after eating two whole plates of the pound cake they brought out.
Once he left the shop, Hong Siyeon smirked.
"Our Noah is going to be active internationally now!"
"I’ve been active internationally for a while now."
I’d been to Japan, and I was also on good terms with the famous American pop singer Joanna.
On top of that, I’d heard that stopping this Georgia shooting incident had boosted my profile a bit.
"Still. You never got a request like this separately, right?"
"That’s true."
"Heh. Great. Since our company’s director is going on a business trip, I, as the boss, should naturally go along too!"
"Huh? Didn’t you just arrive today?"
You’ve only been here how long, and you’re already going back to the U.S.?
Hong Siyeon grinned.
"It’s fine, so let’s go together. You’ll need someone to show you around the U.S., right?"
"That’s true, too."
"There’s nobody who knows it as well as I do."
Hong Siyeon said that triumphantly, staring straight at me without even blinking, as if she had no intention of taking no for an answer.
"You’ll go with me, right?"
If I said no, she’d probably follow me under the pretense of it being a coincidence.
Might as well just say yes.
It was true that I needed a guide.
.
.
.
And so, the airport.
"I’m worried whether I’m even allowed to be in a place like this."
"They’re covering all companions, so there’s no reason to refuse."
"Hmm. Still..."
"It’s fine. Honestly, where would I even go without Mr. Cheolhon?"
It was hard to find a bodyguard as accommodating to me as Mr. Cheolhon.
"Thank you! Sir!"
"No need to thank me for something like this. Come on. Let’s board."
We left the first-class lounge and headed for the plane.
Perhaps because it was a foreign airline, the flight attendants were foreigners too.
Following their guidance, I sat in my first-class seat and opened my laptop.
Let’s watch a movie I downloaded from Etflix.
"What movie did you download?"
Hong Siyeon came over beside me.
Then she looked at the laptop screen and smiled brightly.
"That one’s fun."
"You watched it?"
"Yes. Um. My grandmother invested in the program, too."
"Oh..."
"And Baekheuk Chef is fun too, so watch that. Oh, have you seen it?"
"Yes. I did."
Hong Siyeon recommended a few other good ones too, then returned to her seat as the plane prepared for takeoff.
And then we took off.
After wearing my earphones and watching the movie for a while, the film had just ended.
I noticed a young Arab-looking man staring at me intently.
"...Sir."
Just as Mr. Cheolhon and Hong Siyeon’s eyes were about to sharpen at the sight, a man who looked like his bodyguard came over and spoke.
...
It was in English.
I couldn’t understand it. English, though.
Hong Siyeon, however, told me what he said.
"He says he’s a fan of yours, Noah. Apparently he only watches you on YouTube."
Looks like he became a fan after watching clips that other people had cut.
Unfortunately, Chajajak didn’t know Korean, so he couldn’t really follow along.
"He’s asking for an autograph... Could you do that?"
"Of course. Ah. But before that."
I held out a card to him.
His expression brightened instantly.
He flipped the card over quickly.
What appeared was the upright High Priestess.
"When you go back, could you tell your older brother to apologize? He says he’s sorry too."
"...Uh. All right."
When Hong Siyeon relayed it in English, surprise spread across the man’s face.
I took the paper he handed me.
An autograph, huh.
An autograph is fine, but...
"CEO Hong."
"Yes?"
"Um, what’s the spelling for 'wangson'? Like 'prince son'?"
"...Pardon?"
Because this man was
a Saudi Arabian prince.