Chapter 66
***
While lounging around watching YouTube, I refreshed the page and a news article caught my eye.
[Operation to Take Down a Massive Drug Organization Successfully Carried Out...]
It was a news report saying that the operation to take down the criminal organization, led by Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol, had been successfully carried out and all those involved had been arrested.
Well done!
I knew I could count on them!
As for the organization's criminal proceeds, the report only mentioned the land, buildings, and Bitcoin they possessed.
There was no mention of the cash I'd found.
Well, they'll handle it properly, right? I'll keep watch for now...
-Vroooom!!
My phone rang.
A text message came in.
I thought it might be Gu Nam-cheol, but it was an international message.
[Hyung. It's me! Abdullah! I'm going to Korea next week. Can you meet me?]
Abdullah?
Ah. The Saudi prince.
That fan of mine was coming to Korea. But why?
Even after searching online news, I couldn't find anything about a Saudi prince coming.
So I asked him.
Why he was coming.
[I have some business to discuss with the Korean government. Of course, that's not why I want to meet you. It's hard to explain the details by text.]
He was coming for official business?
Hmm. Well, there was nothing I could say about that.
Right. He was coming, so what could I say?
[And... there's one thing I'd like to ask you.]
Why was he dragging it out like that?
[Could you see my brother's future?]
My brother, huh.
He couldn't mean me. He must have meant the brother I'd fought with last time, right?
There was nothing particularly difficult about it, so I didn't mind.
Once I gave my permission, Abdullah happily promised to give me a huge donation during my broadcast.
And during the next day's broadcast, I received the largest donation in my history.
As expected of oil money.
That was terrifying.
.
.
.
"Hmm-hmm~. Hm-hmm~!"
I entered the convenience store, humming to myself.
Today's lunch was cup noodles and a triangular kimbap.
I should go home and enjoy it properly.
It was just as I arrived near the officetel where I lived, after finishing my purchase.
There was a car that hadn't been there when I left earlier.
There were even bodyguards in suits...
"Hyung!! Hyung!!"
The Korean was rather clumsy.
I saw two Arabs loitering near the entrance to the officetel.
One of them was Abdullah, whom I'd met before...
I didn't know the other one.
The man with an impressive beard on his chin began trembling as though deeply moved the moment he saw me, then started babbling something in Arabic.
Was it because this was a sight rarely seen in Seoul?
There were many people sneaking glances in this direction.
And then.
"Huh? Wh-what?!"
The man knelt down and prostrated himself in front of me.
Heh.
It wasn't even a cafe anymore...!!
There was nothing I could do about a prince prostrating himself before me and babbling in Arabic.
We had to be able to communicate before I could do anything.
Fortunately, one of the men in suits was an interpreter.
"The great prince, Salam de Al Saud Bahman, says that he respects you and that your will is akin to that of a prophet."
That was a bit excessive.
A prophet, huh.
Anyway, we couldn't keep this up forever.
I helped Salam, who was kneeling and prostrating himself before me, to his feet.
"Could you tell him that instead of doing this here, we should go have a cup of coffee?"
The interpreter immediately relayed what I said.
He gave a solemn nod.
We went to a place that was practically my personal cafe.
"You have an Arab guest?"
"Yes. Haha. That's how it turned out."
"I wonder if Arab people drink coffee too..."
"Well, I'm sure they'll order whatever they want."
When they were asked what they wanted to order, they ordered for themselves.
Prince Salam ordered an espresso, while Prince Abdullah ordered a sweet frappuccino.
I ordered my usual cafe latte.
I looked to see what the other guards were drinking, but they didn't order anything separately.
"We can't drink coffee while we're on duty."
"Well, if that's the case."
What could I say when they said they wouldn't have any?
We went to a corner of the cafe.
As soon as we reached the spot that was practically my personal seat, the princes began talking earnestly and enthusiastically.
I can use the Papago translator, right?
I took out my phone and started up the AI translator while asking the interpreter to translate as well.
"Why don't we turn this over first?"
I held out a bundle of hwatu cards.
Salam gazed at the cards intently before cautiously turning one over.
The card that appeared was Ilgwang.
As I faced his questioning expression, I saw Salam's future.
***
"Why?!"
Salam was consumed by fury at the sight of his father's weakness.
Why?
Why did his father, a great member of the royal family who was merciful to his people and more brutal to his enemies than anyone else, have to suffer such humiliation?
"It couldn't be helped, my son."
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the prince of Saudi Arabia, couldn't erase the bitter expression from his face even at his son's cry.
"But those Moon of Allah bastards...!!"
They were a Shiite terrorist organization.
To Mohammed, a Sunni, they were nothing but loathsome bastards.
The problem was that he had become entangled with them.
"You know what they did in America!! Wouldn't it be better to ask America for help instead...?!"
"My son."
Mohammed let out a heavy sigh.
"If the bombs they planted in Riyadh were to explode, it would have a tremendous impact on the people."
But.
If he allowed the United States to enter his country and move about as it pleased,
it would bring immense chaos not only to this country but to all the nations of Islam.
In that case.
Rather than that, it would be better to bow his head to those loathsome Moon of Allah bastards.
"But if that happens, the political damage you would suffer...!!"
Even within Saudi Arabia, there were quite a few people who hated Mohammed, the next king.
It wasn't only outsiders.
There were more than a few second-in-command figures within Saudi Arabia itself who wanted nothing more than for him to step down.
Perhaps this incident would cause Mohammed's position to shake severely.
To see a father who thought only of his country and his people suffer such harm.
Salam thought that was something that must never happen.
***
"So this is a matter involving the Moon of Allah."
Those bastards were acting up in Saudi Arabia after causing trouble in America last time.
If the person the FBI had arrested last time had been someone in a sufficiently high position, they might have caught the ringleader and everyone else, but it was a shame that he hadn't been.
......!!
The interpreter was horrified.
And Salam was even more horrified.
"The Moon of Allah planted bombs in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, didn't they? And they demanded various concessions from your father, Mohammed, along with the release of members of the Moon of Allah organization."
"...Y-yes, that's right!!"
The interpreter spoke for him in a trembling voice.
I could roughly understand what Salam was saying as he babbled away excitedly in Arabic.
Beside me, Papago was mechanically chattering things like, "That's right."
Or, "How did you find that out?"
Or, "You are the true prophet!"
Hmm, then let's tell him right away.
There was no need to drag things out.
"Do you have a tablet?"
The interpreter hurriedly gestured to someone.
What he brought was a thirteen-inch iPad Pro.
They were talking about whether to give it to me as a gift, but I hadn't asked for it because I particularly wanted a tablet.
I needed a map, after all.
"I'll mark the locations where the bombs were planted."
"C-can you find that out too?!"
"Isn't that why you came to ask me?"
I alternated between looking at Salam's trembling eyes and Abdullah's smug expression beside him.
Referring to Salam's future, in which he received a briefing on where the explosions occurred and where the bombs were discovered, I marked the locations on Google Maps.
"First, here and here. In particular, there's a bomb inside an electronic billboard in Boulevard Riyadh City."
That wasn't all.
Bombs had also been planted in several pillars in the basement of the Co-Investment Fund Tower in the King Abdullah Financial District.
"They planted quite a few."
They said the Moon of Allah was a fairly powerful organization even among Shiite terrorist groups.
They certainly seemed capable enough.
"And there's a traitor within the royal family as well."
"...Who is it?!"
"Well, I only know the names. There's a man named Mohab bi Dshanta, and another named Horabia Marshal Doweda..."
I also told them the names of the traitors who would be exposed in Salam's future.
I gave them the names of people who claimed to be royal officials but were actually dealing with the Moon of Allah.
"There. Is that enough?"
"Our benefactor!! Our prophet!!"
Salam sprang to his feet and tried to kiss my shoes, so I backed away as quickly as possible.
I appreciated his gratitude, but wasn't this going a bit too far?
"He's my viewer and my fan. Granting a fan's request is exactly what a superstar does to drive both haters and fans crazy."
Besides, Prince Salam seemed like a pretty decent person.
"...I wish to regard you as my brother."
I could tell what he meant without listening to the interpreter.
Prince Salam clasped my hand tightly, his eyes sparkling.
My brother, huh.
Well, that wasn't bad either.
"Please come to Saudi Arabia someday, whenever you can."
"Sure. I'm sure I'll have a reason to go someday."
.
.
.
What Salam left me as a token of his gratitude was an identity card.
If I brought it with me to Saudi Arabia, I would be treated as a state guest.
Of course, that wasn't all he left behind.
They returned to Saudi Arabia after loading me up with a huge amount of stock in Daesung Electronics, currently the top chaebol company in South Korea.
"Stocks, huh."
I could sell them, or live off the dividends.
That made me someone who could survive simply by breathing.
Of course, that didn't mean I intended to do nothing but play around.
"Well, good work today. See you next time."
-Hyung! Bye!
-Good night!
-Sweet dreams~!
"It's only nine in the evening. Isn't 'sweet dreams' a little premature...?"
-Ah lol Go to bed already!
-Think about your health!
-You're not going to stop broadcasting just because you're sick, are you?
I usually went to bed around midnight.
I still had three hours left.
Normally, I would lie down and watch YouTube for those remaining three hours.
"Hmm... Health, huh."
When I looked in the mirror, I saw a painfully thin man standing there.
There was nothing particularly wrong with my future appearance.
But was this actually good? I couldn't say it was.
I should exercise.
They say that even if you have plenty of money, losing your health means losing everything.
Of course, I wouldn't die or become crippled just because I didn't exercise.
Still, for the sake of my stamina, it would be better to work out.
In that case, where should I exercise...?
The most obvious choice was a gym.
Fortunately, there were several gyms near my home, so I decided to check them out.
I put my hands in my pockets and went outside.
The gym closest to my home.
Hmm...
This place takes your membership fee and disappears after one month.
Pass.
The gym nearby that was competing in the same cutthroat price war...
This one was a scam too.
Why were there so many gyms that took the money and ran?
I passed by the two closest places.
Of course, I didn't just let it go. I contacted Kang In-jeong and told them to look into the fact that both gyms seemed likely to take the money and disappear.
And next...
Oh. This place is fine.
It looked a little old, but I could see a future in which I exercised here consistently.
......
Was this really the right choice?
I was working out and panting like a dog.
I was exercising to get healthy, but somehow I felt even more exhausted... Hmm.
I agonized over it, but it had to be good for my health.
I opened the gates of hell for myself.
Inside the gym.
In a larger-than-expected space, the gazes of hulking, muscular men undergoing the self-imposed ordeal of lifting iron turned toward me.
That gaze.
It was no different from the way I looked at a fresh newbie when I was dungeon hunting.