Chapter 70
"Good work. Let's do thirty minutes of cardio, stretch, and call it a day."
Today, the free personal trainer who had turned me into a wreck again flashed a grin and began lifting the barbell.
His kindness was unconditional, but honestly, it was a little burdensome.
But my body really was improving that much, so I couldn't simply refuse him outright.
That was why I shed tears again today.
Sob.
"Good work."
After finishing cardio and taking a shower, I went outside and found Cheolhon waiting.
Ever since Kalinin had come last time, Cheolhon had been accompanying me everywhere.
It wasn't necessary for him to go that far.
But he kept saying that if he didn't at least do this, he wouldn't even be earning his keep, so I simply accepted it.
"It's been a while, Mr. Kang."
"Oh. Hello, Mr. Kalinin."
He was a sturdy, gray-haired man in his middle age.
The Russian, Mr. Kalinin, who had come last time, was waiting in front of the officetel where I lived.
"As I mentioned before, he has come in person to meet you, Mr. Kang."
"Excellent. Where is he?"
"He's waiting at a nearby café. Are you available now?"
"All right. But I'm meeting someone important, and I'm dressed like this..."
"Since he was the one who invited you to meet him after you had spent the day training yourself, he won't take issue with that."
In that case, fine.
There was no need to drag things out.
I followed Mr. Kalinin to the café.
It was the café I often visited.
"Welcome. Oh. Mr. Kang."
"I'll have a latte. What about you, Mr. Kalinin...?"
"I'll have an espresso."
"Two drinks, please. Hmm. And please give the guest over there a slice of almond cake as well."
"Certainly. Please wait at your table."
While the manager moved about leisurely, Kalinin and I headed toward a corner seat.
A Russian man who looked to be in his late fifties was sitting there.
The moment he saw Kalinin and me, he rose from his seat and greeted us politely.
"Nice to meet you, Gospodin Kang. I am Ivan Selet Borchishinin."
Gospodin, huh.
I heard that was how Russians addressed someone they respected.
"I'm Kang Noah. You speak Korean well."
"This much is basic."
Impressive.
Well, if he was with the SVR—in other words, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service—he could probably speak other countries' languages with ease.
"I've heard a great deal about you, Mr. Kang. You are truly remarkable."
"Have you watched my broadcasts?"
"Yes. Do you think I only know about your broadcasts? I also know what you did in America. And... what happened in Saudi Arabia."
I could understand knowing about America, but I hadn't expected him to know about Saudi Arabia too.
"We have agents in Saudi Arabia as well. Prince bin Salman dealt with the terrorist attack the Moon of Allah had been preparing perfectly."
"I'm glad to hear it."
I had searched the Internet out of curiosity, but nothing in particular had come up.
I had considered asking Salam or Abdullah, but they were probably busy, and I didn't think it was worth contacting them over this, so I let it go.
No news was good news, after all.
"It seems Saudi Arabia is taking this incident quite seriously as well."
"Really?"
"Indeed. Prince Salam has reacted rather aggressively."
"Has something happened?"
"He is trying to have you naturalized as a Saudi citizen by any means necessary. On top of that, he has been claiming that you are a prophet, which has displeased the opposition."
"That would be natural. I'm not even a Muslim, yet the prince is going around loudly proclaiming that I'm a prophet."
But in the future I had seen, it did not become a major problem.
In any case, their father had achieved overwhelming results.
And unofficially, he probably thought of me as a prophet as well.
The opposition's complaints would not mean much.
That was how significant it was that they had captured the traitor to the country along with the Moon of Allah.
"That brings me to my question. Do you intend to go to Saudi Arabia?"
"I haven't given it any particular thought yet."
"Hmm. Then that means Russia has a chance as well."
Huh? Where had that come from all of a sudden?
"I even turned down America's offer, so I don't know why you think I would go to Russia."
"Haha. Please wait and see. Anyway, putting that aside..."
Ivan's eyes flashed.
"Sir, do you know why I sought you out?"
"Yes."
"...Haha. As deputy director of intelligence, I find that ability truly enviable."
"Don't worry. Other places besides Russian intelligence are coveting me too."
"Sigh..."
"It's not as if the intelligence service is going to eliminate me for that, right?"
"......"
Instead of answering, Ivan merely smiled.
I always looked into the future and walked the line carefully.
Whenever something seemed dangerous, I pulled my foot back immediately, so this was still within an acceptable range.
"Let me get straight to the point. The Russian mafia member Sergei Patrushev's hidden Fabergé Eggs No. 11 and No. 34 are at his villa in Silibit."
"....!!"
"And the death of Princess Tarakanova and five other paintings are in the possession of Vyacheslav Blodin, the chairman of Russia's State Duma. They are being safely kept in an underground storage room at his villa in Omsk."
Ivan's eyes were growing wider and wider.
I also told him the locations of other things he might be curious about.
They were all Russian treasures.
As I faced him, I took a sip of the latte in front of me.
"Russia's lost... Or should I say stolen, rather than lost? In any case, your efforts to find those treasures have not been in vain."
As deputy director of intelligence, he was a man who did his utmost to fulfill his duty.
The treasures that the Russian mafioso Sergei had siphoned away in collusion with corrupt officials.
He rushed around trying to recover them and eventually succeeded.
The only problem was that it would not be completed until decades in the future.
"...I am well aware of your reputation, sir. But... why are you helping me to this extent?"
"Ivan. I know that you're a good person."
As deputy director of Russian intelligence, he could have lived comfortably while accepting bribes.
But he did not do that.
He lived solely on the salary provided by the government.
Even then, he saved what he could and tried to help the unfortunate and orphans.
Although our countries were different, wasn't it only natural for a good person like that to achieve a good result?
"And... Hmm. How should I put this? There was also something you did for Korea."
It had happened quite a long time ago.
When he was working for the intelligence service in China, he had once formed ties with the Chinese triads.
At the time, someone had been captured by the triads, and Ivan had helped a Korean man he had never even met.
"Let me ask you. Why did you help him?"
"Th-that was..."
It had been more than twenty years ago.
Only after I mentioned it did he seem to remember what had happened, and he muttered softly.
"At the time... Korea helped Russia."
"So that's why you helped him?"
"Yes. It was just... just an act of goodwill."
"Then my actions are nothing more than an act of goodwill as well."
Ivan did not say anything more.
He remained silent for quite some time, and only spoke again when I had finished my latte.
"All I can do is express my gratitude, sir."
"Think nothing of it."
"Sir. I would like to make the offer once again. Would you come to the land of Mother Russia?"
"I will decline once again. For now, I have no intention of leaving Korea."
"Good grief..."
He let out several sighs filled with disappointment.
But that was all.
"...I understand. However, neither I nor Russia will ever forget this favor."
"Haha. Let's do that."
After bowing politely to me, he left.
I watched him go, then grabbed the cup containing my latte.
Ah, I had finished it.
"Manager, could I have another latte, please~?"
Another peaceful day was passing by.
.
.
.
Several days passed after Mr. Ivan and Mr. Kalinin left.
Nothing particularly special happened, and I was broadcasting as usual.
"So, Poite. You're thinking of reporting your senior's bribe to the higher-ups, right? But it won't help much even if you do."
It had been two years since Poite started working.
Poite, who worked at a mid-sized company, had recently discovered that his senior was receiving various gifts from the female owner of one of the company's subcontractors.
So he investigated, and what do you know!
It turned out that the woman and his senior were having an affair!
Poite already disliked how his senior constantly harassed him and took credit for his achievements, so he wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of him, but...
"But that won't work."
"Your department manager believes in letting sleeping dogs lie."
-Poite : "Huh.. Fuck. So I should just let this go? Should I quit my job? I don't think I can keep working there while looking at that bastard's face."
"You don't need to agonize over it for that long."
-Poite : "Huh? Why?"
"Your senior is having an affair with that company's female owner."
-Poite : "Huh?"
-Gasp.
-Ooh;;;
"It's an adulterous affair. But her husband will find out and come storming to your company."
Surely the company wouldn't simply stand by when something like that happened.
Even the manager, who preferred to let things slide when possible, wouldn't be able to ignore it.
"You'll get to let someone else do the dirty work. Just wait."
-Poite : "Ha. I knew that bastard was like that. But they look like they have quite an age gap. Would they really want to do that?"
"Normally, I'd tell you to respect people's preferences, but this goes beyond that."
In any case, hadn't he destroyed someone else's family?
NTR was unforgivable.
That was something to enjoy only in fiction.
-Poite : "Anyway! Hyung! Thanks!"
"Think nothing of it. Now, who's next...?"
-Me! Me!
-Look at me too!
[Bostonbaekbaek donated 500 gold.]
[Lately my packages seem to keep disappearing. What should I do about it?"
"Bostonbaekbaek. It's not just your packages. Someone in Apartment 801 is taking packages from other apartments too."
-Bostonbaekbaek : "Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. If you search that woman's apartment, you'll find packages belonging not only to you but to other households as well."
-Bostonbaekbaek : "Wow, what a crazy bitch!!"
"Amazingly, she does have a mental disorder, so 'crazy bitch' is accurate."
-Bostonbaekbaek : "Uh...?"
"Report her to the police, and tell them when you do that she seems mentally unstable, so they should be extremely careful."
That woman would swing a knife at the police officers who came asking her to open the door.
As a result, a good police officer would end up with a knife plunged into his abdomen.
He would not die, but it could hardly be called minor harm.
-Bostonbaekbaek : "Got it. I'll be sure to tell them exactly that."
Bostonbaekbaek's future changed.
Instead of seeing a future where a crazy woman stabbed a police officer, I saw a future where she failed to pierce the stab-resistant vest and was arrested.
"Hmm. Looks like we're done for today. Hey, what games are you guys playing these days?"
-These days, it's Monster Hunter, obviously.
-Not playing dating sims?
-Otaku.
-Shut up! What do guys who've never even played a dating sim know about love?
-Otaku.
-You son of a bitch!!
I was chatting with the viewers as usual.
Then one of the viewers posted a link.
-Hyung! Hyung! Look at this!!
-Whoa;;; What is this;;;
-Dunnae Tunnel collapse?
-There are supposedly more than ten people missing...?
-It's chaos... damn.
Dunnae Tunnel.
It was a breaking news report that a 3.3-kilometer-long tunnel in Gangwon Province had collapsed.