Chapter 93
It takes about three hours to travel by boat from Wando to Yeoseodo.
The trip itself wasn't particularly difficult.
"Uweeeek!!"
Except for the people who got seasick.
"Huff... huff..."
"Are you all right?"
"Yeees... I-I didn't know I was this susceptible to seasickness."
I gave Mr. Cheolhon, who was slumped there with a face as white as a sheet, some motion sickness medicine I'd bought at the snack bar.
You're supposed to take it thirty minutes before boarding, but it had to be better than taking nothing, right?
"We still have another two or three hours to go. Will you be all right?"
"Yeees... I'll have to endure it somehow..."
He answered weakly and sat down.
He leaned his back against the wall, stretched out both legs, and let the waves carry his body.
It was a method I'd seen in a comic once.
"It's a little better. Sitting like this..."
Comics really were always right.
While he weakly gasped for breath, I looked around.
There were quite a few tourists heading to Yeoseodo as well.
It was just then that it happened.
"Eeeh?!"
"Isn't that Kang Noah?!"
"Ooooooh!! The greatest fortune-teller!!"
Some middle-aged men who looked like fishermen were marveling at the sight of me.
"Wow!! We heard you've done something amazing?!"
"Korea's pride!!"
"Have some of this!!"
The fishermen approached, laughing heartily.
They had cans of beer in their hands.
"Oh... Thank you, gentlemen. And please speak informally. I'm only a twenty-year-old rookie, after all."
"Kyaaa~! And he has good manners too!"
"The elders are going to adore you!!"
"But did you really predict that typhoon in America?"
"Haha. Yes. I even met the governor when I went to America last time. Would you like to see a picture?"
I had a picture I'd taken with him at dinner last time.
When the men saw the picture of me with my arm around the tipsy American old man, they were impressed.
"Kuaaah!!"
"I'm getting drunk!"
"Tavern keeper! Close up shop!!"
I never thought I'd hear those words in real life.
The men seemed to be having a grand time, laughing and chatting beside me.
I was bored too, so it worked out well.
"But why are you going to Yeoseodo?"
"I have something to take care of."
"What kind of thing?"
"Hahaha. It's a secret. I'll tell the story on my stream later, so come tune in."
I gained three viewers with ease.
"But why are you gentlemen going to Yeoseodo?"
"Guess!"
"Fishing?"
"Correct!"
They were dressed like fishermen, and all their equipment was for fishing. What else would they be going to Yeoseodo for?
To go fishing, of course.
"There are lots of good fishing spots around Yeoseodo."
"Have you ever gone fishing? The feel of the fish biting is incredible...!!"
"Yes, yes. I've gone a few times before. But I never caught anything very big. It was still fun, though."
"If we're staying in Yeoseodo for long, we'd teach you how to fish."
"Thank you. Haha."
"Speaking of which, do you think we'll catch a trophy fish this time?"
"Would you like to turn one over?"
I took a hwatu card from my pocket and held it out.
After staring at it seriously, they turned it over, and I said,
"Mr. Kim Hong-sik."
"...Huh. You even get the name right?"
"I have to be able to do at least this much to be the genius fortune-teller of the century who drives both fans and haters crazy. And I can't see this much unless you turn over a card."
That wasn't true, of course.
Yoo Ho-min happened to be nearby, so I just said it.
He was pretending not to listen, but he was listening closely.
"Huh... So that's how it is."
He nodded.
"Looks like you'll catch a striped beakfish this time. A forty-centimeter one?"
"That would count as a trophy catch."
"And Mr. Oh Su-myeong, you'll catch a striped beakfish too. It'll be forty centimeters, but a full forty? A forty that looks like fifty?"
"So I'll catch a big one around forty-nine centimeters."
"Is that considered big?"
"Well, that's big enough to count as a big catch. Of course, I once caught a sixty-centimeter red sea bream."
"Mine was seventy."
"Mine was eighty."
"...You crazy bastards. How far are you going to take this?"
The three men laughed heartily.
They really were cheerful men.
"And Mr. Ha Su-gwang... Hmm. You'll catch a forty-centimeter grouper."
"Huh...!! Really? I'm going to catch a grouper?"
"Yes. I don't know much about it, but I can see a future where you're happy holding it."
"Kuaaah!! I caught a grouper! Great! Come to where we're staying if you have time!! I'll feed you sashimi you couldn't buy even with money!!"
Grouper sashimi.
I wonder if it's tasty.
It must be.
"Thank you for the invitation."
I thanked them with a smile, then subtly turned my gaze away.
Yoo Ho-min was staring intently in this direction.
He was certain that unless he turned over a card, there was no way I could ever know his secret.
.
.
.
Only after we arrived at Yeoseodo did Mr. Cheolhon's nightmare come to an end.
While he rejoiced at being back on solid ground, a car started moving.
"Where should we go?"
"There should be a boat waiting at that port. Let's go."
As Elder Jung Hee-tae had said, we drove for a little while and came upon a small port.
There were several small fishing boats there, and the exploration team and captain were sitting aboard one of them.
"Oh my. You've come, Elder?"
"Haha. Captain Go, long time no see. Have you been well?"
"Whew, I've been well thanks to you, Elder. If it weren't for you, could I even be running a boat like this?"
That captain, Go Unam, had nearly lost his boat after being swindled in the past.
Elder Jung Hee-tae had helped him keep it, and ever since then, he had been the kind of man who would take his boat anywhere Elder Jung asked.
Having read his past, I looked around the boat.
It was a typical fishing boat.
Though it had a few slightly unusual pieces of equipment added to it.
"Are we ready to depart?"
"Of course."
"What about the exploration team?"
"I've gathered only people with impressive experience."
The coordinates we had found were at a considerable depth.
It would be impossible without expedition members of exceptional skill.
"We've prepared scuba-diving equipment too, Professor. You're going in again, right?"
"Of course!"
Professor Kang was a hands-on man.
No wonder he'd had a whip in his office...
"But that young man... Oh!! Isn't that Kang Noah?!"
"Huh? Kang Noah?"
"Wow!! It really is him?!"
At the captain's shout, the expedition members who had been relaxing also marveled at the sight of me.
They quickly came and stood in front of me, shouting.
"You're a real person!"
"I didn't know such an amazing teacher actually existed!"
"My daughter really likes you! Could you give me an autograph later?"
The four expedition members were huge fans of mine.
I smiled and greeted them politely.
"I'm Kang Noah. Nice to meet you."
"I've always wanted to meet you, but I never thought I'd actually get the chance! Teacher Kang, could you read my fortune too?"
"Of course."
I read the fortune of the expedition member who had approached me.
There was nothing seriously wrong with any of them.
Major disasters didn't happen all the time, after all.
"Mr. Lee Hae-mu. Congratulations. You're going to have a grandchild."
"Huh?! Really?"
"Wow!! Hae-mu, you're really a grandpa now! Grandpa!"
"Ugh! You smell like a grandpa! Get lost!"
The other expedition members were teasing him, but Mr. Lee Hae-mu looked quite happy about becoming a grandfather.
"Impressive. Winning the expedition members' hearts at once. Anyway, let's head out. Ho-min!"
"Yes, Professor!"
"Bring the luggage!"
"Understood!"
He moved the equipment we'd taken out of the car onto the boat.
As I watched him, I approached Professor Kang Yul-je.
"NIS agents have entered Yeoseodo."
"I see."
We were already prepared to arrest Yoo Ho-min and the group connected to him.
Professor Kang Yul-je smiled coldly.
"Damn bastard. If he'd studied under me for thirty more years, he could have become a brilliant scholar..."
"...."
Could Yoo Ho-min have become a traitor because of Professor Kang Yul-je?
"Just kidding. Do I look like the kind of person who works graduate students to the bone? I'm not trash like that."
Surprisingly, that was true.
Other university professors squeezed graduate students dry to line their own pockets, but Professor Kang Yul-je was a member of a chaebol family in the first place.
He wasn't the sort of person who cared that much about money.
That was why he wanted his students to succeed even more.
Because it would help his reputation.
But Yoo Ho-min had effectively sullied that reputation... How could he simply let that go?
"Anyway, it's fortunate that everything's ready. Then we..."
"We just need to proceed with the exploration as planned."
"Good. Let's go."
We boarded the boat boldly.
"Ah. Mr. Cheolhon, why don't you drive to the lodging and wait there?"
"But I should come with you..."
I might actually be able to beat Mr. Cheolhon on a boat.
He tried to carry out his duty, but the other elders also dissuaded him.
"You won't be much use as a bodyguard on a boat."
"That's right. Go and get some rest."
Professor Kang Yul-je confidently patted his waist.
The leather whip I'd seen in his office was hanging there.
"You must be wondering what I can do with a single whip, right?"
He smiled confidently and tossed away the empty drink can.
As the can rolled along the ground, he drew his whip and swung it.
-Slaaash!!
The can struck by the whip was torn completely to shreds.
He looked confident that he could handle most dangers with that.
"What do you think?"
"Impressive, Professor. In that case, I'll wait at the lodging."
"Yes. Please do."
And so Mr. Cheolhon drove away.
Now all that remained was to set out by boat.
"Let's go!!"
Once everyone was aboard, Elder Jung Hee-tae shouted, and the boat began moving.
After we'd traveled by boat for an hour or two,
we reached the spot we'd been searching for and began moving the equipment.
There was everything from the gear for descending into the sea to cranes for hauling things up.
"Then I'll go down and be right back."
Professor Kang Yul-je, dressed in scuba-diving gear, hopped into the sea.
The expedition members also moved to assist with the exploration.
"What should we do?"
"There's nothing we can do right now. Bring popcorn, Noah."
I was killing time by eating popcorn with Elder Jung Hee-tae when
an alarm installed on the equipment began to ring.
Professor Kang Yul-je had sent a signal.
We operated the crane, and the object was quickly hauled up. A moment later, he came back up as well.
"Phew... Heh-heh... Look!!"
What he was holding was...
a palm-sized, ornate gold ornament.