Chapter 44: Episode 44 – Finding the Owner, Part I
Chapter 16. Finding the Owner, Part I
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
1.
“Boss.”
The mayor’s office in Bucheon City Hall. There, two men faced each other with a desk between them and a cup of steaming coffee rising, as if they were just chatting.
“Let me get this straight.”
One of them scratched his head with his right hand.
“So before you died, sister Sun-mi told you the wish list?”
At the words of the man who was ruffling his hair, the man with the mug of coffee in his hand, nodded his head lightly, enjoying the aroma of the coffee.
Jang Sung-hoon feigned a smile at the man.
“I don’t know whose thought it was, it’s a great idea. A wish list… a sure way to use the Golden Glass of Napoleon.”
At the end of the words, a long sigh came out from the lips of Jang Sung-hoon.
It was not a good sigh.
“The problem is the wish list.”
The word that came out was close to a complaint.
Kim Tae-hoon also frowned at the whining remarks, the same as Jang Sung-hoon’s complaint. The bitter taste of the coffee had never made his face look so sour.
Through the silence that started like that, Jang Sung-hoon began to recall things to organize his mind.
The start was when Kim Tae-hoon woke up from his dream. He called Jang Sung-hoon, who was waiting outside the mayor’s office, and told him the story.
At first, when he heard the word “wish list,” Jang Sung-hoon clutched his fists without knowing it.
He never wanted to miss that opportunity, because it seemed like having a crazy power in his hand.
But when he heard the wish list, Jang Sung-hoon felt everything getting far away.
“Let’s say that’s the case with the Bell of King Seongdeok and Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje.”
There were six wish lists that Kim Tae-hoon remembered.
To be precise, Ahn Sun-mi would have recited a long story, but there were only six things Kim Tae-hoon could hear.
The Bell of King Seongdeok and Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje were the first of the six mentioned wish lists.
“Let’s also say that’s the case with Gwanggaeto Stele and the Sword of Goujian.”
The things mentioned after that were Gwanggaeto Stele and the Sword of Goujian. From there on, Jang Sung-hoon felt something strange.
Obviously, the two things were real, but they were obviously different from the above-mentioned Bell of King Seongdeok and Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje.
“What am I supposed to do if you tell me something like Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Kusanagi?”
And finally, when Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Kusanagi were mentioned, Jang Sung Hoon thought for a moment.
He thought that Kim Tae-hoon suddenly became a very humorous man and played a joke on him, or the shock of Kim Tae-hoon’s death was so great that he confused his memories with what he saw in a novel.
He had no choice but to accept them for now, however. “They are only in stories, aren’t they?”
They were literally non-realistic things since the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Kusanagi could only be seen in the novels.
Of course, Kim Tae-hoon was serious.
Not only at the time when he told the story, but also at the moment he spoke out to Jang Sung-hoon, Kim Tae-hoon still did not lose his serious air.
“I need a description of what I said about the things in the wish list.”
He couldn’t help but be serious.
This was the valuable information that Kim Tae-hoon obtained in return for living his future death, information from the future.
To live, he had to change his destiny again using this information.
“Once, four of them were real.” Jang Sung-hoon also knew that fact, so he stopped talking nonsense any more. “Where are they?”
“The Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje is located at the Buyeo National Museum, and the Bell of King Seongdeok…”
“What is the Bell of King Seongdeok?”
“Oh, it’s the Emile Bell. It’s at the Gyeongju National Museum. And Gwanggaeto Stele is in Jilin in China, and the Sword of Goujian, as I know, it’s in Hubei in China.”
“Are the two remaining ones not real?”
“They’re mentioned only as legends.”
Kim Tae-hoon drank some coffee again. Jang Sung-hoon also agreed with the silent time that started.
The two men kept their mouths shut and organized their thoughts.
When Kim Tae-hoon spoke again, the conversation resumed. “If there was a wish list, I would have been the one to make it.”
“I suppose so.”
“Then I’m sure I didn’t just tell myself the desire for things I could not get.”
“Ah.”
Jang Sung-hoon got the hint of what kind of man Kim Tae-hoon was. He could not simply have recorded things he could not gain.
“I don’t know how much more I could hear before I died.”
Moreover, this wish list was made to tell the story at an urgent moment, just before his death.
It means that there must be something hidden in the order, as well as in the items mentioned.
Kim Tae-hoon definitely must have made a wish list. Was it even possible that he didn’t have his own personality in mind?
“The things in Buyeo and Gyeongju are the ones we can get right now.”
“Yes. If we don’t have to fight monsters, it won’t take even half a day to get there. Just three hours to arrive at the Buyeo National Museum after taking the Yeongdong Expressway, and about four or five hours to get to the Gyeongju National Museum. Of course, I doubt that we can get there in a year, even if we risk our lives.”
“There are things in Buyeo and Gyeongju, but not in Seoul.”
The first question was why there is no relic on the wish list in Seoul.
Gyeongju and Buyeo were definitely full of relics, including historical sites.
However, Seoul had been a capital city for most of the grand history of the Republic of Korea.
The National Museum of Korea was located in Yongsan District, Seoul.
“I’m sure that’s a question. The woodblocks of Daedongyeojido are now kept at the National Museum of Korea.”
The woodblocks of Daedongyeojido, which Kim Tae-hoon and Jang Sung-hoon were lucky to find, were stored in the National Museum of Korea.
“There are also Crowns of Silla… Yes, there were armors, kimonos, and masks used by Japanese warriors, and there were few Buddhist statues from China.
The National Museum of Korea even housed relics from Japan and China.
However, Kim’s wish list did not mention anything at the National Museum of Korea.
“Why?” That was the first question to be solved.
“It is one of two reasons.” Kim Tae-hoon solved the problem easily.
“Well, if we had been in Yongsan District instead of Bucheon City, or if we had survived in Seoul and identified the existence of the relics, all of us would have run to the National Museum of Korea.
“The Ministry of National Defense is located to the north of the National Museum of Korea.”
“The Ministry of National Defense? Ah, yes, the War Memorial of Korea is behind it.”
The National Museum of Korea and the Ministry of National Defense were not that far apart.
“If something happened, the soldiers of the National Defense Command would be there.” In other words, when an emergency broke out, troops from the National Defense Command, an army organized to defend the capital, must have been there.
Naturally, it was highly likely that they secured the relics there. It was just a guess they had made before, but now this dream had convinced them.
“To put it another way, Buyeo and Gyeongju are ownerless cities.”
In other words, they would have a chance to acquire relics in Buyeo and Gyeongju if they moved early.
“Then, why were Gwanggaeto Stele and the Sword of Goujian mentioned?”
“It is proof that North Korea has collapsed and… we are engaged in an exchange, or had a war with the Chinese survivors or the Awakeners there.”
The next mentioned Gwanggaeto Stele and the Sword of Goujian were most likely factors to inform them situation at the time, not showing that they wanted to get it.
“I know Gwanggaeto Stele is located in Jilin province. Now airplanes and ships are not functioning properly, and we cannot reach there without North Korea collapsing. And did you say that the Sword of Goujian is in Hubei Province?”
“Yes.”
“Hubei is a province located in central China. Contacting the relic there means that there is a high possibility that we might have moved into the territory of China or an Awakener who had secured the relic came to the Korean Peninsula.”
North Korea’s collapse and contact with China was also a very important hint. This meant that the situation on the Korean Peninsula itself has changed completely.
“I roughly understand. Then, what do Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Kusanagi mean? I don’t think there’s anything in existence like that.”
The next mentioned Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Kusanagi were also signals.
“There can’t be.” There is no such thing in common sense. “It means that we should not think about it.”
But it certainly existed somehow. Listing it was a signal.
When he spoke, Jang Sung-hoon was able to organize his thoughts. ‘Yes, we have Daedongyeojido, and we would rather move to get things that are not yet taken, rather than go to Seoul to get things that are already taken.’
At the same time, Jang Sung-hoon felt a sense of frustration. “I’m sorry the six were not everything, but if you had heard more, I could have made a more definite plan.”
He got this much information just by listening to the six relics on the wish list, and if he had heard more, he could have drawn a clearer blueprint.
Kim Tae-hoon felt sorry for the fact. ‘If I had heard more…’
It was a great idea to think of delivering a wish list using the relic of the Golden Glass of Napoleon. However, it was also true that there were not many things that could have a good result among the things prepared.
Of course, rather than regretting this, they had to find something better by recognizing that there was plenty to learn from a bad example.
And at this moment, Kim Tae-hoon came up with his own solution. “I’ll have to teach you rap.”
“Rap… What?”
“If we have only a short time to deliver information, we have to put as many words as possible in that short time.”
If Ahn Sun-mi’s words had been twice as fast, he would have gotten twice as much information!
At the solution of Kim Tae-hoon, Jang Sung-hoon made a foolish expression.
“So you want me to rap in front of the boss who is convulsing, vomiting blood and losing focus in his eyes, with Davotop, Seokguram, and Tripitaka Koreana?”
“Is that weird?”
“Boss, do you think that’s normal? Is it normal to talk as fast as possible about the National Treasures No. 1 to No. 10 in front of a dying person?”
Kim Tae-hoon had more coffee instead of answering the question. It seemed ridiculous even if he thought about it.
Jang Sung-hoon first asked Kim Tae-hoon, who was silent much longer than usual.
“What’s the plan for the future, then? Even if we were to set off for Buyeo or Gyeongju as our destination, we wouldn’t be able to get there right away.”
“We need to get internally stable first.”
“Internal stability… We’ll have to set up Clans under our command and pick a representative of the public.”
The plan was set up.
Buyeo or Gyeongju.
From now on, Kim Tae-hoon had to work to get there.
It was not short, nor was not easy. As much as that, it was necessary to stabilize internally.
Kim Tae-hoon agreed with the fact. “However, we have something to do first.”
“Is there any urgent work?”
“This time we need to find the owner of the nine relics we have acquired.”
Nine relics from the warehouse of the whale, Baek Sung-taek. Kim Tae-hoon said that they should find the owner of the relics right now.
“If you find the owner… will you give him the relics?”
“They will be useless for an Awakener who cannot use them.”
Jang Sung-hoon agreed firmly with those words.
Kim Tae-hoon was not wrong.
Relics were the most certain and powerful weapons that mankind could use in the war against monsters. It was meaningless to give them to someone who can not use such weapons.
The answer is clearly to find the owner who had handled so many relics in this urgent situation where they had to kill as many monsters as possible.
There were highly valuable relics among the ones they had acquired this time.
“Do you really want to give the relics to Awakeners who can use them?” Obviously, it was not a good idea to give such relics away for free.
Not all of the Awakeners who had distinguished themselves gave their sincere loyalty to Kim Tae-hoon. They followed him because he could kill monsters that they could not.
Kim Tae-hoon tilted his head at Jang Sung-hoon’s frustrated words. “Give the relics away for free? Why should I do that?”
“Yes?”
“I will find the owner, and I will get the price I want. Isn’t that common sense?”
Jang Sung-hoon nodded happily. “Yes, that’s common sense.”