Chapter 59:

Taesoo’s eye started tearing up as he felt his old friend’s honest concern.

“Thank you.”

The food came in as soon as Taesoo gave his reply. A big bowl of full of pig broth and meat along with soju filled the table.

“Whoa, this is special. Thanks to you, Brother.”

“Isn’t it because of you?”

“No way. I never got this much when I visited alone.”

Taeshik shrugged. The extra large bowl was like a mountain that was going to overflow.

“This is nice.”

“Right.”

Both men began drinking soju and they ate their meat. It was the same taste Taesoo remembered it to be. He felt like he was back in the past, but his old self could not follow up.

“I can’t eat all of this.”

“Granny’s going to be mad.”

“Right.”

“Yeah.”

“We should slow down.”

“Sure.”

They unbuckled their belts and slowed down.

“I have some stuff to take care of.”

Taeshik nodded.

“How much?”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

Taesoo was surprised at Taeshik’s calm response. Taeshik grinned.

“You’ve been doing things on your own until now. How would I not know if you called me up after all that?”

Taesoo nodded.

“Gold and jewels. A lot.”

Taesoo took out some gold and some of the gems he brought: a pea-sized rough diamond, a ruby, and a sapphire. Taeshik grinned at the sight.

“I’m Taeshik Bang. This is for the boys.”

“It’s going to be worth billions.”

Taeshik flinched at the word. He started shivering.

“B-brother. What do you mean, billions?”

“I’m confused as much as you are.”

“I can’t take things that will get us into trouble. You can’t be too greedy.”

“It’s okay. Take my word for it. It’s safe. No one knows about this. Can you take care of it all?”

“Where did you find such a thing? It’s our lives that are on the line.”

“We’ll be fine if we don’t become too greedy with it. Stop asking where. It’s better if we don’t know.”

It was a threat that seemed like nothing, but Taeshik understood. He frowned and gulped down soju.

“I will need some time to make the cash.”

“No. The seller wants to be paid in items.”

“Huh? Not cash? What then?”

Taeshik was even puzzled.

“This.”

“What? This? The seller wants this?”

Shocked, Taeshik opened his eyes wide and shouted, “The Marauder? The cost, cost is 1.5 billion? With extra repair tools and materials too. Total 2.1 billion? What kind of crazy retard wants this? He can’t even ride it in our country! It will be on the news with one glance! And do we need to smuggle this in?”

“No, we will buy it. But we’ll have to bring it into the country quietly. You can have customs keep quiet about it and we’ll cover the thing up with special covers or something. We just need to deliver it. We don’t have to worry about it afterwards.”

“I guess we can do that… but… I never imagined I’d deal with something like this in my entire lifetime. So what will be our share?”

“You’ll have 25% of the gold and jewels and I’ll take 5%. You can use the rest to get the item.”

Taeshik thought he was a big shot now. But he shook his head at how foolish he was.

“This is crazy. Brother, tell me. Who the heck is the seller?”

Taesoo drank his soju awkwardly as he thought about Joonbum.

‘I want to know that myself.’

“Do you really want to know?”

Taeshik grinned at his question and shook his head.

“No. I assume it’s better if I don’t know. Anyway, will you come back to us when this is over?”

Taeshik drank after he made the offer. Taesoo fell silent.

“I can hire you as the senior advisor of the company. Come help us with the business.”

“Business?”

“Yeah. We’ve grown too big. We need you to deal with those Americans. Our boys will have no problems then and you can relax also.”

Taesoo thought about the offer for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I will when we’re done with this. Thank you, Taeshik.”

“You’re welcome. Be ready when you come back.”

Taesoo burst into laughter as Taeshik dared him teasingly.

“Sure. Haha, I will be ready.”

A sandbag made with Duran hide let out a crushing sound as Joonbum continued to punch it away. The sound of punching and kicking had now evolved into something more menacing. Joonbum grinned.

‘I never thought exercise would be this much fun.’

He felt his body pumping with adrenaline each time he punched the sandbag. He had been diligent with his exercise regimen and it now gave him the feeling of satisfaction. Running inside the third outer wall and practicing with the sword also felt great.

‘I couldn’t swing more than ten times at once before.’

He grinned at the thought. He remembered he even had a hard time swinging a baseball bat at a batting cage a long time ago.

‘But now…’

He sped up as he continued his kicks. He continued with various movements from all kinds of martial arts — his muscles relaxed and flexed each time he moved.

Joonbum’s muscles were now crisper as he kept his intense exercise schedule and also controlled his diet. He did not have huge muscles like bodybuilders. Instead, his body now resembled the Ainos’.

He threw one last strong punch at the sandbag and kicked it as it flew back at him. Then he retreated with a big leap.

“Whew. I’ll take rest for a while now.”

He wiped his sweat away with a dry towel and moved to the front of the mirror.

‘I’ve changed a lot,’ he thought as he looked at the image of himself in the mirror.

‘I might have a chance if I fight with professional fighters now.’

He was confident enough to win. It was not out of some foolish speculation as he built his confidence through training against the Ainos warriors. He now knew what he was capable of with his fists. He could feel what kind of power his fist or leg had and the sandbag in front of him would prove him right.

‘It will be deadly if I use it against ordinary people.’

He remembered seeing a video from the Internet where ordinary people fought with a professional fighter and felt how dangerous they could be. Thanks to the Ainos, Joonbum was on the side to be feared.

‘They love teaching me.’

The Ainos loved teaching him, and they also learned new skills through watching various martial arts videos. Some enjoyed watching those videos with the 60-inch TV to learn about the unknown skills. One of the most famous videos was the UFC match. Powerful attacks versus each other with certain rules seemed to fascinate them. They were also interested in kickboxing.

The kids also enjoyed learning from Joonbum. They were fascinated by taekwondo performance videos and they started calling Joonbum ‘Sabu’, or ‘teacher’ in Korean, as he started teaching them. The parents loved seeing Joonbum taking care of the kids during the busy mornings and started giving them snacks to keep on practicing.

‘Time has gone by quickly,’ Joonbum thought as he sat down on the wooden chair and drank water. Everything changed, and it was still changing.

The fortress had gotten much wider as the third expansion had been accomplished. The most interesting thing was the RV that was located within the inner part of the fortress. Two high-quality RVs equipped with solar panels and other amenities provided pleasant living spaces, and there three more RVs without expanding abilities were parked close to it. It was all thanks to Sunsook as she made a deal with the company, Taekyung, as a sponsor. The vehicle had a big logo on it as a result.

‘I heard the result was great too.’

He remember getting a call from the large number of inquiries after the video was uploaded.

‘It’s all going so well.’

Everything worked out so smoothly after he came to this world. There were some difficult moments, but he was fortunate enough to overcome it all. There was also an increasing number of storages loaded with supplies from Earth and Sunsook constructed a greenhouse to help with her farming.

In total, ten greenhouses were built with materials saved for more. Each greenhouse was dedicated to strawberries, watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables or fruits. Fruit trees were also planted.

Joonbum let out a huge sigh and opened his laptop.

[He now has an RV!]

[Did you see that? It expands! How much is that thing? I’ve never heard of Taekyung before.]

[Ask Google.]

[I didn’t know RVs were that nice.]

[Look at her. She looks so beautiful in her traditional clothes.]

[Wow, look at that bird hunting! I want to visit that place!]

[That’s not real. Can’t imagine people still think it’s real.]

[Their brains are playing tricks on them.]

[Joonbum changed a lot. He’s now well-built, handsome, and rich! How much did you pay for liposuction?]

Joonbum grinned as he read through all the responses. It was still free from any suspicion, which was a good thing. Those people who liked to raise suspicion were concentrated on other important issues revolving around the country.

‘Good for me.’

He stood up as he closed the laptop. There were loads of stuff he had to move from the truck.

“Sabu! Let’s play!”

“Yeah!”

“I want to play too!”

Kids gathered at the sight of Joonbum rising up from his seat. He smiled at the sight.

‘I’m so popular now. Hehe.’

Joonbum walked past the kids with a stern face and waved his hand.

“No. Sabu needs to work. Haha.”