Chapter 272 (1/2)

-Joseph

Why was this person calling? I immediately answered the call. There was no reason to avoid it. “It’s me.”

-It has been a while, Elder. I’m watching the competition well.

“What are you saying? What is it? You are calling me.”

-Is anyone around you who can hear?

I looked at Lim Changyong and nodded for him to go on the stage first. Lim Changyong understood quickly and led the group to the stage first. Once the surroundings became quiet, I went back to the waiting room and closed the door. Silence descended in the waiting room. “I’m fine now. Tell me.”

I could hear Joseph breathing loudly over the phone. Joseph took a deep breath and opened his mouth carefully, like he had made a commitment.

-It doesn’t make any sense.

“It is unusual? What do you mean?”

-That...

Joseph’s tone was so low and serious that my eyes became sober.

“Tell me.”

-Not long ago, a mail arrived in Jaeseong hyung’s name. It is like he expected it to happen so he made it arrive a year later.

“Are you referring to Dr. Kang Jaeseong?”

-Yes. The thing my hyung sent me was coordinates.

Coordinates? I didn’t know why coordinates were sent all of a sudden. Joseph continued like he knew my doubts.

-The enclosed letter reads: You’ll be busy with the game so let me give you a brief summary. It says ‘If you want to know all the secrets, come here’. By the way...

“What else is it?”

-The coordinates aren’t used in our country.

I kept listening to Joseph and waited for his words to continue.

-They are coordinates used by Arkstar.

“......!”

-The coordinates listed are clearly game coordinates. Based on that, I got a map and checked it.

Joseph gulped and spat out in a quiet voice.

“It is the huge sea in the middle of the continent.”

* * *

At Joseph’s office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul...

“Then I’ll see you in the game. I wish you a good fight.”

Cigarette smoke scattered with the slight exhale as Joseph hung up the phone. The phone call lasted for a minute. It was around the time that the cigarette he was smoking ran out. Joseph sucked in the last of the cigarette and reluctantly crushed it in the ashtray.

“Hooo.”

As if it was his end, he blew smoke from his nose and mouth and drew a picture in the air. The smoke tangled together like clouds, representing his mind. Joseph felt more complicated as he looked at the letter on his desk.

“Jaeseong hyung-nim, what on earth happened? What is the truth you want to tell me?”

‘What is the truth...?’

Joseph stood up from his seat with a sigh. No matter what, the important thing was that he was now stepping closer to the truth his brother-in-law wanted to reveal. Joseph sat on the sofa and turned on the TV with a remote control on the desk.

-Wahhhh!

On TV, Choi Chuntaek waved his hand and responded to the cheers of the audience.

“In any case, he is a great old man.”

Joseph shook his head slightly. He thought this person was unusual from the first meeting, but he never dreamt the old man would become such a world-class person. There was such high spirit and courage. How could such decisiveness and strength be seen in an elderly man approaching his 70s?

Joseph watched the video of the match and was frightened by Choi Chuntaek’s amazing control.

‘Maybe it really is...’

He didn’t say it on the phone just now, but the letter had a request from Kang Jaeseong. He said that Joseph had to come with the one who had been chosen by the seven stars. Additionally, that person had the key to solving the disaster that would one day come. The identity of the disaster was unknown, but Choi Chuntaek was very important to Joseph.

-This is a confrontation between South Korea and Brazil. Who will win?

-As we have seen last time, Brazil is no match for Choi Chuntaek. This was proven in the Flag Battle on the first day.

-That’s right. As long as he is present, South Korea will be a stronger team than any other country in this year’s World Competition. Isn’t his appearance really imposing?

-Haha. That's correct. I think so as well.

Eventually, all the players entered the capsule and the screen was switched to reflect the view of the stadium. Suddenly, it zoomed in on Choi Chuntaek’s appearance. As the commentators said, he was imposing.

“Have strength.”

Joseph bit the shrimp biscuit on the table and opened the beer can he previously placed on it. The beer bubbles spilled out and overflowed. Joseph’s forehead furrowed as he looked at his wet hands. “Aish, my pants are wet.”

* * *

I connected and saw my teammates doing rock paper scissors to see who would go out first. I stood next to Park Muyeol and watched them.

“What was the phone call that took so long?”

“It was something. I’ll explain later.”

“Bah. Whatever,” Park Muyeol replied bluntly and reached out. He was beckoning for something. I thought I knew what it was and couldn’t help laughing.

Park Muyeol urged me, “Hey, give me a cigarette. I’ve run out.”

“In any case.”

I shook my head and placed a cigarette in his hand. I had two more packs left anyway. By the way, why was I smoking when I was supposed to be quitting smoking.

“Sigh. I am addicted to smoking.”

“What? Haven’t I seen you do it more than once or twice?”

Recently, I started trying to quit smoking. It was possible to smoke in this world because smoking was absolutely harmless to the body here. Of course, it was inevitable that my stats would decrease.