Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Chapter 96 A Belated Vacation (3)

Trips were often more exciting and enjoyable the day before than on the actual day.

I think it was the same when I went on picnics or field trips as a child.

Even something as trivial as buying piles of snacks and drinks and carefully packing them into a bag demanded the utmost deliberation in my own way. On nights when I went to sleep with the neatly packed bag beside my pillow, I'd be so excited that I'd toss and turn for a long time before falling asleep.

Perhaps because I'd spent my childhood like that, even after reaching an age where I wasn't particularly fond of traveling, I still had a habit of unnecessarily rummaging through my luggage whenever I had to go on a distant business trip.

Today, with vacation just around the corner, was no different.

Of course, Lia, Sani, and Dohyeok were even more excited than I was.

“No, I'm telling you, you have to spread it out this way, not that way.”

“Dohyeok is wrong! This side is the front!”

“I said it isn't!”

The tent had cost an enormous four million won, but perhaps because of the price, it was genuinely difficult to set up.

Even with a team commanded by Dohyeok, the self-proclaimed camping master, they hadn't managed to set it up properly for four days.

“Heh heh, you're stubborn at times like this too. You could help them at least once.”

“If I was going to help, I should've done it on the first day. At this point, it's a matter of competition.”

“Hyung finally said something right! Just watch. This time I'll really get it up in one go!”

Contrary to his boast, the tent spread out behind the coffeehouse still looked hideous.

Well, as long as they succeeded by tomorrow, there shouldn't be any problem.

“Hm? Where are you going?”

“I'm going to start loading the luggage too.”

If I'd had my way, I would've loaded all the camping equipment into the car the day before yesterday.

But before a long-distance drive, it was important to keep the car in the best possible condition(?), so only now was the trunk finally being opened.

From here on, it all came down to how good I was at Tetris.

We'd be unloading everything at once anyway, but if I stacked it badly, the camping equipment might get damaged under the weight.

The camping store owner who personally delivered everything had actually been most worried about that. He said plenty of people came back for repairs after using their equipment just once and bending or warping it.

First, the heaviest luggage...

Ah.

“You two, stop now. I need to put it in the car, so I'll do it.”

“Ah, why! We're almost done!”

“Almost done, my ass. It looks exactly the same as yesterday. Give it here!”

Problems that refuse to be solved often become easier when watched from a distance.

Just like how I managed to put up in one try the tent those two had failed to set up for four days while staring right at the fabric.

“Wow! Mister finished it right away!”

“Heh heh, those two struggled so hard and still couldn't do it, yet you put it together in no time.”

“There. Done, right? Remember this carefully and do it exactly the same way tomorrow. I'm folding it now, okay?”

“Okay...”

“Dohyeok lost.”

“Hey! We were doing it together!”

“Stop fighting and help load the luggage!”

And so the night before the vacation we'd been waiting for grew deeper.

* * *

Morning came.

-Beep.

I closed my phone just as it was preparing to sound the alarm.

It wasn't that I'd slept badly, but perhaps because I'd been thinking about it quite a bit, I'd already woken up long ago and even finished showering.

And I wasn't the only person up early, noisily getting ready.

“Hyung, can I use this toothbrush?”

“Waaaaah! Dohyeok pooped in the first-floor bathroom! The smell was so awful I thought I was going to die!”

“Hey! Where else am I supposed to poop if not in the bathroom!”

“If it smells that awful, you should've gone out and pooped in the yard!”

The Elder Nine-Tailed Fox, Sani, and Dohyeok, who had spent the night in the guest room, were also busy getting ready.

“Everyone woke up early.”

“Don't even mention it. Those two woke up at the crack of dawn and made such a commotion that even I couldn't sleep properly. But the ones who said they were coming today still haven't shown their noses.”

“It just passed seven.”

“What? Then what time did those two wake up!”

“Ahem! Four o'clock!”

“Good grief.”

It was fortunate that the guest room was diagonally across and far from my room.

Otherwise, I might have started my vacation with dark circles under my eyes just like the Elder.

And soon, the others who had woken early with the same swelling anticipation for vacation began opening the coffeehouse door one after another.

-Jingle.

“We're here!”

“Huh? It's the Haedong Divine Maiden and the Sorcerer! But that's not the gat you usually wear?”

“That one's for shamanic rituals. This is a brand-new release from Shanil.”

“Pearls before swine...”

“You bastard monk, say one more word. I seriously won't let you off.”

“Jinseong! Look at this! The Haedong Divine Maiden is wearing pearls before swine from Shanil!”

“Aagh! That's not it!”

“I'm here. But what's going on with everyone?”

“Wooju arrived at just the right time. Do you know what that thing on the Haedong Divine Maiden's head is?”

“Pardon?”

The more people arrived at the coffeehouse, the louder and more boisterous the commotion became.

* * *

Everyone had arrived at the coffeehouse earlier than the agreed time, but there was one group that still hadn't even departed.

Yama and the two grim reapers.

That was because Gangnim Doryeong and an employee were unable to settle their disagreement in the parking lot of the Palace of Yama.

“Is this really the only car we have?”

“Yes. All the business vehicles have cargo compartments in the back, so they're only two-seaters. This is the only one with four or more seats.”

There wasn't a trace of deceit on the face of the employee carefully polishing the car in front of them with arm sleeves stained all over with grease.

“No, I saw plenty of dead people arrive with their cars before. Where did all those cars go?”

“They were accident vehicles, so we scrapped all of them.”

“No, but I've seen funerals where people bury cars together too!”

“That's in the West. Why are you being so unreasonable when you know perfectly well? And you said Yama herself is riding in it, didn't you? This is our highest-end model. What are you going to do if you put her in some other car and get scolded for it?”

“Even so!”

“Deputy Manager, let's just take this. It's basically the same kind of car anyway. We're going to be late at this rate.”

“Damn it! I don't care anymore! Fine, let's go!”

And so the two grim reapers and Yama climbed into a black limousine hearse and headed for the mortal world.

* * *

“So you're saying you came in this?”

“I'm sorry. We even considered walking if necessary, but Her Majesty was with us...”

Considering who was coming, I'd vaguely expected this wouldn't be an ordinary vacation.

That was why I'd chosen somewhere with as few people as possible.

But reality always managed to deviate from expectations in ways far more subtle and cruel.

I never imagined our cheerful vacation would suddenly be in danger of turning into a funeral procession.

“It won't work, right?”

“Haha, probably not.”

“Why? I thought it was comfortable.”

“It stands out too much. If we go to the beach like this and someone takes a picture, it'll be troublesome.”

It would be seriously troublesome.

Even I would click on a photo of people arriving at a beach in a hearse just to find out the story behind it.

“For now, the three of you can split up among the other cars. We have enough vehicles, so if we distribute everyone somehow, it should work.”

There were no empty seats in my car because I was riding with Lia, Sani, and the Elder.

Wooju would ride in National Champion Han Seun's car.

That left the Haedong Divine Maiden and the Sorcerer's car, and Dohyeok's van.

“Oh my! Then you two can ride with us! Perfect! I had plenty of things I wanted to ask you anyway.”

“Then we'll impose on you.”

Perhaps because their professions dealt with similar matters, the two shamans were surprisingly unbothered about giving grim reapers a ride.

That left Dohyeok...

“Dohyeok.”

“What?”

“You haven't committed any serious crimes in your life, right?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Ah, never mind. Get in.”

“No, why are you acting like that!”

“Just get in first.”

I shoved Dohyeok into the car and quickly shut the door.

Then I exchanged farewells with the people who would remain behind.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes. It's a shame you can't come with us too, Director.”

“If we went, wouldn't it make it difficult for everyone else to relax?”

The NIS employees who came to our coffeehouse only appeared when Yongman gathered guild members for a raid or when the Elder brought the director along.

That was the director's consideration.

This vacation was the same.

No one would've objected if he'd quietly joined us, yet he had deliberately remained behind to guard the Divine Tree.

Even though he must have been considerably worried about sending all of us far away by ourselves.

“By the way, feel free to take out and read any of the books in the coffeehouse.”

At my words, the faces of the NIS employees who had come with him brightened.

“Haha, you really are impossible to beat. I was already wondering when I should ask.”

“You aren't the employees who usually come here.”

The employees accompanying the director were different from usual, so it was easy to notice.

They were around the department head's age.

For them, rather than their mission of protecting the Divine Tree, their desire to read the new works Seo Hanrim had written but not yet released to the world was probably stronger.

“I stocked drinks and snacks in the refrigerator and cupboard too, so help yourselves. Then we'll be going.”

And so, after finishing our long preparations for vacation, we finally set out on our journey.

* * *

“They've left. But is it really all right to send them off like that? The Director seemed quite worried as well.”

“Even if we went along, we wouldn't be much help if something happened.”

“That is true, but...”

‘Among the identified members, six aren't human. They're already beings beyond anything we can handle.’

Director Baek Mahyeon looked down the road where the cars had disappeared and let out a chuckle.

The cause that had brought together beings capable of turning the world upside down was an utterly ordinary young man.

He had a sharp mind and, when properly dressed, was fairly handsome, but he was unquestionably just one person among countless others living an extremely ordinary life.

Yet for whatever fate that ordinary young man had been born under, he had instantly gathered two divine beasts by his side and even embraced gods from both the Celestial Realm and the underworld.

At first, Baek Mahyeon had even suspected, ‘Is he really trying to change the world?’

If it had been him, he would have.

Even with his Divine Eyes only barely and faintly opened, he had risen to the position of director. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Jinseong, who had completely opened the Divine Eyes, might be capable of.

But Jinseong's actions so far had been laughably trivial.

He served coffee and tea to monsters and shamans who visited the coffeehouse, and whenever a being in need appeared, regardless of who it was, he willingly offered a helping hand.

And one by one, the people, monsters, and gods who had gathered around him became the group they were now.

‘Perhaps the power he possesses isn't the Divine Eyes at all, but the warmth that draws people to his side.’

No, they didn't even need to be by his side.

Even these major power brokers of the NIS, who hadn't so much as exchanged names with Jinseong, were already reading books with such innocent, delighted expressions.

And without realizing it, Director Baek Mahyeon found himself imagining what it might have been like if he too had gone on vacation with Jinseong.

Though its owner had left, Dangsan-ri Coffeehouse continued to retain its warmth for quite some time.