Praise the Orc! Chapter 178:
Chapter 178 – What Happened on the Beach (3)
The woman Ian brought was of a similar age to Yoo Jaehan . Yoo Jaehan subtly looked her up and down . He felt like something was wrong .
“This is it . ”
“Is it this person?” She asked .
Yoo Jaehan looked at Ian and laughed, “What is this?”
“What about it? Eat a lot, pray a lot, and love a lot . ” Ian laughed . “I found someone for Doctor-nim . ”
“No, why didn’t you ask me?”
“I didn’t intend for it originally . ”
Ian grinned and spoke to the woman, “Noona, he is handsome, intelligent, and a good surfer . ”
“I can’t see that…”
“His mind is very good . He is a Mensa member . ”
“Oh, my **** . Really? His mind does seem nice . ”
Yoo Jaehan instantly shook his head, “Mensa is just a mega society . It is a group that anyone can enter . ”
“Mensa?”
“Hahaha . How about it? He is clever . ” Ian laughed .
She replied, “I came here, but I still don’t believe it . Will you take responsibility?”
“Why are you already like this? Talk together for a little bit more . However, I will take responsibility . This person is gentle inside and out . He is a genius who remembers everything . Isn’t he great?”
Ian moved her to sit beside Yoo Jaehan . The woman shrugged like she was still unsure if she was interested, but she started talking to Yoo Jaehan .
She was the guest staying in the room next door to Ian at the hotel . They had encountered each other outside their rooms and started chatting . As she was a similar age to Yoo Jaehan and bored being by herself, he said he would introduce her to a nice man . The woman followed because deep down she was interested in Ian, but a genius had his own charm .
“Have fun . ”
Ian slipped away . The wall broke down slowly, and Yoo Jaehan and the woman laughed as they exchanged a few words .
Ian grinned . He had wondered about what type of person the genius Yoo Jaehan was, but he seemed more free and easy than Ian had thought . Ian had thought about letting Ji Hayeon know, but it was better to hide his available resources .
“What should I do?”
Ian walked alone on the beach at night . It was night, so the atmosphere was cool . Exotic bars were lit up along every street, and the food trucks parked in the streets sold a variety of food . Ian bought an American-style chili hot dog . He also received a cup of beer . It was delicious . The beer was a domestic brand, but it wasn’t bad .
He walked around the beach with food in his hands and sometimes saw youths who had bought firecrackers . Here and there, people were laughing . There were young people busking, playing musical instruments, singing and dancing .
Somehow, it all seemed distant . It felt like a type of world which he couldn’t join . Ian was a similar age to them, but he was more accustomed to pointing a muzzle at an enemy’s head than playing music or having other talents .
“You should enjoy life…” Ian’s boss had said this when Ian was discharged . How had Ian looked at that time?
However, now he enjoyed it enough . Was there anything as joyful as being Crockta?
“……!”
At that moment, Ian recoiled . A face he had seen many times belonged to a person sitting at a BBQ party on the beach . This was a face that shouldn’t be here . It was a person with green skin, rough eyes, a heinous face, and a red headband .
“C-Crockta…?”
The person was Crockta . Ian froze in confusion, but when he looked closely, he saw that Crockta wasn’t the only one . There were various faces next to him, such as the popular pokemon, Pikachu . They were masks to be pulled down over the head .
People laughed as they moved . Ian couldn’t help laughing . When did these products come out?
“I should be paid royalties . ” He muttered as he kept staring .
The people were laughing as meat cooked on the open air barbecue grill . Then suddenly, someone waved at Ian . The face was familiar . It was the woman who hit Ian during the day . He couldn’t ignore her due to her intense gaze .
“What are you doing alone?”
“Nothing . Well…” He looked down at the hot dog and beer in his hands . “I am walking alone . ”
“Ah, so you came to the beach . It must be lonely . Is your body okay?”
“It’s okay . ”
Her face was already red from the alcohol .
The people sitting with her wondered who he was . When she told them that Ian was the person she hit during the day, they welcomed him with strange eyes . It seemed like they had already talked about Ian .
On the other hand, the men were looking at Ian with appraising eyes . The man wearing the Crockta mask took it off . He was a young man .
He asked, “Do you know this person?”
“Kind of . ”
“I’m sorry, but only our guests are able to attend . The amount is fixed . ”
It seemed to be a BBQ party for people staying at a guesthouse . Ian had no intention of attending, so he shook his head .
“He was injured because of me, so can’t it be allowed just this once? It is okay for one person . ”
“Please, Oppa!”
“I was really looking forward to seeing him!”
The young man was troubled because he couldn’t ignore a bunch of girls .
“I understand . Please have a drink . ”
As the young man working at the guesthouse soon realized the atmosphere, he quickly handed Ian a drink . Ian tried to refuse . However, the idea of enjoying life suddenly flashed through his mind again . Sometimes, it wasn’t so bad to participate in things like this .
Ian received a cup .
The people were from all over the country . The young man wearing the mask had come because the boss had asked for his help . Meanwhile, the rest were office workers, university students, and young men just about to go to military service .
Ian asked, “Where did you get that mask?”
“I bought it on the Internet . Do you know about Crockta?”
“I know . ”
“I’m a fan . ”
Everybody was drunk, and their intentions could be seen in their eyes . There were people hitting on those they liked . The guesthouse employee was interested in the woman called Jieun, and Jieun was interested in Ian .
Ian smiled wryly as he was sandwiched between the two of them .
“I think I should go now . ”
“Where?”
“I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep . ”
“Are you going to sleep already?” As Ian left, the man felt sorry as well as glad, so he didn’t try to stop it . “It can’t be helped if you are tired . ”
Ian said thanks and rose from his seat after finishing his drink . Anyway, everyone was so drunk that they wouldn’t remember him .
He walked around for a while after leaving the beach . In fact, he wanted to be left alone . This time alone was needed . Ian looked at the distant lights in the sea and thought about Elder Lord and Yoo Jaehan .
He asked himself why these things happened . It was almost like someone had given Ian a mission . Strange things would keep happening to him in the world of Elder Lord .
Yoo Jaehan… Ian went on a trip, met Yoo Jaehan, and heard about Elder Lord . Elder Lord seemed to be born from some strange idea about reversing entropy, and the grey **** seemed to be yearning for it .
***
He felt the sea breeze one more time before deciding to return to his hotel .
“……”
Ian witnessed a suspicious sight . The guesthouse members at the BBQ party were either still partying or had returned separately to sleep . However, the man who wore the Crockta mask was supporting the woman called Jieun and heading somewhere else .
She seemed drunk and dazed, while the man was leading her somewhere . It was in the direction where the bright lights of a motel flashed .
“Ah, really . ”
Ian bit his lips . Where were her friends? He didn’t know, but they seemed swept up by the atmosphere and didn’t pay attention to her . The man’s hand was busy moving in the direction of her waist .
Ian went up to them . “Excuse me . ”
The man looked angrily at Ian . Jieun hadn’t recovered yet and was leaning weakly against the man . She occasionally muttered nonsense .
Ian spoke softly, “Just take her back to the guesthouse . ”
The man looked around for a moment and saw it was just them . Then the man’s face distorted as he replied angrily, “What is it? Are you her boyfriend?”
He had dropped all honorifics . Ian smiled bitterly .
“You shouldn’t take advantage of a drunk person . It is fine if you listen to my proposal . ”
“Don’t interfere in my business . Why are you meddling?”
The man placed Jieun on the ground and approached Ian . He had a good physical appearance, and he was tall, so he looked down at Ian .
“Why did you have to meddle in my business?”
Ian thought about it . The man’s words… Ian wasn’t a good person to meddle in other people’s business . When he looked back at his past, he would shrug rather than meddle with other people’s problems .
However, he couldn’t just walk on by now .
“So, listen well . ”
“What?”
“Maybe if you hadn’t used that mask…” Ian muttered . “Crockta is exactly why I…”
Ian stretched out his hand at a speed was so fast that the man couldn’t respond . The man’s balance was disturbed…
Kung .
And he fell on his back .
“Ack!”
Ian shook his hand .
“You can’t pass . ”
The man held his back and rolled around on the ground . Ian had done it gently, but the man seemed to be shocked . Ian ignored him and went to the woman called Jieun .
“Are you okay? Can you stand?”
She was sitting down and dozing off . Ian sighed inwardly . He had to call the police or find one of her friends .
“You bastard…” In the meantime, the man stood up and ran forward with a red face .
Ian said, “Just lie down . ”
“I’m going to kill you!”
He rushed towards Ian . It was a posture which showed he had some training . Powerful punching and kicking followed . If the opponent were an ordinary person, he wouldn’t be able to resist the attack of this trained person .
However, the opponent was Ian . The man collapsed after being hit in the solar plexus, and Ian kicked his side . The man couldn’t breathe and curled up . Ian kicked the man’s belly one more time .
“Don’t ever wear Crockta’s mask again, or I will kill you . ”
Ian looked down at the man as he warned . Suddenly, he saw the woman’s friends in the distance . They were looking for her .
Ian waved his hand .
***
“Boss-nim . ”
“Huh?”
“Did you enjoy your trip?” Han Yeori asked as she watched Ian .
“I did . ”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes . “You haven’t let go of your phone since you returned . ”
Ian hesitated . Then he started typing on his phone again .
“It’s not like that . ”
“Hrmm…”
Han Yeori stared at Ian from where she was wiping the tables . Ian hurried to finish the message and pressed the send button .
Since traveling to Gangwon-do, the number of people in his messenger had increased by two . There was the woman called Jieun, whom Ian had rescued . To be exact, she was Han Jieun . Why was he in contact with her? She seemed to have a crush on Ian after he rescued her from the dangerous situation .
A new message appeared .
[It is quiet . Aren’t you playing Elder Lord today?]
Yoo Jaehan…
The other new person was Yoo Jaehan . The genius scientist and creator of Elder Lord whom the Myeongsong Group was chasing . Yoo Jaehan had become close friends with Ian . Ian couldn’t help smiling as he remembered Yoo Jaehan’s unique tone .
[You should watch the broadcast . ]
[I’m looking forward to it . ]
More messages were exchanged . Ian rested for a while, and now he was returning to Elder Lord to meet Tiyo and Anor .
Han Yeori frowned as she saw Ian smiling at his phone . “Annoying . ”
“……?”
Ian’s eyes widened at the irritation which he rarely saw from Han Yeori .
Han Yeori shrugged . “What? Don’t bother me for the rest of the day . ”
Then she went to wipe the other tables . Ian scratched his head as he gazed at her .