#342
Please stop it! (Illustration included)
Tap.
The sliding door closes.
“Oh, Miss Stewart. Welcome.”
Rin, who is adorably stuck to the floor, slightly lifts her upper body to greet.
“Uuuuu… I should be greeting… but I don’t want to let go…”
Eri, lying right next to her, wriggles around in the blanket.
“Eri-chan, you’ve already turned into a mess…”
At Makoto’s words, Eri blushes and curls up her whole body.
“But it’s warmer than the kotatsu… Korea’s ondol is amazing… At this rate, Eri-ring will no longer be satisfied with the kotatsu…”
Is the ode to ondol still not over?
I’m feeling dizzy.
I’m so embarrassed that my hands and feet are trembling.
“Ahem. It is indeed amazing. I also don’t want to go outside this blanket… Ugh… my back and waist are warm… it feels nice…”
Seira, also lying on the floor, speaks in the tone of a man who’s just taken a dip in a hot spring.
“I can’t… get up either… President…”
Nearby, Aris, blushing, has a dazed expression on her face.
“Hawawawawa… Unlike outside, this room is warm! Hehe. Truly, Korea’s ondol heating is incredible!”
Evangeline, taking off her thick outerwear and gloves, sparkles with excitement.
She sits down with Beatrice.
Skitter.
Without a word, Han Seo-Jin pours yuzu tea into the porcelain teacups in front of Evangeline and Beatrice.
The fragrance of the yuzu tea fills the ondol room.
Slurp.
Evangeline takes a sip of the yuzu tea.
Her eyes sparkle.
“Hawawawawa… This is yuzu tea. It’s a traditional Korean tea made by dissolving a yuzu syrup made from sugar and honey in water! It’s primarily consumed with ginger tea in winter, and the sweet and sour taste is as good as British milk tea!”
Evangeline reacts like foreigners on YouTube reaction channels promoting Korean culture.
At this point, it’s beyond cultural pride—it’s product placement level.
Please stop it already.
I feel like my ears are bleeding.
What did I do wrong to deserve this…
Honestly, Evangeline praising the warmth of the kotatsu, Wakayama oranges, and Japanese matcha in the original work was much more enjoyable to watch.
At least that’s a cliché scene that’s a must-have in Japanese light novels.
It’s like a scene from a movie!
I can’t handle this when they’re doing it in Korean.
Is this what they call walking in another’s shoes?
“Fufu. I’ve heard that Koreans have a custom of drinking yuja tea in a warm ondol room during the cold winter! To experience the winter of Korea with Mr. Kim Deok-Sung like this, young lady, is an infinite honor!”
*Slap.*
Evangeline grabs my hand and exclaims excitedly.
What kind of honor is that?
This is ridiculous.
“Fuhyuhh… Human civilization really has its uses, huh… I’ve never felt such warmth and coziness before.”
Next to me, the saintess is lounging on the futon, speaking in a relaxed tone.
When did she even crawl in there?
“Fufu. Trixie thinks so too. Fuhuaaa…”
Rin, lying beside us, turns over.
When is this godforsaken nationalism going to end?
Just then, as I gulp down some yuja tea, I hear:
“Well, everyone’s gathered now, so let’s head out to ski.”
*Clap.*
Han Seo-Jin claps her hands to get everyone’s attention.
Right.
We did come here to ski.
So we should go skiing.
That’s the only way to escape this endless nationalism hell.
“Eeeek?! Han Seo-Jin, are we going to ski already?!”
As soon as Han Seo-Jin finishes her sentence, Eri exclaims with a surprised expression.
“Uwwwww, I don’t want to go outside…”
Makoto, lying next to her, says with a melted expression.
Not wanting to leave a warm place is just like a kotatsu scene.
I’m going crazy.
Sighing, I stand up and fling the door open to the outside.
*Whooosh.*
The notorious cold wind of Gangwon-do sweeps into the room.
“Come on, let’s go outside! We have to ski!”
The cold wind is the perfect wake-up call.
Only then do the heroines start to peel themselves out of their blankets, facing the winter breeze.
I sigh and grab my outerwear from the hanger.
At that moment.
*Brrring.*
My phone rings.
It’s a message from the Undertaker delivered by Han Seo-Jin.
*
Gangwon-do, Yangyang County.
Kim Deok-Sung International Airport.
Three EX-rank villainous individuals, having smoothly passed through the strict airport security, finally set foot on South Korean soil.
Though Kim Deok-Sung had already passed through, the airport was bustling with activity.
True to the name, photos of Kim Deok-Sung were plastered all over the airport alongside the national flag.
It looked more like the Kim Deok-Sung Memorial Hall than an airport.
Seeing this, Diego Morales, the leader, furrowed his benevolent face.
“An airport named Kim Deok-Sung International Airport… This is absurd.”
It’s not uncommon to name airports after historic figures.
Just like the JFK Airport in the U.S., there are plenty of airports named after notable people.
But naming an airport after a mere teenage boy, who isn’t even a full-fledged hero yet, is unprecedented.
“… Did we accidentally come to North Korea instead of South?”
Beside him, a man with a mask covering half his face, Dokta Shinahel, mutters in disbelief.
The fanatical obsession with Kim Deok-Sung reminded one of the dictatorial state of North Korea, which has successfully maintained three generations of hereditary rule, rather than South Korea.
Dokta Shinahel’s gaze falls on a plaque on the airport floor.
The plaque, surrounded by a fence, reads, in both Korean and English, “The spot where Hero Kim Deok-Sung stood during the welcoming ceremony.”
There was a sign that read, “This is the spot where Mr. Kim Deok-Sung stood at the welcoming ceremony” in both Korean and English.
Next to it stood a bust of Kim Deok-Sung.
Click, click.
Countless tourists were taking commemorative photos in front of the bust and the plaque.
“Is this where Mr. Kim Deok-Sung shook hands with the President at the welcoming ceremony?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m jealous. The President. If I become President, can I shake hands with Mr. Kim Deok-Sung too?”
“Wake up, buddy.”
A passing Korean’s voice reached Diego Morales’s ears.
“It’s clear this is a country gone mad. With weak hero power, expectations on someone like Kim Deok-Sung are converted into national madness and expressed like that. For me, that’s actually a good thing. It means this country’s power is that weak.”
Diego Morales remarked as he adjusted his sunglasses.
Just then, while the two were surveying the crazy scene in Korea…
“······.”
An increasingly suspicious figure dressed in a black robe, the Undertaker, stood next to the recently established, larger Kim Deok-Sung Goods Store right by the airport duty-free shop.
“······.”
Beyond the robe, the Undertaker’s golden eyes caught sight of posters, bromides, cheering sticks, dolls, and various other goods attached to the goods store.
“······Kim Deok-Sung······.”
Calling his name caused the Undertaker’s heart to faintly flutter.
I will definitely save my brother.
She had promised herself that.
Of course, the Undertaker didn’t completely trust him.
But the moment Kim Deok-Sung delivered credible information that he had actually acquired Damian’s soul gem…
The Undertaker became fully convinced of Kim Deok-Sung.
The Black Prince, a friend of her brother, vouched for him, and the man who actually obtained her brother’s soul gem.
For someone like Kim Deok-Sung, perhaps…
Thump.
Just then, the Undertaker’s face, hidden under the hood, slightly reddened.
“Customer? Are you interested in a bromide of Mr. Kim Deok-Sung?”
A salesperson wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with Kim Deok-Sung’s face spoke to the Undertaker in English.
The Undertaker was startled.
“······In, interest······.”
She had no interest in the goods but had an interest in Kim Deok-Sung.
“You are interested! Then let me recommend this hot new product that’s trending. First, this bromide is a fresh product capturing Mr. Kim Deok-Sung’s arrival at the airport, exclusively sold only at the Kim Deok-Sung International Airport Goods Store…”
The salesperson, who had caught the Undertaker, dazzled her with their verbal skills for quite some time.
The Undertaker, originally not very sociable, ultimately fell for the salesperson’s smooth talk and ended up purchasing goods.
“Thank you! Come again, customer!”
Ding ding.
At the door of the goods store, which closed with a jingle.
In the Undertaker’s arms was an oddly cheerful shopping bag adorned with Kim Deok-Sung’s face, which contrasted sharply with her gloomy and suspicious aura.
Inside the shopping bag were a Kim Deok-Sung power bank, a Kim Deok-Sung fan, a Kim Deok-Sung bromide, a Kim Deok-Sung hand warmer, and a commemorative limited photo card from the airport visit.
‘Why… did I buy this?’
Just then, the Undertaker, with a dazed expression hugging the crinkling Kim Deok-Sung shopping bag with both arms…
“Undertaker? There you are.”
Suddenly.
An elderly white man wearing a bucket hat, sunglasses, and a long padded coat appeared in front of her—Diego Morales.
She appeared before him.
“What’s with that ridiculous shopping bag? You weren’t pressured into buying that, were you?”
The masked man beside her.
Dokta Shinahel pointed at Undertaker’s arm with his hand.
“Oh, no…”
Undertaker spoke to the two villains in a distorted voice.
“If not, then what the heck are you doing with that trash…?”
Just then, Dokta Shinahel remarked.
“I, uh, bought it for analyzing information on enemies… for that purpose…”
Undertaker cut off her sentence.
She sighed in relief internally.
‘An excuse… Good thing I thought of it…’
If she had been a moment late in thinking of this excuse, she could’ve aroused suspicion from the two villains.
“Undertaker. To acquire enemy information through public resources, you’re indeed meticulous. It’s almost scary.”
“…You truly are frightening.”
At Undertaker’s words, Diego Morales and Dokta Shinahel responded in serious tones.
“…”
Undertaker fell silent at the villains’ comments.
Although she was far from thorough, she already knew that silence was the best policy for such awkward remarks.
“Well then, we should have a strategy meeting.”
“I agree.”
“…I agree.”
At Diego Morales’s statement, Dokta Shinahel and Undertaker nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s move to a motel in Pyeongchang that we booked in advance for HQ operations.”
“…That motel, no matter how you look at it, is a shabby, cheap place with photos that clearly have been altered. Why is it 300,000 won for a day rental, and 500,000 won for an overnight stay? Isn’t that a bit too expensive?”
“That’s the cheapest price among the motels in the area.”
Dokta Shinahel grumbled at Diego Morales’s words.
Having overheard their conversation, Undertaker clenched her fists hidden in her sleeves.
‘Strategy meeting… Content… I need to know…’
It was the moment when Diego Morales’s plan began to unravel.
*
[Report from the informant.]
[The enemies are currently staying at a motel in Pyeongchang, and tonight, they are planning to create an avalanche and snowstorm disguised as a natural phenomenon at the ski resort, attempting to isolate Mr. Kim Deok-Sung and Beatrice in the mountains.]
While on the bus heading to the ski resort, I saw a message from Han Seo-Jin.
During the night skiing, it’s an obvious snowstorm-related accident.
Isn’t that too much of a cliché for a light novel?
But then again, that’s how light novel worlds go.
In fact, the cliché approach makes it more enjoyable for me.
Since I know the entire plan, all that’s left is to exploit it.
[What should we do?]
[I’ll pretend to be caught in an accident along with Beatrice and Evangelin. While the enemies think their operation is somewhat successful, I’ll send a signal to Seira and Undertaker to ambush them. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the enemies’ movements in real time.]
[Understood.]
Hearing Han Seo-Jin’s response, I chuckled.
Diego Morales.
The moment he thinks the operation is successful, he’ll take a blow to the back of the head.
“We’ll be arriving at the ski resort shortly.”
As Han Seo-Jin announced over the intercom, the sight of the ski resort blanketed in white snow appeared outside the window.
The operation was about to begin.
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