Pen and Paper Translations

Reinterment.

Put simply, it means moving a grave.

And reinterment was exactly what the requester wanted.

Strictly speaking, he wanted Rowoon to deliver a message to his descendant to have the grave reinterred.

This isn’t even some “Do you believe in the Way?” spiel…

Walk down the street and you’ll often run into lines like:

• “You have a pure soul.”
• “But things haven’t been going well for you lately, have they? That’s because your ancestors are angry…”
• “If you perform rites with us, your ancestors will be satisfied and all your problems will vanish!”

If you’ve ever been cornered by those cult peddlers, this patter will sound very familiar.

The problem is, it’s all sham. It was just a scam to shake you down for money.

No… if you think about it, this message itself isn’t the absolute worst.

Being treated like a fraud?

So what if he is.

When your life is on the line, who cares about being called a quack?

He’d even swallow being called the granddaddy of quacks if that’s what it took.

Besides, Rowoon wasn’t trying to cheat anyone; the person who’d made the request was the real deal. He’d submitted it himself.

[Starlight (requester) nods, telling you to trust him!]

Cheonghwa chimed in as well.

[Yes. From what I saw, that is his descendant. Disturbing another’s remains carelessly is a grave sin. The calamity follows the person and their bloodline; it’s not something to trifle with.]

In short, he was saying it really was him.

Up to that point, fine.

There was a lofty purpose here: to deliver the truth, not a lie!

The problem was…

“I don’t even know if I can get in to see him…”

The person he had to deliver the message to was the chairman of Taewoon Group.

Inferno-level difficulty—seriously?

[Ugh… Next time I’ll conduct a thorough review so this doesn’t happen again.]

“How are you supposed to curate anonymous bidding…?”

[That’s… true, but still…]

They’d been blinded by the promise of virtue.

“It’s fine. We’ll figure something out.”

He’d underestimated it and taken a clean hit to the back of the head, but what else could he do?

If I don’t want to die, I have to do it.

Rather than spending forty days fretting like the last leaf clinging to a branch, it was better to just try something.

Rowoon steeled himself.

But the moment he stood before Taewoon Group’s headquarters, that steely resolve shrank fast.

They said the building was new, and wow, it’s enormous.

The place wasn’t just huge. It radiated a kind of grandeur.

He felt intimidated before he even stepped inside.

No surprise. Truth be told, “the office” as a space had never left good memories for him.

He’d built up some tolerance by going in and out of his current agency, but…

At his former agency, being summoned to that shabby, grimy office had only ever meant misery.

Hearing the worst news about a member causing trouble.

Getting yelled at.

Being threatened: keep this up and we won’t be able to pay you…

Still have to go in. If you don’t do it, who will?

Talking himself down, he forced his feet that was stuck to the floor to move and carefully headed for the main entrance.

Naturally, there was a hurdle right from the start.

I can’t just slip in behind someone going inside, right?

It was the group’s headquarters. Security was tight.

Without a pass card, you couldn’t even approach the interior.

Two guards at the entrance, one to either side.

Another at every corner.

If he tried to sneak in, he’d be caught immediately and shaken down to his soul.

So he quietly headed for the information desk off to the side.

“How may I help you?”

A polite question delivered with a warm smile.

Mustering his courage, Rowoon said,

“I—I’d like to see the chairman.”

[Good. You’re doing great!]

Watching from nearby, Cheonghwa showered praise on Rowoon’s boldness.

Reality, however, was cold.

“Do you have an appointment? If you tell me your name, I’ll check.”

Faced with the ironclad defense of the staffer, his courage shrank again.

“I don’t… have… an appointment. Is it… very difficult to see him?”

The staffer’s expression turned a shade ambiguous.

“If you don’t have a prior engagement, an unscheduled visit is not possible.”

Kind but firm.

An air of practiced ease, as if they’d handled countless random walk-ins and drifters before.

A security guard, cued by the desk staffer, was just starting toward him when—

“What are you doing here?”

He heard a familiar voice that had no business being here.

“Kang Chaheon…?”

Rowoon’s eyes went wide.

---

It had been only a few days since Kang had barged into the café on the first floor of their agency.

What is this? Why do I keep running into this guy?

They say coincidence repeated becomes inevitability.

Must be his imagination, right?

Normally he’d have wondered why the man was even acknowledging him, but this time was different.

“Wow, Mr. Kang Chaheon. Fancy meeting you here…!”

The words slipped out, straight from the heart.

He could’ve sworn he saw a halo behind Kang’s head—the kind fans sometimes claimed to see.

“Are you sick or something?”

“No. Not even a little.”

Kang’s suspicious gaze raked him up and down.

“You don’t seem in your right mind… Fine. What are you doing here? Weren’t you busy?”

How could you turn down a PD Han variety slot people would kill to get, only to show up here?

Dodging the wary looks of the desk staffer and security guard, Rowoon happily approached Kang.

“What about you, Mr. Kang? What brings you here?”

“Business. I have to see the chairman for a minute.”

The chairman? What business would Kang Chaheon have with the chairman of Taewoon Group? No, more importantly—

His questions vanished in an instant.

The Sanctus sounded again in his head.

This was… destiny!

“I… let me—let me come with you!”

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

Normally, even being greeted would make him jump like a rabbit meeting a natural enemy.

Now he was sparkling-eyed and stepping in first.

As if making excuses under Kang’s skeptical stare, he added,

“As it happens, I also have business with the chairman.”

“Then go in.”

“It’s not like I can just walk in, you know? I was about to get tossed out.”

“Hm?”

Kang stared down at him, like something didn’t add up.

Depending on his answer, the last-leaf forty days would either be ticked away, or the request completed.

How long had he waited, each second like an hour?

“Alright.”

At last, permission.

“Thank y—!”

“On one condition.”

“Pardon?”

“You do me a favor, too.”

“…”

There was a strong whiff of strings attached to it.

“Or don’t. You’re the one who needs this, not me.”

“Fine… Okay. Deal.”

It made him a bit nervous, but it beat dying.

Once he accepted, everything moved at lightning speed.

As if he’d never been treated like some random loiterer, he was ushered courteously inside, even taking the elevator that went straight to the chairman’s office.

When they arrived, the secretary announced them inside.

The door soon opened, and a robust, well-built middle-aged man stood to greet them—well, to greet Kang.

“Well, look who it is. Chaheon!”

“Long time no see, Chairman.”

“I heard you were in a movie. Going well, they say?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

“Heh-heh. You’re a busy man. What brings you all the way here?”

“My grandfather asked me to deliver a gift, and since I was at it, I thought I’d pay my respects.”

“A gift? From that old coot?”

It was like a scene out of a drama.

What is this? Are they close?

Which explained how Kang could come straight to see the chairman.

Still… meeting the head of a conglomerate this easily?

Their talk of gatherings and appearances felt like a world apart.

Rowoon gave up trying to parse their relationship.

His overtaxed brain had gone on strike.

Right. What matters now is how to deliver the message without getting kicked out.

If he got thrown out, who knew when he’d get back in.

He already had plenty to think about; he couldn’t afford another overload.

He waited calmly for their reunion niceties to end.

“By the way, who’s this tall young man? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you hanging out with someone your age.”

So Chaheon’s lack of friends is famous even outside the industry, huh…

Even now, he found himself thinking that.

Meanwhile, Kang introduced him.

“The youngest from Chairman Lee’s family. They launched a finance company the year before last—the one that made a big splash with that ad recently…”

“Oh, that old codger’s grandson? Not the older one who didn’t know fear from tigers and wanted to jump into electronics… the other one?”

“Ha-ha. Your words might hurt his feelings, sir.”

“What, I’m letting the brat poke his nose into my territory and I can’t say that much?”

What were they even talking about, and why wasn’t it about him?

It definitely sounded like it was about him, yet he couldn’t make sense of it.

He was dying to ask about the murmured asides, but with the chairman acting like he knew him, he couldn’t.

“You’ve kept him so close I never had a chance to see him. Nice to finally meet you. I’m Seo Yang-cheol.”

“Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you…?”

He had no idea what was going on, but he shook the hand Chairman Seo offered.

After the handshake, the chairman asked, curious,

“So… are you planning to join the company now?”

“Sorry?”

“Oh, he’s about to start a project with me.”

“Hm? And what, the pillars who will carry the nation are going to play around instead of doing proper work? Your grandfather must be tearing his hair out. Raises you up so fine and all you want to do is have fun.”

Who am I, where am I…

“This young man says he has something to tell you.”

“Hm? Does he now? Then let’s hear it.”

The stage was set before he knew it.

On instinct, Rowoon knew that if he didn’t speak now, he might never get another chance.

What’s more…

[Karma score decreased by 5.]

Apparently he’d made a good impression; even his karma ticked down.

But the problem was obvious: if he said this, there was a 100% chance he’d be treated like a nutcase.

The difficulty level, seriously…

He should’ve known when the literal ancestor filed a request saying the descendant wouldn’t listen.

Putting on the kindest, least-cult-y expression he could, Rowoon said:

“Things… haven’t been going well lately, have they?”

A straight, hard pitch.

“Hmm? Heh-heh. And what’s this supposed to mean? Is this from your grandfather? Hm. He’s not usually one for jokes like this.”

Of course, it didn’t land.