Rust - Chapter 118



Only Krnovel

RUST -118

TV repeatedly showed sections of the road closed off due to fire.

The response was certainly quick. It was incomparably quicker than when the coronavirus first broke out.

[···While the National Guard secured security in the surrounding area···]

[There was a case where someone was caught trying to transport a large amount of drugs while avoiding a forest fire, right?]

[A large quantity of new drugs were discovered in the home of Ankuman Guras.]

[···A new type of drug made by synthesizing various organic compounds using South American cocaine as the main ingredient···]

[Ankuman Guras, known as a human rights activist on social media, was recently under tax investigation.]

[Ankuman Guras and the BLM Crystal Center maintain their innocence, saying the incident was staged by police.]

Ki-soon held out a napkin, pretending to watch TV.

Words written on a napkin.

[still?]

Maru shook his head.

The feeling of being observed has diminished a lot. As Ki-sun suggested, I started talking a little about Japan, and the atmosphere suddenly became more relaxed. And I don’t know what it is, but the dirty feeling has definitely gone away a lot.

“The world is really hard to live in.”

Maru agreed with Gi-sun’s words and drank his beer.

“But America is America, because when they do something, they do it with passion.”

“I know.”

Boooooong- Boooooong-

Maru’s phone vibrated. A text message came from Ms. Kim.

[What can I do about this]

The photo attached to the text message sent by Ms. Kim. It was a picture of a nurse holding Ms. Kim and crying.

Why is it like this again?

When I saw the photo of the nurse holding Ms. Kim and crying, I couldn’t help but laugh.

When Ki-sun showed him the text and photos saying, “Why? What’s going on?”, Ki-sun also snickered.

I felt a little less tense when I saw the photo of the nurse crying and Ms. Kim fidgeting.

“Look at that expression. You’re alive···.”

Ki-soon was giggling when he saw Ms. Kim in the photo. Looking at her face in the photo, her complexion was so good.

[Have you had a drink?]

[little?]

‘Hmm- Is this because you’re drunk?’ Maru texted.

[He’s drunk, so don’t accept it, hit him.]

[Can I hit you?]

[Where did you get drunk? F*ck.]

[Okay.]

The atmosphere became more relaxed after a long time, and Maru and Gisun emptied their glasses of beer while giggling.

[···An SUV rear-ends students gathered to enjoy the festival.]

[The event venue quickly becomes chaotic. The SUV that hit the students speeds down the road.]

[The perpetrator reportedly shouted, ‘Black lives matter’ as he was taken away by the police···]

“Hey. What is that? Why are you doing that to the kids?”

“Tsk- Well, that’s true···.”

Watching the news, I thought that America is a difficult country in many ways.

Wooooow-

Wooooow-

Just as Mak Gi-sun’s Too Much was about to be activated, Maru’s phone rang.

“Hold on a second. There’s a call. Hello.”

[Me- This is the police station.]

“what?”

[police office.]

Thump-tutututututut

“What, what.”

Ki-sun asked Maru, who had a bewildered expression.

“why?”

“What do you mean, if you suddenly say you’re at the police station and hang up?”

“Police station? Why did you go there?”

“Don’t I know?”

“What did you say you sent in a text earlier?”

“?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to hit the nurse?

“Huh? No way?”

Did you hit him so hard that the police would arrest him? No way? Maru and Ki-soon looked at each other. Really?

Knock knock knock

Ki-soon’s phone rang. It was a call from a Virginia employee.

[Mr. Bernard, I am contacting you because a colleague of yours has been taken to the police station.]

“Huh? How did that happen?”

[The store owner reported it after seeing a fight between coworkers… no, one person unilaterally assaulting another.]

“Are you being charged with assault?”

[The person who was hit said he did not want to be punished, but the police who responded to the report took him away at the scene, and since it was an assault, he should be fined. Should we handle it for you?]

“Ah- yes. Then I would appreciate it. Thank you.”

Ki-soon hung up the phone.

“They say he was dragged to the police station for hitting a nurse.”

“Is this true?”

“It’s true. They said they’d take care of it in Virginia.”

“No, how did you hit him?”

A moment later, Ms. Kim and the nurse came in. The nurse, with a blue bruise on one eye and a cracked lip, followed Ms. Kim like a duckling. When Ms. Kim turned around, she paused for a moment, then followed her when she looked forward again.

Kim Yang glared at Maru with a pouty face. When Maru made a face as if asking why she hit the child like that, Kim Yang protested with her whole body, saying, “You said you would hit me!”

“We caught a guy, we caught him.”

Ki-soon broke the mood. Ms. Kim felt annoyed by Ki-soon, so she sat down in her seat and raised her hand to order tequila. The nurse also noticed and tried to order a cocktail, but changed it to soda water after being attacked by Ms. Kim’s gaze.

Kim Yang, who had been drinking tequila with pleasure, glared at Maru. When Maru looked back at her, Kim Yang, who had somehow become good at controlling her anger, suddenly became kind.

“What kind of drunk were you that made you turn into such a rice cake?”

Ms. Kim frowned and poked the nurse in the side. The nurse who was poked in the side let out a ‘huh’ sound and twisted her body, then glanced at Maru.

When Ms. Kim tried to poke the nurse’s ribs with her finger again, the nurse twisted her body and spoke in a mosquito-like voice.

“Why… why are you treating me like I don’t exist…?”

“?”

“I. You scouted me. You said you’d pay me a lot.”

“···? ···!”

Oh? That’s what happened.

When Ki-soon got hurt, I brought a nurse.

I tried to bring in a doctor but failed and ended up bringing in a nurse who was acting strange… That nurse was her.

The nurse was sobbing as if she was sad about something.

“I don’t even know your name. I’m not even asking for your name. I’m not even asking you what to do.”

Maru looked at Gi-sun. Gi-sun was nodding with an expression that said, ‘You’re drunk. It was a bit much not to ask my name. Oh.’ It was ridiculous. Did you ask the nurse’s name? After all, she was the one who took care of you when you were on the ship?

“Ah, I’m sorry. As you know, the situation was a bit like that.”

“······.”

“What are you going to do now? Now that you have American citizenship, are you going to settle down in the United States? Or are you thinking of going back to your home country?”

“······.”

The nurse’s eyes widened at Maru’s words. Ki-sun shook her head.

“Hey. What are you talking about? You bring me here with a high salary, and then you tell me to do whatever I want with just one month’s salary! That’s not right.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Well, shouldn’t it be guaranteed for at least 3 to 4 months?”

That’s true. At least 3~4 months of household registration is needed before any decisions can be made, right?

“I’ll give you about 3~4 months to think about it. Since you have a nursing license, it’ll be easy to find a job in the US. Oh, right. You said you’d help me find a job in Virginia or the US. Just tell me.”

“If it’s hard to find a seat, that’s okay. Do you speak English well, miss?”

The nurse shook her head. She looked hurt. Maru felt the same way as she looked at her face, blue and bruised, and her head dropped weakly.

“This friend is going to the Tokyo area. Do you want to go with him?”

“······.”

“Hey, we all know that a disaster occurred and Tokyo was ruined, so what do I want to do if I go back? Are you telling me to go back and die?”

At Ki-sun’s words, the nurse looked as if she was about to cry.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“What should I do? I should ask you that. What do you want to do, Miss? First, stay with us for 3~4 months and think about what to do.”

The nurse nodded slightly at Ki-sun’s words. Then she mumbled.

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

The nurse lowered her head again. Miss Kim looked at her and sighed deeply.

“Name. Introduction.”

“Do you want me to introduce you formally?”

Oh, really. How tricky. Introducing yourself in these times.

“You start.”

Maru brought Gi-sun forward. Gi-sun said with her eyes as thin as thread,

“My name is Bernard Green, an American citizen.”

“I’m Nanae Ono. Please take good care of me.”

The nurse bowed.

======

======

[My name is Bernard Green, an American citizen.]

Phew-

The employee who was eavesdropping burst out laughing while eating a hamburger. I saw him holding back laughter while drinking a cola and asked him.

“Why? What is it?”

“What kind of self-introduction is that? Wow- Heh heh- Look at this.”

Two people giggling while looking back at the recorded footage.

“They said I was excluded from the intensive care unit, so this will be the last time I see them.”

“I felt healed when I saw those guys while watching the drug dealers, but it’s a bit disappointing.”

“By the way, have you not contacted the people who are looking at the BLM crystals?”

“They’ll come when the time comes. The Chinese kids’ movements are also unusual.”

“They say we need to catch those bastards who took money. What on earth are they thinking up there?”

“Don’t go around saying things like that. It’s already a mess.”

“I heard there’s a business trip to Japan coming up soon. Are you interested?”

“Are you crazy? There’s a rumor going around that you’re going to film a survival show about a natural disaster in Japan. Why are you going there?”

Everyone who knew knew that contact with the USFK headquarters in Japan had been lost, and that contact with the staff stationed in Tokyo had also been lost. Whether it was an earthquake or a tsunami, it was strange that not one or two, but all of the staff stationed in Tokyo and the local staff were out of communication.

“They say that people who don’t go to Japan are sent to the BLM crystals side.”

“Holly- Survival Japan or Black-Dancing with China. Choose one of the two? Seriously?”

“That’s right. So you choose one of the two. I have to upload it by 4pm, so before then.”

“Fuck. Where are you going?”

“japan.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Are BLM crystals safe?”

“Kuuuuuuuu. Yeah, right.”

======

======

A situation room filled with tense tension.

“What’s the status of the mutant barnacle epidemic?”

“It has been 24 hours since we were infected. The state of emergency has been lifted.”

Employees whistling and clapping here and there.

“Thank you all for your hard work. Attach staff to the labs and researchers, and manage them well to prevent research data from being leaked.”

“four.”

“And have you chosen all the employees who will go to Japan?”

“ancient.”

“Okay. Let the rest of the staff stick to BLM Crystal. Not only is there evidence of Chinese capital, but there’s also a possibility that it’s connected to a new type of drug. And have them work with the South American line.”

“All right.”

[This is a call from the Department of Homeland Security.]

“Turn the line.”

A moment later, a dry voice came over the intercom.

[Have you selected all the employees who will go to Japan?]

“This side is ready. How about you?”

[We’re ready too. Any other information?]

“There is information coming from a Korean partner company.”

[If you want information on Korean crystals, we have it too.]

“Do you also know that the Charlotte Group chairman has resigned?”

[If it’s Charlotte, it’s a major Japanese company?]

“Yes. They actually moved the headquarters to Korea. After internal strife, a female president took the position.”

[I don’t think this is an important story for us in this situation.]

“The important information is not that a woman is sitting in the chairman’s chair. The important information is that her agent, that is, her shadow agent, went to a pharmaceutical company in Tokyo to get important data.”

[Is this information important enough to send Kagemusha to Tokyo, which is in danger due to a disaster?]

“There are signs of movement in China as well, and the mafia and gangs, South American rebels, and even the Russian mafia and Southeast Asian gangs are heading to Japan.”

[Is this information related to the mutant barnacles?]

“I’m not sure, but it seems certain that Japan has created something.”

[The Japs have caused trouble again. Anyway, whatever it is, it would be dangerous if it falls into the hands of China, Russia, or terrorists.]

“okay.”

Information was delayed greatly due to the loss of contact with the staff scattered in Tokyo. As a result, competition between intelligence agencies of each country, gangs, mafia, and rebels to obtain what Japan had created became inevitable.

If the US military stirs up trouble, China and Russia will not stay still. In the end, it was time to mobilize staff and agents.

======

======

Three large yachts were anchored in the harbor.

Ki-soon tapped Maru’s shoulder, who was frowning in front of the catamaran.

“Pretend. Pretend. Who is going to die?”

“Do you really have to go?”

“I told you. I can’t give up on Naru.”

“Ha- Really. He’s my little brother, but I really don’t know.”

Ki-soon smiled at Maru’s relieved expression and got on the boat.

“Don’t worry and just wait. This guy will take care of it.”

“My brother is a piece of shit.”

“Hey, calm down before you draw your sword.”

“You too, newbie. Don’t be so noisy.”

The ship that Gi-sun was on slowly headed out to sea.