# Chapter 38
“A hobby?”
The black sunglasses, stubbornly worn even indoors, glinted mischievously.
“We were just talking about Sano-nim’s card statements. Don’t change the subject.”
“Are you going to nag me about it? You said I could use it as I please.”
At this nonchalant response, Jongchan roared.
“Use it reasonably! Are you trying to completely drain our Sano-nim’s account?”
“Jongchan-ssi.”
Iyeon’s face turned solemn.
“Is Je Sano’s fortune at such a pathetic level that it would be depleted by my spending over a few months?”
“…Well, no.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Jongchan flared up again at this neat conclusion.
“What’s settled…”
“Iyeon-ssi.”
It was Jonghee who interrupted Jongchan. Her calm voice cooled the atmosphere.
“Is there a reason you’re suddenly asking about hobbies?”
“Well, I was thinking about getting a hobby for myself.”
“You don’t even have a hobby? Really?”
Jongchan, who used formal speech only when it suited him, spoke in a boastful tone. Iyeon nodded obediently.
“Yes. So I thought I might try following someone else’s hobby.”
“Sano-nim’s roommate can’t be without one.”
Jongchan stood up abruptly, gesturing for Iyeon to follow. The gleam in his eyes behind the sunglasses was quite triumphant.
“It suits you quite well.”
“Thank you.”
Iyeon knew nothing about suit brands, but he could at least distinguish quality and style. In that respect, the store that Jongchan and Jonghee had brought him to was definitely a place he would never visit with his own money.
The rustling fabric felt awkward against his skin, so Iyeon fidgeted with various parts of the suit. Once he put on the black sunglasses that Jonghee had procured from somewhere, the three of them looked completely like they belonged to the same group.
“But why are you suddenly having a suit tailored for me?”
“It’s necessary for the hobby.”
Since there was no objection to his use of “having it tailored,” it seemed they were buying it for him. That made him feel much better.
A hobby that required wearing a suit—he couldn’t imagine what kind it might be. He tried hard to guess but failed due to the limitations of his imagination. If it was an occasion requiring a suit, it would be something like a wedding or funeral, but surely such things couldn’t be considered hobbies.
The three left the store and moved in a black sedan. While Jongchan drove, Jonghee handed Iyeon a tablet.
“Please fill this out while we’re on the way.”
At a glance, it looked like some kind of form. Iyeon’s expression turned cold the moment he saw the contents.
“Why are you asking about Je Sano’s wake-up time?”
“It’s a kind of health check.”
“His breakfast menu too?”
“Yes.”
Jonghee’s face was so serious that Iyeon almost fell for it.
“And why are you asking how much he gets offered during street castings?”
But he wasn’t fooled.
“I ask about hobbies and you show me a stalking journal? Does Je Sano know you’re doing this?”
The suspicious document was filled with other absurd items. Sano’s daily water intake, number of times he’d been hit on, sleeping posture, recent situations when he was most pleased… What was BMI supposed to be? Iyeon didn’t even know his own weight.
“Stalking? How dare you.”
Jongchan also turned serious.
“This is basic information we need to assist Sano-nim.”
“Assist with what? Je Sano is the type of person who’d be fine even if his excrement were made of steel.”
“What!”
As Jongchan tried to turn his head in shock, Jonghee quickly grabbed his head and fixed it forward before turning to look at Iyeon herself.
“Does Sano-nim… perhaps have constipation tendencies?”
“…”
“If you could tell us the exact symptoms…”
This was exhausting. Iyeon wanted to go home.
“Where are we going right now?”
Iyeon, who had grown haggard in just a short time, slumped in the back seat. His hands listlessly filled in the stalking journal, his posture as limp as a slime.
“Our hobby is assisting Sano-nim.”
That answer wasn’t surprising anymore.
“So we’re going to see Sano-nim.”
“What?”
He was trying not to think about Je Sano, but as soon as he started asking about hobbies, he was rapidly getting closer to the man himself.
Meeting Sano was also a problem. I asked your secretaries about their hobbies, and they said it was stalking you. And now I’m wearing the same clothes as them. Wouldn’t that make him think Iyeon was one of these stalkers too? Just imagining it was terrible.
Should he ask to be let out now? Just as Iyeon was watching for the right moment to speak up—
“We’ve arrived. Let’s get out.”
Thanks to the swift driving, there was no time to escape. Iyeon got out of the car with a deadpan expression.
“Um, could you please tell Je Sano that I just happened to stop by…”
“Pardon?”
Jonghee looked at Iyeon with confusion. She was suddenly holding a camcorder.
“We don’t directly approach Sano-nim.”
“What?”
“It could be dangerous to get too close. We’ll just watch from a distance.”
Only then did Iyeon look around at where they had arrived. Far from the city center, in a remote area, a forest surrounding a valley with steep waterfalls.
A faint sound could be heard from within.
A rumbling cry echoed softly, like the earth was boiling from deep below. Iyeon realized that one edge of the forest at higher ground was slightly vibrating. The massive force didn’t reach where they were standing, but his heart started racing as if witnessing a natural disaster.
And then the hill moved.
No, no. It wasn’t a hill. It was part of an enormous body. A round, smooth creature was gliding along the ground. Covered in wet mud, it resembled a snake, or a python.
Or a dragon.
The slowly moving mud dragon brought to mind the image of a forest god. Despite the sufficient distance, the pressure it exuded was tremendous. A tingling tension touched Iyeon’s skin, making him unconsciously clench his fists.
“Level 4 mutant, Doho.”
Jongchan, who had approached without notice, said. His gaze beyond the sunglasses was unwavering as he looked at the scene ahead.
“If left alone, it hides in the ground and buries passing people alive.”
“Is he fighting it alone?”
“Sano-nim always fights alone.”
At the top of the tallest tree was a figure so small it looked like a Lego piece. The black coat tails fluttering in the wind gleamed dully in the sunlight. The owner of the familiar attire was easy to guess without looking closely.
Sano raised one hand without any particular preparatory movement.
And then, massive walls began to build around Doho. The wall, curling up roundly like the creature’s body, looked similar in color to the mud covering Doho’s surface at first glance.
In an instant, a shadow fell over Doho like a wave crashing down. It happened so quickly that Doho only noticed the foreign substance when its body was almost completely covered.
Kiiii…!
Just as that spine-chilling cry began to spread, the wall completely enveloped Doho.
And then strongly compressed.
The silently crushing force swallowed even sound. The wall shook slightly as Doho rebelled inside, but it didn’t dare break.
The compressing wall, though slow, never stopped. Little by little, bit by bit. Until finally, the ground that Doho had been disturbing returned to normal.
Silence fell.
After indifferently scanning the quieted forest, Sano lowered his hand, which was now densely covered with black scales. Then he jumped down from the tree and disappeared.
That was it.
“…”
Seeing it with his own eyes and still unable to believe it, Iyeon was at a loss for words.
When Je Sano boasted that he was the future of the country, Iyeon had just found him disagreeable, but seeing him in action, he understood why he said such things. Though still just as disagreeable, anyway…
With that ability, facing Cheongho had been completely child’s play. It was more like playing with a cat. An ability that defied common sense.
He really is strong.
After the information exceeded the limits of comprehension, that simple thought was all Iyeon could manage.
“We’ll be withdrawing now.”
At Jonghee’s words, Iyeon’s gaze shifted to the camcorder she was holding.
“That’s…”
“This is for external use.”
“External use?”
“We need to upload it to the internet occasionally, with reduced quality.”
“Wait, that was you guys?”
So it wasn’t just some passing civilian. Well, Iyeon had thought the quality was excessively degraded for modern times.
“Since Sano-nim doesn’t engage in media activities.”
It was a kind of publicity. A way to maintain Je Sano’s influence while exposing his existence minimally.
“We want Sano-nim to live as he pleases.”
“He already seems to be doing that.”
“That’s why we exist.”
Sano didn’t care about anything. Whether his identity was revealed or not, whether his face was seen or not.
But the more his personal information was exposed, the fewer choices he had. No matter how much he himself didn’t mind, as a member of society, there were limits.
That’s why Jongchan and Jonghee had stepped in.
The two worked tirelessly behind the scenes. To ensure nothing constrained him, while simultaneously preventing his presence from fading away.
Thanks to the two capable secretaries, the most powerful superhuman had become the city’s hero.
