SWNOVELXO Chapter 208
Once upon a time, the CEO of a bio-medical startup based in Silicon Valley, Baek Ho-chan, was making waves.
Using his major in Microfluidics from USC Viterbi School of Engineering, he was a young entrepreneur leading a cell observation disease diagnosis business that combined microscopes and AI, even making it to local news.
He wasn’t lacking in skills or knowledge, and he wasn’t clueless about managing a company either; he had even completed his MBA program.
He just happened to be born a little too early for the times.
Ever since last year, a chain of regional bank failures in the U.S. had been unfolding.
Unfortunately, the first victim was Silicon Valley Bank itself. He lost not only the promised investment funds but also all his deposits.
His promising company went bankrupt after he couldn’t pay the salaries of his 35 employees, leaving him buried in debt.
But the knowledge he spent a lifetime accumulating was like his own child, so he flat-out refused an offer to hand over the company along with its core technologies.
The cost of not giving up his pride until the very end was far too great.
Eventually, Baek Ho-chan found himself without the means to return to the U.S., living in a cheap studio on the outskirts of Seoul.
But just as a final lifeline comes down for anyone, on one sleepless night, he hazily recalled the words of his grandfather, whom he disliked so much.
“I-I had a similar experience back in the day! I got hit by that darn ransomware! What was it again? Something about Bitcoin or whatever! I somehow managed to get it, but by then, all the files in my computer got deleted! Those rotten devils…!”
His actions were swift.
He went to Bian Do to visit his grandfather, and unsurprisingly, 40 years later, Baek Bong-gon was now a wealthy tycoon worth 300 billion won.
*
“Why is your butt sticking up like that! Get it down quickly!”
“Ugh! H-Hard! My legs hurt so I can’t do it anymore!”
“Looks like you kids still haven’t learned! If you can’t get it right here, you’d better be ready to add an hour of 마보 (Mabo) on top of it!”
“Eeeehhh…!”
Bright and early, Ah-rin and Minwoo were sweating it out under the watchful eye of Baek Bong-gon, doing squats like their lives depended on it.
Baek Ho-chan had been trying to persuade himself since yesterday that his grandfather, though strict, did not involve violence in his training methods.
The stick was only introduced yesterday.
He pointed to a white trash bag containing glass shards and said, “The kids were hiding in the closet and accidentally broke one of Grandpa’s prized pottery. Yes, it’s true that hitting isn’t the answer… but honestly, he’s a man who won’t be persuaded by words. You know how stubborn he can be from watching him since yesterday.”
Baek Ho-chan let out a deep sigh.
Before long, the kids finished their squats and collapsed on the dirt ground, gulping down ice water.
“Right now, it’s down to 250 billion, but it’s fine. Even after taxes, it’s still 120 billion.”
He felt just as parched as the children.
He was no longer the glamorous presenter in front of venture capital executives; now, he was just an ordinary farmer.
“It’s hot without air conditioning, isn’t it? Want one?”
From his room, he brought back some ice water along with a cone of ice cream.
“Where did you get this? It wasn’t in the kitchen fridge.”
“I have another fridge in my room. Don’t tell Grandpa.”
Having lived in the city their entire lives, the kids couldn’t survive on greens forever.
Spam, chicken nuggets, ice cream, frozen pizzas—you name it.
He would replenish their supplies once every two weeks by taking a trip to the mainland.
“Why did you adopt Ah-rin though?”
He’d been observing the Merlin Orphanage for quite some time.
If he had to pass some kind of ‘test’ from that mysterious grandfather, he surely picked talented kids.
“Just because we share the same surname?”
“…? I think I’m starting to understand why your company failed…”
“Hey…! And Minwoo and Ah-rin haven’t been officially adopted yet, you know. We agreed that as long as the money comes through safely, they’ll live with me until they’re adults, and I’ll give them about 10 billion when they leave.”
“You really are a demon, aren’t you?”
“Minwoo was the one who suggested it to me, don’t get me wrong. Ah-rin agreed too.”
He claimed that the reason for choosing kids with the same last name lay in a rational decision-making process, getting defensive all by himself.
So is this the result now?
The completion of a world where everyone is hurting.
While Baek Bong-gon was frustrated with the kids, Baek Ho-chan was parched, and Minwoo and Ah-rin wanted to escape this island as fast as possible.
“Hey… Na-me! Give me some water!”
“Here.”
“Thanks!”
Gulp, gulp!
Ah-rin’s empty stomach swelled up like a tadpole, having not eaten anything.
If she goes on like this, will she get a stomachache?
“Baek Ah-rin. So you’ve been staying on this island trying to earn money all this time?”
“Yeah? Did Uncle tell you?”
“Then why?”
“Because living with Na-me costs a lot! I need to buy a house, a school uniform, and medication.”
“So you’ve been through all this ruckus just for that? You could live well without money, Ah-rin.”
“No way.”
Having emptied her bottle, Ah-rin shot him a glare.
“If you don’t have money, you’ll be unhappy. Being without mom and dad is also unhappy. Having something is better than having nothing.”
“You…”
“Then at least I can choose to throw it away, right?”
Suddenly, Ah-rin’s irises turned red.
This was clearly a sign of mana depletion.
After saying that, she collapsed on the porch.
Though she didn’t show it, she had already pushed herself to her limits.
Baek Ho-chan brought ice packaged in plastic from the kitchen and placed it on Ah-rin’s forehead.
His movements were nonchalant, as if it were something he had done several times before.
He couldn’t push the kids any further. Hitting them wasn’t the only way to abuse a child.
“Is there anything you don’t like hearing, Sir?”
“Oh, there are countless things I don’t like hearing.”
“Just one word then. What’s the one you hate the most?”
“I suppose it’s ‘Academy’? It’s because the academy led to the downfall of my old school. The people who kicked out the residents of Duri Do to install that Magic Power Plant base station were all from the academy too.”
“Got it.”
“Hey! What are you doing!”
He glared at Baek Bong-gon, who seemed to be enjoying a leisurely stroll fanning himself.
And I stepped off the porch to block his path.
“What are you doing?”
“Please let me take that test you mentioned.”
“Test? What qualifications do you have?”
“Me?”
I glanced at the oversize sign hanging on the gate in front.
[堂書名正]
“‘Jeongmyeong Seodang’—it sounds grand, but how practical is it?”
“The children of the academy can take the test, so why can’t I?”
“Ah… an academy?”
“Yes, a real academy, different from those sham education institutions. So, are you feeling a bit insecure?”
My provocation was quite successful.
It didn’t take long for the old man’s face to turn various shades of red.
*
There are always geniuses above geniuses.
“Park Hak-yi, Dokkaji.”
“To learn widely and solidify purpose (博學而篤志), ask earnestly, and think closely (切問而近思), therein lies humanity (仁在其中矣).”
Having seen countless geniuses in Silicon Valley, Baek Ho-chan noticed the fragments of talent from the start.
“On-go-i-ji-shin…?”
“If you know the old and can learn the new (溫故而知新), you can indeed be a teacher (可以爲師矣).”
Baek Bong-gon’s eyes were about to pop out as he listened.
Thousands of sentences from The Analects (論語).
Ten sentences per minute.
“Did he just memorize that in one hour?!”
Baek Ho-chan couldn’t contain his astonishment.
About 20 years ago, when he went to his grandfather’s house for vacation, he was forced to memorize The Analects, a hellish experience that took him years, but he never could finish it…
The sharp-minded Baek Minwoo also looked at Na-me as if he were a monster.
The moment one phrase was recited, the rest came out mechanically.
Seeing Na-me completely interpret its meanings, Baek Bong-gon closed the book.
“Next!”
Even after eight months, the kids hadn’t even seen the second stage.
The true nature of the main test, which his grandfather had casually hinted at before, was now becoming clear.
“Diligence is the principle of heaven. Even without effort, it fits automatically, and without thought, one intuitively understands; those who do not act rashly align with the right principles are the sages.”
Thud—
The cane hit the ground, kicking up dust.
“Excess is no different from deficiency; it’s about keeping balance.”
The voice filled with wrath disappeared.
Is he suppressing his emotions?
No, he was channeling all his feelings into one focused point.
His wrinkly arms became fertile soil, eventually sprouting new life.
His arms trembled faintly, but his upper body remained stable.
Finally, an aura with the color of lush greenery blossomed from the palms of his hands.
“An external manifestation of the aura…!”
“What’s that?”
Baek Ho-chan couldn’t believe it.
A person who can handle the aura to its extreme can envelop it outside the body.
This is like opening up a living human’s body to pull out its heart.
Even decades of effort might not assure such a level could be achieved, but Baek Bong-gon surpassed even that.
The fiery sprout grew rapidly, branching out, unfurling leaves, and turning crimson.
One of those leaves detached and floated gracefully above his hand.
“Create a perfectly disconnected independent aura space.”
“That’s Baek Bong-gon’s order.”
Baek Ho-chan fell into despair.
From the start, he never planned to share his wealth with them.
Having treated others as lesser beings for decades, it was odd for him to suddenly entice them after a few months of humble attitude.
As the master exhaled a huff, the aura neatly vanished.
He then bent over to pick up the cane that fell to the ground.
The gentle breeze threaded through the wooden pavilion, brushing past his white beard.
With the sound of huh-choo, when he returned to his place…
“Ha…!”
Na-me was seated cross-legged, with an apple tree blooming in each of her hands.
“This easy trick, I could’ve mastered while playing Jenga as a kid.”
Many more leaves than the tree he showed earlier burst forth, along with numerous golden apples.
With a flick of her pinky, dozens of golden apples fell down.
No, they rather defied gravity and ascended into the sky.
Looking at the fading particles of light in the distance, Na-me smiled and muttered,
“Golden apples guarded by the Hesperides. I wonder if the teacher knows a bit about Greek mythology. Or perhaps Isaac Newton rings a bell?”
Baek Bong-gon remained gazing blankly at the sky for a while.
Having fully retracted her aura, Na-me asked in return for proof of her qualifications as a teacher.
“Would you mind repeating that, on-go-i-ji?”