After the match ended.
A modest little party for my undefeated promotion was held at my senior's house.
My sister-in-law and So-yeon, whom I hadn't seen in a long while, welcomed me warmly.
"Tae-min, why has it been so long? Have you been keeping well?"
"Ah, sister-in-law. Walking over empty-handed, my feet felt like lead. I was in such a rush I forgot."
"Come now, what gift. I hear you were suffering out in that rough part of Africa? Seeing your face healthy like this is the biggest gift there is."
My sister-in-law smiled brightly and patted my shoulder.
For the record, my sister-in-law was one of the very few people who knew that I had served in the 9th Clandestine Unit and that I had been working as a mercenary ever since.
But the peaceful exchange of greetings didn't last long.
Setting the spoons and chopsticks on the table, my sister-in-law went straight for the heart of the matter.
"By the way, Tae-min, when are you getting married?"
"Uh...... married? Well, there'd have to be someone first. There's nobody suitable yet."
"And children? Don't tell me you're not planning to have any?"
"Haha, I haven't thought that far ahead......"
At my tepid reaction, my sister-in-law adjusted her apron and properly settled in.
"Isn't it about the age where you should start thinking about it? You're not going to meet someone and marry them in a day or two. You'd have to date and get to know each other for at least 1 or 2 years."
"Th-That's true."
"Do you think children just appear? You'd have to enjoy being newlyweds for a while after the wedding too, wouldn't you? So at the earliest you'd have a child 2 years from now, and have you calculated how old you'd be then?"
A hail of nagging poured down.
Under my sister-in-law's logically marshalled pressure, I quickly pulled out my wallet and turned my arrow toward So-yeon, who had been standing beside us watching me steadily.
"Haha. Hey, there's my So-yeon! Have you been well? Here, pocket money from Uncle!"
"Waaah, Unclllle! I missshed you! But Unclllle, do you shtill make hamburgers out of pork belly?"
The unexpected question made me choke before I knew it.
"......Hmm? So-yeon, what do you mean by that?"
"Daddy shaid sho! He shaid when he goesh to eat meat with Unclllle it'sh sho embarrashing he wantsh to pretend we're shtrangers. He shaid you put meat in lettush and put bread on top and make a hamburger and then laugh like it'sh wonderful, and it'sh a real eyeshore!"
"Haha, Daddy said that, did he?"
I smiled at So-yeon while quietly glaring sideways at my senior.
This man......
"What, did I say something wrong? Last time I watched you stick garlic in there like it was a pickle and I doubted my own eyes, kid."
My senior shrugged his shoulders in that galling way of his and filled his soju glass.
Ugh. I should just keep my mouth shut.
And yet my own hands were already wrapping a well-cooked slice of pork belly, with great care, between two slices of white bread I had prepared in advance.
"Here, So-yeon, say aah."
"Aaaahhhhh."
I popped the pork-belly hamburger I had made with such devotion into So-yeon's mouth.
"Well? Uncle's hamburger, it's delicious, isn't it?"
So-yeon worked her mouth around her puffed-out cheeks and said:
"......It'sh not good."
"Hee hee."
My sister-in-law, watching from beside us, finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
It was the moment my recipe, which I had prided myself on as more or less perfect, collapsed miserably before the palate of a seven-year-old niece.
This won't do. If I stay like this they'll keep working me over.
To stop So-yeon's and my sister-in-law's mouths, I grilled pork belly very, very diligently.
"Here, here! Sister-in-law, start with the meat. This came up from Jeju this morning, all right? So-yeon, you like it with kimchi, right? Here, say aah."
Tssss—.
The sound of pork belly cooking on the grill plate filled in the gaps in the conversation.
But my sister-in-law's radar showed no sign of switching off.
"Tae-min, shall I set you up on a date? We've got a new employee at our office, and she's really lovely and pretty."
"Sister-in-law, the meat's going cold. Eat first, and then we can talk about......"
"Is the meat the problem right now? I'm dying at the waste of you letting that presentable face rot, and now that you're back in Korea you should be thinking about settling down somewhere stable first. My husband says you're playing some game these days?"
A game......?
I shot my senior a quick look.
By now he was openly pretending not to hear, fiddling with his soju glass and looking off elsewhere.
"It isn't just a game, it actually has a certain business viability......"
"Honestly, men are all the same. Every day it's either business or a dream. So-yeon, if Uncle sits in a corner of his room playing computer games all day, can he become a cool grown-up, or can't he?"
Taking the baton from my sister-in-law, So-yeon worked her puffed-out cheeks and said:
"Nope."
"And what does he have to do to become a cool grown-up?"
"You can't be fushy and you have to shleep early and get up early! If you only eat bread like Unclllle you'll get fat and you won't be able to get married!"
"......."
"Pff, pfffhh—!"
With trembling hands I set down the tongs and looked at my senior.
By then he had buried his head in the table outright, shoulders heaving, choking on the effort of holding in his laughter.
......Just what kind of halfwit have you been making me out to be all this time?
***
"Unclllllle. You have to shleep over today. 'Kay?"
Once the gathering had ripened somewhat and So-yeon started wobbling and saying she was sleepy, the situation wrapped itself up.
My sister-in-law went into the main bedroom with So-yeon to put her to bed, and at last only my senior and I were left in the living room.
What remained in the place the storm had swept through was nothing but empty soju bottles and a grill plate gone cold.
My senior tipped the last of the drink into his glass and said:
"You've shown a lot of rattled faces today, haven't you?"
"It's chaos. More than Africa."
My senior let a short laugh slip at my answer.
"Noisy as it is, this is what living among people is. A hundred times better than rolling around where the bullets fly."
"That's true enough."
I nodded, running my hand over my empty glass.
It is certainly peaceful here.
I might have to listen to nagging until a whole bag of white bread is gone, but I don't have to stake my life and sit up through the night.
'He looks happy.'
My senior was a man with no family and no home to go back to.
Seeing him finally find his place and live an ordinary daily life put my mind at ease.
My senior looked for a moment at the bedroom door So-yeon had gone through, then cleared his throat and set his glass down.
"Anyway, congratulations. I got chills watching you drive in at the end. How on earth did you see a gap that short?"
"It wasn't bad, was it?"
"Would it stop at 'not bad'? I looked at the community just now and it's in an uproar, you know?"
"Honestly. They do know talent when they see it."
The two of us cackled and slapped each other's forearms, SLAP!
The truth was that it still hadn't quite sunk in.
That I really had pulled off an undefeated promotion.
The scene at the end especially, where I drove inside the Ninja's guard and planted a blow in his chest, was honestly rather cool even to me.
"I knew you'd do well, but I didn't know you'd cross over to the Pro League this fast."
"So making a fortune is just a matter of time now, right?"
"Obviously. I looked into it a bit, and people who promote undefeated usually start their first fight purse at 10 million won."
I stopped with my soju glass partway to my mouth and frowned.
"But you said I can't fight matches whenever I want. Then isn't it not much different from the Amateur League?"
"Come on, the Pro League is still far better. From here on up what gets tacked on afterward is different."
"What else gets attached?"
"Win bonuses and sponsors."
My senior held up two fingers.
"The win bonus is the baseline, and the advertising sponsorship that attaches itself to your video views and your popularity is tremendous. With a title like undefeated promotion on you, the corporations aren't going to leave you alone, are they? And there are bonuses, too."
"Ah, I've heard about those as well. Fight of the Arena, Performance of the Arena, was it?"
"That's right. They pay 100 million won each, I think?"
For a moment I was lost for words and simply stared at him.
"They give you 100 million won as a bonus?"
"Which is why everyone stakes their lives on the main card, the upper numbering. Just winning is decent money, and with a bonus on top it's possible to earn in the hundreds of millions in a single match."
Listening to my senior, I grinned and tipped the glass back.
So that's how it is.
The drink going down my throat tasted far sweeter than it had a moment ago.
Ahh, that's good.
Hundreds of millions in one match, is it......
"Then I'd better aim for the bonuses too."
"If it's you, it's perfectly possible. Watching you today, your movement was even better than in your active days, wasn't it?"
"Was it?"
The two of us laughed out loud and slapped each other's forearms, SMACK! SMAAACK!
Maybe it was because we were in good spirits, but it kept feeling as though we had gone back to the days when we moved together.
Then a Ding! of an alarm sounded from my senior's smartwatch.
"Oh, hey. Here it is. The contract."
Since he had taken on everything from the application to the submission himself, the alarms were set to his end.
We broke off our drinking session and headed for the monitor.
And the moment we checked the contents with lifted hearts.
"Hm."
"......?"
Both of our brows furrowed deeply at the same time.
***
『Dear Participant No. 2,749.
On behalf of Nova, our sincere congratulations on your undefeated promotion in the Japanese Amateur League and your acquisition of a Pro License.
Nova Arena has watched the challenges of a great many warriors since its founding.
Yet the record and the performance you have shown stand out as a singularly impressive case even among them.
Your undefeated promotion, achieved in so short a span, is in particular an accomplishment that will be recorded in Nova Arena's history.
Accordingly, we again inform you that you have been formally granted eligibility to participate in the Pro League.
■Notice regarding Pro League participation
You are currently confirmed as belonging to no Legion whatsoever.
Under the regulations, a warrior who belongs to no Legion is registered under the country in which he is participating when entering the Pro League and fights his matches as such.
The following procedures are required for this.
·Conclusion of a contract directly under Nova Japan Arena
·Notice of the detailed clauses regarding Pro League participation
·Explanation of the fight purse and bonus structure
·Assignment of a staff member to serve as your second
·Briefing on your upcoming schedule and matchmaking
The above procedures are conducted by face-to-face means only, and the drafting of the contract will likewise take place on site.
■Matters relating to security and identity
Nova Arena devotes considerable effort to protecting the identities of its participants.
At present, among Nova Arena's employees there exists no person who is aware of your real name, nationality, past history or identity.
The employee handling this matter is likewise a seconded employee belonging to NJA (Nova Japan Arena), and will handle only the minimum information necessary for the contract and for operations.
We promise you that Nova Arena holds the anonymity and safety of its warriors as its highest value.
■Inquiry regarding a visit schedule
In order to proceed with the contract, a staff member from Nova Japan Arena will call on you in person.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but please reply with the dates, locations and time slots at which a visit is possible.
We will coordinate to accommodate your schedule as far as we possibly can.
Once again, we express our deep respect for your dazzling achievement, and we look forward to your performance in the Pro League as well.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely, Nova Arena Operations Headquarters
(Nova Arena Operations Division)』
Summarized, the contents came to roughly this.
Congratulations on my promotion, and since I had no Legion, if I wanted to participate in the Pro League I had to fight as a member of Nova Japan Arena, and to do that I had to meet them in person and draw up a contract.
For the record, my handler was with NJA, no one among Nova Arena's employees currently knew my information, and when would be a good time for them to call on me.
I stroked my chin and frowned.
"So I need a Legion. Which one do I join......?"
At my muttering, my senior scolded me as if he couldn't believe it.
"Hey, you idiot. That scowl on your face was over nothing more than which Legion to join?"
"Then what should I be worrying about? This is the biggest issue right now."
I looked at him with an expression of genuine incomprehension.
"Hey, kid. You went out there in a mask to hide your identity. Don't you remember?"
"Ah, right."
Oh yes. That.
In the joy of the undefeated promotion and the hundreds of millions in fight purses, I had forgotten for a moment.
The guys who had been after me in Africa would still have their eyes peeled, and if I rashly joined a famous Legion it would only be a matter of time before my details were dug up.
"What do we do?"
When I asked, my senior let out a long breath.
Ugh, this man's already drunk. Look at the stink of alcohol coming off him.
A moment later, in a slurred voice, my senior spoke.
"I'll handle it for you."
"Handle it how, exactly?"
"Can't I just throw together a dummy Legion and stick you in it as a member?"
"You're going to create a Legion, hyung? Is that something that works that easily?"
"What do you take me for? Making a document or two is nothing."
Turning his words over carefully, I nodded.
For the moment that was indeed the best option.
My senior was a capable information broker, but he also moonlighted as a fixer who used information to clean up troublesome matters.
"And the cost?"
"Forget it. I'll do it free, you punk."
"Come on, a hyung with no heart...... Hurry up and tell me how much."
At my words, soaked in distrust, my senior raised his voice as if wronged.
"I mean it! Hey, am I going to squeeze money out of you of all people?"
"Judging by what you do normally, you're more than capable of it."
"Oh, honestly, a man's sincerity......! Forget it, I won't take it. Go up to the Pro League, get your bonus, and then buy me a lavish Korean beef dinner or something."
"You really mean it? I'm recording this conversation. No saying two things out of one mouth!"
"......What crime did I commit in a past life to end up with a guy like you for a junior? Enough, just drink, kid!"
My senior knocked back his soju, huffing.
It was an extraordinary set of terms, the sort that could never come out of my senior on a normal day, but going by that attitude, he might be sincere just this once.
Well, the sun does sometimes rise in the west.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket.
'I'll have to edit the Korean beef part out very slyly.'
I have not a shred of doubt about the fact that Korean beef, raised drinking in the essence of the peninsula, is the finest meat in the world.
It's just that my wallet is far too light to handle that magnificent Korean beef.
TL Notes:
TL Note: Sister-in-law — Tae-min calls Chae Geon-uk "hyung" (elder brother) and his wife "sister-in-law" as courtesy titles; the two men are former comrades, not relatives.