Ch.167Chapter 7. A Week of Turbidity (3)

After receiving Baek Seol-hee’s call.

I checked the community forum once more.

“Tavern Owner. The ice bridge over Jindo that Baek Seol-hee made, it became an issue, right?”

“Of course. Even if it was temporary, an ice overpass was created, and the Goblin rode across it and flew into the sky.”

The Tavern Owner pulled up a video.

-Wow, look at that! An ice bridge! Oh, the Goblin is riding his bike over there!

-Crossing over from Jindo, whoa…! The bike is flying through the air!

-He flew when he came here too.

-Ah damn, you always have to…!

Goblin_riding_over_Baek_Seol-hee’s_bridge.avi

It’s a malicious title, but that’s the identity of this community.

-Saw the video? The real wife is Baek Seol-hee.

-Y’all gonna get sued by BSH at this rate lol

↳Don’t use initials. Call her Snow White.

-They match so well, how can anyone say they’re a forced ship pfft

This was a gallery dedicated to shipping the Goblin and Snow White.

A place where netizens gathered to pair me and Baek Seol-hee despite our frequent clashes, and despite Seol-hee recently mentioning that she’d “appreciate some restraint.”

-Honestly, they match so well that them not getting married is an insult to world peace.

-Be patriotic! I’m telling you to be patriotic right now! No, “make world peace”!!

-The ice cave receiving the Goblin’s club…. As the ice melts, and their relationship gets steamy, an S+ class ability user is born…!

There are many reasons they ship us, but what they’re really thinking is:

If Baek Seol-hee and I had a child, how amazing of an ability user would that child be?

And what if that child became a hero who worked for Korea and the world?

While other places are still buzzing about Dueoksini or Zenros, the people gathered here are only interested in the patriotic act of me and Baek Seol-hee getting together.

Just look at the most upvoted posts in this gallery.

-Scene of Goblin and Snow White working together.

-???: Adios

-Jet Goblin Attack!!!

-If he’d just kissed her before leaving, he’d have sealed the deal. This guy needs to watch some Hong Kong movies.

There are scenes of fighting the S-class demon Scullion, scenes of me ramming my bike into Scullion’s head to save Baek Seol-hee, and the final scene where Baek Seol-hee creates an ice bridge to send me off.

Vrooom.

Even watching the video again, I can see people everywhere.

The video captures the gasps of the crowd gathered at both ends of the bridge as I ride my bike up to the highest point of the ice overpass and launch into the sky.

Many people witnessed it.

Do Ji-hwan not seeing Baek Seol-hee’s heroics isn’t that strange.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Should I have asked if she was okay after almost getting hurt by Scullion first?”

This was my mistake.

It was my first conversation with Baek Seol-hee, and instead of answering her question, I should have empathized with her feelings and shown concern for her first.

“Such a basic mistake.”

The situation was complicated last night, problems were occurring in real-time, and I was feeling drowsy after eating, which led to my mistake.

She’s probably thinking:

While Do Ji-hwan was having fun with a woman on Ulleungdo, she was flying from Incheon all the way south, working her butt off.

She’s definitely going to feel hurt that I didn’t even say a word about her hard work, and instead was just having fun with a woman.

“I should text her. Tell her she did well.”

“Isn’t texting dangerous? What if Cheonrian catches you?”

“Comforting Baek Seol-hee is more important than the risk of Cheonrian finding out she’s dating a normal person.”

“…Well, I guess she would feel hurt.”

The Tavern Owner gave a bitter smile at my non-mistake.

“I’m starting to think you should just go public. That way, it would turn out that Do Ji-hwan was the one who saved Baek Seol-hee.”

“That’s true.”

Ultimately, the reason I didn’t express concern for Baek Seol-hee was because I had saved her in Jindo yesterday and confirmed with my own eyes that she was okay.

“I must have been a bit tired. I need to think about this.”

“Wouldn’t getting caught be the end?”

“It’s fine. Even if my identity is revealed, there’s only one thing Baek Seol-hee would do.”

I made a gesture of strangling myself, and the Tavern Owner’s expression hardened.

“You’re willingly walking into the tiger’s den?”

“There’s a saying that even if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.”

“I don’t know how you plan to escape, but shouldn’t you hide a GPS somewhere on your body?”

“I already have one.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

In a very important place.

There’s a place where a love GPS that tracks the location of the man named Do Ji-hwan is embedded—a place that even Baek Seol-hee probably couldn’t find.

“I’ll convince Baek Seol-hee with patriotism.”

“…Hah. I don’t know. If you feel like you’re about to get kidnapped, find a carrot or something to wave.”

“Not a carrot, but a Goblin’s club….”

[Breaking news. The government has decided to confine all ability-lost individuals to Sejong Island… Aah!]

The reporter delivering the breaking news cried out in surprise.

[Th-there! An ice bridge toward the sky!]

Vrooom.

Above the lying protesters.

A solid ice road sprouted above the protesters, and vehicles drove right over them.

They were moving fast enough to overcome the slight uphill slope and not slide backward on the icy road, determined to clear the ice overpass with the momentum of their acceleration.

-Wh-what?!

-Aaaah! Snow White is trying to kill civilians with cars…!

Rumble rumble.

The ice road didn’t collapse.

Dozens, hundreds of vehicles drove over the protesters at speeds exceeding 100km/h, and not even a speck of ice dust fell from the bridge.

“She just… bypassed the protesters. With her ability.”

“That’s S-class power.”

The controversy that followed?

That doesn’t matter.

“Thanks to Baek Seol-hee’s usual conduct, there won’t be any major issues. You know those people, right? They’ll say, ‘If you made her this angry, just how trashy must your actions have been?'”

Public opinion is on the side of Baek Seol-hee, the hero, not the protesters.

“If those protesters are said to have created a demon out of Baek Seol-hee, who would get criticized—Baek Seol-hee or those people?”

Demonization is also a threat that ability users can make against ordinary people.

“I’d probably be the first to criticize those protesters.”

* * *

“At times like this, it’s really clear.”

Crossing the ice bridge into Busan, Cheok Jun-gyeong chuckled as he enjoyed the protesters’ reactions in the news video.

-How could anyone do such a thing? There were people lying down below, and to drive cars over them…!

The protesters were red-faced with anger, but the reaction from many others wasn’t particularly favorable toward them.

-So satisfying! Baek Seol-hee! Pride of Busan!

-Ever since she got involved with the Goblin, she’s become decisive about pushing through!

“Hmm, she must have been influenced.”

If the previous Baek Seol-hee was pure white, that white was gradually gaining contrast and becoming slightly murky.

Just as pure white turns gray with just a drop of black ink, the Baek Seol-hee before the Goblin appeared and the current Baek Seol-hee were quite different.

“She seems more human now. That’s good.”

When no one was looking, Cheok Jun-gyeong secretly took out his smartphone—

“Jun-gyeong.”

“…Senior?”

—and immediately put it back in his pocket.

A chill ran down his spine when he realized the voice calling him was none other than Baek Seol-hee.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Why are you so surprised? Were you posting hate comments or something?”

“…N-no. Why would I post hate comments?”

“Really? Then I need your help with something.”

“What is it? Did someone block the road with cement? Do you want me to break it?”

“No.”

Baek Seol-hee lowered her voice with an expressionless face.

“I want to buy shoes as a gift for a man, and you know a lot about shoes.”

“For the Goblin? Should I just get one pair in each size?”

“…Not like that. Size 280.”

“…Who are you giving them to?”

“Quiet.”

Baek Seol-hee’s voice dropped even lower.

“I’m telling you this because I trust you. Understand?”

Ah.

This.

If I handle this wrong, I’m in big trouble.

“I can’t ask Taejo about something like this.”

“…So I just need to keep my mouth shut until the wedding invitations come out, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Well, I don’t know who it is, but congratulations in advance.”

Cheok Jun-gyeong made a gesture of zipping his lips and pointed at his Taegeuk Watch.

“As soon as we arrive in Busan, I’ll go straight to a store and buy a pair, then give them to you before you enter Sejong Island. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you so much. I knew I was right to ask you.”

“It’s nothing. You can ask me for things like this anytime, senior.”

“Thanks.”

Baek Seol-hee left with a bright smile.

Cheok Jun-gyeong shuddered as if frost had settled on his shoulders, and as soon as he turned on his smartphone, he looked at the community he was about to enter and clicked his tongue.

“…I thought the Goblin was her real partner.”

Feeling disappointed, Cheok Jun-gyeong consoled himself by looking at the shippers.

“I shouldn’t say anything. Sigh. Well… I guess senior can’t stay single forever… Huh?”

Cheok Jun-gyeong frowned immediately upon seeing a newly uploaded post.

“Is this person crazy…?”

Cheok Jun-gyeong’s hands trembled.

“How could anyone try to ship the Goblin with Platinum Sun…?”

[ChuncheonFireFox]: Honestly, don’t you think the Goblin’s patriotic partner is Platinum Sun? lol

Cheok Jun-gyeong immediately wrote a new post.

[GoryeoFirstGun]: The real wife is Baek Seol-hee. If you disagree, you’re wrong.

[ChuncheonFireFox]: Yeah right, half-fifty^^

[GoryeoFirstGun]: Yeah right, demon soldier^^

[ChuncheonFireFox]: Typical judgment from a concubine supporter^^

“Oh really.”

In the community.

“Are they crazy?”

The war had begun.