episode_0176
by admin
thud!
Weeing, weeing,
“Wow!”
“Bounce!”
“The police are here!”
“… Was there an accident?”
“What… ?”
The sudden commotion made us look in the direction where we heard the sound of a scream and something crashing.
Like us, other people standing in front of the convention center were staring to one side with puzzled faces.
“There it is! I think it’s in that car!”
“Screw you!”
“Give me my game console!”
“I came first!”
thud! thud!
There, some young men were stamping their feet on top of a black car parked on the side of the road.
“Bye!”
bang!
The man next to him, screaming like a madman, even jumped out and threw a flying kick at the car door.
I don’t know who was inside or why such a riot suddenly broke out, but I didn’t think anything good would happen if I stayed around here.
The crowd causing the commotion spread around and reached the area where we were.
I was confident that I could protect myself in any situation, but considering Jeong Soo-jin’s safety, it seemed better to move.
“Sujin, let’s avoid somewhere else for now. I feel like I’ll end up with a headache if I get involved for no reason.”
Su-jin Jeong, who was searching something on her smartphone next to her, raised her arm.
“… I found it!”
“What did you find?”
“Why do people do that! Look at this here.”
The familiar YouTube icon appeared on the smartphone that Jeong Soo-jin was holding. The only problem was that the post was written in English, not Korean.
“… Please tell me in summary.”
Jeong Soo-jin must have thought that I was saying this out of annoyance as she narrowed her eyes.
‘sorry. But I’m illiterate except for Korean… ‘
Fortunately, she accepted my request without saying anything.
“Oppa too… I will read it to you, so listen carefully.”
What Sujin Jeong read was simpler than expected.
It is said that an American influencer held a subscriber event to coincide with Comic Con.
It was announced that on the day Comic Con begins, an event will be held on the street in front of the convention center where expensive game consoles will be distributed through a lottery.
“But looking at the current situation, it seems like a problem has arisen because existing Comic Con participants are mixed with people participating in the influencer’s subscriber event.”
“It’s a frustrating situation.”
“Ah. Citizens. Please calm down.”
At that time, a man’s voice, amplified by a loudspeaker, was heard.
“You are participating in an unauthorized assembly. Please disperse safely under police control.”
A man stands on top of a police car and speaks through a loudspeaker to the citizens gathered around him.
He appeared to be a police officer wearing a dark blue shirt and pants, calming down confused citizens. On his shoulder was a shield-shaped patch with the words SAN DIEGO POLICE written in gold.
“Looks like the police.”
“You said you were holding an event here without even getting permission? and… ”
Jeong Soo-jin let out an exclamation filled with absurd emotions.
Did he underestimate the impact of his words? Maybe the influencer thought of the event as just shaking hands and exchanging gifts with a few fans.
“Thank goodness. But now that the police are here, things will calm down soon, right?”
“I guess so.”
But America was a much more amazing country than we thought.
“Woo!”
“Get out!”
“Salmon is out!”
“My game console!”
“If you continue to engage in actions that endanger the safety of other citizens’ vehicles, property, or bodies, you may be subject to arrest… … ”
Whick – boom!
“Ugh!”
The police officer was hit on the forehead by an orange soda bottle that flew out of the crowd.
“… … .”
We were silently shocked, unable to say anything.
He whispered something into his walkie-talkie, droplets of drink dripping from his chin.
It appeared that a request for support had been sent to headquarters.
When the police briefly lowered their loudspeakers to radio, the crowd gathered for the event cheered, probably because they thought they had won.
Actions such as climbing on top of a parked car, stamping his feet, and trying to break the window continued again.
It was also seen that they were clashing with each other and having a fight.
The street in front of the convention center quickly turned into chaos.
“What on earth is going on…? ”
Seeing the scene in person, which seemed like something out of a movie, made me feel delirious.
“This is not a protest or riot, but just an event staged by an influencer?”
But I quickly shook my head.
‘No. First of all, since an act of group violence occurred like that… Now we just have to look at it as a riot.’
The influencer who caused this situation was not even seen, perhaps because he ran away early.
He wrapped his arms around Jeong Soo-jin’s shoulders and walked away.
“They really have nothing to do, right?”
“That’s right. Let’s go somewhere else quickly.”
“Hey there! What did you just say?!”
‘Eek. ‘Did I speak too loudly?’
A black man who appeared to be an event participant approached us after seeing us talking in Korean.
“What, you’re Asian? Are you Chinese?”
“… … .”
Quick…
Strangely enough, the Chinese sound I heard abroad had the characteristic of being very irritating.
‘I didn’t think much of it when I got the surname Namgung from Tuseonhyuphaengrok, but it’s amazing.’
“We are Korean.”
“Oh, North Korea?”
“No, South Korea.”
The original official name in English was Republic of Korea, but to make it easier to understand, I said South Korea.
“Oh yes. Anyway, if you come to America, use English. Because I was misunderstood for no reason.”
The guy who started talking like that was soon swept away by the crowd and disappeared.
I was about to say something, but I held back when I saw Jeong Soo-jin grabbing my wrist.
First of all, fleeing to a safe place was the most urgent situation.
We first went into a high-end restaurant near the convention center and sat down. The table overlooking the street was the perfect spot to watch the situation.
After sitting down and drinking a glass of cold water, we were finally able to catch our breath.
“Do you think it’s wrong to go sightseeing today?”
“So… I guess this Comic Con was a waste… ”
Jeong Soo-jin said, looking down the street with a regretful expression.
I wondered if it would be possible to watch cosplayers wandering around on the streets, but even that seemed difficult in the current situation.
The streets were still full of confusion. The good news was that most of the people who appeared to be Comic Con participants seemed to have left.
The people still remaining and making a fuss appeared to be people who had gathered to participate in the influencer’s event.
I said as I saw numerous police cars approaching from the end of the road in the distance.
“Look over there. More police are coming.”
“… It’s a good thing I got here quickly.”
Jeong Soo-jin let out a small sigh of relief.
I couldn’t even imagine how much of a headache it would be to get caught up in something like this in a foreign country.
It was then.
In my eyes, I saw an old man being dragged out of the black vehicle that had been trampled by the young men.
He kept kicking and jumping on the roof repeatedly, and eventually opened the door.
People who appeared to be the driver and secretaries got out of the car to protect the elderly man, but they seemed to have no use in the huge crowd.
“… It looks a little dangerous.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Jeong Soo-jin didn’t seem to see the old man being dragged out of the car.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Most of the rioters appeared to be young. Even if they hit each other and break some bones, it didn’t seem like their lives would be in danger.
However, the old man who was just dragged out looked like he was over 60 years old.
If those excited people did something wrong with their hands, it could have been a big problem.
‘ha… Also, the Confucian dragon in me that respects the elderly is running wild.’
In the end, I got up and said something to myself.
“Sujin, I’m going to go to the bathroom for a moment. Please take care of the order.”
“Uh, take your time, oppa.”
After telling Sujin Jeong that I would be away for a while, I took out the pendant from the stairwell of the building.
***
thud! Thump thump!
“Open the door! You!”
“They said they were giving away game consoles! Where are you running away?”
“Come outside!”
“This… ”
The old man Minho saw, Carl Rogers, was the writer of a famous hero comic magazine and the chairman of a large movie company.
Carl Rogers is the father who laid the foundation for almost all existing American heroes, and is considered a man of great standing, starting from an intern and rising to the position of chairman.
Regardless of his accomplishments, Rogers preferred a relatively frugal lifestyle.
Therefore, the visit to Comic Con to announce the new work was planned to be conducted with only a minimal number of entourage.
The routine has always been the same at Comic Con held every year so far. But this year, a problem arose that he never expected.
A riot broke out in front of the convention center due to an influencer’s troll.
“What should I do? teacher. Should I just leave the place?”
The bodyguard and driver turned to Rogers and said,
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head.
If you move rashly with people surrounding your car like this, someone could get into an accident.
“No. Just wait for people to leave on their own.”
“Okay.”
Fortunately, the vehicle he rode was from a brand known for its durability.
But there was something Rogers hadn’t thought of. That was the madness of the people who participated in the event.
Rogers stayed calm no matter what was going on outside, but he couldn’t help but be shocked by the madness that collapsed the roof and broke the windows.
Of course, this was due to the misconception of people who saw Rogers’ car and misunderstood it as the car of the influencer who had planned the event.
“What is it? Why is there an old man?”
“Hey, grandpa. Isn’t this a Jaguar Sandy car?”
“Well, I don’t know who that is.”
Rogers vehemently denied the people he encountered after opening the door.
“Ai, Mr… Did I get it wrong?”
“You never know. Maybe it’s hiding in the trunk.”
“Yes. hey! Search everything!”
“Open them all!”
If you think about it with common sense, they could have realized how ridiculous they were doing, but they acted as if nothing was visible.
After talking among themselves, the guys pulled Rogers out of the car.
“Oh my!”
“Grandpa. If you’re hiding that jaguar, just tell me.”
“I really don’t know! Let go of this. If you quit now, I won’t report it to the police.”
“… … .”
The guys looked at each other for a moment and then burst into loud laughter.
After laughing like that for a while, they looked straight as if they had never laughed before.
One of them stepped forward and tapped Rogers on the chest with the back of his hand.
Tukㅡ Tukㅡ
“Because I said it in a nice way, he threatened me in return. Declaration? Grandpa… Do you think the police are here now?”
Then he laughed at the picture of the hero on Rogers’ shirt.
“Hehehe. It’s not worth the price of a night’s sleep… Why don’t you call a hero somewhere? Then you can save even a useless old man like Grandpa, right? Just… ”
As he said that, he raised his hand in the air as if he was going to hit Rogers.
Rogers closes his eyes tightly at that sight.
chin!
But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel any pain.
In front of Rogers, who carefully opened his eyes, the scene he had always imagined in his dreams while drawing hero comics was unfolding in reality.
“Well, what is it… ! Don’t you let go of this?”
A man wearing a black and red hero costume that I had never seen before was holding the arm of the man who had been harassing Rogers.
“Grandpa. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Nod…
Rogers said nothing and nodded slowly.
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