Chapter 133

Chapter 133. Peace Is Nothing New to Us

On the way to Nick Allen's house, I bought some shoulder pads and put them on.

I also bought a large piece of gauze and stuck it over the right side of my jaw.

When I looked in the mirror afterward, I looked like some kind of Korean-American mafia member.

This should make me look intimidating enough to Nick Allen.

"What are you planning to do?"

Kevin asked when we arrived in front of Nick Allen's house.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding, so we should clear it up first. If we leave things alone, Nick Allen will keep provoking Anderson, and then won't he really die? You want Nick to leave the show on his own too, don't you, PD Kevin? If we scare him a little, maybe he'll listen."

Kevin shook his head.

"I don't know. I'm not sure we really need to meet him over something like this. Even if they're a gang, I don't know if they'd actually kill a superstar like Nick. If we leave them alone, won't the gang just scare him a little?"

He had a point.

Even a gang probably wasn't planning to raid his house with the express purpose of killing him.

In the future from the spam, they had probably meant to scare him by firing a bunch of bullets at the house, only for an accident to happen.

But it didn't matter whether it was an accident or intentional.

Nick Allen would die either way.

I pressed the doorbell.

A cheerful chime sounded, followed by Nick's voice.

"What? Anderson got scared and called in some big-shot hyung?"

"Open the door, Nick Allen. This is Captain Do Jun-hyeok of the Universe Mercenary Corps. Don't tell me you've never heard of the Universe Mercenary Corps."

I followed that by making up a story.

Apparently, guerrilla warfare against North Korean forces was still ongoing in Korea, and among the mercenary units fighting in those conflicts, ours was the largest and most combat-capable.

I'd only intended to provoke him with a ridiculous joke and get him to open the door.

But Nick actually believed me and opened the gate.

For a moment, I wondered if Nick Allen only bragged about guns because he was secretly a coward.

We crossed the beautifully landscaped garden and entered his house.

Nick greeted me with a tense expression and led me into his bedroom.

The walls were covered with guns.

I was a little nervous.

Still, Nick had probably brought me into this room because he wanted to intimidate me too.

So I spoke calmly.

"These all look like toy pistols fit for children. On a battlefield, they'd all be thrown straight into the scrap pile."

"What? You're looking at my Tokarev-33 and Polish MSBS assault rifle and calling them toys?"

I couldn't back down.

I walked over to the wall and picked up a rifle that looked reasonably good.

None of the guns were loaded.

Anything that looked like a button or latch, aside from the trigger, I pulled or rubbed.

If you did enough of that, you could more or less take a gun apart.

I opened the barrel area, removed the firing pin, and pretended to inspect it.

I had no idea how to put it back together, so I casually tossed the gun onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"If you want to survive after picking a fight with my friends, I recommend changing gun dealers first. You've collected nothing but junk that should've been thrown out of service decades ago. What are you, a scrap dealer?"

I quickly left the room full of weapons.

A moment later, the offended Nick followed me out.

"Who the hell are you? Are you from LA too?"

"I'm from Korea. Don't be too scared. I don't have anything against you personally. I heard you picked a fight with the Myanmar cartel, so this little kid Kevin hired me."

"What? Myanmar cartel? What are you talking about?"

I briefly explained the relationship between Anderson and the Myanmar gang.

Nick had apparently thought he'd just crush some Korean rapper pretending to be tough in LA.

The moment the Myanmar gang came up, he looked genuinely rattled.

As I continued talking, Nick's face drooped like a miserable puppy soaked in rain.

"Anderson is seriously pissed. But I'm a soldier who fights for peace, not only in Korea but around the world. If you stop strutting around because of your damn racial pride, it'll be a lot easier for me to keep you alive."

I wanted to keep this conversation short.

This was Nick Allen's villa in California.

It wouldn't be strange if bullets started flying at any moment.

"Y-You think I'll fall for that? I'm the fking idol of damn rappers. Everyone worships me."**

That one's Anna's line.

"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. Still, starting this afternoon, Universe troops will be positioned all around this house, so don't get startled. We've already identified every high-rise, abandoned building, and possible sniper position nearby. They're skilled, so there shouldn't be any trouble. Whether we can suppress the Myanmar guys before they turn you into Swiss cheese is another question."

"..."

"If possible, wear a yellow shirt. That way we won't mistake you for the enemy."

Kevin and I stood up.

I acted tough on the outside, but Nick had completely fallen for it.

He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered,

"St, mama..."**

Just as we were about to leave, Nick stopped me.

"Hey... Captain Do Jun-hyeok. If you're the Universe Mercenary Corps... Korean Green Berets?"

What's that?

Kevin and I turned around.

After thinking deeply, Nick spoke.

Nick was so terrified that he looked ready to cry, which meant I could rescue him in the safest way possible.

Nick turned on every light in his house and blasted hip-hop music through his amplifiers before leaving.

The Myanmar gangsters had probably planned to fire around a hundred rounds into Nick's house from outside, then leave a warning like,

Don't mess with Anderson.

As long as we made it look like someone was inside the house, the shooting would still happen.

Then I could show Nick the result, scare him properly, and reform him.

I booked Nick a nearby hotel for about a week.

The reservation lasted until lunchtime on the 26th.

And on the night before checkout, the shooting happened.

As expected, the spam was never wrong.

When countless gunshots echoed through downtown San Francisco, California, Nick called me in complete panic.

He begged me to deploy Universe immediately.

Unfortunately, Universe had idols.

Not troops.

I made up another excuse.

Because of the military agreement with the United States, we couldn't conduct military operations on American soil.

I'd originally been prepared to argue mitigating circumstances for saving a celebrity's life if Nick had remained inside the house.

Nick immediately started chanting,

"Thank you, Universe! Thank you, Universe!"

Even though there were no casualties, the shootout had been large enough that American police and security forces became active throughout California.

Their goal was to crack down on the Myanmar gang.

Of course, there was no way they could suddenly eliminate a gang they'd failed to wipe out for decades.

Especially not in California.

I told Nick to publicly admit there had been a misunderstanding between him and Anderson.

Nick obediently listened.

[Hiphop_nick: I think I misunderstood Anderson. He's actually a really cool guy. I thought the 〈I Got Talent〉 production crew, including Kevin Park, were discriminating against Black people. I hope Anderson can forgive me for my misunderstanding.]

Nick Allen only discovered that all my bragging about Universe being the Korean Green Berets or Korean Navy SEALs had been complete bullshit after he came to Korea with me.

When he realized Universe was just an entertainment agency, Nick sat dazed in front of our company building.

"What the hell is going on? So the Myanmar cartel was fake too?"

"That part was real. Anderson really did use the Myanmar cartel to come after you. If I wanted to save your life, I had to tell that much of a lie."

"Then how the hell did you take apart my MSBS assault rifle?"

I just messed around with it.

Still, one thing was undeniable.

I had saved his life.

So I at least received a proper thank-you.

And naturally, I also received the message confirming that the upgrade was complete.

Nick Allen had entered Korea on my recommendation.

I told him that since he'd caused a racism controversy, if he didn't want to become a target of the Myanmar gang again, he needed to prove just how friendly he was toward Asians.

So Nick secretly entered Korea.

And I got him onto 〈Mask Singer〉 as a special contestant.

We had already arranged things so that no matter how many votes he received, he would be eliminated.

That way, it wouldn't interfere with his later schedule.

The 〈Mask Singer〉 production staff made a huge fuss when they saw Nick Allen following me inside.

"CEO Do Jun-hyeok! What in the world is this? Nick Allen on 〈Mask Singer〉?!"

"The schedule suddenly worked out that way. He can appear in today's recording, right?"

"Of course! Even if he couldn't, we'd make it possible!"

The writers and PDs, who hadn't known anything beforehand, burst into applause and caused a huge commotion.

Nick looked wary at first.

But after receiving such an enthusiastic welcome, his mood improved.

Eventually, he even started dancing his shoulders.

"First Billy and Revick, and now you've brought us Nick Allen! This is why you should cast Universe artists first and ask questions later! Hahaha!"

"We're all trying to succeed together."

Nick was matched in Round 1 with a rookie actor who had chosen a pop song.

The actor would sing, while Nick performed a featuring rap.

Nick said he already knew the song and started practicing a ridiculous exit line like,

"I love bibimbap."

I told him to stop saying weird things and prepare a proper apology instead.

The reaction was obvious.

Even the panelists hadn't known he was coming, so their response was even more explosive.

After removing his mask, Nick confessed that he'd recently posted discriminatory remarks on social media because of a minor misunderstanding.

But he insisted that those words had never reflected his true feelings.

He said he'd made a mistake because he'd gotten too emotional.

And he'd come all the way to Korea to show that he was sincerely reflecting on his actions.

The viewers forgave Nick before most of them had even learned there had been a controversy.

At this point, the Myanmar gang probably wouldn't come after him again either.

"Haaaa. I barely survived."

After 〈Mask Singer〉, Nick Allen also appeared on the newly launched 〈Aran, Do You Know or Not?〉.

He dropped into a chair on set with a long sigh.

He didn't look especially nervous.

He just looked exhausted.

The staff were all moving cameras and preparing for filming with serious expressions.

Soon, filming began.

Inside the studio stood a long, rectangular low table.

Aran sat behind it dressed like a shaman.

Then she abruptly stood up and practiced jumping.

The kind of jump shamans always did.

Whenever Yoo Jong-hak shouted standby, she dropped back into her seat as though nothing had happened.

An ordinary guest entered through the opposite door of the studio, which had been decorated like a fortune-teller's shop.

"I'm worried because my boyfriend can't stand seeing injustice. If he sees students smoking on the street, he always goes over and confronts them. Nothing serious has happened yet, thankfully, but I'm worried he'll get badly hurt someday."

"If I'm the boss of Gijang, shouldn't I keep the neighborhood under control? You have to educate those kids properly so they obey the law."

Sorry, but both of you are being ridiculous.

The girlfriend practically looked like she'd come here to brag about how awesome her boyfriend was.

And the boyfriend himself looked thoroughly intoxicated by his own image as a man who couldn't tolerate injustice.

All right, Elder Aran.

Give us the solution!

"Hoooo~! The end times! The end times are truly upon us! But don't worry. This granny just summoned a spirit into you that lets you tolerate injustice."

"Really?"

"That's right. I'll prove it!"

Aran bounced up and down, then spun a pen sitting on top of the table.

The pen spun around and around before stopping with its tip pointed toward one of the staff members.

"There! A man who recently committed an injustice!"

"M-Me?"

The staff member chosen by the pen looked flustered.

Aran ordered him to quickly confess what injustice he'd recently committed.

The staff member admitted he'd been caught by a speed camera after speeding because he was late for work.

"Speeding dangerously! What should we do about this?"

Aran glanced toward the boyfriend.

But the boyfriend couldn't say anything.

The staff member was enormous.

A dragon tattoo began on the back of his hand, crawled up his thick, muscular arm, and opened its terrifying mouth right beneath his earlobe.

Realizing what Aran was doing, the staff member deliberately broadened his shoulders threateningly.

This guy knew how to do television.

"I-If you... if you speed like that, you'll d-die by my hands."

"Why should I die by your hands? Can't I just pay the fine and be done with it?"

"I-I can tolerate it..."

A remarkably realistic solution.

The spirit of tolerating injustice had successfully entered him.

Still, the couple left the studio looking uncomfortable.

They clearly hadn't come here because they genuinely wanted him to become better at tolerating injustice.

Nick Allen, who had absolutely no idea what was going on, simply laughed when the staff laughed and went quiet whenever they went quiet.

He waited for his turn that way.

"How's the internet reacting, Captain Do?"

Nick asked.

"You act like you're cool, but you're still hungry for popularity, huh?"

"I just want to know whether anyone's insulting me."

I grabbed the mouse to translate the online reaction for him.

Most of the comments were probably going to be things like,

Nick Allen came to Korea?

or,

Is that CGI?

Anyway, I searched Nick Allen in the browser.

"Uh... You're getting cursed out."

"I'm getting cursed out? Even after appearing on 〈Mask Singer〉?"

I translated the article I'd found for Nick.