Chapter 40: Is Uncle Frankenstein Heavenly Steel Chasa Cheongpung?
After everything with the middle-aged woman, Aize and I finally continued toward our original destination.
The car dealership.
When I looked at the sign above the entrance, I realized it belonged to the famous Japanese car company HonX.
“Aize. Look. HonX Motors.”
I grinned.
“Sounds like ‘you’ll get scolded.’ Funny, right?”
“No. Not at all.”
Aize usually smiled at almost anything I said.
This time, her voice was ice cold.
Even I had to admit that joke was terrible.
“Welcome! We are HonX Motors, one of Japan’s most prestigious global automobile manufacturers. How may we help you?”
A neatly dressed young man approached us with a professional smile.
He was obviously a salesman.
“It was the closest dealership.”
In that sense, Aize and I were surprisingly similar.
Maybe we were both just simple-minded.
The salesman paused.
“No... I meant what kind of vehicle you’re looking for.”
“Sports car. Most expensive one.”
As expected of Aize.
The Queen of Short Answers.
“Hahaha. The most expensive sports car. Excellent choice.”
The salesman smiled.
“The customer is king, and the salesman is the slave.”
He made a circle with his fingers.
“But if I’m going to become your slave, I need proof.”
Aize removed her sunglasses and mask.
Then she dramatically swept her long hair backward like a woman in a shampoo commercial.
“My face is proof.”
She pointed at herself.
“You are extremely beautiful, but I was talking about proof of money... Gasp!”
The salesman froze.
“Y-You’re Lady Aize!”
His attitude instantly changed.
“Please forgive me for failing to recognize you!”
Did he just call her Aize-sama? Is this guy Japanese?
“Hahaha! Of course, Lady Aize would naturally be our highest-priority VVVIP customer.”
He bent almost ninety degrees at the waist.
“Please, this way.”
He led us toward a sleek sports car.
“This is our newest sports coupe, the Sagas 360.”
The salesman launched into his explanation.
“It has a 3,600cc engine, monster-class horsepower, state-of-the-art safety systems, cruise control, front-and-rear quad safety sensors, and a premium hybrid powertrain....”
“Is it the fastest one?”
“Yes....”
My thousand-year partner and Queen of Short Answers silenced him with only a few words.
“How much?”
“One hundred and twenty million won, including tax.”
The salesman, who had looked slightly discouraged, suddenly came back to life the moment money was mentioned.
I remained silent.
I barely used my driver’s license and had no money.
There was no reason for a broke man like me to jump into negotiations involving hundreds of millions of won.
But Sagas? Something about that name sounds strange....
Aize nodded.
“That price is reasonable enough. I’ll buy it.”
“Hai! Arigato... I mean, thank you very much!”
The salesman became so excited by the huge deal that Japanese slipped out of his mouth.
“I will bring our branch manager so we can complete the contract.”
He hurried away.
“Aize.”
“Yes?”
“The car has sagged.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s called Sagas. So it’s sagged.”
Aize stared at me.
“Seriously... You’re actually starting to enjoy terrible wordplay now.”
A short while later, the salesman returned with a short, overweight man.
“Domo, domo. Thank you very much for purchasing a HonX automobile.”
The branch manager bowed and handed us his business card.
“My name is Kuruma Sajima.”
A terrible feeling struck me.
“Aize. We’re leaving.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“You have trauma about names, right?”
“Yes.”
“Kuruma means ‘car’ in Japanese, doesn’t it?”
“Probably....”
“Then think carefully about how his full name sounds.”
“What are you talking abou... Gasp!”
Aize’s eyes widened.
“Oppa, you’re right. Let’s go somewhere else.”
As expected.
Aize and I truly understood each other.
We canceled the deal and left behind the stunned salesman and branch manager.
At another nearby dealership, we bought a domestic sports car with a perfectly ordinary name and drove away in style.
Madam Jang left her house to go to work.
Her home was a large modern countryside villa located in the mountains far from the city center.
A large sedan waited at the entrance to the wide garden.
Uncle Frankenstein stood beside it.
“Welcome, Boss.”
Uncle Frankenstein bowed.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Uncle. My makeup just wouldn’t sit right today.”
“Not at all. Please get in.”
He opened the rear door.
Madam Jang climbed inside.
The sedan left the villa and began descending the mountain road.
It did not travel far.
“Why did you suddenly stop?”
“Forgive me, Boss. Someone is blocking the road.”
Uncle Frankenstein looked ahead.
“I’ll step out and persuade him to move.”
Madam Jang looked through the windshield.
A man stood hunched over in the middle of the narrow road.
The road was only one lane and connected directly to Madam Jang’s villa.
Unless he moved, the car could not pass.
Uncle Frankenstein got out.
“Hey. This is a road.”
He approached the man.
“A car needs to pass. Move aside.”
The man said nothing.
He simply stared blankly at Uncle Frankenstein.
Despite standing before a man nearly twice his size with a frightening face, he showed no fear.
Something felt strange.
Uncle Frankenstein examined him carefully.
He was painfully thin, as though he had starved for a month.
His cheekbones were deeply sunken, and his eyes bulged like a frog’s.
His face looked almost grotesque.
Yet he wore a perfectly clean black suit.
“The woman inside that car is Madam Jang from Doremi Entertainment Bar, right?”
His voice sounded dry and rough, as though filled with phlegm.
“Who are you?”
Uncle Frankenstein became cautious.
The man knew who they were.
And deliberately blocking their car was clearly not a friendly action.
“So she really is Madam Jang.”
The man nodded.
“Wait a moment.”
Then he removed the jacket and pants of his black suit.
He carefully folded them and placed them inside the bushes.
Madam Jang had already gotten out of the car.
“Judging by what he’s doing, did he escape from some mental hospital?”
“Forgive me, Boss. I tried speaking to him politely, but it seems he has no intention of listening.”
“No. I think he never intended to listen in the first place.”
The nearly naked man looked at her.
“You’re Madam Jang?”
“Who are you, and why are you asking my name while standing there in your underwear?”
Madam Jang crossed her arms.
“I’ll report you to the police for sexual harassment.”
She was already being unusually polite.
“So I found the right person.”
His body suddenly began convulsing.
Madam Jang tilted her head.
“Is he having a seizure?”
“Rather than a seizure, perhaps he’s shivering because he removed his clothes?”
“What are you talking about, Uncle? It’s early summer. He can’t possibly be cold.”
As Madam Jang and Uncle Frankenstein casually exchanged jokes, murderous intent filled the half-naked man’s eyes.
“You two bastards really piss me off.”
He growled.
“You’re about to die.”
SHING-SHING-SHING!
Dozens of razor-sharp blades suddenly burst from his back like the spines of a porcupine.
“My Queen desires your life.”
He glared at Madam Jang.
Uncle Frankenstein calmly observed him.
“Judging from that transformation, Boss, I believe he removed his clothes because he didn’t want them torn.”
“You’re right. Maybe he isn’t a pervert after all.”
Madam Jang frowned.
“But ‘my Queen’? What kind of bitch is trying to kill me?”
“Perhaps the woman running that strange shop on Rodeo Street?”
Uncle Frankenstein answered seriously.
“You know, the shop where they strip men naked and whip them.”
“Then he really is a pervert.”
