Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 56: A Divine Move (1)

Time flies like an arrow when one doesn’t pay attention to it.

Just like hearing about a celebrity finishing military service, or that the son or daughter of a friend you saw at their first birthday party is now heading to school.

The same went for the new building beside the café that once felt like it would never be finished.

While I had been busy with all sorts of matters, the basic framework had already gone up, and the exterior finishing was almost completed before I realized it.

Each floor was a generous 25 pyeong. With two rooms on the first floor, a basement storage, and a small room on the second floor, the building was attached directly to the café and looked as if it had always been part of the same structure.

Originally, it was meant to be Ria’s room.

Since my bedroom and study were on the second floor, I had reserved an extra bathroom and a room on that floor.

Of course, with the bare concrete still exposed, it was hard to imagine it as a girl’s room.

The two rooms on the first floor weren’t intended for guests who might stay the night or for use as bedrooms, but for a proper study.

The interior design would take, at most, a month. That plan was now right around the corner.

"Ain’t this somethin’? It’s rare to get all our top-tier workers gathered like this. You need to throw in extra pay just to get the folks who handle electricity and plumbing to move."

"Hope it’s to your liking."

"It is. It’s even better than I imagined. You matched the bricks too."

"Ha! This building owner got a good eye, makes it worth showing off. Took pictures of the original bricks and matched the weathered color perfectly."

"Someone might think Choi-Pro built this whole place by himself."

"I did supervision! Supervision!"

I listened to the site manager and Choi-Pro’s explanation while slowly looking around the building.

To be honest, I hadn’t paid much attention while it was being built.

Online, people shared stories of going around with tape measures and levels, or even hiring third-party inspectors to manage everything, but I never felt the urge to go that far.

No task can be perfect. Especially not something like constructing a building.

Even skilled workers are bound to make small mistakes, and unless those mistakes caused major problems, I had planned to just let them slide.

Still, every morning when I brought them coffee, they gave me detailed briefings like this one. Not a single day missed.

"Once the wallpaper, flooring, and tiles are done, it’s all finished, so we’re wrapping up on-site today."

"Thank you for everything. This isn’t much, but please use it for your team dinner."

After touring the building, I handed the site manager a white envelope. What people called a ‘bath fee’.

"Ah, thank you kindly."

"Hey, when money like that comes in, try turning it down for once. You always go on about values and principles, but you’re the best at pocketing these little bonuses."

"Then Choi-Pro, don’t come to the dinner today."

"Now, don’t say that."

As the two bickered and started walking away, Choi-Pro suddenly seemed to remember something and came running back.

"Oh, right. Building owner, I have a favor to ask."

"Yes?"

Just as I had given him an envelope, another envelope was placed into my hands.

"Well… I heard last time that you could send letters to Yongman, so I wrote one, but I’m no good with words…"

Choi-Pro scratched his head awkwardly, trailing off.

"Don’t be silly! No need to be shy. He’ll be back in Korea eventually, right?"

When Choi-Pro quickly reached to take the envelope back, I pulled my hand away just in time.

"I’ll deliver it. Yongman’s probably waiting to hear from you."

"Stop bothering the building owner and hurry up!"

"Then I’ll leave it to you!"

"I did get it, but…"

Back at the café, I didn’t have a moment to enjoy the joy of the building’s completion before falling into another dilemma.

Because of that envelope.

Delivering a letter to Yongman in the Heavenly Realm could be done anytime, even right now. Getting there by car wasn’t hard at all.

But the real issue was what came after, with Yongman.

I could already guess what kind of meaning this letter would hold for someone like Yongman, who had left with such a lingering look for the present world.

In the worst-case scenario, he might even desert his post(?).

Games, the internet, YouTube, and so on.

He was living proof that waiting a thousand years to ascend as a dragon wasn’t a big deal as long as you had a phone.

And more than anything, I wasn’t ready to see Yongman’s face, like a grandmother sending off her child after a long-awaited visit to the countryside home.

If I was just going to be riddled with guilt, maybe I shouldn’t have helped him ascend in the first place.

As I fell deeper into my thoughts,

"All done!"

Ria, who had been engrossed in her homework next to me, suddenly shouted.

"It’s Friday evening—already?"

"Yep! Homework, review, preview, even my Sunday picture diary—all done!"

At that moment, for the first time, I felt a distance between myself and Ria as she proudly made her declaration.

Ria wasn’t the same kind as me.

Back when I was her age, I was the type of kid who left homework and diaries until the last minute, rushing through them in the morning.

A carefree weekend, finished with everything in advance, only came when the teacher forgot to assign homework and you reached the upper grades where diaries weren’t required anymore.

Who knew that the fact we didn’t share a drop of blood would hit so hard?

But you wrote the diary too?

"How did you write the picture diary in advance?"

"Hmm, tomorrow Haedong Sinyuh unni is coming, so I’ll be reading a picture book, and on Sunday I’m going to practice jump rope with Sanyi!"

"Ah."

It was practically a premeditated act.

Well, it’s still better than putting things off, so maybe it’s fine?

As that thought struck me, I could no longer laze around. Right, better to get it over with early.

"Where are you going?"

"I’m just making a quick trip to the Heavenly Realm. Can you stay alone?"

"Yes!"

Once I enter the Heavenly Realm, time in the present world stops. It wouldn’t even take five minutes to go and come back.

I packed a Thermos and the envelope and got in the car.

Following the familiar path scattered with cherry blossoms, azaleas, and forsythia petals, I arrived in the Heavenly Realm.

But I didn’t see any familiar faces.

Yongman and the Mago Goddess, who would’ve stood out even from afar due to their massive size, were nowhere to be seen today.

Should I go down?

Even though I had permission to enter the Heavenly Realm, it was my first time descending below the Field.

I wandered around the village where Thatched Cottages were sparsely scattered, wondering if Yongman might be there, and came upon an elegant pavilion built over a lotus-covered pond.

Inside the pavilion, four Immortals were playing Go while leisurely fanning themselves.

"Hello."

"Hm? Aren’t you the precious guest of Mago Halmi. So, what brings you all the way here?"

I could say I was acquainted with the four Immortals, if only slightly.

We had exchanged nods from afar on the hilltop, our eyes meeting, and they had never forgotten to return a bow.

Thanks to that, the awkwardness that might’ve seeped into this meeting was mostly avoided.

"I’m looking for Yongman. I have something to deliver to him."

"Ah, what a shame. Yongman went down to the lower village today to distribute cabbages and radishes."

"Alright, thank you for letting me know."

"He’ll be back soon. Why don’t you come up and wait?"

"Thank you for the offer. But I fear I’d be interrupting your game. I’ll come back another time."

"Such polite manners. You’re said to be Yongman’s close friend, yet your nature is the complete opposite."

"Yongman lived alone for so long that he’s not yet used to etiquette. I hope you’ll be generous with him."

They say a leaky bowl leaks from both inside and out.

I could already picture Yongman’s behavior here like a video playing in my head. I told him to mellow out once he got up here. Honestly.

"Then I’ll be going now."

"Then how about a game of Go with us?"

"Sorry?"

"Hoho, no need to look so startled. We’re just lonely folks trying to pass the time. Is this not fate too?"

Now that fate had been mentioned, it was hard to refuse.

Time in the present world stops once I enter the Heavenly Realm, so saying I had urgent matters didn’t hold water.

Even if I went back to the car to wait, the pavilion would be clearly visible from there—just as awkward.

They looked like gentle grandfathers whose ages couldn’t be guessed, making it even harder to keep saying no.

A perfect checkmate.

"It’s been so long since I played Go, I don’t know if I can keep up."

"We’ll find out once we start. Come, sit down. We’ve got some snacks too, help yourself."

The last time I had played Go was with my grandfather when I was a child—30 years ago.

But it was clear these Immortals wouldn’t accept such excuses.

From the moment I admitted I knew how to play, their eyes said no further words would be heard.

The gentle grandfathers from moments ago had vanished without a trace.

-Tak.

A jade Go stone landed on the smooth, glossy cedar board.

The first move by Jinseong, who had taken black, landed at the upper right star point.

‘Ah, good. At least he’s not completely clueless.’

In a face-to-face game of Go, the upper right star point was considered a courtesy, showing respect to the opponent.

It avoided blocking the opponent’s hand movements and allowed both players to clearly see each other’s stones.

Just knowing the star point meant one had played Go before. That alone was a relief. Starting at the upper right with such etiquette was a good sign.

And it wasn’t a lie that he hadn’t played in a long time. The way he awkwardly held the stone between his index and middle fingers made that clear.

‘As expected, Mago Halmi treasures him for good reason.’

The four Immortals grasped Jinseong’s level with just one move and bit their lips to hold back their laughter.

To them, Jinseong was the ideal student—someone who knew the basics but not the deeper intricacies of Go.

Compared to Yongman, who flatly dismissed the idea of learning Go by saying it wasn’t fun, Jinseong already felt like their number one disciple in their hearts.

That was, until he made his next move.

-Tak.

"……."

The Immortals, who had been chewing their lips to hide their smiles, opened their mouths in astonishment.

○●

They hadn’t seen wrong.

It was only the second move, so a misplacement was unthinkable.

It was definitely an attachment.

After taking the star point with black, Jinseong could have launched a strong offense, but instead, he created a feeble single-room formation and jumped straight into enemy territory.

The worst of bad moves.

The politely bowing young man had now stood up and slapped his opponent across the face.

Neither in the present world nor in all their countless thousands of matches in the Heavenly Realm had these four self-proclaimed masters seen such rudeness.

‘Did we expect too much?’

-Tak.

-Tak.

As they played their next moves with a bitter taste in their mouths, the Immortals gradually realized something was wrong.

‘Huh? What is this…’

Jinseong’s stones had no opening strategy.

Like a finely honed dagger, they consisted purely of offense.

Within twenty moves, the Go board looked like a child had scattered the stones as a joke.