Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 119

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 119

 

 

 

 

 

33. Development

 

 

 

 

 

Outside the camping car.

 

Sizzle!

 

Gulp!

 

On the wide electric grill, onions cut into donut-like rings fry in yellow oil, making everyone swallow their saliva at the sound.

 

Swoosh! Swoosh!

 

Thinly sliced beef and pork coated in a mixture of flour and egg.

 

Mushrooms and shrimp with their backs split and innards removed are placed next to the onion pancakes with a thud.

 

‘The shrimp are insane.’

 

Starting from sizes larger than a palm, the firmness of the flesh felt through fingertips, and the smell reaching the nose all show supreme quality.

 

Johann trembles as he tears off a piece of flesh and puts it in his mouth.

 

“This is crazy.”

 

With each bite, concentrated sweetness spreads throughout his mouth. It tastes even more amazing than the Dokdo shrimp that used to grace only the king’s royal table due to low catch volumes in cold winter weather.

 

Watching Johann’s face melt in ecstasy, Mark Wahlberg fidgets his bottom.

 

“Ugh! H-how much longer do we have to wait?”

 

“Ah, it’s ready!”

 

As the cooked pancakes are divided onto two plates and placed on the table, everyone gathers around.

 

“Wow, what’s this? I’ve never seen this visual before?”

 

“Pretty!”

 

White and red. Oil bubbles over the yellow egg coating that wraps each different color.

 

Everyone takes out their phones at the fascinating and pretty colors.

 

“This is a Korean dish called jeon. It’s hot, so please be careful.”

 

“Argh! I can’t stand it anymore!”

 

It was the moment when everyone picked up their forks, unable to endure any longer due to the fragrant oil smell penetrating their nostrils.

 

Plop!

 

“Oh, it’s cold!”

 

Startled, Mackenzie Foy looks up at the dark night sky.

 

“Rain?”

 

“What? Rain?”

 

Director Matthew Payton, who came with Mark Wahlberg, looks at the sky in horror.

 

“No!”

 

It can’t rain.

 

It will interfere with tomorrow’s filming.

 

‘Even if we do film, the CG costs!’

 

Post-processing CG costs will occur to remove each water droplet on the grass blades.

 

Johann comforts the dizzy Matthew Payton.

 

“It’s okay. It’ll only rain a little and then stop.”

 

“Huh? Ah…”

 

The Wolf Boy who lived with wolves in the Rocky Mountain forest.

 

“Really?”

 

“It’ll rain for about 30 minutes and then stop. Actually, this works out well. This jeon is food mainly made and eaten when it rains.”

 

“Oh, Korea has that too?”

 

America mainly eats dishes that can warm frozen bodies like macaroni and cheese, casseroles baked long in the oven, or hot soup.

 

Everyone looks curiously at the drizzling rain and the jeon that’s no longer bubbling with oil before picking up their forks.

 

And…

 

“Hot, hot! Hot, hot!”

 

“I told you to be careful! Quickly drink some beer! Kenny, have some soda!”

 

Some shake their heads saying no, while others quickly bring alcohol to their mouths.

 

“Oh…”

 

“Wow.”

 

Everyone opens their eyes wide and looks at the colorful jeon.

 

The savory egg flavor somewhere between fried eggs and scrambled eggs, and the meat and vegetables grilled tenderly in lard harmonize to burst with rich umami.

 

The salty salt and appropriately spicy pepper seasoning elevate the natural flavors of the ingredients even more.

 

Despite being familiar ingredients like beef tenderloin and onions, it feels so new that it seems unfamiliar.

 

“This is Korean food?”

 

“More precisely, it’s one type of Korean food.”

 

If Mackenzie Foy didn’t have to leave quickly, he would have made galbi-jjim or japchae too.

 

‘For American tastes, seunggi-eoktang wouldn’t be bad either.’

 

Seunggi-eoktang made by grilling mullet or carp, croaker, sea bream, beef, chicken, etc., and boiling them together with various vegetables and garnishes.

 

On a day like today that’s gotten slightly cold with rain, it’s a dish no one could refuse.

 

“This seems like it would go well with stronger alcohol than beer…”

 

“Or sweet alcohol like wine…”

 

As the adults look at each other and rush to their trailers, Mackenzie Foy sighs.

 

“Adults, really… Mom, do you like alcohol that much too?”

 

“W-when did I ever drink alcohol? Hohoho! This kid is saying strange things.”

 

“Why? Before when we ate dim sum in Chinatown… Mmph?!”

 

“Hoho. It’s a misunderstanding, Jefferson.”

 

“Of course, ma’am. I don’t doubt it for a moment.”

 

Even if it’s true, it’s not.

 

‘Larry and Ada always look for alcohol when eating delicious food too.’

 

It’s not just Larry and Ada.

 

More than 90 percent of the people he’s read so far looked for alcohol when eating delicious food.

 

‘Hmm. I know what charm alcohol has, but…’

 

“Meow!”

 

Shiver!

 

‘It’s a black panther cub!’

 

Looking at Mackenzie Foy and Mother’s expressions, they don’t seem to have heard the sound.

 

Johann leans toward Rick Bottom.

 

“Rick.”

 

“I’ll go inside for a moment.”

 

“…My spear too.”

 

“Um… Yes.”

 

As Rick Bottom enters the camping car, Johann closes his eyes.

 

‘Entry. Reading List Check. Wolf Who Howls at the Moon.’

 

-Awoooo

 

His sense of smell and hearing expand endlessly.

 

His vision penetrates the forest swallowed by darkness.

 

‘Where is it.’

 

If there’s a cub, there’s a mother nearby.

 

It’s an old saying of the forest.

 

Moreover, it’s currently late November autumn. It’s a time when prey becomes scarce due to predators like bears that hibernate in winter.

 

‘It must be one that lost in competition.’

 

Whether injured or constantly having its food stolen, it must be on the verge of starving to death. That’s why it risked danger to come near humans.

 

As Rick Bottom comes out of the camping car and hands over the spear, Johann jumps up and blocks the front of Mackenzie Foy and Mother.

 

Rick Bottom also draws his pistol near Johann and surveys the surroundings.

 

“Jo, Johann?”

 

“Shh!”

 

“Meow….”

 

“Gasp?!”

 

‘Where is it. Where is it hiding.’

 

Between the bushes, up in the trees.

 

Johann’s eyes move rapidly.

 

His ears read every sound from all directions, his sense of smell catches every scent.

 

Black panthers are assassins of the forest.

 

The moment you lose track, your neck gets torn.

 

‘The cub is confirmed.’

 

3 meters away in the bushes.

 

A smell of terror wafts from the crouched body.

 

Whoosh!

 

He sharpens his five senses even more with the headwind that just blew in.

 

But….

 

“There’s… none?”

 

“…The mother isn’t here?”

 

“Yes, it seems that way.”

 

The cub is already exposed.

 

Yet the mother isn’t showing herself.

 

Johann furrows his brow and takes a step toward the cub.

 

“Meowww….”

 

‘Why isn’t it running away…?’

 

“Ah.”

 

I understand.

 

Why the cub is here.

 

Johann lowered his spear and boldly reached his hand into the bushes, soon pulling out a black panther cub slightly smaller than two fists.

 

“Hak! Hak!”

 

“As expected….”

 

Rough, shallow breathing and an emaciated body.

 

It trembles in fear but doesn’t struggle.

 

No, it doesn’t even have the strength to struggle.

 

Rick Bottom, who collected the pistol, clicks his tongue.

 

“It’s an individual that lost its mother.”

 

“More precisely, it was abandoned. Its leg is twisted.”

 

Whether it was born twisted or got injured while playing around the habitat, one leg is twisted.

 

An injured cub becomes a fatal weakness, so the mother drove it away to protect the other cubs.

 

An unavoidable law of nature.

 

“It probably came here while running away to survive.”

 

This could be called a miracle.

 

“Hmm….”

 

“Meowww.”

 

Please save me, I’m hungry.

 

“Tsk.”

 

Why does Wolf Mother suddenly come to mind?

 

‘If only it wasn’t a cub.’

 

“Rick.”

 

“I’ll go warm up some milk.”

 

“Please do.”

 

Johann immediately took off his clothes to wrap the black panther cub.

 

“…?!”

 

“Wow!”

 

Patter patter!

 

“Now eat properly… a cat?”

 

The adults who brought alcohol approached unsteadily like people under a spell.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Lick!

 

“Mmm.”

 

Opening his eyes to the rough texture touching his cheek, two blue pupils stare intently from within black fur that looks like compressed darkness.

 

“Meow-.”

 

“…You’re alive.”

 

Last night, the black panther cub hungrily devoured the warmed milk, then nodded off drowsily before falling fast asleep.

 

Worried it might die from prolonged hunger and stress, he wrapped it in clothes and towels and kept it beside him, but fortunately it seems to have regained strength.

 

It seems to be an individual with strong vitality.

 

“Meowww.”

 

“You’re a little glutton.”

 

An appetite reminiscent of the glutton ghost from the old movie Ghostbusters.

 

“You feel safe now, right?”

 

When Johann poked its nose and sat up, the black panther cub that had been cowering staggered and burrowed into his embrace.

 

Thump thump thump!

 

“Johann! Are you awake?”

 

“Huh.”

 

4 AM in the early morning, still far from sunrise.

 

Mackenzie Foy had arrived.

 

 

 

“Wow!”

 

“Come here. Chu chu.”

 

“Meow. Meow. There’s churu here.”

 

The black panther cub instantly became a popular star.

 

A predator cub that isn’t threatening even when baring its fangs.

 

Shaa!

 

Even its frightened, wary appearance melts the adults’ hearts.

 

Thump!

 

“Damn! If only we had filmed the rescue scene!”

 

Matthew Payton genuinely regrets it.

 

“No wait. We can film this later!”

 

“That won’t work.”

 

“Why!”

 

“It would scatter the focus.”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Johann turns his gaze away from Matthew Payton, whose eyes are dripping with regret, and looks at Rick.

 

“You filmed it, right?”

 

“I filmed everything after the rescue.”

 

Filming Johann’s daily life is also part of Rick Bottom’s job.

 

He filmed everything from after collecting the pistol last night to Johann washing the cub and sleeping together with it on the bed.

 

“Alright, everyone! We’ll start filming in 10 minutes! Everyone please standby!”

 

The disaster that struck the campground.

 

It was the beginning of a full-scale struggle, the start of their escape.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Screeeech!

 

Mark Wahlberg and Steven’s eyes shake as they look straight ahead.

 

In the distance, a blazing tree had fallen across the path leading out.

 

“Damn it!”

 

Mark Wahlberg gets out of the car, steps onto the running board, and curses again.

 

Honk! Honk!

 

Cars carrying the people who had camped with them last night were backing up toward their vehicle.

 

Johann and Eric’s faces contort as they see the same thing.

 

“Fuck! If we had left right away, this wouldn’t have happened! Why did you have to wake everyone up!”

 

No, even if he had woken them, if they had left first, they might have escaped the campground before that tree fell.

 

Father, who insisted on being a firefighter and only departed after sending everyone else off first.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

But he couldn’t help it.

 

Even as a former firefighter, he couldn’t just watch lives perish.

 

Honk! Honk!

 

The sound of horns urging them on.

 

Flinch!

 

Seeing his daughter trembling in shock, Mark Wahlberg gritted his teeth and put the car in reverse.

 

They had to return to the campground.

 

Vroooom!

 

 

 

“What do we do now!”

 

Flames were approaching from the front, and smoke was rolling in from the west and east. Behind it, crimson flames were visible.

 

They were surrounded on all sides.

 

“How about we just ram through with the car?”

 

“What if the car can’t break through the flames?!”

 

“Well, that’s…”

 

“I’m not going! There’s water here, so I’ll hide until the rescue workers come!”

 

“Oh! That’s a good idea, isn’t it?”

 

“No, it’s not.”

 

Everyone looks at Mark Wahlberg as he limps forward.

 

“The stream is too shallow. Before the suppression team arrives, we could suffocate from smoke or be engulfed in flames.”

 

Or we could be cooked by the steam generated when water from fire helicopters clashes with the flames.

 

“What, what did you say?”

 

“Besides, it’s uncertain whether the suppression team will even arrive on time.”

 

The flames were too fierce.

 

This campground was hidden so deep in the forest that it was outside communication range.

 

In this situation where communication was impossible, there was a high chance they didn’t even know people were here.

 

“If human presence isn’t confirmed…”

 

Fires are extinguished from the perimeter inward.

 

That was the fire prevention manual.

 

“Stop talking nonsense!”

 

“Right! How can we trust what you say!”

 

Mark Wahlberg’s face contorts at the barrage of harsh criticism.

 

“I am-!”

 

Suddenly Mark Wahlberg looks at his son and daughter and can’t continue his words.

 

‘I can’t.’

 

He mustn’t say it.

 

The moment he utters the next words, he can no longer be a father. He would have to become a firefighter.

 

Swoosh!

 

“Lily?”

 

Mackenzie Foy smiles and nods her head.

 

‘Are you okay with this?’

 

‘I’m fine, Father. So… please be a hero again.’

 

“Damn it.”

 

Mark Wahlberg grits his teeth and clenches his fist.

 

“Former Fire Captain Steven Fanning of the LA Fire Department. Please follow my instructions from now on.”

 

“Gasp! A, a firefighter…?”

 

“Is, is that really true?”

 

Mackenzie Foy stands beside Mark Wahlberg and uses sign language.

 

Father is a firefighter.

 

The atmosphere begins to change.

 

The panic subsides, and hope and relief fill everyone’s eyes.

 

“What, what should we do?!”

 

“We need to go that way.”

 

Behind the campground where flames hadn’t reached yet, they had to cross the mountain.

 

Following Mark Wahlberg’s pointing finger, people turn their heads and turn pale.

 

“Are, are you in your right mind?!”

 

“Crazy! You’re not really a firefighter, are you?!”

 

People fall into panic again.

 

Mark Wahlberg bites his lip and looks at his son.

 

“Eric.”

 

He wanted to comfort everyone and get them moving.

 

But there was no time for that.

 

At most 10 minutes left.

 

If they didn’t escape this place within that time, they would be trapped by the flames.

 

At those words, vicious contempt and terror fill Johann’s face.

 

“You’re insane.”

 

“Please.”

 

Family comes last.

 

Or goes to the most dangerous place.

 

That’s what it means to be a firefighter.

 

“You’re not even a father.”

 

A father wouldn’t make his children do something like this.

 

Shouldn’t make them do it.

 

But he couldn’t refuse. Couldn’t run away either.

 

Because he knew that following his firefighter father’s words would increase their chances of survival.

 

“…Please take care of Lily.”

 

“Crazy bastard. Get lost. Don’t ever come looking for us again.”

 

If they survived this disaster. Never again.

 

Crack!

 

“Lily!”

 

Swoosh!

 

Johann, carrying Mackenzie Foy on his back, ran toward the place Mark Wahlberg had pointed to, and Mark Wahlberg looked at the people going “Huh? Huh?” at the sight of the two and opened his mouth.

 

“Aren’t you coming? If you don’t come, we’re leaving without you!”

 

“Cra, crazy… How, how can we go there?”

 

“Damn it! Honey! Carry our child!”

 

“Shit! Let’s go too!”

 

“Ugh, this is crazy. Everyone’s gone crazy. …Fuck! I’m going with them too-!”

 

The place where even the last person had left.

 

A single nebulizer was rolling around on the ground.

 

“Cut!”

 

The illusion of flames disappeared from everyone’s eyes.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

‘Huh? Where did it go?’

 

Johann turns his head looking for the black panther cub.

 

The black panther cub that should definitely be on the monitor table.

 

“Did Rick take it to the camping car…?”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

Johann shakes his head at Mark Wahlberg who approached and checks the script again.

 

A scene of fleeing from flames approaching from behind and both sides, like a drive hunt.

 

It’s a scene that highlights Eric’s stamina.

 

“Ready!”

 

Three camera directors appear with cameras mounted on their chests and shoulders.

 

The device fixing the cameras to their chests and shoulders is equipment that can film without shaking no matter how roughly they run.

 

“Kenny.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Mackenzie Foy quickly climbs onto Johann’s back.

 

“Meow.”

 

Startled!

 

Johann turns his head back in surprise.

 

A small, warm mass felt between Mackenzie Foy and his back.

 

“You…”

 

“Shh. Shh.”

 

“10 seconds to filming! Standby!”

 

“…Just this once.”

 

“Hehe. Johann really is the best.”

 

“Ready! Camera roll… Action!”

 

Johann, who became Eric, kicked off the ground, and Mackenzie Foy, who became Lily, tightly wrapped her arms around Johann’s neck.

 

 

 

He can’t run too fast.

 

Because the people that crazy firefighter who drives his own children into a pit of fire is trying to save need to catch up.

 

But he can’t be too slow either.

 

Because if he delays, the flames will engulf them.

 

Swoosh! Swoosh swoosh!

 

Mackenzie Foy’s hands are trembling in front of Johann’s eyes.

 

Johann grits his teeth and speaks briefly.

 

“Don’t feel sorry because this much isn’t hard for me.”

 

Johann’s firmly settled gaze stares at the smoke spreading from beyond the green screen and chroma key set up on both sides for CG.

 

When the camera director filming while running backwards from the front gestures that it’s okay to run faster, Johann kicks the ground harder.

 

That was the moment.

 

“Mrow!”

 

‘Crazy!’

 

Startled, Johann urgently stops.

 

Chilling!

 

A terrible sense of crisis that suddenly struck.

 

It gently grabs his ankle.

 

‘Why on earth…’

 

“Gasp?!”

 

Johann, who was looking around, widened his eyes.

 

In the distance, the strongest predator of the Rocky Mountains was visible.

 

 

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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