Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 210

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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 210

Wind seeps out from beneath the ground.

A damp wind carrying moisture.

There’s definitely groundwater beneath this land.

But….

‘There’s no way they’d listen even if I told them.’

Though he’s become an adult, these are the words of an 18-year-old who still can’t shake off his youthful appearance.

Without clear evidence, they wouldn’t even pretend to listen.

‘How can I make my words reach them….’

“Then there will be complaints from Kasanda, won’t there?”

“…It can’t be helped.”

To eliminate those complaints, it wasn’t feasible to relocate the refugee camp that was already being built elsewhere.

Ten thousand refugees and enormous capital had already been invested, and not only various UN subsidiary organizations like WHO, WFP, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but also UN cooperative organizations like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had already moved in.

“Hmm.”

‘The refugees won’t be able to leave the camp, will they?’

As Tunda just said, this is Tanzania, a country lacking water.

Kasanda, which had fairly large fields around each house when he saw it on the way here.

‘Since they’re drawing water that they use for farming, they must be harboring tremendous resentment by now.’

Since anyone from the camp who went to Kasanda might risk being beaten to death, the thought of needing to develop groundwater as quickly as possible began consuming his mind.

‘What should I do….’

Rumble!

He briefly stops walking at an old, large truck passing by.

The truck doesn’t go far before dumping H-blocks and concrete bricks all over a nearby clearing.

‘They’re handling that stuff like that?!’

His eyes nearly pop out at the H-blocks breaking apart everywhere.

But that’s nothing compared to what’s happening next to it.

“Friends. Move that. Like that. Wood. Stuck place.”

Flagged tree branches stuck in the red dirt ground.

Already dozens of people were moving the H-blocks scattered in the clearing to where the tree branches were stuck, and at those spots they were building structures that looked exactly like their dormitory.

But that was the problem.

“What the hell is that? Why are they constructing like that?”

What crazy bastard approved this kind of construction?

Johann hurriedly walks over and grabs someone applying cement to an H-block wall that reaches up to his thighs.

“Hey. Who told you to build it like this?”

“Huh?”

“Who told you to start stacking blocks on bare ground without leveling or ground reinforcement?”

Like the dormitory, the floor here is just dirt ground.

Even if leveling the entire building floor was a luxury, at minimum the ground where walls would go up needed leveling work.

“On such an uneven floor like this….”

“I told them to do it that way, so what?”

A pot-bellied Black middle-aged man in his 50s walks over arrogantly with his hands behind his back.

“Is there some problem?”

“…Of course there are many.”

He holds back once.

“If you put bricks directly on such an uneven floor like this, if you put them up without mortar work, they’ll fall over with just a push. Doesn’t the person in charge even know that?”

They didn’t even lay concrete bricks at the very bottom and started with H-blocks. This makes it even less stable.

“And is this concrete right?”

It’s too thin.

“This much is plenty! And common sense? Ha!”

The middle-aged man looks Johann up and down.

An expensive-looking t-shirt and jeans without a speck of dirt.

“Some young master who’s never done hard work telling me what to do when I’ve been eating construction meals for 20 years! Do you know anything about construction?!”

‘Ah, so he’s that type.’

The type who thinks only what he’s seen is everything, who believes that’s the right answer even though he can’t properly remember what he’s seen. A very troublesome type.

There’s one way to deal with this type.

“Fine. Then you do things your way. I’ll do it my style.”

“Some kid who can’t even handle a speck of cement dust….”

Instead of dealing with him, Johann looked at Tunda, and the middle-aged man scowls.

Tunda, an employee of a construction company incomparable to him, currently building important facilities under a cooperative commission from the government and international refugee organization.

Even as a low-level employee, he’s a worker at a large company and the manager of this area, so he can’t bully him like he just did.

‘Those are reasonable points.’

Especially his eye for immediately judging that the concrete was too thin showed good insight.

Even Tunda, who had experienced construction sites a few times following his supervisors, could see at a glance that the concrete was slightly thin. He might not know about leveling or ground reinforcement, but he seemed to understand that the concrete was thin.

‘I could find out for sure by asking the directors, but….’

If he bothered them with something like this, it wouldn’t end with just a scolding.

These residential houses were places for orphans and elderly people without families. Coldly speaking, they weren’t that important.

‘Anyway, this young friend will be leaving soon….’

Johann came here for volunteer work anyway.

The Flag of Salvation volunteer organization that stays for about ten days each visit before leaving for nearby villages.

‘Right. How many houses could he build in ten days anyway?’

There were still over three months left before the rainy season began. Even if a few houses were built wrong, it wouldn’t matter.

“Let’s do it that way.”

Since Johann clearly looked like a rich family’s son, Tunda decided to make a good impression for an uncertain future.

“With this road as the center, you take the right side, and the left side….”

“Johann Jefferson.”

“Right. Jefferson, you take it. The workers stay in their current positions too.”

“…Hmph!”

Johann speaks while watching the middle-aged man snort and turn away.

“Flash.”

“Huh?”

Though he doesn’t know what, it seems like Johann caused some trouble.

“Tear down all those walls. They’ll fall over if you push them anyway.”

The concrete hadn’t completely dried yet. He had to save what could be saved.

‘Well, even if it dried, I could scrape it off.’

“Mason, gather the concrete mortar separately and keep stirring it, and you guys….”

Johann, who gave instructions to his friends, looks at the workers and volunteers staring blankly this way.

“Where’s the string line?”

First, he had to draw new lines on the ground.

That was basic.

The ‘Architect’ was saying that the beginning of construction is precise specifications.

* * *

His childhood dream was to have a proper house.

He had lived in a narrow government-subsidized townhouse.

All sorts of junk piled up as if to hide the musty mold.

Bugs and mice that crawled between them and sometimes climbed onto the blankets.

A father who came home drunk every day, got drunk again, and yelled, and noisy younger siblings pestering a mother who just lay around in worn-out clothes.

The vague expectations that poured onto him.

The house was another prison and hell for him.

Nevertheless, unable to leave because those family members weighed on his mind, his only solace was the sunlight pouring through the small window.

“Later, I’ll buy a house with big windows.”

A house with big windows so that sunlight could warmly illuminate the entire home.

But life made even dreaming of such things difficult.

Father who drank every day and eventually fell ill and bedridden.

Mother who was powerless and had no intention of getting up despite everything.

Just because he was the eldest son, at the young age of 15, he had to lie about his age and go to construction sites to support his family’s livelihood.

Because he was young, he didn’t know any tricks. Whether told to carry thousands of bricks or hundreds of steel bars, he silently carried them.

From 7 AM to 7 PM.

He really felt like dying and wanted to run away, but the money he held in his hands after work ended was his only support.

The day-to-day money that, after feeding his collapsed parents and five younger siblings, left only enough to buy a single piece of candy.

Perhaps the sweet taste of that candy was what kept him going.

It was his struggle to feed his family, but to others it appeared as diligence.

“Hey. You, follow me around starting tomorrow.”

It was a lifeline cast over his life.

Boss who was a carpenter.

Older Brothers whose words and actions were rough but who treated him well.

“We take what we work for.”

Wages jumped, and daily pay became weekly pay.

Saving became possible. When numbers appeared in his bankbook, he became ambitious.

“Want to learn skills? Follow me.”

Older Brothers and Boss spared nothing in teaching him skills.

They also didn’t spare fists, feet, and curses.

Not because he was better off than apprentices who were used without pay by other craftsmen.

“If you measure wrong from the start, it’ll collapse, you bastard!”

“Look at the floor work you did. Are you trying to turn the house into an ocean!”

The things they did by eye estimation had all sorts of numbers hidden in them. It wasn’t intuition but meticulous formulas hidden within, and they completed those calculations instantly through countless experiences.

That’s what appeared as eye estimation.

From then on, something began to become visible.

Ah, that’s why they attach tiles like that.

That’s the reason for adding lumber supports.

This many bricks would be needed.

Once he realized this, his body and hands became fast as wind.

Then Boss called him.

“Hey. I’ll support you, so go to university.”

Go and properly learn professional knowledge.

Not what we learned by intuition at construction sites, but real formulas and equations that start from the foundation.

“Learn the eye that can see the whole picture and calculate.”

“Thank… you.”

That became the turning point of his life.

He worked himself to death.

He kept pondering incomprehensible formulas, stuffing them into his head until he understood them, and tried to make anything related to architecture and construction his own by seeking out and reading materials.

Even when blood poured from his nose, it was less painful than carrying bricks at age 15 in the dead of winter.

It was less difficult than chewing and eating hardened food.

His desperate efforts eventually caught the attention of his supervising professor.

“I’m building this kind of building, so follow me.”

“I’m going to build something like this, okay? Give me your opinion.”

“Hey, want to come to graduate school?”

“Tsk. Start an office right after graduation. I’ll make sure you don’t run out of work for about 2 years. That should be enough to establish yourself, right?”

It was an incredible opportunity, but he had no choice but to refuse. Because of Boss who had supported his tuition and living expenses so he could focus solely on studying.

“Are you crazy! Go quickly, get on your knees and say you’ll do it! I can make a living fine without you! …Are you really crazy?!”

Boss’s words became the second turning point of his life.

The work Professor gave him was enough to make his name known, and as his reputation grew, the amount of money he earned changed accordingly.

Enough to buy land and build a house.

Enough to build a house with big windows.

When he built his own house that he had dreamed of for so long, he ran to Boss.

“Thank you… Father!”

Father, my father.

You are truly a real parent.

“Huh? Your father is still alive, isn’t he?”

“Oh, come on!”

* * *

Thwack! Thud!

Arms holding pickaxes swing widely as sweat scatters.

Red earth being dug up in chunks by powerful force.

Workers and volunteers who came to help with construction gape in amazement.

“My goodness. It’s like they don’t need an excavator.”

“I thought their builds were all big… They’re strong, so strong.”

“Are they friends who used to exercise?”

Flashes digging up the ground following the rectangular lines Johann drew.

“Is this how we do it?”

“Yeah. Just dig to that depth. You people over there, come here and look too.”

“Oh? Okay.”

“The reason we dig the ground like this is because if there are stones embedded in the ground, we can’t do leveling work…”

Johann explained in detail to Workers and volunteers what work needed to be done and why such work was necessary.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while.’

The buildings he built in Forest come to mind.

When he had nothing and decorated Cave as a house, building a smokehouse and warehouse.

It was like this then too.

Because it couldn’t collapse from wind, rain, and snow, he drove stones and wood deep, cut and broke wood to build walls, gathered flat stones to raise the roof, and piled up mud to make a chimney and fireplace.

With what little he had, he somehow gathered existing things and tried to live like a human being.

Like now.

“Wow. You’re acting a bit cocky because you built a building recently?”

No. Unlike recently when everything was provided, now it’s closer to life in Forest. Because all he has are lumber, concrete bricks, H-blocks, and a little cement.

A house that can shelter from rain and wind, but is just at that level.

‘But even this would be more than enough for them.’

Johann glances at Boys and Girls who have been crouching nearby watching for a while, the ones he almost bumped into at the dormitory earlier.

“Johann, we finished digging, what now?”

“Next is…”

Once all protrusions are cleared, next they can start leveling work by covering with soil and compacting it, or filling it with mortar or cement.

Boy who almost bumped into Johann quietly watched Johann continuing his explanation.

‘Why is he so serious?’

Boy who saw Johann fighting with the pot-bellied middle-aged man knows.

Those houses being built in this area now are places for parentless children like himself to sleep, the most useless people in this refugee camp.

Places to herd them together like animal pens to sleep.

“Who would care about the likes of us…”

Themselves, whom even fellow refugees don’t care about.

“As long as it doesn’t collapse, it should be fine.”

“All the people who came to volunteer were like that, right?”

“No. There are many people who hate us too.”

“Right. I saw that too. Then why did they come?”

“That person probably pities you guys.”

Startled!

The Boy and Boys and Girls look at the adult who had somehow appeared beside them.

A Middle-aged Man in his 50s with deeply tanned skin.

“Pity?”

“They said that’s a bad emotion!”

The Middle-aged Man chuckles at their defiant attitude.

“Then why should we help you?”

“Uh, because you’re adults?”

“There’s nothing natural in this world. You know that now too.”

“…”

“Gasp! Oh, you’re here?!”

“Yeah. Tunda, who’s that guy? That young guy has good manners.”

“He, he’s a Young Man who came to volunteer…”

Tunda explains what just happened.

“Well done. Unlike you.”

“Hehe.”

“But only half right!”

Smack!

“Argh?!”

“This fool claims to be a construction company Employee but doesn’t know the importance of foundation work!”

The Middle-aged Man who fought with Johann wasn’t entirely wrong.

Limited time, materials, and manpower.

Even without leveling and foundation work, the H-blocks stacked on four sides and the concrete poured on top would support each other, so there’s no worry of collapse unless deliberately pushed.

“But gaps will form at the bottom.”

Gaps appear between the floor and walls, and through those gaps, insects and water seep in.

It doesn’t matter during the current dry season, but when the rainy season comes soon, the houses will become flooded and that will inevitably cause disease.

“Ah, right!”

“Sigh. Tsk tsk… Huh?”

His eyes light up upon seeing something, and he walks toward Johann.

“Looks like the young guy has inhaled some cement dust?”

He applies mortar made by mixing cement on the previously stacked bricks, stacks bricks, and taps them to level them.

It seems like casual tapping, but it’s impossible without the sense that can only be gained from at least 20 years of masonry work.

Yet Johann was doing it amazingly well, enough to draw admiration.

‘Without horizontal or vertical joint lines!’

Johann glances at the excited Middle-aged Man.

Mortar and cement dust covering his body.

“Please set up a guide frame.”

A guide frame for horizontal and vertical alignment, made with just nails and string.

“I’m teaching the stacking.”

“…Hahaha! Should I? Hey, follow me! Yeah, you. The one with glasses.”

As the Middle-aged Man takes Mason away, Johann looks at Flash.

“Flash, that Middle-aged Man is going to set up strings now, so you go stack bricks within those strings.”

“Can, can I do it?”

“Just don’t let the bricks go outside the strings. I’ll handle the leveling. You understand masonry, I mean, brick laying?”

“Zigzag. Leveling is three rows of bricks, then H-blocks on top. Mortar about fist-sized.”

“Go.”

“Okay!”

After sending the others away, Johann tapped the bricks again.

Tap tap swoosh!

Tapping the bricks and wiping away the protruding mortar.

Johann, who quickly made a round, immediately headed to the adjacent site where only the leveling work was finished and was waiting for him.

Thus, five houses began rising simultaneously, and the Boys watched the scene in a daze.

* * *

“Phew!”

“Drink just a little. It’s 0.7 gallons per person per day.”

The amount of water each person can use per day is 3 liters.

They have to manage washing with that too.

Though it’s far too little, volunteers like themselves are still better off. Refugees who haven’t found jobs have to survive the day with 2 liters of water. In this dry and hot weather.

It’s because water pipes haven’t been connected yet.

They close their mouths as they watch the Refugees passing by, looking enviously at them gulping down water, seeing their gaunt faces and weak steps.

Though they feel an urge to share, they worry that if they did, other Refugees who heard the news would come running asking for their share too, potentially disrupting the Camp’s order, and even the Branch Manager’s words not to show pity come to mind, causing them anguish.

“We can’t even dream of showering…”

‘That’s why I need to find it.’

Groundwater.

If earlier it was something to dig for appearances, now it had become somewhat personal.

‘Sweating this much and can’t wash?’

It’s something he never did even in the Forest. Absolutely unacceptable.

Then the Middle-aged Man who had quietly sat beside Johann smacks his lips.

“Oh my, so you’re American?”

“What if I wasn’t?”

“I was going to ask where you live, if you go to University, if you graduated, and if you did, how about working under me, I’d pay you well. But you speak Swahili so well for no reason…”

“Haha!”

“Tsk. Let’s at least introduce ourselves. Hakutada.”

“I’m Johann.”

‘This is my chance!’

There are exactly three types of people who can walk around barehanded at construction sites like this.

Site Manager, supervisor, Director.

‘Probably the Director.’

Only a Director would be such a veteran.

“Did you run away while supervising the work to bring water from Kasanda?”

“That’s that guy. I’m Hospital. Why? Have you done big construction projects?”

Hakutada’s eyes light up.

If Johann joined, it would become much easier.

“No. I was wondering why you don’t do groundwater construction. I’ve followed groundwater construction a few times in America…”

“You think there would be any here?”

Hakutada smiles wryly.

Did they think they hadn’t searched?

They tried all the most reliable methods except for L-rods, pendulums, and extremely expensive machines. Still couldn’t find any.

“And if this were an area with water, there wouldn’t be no grass like this.”

So they searched focusing on areas with grass, but all failed. Since they don’t have enough manpower to spare people searching for non-existent groundwater, they switched direction to water pipe connection construction.

“I see…”

Hakutada, who was throwing dry soil, smacks his lips at Johann’s disappointed expression.

“Well, if even slight evidence appears, that might be different.”

“Haha.”

‘Can’t be helped.’

It seems like he’ll have to find the groundwater himself after all.

It’s the moment Johann’s eyes grow serious.

“Director! Director Hakuta!”

“I’m here! What!”

A 20s Woman runs toward him with blazing eyes.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone… Uueeong?! Jo, Johann Jefferson!?”

“What. How do you know this guy?”

“Why, why wouldn’t I know! He’s the most famous person in the world right now-! He’s the saint who sent $100 million worth of medicine to Tanzania-!”

“Ueong? That guy is this guy… huh?”

Johann smiled at Hakuta who was momentarily malfunctioning.

* * *

Dark night after sunset.

“Ugh! I’m dying!”

“Hey, isn’t it strange?”

“What is?”

“I thought all African people went around wrapped in animal hides or cloth, but they don’t.”

“Stupid bastard.”

“This bastard?”

“Shower! Show… ah, can’t do it.”

Everyone returning to the dormitory with proud hearts that we helped, are helping the refugees somehow, grimaces.

Bodies that were soaked in sweat dried and left skin tight and itchy.

Cement powder and dirt dust filling their noses and mouths, the sour smell of sweat.

Everyone looks at the single 1-liter water bottle placed on the bed.

The remaining plastic water bottle after already drinking two bottles.

“…Let’s do winner takes all.”

“If you don’t play, you lose! Rock, scissors…”

“Wait a minute.”

“If you’re backing out, hand over the water first, Johann!”

“No, that’s not it…”

Chill!

“No, no! Don’t say it!”

“You! Don’t open your mouth!”

He has a face that clearly has some scheme, though they don’t know what.

Johann puts his arms around his struggling friends’ shoulders.

“You all want to shower with cool water, right.”

How refreshing would it be to scrub their bodies under pouring water.

“You’d sleep well too.”

Damn it. They’ve been tempted.

“So? How? Are we going to rob the water warehouse?”

The tent where water for volunteers gathered in this area is stored.

“No. That’s for everyone to use.”

“…Ah! You mean let’s go to Kasanda?!”

“Oh, get a motel or something? As expected! The biggest brain among us!”

“But can we go out at this hour? What about a car?”

“Uh. Can’t we not go out? I heard that after sunset, the refugee camp has complete access control?”

“What then?”

As his friends look puzzled, Johann grins.

“You guys still have decent stamina, right?”

They should be fine. He didn’t train them carelessly enough to collapse from just this much.

Johann hands over the sack he brought, the sack containing shovels and pickaxes, to his friends.

“Let’s dig.”

“Wha, what? Where?”

“Groundwater.”

If they want to shower after sweating like this in the future.

“We’ll make the water we use ourselves. Three days should do it.”

“…Hey, you crazy bastard-!”

Johann dodged Flash’s incoming punch.

* * *

“Hey, Hakuta.”

“I heard you got caught slacking off again today, big brother?”

Late at night. Directors from each field site – water supply, school, police station, etc. – gather around a campfire, each holding a bottle of beer.

“What. Why that expression? Did you get scolded by a WHO official?”

“…Do you all know that Tanzania’s saint came to this camp?”

“That guy? The singer from America?”

“Does light really shoot out of him like the rumors say?”

They want to see him. But since their assigned construction work is too important, they can’t, so they can only feel regretful.

“Light doesn’t exactly shoot out, but he is someone who’s made it.”

“Oh, you saw him directly?”

“Well…”

Hakuta tells them about what happened today.

“He knows how to do construction work…”

Somehow he feels familiar. That makes them like him even more.

“Hmm. Groundwater…”

“Nah. No way. We’ve tried everything.”

They mobilized L-rods and pendulums, even people who claimed to have dug wells in their own villages or tribes, but couldn’t find any.

“I know. But still, he’s a guy doing this much for us, and he probably thought of groundwater for the refugees too, so shouldn’t we at least pretend to look?”

The water supply construction that started ten days ago after transporting water by water trucks until then.

It would take over a month for the water supply to be fully connected, to be laid throughout this entire refugee camp, but Johann will leave before then.

“Tsk. I can spare about one person.”

“I can spare about one person too.”

The other directors also mention the personnel they can spare.

Hakuta smiles, saying that everyone really is good people.

“Good. Then let’s do that and drink.”

That’s what they gathered for after all.

Clink!

They clink their beer bottles and down them in one gulp.

“Kua!”

“Uah!”

Indeed, beer after labor was the best.

—————
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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