Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 90

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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 90

 

 

25. Deprivation

 

 

Mayor Antonio Pushes Forward with Fire Museum Construction! Donations Pour In!

LA is a dry city. Mayor Antonio’s bold decision!

Mayor Antonio Increases Fire Prevention Budget!

LA Fire Department. Supports Mayor Antonio’s decision!

Fire reports suddenly surge. What’s the reason?

Artwork title: Fire is Always Targeting Us!

Robert Burton! Has his art style really changed?

Raised the level of mural painting by one step!

30 yards of flames expressed through hyperrealism!

 

“What a shame.”

Robert Burton sighs.

He wants to spend more time together.

He wants to paint more artworks together.

But now it’s time to go back.

Home.

To his own city.

The inspirations that welled up while working with Johann rush through him like a torrent, urging him on.

“When will we see each other again if you leave like this?”

Charlotte Burton strokes Johann’s cheek.

Affection that inevitably shows despite knowing he’s not her son.

Johann takes her hand.

“I’ll contact you often.”

“…Will you really?”

“Of course.”

He’ll contact them if only for ‘Art Student’ Benjamin.

“Oh. How can you be so sweet.”

“Ahem. You’ll wear yourself out like that.”

Robert Burton stops Charlotte Burton as tears well up in her eyes again.

She reluctantly steps back.

The two hold each other’s hands while looking at Johann one last time.

Johann holds out a picture frame wrapped in yellow wrapping paper and string to them.

“This is a gift.”

“Oh! It’s a painting? May I open it?”

“Of course.”

Robert Burton carefully unwraps the wrapping paper and freezes.

Charlotte Burton covers her mouth and collapses.

“Be, Benjamin!”

A beach under blue skies.

Son Benjamin smiling brightly.

And the Burton couple laughing together with their hands on his shoulders.

In one corner of the painting, son Benjamin’s signature smile is drawn.

“I’m sorry. I unintentionally saw your wallet.”

This isn’t the lingering attachment of ‘Art Student’ Benjamin Burton.

He doesn’t have the intelligence for that.

This is Johann’s farewell gift after absorption reading ‘Art Student’ Benjamin Burton.

It’s the price for borrowing ‘Art Student’ Benjamin Burton’s talent.

“Was this inappropriate?”

“…No, no. It’s not.”

When on earth did he draw this.

Johann who arrived around 4 PM, painted the mural until 9 PM, then went back.

Imagining him painting with sleepy eyes brings tears to their eyes.

“There could be no greater gift than this.”

The most precious gift in the couple’s life was their son Benjamin.

The first comfort for their hearts since losing that Benjamin.

“Please! Please do contact us!”

The two who wrapped the wrapping paper even more carefully turned around with difficulty, and Johann also turns away after watching them pass through the gate.

“Ugh!”

Johann stretches and smiles bitterly.

‘People smoke cigarettes at times like this…’

If he said that to Jamie Valin next to him, he’d probably get smacked.

“But you managed to come?”

Jamie Valin has been flooded with artwork commissions after ‘Stories of the World Watched by Stars’ and ‘Fire is Always Targeting Us’.

“Why do you say such hurtful things?”

They are comrades.

Comrades who share the same secret.

Also, while painting the two murals, she learned a lot not only from Johann but also from Robert Burton.

She had to come.

“Ah, it’s because of the Louis & Boris mural commission.”

The Louis & Boris representative, greatly moved by ‘Fire is Always Targeting Us’, changed the commission details.

They asked for murals to be painted not only in the lobby but also on the exterior walls.

Flinch!

“It’s, it’s not just because of that.”

“Well. Louis & Boris would certainly help raise your reputation.”

One solid hit rather than various miscellaneous ones.

For her, it was a natural choice.

“I said it’s not…!”

Her face turns red as she snaps.

“What about you then? Don’t you need me?”

“I need you.”

The most important thing in mural painting is the wall.

No matter how good the skill, if the wall’s condition is bad, a good painting won’t come out.

Jamie Valin had the technique to create such good walls.

“Please take care of me this time too.”

“…Tch!”

She clicks her tongue and recalls the commission details.

“So how are you planning to draw the god? You can’t draw a god with hyperrealism.”

What Louis & Boris commissioned was precisely a god.

Nike, the goddess of victory.

Meaning they think only of victory.

A commission that fits the law firm’s identity to a sickening degree.

“There are many paintings that allegorize Nike.”

Since they were all drawn by each era’s artists’ imagination, the faces are all different.

They need to decide which artwork to use as a motif.

“Well. Not really?”

“…Don’t tell me you’re going to paint a new Nike?”

“The title is ‘The Gaze of a Soldier Who First Welcomed Nike Descending to the Human World’.”

A distant and far battlefield from ancient times before Christ.

There was a soldier who first witnessed Nike.

His name is Nickelius.

Whether it was a hallucination brought on by his thirst for life, or if she was truly a goddess, he didn’t know.

But after that day’s victory, the soldier became a fervent devotee of Nike, even changing his name to Nickelius and traveling around painting the form of the goddess he witnessed to spread word of her.

‘Though now they’ve all disappeared, weathered and broken by the flow of time and human ignorance and madness.’

Perhaps that was the first work to capture Nike in a painting.

‘And when he offered that first work to Nike’s temple, Nickelius met Nike once again.’

Whether that too was a hallucination or a dream, he didn’t know.

However, after that day he achieved victory in all aspects of his daily life – family and work – and never forgot the emotion and inspiration of that day until he died.

I’m going to recreate that moment.

Nike descending upon the temple.

Through the eyes of Hugo Ballin and Benjamin Burton.

Though this time, the perspective of ‘artist Hugo Ballin’ will be the main focus.

‘If Benjamin’s identity is revealed too much, what I’ve been trying to hide will be exposed.’

“You know that Lewis & Boris is a 12-story building, right?”

“There’s no time limit.”

I’ll take it slowly.

Slowly.

“After I finish painting Rocky Management first.”

I also had to prepare a Father’s Day gift.

“…”

Jamie Valin shook her head.

 

* * *

 

“Model student award for two consecutive months!”

“First place in the entire school!”

“Honorary firefighter!”

“Little El Toro Johann Jefferson is coming through!”

“Everyone move aside… Kuhak?! W-wait. I got hit in the bone!”

Johann clicked his tongue and glared at the California West players.

The players backed away with “Ah, hot!” and giggled.

“Why? It’s good.”

“Being good and being teased are different things.”

Kids who were 11 and 12 years old, plus doing sports, so their boundaries were blurred.

Whenever they tried to cross the line like this, he had to put them in their place so it wouldn’t become troublesome.

“You’re picky. Are you a girl… okay.”

When the teasing player backed down, the players suddenly contorted their faces.

“Johann, can’t you tone it down a bit?”

“Right! My mom scolded me asking why I can’t do as well as you when we eat the same food, exercise the same, and rest the same! Please!”

“Study.”

“I do.”

“Get a B-plus average on this midterm.”

“I got an A!”

“Who doesn’t have a C-plus?”

American students who couldn’t play sports if they couldn’t study.

The empty-headed quarterbacks and other athletes shown in movies and dramas could be said to be fabricated fantasies.

Of course, you couldn’t say they didn’t exist at all, but that was only cases that came from really strange public schools.

“Then do volunteer work.”

“…How do we volunteer?”

“Doesn’t your school have a volunteer club?”

“No!”

“Us too!”

“Oh, then should we make a volunteer club? San Diego gather up!”

“LA over here!”

“Where should headquarters be?”

“Obviously LA!”

“Ha! Are you dissing San Diego right now?”

“Get lost if you have a small population!”

“Let’s decide with a duel!”

“Agreed! Everyone come at me!”

The players instantly became noisy.

The wrist guards on one of their arms had the LA Dodgers logo embedded in them. The wrist guard on the opposite side was H&M.

H&M and the LA Dodgers had sponsored them.

“W-wait! Johann, you’re cheating…!”

“I’m LA too. Die.”

Thwack!

“S-subdue that vicious little brat first!”

“Protect Johann!”

“Waaaah!”

Thud!

A little baseball stadium in some park next to Long Beach International Airport.

When the tent used as a locker room shook, the kids who had been rolling on the ground grabbing each other’s cheeks hurriedly stood up.

“…Nice job.”

When Bill Claymer, who had been promoted from batting coach to head coach due to the existing head coach’s parental leave, shot them a fierce look, everyone turned their heads.

“Seeing how energetic you are, I guess we can win today too?”

“Yes-!”

“Manager.”

George Huntington nodded at Bill Claymer’s call and spoke.

“Today marks the end of the league’s first round.”

Little League baseball games weren’t tournament format, but a system where all teams in the league faced each other once. Based on those results, the top 50 percent of teams would advance to the next round to compete again and determine the final winner.

For California West, currently ranked in a four-way tie for 4th place with a 7-3 record, this could be said to be an important game.

Moreover, their opponent was Magnet School.

The first-place team in the first round with a perfect 10-0 record.

‘Magnet…’

Johann’s eyes darkened as he recalled Ray Clemer, who had gotten into a confrontation during the ceremonial pitch and batting event.

“I hope everyone will approach the game with the mindset of winning.”

“Yes!”

When George Huntington closed his mouth, Bill Claymer spoke up.

“Today we’re making changes to the lineup! Johann.”

“Yes.”

Bill Claymer and George Huntington’s eyes lit up.

‘Johann Jefferson.’

Johann, who had suddenly thrown a screwball during the LA Dodgers ceremonial pitch and changed the flow of league games.

Of the two teams they faced afterward, one team gave up during the innings when Johann took the mound, completely deflating everyone’s spirits.

If they had known about their cowardly tactics in advance, they would have put Johann in both games.

“Starting pitcher. However, batting starts from the 4th inning.”

A pitcher position that can only play for a maximum of 3 innings.

The same goes for offense.

“What?”

“There’s no problem with the regulations.”

“Yes, I understand.

“Julio, you’ll switch batting order with Johann.”

“Yes!”

“Second starter, Julio.”

‘This is an interesting strategy.’

Johann looked at George Huntington, who was standing back even after devising this strategy.

Still unable to tell what he was thinking.

 

* * *

 

-Hello? Hello?

California West’s entrance song echoing through the stadium.

WE GO, currently ranked 7th on the Billboard Hot 100, was a song created by two legends who had returned after a long time.

“Those guys even have an entrance song.”

“They’re rich kids.”

California West, assembled with only the elite from the A-AAA League.

The basic requirement for their selection is money.

Money to attend Spring Camp.

Round-trip transportation costs to travel to each stadium.

Equipment purchase costs for training and games.

Without that, even if selected for California West, they couldn’t leave their original team.

Unlike those who play sports without worrying about money.

The Magnit players look resentfully at the California West players entering with music.

“But this song, they say that little kid at the front made it?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Since he has money, he probably paid to get his name on it!”

“Disgusting rich brat.”

“Quiet. Shut your mouths.”

“S-sorry. Ray.”

“I said shut up.”

As the Magnit players closed their mouths, Ray Clemer glared at Johann.

‘Little brat. How dare you say you’ll kill me?’

Crack!

At the menacing sound of grinding teeth, the Magnit players rolled their eyes.

“Numbers 1 through 3.”

“Y-yes.”

“S-speak up. Ray.”

“If the batting order doesn’t come around to me in the 1st inning, you’re all dead after today.”

“Gulp!”

“B-but Ray! The manager said that during the innings that little brat plays, we absolutely must…”

“Do you think you’ll be dealing with the manager longer, or with me longer?”

Obviously Ray Clemer.

They would graduate from Elementary School in mid-July and enter 6th grade Middle School in September.

Currently, more than half of Magnit’s players would quit the baseball team due to money problems like transportation costs, but the problem was that the schools they would attend were predetermined.

Public middle schools where poor lower-class students go.

There weren’t many of them, and about half of the players quitting the team would attend the same middle school as Ray Clemer.

In other words, if they didn’t want to suffer the same treatment in middle school, they had to absolutely obey Ray Clemer.

“And when I beat up that little brat, you better come running out and kill those young master bastards.”

“R-Ray!”

A bench clearing warning.

The players’ faces turned pale.

Intentional bench clearing could lead to league expulsion.

The lips of students who didn’t want to quit baseball trembled.

“Do you want to die by my hands?”

“…Understood.”

Getting expelled from the league was better than becoming a cripple.

At least they could still play baseball.

“Bastard. I’ll make sure you can never play that precious baseball again.”

If he crushed both elbows and both wrists, he’d never be able to play baseball again.

‘Ah, I should pull out all his teeth too.’

So he’d only be able to eat soup for life.

Ray Clemer laughed menacingly, and the Magnit players cowered at his crazed appearance.

‘Why did that little brat have to provoke Ray!’

‘Bastard! I’ll kill him!’

They soon glared murderously at the California West players and Johann who had lined up in front, and the California West players were confused by the baseless hostility.

“The manager’s coming!”

At someone’s shout, the Magnit players quickly withdrew their glares.

The managers of both teams shook hands and turned around as the game began.

 

“You all remember the strategy, right?”

As expected, they would avoid Johann Jefferson, the starting pitcher.

It was a decision to throw away nearly half the game, but it was better than having their spirits broken by consecutive strikeouts and irresistible pitching.

‘I have to be the villain instead!’

A match he wanted to face head-on but had to avoid due to the manager’s orders. The manager hoped the players would direct their resentment toward him and continue playing baseball.

“Yes.”

“Understood…”

The players with pouting lips looked at Ray Clemer.

He snorted and glared back.

Meaning it wouldn’t be fun if they ignored his earlier warning.

“Smith, go out when you’re ready.”

“Y-yes!”

Whoosh whoosh. The first batter who had been swinging his bat in the on-deck circle stepped into the batter’s box.

As the first batter took his stance, Johann began pitching.

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

No strike call rang out.

It was a ball.

Windup again.

Whoooosh!

“…Why is that bastard acting like that?”

Again, no strike call rang out.

A three-quarter delivery close to overhand, out of nowhere.

Ray Clemer frowned.

 

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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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