Fiction REINCARNATION, Vol. 1

Advent of a Strange Stone

<34> Advent of a Strange Stone

Liaobien village became a wealthy town belonging to the upper class in Laos. During the past three decades, the village's coffee and tea materials have all been exported to Korea, greatly increasing the income level of residents. The coffee plantation, which initially harvested five tons of raw beans, has now grown into a large plantation that produces more than seventy tons of coffee, tea, herbs, and its products. The plantation is jointly managed by the community and DK Food. With the arrival of many outsiders and businesses, the village has become a medium-sized town in Laos. And as the village expanded, a few high schools and public institutions have newly opened.

At the entrance of the plantation, Lee Dae-geun Memorial Hall has been set up. Immediately after his death, the villagers built a shrine on the coffee farm and it was expanded into the memorial hall. Next to the memorial hall, there is a local corporation of DK Food, and a processing plant of coffee and tea. There, Korean and local employees work together.

Long Ruan is a senior member of the village and the living history of the plantation. He had been in charge of coffee plantations for 25 years, but handed over his position to his son, Long Mong. Long Ruan played a leading role in creating the first coffee farm and expanding it into a large-scale plantation. He still frequently appears on farms to encourage workers and greets guests from the headquarters in Seoul. He is happiest when he meets Cho In-gyu, chairman of the DK Group, and his wife Sung Yoon-hee. Whenever the three of them meet, they go into the shrine, burn incense, and start work by reminiscing about what happened thirty years ago.

Thirty years have passed since Lee's death, but residents still remember his virtue. He became a legend in the village and the Lao people visited his shrine to pray for their wealth and success. Farms employees provide various conveniences for those who come to the shrine to pray. Long Mong dimly remembers Lee Dae-geun who passed away when he was a child, but is devoted to managing farms and memorial halls after his father.

But one day, a mysterious stone appeared next to the memorial hall. The stone is embossed with figures and letters. That day, heavy rain accompanied by loud thunder and lightning continued from day to night, and Long Mong couldn't sleep at all, worrying about the damage to the farm. As soon as the day broke, he quickly left home and looked around a thousand hectares of farm, but no major damage was found. He was relieved, but workers were worried that the coffee plants behind the shrine had fallen.

There were literally dozens of coffee plants falling and land dented. Fragments of rock were scattered all around the dented land, with a polished memorial stone stuck in the middle. He thought that the ground had been dug up and a tombstone had been exposed. Since the coffee farm was created in the hills, the unowned tombs may be hidden there. If there were tombs, there could be memorial stones.

 But it was not a tombstone and no traces of the tomb were found there. It was strange that rock fragments were scattered all over the red clay region and the stone was engraved with figures and letters. A Korean staff who saw the writing was shocked and unable to shut his mouth. This is because the stone was engraved with the words 'Dae-geun Merion' in Korean alphabet. Long Mong ordered local employees to keep the scene and immediately ran to his father, Long Ruan. Korean staff sent an emergency message with a photo to the headquarters in Seoul.

Soon after, Long Ruan arrived. He learned simple Korean language by making frequent contact with Koreans. He immediately realized that the stone was related to Lee, but wondered how it appeared right next to the shrine. One of the figures on the stone was familiar to him, but the other was strange.

"Dad, is that stone related to the shrine?"

"It certainly has something to do with the late President Lee Dae-geun."