Chapter 60

During the coalition government of Cha Jae-kyun’s military regime and Won Ok-bun’s cabinet—

To be precise, when the test subjects of the Psychic Awakening Accelerator ran amok—

There was a certain operation that Won Ok-bun carried out to contain the situation.

Back then, Cha Jae-kyun had told me that Ri Yong-su, the Minister of People’s Armed Forces of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, had handed us the coordinates of the bunker where the Supreme Leader was hiding.

An indirect coup.

A classic case of borrowing a knife to kill someone.

[We frame the test subject rampage as a North Korean terrorist attack, and in retaliation, we take out the Supreme Leader with a bunker buster.]

[Ri Yong-su, outraged by South Korea’s “assassination,” seizes the power vacuum.]

[Then, both governments boost their approval ratings through ongoing hostile propaganda.]

“……”

That was the plan Won Ok-bun had devised—though I later exposed that Cha Jae-kyun was the one behind the human experiments.

“……You sure have connections.”

It wasn’t all that surprising that Won Ok-bun had ties to the North.

* * *

A VIP hospital room in the port city of Sokcho, Gangwon Province.

It was practically a hotel. I stood on the terrace, looking down at the ground below.
`
The vast, deep-blue East Sea, container ships coming and going at the harbor, and the flood of refugees filling the streets.

I heard the sound of ship horns. Refugees who had barely managed to escape to Sokcho were now fleeing south via coastal routes, packed shoulder-to-shoulder on the decks of container ships.

A gust of sea wind blew my bangs across my face.

“……”

It had been a while since I last got a haircut. My hair now reached my eyes. As I brushed it aside, I caught a glimpse of gray and frowned.

“What are you doing out here in this cold?”

Yang Pan-seok shuffled out onto the terrace, wearing a sleek long down coat over a saggy suit. Steam rose from the mugs in both his hands.

“You’re here? Huh? Long coats don’t usually suit old folks well…”

“Stop buttering me up so obviously. Just take the cup.”

With a twitch of his lips, Yang Pan-seok handed me a latte. It felt strangely natural—after years of respectfully serving him—to now be receiving coffee from him.

He leaned against the terrace railing, smiling faintly at the world below. After a sip of coffee, he turned to me.

“So, what’s this about? Everyone else is downstairs.”

“I wanted to talk about politics.”

“There’s no such thing as a non-political conversation these days.” He chuckled and sat across from me. I asked him,

“Is Dr. Chun Hwa-ran due next week?”

“Ten days left. I’m a bit worried—it might be premature.”

“She’s had it rough with that pregnancy…”

“Don’t say such unlucky things.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Yang Pan-seok wagged a finger at me in mild reproach.

“You know Gam Gi-ja’s been following Gam Ji-yoon around the country to look after her. Must be tough on him, leaving his wife alone like that. Give him a call.”

“Will do.”

“Remember—checking in by phone is basic courtesy for people like us. Imagine how proud he’d be to tell people at a dinner party, ‘A National Assemblyman called to check in on me.’ Wouldn’t that feel nice?”

“Oh…”

Our group was staying in VIP hospital rooms, just like when we used to live in Gangbuk. Back then it was because of the hospital’s research facility. Now, it was because of Chun Hwa-ran’s childbirth and my rehabilitation.

Like all politicians, we exchanged information under the guise of small talk.

“General Kim Doo-sik seems to be having a rough time.”

“He’s been on a roll lately. What’s up?”

“He says the western front is being overwhelmed by monsters pouring down through Chungcheong, and the eastern front has to fight guerrilla warfare against monsters hiding in the Taebaek Mountains.”

“Yeah, I heard a bit about that.”

“He says people are dying like crazy.”

“Tut…”

Yang Pan-seok raised his white eyebrows.

“Do you remember Yoo Hyeon-jong? The guy who fought with you in Uijeongbu?”

“Oh, right. That slightly slow-witted guy…”

“He just got promoted to major general and is now a central figure in the Northern Army.”

“How the hell did that happen?”

…That guy?

“Well, the south has a clear front line—the Chungcheong Defense Line. Kim Doo-sik reorganized things, too.”

“……Ah, but the north never had that.”

With Gates scattered everywhere, the divisions were fighting separately. The true isolated zone was northern Gangwon-do. Gyeonggi-do was no longer habitable.

Roughly seven million people were concentrated in northern Gangwon-do. If you included those stranded in northern Gyeonggi-do waiting for rescue, the number would be even higher.

“They’ve basically turned the army into an emergency network run by division commanders. There’s a central command, sure, but it’s useless. How do you command anything if you can’t assess the field? There’s no front line.”

“……But division commanders are, at best, major generals. The higher-ups—”

“Ran off south, remember? They moved HQ to Jeju ages ago…”

“Oh, right.”

“So even in the south, they’ve declared that they’ll respect the field commanders’ decisions. And with that, Yoo Hyeon-jong started giving orders to other division commanders in Uijeongbu, pulled off a successful retreat…”

“…Are we talking faction politics now?”

“More or less. The division commanders who shone during Uijeongbu are now leading the Northern Army. They’ve got the results to back them up.”

“Hmm……”

I frowned, and Yang Pan-seok laughed it off.

“Well, yeah, it’s a little shaky, but Yoo Hyeon-jong himself is such an indecisive guy. I don’t think we need to worry about a coup.”

“But we should keep close tabs, right?”

“Of course. Won Ok-bun already has NIS agents planted nearby.”

“Oho……”

“Anyway, that old lady’s been in politics longer than I have. Just because you got her once, don’t let your guard down.”

“Understood.”

Yang Pan-seok stretched his arms with a groan.

“It’s getting chilly. Shall we head in?”

“Ah, yes.”

The two old men got up and slowly made their way back inside the room. Next to the high-end hospital bed was a big sofa, and in front of that, a television.

I groaned and collapsed onto the bed while Yang Pan-seok lowered himself onto the couch with a soft “Egu-go,” then turned on the TV.

[…in unrelenting pursuit! In accordance with the Party’s Military-First leadership!]

That signature “spirited voice” boomed from the TV. Of all things, the volume was maxed out, and it echoed through the room.

“Whoa!”

Startled, Yang Pan-seok dropped the remote.

[Against the criminal conspiracies aiming to shatter East Asian peace! The People’s Army stands ready for ruthless retaliation with crushing stomps of justice—]

[Yes, that was the footage. Professor Ahn, what do you make of this recent move from North Korea—]

It was JTVC archive footage.

“Heh… Hey, don’t tell me…”

Yang Pan-seok gave me a squinty smile.

“Do you regularly watch Korean Central Television or something? You Juche-ist?”

“Sorry?”

“Are you a Juche-ist?”

“…What?”

Yang Pan-seok looked shocked, mouth agape.

“You don’t even know what a Juche-ist is?”

“Uh…”

“As a politician, you can’t be clueless. You know what ‘leftist pro-communist’ means?”

“Well, um… it has ‘left’ in it, so something about—”

“Figures. You’re from the pro-North commie generation. Probably never even heard of leftist pro-communist…”

“Is this a generational gap?”

“Be quiet.”

“Yes, sir.”

We both shut up, and only the TV could be heard. Some professor was speaking on a panel—

Wait, hold on. That’s my thesis advisor. Must’ve brought someone from Korea University’s political science department.

Like a fortune-telling octopus, he was just guessing whatever came to mind. His voice, normally sleep-inducing, felt strange coming from the TV.

[Don’t use another country for propaganda. Reveal China’s real intentions, and, uh… yes, the warning level is quite high. This could be… a kind of gesture. A gesture of reconciliation, perhaps.]

[Are you saying North Korea is reaching out to us?]

[Yes. Since the suspicious death of the Supreme Leader…]

Not suspicious. He got bunker-bustered.

[Inter-Korean relations have been very unstable, haven’t they?]

Not really. We’re doing great.

[But now, given North Korea’s inability to defend the northern border without help from our air force, I think this request for additional support… is likely motivated by—]

I asked Yang Pan-seok,

“This recent move—was it Acting President Won Ok-bun’s doing?”

“Hm?”

“North Korea’s actions.”

“Why ask something so obvious?”

It was time to get to the point.

“Do you know what North Korea’s current situation is?”

“Hm. Originally, the plan was to pin the human experiments on North Korea and assassinate their leader. But you ended up exposing that it was Cha Jae-kyun’s doing, not theirs, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Minister Ri Yong-su of the People’s Armed Forces ended up floating to the top amid the chaos. North Korea announced that the South had assassinated their Supreme Leader, but nobody really believed it.”

Yang Pan-seok placed his now-empty coffee cup on the table beside the couch.

“He managed to take control after executing a few as an example, but his regime still seems shaky. Ri Yong-su’s not of the Baekdu bloodline. That country cares a lot about lineage. His background is… let’s say, lacking.”

“That’s worrisome.”

A military regime on unstable footing was the most dangerous kind of state.

Because you never know what kind of crazy stunt they’ll pull to assert control.

I muttered under my breath.

“Still, I guess we owe North Korea one.”

“China probably knows North Korea is our puppet by now.”

“At the very least, it gives us justification to refuse. And makes China have to explain that this wasn’t our true intention.”

“True enough.”

“Maybe North Korea will get squeezed a little harder by China. Although… China was already pushing their monsters toward them, so maybe not much will change.”

“They’ve gone as far as dropping nukes. Nothing to hesitate about now.”

“But surely we didn’t get all this for free.”

Commander Kim Doo-sik had warned us not to use the military for political games.

So we had to find another bargaining chip.

I smirked and looked at Yang Pan-seok.

“So what exactly did we promise them that made North Korea spill their guts like that?”

Yang Pan-seok chuckled bitterly.

“I knew you’d ask.”

“Come on, just tell me.”

“I was holding back because I thought you might be too tired.”

“So what’d we give them?”

“Do you really need to know?”

“Assemblyman Yang.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine. But it’s top secret. Don’t go running your mouth—unless it’s at the National Assembly Press Room.”

Yang Pan-seok replied with a single word.

“Defectors.”

And then added,

“Plural.”

* * *

‘When the Gates opened, North Korea moved nearly all of its troops northward. During that window, countless people crossed the southern border. Especially after the regime temporarily collapsed following the Supreme Leader’s death. As far as I know, more than 100,000 defectors crossed into South Korea after the Gate disaster.’

‘……But the media didn’t report anything about that?’

‘Don’t tell me you still believe the news…’

‘Ah. Right.’

‘Don’t watch that stuff. Anyway, they’re being housed in military installations near the border. It’s under military control. Plenty of land out there.’

‘So in exchange for repatriating the defectors, we’re covering for North Korea diplomatically?’

‘Exactly.’

‘Do the defectors really have that much value…?’

‘No, no. Even in a state of emergency, North Korea’s not stupid. A sizable portion of their southern border troops were stationed at the border with us.’

‘Okay…?’

‘Most of the soldiers stationed near Kaesong were killed. Then a massive wave of defectors surged across. About 20,000 in a single day.’

‘……’

‘A major uprising happened in Kaesong. Led by Awakeners. I mean, what other kind of people could breach a border guarded by the military?’

‘……So a significant portion of those 100,000 defectors are superpowered individuals.’

‘Not only that, but around 20,000 to 30,000 of them were part of the Kaesong uprising—they killed soldiers and broke through.’

‘Full repatriation?’

‘Acting President Won Ok-bun made that decision.’

‘……What about those who refuse to go back?’

‘We’re not the ones sending them.’

‘……’

‘The People’s Army asked to come pick them up.’

‘……When?’

‘Next week.’

* * *

A massacre of 100,000 people was about to happen in North Korea.

After hearing the news, I returned to my room and sat there for a long time, clutching my phone.

First, David Kim delivered some good news.

[Yeah, looks like we’ve found traces of your family. We’re tracking the escape route now, but they went so deep into the mountains it’s taking some time.]

“Is that so? They didn’t get caught under a Gate collapse or anything like that, right?”

[Hmm. Seems like they got away alive. Problem is, we don’t know where they went. And the mountains are crawling with monsters right now.]

“Whew… Thank you.”

[Yep. Gotta go hunt some monsters, so I’ll hang up. I’ll contact you as soon as we get another report. Oh, and I assigned a few members from the combat squad to the tracking team. You better repay me for this.]

“Thank you. Really, thank you so much…”

I immediately called Commander Kim Doo-sik.

“Sorry for bothering you every day like this.”

[Not at all. You heard from Chun-sik, right?]

“Yes. Today… is there anything new…?”

[No. We’ve put together a list of people to be reported first. But nothing has come in regarding your family yet.]

“Ah… I see. Thank you.”

[My condolences. I’ll contact you immediately if we identify anything.]

“Yes. Thank you, Commander.”

Through Kim Chun-sik, I confirmed my family was alive. Through Kim Doo-sik, I confirmed that no bodies had been found.

After that, I made more calls—for hours. The police, the fire department, the NIS, and so on. And on. And on.

I had made all the calls I needed to make today.

That was it.

I had no strength left to do anything more.

Refugees? North Korea dragging people back? What did any of that matter to me?

The only reason I asked about what Won Ok-bun gave to North Korea was to prepare for an emergency. I wasn’t trying to stir up politics.

I stared blankly at the dark city. The harbor of Sokcho sparkled with the glow of countless phones held by people searching for their families.

“……Damn it.”

What the fuck was I doing?

Here I was, chewing my antidepressants with trembling hands.

What kind of politician could I be like this? Me? Right now? Fuck.

Thunk. Thunk.

I quietly knocked my head against the wall and tore at my nails.

This was the side of me I never showed anyone.

I had deliberately chosen a room three floors away from Pi Chae-won.

I scratched at my face with my fingernails. Only after taking painkillers for the relentless headache could I finally crawl into bed.

Becoming an Assemblyman was the right call. I was using every ounce of my power to search for my family.

As I closed my eyes—

“……”

In the blurry haze of my vision, someone appeared in the room.

I thought I was hallucinating.

“……It’s a pleasure, comrade.”

The apparition spoke.

“……I heard you were looking for Comrade Yeo Do-yeon in the dark.”

I jerked up, practically convulsing, and demanded of the ghost,

“Where is she. Right now.”

“……I’ve brought you to her.”

The hallucination took my hand.

“……Here we are, Assemblyman Comrade.”

We were no longer in the hospital room.

We were standing in the forest.