Sanctuary in Camp Humphreys
Where in South Korea is safest from external pressure and physical assault?
Opinions might vary, but if there is one place whose security no one can dispute, it is right here: Camp Humphreys, the headquarters of the United States Forces Korea.
First and foremost, it is a fortified military installation, completely insulated from outside physical threats. Who on Earth would dare attack the armed forces of Uncle Sam, the undisputed global head admin of the planet? Inflict even a scratch, and you would receive the blazing wrath of the world's sole superpower delivered straight to your doorstep. Even the big brothers over in China would take one look and shake their heads: Yeah... let's not touch that.
Second, it is impervious to external pressure. Is there any entity in South Korea capable of throwing its weight around at USFK? Not a chance. Short of a direct directive from Washington, nobody could touch them. That was precisely why Hyung-jun had chosen Camp Humphreys as our next destination.
Of course, there was a prerequisite: permission from someone with enough clout to parachute us directly into an American military base. And to secure that authorization, we were currently having an audience with a king.
A king in America, you ask?
Hey, the Techno King is still a king—the reigning monarch of technology under the modern empire.
"Haha! Long time no see, my friends. I hear you ran into a bit of trouble while I wasn't looking?"
Man, this guy's ears are sharp. The news had already crossed the Pacific?
Hyung-jun chuckled lightly before responding.
“Since you already know, that makes things much easier. We'd like to ask for a favor.”
"If the friends who are going to send me to Mars need help, I'll provide whatever it takes. Say, how about taking this opportunity to relocate to the United States?"
“We appreciate the offer, but that's a decision I need to discuss thoroughly with my partner first. Let's resolve the urgent issue at hand before we talk about long-term plans.”
"Fair enough. What do you need specifically, my friends?"
“We need quarters and a small facility inside Camp Humphreys.”
"Camp Humphreys?"
“The USFK headquarters base.”
"Ah, that place. But why do you need a building there?"
Musk's tone ticked upward with curiosity.
“Well, as you've heard, our research facility was trashed. We need a secure site to continue manufacturing the Magician.”
"If that's the reason, I have no choice but to step in."
Musk's company, Teslam, was also receiving Magician shipments calibrated to their automated production line schedules. If our schedule derailed, we wouldn't be the only ones in trouble.
"You know there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, right?"
“Of course, Techno King,” Hyung-jun answered placidly. “What do you want?”
"Oh, relax, my friend. No need to rush. Let's save that bill for later—as a treat to look forward to."
Deferring the price, Musk continued casually.
"I'll have word sent down to USFK leadership. Is there anything else you need?"
“A few small things. First off...”
Hyung-jun rattled through a short list of logistical requests.
“Thank you for the support, Techno King. We will make sure to repay this favor down the road.”
"Excellent. I'll be counting on it. See you around, my friends."
The line went dead.
Hyung-jun turned to look at me, offering an uneasy grin. “Well, we just managed to incur a debt with the scariest creditor on planet Earth.”
Our relocation to Camp Humphreys took place with dizzying speed. By the very next morning, US military personnel arrived to transport us directly onto the base.
Surprisingly, the National Intelligence Service let us go without a single complaint. For guys who wouldn't shut up about 'the national interest,' that was unexpected. I had honestly braced myself for them to concoct every excuse under the sun to keep us under lock and key.
In any case, we were now standing in front of a sturdy structure deep inside Camp Humphreys.
“You are cleared to use this facility,” an officer said.
“Thank you, Colonel McDonald.”
“It's a decommissioned warehouse, so please feel free to arrange it however suits your needs.”
Colonel McDonald, who oversaw base management for Camp Humphreys, offered a genial, innocent smile while the dense cords of muscle on his forearms visibly shifted. Damn. Those biceps looked thick enough to snap Hyung-jun—an Under Armour gym rat himself—clean in half. A gentle, cherubic smile on a frame like that created an uncanny visual mismatch.
“However, since you two are civilians and outside guests, wandering freely around the installation is strictly prohibited,” Colonel McDonald added. “Our security detail will be monitoring your movements from the perimeter, so we ask for your understanding.”
“Understanding? We're freeloading here, Colonel. It's only natural that we watch our step.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. If you'll excuse me, I have duties to attend to.”
With crisp military efficiency, Colonel McDonald turned on his heel and strode away.
Hyung-jun and I looked up at the building assigned to us. It had a footprint of roughly thirty-five hundred square feet, with high ceilings rising two stories tall.
“Pretty spacious,” I muttered.
“No kidding.”
Stepping inside, we found the interior spotless. On the left stood a partitioned office suite. Just past it, the 5-axis CNC milling machine Hyung-jun had requested yesterday sat waiting, paired with a lone desktop terminal.
“Feels pretty empty...”
“We're not living here forever. As long as we have what we need, that's plenty.”
Hyung-jun walked into the partitioned office. It had at least been furnished into something resembling a functional workspace: a workstation PC, a conference table with chairs, a compact mini-fridge, and an electric kettle. He pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Alright, our safety is locked down. Let's hammer out our strategy.”
“Is there really a strategy to hammer out? Our agenda is already set.”
Fulfill the Magician deliveries. Advance my Circle. Find Mana Stones. Wasn't that the whole roadmap?
Hyung-jun shook his head.
“No, no, no. Are you seriously going to let the bastards who trashed our lab walk away scot-free?”
“Well, obviously not. But we don't even know who they are.”
Whether it was Hwaseong or agents from across the Yellow Sea, we had plenty of suspicions but zero physical evidence. Pointing fingers and screaming 'enemy of the state' without proof would only invite a massive political backlash.
“I'm not saying we snipe them out in the open,” Hyung-jun said smoothly.
“Then what? What's the plan?”
“We're going to feed them a bowl of poison through the back door.”
“You had a brilliant idea like that? Come on, don't hold out on me!”
Tell me what you know, you schemer!
“The fact that they raided our lab and tried to abduct us means they're desperate for our technology, right?”
“Right.”
“And anyone ruthless enough to steal it from the start wouldn't have bothered buying the Magician legitimately anyway.”
“Also true.”
“So what happens if we announce that, outside of existing delivery commitments, Arcane Technology is permanently halting all future production of the Magician? How do you think they'll react?”
“Are you a damn genius?!”
My jaw dropped in genuine admiration.
Whoever those raiders were, they had failed to kidnap us and failed to steal the proprietary core. That meant they would inevitably need the Magician through official channels just to keep from falling behind in the market. But if we declared that we were shutting down future production entirely?
Complete and total panic. Guaranteed.
Our justification was airtight, too. A gang of unidentified armed thugs had breached our lab and wrecked our equipment, rendering us unable to produce more. Who could argue with that? All our enemies could do was stomp their feet in helpless rage, thoroughly trapped in a mess of their own making.
“Let's do it right now,” I urged.
“Oh, no, no, no.” Hyung-jun wagged an index finger. “Revenge is like a fine vintage wine; the longer you let it age, the richer the flavor. So...” His eyes glinted with cold malice. “We wait. Until the fire under their asses burns hot enough to roast them alive.”
“Terrifying. You are an absolute menace...”
Kim Hyung-jun! What a terrifying human being!
I renewed my vow never, under any circumstances, to make an enemy of this man.
Well, leaving sweet revenge aside, our operational duties remained unchanged. The immediate issue was that our freedom of movement had just taken a hit.
My magical cultivation was humming along like an automated idle game twenty-four hours a day, so there was no bottleneck on that front. After feeling the sting of vulnerability during the raid, I had dialed up the gathering intensity; the accumulated mana inside me was already close to breaking through to the 2nd Circle.
However, once I passed the 3rd Circle and approached the 4th Circle, the timeframe required to advance each stage would expand by orders of magnitude. That was why securing a Mana Stone was non-negotiable.
Yet here we were inside Camp Humphreys. Bringing in raw mineral samples required clearing layers of military bureaucracy. And as guests freeloading on base, asking for special clearance every few days would be awkward at best.
When I voiced my concern, Hyung-jun tilted his head quizzically.
“Why are you stressing over that?”
“Huh? Why wouldn't I?”
“We have the ultimate cover story. Just claim it's a sample needed for the special research initiative assigned by Musk.”
“Can't. That's a lie.”
“Ah, right. You literally can't tell a deceptive lie anymore.” Hyung-jun stared at me with newfound bewilderment. “What a wild world we live in. To think the day would come when Park Ji-hyuk—the guy who used to play pranks like a middle school delinquent—is incapable of bullshitting. Our college alumni would pass out if they heard.”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”
“I'm just appreciating the irony.” Hyung-jun smirked. “Then there's only one way forward: total honesty. Tell them it's a sample required for researching new bonding technologies. That's not technically false, is it?”
“I suppose. Even if they inspect what we bring through the gates, they'll never guess what it's actually for.”
“Ah, speaking of which...” Hyung-jun's expression sobered up as a thought struck him. “Instead of twisting ourselves into knots, why don't we just bring someone onto our side?”
“In what sense?”
“An ally who shares our secret. Doing everything in the shadows like this is choking us out. There are too many constraints.”
“You're not wrong.”
Hyung-jun had a point.
“The problem is, who could we possibly trust with that?”
Is there anyone alive who qualifies?
“The only candidate that comes to mind right now is Musk... but is that really wise?”
He was a man who would sign up without a heartbeat if we promised him a ticket to Mars, making him our strongest candidate under the current circumstances. And because vision meant more to him than petty corporate squabbles, as long as we didn't cross him first, the odds of him stabbing us in the back were slim.
“Our friends in the Arab world... won't work,” Hyung-jun murmured, shaking his head after a moment's thought. “There's the religious aspect...”
I briefly imagined pitching 'Hey, so we actually practice magic—wanna form an alliance?' to devout Muslims.
Magic... in Islam?
I pulled out my smartphone and ran a quick query.
The practice of sorcery and magic is not only an explicit violation of the Islamic code of conduct, but constitutes an act of severe blasphemy.
I closed the browser immediately.
Absolutely, unconditionally out of the question.
Reveal that what we do is literal magic? We'd be lucky if they didn't proclaim us the incarnation of evil Iblis and call in an airstrike from Allah's magical RPG.
Chilling.
“Let's table that option indefinitely,” I muttered.
Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.
“Then what about South Korea...”
“Of all the things in this country to put your faith in, you'd trust the Korean government and the chaebols?” As a scion of wealth who knew the internal filth of domestic conglomerates and bureaucratic machinery better than anyone, Hyung-jun scoffed with pure derision. “That leaves the folks in Uncle Sam's camp.”
“Specifically Musk,” I corrected. “It's not as if the United States acts like a single unified monolith either.”
“Hmm...” I let out a low sigh. “We don't have to make that call this very second, do we?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Then let's find the material first.”
Relying on someone else from the get-go went against my grain. Once I unearthed a Mana Stone and broke through to higher circles, I could forge an unassailable sanctuary of my own—a domain no entity on this planet could violate. At the 4th Circle alone, the possibilities were virtually limitless, and what I could achieve through magic circles would expand exponentially.
Hyung-jun nodded in agreement.
“If that's what you want, let's do it. It's our top priority. Aside from fulfilling our existing delivery contracts, I'll clear our plates and pour everything into this search.”
“Yeah. The moment we find it, by the time we walk out these gates, no one will ever be able to lay a finger on us again.”
“That's my partner. Always dependable.”
Hyung-jun flashed a confident grin and rose from his chair.
After the rain, the earth hardens. Having weathered our first major trial, we stood shoulder to shoulder, more unified than ever, ready to stride forward into uncharted territory.