My Name Is Jogus
My name is Jogus...
"My name is Yu Gwon-sun!"
The girl with fair skin and black hair introduced herself in a bright, cheerful voice.
It was a name her parents had given her, carrying the meaning that she should live her life with patriotism in her heart.
She had always lived proudly bearing that name.
As a child she had often been teased because of it. Yet thanks to her devoted parents' education, she had understood the meaning contained within it from an early age, and so she never paid the mockery much mind.
The reason they could live smiling as they did now was because their country existed. She knew that efforts devoted to such a nation were noble, and that sacrifice for the country was an honorable act.
And in that regard...
Her decision to become a hunter—even turning down admission to a prestigious university—was perhaps only natural.
A being who devoted herself to protecting the nation from monsters. Possessing a strong heart that thought of her country, she willingly chose this path...
And so the girl became a soldier who pledged her loyalty and her life to the nation.
As a hunter she possessed considerable talent, and moreover her unique patriotism and fierce passion became the driving force that allowed her to display abilities beyond her raw skill. In this way Gwon-sun seized command as an A-class hunter and even came within sight of the S-class rank.
Meanwhile, based on her patriotism and skill, having reached near the pinnacle as a hunter, people similar to her naturally gathered at her side.
Choi Sonbin.
Lee Simyeong.
Ro Dae-seung.
Comrades who, like her, possessed strong patriotism and a clear goal of remaining loyal for the sake of the country. By chance belonging to the same 13th Guild and all being A-class hunters, they naturally grew close, and with similar hobbies as well they were able to share an even deeper friendship.
Choi Sonbin, who played the violin well. Lee Simyeong, who had originally majored in clarinet. Ro Dae-seung, who had learned the cello since childhood. And... Yu Gwon-sun, who was skilled at the piano.
On days without combat the four of them would often gather to perform together. Enjoying the hobby of music side by side, their bonds grew ever closer. Thus bound by a friendship far sturdier than most, the four A-class hunters relied on one another as they continued their difficult yet rewarding—and happy—lives as hunters.
However...
Their happiness did not last long.
One day a large-scale operation order came down from above. From the very beginning it carried a grand objective meant to boost the soldiers' morale.
The hunters currently locked in fierce battles of attrition against the Abysses along the borders of the old Pyongyang area. To end this stalemate and reverse the tide of war, the military high command formulated a single operation.
Mission Difficulty: S
Operation Name: D-66
The plan was to infiltrate specially selected hunter guilds into Pyongyang to sow chaos among the Abysses, then seize that opening for the remaining allied forces to advance and completely recapture Pyongyang. Given the Abysses' nature of reacting sensitively even to minor disturbances, the operation's chances of success were said to be very high, and if they could hold out for just about ten minutes, all the Abysses could be eliminated.
Furthermore, although the units deployed in this process would be in quite a dangerous position, the high command boldly declared that no matter what, the situation could be resolved if they held for just ten minutes, and even if it failed they promised to definitely send a rescue team.
Dangerous though it was, it was a plan to decisively end the current stalemate and further expand the territory of the fatherland. In the process, Gwon-sun and the members of the 13th Guild to which she belonged were assigned the most dangerous infiltration-team mission. Though it was a hazardous task, they undertook the operation based on their characteristic patriotism and the trust that they could surely endure it together with these comrades.
And so began the high-altitude infiltration.
Landing at the ruined Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, they fought a desperate struggle against the countless Abysses swarming in like a cloud of bees. Abysses that kept pouring in no matter how many they killed.
In the end, just eight minutes after the operation began, the S-class hunters defending the front lines fell in battle, and the balance of power began to collapse rapidly. The battle that had been fought in formation started to devolve into a chaotic melee.
One by one...
Watching their comrades fall right beside them, Gwon-sun and her companions poured every ounce of strength into firing their guns and swinging their weapons, filled with hostility toward the enemies and desperately waiting for allied forces to return even a moment sooner.
And so, in that hellish situation where every second felt like a year, they finally succeeded in holding out for the full ten minutes.
The moment the promised time arrived, a massive aircraft appeared above their heads.
However...
What awaited them at the end of the mission they had completed at the risk of their lives was neither allied support... nor a rescue team.
It was a bomber.
An offensive to wipe out in one stroke the Abysses that had gathered thickly around the Ryugyong Hotel thanks to the infiltration team's efforts. The bombs that began to fall from it started annihilating the Abysses in and around the Ryugyong Hotel.
And at the same time...
The hunters of the 13th Guild, who had held out to the end believing that salvation would come, began to die one by one amid despair and screams as they were struck by the allied bombardment.
"Stop! Please stop… Please… Please stooop!!!!"
She screamed toward the sky as tears poured down, but the bombardment aimed at them did not cease.
The sight of comrades who had been laughing and chatting together just hours earlier dying before her eyes... it began to inflict upon Gwon-sun a despair as if she were trapped in a nightmare.
She was someone who had devoted her entire life to the nation and had always been prepared to die for it. But... not like this.
A final end where she, her comrades, and her friends all died without even knowing why, feeling only betrayal... this kind of end, being betrayed and abandoned by the nation she had trusted so strongly because of the loyalty she had offered... from Gwon-sun's perspective, it was something that could never be dressed up with the word "patriotism."
Seized by that profound despair, Gwon-sun lost consciousness after seeing Choi Sonbin push her aside and take the explosion in her place.
When Gwon-sun opened her eyes again, without any sense of how much time had passed, what met her gaze was the completely ruined appearance of the Ryugyong Hotel from the bombardment. And... her comrades reduced to blackened corpses before her eyes... and at the center of it all, Ro weeping alone.
Whether it was good luck or bad... only two of them had survived the bombardment that had wiped out the Abysses, and they attempted to contact high command while harboring deep feelings of betrayal and questions about the situation.
But... what came flying back to those two was neither an apology from high command nor words of comfort for the dead members of the 13th Guild.
A discharge notice.
Along with the threat that if they didn't want to go to prison for violating military orders, they should shut up and stay quiet.
Gwon-sun and Ro began to fall into confusion over this incomprehensible situation, but before long they were able to indirectly figure out what had happened.
Along with the news of Pyongyang's recapture, the official announcement from high command was as follows: that they had shot down the members of the 13th Guild, who had violated military discipline and recklessly attempted to desert, over the skies of Pyongyang, and that as a result they had successfully wiped out the Abysses gathered near the Ryugyong Hotel in one fell swoop and recaptured Pyongyang.
Slapping the label of deserters on every single member of the 13th Guild who had properly undertaken the mission, using it to push their own achievements to the forefront while simultaneously covering up the shame of friendly fire. That was the ending that awaited Gwon-sun, Ro, and the hunters of the 13th Guild, who had willingly accepted this operation in the name of patriotism.
As criminals who had failed in their attempt to desert, the hunters of the 13th Guild could not even have their bodies recovered... and the two survivors were branded as traitors to the nation who had luckily survived after attempting to desert.
The wretched ending that awaited those who had spent their entire lives fighting for the country and had not even flinched from death...
In the end, unable to endure it any longer, Ro returned to France, her original homeland. With not even a speck remaining of her initial resolve to devote herself to her parents' country, carrying only deep feelings of betrayal and hatred toward the world that had made her this way...
And so, after even Ro—who had been her sole remaining emotional support—disappeared...
From that point on, Gwon-sun began to harbor a deep loathing for her own name, which had been given to her with the meaning of patriotism.
For the country she had been prepared to give everything, and she had indeed staked everything and leaped into death. But... what she received in return was the wretched deaths of friends and comrades who were like family. The scorn and persecution of society for a crime she had never committed. And... only the final sight of a friend wounded and broken as a result of the betrayal.
From that incident onward, Gwon-sun—having come to harbor disappointment and hatred toward the country—introduced herself this way whenever she met other people.
"My name is... Jogus."