Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Revolution or Rebellion? (2)
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Seoul, Ammunition Group headquarters.
“Aigoo, I shouldn’t have stuck around here for nothing. I should’ve just left Yoo Se-na as my aide and tagged along to Thailand myself.”
Kim Won-cheol, Chief Secretary, poked his shiny bald head out from between piles of documents.
With a jaunty wrist snap—tatatata—he shook a single coffee mix stick before roughly taking a sip of cold water into his mouth. Then, reaching the pinnacle of eccentricity, he dumped the entire coffee mix packet straight in, like swallowing powdered medicine.
“Whew, that hits the spot now.”
“Huh…!”
Seong Won-sik, headquarters director, watched the performance art in stunned disbelief, mouth agape.
Unable to stand it any longer, he shook his head, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and approached Kim Won-cheol’s desk.
“You’ll ruin your stomach like that, Chief Secretary Kim. Who drinks coffee that way?”
“Oh, thanks.”
Looks like the thick coffee grounds had stuck in his mouth. Kim Won-cheol chugged down the 500ml bottle of water in one go.
Crushing the empty plastic bottle in one hand, he opened his mouth.
“Kha, you see, I don’t want to do this either, but our Chairman dumps all the work on us and doesn’t clean up after himself.”
“…I get it.”
Seong Won-sik let out a small sigh as he glanced at the documents piled on the desk.
He was in the exact same boat, so he could empathize to some extent. Though he’d never copy that coffee-drinking method, of course.
Rustle. Kim Won-cheol ran his finger along the edge of the document stack and replied.
“So what can I do? I have to handle all these little chores. Like this, pulling another all-nighter for two days straight.”
He leaned deeply back into his chair.
Creak—the metallic groan from the chair joints went ignored as he muttered to himself.
“I wonder if the Chairman’s doing alright. He was flooring it on Excel all by himself.”
“Come to think of it, the Chairman flew out to Thailand the day before yesterday. What’s it this time? I thought we’d wrapped up most of the on-site procedures.”
“Ah, that.”
Kim Won-cheol laced his fingers behind his neck, face bored.
Was some mischief sparking?
Flashing his trademark cackle, he replied to Seong Won-sik in a sly tone.
“Our Chairman… he may act like an old kid on the outside, but deep down, he’s a shonen manga protagonist who loves adventure and romance, you know.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Whenever some big deal’s about to pop off, he has to be there on-site for the thrill. Heh heh heh.”
Seong Won-sik stood with a massive question mark hovering over his head.
One second, two, three. His eyes widened to saucer size. A chill ran up his spine, and a sigh-tinged murmur escaped him.
“No way… he went to the coup site…?”
“Oh, sharp one. You nailed it right away.”
“Sharp or not, that’s not the point! The Chairman’s right there at the coup site!”
Fidgeting anxiously, Seong Won-sik calmed his quaking pupils and rushed somewhere.
He returned to his seat, flipped on the computer screen, and plugged in a nearby camcorder cable haphazardly tossed aside.
“What’re you doing?”
“Video call! I need to see it with my own eyes to relax.”
“Aigoo, it’ll be fine, but you worry too much.”
Kim Won-cheol stretched his arms skyward.
Just as his stomach clock grumbled, he glanced at the wall clock—already 6 p.m.
Shoving his wallet into his pants pocket, he sauntered over to Seong Won-sik’s desk.
“Well, it’s about time things wrap up anyway. He’ll probably pick up now. Heh heh heh. I’ll stand right here too.”
“What do you…!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Our Chairman… he’s surely wrapped it all up neatly. Wanna bet over dinner?”
Seong Won-sik trembled with anxiety. In contrast, Kim Won-cheol stood casually with legs crossed, utterly at ease.
Moments later, a black window lit up on the monitor. After a brief buffer, static crackled as the signal connected.
-Yes, Director Seong. Good timing on the call. As for the situation here…
At that instant, an explosive roar from inside the monitor.
Was it gunpowder?
Boom—a massive dust cloud billowed up with the sound.
Kim Won-cheol and Seong Won-sik. Their faces drained white as sheets.
Without missing a beat, the two men shouted in unison, voices hoarse with urgency.
“Cha… Chairman! Are you alright, Chairman!”
* * * *
“Disembark! Get off right now! Hurry up and unload!”
Near the Kra Canal groundbreaking ceremony site, a makeshift train station. Over a thousand uniformed men poured out in seconds from five freight trains.
“Move to the cargo cars and arm up immediately! Time’s tight—hurry!”
The hardliner leader bellowed, veins bulging at his temples.
Clank—padlocks on the cargo doors snapped off one by one. Watching, he spoke to his adjutant.
“Perfect timing. Overwhelmingly so.”
“The central forces? Their southern region training wrapped up yesterday.”
“Yeah. You know it well.”
The leader nodded.
Couldn’t contain his overflowing confidence?
Finger on the trigger, he spun his pistol and continued.
“With training over, their supplies and fuel are depleted, troops scattered.”
“And their gear… won’t be fully functional either. They won’t have eyes for what’s happening here.”
“Exactly. Everything’s falling into place. Like the heavens themselves are helping.”
Like gear teeth meshing perfectly despite a forced fit, the coup unfolded uncannily in their favor.
The hardliner leader’s gaze fixed on the distant road’s end.
Just one hill away lay the groundbreaking site. Soon, leading his armed troops in a charge, sweet power surely awaited at the finish line.
“That spineless Ing Tak doesn’t deserve the prime minister’s seat.”
His mood soared.
Habitually extending a hand to his adjutant. Soon, a long cigarette dangled from his lips.
“Hey, light it up too.”
“Ah, yes! One moment, General. Aigoo, I put my lighter in my pocket….”
The adjutant fumbled frantically through his uniform pockets.
Must’ve lost it earlier on the moving train. The hardliner leader clicked his tongue at the carelessness, chiding him.
“Expensive lighter like that, and you couldn’t handle it properly? You, leading a military revolution….”
Dry lips clamped on the white cigarette.
Amid the growing bustle of weapon distribution, lighting the tip seemed tricky.
-Bang!
And then, that moment.
A bullet grazed the hardliner leader’s cheek.
The fallen cigarette end smoldered with gray smoke, heated by the lead’s warmth—faint and feeble.
Just like the grim fate awaiting these rebels.
“Everyone freeze! Drop your weapons now!”
“Surrender! Surrender immediately! Soldiers who surrender won’t be punished! Surrender!”
Hundreds of central forces burst from nearby bushes like lightning.
Laser sights trained on rebels’ foreheads, they fired warning shots into the sky.
“Anyone who wants to live, hit the deck! Right now!”
“Aigoo, don’t shoot! We’ll do as you say!”
As muzzles flashed and powder burst, the soldiers grasped the situation instantly.
Weapons and ammo distribution incomplete—effectively unarmed—they raised hands high and slammed foreheads to the ground like ostriches.
“You filthy rats! We outnumber them four to one—what are you doing? Grab weapons and form up… Argh!”
The hardliner leader, drawing his pistol for a last stand.
But that final spasm crumpled under a bullet lodged in his left arm.
On the jungle’s red soil, blood pooled thickly. Bound with ropes and face-down, he gritted teeth against the searing pain, muttering bitterly.
“Why…? The plan was flawless! Execution without a single flaw…!”
“Would you believe we saw everything?”
The situation sorted in no time.
Prime Minister Ing Tak stood before the kneeling hardliner leader, who knew not when he’d arrived. He pulled a square tablet-like device from his pocket.
Showing the screen—labeled something—to the defeated rebel chief.
“Supplies, troops, and their routes. All of it. From before… you even started.”
* * * *
The coup suppression op wrapped up successfully.
On the tablet, a map glowed like wallhack—faint enemy traces versus all-knowing allies.
The info gap, vast as heaven and earth, let everything proceed as planned.
“Ah, Chairman Han Seo-jun.”
Prime Minister Ing Tak reached out for a handshake. Gripping his gratitude-filled hand, he suddenly pulled me into a tight hug.
“Prime Minister…?”
“Thank you. Truly… thank you. Without what Chairman Han told me, without that plan, I’d probably be a dead man by now.”
A small, wiry frame trembled with sobs.
The emotion hit different. His real fate around now was death in a Bangkok coup, after all.
“The central forces said it too. Without the Hawk Eye system, they’d have been overrun in a flash.”
“Glad it helped however it did. So… what about the rebels?”
“All rounded up. Central forces are running ID checks. Want to take a look?”
Truth be told, I didn’t need to be here.
But… a faint memory surfaced.
Before regression, in prison, Ong Bak telling me this Thai military coup story.
Suddenly, I wanted to see his face again. No guarantee he was here, but.
“Hmm….”
A slight chill crept up my spine. But turning back now wasn’t an option.
Patting the bulletproof vest under my shirt, I met Prime Minister Ing Tak’s eyes.
“Alright. Let’s go take a look.”
“Let’s start with the rebel leader’s face. That guy… lost it when he realized he got done in by the Hawk Eye system.”