The Immortal Sage Hero (4): Twelve Ships Remain
After capturing Bae Seol and returning to the General Store, we sat down to a late lunch of Shin Ramyun. Yi Sun-sin and An Wi showed an absolutely monstrous appetite, the two of them polishing off eight packs and still not being satisfied. They even poured rice into the leftover broth and ate that too.
“Krr, this rice is incredible. What kind of grain is it?”
“It’s called Haetban.”
“Haetban?”
“It’s rice cooked by blending several different varieties of grain.”
“Hoo. How surprising to mix rice from different regions.”
In truth, I had no idea what kind of rice went into Haetban either. I only knew it was domestically grown.
“By the way, what is that tool you used to cook the rice?”
An Wi seemed endlessly fascinated that two minutes in the microwave produced perfectly cooked rice, and he peppered me with questions. I answered every one kindly and without holding anything back.
“It’s called a microwave. It heats food using electromagnetic waves known as microwaves.”
“Mi… microwave? Difficult indeed. As expected, the arts of the immortals are profound.”
There was no point in hiding anything; he wouldn’t have understood a proper explanation anyway.
“So this thing called ramen… today really is the last time.”
Yi Sun-sin gazed at the empty ramen bowl with regretful eyes. Instead of the white “white-clad” uniform, he now wore the red military uniform of the Joseon court. Even while enlisting in white, he had kept himself armed at all times so he could return to duty whenever needed. Dressed like that, he looked exactly like the historic general I had seen in textbooks, the very image of a commander—if you ignored the can of Coca-Cola in his hand.
“Everything else is going to taste bland from now on.”
“You can say that again. To think we won’t be able to eat these delicious things anymore… I almost want to just settle down here. Haha.”
An Wi didn’t bother hiding his deep reluctance at having to leave the General Store either. Having tasted modern food loaded with MSG, neither man could easily tear themselves away. But they had received the king’s edict, so they had no choice but to head for Jangheung. They rose from their seats with heavy hearts.
“Choi Seonin, I am deeply indebted to you.”
“Please wait a moment.”
I stopped Yi Sun-sin before he could finish his farewell, grabbed the gas burner, and went outside. I lit the flame, pulled a thousand-won bill from my wallet, and burned it over the fire.
“Hoo. So you are performing a ritual.”
“The shape of the talisman looks different from those used by shamans.”
Mistaking the banknote for a spirit talisman, Yi Sun-sin and An Wi watched me in silence. In the Joseon era, when shamanism and spirit possession were everyday occurrences, such sights were hardly rare.
Once the bill had burned halfway, I tossed it aside and stood up.
“He says we should go together.”
“Together?”
“Yes. Those were his words.”
It was a complete lie I’d made up on the spot. There was no actual reason for me to accompany them.
Help Yi Sun-sin win the Battle of Myeongnyang!
🎁 Reward: Legendary-grade Relic
If we part ways here, I’m screwed. I had to stay glued to Yi Sun-sin’s side at least until the Battle of Myeongnyang. That was the assignment the status window had given me. So I’d thrown on a crazy hermit act and pretended to read an oracle. Whether it would work or not, I honestly had no idea. In the real world, pulling a stunt like that would have gotten me labeled a complete lunatic.
While I waited in half-doubt…
“So you can read the will of Heaven as well.”
“Choi Seonin, let us go together.”
It worked far more easily than expected.
Good thing I leaned into the immortal hermit concept. No matter what I did, the two of them assigned their own meaning to it. That was exactly how cults got started.
*
The spot where the General Store had been summoned was deep in the mountains, far from any village. Our first night was spent camping in the wilderness. The evening in the mountains was bitterly cold. Crickets chirped endlessly and the distant cries of wild animals echoed through the darkness.
Crackle. Crackle.
We sat side by side around the campfire, warming our frozen bodies.
“If we want dinner, we’ll need to hunt before the sun sets.”
“I’ll go.”
“There’s no need.”
I stopped An Wi as he rose with his bow. Both men looked at me in confusion. All I carried was a small backpack I had brought from the store.
“You say there’s no need… does that mean you have food?”
“Yes. I brought some.”
I pulled a mat from the backpack, spread it out, and set the gas burner and griddle on top.
“……The arts of immortals truly look convenient.”
“The bag is small, yet it seems to hold a great deal.”
The pair watched with wide eyes as I kept producing item after item from the small pack. Of course they were amazed. The bag wasn’t ordinary. It was a spatial backpack—an enchanted tool whose interior was far larger than its exterior. Hunters called them “inventories” because you could carry an entire arsenal inside. Its capacity was roughly five hundred liters, about the same as five military rucksacks.
I took out five-layer pork belly, lettuce, water parsley, pine mushrooms, and more.
“Choi Seonin, what kind of meat is that?”
“It’s from a pig’s belly.”
“Hoo. The cuts are remarkably even.”
An Wi marveled at the machine-sliced, perfectly uniform pieces.
“Then I’ll start cooking.”
Once the griddle was hot, I laid the pork on it. The moment the meat touched the iron, a mouthwatering sizzle and aroma filled the air.
“Gulp.”
“Mm.”
Both men swallowed hard. I waited until the meat was properly seared, then flipped it. A beautiful golden-brown crust appeared.
“Krr.”
That was it. The color was perfect. After searing the other side, I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces with scissors, placed pine mushrooms and water parsley on a lettuce leaf, and offered the wrap to Yi Sun-sin.
“General, please try it.”
“Thank you.”
Though he kept a dignified expression, Yi Sun-sin could not hide his appetite. He immediately picked up the ssam and took a big bite.
“Mmm…?!”
His eyes flew wide open.
“Heh, the flavor is incredible!”
“Give me one too. Is this how you eat it?”
Unable to hold back after Yi Sun-sin’s praise, An Wi made his own wrap, took a bite, and burst into admiration.
Who was that scholar who supposedly hated pork during the Joseon era? They were devouring it like it was nothing.
After watching them eat for a while, I finally made my own wrap and took a bite.
“Mm.”
A hum of satisfaction rose from my throat. The perfectly fatty meat danced with the fragrant water parsley inside my mouth. A cool breeze, a bright full moon, the wide-open mountain view, and a delicious meal. Our first night of camping in Joseon was a complete success.
*
One worry I had about heading to Jangheung was that I wouldn’t be able to use the General Store. As long as I traveled with Yi Sun-sin, I wouldn’t be able to return to the mountain where it was located.
Not having a place to rest is going to be rough. It was an inconvenience I hadn’t noticed during the Napoleon arc because we had stayed in one spot. But that worry was erased the very next day after our first night of camping.
“Tonight we’ll stay in that abandoned house.”
Once again unable to find a village, we discovered an old deserted house and decided to spend the night there. I went ahead and opened the door. The sight that greeted me was strangely familiar.
Huh? Why is the General Store…?
Beyond the door of the ruined house lay my shop in perfect condition.
“Choi Seonin, you can even use such arts.”
“Truly impressive!”
“…….”
At their admiration, I could only scratch my cheek awkwardly.
Dimensional Connector
— Can install a door leading to the General Store.
— Mana Cost: 1000
— Uses Remaining: 3/3
— Caution: Once uses are depleted, a 3-day cooldown will occur.
So it had a function like this too. It was surprising, but also perfectly understandable. After all, the locations where the General Store appeared had never made sense in the first place. During the Napoleon arc, the entrance had been a random alleyway house; this time it had manifested inside an abandoned mountain shack. There was no reason to find the changing entrances strange.
Convenient is convenient.
Meanwhile, from that day on, General Yi Sun-sin recruited soldiers as we marched toward Jangheung. And I came to truly understand just how immense his popularity was, and how many ordinary people loved their country.
“If I can fight alongside the general, I will gladly give my one life!”
“General! Though I am old and have never held a sword, if it means fighting the Japanese, I will follow you anywhere!”
The people we met along the road held overwhelmingly favorable feelings toward Yi Sun-sin. Volunteers eagerly joined his ranks.
“I, Jo Bang-jang Bae Heung-rip, will share the general’s purpose!”
“Song Yeo-jeong has arrived!”
The force that had been sixty men when we left Jinju grew to one hundred twenty by the time we reached Gurye, two hundred in Suncheon, three hundred the next day, five hundred the day after that, seven hundred the day after that… The number of soldiers marching with Yi Sun-sin increased with every passing day.
By the time we finally reached Jangheung, more than two thousand men stood behind him.
Having accompanied him the entire way, I felt nothing but awe and admiration. The lone admiral who had been tossed aside by the king with zero troops under his command had, in no time at all, become a general leading thousands of sailors. It was the result of the “undefeated myth” Yi Sun-sin had built throughout the Imjin War. In six long years of countless battles, he had never once been defeated.
Yeah, if a general like this existed, even someone with no patriotism would find some.
Watching the volunteers willingly follow him, I once again realized how much power a true hero possessed. If someone like Yi Sun-sin had existed in 21st-century Korea, we would never have surrendered Seoul to the monsters so easily.
Yet even that great general fell silent when he inspected the forces given to him.
“General! We only have twelve panokseon warships!”
“General! There are only twenty-one reconnaissance vessels!”
Twelve panokseon and twenty-one scout ships. That was the entire fleet granted to Yi Sun-sin. It was also the last remaining naval power of Joseon.
“……”
Of the roughly three hundred warships and four turtle ships Yi Sun-sin had gathered during the Imjin War, every last one had sunk while he was away serving in the white-clad enlistment.
“General, at this rate……”
“Repair the panokseon and move to Ijinpo!”
An Wi tried to voice his concerns carefully, but Yi Sun-sin silently organized the ships and moved to a larger port. He additionally pressed one more panokseon and twelve scout ships into service.
But all his efforts seemed in vain. Ominous rumors began spreading among the sailors who had returned from reconnaissance.
“The Japanese ships have blackened the sea!”
“They say the enemy has already reached Haenam!”
The Japanese grand fleet was approaching. The terror that hundreds of enemy vessels could arrive at any moment crushed the soldiers’ morale.
Late that evening, when I went to see Yi Sun-sin, he was reading the edict sent by the king.
“His Majesty orders us to disband the navy, return to Hanyang, and plan for the future.”
Yi Sun-sin, who had been gazing at his own reflection in the transparent blade of the Twin Dragon Sword, asked me,
“Choi Seonin, what do you think?”
“Do as the general wishes.”
“Do you even know what my wish is?”
“No matter what I say, you will still choose to fight, won’t you?”
“……”
“Then fight.”
Instead of answering me, Yi Sun-sin ground ink on an inkstone. He dipped his brush and began writing on hanji paper. I read the words as he wrote them.
Your Majesty,
This humble subject still has twelve ships remaining. As long as I do not die, the enemy will not dare…
— Yi Sun-sin
I watched Yi Sun-sin write his reply by candlelight, then quietly left the room.
Fifteen days later, a Japanese armada of several hundred ships appeared, covering the sea at Myeongnyang.
The 16th day of the 9th month, Jeongyu year.
The day of destiny had dawned.