Chapter 13. Korea Is Dangerous
Chapter 13. Korea Is Dangerous
After finishing the meal and basking in the warm sunlight, sleepiness started to hit me in waves.
Life in Korea was far more satisfying than I expected.
My back still hurt since the mattress and furniture I ordered hadn’t arrived yet, but those would come sometime today.
This pink tracksuit I bought yesterday was what I liked most.
With a life like this, it felt like I could live in Korea for the rest of my life.
Just then, a message notification sounded on my phone.
It was a message from Russia.
[South Korea. Nuclear war risk raised to maximum level. High likelihood the previous scenario will be realized. Target presumed to be Seoul. Evacuation is recommended.]
Bella let out a short laugh when she saw it.
What a joke.
Nuclear war?
No way.
When she returned to the office, one friendly motel employee was gripping a bag and smiling awkwardly. The man from Room 105 seemed to have gone back to his room.
Looking closer, the employee even seemed kind of cute.
Bella gave him a small smile and went into Room 102.
I should keep watching the Korean drama I was bingeing. Surprisingly, it was helping a lot with language acquisition.
When I accepted, Cheolmin was overjoyed and immediately brought a bag containing 1.5 billion won from Room 105.
He said he’d prepared it in advance because he had no doubt I would agree.
And when I opened the bag and stuck my hand in to count the money, he gave a warm smile and disappeared back into his room.
Using telekinesis, I counted it—exactly 1.5 billion won.
But then Bella, who had been dozing in the parking lot, suddenly came inside.
The timing was bad.
I hurriedly closed the bag and smiled like nothing was different.
But Bella gave me an unpleasant smile, like she knew something, and went back to her room.
Does that woman know something?
This isn’t the time.
First, I need to hide the bag before the manager and the owner get back.
I put the bag inside the wardrobe in my room on the fifth floor, then came back down.
With my telekinesis range expanded, no one could take it without being seen by me.
When I got to the counter, a large freight truck was pulling into the parking lot.
And three Isu faction thugs I’d seen enough times that their faces were familiar got out too.
Then Cheolmin hyung came out of Room 105 and knocked on Room 102’s door, saying the bed and sofa had arrived.
The thugs went into Room 102 first, hauled out the existing bed and furniture into the parking lot, and carried in the new items they’d brought.
Even at a glance, the bed and furniture were high-end.
But no matter how much bigger the special room was than a standard room, once those pieces came in, it felt cramped.
Then Bella knocked on the wall of Room 102 and said something.
According to Cheolmin’s interpretation, she wanted them to break through the wall between Rooms 101 and 102 and use both together.
Huh? Break through the wall?
I thought, that’s not okay—then I also thought, if she paid enough money, maybe it was possible.
I don’t know.
That’s the owner’s problem.
Cheolmin also thumped the wall between 102 and 101, tilting his head in confusion.
At that moment, the owner returned to the motel with the manager after lunch, saw the scene, and practically had a heart attack.
He mouthed words at me, silently asking why, but I just looked toward the manager and stayed quiet.
The manager started rambling an explanation—how the long-term guest wanted to use personal furniture during her stay, how the existing furniture could be moved up to the rooftop room, how it was profit for them, and so on.
But when Cheolmin approached and said he was going to do construction to connect Rooms 101 and 102, the owner grabbed the back of his neck.
I don’t know.
Not my problem.
Not today.
The Pentagon, where the U.S. Department of Defense was based.
Dozens of generals, government officials, and military personnel had gathered.
The highest-ranking among them was the President.
They stared grimly at the dozens of screens covering the front wall.
“Do you really think they’re going to fire?”
“Current analyst consensus puts launch probability at seventy-six percent.”
At that, the U.S. President swallowed a groan.
Most intelligence assets were currently focused on North Korea under close surveillance.
They were watching everything down to an ant’s movement, and North Korea was preparing to launch a nuclear weapon.
“They are not responding to any contact.”
In response to North Korea’s sudden abnormal behavior, the U.S. tried to communicate through multiple channels, but the other side was responding with total disregard.
This was basically suicide.
If North Korea fired a nuke, the entire country would be reduced to scorched earth the moment after.
“What the hell reason would they have to do this? Are they trying to commit mass suicide?”
“It’s almost certainly what was decided at the summit with China a few days ago. North Korea will provoke South Korea, and China will immediately invade Taiwan. We would have to focus on either Taiwan or South Korea, and they assume we’ll focus on South Korea, where the damage will be larger.”
The U.S. President, leader of the world’s strongest nation, felt rage boiling up.
Those insane murderous war maniacs…
So they really meant to do this.
He had pressured China in multiple ways to drain their power, but he hadn’t imagined they’d respond with something this insane.
Of course, military experts had been throwing out scenarios like this constantly, but he’d believed a brute-force war like this was unlikely.
“What’s our strategy?”
“Until the launch, we hold. After Seoul is struck, we conduct precision strikes on North Korea. Then we warn China’s fleet not to move toward Taiwan, and if hostilities begin, we bomb key targets across China.”
Just hearing it made him dizzy.
This was World War Three.
“A full-scale war with China… is there no other way?”
“According to military expert scenarios, this is the only option that minimizes damage. If the war drags on, there’s no telling how it will unfold. Look at Russia and Ukraine.”
“What’s South Korea doing right now? Any signs of a preemptive strike?”
“South Korean politicians are currently ignoring the military’s warnings. They’re trying to raise approval ratings with a peace mood toward North Korea, so they won’t respond until after they’re hit. They aren’t even considering the possibility that North Korea actually fires a nuclear weapon.”
The U.S. President ordered a hotline connection to China.
If the U.S. and China went to full war, that was World War Three.
And if the first strike was nuclear, the second and third strikes could be nuclear as well.
Militarily inferior to the U.S., China was using North Korea firing a nuclear weapon as a warning to America.
If America interfered in South Korea or Taiwan, they were signaling they’d use nuclear weapons too.
“China’s hotline isn’t connecting either. They only say they’ll contact us soon.”
“All North Korean forces have completed wartime posture. Civilians are evacuating into air-raid shelters.”
“Nuclear launch threat has risen to eighty-nine percent.”
Urgent reports rang out from every side.
The U.S. President had to make a critical decision.
Stand and fight, or back down.
Every game theory model already had the answer.
In this case, responding immediately meant less damage. Backing down meant greater disaster later.
But war…
The U.S. President, often nicknamed a madman, thought those bastards were the truly insane ones.
No—maybe the South Korean politicians obsessing over approval ratings even while everyone was about to die were worse…
[All war deployments reported complete. The North only needs to press the button and a nuclear bomb will be dropped on Seoul. Evacuate immediately.]
Another urgent message flew in from Russia.
But Bella, having finished arranging her furniture, was simply satisfied as she drank warm cocoa. The wall construction was scheduled for tomorrow.
Cheolmin in Room 105 had negotiated cleanly with the motel side.
Removing the wall entirely wasn’t possible due to building codes and fire regulations, so they agreed to install a large door instead.
And when she checked out, they would restore everything to its original condition.
Cheolmin said he would handle hiring the construction workers too.
Cheolmin was kind and capable.
So this was why Korean men were popular?
Does he like me?
It was only natural that most men liked Bella, but Cheolmin wasn’t Bella’s type.
Then Bella’s vision blurred, and a scene flashed before her eyes.
She—wearing the pink tracksuit—walking to the counter and telling the employee that a nuclear weapon was incoming.
In the vision, she checked the time.
Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.
Okay… so they really are firing.
Unexpected.
I thought they wouldn’t, but a nuke really was coming.
But then how does everyone survive?
There was still plenty of time until tomorrow morning, so I should eat samgyetang, order dessert too, and wait while watching dramas.
In precognition, time was extremely important.
You had to do the exact action at the exact time, or the timeline would shift.
Bella typed what she needed to explain into a messaging app in Korean, and waited for the samgyetang.
Bella said she would use Room 101 starting today as well, and paid for one room’s price for sixty days.
She was a big spender.
Of course, I was also a rich man holding a pile of cash, but I didn’t think I could spend like that.
Installing the furniture in Room 102 finished smoothly.
The Isu faction guys sweated buckets while carrying things in.
They even tried to put the bedding sheets on, but that was hard for beginners, so I helped.
If no one was watching, it would’ve taken me only a few seconds, but doing it by actually moving my body took a bit longer.
Now Cheolmin’s guys were calling me hyungnim, hyungnim, and following me around.
It felt awkward to have middle-aged-looking guys—who seemed older than me—calling me hyungnim.
But it also felt like a way of showing they liked me, so I didn’t stop them.
They moved the old furniture from Rooms 101 and 102 into an empty room on the rooftop and stacked it neatly.
I handed chilled green maesil drink to the Isu faction guys for their hard work.
They didn’t pay any money, so they weren’t guests.
So “guys” was the right way to refer to them, not “customer.”
If they ever rented a room, they’d become customers, though.
They received the green maesil drink with both hands, honored, and downed it in one go.
Since it seemed like it wasn’t enough, I offered a few more.
They enjoyed the maesil drink, stopped by Cheolmin hyung in Room 105, then disappeared.
The owner and the manager must have taken a huge mental shock today, because they vanished early.
From the vibe, it seemed the two of them were holding an emergency meeting outside about what was happening.
Because of that, I couldn’t even use the staff meal option and had to buy dinner with my own money.
That didn’t feel right.
If I had to work like this, shouldn’t they cover meal costs?
I ordered two hamburgers and watched YouTube Shorts.
Then Bella trotted out and picked up one of my burgers and ate it.
Ah… that didn’t feel right either.
“Hamburger good. Good. Order more!”
Maybe she noticed my dissatisfaction—Bella handed me a 50,000 won bill.
Right. That’s how it should be.
I ordered three more burgers through the app.
Judging by her stomach, she’d need at least three burgers to feel full.
What a pig.
As the Shorts kept playing, videos about North Korea’s nukes kept popping up.
I wasn’t interested in politics, so I kept skipping, but then Bella started staring closely at my phone.
Since the guest seemed interested, I watched the North Korea nuke video with her.
The content said North Korea might launch a nuclear missile soon.
Ridiculous.
But Bella’s face turned serious and she replayed it several times.
It showed the projected damage Seoul would take if a nuke fell—horrifying content saying everyone in Seoul would be wiped out.
Content like that aimed at foreign tourists felt harmful. Shouldn’t it be regulated?
What if Bella got scared and checked out tomorrow?
Two special rooms—nearly twenty million won.
What if the owner tried to make me compensate for it?
At our motel, if a guest refunds, the on-duty worker who took the payment compensates for it…
That’s not acceptable.
Either way, Bella canceling and leaving must not happen.