Chapter 41: On the Eve of War
Chapter 41: On the Eve of War
At Seorin’s reply, given while chewing on an apple, Cheolmin-hyung seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
Weren’t the two of them acquainted?
Cheolmin-hyung withdrew his attention from the guest in Room 103, came out of the bathroom holding a towel, and wiped the bloodstained sword. Our cleaning team crowded around him, touching him here and there while asking if he was hurt anywhere. Watching that, I couldn’t help wondering if this counted as sexual harassment.
But seeing that Cheolmin-hyung didn’t seem to mind, I stopped paying attention as well.
Before long, the hospital corridor grew crowded with paramedics and police officers, who transported the dead and injured.
Fortunately, since this was a hospital, there was no need for outside transfer; they were moved directly to the treatment rooms.
Cheolmin-hyung watched the scene with a dark expression. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t look happy when he had won the fight.
The American suit soldiers tried to take the captured Chinese enhanced soldier with them, but briefly clashed with the police and Korean men in suits who looked like National Intelligence Service agents. However, faced with the sheer presence of the suit soldiers wearing exoskeletons that clearly weighed tons, the Korean agents in suits didn’t look like they had the strength to stop them.
“It’s on the news.”
Bella turned on the TV, and a breaking news broadcast was showing the惨状—the devastation—that had unfolded here, live. It reported that unidentified assailants had indiscriminately slaughtered civilians at a large hospital in Seoul.
Bella poked her head out into the corridor. There, reporters were filming the scene, and the camera even caught Bella sticking her head out from the hospital room.
“I’m on TV.”
Bella waved excitedly, and that sight was broadcast live.
Lauren shrieked and dragged Bella back inside.
Soon after, the screen changed, and an emergency press conference by the president began.
“The terrorist attack that occurred moments ago at a large hospital in Seoul has been confirmed as the work of Chinese soldiers. Amid rapidly shifting global circumstances, they carried out this act in an attempt to destabilize Korean society and expand China’s influence on the Korean Peninsula. The previous Gwanghwamun terror incident and the downtown shooting were likewise official Chinese operations carried out in the same context. As President of the Republic of Korea, I issue a stern warning: China, withdraw your hands from the Korean Peninsula and issue an official apology. Otherwise, the Republic of Korea will respond decisively to foreign provocation.”
I didn’t think much of it, but Cheolmin-hyung and Lauren, watching the news, were lost in deep thought. Bella, like me, seemed completely uninterested, while our cleaning team was busy sending messages somewhere nonstop.
We’d paid our hospital visit, so it was time to leave.
“Cheolmin-hyung. I’m heading out.”
I snatched the last remaining apple from Bella’s hand, stuffed it into my mouth, and stood up.
“Yes. Thank you for coming all this way. I’m planning to be discharged later today as well. I can’t just lie here like this forever. I’ll head to the motel before dinner, so let’s eat together.”
Cheolmin-hyung, who had looked so gloomy, said this with a warm smile.
“We’ll stay a bit longer, so you go on ahead.”
The cleaning team stuck close to Cheolmin-hyung, gesturing for me to hurry up and go.
Using one of only two golden days off in a month for something like this… I couldn’t understand these people at all.
I returned after having lunch with Bella and the guest from Room 103 at a Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurant in front of the hospital. During the meal, the guest from Room 103 told me her name was Chae Seorin and asked me to call her Seorin comfortably. She ate the apples with obvious enjoyment, but Pyongyang naengmyeon didn’t suit her taste at all—she only took a few bites before stopping.
Not knowing this addictive flavor…
I ended up eating even the noodles she left behind. I was about to take the subway, but Bella called a taxi, and we rode together.
Perhaps because of the aftermath of the incident that had just occurred, traffic throughout Seoul was severe.
What would have taken thirty minutes by subway took nearly an hour.
Inside the taxi, I opened the internet on my phone and saw another breaking news alert.
It was an official statement by the Chinese president responding to the Korean president’s emergency address.
“Korea is slandering China with lies. China is a peace-loving nation, but we cannot tolerate such baseless accusations and falsehoods. Within 24 hours, the Korean president must issue an official apology and release the Chinese nationals who have been illegally detained. Otherwise, this may escalate into a war between our two nations.”
The comment section was in chaos.
Most comments said that if Korea didn’t perform a grand kowtow within 24 hours, China was basically saying it would invade, and that people should evacuate. Others said that if China invaded, the Ministry of National Defense would be deployed.
War, huh…
Wait a second.
When it looked like a nuclear bomb was about to go off, motel prices jumped from 12 billion won to 20 billion won.
If the minimum was already 20 billion, the actual price could be even higher. If China really invaded and an actual war broke out, wouldn’t prices shoot up to 30 or 40 billion?
By my common sense, everyone should be fleeing, and real estate prices ought to be slashed in half—or worse. But reality moved in the opposite direction.
For real estate to truly crash, would Seoul have to be reduced to ashes?
No.
Then what would be the point of acquiring a motel?
Even if I could buy a motel cheaply in an ashen Seoul, that wasn’t the life I wanted.
A war really shouldn’t happen…
If it did, it would seriously disrupt the peaceful, ordinary life I dreamed of.
Somewhere in China.
Five masked men gathered once more.
All of them wore long robes emblazoned with a red dragon.
“We will restart the clock that was delayed by the failure of the North Korean nuclear strike. The time is set to 24 hours from now. If there is no official apology from Korea, we will declare full-scale war and begin the invasion.”
“What if Korea issues an official apology within 24 hours?”
“We’ve received word from the Messiah’s side that such a thing will not happen.”
“Good. Then restart the delayed clock.”
The White House, the president’s office.
“What the hell do those bastards want?”
The U.S. president could not understand China’s actions by any measure of common sense.
Madman tactics were his specialty, yet the other side seemed to be genuinely insane.
If things continued like this, it would be World War III.
When North Korea fired a nuclear weapon previously, World War III had almost broken out as well.
But now, they were again trying to start a war over an utterly absurd pretext.
“The Chinese president’s approval rating is nearly at rock bottom. The economy is unstable, and conflicts driven by wealth inequality have reached an extreme. On top of that, various ethnic minorities are exploiting the instability to show separatist movements. Most importantly, the Chinese government’s ability to control society is at its worst. At this rate, riots and ethnic independence movements are inevitable. We believe they’re trying to sacrifice Korea as a scapegoat to strengthen internal unity.”
“They’re trying to start World War III for reasons like that? Does that make any sense?”
“For dictators, their own power is more important than anything else. The devastation that would result from this is outside their concern.”
“Issue a stern warning. Tell them that if China takes military action against Korea, the United States will automatically enter the war. And deploy our fleet to the West Sea and the South Sea—”
“Wouldn’t it be better to pull back a bit? That phenomenon that occurred before will definitely happen again. This time, we’re closely monitoring Choi Cheolmin, so we’ll be able to uncover something for sure.”
“You’re saying we should pull back? After we pressured the Korean president into holding that press conference? If we back out now, they’ll definitely criticize us.”
“It’ll be enough to just tell them not to worry, that we’ll handle it. Someone—either Choi Cheolmin or someone behind him—will definitely take action, and if we package it as something we did, the impact will be enormous. And then we can take our time to recruit Choi Cheolmin and make him an American collaborator.”
At that suggestion, the U.S. president showed interest.
“If everything goes according to plan, we stand to lose nothing.”
“Even if Korea and China do go to full-scale war, we won’t lose anything. Korea’s military strength is no joke. Just as Russia underestimated Ukraine and suffered heavy losses, China would suffer even greater losses. When China’s damage is at its peak, we can seize the Chinese mainland. That way, we can dump all the economic problems the U.S. is currently facing onto China in one stroke.”
“Give China an appropriate warning and advance the Pacific Fleet toward the East Sea—”
The stern warning became an “appropriate” warning, and the Pacific Fleet moved toward the East Sea instead of the South Sea and West Sea.
“Are you sure?”
The president, clearly anxious, gnawed at his fingernails in front of dozens of cabinet members.
“Yes, we’re certain. We confirmed it through a direct line connected to the Chinese president’s side. China claims that they exaggerated this incident merely as a means to resolve domestic instability and have no intention of actual war. They only intend to put on a show of military might to boost national pride and suppress public dissatisfaction, then withdraw.”
Still, the president couldn’t relax.
When the hotline had informed him that China was behind the recent terror attacks, that they had captured key witnesses, and that the U.S. would announce it, the Korean president had thought this was his chance.
A perfect opportunity to project the image of a strong leader to the public. That was why he volunteered to issue the condemnation of China himself and held an emergency press conference. At the time, he had never imagined this would spiral into a war crisis.
Not only China, but public sentiment within Korea was also extremely unstable. With terror incidents happening daily and economic indicators plummeting, he feared he might be impeached like the previous president at any moment. That anxiety had driven him to overreach.
He should have continued with plausible deniability like before, but instead, he had stepped into a situation he shouldn’t have touched.
Now he was trapped in a dilemma: he couldn’t go to war, but he also couldn’t bow his head and apologize.
The only thing he could rely on now was the United States.
The U.S. was telling him that war wouldn’t happen, and even if it did, the U.S. would handle it—so he should stand firm and not back down.
But the president’s survival instincts, honed over many years in politics, were warning him of grave danger.
He couldn’t blindly trust either the United States or China.
Above all, the fact that he had no card to play if they broke their promises made him anxious.
“Show as much as possible that we’re not afraid of war, but absolutely prevent the outbreak of hostilities!”
At the president’s words, the cabinet members cursed inwardly.
Did he want them to fight, or not?
Still, no one gathered here truly imagined that a war with China would actually happen.
The international situation was rough, but they were all stakeholders bound together by global trade chains. If they committed the foolish act of war, the losses on both sides would be astronomical.
Cheolmin-hyung, who had said he’d be back before dinner, returned a little after five.
Lauren had gone out somewhere, and the cleaning team hadn’t returned either—perhaps they were handling personal matters.
Bella, Cheolmin-hyung, and I enjoyed a quiet dinner together for the first time in a while and came back.
Thanks to China’s declaration that it would go to war if Korea didn’t apologize within 24 hours, the streets were in chaos.
Most shops were closed, and the roads were jammed with cars—perhaps people evacuating—yet there were hardly any pedestrians on the sidewalks.
Fortunately, the barbecue restaurant we often went to was still open, so our meal wasn’t affected.
Bella looked completely unconcerned, and Cheolmin-hyung didn’t seem particularly worried either.
When we returned after dinner, the motel was completely deserted.
Cheolmin-hyung said he wanted to digest his food by swinging his sword on the rooftop, so I sat on the rooftop bench, reading a human anatomy textbook while watching him.
The sword he once swung wildly now seemed considerably sharper after going through several real battles.
Of course, I didn’t know much about martial arts either, but even to an ordinary eye, Cheolmin-hyung’s swordplay looked more refined and streamlined.
That was when Seorin from Room 103 came up.
She sat down beside me, watched Cheolmin-hyung swing his sword for a long while, then tilted her head and asked,
“Hasn’t Cheolmin ever formally learned swordsmanship? There’s a lot of energy in his sword, but his movements are completely wrong.”
Cheolmin-hyung stopped swinging and looked at Seorin.
“Why don’t you spar with me once?”
Seorin drew the sword she had swung at me in Room 103 the day before.
At a glance, it was an old sword that clearly didn’t look ordinary.
“Using a real blade would be dangerous. How about trying with wooden swords instead?”
A woman he’d only just met suddenly suggested a spar, yet Cheolmin-hyung said cheerfully,
“There’s nothing dangerous about it.”
Seorin brought her sword down as she spoke, and Cheolmin could do nothing but block.
Her blade came at him from high, middle, and low in alternation. Though her movements were simple, they were difficult to fend off. When her sword collided with Cheolmin’s, which was packed with powerful internal force, she should have been pushed back by sheer strength—but Seorin handled it easily with one hand.
Instead, it was Cheolmin’s hands, gripping the sword with both hands, that began to ache.
Cheolmin’s face hardened.
He had underestimated her as a frail woman, but after clashing blades a few times, he realized she was an extraordinary master.
His master had helped him form internal energy and taught him how to circulate it, but had said he knew nothing of swordsmanship or martial arts. Because of that, Cheolmin had tried kendo dojos and even schools like Haedong Gumdo, but they’d been useless. No ordinary person could withstand an attack infused with Cheolmin’s internal force.
Slash.
Seorin’s blade cut straight down the front of Cheolmin’s dress shirt. Buttons flew, exposing his chest and abdomen.
“If this were a real fight, you’d have died about seven times already. You don’t have any fundamentals at all. You need to start from the basics. Don’t strike with your arms—cut with your waist.”
At that, Cheolmin threw down his sword, prostrated himself in front of Seorin, and shouted,
“Master! Please grant me your teachings!”
He did this to me too—prostrating himself in front of just anyone and calling them master.
I didn’t like it at all.