The Price of Altering History (3)
"Even if you succeed, you could face disciplinary action for conducting an unauthorized experiment."
"However, we will be credited with an achievement far greater than any disciplinary action we might face. Think about it. Our names will be etched into the history of the Union forever. Furthermore, the treatment we receive will improve significantly."
"Hmm..."
One of the advantages of communism is that polarization is relatively low. Of course, this isn't referring to modern China or North Korea. The Soviet Union, which was closer to true communism, had a fairly low wealth gap. The problem was that this caused talented individuals to crave even higher status. Just like Deputy Director Dyatlov.
"Director, you just need to turn a blind eye. I will handle all the commanding. Even if it fails, I will take full responsibility."
In the end, Director Bryukhanov was persuaded. He agreed partly because he didn't know what consequences the Chernobyl incident would bring, but this acquiescence would lead to truly catastrophic results.
In the original history, no one knew exactly why the Chernobyl incident happened. While the Soviet Union officially announced it was the deputy director's unilateral decision, there were hypotheses that he was merely following orders from above. However, in this world, it was clearly decided as the unilateral experiment of Deputy Director Anatoly Dyatlov. A Soviet nuclear engineer from a 'dirt spoon' background. If this experiment succeeded, he would surely become a great man whose name would be remembered in history, just as he believed. But because the failure of the experiment was a result set by history, Anatoly Dyatlov was destined to become a sinner of history in one way or another.
Hajime Satoru—no, Won Gyun—the legendary commander who sank hundreds of Joseon warships during the Imjin War and fled. Choi Deok-bae returned to Yoon-gi, placing Won Gyun and Dyatlov on the same level.
"The Chernobyl incident happened because of the deputy director's unilateral decision?"
"If you consider the butterfly effect, it might have been different in the previous history. Of course, that's not what's important right now..."
Yoon-gi grasped the situation accurately. How things proceeded in the previous history was not important at all. What mattered now was how things were proceeding 'now.' Furthermore, it was about how to stop this experiment.
"It would be hard to change Johnson's mind, right?"
Choi Deok-bae nodded immediately.
"What if I artificially make his life a success?"
"Hmm..."
Yoon-gi fell into deep thought.
"What happens if I forcibly stop it?"
"Are you serious?"
"No, you say such serious things so casually that it doesn't feel serious at all..."
Yoon-gi was tense at Choi Deok-bae's behavior, which was a bit different from his usual playfulness, but he didn't change his mind.
"But the die has already been cast. My business in the Soviet Union is finally on track; if I withdraw from Chernobyl now, I will effectively lose Gorbachev's trust. Moreover, the moment the Chernobyl incident breaks out, my future child will be drinking radiation-soaked formula."
Yoon-gi's display of paternal love for a child not yet born clearly showed that he still had a deep longing for family, so Choi Deok-bae couldn't bring himself to stop him further and watched him quietly.
"What if I send 'Kkeobeongi' to the power plant to sabotage the experiment?"
Kkeobeongi's ability was gradually blossoming as it followed Choi Deok-bae. If it was limited to assisting with hacking at first, it had now reached the stage of entering machines to disrupt or assist their operation. However, because it was still in the blossoming stage, it was difficult to stably shut down a facility as massive as a power plant.
"In short, if I sabotage it wrongly, an even bigger incident might occur... is that it?"
"Hmm..."
Yoon-gi was lost in thought. 'If I report it to the General Secretary, I'll only be suspected. What should I do...'
Logically, matters inside a power plant were top secret. That was why Deputy Director Dyatlov could plan a secret experiment. In this situation, Yoon-gi reporting internal affairs? It would be the same as confessing that he was a spy, so Yoon-gi couldn't even dare to do it.
'Wait...!'
Suddenly, Yoon-gi thought of a workaround.
'If I can't report it, I can just make someone else report it, right?'
Even if the Chernobyl incident was an experiment conducted by the deputy director's unilateral decision, there must be personnel who assisted in that experiment. What if those supporting personnel reported it to the Party? Dyatlov's experiment would likely be stopped by the Soviet Communist Party. Furthermore, what if the reporting personnel preached the dangers of the experiment and this content spread to the public?
'After it spreads to the public, if Secretary Kang makes a careful inquiry, the Party is highly likely to stop the experiment. In that situation, if I push Johnson to act?'
In this matter, he had to use Johnson twice. Once to push the supporting personnel, and once to push the person who would stop the experiment.
"How is this plan?"
Yoon-gi shared his plan with Choi Deok-bae. Furthermore, Choi Deok-bae's assistance was also needed for this experiment. He had to identify the supporting personnel who didn't have a good relationship with Dyatlov. However, this time, Choi Deok-bae decided to help Yoon-gi without complaining.
47 days until the Chernobyl incident.
Even though there were differences from the original history, the schedule was surprisingly the same. Furthermore, someone might think, 'Do we have to go this far to stop it?', but for Yoon-gi, there was a reason he had to stop it. Because if he couldn't stop the Chernobyl incident, the advantage of entering the Soviet Union one year earlier than others would easily vanish. Furthermore, the Soviet Union would effectively see its influence on the world shrink due to the follow-up measures for the Chernobyl incident. Since he had American blood, confrontation with China was inevitable for Yoon-gi, so he needed to grow the Soviet Union—no, Russia—to a certain extent, and that was why he absolutely had to stop the Chernobyl incident. Whether he could stop it or not would determine whether he could save decades of time in the future. It was truly a desperate stand. If he succeeded in stopping it, he would gain immense benefits, but if he failed, it was a huge gamble where a few pillars of his empire would disappear.
"Please."
The Joseon scholar and his descendant began to run around busily to stop this incident.
The long-awaited April 26th.
In the meantime, Yoon-gi had been terribly busy. He had to attend school to some extent to avoid being held back a year. Korea, Chernobyl, Korea, Chernobyl, Korea, Chernobyl, Korea, Vladivostok, Chernobyl, Korea, Chernobyl, Korea. He had flown so many times he couldn't count, and in the midst of that, he had to take his midterms. However, there were results. Through Choi Deok-bae, he was able to find supporting personnel who were dissatisfied with Deputy Director Dyatlov, and Kkeobeongi, while not perfect, had come to understand Chernobyl's facilities to some extent. Furthermore, because he could grasp the exact experiment date while monitoring Dyatlov, Yoon-gi was prepared for Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. And he sent Korean employees, including Kang Seok-ho, back to Korea temporarily under the pretext of a 'holiday.'
He wanted to evacuate everyone if he could, but that was impossible. That was why he at least sent those he cherished to safety. If he failed to stop this incident, it was enough for him alone to suffer the damage.
'I feel a little sorry for the bodyguards.'
He could send everyone else, but the bodyguards were a different matter. That was why Yoon-gi sat alone in the office—no, with Choi Deok-bae—and watched the situation inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Research Institute.
"Shut down the reactor."
At Deputy Director Dyatlov's command, one of the operating staff pressed the button to shut down the reactor. The core of this experiment. It was to see how much power could be generated with the residual energy remaining after shutting down the reactor. It was an experiment that should have been conducted before operating the power plant, according to the original plan. However, Dyatlov operated the power plant early without conducting the experiment, and he gained honor by being recognized for the early operation as an achievement.
Surely there would be people who couldn't understand. Because it was an incomprehensible act. But in the Soviet Union of this era, there was a special order that 'one must be faster than others,' which was why such madness occurred. They had operated it early, but this experiment was one that absolutely had to be done. It was like how you can draw the arms later when drawing a person, but you can't just not think about drawing them at all.
"Huh?"
The staff member who pressed the button had a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong?"
At Deputy Director Dyatlov's words, the staff member turned his head.
"The button isn't working."
"Press it again!"
At Dyatlov's words, his face contorted, and the staff member started pressing the button again in a panic.
"Ugh! Ughhh!"
Only after pressing the button several times did it finally work. The problem was...
Beeeep-! Beeep-! Beeeep-!
Suddenly, along with a tremendous warning sound, the lights inside the facility began to blink on and off repeatedly.
"W-what! What's happening!"
At Dyatlov's panicked words, the operating staff looked at Dyatlov with a face drained of all color.
"The balance inside the reactor is broken! If it goes on like this..., it will explode!"
"W-what?"
The control room began to descend into chaos. The situation didn't match any of the scenarios they had assumed. However, this was a kind of fraud. Because the figures currently seen on the dashboard and the blinking of the facility's lights were all Kkeobeongi creating a smokescreen. But it was enough to panic the people in the control room, and Johnson took this opportunity to stimulate the psychology of the person he had marked in advance.
'I, I have to tell the higher-ups!'
The person whose psychology was stimulated slipped out of the control room without Dyatlov knowing and immediately reported to the Party that the power plant was in great danger.
When Choi Deok-bae, who was watching the whole situation, informed him, Yoon-gi let out a sigh of relief.
"Now, nuclear engineers from all over the Soviet Union will come to Chernobyl, and they will find out about this unilateral experiment. And the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant will be closed or operated under even stricter control."
"Then, what kind of impact will there be now?"
Dyatlov was taken to the 'Gulag,' the Soviet Union's Aoji coal mine, after being investigated by the Soviet authorities on May 1st. And, on May 4th. A top-secret document was delivered to the Chernobyl research institute from the Soviet authorities.
[A super-massive meteorite is currently approaching Earth. Current calculations estimate the impact point to be our Soviet Union. Each nuclear power plant must be fully prepared to shut down operations at any time.]
Because Kkeobeongi was still exploring the nuclear power plant, this fact was delivered to Yoon-gi through Choi Deok-bae.
"This is driving me crazy..."