“Yi Sun-sin? Oh, you mean the guy who placed twelfth in the military examination?”

“...He's a good general, though.”

A modern Korean who knows Won Gyun as one of the worst admirals in Joseon history wakes up in his body in 1588, just four years before the Imjin War.

With no particular talent for administration and a reputation to live down, he does what any sensible man would do: he delegates.

Mun Sundeuk gets the paperwork. Yi Sun-sin gets the army. And a group of merchants gets to run a state-backed trading enterprise with the rather ambitious name of U.S.A.

It sounds like a recipe for disaster. Somehow, it works.

Trade profits rebuild fortifications and granaries, new military drills improve Joseon's defenses, and its troops begin to resemble a more professional fighting force. Unfortunately, the court isn't entirely convinced that Won Gyun's sudden competence is a good thing.

Meanwhile, across the sea, Hideyoshi is preparing for war, and the Japanese are beginning to notice that Joseon is no longer quite as unprepared as they expected.

Won Gyun has a few years to get things ready. For once, perhaps history won't remember him the same way.