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Once upon a time.

For Jinseong, it was the past, but in those ancient days, the world was chaotic during the Third World War.

Morality and ethics had fallen to the ground, leaving no trace, and people moved only for their own gain. Few hesitated to see blood, and those who feared it met their deaths. Thus, even good people could sharpen the blades of their hearts and take lives at any moment, making this world akin to hell.

People did not hesitate to see blood, and thus groups became even more savage, forming vast collectives that crossed the line of good into monstrosity. Nations that were made up of these large groups became enormous beasts, willing to do whatever it took to survive.

Monsters.

A gathering of those who were unhesitant in murder.

The nation itself was a colossal monster, a ferocious beast.

To survive, taboos were broken; actions taken without a second thought that had once been unthinkable before the war. Instead of developing their country and bringing happiness to their people, they were but a monster that acted solely for survival.

If there were a nation to gnaw at, they would do so to prolong their existence.

If there were an unmanageable entity, they would weaken it by any means necessary.

If they felt incapable of consuming it, they would launch attacks to eliminate threats.

The nations of the Third World War were destructive, violent, evil, and selfish.

In South America, countless human sacrifices were made merely to maintain the façade of nations.

Canada, with its selfish desire to avoid being dragged into the fallout of a divided America, planted mines along its borders and spread poison gas, turning its lands into uninhabitable death zones.

This death zone was dubbed the Death Belt, where any living being that took a breath would suffer blisters all over and collapse.

In Africa, amidst the chaos, dictators rose to provoke wars in pursuit of African unity, resulting in the collapse of nations as tribes and groups were all that remained.

In the Middle East, fanatics seized nations, engaging in deathmatches until only one faction remained. These wars were horrific and brutal, unfiltered in showcasing how cruel a person could truly be. Amidst this brutality, victims of these deathmatches were numerous, as zealots trampled over the blood and tears of the powerless swept away by the chaos, staining the entire desert red.

And this unending frenzy of one side annihilating the other eventually disrupted the sand shamans and plant shamans conducting their rituals in the desert, who, in anger, brought calamities all over the Middle East.

Madness.

Indeed.

The Third World War thrust the entire globe into madness.

It drove people insane and sent nations spiraling into insanity.

And if a nation could not adapt to this madness, it perished, and if a person got swept too deeply into the madness, they too would be obliterated along with it, vanishing like oil that spouted powerful flames before dissipating.

Thus, surviving the Third World War as a nation was an extremely difficult endeavor.

Even nations that were once renowned before the war could fall to ruin without luck, while unfamiliar nations that barely registered before the conflict could survive if fortune smiled upon them. If they adapted to the maddening world, they could still lead relatively peaceful lives amidst the chaos of the phone sweeps.

“Everything is the will of the heavens. If the roots do not die, they will survive and bear fruit, however insignificant they may be, and if they lack roots, even the mightiest ancient tree will rot and perish.”

In this sense, East Asia fared quite well.

Amazingly, China, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, and Japan all survived.

Although the shape of these countries had twisted or decayed significantly compared to before the war, these four nations succeeded in maintaining their forms.

It was truly remarkable.

China utilized advanced biotechnology, far ahead of its time, to expand its territory, exhibiting the cruelty and tyrannical aspects one would only expect from ancient times, while managing to maintain its structure through the chaos of the Third World War.

Japan, heralding the onset of the Third World War, engaged in war with the Republic of Korea, suffering significant losses due to the efforts of Korea’s capable individuals leveraging the Energy Dome. Nevertheless, the closed environment of the island nation, coupled with a polluted and danger-ridden sea now tainted by Korea, created a natural barrier that protected it from foreign incursions.

Mongolia became a gigantic beast that thrived on raiding and looting as its way of life. Nomads spread across the vast Mongolian territory trained and crossed into China, abducting all manner of goods and people, using their fortified strongholds based out of Ulaanbaatar as hubs for their economy through raiding and trade.

And the Republic of Korea… became a nation living alongside ghosts.

“In terms of animals, one could say it resembles a mountain lunatic, a terrifying poison brimming with venomous sting.”

The Republic of Korea had long employed a strategy of stingers.

If an invasion were to occur, they would proclaim that although they might not win, they could at least ensure they would take an arm or a leg with them, and when surrounding countries posed threats, they shouted defiantly that they would fight to the death with their venomous sting.

This strategy of stingers underwent drastic changes after the Third World War.

The America that had fortified Korea’s defenses had fallen into a mess, and the country that should have risen up together against China became a wreck thanks to Korea. Mongolia lacked sufficient military strength to provide any substantial aid, and even if seeking help from other countries, they too were descending into chaos.

Moreover, even if not in chaos, how many countries would be inclined to send forces to assist a nation at the far end of East Asia?

In such a scenario, China reached out.

Of course, they did not mobilize forces from the outset.

While subtly demonstrating their military might, they threatened, “Korea and China have historically been very close. As this world is in chaos, would it not be wise to take refuge under China’s shadow?”

Naturally, the Republic of Korea went into a frenzy.

They shouted that it absolutely could not be allowed, asserting they would resist by any means if an invasion was attempted.

But despite Korea’s firm stance, China would not retreat.

Believing that Korea had grown weak due to the war with Japan, they thought a “sting” would not hurt that much, and even if it did, they figured now was the time to easily take the Korean Peninsula.

The Republic of Korea wrestled with how to respond to China’s demeanor.

And at last, they crossed the line.

Necromancy.

They performed the Great Ritual of Magic obtained from the necromancer they had connected with.

Utilizing the know-how acquired from defending and purifying the North Korean region, Korea built an altar in North Korea, using the restless evil spirits and evil ghosts roaming and the corpses of soldiers from both Korea and Japan who had fallen in the recent war as materials to perform the Great Ritual of Magic.

The effect of this Great Ritual was to summon and amplify the number of ghosts.

In an ordinary circumstance, it would be an extremely perilous magic that could lead to the nation’s ruin.

Such a description of an “extreme remedy” would feel utterly lightweight in comparison to the danger posed by the Great Ritual of Magic.

Yet, the Republic of Korea willingly invoked this perilous sorcery.

They used the materials of soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for the nation, offered the remains of Japanese soldiers that should be appeased and sent back as sacrifices, and infused money and people into completing this risky magic.

Thus, what was created was the Land of Ghosts.

The northern region became a veritable paradise for ghosts.

Ghosts that were already numerous surged exponentially, infesting every corner with defilements and curses. Evil spirits and malevolent ghosts were frequently sighted, and even great evil spirits and great malevolent ghosts emerged. Moreover, due to the Great Ritual of Magic, the seas that encircled the Korean Peninsula became infested with ghosts, transforming it into a danger zone where no ships could safely sail.

Thus, the Republic of Korea was isolated.

Not because of geographical features, but by surrounding itself with hostile evil spirits and malevolent ghosts.

Transformed into an island encircled by a sea of ghosts, Korea gained safety instead of isolation, luring forth the overflowing ghosts and using them to unleash terror throughout. The Republic of Korea did not shy away from releasing the poison of ghosts to other countries and, at times, even sacrificed countless citizens to lead great evil spirits and great malevolent ghosts into the continent.

Using ghosts like stingers, like thorns, it became a monster.

That was the Unified Korea of the Third World War.

Thus, the Republic of Korea managed to maintain its nation during the Third World War.

“The ghosts floating in the sea were truly impressive.”

Of course, there’s no longer a Republic of Korea that resembled poison.

But there exists someone here who remembers that Korea.

And that person possessed the power to recreate the ghosts they had once seen.

The shaman, riding a ship formed from gathered ghosts, hid in the darkness and smiled.

Gazing at the enormous ship floating like a castle in the distant sea, they laughed, and observing the ghosts writhing like they had been stung, they chuckled.

Jinseong pointed to the ship with his finger and spoke.

“Now, my ghosts. There are some daring sailors who have emerged from the sea. Go, form ladders like barnacles and crawl up to the ship like snails to reap lives.”

 

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