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Wherever you go, there are always nosy people.

Mercenaries are no exception.

“You’ll see people committing crimes as if they’re out of control. Even if they seem free at first glance, you must never imitate them. They will die and face judgment before God, burning in the deepest depths of the earth until the Day of Judgment, and while alive, they will meet their deaths by the hands of those harboring grudges or their companions. Ah, I’m not saying this because I believe in any particular religion. However, I’ve noticed that they tend to hesitate just once before committing a crime when I say this.”

“This thing called a mercenary is a consumable item, a hunting dog, and a trash can. As a shaman, you might be a bit better off, but the fact remains that you’re still a worthless existence capable of being replaced at any moment. Everyone that ends up in such places has their own story, so be careful during conversations. Don’t touch the sore spots of those who chose this lowly profession.”

A figure from his memories.

Someone he met when he first started his mercenary life.

He was a former officer of the Indian Army. Using what he learned in the military as his stepping stone, he rose to the position of team leader, a veteran who led a team and maneuvered through dangerous places.

Unlike most veterans, he was warm-hearted and genuinely cared for new recruits.

By the world’s standards, he was a good person.

“You said you became a mercenary to collect magic? Not a bad choice. At least I’ve never seen anyone as sensitive to superstition as mercenaries. Whether I was in India or the USA, it’s the same.”

“I’d like to help if possible… But unfortunately, I’m not a fan of religion. I dislike Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism… I’m not fond of any of them. Although I came into contact with Christianity while living in the USA, it’s more about pretending to fit in with Americans than genuine belief. So, I won’t have anything to share regarding that.”

The team leader was a peculiar human.

Despite living in India and the USA, where religion is deeply intertwined with daily life, he was hardly influenced by it. He merely felt a slight aversion to religion, accepting it as just “religion.”

He was neither an atheist nor a theist.

He just regarded it as ‘religion.’

He wasn’t exclusive about religion or superstition.

Yet, he wasn’t infatuated with either.

Neutral.

He was a man very close to neutrality.

And this attitude developed into an openness that could embrace any perspective on religion, becoming a vital factor in his success as a team leader.

“The shaman I saw in my childhood did good deeds but also had a cold heart. Whenever he helped, he expected a price, and whenever someone asked a question, he charged money. But he never did anything to create grudges. He said it was his rule. Do you have your own rules?”

Moreover, he was overflowing with curiosity.

So much that one might think he was a scholar.

No, in reality, he was closer to a scholar.

He was better suited to explore knowledge and research intriguing subjects than to hold a gun and kill people.

That was his nature.

But he suppressed that nature and walked around with a gun, seeing blood.

The reason was… as he had once said, there were stories that brought him to such a place.

So, he suppressed his nature, maintained his sense of righteousness, continued to fight, and eventually died.

The cause of death was an explosive attack by a terrorist mixed in among civilians.

At that moment, Jinseong felt many things upon witnessing that death.

The many things he felt were… things that could not be expressed in words.

He simply knew that what the team leader often said wasn’t false and that the actions he took were not wrong.

Yet, why did the team leader die?

In that moment, Jinseong realized something about himself and others, coincidence and inevitability, the lines he had to uphold, and the karma related to them.

It was a very faint realization, one that could not be concretely articulated.

‘That person must still be alive.’

Jinseong returned to the past.

The death he saw in that twisted time had yet to come, and now it would remain only in his memories.

Furthermore, the relationship with that team leader was buried in time.

However, that memory still vividly existed in his mind, making it neither empty nor nonexistent.

Jinseong simply smiled at the thought of that team leader left only in his memories.

‘At least if I meet him again, I won’t get scolded.’

He surveyed the living and the dead.

The dead were warriors.

The living were civilians.

Well… it wasn’t an unpleasant sight.

* * *

The government of the Republic of Korea seemed to be losing its mind.

– JSDF destroyer sets sail.

– Grounds on Dokdo, attacking the Dokdo Guard.

– Casualties among the Dokdo Guards reported.

– Survivors seem to be in mental shock but have no severe injuries apart from minor bruises.

In the 21st century, in a tightly-knit modern world, something unimaginable was happening.

A destroyer sets sail and attacks Dokdo?

What kind of madness is this?

“What is this, huh? The imperialism era?!”

It’s crazy to just set sail and attack another’s territory out of the blue.

This is truly something unthinkable unless we’re talking about an imperialist mindset!

It’s something I can’t even imagine unless it’s regarding a primitive age that believes everything can be solved with violent force!

Yet, this unimaginable event was happening.

Right now!

By the hands of a neighboring country!

– Multiple evil spirits appear on Dokdo.

– Suspected to have been brought in with certain magical methods by Japan.

– Casualties among the Dokdo Guards are presumed to have been caused by these evil spirits.

“And these crazy bastards… are using ghosts…!”

Moreover, the method is nefariously clever.

Common sense dictates that if you brought a destroyer, you should attack with soldiers, yet they’ve unleashed ghosts to kill people instead.

The reason is clear as day.

They’ll claim it wasn’t their doing and that the spirits from the former North Korean area did the killing.

Thinking of Japan shamelessly making such claims sickens me.

‘Huh….’

There was, however, something to heal that twisted stomach.

– No life signs detected on the JSDF destroyer. Imaging shows no healthy corpses, suggesting they were presumably killed by evil spirits.

Whether there was a problem with the magic or they screwed it up and failed to manage the evil spirits, it’s clear that those Japanese soldiers were ripped apart by them.

But…. While it feels a bit relieving, this isn’t exactly good news either.

Those Japanese will undoubtedly use the deaths of their JSDF members to argue, “Look, if we had summoned evil spirits, our JSDF members wouldn’t be annihilated like this.”

No, it would be fortunate if that were the end of it.

What would come next….

『 Actually, this is Korea’s fault. Because they can’t properly manage North Korea, the spirits flowed into the Japan Sea, and our JSDF, who were guarding the Japanese waters, got slaughtered by these spirits. The grounding of our ship on Dokdo was also a calamity caused by the spirits, so this is all due to Korea’s negligence. Therefore, instead of us receiving blame, we rightfully deserve an apology and compensation from Korea! 』

If they argue like that, I swear anger will cloud my vision.

“These crazy bastards….”

The government was trying to unleash strong condemnation towards Japan in this dire situation and considered mobilizing soldiers to pressure Japan.

But there were those who obstructed the movements of the government.

『 The tragedy that occurred on Dokdo. Is it a ghost risk from the Northern provinces or a manmade disaster? 』

『 The truth about Dokdo. Is Korea’s government just passing the buck? 』

“Why is the government trying to disrupt the peace!”

“The tension with neighboring countries leads to economic recession!”

“War? NO! We want peace and are against war!”

It was the media and civic groups.

The media reported in detail about the happenings on Dokdo, and as soon as that report broke, civic groups, like they were waiting, rushed into Gwanghwamun, frothing at the mouth, armed with placards and banners that looked unbelievably well-prepared for such a short time.

“…these damned people…!”

Yet there was truly a surprising fact in all this.

The fact that what occurred on Dokdo was being thoroughly concealed by the government, and the military movements to show force against Japan were classified ‘extremely secret’ known only to high-ranking officials.

Yet somehow, the media and civic groups knew about this and immediately assembled in an orderly fashion, claiming that there should be no war with Japan.

Isn’t that incredible?

Where on earth did those media and civic groups get their information, and how did they prepare so thoroughly and gather?

Even obtaining incredibly clear data photographs seemingly taken from high-performance satellites!

“Those pro-Japanese bastards are everywhere, damn it….”

 

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