Ch.113113. Cyber Joseon

In a far-off eastern land, Joseon.

This country, which boasts the world’s largest shipbuilding industry, has a rather unique history.

This peninsula once bore the name of the Korean Empire for about 40 years,

was once a Japanese colony,

and experienced a war between North and South over the ideologies of capitalism and communism.

However, the outcome of that war was somewhat different from what Amon knew.

‘The average conscience of this world is like that…’

The president of this world had no hesitation in pressing the red button.

As mushroom clouds rose over the northern part of the Korean Empire, the world should have trembled in fear of nuclear war.

Ironically, because the General Secretary and Chairman were more rational than the American President, the war ended with the South’s victory.

More precisely, they lacked the power to continue.

‘Who would have imagined that communist countries would be completely devoured by corporations?’

While the Chinese and Soviet governments were focused on the Korean War, a corporate alliance usurped power.

After seizing power, these corporations immediately abandoned the northern part of the Korean Empire.

Even state-owned enterprises are ultimately businesses.

They were entities that pursued profit with ruthless determination.

The corporations had no interest in the support and power generated by ideology, and thus cleanly negotiated with the United States over business rights in the North.

Until then, the United States had congratulated itself, claiming that the President’s madman strategy had worked perfectly.

But it took less than ten years to realize this was an illusion.

Ten years later, the world reversed its assessment, concluding that China and the Soviet Union had made the right choice.

A technological singularity occurred with cyber implantation, requiring numerous alloys and metals in the process.

The problem was that these rare metals were concentrated in the northern part of the Korean Empire.

Thus, the Soviet Union consumed all the aluminum, China devoured the rare earth elements,

and the United States was left with nothing but the burden of the Korean Empire, which sucked out all the benefits without providing profit.

The subsequent history is somewhat complicated.

China and the Soviet Union introduced the bizarre ideology of corporate communism and exploited the northern people,

the United States made desperate moves to extract profits from the Korean Empire,

and Japan gradually nibbled away at the Korean Empire to suck out its resources.

As these events compounded, the people became disillusioned with foreign powers.

At that time, the Lee dynasty, thought to have been extinct, appeared and advocated for a return to tradition.

– <Make Joseon Great Again!>

People supported the Lee dynasty, and somehow the Korean Empire drove out foreign powers and became Joseon.

Now, 100 years later, Joseon has changed significantly.

The isolationist barriers raised during the re-founding have crumbled,

monopolies leveraging royal authority have emerged,

abundant metal resources have been discovered,

and with a strangely high enthusiasm for education, the country has risen to become a leader in several industries.

Automobiles, ships, and education.

No, you didn’t mishear—they were actually selling educational systems.

Even Amon doubted his ears when he first heard it.

‘Crazy country.’

Joseon was a country that exported education.

In this world, there exists technology to instantly acquire information and knowledge by plugging a USB into one’s head.

A Joseon citizen who took interest in this technology began exporting educational USBs covering various fields worldwide.

From elementary school multiplication tables to MIT entrance preparation.

Having started early and monopolized the market, education became one of Joseon’s main industries.

‘And what I’m seeing now is the process of making that.’

Recalling this history of Joseon, Amon observed the martial artists training before him.

Swoosh! Swish!

The martial artists, their training clothes soaked with sweat, swung their swords frantically.

They were all recording their movements in front of cameras.

These recorded videos would be saved with several variations, processed into data, and used to train mass-produced swordsmen.

As Amon silently absorbed their movements, a young man wrapped in black martial arts clothing approached.

“How is it, Mr. Amon? Have you thought about my proposal?”

Amon briefly glanced at the young man, then returned his gaze to the martial artists being recorded.

“Your proposal is certainly interesting, Mr. Gimin. I accept.”

“Then…!”

“However, I will only demonstrate throwing techniques.”

“Of course!”

The martial artist approached Amon with gleaming eyes.

Disgusted by Gimin’s uncomfortable approach, Amon stepped back.

‘Sigh… how did I get involved with someone like this…’

He lamented inwardly.

***

Let’s go back to when Amon arrived at Incheon Airport.

“Kathy. We’ve arrived.”

[How was the flight?]

“Good as always. And you?”

[I was fine too.]

Amon and Kathy were talking through a phone screen.

Originally, Kathy wanted to come to Joseon with the group, but her position made it impossible to come right away.

As a company director, she had been away from the office too long.

Therefore, she had to head to the United States to handle accumulated work.

[See you in four days.]

Bye-bye~

Waving affectionately to her lover, Kathy ended the call.

Amon also ended the call.

Immediately after, he felt a pleasant warmth on his arm.

“Hmph. Do you only care about Kathy?”

Faced with Sonia’s cute jealousy, Amon could only offer a bitter smile.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Amon quickly embraced Sonia.

Sonia’s cheeks turned red in Amon’s arms.

Seeing this, the Squinting Nun sighed deeply.

“Haah…”

The Squinting Nun knew the Simon sect well.

The Church of Goddess had different branches by region, and the Simon sect was popular in the Middle East.

With somewhat aggressive evangelism and permission for polygamy.

It was a sect that Europe was still getting used to but respected nonetheless.

However, when it involved her son-in-law, her feelings became complicated.

‘She says she’s happy with it…’

The Squinting Nun repeatedly tried to convince herself.

Afterward, Amon’s group left Incheon Airport and headed to Seoul.

On the way to Seoul, the Squinting Nun explained the significance of Joseon to the Church of Goddess.

“Generally, to spread the Church of Goddess, missionaries are often dispatched.”

This tradition, continuing for thousands of years, was how the Church of Goddess began in most countries.

Except Joseon.

“Joseon is a fascinating country. Even before missionaries were dispatched, they embraced the Church of Goddess on their own and requested missionaries from the Vatican.”

The Pope at the time was overjoyed, claiming this was evidence of a miracle.

Many events followed before the Church of Goddess became established in Joseon.

“There was a period of persecution, but that’s ancient history now.”

Currently, Joseon was the only East Asian country where the Church of Goddess was officially established.

China still rejected the Church of Goddess,

and in Japan, corporations were objects of worship, preventing the Church from taking root.

The Vatican had no choice but to favor Joseon.

“That’s why I emphasized it. We must stop this Hunt Legion.”

If by chance Joseon became a den of ghosts, many priests would be heartbroken, the nun emphasized.

However, her voice was closer to sarcasm and cynicism.

“Haha…”

Amon could understand why the nun was acting this way.

It seemed unlikely that priests would favor Joseon purely for religious reasons.

Most likely, there were impure intentions involving politics and money.

Unable to deny the corruption of priests, Amon let out a dry laugh and agreed with the nun.

While listening to these explanations, the group arrived in Seoul.

“Let’s take some exorcism requests before the Hunt Legion begins.”

When comparing the Hunt Legion to an army,

ghost possession cases increase dramatically a week before the Legion begins, like reconnaissance troops.

The Squinting Nun arrived early to exorcise these reconnaissance ghosts.

“When I complete the ritual…”

“I will purify them.”

Amon nodded familiarly.

The typical method was for a priest to seal a ghost somewhere, then a professional would permanently destroy the ghost with holy magic.

But since meeting Amon, the nun had been using his overwhelming divine power to incinerate ghosts.

Regarding this method, Sonia questioned whether it was correct, citing her seminary classes…

“Even humans die when water fills their heads, right? Divine power is like that. Ghosts and demons use it too, but in large quantities, it can kill them.”

“Mystic Power.”

“Yes. That’s what they’re using.”

Amon’s unnecessary correction was just a bonus.

The nun visited several homes to perform exorcisms.

“What is thy name?!”

The nun performed exorcisms in the orthodox manner seen in movies.

She tormented ghosts with all sorts of holy objects and Bible verses, learning their names to drive them out.

Amon and Sonia watched the nun’s ritual from behind a salt line.

When a ghost emerged and was sealed in an object, Amon would incinerate it with divine power outside the house.

“Phew. Thanks to Amon, this is much easier.”

Usually after sealing, they would have to carefully transport the object in the trunk.

But with Amon handling it on the spot, it couldn’t be more convenient.

“I’m glad I came with Amon.”

The nun smiled with satisfaction.

Amon demanded samgyeopsal as payment,

and the nun gladly accepted.

‘It’ll all be covered by Department 11’s activity budget anyway.’

It was a win for the nun too.

She could eat plenty of ‘real’ pork that she couldn’t even taste on a nun’s salary.

The father-in-law who had been cursing his son-in-law at the airport was now praising himself for having such a good son-in-law.

However, the nun’s happy dream didn’t last long.

While the nun was performing her 17th exorcism,

“The Holy Lady has already triumphed over you, why do you not submit?”

“We’re not refusing to submit! We’re just hiding!”

“Then in the name of the Holy Mother, Holy Lady, and Holy Son, I command you to speak your name!”

“Kack, ptui! I will not submit to the authority of a whore.”

The nun sensed that something was seriously wrong.

‘Oh, Lord…’

Typically, following this procedure would make a ghost reveal its name.

But rarely, a phenomenon occurred where brain AI infection was mistaken for ghost possession.

The symptoms were so similar that even priests, hackers, or doctors found it difficult to distinguish.

Even more rarely, ghosts would exploit this by pretending to be AI infections, making it impossible even for exorcists to tell the difference.

But this itself wasn’t the problem.

The Squinting Nun was a world-renowned exorcist and knew how to distinguish between them.

But now, a mere ‘ghost’ wasn’t the issue.

“Um… Amon?”

“Leave this to me, Sister.”

“Calm down!”

“Ah, this familiar sensation. It’s been 15 years.”

Amon recalled his past when he purified countless ghosts with scripture.

What a glorious moment that had been.

Unfortunately, there was no scripture with sufficient mass in this place.

The nun’s Bible was small enough to carry in her pocket, so it couldn’t generate enough ‘holiness.’

But Amon had a substitute.

“Light creates power…”

“Amon! Please calm down! Physical force is taboo in exorcism rituals!”

“I feel powerful…!”

Slowly wrapping a rosary around his hand, Amon approached the possessed person(?).

The nun tried hard to reason with Amon, but,

“Please. We haven’t even determined if it’s a ghost, AI infection, or mental illness!”

“Sister.”

“Has your reason returned?”

“Mother will make the judgment.”

Logic was for rational, civilized people.

Eventually, Amon crossed the barrier set by the Squinting Nun and approached the suspected possession case,

“Holy Mother”

SMACK!

“Holy Lady”

WHACK!

“In the name of the Holy Spirit!”

CRACK!

“Sob… p-please… spare me… I’m sorry… I won’t play such pranks again.”

The delinquent teenager who had tried to prank the exorcist begged for his life.

With cross marks on both cheekbones and forehead, the child pleaded.

Amon placed his hand on the child’s shoulder with a bright smile.

“See, Sister?”

Seeing this, the nun sighed deeply.

“Amon.”

“Yes?”

“Unlike America, in Joseon, the military police do their jobs well. Most cases are just excessive investigation.”

“Ah.”

Unfortunately, the invisible doesn’t count as evidence in law.

Therefore, whether possession was involved or not became irrelevant once violence was used.

Thus, Amon and the Squinting Nun were arrested by the military police.

“Tsk, damn military dictatorship.”

“Amon. Don’t talk like you’re some champion of democracy. We’re the ones who did wrong.”

Amon, accustomed to America.

Just one day after entering Joseon, he got to eat the prison food he had so longed for.