Ch.120Chapter 5. Battlefield of Proof, Ulleung (6)

“Want to go to Ulleungdo with me, oppa? Take it or leave it.”

Whatever Ymir and Baek Seol-hee might be thinking, I had cast my bait.

The rest was just waiting for them to bite.

I boarded the ferry to Ulleungdo as scheduled and arrived without any major issues.

“Welcome back, Manager Do. Let me escort you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Once again, the pension owner came to the harbor to greet me personally, and I sat in the back of his car, relaxing comfortably.

“Manager Do, how many patriotic boxes will you need?”

“I won’t need any.”

“As expected. You truly are a patriot.”

That’s just how things are in Ulleungdo.

“So, will you be meeting the same person you surprised with an invitation last time…?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Someone else might come, or I might just enjoy some quiet relaxation by myself.”

“I see. I’ll prepare for all possibilities. I’ll make sure the sound of your national anthem singing doesn’t leak outside.”

This is a place where talk of patriotism or pumpkin baby-making films happens quite openly.

“Sir, may I ask you something?”

“Ask anything. All I can offer is the experience of an old man’s life, but if that helps you, Manager Do, I’m happy to share.”

“Have you ever two-timed?”

“Well…”

The pension owner tilted his head and laughed helplessly.

“I’ve never two-timed.”

“Oh? I apologize.”

“I three-timed.”

“Wow.”

As expected.

“Could I ask for some advice?”

“Haha, advice? My era and yours are completely different times, so it might not be relevant.”

“Relationships between men and women are all pretty similar. Some things never change, no matter how much time passes.”

“Hmm… First, you should be prepared to get stabbed in the stomach.”

“I’m ready for that.”

“That’s enough then. Nothing more to say. If you prepare for the worst, even the second-worst outcome will seem manageable. Hehe.”

No matter how much ability users lead the world, the wisdom of elders can’t be ignored.

“Back in my day, I had to choose just one. I ended up getting beaten by the other two, and my relationship with my in-laws became so bad we couldn’t even speak, but I eventually married my wife.”

“…What do you mean by in-laws?”

“They were three sisters. I married the second daughter.”

“Casanova would weep with envy.”

“I was quite the catch in my youth. Haha. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I behaved like that in this era.”

The old man’s face is filled with expectation.

“In this era, common sense and reason don’t apply to ability users. If an S-class ability user, especially a man, has multiple women, people just say ‘that’s how it is.'”

“Like Armored Taejo?”

“Yes. Didn’t he cheat on his fiancée with another woman? It’s only because she was a foreigner. If he had taken responsibility for a Korean woman, his fiancée wouldn’t have made such a fuss.”

“That’s even scarier because it’s true.”

My modern perspective differs quite a bit from the values of this era.

“Have you never thought about it, Manager Do? Imagining a wife in every room.”

“Wouldn’t girlfriends be better than wives?”

“Hahaha! Correct! Having a wife in every room would be hell. Well… unless you’re a man capable enough to handle all that.”

In that sense, I found myself getting along surprisingly well with this old man who had enjoyed the past era for so long.

“Times have changed. Now even in Korea, if a man has ability, people think it’s acceptable for him to have multiple women. It’s become the call of our times for ability users to marry other ability users and produce more ability user children.”

“The call of our times…”

“There’s a reason we call it patriotism. What good is spending 100 trillion won on ballistic missiles? If two S-class ability users spend just one night together on Ulleungdo, in ten months you’ll have a ballistic missile that makes that 100 trillion development cost look like pocket change.”

“The expression is crude, but you’re not wrong.”

“Yes. Who could have predicted the world would become like this? That an S-class baby would destroy those commie… ahem, North Korean lands.”

“……”

Always.

There’s one element that Korean modern fantasy consistently includes.

Whether it’s to make writing easier for the author, or because they don’t want to deal with political issues.

You could just treat it as nonexistent, but as the story progresses, there’s one place that inevitably gets mentioned.

North Korea.

In “hunter” worldviews where monsters appear and people extract magic stones from them, North Korea usually collapses, unable to handle the monsters.

But what about this world?

In a nationalist light novel where only ability users exist, how did the author “handle” North Korea?

Some modern fantasies depict reconciliation in line with international trends, while others begin with Pyongyang exploding before the first chapter even starts.

This world is the latter.

“Anyway, Manager Do, be careful. I’m sure you wouldn’t do this, but when it comes to having children, what you need to be most careful about is the children’s feelings.”

“…Yes. I know that, of course.”

“Babies understand their parents’ emotions well, especially their mothers’. They may seem to just cry, but they definitely feel emotions, even if they can’t express them. So…”

The pension owner showed his disgust as if his teeth were chattering.

“Just like those North Korean bastards who tried to forcibly create ability users by assaulting women and ended up being destroyed by the resulting rampage, reckless behavior is unacceptable.”

It might seem obvious to say, but in this world, North Korea has fallen.

Not from mishandling nuclear missiles, but from trying to treat ability user children like nuclear missiles, causing the children to go berserk and erase Pyongyang.

There’s no need to elaborate on that destruction.

The Academy already summarizes it in three lines anyway.

2018: A massive explosion occurred in Pyongyang.

Everyone in Pyongyang died.

North Korea’s regime collapsed after losing its leadership.

Cause of destruction:

Presumed to be a child’s rampage after the ability user child’s mother was executed.

“Anyway… always be careful when having children. The ten months from conception to birth isn’t just time for the child to grow. It’s also the last chance for a man and woman to prepare to be ‘parents’ and create an environment to raise a child. It’s already too late to prepare to be parents after the child is born.”

“Parents, you say.”

“Yes. No matter how much times have changed, or rather, because times have changed, I’ll say this. It’s just this old man’s limited insight, but…”

The pension owner shook his head.

“If this is a world that uses children as weapons of war, that treats children as living nuclear missiles, wouldn’t heaven punish such a world?”

“…I suppose so.”

I could only turn my gaze to the window.

“That’s why the Syndicate exists, to prevent that.”

“In that sense, I’m truly proud to be helping the Syndicate.”

“I’m proud too.”

Proud to work for the only organization that can fix this broken world.

* * *

After arriving at the lodging by car, I finished grooming myself using the prepared tools.

This is a battlefield.

You never know what might happen or what accidents might occur.

With so many variables, no one can predict how situations will unfold.

Prepare for every situation?

That’s impossible.

Since disasters will happen regardless of preparation, I just need to prepare as best I can.

Ding dong.

The intercom rang.

[Excuse me, guest. Your meal is ready. I’ll bring it up now.]

“Yes, please bring it.”

After receiving the call that dinner was ready through the pension’s intercom, I put on a robe and headed to the kitchen.

“Welcome, guest.”

With a ding-dong sound, Sylvia, the pension employee wearing a hanbok, appeared from the small elevator coming up from the lower floor, pushing a cart.

“Excuse me, may I ask something?”

“What is it?”

“…Did you come alone this time as well?”

“……”

This woman is just an ordinary employee.

She’s not part of the Syndicate, and the Syndicate only supports the pension owner.

So she has no idea that the last time I was here, I spent a long night with someone.

Because she wasn’t the one who cleaned up the next day.

“I came alone.”

“I see… Would you like any… assistance?”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll decline.”

I declined Sylvia’s not-so-subtle offer and sat at the table.

Clank, clank.

The dishes being transferred from the cart to the table all had enticing aromas that stimulated my nose.

Abalone porridge.

Green onion pancakes with oysters.

Grilled eel.

“Um, guest. Would you like wine…?”

“Not wine.”

I pointed to the round glass bottle on the bottom shelf of the cart.

“I can’t drink wine on Korean soil. Instead, I’ll have Korean-style wine.”

Bokbunja (Korean black raspberry wine).

“…I’ll serve you the Ulleungdo Patriotic Full Course Special for one.”

A villain’s cheat key for dealing with two heroes.

Doping.