The Other Side 2

It was a dark night.

A man dressed in something akin to a military uniform was rolling pathetically on the street.

The man caught his breath with a pale face.

His appearance was like that of a dying patient.

“…That was a close call.”

However, he was alive.

With all limbs intact.

[The Constellation ‘Guardian of the Sun’ closes his eyes, recalling how dizzying it was at that moment.]

Kim Il-soo fully empathized with his Supporting Star.

The universe unfolded.

He was thrown into a sea of death where humans cannot breathe.

[Skill: 1UP is consumed.]

If he hadn’t had a spare life.

If he hadn’t been able to return to the save point, he would have been nothing but a corpse by now.

“Am I still followed by bad luck?”

As the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes.

Humans may plan, but it’s heaven that accomplishes.

Kim Il-soo was convinced that his survival was the will of heaven and earth.

It must be a revelation to save this country.

“Although the operation failed—”

He hadn’t achieved any of his objectives.

He failed to kill the budding con artist, and he couldn’t undermine Lee Yeon’s authority.

He lost an artifact and one member.

Coming out of the back alley, he sees a bustling street.

As if reminiscent of North Korea, portraits of Lee Yeon hung on every street.

On the giant screen beyond, news was flowing.

All credit to the Hunter Management Bureau.

All blame to the government.

There was no talk of responsibility regarding Lee Yeon.

“Now I understand.”

But there was clearly an objective achieved.

“The identity of the Falling Star Swordsman.”

An existence whose identity all players questioned.

Kim Il-soo had taken a step closer to understanding that existence.

“To bring in foreign powers. Indeed, no matter how much they pretend to be patriots, a con artist is nothing but a con artist in the end…”

Michaela Ernst von Wittelsbach.

That foreign female student.

That female student was the true identity of the Falling Star Swordsman.

“A foreign mercenary, huh.”

The Korean people, with their five-thousand-year history, were the greatest in the world.

Unlike failed nations like China or Japan.

Korea had the most beautiful culture in the world and was an Eastern country of etiquette that loved peace.

Even in the face of the unprecedented situation of Gates and monsters, the Korean people demonstrated their racial superiority without reserve.

While other races were tasting hardship and frustration, Korea alone stood up in the world and extended a helping hand to other inferior races.

But a foreigner?

Leaving aside the members of this great race!

“Of course, there’s no way I could have known her identity.”

But now it was different.

“Not anymore.”

However, he wasn’t letting his guard down.

Even if not of the superior Korean race, her ability was S-class.

Kim Il-soo clearly remembered that strike that opened up the universe.

Hatred and underestimation were separate matters.

Indeed, she was strong enough to rival Lee Yeon.

If he could kill her, Lee Yeon’s forces would be greatly reduced.

[The Constellation ‘Guardian of the Sun’ watches you more closely.]

Constellations.

Even if they were god-like beings, they had no choice but to cooperate with Kim Il-soo.

After all, the opponent was a swordsman who could make stars fall.

[Chapter 1]

[Finding the Falling Star Swordsman is unlocked.]

[Current Progress: 50%]

Anticipating the dawn of a revolution someday, Kim Il-soo hid himself in the darkness of the port.

Maeng Jeong-hwan considered himself a man with terrible luck, if nothing else.

It wasn’t that he was lucky.

Rather, he had no luck at all.

He was unfortunate.

If he had been lucky, he wouldn’t have been in this terrorist group in the first place.

Until the first Gate incident occurred, he had been a thriving soldier.

A captain from ROTC.

In a world struggling with unemployment, there couldn’t have been a more secure job.

Luck never followed him.

Because one soldier stabbed him.

Calling the disciplinary measures he took to maintain military discipline unreasonable.

His smooth military life went awry because of that.

His promotion was blocked, and he remained a captain until he was forty years old.

The misfortune didn’t stop there.

This time he was stabbed for a different reason.

Someone reported him for ordering delivery food while on duty.

They say when I do it, it’s romance, when others do it, it’s adultery.

It was a double standard.

Maeng Jeong-hwan felt wronged.

When he maintained discipline like in the old days, he was stabbed for being unreasonable, and when he lived a relaxed military life like nowadays, he was stabbed for lacking discipline.

The Gates and monsters were the final straw.

Even though soldiers were just civil servants in the end, Maeng Jeong-hwan, who had never even fired a gun properly, was dragged to the battlefield.

There was nothing to gain in return.

In the end, some crazy woman took power and proceeded to purge all the soldiers.

After all that hardship, Maeng Jeong-hwan became unemployed without receiving any compensation.

However, even in the midst of all this, he didn’t lose his life.

The survivors are strong.

Maeng Jeong-hwan got a chance for success.

His bad luck persisted.

Taking care of a mentally ill person who still thought he was a general was not easy.

When he tried to show off a bit to avenge his incompetent junior, he was thrown into a reckless operation and nearly died.

Nevertheless, Maeng Jeong-hwan was alive.

His bad luck was top-notch.

He gently opened his eyes.

“—You’re awake.”

Before him was a hero with the appearance of a lion, one who didn’t allow for such things as bad luck.

Even in a world where Gates and monsters existed, this space was undoubtedly futuristic.

Neatly arranged pure white walls.

Large glass tubes were lined up.

Inside them, green culture fluid with bubbles rising up.

Around them were incomprehensible machinery and tools.

It was a futuristic laboratory.

A space that seemed straight out of a science fiction movie unfolded before Maeng Jeong-hwan’s eyes.

“It seems you’ve come to your senses.”

At the voice filled with overwhelming charisma, his gaze naturally turned.

Red hair like a lion’s mane.

Predatory eyes flickering with a golden light.

The numerous medals jingling on his chest clearly revealed who this person was in this country.

“L-L-Lee…!”

The hero, Lee Yeon.

Maeng Jeong-hwan could barely string words together.

“Don’t speak.”

That’s why the hero commanded so.

“I have no intention of having my name called by trash like you.”

In this country, a hero’s name is considered sacred.

No one could carelessly call it.

Just as the kings of old Joseon did.

No, as the dictators of the former North Korean territory did.

“I just want to ask you… No, you all something.”

His voice carried an irresistible magic.

“You military folk are truly puzzling beings.”

The words flowing from his mouth were a trite story of the past.

“Due to the first Gate incident, all the existing power holders completely lost their value. Power should be nothing more than a byproduct that occurs when the strong protect the weak, but they didn’t know this and were only busy saving their own skins.”

It was the correct history of the Republic of Korea.

“So I wiped them all out. Those pathetic individuals who considered themselves nobles and treated the citizens like slaves.”

Murder, or purge.

Although it was a story about human lives, Lee Yeon was nonchalant.

No, he wasn’t nonchalant.

“With this spear.”

Anger, hatred, contempt.

A wave of all the resentment a person could pour onto another person was unleashed.

“First were the politicians. Those who said they would become the foremost servants of the people after being elected by the precious votes of the citizens, what did they do in the unprecedented situation of Gates and monsters?”

And there was certainly a reason for this.

“They fled.”

Because the Republic of Korea at that time was no different from hell.

“It was a natural disaster that occurred worldwide, but they just ran away. They chose to run and hide somewhere. Their own safety was more important than the lives of the citizens.”

The entire leadership of a country was completely annihilated.

Because of this, the Republic of Korea perished once.

“Shamelessly, as soon as we Hunters defeated the monsters and normalized the country, they returned as if they had been waiting. Then they threatened us to hand over power. Claiming they were the legitimate leadership of this country.”

There was no hesitation.

“I slaughtered every last one of them on the spot. It was the natural consequence. Desertion and acts of treason during wartime are punishable by death, aren’t they?”

In those grueling years of death, it was just one more pile of corpses added.

“Next came the prosecutors. Along with journalists. Carrying cabinets they had picked up from who knows where.”

And those who wanted to become corpses were not just one.

“They told me. That they knew my secrets, and if I didn’t cooperate with them, they would expose all my secrets.”

Once again, without hesitation, he swung his spear.

“They seemed to want to die, so I granted their wish.”

One more pile of corpses was added.

“Next were the businessmen. Those who talked about mutual cooperation without knowing their place. I threw every last one of them in the trash. Isn’t it laughable that mere nouveau riche dared to try to match the heroes who saved the country?”

He piled up mountains of corpses.

“But.”

Compared to the mountain of innocent civilian corpses piled up due to the irresponsibility of those in power, it was a mountain too small and insignificant to have any value.

“Among them, the most horrifying existence to me was none other than you soldiers.”

And in Lee Yeon’s opinion.

The name of the most worthless trash among the trash was,

“You soldiers trampled on democracy. Under the pretext of wartime, you abused the conscription system and treated citizens like slaves. Yet you couldn’t protect anything.”

That name was the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

“You were just living like medieval nobles in the rear. But when we Hunters finally defeated the monsters and saved the citizens from the threat of the Gates, you said. That we were nothing more than a coup army.”

Unable to protect the citizens they should have protected.

Treating citizens like slaves under the pretext of wartime and conscription.

They were truly worthless, disgusting warlords.

“I showed a shred of mercy and didn’t exterminate you all. Because there were truly good soldiers who were for the people, albeit few.”

The military is an essential component of a nation.

At least, that’s what Lee Yeon thought at the time.

So he compromised.

With the soldiers who hadn’t committed crimes.

In exchange for reviving their old ranks, he gained their cooperation.

“It was a mistake. I should have killed them all.”

Two terrorist attacks.

When he first learned of this fact, Lee Yeon regretted it bitterly.

Indeed, there was little need for an organization called the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to exist.

Some argue that an organization that has upheld the will of numerous patriots from the Japanese colonial period to the Korean War should not be abolished—

That was not the right thing to say.

If there was an organization upholding the will of the patriotic spirits, it would not be those who treated citizens like slaves.

It was clearly the Hunter Management Bureau that saved innocent citizens from the threat of monsters.

“Why? Why can you still shamelessly walk around with your heads held high when you treated citizens like slaves and accomplished nothing?”

It was a low voice.

“Why?”

A low but sharp voice like a blade.

“I’m asking you.”

It was a voice that felt like it could rip your ears apart at any moment.

“Ah…”

Maeng Jeong-hwan racked his brain.

It was a worthless effort.

In front of an absolute predator, no thoughts came to mind.

“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”

There was nothing he wouldn’t do when faced with death.

Maeng Jeong-hwan got on his knees, rubbing his palms together and begging.

“I was wrong! I’ll never get involved with terrorists like that again! Long live Lee Yeon! Long live the Republic of Korea! Death to the terrorists!”

It was an easy-to-understand reaction.

Lee Yeon shook his head.

Soon after, men in grayish-white uniforms dragged Maeng Jeong-hwan away.

“I’ve repented for my sins! So please…!”

Lee Yeon spoke without turning his head.

“You say you’ve repented for your sins?”

“Yes, yes! Of course!”

“Then that’s fortunate.”

To repent for one’s sins.

It was truly a desirable thing.

“Thank you…!”

“You still have a duty to serve your people.”

Of course, it goes without saying.

“With that life of yours.”

“…What?”

There was no need to live to repent for one’s sins.

“To give even someone who has lived a worthless life from birth to death a chance for patriotism. Don’t you think the motherland is truly merciful?”

Maeng Jeong-hwan suddenly looked around.

A futuristic laboratory.

In the center, a cold spear was stuck.

Beyond the glass tubes, in the green culture fluid, a slender woman was floating.

That’s right.

It was a laboratory.

What a laboratory typically needs is—

“P-Please save me! Save me! Please!”

It took over a thousand years from when humanity first discovered fire to when they could use it practically.

In the world of Gates and monsters, abilities were like that fire.

Then it would be strange.

How did humanity come to freely handle the fire of a new era in less than half a century?

And why was the development particularly fast only in Korea?

Western conspiracy theorists often say

The reason Korea could develop so quickly was due to some conspiracy involving inhumane experiments.

Of course, for Korean citizens, this was nothing more than the inferiority complex of Westerners who couldn’t produce great superhumans.

The answer was right here in this laboratory.

There were countless bodies of the fallen.

They were the remains of those who went missing and couldn’t even be enshrined in the National Cemetery.

There might even be the faces of students who recently dropped out of the Academy.

There might also be the terrorist who impersonated a soldier, claiming to be a lieutenant.

“…Ah, no.”

Maeng Jeong-hwan is dragged away like a pig to the slaughterhouse.

“Save me! Save me, please save me!”

Lee Yeon fell into thought.

The Hunter Academy is a military facility.

All actions there were recorded and preserved.

‘Michaela Wittelsbach, huh…’

The skill to defeat the leader of the puppet army in one strike.

She was a talent that couldn’t be ignored.

[Ugh, aaargh, aaaaaaah!]

The screams of traitors were always sweet to hear.

“Long live the Republic of Korea.”

Intoxicated by that sweetness, he made a toast.

Lee Yeon smiled.

Everything was, as always, for the eternal glory of the free and just Republic of Korea.

The rulers beyond the starry sky move.

Against the threat that could harm them.

What they needed for this was not a toy.

“…What?”

And so, the man opened his eyes.

Strangely, his attire was not from the 21st century.

“Did I… Could I have returned…?”

Medieval, or more precisely, something around the medieval period.

If one had to describe it, perhaps it was the appearance of something like a porter?