episode_0290

The world has changed due to the cataclysm, and resources have also changed.

Mana has become the most precious thing in this world, and the only means of obtaining mana artificially is mana powder.

So where can you get mana?

The most certain way is to live near Sejong Island and receive the mana contained in the air through the air.

Other than that, there is no other way to obtain mana-

there was.

Everyone didn’t know it before, but one by one, they started to find a way.

-Mana began to reside in minerals in Korea!

The meteorite fell on the sea floor.

Then, along the ley lines on the sea floor, mana began to slowly spread towards Korea.

From Sejong Island, through the East Sea, and along the mountain range in the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula, the mana began to slowly spread across the Korean Peninsula.

At first, everyone didn’t know.

As people with special abilities began to be born into the world, everyone was busy just stabilizing the changing world, and above all, the only means and method that could check such things were people with special abilities.

By chance, a person with this ability realized that all kinds of resources collected in Korea had a higher mana utilization rate than in other countries, and only now, in 2025, has resource development begun in earnest.

-hey! Coal from Gangwon-do contains mana!

-Call the workers! Call the talented people! Start mining magic stones now!

In fact, it was different from the magic stones found in fantasy.

In hunter dramas, we often see magic stones being used like Muan sweet water or a next-generation energy source and traded for astronomical amounts.

However, the magic stones of this world are simply items that can use mana efficiently.

It just contains mana, so when processed, it becomes an object that can more easily contain mana or infuse mana.

then.

What if you make something like this for people with special abilities?

-Oooooh! My sword runs out of mana so quickly…!

-It is easier to shoot magic bullets with a pistol made from magic stones than with a regular pistol. This is a revolution.

-By using metal containing mana in the semiconductor used in the Taegeuk Watch, it produces crazy performance…! You can easily use it for a week on a single charge!

Efficiency started to go crazy.

Rather than using metals imported from abroad, products made in Korea using resources mined internally boasted much more efficient and economical capabilities than existing products.

To put it to the extreme, a smartphone developed in Korea with Korean resources using the same technology performs 3 times better, has a battery that lasts 7 times longer, and weighs 1/2 as much as a smartphone developed in South America with South American resources. What would happen if

Of course, it would be more efficient and effective for everything to be made in Korea.

Even if you bring raw materials from abroad and leave them in Korea for a long time, mana seeps into them as well, so everything becomes better when it passes through Korea.

for example.

In the basement of the military area, where public access is restricted, there are large-scale ‘Jangdokdae’ embedded in the ground.

If the object that went into this crock pot was molten iron made by melting steel, then the object made by smelting the molten iron back into steel over time was harder than the existing steel and did not rust easily.

at last.

As time goes by, one thing has become clear.

Korea is no longer a weak country in terms of resources.

Rather, as time passed, the country became stronger even in terms of resources.

Therefore, the whole world is targeting Korea.

Not only ‘human resources’ coming from Korea.

All resources from Korea, even the seed soy sauce fermented in the crock pot.

Made in Korea.

Everything with this phrase is related to ‘mana’ and ‘talent abilities’.

* * *

At that time, the special train ‘Shin Mugunghwa’ for transporting high-ranking officials was in a special room.

“Sisters. It’s all gone.”

As soon as a woman wearing a hanbok spoke, all the women in the special room began to shift from stiff postures to comfortable postures.

“Ha. Really, how did I end up in such trouble?”

“You can just quietly go to a music room in Busan. It’s not Seoul, it’s some kind of Kaesong concert.”

“Ah, annoying. I can’t just quit being an idol.”

The women, members of the idol group ‘Star Flowers’, looked at the guest room with somewhat gloomy faces.

“There’s really no one here right now, right? Can’t you hear us?”

“Are you worried? Or should we go to the Kaesong Hotel and talk?”

“It will be too late to talk after going to the hotel. Let’s just assume there’s no one around right now and talk now.”

The person who appeared to be the leader carefully took out an item from the inner pocket of his hanbok jeogori.

“Sister, did you take care of it?”

“Of course.”

The item the woman took out very carefully, so as not to be seen by others, was a box.

“Ah, sister. What kind of Hallasan mountain is this?”

“A pack of cigarettes. Couldn’t you have brought something more worthy?”

“These. This is also a blessing.”

An object that looks like a cigarette pack.

But the moment the leader opened the cigarette pack, the other three women’s expressions changed.

“Wow…. Did you take the packaging off and stuff it all in? What if it gets contaminated?”

“If you can’t put in a few more because of the wrapping paper, it’s better to put in at least one or two more. And this isn’t really a cigarette pack. It’s an imitation, and it’s covered with plastic inside.”

“I should have just bought a traitor box instead.”

“Don’t you know that if we get caught, our idol careers will be over? No, you were the ones who asked me to prepare this in the first place.”

The leader grinned and pointed to the round object inside the cigarette pack.

“‘Traitory’ is more serious than idols smoking. You know.”

“Sister. But what we want to do is not treason, but patriotism.”

“…So I prepared it.”

The leader put the model cigarette pack back in his pocket, made a loop with his fingers, and poked it with the index finger of his other hand.

“I stabbed the patriotic needle.”

“…Crazy. Are you really going to do it?”

“If you don’t have this, he won’t do it for you, so what should you do?”

The other women nodded silently at the leader’s words.

“And don’t worry too much. It’s not domestically produced. It’s made in Japan.”

“…What does that mean?”

“Domestic products are so effective that they adhere to their intended purpose. To make sure you avoid something you want to avoid, it’s better to later make up an excuse saying it was made in Japan.”

“Ugh, I don’t know. I’ll just trust you. ….that.”

The women quenched their appetite.

“Really, really? Working with an S-class ‘idol’, is it really heaven?”

“It’s not like heaven.”

The leader crossed his legs and twitched the corners of his mouth.

“It’s paradise. It will be an experience you have never had before in your life.”

“Even if you use that?”

“Of course. why? Do you want to try it without using it?”

“…Of course.”

The women lit up their eyes.

“They say they love it so much that they can’t get over it even with an E-level ‘idol’, so how about working with an S-level idol? You’ll feel like you have the whole world. I asked this because it’s really you guys. It really wasn’t easy.”

“…Hehehe.”

The women only laughed softly.

“After finishing the performance in Kaesong…. like a storm in the hotel room…. hehehe….”

Although it could not be called an idol’s laugh, the women smiled sinisterly and waited for the train to arrive quickly.

* * *

I entered the room with Kim Tae Jo-sik and Ymir Jeon Young-hee.

The structure of the train was completely different from that of the Mugunghwa or KTX, and it was a special tourist train similar to something seen in old European movies.

Why, the train is like a cabin where little wizards buy random flavored jellies.

There is a long hallway to the side, and the seats are arranged to face left and right. Ymir and I sit facing backwards and Taejo Kim sits facing forward, occupying one room.

And right behind us, the idol group ‘Star Flowers’ is talking, or rather, plotting a plot.

“Tsk.”

Taejo Kim was chewing his appetite as if he didn’t like it at all.

“Shall we go and talk?”

“No. If you know that you are listening right next to you, you will definitely cause an accident. I pretend not to know.”

No matter how quietly they talk, or even if a train is running on the tracks, it is impossible for a person with this ability to not hear an ordinary person whispering in the next room.

Especially if it is an act of trying to become a patriot by secretly sticking a needle into a traitorous balloon.

How do we know?

That’s right, these two people we dressed up as are ‘talents.’

Since they are D-class and E-class respectively, it is difficult for them to perform hero activities, but considering their position as idol bodyguards, their abilities can be said to be superior to those of any other bodyguard.

“…Perhaps after the performance in Kaesong, I will have to act separately from the two of you at the hotel at night.”

Kim Tae-jo-sik pointed back with his chin.

“It may be uncomfortable for the three of us to be together in a hotel room, so please understand.”

“Is that also included in the mission?”

“…It’s my personal hobby.”

Kim Tae-jo-sik smiled slightly with a shy face.

He may be trying to put aside his role as Agent Black for a while and enjoy his hobbies before going up to Sinuiju.

“It’s not something we should pretend not to know, but it’s also not something we should report. Because idols’ privacy must be respected. As a fellow man, I support you. Be patriotic.”

“Patriotic…. It’s a bit hard to call it patriotic. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if an idol unexpectedly got pregnant?”

“Oh my. Are you patriotic?”

Ymir.

“Patrioticism is my specialty.”

“…Hey.”

Next to me, I suddenly made a strange sound.

“Oppa Cheolsu, although his magical power is low, his patriotism is at the S level.”

“…Hoo?”

And Kim Tae Jo-sik.

“Is it real?”

I, who had no interest before, began to show great interest.

“When the woman says that, it means it’s true.”

“Not S class.”

……Oh my.

If you use this well, it might make your mission a little easier, right?

“Special EX level.”

“Hey, Mr. Hyun Cheol-soo.”

Taejo Kim tasted his mouth with his tongue and lowered his posture.

“Shall we talk about the future and development of the country while we’re at it…?”