The Returner

Chapter 339: That sounds like a dangerous announcement (4)

There was no doubt that this b*stard was utterly insane. A person with a normal mindset would never think this way.

“You crazy b*stard!!” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Certainly, I may come across as insane from where you stand. I won’t deny that. However.... If I am to offer up an excuse, then well, I’m completely motivated by my conviction and not because of a sudden whim.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“How can you mouth off conviction or whatever when you’re trying to drive our citizens to death?!” (Park Yong-Hui)

Jeong Min-Seong tilted his head. And Park Yong-Hui wasn’t stupid enough to not know that the exaggerated shaking of the head was meant to mock him.

“Now that is a very normal-sounding declaration, and its level of normalcy is rather mystifying to me. Comrade Chief, have you not been doing your absolute best to feed the swine by exploiting this nation’s citizens?” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“............”

“But now, such a man continues to mouth off something about ‘for the people, for the citizens’, so I can’t help but laugh at this situation. If you’re really all for the sake of this nation’s citizens, why did you persist with what you’ve been doing?” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“Because, I didn’t have enough power!” (Park Yong-Hui)

Park Yong-Hui glared with all his might.

“Who would’ve endured it if they had power?! You can only hold your breath and do as you’re told exactly because you don’t have the necessary power! And we barely managed to raise enough strength and found the perfect opportunity to act, yet it was you that stood in our way!!” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Now that is a commendable mindset, indeed. The end justifies the means! For the sake of freeing the citizens, a few sacrifices along the way are simply unavoidable! Now that is very much the way of this Democratic Republic! If the dear Comrade Supreme Leader hears you, who knows, he might break down in tears and start clapping his hands.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“You.....” (Park Yong-Hui)

Park Yong-Hui clenched his teeth and glared at Jeong Min-Seong.

“How regrettable, then. Comrade Chief, your sole ray of hope, Major Rhee Jin-Cheol, is currently being pursued by the kids specially trained by yours truly. Rather than shouting at me, don’t you think it’ll be a wiser investment of your time to pray that your friend suddenly develops an ability to fly in the air or to bend time and space to teleport to another area?” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Jeong Min-Seong cackled hoarsely.

“Fine. I shall pray.” (Park Yong-Hui)

Park Yong-Hui chewed out each of his words.

“You stinking son of a b*tch! You should do well to also pray fervently that your underlings somehow catch Rhee Jin-Cheol. If not, he will soon bring Mister Rhee Ji-Hyuk over here!” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Hmm....” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Jeong Min-Seong nodded his head theatrically.

“That is definitely a scary prospect. I admit that. I know full well that Rhee Ji-Hyuk is not human at all. That great person also ordered me not to oppose Rhee Ji-Hyuk or to get on his bad side no matter what, so I better do as I’m told, no?” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“.....Just who is this person you keep bringing up?” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t know.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Jeong Min-Seong stood still and looked at Park Yong-Hui before turning around to leave.

“Well, it’s all good and well to have hope, but continuing to shout like that will only worsen your condition. When I come to visit you again next time, I’ll come along with Rhee Jin-Cheol’s head in tow, so please, do try to not die until then.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“Kekekeke.” (Park Yong-Hui)

Park Yong-Hui chuckled hoarsely.

“Why are you keeping me alive, anyway?” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Although I’d like to say that the swine b*stard wanted to torture you for a bit longer and that’s the real reason, but the truth is.... well....” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Jeong Min-Seong continued on with a slightly rueful tone of voice.

“Indeed, the order to imprison you has been made, but there was nothing about ending your life. His brain’s been addled by drugs lately, so you could say he has completely lost it now. I think he’s too busy chasing skirts nowadays to care, too.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“....Haha.” (Park Yong-Hui)

Park Yong-Hui could only chuckle powerlessly from that answer.

He was a rebel who failed in his coup attempt. Originally, he should’ve been ground right down to fine dust until not even a fragment of his bones could be found.

But, what was that just now?

He was forgotten?

‘So then. Everything has been seized already.’ (Park Yong-Hui)

No matter how infamous the top commander was for his crazy streak, he wasn’t someone who’d forget about the execution of a rebel. Sure, he also lusted after women, but not to this degree, either.

He might have become even more extreme and single-minded after killing his own uncle, but even then, he would never do something that wasn’t what you’d call logical or normal in a way. No, hang on – if that swine was someone like that to begin with, then he’d not have been able to take over North Korea in the first place.

Indeed, the top officials of the North weren’t dummies that would gladly hand over everything, including the rights to determine their lives, to a wet-behind-ears hatchling who knew nothing, regardless of whether he was from the Baekdu bloodline or not.

The previous Supreme Leader might have castrated the powers and the number of underlings below them, sure, but there were still quite a few in the upper echelons of this nation remaining that wouldn’t hesitate to pounce and bite down at the throat the moment the current Leader dared to show any openings.

So, Park Yong-Hui found it hard to believe that the current Supreme Leader was doing whatever he was doing right now in a sane frame of mind.

‘Is it really drugs?’ (Park Yong-Hui)

Whether it was the narcotics or brainwashing, one could safely assume that at this point, the ‘work’ involving the Supreme Leader was already completed.

There must’ve been a reason why the state of things suddenly deteriorated right after the advent of the Black Monday. Sure, even if the monsters invaded without warning and changed the world overnight, Park Yong-Hui should’ve noticed that something was wrong when all provocations aimed at foreign countries ceased and they decided to withdraw completely to focus on internal matters instead.

“.....It’s not the swine raising you lot, but rather, it was you that raised the swine, instead.” (Park Yong-Hui)

“Ohh, you are certainly very perceptive.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Jeong Min-Seong cackled in delight.

“Please, just take it as a simple whim. By tomorrow, I might change my mind and let you die painlessly. Well, your problem is that I don’t think I’ll change my mind any time soon. How unfortunate.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

“You b*stard!!” (Park Yong-Hui)

“You see, I feel that you’re that one person who will find the massacre of all the citizens in Joseon most painful to watch. That’s why, I wish you can be patient for a little bit longer. Because, I’ll show you something truly entertaining soon enough.” (Jeong Min-Seong)

Slam!

The steel door slammed shut, and Park Yong-Hui roared out loudly enough to tear out his vocal chords.

“Jeong, Min, Seoooooong!!” (Park Yong-Hui)

Too bad, Jeong Min-Seong must’ve not heard Park Yong-Hui’s cry, because he didn’t return.

*

‘I must survive.’ (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol gritted his teeth.

Almost all of his subordinates were already dead. The surviving few had scattered and it was unknown where they were currently.

However, he had no time to grieve right now.

If Rhee Jin-Cheol failed to survive and head down to South Korea, then without a doubt, many others would follow in the footsteps of his dead subordinates.

‘I must reach my goal!!’ (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol ran south. And then, even further south.

Although he knew going the other way was the more obvious route, going to South Korea by escaping to China would not work in this case. He wasn’t even trying to safely escape from here, anyway.

Because, this was a race against time, that’s why.

If he did escape to China first, then he’d end up wasting valuable time unless he hopped on a plane right away. Besides, there was simply no way that those b*stards occupying the North’s ruling class would let Rhee Jin-Cheol quietly climb aboard a South Korea-bound plane without an incident of some kind.

In that case, he only had one choice. And that was to run straight to the South with a single-track mind.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Keuhk!”

A sentry post before his eyes began spitting out a hail of bullets. Perhaps an emergency order had been issued already, because those soldiers didn’t even ask or hesitate before firing indiscriminately.

“F*ck!!” (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

Rhee Jin-Cheol quickly extracted arcs of electricity from both of his hands and gathered them in front of him. The bullets flying in crashed into this shield of electricity and their trajectories were altered.

“Keuh-euhk!” (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

However, those that didn’t get deflected away continued to brush and nick past various parts of his body.

He felt something penetrating his side, but Rhee Jin-Cheol didn’t stop. No, he couldn’t stop. Because the moment he stopped would be the moment he died.

“Ku-aht!” (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

While howling like a beast, he dashed forward and fired the arcs of electricity at the sentry post.

“Uwaaaahk!”

Screams resounded out. He didn’t feel good at all while hurting these guys that were merely following orders without knowing anything, but he simply didn’t have enough time to worry about such things.

‘I need to keep going.’ (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

He needed to keep running to South Korea. And then, meet Rhee Ji-Hyuk.

“U-uwaaaaah!!” (Rhee Jin-Cheol)

And so, Rhee Jin-Cheol ran forward and then, ran some more.

*

“Is that so?” (Defense Minister)

The Defense Minister shot up from his seat.

“A cooperation, is it?” (Defense Minister)

“Yes, sir. We got a call from them saying that they were willing to wage war if we receive the rebel currently running towards the south.” (adjutant)

“And who made that d*mn call??” (Defense Minister)

“It’s the same guy as before. It seems that their top-level management hasn’t changed, sir.” (adjutant)

“M-mm....” (Defense Minister)

The Defense Minister groaned.

“So, that’s how the cookie crumbled, is it....?” (Defense Minister)

He knew that for the sake of stability, it was far more advantageous if the current North Korean management stayed exactly where they were. The one country that would suffer the most while shouldering the majority of the burden from the fallout of the North Korean regime crumbling would undoubtedly be South Korea, after all.

However, he still couldn’t help but feel that it would’ve been nice for the North Korean government to collapse in this manner. When he thought about how abnormal North Korea was, and squalid living conditions of the citizens up north, he became even more aware of the fact that avoiding the situation was not an answer to anything.

“By the way, are you saying that someone is escaping from them?” (Defense Minister)

“Seems that way, sir.” (adjutant)

“Aiding in the escape, is it....” (Defense Minister)

The Defense Minister realised that this matter was already beyond his authority to make a decision.

“Call the Unification Minister and tell him to head straight to the Blue House. I’ll be on my way to speak to the President as well.” (Defense Minister)

The Defense Minister hurriedly rushed outside his office.

*

“An escapee??” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“Yes, sir.” (Defense Minister)

“Escaping towards the south? Is it like declaring asylum with us?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“No, sir. It seems that the escapee is attempting to cross the demilitarized zone by force.” (Defense Minister)

“But, is that even possible?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

President Yun Yeong-Min asked, having failed to comprehend it.

It wasn’t as if no one managed to cross the barbed-wire fencing up until now. Every once in a while, some soldiers managed to make it across, while there had been a case of a whole family somehow crossing the border and claiming asylum, too.

However, those events were only possible because the parties involved aimed for the lapse in surveillance and sneaked in during the resulting gap in border patrol. Right now, the military’s top brass were aware of an important figure trying to cross the border, so how could anyone actually succeed in this situation?

“It must be an ability user, sir.” (Defense Minister)

“An ability user, you say?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“If he is one, then he might be able to cross the Demarcation Line with his own powers whether soldiers are guarding it or not.” (Defense Minister)

“You’re right.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

Yun Yeong-Min nodded his head.

He was too focused on the dual facts of the Demarcation Line and the escape attempt from the North, which made him momentarily forget about the existence of ability users. If it was them, they should be able to easily cross the border even with soldiers tightly guarding it.

“And you’re saying that this escapee is an important enough figure for North Korea to directly threaten us?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“Yes, sir.” (Defense Minister)

The Defense Minister carefully opened his mouth.

“It could very well be Major Rhee Jin-Cheol, then. He did participate in the coup attempt, after all. I mean, the People’s Ability User Brigade was aligned closely with Park Yong-Hui, wasn’t it?” (Unification Minister)

“I also think that’s highly likely, sir.” (Defense Minister)

“Rhee Jin-Cheol, is it....” (Yun Yeong-Min)

Yun Yeong-Min nodded his head.

In all honesty, he wasn’t too familiar with that name, but since both the Unification and the Defense Ministries were thinking the same thing, there was a very good chance that they were right.

“Should we accept him, then?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

“Well, sir. He used to be one of the top representatives of North Korea’s ability users so if we do accept him, then the amount of information we could glean should be quite considerable, sir. However, the North is quite aggressively stating their position of willing to wage war, so we need to tread carefully in this case.” (Defense Minister)

“Also, even if the current situation in North Korea is terrible, if they got serious and closed up their borders, not even Rhee Jin-Cheol will find it easy to cross over to this side, sir. If we thoughtlessly try to accept him only to fail at the border, then it’ll be us ending up in hot water instead, sir.” (Unification Minister)

“That’s true, too.” (Yun Yeong-Min)

Yun Yeong-Min fell into a dilemma. By listening to their opinions, both sides of the argument seemed to have some merits to them, but he simply couldn’t figure out which side would prove to be more beneficial than the other.

“What should we do now?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

When both ministers didn’t say anything, Yun Yeong-Min tutted and opened his mouth.

“For now, let’s inform the party leader Song Jeong-Su and hear what he has to say first. He travelled to North Korea recently, so maybe he has a better grasp of the current situation than us, don’t you agree?” (Yun Yeong-Min)

The two ministers nodded their heads to indicate that this was an excellent idea.

< 339. That sounds like a dangerous announcement -4 > Fin.