Chapter 120: Episode 120 – The Sword Given by Heaven, Part I
Chapter 42. The Sword Given by Heaven, Part I
Translator: Khan
Editor: RED
1.
“The underground bunker hidden by the North Korean officials is closely connected to the subway station building of Pyongyang Metro. It is natural that the Pyongyang Metro itself was not built for transportation purposes in the first place, but as a concept of air defense against propaganda and bombardment. Therefore, all the subway station buildings in Pyongyang are the entrance to the underground bunker. They don’t have electricity to run the subway, that’s why they cannot operate it.”
When Kim Tae-hoon went through hard training and joined the Secret Special Forces, a so-called Ghost Unit, the first education he received was about their goals.
“The most secret underground bunker among them is the Tongil Station of the Chollima Line. It is located deep enough to take 20 minutes down the escalator and is located closest to the Taedong River. Because securing drinking water is easy, it is possible for them to survive for five years in a secret underground bunker located here. There are also things that North Korean officials can cash in at any time, including the Rolex watch Che Guevara liked, gold, artworks, and relics.”
The targets of the Ghost Unit were, of course, North Korean officials. It was their duty to get rid of those who had helped and served as tools to the North Korean dictator.
“In other words, it is virtually impossible to get in there and escape after the mission is complete. As I said earlier, the place is deep and well guarded. It’s impossible to kill someone and to come out alive.”
Only the mission was all about the existence of the Ghost Unit.
“I tell you clearly, if you complete your mission at the Tongil Station, kill yourselves as soon as you complete it.”
In other words, at the moment of completion of the mission, the reason for the existence of the Ghost Unit seemed to disappear.
“I say again, kill yourselves as soon as you complete your mission, and I will not allow you to die until then.”
These were the orders he had received in training.
——
At this moment, Kim Tae-hoon was walking toward a secret underground bunker hidden in the Tongil Station of the Chollima Line.
‘This day finally came.’
Each step was strange. It was as he said. At this moment, Kim did not know exactly what his feelings were. He did not know whether he was happy, sad, regretful, or satisfied.
‘Here.’
Kim’s footsteps stopped in front of a big iron door. The iron door was so firm that the scars created by the monsters’ claws were nearly nothing, and it revealed its determination that it would not allow an unpermitted person to visit.
In front of the door, Kim was able to make one thing clear.
‘This is the end of the duty of soldier Kim Tae-hoon. Today, the military’s mission for Kim Tae-hoon will be over. But it does not mean that Kim Tae-hoon will be killing himself here. If there is anything that will die here today, it is only the soldier Kim Tae-hoon, not the hunter Kim Tae-hoon.’
Therefore, Kim Tae-hoon did not hesitate. His right fist, standing in front of the iron door, began to blacken. The black skin passed his arm at once, making his upper body and even his face black. Then he threw his black fist toward the iron door.
2.
The Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong.
Located a little distance away from Pyongyang, it was literally the tomb of King Dongmyeong, the founder of Goguryeo.
“Is this really the tomb of Jumong?”
“I don’t know.”
Of course, there were different opinions about the fact that it was the tomb of the real King Dongmyeong.
“Yes? It was called the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong, and King Dongmyeong must have been Jumong…”
“No, it is clear that Pyongyang is not the first place where Jumong died.”
Once King Dongmyeong, Jumong, became a king, the capital of Goguryeo was Jolbon.
“Pyongyang became the capital of Goguryeo when it was under King Jangsu, you learned that in the class on Korean history, didn’t you? Silla and Baekje formed the Naje Alliance against the Southward Advance Policy, which was established during the reign of King Jangsu. You’ve been getting tired of hearing it in elementary, middle, and high school, haven’t you?”
“Isn’t it Korean history we forget first when the College Scholastic Ability Test has ended?”
It was during the reign of King Jangsu that Pyongyang became the capital of Goguryeo. King Dongmyeong’s Tomb in Jolbon was moved to Pyongyang at that time, which was the current speculation about the existence of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong in Pyongyang. There was no definite evidence found that it was truly the tomb of Jumong.
“But the historians would not have called it the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong… there is definitely some reason for it.”
“That’s what we do, in common sense, but this is not a country of common sense.”
North Korea never conducted a full-scale investigation and research to confirm the authenticity of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong.
“Even after the North Korean officials who visited South Korea saw Cheonmachong, the Tomb in Gyeongju, he insisted that the height of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong not be lower than that of the South Korean Cheonmachong, so they raised the height of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong by two meters.”
“For that reason, they raised the height?”
“Yes.”
The high official of North Korea said that it was the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong, but what kind of crazy historian would try and work to deny it? So far, the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong had never been properly verified, unlike the royal tombs of Baekje or Silla. That was why Jang was concerned. “Even if it’s real, it’s a problem.”
“Yes?”
And that was not the only reason Jang Sung-hoon was worried. “My specialty is the forgery of art.”
“Well, is that true?”
“Come on, everyone knows about it. Why do you pretend you don’t know? Anyway, North Korean relics are classified separately at the art black market, especially in the Chinese art black market.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that the trade volume is high.”
North Korea was a paradise for robbers. Survival was the supreme task of the nation, so to protect their national treasures and history was another nation’s story.
“For example, if we say that the mayor of Gyeongju ran away stealing the relics of the Cheonmachong on one big last job before leaving Korea, no one would believe it. But if a North Korean official stole the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong and fled to China to secure funds for escaping from North Korea, most people would believe it, right?”
If it were real, the relics in it would be even more dangerous.
“First of all, the worst murderer in the world is reigning as king in North Korea, and it may be too much to wish that the real relic in the murderer’s front yard is intact.”
“Then it’s no use investigating the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong?”
Nevertheless, the reason why Jang Sung-hoon came to the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong was simple. ‘In Lotto, you have to scratch it before you know whether you won or not.’
“We need to know whether we lost the draw, so we can move on to the next.”
“And I told you honestly, but my feeling is telling me that I’m going to get a bit hit in Pyongyang.”
Furthermore, Jang felt that something great would happen when he stepped on Pyongyang.
“Is that very accurate?”
“I had a similar feeling about eleven months ago.”
“Eleven months ago?”
“It was when most of my fellow troops were eaten by the Mud Troll in the Ojung-dong military base, and only Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji and twenty of us were still alive and trembling.”
“Did you find a treasure then?”
Jang smiled before the answer to the question of his subordinate.
“No.”
“Then what-”
“I met the boss.” Finally, Jang held a prepared shovel with his last words. “Now, let’s get started!”
3.
Colonel Lim Hyun-joon’s Armored Hunting Unit was the best combat unit combining Awakeners and the army. Naturally, with confidence in the Armored Hunting Unit, he wanted to create a power of the new generation that combined Awakeners and the army. Here, he once again came up with a new idea.
“The Special Engineer Unit is not a joke.”
“I think it’s faster for them to use a shovel and a pickaxe than a folk-crane.”
After combining Awakeners with the engineers, Colonel Lim created a very strange unit called the Special Engineer Unit. It wasn’t the end. In planning a Special Engineer Unit, he visited Park Kap-soo, the chief of the workshops, and demanded the production of powerful engineer equipment with the materials from monsters that could break iron. The chief of the workshop, Park Kap-soo, produced better equipment than Colonel Lim had expected, and the ability of the Special Engineer Unit was beyond his imagination.
The following was the creed that Colonel Lim gave to the completed Special Engineer Unit: when a General Engineer Unit sets a tent, a Special Engineer Unit builds a house!
It was not a big task to work on the small royal tomb for such a Special Engineer Unit. They started to work after breakfast, and before lunch, the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong was already revealed.
—
“Fuck!” Jang Sung-hoon was also revealing his inner self. “Shit!”
He could not be sure of the truth of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong. But there was no relic in it, not even one. He didn’t even see the sarcophagus to enclose the bones, just a few cement structures supporting the empty space. It was not even made properly, some space was buried as it was.
‘Fuck!’ Jang Sung-hoon had no choice but to swear.
‘For the Japanese, the Kusanagi just fell out of the sky by itself, but why are we like this?’
Honestly, expectations were high. The desire was even bigger than the big expectation.
‘Damn it, Kim has to kill the dragon, the dragon!’
Kim was ready to kill the dragon right now. He was going to try what no one else in this world could do. It was a great job, which no one could even sacrifice for on behalf of Kim Tae-hoon. In such a situation, a legendary relic was the most obvious thing to save Kim’s life.
Therefore, Jang had to be desperate. Of course, in the situation that his expectation and longing were crushed, the disappointment that he felt was also great.
‘I felt it!’ Moreover, Jang really felt something. If not, there was no reason to have expectations. As he had told his men, the probability that the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong was a real tomb was low, and even if it was real, the probability that the things in it would be fine was even lower.
‘I still feel it!’ Even Jang was strongly felt that something would come out at this moment.
“Isn’t there anything in it?”
“No, there’s nothing more to come out, unless they built a tunnel and hid in it.”
“Just in case, take a look at it again, especially things that look like an arrowhead or a bow… no, even just sticks are okay, so take a picture of everything that comes out of it.”
“I understand.”
Therefore, Jang could not easily turn his back on the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong.
He measured other clues in his mind. ‘Is there something in the Kumsusan? According to the records, there was Jocheonseok, a stone to heaven, in Kumsu Mountain, on which King Dongmyeong stepped when he went to heaven… Maybe there is a giraffe cave in Kumsusan where Jumong raised a giraffe. Or maybe they had hidden all the relics from the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun…’
In order to get something somehow, Jang wandered through his historical knowledge. He overworked his mind to the point of bursting. It was the appearance of the person who made Jang so desperate that stopped such self-abuse.
“The Master is here.”
Kim Tae-hoon showed up at the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong. He appeared above people’s heads, as always, just as Haemosu, the father of Jumong, came down from the sky in the myth of Goguryeo.
In front of Kim, Jang gave a long sigh. “Boss, I’m sorry, I thought something might come up, but there was nothing.”
It was Jang who had given Kim an expectation. If he had not brought up the story of the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong, Kim would not even know there was such a thing. So, Jang did not stop here.
“But something was kept in the Royal Tomb of King Dongmyeong, and there is a sign that someone took it. If we look through the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun or wherever, something will come out.”
Jang couldn’t stop there, because he could not stop Kim Tae-hoon’s dragon hunting.
“So if you give me a little more time and budget-”
“It’s okay.”
Kim stopped Jang’s words and handed him a sword in his hand.
“I’m sure of the hunting now.”
‘I’m sure.’
Jang looked at the sword with surprised eyes at those words. It was a sword made of gold, the length of an adult man’s arm, and it had a form that would have been used in rituals, not combat.
Most impressive of all was the pattern carved on the blade. A peculiar pattern, made of the scales of an animal, covered the blade.
‘The pattern of a dragon’s scale…’ It was like a dragon’s scales. Also, the light emitted from the sword was not an ordinary one. It was not golden.
‘The radiance like the sun…’ It was a radiance when he looked up at the sun, a mysterious light that could never be measured by the naked eye of a person.
‘The dragon pattern, the radiance, the sword. The dragon, the radiance, the sword…’
At that moment, Jang thought of a story closer to a myth rather than the history of Goguryeo.
“Oh, my God…”
3.
Taiwan.
There was still warm weather, and there was no winter season.
Mao’s attire was the same. Even in November, he was wearing only a thin black silk suit. In front of him, there was a pile of fur leather clothes that promised to be hot even if he wore them in the winter when the cold wind was blowing.
A woman entered Mao’s room. As soon as she came in, she bowed her head and handed Mao the note she had in her hand.
Mao read the note and said, “The Six Snakes meeting came to a conclusion.”
“Is it about the dragon?”
“The deadline is after December 1, and the conclusion is that we can wake up the dragon any time after that.”
“Why December 1…?”
“They’ll need time to prepare for the situation after the dragon wakes up.”
“What are they preparing for?”
“I think there’s a lot of stuff they are not telling us, just like a typhoon isn’t something people can do.”
The woman nodded. She looked at the furry clothes. It was a dress that did not fit in the season and weather of Taiwan, but on the other hand, the woman knew the reason for the existence of the clothes.
“… are you going to take over Russia?”
“The only time that we can move in Russia, which has already become a world of zombies, is in the winter when the zombies freeze. Above all, if the dragon wakes up, it will not be satisfied with Japan and Korea alone, and its anger will reach China, or even where we are. We must pioneer a new path in preparation for that time.”
The woman asked carefully. “It may not happen, but if Kim Tae-hoon kills the dragon, what kind of measures…”
“Measures?” Mao made a somewhat fishy smile at the question. “It’s absolutely impossible. I admit he’s great, but he can’t do what is impossible.”
With that somewhat fishy grin, he asserted, “Unless he’s been dealing with a dragon, he’ll never kill a dragon.”