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Chapter 57
Northeastern District.
There were plenty of reasons people called this place Korea’s far north, the Land of Death.
The contaminated zones that formed around the Manchuria Great Rift and the monster packs that ran rampant inside them.
The air was so toxic you couldn’t breathe without a city’s protective barrier— and the scorn heaped on anyone who was Korean in name but wasn’t treated like one.
There were countless reasons, but above all the single biggest one was simple.
The present-day Northeastern District was, quite literally, an empty wasteland.
Most of Joseon’s population crowded into great cities like Hanseong, Busan, and Incheon. The outlying towns had become little more than depopulated factory zones— some with fewer than fifty thousand people— or nothing but fusion plants, solar concentrators, and other installations.
And that kind of development was limited to the southern half of the peninsula.
North of Gangwon Province, the so-called “uninhabited zones” were devoid of any trace of civilization; travelers were greeted only by scars left from the great war centuries ago.
Gray ruins built from rebar, concrete, and derelict apartment blocks.
On those ruins lay the wreckage of tanks like fallen snow, old rifles, shells, and battered machinery.
A tundra of concrete and steel pressed down heavily over Joseon’s head.
The brilliant vistas I had seen in Hanseong felt like a lie; here, everything was bleak and desolate.
Perhaps this was the true face of Joseon.
A state that had poured all its strength into its major cities, whose citizens convinced themselves that their little world was paradise.
A world of people who never thought to step outside, clutching at long-built comforts and still believing they were the best— blind men with their eyes open.
And what was I doing in a place like that now…?
Tudududu—!
I was only praying I didn’t die today as I poured rounds from the machine gun mounted on the armored vehicle.
“Hahahaha! We hit the Northeastern District at the worst possible place! Your luck’s rotten, my lord!”
“Shut up and watch ahead, watch ahead! They came around behind us!”
Kriiiiiik—!
With the screech of shredded rubber, an armored vehicle slid onto the battered road.
It turned so sharply to the side that I had to brace myself to stop my body from being thrown around.
“You lunatic— I almost fell off…!”
Kukwaaaang—!
Just as I was about to spit curses at the driver, a massive explosion erupted in the exact spot the vehicle had been moments before.
Scratch the insults.
If we hadn’t swerved in time, that blast would have had the power to flip the whole armored car end over end.
“Tch, missed. But it was enough to drive them in, sir.”
“The blast drove them where we wanted. Gagai! Circle around and block the entrance! Kuwasan and Angireu, follow behind me!”
“We’ve nearly herded them all in! Move!”
“Kill them all!”
Buwaaaang—!
With the ripping whine of engines, about twenty motorcycles that had been trailing us vanished from sight.
Those dust-churning maniacs were Jurchen who’d taken root in the north.
Nomads who roamed the wastelands north of the Central Plains and the peninsula, scavenging scrap.
“This was supposed to be a safe unofficial route?! Why are these bastards popping out all of a sudden?!”
“Anyone going to the Northeastern District who looks worth a target becomes one! Didn’t you pass the Cheollyeong Checkpoint about three hours ago? Looks like information leaked from there!”
“The quarantine inspector sold our info to the Jurchen?!”
The merchant riding in the driver’s seat explained it in a tone that knocked the wind out of me.
We knew, of course, that the armored vehicle we rode in was packed with valuable weapons and that we ourselves were precious captives who could fetch a ransom from Joseon.
From the perspective of Jurchen living beyond the frontier, we were a tasty prize.
What I hadn’t expected was that the leak would come from a quarantine inspector stationed at the checkpoint.
I’d guessed there’d be corruption in remote posts, but never imagined it would be this bad.
“If this keeps up, I’ll be dead before we make contact with the Iron Tiger Corps…!”
Seeing the Jurchen duck and weave through fire set my blood boiling.
“Damn it, really!”
I shoved the mounted machine gun aside and called to Moo-yeong, who was waiting inside.
“Moo-yeong! Get my bow! Hurry!”
“Here!”
Moo-yeong, who had been taking shots through the gun sight with a rifle, handed me a bow.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I went out myself? We can close in for melee—”
“No!”
I took the bow Moo-yeong handed me and cut him off.
“You only have close-combat weapons right now! If you get out of the armored vehicle, they’ll just swarm in— how are you supposed to handle that?”
“B-but—!”
At my words, a look of helplessness flashed across Moo-yeong’s face.
Understandable.
He was an Aura user whose skill had just come into its prime.
He could have easily wiped out those bandit scum himself if he stepped out there.
It wasn’t that I doubted Moo-yeong’s skill—far from it.
This was a matter beyond skill.
“This isn’t Hanseong. This is a wasteland where you can’t even guarantee a meal for tomorrow! If we leave the armored vehicle and get cut off out here, we’re all trapped!”
The Jurchen rode wildly, their motorcycles roaring across the plains at speeds easily exceeding 200 kilometers an hour.
If you tried to meet them with a sword, you’d just be playing into their hands.
Better to maintain distance, let them tire themselves out, and finish them once fatigue set in.
Kkudeudeuk—!
Leaning fully out of the armored vehicle, I drew the string of my specially crafted bow.
The sensation was unlike firing a gun.
It felt as though time itself had stopped—a strange, weightless stillness.
Bullets occasionally grazed past my shoulder or cheek, but thanks to the treated armor-lined coat I wore, death felt just a little further away.
“Hoo…”
I steadied my breathing. At the end of my sightline, through the swirling dust, I caught the face of a large man charging toward us.
He rode at the head of their formation, commanding the Jurchen beneath him.
In other words, he was their leader.
Twhack—!
The tungsten arrow left the bowstring, slicing through the air in a straight line toward the Jurchen at the very front.
His head was encased in layers of metal and reinforced plating, but that didn’t matter.
The bow I held was a monster—powerful enough to pierce the armor of a tank.
Kwa-jik—!
At the clash of metal on metal, a flash erupted, and the leader’s face exploded into a shower of fragments.
“Khuhh…?!”
“Aihan! You crazy—?!”
“The captain’s down! The formation—ahhh!”
The frontmost motorcycle flipped, triggering a chain reaction of crashes and explosions.
“What the—did you actually hit that?! With a bow?! Hahaha! Unreal! I thought we were dead for sure!”
With the pursuers behind us taken care of, the merchant at the wheel burst into manic laughter.
That left only the front.
The detached unit waiting along the side route.
“The ones chasing us are gone! I’ve done my part, the rest is up to you!”
“Of course! Gotta earn my pay, don’t I? Hold tight—we’re breaking straight through! Buckle your seatbelt!”
“This damn hunk of metal doesn’t even have seatbelts, you idiot!”
I yelled, clinging to the chair with both arms.
The Jurchen ahead panicked at the sight of the charging armored vehicle, firing wildly in confusion.
A few scrambled onto their bikes in desperation—but it was far too late.
Tu-kuwaaang—!
“Aaaaargh!”
The armored vehicle jolted violently as dozens of Jurchen were turned into chunks of flesh, scattering in all directions.
A few who had dodged in time fired their pistols, but such toys couldn’t possibly stop this steel beast.
“See that, you bastards?! Ha ha ha! We did it! Hahaha—!”
The merchant shouted, his laughter echoing as the adrenaline of battle still lingered.
The unpaved road tossed the vehicle mercilessly, the frame rattling nonstop.
After some time, a voice came through the identification device mounted inside the vehicle.
“This is the Iron Tiger Corps checkpoint. Approaching armored vehicle, present identification number.”
“Identification number GA-399746. This is merchant Gwak Cheol-gon, scheduled to enter at 2 p.m.”
“You took longer than expected this time. What’s your cargo?”
“One ton of precision machine parts, sixteen boxes of processed food, two boxes of cosmetics, and…”
The merchant glanced back at me and Moo-yeong as he finished his list.
“…and two tourists. That’s all.”
“…Tourists, what?”
The voice sounded incredulous, as if it couldn’t believe what it just heard.
Hearing that, Moo-yeong and I collapsed backward onto the pile of cargo, utterly drained.
“I’m never doing this again. You with me, Moo-yeong?”
“Wholeheartedly agree, young master.”
This was the harshest frozen desert in Joseon—
The northernmost frontline that held back the monsters.
The gateway to the base of the Iron Tiger Corps—
And the place destined to become the beating heart of the revolution.
* * *
“Quarantine procedure complete. You may now remove your mask.”
“Cough, cough! Ugh, damn it. Thought I was gonna suffocate.”
At the inspector’s signal, I finally tore off the mask I’d been wearing the entire inspection.
With the monster-infested contamination zones nearby, you couldn’t even breathe in the outskirts without an air-assist apparatus.
“I’ve seen plenty of footage and data, but… this is my first time seeing it in person.”
Inside the building, where the air purification system hummed steadily, the sight of Iron Tiger Corps through the window was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
A colossal steel wall sealed off the fortress to the north.
That black, towering structure was said to have been built centuries ago by King Yi Cheolheon himself —
The absolute defense line that had protected Joseon from monster incursions ever since.
And those who guarded this line— the Iron Tiger Corps— along with the people who lived under their protection, formed the society of the Northeastern District.
Here in Iron Tiger Corps, that’s how things had come to be.
In this barren wasteland, this fortress was the only place where human life could continue.
“Well then, my escort ends here, young master.”
Gwak Cheol-gon, the merchant who had just finished the quarantine routine like it was nothing new, stretched his back and approached me.
He was a traveling trader who made profits selling precision mechanical parts and luxury goods from Hanseong to the Iron Tiger Corps.
When I noticed the large pipe clenched between his teeth and asked about it, he said it was a smoke to celebrate surviving death once again.
“I’ve had my share of brushes with death going back and forth between North and Hanseong, but honestly… this time, I wouldn’t have made it without you, young master. Thank you.”
“Oh? If you’re that grateful, I can take that as permission to cut my payment, right?”
“Absolutely not! Hahaha!”
Merchants— sharp as ever when it came to money.
After shaking Cheol-gon’s calloused hand and parting ways, I was soon approached by a group of military officers.
At their center stood a woman— a checkpoint officer.
“Identity verification. You’re Kim Chang-hwan from Hanseong, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Her voice matched the one I’d heard moments earlier over the comms.
Of course, as a secret inspector, I couldn’t use my real name, so I’d gone with an alias to complete the feeling of a covert mission.
“……”
When I answered with a pleasant smile, the female officer glanced at me coldly and spoke again.
“A nobleman from Hanseong, coming all the way here to the Northeastern District… for what reason, exactly?”
Her tone was icy, and the air around her chilled with it.
On either side of her, two iron-clad brutes gave off mechanical groans, making sure I could hear the sound of grinding metal.
Well, that’s intimidating.
Judging from their combat uniforms, they were clearly officers of North’s defense force —
But their expressions made the Jurchen I’d fought earlier look almost civilized by comparison.
Keeping my trademark polite smile, I answered.
“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m here for sightseeing.”
“Sightseeing? Of all the places in Joseon to visit, a nobleman from glittering Hanseong chooses the Northeast Sector?”
“I admit, I have rather unusual tastes.”
“They say you were attacked by Jurchen on your way here. And you still decided to come instead of turning back?”
“Tell me about it. Just thinking about going back already makes my knees shake. Maybe I should just settle down here.”
“Oh really, should you?”
Hahaha. Hohoho.
We exchanged hollow smiles— her voice dripping with false sweetness, mine with deliberate nonchalance.
But the pretense didn’t last.
Click.
“This is Officer Ju Seo-hyeon from Checkpoint 3. We’ve located a suspicious individual. Detaining and sending him to interrogation.”
“Ah.”
About twelve minutes after arriving in the Northeastern District,
Moo-yeong and I found ourselves bound hand and foot, being dragged toward the interrogation chamber by a pair of steel monsters.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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