Chapter 44: North Korean Border Command (2)
After stopping by the secret research lab to pick up the contaminated zone protective gear, Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon drove into Paju City.
“Senior, is this your first time here too?”
Jin-young asked while gripping the steering wheel.
“I came here once right after the Border Command was established.”
“That was about four years ago, right?”
“Precisely four years, three months, and eight days.”
Just like during the global pandemic, North Korea completely severed foreign exchanges the moment the Great Change occurred.
They blocked foreigners from entering and their own citizens from leaving.
And North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jeong-don quickly established a system to control the Awakened.
In the early days of the Great Change, hunter grades weren’t very high, so it worked to some extent.
Dungeon danger levels weren’t extreme either, and monsters could still be hunted with firearms, so the military still held the upper hand back then.
But as stronger monsters and hunters emerged, the system began collapsing rapidly.
A coup by hunters targeting the Supreme Leader ultimately led to the collapse of the North Korean regime.
“I wasn’t with the National Intelligence Service at the time, so I don’t know the details, but according to the Director, it was the busiest and most tense period.”
“That makes sense. Back then, there were a lot of people saying war was about to break out.”
Jin-young vividly remembered that time as well.
Not just Korea—China, Japan, the United States, and other countries had all gone on high alert.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, infighting broke out among the hunters inside North Korea, and the neglected dungeons began to run rampant, marking the start of the disaster.”
Infighting erupted even among the hunters who had seized power through the coup, and newly emerged rising hunters attacked the coup faction.
Amid the escalating chaos, dungeons were left unattended, eventually leading to gate explosions.
At that point, the warring hunters briefly united to try to contain the gate explosions.
But purifying already-formed contaminated zones was no easy task.
They held out for about two years before the decisive blow that led to their downfall.
“If Supreme Commander Ri Taek-su hadn’t been assassinated, do you think they could have lasted longer?”
“Assuming no further gate explosions, things might have stabilized even more than before. Managing the cramped territory reduced by contaminated zones would have been easier.”
Ri Taek-su was the first hunter in North Korea to reach 2nd-grade and became the new Supreme Leader.
Although 30% of North Korea’s territory had turned into contaminated zones due to gate explosions, Ri Taek-su’s outstanding leadership allowed them to endure.
Then one day, Ri Taek-su was assassinated.
Some said it was the work of his deputy commander who coveted his power; others claimed it was a spy sent by South Korea.
There were even rumors of an assassin dispatched from China—but the true culprit was never uncovered.
In truth, there was no time to uncover it.
The North Korean regime descended into chaos once more with renewed infighting, and additional gate explosions led to the current situation.
“Ri Taek-su’s assassination was China’s doing, right?”
“Probably. At that time, Korea didn’t have the capacity to send high-grade hunters, and North Korea had no reason to dig its own grave.”
As a result, Korea ended up sharing a border directly with contaminated zones.
The North Korean Border Command was established around that time—and in the original timeline, it was scheduled to be completely wiped out during the upcoming Monster Wave.
Of course, that was assuming Jin-young didn’t intervene.
‘Everyone died except for one officer.’
Before the regression, he had seen an article about a cunning captain who managed to escape. But soon after, even that news vanished.
All that remained was a rumor spreading through communities that he was the son of the Director of the Ministry of National Defense’s Awakener Policy Office.
‘I wonder how that guy survived alone.’
Since he was here anyway, Jin-young thought he might as well solve that mystery too.
“We’re already here.”
Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon arrived in front of the North Korean Border Command.
They passed through zigzag barricades and stopped the car in front of the guard post.
A corporal on duty approached, gave a light salute, and asked,
“Sir, may I see your identification?”
Jin-young handed over his public servant ID.
It wasn’t from Gangseo-gu Office—it bore the National Intelligence Service logo.
Upon seeing it, the military police’s eyes widened, and he snapped to perfect attention.
“Sir! Proceed inside!”
This time he shouted the salute loudly and waved Jin-young’s car through.
Then he rushed back to the guard post and urgently called the control room.
***
Jin-young drove around the compound briefly to find a parking spot.
The North Korean Border Command had only been established for about four years, so there were still quite a few unfinished facilities.
In truth, it was rather small to be called a “command.”
But as a critical military zone, it had been granted considerable authority.
“Should I park in front of the headquarters building?”
“Do whatever’s convenient for you, junior.”
Choi Hee-yeon had wanted to drive herself, but Jin-young stubbornly insisted that this kind of thing should be handled by the junior, leaving her anxious the whole way.
Whether aware of her feelings or not, Jin-young parked casually with a nod.
Just then, an officer rushed out from the headquarters building. From the rank insignia on his cap, he was a major.
“Major Park Jeong-gyu, Personnel Director of the North Korean Border Command. I heard someone from the National Intelligence Service has arrived.”
At Park Jeong-gyu’s words, Choi Hee-yeon nodded and spoke.
“We’re from the Awakener Intelligence Department of the National Intelligence Service. For security reasons, I can’t disclose anything beyond that—please understand.”
Both Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon were wearing fake faces.
Park Jeong-gyu, a non-Awakened, grew even more tense when he realized the two were hunters.
“Yes, understood. Please come inside first.”
Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon followed Park Jeong-gyu into the reception room.
Soon after, an orderly appeared with simple refreshments and coffee.
After Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon thanked him and accepted the cups,
Once the orderly left, Park Jeong-gyu cautiously opened his mouth.
“May I ask what brings you to the Command?”
“We’d like to speak with the Commander.”
At Choi Hee-yeon’s reply, cold sweat ran down Park Jeong-gyu’s back.
Going straight to the Commander meant this was no ordinary matter.
“Right now the Commander is patrolling the contaminated zone guard posts. I’ll contact him immediately—”
That was when—
Knock knock—
With a knock, a man wearing a single star on his cap appeared.
Kwon Hyeok-gyu, Brigadier General and Commander of the North Korean Border Command.
As the strongest hunter in the ROK military, his grade was 3rd-grade.
He had Awakened while still a captain, chose not to discharge, and served in an Awakener unit, rising through the ranks at breakneck speed.
Thanks to his rapid growth as a hunter, he had been promoted to general at the unusually young age of thirty-eight.
Rumors even circulated that the military had fast-tracked his promotions out of fear that guilds would poach him.
“Attention!”
Park Jeong-gyu shot to his feet and saluted the moment he saw Commander Kwon Hyeok-gyu.
Kwon Hyeok-gyu returned the salute and sat down opposite Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon.
“Commander Kwon Hyeok-gyu.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Choi Hee-yeon bowed her head in greeting.
“Is this person also from Intelligence?”
Kwon Hyeok-gyu glanced briefly at Jin-young before asking Choi Hee-yeon.
Unlike Choi Hee-yeon, who was 3rd-grade, Jin-young was only 8th-grade, so the difference in felt power was stark.
From Kwon Hyeok-gyu’s perspective, he didn’t seem qualified to be in Intelligence.
Choi Hee-yeon felt a twinge of anxiety but answered anyway.
“Yes. A specially recruited agent whose abilities were recognized.”
“Special recruitment? I’ve heard Intelligence has been struggling with talent acquisition lately… but it must be worse than I thought.”
At Kwon Hyeok-gyu’s remark, Choi Hee-yeon managed to keep a straight face, though goosebumps nearly rose on her skin.
But when she glanced at Jin-young sitting beside her, the feared explosion didn’t happen.
He looked completely unbothered.
Of course, since he rarely showed emotion anyway, she couldn’t let her guard down.
Jin-young tossed out a casual remark as if making small talk.
“Still better than the military, though.”
“…….”
Kwon Hyeok-gyu’s expression stiffened for a moment at that single line, clearly stung.
Park Jeong-gyu, the major beside him, turned deathly pale.
He quickly regained composure and spoke again, though his voice carried a slight edge.
“So what exactly is the reason Intelligence has come here? The Border Command is operating without any issues.”
Before Choi Hee-yeon could respond to the blunt question, Jin-young cut in first.
“We wouldn’t be here if there weren’t problems. Is this guy really the Commander?”
When Jin-young asked while looking at Park Jeong-gyu, Kwon Hyeok-gyu nearly raised his voice.
For a second he wondered if Intelligence had come to orchestrate his downfall.
He couldn’t claim to have never committed any wrongdoing in his military career, but he had never done anything severe enough to damage his record.
Regaining control of his emotions, Kwon Hyeok-gyu spoke calmly.
“You must not be familiar with how things work here, but monsters leaking out of the contaminated zone by the dozen isn’t a new or unusual occurrence—it’s been happening every day for a while now. At first it was abnormal, but these days it’s practically a natural phenomenon.”
When monsters first started slipping through, the Border Command had prepared for contingencies.
But after nearly a month of the same thing, they could only treat it as routine.
Like the old days when South Korea shared a border with North Korea, they believed proper vigilance was enough to handle it.
Moreover, they had a sturdy barrier wall that had been steadily built over the past four years and completed earlier this year.
“Still, we’re here because there’s a problem.”
“What if hundreds of thousands of monsters suddenly pour out? Are you just going to call it an act of God?”
At Jin-young’s sharp question, Kwon Hyeok-gyu furrowed his brow.
“It’s just a hypothetical. Maintaining maximum alert posture for an event that may or may not happen is a waste of manpower and budget. And… I don’t know why you’re interrogating me like this.”
Ignoring Jin-young entirely, Kwon Hyeok-gyu continued while looking at Choi Hee-yeon.
“In the first place, I am the Commander of the Border Command. Even the National Intelligence Service has no right to interfere. If you have business, please follow proper procedures and make a formal request.”
Kwon Hyeok-gyu swept his gaze over Jin-young and Choi Hee-yeon with an expression that said he had endured enough.
Jin-young roughly grasped what kind of person Commander Kwon Hyeok-gyu was.
‘Was he always like this? It’s a bit different from what I thought.’
Before the regression, the Border Command had held out for about one hour during the Monster Wave before being completely wiped out.
Considering that tens of thousands of monsters had poured in without warning in the first wave, lasting that long could be considered better than expected.
Part of it was thanks to the barrier wall they had built, but it was also because Kwon Hyeok-gyu had been the Commander.
If he hadn’t stayed behind to the very end, they probably wouldn’t have lasted even thirty minutes.
Back then, Jin-young had thought of him as a hunter with unshakable military spirit.
Now, however, he looked extremely complacent.
And though he wasn’t showing it openly, he also seemed deeply anxious about something.
Jin-young began releasing psionic energy from his body.
Sssssss—
A massive amount—so much that red and blue bands swirled violently around him, something he hadn’t done in a while.
He extended it far beyond the command headquarters, reaching all the way to the guard battalions south of the Imjin River.
The distance was well over five kilometers—too far for psychokinesis to exert any meaningful physical effect.
But it was more than enough to sense the personnel in the guard battalions.
And among the soldiers, he felt something distinctly out of place.
Because of the distance, he couldn’t identify exactly what it was, but it was definitely different from ordinary people.
“Do you have anything more to say?”
Kwon Hyeok-gyu, unable to sense the psionic energy, had no idea what Jin-young was doing.
Choi Hee-yeon couldn’t feel that power either, but she noticed Jin-young concentrating and stayed silent.
When no answer came, Kwon Hyeok-gyu turned to Park Jeong-gyu.
“Director Park, what are you doing? Escort our guests out.”
“Y-yes? Ah, yes!”
Park Jeong-gyu hurriedly stood up.
But when he saw Jin-young seemingly fused to his chair, he froze, unsure what to do.
Regardless, Kwon Hyeok-gyu rose from his seat.
“I’ll take my leave first. I’m not exactly a man of leisure.”
That was when—
“As far as I know, the guard forces in Paju should have far more hunter personnel than they do now. Why are there suddenly so many regular soldiers instead?”
At Jin-young’s words, Kwon Hyeok-gyu froze mid-step and turned around.
“Paju has the Imjin River as a natural barrier in addition to the wall, making it ideal for using firearms. It’s more efficient to concentrate hunter power in places like Cheorwon, Yanggu, and Goseong in Gangwon Province.”
On the surface, it wasn’t a wrong statement.
But currently, the contaminated zones north of Gangwon Province weren’t particularly threatening.
Back when Korea had attempted to reclaim northern territory, they had succeeded in penetrating deep into the contaminated zones through Gangwon Province.
Of course, they had given up on hunting the boss monsters and retreated.
A 1st-grade boss monster strengthened in a contaminated zone was on a completely different level from one encountered in a dungeon.
Even if not as extreme as the Black Knight in the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone, the hunters who encountered near-disaster-level monsters didn’t even dare attempt a hunt.
That was why they had changed the operation to advance through the contaminated zones north of Paju across the Imjin River—but that area proved even worse.
The sheer number of monsters was overwhelmingly higher than in Gangwon Province, and their grades were higher too.
In the end, the hunters couldn’t even get close to the core and retreated in a near-panic.
After that incident, many Mines had appeared as well, making it an even more untouchable zone.
That was precisely why the North Korean Border Command had been built in Paju—and why the guard forces had been concentrated there.
Even now, the only region where monsters were moving south was the contaminated zone north of Paju.
‘Did Kwon Hyeok-gyu really move the forces to Gangwon Province without knowing this fact?’
Jin-young didn’t think so.
A soldier who had sacrificed himself to buy even a little time during the Monster Wave wouldn’t make such a unilateral decision.
There had to be someone else pulling strings.
“If you have more questions, as I said earlier, please follow proper—”
“Is this really your strategy, Commander?”
“What do you—”
At Jin-young’s piercing follow-up, Kwon Hyeok-gyu shut his mouth.
“Or is it pressure from someone even higher up?”
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