Chapter 1: A Traitor’s Demise
Translated by Vine | Proofread by Lust
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The word “famine” was once more dreaded than any disease. In those times, there lived an ordinary boy named Jo Beom-seok.
To support his family, he sought a path to success rather than chasing dreams, entering the Korea Military Academy and embarking on a soldier’s life.
Decades later, he became a general, revered by many as the epitome of a true soldier. After all, in an era rife with corruption, he alone remained untainted, a beacon of integrity. Even the devastating loss of his wife and two children in a single day couldn’t deter him from his duty, steadfastly guarding the war room against North Korean provocations. Who would dare to slander such a man?
That is, until he attempted a coup d’état in 21st-century South Korea and failed.
“This goddamn world,” a sigh escaped his lips. Decades he’d spent in the military. Never in his long life dedicated to his nation had he imagined he’d end up in solitary confinement in a military prison.
Of course, as a prisoner—or more accurately, a suspect awaiting trial—he was enjoying absurd luxuries. Beside him, a steaming hot sweet potato released fragrant steam. A Go board lay before him, and next to it, a small smartphone blared the live broadcast of a fall baseball game. It was a crazy world.
The warden, a mere lieutenant colonel, instead of strictly overseeing this newly arrived rebel leader, groveled like a country dog, pledging his loyalty. The fool seemed to envision a future where Jo Beom-seok and his comrades would break free from this prison and become the third president from the military.
It wasn’t entirely impossible. And that was precisely the problem.
[The second game of the Wild Card decider is now in the 9th inning. Lee Dae-ho steps up to bat.]
“Are you a Lotte Giants fan?”
“I wouldn’t share a table with an idiot who cheers for the Lotte Giants. I’m not a big baseball fan, but if I had to choose, it’d be the Doosan Bears.”
[First pitch, swing! Foul ball.]
[The Lotte batters are playing with fire today. They’re ferocious.]
Despite receiving outrageous special treatment, having another person in solitary confinement was impossible. Yet, there was someone else in his cell. No, correction, it didn’t seem human.
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“When will you believe me? I’m really the mountain god of Yongchae Mountain across the street.”
“Mountain god, my ass. Maybe if you were the mountain god of Jiri Mountain or Namsan Mountain, I might believe you. But Yongchae Mountain? What even is that?”
“It’s right next to this prison-” The self-proclaimed mountain god casually skewered a sweet potato with a green starch skewer, shoved it into his mouth, and mumbled. His gaze was fixed on the smartphone screen, not on me or the Go board.
“When will you admit you’re just a prison ghost who couldn’t ascend? Instead of spouting nonsense, make your next move. Where did the ghost who played Go go?”
“Just wait a minute. Let me finish watching this baseball game.”
“A mountain god who enjoys baseball? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Watching him eat so heartily made me feel hungry. I scraped up the sugar at the bottom of the plate, coated a sweet potato with it, and popped it into my mouth. The human body is truly fickle. The sugar and carbohydrates improved my mood.
I lit a Hallasan cigarette, lost in thought. Where did it all go wrong? Was it because I didn’t trust the people I should have? Or was it because I trusted those I shouldn’t have?
Everyone I had dedicated my life to protecting was pointing fingers at me. I had thrown my pride as a soldier into the gutter for their sake, resolved to make a patriotic decision… but only disgusting vermin swarmed around me like cockroaches, and those I wanted to understand me didn’t understand me at all.
[It’s going, going, gone!! Over the right field wall, a home run!]
[Lee Dae-ho!! Lee Dae-ho!! The Lotte Giants defeat the Doosan Bears and advance to the 준플레이오프!]
[Unbelievable! The Doosan Bears are tripped up!]
“Turn it off.”
“Huh?”
“Turn it off! Damn it! They play baseball like shit, those bastards!”
At my outburst, the stupid ghost fumbled with the screen and quickly closed the video. This world was truly insane. I had to witness the Doosan Bears losing to the Lotte Giants. If I had just cleanly shot myself, I wouldn’t have had to see this.
Nothing was to my liking. The outside world obsessed with ball games while the country was on the verge of collapse. The higher-ups engrossed in their political squabbles with World War III looming. This ridiculous excuse for a military that arrested a coup leader but handed him a cellphone instead of executing him. I disliked it all.
So much so that I regretted the years I had wasted protecting them.
“Are you that dissatisfied with the world?”
“Is that something you should be asking a former coup leader?”
“If you had the chance to change everything…would you take it?”
The entity before me repeated the question it had been asking since it appeared. Normally, I would have told him to shut up and play Go, but for some reason, I wanted to answer now.
“Change everything? How?”
“Well, you could go back a few years, or perhaps be born to much better parents.”
“If such an opportunity existed, I would take it. Why are you asking?”
Instead of answering, I just shrugged. “Aren’t mountain gods supposed to offer golden axes and silver axes? You’re too long-winded.”
“Let me explain simply. If you achieve an incredible feat, a feat so great that it completely alters the world, history, with your own power, I can grant you one wish as a reward.”
“Not a ghost, but a devil, then?”
“I’m telling you, I’m a real mountain god. Do you know what kind of opportunity this is?”
“I’ve already made my mark on this nation’s history.”
Listening further made me feel strange. Or maybe this mountain god or whatever he was, was just a figment of my imagination, and I was actually in a mental hospital somewhere, drugged up on morphine. That seemed like a much more reasonable explanation.
While I questioned my sanity, the entity in front of me offered me a pill.
“Here. Take this, and the contract is sealed.”
“What is it?”
“Poison.”
“Fuck.”
Eat it and die?
“I apologize. According to the manual, you’re supposed to get hit by a truck and whoosh- off you go, but as you know, you’re in solitary confinement, so I can’t exactly hit you with a truck. Ah, there are standard terms and conditions I need to explain before you take it, so don’t swallow it right away-”
How many people in South Korea actually read the terms and conditions, you moron?
Ignoring him, I immediately threw the pill into my mouth.
“Wait! Wait! Listen to me before-”
“Cough, cough, hack!!”
Feeling my consciousness fade, I drifted towards the land of eternal rest. It was a miserable end, befitting a miserable life.
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