EP 29 – Hunter’s World (3)
After passing through the long tunnel at the border, the world was colored with snowflakes. The Trans-Siberian Railway, completed during the Yoo Jae-gwang regime, crossed the snowy field.
I heard about the last year that the railroad broke down after the gate incident and that the repair work was started, but it seems to have been successfully fixed because hunters were mobilized for the construction site.
“… … The scenery is nice.”
The coniferous forest in which the snowflakes bloomed was a superb view that could only be seen on a window screen, but even while looking at this beautiful scenery, I first thought of the ugly behind-the-scenes story.
Yang Pan-seok was President Yoo Jae-gwang’s contribution to the founding of the country, and, of course, when the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, he was the person who took the position of the Democratic Party secretary of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.
And I was his assistant. In other words, to add a bit of exaggeration, about half of the bribes that the Togeun people gave to the government at that time went through my hands. This is it.
Of course, with the experience of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee at the time, I was able to plan an escape plan from the Shinbundang Line, and I was able to accumulate quite a lot of my fortune with the Congo that Yang Pan-seok threw in, but the feeling of being involved in the bribery operation at that time was like walking on thin ice every day.
Anyway, as I was reminiscing on the memories of my youth on this long railroad, the passenger sitting across from me broke the excitement I had been waiting for.
click-!
Suddenly, the sound of a camera shutter sounded. Chaewon Pi was holding a digital camera and taking pictures in all directions.
“… … What are you doing?”
“I take pictures.”
“… … Where did the digital camera come from?”
“I got it as a gift from reporter Gam.”
“… … okay. that’s it though What’s so exciting about clicking and clicking all day?”
“Isn’t this all memories?”
Click, Pi Chae-won took a picture of me with a very serious expression.
Surprisingly, his posture was quite plausible, so he smiled, and the guy smiled softly and puts the digital camera in the inside pocket of his suit.
The special seats on the train running through the snow were as comfortable as a hotel room, steam was rising from the coffee cup, and Pi Chae-won seemed excited about the long-awaited overseas trip.
The only foreign country I’ve been to so far has been a monstrous state of emergency, so how good is this relaxed atmosphere? Isn’t it even a trip to tax?
In fact, his blunt expression was not much different from his usual one, but Pi Chae-won was about three times more talkative than usual.
“Russia is said to be about the size of Pluto.”
“okay?”
“I know that Russia alone accounts for 11.5% of the world’s land area. They say it is similar to the whole of South America.”
“I see.”
“But it is very strange that a volcano that erupted during the Permian mass extinction in the past covered most of Siberia. It’s called the Siberian Trap… … .”
“Ugh.”
Now, what about the Permian mass extinction? I’m even more curious as to why you’re memorizing it.
But if you really ask, ‘Why do you memorize it?’, you may say that you once prepared for the entrance exam for the geography department at a prestigious university, but now you can’t.
Or maybe he was close with a high school geography teacher, but he might be alive now, and something like that seemed likely to come back.
Maybe it’s because my parents’ hobbies and occupations were in the field of geology.
So I decided to ask a question that would change the subject.
“Then now, are all the monsters coming out of that vast land?”
“… … .”
* * *
Immediately after the gate incident, the Russian government established a last line of defense centered on Moscow. And all nearby citizens were evacuated to the defense line.
Russia’s population was concentrated near Europe, allowing most of its citizens to evacuate to the defense line, but eastern Russia was exposed to threats.
And, rather than crossing the continent with an armored brigade to save a rural village, Russia chose to sacrifice its people and preserve its military power in the midst of a great human crisis.
Therefore, the rescue operation in Siberia was put on hold indefinitely, and a strong defense line was built around Moscow with strong media control.
And it is evaluated as a very wise decision by many scholars. And the shortcomings of the grand strategy are revealed in the fact that the scholars do not express such views externally.
Sacrifice of the few for the many. It was a possible strategy because he was a dictator who had been in power for decades, but there was one person who opposed it.
“Victor Lee.”
“… … .”
“He is the person we are going to meet now.”
Commander of the Far Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation.
Victor Nikolaevich Lee.
He disobeyed the government’s orders and led an army into Siberia. And the Russians who had spread across Siberia were evacuated to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.
Countless military losses were incurred along the way, but the fact that the refugees he rescued were those who were very close to the gate turned the tide.
Thousands of awakened people from the refugee procession he rescued began to offer their allegiance to him. With a strong grudge against Moscow.
Currently, the eastern warlords of Russia maintain close cooperation with China based on their strong Awakening forces and are expanding their forces in Central Asia as well.
Thus, Russia was divided into a western government and an eastern military.
“In the meantime, the President of Russia suddenly died.”
“… … .”
“The Cold War broke out.”
It is not known why he died. The Moscow government is silent, and the Vladivostok military is claiming the accident was caused by a monster.
And the US president informed me that the eastern warlords assassinated the Russian president, and the US intervened to stop the nuclear war.
It was probably right after the European Crisis that I heard those words. Chae-won Pi had also overheard the conversation at the time, so when the topic came up, her expression hardened.
I refreshed the atmosphere for a moment and reassured him.
“Well, actually, it has nothing to do with us.”
“… … is that so.”
“okay. Rather, the US is sucking the gains from intervening in the Cold War. Which side of the WPO council is produced is also a major issue.”
“Government legitimacy is in Moscow, but the real Awoken will support Vladivostok.”
“right. It’s an ambiguous and sensitive issue. Besides, in order to win the race to produce councilors, we have to give the United States something over and over again. So if we would rather cut off the ties between the WPO and major powers, wouldn’t it not be that one straw that the US had in Russia would disappear?”
“It would have been easier if Europe hadn’t looked at Vladivostok and called it a fake government.”
“… … .”
* * *
Vladivostok had the largest population and capital concentration in the Eastern Warlords of Russia, but Khabarovsk had the largest military concentration.
Therefore, they were protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway, the core of the supply network, as a lifeline, and we were able to arrive in Khabarovsk enjoying a pleasant train journey.
And for three days, I sat idly in a hotel room. It was a needlessly large and luxurious penthouse, but the heating was not so good.
And this was Russia, and it was winter.
“Your reply has arrived.”
Pi Chae-won, who was rolling two layers of cotton blanket, held out her face and hands and read the text message. It was news that the Eastern Warlords sent a text message without even calling.
“The listing of Victor Lee is urgent.”
“… … Today, too?”
“I am so sorry, but I will postpone the meeting until tomorrow.”
“When are you going to finish that urgent business?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hey!”
It’s already been 3 days since I arrived in Khabarovsk. Not even Victor Lee, let alone his executive, had been able to meet him.
It’s the same pattern every day. I have an urgent job, but I can’t tell you what it is, and they ask me to wait for a day, and then they say that I have another urgent job tomorrow.
So, in the end, he’s been sucking his fingers in a hotel room for three days. Besides, it’s winter, so it’s extremely cold.
okay. At this point, it was time to end.
“Have you seen these live bastards? If you twist it, they’ll say you’re screwed, how do you hit people like this?”
“I think I have a cold too.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t do business with rednecks! The name was ominous! just!”
Victor Lee.
The name was the problem. It’s an English surname that has nothing to do with the East, but anyway, wasn’t the name ‘Lee’?
And I didn’t get along very well with people who had the letter ‘Lee’ in their name. In addition, he has deep ties with socialists. When the two overlap, it’s a real treat.
Chinese President. Choongbin Lee.
North Korean defector leader. Lee Cheol-jin.
North Korean dictator. Lee Yong-soo.
Anyway, the red-headed Nara Lees I met in my life were really innocent people. And wasn’t Russia a red country in the past?
At this point, it’s kind of a jinx. I don’t think I should have any dealings with people with the ‘Lee’ surname. I don’t know about the ‘Ru’ side.
Moreover, it was Victor Lee who provided the weapon for the coup d’état of President Lee Choong-bin. The Moscow government is friendly with Europe, so the Vladivostok military has an alliance with China.
“okay… … You believe in China and stretch out, right?”
“Senator… … .”
“Let’s push the Moscow government to bring this to the international community. I’m going to go out as a gentleman. Am I afraid of the US or China, or am I afraid of the Russian warlords?!”
“It’s a warlord with a nuclear bomb… … .”
“… … Let’s wait one more day!”
And that judgment was very valid.
That night. An unexpected guest has arrived.
It is 11:16 p.m. The first to notice someone approaching was Pi Chae-won, who was dozing on the sofa.
He jumped up like a meerkat and ran to the window. I, too, who was warming up a frozen pizza in the microwave, was startled and approached him.
“what’s the matter? What’s up?”
“… … Look over there.”
The guy pointed his finger at the edge of the first floor of the hotel.
It was dark at night, so it was hard to see, but a large man and woman were talking.
“Who are these people?”
“Victor Lillo… … !”
“What?”
“I’m going to eavesdrop right now!”
Pi Chae-won quickly took out her cell phone and opened a notepad. And I started typing on my cell phone, moving my thumb at a speed I couldn’t even imagine.
So we eavesdropped on their conversation.
[…] … It’s so scary. Can’t you just talk for me?]
[Come to the front door, what are you talking about?]
[We hit the human who took over the international community in their late twenties. That too for three days. Would you be mad? Aren’t you annoyed?]
[However, if you come here and have an agent, that would be irreversible. Come strong and build a discussion board!]
[You know, I’m not a very talkative person. The opponent is a politician.]
[You know what? There are more civilians protected by the commander than the South Korean population. So go ahead with confidence! If you’re not confident, you’ll believe the nuclear bomb in the commander’s pocket!]
[I know it’s a joke, but don’t even mention the nuclear bomb. And you’ll be shot tomorrow morning.]
[Okay, so let’s go!]
After a brief quarrel, they entered our hotel.
Then, I heard a ringtone on my cell phone.
“… … hello?”
– Minister. This is Jang Seong-jun, the head of the security team of the National Security Agency. Sorry for contacting you so late. It’s no different… … .
“Victor Lee is here. Please come in.”
– Well, how do you… … ?
“It was quite expected. I would appreciate it if you could put a simple kettle on it.”