Chapter 5 (2/2)
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PR Note: “Chikusho” is a j.a.panese derogatory term that translates literally into “dumb animal” or “beast,” but can be generally used as an expletive.
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“Ah ah, Korean please…”
Ratatat! The rescue team screamed as Joon-young fired blindly around the corner, which was followed by a storm of bullets by the j.a.panese as they returned fire.
“Charge is set!”
A combat engineer from the air force came to Joon-young and handed him the detonator.
“Is that so? Let’s move.”
After watching his remaining troops retreat in order, he approached a man with a wound on his chest, gasping for air.
“Is it my turn?”
“Seems like it.”
“Kukuk, feels good to have some company for my death.”
“Don’t forget. You have to let them get as close as possible.”
“What are you even worried about. You’re just gonna detonate it remotely if I failed anyway.”
“Well then… You’ve done well.”
“Kuku, I’ll see you soon.”
With the retreat finished and the resistance gone, the j.a.panese began to encroach slowly.
With an ok sign from the scouts, the main army began to move. Once most of the squad entered, the man who had been lying flat on the ground turned his body and shouted.
“Kuhaha! h.e.l.lo, mother f.u.c.kers!”
Bang! The improvise claymore exploded, sending mountains of shrapnel flying into the tunnel’s confined s.p.a.ce.
Joon-young’s intent wasn’t to cause as much deaths, but to cause as much wounded as possible. To give them a scar to remember for the rest of their lives.
“Uhahah! Let’s die together!”
“…”
“Tennoheika Banzai, f.u.c.kers!”
Suicide bombers had been hiding amongst the corpses, waiting for their chance. Whenever they could, they would jump into the midst of the j.a.panese squadron with improvised bombs made of chemicals from the research centre. Just as Joon-young had wished, the j.a.panese were terrified, and their push became slower.
b.o.o.by traps were sprinkled across the entire tunnel, and the j.a.panese began checking nearby corpses by shooting at them. This had allowed Joon-young and his men to survive inside the tunnel for a whole week. At one point, the j.a.panese used chemical weapons but Joon-young retaliated by burning the oxygen with a napalm. This had caused the ventilation system of the research centre to break down, but he had no wish to live in the first place.
Despite having the option to starve them to death, it seemed their sense of pride wouldn’t let them do it. The j.a.panese continued to send in their troops despite heavy casualties.
“Kukuku, I guess this is it.”
They no longer have anything to make bullets or bombs. Food and water had run out long ago.
“We did pretty well huh?”
Joon-young spoke as he looked at the firmly closed steel doors behind him. There were a total of 10 combatants left. After sacrificing one after another, they had been pushed and pushed again up to this point. Behind that door is the nuclear fusion research centre holding the researchers inside. What will happen to the researchers after he died was a mystery.
They may die to the enraged j.a.panese soldiers, or taken prisoner as valuable human resources. Whether they surrender or die is up to them. Joon-young had no intent on forcing the researchers to sacrifice themselves.
“Have you got any bullets left?”
Joon-young asked as he started to hear footsteps from afar.
“… We might have one.”
The colonel answered, taking out a bullet from his chest pocket.
“Ha, You can’t even commit suicide with that thing.”
The bullet’s cartridge was crushed significantly, which probably happened during combat. Joon-young snickered at the pathetic bullet and the colonel followed. Soon the snicker spread to other soldiers and it turned into a giant laughter.
Once the laughter stopped, the soldiers looked at each other and began shaking hands.
“Now! The climax of a battle is the hand to hand combat, isn’t it?”
“Ofcourse! You seem to know a few things about wars!”
The soldiers busied themselves with attaching bayonets onto their rifles when suddenly they heard broken Korean coming from the other side of the barricade.
“Surrender! If you surrender now, we will let you live!”
“They’re saying they’ll let us live.”
“Funny b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. What should we do?”
“What else? We should let them live instead.”
“Huh?”
Joon-young made a wicked smile at the confused colonel, and shouted back.
“Hey! You know we’re the last ones right! We’ve got some biological weapons in our hands! Since we’re dying, why don’t we die together! According to the researcher who gave it to us, a single drop can wipe half a city! And we have an entire barrel! Uhahahah! Ya scared?”
“Kukuku.”
Other soldiers tried their best to stop their laughter. It was a bluff. If a biological weapon were to be used within the tunnels, which also had its ventilation destroyed, death was a certainty for both sides. Sending someone who could speak Korean was a mistake on j.a.pan’s part.
If they simply made the final push, Joon-young and his men would have made little resistance. But all the despicable acts Joon-young and his men had performed until now would convince them to believe the bluff.
Soon, they could hear dismayed voices, and their footsteps began to fade.
“Now! Let’s go! This will be the last time we’ll see them run!”
“Iyaha!”
“Wahaha!”
Joon-young and the soldiers charged over the barricade. With that, the j.a.panese forces ran hastily, even throwing their guns away.
“Ahahah! Good!”
As Joon-young laughed to his heart’s content, a heavy thud echoed through the entire tunnel.
Then the giant steel doors behind him smashed open, covering Joon-young and the soldiers in bright light. A gust of wind swept their bodies, making them fly for a brief moment. Then as the burning heat came, Joon-young remembered the bright smile Han Yoo-ra made.
‘Did that lady really do it?’
The sickening smell of blood brought his consciousness back. He sluggishly looked around as if he had just woken up. The sky was black with a faint light of dawn helping him to see that he was on an open plain. Around him were flags with symbols he had never seen before; moreover, dead bodies covered the entire plain.
He could smell burning flesh in the air. He looked down to see his body drenched in blood from head to toe. But strangely, he did not feel any pain.
How much time had pa.s.sed? As he sat with a blank face, a group of men began to approach him atop the pile of bodies. These men, clad in armour, were checking the bodies and respectfully moving them over.
Soon, one of them noticed him and approached quickly with a surprised face.
“Hey! Are you alright?”
“…”
“Doctor! There’s a survivor!”
He called out for others to come, then asked again.
“Hey! Child, wake up! s.h.i.+t… Is he in shock? Child, what’s your name?”
“…Name?”
As the child’s voice just barely escaped his mouth, he began to moan and touch all over his own body as if he could not believe it.
The soldier who had found the child tried to ask as gently as possible, fearing that the child may have gone insane from shock.
“Can you remember your name?”
“My name… Joon-young? No, my name is Isaac. Isaac Rondart.”
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