Gate Of Seoul - Chapter 3

“This is a very important job, but it should not have anything to do with our government. That’s why I think this person is suitable. He’s not an agent of our agency, so even if he fails his mission and his identity is exposed, no one will find any connection with our government.”

 

However, the general looked negatively at the captain and asked.

 

“I see Russian weapons. How did he get that?”

 

“I think the multinational forces got it during the Seoul Restoration Operation. Didn’t you leave behind your munitions and everything at that time? If you look at the personal information, his home address is Jungnang-gu, and Jungnang-gu was the operational area of ​​the Russian army during the 2nd restoration operation.”

 

The captain answered the general’s question.

 

“Isn’t it illegal?”

 

“As you know, Gyeonggi Province is…”

 

“Stop.”

 

The president raised his hand and silenced everyone.

 

“Let’s hire him.”

 

“Mr. President…”

 

The general had something to say, but the president kept his mouth shut with a glance.

 

“However, I’m not going to hire him right away. We can’t trust him yet. I’d like to do some tests. He’s a PMC (Private Military Contractor), right? So, he’s working as a problem solver. Captain Seok suggested this, so you go ahead with it. We can hire him only when we’re certain that he’s not going to betray our country. Give him a few requests to check his skills and personality. I want him to be one of our men very much. Send me the plan by tomorrow. I will give you all my support, so please tell me everything you need.”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Captain Ah-yeong smiled slightly, but the general still seemed dissatisfied.

 

The president got up from his seat and was about to leave the conference hall, but he stopped and called out to Ah-young.

 

“What’s his name?”

 

“It’s Choi Seok-min.”

 

“Choi Seok-min… All right, we’ll see.”

 

***

 

‘Status window.’

 

[Choi Seok-min]

 

Endurance: 7

 

Physical Strength: 5

 

Vitality: 7

 

Sight: 6

 

When Seok-min recalled the word ‘status window’ in his head, something like a computer system window appeared in front of him. The lower it was from the first grade to the ninth grade, the higher the ability.

 

‘It doesn’t go up.’

 

It’s been about four years since the numbers didn’t rise. Before, it went up when he was killing something, but now it doesn’t change at all, and he doesn’t know what to do.

 

Seok-min’s steps back home were very heavy.

 

He looked through Sang-deok’s luggage and safe, but Sang-deok’s cash was only 1 million won. And that, too, in a huge vault that was barely opened after 30 minutes of hard work.

 

He needed something more that could bring him money.

 

He went into the warehouse. There was a lock on the door. He took out a long, double-edged sword from his sleeve, grabbed it upside down, and struck at the lock. The door opened as the lock smashed with a thud.

 

“Did you prepare for a war, my son?”

 

He pulled out a gun and inspected it. Each gun box made of iron was full of guns. They were Type 98 automatic rifles, North Korean-made weapons.

 

He checked other things, but they were all made in North Korea. In addition to rifles, there were also grenades, machine guns, and RPG-7s.

 

He checked the ammo boxes, then opened the lid of a tin box made from zinc with a knife. Explosive ammunition that had never been used before popped out.

 

There were 500 rounds of ammunition boxes stacked taller than his height.

 

These were not the ammunition he was using. Come to think of it, Sang-deok said that he was preparing a big deal.

 

Although he was a damn con artist, he was a pretty famous arms smuggler in this territory until his death. So with that in mind, it was not strange to have such a warehouse full of weapons.

 

He didn’t touch those. It was too much for him to handle, and it was dangerous. So, in the end, all he got was an unidentified card and a pistol called Mark 23.

 

He failed to recover the 2 million won he gave to Sang-deok to buy a Czech pistol.

 

‘I should have known something’s fishy when he said he could get it cheap… I just threw money away.’

 

Still, he thought it was not the worst possible situation since he got the Mark 23 and a half of the money back, but considering the cost of the bullets spent to deal with the Sang-deok and the risk taken, it didn’t change the fact that he suffered considerable losses in the end.

 

‘Huh, what are they…?’

 

A bunch of gangsters was hanging around his motorcycle. Seok-min frowned as his steps quickened.

 

“This is something good. Shall we take it?”

 

“Can you cut the chain?”

 

“It’s a weak lock. Wait a minute.”

 

He took a long knife out of his thick hoodie, grabbed it upside down, and hit the lock.

 

“If you hit it hard…”

 

Seok-min tapped him slightly on the head with the gun.

 

“Hey, guys, what’s your problem?”

 

Seeing the gun in his hand, the men immediately bowed their heads and politely put their hands together.

 

“Get lost.”

 

After Seok-min watched where the gangsters ran away for a while, he took off his military uniform and weapon. Residents living in Gyeonggi-do were able to arm themselves, but still, it wasn’t good if someone saw them wearing weapons openly while on the move, so they usually put their weapons and military helmets in their gun carriers.

 

He started the motorcycle after finishing organizing his weapons. Soon after, the speeding motorcycle ran along the road coolly.

 

There weren’t many cars on the street.

 

Most of them were military vehicles painted with military paint, and public transport buses were seen occasionally.

 

Although there were not many cars, there were military checkpoints at the borders of the city, central government offices, and major intersections, so he had no choice but to stop every time.

 

Eventually, after the fifth checkpoint, a female soldier with the rank of private approached and measured Seok-min’s body temperature.

 

“37.5 degrees is normal. Sergeant Min Hye-sun.”

 

The private reported to a female soldier who appeared to be her boss.

 

“What’s in that bag?”

 

The female’s rank was a sergeant. With a very sharp voice, she pointed at Seok-min and asked a question. Seok-min responded with an annoyed expression on his face.

 

“Guns, Commander.”

 

“Can I confirm?”

 

“Well, whatever.”

 

How many years has he been in the military? Oh, it has been two years and six months since then. He spent three years in the Southern Army.

 

It has been a little over three years since the women’s military conscription system began as the situation broke out and human resources were depleted.

 

‘If I were you, I’d kill myself.’

 

As he smirked, the female soldier stared at him, thinking he was laughing at her. He couldn’t be punished because of that alone, so Seok-min took on her stare with a calm expression on his face.

 

There were roughly two months left in his military service, so when he thought about how well it would be, the female soldier spoke up again.

 

“Where did all these weapons come from? Besides, they’re still warm.”

 

She asked, touching the barrel. At that, another female soldier holding the handle of the K-6 heavy machine gun mounted on an anti-aircraft vehicle aimed at him.

 

“I met some robbers on the way. So I shot a few times in the air to threaten them.”

 

“What about these weapons? Isn’t that a sniper rifle? There’s a scope for it too? Under the current gun laws…”

 

“Here is your permit.”

 

He pulled out a firearms license from his wallet and showed it to her.

 

“…okay, pass by.”

 

The female soldier still looked suspiciously, but she let Seok-min go after carefully checking the firearms license.

 

He rode his motorcycle and passed the female soldiers leisurely.

 

As he entered the street, soldiers with rifles were patrolling instead of the police.

 

“The day has come. The gates of heaven will be opened!”

 

A man in a white robe shouted while wearing a white hood. His clothes resembled those of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan).

 

Then, when the traffic light turned red, he passed through the traffic jams like aunts selling popsicles.

 

Those in the car ignored him and shut the windows firmly, but Seok-min, riding the motorcycle, had no way to avoid him.

 

“Repent! And open the gates of heaven!”

 

The man shouted with a loudspeaker right next to Seok-min’s ear, making Seok-min frown.

 

“Get lost.”

 

“When the day of judgment comes…”

 

Seok-min quietly pulled out his pistol and aimed it at him.

 

“GET LOST.”

 

It was only when his gun was pointed in front of his eyes that he shut up.

 

Seok-min then put his pistol back in. After confirming that the traffic light had changed to blue, he released the brake and leaped forward. The man’s swear words and curses were heard towards Seok-min from behind.

 

“Damn you bastard! Receive the devil’s curse! The child of a prostitute, the seed of misery! You will not be saved for the rest of your life! You will struggle in pain and die in a trash can!”

 

As he blocked the road and continued to pour curses in the direction Seok-min was going, the sound of an annoyed military car banging and honking was also heard.

 

***

 

Upon arriving at home, Seok-min tied the motorcycle with a chain and entered the house.

 

A dark, lonely house welcomed him, and there was no one else in the house. He lived alone in this 10-pyeong one-room house. A small photo album with a table, computer and family photos, a third-tier mattress, and blankets were the only things he had.

 

Leaving his luggage in the corner of the room, he went straight to the bathroom and took a shower. He kept his pistol by his side in the shower. After leaving the shower, he looked at the card Sang-deok gave him. There were no letters or patterns on both sides of the golden card, just some magnetic lines.

 

‘I don’t think he lied.’

 

He saw his M16A1.

 

The gun he brought out of the military, which he had already used for more than six years. It had been used for so long that the inner steel wires were almost worn out and broken.

 

As soon as he picked up the gun, a screen popped up in front of him.

 

[M16A1]

 

Durability: 20%

 

quality: low

 

Ammunition: 5.56mm regular rounds

 

Weapon licensed in Korea, the internal steel wire is worn out due to overuse.

 

He couldn’t use it anymore. Although he had a Russian-made noise-suppressing sniper rifle, 9x39mm subsonic bullets were not readily available in Korea.

 

The person who saved it was Sangdeok, but now that he is dead, there is no purpose in preserving it.

 

He thought about the remaining balance, about 5 million won.

 

‘The monthly rent for that snotty house was 2 million. I should be relieved just by the fact that I got a house, but I couldn’t help but feel that it is too expensive.’ Housing problems have emerged most urgently after the incident, and house prices skyrocketed due to inflation.

 

After paying the monthly rent, the remaining amount was 3 million won. After the crisis, prices increased, so that will only last a month. And if you think about the cost of ammunition…

 

‘Sigh, I’m living a dog’s life.’

 

The problem was that his previous pistol, the K5, was completely destroyed in a series of incidents, resulting in unnecessary expenses – spending 2 million won to buy a Czech pistol.

 

As he calculated his remaining money, a wave of skepticism about his life flooded in. His enthusiasm also plummeted.