New Joseon Chronicles, Episode 4
Captain Kim Inseok, Navigator Heo Yun, Medical Team Leader Kim Shin, and Technical Department Head Park Eunseong were gathered together.
They all sat in calm silence, yet none could conceal the rage boiling within. Their eyes blazed and their teeth ground together as curses threatened to break free. But more than anything, the fact that they would never meet the families they longed to see was utterly devastating.
Kim Shin asked Jang Seongho if it was truly the past they had come to.
"Is it true that we have traveled to the past?"
"Yes……"
"How could such a thing happen? I know that a space jump distorts spacetime, but nowhere have I read that time travel is possible. If that were the case, wouldn't physicists have built time machines by now?"
Jang Seongho opened his mouth with difficulty in response to the question.
"That is what I had always believed. But it seems we have become the first… Please, look at these photographs."
"What are these……?"
"They are the areas that were damaged by enemy fighters as we escaped Taebaekseong. We avoided the main engines, but the warp engine was hit. I believe this is the reason we have come to the past."
They were photographs taken by a crew member who had gone outside the hull, documenting the damage from the enemy fighter attack.
The hull was riddled with holes, and several rounds had lodged near the warp engine—the very device that enabled the space jump. The holes clustered around the engine proved it.
There was no longer any way to deny that they had come to the past.
Seonghan asked Jang Seongho.
"Can we not return to the future?"
Jang Seongho looked to Heo Yun, and Heo Yun said that those with greater expertise than himself would know. At least Park Eunseong knew a little about warp theory.
He shook his head, and that single motion filled the room with disappointment.
"The world is expressed in three dimensions, and adding the invisible time axis makes it four-dimensional. A space jump pulls only the X, Y, and Z axes while leaving the time axis untouched. No one has developed a technology capable of moving the time axis. Physicists have done nothing but theorize; no one has ever proven it through experiment."
"Then we are the first."
"Yes. And I dare say that if we somehow returned, we would turn the field of physics upside down."
Hollow laughter erupted.
Every word was predicated on "if we returned," yet making that a reality was an absolute necessity.
Seonghyeok asked Park Eunseong in a trembling voice.
"Can we return? …We absolutely must."
And he received his answer.
"If traveling to the past is possible, then traveling to the future may also be possible. However, returning to the exact space, the exact time, and the exact situation we desire is a problem of an entirely different dimension."
"What do you mean?"
"It means that an infinite number of paths lie before us. Going to the past is like returning along the path you came, but heading to the future means choosing just one of countless roads. Since we have already appeared in this era, it would not be wrong to say that the past itself has changed as well. Even if we assume an extreme scenario—traveling around a black hole where time flows slowly and emerging from it……"
"We cannot return to the future we want?"
"The probability of that is extremely high. At the very least, it is higher than a mere ninety-nine point nine percent. The nines would continue infinitely after the decimal point. Returning to our original era is virtually impossible."
He was not being pessimistic.
What Park Eunseong said was an irrefutable truth that no one in the cabin could deny.
The realization that they could not return to the future took root.
And with it came the thought that they would never see their families again.
The flames of hope flickered and nearly died.
Heo Yun wept in grief.
"Honey… Yeongjun… Huk… Huk…!"
Kim Inseok and Jang Seongho also fell into despair upon hearing Park Eunseong's words.
Both of them had families left behind in the future.
Wives, children, and parents remained there.
They were devastated by the fact that they could no longer even contact their families.
They wanted to deny reality.
But all that flooded in was frustration and utter despair.
They wanted to collapse in anguish.
"How could this happen……"
They had no idea what to do.
Even Kim Shin, who appeared the most composed, had eyes brimming behind his glasses.
Seeing this, Park Eunseong suffered as the bearer of such cruel news.
He, too, was deeply grieved that he could not return to the future.
The very reasons they had lived for seemed on the verge of collapse.
Then, Seonghan looked out the window at the Earth and fell into thought.
After roughly a minute, he asked Jang Seongho.
"What are we going to do now?"
At Seonghan's question, Heo Yun lashed out.
"What is there to do?! Everything is over! What meaning is there if we cannot go back! Damn it all! Huk……!"
"……."
Seonghan's words had clearly angered Heo Yun.
He glanced at him once, then fell silent and turned his gaze to Jang Seongho, waiting for an answer.
Enduring the pain, Jang Seongho finally spoke with great difficulty.
"In our current situation, I do not know what we should do… We must go back, yet we are in a situation where we cannot… Right now, whatever we do is meaningless……"
Seonghan cut him off.
"It is not meaningless."
"Pardon……?"
"Even one in infinity is still a possibility. What matters is that we must survive. Only by surviving can we think about what comes next. That is why what we do now is important."
At Seonghan's words, Kim Inseok agreed in a low, firm voice.
"I agree with Manager Yu. We must survive, no matter what."
Seonghan spoke again.
"There are many people aboard the Hwanung. How much food do we have? And how much oxygen? If supplies are insufficient, should we not descend to the surface? We must determine how much fuel remains and find a way, a plan, to survive going forward. Doing nothing and remaining still is no different from giving up entirely. If we do that, only death awaits us. It is nothing more than choosing to die. How long can we last in our current state?"
Jang Seongho answered Seonghan's question.
"More personnel boarded due to the evacuation. With one hundred and seven people, we can endure roughly one month."
"One month……."
"It is as long as it is short."
It was a span of time that could pass in an instant if spent without purpose.
Hearing Jang Seongho's answer, Seonghan looked at the monitor and asked again.
"When is it? No—exactly what year, month, and day? We need to know the situation on the surface."
Jang Seongho answered.
"I do not know the exact date. But it is definitely the late Joseon dynasty. We have confirmed Western ships coming and going in Incheon and Busan. To know for certain, we have no choice but to meet people and ask."
"You mean the people on the ground?"
"Yes. We can send a reconnaissance team to verify. It will take a few days, but it will not be a waste of time. Once we know exactly when we are, we can formulate a plan."
"……."
"Do you have a plan already drawn up?"
"……."
Seonghan continued to stare at the monitor.
Various plans were already forming in his mind.
Events that had taken place in the late Joseon dynasty—and how he might exploit them.
Seeing Seonghan calculating furiously, Kim Inseok asked.
"Are you thinking of changing history?"
Seonghan answered with a bitter smile.
"It has already changed the moment we arrived in this era. Then shouldn't the changed history become one that is favorable to us? We must lay the groundwork and endure. That is the best option. Only by surviving can we discuss anything else."
Everyone in the room resonated with Seonghan's words.
Kim Inseok nodded and smiled, and even the department head, who had been losing hope, began to regain his spirits at having a new purpose.
Even Heo Yun, who had been weeping bitterly, stopped his tears as he began to think about what needed to be done.
The people began to move, centering around Seonghan.
Seonghyeok sprang up from his seat.
"If we need to go to the surface, I will go. Since unexpected situations may arise, armed personnel must accompany me."
No one objected to descending to the surface for reconnaissance.
Not even Seonghan, his older brother, tried to stop Seonghyeok.
It was best for his younger brother to go.
They planned to send a security platoon to Seoul, known as Hanyang, to gather information.
Having established their plan, they rose from their seats.
"Let us inform everyone of the Hwanung's situation."
It was a trial they dearly wished to avoid but could not.
The fact that the Hwanung had traveled to the past was announced to all aboard.
Along with it came the reasons they could not return, and the reality that they could only survive for one month in space.
Those who heard the news first doubted their ears, and then fell into despair.
For several days they grieved the families they would never see again, unable to do anything.
Jiyeon watched the people as they looked utterly helpless.
"Chaea……"
"Won-yeong… Huk… Huk……"
They shed endless tears, longing for their wives and children.
Watching them, Jiyeon also wept.
She had left behind a mother, a father, and an older sister in the future.
As she grieved at the thought of never seeing them again, a hand came to rest on her shoulder.
When she turned her head, she saw Seonghan.
"Seonghan……"
Seonghan patted Jiyeon's shoulder and comforted her.
"I know you are sad because we cannot go back. And I know this sorrow will not fade easily. But we cannot simply sit here doing nothing, steeped in grief."
Hearing his words, Jiyeon spoke, suppressing her anger.
"It's easy for you to say… You don't know because you have no family, but I have parents and a sister in the future… I feel like I'm dying because I can't see them again, and you say we can't just remain like this doing nothing… Is that what you should be saying?"
Seonghan spoke again.
"…I envy you. For having a family to miss."
"What…?"
"I don't even have a photograph to look at while I cry… You have memories you can grieve over… I wish I had memories like that too……"
"……."
"I was trying to cheer you up, but I think I only made you angry. I'm sorry."
He offered his apology to Jiyeon.
Looking at Seonghan, who had grown up in a care facility from childhood, Jiyeon lost her words and could no longer claim that she was unfortunate.
Her flowing tears slowly subsided.
She was too exhausted to cry any longer.
Even those who had completely stopped eating and drinking were forced to take food when hunger came.
While the people aboard the Hwanung descended into chaos and then gradually regained their composure, Seonghyeok—Seonghan's younger brother—spent a day studying the history of the late Joseon dynasty and descended to the surface with several squad members.
He was accompanied by 1st Squad Leader Woo Jonghyeon, and his squad members Lee Seunghyeon, Kim Hyeonjin, and Jeong Un.
A small shuttle landed in an uninhabited mountain valley.
Seonghyeok and the squad members who disembarked immediately concealed the shuttle with nearby trees and bushes.
Then, dressed in clothing that resembled Joseon attire as closely as possible, they emerged from the forest.
Perhaps because people had cut down all the trees for firewood, the area around the mountain path was quite bare.
As the sun rose, peddlers began to pass along the road.
The squad members walked past them without acknowledging them.
One of the peddlers passing by spoke to the squad members.