In the end, Taesu followed Squad Leader Sam’s decision.
“We’ll have to hide everyone behind the trees and hold out by ourselves.”
“This won’t end here.”
“Why would we let it end, for their sake? We’ll survive, stubbornly, and announce these bastards’ atrocities to the whole world.”
The moment he spoke his resolve—
Rustle.
Everyone vanished behind the trees.
At that moment, the faces of the officers from both sides who had been at the agreement table flashed through Taesu’s mind.
They had shoved responsibility onto each other until the very end, thinking only of their own interests—bastards worse than beasts.
People like that were more than capable of devising a vile operation like this.
Grit.
Taesu ground his teeth.
Survive.
Somehow, he would survive.
Whether it was a sheer precipice or the pits of hell, he would survive no matter what.
And not alone—everyone would make it through together.
He knew he was being stubborn without any real plan.
But that didn’t matter.
The longing to live needed no reason.
It was a reason in itself.
The enemies were drawing closer and closer.
They were spread out wide, slowly tightening the net as if driving prey into a trap.
Clack.
Everyone with a rifle took up a combat stance.
The people in the truck bed crouched low, tense.
The tension surrounding the old truck and the area around it dried out their lips.
Taesu swallowed hard and asked Squad Leader Sam.
“Do you think we can win?”
“With that many, there’s more than enough of a chance. However…”
“However what?”
“I think there may be civilian casualties…”
“…”
Taesu fell silent.
Squad Leader Sam was right.
Bullets had no eyes.
No matter how elite the operators were, it would be difficult to fight while perfectly protecting civilians.
On top of that, the enemy had far greater numbers.
Taesu’s face darkened as he thought that far.
It was then.
A cloud of dust billowed up from the lower part of the mountain.
Squad Leader Sam, who had been glancing over to check, shouted to everyone.
“Do you see that?”
“What is that?”
At that moment, Private Anthony, who was taking cover behind a rock, pressed his ear close to the radio.
Then he looked around at everyone and said,
“Awooo.”
“Anthony, is this the time to be joking?”
“…It’s Werewolf. They say what’s coming up from below is Werewolf!”
Werewolf.
The face of the macho Battalion Commander Valentino appeared vividly in everyone’s mind.
Private Anthony listened to the radio again and said,
“…Operation name, ‘Return of the Benefactors.’ They say they’ll execute it now.”
“Huh?”
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon flinched.
At the same time, Squad Leader Sam shouted,
“It’s begun!”
The firepower was different from the start.
Right from the opening, it was a machine-gun barrage.
Dududududu.
Perhaps because of the unexpected surprise attack from behind, the enemy formation collapsed in an instant.
But they were not called wolves for nothing.
The battalion members who opened fire from the vehicles began dismounting and pushing the enemy back.
They pursued them thoroughly and relentlessly, as if tearing into them.
Return fire?
Even though they had arrived by vehicle, they were, at a glance, company-sized.
And they were equipped with the latest weapons.
The enemies, who were not even platoon-sized, had no choice but to lose their will to fight.
Even so, since their lives were on the line, they did not surrender meekly.
Dududu, dududu!
Bullets rained down without pause.
Stray bullets even flew toward them.
Crack, thud!
Wounds appeared on the trees around them.
But their side suffered no damage.
It was because they were safely shielding themselves behind the trees and the truck.
It was the first time the gunfire that had sounded so horrific just moments ago felt so exhilarating.
“Let ’em have it! Give ’em more!”
“Smash them to pieces!”
“Serves you right, you bastards!”
Their jeers would never reach the enemy.
But that did not matter.
Everyone smiled at the sweet satisfaction of revenge.
A short while later.
The gunfire that had shaken the mountain ceased, and silence returned once more.
That silence did not last very long. It was only here.
Dududu. Bababoom.
From the direction of the village, the sound of guns and artillery continued to ring out.
Fortunately, it was quite far away.
Thanks to that, no one tensed up or shrank back at the sound.
Now they had no interest in what was happening up there.
Taesu and the others hiding behind the trees strained their ears wide open.
“…”
It was to prepare for any unforeseen situation.
Relaxing before everything was completely over would be far too careless.
Getting hit from behind once was enough.
As they remained fully alert to their surroundings—
Crunch, crunch.
Instead of gunfire, they heard footsteps.
Squad Leader Sam, listening closely, carefully glanced out from behind the tree.
At that very moment—
Snap.
He quickly stood at rigid attention and raised his voice.
“Unit, fall in!”
“Sir!”
Clack.
The squad members swiftly gathered and lined up around Squad Leader Sam.
Then Squad Leader Sam said in a low, heavy voice,
“Attention!”
Snap!
“Sal—”
Just as Squad Leader Sam was about to salute, he hesitated.
Perhaps he had seen something.
Then Battalion Commander Valentino’s voice came.
“I have no intention of receiving a salute in this situation, so skip it. Ease up a little.”
“Sir. Unit, at ease.”
Thud!
Squad Leader Sam and the squad members shifted with precision into parade rest.
They were dressed in plain clothes, but their hearts were always those of soldiers.
At that moment, Squad Leader Sam subtly turned his head.
A glance.
He was cleverly signaling Taesu.
Only then did Taesu also give Gu Seungheon and the others a light gesture with his hand.
“It looks like the situation is over.”
“Huuuh…”
Sounds of tension being released came from here and there.
Meanwhile, Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon stepped away from the trees.
In their eyes, they saw Battalion Commander Valentino, his face smeared with camouflage cream. There were several soldiers around him as well.
The other soldiers had spread out widely, searching for any enemies who might still be hiding.
Rustle. Rustle.
Their cautious yet unhurried movements called to mind wolves prowling in search of prey.
In doing so, they showed exactly who the master of this territory was now.
At the same time as he quickly grasped the situation around them, Taesu bowed politely to Battalion Commander Valentino.
“Thank you for coming all this way.”
“What are you saying? I’m simply grateful to see you safe like this.”
“Please don’t curse me for only going around looking for dangerous places.”
The moment Taesu spoke with self-reproach—
Battalion Commander Valentino’s warm expression hardened at once.
“What rotten… Ahem. If anyone is to be blamed for that, I should be the one apologizing first.”
“The situation is quite different from back then.”
“To my eyes, it is the same. To think they dared attack an NGO and the PKO—how is that any different from terrorists?”
“Heh. You’re right. We were attacked by terrorists.”
Taesu smiled bitterly, the corners of his eyes drooping.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon were the same.
Their current state was just that much of a mess.
Battalion Commander Valentino took one more step toward the three of them.
With a composed face, he looked over the three and spoke in a deep voice.
“I was taught that a reunion should be a joyful moment.”
“Oh, I haven’t even greeted you properly.”
He had bowed his head earlier to show respect, but that was far from enough.
As proof of that, Battalion Commander Valentino was holding out his hand.
Taesu was the first to clasp it and said,
“Allow me to greet you once more. Thank you for coming all this way.”
“The loyalty of wolves is eternal.”
After answering briefly, he shook hands with Jeong Minsu next.
Jeong Minsu clasped his hand with both of his and expressed his gratitude.
“Thanks to you, we survived.”
“I’m glad we weren’t too late.”
Next came Kim Hyeokgwon’s turn.
The moment they clasped hands, words very much like Kim Hyeokgwon began.
“Much obliged. But how did you arrive at such perfect timing?”
“We were moving with the follow-up unit to a new operational area.”
“What a grateful coincidence this world has given us.”
“It wasn’t a coincidence. The operational area isn’t that far from here.”
Battalion Commander Valentino answered plainly.
The PKO’s operational area was all of Kashmir. The boundary dividing Jammu and Azad had nothing to do with them.
Kim Hyeokgwon seemed to understand now as well and nodded.
Taesu was listening to the greetings being exchanged when—
Crunch.
Gu Seungheon approached from the side.
Shock and confusion still remained on his face.
His appearance, too, was a complete mess.
Even so, he quietly spoke to Taesu first.
“They saved us like this, so I wanted to come and give my thanks.”
“Are you all right, President?”
“Is that what matters? Whether it’s gratitude or apology, it’s only proper to offer my greetings first.”
The end of Gu Seungheon’s voice trembled slightly.
It meant he had still not completely escaped the shock and terror.
Taesu turned and said to Battalion Commander Valentino,
“Battalion Commander, this man is the village representative. He says he wants to greet you.”
“I am Mr. Gu.”
Gu Seungheon introduced himself first.
Battalion Commander Valentino seemed a little surprised by his similar appearance to Taesu.
But that lasted only a moment.
Perhaps Gu Seungheon’s demeanor pleased him, for he responded with a gentle smile.
“You must have been terribly frightened by such a sudden and grave crisis. I am Battalion Commander Valentino.”
“For you to come running all this way…”
“The PKO exists for everyone’s safety…”
The two calmly exchanged gratitude and words of comfort.
As their greetings were coming to an end, a familiar PKO soldier approached.
The soldier, wearing individual combat gear just like Battalion Commander Valentino and carrying a rifle on his shoulder, was none other than the operations officer.
Seeing him, Taesu smiled faintly.
‘Like battalion commander, like operations officer.’
When he had given the operation briefing, he had looked like a typical scholar.
But seeing him camouflaged and armed like this gave off an entirely different impression.
Jeong Minsu seemed to have seen him too, and he leaned over slightly to ask in a quiet voice,
“Does this unit not get issued pistols?”
“You ask him.”
“I don’t plan to, but I guess that uncle is still a wolf too.”
“Agreed.”
Taesu strongly agreed.
Meanwhile, the operations officer approached Battalion Commander Valentino and whispered a report in his ear.
With a satisfied smile, Battalion Commander Valentino said to everyone,
“The enemy has all been eliminated. You may now truly rest easy.”
“Thank you. But where were they encamped?”
“They were wearing civilian clothes rather than military uniforms, so we can’t know for certain.”
“Civilian clothes?”
Taesu and everyone else furrowed their brows.
Battalion Commander Valentino spoke first about the reason.
“It seems they prepared very thoroughly. They even took into account the possibility that someone might escape.”
“These fucking… Whew. I’m sorry. I nearly cursed.”
“It would be strange if you didn’t. What is certain is that no enemy can threaten you now.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. If any enemy remains on the path a pack of wolves has passed through, that itself is a disgrace.”
Battalion Commander Valentino showed his pride without restraint.
It was pride with more than enough basis, and everyone could agree with it.