Episode 001: Go for Broke
Early morning one day in December 1943.
“The weather in Burma is just as fucked up now as it was then. These persistent mosquitoes too.”
Gim Haksu, who had been lying in ambush right beside I Juhyeok, slapped at the mosquito latched onto his neck and spoke up.
“Captain, if we’d just forgotten everything and gone to America back then to sell war bonds, we wouldn’t have to suffer like this here… right?”
At Gim Haksu’s grumbling, I Juhyeok let out a short laugh.
“We’d be treated like heroes while safely selling war bonds, with blonde, curvy American women lining up to say they’ll devour me! *Smack.*”
Gim Haksu even smacked his lips, lamenting the missed opportunity.
I Juhyeok had been offered citizenship and an honorary medal by the US government in recognition of his meritorious service in the Battle of New Guinea.
And there was even a proposal for him to come to America and sell war bonds.
However, I Juhyeok refused them all and remained on the battlefield.
Having remained on the battlefield, he had led the Korean unit members across the Chindwin River, the border between India and Burma, three days prior.
The infiltration objective was to disrupt the Japanese supply lines.
He was together with the Chindit unit, composed of one British captain and eighty Gurkha soldiers.
However, the British captain conducting the operation with them openly ignored the Korean unit and placed them on standby far behind the front lines.
“You yellow monkeys, just stay quiet behind us so you don’t get in the way. That’s how you’ll help us. Heh heh heh.”
He must have wanted to hog all the credit.
But sure enough, on the battlefield, these kinds of guys always caused accidents.
“Let’s see how well those bastards do without us. Hmph!”
Perhaps having changed the target of his complaints, Gim Haksu pouted as he looked at the Chindit unit.
Then, the headlights of several vehicles began approaching chaotically.
It was the Japanese supply unit they had been waiting for.
“If we just nab those bastards, this sickening ambush will finally end!”
Gim Haksu was busily daydreaming beside him.
But as soon as the Chindit troops opened fire, Japanese soldiers suddenly began pouring out from the truck beds that should have been loaded with supplies.
The prior intel had clearly stated it was a simple supply unit…….
As the battle began, the Gurkhas were pinned down, unable to even raise their heads from cover due to the suppressive fire of the machine guns mounted on the Japanese trucks.
Tatatatata, tdang, tdang, kwagwang, kwagwang.
The only sounds on the battlefield were Japanese machine guns and rifles, and the ones screaming and falling from bullets and grenades were all Gurkhas.
Shortly after, some of the Japanese rear troops began dispersing to the right of the front line.
‘It looks like they’re trying to outflank and surround us.’
Tatatatata, tdang, tdang.
Panicking, he turned his binoculars toward the Chindit unit only to see the British captain with his head completely buried in the dirt, trembling violently as bullets struck around him, kicking up soil.
‘That fucking bastard! And they call that thing an officer!’
“At this rate, we’ll be annihilated. We’ll circle behind the enemy first and suppress them.”
Juhyeok ran out, cutting through the tropical jungle with the Korean unit members who had been waiting only for his order.
‘Hoo, hoo, hold on a little longer. We’re coming to save you.’
While running with all his might, he collided with several Japanese soldiers who suddenly burst from the tropical jungle and tumbled down.
“Koroshite shimatte (殺してしまって, Kill them)!”
The Japanese soldiers he had collided with rose with malice-filled voices and rushed at him.
Tadaang, peoeok, tdang, peoeok!
The Korean unit members following behind subdued them in an instant with rifles and bayonets.
Having cut through the tropical jungle, the Korean unit members finally positioned themselves behind the Japanese, took up positions, and assessed the battle situation.
Tatatatata, tdang, tdang, kwagwagwang!
The Gurkhas still couldn’t find an opening, pinned down by the suppressive fire of the Japanese machine guns mounted atop the trucks.
At this rate, it was clear they would be surrounded and annihilated.
“We take those machine guns first. Gim Haksu! You take the second.”
Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!
Accompanied by gunshots, the Japanese machine gunners fell, and the Korean unit members began killing the Japanese from behind the supply column with rifles and grenades.
Tdang! Tang! Tdang! Tdang! Kwagwagwang!
With their machine guns neutralized and bullets flying from an unexpected direction, the Japanese began to panic, believing themselves surrounded.
“Onward! Waaahhhh.”
Then the Gurkhas, who had been crouching under the suppressive fire, didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately began swinging their kukris and charging into the Japanese positions.
Even when hit by bullets, the Gurkhas made sure to take the enemy down with them, and the Japanese too began to resist desperately as full-scale hand-to-hand combat erupted.
The Japanese had their throats slit or arms severed by kukris, and the Gurkhas had their throats and chests pierced by bayonets.
“All in.”
“Or nothing.”
I Juhyeok and the Korean unit members who had been waiting also shouted their battle cry and jumped into the melee.
After over ten minutes of desperate hand-to-hand combat, not a single Japanese soldier remained standing.
“Fortunately, there are only two lightly wounded.”
Just as he was being briefed on the Korean unit’s casualty situation, desperate screams began to ring out from all around.
From a distance, he could see Gurkha soldiers using their kukris to finish off wounded Japanese soldiers who had fallen.
‘What is the difference between cruelty and valor? Well, they can’t take prisoners, and if left alive, they might shoot at them again later, so it’s best to be thorough.’
He was lost in brief contemplation, but soon sorted out his thoughts.
This was a battlefield, and they were unmistakable enemies.
Besides, having lost over thirty comrades in the immediate previous battle, the Gurkhas were not ones to meekly obey even if a British officer tried to stop them.
Battles between Gurkha units and the Japanese army were famous for leaving no prisoners.
They were as courageous as their reputation, and just as cruel.
Then Gurkha Lieutenant Sing dragged over a Japanese officer who couldn’t even walk properly due to a gunshot wound in the leg.
“What is it?”
Having approached right next to I Juhyeok, he winked and held out a kukri drenched in blood.
“As repayment for saving us, I’ll let you have the honor of finishing this bastard.”
“I’m not interested in that kind of thing. If there are more Japanese troops in the vicinity, they might come toward the sound of gunfire, so let’s withdraw quickly.”
It was as he returned the blood-soaked kukri to him and turned to leave.
“I… Juhyeok.”
Amid the painful groans coming from all directions, broken Korean began to be heard.
I Juhyeok and Gim Haksu startled and looked toward the sound.
“You… We, we will… certainly…….”
The Japanese officer glared at I Juhyeok with bloodshot eyes, muttering in their tongue.
“What did you just say?”
“Th-the final victory will be o-ours, the Great Japanese Empi… *gurk*.”
I Juhyeok grabbed the man who was vomiting blood and about to collapse forward, shaking him.
“You bastard! You knew who I was? Huh?”
The eyes of the Japanese officer being shaken by I Juhyeok already showed only the whites, and blood kept flowing from his mouth.
He had bitten his tongue and committed suicide.
“How did that bastard know the Captain?”
“I know… I’m bewildered too…….”
“Then… could they have known beforehand that we were coming here…….”
Come to think of it, the Japanese troops they had engaged today were unusually numerous for an ordinary supply unit.
‘Could it be…….’
I Juhyeok stared for a long while at the corpse of the Japanese officer, his hands tied behind his back and his head buried in the dirt, with a complicated expression.
“See, you should have finished him off quickly when we gave you the chance. Tsk tsk tsk.”
From behind I Juhyeok, who wore a grave expression, Lieutenant Sing approached and tapped his shoulder.
He had the disappointed look of someone who had missed out on a fun toy.
Only then did I Juhyeok come to his senses.
“Let’s wrap up quickly and head back.”
I Juhyeok immediately ordered the battlefield cleanup, and the Gurkhas—all of whom now looked at him differently after fighting alongside him—followed his orders without a word of complaint.
And that British captain who had displayed such incompetent leadership… was completely stripped of his rank.
The bodies of the fallen Gurkhas were gathered in one place and buried, and the Japanese trucks were doused in gasoline and completely burned.
“By the way, that slogan your unit was shouting sounded like Korean. What does it mean?”
“Why?”
“It just sounded awesome. Heh heh heh.”
Perhaps because they had just fought together with their lives on the line?
Lieutenant Sing, speaking to him in a friendly tone so different from before, wasn’t all that unpleasant.
“In English, it means something like ‘Go for broke’.”
“Oh, that’s awesome! Can we use that slogan too?”
“Do as you like.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lieutenant Sing saluted with more grandeur than necessary and returned.
I Juhyeok and his unit members hurried their return to base, leaving behind the Japanese trucks still ablaze.
The march back to their base was smooth and without further engagement, but the words the dying Japanese officer had spat out continued to weigh heavily on Juhyeok’s shoulders.
Whenever Juhyeok suddenly found himself mulling over everything that had happened to him, as he was today, his head always throbbed.
By some unknown power, he had crossed over from the Republic of Korea in 2021 to the Japanese colonial era of the 1930s, and now stood in the thick of the Pacific War.
The mysterious events of his past flashed through Juhyeok’s mind.
* * *
One day in December 2021, the National Intelligence Service.
I Juhyeok, who had grumbled his way to work after being called in on a Sunday, had to endure Team Leader Song Indeok’s rebuke as soon as he arrived.
“Hey! Why are you so late! The Director will be arriving shortly, so hurry up and prepare.”
“The Director?”
“That’s what I’m saying. The Bureau Chief has already arrived and is preparing the briefing. You get ready too. And tie your tie properly. Tsk!”
Without even knowing why he was being put in a meeting attended by the NIS Director, I Juhyeok hurriedly fixed his hair and straightened his tie before entering the conference room.
The Bureau Chief was already standing in front of a large screen, and employees were busily moving about setting out refreshments.
About ten minutes later, the NIS Director entered the meeting room.
“Let’s begin.”
After everyone except the four people including I Juhyeok had exited, the lights in the conference room went out.
And immediately, a large photo of a middle-aged man appeared on the screen at the front.
“Name: Gim Jin-cheol. Forty-eight years old. Born in Pyongyang, and the maternal grandson of a first-generation North Korean revolutionary. A graduate of Kim Chaek University of Technology’s Physics Department and holding a doctorate in physics from the Moscow Institute of Engineering and Physics, he is a man deeply involved in North Korea’s nuclear weapons development.”
The briefing by the Overseas Intelligence Bureau Chief continued.
“He defected from North Korea in January of this year, traveled through China, arrived in Myanmar, and requested asylum at our local embassy. He is currently under protection at our legation.”
“I’m already aware of that. Let’s get to the main point.”
“Yes, getting to the main point, this man has been saying strange things.”
“Strange things?”
“He says he brought out a time machine sample when he escaped from North Korea.”
“A time machine?”
The Director let out a hollow laugh, leaning back in his chair.
However, the Bureau Chief conducting the briefing was deadly serious.
“Yes. According to this man, several years ago North Korean hackers infiltrated an American CIA server and obtained papers and blueprints related to a time machine that the Nazis had been actively developing right up until their defeat.”
“…….”
“And based on that, after several years of research, they allegedly succeeded in creating a sample time machine.”
Whether because he had heard the words “CIA server hacking,” the Director became noticeably serious again, clasping his hands and staring at the screen.
“Then does he intend to hand that sample over to us?”
“This man is demanding the complete destruction of the time machine sample.”
“Why?”
“He fears it may be exploited by certain forces.”
“Hmm…….”
The Bureau Chief let out a deep sigh, as if disappointed.
“And having somehow obtained the information, the CIA wants to participate in verifying the machine’s physical existence and witness the scene of its complete destruction.”
“Even the CIA… Hmm.”
The Director muttered as if groaning.
“Where is the sample now?”
“He says he hid it in a jungle hideout in Myanmar where he had stayed while crossing the China-Myanmar border.”
“Then must our team and the CIA go there together?”
“Yes, that’s correct. We will conduct a joint on-site verification and, with CIA assistance, immediately bring him to Korea.”
“Given the Myanmar government’s pro-China leanings, I suppose we’ll need American help to bring a defecting North Korean nuclear physicist to our country. *Sigh*”
“They have also requested to participate in our interrogation of him.”
The NIS Director let out a deep sigh, seeming to lament that even this sort of matter required American interference and help.
“Then who from our Service will be dispatched this time?”
“Agent I Juhyeok here and one military attaché from the embassy in Myanmar will carry out the mission together.”
“Agent I Juhyeok—isn’t he the hero who rescued our citizens from Somali pirates a year ago?”
For the first time during the meeting, the grave expression on the NIS Director’s face broke into a bright smile.
“To think such a hero was in our Service? Hahaha.”
“The military attaché joining the mission is also a team member who was active alongside him at that time.”
“I’m counting on you. Please do your best this time as well.”
The NIS Director shook hands with I Juhyeok, who was bewildered to be assigned a nonsensical mission straight out of a science fiction novel—the destruction of a time machine—and smiled brightly.