The operation continued.
Patrols of the Congo's danger zones continued,
and I also accompanied the mobile hospital security operations.
When floods struck the Uvira region, we conducted on-site rescue operations and disaster recovery,
and distributed relief supplies like food and medicine.
We also carried out several joint operations with the local police and military.
It was a rebel suppression operation,
but either the intelligence was wrong, or there were no rebels where we went.
In the meantime, I received a medal as well.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir."
"You played a huge role. Capturing the rebel leader, uncovering the weapons smuggler's base. Thanks to you, our unit's standing has risen considerably."
"I believe it was the team, not me."
"And you speak well too. I feel secure having you around."
"Thank you, sir."
I received the medal from the commander in front of the entire unit,
and even had tea time in the commander's office.
To think that a lowly sergeant had tea with the commander.
My life had completely changed from before.
A guy who used to steal beef from the mart,
a beggar bastard who never could have imagined this kind of life.
Now, no one looks at me as an orphan beggar.
There exists only a soldier who protects his country.
******
"Today we're heading out on patrol and security operations near the eastern border. Since there's intelligence that arms smuggling has increased recently, move carefully and report immediately if anything happens."
"Yes, sir."
Today we are conducting security operations in the eastern Uvira region.
Reports had been continuously coming in that arms smuggling was occurring near Uvira.
We rode in armored vehicles along the route designated by the UN Peacekeepers.
A route that departs from the base, passes the turnaround point, and returns via a different road.
This is the route designated by the UN Peacekeepers.
The route with the highest probability of rebel activity.
"Nothing unusual."
"This side is clear too."
It was the most dangerous route,
the one with the highest chance of rebel activity, but—
there were no particular achievements.
And it made sense.
Like a spinning wheel, we just went round and round the same route every time.
If I were a rebel, I'd avoid this road too.
The UN Peacekeepers conduct security operations every other day,
so would there really be rebels active there?
No, rather, avoiding this road means there are no UN troops there.
Then they'd definitely never come this way.
"Team leader, can't we go a bit deeper instead of sticking to this road?"
In a place where there was no sign of rebels whatsoever,
while carrying out a tedious security operation, I subtly made a suggestion to the team leader.
"I'd like to too, but the UN told us to take this road."
"They recommend this road, but they don't force us to take it, do they?"
"Well... that's true, but don't our elders hate making waves? If we change the route for no reason, they'll flip out."
"Yes, I understand."
I fully understood what the team leader meant.
Our unit's staff officers.
Including the operations officers, the intelligence officers had little ambition for results.
They simply wanted to finish the deployment without incident
and safely return the troops home. That was their goal.
It would be nice to catch rebels during a security operation like last time,
but if not, they thought doing what the UN ordered was enough.
No accidents were their number one priority.
Catching a few more Congolese rebels wasn't going to stabilize Congo.
If someone got hurt charging around trying to catch them?
That would be incomparably worse than any achievement.
Besides, this is a place where guns are common.
You could catch a stray bullet.
This isn't the Republic of Korea.
It's Congo.
It's a deployment.
So rather than risking your life charging into danger,
it's better to do what's reasonably ordered and aim for safety.
I can't say that's wrong.
Even if they give up on achievements,
they were people who believed saving the troops' lives and safety came first.
People who think no accidents is the greatest achievement.
I understand.
But from the perspective of the team carrying out the security operation,
it was such an obvious operation—should I say we wanted some variation?
"Our Inbae knows how to talk like that too. Want another medal?"
Sergeant Im Deoksu spoke as if teasing.
"No, sir. I just spoke up because I thought that since we take the same route every day, the rebels would absolutely never come this way. I'm sorry."
"Sorry, my—hey, Team Leader."
"What?"
"Doesn't something over there look suspicious?"
"Where?"
The company commander looked around and asked back.
"There's gotta be something suspicious somewhere, right? Kekekeke. If there's something suspicious, shouldn't we check it out?"
Sergeant Im Deoksu answered with a sly grin.
Only then did the company commander catch on to what Sergeant Im Deoksu meant.
Deviating from the established route wasn't easy,
but saying we'd found a strange trace and wanted to check it out wouldn't be a problem.
No, that was the whole point of this operation.
Something suspicious.
We'll investigate.
And it becomes "nothing unusual" or an "achievement."
The issue was having a reason to be suspicious.
Sergeant Im Deoksu was going to create one.
A tree, a pile of grass, ruins—he could just say it was suspicious.
No problem at all.
"Okay. But what about everyone else?"
"I'm good with it too."
"It was boring; this sounds fun."
"Then we're executing the operation."
Sergeant Jang Oseong, Comm-1, hearing the company commander's words, immediately played along and sent a transmission to headquarters.
"This is Meerkat Two, Meerkat Two. Headquarters, come in."
"This is Igyeon Headquarters. Meerkat Two, speak."
"During security operations on Route RD 4, we have discovered suspicious terrain and wish to investigate."
"Roger. Report after investigation."
"Roger."
Sergeant Jang Oseong smiled slightly, seemingly amused by the situation after finishing the radio call.
The lie went down smooth as butter.
The boring security operation was starting to get a little interesting.
"Then let's head a bit further north from the Burundi border area."
"Yes, sir."
. . .
I think we caught something we shouldn't have.
At the end of our stealthy movement in the armored vehicles was a rebel base.
While turning the armored vehicle off Route RD 4,
we followed a path with vehicle tracks and this is what came up.
As a joke.
Something carried out like a deviation had grown too big.
It was like a cop on patrol hoping to catch some neighborhood thugs,
but instead witnessing a drug trafficking scene.
The reason something like this was possible
was Congo's climate.
The hot, humid environment created tropical rainforests,
and if you went even a little ways in from the road, the dense trees made it impossible to see what was inside the forest.
I hadn't thought there'd be a rebel base so close by.
"This is Meerkat Two, Meerkat Two. Headquarters, come in."
"This is Headquarters. Meerkat Two, speak."
"Rebel base discovered. Estimated personnel: thirty-ish. Requesting support."
"Roger. We'll send support as soon as possible. Hold position in the rear until reinforcements arrive."
"Roger. Transmitting coordinates."
"Coordinates confirmed."
That was when it happened.
A metallic tang rang against the armored vehicle.
The rebels must have spotted the armored vehicle and opened fire.
"The enemy has opened fire. We will return fire in accordance with the manual."
The team members peeled off the sky-blue covers from their helmets.
UN Peacekeepers wear sky-blue helmets to be easily visible from afar.
But in a firefight, a sky-blue helmet that stands out is like asking to be killed.
So before getting out of the vehicle, they peeled off the sky-blue covers that had been on their helmets.
With the covers removed, our team quickly exited the vehicle, took cover and concealment, and immediately returned fire.
I grabbed the machine gun on the roof of the armored vehicle.
*Drrrrrrt*
The machine gun fired cleanly.
The machine gun on the armored vehicle uses 12.7x99mm rounds.
Bullet length: 138mm.
The round is 13cm, no, 14cm long.
At 14cm, that's smartphone length.
Such large bullets poured cleanly into the rebels' base.
Whether they wore bulletproof vests,
hid behind walls,
or hid behind cars—in front of the 12.7x99mm round, everyone was equal.
The highly penetrative 12.7x99mm round pierced through everything and felled the enemies.
In the meantime, our team dispersed and began to suppress the enemy.
*Bang bang bang bang. Bang bang bang bang.*
The rebels collapsed without resistance.
To our team, who had learned and endlessly trained to fight according to situation and terrain,
the rebels, with no proper education and only knowing how to shoot, were no match.
*Drrrrrrt. Drrrrrrt.*
*Bang bang bang. Bang bang bang bang.*
Gunshots rang out here and there,
and flames shot up.
The enemies helplessly fell.
*Drrrrrrt. Drrrrrrt.*
*Drrrrrrt. Drrrrrrt.*
I had fired the machine gun so much that its barrel glowed bright red.
Any more was too much.
I had to wait for it to cool.
But I couldn't just wait in the armored vehicle until the barrel cooled.
I too got out of the armored vehicle and joined the team.
*Bang bang. Bang bang bang bang.*
Hiding behind trees, waiting, confirming enemy positions, then firing.
Moving positions again and firing. Bang bang bang.
Infinite repetition.
Before I knew it, the gunfire gradually died down,
and no more rebels were standing.
The team members searched for any enemies that might remain, but it was clean.
"Clear."
The operation ended before the reinforcements even arrived.
Everyone wore slightly excited expressions, as if their adrenaline was surging from the rare firefight.
We bound the enemies and began searching the base.
"We might not have enough cable ties."
"Tie them with rope."
We subdued the rebels who had discarded their weapons and surrendered.
The company commander spoke.
"Oseong, take Inbae and conduct a search operation. Check for any hazardous materials."
"Yes, sir."
We searched the few buildings,
which could barely be called buildings,
made by roughly surrounding areas with steel plates.
"Nothing unusual. There's nothing here."
"It seems to have been quarters. Nothing but beds."
"It's a cafeteria."
We searched the approximately ten buildings.
Due to Congo's characteristic lack of electricity, we had to rely on flashlights for the search.
It was tougher than expected, my nerves on edge.
Since something might jump out at any moment.
As the search was wrapping up, only one building remained.
The building located dead center, and the largest one.
Upon entering, it seemed to be a temporary command post.
A large round table was in the center, with a map spread over it.
But that was all.
Aside from that, there were no suspicious items.
Sergeant Jang Oseong spoke to me.
"Clean, right?"
"Yes, it's clean."
"Then let's get out. I'm dying for a smoke."
"Yes, sir."
The two of us exited the rebel command post.
But coming outside and looking, something seemed off.
The size of the building from the outside didn't seem to match the inside.
Inside, there was only a large round table and a few chairs,
but looking from outside now, it seemed bigger than that.
Was I just imagining things?
Still, it wouldn't hurt to check once.
I'll just quietly check and come back.
Sergeant Jang Oseong also seemed to be on edge from the searching,
taking a deep drag of his cigarette.
"Sergeant Jang Oseong."
"What?"
"I think I left my gloves inside. I'll go get them."
"You really can't get your act together. Hurry up and get them."
Sergeant Jang Oseong, enjoying his cigarette,
waved his hand as if nothing was wrong, signaling me to go ahead.
I re-entered the command post building.
The familiar interior, as expected.
A round table and a few chairs.
I tapped suspicious spots as if knocking.
*Thud, thud.*
*Thud, thud.*
I moved position and again—
*Thud, thud.*
*Thud, thud.*
I moved position and again—
*Thud, thud.*
*Thud, thud.*
Just as I was thinking, Maybe not—
*Tong, tong.*
A hollow sound.
Maybe here?
I knocked again, checking the boundary,
and eventually found a very small door handle.
Pushing it open revealed a cramped space barely two pyeong in size.
My flashlight revealed dozens of bags piled in one corner.
If something was placed in such a secretive space,
it had to be important items that no one could casually touch.
I cautiously went over and opened a bag.
Gasp!
Inside, hundred-dollar bills were rolled up and filling the bag to the brim.
I opened another bag.
It was packed with firearms.
What the hell?
What is this?
I checked another bag.
That one too was full of weapons.
Rifles, pistols, ammunition, grenades, bombs, and so on were packed inside.
I thought.
Why are bags like this here?
This is a rebel base.
If they bring in weapons smuggled from elsewhere and distribute them from here?
A wholesaler???
So they divided them into weights a single person could carry, mixing rifles and pistols in the bags?
Is the money bag funding for the rebels, or payment for the weapons?
Whatever it was, it didn't matter.
But one thing was certain.
This wasn't something that would cause trouble if I took it.
In an instant, I stowed all the bags there into my inventory.
. . .
"What took you so long?"
Sergeant Jang Oseong grumbled as I exited the command post.
"Sorry, sir. I thought I put my gloves on the round table, but they were somewhere completely different. I searched for a while."
"Really? Then why are you sweating so much?"
"I think it's because I was in a rush since I couldn't find them quickly."
"Yeah? Got it. Let's go. We're gathering. The reinforcements have arrived."
"Yes, sir."
And so I quietly returned to base.