Chapter 167: < Protect – Episode 166 – Bridal Mask [1] >

The more Ahn Soo Ho got famous, the more people there were who were embarrassed. Those people were from the Naval Academy. Since it was a long time ago, those who were there when he dropped out were no longer there, but that didn’t mean the media was going to overlook it. If the multiple scandals that put Korea in shock didn’t take place, the Naval Academy would have been suffering in the hands of the media.

Lee Kyung Joon, who was the decisive person responsible for making the 8-member group drop out, was currently missing. That meant an active-duty soldier was absent without leave, but people related to the military were actually happy. They hoped he would never return. That was because under the current circumstances if the truth about their concealment happened to get out, it wasn’t just going to be one or two necks that were going to be chopped off. As long as Lee Kyung Joon wasn’t around, they were able to make him into a scapegoat.

“The military is still very closed-minded.”

“It’s more comical to expect the military to be flexible.”

Oh Won Hee who was dressed in a military uniform was cursing the military while Ahn Soo Ho who was wearing ordinary clothes defended them. They met up at a Chinese restaurant overlooking the ocean.

“Commander, huh…? You advanced quick.”

“Thanks to a certain someone.”

That, someone, was Ahn Soo Ho. Once Oh Won Hee finished off his bowl of black bean noodles, he spoke with a shameless face.

“Let our guys go.”

“Our guys?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“You still have that shameless face. You son of a bitch.”

Ahn Soo Ho didn’t care as long as they were honest, but Oh Won Hee didn’t have the guts to drop out of the Naval Academy as Ahn Soo Ho did. Korean people couldn’t defy power and ended up obeying them instead. Just the fact that he wasn’t sympathizing with power meant he was keeping his loyalty.

“Are the rest of our classmates doing well?”

“No, thanks to someone who caused a fuss and walked out, they had a hard time.”

“Sounds like they’re doing well.”

He gave an irrelevant answer, but he sounded affectionate.

It was tiring when people were too upright. Since Ahn Soo Ho didn’t have to worry about survival, he didn’t have to worry. However, a 20-year-old newbie was scared to deal with even the least bit of power. Korea’s history with democracy was much too short, and the military was still irrational as ever. As soon as they finished their black bean noodles, the spicy deep-fried chicken and chili shrimp came out.

“So what order did you receive from up top?”

“What do you think? They want to use you to develop the nation.”

It hadn’t been long since Oh Won Hee was sucking up to them, but he was now pretending not to know them.

“What a foolish plan.”

“It is. You’re an explosive that should be kept at a distance.”

“An explosive…? You’re not wrong. I’m sure the Comradery Association is pretty divided now. Is the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff…”

“General Choi Han Rim. He’s the one who poured cold water on the family tree of Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Choi Han Rim was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with a background in the Naval Academy. While Ahn Soo Ho took down the executive committee of Korea National Association, the Comradery Association lost half of its leadership. Choi Han Rim was the go-getter who took the opportunity and stopped President Lee Joong Hyun’s attempt at military reform.

“The Blue House left him alone?”

“He did revolt against the military reform, but the president didn’t get completely screwed over. Since he was also the one who resolved the crazy things the Minister of National Defense did, he couldn’t just swap him out… And if he did, he would have risked the entire military being disobedient.”

Generals opposing the president was the same as a betrayal but that was just how much of a joke the Blue House was becoming. So Lee Joong Hyun had no choice but to comfort the generals.

“That was the limit of the president. That Lee Joong Hyun must have some kind of lust over the military. The truth is, it’s full of corruption. The president was rash in messing with them.”

“Defense corruption?”

“Yeah. It’s like they were waiting for it.”

Lee Joong Hyun was imagining a simple cancer operation with a high rate of success, but when he opened up the stomach, the cancer had already spread all over the body.

“I think there are lots of crazies in the military. But if the military weakens, the kind of corruption that would arise are huge.”

“What a dilemma.”

“At least our president’s not some kind of radicalist with no sense of reality.”

If the president hadn’t accepted his failure with the military reform and kept going at it, a general dreaming of becoming a traitor would have come out. Some might say a coup d’etat in the 21st century Korea was ridiculous, but the possibility was always there.

“The Comradery Association has many necessary evils.”

As a result of coup d’etats in modern Korean history, the military organizations were perceived in a negative light. However, the beliefs of the Comradery Association received the support of both former and current generals.

“99% of them are innocent. The problem is the remaining 1%.”

If everyone were political soldiers who were corrupt, Korea would have been doomed a long time ago. They might have been ridiculed for being watchdogs, but there were more soldiers who simply completed their duties as diligent soldiers.

Sacrificing oneself.

A true soldier’s spirit shouldn’t be criticized.

“Soo Ho, didn’t I tell you? A world where soldiers are cursed at is a happy world.”

“You did?”

“A world where soldiers are praised might as well be hell.”

It wasn’t desirable for a soldier to have a lot to say. That was because the military was initially formed in order to kill. So there was no way anything could be good when they were magnified. That was ridiculous.

“The Comradery Association wants to cooperate with you.”

Ahn Soo Ho tilted his head and then smirked.

“I didn’t know there was such a big monitoring team.”

“The president’s attempt at a military reform might have failed, but the military still wanted some kind of change. They don’t like the horrible image that they have.”

“I have no interest in being their face.”

“They’re not trying to get you to promote them. The truth is… they want to copy DEVGRUV.”

“DEVGRUV?”

DEVGRUV was the US army’s number one terror specialized troops.

“It’s been a long time since the number of Koreans abroad has exceeded 7 million. There are countless Koreans trying to make Korea known to the world. This is embarrassing to say, but Korea has been unable to protect its citizens. We couldn’t be as active with the military like the US, so we had to do our best to consistently foster secret agents.”

“Is that why you put your hands on Ultra?”

Oh Won Hee shut his mouth in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s question. Ultra was confidential.

“This might sound like an excuse, but we don’t train child soldiers. And we only take volunteers.”

There was actually no good and evil in the training program.

Drugs and brainwashing gave off a negative vibe, but the effect varied depending on how the program was initiated. But no matter how good the initial intention was, no good came out of trying to control a person’s mind. The training effect of Ultra was fully verified, but the effect of drugs varied from person to person, and in the worst-case scenario, they were capable of turning into crazy terrorists.

“The soldiers who participated in Ultra improved their fighting power by 30%.”

Their abilities in fighting, shooting, tactics, and adaptability all improved. This was certainly encouraging to the commander. However, Ahn Soo Ho shook his head.

“You’re blinded by the numbers.”

The reason why the Ultra Program yielded such good results was because tactics were programmed into the soldiers. Just as it sounds, as soon as they went into battle, they eliminated all judgment and feelings and acted to resolve all threats. When robots faced a threat, they judged and reacted instantaneously. Why? Because they were designed that way. But people didn’t judge and act in 0.1 seconds as robots did.

“For people, their past, present, and future are all mixed in with their decisions. However, under Ultra, there’s only the present.”

“What does that mean?”

“Even when we’re at war, there should always be humane aspects in our behavior.”

What Ahn Soo Ho was trying to talk about wasn’t humanism.

“When we pull the trigger, rage, fear, hatred, sympathy, and pity always influence our decision.”

Our firm decisions were never firm. But under Ultra programming, soldiers truly became firm. That was because while they were in battle, all humane characteristics were eliminated. What if a war we started couldn’t be stopped by us? The danger of the Ultra Program wasn’t all about responsibility.

“What do you think would happen if humans became robots and robots started having desires?”

“Hell?”

Ahn Soo Hos smirked in response.

“It’s good to stop immediately.”

So far, they only acted to certain keywords, but no one knew when they would fully act like robots. While each country engaged in the arms race, they unknowingly mass-produced psychopathic killing machines.

“I’ll consider the offer after Ultra has been disposed of.”

Ahn Soo Ho drew a clear line.

******

“This is serious.”

The person who was waiting for Ahn Soo Ho at a safe house outside of Seoul while shaking her head was Kosino.

“What do you mean?”

“Soo Ho, to be honest, when you stressed that the Ultra program is dangerous, I didn’t take it too seriously. I just thought they trained spies using drugs… but it turns out, they make humans into robots.”

The Ultra Program was able to make a person do anything by using keywords. For example, what if the sound of gunfire was sealed into a soldier’s mind? What does the sound of guns remind one of? Attack? Snipe? In any case, it reminded people of the battlefield. No matter how well-trained a soldier was, they were bound to be bewildered when thrown onto a battlefield.

For that reason, the Ultra Program used medicinal brainwashing to get rid of the fear and hesitation that got in the way of their response speed. The problem was that when such signals were eliminated from a person’s brain, negative side effects arose.

“Even before the circuit is fully stabilized, many adverse effects arise.”

Among the spies that were roaming around Jang Seol Hyun before getting caught by Ahn Soo Ho, 9 of them were a part of Ultra. In addition, 3 of them were connected to the military and 6 were connected to Youngjin Group. Oh Won Hee said that they only took volunteers, but less than half probably actually wanted to do it. If the soldiers felt that way, what about the regular people? They offered whatever reward to get them to agree to it first.

“The keywords are probably something like secret, security, or loyalty.”

“It’s similar.”

“All thugs are the same. So what did you find out?”

Kosino was an outstanding hacker, but she was a good interrogator as well.

“There are three groups that were monitoring Ms. Jang.”

“Three? Not two?”

“Yes, three. The first is the Korean military, the second is Youngjin Securities… They even tried to wiretap Ms. Jang’s van and residence.”

“What about the third?”

Ahn Soo Ho understood the military and Youngjin Securities Consulting, but he didn’t imagine there was a third.

“It’s a gang. Korean mafia? Korean gang? What do they call them in Korea?”

“Mob.”

“Mob? Well, they’re planning to kidnap Ms. Jang.”

Ahn Soo Ho questioned what he just heard.

“What?”

“They’re planning to kidnap Ms. Jang.”

“Why?”

“Because if they succeed, you’d pay them a lot of money. There were even mentions online about trying to kidnap your sister and mother. But we took care of that.”

Kosino showed a strange expression.

“Soo Ho, your reputation isn’t that powerful in Korea.”

“I know. I haven’t really done much in my own country.”

“So Korean politicians, businessmen, and mobs underestimate you.”

Money was a great strength, but that was it. However, it wasn’t his money or connections that made the powerful people all over the world tremble in fear at his name.

Outstanding power!

Unmatched force!

All who used violence for a living kneeled before Ahn Soo Ho.

Besides Korea that was.

‘Irony.’

A side effect resulting from keeping his home country at a distance.

“It’s not like you to just watch by, Soo Ho.”

“If you have a plan, tell me, Kosi.”

Kosino smiled and handed him something.

“What’s this?”

“There was Captain America in the US and Guy Fawkes in England. Then what about Korea?”

Ahn Soo Ho laughed bitterly. She brought up the masks that he wore to conceal his identity.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Kosino handed him a pretty-looking bridal mask.

< Protect – Episode 166 – Bridal Mask [1] > The end.

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