When I Opened My Eyes, I Was in the Middle of the Battlefield

Finally, we arrived at Incheon International Airport.

I stared at the spacious interior and laughed, and at the end I muttered to myself.

“I really came… really… … .”

Over the past week, I have made up my mind with many thoughts, but when I arrived, everything was useless.

It was because it was complicated as if all kinds of emotions were intertwined.

One side of my heart became hot as if it were being heated, and I cried from deep inside, and on the other hand, I was just happy and glad.

I arrived in Korea, a place that I couldn’t even go to because it wasn’t even implemented in Lareple, and it was just a place that was only displayed on maps.

Of course, I stopped by Luke’s grave before entering Korea, and I couldn’t visit there either.

It is a place belonging to the United States, one of the main places of Larreple, and it was a town right in front of Washington DC.

It felt different from here.

More than anything, Korea was my homeland in one way or another.

Nara served for 10 years as a special forces unit with the most intense and memorable memories.

There was no choice but to feel different from American villages.

I got lost in my thoughts for a while and walked around Incheon International Airport before heading to the subway platform.

You can take a taxi, but I wanted to take the subway for the first time in a while.

It was because the only thing I brought was a small backpack, and I was tired of driving in Al Jamash, and I strangely missed the subway, which I hadn’t ridden before.

“… Now it really feels like Seoul.”

I got on the subway to Seoul, feeling the familiar voice of the subway platform and the unique cold air.

By the time you feel comfortable.

The subway arrived at Gimpo Airport in no time, and I got off and took a taxi.

The destination is the Mayfield Hotel.

It was a deluxe hotel right below Gimpo Airport.

It’s near the base where I was discharged, so it’s a hotel I’ve seen often during my military service and know well, but it’s a place I’ve never been to.

The reason was, of course, the high cost of lodging, but this time it was worth going.

Less than half of his monthly salary was deposited due to the installment payment, which was very small, but it was thanks to the new bonus that came in thickly into his bank account.

The amount plus the personal tip Ivan said.

It was fifty thousand dollars.

If you add the $2,000 vacation pay and the $40,000 bonus, the total is $92,000.

In Hanhwa, it was over 100 million won.

An amount equal to my annual salary.

Of course, I didn’t go to the Mayfield Hotel simply because I had a lot of money. There are many better luxury hotels out there.

It was because of the location.

The base was, of course, a kind of strategic point close to the townhouse where I lived and the restaurant where I worked after being discharged.

Around the time when I was clearing my stomach with subtle excitement.

Soon after, the taxi pulled up in front of the Mayfield Hotel’s front door.

The doorman approached, and the driver also turned to me.

“Four thousand won, sir.”

“I’ll leave my bag and leave right away, so hang on a minute.”

I told the driver, went in quickly, checked in, unpacked and came down quickly.

Although he had been on vacation, it was not because he had come for a vacation.

There were places I had to go to and places I wanted to go to.

‘… First of all, from home.’

The place where I lived after being discharged and where I would have collapsed while working on a computer.

I wondered how it went.

Of course, I didn’t think my body would exist, but it was something I never knew.

I gave the address to the driver, and since it was close to my destination, I immediately began to see familiar scenery.

It was a neighborhood in Gangseo-gu where I spent my 30s.

‘That’s right… … .’

Not a single thing has changed.

Convenience stores, industrial companies, alums, even offices that do tech or something.

As soon as I saw the scene, I felt it.

Maybe the house I lived in would exist the same.

Around the time that thought was about to lead to thoughts about the body of a 39-year-old.

“Looks like this alley… Where would you like me to stop you?”

Before I knew it, the taxi driver slowed down and handed me 10,000 won to ask and got off.

I let out a shallow breath, leaving behind the sound of the taxi door closing.

“after… … .”

It was as expected.

My house, like the rest, was nothing else. It was exactly like my house in my memory.

A three-story townhouse built in the early 2000s with red exterior wall tiles.

To put it simply, it was an old and run-down villa.

There is only one glass door in the common entrance, and there is no password or other locking device, so you can just go up.

I climbed the narrow stairs and stood in front of Room 201, which was my home.

Coincidentally, the door lock was also the same, so I was about to enter the password, but I heard the same sound from inside, so I pressed the bell on the intercom.

Ding Dong-

After a cheerful bell that didn’t match my feelings, I heard a woman’s voice.

-who are you?

It was the voice of an old woman in her 60s and 70s.

Of course, I didn’t know anyone.

“Isn’t this Lee Kang-tae’s house?”

-Who are you?

“It’s a man who injured one leg… … .”

– No, there is no such person.

“Have you moved recently? The man who used to live here… … .”

– I think you’re in the wrong place? We’ve lived here for a very long time.

“Have you ever moved?”

-That’s because there isn’t… But who are you? Are you a cop?

I kept asking just in case, but I had to come back as the question continued to puzzle me.

It was one of those situations I was thinking about.

The world is like reality, but the people who make it up are not the same.

‘If this is the case, I don’t think I really know anyone in Korea… … ?’

While organizing my thoughts in a strange feeling, I turned around.

There were still more places to go.

A restaurant I go to every day, 3 minutes away on foot.

To be precise, it was a restaurant opened by a senior in the Special Forces, and it was where I worked as a kitchen staff.

Thanks to that, I was able to make a living with my broken leg.

After a brief thought, the restaurant appeared quickly.

Like my house, there was nothing else.

The signboard, the glass door of the restaurant, and the tables inside were all the same as in my memory.

I looked at it, soaked in emotion, and faced the person who opened the door and came out.

No, he has spoken.

“Are you going to eat? Come inside. Our house is better served by one person.”

It was the words of a middle-aged man in his 50s.

Judging by his attitude, he must be the boss.

“Are you the boss here?”

“Yes, yes, am I the boss?”

“How long have you been doing the store here?”

“It’s been 15 or 16 years… why is that all of a sudden Where, are you from real estate?”

“no. Someone you know thinks it’s a store.”

I bowed my head to the store manager and turned around.

The situation was easily resolved.

“just… It must be a completely different world. No one knows… … .”

I was able to organize the emotions that seemed to remain somewhere in my heart like that.

I completely forgot the cigarette I was about to burn.

But there was still one more place to go.

‘My unit.’

1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, aka Eagle Unit.

Looking at the situation, I don’t think there would be comrades and seniors and successors with whom I shared joys and sorrows, but it was still a place where I spent my 20s intact, so I couldn’t stop visiting.

I also wondered if the unit was intact.

It was only a 5-minute walk, so there was no reason not to go.

Within a few steps, familiar things caught my eye.

Ivy, gray walls, and even barbed wire began to fall.

It was the boundary surrounding the unit.

“under… It reminds me of the old days.”

It was in the midst of reminiscing about the time I served 10 years ago.

We arrived at the front gate of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade.

A place with plaques with unit numbers, small guard posts on the left and right, and yellow and black barricades.

I made eye contact with the guards, but I didn’t bother talking to them or approaching them.

I just stood there quietly and watched.

It’s because people and everything have changed, and if you do something stupid, you could get into trouble.

And it was time to turn around and catch a taxi.

“… … ?”

I saw a man

Sidewalk across a nine-lane road.

The distance is quite far, and since he was a stranger, he wouldn’t have thought much of it normally, but before he knew it, he was taking a closer look at him.

I want to feel strange, but I realized why.

‘ah! Yes, in the neighborhood… … .’

It wasn’t clear, but it came to mind seeing a similar silhouette from a distance.

However, I wasn’t sure.

Because all that remained were the images that seemed to pass by.

Strangely, however, it was difficult to ignore the scene. Is there such a thing as a ‘feeling’ that Jake said as an excuse?

While observing so reflectively, the foreigner went on his way.

Just like it was meant to pass.

And it all came very naturally.

To the extent that I wonder if I was mistaken or exaggerated the coincidence.

But I couldn’t get over it.

‘100 percent tailing, this.’

I knew it well.

It’s not real, it’s in the game though.

I’ve done several quests to secretly track factors.

Not only that, but there have also been information theft, kidnapping, and assassination, and I’ve done that brilliantly.

Of course, the reason for following me would be different.

No, it was obvious.

‘Because it’s so good. Maybe observing before scouting, or maybe monitoring for leaks… … .’

Just like that.

Negative factors could come to mind, but there was no possibility.

It was like that in my experience with Lareple.

Sergei or Pikal, who would become my enemy, hadn’t even met me yet, and even then, there was no place where I could be hostile to me.

Of course, I had to be careful though. because you don’t know

‘Oh, but… … .’

I clicked my tongue.

It was because I had to be careful not only for my safety, but also for my actions.

Simply put, my visit history this morning.

That was strange to anyone.

As soon as I checked in at the hotel, I went to a villa and restaurant near my discharged unit and toured the guardhouse.

This was something that people didn’t need to know about.

Because it’s impossible to explain.

In short, it was like giving an excuse from the start, but it was fortunate that there was no obvious fault.

At the end, one conclusion came out.

‘… Before leaving the country, I should do something stupid and exercise at the hotel.’

* * *

The next day, the main building of the National Intelligence Service in Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Cho Beom-yong, head of the International Safety Office under the command of the first deputy director, frowned upon receiving the morning report.

“Is this all?”

It was about materials related to Kang Tae.

From personal information such as physical records, address, and contact information to personal activities during school days and military history.

Of course, the amount was quite large, but nothing caught the eye of Jo Beom-yong.

Because everything was so ordinary.

So much so that there seems to be no reason for two Americans to pursue it.

Cho Beom-yong shook his head and said.

“If this is the case, it must have been related to mercenary work? right?”

“Yes, manager. I guess so too.”

There was no noticeable information in Korea, so it had to be assumed that something happened during overseas activities and an agent was attached.

“The mercenary thing won’t end well… G&G data?”

“In addition to the attachments, I will supplement and report it.”

Cho Beom-yong shook his head and asked.

“Then where do these Americans belong? Are the CIA and USFK quiet?”

“Not yet… Yes, it is quiet.”

“The embassy?”

“There was no response either.”

“Tsk, where the hell did these guys come from… … .”

Cho Beom-yong, who was shaking his head, frowned as he finished checking the report.

“What’s this?”

It was because there was an incomprehensible content that Kang-tae visited an unrelated townhouse and restaurant, and stood still in front of a discharged unit before returning.

Since it was suspicious to anyone, Jo Beom-yong was reading it with his eyes closed.

“wait for a sec.”

“yes?”

“Did you ever catch a tail?”

“No, our agent was farther than the Americans. The camouflage also complied… … .”

“It takes a while because I was in front of the unit and then took a taxi and didn’t come out… What do you think? Don’t you think it’s American guys who are not our kids?”

“Yes, I think you are right. Americans are judged to be caught.”

“I mean, it’s like this when the children are installed on our home ground… tsk tsk tsk… … .”

Jo Beom-yong clicked his tongue and looked at the team leader as if he had remembered something.

“Oh, it’s Lee Kang-tae.”

“Yes, chief.”

“Shouldn’t we have a look at your face at this point?”

“You mean to contact me?”

“Yeah, what if I leave the country at this rate? I would go somewhere like the Middle East… There, when American kids steam and eat bones, we only have to suck our fingers, you know?”

It was an accurate expression.

What the United States touched first, South Korea had to look at.

I don’t know if you’re generous enough to put it in.

If I had to intervene, I had to do it while Kang Tae was in Korea.

Only then will the NIS be able to fully demonstrate its capabilities, whether it is good or bad.

The team leader quickly responded after judging.

“That’s right, Chief.”

“Then make a plan and bring it, in a polite style if possible.”

The words behind it were put together in case you didn’t know.

If Kang-tae was an agent of the US government or a guest the US government cared about, it would be a problem.

Of course, Jo Bum-yong thought that something had happened in a bad way to fit the image of a mercenary rather than such a positive one.

killed Americans or damaged American property.

‘Anyway, it’s not normal.’