War Clouds

Since their division in 1950, South Korea and North Korea have been at odds.

With North Korea's nuclear program and South Korea's military buildup to match, the security of the Korean Peninsula, a powder keg that could explode at any moment, was buried before the cataclysm that struck the planet more than 30 years ago at the dawn of the 21st century.

The Gate, all the monsters that emerge from it and the pollution from miasma.

In Asia, Korea, the second most prosperous country after Japan, was also hit by the cataclysmic wave.

The cataclysm was a money-grubbing hippo: recruiting Awakened as Hunters.

The cost of training them. The cost of arming them and maintaining the satellites that preemptively capture gate outbreaks.

The cost of controlling traffic, securing territory, buffering air defenses against dungeon breaks, and so on, all of which sucked the economic lifeblood out of the country.

In other words, the poorer the country's infrastructure, the poorer the country's national treasury, the poorer the administrative power to control a sufficient Awakened population.

A single premise covering so many conditions.

If a country is poor, it cannot cope with a gate situation.

And no matter how much money you have, once a Black Gate appears, you are doomed.

The 21st century North Korea was still the same as the 20th century North Korea, only poorer. Even China, which North Korea could rely on, has been torn into fifty or so pieces.

The only reliable ally was Russia and its fellow countryman, South Korea.

North Korea reached out to Russia first.

"Hehehe, brother, we're from the same communist clan, so if you can send us some awakeners──"

"Ugh. This is the 'People's Republic of Korea'? You're a beggar, go away. We should be selling tanks to South Korea."

There was no reason for Russia, whose economy was still reeling from the cataclysm, to cooperate with North Korea, a country that couldn't afford to pay its bills.

The Russians, who were just discovering the true flavor of capitalism, kicked the North Korean delegation out in a huff, and the North Koreans hung in there in the name of self-renewal, threatening South Korea with nuclear and missile threats, but──

"Hey South Korea, give our great People's Republic of Korea a taste──"

"Shut up your little mouth. I'm busy right now!"

"What?"

South Korea, early 21st century. A time of economic depression due to cataclysmic events and urgent need to diversify food sources due to miasma pollution.

The last thing they needed was to make a conciliatory gesture to an ungrateful neighbor while the country was in the midst of a food crisis.

North Korea, the Han and South Korea were all hunkering down and going crazy for more Hunters and food imports.

"We need more–more Hunters."

"Don't we have Hunters in Southeast Asia who are unhappy with their treatment? Buy them out? Cut off diplomatic relations? What do you want?"

"China is fucked! We've lost most of them, but we need to get at least one more from there!"

After a decade of chaos as South Korea watched its neighbor China fall through a single black gate, cut its defense budget to bolster its hunter ministry while simultaneously ramping up headhunting to stem the talent drain.

Money. We've got money. Once you're here, we'll give you an apartment in Gangnam, medals, and a pension!

Decade after decade, when North Korea fired missiles and threatened artillery strikes, all they could hear was "I can't hear you, I can't hear you!" as South Korea continued to build up their military.

North Korea raised the white flag first.

"We'll give up our nukes—send us some hunters."

The Korean Peninsula, 2032.

North Korea's economy and security depend on South Korea.

* * * *

"Long time no see."

Kang Jin-sung, the leader of the Blue Star Guild, South Korea's leading Ten Guilds and arguably the largest faction, smiled nostalgically at the crisp, clean air.

"Hmph, I don't even come here unless I'm on a tour of Mount Kumgang, so what else can I think of but memories?"

Chun Jin-soo didn't like Kang Jin-sung's attitude.

"Unlike you, I have a family of my own, and I don't have time to come here to clean up after North Korean pigs."

For the South Korean hunters, the North Korean support mission is a form of community service.

They get to keep all the byproducts from the gate, but none of the South Korean hunters like being sent to North Korea, which has no infrastructure.

Recalling his friend's blatant controversy, Chun Jin-soo was horrified at the possibility.

"Why make a big deal out of it? If you don't want to see each other, it's better not to see each other."

"You're trying to avoid volunteering, you clever old man!"

The hunters sent to North Korea are basically rotated. However, for S-level hunters, North Korea's request and the South Korean hunter's association had to be discussed.

But if you're someone the North Koreans don't like?

What if they begged you not to send him?

Chun Jin-soo stared in disbelief at Kang Jin-sung, the South Korean representative hunter who had been kicked out of North Korea for being a daredevil.

"No, but what's going on this time? I don't think the commies were singling you out."

"I just wanted to see Mount Kumgang. I didn't come to attack the gate, I came to show my face for the inter-Korean talks."

It was a show of force.

After the cataclysm, North Korea gave up its nuclear program and entered into a humiliating security cooperation with the South, sending a powerful S-class hunter that they could never produce to the slowly eroding North.

These superhuman troops, who can slit the throats of North Korean leaders and return to South Korea at will depending on the outcome of the talks, have always been a deterrent to North Korean aggression.

If the South Korean government were to stop sending them into North Korea, which is plagued by gates, North Korea would be dead in the water.

The gap in power between the two Koreas was already an insurmountable barrier, and North Korea, with no population, no infrastructure, and no ability to train its own hunters, would not be able to do so.

Since the hunters raised right away rebelled because their hair had grown a little thicker, and a whole company was likely to be blown away that day, North Korea had no choice but to label the magic awakeners as reactionaries, and they had to rely entirely on South Korean hunters.

"By the way, there will be unification before I die."

"It's the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the Kaema Plateau Development Cooperation, or something, and they're gradually closing the economic gap, but that won't happen for another decade."

"No, I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore. You know my brother."

"Your brother?"

"My brother, Leon."

"——"

Kang Jin-sung couldn't get used to the idea of a 300-year-old Leon with a face value of 20 years old and Chun Jin-soo calling him his older brother.

Although it was exhilarating when this friend, who was also a jerk to himself, was treated like a jerk in return.

"Stop shaking, we're almost there. Don't you want to get off before the government officials so you can see them bend over backwards?"

"I do enjoy watching commie pigs bend the knee."

They arrive at the airport and step off the chartered plane.

-Boom!

They had to face the North Korean soldiers surrounding them, guns drawn.

"Greetings, sirs. I'm Park Sang-gyo, second in command of the Korean People's Army Reconnaissance General Department."

One of the five highest ranking officers in the North Korean hierarchy sent a sharp gaze toward the two men.

"Since we are running out of time, the South Korean guests will have to follow us."

Surrounding them were dozens of Awakened members of the Reconnaissance General Directorate.

* * * *

The nation had been abuzz since the announcement of Dragonia, God of Gold and Contracts.

The business community has studied the workings of this contract of absolute compliance and realized that it can be issued by any member of the pantheon.

And then.

"Boom!"

A huge American YouTuber intentionally broke the Ten Thousand Gods contract to see what the feedback would be.

-Collapsed.

-Is he dead?

-Call the police!

-Call an ambulance!

The YouTuber, whose contract went up in flames, was in cardiac arrest until the ambulance arrived, and he scrambled to his feet when they rang the doorbell.

"Heh heh heh!"

The YouTuber had miraculously survived as his viewers watched.

He gasped for air as he realized he had been in cardiac arrest for 15 minutes, but immediately broke out in a cold sweat at the sensation on his back.

[End of story]

To viewers, the dragon appeared as a black mist. The voice, clearly audible to the YouTuber, warned.

"This is real. From now on, when I sign this contract, I'm going to honor it."

The conclusion reached by the 10 million subscriber mega YouTuber made everyone realize the power of the Dragonia contract and──

"From now on, all my company contracts will be Dragonia contracts."

A quick-thinking advertising company announced that all of its company contracts would be made with Dragonia contracts, sending its stock price through the roof, and everyone else followed suit.

"You have to be a believer to run a company, bang bang bang——"

While the world was awake to a new financial revolution, Yappy was inundated with inquiries, so much so that he had to work on airplanes.

"Sir Yappy, what are you doing?"

Ha-ri's question was met with a terse reply.

-Doing contract work for Dragonia.

"Really? From the looks of it, you're just sitting around."

-Working on Network Attached Storage. Currently reviewing 9,657 contracts.

"Wow, that's amazing."

Ha-ri had heard Yappy familiarize himself with most of the work being done in the TTG Temple.

He was a highly intelligent machine capable of multitasking, whether it's running a mission to explore the Earth's orbit, managing a fund, or managing a factory system.

If it wasn't for Yappy, who could do it?

"If you're not too busy, His Majesty would like to see you for a moment."

-Bam!

Yappy pecked at his seatbelt with his mechanical legs, unbuckled it, and hopped on top of Ha-ri's head.

Ha-ri casually delivers Yappy in front of Leon.

In the first class of the plane, Leon stood overlooking the Pacific Ocean in full glide.

"Your Majesty, I've brought Lord Yappy."

"Yes."

Leon's gaze flicked to Yappy, who was bouncing down from the top of Ha-ri's head.

"Lord Spinner. I've summoned you to check on something before we reach home."

Yappy immediately plugged in North Korea's available forces, the number of hunters the DPRK claims to have, and the gate incident from a few months ago.

There were already South Korean hunters in North Korea, and when combined with the power of those hunters, the last major gate incident was not an impossible event for North Korea to stop.

'If the North Korean statistics are to be believed'.

"Lord Spinner. There are some countries in the world that use false statistics to save face."

"——-"

Yappy began to calculate the likelihood of a "statistical trap" on the network.

The number and level of people's fighters that the North Korean government claims to have for the sake of the authorities' face. Given that it is significantly exaggerated──

-The economic and human toll on the North Korean region is so minimal.

Something was wrong. This rudimentary mistake was made by a strong artificial intelligence that believes it has complete and absolute control over all information.

Just as Yappy was about to rewrite the equation to exclude the North Korean government's claimed "imaginary numbers," he realized that he had to rely on,

-Satellite observations. Sea surface waves in nearby waters. Navigation tracking. Multiple SLCMs (submarine-launched cruise missiles) approaching.

"Oh?"

Ha-ri whimpered. Cruise missiles in the middle of the Pacific? Isn't this U.S. Navy territory?

-Beep, beep, beep, beep!

And as if to prove Yappy's observations weren't false, a threat alert blares on the charter plane. The alert signaled the missile's approach, and the U.S. Air Force fighter jets escorting the charter responded immediately.

But──

-Multiple enemy cruise missiles. All intercepted by friendly aircraft. Integrated Armed Platforms switched to intercept.

Yappy's satellite observations kept track of the approaching missiles. Now that the USAF fighter jets had failed to intercept, Yappy turned to attack satellites to intercept the missiles.

-Kwah!

-Ka-ah!

. Hypersonic energy particle cannons, unavoidable by modern scientific civilization, rained down on the incoming missiles from a particle cannon in space.

-Boom!

-Bang!

One after another, the cruise missiles were intercepted. But a few managed to cut through the smoke of the exploding missiles.

-Closing in. Fifteen seconds to impact.

The moment Yappy posted his report, Leon's outstretched arm and the missile's impact with the charter plane were almost simultaneous.

-Kaaaaaah!!!

With a huge explosion over the Pacific Ocean, Air Force Two, carrying the Knights of the Ten Thousand Gods, plummeted to sea level.