God of Blackfield

Ignoring the blood trickling down the corner of his eye, Kang Chul-Gyu climbed the mountain on the opposite side.

Not even crumbling dirt can stop us.

As Kang Chul-Gyu ascended the slope, he stopped and glared ahead. An enemy sniper was aiming an RPG at the spot where the DMZ team was likely to be.

How reckless! What were they thinking taking positions this close to us? Are they trying to punch a hole through our chests?

Whoosh!

Kang Chul-Gyu charged at the sniper, his footsteps suddenly becoming loud and noticeable.

Whoosh!

Startled, the sniper aimed the RPG at Kang Chul-Gyu, but Kang Chul-Gyu swatted the weapon away just as the trigger was pulled.

The rocket flew down the slope and exploded in a random area.

Whizz! Boom!

Using his momentum, Kang Chul-Gyu grabbed the sniper\'s neck and then kneed his chest, crushing his ribcage.

Crack! Crunch!

“Ugh! Gah!”

This sniper was on the far right of the area. Taking him down would clear the way up this mountain.

Kang Chul-Gyu flipped him over and pinned his arm with a knee. Smirking, he then drew his knife and stabbed it into the enemy’s right eye.

“Aaaargh! Aaaagh!”

As the enemy let out a scream that seemed to have come from the depths of hell, Kang Chul-Gyu pulled the knife out.

It felt good firing that rocket, didn\'t it? Did you expect me and all of my men to burn to death in the explosion?

“Aaaaargh! Aaaagh! Aaaaargh!”

Keep screaming! It’ll terrify your comrades and cover the sounds of my team moving.

“Aaaaargh!”

The scream, now hoarse, sounded even more pitiful. Under Kang Chul-Gyu’s knee, the enemy squirmed and twisted.

That’s it! Keep struggling!

Kang Chul-Gyu slowly moved his knife toward the enemy’s left ear.

“Aaagh! Aaaargh!”

Do you know why we had to abandon our families? Why we had to become this cruel?

We spent our lives putting ourselves in grave danger to protect South Korea, our powerless country! Unless we resorted to this, we would have had no chance of survival.

“Aaaargh!”

Aware that his enemy would faint if the pain decreased or increased, Kang Chul-Gyu twisted the enemy’s neck to keep him conscious.

“Aaagh! Aaaargh!”

You must think I’m cruel, but it doesn’t matter. If it would stop people from trying to ruin what Kang Chan has asked me to do—if it would stop anyone from getting in the way of the mission he has given me—then I’d gladly be a thousand times more cruel than this. The South Korea that Kang Chan is trying to build will be that strong!

Crunch!

Just as Kang Chul-Gyu’s knife reached the enemy’s ear, he heard two screams come from afar.

“Aaaargh!”

“Uuugh

!”

Kang Chul-Gyu smirked.

Good work!

He violently twisted the enemy’s head, which was covered in a mix of blood and sticky fluids.

Crack! Thud!

“Aaaaargh! Aaaaargh!”

Screams echoed from elsewhere too. Kang Chul-Gyu turned around, meeting the fiercely gleaming eyes of one of his subordinates.

“Byung-Chul, sir.”

“Clean this up,” ordered Kang Chul-Gyu.

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Chul-Gyu had never hung their enemies on trees himself.

Not far from them, Nam Il-Gyu dragged the knife that he had stabbed into the enemy’s ear toward his chin.

Crunch!

“Eeeek! Uuuugh!”

You just had to oppose us, didn’t you? Why do you even still try to get in the way of the assistant director’s orders? Are you fucking blind? South Korea no longer bows to the US, Russia, or China!

Thud!

By the time Nam Il-Gyu’s knife had reached the enemy’s chin, the enemy had already stopped breathing.

You bastard! Well, let me show you Seoul!

Nam Il-Gyu aimed the knife horizontally across the enemy’s neck.

Squelch! Squelch!

Riled up, Yang Dong-Sik’s lips thinned and his front teeth showed. He had heard how dangerous this could be at night, but now that his temper had flared, he couldn\'t control it.

How dare these fucking bastards oppose the assistant director!

These motherfuckers even made the DMZ King himself step in!

“Uuugh!”

Yang Dong-Sik pulled out the knife that he had stabbed into his enemy’s ear and then used it to behead his enemy.

Squelch. Squelch.

“Grggghh! Gah!”

Blood splattered on Yang Dong-Sik’s face and soaked his chest, but he didn’t care. Kang Chul-Gyu had ordered them to punish their opponents the DMZ team way.

We’ll show you just how cruel and merciless our unit can be. Without our cruelty, we couldn’t have protected our allies and survived to this day. We only have one rule. Only Kang sunbae-nim is allowed to cut our enemies between the eyes. Think of it like a retired jersey number in pro baseball leagues!

Squelch!

Yang Dong-Sik picked up the severed enemy head and tied it to a tree. Nam Il-Gyu always called this“showing them Seoul.”

“Aaaaargh!”

Hearing another scream echo from afar, Yang Dong-Sik glanced at the distant mountain.

‘I wonder how our juniors are doing.’

Today, for some reason, he had many random thoughts.

***

Jeong Won-Min and ten soldiers crawled into the water. Since modern rifles worked fine even when submerged, they kept only their eyes above the water. It made them look like crocodiles.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

If one knew how far away human eyes could be seen on a bright, moonlit night like this, they would never make the mistake of looking up.

Splash. Splash.

The water soaked their arms, swallowed their shoulders, and wrapped around their stomachs. The smell of briny water and the musty odor of mud filled their noses. Fortunately, they found it bearable.

Booooom! Boom! Boooom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Down below, the soldiers were fiercely drawing the enemy’s attention.

Staying close to the mountains to keep themselves hidden and far from the enemy entrenched on the mountain, Jeong Won-Min and his men moved upstream. Mud seeped into their noses and mouths, insects from the river rushed at their eyes, and bugs sucked blood from their necks, but they kept crawling forward.

Splash. Splash.

Jeong Won-Min lay flat in the water to cross the river, stretching out his legs to keep the current from sweeping him away. After a deep and quiet breath, he submerged his head as much as he could.

Splash. Splash.

Like a camera half-submerged in water, their vision alternated between water and air with each step they took.

They moved tediously slow. However, they needed this much patience to catch their enemies off-guard. Fortunately, their relentless training had made it easy for them to stay in such a low stance for long periods.

Splash. Splash. Splash.

The current grew stronger, and the riverbed dropped sharply, pulling Jeong Won-Min underwater. Nevertheless, he opened his eyes and stared straight into the water.

Swish. Swish.

The dark, deathly river sent mud and tiny particles sweeping past his eyes, yet he still moved slowly. He’d rather drown than ruin the mission.

I’m just having a bit of trouble breathing. Compared to our training, which made me want to die, this is nothing. Choi Chul-Han must be watching us right now. I can’t believe he begged me to let him join this operation only to be killed while eating a rice ball. He’s missing the battle he desperately wanted to be a part of.

Splash. Splash.

Jeong Won-Min’s forehead emerged from the river, followed by his eyes, and finally his nose. They had just crossed half the river.

He submerged once more and pushed onward.

***

After their meal, Kang Chan’s team immediately pressed on, forgoing the usual twenty-minute break.

Up front, Seok Kang-Ho covered Kang Chan so perfectly that they looked as if they were sharing one mind.

Although some might think they were simply running forward, the soldiers acting as vanguard had to do far more than just recklessly rush head-on. That was why Kang Chan kept his rifle aimed in front of him despite moving quickly.

After advancing for about an hour, Kang Chan glared at the mountain ahead.

Considering it was just a small mountain, rather than climbing straight up, it seemed better to go around it. He sharply scanned the path around, then quickly looked back at Seok Kang-Ho.

Kang Chan raised his right hand and made a circular motion, then slowly waved it side to side like a car wiper, signaling them to hide at the sides of their formation. As commanded, the soldiers quickly scattered to their flanks.

Rustle.

Meanwhile, Seok Kang-Ho approached Kang Chan, who gestured to the side of the mountain with a nod. Seok Kang-Ho frowned as he scanned the mountain path, then abruptly gazed back at Kang Chan.

‘Tracks!’

Kang Chan nodded. Those were definitely manmade tracks. He raised his hand again and extended his pinky finger.

Rustle.

After a moment, Gérard approached Kang Chan from behind. When Kang Chan pointed to the mountain path, Gérard gave him a knowing look.

With his index and middle fingers, Kang Chan pointed to his eyes, then signaled Gérard to move to his left and Seok Kang-Ho to his right.

Their plan was simple. Gérard would attack from the left and Seok Kang-Ho from the right. When Kang Chan nodded, the two swiftly went into action.

Huff. Huff.

At the same time, Kang Chan immediately began climbing the mountain.

‘How do you recognize things like that at a glance?’

Seok Kang-Ho and Gérard had asked similar questions before.

How should I know? They just stand out to me.

Kang Chan truly didn’t know. To him, it was no different from asking how he could run so relentlessly.

Huff. Huff.

Not long after, Kang Chan reached the top of the mountain. He slowly scanned the area beyond.

Damn it!

A distance away from his position were more than six large temporary barracks in the middle of a flat and wide clearing, which looked out of place in this terrain. They had even set up a perimeter.

Kang Chan slowly scanned the area again. Considering they were easily over two hundred meters away from the barracks, it was unlikely for the enemy’s perimeter to stretch all the way to his location.

Considering they only had people standing guard around the barracks, he thought that he was probably right. They didn’t bother positioning soldiers on the mountain he was occupying.

Still, it was better to be safe. Kang Chan took a moment to thoroughly check any suspicious areas. Afterward, he pressed a button on his radio.

Chk.

“All units, climb up the mountain. You too, Daye.”

Afterward, he gave Gérard the same order in French.

Rustle. Rustle.

Seok Kang-Ho, Gérard, and the soldiers all gathered around Kang Chan.

“Kang Myung-Gu, I want three soldiers covering our rear and flanks.”

With a gesture from Kang Myung-Gu, three soldiers quietly moved into position.

Meanwhile, Kang Chan unfolded a map. He then pointed to two areas further back from where they currently stood.

“606 was stopped here, and the DMZ team here. I heard that after they failed to take us out with fighter jets, the enemy started tracking us via satellite.”

Kang Chan traced the long route that the counter-terrorism team was supposed to take.

He continued, “So, to stop us, the enemy would likely be waiting around here. Given how many times we had to take detours, even if they moved quickly from that side, they would’ve arrived around here at the same time we did.”

“That’s why we haven’t encountered the enemy yet, huh?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.

“That’s one way to look at it,” Kang Chan responded. After glancing at the enemy barracks, he pointed to another area on the map. “It looks like they blocked this path to prevent our forces from reaching this location. There must be something there.”

“It doesn’t look like they have rocket launchers with them,” Seok Kang-Ho said.

Kang Chan nodded in agreement.

“For now, let’s capture them. Snipers, get ready. I, Daye, Gérard, Kang Myung-Gu, Choi Jong-Il, Woo Hee-Seung, and eight more soldiers will go down.”

Seok Kang-Ho and Kang Myung-Gu nodded.

“We’ll clear each barrack in pairs. We’ll finish them all in one decisive strike. We’ll eliminate the guards, secure positions, and then throw grenades into those makeshift buildings. Kill anyone who manages to survive and get out,” Kang Chan ordered.

He then explained the operation to Gérard again.

“Gérard, take out the left guards. Daye, you handle the ones at the back of their camp. I’ll take care of the ones below. On my signal, everyone else will push forward.”

Afterward, Kang Chan turned to Lee Doo-Hee. “Help the snipers get into position. Provide immediate support if necessary. One here, then one on each flank.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee Doo-Hee answered.

With the orders given, Kang Chan leaned against a tree and looked down. The moonlit barracks looked rather peaceful.

Couldn’t you all have just lived peacefully? Why did you have to mess with a country trying to improve and force us to go all the way here?

“Snipers are in position, sir.”

Kang Chan nodded and turned around. Kang Myung-Gu and ten other soldiers waited eagerly.

Kang Chan assigned each pair to the barracks from the left.

“Daye, take the last barrack with Woo Hee-Seung.”

“Got it.”

“Gérard! You and I will provide support from the center.”

“Oui.”

Kang Chan glanced at the soldiers and advanced. Their operation had finally truly begun.

***

Jeong Won-Min and his men emerged from the river and immediately headed into the mountain. The mud clinging to their water-soaked uniforms fell off in clumps as they climbed.

Rustle. Rustle.

Compared to the mountains in South Korea and their usual training grounds, this terrain was a piece of cake to them.

Twenty minutes later, they had reached the top.

Jeong Won-Min tied a rope around his waist and tied the other end to a sturdy tree to allow himself to run down the hill. If he felt like he was losing balance or needed to stop, he just had to pull with his left hand.

Right after, he pressed a button on his radio five times in quick succession, a signal that would help them avoid confusion and friendly fire.

Attempting to take out the snipers slowly would only backfire. Considering he already had a rough idea of their positions, it would be far better to rush in and finish their enemies in one fell swoop.

Click.

He slung his rifle over his right shoulder and positioned his index finger on the trigger. After looking around to make sure that his men were ready, He tightly held onto the rope with his left hand.

‘One! Two! Three!’

Whoosh! Whoosh!

They charged down the hill at nearly free-fall speed. Soon, Jeong Won-Min spotted a sniper who had turned his head in surprise.

Bang!

He immediately slowed down and took aim.

Click!

Bang! Thud! Bang! Thud! Bang! Thud!

Hit between the eyes, the enemy fell to the ground.

Bang! Thud! Bang! Thud!

At the same time, gunfire erupted from where the other soldiers were.

Whoosh!

Jeong Won-Min released the rope and continued running downhill.

Boom! Bang!

Another startled sniper swept his rifle toward him, but Jeong Won-Min’s bullets quickly pierced the sniper’s throat, sending him thrashing to the earth.

Snipers normally don’t train for a situation like this, so you’ll never beat us with that aim and reaction speed!

Whoosh!

Jeong Won-Min ran downhill again.

Chul-Han! Are you watching? You better be!