Sooho

“Huh?”

The man watching the footage gasped.

“What is it?”

“He disappeared.”

“What?’

“Our target disa… Ugh!”

The man was unable to finish his sentence. That was because Ahn Soo Ho pushed him down from above.

“Ugh!”

The other man tried to throw a punch, but it was so slow that he almost yawned. As soon as he pushed him with his foot, he slammed into the wall. Just after two breaths and 3 seconds, both men rolled on the ground.

‘They were monitoring me.’

Considering the prices of their magnifying cameras, they weren’t any ordinary people. He went through the two men’s clothes, but he couldn’t find a single identification card. All he found was an envelope containing 3 million won, some change, and car keys. Didn’t they carry phones with them either? He did find a note pad, but what was written inside were random.

A bunch of random numbers and letters.

‘A code.’

They hid their identities so well that a Western person who didn’t know Korean would have mistaken them for Chinese or Japanese.

‘They’re not from an intelligence agency.’

If they were after Ahn Soo Ho’s surroundings, they wouldn’t have monitored him so closely in such an obvious manner. There were lots of skilled people who could have uncovered them besides him. He used his phone to take photos of each page of the note pad, and as soon as he sent them over, he received a text.

It was Kosino.

What is this?

Decode it.

Their texts were always simple. Once Ahn Soo Ho wrapped it up, he tied the two men in a chair and woke them up. When they woke up and saw Ahn Soo Ho, they looked shocked.

“Ho… how?”

“I’ll be the one asking questions.”

Seeing how their shocked faces disappeared quickly, they must have received some intensive training.

“Who do you work for?”

Of course, it was hard to get an answer from them after only asking them once. If he tried to control the mind of the ones who were already brainwashed by Ultra, they were bound to turn into morons.

“Think about it carefully. If you know who I am, you should be able to predict what’s about to happen to you.”

They gulped loudly in response. A person’s mind was not only complicated, but it had many variables. The Ultra program provided groundbreaking spy missions, but they couldn’t control every variable. There were very few people who were actually aware that they were brainwashed.

‘They probably want to raise obedient hunting dogs, but humans aren’t that simple.’

The difference between humans and machines were how they responded to orders. Furthermore, in contrast to the child soldiers of South America and Africa, adults were more difficult to brainwash. In order for the effects to take place properly, it took at least 1 or 2 years. The reason why they particularly brainwashed children wasn’t because of how easy it was to control them alone.

For the winner to be determined in the midst of a fight between instinct, brainwashing, greed for survival, and programming, 5 minutes was a long time. They glanced at each other and then decided to spill.

“We’re from X-Com.”

“X-Com?”

“It’s a civilian intelligence company composed of former military soldiers.”

People thought that the Korean peninsula was distant from spies, but that wasn’t really the case. The strategies of both North Korea and South Korea were based on information. While America observed North Korea with a monitoring system, South Korea put all their efforts into secret agents. The spy scandal that Ahn Soo Ho exposed was just the tip of the iceberg.

‘It’s the Comradery Association.’

Things were getting interesting.

The two sides that led Korean history was the military and the rich. They negotiated and kept each other in check in order to establish a balance of power. Following the democratization and the currency crisis of the 80s and 90s, the military suffered, but the companies were going to be doomed before the military was. The military corporation was going to exist forever in Korea.

“The superior office put you, your family, and your friends on the protection list.”

“Protection? More like monitoring.”

“We won’t deny that. But the superior office wants you, your family, and your friends to be safe, CEO Ahn.”

It didn’t sound like a lie. Or maybe they were brainwashed to believe that. However, there was a way to check. Ahn Soo Ho suddenly disappeared with the light and made them drop their jaws in surprise. However, their surprise didn’t last long. When Ahn Soo Ho returned with the light, he didn’t come alone. He came back with dumbfounded men.

‘You’re…”

“You’re…”

They looked at each other in embarrassment. It wasn’t just one or two people who were monitoring Ahn Soo Ho. He disappeared again and returned with more dumbfounded men. The number of dumbfounded men started to increase until the room was filled with them.

“Say hello.”

Ahn Soo Ho brushed his hands and casually spoke. There was a total of 27 people who were monitoring him. Among them, those influenced by Ultra were 9 people, and the rest were bullet baits who were ready to get exposed.

They all laughed bitterly.

“I’m sure you all know each other, so let’s skip the introductions… You’ll end up telling me everything you know today.”

“Are you going to interrogate us?”

“What do you think would happen if a person fell from 100 meters above?”

In response to the person’s protest, Ahn Soo Ho smiled and changed the subject.

“They’d probably die.”

“Ugh.”

They finally remembered how they got here. In fear of being discovered, they were all monitoring from hundreds of meters away with telescopes. They were all caught though. They heard that he was like a ghost, goblin, or a monster, but experiencing the legend himself made their hands and feet tremble.

‘His supernatural powers are real!’

Seeing how not even America, China, or Russia could mess with Ahn Soo Ho, he really did have something, and the stories of his supernatural powers had been circulating for over a decade. Finding out that the rumors were true was a great discovery, but it was also a crisis for them.

‘He could kill us!’

If one wanted to keep something a secret, it was obvious that any witnesses should be killed. They didn’t know what other powers he had, but knowing that he could teleport was more than enough. As long as he made the witness fly 100 meters in the air, the evidence was going to disappear in no time. Ahn Soo Ho looked at their pale faces and whispered.

“I hope you tell the truth so that you’d survive.”

As soon as he flicked his finger, the 27 people disappeared. He then collected the equipment in the room.

Ding-

He heard his phone’s notification and checked his phone.

What’s all this? Why did you send them here?

Lock them up and interrogate them.

Okay.

What about the code that I sent you?

010-47*-****

Kosino found out a phone number.

I tried to trace the number, but it keeps redirecting to a cloned phone.

That’s it?

The last number I connected to was 02-72*-****, I’ll send you the address.

Kosino sent over a map.

‘Seoul, Yongsan, Itawon-ro?’

There was only one military facility that could be there.

‘Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.’

******

“We’ve lost touch with monitoring team 3.”

“Monitoring team 3…? Was that Jang Seol Hyun? What about the security team?”

“We checked through the closed circuit and a resident’s witness information, but…”

“They didn’t see a single shadow, did they?”

“No, Sir. Nothing was seen or captured.”

The commander nodded to his subordinate following his briefing. He was signaling him to leave. Once he was left alone, he scratched his head. He put on his hat and then left his office. Before entering the meeting room, he tidied his clothes. He then looked at the multiple secretaries standing by in front of the meeting room.

They were all field officers.

“Please go inside.”

He walked inside in response. Star, star, star. There were countless stars even though it was broad daylight.

“Commander Oh Won Hee?”

“Yes, Sir!”

General Oh Won Hee, who was in the very front row, immediately saluted.

“I heard you have an urgent report for me.”

“Yes, Sir. It’s about the sixth man.”

“Continue.”

He received permission from another general and lit up the screen. The big screen showed Premier Yuhaipung wearing sunglasses and whispering with Ahn Soo Ho. The second screen showed Ahn Soo Ho smiling with Shiba Yaos, and the final screen showed Ahn Soo Ho looking serious between the ambassadors of America and Russia.

“The team in charge of the sixth man has confirmed that our target has recently visited Pyeongyang.”

“Hmmm. Do you mean to say the sixth man was involved in the purge of Kim Taek Sun?”

Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff’s General Choi Han Rim interlocked his fingers and supported his chin.

“Commander Oh. As you already know, it’s illegal to monitor someone without being charged for espionage.”

“But he visited North Korea many times without the government’s permission. Wouldn’t that alone count as…”

“Hey! Watch your mouth.”

Choi Han Rim cut off Oh Won Hee.

Since Ahn Soo Ho’s visit to North Korea was similar to international cooperation through the UN, there was no legal problem. If they really wanted to find something, they could have, but it was impossible for the Ministry of National Defense to mess with someone that even the Blue House found difficult. The NIS took their hands off the team in charge of the sixth man completely. They wanted to get out before they pissed off Ahn Soo Ho—who flipped Korea National Association upside down. However, the Comradery Association expanded its manpower to increase the scale of the team, the key was Ahn Soo Ho’s classmates from the Naval Academy.

“Commander Oh, let me say this again. Don’t approach him. As people responsible for the development of this country, we have the responsibility to protect CEO Ahn. Our goal isn’t to cause any friction against him. Don’t forget why I put you in your positions.”

“Yes, Sir.”

As soon as Oh Won Hee reflected, Choi Han Rim smiled. However, his smile didn’t last long. That was because he was briefed that monitoring team 3 which was roaming around Jang Seol Hyun went missing.

“Did they get caught?”

“That’s what we’re assuming.”

“That’s not good. The first button was put on wrong…”

He judged that it was too early to approach Ahn Soo Ho, so he transferred the civilian agents. The majority opinion was that they should pretend they didn’t know anything until the current government ended. The president’s first attempt at military reformation failed, but it was possible that he would try again.

“Sir, our team’s not the only one that went missing. Youngjin’s men went missing as well.”

“Youngjin…? Do you mean Korea National Association? They must’ve been frustrated about NIS backing out. And if they were trying to monitor CEO Ahn, they probably sent their best men.”

“All of Group 9.”

“Group 9? Oh.”

Choi Han Rim tilted his head and then exclaimed in response to the whispering of the general sitting next to him. Youngjin Securities Consulting’s Group 9 was often called rehabilitation troops. They gathered up all the troublemakers of the military and turned them into civilian intelligence agents. Unlike most from Korea, they were just as rough and violent as the American troops.

‘Those crazy bastards!’

Choi Han Rim cursed in his head.

When secretive information regarding the Ultra Program got out many years ago, the intelligence agencies of each country tried hard to find the source. Modern wars started with the press of a button, and it was true that the most cutting edge technology was what decided the winners and losers of the war, but the worth of one well-trained soldier was more than a nuclear weapon. What all commanders wanted was not a nuclear missile button but a training program that produced the most superior soldiers.

In particular, Ultra was a very attractive product for its price. The problem was that the Ultra Program spread through the black market which meant even the terrorist organizations got their hands on the most skilled veterans. As a result, the Korean military judged that they couldn’t fall behind and put the Ultra Program in their hands as well without reporting it to the Blue House.

The intelligence agencies, militaries, criminal organizations, and large corporations of each country all began cultivating their own soldiers. The drastic increase in world terror that started last year was a tragedy resulting from the arms race.

“If they cause an accident… that could be an opportunity for us, Commander Oh. What do you think?”

“I’ll try to arrange a meeting before Youngjin or Korea National Association.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Choi Han Rim liked that Oh Won Hee always understood. Once Oh Won Hee saluted and stepped out, he saw the first lieutenant and called him over with his hand. Why was a secretary who should have been in his office out here? However, his question was soon answered.

“Commander. Someone named Ahn Soo Ho called and left his number. He said that if you don’t call him back within an hour, he’ll blow up the Ministry of National Defense…”

“Give it to me.”

It was a scary joke, but he thought he could really do it, so it didn’t sound like a joke to him. As soon as Oh Won Hee received a note, he smirked. The number written beneath the phone number was something that kids these days wouldn’t recognize.

‘Pager.’

It was a slang that only those from the pager generation could recognize.

79337 -> Cheer up, friend!

Would the ones that went missing have given up information? He didn’t know. However, thinking that Ahn Soo Ho would have gotten it out of them put him at ease.

9977 -> We have a lot to talk about!

That meant he wanted to talk. Then what about 1414? Oh Won Hee inputted the phone number into his phone. He heard a click along with an ARS recording.

This is the Chinese restaurant, Beijing Spot, which always does its best to…

It was the phone number of a Chinese restaurant.

‘1414.’

That meant “let’s have a meal together”.

< Protect – Episode 165 – Ultra [5] > The end.