Chapter 1

Black Company Joseon - ⓒ National Pride

A crazy otaku, obsessed with military, steampunk, and all sorts of hobbies, has been reborn.

However, his father is King Sejong?

A ruler skilled in hobbies and a son obsessed with them,

along with the divided ministers and countless people.

Even today, the nights of Joseon are filled with the lights of overtime work.

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< Prologue. >

Prologue.

“...So, we will proceed as decided just now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This hunger is getting to me. Let’s have a light meal and reconvene after this hour.”

“...Understood, Your Majesty.”

[The scribe says,]

Ching! Chwaak!

[The king’s love for his people is unparalleled.]

Ching! Chwaak!

[He even takes care to ensure that even a mere slave does not overwork, so the king’s virtue is like the warmth of spring.]

Ching! Chwaak!

[But his ministers do not receive such warmth, how sorrowful...]

“Scribe? Are you cursing me now?”

“No, Your Majesty!”

“Then why are you taking so long?”

“My hands are still slow...”

“Is that so? Should I send you back to the administrative training center?”

“I will do my best to work faster!”

“I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“Thank you...”

< Prologue. > End

ⓒ National Pride

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< Chapter 1: He is a Mad Otaku. >

Chapter 1: He is a Mad Otaku.

People often say,

Among otakus, the best is a yang-otaku.

But there is one level above yang-otaku, and he is a mad otaku.

* * *

In Gasan-ri, Yangsan City, Gyeongsangnam-do.

Ding! Sizzle!

Jinho hammered the metal with a spring hammer and plunged it into water. Steam rose with a loud noise.

Jinho took out the cooled metal from the water, inspected it, and nodded.

“Well made.”

After checking the condition, Jinho put the metal back into the furnace.

* * *

“Hey! Little brother! What are you making this time?”

“Eh? Big brother! You’re here?”

Jinho, who had been busy moving between the furnace and the machine tools, brightened up when he saw the person looking for him.

“What are you making?”

“I’m making a sashimi knife on order.”

“Sashimi knife?”

Seeing the puzzled look on his cousin’s face, Jinho quickly added,

“Sashimi knife! A Japanese restaurant owner in Seoul ordered it! Seriously, don’t let your professional instincts kick in at random times!”

Jinho’s cousin, Kim Byungho, was a detective.

Byungho’s expression relaxed after Jinho’s explanation.

“Is that so? You’re getting orders and making a decent income, I see?”

Byungho asked, and Jinho wiped his nose with his finger and smiled.

“Just enough to make a living.”

“Is that so... Let me see.”

“It’s just the shape now.”

“Hmm...”

Byungho, who was inspecting the red-hot sashimi knife, looked around.

“You should clean up a bit more.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You answer well. You do...”

Byungho, who had been giving Jinho a hard time while looking around, his eyes lit up when he saw a knife in a wooden box lined with soft cloth.

“Hey, this kukri, the blade is upside down, isn’t it?”

Byungho, who had never seen a kukri before, pointed out that Jinho had placed the blade incorrectly. Jinho’s expression changed strangely at Byungho’s words.

“What? What’s that face?”

“...It’s called a kukri, and it’s supposed to look like that.”

“...Is that so? It’s quite unique. Which country’s knife is it?”

“Nepal.”

“Those people must have quite unique personalities.”

Jinho, who had been pondering the meaning of Byungho’s words, shook his head.

“Try saying that to the Nepalese. They’ll roll you off the top of Mount Everest.”

“That’s why I’m saying it. Anyway, did you call me because of this kukri or something?”

“Yes. Could you get me a permit for carrying a weapon?”

Jinho’s words made Byungho, who was gauging the size of the kukri, nod.

“Given its size, you’ll need it. But why do you need a knife?”

“I want to participate in a competition in the U.S.”

“Competition?”

In response to Byungho’s short question, Jinho showed him a video on a tablet he had set aside. After watching the video, Byungho clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. It would have been better if you made a traditional Korean sword like the Joseon hwando...”

“Some people brought katana and their blades bent, causing them to be disqualified, and others had their blades break and were eliminated. While the Joseon hwando and the katana are sharp, they aren’t tough. For such competitions, a heavy and tough blade is the best.”

“Is that so? I understand. Prepare the documents and bring them.”

* * *

A few days later.

“Here are the documents and the card.”

“Thank you.”

While handing over the documents and the IC card to Jinho, Byungho’s gaze fixed on something.

“What’s that?”

“What?”

“That thing. That thing!”

Byungho pointed to a flintlock rifle standing nearby.

“Oh! That? I got an order to make one, so I tried it. It’s for reenactors who do American Revolutionary War cosplay and mock battles.”

“Hmm...”

Byungho, who had been listening to Jinho’s explanation half-heartedly, picked up the rifle and inspected it carefully.

While examining the lock mechanism, Byungho turned to Jinho.

“Is this the gun used in the American Revolutionary War with Mel Gibson?”

“Yes, it’s a Kentucky rifle.”

“Why are you making an American gun?”

“It seems that the craftsmen who make them are decreasing. And the guns they have are almost becoming treasures...”

“So you made it?”

Byungho’s question made Jinho nod.

“I made one first, and if the reviews are good, I can export 5 to 10 every year. If it goes well, I can make about 2,000 to 3,000.”

“Hmm...”

While observing Byungho’s reaction, Jinho added,

“So, I need some documents for this project...”

“Do I have to do it again?”

“Please. If it goes well, I’ll treat you to a big meal...”

“You talk well.”

Despite his indifferent tone, Byungho looked at the Kentucky rifle seriously. He pulled the hammer, which didn’t have a flint, and pulled the trigger.

Click!

“Hmm? It works properly? Hmm... Is the barrel supposed to be this small?”

“No. I blocked it so that only gunpowder can go in, but not the bullet.”

“Hmm...”

While listening to the explanation, Byungho noticed a small crack about 1 cm from the muzzle. He carefully examined the crack, grabbed the barrel firmly, and pulled above the crack.

Pong!

With a small sound, the muzzle separated from the barrel, and Byungho inspected the inside of the muzzle.

Six rifling grooves were intricately twisted.

After confirming the rifling, Byungho grabbed Jinho by the collar.

“You damn fool! You said it was a prop! Why did you put rifling in a prop!”

“To make it properly, you have to meet the customer’s needs...”

“Are your customers making some kind of snuff film or something? You, you little...! You came here to use me when you needed to! You call me a cop!”

“No, I didn’t...”

“Damn fool!”

“It was in the requirements! To be usable in case of an emergency...”

“People in a country where more dangerous things overflow beyond the doorstep, what the hell are you talking about!”

After a long struggle, Byungho and Jinho agreed to weld the plug firmly into the barrel of the already made rifle and add the following text to the product description on Amazon.

- According to the laws of the manufacturing country, the muzzle has been modified to prevent the use of live ammunition.

“A shame...”

“Tsk!”

Jinho, who couldn’t hide his disappointment, became stiff when Byungho glared at him. Byungho read the advertisement text Jinho had posted on Amazon and asked,

“You said you would make it historically accurate. Are you using the same materials?”

“No way. If I made the barrel, the most important part, the old-fashioned way, the price would have an extra zero at the end.”

“Makes sense.”

While they were talking, an old woman entered Jinho’s blacksmith shop.

“Is the blacksmith’s son here?”

“Welcome!”

“These are seed potatoes. Can you store them in the warehouse?”

“Yes, I will.”

Jinho took the box of seed potatoes from the old woman and put it in a separate warehouse at the back of the blacksmith shop.

After the old woman left, Byungho looked at Jinho with a newfound interest.

“You seem to be close to the elders in the neighborhood?”

“We help each other out with various things.”

“But why are they using your warehouse?”

“I have some sensitive chemicals for the blacksmith work, so I paid extra attention when building the warehouse. It’s also good for storing seeds and fertilizers, so many people use it.”

“Is that so? Let me see.”

“What do you want to see now?”

“Tsk!”

As Byungho’s expression sharpened, Jinho, who had become stiff, led him to the separate warehouses at the back of the blacksmith shop.

Seeing the steel plates piled up in the first warehouse, Byungho turned to Jinho.

“You have quite a lot of scrap metal?”

“Spring steel is the best for making knives and other things. So, I’ve become a regular at the junkyard.”

“Is that so? Open the other warehouse.”

“...Alright.”

At Byungho’s urging, Jinho opened the second warehouse.

Stepping into the cool warehouse and inspecting the items inside, Byungho glared at Jinho.

“Why do you need these chemicals in a blacksmith shop?”

“They are needed for etching decorations and other additional work.”

“Did you buy them legally?”

“Can I show you the receipts? Seriously... who would think you’re not a detective?”

Despite Jinho’s defense, Byungho’s eyes remained fierce.

“If you cause trouble, you’ll be in my hands.”

“I won’t cause trouble!”

“A guy who makes homemade guns?”

“...”

After warning Jinho, Byungho turned around, sniffed, and grumbled.

“Whose house is this? How much fertilizer did they spread to have this smell...”

“It’s my field.”

“Huh? You’re farming now?”

“Hahaha...”

Byungho’s expression sharpened again at Jinho’s strange laugh as he inspected the field. About half of the 500 pyeong field was covered with solar panels, and the other half was covered with fertilizer.

Observing the composition, Byungho looked straight at Jinho.

“Among your traits, the only useful one is that you can’t lie. This isn’t a farming field. What are you using it for?”

“It’s... for making potassium nitrate...”

“Potassium nitrate?”

“Just trying to make some...”

“Why potassium nitrate?”

“To test if the Kentucky rifle is properly made, I need some black powder, but it’s hard to get...”

“Damn fool! This goes beyond the cop’s jurisdiction!”

Byungho, whose face had turned pale at Jinho’s answer, which exceeded his expectations, grabbed Jinho by the collar and shouted.

Byungho’s face wasn’t just pale because Jinho was making gunpowder.

* * *

Three days before Byungho visited Jinho, a person from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) came to see Byungho and his colleagues.

The NIS agent came to discuss the “domestic activities of Islamic terrorist organizations.”

“Since the elimination of Osama, Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations have been operating independently. While no organization has been discovered in our country, the situation is very dangerous. The reason is the large number of illegal workers from Pakistan and Southeast Asian Muslim countries.”

According to the NIS, the situation was truly dire.

Most illegal workers were frequently subjected to overwork, wage arrears, and even physical abuse.

As a result, the number of illegal workers who harbored hostility towards Koreans and Korea was increasing, and the possibility of them forming spontaneous terrorist organizations was growing.

“...Thanks to this, I can’t tell if I’m an NIS agent or a labor inspector these days. I spend my days recovering unpaid wages for illegal workers and securing medical expenses for those injured in industrial accidents. Even when deporting them, we need to eliminate their resentment.”

After a brief complaint, the NIS agent got to the main point.

“I met with you because of the special characteristics of Yangsan.”

“There are almost no factories where illegal workers can work in Yangsan, though?”

One of the detectives attending the meeting pointed out, and the NIS agent nodded.

“That’s correct. However, there are many farms nearby. These days, another major destination for illegal immigrants is such agricultural and livestock areas.”

The detectives nodded at the NIS agent’s response. Farming is hard, but livestock farming is even harder.

The NIS agent cleared his throat and displayed a few slides on the screen.

“The photos you see are from the Oklahoma bombing and other bomb attack scenes. The key here is the materials used for the explosives. While some cases involved actual military or civilian explosives, many used materials readily available on the market. The most useful material is nitrogen fertilizer. When mixed with diesel, kerosene, or lubricating oil, it becomes an excellent explosive.”

“Hmm...”

The detectives’ faces turned serious at the NIS agent’s explanation. Nitrogen fertilizer was abundant in the farms around Yangsan.

“Of course, nitrogen fertilizer is not only available in Yangsan. However, to the east of Yangsan is Busan, and to the west is Changwon. If one could obtain detonators from the Russian mafia in Busan or make them, and then transport the explosives in a truck to the defense industry complex in Changwon and detonate them, it would be a catastrophic situation.”

The detectives nodded seriously at the NIS agent’s explanation.

The farms and agricultural supply stores on the outskirts of Yangsan were overflowing with fertilizers, and fuel tanks filled with fuel for greenhouses and other agricultural facilities, as well as lubricating oils for farm machinery, were common. Moreover, 1-ton trucks were also widespread.

Additionally, there were many people who brought in Pakistanis and other Southeast Asians to farm or raise livestock, and the rumors were that they were being treated quite harshly.

Sensing that the detectives understood the seriousness of the situation, the NIS agent concluded.

“The NIS is asking for your cooperation not only in monitoring illegal foreign workers but also in keeping an eye on the organized crime groups in Yangsan. According to our investigation, brokers who arrange jobs for illegal workers and organized crime groups are connected, and these groups are also involved in preventing the escape and managing the illegal workers. We ask for your focused management of this issue. It is a very important task for national security.”

< Chapter 1: He is a Mad Otaku. > End

ⓒ National Pride

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