Chapter 1

The Bear's Soup is Now My Story 1

001 Rebirth / Thanks (Cba)

"Are you Mr. Kang Jin-ho? You're from Korea."

Kang Jin-ho, carrying a camera, was heading to a Moscow hotel. As he entered a deserted street, he turned around, puzzled by a voice from behind.

"Yes, but... who are you?"

"You need to come to the police station for a moment."

"...In the middle of the night? What for?"

"You'll find out when you get there. Get in the car."

Two police officers, built like UFC heavyweight fighters, approached with unnatural smiles.

No one in Russia knew him.

Even if they did, who would willingly follow under such coercion?

Moreover, he couldn't follow Russian police without informing anyone.

Kang Jin-ho, thinking he needed to get away, took a step back and then ran.

But in that direction, another police officer was already blocking his path.

"Ugh."

In an instant, a towel was clamped over his mouth, and he lost consciousness.

The police officers put the unconscious Kang Jin-ho in the car and drove off, plowing through the snow.

* * *

Whoosh—

"Ugh...!"

Kang Jin-ho was jolted awake by a sudden cold shower.

The damp, musty smell of the basement filled his nostrils.

Looking around, he saw a dimly lit room with a single hanging light bulb.

It had the atmosphere of a newsroom he had seen on TV.

In front of him, the police officer from earlier was grinning and watching him.

"Feeling better now?"

"Why are you doing this to me? Can you just arrest foreigners like this?"

"Mr. Kang Jin-ho. Don't you get the situation? Surely you don't think we brought you here for no reason?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"This is disappointing. I thought journalists were quick to catch on."

'He knows my name. He knows I'm a journalist. From the way they forcibly brought me here, they don't seem to be actual police...'

"Are you not a police officer?"

"I wish I were. Otherwise... hehehe."

He was indirectly saying he wasn't a police officer.

If not a police officer, then who?

Russian mafia? Gang? Skinhead? Or...

He swallowed hard.

'Remain calm. Losing it won't change anything here.'

He quickly thought about why he was brought here.

Then one thing came to mind.

'Ah, could it be because of that? If so, it was true?'

As if reading his expression, the man spoke again.

"Did it come to you?"

"Is this about the secret arms deals with Russian military suppliers? The ones involving President Putin?"

"Now you're getting it."

"I only found out about it by chance while investigating the suppliers. I didn't intentionally dig into it."

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

"Are you overestimating the capabilities of a Korean social affairs reporter?"

"...?"

"I really found out by chance. Just two days ago. I didn't have time to verify it yet."

That was true.

It was such a big story that he hadn't told his colleagues until he found solid evidence.

"Does anyone else know?"

The man's red eyes, illuminated by the light bulb, flashed.

Like a prosecutor looking at a clearly guilty suspect.

How should he respond?

Lie? His colleagues already knew.

Or tell the truth? Only he knew.

What should he say to get out of here safely?

He quickly organized his thoughts and gave the most suitable answer for survival.

"Only I know. My colleagues don't know yet, and they won't."

'Telling him my colleagues know might get me out of here.' That was a miscalculation.

In this situation, it was better to convince them that the secret hadn't leaked.

To them, protecting the secret of a high-ranking official was more important than a person's life.

Kang Jin-ho fervently hoped his choice was right as he looked at the man's mouth.

"You're lucky. Consider it a stroke of luck."

Indeed, his choice was right.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"About the documents. You didn't just keep them in your head, did you? Where did you put them? They weren't on your camera or phone."

"I stored them in my email."

"Your email? Then you can check them on your phone. Open it now."

Thinking it was important to show trust, he opened his email and showed the hidden documents.

"Here they are."

"Right. Now write down your name, email ID and password, social security number, and phone number."

Kang Jin-ho took the paper and pen the man offered, wrote the information, and handed it over.

After a brief look, the man pressed the intercom, and another man in a police uniform entered.

"Completely delete everything and bring some drinks."

They intended to completely erase all his online accounts, even preventing backups.

The man who took the phone and paper returned with two cups of tea, whispered something in the man's ear, and left.

The man, with a cigarette in his fingers, asked,

"Do you smoke?"

"No, I don't."

"Envious. Anyway, when you return, leave all your belongings and move to another hotel. We'll send you there if we determine everything is fine."

"..."

He couldn't be sure if the man would return his belongings, but in this situation, he could only nod.

The man took a long drag on his cigarette and continued,

"When you came to Russia, did you take a boat from the East Sea?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that even during war, Russians can board boats without a visa."

"..."

"Let's make this easy. If you try to hide anything or cause trouble... things will get complicated. Think about your family too."

The man's eyes flashed again.

This was a threat: if he caused trouble, they would send someone to harm not only him but his family.

"Don't be too scared. Even during war, we don't act recklessly."

That was even less believable.

Thinking the matter was settled, the man asked a personal question.

"Where did you learn Russian?"

"My mother was Russian."

"She was a Korean who became a Russian citizen through marriage."

Kang Jin-ho's face was completely Asian, which made this inference possible.

He had studied Russian history deeply since childhood through his mother.

Before coming here, he had also studied Putin's biography in depth.

Thanks to this, he knew many details that even Russians didn't know.

"Listening to you, I'd think you were Russian. There was a reason you came as a special correspondent."

Kang Jin-ho, sensing a life-or-death moment, was tense and closely watched the man's expression.

"Let's have a drink before we part. We might not see each other again."

A greenish tea with a coffee-like aroma.

As he reached for the steaming cup, a thought suddenly struck him.

"Why? Are you worried it might be drugged? Because of the news?"

"Not exactly... but..."

Kang Jin-ho left the statement ambiguous, but the man interpreted it as a concern about drugs.

"Come on. I'm not that cheap to drug a Korean social affairs reporter. It's not drugged."

The man chuckled and drank the tea first.

Seeing this, Kang Jin-ho relaxed and took a few sips to quench his thirst.

"Your ticket will be prepared. Take a boat from Vladivostok to Korea next Tuesday."

Now more at ease, he stood up and asked,

"Can I ask one thing?"

"Go ahead."

"You don't seem to be a police officer. Where are you from? I won't reveal this."

"Think about why you were brought here."

It was because he knew information he shouldn't have.

"Are you not scared now that I'm letting you go? I told you to think about your family."

"..."

"Don't try to know too much. Especially not in Russia. Go now."

He knew they wouldn't tell him.

As he opened the door to leave, the man said,

"You'll find out soon enough."

With that ominous statement, he was blindfolded and returned to the hotel.

A few days later.

Rumble—

Kang Jin-ho looked at the Vladivostok port as he boarded the boat.

"I'll come back to Russia, you'll see."

* * *

Making that promise, a month later.

"Death by radiation poisoning has been confirmed."

"Ugh! Ahh—"

His body was deteriorating due to radiation exposure.

It was in the tea they had shared. Or rather, only in the tea he had drunk.

He remembered the man's words.

No poison.

No poison, just radiation.

"I'll avenge this, even in the afterlife."

On a day in December, during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes, clutching a newspaper tightly.

A tear, like the last dew, formed at the corner of his eye.

* * *

The midday sun filtering through the window tickled his eyes.

From somewhere, the sound of thousands of people shouting and car horns blaring hit his ears.

Kang Jin-ho sat up.

"What is this...?"

Pushing the blanket away irritably, he turned his head and gasped.

"Ugh. Why? Let's sleep more. I didn't get any sleep last night because of you."

He was clearly dead after drinking the famous radioactive tea and suffering in agony.

His last words were about avenging in the afterlife.

But when he looked to the side, a naked blonde woman was lying comfortably on her back.

Carefully getting out of bed, he headed to the bathroom.

'My appearance...'

The face in the mirror was not that of a strong, 30-something Korean.

'Blonde hair... blue eyes?'

His eyes were sunken, either from fatigue or pain, and he had a Caucasian face.

He was tall and slender.

Unable to tell if it was a dream or reality, he washed his face repeatedly, but the reflection didn't change.

He slapped his cheeks a few times and bit his tongue hard.

He even nicked his finger with a razor, but only felt the pain, with no change.

'This can't be a dream...'

With trembling hands, he opened the window wide.

In the distance, Red Square was visible.

People were holding banners with messages.

The honking cars seemed to be cheering them on.

Kang Jin-ho watched for a moment, then sat in front of the TV.

A gold 'Gold Star' logo was at the bottom.

His face faintly reflected on the black screen.

'What is going on...?'

He quickly turned on the TV.

『On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union, which lasted for 70 years, is being dissolved, and the birth of Russia is announced. From today onwards...』

The screen showed Mikhail Gorbachev, with a receding hairline and a peculiar map-like mark.

'1991? Soviet Union? Russia?'

When someone experiences something absurd, they can't even speak, right?

That's exactly how he felt.

A situation he couldn't comprehend.

Suddenly, a tsunami of incomprehensible information flooded his mind.

"Ugh! Ugh."

Clutching his head in pain, he eventually understood his current situation.

He had been reborn on December 26, 1991, the day after Christmas, when the Soviet Union collapsed and the name changed to Russia.

And he was reborn as the second son (21 years old) of a prestigious family.

"Nicholai, why are you suddenly like this?"

The beauty, startled by his groans, approached and hugged him from behind.

"Headache?"

"Um, give me some space... some water."

"Wait a moment!"

She fetched water from the mini-fridge and handed it to him.

Kang Jin-ho drank it greedily, as if he hadn't had water for three days.

"Choke! Cough cough."

"Drink slowly. Why are you like this today?"

Thanks to the cold water, his racing heart calmed down, and he started to get dressed.

"I need to go out now."

"Already? You said you'd stay until dinner."

Through the information he had just received, he knew who this woman was.

He had met her a few days ago after taking a break from university. She was beautiful but known for complicated relationships with men.

And the reason this body's owner met her was...

'Idiot. Trying to get revenge on a cheating girlfriend by having an affair?'

Kang Jin-ho, putting on his shoes, said in a cold voice,

"Rest a bit more. I have to go because something came up."

He left without another word.

He wouldn't meet this woman again after today.