Chapter 131: Foolish Ideas

TL: LittlePeach

It had not even been a full day since I arrived in the Philippines, yet it was already time to head home again.

“So this is how you’ve been making money all this time, Team Leader....”

Just before I left, Team Leader Kim Do-hyeon hesitantly spoke to me with a conflicted look on his face.

I could hardly blame him.

I had set off for New Bilibid like I was going on a day trip, only to return less than half a day later with a whopping seven million dollars in hand.

“Well, more or less.”

“I really envy you.... I suppose making that much money requires taking risks after all.”

Before answering, I casually wet my lips.

“I suppose so. Turns out there’s no such thing as free money in this world.”

Deep conflict filled Team Leader Kim Do-hyeon’s face.

Now that he had realized there was no way to make that kind of money without doing what I did, it still did not change the fact that he had gone so far as to transfer departments in pursuit of money.

“But Southeast Asia is a land of opportunity. There are countless ways to make money even without doing anything like this.”

“Could you give me some advice?”

“Advice.... How has the Cambodia dispatch squad been lately?”

“They’re the most motivated group in the Southeast Asia Team. Recently, they even drafted and submitted a new operation on their own.”

“Try paying some attention to Cambodia.”

“Oh.”

At the very least, the Cambodia dispatch squad had done side jobs with me before.

So they were probably trying to come up with ways to make money one way or another.

I shrugged and changed the subject.

“If I get the chance, I’ll stop by Cambodia too. Once the money comes in, dinner’s on me.”

“Haha.... I’ll gladly take you up on that.”

While waiting for the plane, we spent some time making idle conversation.

What the situation on the ground in Southeast Asia was like.

Whether he had any particular difficulties managing his team members, and so on.

Before long, the plane was ready for departure.

“I’ll see you again.”

“Yes, Team Leader. Have a safe trip.”

Team Leader Kim Do-hyeon said he planned to remain in Southeast Asia for a while and make the rounds of the field operations.

As I boarded the plane, I gave him a light wave.

“Welcome aboard, Mr. Kang. First time on a military transport?”

Branch Chief Morgan, who had already been waiting inside, greeted me warmly.

“I’ve flown on Korean military transports before, but this is my first time on an American one.”

“Oh? How did you end up on a Korean transport?”

“I went through airborne training a few times.”

The aircraft we had boarded was a C-17 Globemaster operated by the U.S. Air Force.

I had paid for my own plane ticket on the way here, but on the return trip, I got to hitch a ride on a U.S. military aircraft.

‘Free is the best.’

No matter how much money I made, getting a free ride on a military transport still felt far better than paying out of pocket for first class.

It was the mango-eternal truth, proven once again in the skies over Southeast Asia.

***

The direct flight from Basa Air Base to South Korea took roughly four and a half hours.

Thud!

“Ngh?!”

A jolt that felt like the whole world had shaken snapped me awake.

Screeeeech!

A moment later, the tires hit the ground with a long screech as the transport settled onto the runway.

“Ngh.... Hah!”

Still sprawled across the floor of the transport, I stretched out long and hard.

We had left Philippine airspace behind and arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

Hiss!

Before long, the transport’s rear door slowly opened, and the American soldiers who had been chatting inside poured out.

“Mr. Kang. If you have no pressing plans, ride with me. Let us go to Seoul together.”

“Thank you, Branch Chief Morgan. I appreciate the ride.”

Morgan’s official vehicle was waiting at the airfield.

With Morgan confidently handling the wheel, we headed straight for Seoul.

Our destination was the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, right in the middle of Gwanghwamun.

“Right. Director, you should take this phone back.”

“Hmm. No. I would like you to hold on to it for the time being. I will need to contact you about the reward payout soon.”

“In that case, all right. Thank you for taking care of it.”

“Mr. Kang, I truly appreciate what you did this time. Let us meet again soon.”

Perhaps because he had thoroughly put Asia-Pacific Headquarters in its place, Morgan walked toward the building with a spring in his step.

After watching him disappear inside the embassy, I headed toward the roadside to catch a taxi.

Riiiiing.

“Oh.”

Without any warning, the satellite phone in my pocket suddenly rang.

Apparently, word that I had entered the country aboard a U.S. Air Force transport had already reached the NIS.

Click.

“Yes. I’m listening.”

-This is Yang Ui-jin. I heard you just arrived back in Korea.

“That’s right. I just flew in from the Philippines.”

-I know you’ve had a long trip, but could you stop by headquarters before you head home?

“Understood.”

I had quite a few things to report anyway, so I had already been planning to show my face at headquarters before heading home.

***

And so, I leisurely took a taxi to NIS headquarters.

After passing through the underground parking lot and entering his office, Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin welcomed me.

“Come in. You’ve worked hard, from Switzerland all the way to the Philippines.”

“You flatter me.”

He handed me a cup of green tea brewed from a tea bag and smiled casually.

I had already given a full verbal report on everything that happened during the operation in Switzerland, so Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin, who already knew the details, only touched on that part briefly.

“I received a call directly from DEA Branch Chief Morgan a little while ago. Something extraordinary enough to go down in NIS history has happened. To think you captured an al-Qaeda leader alive....”

“Word got to you already, I see.”

Our conversation naturally shifted to the operation conducted by DEA Asia-Pacific Headquarters.

There was something I had been curious about anyway.

This reward money was different in nature from the off-the-books side-job earnings I had secretly made as Nguyen Kodam, so there were several things that had been bothering me.

“Do you happen to know how taxes work on reward money paid by the United States?”

“This type of reward payment is tax-exempt, so the full amount will be deposited directly into your salary account.”

“Oh.”

To think I would receive that much money without a single cent being taken in taxes.

It felt strangely momentous.

All the more so because a full seven billion won was about to land under my real name, Kang Hae-chan.

“Since we’re on the subject, let me ask you one thing directly. You’re about to come into a very large sum of money because of this.... Do you have any intention of leaving the NIS?”

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin stared straight at me with unusually serious eyes as he spoke.

In other words, he was worried that now that I had become a multimillionaire overnight, I might quit this agent business where I was constantly risking my life.

When I simply stared back at him, he gave a bitter smile and continued.

“Once a person gets their hands on that kind of money, their heart rarely stays the same. Losing someone like you would be a serious blow to us, but we have no grounds to force you to stay either. So I thought I should ask what you intend to do.”

By that logic, I had actually been rich for quite some time already.

The dividends from the ten percent stake in the hotel I owned under Nguyen Kodam’s name would be enough for me to spend the rest of my life doing nothing.

I gave a light shrug.

“I didn’t start this work for the money in the first place. If I were looking for an excuse to quit, there have been far more compelling moments than this.”

The most decisive of them, even now, had been losing Crane No. 13 in Dandong.

The helplessness of having this sturdy body and still being unable to do anything for him.

‘I promised my daughter I’d buy her a new phone for Children’s Day this year....’

It was a memory that still left a dull ache in my chest whenever it resurfaced.

At my calm answer, Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin fell silent with an odd expression.

He nodded thoughtfully.

“I’m truly grateful to hear you say that. At the very least, I will never forget your dedication to the country.”

Dedication?

Seeing the heaviness in my expression, he seemed to have gotten the wrong idea.

I scratched my chin with an awkward smile.

“It feels a little ridiculous to ask this when you’ve only just returned from finishing such a hectic operation, but what are you planning to do next?”

“I was already thinking it was about time I got back to my duties as an Eagle agent.”

With no other operation currently assigned to me, my only remaining task was my work as an Eagle agent.

[Owl No. 2]

[Owl No. 4]

[Owl No. 8]

[Crane No. 14]

[Kite No. 7]

[...]

There were twelve people on the list in total.

I had already checked on all five agents stationed in the Northeast Three Provinces, leaving only seven.

‘Should I go to Russia?’

The thought of Russia suddenly crossed my mind.

One of the agents on the list happened to be in Vladivostok, Russia.

Since I had sent Maximilien and Bella to Vladivostok, I figured I ought to show my face there while I was at it.

I was still mulling it over when.

“Come to think of it, there’s one change I need to inform you about.”

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin abruptly changed the subject.

“What kind of change?”

“Do you still have the notebook I gave you?”

“Yes.”

I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket, pulled out the notebook, and handed it over.

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin looked through it and smiled.

“Didn’t you boast that you would memorize the whole thing when you first took it?”

“I did memorize it, but I kept it around just in case.”

“Really? You have quite a memory.”

If I ever happened to forget so much as a single line of an address, I could hardly call Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin and ask him to repeat it for me.

Before long, Yang Ui-jin pulled a pen from his pocket and pointed to a page near the middle of the notebook.

[Owl No. 2]

[Real Name: Ji Nam-jin]

[Alias: Alif Yusuf Ashiq]

[Current Location: Room 404, Yahid Guest Rooms near Bahonar Wharf, Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Iran]

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin drew a line through the name on the list with a few strokes of his pen.

I looked back and forth between the notebook and him in confusion.

“Regrettably, he was officially declared missing three days ago.”

“What? Missing means....”

“This agent was originally assigned to gather information on cargo departing from the Port of Bandar Abbas. His primary target was Scud missile components being smuggled from North Korea into Iran. The reason he ended up on your list was that he had recently failed to enter a cargo vessel control number twice.”

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin handed the notebook back to me and let out a faint sigh.

“Then one day, a container holding those Scud missile components remained aboard the vessel instead of being unloaded at the port. Nothing like that had ever happened before. We immediately passed the unusual development to the Americans. In response, they asked us to have someone infiltrate the ship and personally verify the cargo’s final destination, even offering reward money for the job.”

The United States was already deeply concerned about Iran’s North Korean-made missiles, which were continually aimed at its ally Israel.

And now one more thing had appeared for them to worry about.

In that situation, the simplest solution was probably to pay a foreign agent already deployed on the ground to handle it for them.

“When we passed that offer on to Owl No. 2, he accepted immediately.”

Just as I had been unable to turn down Branch Chief Morgan’s offer, it seemed the reward money had lit a fire under Owl No. 2’s hidden enthusiasm.

“Not long after the agent infiltrated the vessel.... the ship suddenly shut off its AIS, changed course, and vanished at sea. The agent’s GPS signal also cut out abnormally, perhaps because they had a jammer running. Do you know where the signal briefly came back for the last time?”

I silently blinked and waited for him to continue.

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin gave a bitter smile and released a long sigh.

“The Port of Hodeidah.”

“Hodeidah.... Isn’t that in western Yemen?”

“You know it well. That’s right.”

The Port of Hodeidah.

The moment I heard the name, a map of the Middle East rapidly unfolded in my mind.

Yemen, where the civil war still dragged on relentlessly.

And among its cities, Hodeidah was a port city under the control of the Houthi rebels.

“That was already four days ago.”

“Four days ago....”

“There hasn’t been another signal since.”

Under NIS regulations, if contact remained cut off beyond a certain period, the agent was classified as missing.

They called it missing, but in reality, it meant there was little hope of the agent returning alive.

“So remove Owl No. 2 from this list.”

“Is there no rescue operation planned?”

“Not at present. Unless we receive an updated location or a distress call from the agent, it’s impossible. It may sound cold, but we don’t even know whether he’s alive or dead, do we? If we recklessly deploy more agents in a situation this uncertain, we could simply suffer additional losses.”

It was sound logic that I could not deny.

Moreover, the Port of Hodeidah was dangerous territory that was difficult to approach through normal means.

With no GPS signal to work from, going in blindly would most likely accomplish nothing except adding another person to the missing list.

“All we can do is hope Owl No. 2 somehow manages to contact us from the ground....”

I stayed silent for a while, unsure what expression to make.

After sorting out my thoughts, I moved my dry lips.

“May I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Does Owl No. 2 have a family?”

Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin held out the notebook and glanced at me.

He seemed to understand the meaning behind my question immediately.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“...Understood.”

“Don’t get any foolish ideas. I’m telling you this for your own sake.”

For a black agent, going missing was effectively synonymous with death.

In that situation, his firm refusal to tell me was, paradoxically, little different from answering my question in the affirmative.

I reached my own conclusion.

“I think I’ll make Russia my next destination for now.”

“A good choice. Be careful there as well.”

At my words, Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin nodded without the slightest suspicion.

After exchanging a few more words and receiving several cautions, I left the director’s office and headed out of the building.

“....”

A sudden memory surfaced, and my feet naturally carried me toward one side of the building.

The central lobby of NIS headquarters.

A massive installation filled one entire wall.

Dozens of glowing stars without a single name.

The Nameless Star memorial.

Five more stars had been added since the last time I saw it.

“....”

The last time I had stood here was right before my first deployment to Dandong after receiving the codename Sparrow No. 7.

As I quietly stared at the plaque, a young voice suddenly echoed through my memory.

‘Wow! Mom! Dad bought me a phone!’

Crane No. 13, who had died a lonely death in Dandong after being shot by a North Korean assassination squad.

I still vividly remembered buying a phone for his daughter in his place, telling her it was a Children’s Day present sent by her father.

‘Look! Dad sent it by courier! This model only came out a few months ago! I love it!’

As the face of Crane No. 13, who had died alone, surfaced in my mind, Owl No. 2’s situation naturally overlapped with it.

I could almost picture his family somewhere in South Korea, desperately waiting for the head of their family to come home.

‘Don’t get any foolish ideas. I’m telling you this for your own sake.’

As if forcing its way into that opening, Bureau Director Yang Ui-jin’s voice churned through my head.

I let out a sharp snort without realizing it.

“So as long as he isn’t missing anymore, it’s fine, right?”

I had thought this for a while now, but I apparently had quite the contrarian streak.

Whenever someone told me not to do something, I had to do it, and once I made up my mind, nothing anyone said could get through to me.

‘Forget Russia.’

My next destination had just been decided.

*****

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