NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 14



Only Krnovel

Exile – 4

A few days ago, Gwangyang General Trading Company opened its doors on Jongno Street, the center of Gyeongseong.

Among the people passing by Jongno Street, not a single one showed even the slightest interest in this tiny company.

Everyone just passed by with tired faces, heading to work or returning home.

“Wow… A two-story Western-style house on Jongno Street… Where did you get something like this?”

“Isn’t this a world where there are a lot of people who would take the emperor’s head if they only had money?”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what they say.”

I used up all the Super Notes in the Bowibu guys’ bags to buy this building, but I still have no regrets.

If more money was needed, all one had to do was print a new one using the enclosed copper plate.

However, in order to print it in earnest like this, separate modifications were needed to the copper plate.

‘I managed to somehow turn the supernotes I had in my bag into physical goods, but to mass-produce and distribute them in earnest, they need to be good enough to sell in the US as well.’

What I want is not a one-time, brief support for the Shanghai Provisional Government or the Manchurian Independence Army, but long-term support that can last as long as possible.

If I ran wild in Gyeongseong alone, the Japanese would surely focus their attention on me and troublesome things would happen.

So I needed to divert attention away from it before it got to me.

‘If possible, I would like the Manchurian independence army to cross the Amnok or Duman Rivers and poke the northern border… Or, it would be even better if the provisional government in Shanghai made something happen!’

The provisional government, the independence army, and Uiyoldan.

Among these, there was no place where something could be done right away other than Uiyoldan.

The Manchurian Independence Army was called an army, but in reality it was not even the size of a division.

There, the armament was not unified and each was different, and the supply of ammunition was unclear, so one could imagine what the outcome would be if an all-out war were to take on the Japanese army.

‘To arm an independent army, money is important, but you also need a fixed route to obtain weapons with that money.’

If we recall correctly, the current level of armament of the independence army is dominated by weapons purchased from the Czech Legion during the Red Civil War and weapons leaked from the Soviet Union.

There will be German-made originals or replicas coming from China, as well as weapons captured from the Japanese, so it will be more complicated than you can imagine.

“hmm.”

“Do you have any concerns···?”

“I’m just thinking about what’s going to happen next.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense, since the police are running around with their eyes wide open, trying to catch the teacher.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

You have no worries at all.

In the first place, I wasn’t the kind of person who would be caught just because they were chasing me.

So, it was no problem to put that issue aside for a bit.

At the moment, it was more important to expand my scope of movement than to deal with things like the Japanese police.

“This teacher.”

“Welcome, Miss Kim.”

“Who is this person?”

“I am Kim Chun-sik, who will be working with you starting today. Kim Chun-sik, this is the president of this place, Kim Hu-dong.”

“Chu, Chunsik···?”

He gave her a hint by stepping on her toes.

“Ah! That’s right! Yes, I’m Kim Chun-sik! Nice to meet you, Mr. Kim!”

“Nice to meet you, Chunsik.”

“But… If you say Kim Hu-dong… Are you the Kim Hu-dong I know?”

“I don’t know what the rumor is, but it’s probably true.”

“Ohh···!”

Woojin, who was to be called Chunsik from today onwards, couldn’t hide his excitement when he heard the name Kim Hudong.

“I never thought I would be working with the most beautiful woman in Gyeongseong···! In the world or on horseback···.”

“Is he famous?”

“Of course! She is a famous talent at Gyeongseong Girls’ High School, and although she is slightly behind her younger sister in terms of beauty, she is the best in Gyeongseong, and her personality is just as good···.”

I brought it here with the mindset of bringing a chicken instead of a pheasant, but it was more like bringing a phoenix instead of a chicken.

In today’s Joseon, where people are busy sucking up the resources of the Korean peninsula rather than enlightening or educating the people, it was quite surprising that a Joseon person, and a woman at that, had completed higher education.

At first, I assumed that she had the same level of education as other Koreans due to the limitations of the time, but my guess was surprisingly wrong.

‘From now on, I have to be careful with what I say at work.’

I don’t know how heavy her mouth is, but no matter how heavy the mouth, even a locked iron door swings open like the front door of my house in front of torture.

Even if we knew each other well, it would only tire us out.

“I don’t know if you’ll like the house.”

“It’s luxurious enough to live with two children.”

“That’s fortunate.”

I found her house not too far from my office, but not too far from my work route.

If she recognized me on the street, it would be a headache for me in many ways.

“But what does a general trading company do?”

“It’s like a general store that sells everything from chopsticks to cannons.”

“A cannon?”

“It just means that you deal in anything that makes money, but it doesn’t really have any special meaning.”

“Oh, yeah······.”

It felt strangely like a company that was created to allow people to move freely was becoming chained, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Rather, it felt like a place had been created where I could drop anchor and rest in the vast ocean.

“Well, then let’s call it a day and go back.”

“I just got to work···?”

“The boss is supposed to just stamp his attendance card and leave work. Right, Chunsik?”

“Yes? Oh, yes, that’s right. That’s what CEOs do.”

“???”

I put a small amount of money in her flustered hand.

“With this, you can go out and play with your children and buy them some delicious food. And for work, you only need to stamp your attendance card like this until there are other instructions.”

“Yes? No… Is that okay?”

“You may do that.”

I hurriedly chased Kim Hu-dong away and turned around to see Woo-jin looking at me with a regretful expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Kim Hu-dong is still the same even though he’s getting older… I wanted to see him like that for a little longer….”

“You’ll be sitting here watching it until you get sick of it anyway, so don’t be too disappointed.”

“I hope so.”

There was a reason why I gave her money and kicked her out.

“Mr. Jeon Woo-jin.”

“yes?”

“I think you’ll have to use the pseudonym Kim Chun-sik for the time being. Is that okay?”

“The name is a bit old-fashioned, but… it’s okay.”

“There’s a superstition that says the lower your name, the longer you live.”

“I hope you live a long and prosperous life.”

I pushed the bookshelf next to me with force.

Then, the huge iron bookshelf moved with a sound like it was tearing apart, and a secret door hidden behind the bookshelf was revealed.

“Secret room! I thought this was something you only see in novels···!”

Chunsik opened the door with excitement, but instead of a new space, a hard wall greeted him.

“?”

Chunsik turned his head and looked at me.

“The secret room is···?”

“Where would you find such a place in the middle of Gyeongseong?”

“but···.”

Chunshik’s shoulders slumped.

I watched him and smiled.

Then he took out a pickaxe from the bag he had prepared in advance and threw it to him.

“Do you dig a little?”

“I know how to do it.”

“Then let’s try our best.”

“yes?”

“If you’re going to use this as a base, shouldn’t there be at least one place that the Japanese don’t know about?”

“ah.”

That being said, I intend to use this place as a secret base for myself.

I was anxious about keeping modern items in the safe at home, and if I were to be caught, I would need to get them out as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t possible to get to here from Jongno Police Station, but it was only 4-5 minutes away, so it was close enough to quickly run there and get my stuff if something happened.

‘I don’t know about anything else, but the copper plate must not be turned over.’

To be honest, even if other items are taken away by the police, they can somehow be recovered or a replacement can be found, but that is not possible with copper plates.

If the copper plate falls into the hands of the Japanese, then from then on things will go in a direction I cannot do anything about.

So, I should have been the only one who knew about the existence of the copper plate.

At least I had to hide it until I could fully rise from this earth.

‘I guess I’ll have to move around on my own for the time being.’

Still, I didn’t feel too bad.

If it were like before, I would have grumbled, asking if it was another solo operation, but things are different now.

The purpose, the goal, the plan, everything is perfect.

Now, let’s put this into action.

“Tch, tch!”

“Take it easy. If you do that, your back will hurt.”

“I’m healthy, so I’m okay!”

Rocks and dirt flew out before my eyes.

But in my head, it felt like the Government-General had exploded and the shrapnel was flying.

A cool yet heavy sensation felt at the fingertips.

For now, I focused on that.

******

A dock in Shanghai.

A gentleman in a suit stepped onto the dock, where both his body and mind were damp from the rising humidity even when he just stood still.

Then, as if they had been waiting, a crowd of people who appeared to be Chinese came rushing in to welcome him.

“Hey Youngjin!”

“Ah, Mr. Wang!”

“Hey. That guy Kim went to Gyeongseong once and came back. His fortune has really improved. Did he have fun there?”

“Haha, that’s not it.”

“No, really? So what are the women like there? I heard that the women in Gyeongseong are very wild.”

The gentleman who had just landed at the dock smiled and joined the group of Chinese people.

They laughed and chatted excitedly like friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, naturally blending in with the surrounding scenery.

“There are five of them in total, including the bespectacled goatee from the northwest, the weasel-like one, and the ones following from the boat.”

As the man known as Wang Seo-bang spoke with a smiling face, the friends who had been laughing and chatting until just a moment ago quietly disappeared into the crowd one by one.

When only the king and the gentleman were left, the king grabbed the gentleman’s hand.

“Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Kim.”

“No. On the contrary, it was very comfortable and relaxing, as if I had been on a cruise.”

“Haha. Yeah, I had a new encounter in Gyeongseong.”

“Yes, somehow I was able to return to Shanghai with his help.”

“Really? Since Eui-eom, who is usually stingy with compliments, says something like this, I wonder what kind of person he is.”

As the conversation between the two continued, friends who had disappeared into the crowd rejoined the group one by one.

“Phew… I took care of it.”

“I cleaned it up neatly.”

“You can rest assured that you will get to the hotel.”

“As the days go by, the number of spies in Shanghai is increasing one by one… You all have had a hard time.”

Wang Seobang and his party entered a dark alley.

Then he took off the fake beard on his face, took off his mismatched glasses, and asked Kim Sang-ok.

“So who is that guy you met in Gyeongseong?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes, it may be hard to believe, but… I really don’t know. I can only guess.”

“Hmm. Sangok doesn’t know.”

Finally, Wang Seo-bang took off his pigtail wig and returned to the position of Kim Won-bong, the leader of the Uiyoldan.

“I guess we could have had a conversation while receiving help.”

“We shared it. But there was no information that could be used to guess its identity.”

“Really? You seem like a thorough guy.”

“Yes, at first I thought he was a bodyguard sent by Baekbeom of the provisional government, but when I thought about it carefully, something didn’t feel right.”

“What exactly?”

Kim Sang-ok took out a paper envelope from his bosom and handed it to Kim Won-bong.

“What is this?”

“That friend gave it to me. He told me to use half of it as Uiyoldan funds and give the rest to the provisional government.”

“Is that so?”

Kim Won-bong opened the envelope without much anticipation.

And then I was shocked by the enormous amount of money I had never seen before and froze in place.

“······Isn’t this a dollar?”

“Yes.”

“With this much… I can give it to the families of my comrades who have gone before, and even if I buy weapons and bombs, there will still be money left over.”

“I think so.”

Kim Won-bong asked with a face that was darker than before.

“Who is this guy, and what does he do to be able to afford such a huge sum of money?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you figure it out?”

“I am a person who comes and goes from Jongno-seo as if it were my own home. How could we know things that even the vicious Japanese police do not know?”

“That’s right… It’s frustrating, but when it comes to information, they’re one step ahead of us.”

Even in Shanghai, which could be called the second stronghold of the independence movement, there were many spies recruited by the Governor-General.

Because of those spies, information about our comrades was leaking to the Government-General every day, and the positions of various independence groups, such as the Uiyoldan and the Shanghai Provisional Government, were diminishing with each passing day.

Kim Won-bong rubbed his face with trembling hands.

“Phew, pfft… It looks like I’ve gotten involved with a dangerous person.”

“Comrade Leader, even though that person seemed dangerous, he seemed very kind to the Uiyoldan.”

“That’s why it’s dangerous, because people approach us in a friendly manner after hearing our names.”

Kim Won-bong glanced at the envelope of money and then looked up at the sky.

“Whew… I guess I’ll have to go to the provisional government.”

“Huh? Are you going back there?”

“Will they welcome us?”

“They are people who don’t even know how to do anything properly and just talk nonsense. Even if we go there, they won’t welcome us!”

“Just as Baekbeom killed Kim Lip for money, we might be killed too.”

Although the members of Uiyoldan vehemently opposed it, there was no one within Uiyoldan who could break Kim Won-bong’s will.

“The Uiyoldan alone cannot handle this much money.”

“But… that’s a dead end. If you go there, you’ll die!”

“If Baekbeom tries to kill me… then we should just hit him first.”

When he made up his mind, the members stopped nitpicking and nit-picking.

Everyone kept their mouths shut and stood behind him.

“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Baekbeom’s face.”

Kim Won-bong said this and put the envelope of money in his bosom.

I didn’t forget to fasten the buttons that I usually leave undone, just in case I dropped it or lost it.

Then he put on an old fedora hat of unknown origin and walked ahead.

Then, one by one, members in black suits followed him from the shadows of the alley.