Chapter 164: America (6)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The new subordinate, David Park. No, Park Eun-jung. His life before crossing over to the Other World had been smooth sailing. Anyone who heard his story, not just Kang Jae-ha, would have thought so.

After all, lawyers were highly respected in Korea.

But Park Eun-jung hadn't been content with Korea. He had gone all the way to the United States and obtained a license to practice law there as well. That meant he could work as a lawyer in both Korea and the United States. Later, he obtained permanent residency, and even got married along the way.

An elite lawyer working at a prestigious American law firm after expanding beyond Korea.

It really must have been smooth sailing.

With permanent residency secured, all Park Eun-jung had to do was keep driving down the wide-open highway stretching before him. The life he'd led was proof enough of his abilities, and if he'd kept accelerating at that pace, he would have made more than enough money.

The immense prestige and authority would have been a bonus.

But in a single instant, the Other World abducted Park Eun-jung. At the very peak of his life, the space before his eyes had split apart.

Park Eun-jung, now looking like a beggar, recalled that moment and let out a hollow laugh.

"How should I put it? Space tore open?"

Commander Kang Jae-ha had experienced the same thing, so he knew exactly what Park Eun-jung meant.

"Yeah. Like space itself was a sheet of paper being ripped apart."

"Yes. That."

Next, that torn space must have sucked Park Eun-jung inside. Kang Jae-ha, whose first moments in the Other World were still vivid, murmured.

"And after that, you were in the Other World."

The heavily bearded Park Eun-jung nodded and replied.

"That's right. It was absurd. The Other World? At first, I thought I was dreaming."

"But you weren't."

"I wasn't."

Park Eun-jung, Ha Yeon-ji, Go Chun-seok, and Kang Jae-ha himself had probably all gone through the same emotions. Soon, a faint smile spread across Park Eun-jung's face as he looked back on the more than ten years he'd spent in the Other World.

"As for life in the Mercenary Corps, you know it better than I do, Commander."

"Well, yeah."

He meant war, slaughter, and the like. As if the smell of blood had suddenly brushed past his nose, Park Eun-jung rubbed it.

"I lived there for more than ten years, but I wanted to return to my original world. I searched desperately for a way back, too. It was all for nothing, though."

Park Eun-jung had been married in his original world and had crossed over to the Other World at the peak of his life. He must have made desperate efforts to return. Kang Jae-ha thought back to himself in the Other World.

'Effort. I tried too. But once one year becomes three, and three becomes five, it starts to wear away. After five years, half of me gives up.'

Once they reached that point, they naturally found themselves adapting to life in the Other World. The effort to return, the longing, even the need for it, all gradually faded into a pale blur. Even if there were people they cherished and loved in their original world.

Everything eventually turned into memories that could never be reclaimed.

And so, for Kang Jae-ha and his subordinates, days steeped in war, slaughter, and the taste of blood simply repeated over and over. Kang Jae-ha alone had spent eighteen years in the Other World. More than a decade was by no means a short amount of time. Long enough for a person to change dozens of times over.

Park Eun-jung let out a long breath before continuing.

"As you know, Commander, I died in the war. I definitely died. My memories of that moment aren't clear. But when I opened my eyes...I was back in America. Even the time was almost exactly where it had been when I crossed over to the Other World."

He let out a hollow laugh.

"I'd been slaughtering people on battlefields, then I came back and it was practically like everything had been reset. But my memories of the Other World were crystal clear. That's where hell began."

"......"

Kang Jae-ha didn't interrupt Park Eun-jung. He simply listened, and after pausing for a few seconds, Park Eun-jung opened his mouth again.

"The moment I came back, I was so confused that the first thing I looked for was alcohol. Then, at a beer bar I wandered into, I beat the shit out of some punk. Nearly beat him to a pulp. Well, he did start it, but either way, that was something the me from before the Other World never would've done."

"Back then, you would've just avoided it somehow. You were a lawyer, and you were married."

"That's right. But-"

Park Eun-jung trailed off before answering.

"But beating that guy felt...good. So good it was almost exhilarating."

Park Eun-jung, fresh out of the Other World, had practically been no different from a mercenary accustomed to slaughter. There was no way he could recover immediately just because he'd returned to his original world.

"Even with the skin on my hands split open and blood pouring out, I was enjoying myself. That's when I realized I was fucked."

Kang Jae-ha knew that feeling well. There had already been subordinates who'd completely snapped and gone off the rails, and those who had gathered under Jae-ha again, including Go Chun-seok and Ha Yeon-ji, had all gone through something similar.

"So."

"So- that's where my life started going downhill. Whenever someone picked a fight with me, even a little, my hand would go to my waist. I was reaching for my sword. Thoughts of tearing the other person apart and killing them constantly circled through my head......If I'd lost control, I'd probably be in prison right now."

As he spoke, Park Eun-jung looked down at his beggar-like appearance and gave a dry chuckle.

"Looking at me now, maybe prison would've been better."

"How long have you been living like this?"

"More than half a year. My head was in that kind of state, so how could working as a lawyer handling all kinds of crimes and trouble possibly have gone well?"

"Your wife?"

"We got divorced. Obviously, there was no way the marriage was going to go well either. Everything was just a complete mess."

More than a year had passed since they returned to this world. Kang Jae-ha's life and Park Eun-jung's had gone in completely opposite directions. Park Eun-jung, who had once stood at the peak of his life, had fallen straight into the gutter the moment he returned to his original world.

"But anger and irritation kept surging up. I was constantly tormented by the urge to kill. The more people I met, the worse it got. I even wondered if, at that point, I'd be better off just cutting loose completely and throwing myself into a den of criminals."

"Like a gang?"

"Right. But......I don't know why you came to mind then, Commander, but something you'd once told me kept circling through my head."

Kang Jae-ha couldn't clearly remember what he'd said, so he remained silent. Park Eun-jung gave a faint smile.

"'If you lose your center, you're no different from a Demonic Beast.' Don't you remember?"

Go Chun-seok, standing behind them like a massive tree, chimed in.

"You also said, 'In war, a man with shaky resolve loses to a man with conviction.'"

Kang Jae-ha scratched his chin as the words he'd once spoken came back to him.

"I think I vaguely remember."

Park Eun-jung let out a quiet laugh.

"That's a little disappointing. When I was at rock bottom, those words meant just about everything to me. Thanks to them, I managed not to do anything stupid. Thank you. I suppose that's how much your presence has always meant to me, Commander."

"......"

Looking at Jae-ha, who gave no answer, Park Eun-jung spoke again.

"Anyway, after that, I decided I needed to distance myself from people."

"So this is what you decided on?"

"Something like that. I thought about going back to Korea, but I figured America would be a little better. I shut everyone out and got by on alcohol. After about half a year, my mind finally started to settle down."

Now that he'd heard the story, Jae-ha could vividly picture how Park Eun-jung had lived. He had nearly met the same fate as the other subordinates who'd gone under, but standing right on the brink, he had willingly reduced himself to this beggar-like state and somehow held on.

'Even with his life ruined- well, this guy was mentally tough in the Mercenary Corps too.'

Kang Jae-ha thought back to Park Eun-jung during their days in the Mercenary Corps.

Broadly speaking, Park Eun-jung had indeed been a combatant. He had belonged to the Vanguard Unit led by Go Chun-seok and Jang Tae-san. If one had to classify him, he had been officer-level. The Vanguard Unit's staff officer. Go Chun-seok and Jang Tae-san possessed considerable martial strength but left something to be desired in the brains department, so Park Eun-jung had filled that gap.

Commander Kang Jae-ha had given the overall strategic orders, but once actual combat began, Park Eun-jung had handled the finer adjustments on the ground.

However, Kang Jae-ha had also used Park Eun-jung in another role.

'He had one hell of a way with words.'

Jae-ha had also appointed Park Eun-jung as a negotiator and put him to work, during wars and otherwise. He was an excellent speaker and highly intelligent. On top of that, he had possessed a keen eye for accurately reading situations, unfolding events, and the people he dealt with.

'So all of that had been possible because he was an ace lawyer.'

He had started as a lawyer in Korea, then gone all the way to America and expanded his reach, so the work in the Mercenary Corps must have been easy for him. Though, of course, the nature of the work had been completely different.

"That's more or less the story of how my life fell apart. Nothing was set in stone, but I probably would've kept living like this as long as I could. Or maybe I would've eventually snapped. But Commander, why are you here?"

Go Chun-seok, standing behind them, answered in his place.

"We were able to return to this world thanks to Commander-nim."

Ha Yeon-ji joined in.

"Right. Otherwise, we would've really just stayed dead."

After hearing his comrades' answers, Park Eun-jung stroked his bearded chin.

"Hmm......I figured it was probably something like that because of the woman's voice I heard. I also heard the terrifying words 'Absolute Obedience'."

Kang Jae-ha shrugged under Park Eun-jung's gaze.

"It's fine. Nothing's going to happen to you."

"But you haven't really changed even after coming back here, Commander. Other than losing some bulk and the scars on your face disappearing, you're the same as you were in the Mercenary Corps. Your atmosphere, or maybe your presence."

"Am I?"

"Well, I suppose it makes sense. You're the Commander, after all. I figured you'd still carry yourself the same way. So, Commander, tell me what's going on now. I still don't really know what's what."

Kang Jae-ha slowly crossed his legs and opened his mouth.

"It's a long story, but- I'll give you the short version."

The beggar-like Park Eun-jung straightened up and focused.

Afterward.

Starting from the moment he opened his eyes in this world, Kang Jae-ha told Park Eun-jung the key points of what had happened up to that day, including meeting Lee Chan-hoo. Several times along the way, Park Eun-jung's eyes widened in shock.

"A manager?? You, Commander? No, more importantly, th-there are that many of our comrades?"

As though it were no big deal, Jae-ha told him about the now much larger 'MEG', its businesses and current situation, then went on to explain the Vice-Commander, the 'New Light Truth Church', and more. Realizing the scale of everything was far greater than he'd imagined, Park Eun-jung stared blankly for a moment.

"......I can't believe all that was happening while I was living like this."

"If you'd been in Korea looking like that, maybe we would've found each other sooner."

"You created an organization called 'MEG' in this world that's similar to the Mercenary Corps, then used it to run businesses like investments. And you've grown it that much already. Hoo- I should've gone over to Korea. But what's this about the Vice-Commander? A cult?"

Jae-ha pointed at Park Eun-jung with his index finger.

"More importantly, did you lose your law licenses?"

"No. Thankfully, they're still valid. Both in America and Korea."

"You planning to keep living like that? Well, you can if you want. It's your choice."

"......Do I really have a choice here?"

"You do."

Kang Jae-ha gave a slight nod and continued.

"Either keep living like that, using cardboard boxes as a bed, or start a second life as MEG's In-house Counsel. Which do you want?"

"...In-house Counsel?"

"Yeah. 'MEG' has been expanding so fast that our legal workload has shot up. We've already got plenty of contracts signed, and there'll be plenty more going forward. On top of that, legal disputes could come up later. Back in the Mercenary Corps, if there was a dispute or whatever, we could just lop someone's head off and be done with it, but we can't exactly do that here."

Kang Jae-ha gave a faint smile.

"I've handled it myself up to now, but the bigger we get, the more work there'll be. Then we'd have to start using law firms or something. But it'd be much better to handle legal disputes and other legal work internally instead of outsourcing it. It'd strengthen MEG's cohesion too. If you want to start a second life, I'll give you the position of Chief Legal Officer at 'MEG'. Of course, you'll have to handle some other work too."

The heavily bearded Park Eun-jung looked slightly surprised, but without even a second of hesitation.

"If you'll entrust it to me."

He answered firmly.

"I'll make sure MEG's Legal Department runs properly."

The establishment of MEG's Legal Department was confirmed.

*****

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