Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 34

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 34: The Pragmatist

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Of course, this was a stage from the past where I had to reenact my active-duty days.

As long as I followed the same path I had taken in the past, nothing would change. I would simply travel along predetermined rails.

“You crazy bastaaaard!!!”

Just as before, another sergeant from the barracks charged at me.

“Please calm down.”

Naturally, I responded the same way. I knocked out the sergeant charging at me head-on, then swept the leg of the corporal who belatedly tried to tackle me from the side.

“It is not a good habit to resolve with violence what can be settled through conversation.”

The corporal got back up and rushed me again. I grabbed their left arm, moved behind them, and twisted it. With a groan, they seemed to lose their will to fight and went limp.

“You need not worry about Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok and one other person. A carotid restraint renders someone unconscious within five seconds, causes little pain, and they will wake within a few minutes.”

I released the unnamed corporal’s arm. No one else tried to attack me.

“Oh, you haven’t unpacked your duffel bag yet, right?”

The sergeant major returned then.

“Seung-hoon, just stay in another barracks, okay?”

“Yes, understood.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Before leaving, the sergeant major wrinkled their nose at the lingering cigarette smell, then clicked their tongue at the unconscious Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok.

“This bastard smoked in the barracks again... Sigh, forget it. Keep sleeping like the dead.”

＊＊＊

‘A place full of memories.’

The barracks the sergeant major took me to was a tiny temporary one.

“Hello? You’re the new soldier, right? I’m Corporal Yoo Min-ho. I’m a transport soldier.”

“Private Lee Seung-hoon. Nice to meet you.”

“Right, unpack first. I’ll help.”

The tiny barracks could barely fit four people. Of its lockers, two already had owners.

“This used to be a storage room. But Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok did some stupid shit outside and came back with pubic lice. They cleared out the storage room and turned it into this place to isolate Lee Hyeong-seok.”

“I heard pubic lice are highly contagious. Did they not spread to anyone else?”

“About four people got them. The sergeant major had us thoroughly disinfect everything with bleach. We were lucky it didn’t spread any further.”

Pretending to know nothing, I led the conversation exactly as I had in the past.

“Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok was smoking in the barracks earlier. Lee Hyeong-seok also subjected another squad member to harsh treatment and used violence.”

“It’s pretty bad, right? I got hit often too, at least until I became a private first class. I was in another barracks, so it wasn’t frequent, but whenever we received group punishment, Lee Hyeong-seok would slap us full force in the laundry room.”

A faint smile even crossed Corporal Yoo Min-ho’s face, as though he were sharing pleasant memories.

“Why? Did Lee Hyeong-seok say anything to you?”

“There was a small disturbance. More importantly, something seemed strange. Although cigarette smoke remained in the barracks, the sergeant major did not say much, even though the sergeant major knew Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok had been smoking.”

“Ah, that... The truth is...”

Corporal Yoo Min-ho’s faint smile stiffened slightly.

“Lee Hyeong-seok’s uncle is a colonel in the Defense Security Command. I heard a colonel from the Defense Security Command came on Lee Hyeong-seok’s first day at the unit and even said, ‘Please take care of Lee Hyeong-seok.’ Who could touch someone like that?”

“You mean no one can touch Lee Hyeong-seok, no matter what Lee Hyeong-seok does, because their uncle is a colonel in the Defense Security Command?”

“The moment the Defense Security Command comes for an inspection, any chance of promotion goes down the drain. If they decide to dig, there’s nothing they can’t find. The company commander, regimental commander, and division commander all have their last chance at promotion lined up, so they’re being extra careful.”

“Is that so?”

“Besides, there have been a lot of North Korean defectors lately, so the atmosphere is unsettled. The moment anyone gives them something to nitpick, it’s over, so everyone’s more cautious.”

The division commander, regimental commander, and company commander’s final chance at promotion.

The unstable situation near the armistice line.

And the powerful backing of a colonel in the Defense Security Command.

“Lee Hyeong-seok is basically the king here.”

Those were the reasons Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok could behave that way.

“Still, it’s lucky, right? Lee Hyeong-seok will be discharged in just a month. They’re taking their reward leave with their final leave, so you only need to endure two weeks in practice.”

“Will you not report this?”

The mood turned heavy in an instant. Corporal Yoo Min-ho’s smile disappeared completely as he lowered his voice.

“Why? Are you going to report it to the military police?”

“Have you not suffered assault and abuse?”

“Ha, rookie, rookie?”

“Yes.”

“You should give your rank and name, right? Huh? Let’s get it right while I’m being nice.”

“Private Lee Seung-hoon.”

“Hey, you really think like a child.”

He had just said that he, too, had suffered under Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok.

“You’re having a hard time, your seniors are bothering you, so you’re going to report them to the military police? Why don’t you write a grievance letter while you’re at it? The military has always been like this. People say it’s gotten easier these days, but that only applies to rear-area units. This is the front line. We don’t know when North Korean soldiers might invade. How can discipline be lax?”

What did discipline have to do with abuse? I wanted to ask that, but I had not in the past.

“Everything is done for a reason. Our unit was like this even before Lee Hyeong-seok arrived. Lee Hyeong-seok is just worse than most. Those posts online saying, ‘Units these days don’t have abuse, there’s no verbal or physical violence,’ are about rear-area units and places like that.”

At the time, I found Corporal Yoo Min-ho’s attitude deeply interesting.

“Still, things have improved these days, so don’t be too scared. You just need to be careful around Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok. When I was a private, I couldn’t even drink water whenever I wanted, go to the PX, or smoke. Oh, do you smoke?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Let’s go outside and have one. I’ll give you a cigarette.”

He was clearly a victim.

“But there’s none of that these days. At most, you do your seniors’ laundry. How is doing someone’s laundry abuse? And when you have night duty, wake up thirty minutes early and wake your senior fifteen minutes before the shift change.”

Yet despite being a victim, he was eagerly defending the perpetrators.

“And you know memorizing the meal plan is basic, right? You did that at school too, didn’t you? Also, it’s the youngest soldier’s job to memorize the seniors’ duty rosters in advance and write them on the temporary duty chart in the barracks, so do that properly. There’s even a cleaning board. You need to memorize the names of all the senior soldiers in the barracks too. That’s basic as well. Oh, you said your specialty was 1111, right? Then you’ll be assigned guard post duty. Before going to a guard post, you have to buy bagged ramen at the PX in advance.”

It was like watching Stockholm syndrome in action.

“Ask the senior you’re on duty with beforehand what kind of ramen they want. If they say they want some, buy it at the PX before you go. Tell the PX soldier it’s for that, and they won’t complain about a private or private first class visiting the PX. Use your own money. It might feel wasteful now, but once juniors arrive, you can make them do the same. Honestly, how much does it even cost? Don’t be so stingy over it.”

Corporal Yoo Min-ho could not have been like this from the beginning. Humans adapt to survive, and once they have adapted, they become numb to even abnormal environments.

“So, is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“Yes, there is.”

“What is it?”

“I am curious about the seniors in the other barracks as well.”

“Hmm, the youngest soldier sure has a lot of questions, doesn’t he? There are no vehicle assignments today, so I’m bored anyway. I’ll tell you!”

That night, on my first day in the barracks.

“...”

After confirming that Corporal Yoo Min-ho had fallen asleep early beside me, I took out a notebook.

[Military Human Rights Center XXX-XXX-XXXX]

[Ministry of National Defense XXX-XXX-XXXX]

[Military Police XXX-XXX-XXXX]

One phone call would be enough to expose the unit’s true condition. Even if no evidence remained, even if the victims became numb to their environment like Corporal Yoo Min-ho and refused to testify, the atmosphere in the unit would inevitably change.

‘I want to try this too...’

Unfortunately, I had not chosen that method in the past.

‘I should do it, right?’

At the time, I had been a pragmatist.

‘Knowledge learned through experience stays longer and is imprinted more firmly than knowledge learned through words.’

I was a pragmatist who preferred stepping in and solving matters myself over relying on someone else’s help.

“This is the transport section, this is the storage room, and this is the PX...”

Several days passed. With Corporal Yoo Min-ho’s help, I learned all the facilities in the unit.

“See this picture? It’s a chart listing the people in each barracks by rank. Memorize it before you enter any other barracks.”

“Understood.”

“Memorize the top three senior soldiers as quickly as you can. They are not the type to go easy on the youngest soldier if you use relative honorifics incorrectly or say you do not know their names. Especially the most senior ones, since they are all Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok’s peers and have similar personalities. You know what I mean, right?”

There was no retaliation from Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok or the people from Barracks One. I had not known at the time, but with my enhanced senses, I overheard their conversation and learned why.

『I’ll be discharged soon. I’ll tell my uncle while I’m on final leave.』

『Really? Then an inspection will come.』

『Yeah. It’d be inconvenient if they called one while I’m still here, so it’ll be after I’m discharged. I don’t want to suffer before then, and I’m going to screw them over after I leave. Why would I need to get my own hands dirty when I’m about to be discharged? You have to be careful even around falling leaves when you’re about to leave.』

『That’s true, you have to be careful. Wow, didn’t the company commander and regimental commander kiss your ass like crazy? Fuck, they’re pathetic.』

『Who cares if they’re miserable? Honestly, if they failed twice, aren’t their chances gone? They’re greedy as hell.』

So that was why. Their plan had remained unrealized.

Five peaceful days passed.

“Ah, I need to play futsal... Oh! Seung-hoon!”

“Private Lee Seung-hoon.”

“Could you go to the transport section and wake Sergeant Yeom Seong-su? He has to drive to the regiment, but he’s asleep right now.”

“Understood.”

So it was already that day.

I carefully entered the dark transport section barracks.

“Private Lee Seung-hoon, entering Barracks Five. I am here to relay a vehicle assignment.”

During work hours, the barracks should have been empty, but one person was asleep in sportswear.

‘The smell of alcohol.’

Sergeant Yeom Seong-su, Sergeant Lee Hyeong-seok’s peer and the most senior soldier in the transport section, slept while drunk.

‘Drinking during work hours. Not caring despite having a vehicle assignment.’

I had heard that Yeom Seong-su had a habit of passing his driving assignment to any junior who came to wake him.

‘They probably knew that and told me to wake Yeom.’

If they went to wake Yeom themselves, they would surely end up driving in Yeom’s place.

“Sergeant Yeom Seong-su, it is time for your vehicle assignment.”

“...”

“Sergeant Yeom Seong-su, it is time for your vehicle assignment.”

“...”

“Sergeant Yeom...”

“Hey.”

Yeom Seong-su opened his eyes halfway and glared at me.

“You fucking bastard, I’m not deaf. Who are you?”

“Private Lee Seung-hoon.”

“Ah, fuck, it’s you? Hey, I don’t care. You handle the assignment yourself.”

“Sergeant Yeom Seong-su, the vehicle assignment...”

“I said handle it yourself. Fuck, find someone else or drive it yourself. Do whatever the fuck you want.”

Sergeant Yeom Seong-su threw the car keys at me.

“Don’t wake me up.”

He was being difficult. He intended to put me in a bind on purpose.

“Private Lee Seung-hoon, I have completed my business in Barracks Five. I will be leaving.”

I walked out of the barracks with the keys in my hand.

“This is the commanders’ problem.”

The division commander, regimental commander, and company commander’s strategy had been wrong. If they were desperate for promotion, they should have prevented problems before they occurred instead of covering them up and pretending nothing had happened. The unit was a complete mess.

“This is the unit leaders’ problem.”

If the commanders could not solve the problem, the unit leaders should have stepped in. Yet fear of the Defense Security Command and the unique nature of being an independent company kept everyone from acting.

“This is the soldiers’ problem.”

The unit could have changed at any time. A single phone call could change this environment, but they feared change, gave up, and decided to become another part of the abuse themselves.

“Change always comes with tremendous pain.”

That was what I had said at the time.

“I will become that pain.”

True to my nature as a pragmatist, I took the keys and climbed into the K-511, a two-and-a-half-ton truck. Before enlisting, I had obtained a license in case I became a driver, then learned more through YouTube. I had the knowledge.

‘So this is finally the day.’

I started the engine with anticipation.

‘I definitely drove properly.’

My plan at the time had been to make the unit aware of the problem by having a soldier drive a vehicle to the regiment alone without a superior. More than that, I was a new recruit who was not even a driver.

‘Why did it turn out that way?’

I would find out this time.

＊＊＊

First Lieutenant Lee Il-pyo, who served in the 15th Infantry Regiment, yawned widely while leaning back in his chair in the command and control room during his Friday duty shift.

‘Ah, fuck, why did I get Friday duty?’

Having to stand duty at the unit on such a pleasant Friday.

“Duty soldier, anything interesting going on?”

“Would you like to check the intranet? Someone has been writing pornographic stories on it lately.”

“Really? Those bastards have some nerve. Looking at things like that will rot your bones.”

Still yawning repeatedly, he muttered to himself.

“I wish something interesting would happen. Like a defector or something.”

“Come on, sir, words become reality. And for a defector to get all the way here, they would have to get past every General Outpost. At that point, they would not be a defector but a North Korean infiltration agent.”

“I’m joking, idiot.”

Then the radio crackled.

『This is Guard Post Five! This is Guard Post Five! One suspicious vehicle approaching! Charging at high speed! Unable to identify! Aah!』

“W-what? What happened?”

『A two-and-a-half-ton truck did not stop when challenged and has destroyed the barricades!』

“What the fuck are you talking about!”

There were already widespread rumors that higher command would conduct a surprise inspection, so they had set up all kinds of barricades.

“Steel spikes, A-frame barriers, oil drums, there are so many barricades! How could a two-and-a-half-ton truck break through all of them head-on?”

『But it broke through them! Aah! The truck is going up the mountain road!』

“What!?”

The duty soldier called out to him then.

“D-duty officer! The CCTV! The CCTV!”