WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 86 - Desertion (1)
Company Supply Sergeant Gu Bonjae was in an absolutely foul mood.
The reason was the readiness drill that had begun with the blaring siren. And the more he thought about it, the more furious he became at the battalion commander, the man responsible for all of this.
"That goddamn battalion commander……”
The battalion commander was obsessed with readiness drills. Even outside the scheduled training calendar, he’d order one whenever he had the slightest opportunity.
More than anything, they felt like an excuse to tighten discipline and make the battalion suffer.
Normally, Gu Bonjae would’ve just accepted it.
But thanks to the battalion commander’s by-the-book methods, he felt like the stress was going to kill him.
"What kind of readiness drill makes us issue real ammunition, rations, and gas mask filters?! Aaargh!”
Normally, a readiness drill used placeholder cards instead of the actual supplies.
If you received an ammunition card, it counted as having drawn your ammunition.
There was a good reason for that. Actually issuing live ammunition meant the moment the siren sounded, someone had to sprint to the regimental ammunition depot and haul all that heavy equipment back. There were endless administrative procedures involved, not to mention mobilizing the 2.5-ton military trucks.
The rations were another headache.
The battalion stored expensive special combat rations, carefully packed away in the warehouse. But because they were being issued, they actually had to open everything up and make a complete mess of it.
And who was responsible for putting it all back exactly the way it had been?
The supply sergeant.
"Damn it, damn it all! If even one thing goes missing, I swear…!”
Throughout the entire issue process, Gu Bonjae worried nonstop that carefully organized supplies or equipment that should never have been unpacked would be damaged or lost.
So from that morning, he’d been standing in the battalion warehouse, shouting himself hoarse.
"Damn it! Open those carefully! They’re going to spill everywhere, you idiots!
No sooner had the words left his mouth than one of the soldiers sliced through the carefully banded polypropylene straps with a box cutter.
-Crash! Bang!
One corner of a rations box crumpled inward. Watching it happen, Gu Bonjae felt like a corner of his own heart had been crushed too.
"Uugh…!”
"Sergeant Gu, are you okay?!”
"Forget about me. Check the rations, damn it!”
To make matters worse, some of the boxes ripped open, spilling their contents everywhere. Gu Bonjae felt tears welling up in his eyes. If he stayed any longer, he was convinced it would shorten his lifespan. Leaving the warehouse in the hands of the staff sergeant in charge, he returned to the administrative office.
Unfortunately, there was no peace waiting for him there either.
"Aagh!”
The moment he saw the administrative office, Gu Bonjae staggered.
Because of the readiness drill, every administrative document had to be destroyed. Soldiers were dumping stacks of paperwork into boxes without the slightest care.
They were even unplugging computer cables and tossing the computers in haphazardly. Everything was scheduled to be hauled away and incinerated.
They’d retrieve it all once the readiness drill ended, but rain was forecast for the afternoon. Gu Bonjae was beside himself, worrying the computers would be ruined.
"Hey! Cover them with plastic! Plastic!”
"Yes, sir.”
The beautifully organized status boards lining the walls were being ripped down without mercy. Each one was practically a work of art, painstakingly assembled with double-sided tape and sheets of colored adhesive vinyl. They were so meticulously crafted it was hard to believe they had been made by hand. And yet, they were being torn down as if a group of vandals had come through before being carelessly shoved into boxes.
"Uugh…! My stomach!”
The administrative office had now been stripped bare by soldiers who were so accustomed to readiness drills that they worked with ruthless efficiency. It looked as though a band of looters had swept through the place.
Just imagining the task ahead, sorting through mountains of mixed-up paperwork, putting every document back where it belonged, and restoring the administrative office made Gu Bonjae crave a cigarette.
"I should just retire already……”
He said that every week, but he still hadn’t reached the 20 years of service required to receive a military pension, so it was nothing more than wishful thinking.
For a brief moment, something felt strangely off.
'Hm? Shouldn’t I be over 70 years old?'
If that were true, there was no way he hadn’t completed 20 years of service. And why was he still a supply sergeant?
But Floor 15’s environment rewrote his perception once again.
"Hmm……What a pointless daydream."
Maybe the stress was simply getting to him. Gu Bonjae lit a cigarette inside the administrative office.
Smoking indoors was about the greatest act of rebellion he was capable of.
"Phew......."
Just then, the company commander walked past. He noticed the cigarette, yet said nothing.
Normally, he would’ve blown up in anger at seeing someone smoking inside the administrative office, even if that person was a senior NCO. But today, his face seemed to say that he got him.
Fortunately, the company commander’s office had escaped the disaster. He’d blocked off its entrance the day before, keeping everyone out. As long as the battalion commander didn’t notice, he could quietly enjoy the peace. It was one of the few privileges of being the highest-ranking person in the company.
"I shouldn’t just sit here.”
Gu Bonjae decided he needed to inspect things himself. By now the soldiers, scattered around the base for perimeter defense, would have all the issued supplies with them.
"Yeah, let’s go see. I’m sure they’re making a complete mess of it.”
Letting out a weary sigh, he stepped onto the parade ground. More than a dozen military trucks were rolling in. None of them were actually needed. The battalion commander had mobilized them simply because it was a readiness drill.
"Oh, for crying out loud. He’s really going all out with this bullshit!”
Thankfully, the battalion commander was due to retire the following year.
Maybe being passed over for promotion was the reason he enjoyed making everyone else miserable.
* * *
The reason I chose a readiness drill to make my escape was simple.
Whenever a readiness drill was declared, some personnel were assigned to defensive trenches outside the base perimeter.
In other words, they were allowed to leave the compound legally and breathe civilian air beyond the fences. Granted, it was only just outside the base. Still, it was outside.
Nicola and I ended up assigned to the same trench. Of course, I’d arranged that in advance.
"Brother, how’d you manage that?”
"Money talks.”
During readiness drills, Nicola was normally assigned to the trench responsible for guarding the soldiers handling document destruction.
Knowing that ahead of time, I’d paid off the soldier assigned to that position and swapped duties with him.
He’d looked completely baffled, unable to understand why anyone would want that assignment, but once I offered him enough money, he happily agreed. That was why Nicola and I were together now.
"They’ll be here soon.”
"Got it.”
Boxes of ammunition, special combat rations, and gas mask filters lay scattered across the dirt inside the trench.
Just imagining it, I could already hear Gu Bonjae’s blood pressure skyrocketing. In the end, he could never tolerate a sight like this. He always made the rounds of every trench to yell at the soldiers until everything was properly organized.
"What are you two talking about?”
Private First Class Na Hanho tilted his head in confusion.
There was an unavoidable complication. Each trench was staffed by a three-man team, which meant we had an unwanted guest with us. I brushed the question aside.
"I’ll explain later. Here, have a snack.”
The moment I pulled out the snacks I’d prepared in advance, his face lit up.
"Can I really eat this right now?”
"It’s just the three of us out there. Who's going to care?”
"Thank you! I’ll dig in.”
"Go ahead."
As we killed time, I spotted a tall man approaching along the trench line. He wore the rank of Master Sergeant.
It was Gu Bonjae.
I could already hear him grumbling before he reached us. Sure enough, the moment he arrived, he immediately started lecturing us.
"Who’s the senior soldier here? For crying out loud! These got dirt on them! I told you to keep them inside your packs!”
"They won’t fit, sir.”
The plan was absurd. No matter how we packed them, there simply wasn’t enough room inside our backpacks for all the assigned supplies. Whoever had designed this exercise must have been out of their mind.
Normally, it wouldn’t have mattered, but now that they’d actually issued the real stockpiled supplies, the flaws in the plan had become obvious.
"Then cram them in anyway! Damn it, if nothing else, spread out a poncho before you put them down!”
"Right away, sir.”
"I swear, you're all hopeless! Hey! Park Minho! Ever since you got back from the brig, you’ve started thinking you’re untouchable, have you? Want me to twist your military life into a pretzel?”
"No, sir! Hey, take out the poncho.”
I gave the order to Nicola and stood up. Gu Bonjae continued nagging us, telling us exactly how the supplies should be arranged. While he was distracted, I quietly reached for the entrenching shovel I’d left nearby.
"......?"
Seeing me pick it up, Na Hanho frowned in confusion. I ignored him. Gripping the shovel with both hands, I swung it at the back of Gu Bonjae’s head with every ounce of strength I had.
-Whack!
I swung with the genuine intention of cracking his skull open. That was the only way to guarantee he’d lose consciousness. Besides, Gu Bonjae was a powerful entity. A single blow like this wasn’t enough to kill him.
-Thud.
Gu Bonjae collapsed to the ground, his body twitching violently. Na Hanho stared, his mouth hanging open.
"Oh my god, what are you doing?!”
I’d just ambushed the company supply sergeant with a military shovel. Faced with something so utterly insane, he could only stammer in disbelief.
Nicola answered him instead.
-Crack!
With his own entrenching shovel.
Nicola swung, knocking Na Hanho unconscious as well.
His body went limp like a corpse.
"He’s not actually dead, is he?”
"He’s an entity. Don’t waste your sympathy on him. And do you really think an entity’s going to die from getting hit with a shovel? Come on, let’s move.”
The method Ma Ilho had proposed for persuading Gu Bonjae was simple. ‘Violence.’ Trying to reason with him or explain everything had almost no chance of succeeding. There wasn’t enough time for that anyway, so they’d simply kidnap him.
It was an extreme but clear solution.
"Let’s go."
"Yes, brother.”
There was no way the two of us could carry someone as massive as the supply sergeant ourselves. Fortunately, Nicola had an exoskeleton power suit inside his phase-compression backpack.
Taking only our rifles, we lifted Gi Bonjae between us like we were evacuating a wounded soldier.
"Who would’ve thought the two-man carry they taught us in basic training would actually come in handy?"
"I never learned that, but aren’t we fully armed deserters now, brother?”
"Yeah.”
Running away with our rifles made this a genuine military desertion.
Still, there was a chance we’d have to fight entities. Right now, with our abilities so heavily restricted, the only thing we could truly rely on was live ammunition.
"This way."
Following the trench line down the mountain, there was a secluded road. Ma Ilho, the battalion’s driver, was supposed to be waiting there.
'If he isn’t, we’re totally screwed……’
The anxiety gnawed at me as we descended. Then, I heard the unmistakable rumble of a 2.5-ton military truck.
"Over here! Over here!”
Ma Ilho jumped out of the truck, waving both arms.
"How’d you get out here?”
It wasn’t exactly easy for a single soldier to drive a military truck out of the base.
"Our supply sergeant said he had business outside, so I came with him.”
"At a time like this?”
"He wanted to dig up some grass from an unattended graveyard.”
The supply sergeant from the Second Company had become obsessed with laying fresh grass around the battalion commander’s residence. The problem was that there wasn’t any budget for it. So after thinking it over, he’d decided to ‘requisition’ some instead.
After all, wasn’t that practically the job description of a supply sergeant? Steal grass from someone else’s grave and construction materials from building sites.
In any case, errands that involved leaving the base were usually entrusted to only a handful of favored senior soldiers.
Ma Ilho happened to be one of them…
"I told him I was going to the restroom while we were eating gukbap, then drove off with the truck. He must’ve realized something was wrong by now.”
"You're a devil. He even bought you gukbap, and you left him stranded."
"What choice did I have? Come on, get in, Master.”
We climbed abroad immediately. The old military truck rumbled forward, its engine sounding as though it might give out at any moment as it bounced along the mountain road.
"What’s wrong with this truck? Is it about to die?”
"That’s just how military vehicles are.”
-Vroooom.
Our destination was the Hwangcheon Tunnel¹.
It certainly was an ominous name. According to Ma Ilho, passing through that tunnel would allow us to leave Floor 15 behind.
Keeping both hands on the steering wheel, he continued explaining.
"Normally, people get caught before they ever reach Hwangcheon Tunnel, but we’ve got a truck, so things will be different.”
Honestly, I prayed things would end smoothly.
Being forcibly reenlisted was the last thing I wanted. Still, I was grateful that none of this was real…
Once we made it through the tunnel, I’d finally return to the Backrooms where my beautiful girlfriend was waiting for me. Unable to help myself, I opened the photo album again.
'Wow… She’s exactly my type.’
I was certain that I’d known Seol Suyeon well, yet because my memories were gone, just looking at her photo made my heart race.
Then, without warning, a shrill siren echoed through the air.
-Wooooooong!
Somehow, even though we were driving outside, the announcement came through with perfect clarity.
[Armed deserters detected! Armed deserters detected! Emergency Alert!]
How should I describe it?
We were driving along an open mountain road, yet it felt as though the entire world existed inside one enormous building.
The siren echoed with impossible clarity. It made this entire place feel like a colossal movie set.
It reminded me of the Truman Show. When Truman tried to escape, everyone in the world had united to stop him.
That was exactly what this felt like.
[Armed deserters detected! Armed deserters detected! Emergency Alert!]
There was no doubt anymore. The entirety of Floor 15 had declared an emergency to prevent our escape.
"Sergeant Ma. What do we do?”
“What do you mean, what do we do? We floor it.”
Ma Ilho slammed the accelerator to the floor. The truck roared around a sharp mountain bend, leaning so hard it felt ready to roll over at any second.
_________________________________________________________________________
¹refers to the underworld or the realm of the dead in Korean.
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