WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 148: Peep Show Grey (5)

──────

So even things like this could turn into serious problems. Gyeoul sank into a miserable sort of mood.

"Can't the Logistics Bureau or the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, AAFES, take them over? Whatever the reason, these are supplies that made it all the way to the blockade line. I don't see why they have to be sold to civilians."

The Logistics Bureau handled both supplies and relief. Everything that crossed the blockade line passed through the Logistics Bureau in one way or another. Even if the gifts sent to Gyeoul were not military specification, once sorted, some of them should be suitable as relief supplies. The rest, the unsuitable items, could probably be handled by the BX. That was the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's job.

(BX: Base Exchange. A store that sells goods to military personnel and civilian employees.)

The question was directed at Chadwick, but the answer came from behind Gyeoul.

"It can't be helped. In practical terms, it's impossible."

When he turned around, he saw an agent he did not know well. She asked the people nearby for their understanding and was given a seat close to Gyeoul. The movie was just starting again. Chadwick was no longer looking at Gyeoul. The person in charge is here, so ask directly. After dropping that one line, Chadwick went quiet.

The newly arrived agent winked and held out her hand.

"We've seen each other a few times in passing, haven't we? I finally get to introduce myself properly. Shannon. Shannon Kowalski."

"Nice to meet you. You already know this, but I'm Lieutenant Han Gyeoul."

Gyeoul remembered the feel of her handshake. Then he fixed the line from her wrist to the back of her hand in his mind. It was his habit of assessing combat ability. Her skin was soft, but her frame showed traces of training. Only traces, though. Her last training, or real combat, must have been quite some time ago.

He was building up guesses like this. They might come in useful someday.

"May I ask why you said it was impossible?"

When Gyeoul asked, Kowalski answered briefly.

"Administrative costs."

Gyeoul tilted his head. It was not that he had no idea what she meant. The first thing that came to mind was the U.S. Army's fuel supply system. They had standardized all fuel as aviation fuel to reduce supply procedures and save time. Thanks to that, even U.S. military tactical vehicles like Humvees ran on aviation fuel. They accepted a massive increase in fuel costs in exchange for better operational capability. In the end, that side came out ahead. It saved lives too.

But he still did not understand. Just how many gifts were there? Kowalski smiled.

"You look unconvinced."

"I am, honestly. This doesn't sound like the kind of issue that comes up over a few warehouses."

"Oh my. A few warehouses? You must be imagining something like a private storage facility. You're seriously underestimating yourself. I can't tell whether you're humble or just have no sense of scale... From what I've seen, probably the former. Did you know? When it was decided that you would be deployed here, the agents here placed bets on you. On what kind of person you'd turn out to be in real life."

"They did? I thought people from the Intelligence Agency would know more about me than I do."

"Ahaha! That's the misunderstanding. Information about you is sensitive in all sorts of ways. Not just anyone can access it. Maybe Supervisor Gibson, who came with you this time, but not the rest of us. Our team lead wasn't interested either. And even if we asked, nobody would tell us. That's why the betting pool could happen."

Kowalski spoke lightly about her superior sitting right beside her. Chadwick showed no reaction. Gyeoul glanced over, then continued the conversation.

"I see. Did you make any money?"

"Not at all. I lost. I expected an ordinary war hero overflowing with self-consciousness. Ah, please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to belittle war heroes. It's just that people who become special on a battlefield where everyone risks their lives are bound to be trapped by their past, for better or worse."

"I know what you mean. The experience of almost being erased casts a shadow over the rest of your life."

Those were the words of a boy who had already been erased once. Kowalski nodded deeply.

"Besides, most people change when they suddenly become famous. Some people call that their true nature coming out, but that's a completely rotten criticism. People discover themselves through relationships, don't they? Becoming famous, in a way, means being forced into new relationships. Countless people who know me when I don't know them. So many eyes watching me from places I can't see. But the me they expect isn't the real me. You're thrown in defenseless, onto an unfamiliar stage where you can no longer act as the person you were until then... Oh."

She cut herself off.

"I got carried away and wandered off topic."

"No. I could understand it to some degree. It was good to hear."

"How kind of you."

Affection and attention on a social scale could become violence. Even if the person in question felt no pain from it and only enjoyed it. There were plenty of people whose hearts twisted while they were happy. The self they had been until then, and the self demanded of them. Being thrown into the gap between different selves meant exactly that.

Agent Kowalski spoke again.

"Let's go back to your first question. The answer is 1.6 million."

"Pardon?"

"I mean the total number of gift boxes sent to you over the past half year or so. They say that's only the amount already piled up. The warehouses overflowed, so they're stacked outside now, and they're probably still increasing as we speak. These days, deliveries are often delayed by weeks. The post office goes without saying. They must be backed up all along the logistics warehouse chains. Fortunately, some of them will disappear."

"..."

Gyeoul was at a loss for words.

This was not the first time he had gained fame like this. But back then, the country had not been in as good a state as it was now. Taking that into account, the maximum he had imagined was in the tens of thousands. He had never thought it would be more than a hundred times that.

"Sorting them by item must be a job in itself."

Kowalski confirmed Gyeoul's words.

"Exactly. Outsourcing the appraisal to a private company isn't just about objectivity. They'll be handling the whole process right up to the sale, including classification. Even if the Department of Defense acts as the seller, it'll probably only supervise the process. The Logistics Bureau doesn't have the manpower to spare for extra work right now."

She shrugged.

"Most of all, they have to push forward the supply plan for a ten-million-man Army. I hear people die at McNamara Headquarters almost every day."

That much, he could understand well enough. Sometimes accepting short-term inefficiency was efficient in the long run. Especially in an organization on a massive scale.

The Logistics Bureau was also familiar to Gyeoul. Back when he had not yet accumulated enough cycles, when he had still been a half-baked superhuman, Gyeoul had briefly belonged to the Logistics Bureau after passing through the civilian-manned transportation corps, CTC. War in the rear was a fight against overwork.

'They were desperate to secure combat troops they could move independently.'

Although he belonged to the Logistics Bureau, Gyeoul's role had been combatant. Holes had opened in quarantine everywhere, so combat power was needed from the supply procurement stage onward. But other units refused to give up their troops. They were on the verge of dying themselves. The panicked command rarely gave proper orders.

It had been a new experience. Watching the end approach from the rear.

"I think I've decided what to do."

When Gyeoul said that, Agent Kowalski looked intrigued.

"May I hear it?"

"At first, I thought I might ask for volunteers when recording the message. Like you said, I'm popular. But I soon decided that wouldn't work. Complaints would come from all over. This is an age where plenty of people have briefly set their consciences down because they were too heavy."

"Briefly...? That's an amusing way to put it. You think quite kindly of people."

The Intelligence Agency agent's eyes shone even brighter. By then, more people had taken their eyes off the movie. No, the only viewer left was Chadwick. Chadwick was watching with fists clenched, apparently quite entertained.

If Kowalski was right, the gifts meant for Gyeoul were not only at the blockade line but backed up nationwide. So once Gyeoul's letter and voice recording were released, deliveries would stop, and appraisal and distribution would be carried out in each region. It was doubtful whether volunteer work taking place at dozens, maybe hundreds, of locations could remain volunteer work to the end.

American society right now was like a well-dried haystack. The wrong spark could hasten the end. The butterfly effect. The odds were low, but there was no harm in being careful.

Gyeoul continued.

"If a private company gets involved, fees will have to be paid, so there needs to be revenue. Allocating a separate budget for them would ultimately be another administrative cost too. Right now, with everyone focused on Operation Manifest Liberation, I doubt other departments have any room to spare."

"Probably?"

"Then the only part where there's room for discretion is my own share... I'm thinking of donating the full amount. To a defense donation fund or a refugee relief fund. Personally, I think the defense donation fund would be better."

"Wow."

A new voice cut in. Oliver Talbot. The tactical intelligence analyst who had helped Gyeoul with his disguise. He asked with a bewildered look.

"Are you serious? We won't know what's in each box until they're opened, but even if each one is valued at only one dollar, that's 1.6 million dollars. Even accounting for the portion that gets discarded, the actual figure will probably be much higher. We're talking about an amount comparable to a decent Mega Millions or Powerball win. Are you saying you'll give that up?"

The first prize for Mega Millions or Powerball was usually over ten million dollars. Of course, a direct comparison was impossible. When a jackpot hit, it could exceed five hundred million dollars. But as a metaphor for changing one's life, it worked well enough.

Gyeoul answered.

"What would I even do with that money?"

Everyone present reacted as if they could not believe him. Agent Talbot spoke in a disbelieving tone.

"What the... Do you have no thought at all of being rewarded for what you've suffered through? Even if it comes after retirement? No, if you don't want it for yourself, you could at least use it for lobbying, couldn't you? You seem to care a great deal about the comrades you left at Fort Roberts. You could improve their treatment in the long term."

"No. I think it would be better to send a message to the world."

The most famous war hero donating an enormous sum of money. The news would make Gyeoul's position even stronger. That had a value money could not measure. So keeping part of it would not be wise either. Donating all of it and donating a set amount left completely different impressions.

Gyeoul also had another expectation.

'If it improves public opinion about refugees, it should have some influence on the upcoming presidential election too.'

The reason he said a defense donation fund would be better than a refugee relief fund came from the same logic. A refugee relief fund could look like he was looking after his own interests. At least, to people who disliked Gyeoul, that was how it would look.

If the world headed toward the worst possible future, then in a society where nonsense became common sense, insane voices would certainly emerge. They would say Han Gyeoul had never truly been an American citizen even once.

"Yes!"

His thoughts broke. The one raising both hands high in delight was Agent Kowalski. She shouted again, full of joy.

"This time I won!"

The others, meanwhile, wore sour expressions, and some even sighed. Agent Talbot was one of them. He covered his face and bent forward.

"Damn..."

Having grasped the situation, Gyeoul made an awkward smile, conscious of the people around him. Then he asked the delighted Kowalski.

"I guess it was enough to make back what you lost?"

"More than enough. The odds were much higher this time."

"..."

She smiled brightly.

Team Leader Chadwick, who had been focused on the movie, or at least had appeared to be, also spoke to Gyeoul.

"Much obliged, Lieutenant."

Gyeoul felt something was off.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

#Beatles

The pile of gifts described in the story is adapted from, and slightly exaggerates, the Beatles' case. Global stars really are on a different scale. They even had a dedicated warehouse...

#United States Postal Service

Public mail in the United States is famous for its terrible quality. The mention in the story that items will disappear reflects that fact. Hmm, if I had to compare it, it is a service level that makes Rosen Express look like post office parcel delivery?...

#CTC

The U.S. military operated civilian transport units during the Korean War as well. It became famous after Knowledge Channel e covered it. The people who carried ammunition on A-frame carriers to and from the battlefield. Commonly called the A-Frame Army.

Since they belonged to each branch's administrative office, you can think of Gyeoul in that cycle as a civilian division laborer under the administrative office who was dispatched to the field, then recruited into a Logistics Bureau assigned unit, the Disposition Service.

#Q&A

Q. Grazo-nim: @I suddenly got curious. If the post-apocalypse world's America and real-world Korea went to war, who would win? No nuclear weapons. I feel like America in a human-extinction crisis would be stronger...

A. America wins overwhelmingly, of course. Even under the condition that America maintains the blockade line while fighting, America wins one-sidedly.

Q. Kxino-nim: @Could they not just use those gifts as relief supplies and distribute them...?

A. I expect the main story answered this. This is a slightly different case, but you could also refer to the German Empire's case during World War I. The Schlieffen Plan was a plan where each national function and transport capacity meshed together with precision, so even small modifications were impossible.

National-scale plans can be like that. Trying to insert a new element while considering only monetary gain or transport convenience can cause a total mess.

Especially since America in the story is preparing the largest military operation in history.

Q. Harurururu-nim: @The girl from the cult early on who drank holy water and got cured didn't drink something like antibiotics. She drank the virus... Monster blood mixed with a lot of water... Since it said she was strong and felt threatened... Then if they return after this operation, does the cult blow up the base?

A. That is a difficult question to answer. Haha. Please understand, as it could be a spoiler. I can at least tell you that nobody has made a 100% accurate prediction about the Humpback yet. There was a hint in the chapter where it first appeared, but nobody paid attention to it.

Q. Grazo-nim: @You said TOM is based on unconscious prediction, so if someone who had never once seen or heard human malice in their life and had only experienced goodwill played a Virtual Reality game, would all the NPC AIs in that world act like angels?

A. They might, or they might not. Even if someone has only experienced goodwill, if malignancy is inherent in that person, it can influence the virtual personality's reactions. Because the starting point of Empathy is the self.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried