Everything proceeded exactly as planned.
The larger guilds took their own approaches, while smaller ones began forming alliances based on shared goals to operate more efficiently.
The entire nation was buzzing with energy.
In a way, the Purification Unification Project could be viewed as a kind of war.
Yet, the atmosphere remained positive.
And for good reason—external threats like monsters and Gates only served to further unite those within.
Su-ho, in the anti, began tying up the loose ends of everything he had set in motion.
That included finalizing the results of the Special Recruitnt.
Su-ho said,
"Alright then, I look forward to working with you."
"Yes, I’ll do my best."
The results of the high-profile Special Recruitnt were officially announced.
As Su-ho expected, there were no surprises.
The entire Banshee unit had been accepted—along with Park Yong.
That was the final outco.
But to Su-ho’s surprise, the announcent barely drew attention from the public.
Compared to the explosive excitent surrounding the upcoming Purification Unification Project, even a recruitnt into the Special Division paled in comparison.
As a result, the appointnt ceremony was conducted with minimal formality.
There were no Grade 6 appointnts.
The highest designation granted was Grade 7, awarded solely to Kim Geon.
The others were split between Grades 8 and 9 based on a comprehensive evaluation. Park Yong, despite his performance scores, received a Grade 9.
It was unexpected, but unsurprising when considering his final interview.
Still, the man himself had no complaints.
Because training would be provided—or more accurately, because Su-ho himself had promised to personally train them.
Only one team would be ford, led by Kim Geon in accordance with his grade level.
Naturally, the team would be designated Special Division, Special Affairs Team 1.
The entire point of the recruitnt had been to reinforce the depleted manpower in the Special Affairs Departnt.
After the ceremony, Su-ho gathered the new recruits in a conference room.
Seeing them all assembled made the group feel quite large.
After Su-ho and Jeong Cheol-min introduced themselves and outlined what lay ahead, Su-ho spoke.
"You all know what the Special Division does, right? It requires comprehensive understanding of every departnt in the Association. Typically, you’d rotate through each one and undergo written and practical tests. But due to the Purification Unification Project..."
Just then—
"Excuse , Chief, Departnt Head?"
It was a female staff mber from the Special Affairs team.
For her to barge into an ongoing orientation ant it was urgent.
Su-ho asked,
"What is it?"
"Um... we just received a call from China."
"China?"
"Yes. They said they want to discuss the Purification Unification Project."
"If it's about that... was the call from the CMC?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Haa..."
Su-ho let out a dry chuckle at the ntion of CMC.
CMC stood for Central Military Commission.
Known as Zhong Jun Wei in Korean, the Central Military Commission was the supre governing body of the Chinese military—arguably the true nucleus of China's national power.
Technically under the Chinese Communist Party, but since the Chairman of the Party and the Chairman of the CMC were the sa person, the distinction was aningless.
For the CMC to reach out at this timing? The reason was obvious.
Su-ho turned to Jeong Cheol-min.
"Chief, if the CMC suddenly contacted us, it’s definitely about the Purification Unification Project."
"Yeah, there’s no other reason they’d call out of nowhere."
"Then may I scrap our original training plan and switch to the fallback curriculum?"
"Let’s do that. If it’s the CMC, I’d rather not deal with the headache."
Su-ho nodded and turned back to the recruits.
"Attention, everyone."
"Sir!"
"You just heard—China’s Central Military Commission has made contact. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Anyway, this changes things. We’re probably going to have to deal with a lot more moving parts now. So our original orientation is canceled—we’ll proceed with the backup plan."
With that, Su-ho reached beneath the table and pulled out a stack of thick docunts.
"As I ntioned earlier, the Special Division may be required to perform any departnt's duties depending on the situation. That ans you need to understand how every departnt works. These are targeted study guides for the written tests. I used them myself. Don’t whine about the amount—just be grateful I’m handing you the answer key. Once you’re done studying, we’ll hold the written test. Passing score is 90. Any questions?"
Gu Yeon-hwa raised her hand.
"Sir, how many points did you get?"
"Perfect score."
"All of them?"
"Yup. Your Chief here was the youngest and the first in Association history to get a perfect score."
"..."
Jeong Cheol-min answered on his behalf.
Su-ho grinned cheerfully.
"Any other questions? No? Then hit the books. Soone else will handle desks, lockers, and issuing your ID cards. That’s all. Chief, shall we?"
"Alright. Good luck, everyone."
Once the two left, sighs of despair echoed across the conference room.
*
The two imdiately headed for the Association President’s office.
Vice President Do Sang-wan was already waiting.
Seeing them enter, President Lim Cheol greeted them with a serious expression.
"You’re here."
"You said the CMC contacted us?"
"Yes. To be specific, the CMC’s Departnt of Awakened Abilities reached out."
The Departnt of Awakened Abilities had been newly ford within the Central Military Commission after the Cataclysm. It functioned similarly to Korea’s Grand Hunter Association (GHA).
The difference was that China’s departnt was a military branch.
China did have a separate association for civilian Awakened—known as the China Hunter Association. It served non-military individuals who had Awakened.
In terms of sheer power, however, the military-run CMC departnt was far superior.
After all, the CMC was China's ultimate institution.
Su-ho asked,
"What did they say?"
"They want to 'help' with the Purification Unification Project."
"Help... huh."
Su-ho couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
Help? Please.
They just wanted in so they could take a slice of the pie. Did they really think he wouldn’t see through that?
China had always operated like this.
Of course, other major powers were no different.
Su-ho asked,
"I can guess what they’re after. But how exactly did they say they wanted to help?"
"Lots of flowery language. But ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ boiled down? They want to assist with clearing those things near the Amnok River."
"And in return, they’ll want sothing. What do they want?"
"Land."
"Land?"
"Yeah. They claim that before North Korea collapsed, they had a deal with the regi regarding Sinuiju. But the Cataclysm interrupted it. Honestly, it’s total nonsense."
What a joke.
Japan had claid Dokdo, and China had tried to appropriate Korean culture.
Now they were using North Korea’s collapse as an excuse to grab Korean territory?
“Those bastards never change...”
To be honest, Su-ho wasn’t surprised.
In his past life, China had made similar moves during the reclamation of North Korea.
But back then, their interference had co much later. Su-ho had assud that in this life, China wouldn’t have the capacity to ddle so early, since they were still dealing with internal issues.
Apparently, the scent of profit was too strong to resist—even if they were busy.
“Yep, buzzards always know when there’s at.”
Su-ho nodded and said,
"That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. Please give them a firm response. Tell them we’ll handle the entities occupying the Amnok River ourselves and that we gratefully decline their help. If anyone has a problem with that—say, the President or the Pri Minister—then I’ll personally hold a briefing to address it."
Su-ho was referring to Korea’s top officials.
While the GHA had received the ssage directly due to its jurisdiction over Awakened operations, it was still a matter of national diplomacy. So technically, the President had to approve the final response.
But it wasn’t sothing the President could just decide unilaterally, either.
In matters like this, the GHA held most of the authority.
“If we didn’t have this kind of autonomy...”
Then the upper ranks would have steamrolled everything—and Korea would probably have ended up like North Korea.
Lim Cheol nodded.
"Still, you know how it is. Now that China’s shown interest, they won’t stop pestering us."
"Of course. I can already see the playbook. They’ll start stationing troops near the Amnok River under the excuse of protecting their territory. Then, when the actual battle starts, they’ll pretend to assist and quietly lay claim to the spoils afterward."
Why did Su-ho know this so well?
Because he’d already lived through it in his previous life.
Which is why this ti, he planned to shut down all avenues of interference from the start.
The counterasures were already in place.
“That’s why I divided the Purification Unification Project into Phase 1 and Phase 2.”
Exactly.
Phase 1: push up to the Amnok River.
Phase 2: attack the river zone itself.
Lim Cheol asked gravely,
"Then what do we do when that ti cos? The President will probably ask the sa question."
"Tell him I’ll hold a separate briefing on Phase 2 once Phase 1 ends. That’s the whole reason we split the project."
"Alright. I’ll do that."
"Please also inform him—if Russia or the U.S. co forward with similar proposals, we’ll be rejecting them on the sa grounds."
"Got it."
As the eting ended, Jeong Cheol-min asked,
"Su-ho."
"Yes, Chief?"
"Phase 1’s fine. But what’s your plan for Phase 2?"
"I’ve got one. That’s why I started self-study training for the recruits earlier."
"Self-study?"
"Yeah, for the written exam. Only I can handle the Phase 2 solution."
"You really think you can do it alone? This whole operation is on a different scale."
Su-ho chuckled.
"When have I not done things alone? Who cleared all of Korea’s sealed Gates? . So why would I rely on soone else now?"
"Still... I’m worried about you, damn it."
"I’ll be fine. As long as nobody interferes. So please, just make sure the rookies get through their training period smoothly."
"Ugh, if it weren’t for those damn Chinese, you’d be handling the training yourself."
"It is what it is. Anyway... looks like the major fires are out for now."
Su-ho checked the date on his phone and said,
"I'm heading to North Korea."
"What, now?"
"Yeah. I need to prep for the Chinese interference—and do a pre-mission survey."
"Alone?"
"Of course. You think I’m dragging a bunch of recruits who just started training? Obviously, I’m going solo. And quietly—this isn’t official."
"Jeez... Fine. But make sure you’re back the day before the operation starts, alright?"
"Naturally. Take care."
Smiling, Su-ho headed out first.
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