Free Web NovelThe moment I arrived at the camp, I felt a strange tension.
An uncomfortable atmosphere flowed between two groups that were clearly divided.
On one side were the Black Bear mercenaries led by Igor, and on the other, Russian soldiers with their faces covered.
“Hmm.”
Just as expected. Seeing them from afar made the corner of my mouth curl up.
I walked slowly toward the space between the two groups along with Manager Ma.
Igor spotted me first, ran over immediately, and bowed his head.
“Boss, you’re here.”
“How’s the camp?”
“I like it. They prepared it properly in a short amount of time.”
It was a camp prepared personally by the Kremlin. There was no way they would’ve done a half-baked job.
They knew very well how important this operation was.
“When did they arrive?”
“A day ago.”
“They haven’t settled the hierarchy yet, right?”
“No. They’re awkward with each other.”
“These guys are basically your juniors, aren’t they?”
The mercenaries Igor personally selected had all once served in Russia’s special forces.
“That’s true, but Zaslon is a little different. Zaslon considers themselves separate from every other unit. They have pride in being selected as one of Russia’s elite 300. So they tend to look down on other Spetsnaz units. They won’t treat us as seniors, since we’re already discharged.”
“Then how do Spetsnaz settle hierarchy among themselves?”
Igor grinned.
“Simple. The side that wins the fight gets command.”
“Simple and good.”
A stupidly straightforward but certain method. There was a reason Western forces called Spetsnaz the Kremlin’s mad dogs or untempered instruments.
I looked toward the Zaslon soldiers and asked:
“Who’s the commander?”
A masked man stepped forward.
“I am the one commanding the unit.”
Although he spoke politely, there was no respect in his behavior.
He came right up to me yet did not remove his mask. I gave an order.
“Why are you wearing a mask? Take it off.”
The man stiffly rejected my order.
“It is a basic principle of our unit. Our faces must not be known.”
“You didn’t receive the order from above? You follow my command.”
“...”
“You don’t like it? Then get out.”
He didn’t answer. He simply glared at me with fierce eyes.
Watching him push his worthless pride irritated me.
It annoyed me even more because I wasn’t the one who asked for their support.
The Kremlin’s will was so firm that I couldn’t refuse.
But these soldiers not only ignored the order from above—they openly refused to follow mine.
I did not like this situation one bit.
“I’ll say it again. Leave immediately, or take off the mask.”
The masked man hesitated, then finally removed it.
A rugged, typical Russian face. Yet even then, he kept resisting.
“I will take mine off. But the others...”
I sighed deeply. What an annoying bastard. Even after receiving direct orders from the Kremlin, he still tried to pull attitude.
“So I look easy to you? Or are you stupid enough not to understand the weight of this operation? You want me to coordinate with people whose faces I don’t even know?”
I turned to Manager Ma, who was standing beside me with a stiff face.
“Call Medvedev.”
Manager Ma took out his phone and dialed.
“Boss, he’s on the line.”
I took the phone and greeted him. Medvedev’s voice responded warmly from the other end.
“I’ve received your call.”
— President Kim Muhyuk! I heard you arrived at the Vladivostok camp. How is it? It was prepared in a rush so it may be rough, but I gave orders to make it proper.
“The camp seems fine. I haven’t checked everything, but Igor likes it.”
— Hahaha. That’s good to hear.
Unexpected trouble was always the scariest.
I deliberately spoke without mentioning Arshavin’s name yet.
“The camp is fine, but the support unit you sent is ignoring my orders. If that’s the case, there’s no reason for us to take on risk and operate together.”
— That can’t be. The hierarchy sorting was to be handled between the support troop and the mercenaries. But the final authority is clearly given to you. Maybe there’s some misunderstanding?
Right. The Kremlin wouldn’t make sloppy mistakes. I asked the man before me:
“What’s your name?”
“...Sergei Arshavin.”
I relayed it immediately to Medvedev.
“The commander of Zaslon calls himself Sergei Arshavin. He seems unwilling to follow my command. If this is the kind of people you send, we won’t accept their support.”
— ...President Kim, may I speak with him directly?
“Of course.”
I held the phone out to Arshavin.
“Take it.”
“Who is this?”
“Do I need to explain everything to you?”
With an uncomfortable expression, Arshavin took the phone to his ear.
After confirming that, I looked back to Igor.
“Are they usually like this? Ignoring orders from above is something a soldier should never do.”
“No. I didn’t expect this. They might disrespect us, but doing this to you... When I served, we were taught absolute obedience.”
I didn’t know how Russian soldiers were trained nowadays, but I doubted it had changed much.
However, I already had a strong guess:
“Is it because I’m not Russian?”
“...”
Igor didn’t answer, but his silence was answer enough.
They looked down on me because I was Asian.
Had I been Russian, they wouldn’t dare to openly disrespect me like this.
“Well, I don’t need an answer. I get it.”
Igor quickly bowed his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? You never once treated me that way. Judging people by skin color is the real problem. I thought I’d gotten used to it, but it still pisses me off when it happens.”
I... and Dreamhigh’s Han Kyungyeong... we get casually discriminated against all the time.
People say racism doesn’t exist, but reality is different.
Even if you’re used to it, it feels disgusting every time.
“Um...”
Arshavin cautiously called me. He had finished the call.
“He asks to speak with you again.”
His tone and behavior were far more polite than before. I nodded and took the phone back.
“Yes, I’m back.”
— I apologize.
Medvedev apologized immediately.
“What are you apologizing for?”
— It seems the order was misunderstood. They believed they were supposed to carry out the same hierarchy sorting with you as well.
“Do you think that makes sense? Unless someone intentionally twisted the message, that explanation won’t work.”
There was silence on the other end.
Someone definitely tried something.
— It seems someone from the siloviki played a trick. The military is more under their influence than mine.
“...The president’s order was intercepted midway?”
Either the president didn’t fully control the Kremlin, or the siloviki held enough hostility toward me to act recklessly.
— The instruction to receive orders from you was given. But the part about ‘after hierarchy sorting’ seems to have been inserted. I’ve clarified things. They won’t disrespect you again.
“If this happens again, we cannot work together. You know how dangerous this mission is.”
I intentionally sounded irritated.
Medvedev spoke calmly, coaxingly:
— I know. I know this is incredibly dangerous. I know one mistake could put you in serious trouble. But we are also sincere about this. Recovering the nuclear device is vital. Please do not doubt our intentions.
Russia cared above anything about retrieving the nuclear weapon taken by North Korea.
If Kim Jong-il went crazy and used it, every intelligence agency—including the U.S.—would dig relentlessly to find how he acquired it.
They had to retrieve it before that happened—this was the Kremlin’s will.
And since the soldiers trained in the Soviet era had been purged after the Pyongyang coup, they desperately needed my help as well.
I wanted Kim Jong-il eliminated and Jang Song-thaek in power; the Kremlin wanted their nuclear device back.
Our interests aligned.
“I understand. But if something like this happens again, I will send this unit back. I’ll tolerate it once. Not twice.”
— Understood. I will relay that clearly.
The call ended. I looked at Arshavin with a cold stare.
“My apologies. The orders were not properly conveyed. It was my mistake.”
He bowed deeply.
“What orders did you receive?”
“We were told to accept orders but only after sorting hierarchy. We were to secure command at any cost.”
I see now. They hadn’t even told Zaslon about my authority. freёwebnovel.com
“Why should I do hierarchy sorting? If that were required, I’d just work with mercenaries who follow my orders. Who gave that order?”
“....”
Arshavin kept his mouth shut.
“You’re not answering?”
“I’m sorry. It’s someone I cannot speak of.”
Loyalty—impressive, if only it were given to the right person.
I stared at him coldly, but he did not avert his eyes.
His expression said clearly: I will never speak, even if I die.
I could already picture a few likely names, but I didn’t bother mentioning them.
“For now, I’ll let it go. Do you understand now? My command is absolute. I do not accept any objections. That authority comes from your master, and he granted it to me. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Then tell everyone to remove their masks and line up properly.”
“Yes, understood!”
Arshavin turned and shouted to his men:
“Everyone, remove your masks!”
At his command, every soldier removed their mask.
‘They don’t question his orders. Good. If I suppress Arshavin, everything becomes easy.’
I turned slightly toward Igor and whispered:
“Igor, if we just take down Arshavin, this ends. Can you do it?”
“Yes. I can.”
I nodded.
With all masks removed and everyone standing at attention, Arshavin turned back to me.
“Arshavin.”
“Yes!”
“No need for full-unit hierarchy sorting. Only the unit representatives will fight. Correct?”
“Correct!”
He shouted confidently, as if defeat was unthinkable.
I smiled and placed my hand on Igor’s shoulder.
“Good confidence. The representative of the mercenaries will be Igor. The representative of Zaslon is obviously you, Arshavin?”
Arshavin glanced at Igor, then answered:
“Yes! I will represent the unit!”
“Good. And the method?”
“One-on-one combat. That is how the Russian military resolves hierarchy.”
I had heard it earlier, but I looked toward Igor as if confirming.
Igor responded loudly, as if to make sure everyone heard:
“Yes! That’s correct, Boss!”
The representatives fight one-on-one to decide hierarchy through strength.
Primitive, brutal, but the simplest method.
“Then let’s do it. The Russian military’s way!”
