Chapter 2 Part 9

Originally, relations aren’t good with other Branches or the Americas Headquarters. With the Headquarters, it’s relatively better, but between the Branches, you can’t even say they’re good as a polite gesture. That’s because they are each other’s opponents in combat training. During Joint Training, they truly have to fight as if facing an enemy. When that happens, people die, and when that accumulates, some guys will even deliberately kill to get revenge in the next Joint Training. Such resentment has piled up and solidified very firmly between us and the Europe Branch.

“Do they kill intentionally, not by accident?”

No answer came back. Only silence implying affirmation and bitter glances were exchanged.

“That’s not to say they randomly kill anyone from an opposing Branch, absolutely not… Well, it’s something like that. Anyway, it looks like you’ll see hell as soon as you arrive.”

“…That Joint Training, you said it’s once a year, right?”

“That’s right. With the Europe Branch, and with other Branches, it’s once a year. Meaning, you’ll meet the guys from Europe, Australia, South America, and Africa alternately, every three months.”

“To survive intact six months from now, I’ll have to overcome at least two major hurdles…” Jeong Tae-ui, who had been resenting his uncle with a bitter taste in his mouth, suddenly tilted his head.

The calculation doesn’t add up. If there are five Branches, there’s inevitably a remainder, so does that mean one Branch skips each rotation? Or do they train with the Headquarters? No, but I heard the Headquarters and Branches have different characteristics. The Headquarters is where esteemed geniuses gather; there’s no way they’d make those people engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Jeong Tae-ui ran through several scenarios in his head, and when he couldn’t find an answer and asked, the answer came back without difficulty.

“They split the number of people in half and rotate. This time, while half of the Europe Branch guys are at our Branch, half of our Branch members go to Australia. Half of the Australian guys go to South America, and so on, in rotation. Next time, they mix up the order and rotate again.”

“Ah, I see. So when do they decide who stays and who goes?”

“They depart on Saturday, so it’s by drawing lots on Friday night.”

“…How do they secure airplane seats when they decide things that quickly?”

“Why do you need to secure seats on a private jet? We already have visas for every country where there’s a Branch, all we need to do is grab our passports.”

Jeong Tae-ui recalled the crumbling, abandoned house-like building he had witnessed upon arriving on this island, and for a moment thought that the word “private jet” couldn’t be more unfitting, but he said nothing.

“Is there a need to decide so hastily? It would be better to decide and prepare in advance.”

“Because if they know in advance whether they’re going or staying, they might neglect their training.”

“Haha, if you don’t want to die, shouldn’t you all train hard whether you go or not?”

“When training with Branches other than Europe, there are some who get injured, but almost none who die.”

“Anyway, those Europe Branch guys are the problem,” they said. “Last time, Sangwat and Choi died, right? Wu-er, Yoon, and Kiyomi were laid up in the hospital and still haven’t returned. ‘If the guy who killed Sangwat shows up, I’ll cut his throat,’ and so on.” The men exchanged words, chewing on curses and resentment instead of the jerky that hadn’t yet arrived.

“…Do they also pick by drawing lots over there?”

“Hmm, probably, since the operational policies are basically the same. But the Branch also tries not to send guys with a record who they think will die if they go there. …Despicable bastards!”

If the operational policies are basically the same, then it means this side also tries not to send anyone who has accumulated resentment from the other side. Jeong Tae-ui, who thought it was probably six of one, half a dozen of the other, but had learned how to live wisely, said nothing.

“Will that guy come?”

It was then. Alta suddenly muttered. At that moment, everyone fell silent as if on cue.

Only Jeong Tae-ui, who was munching on dried fruit after running out of bean snacks, looked around with a bewildered expression.

The expressions that appeared on the faintly hardened faces of the men were varied. Rage, anxiety, fear, or similar types of emotions.

“There are more than one or two people who hold grudges against that guy; surely they wouldn’t send him. If those Europe Branch guys have any sense, they wouldn’t push their own members into a death trap.”

The man next to Jeong Tae-ui spat out, grinding his teeth with eyes that seemed about to become bloodshot. It seemed as if all the people who bore grudges, more than just one or two, were gathered there, as the six or seven men drinking together all wore similar expressions. Then Carlo Sagisawa muttered heavily.

“No, but from the perspective of the higher-ups in the Europe Branch, it’s better if that guy comes here instead. Think about him staying on his home ground and beating people up. He’s a guy who crippled three people and killed one even when he came to someone else’s territory; imagine how much havoc he’d wreak on his own ground.”

“While he’s on his home ground, they should just slit that damn bastard’s throat and screw him over!”

“…Who?”

Instantly, the chatter died down again. Glancing at the men who had fallen silent again, Jeong Tae-ui thought it was fortunate that he wasn’t eating bean snacks at the moment. If only the crunching sound of snacks echoed in the dead silence, that would be embarrassing, and spitting out half-eaten snacks to silently share in the gloom was also out of the question.

He generally understood the context. It seemed there was one guy from the Europe Branch who had become a public enemy here, and the gist of the situation seemed to be that he was a difficult opponent whom everyone gnashed their teeth at but found hard to deal with. Perhaps it was a situation where no one was willing to “bell the cat,” and they were just looking at each other.

“By the way, are all those who suffered at the hands of that ‘damn bastard’ members of this team?” Jeong Tae-ui asked as if to himself.

From the conversation, he gathered that there were six teams in the Branch. It seemed they operated by dividing a total of ninety-six members into six teams of sixteen each. Six instructors seemed to be in charge of each team.