Black Corporation: Joseon

Because of such a situation, Byeongho turned pale before nagging Jinho.

“Bastard! There is a limit to asking for cover! Making gunpowder? Whose head do you think is gonna fly? You punk! Not only will it fly, but my head is gonna fly from the top to bottom, front to back, and left to right!”

“But…. Obtaining gunpowder….”

“What crap are you talking about? There’s a lot of them in the stationery stores.”

“The impurities-.”

“Bastard! Plow it now!”

After a series of quarrels, Jinho promised to plow the field. Before leaving, Byeongho once again warned him strongly.

“I'll check it the day after tomorrow, so make sure to plow it! You got it?”

“I got it!”

Byeongho took over the gunpowder from Jinho, then walked back while grumbling.

“That crazy maniac bastard….”

* * *

‘Weirdo mania,’

It was a nickname given to Jinho by his relatives, including Byeongho, as well as his parents.

Due to various accidents he created while doing his fanatic activity since he was young, all of his relatives were worried about him. They said, ‘One day, he will make a big accident.'

‘Crazy mania,’

It was a nickname given by acquaintances who got to know Jinho through social media and online hobby forums.

At first, because Jinho was a maniac in various fields, they wrote it as ‘wide (広/광)'. But because of various accidents Jinho had created, they changed it to ‘crazy (狂/광)'.(1)

Since he was young, Jinho had shown an unusual performance. He showed better concentration and memory than the children of his age.

“I think he's a special kid!”

The words of the kindergarten teacher made the expectations of Jinho's parents increase.

By the time he entered elementary school, Jinho's parents tested Jinho's IQ and received the following answer from the doctor.

“Memory and concentration. All of his comprehension skills are above average and his IQ is on a genius level.”

“Thank you very much!”

After hearing the doctor's explanation, Jinho's parents were greatly delighted, and their expectations grew even higher.

However, their hope soon turned into despair.

The most important thing to bring out Jinho's outstanding concentration, memory, comprehension, and IQ was missing—and that was studying.

The memory of his parents' dark history—the fight between the couple—when he was around the age of 3 and just barely able to have a conversation. The memory of his black history in kindergarten, elementary school, and until he was a university student. The concentration to watch his favorite mid-series non-stop until he skipped meals and being taken to the emergency room. All of its traces could not be seen in his study.

“What's the use of your smart brain!”

In addition to the tutoring academy, Jinho's parents also guided Jinho in his study by swinging a stick and a carrot. However, they burst into anger whenever they accepted the report card. Jinho's grades were always in the middle, no matter whether he was in the excellent or inferior class.

His grades in memorization subjects such as the Korean language and history were very good. However, the situation where English stayed in the middle and mathematics stayed on the ground—holding his ankle—made Jinho become very frustrated.

“I can't recall….”

Jinho whined to his friend.

“Recall?”

“In Korean and history, and the other memorization subjects, I can recall them like movies while reading textbooks or questions. I mean, I have a clear memory and I can quickly understand how to solve it. But damn math.….”

In the end, Jinho had no choice but to pursue a career in liberal arts.

Due to various kinds of stress, Jinho became more obsessed with his mania activity. From the fourth grade of elementary school until he entered middle school, he was absorbed in a famous robot animation—a hardcore supporter of the original work, universal century—and enthusiastically engaged in online activities and made acquaintances. 

It was in the second grade of middle school that the mania Jinho became a crazy mania. 

Jinho, who had become a fan of a steampunk drama set in the 19th century, eagerly sought and watched the drama. The airing of the drama ended in one season because it was a very mania-like drama, so he had to find it on the foreign sites through the ‘dark path'. In addition, because there were no subtitles, he had to translate the script he got from the internet, and so he became addicted to the drama.

Jinho's parents were angry to see him fell into the drama, but in the meantime, Jinho was able to watch the drama safely until the end of the series because his English grades rose at a high speed.

The impact of the drama in question on Jinho was great. Jinho, who was only a ‘maniac who watches and enjoys' became a ‘maniac who acts'.

Jinho, who had become enthusiastic about the steam engine, along with his friends, created a miniature model of Watt's steam engine with its generator, and they entered a science competition.

Except for the pressure-resistant cylinder part that has to withstand steam pressure and a few motor units, the miniature model which was made of items that were easy to find in the market, showed enough performance to light up LED lights when heating boilers with alcohol lamps, and won the Excellence Award.

Because that award was a great help for the entrance exam, Jinho received words of thanks and pocket money from his science department friends' parents. However, he also got reprimanded by his parents.

“Thanks, Jinho! This isn't much, but you can use it for your allowance.”

“What's the point of a liberal arts student getting an award? It’s better to use that devotion to learn mathematical formulas! Honey! Don’t give this kid allowance! He would use it to make something weird again!”

Even though his allowance was cut, the next year Jinho utilized the actual steam pressure to make a miniature model of a steam locomotive and made his parents hold their necks.

Under various circumstances, Jinho did his best to enter the university and passed not early admission but the worst gate—the regular admission, and accepted in the ‘In Seoul’(2) public administration department just below SKY.

On the day when Jinho's acceptance was confirmed, Jinho's parents gathered their relatives to have a feast.

“Now that you've become a university student, stop doing useless things and focus on your study!”

“Department of Public Administration? You have to work hard and become a public servant.”

“Don't think of anything else, just focus on your study! You know how hard your parents suffered because of you!”

All of Jinho's relatives gathered at the feast gave him a mix of threats and advice.

* * *Although he already entered the university, Jinho, the maniac who acts, didn't stop.

In his first year of university, Jinho made a man-made seaplane with the money he saved from his part-time job during the summer vacation and succeeded in flying it in Han estuary.

“It’s flying!”

“It’s flying?”

Police and 119 paramedics were present at the scene due to safety concerns, and they looked at Jinho's man-made plane that was flying in the sky with a strange look on their faces.

Jinho's flight became a hot topic to the point of airing on public TV.

Although Jinho took the top of TV news under the title of ‘A University Student, Inventor Full of Talent', his parents had to lie down with their heads wrapped.

“He's not our child but an enemy….”

“What sin I've done in my previous life….”

It was what his relatives and acquaintances called ‘The first uprising of a crazy maniac'. 

Maybe it was the effect of appearing on TV news that Jinho had established himself as the infamous eccentric person at the university. 

Since then, Jinho's eccentricity continued. Once, he watched a historical drama that he had thrown away, and after that, he tried to make proper leather armor from the Three Kingdoms Period and wrestled with wearing said armor. There was also a time when he spent his vacation at the workshop of a traditional swordsmith, saying that he wanted to learn how to manufacture the Joseon military sword. In the middle of the school term, he was impressed by a crusades movie that he went to hammering in a workshop every weekend to make Western full-plate armor.

“What should I do with that punk….”

In order to prevent Jinho's eccentricity, Jinho's parents even beat their adult child. Nevertheless, Jinho's parents were distressed to see their child continue his eccentricity.

“If only he hasn't studied at all….”

Jinho's parents could not give up their child even more because he devoted himself to studying during the semester—except on the weekends—and had excellent grades.

Every time Jinho made an accident, Jinho’s parents were reminded of what Jinho’s career counseling teacher in high school had said. 

“Jinho is a very smart kid. However, it’s not in the academic field. To put it simply, he is a child with inventor aptitude.”

“Inventors… Isn't their life difficult these days?”

“Therefore, this is very unfortunate. If only Jinho was born in Europe around the 18th or 19th century, he would be an inventor who would have made a name for himself in history.”

* * *

By the time he was in his third year of university, Jinho made a huge accident. It was because of a mail from an American acquaintance he got to know online.

They were gathering people to make the sailboat in the famous pirate movie based in the traditional way. Although it was made by reducing its size to a quarter, Jinho's eyes focused on the line ‘everything would be made according to the actual historical research’.

Jinho immediately took a leave of absence and flew to the United States.

It was ‘The second uprising of a crazy mania.’

Because of Jinho's flight to the U.S., Jinho's mother once again wrapped her head and his father exploded into anger.

“This little bastard! I will dig you out of the family register!”

Jinho's stay in the U.S. was longer than initially expected. The reason for this was the Arab rich mania who funded the project.

The Arab rich, who liked the finished product, gave an offer to the participants.

“Actually, I need a cruising yacht, so how about making it in full size? I'll provide you with dry funds and give you a monthly salary. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Participants agreed in one voice on the offer of the Arab rich.

Although the ship was converted into an engine-installed sailboat—not a 100% wind-powered sailboat—with modern convenience devices installed, most of the hull's structure and appearance were reborn to be an exact sailboat of the age of discovery by maniacs from numerous countries.

After the construction finished and the launching ceremony followed with the test voyage safely completed, Jinho returned to Korea with a copy of the design of the ship.

Jinho's parents only spoke shortly.

“Go to the army! Everything is ready.”

“Yes.”

Jinho bowed his head right away at the order of his parents, who were full of fire. 

After going to the army, Jinho continued his school life calmly.

Jinho sincerely studied and prepared for the administrative exam and eventually passed the Open Competitive Exam for Grade 5 in one year after graduation.

On the day when he was decided to become a central government official precisely, in the Ministry of Finance, Jinho's parents once again gathered their relatives to have a feast.

“You've worked hard!”

“Finally, you can take a breath! Good job!”

The relatives praised Jinho's parents, not Jinho. It was because they were well aware of the hardships they had suffered from Jinho.

Having experienced such ups and downs, Jinho began his career as a civil servant.

Jinho's parents sighed in relief as Jinho began his career as a civil servant, but Jinho actually had a problem.

“This is suffocating….”

Jinho was suffering from mental thirst due to his daily tasks. To solve such a thirst, he worked hard to make a plamodel, played online games or smartphone games, and even joined bicycle clubs on his day off. However, his mental thirst became more intense and finally, he was diagnosed with depression and took medicine.

When the situation turned out like this, Jinho's parents had to make a choice.

“Live and do whatever you want to do.”

“Thank you very much.”

The day after his parents made the decision, Jinho submitted his resignation.

He submitted his resignation letter and the unemployed Jinho immediately got a job at a smithy.

After spending three years learning to work while staying in the smithy, the master called Jinho.

“Now open your shop. You've learned everything you can learn from me. From now on, all you need is experience, and only time can solve that.”

“Thank you very much, master.”

Afterward, Jinho went down to Yangsan. He bought an empty house with a field attached to it using the money he had saved during his four years as a civil servant, and with some supports, he set up a blacksmith's shop.

* * *

After seeing Byeongho off, Jinho scratched his head and grumbled.

“The impurities of fireworks sold at the stationery store are too much that the barrel gets rusted….”

The fireworks sold on the market were mixed with various impurities to produce various colors of flame and to kill the explosive power of gunpowder. And because such impurities seriously corroded the barrel, they had to clean the barrel thoroughly after fireproofing.

“Anyway, I have to plow it.… guess I'll go to the old Hwang's house tomorrow and borrow a tractor.”

Jinho went into the warehouse after deciding what to do tomorrow.

“Let's see….”

Jinho entered the air-conditioned warehouse and searched the warehouse shelves. He put aside a row of chemicals before taking out a small box.

“If this one got discovered, I'd be in jail by now.”

Jinho opened the lid and examined the contents while muttering to himself.

Inside the box were two small glass bottles buried deep in buffer materials. Jinho let out a long sigh when he looked at the light brown liquid in a glass bottle the size of a little finger.

“I don't know why I made this.……”

The thing inside the glass bottle was nitroglycerin.

After examining the glass bottle for a while, Jinho closed the lid of the box and pushed it back onto the shelf.

Grrr!

The moment Jinho was about to come out of the warehouse, the ground began to shake.

“Huh? Is there any construction work?”

Jinho tilted his head at the small shaking and immediately screamed as the shaking increased.

“No way! This is an earthquake!”

Jinho judged it was an earthquake, and he rushed out of the building. However, not even completing five steps, he had to turn around and run back to the warehouse.

“If that damn thing exploded, I can't even get insurance!”

Grrr!

Jinho ran into the warehouse while staggering due to the increasingly shaking ground. He grabbed the box and ran out.

Click!

After opening the box, Jinho took out two glass bottles and threw them into the field.

Boom! Boom!

“It's do—.”

Just as he was relieved to see the huge explosion in the field, the ground cracked and swallowed Jinho.

T/N

(1) Both are 광 but with a different meaning. One was ‘wide(広)' and the other was ‘crazy(狂)'. ↻

(2) abbreviation of In Seoul university. It is judged that major universities in Seoul are generally superior to local universities, but In Seoul University also has very wide differences between universities, so some universities are less competent than local universities. ↻