NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 886
The trade between people is a struggle to gain more benefits while minimizing losses.
And this truth also applies to transactions between nations.
Who would dislike profits?
Who would enjoy losses?
Some may bring up the concept of a trade-off, claiming that gaining one thing often results in losing another, but when has human greed ever allowed for such rational understanding? Human greed strives to maximize gains for oneself while pushing losses onto others.
What they proposed was indeed actionable, and if put into motion, would yield positive results.
Should an organization binding four countries be established, it would reduce the tension in Northeast Asia, becoming a ‘diplomatic achievement’ supported by countless people, possibly brightening the future of a dictator. Moreover, just as Korea and Japan have speculated, taking advantage of America’s instability, they could assess the situation while slyly gauging the tides. If North Korea were completely settled, this could also create conditions to assert rights.
Or perhaps, in the manner of the recent Korea-Japan conflict, should any country go to war, one could find a pretext to join the battle and profit during the post-war distribution of resources.
But that wasn’t all.
Doubt.
The involvement of Russia and China was fueled by suspicion.
The Gebura Archive.
A treasure trove filled with overwhelmingly advanced research materials from the current era. They suspected that Korea and Japan had somehow acquired this treasure.
Initially, China was overjoyed to have obtained the Gebura Archive, believing it an opportunity to rise as the top power in the world, reinstating the glory of being the center of the old world.
But such joy was short-lived. China realized that the Gebura Archive had been leaked to Russia by spies dispatched from there, causing tremendous outrage. So much so that their protests via hotlines were not enough; they seriously considered war.
Russia, responding to China’s fury, proposed joint research under the pretense of strengthening their communist ties, pacifying them by conceding various interests to China. From Russia’s perspective, if they had managed to keep it hidden, there would be no issue, but given their exposure, they found it necessary to make unusual concessions to China due to the immense value of the Gebura Archive.
And while China could at least save face, they begrudgingly accepted the joint research with Russia.
As their discord subsided and they prepared to collaborate on research, Korea and Japan announced their plan to jointly exterminate North Korea’s ghosts.
In this situation, anyone who didn’t harbor doubts would be a fool.
It was none other than Korea and Japan.
Historically two nations with a love-hate relationship.
Yet still, they could readily join forces against China.
And now, suddenly, they were cooperating?
Especially when their relations had soured to the brink of war, only to barely slip into a mood of reconciliation?
Something was afoot.
And that something… was likely known to both China and Russia.
The Gebura Archive.
They suspected that Korea and Japan had obtained what Russia had taken from China’s materials through some means. Just as China and Russia had done, they believed the two would collaborate on research.
Should Korea and Japan secure the Gebura Archive, North Korea would be the most prime location for disposing of ‘waste.’ Dead waste would decompose or be consumed by ghosts, while live waste would be playthings for hostile ghosts, naturally leading to a horrific end.
If viewed this way, Korea and Japan’s ‘extermination of North Korean ghosts’ held grave significance. If some powerful entity arose from the waste, or any problems emerged, they could respond immediately….
No, it might not even be the Gebura Archive.
The term ‘Gebura’ is the fifth of the mystical sect’s symbol, the ‘Tree of Sephiroth.’ Thus, the possibility of other archives existing is abundant. Perhaps it is an archive filled with research related to ghosts.
Then… they had to intervene.
If it truly was the Gebura Archive, they would have to insert themselves and ensure shared benefits, but if it was another archive… they had to secure it at all costs.
But first, confirming if it was actually due to the archive was essential.
Thus, China and Russia began to ruthlessly probe Korea and Japan.
Simultaneously, they continued to verify through spies and those bought off in the two nations.
And they reached a conclusion.
Those two nations were unrelated.
They had no knowledge of the archive; this whole incident was merely a product of coincidence.
Ha ha.
Just like how the oxen of Wu Nation, afraid of the heat, mistook the moon for the sun and gasped at it, China and Russia had leapt to conclusions and suspected them.
However, this was not something to be treated lightly.
The very fact that the two were unaware of the ‘archive’ was information of immense value.
China and Russia decided to neatly withdraw from Korea and Japan’s affairs.
Those two could just keep at their business in North Korea and let things unfold as they may.
In the meantime, China and Russia aimed for something far more valuable.
Logically, shouldn’t they seek something better than a dangerous land of no value?
“This is the chance now that America is unable to function.”
Didn’t the Korean President sharply criticize Russia and China’s actions as mere ‘shenanigans to build achievements and credentials as a dictator’?
That statement wasn’t wrong.
Just slightly off.
“If not now, the opportunity will be gone….”
War is economic activity, a massive and primal act to gain profit.
Moreover, war is a catalyst that stirs stagnant order into motion, using chaos as fertilizer to bloom the flower known as opportunity for a grand harvest.
Opportunities arise in chaos.
Russia and China were well aware of this.
Their histories prove it.
Thus, they resolved to act to gain ‘benefits.’
Resources to be utilized from the treasure known as the Gebura Archive.
Opportunities to build achievements and solidify power as a dictator.
Results akin to opium, which can intoxicate the oppressed and frustrated people, and much more.
Countless benefits.
All for the sake of those gains.
—
Korea is referred to as the ‘wasteland of magic.’
However, that expression is indeed inaccurate.
A wasteland signifies a land where not even a blade of grass can grow, and is of no use whatsoever. But since this place has even a little bit of magic remaining, how can one call it a wasteland?
It would be better described as a barren land or a wilderness, but calling it a wasteland would be incorrect.
[Shaman Park Jinseong. Korea and Japan have decided to jointly carry out an operation to exterminate the ghosts of North Korea. I contacted you to ask if you could select a favorable date for the operation or perhaps conduct some divination on its fortune.]
[There are divination materials that the government has kept. Recently, they have been restored…. I would like to provide this to you, Shaman Park Jinseong. It is a ritual used by the Joseon royal family, and I hope you will definitely use it to divine. Oh, and if it’s okay for you to be recorded, I would appreciate it if that process could be aired as well…. Would that be possible?]
Sure.
Korea did have some magic.
The issue lay in the small number and the lack of practitioners, not in its absence.
And now, a person who could use it had emerged.
Park Jinseong.
Korea’s native shaman.
A prodigy so remarkable that even aging shamans were astonished by his achievements, a word “up-and-coming” would be insufficient to describe him!
Considering Korea’s active decision on the North’s extermination, it was only natural for them to seek assistance from Park Jinseong.
And also, there was no reason to refuse a government proposal that offered shamanistic materials for free, along with sweet rewards for contributions, so it was entirely reasonable for Park Jinseong to accept such government requests.
“Dividing the heavens into three forms, this is called the Three Enclosures. The Purple Tenuity Enclosure, where the Purple Tenuity Star reigns as the king, is the palace where the king resides, surrounded by city walls. Around the Purple Tenuity Star are the 28 constellations and the Seven Luminaries guarding them, who could be viewed as ministers below the heavenly king, thus referred to as the Great Tenuity Enclosure.
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Heavens contain the people residing in cities, known as the Heavenly Market Enclosure. Just as public sentiment on the ground is akin to the heavenly heart, one should not neglect the heavenly market enclosure when examining celestial principles, as overlooking even the most seemingly trivial grain of sand is no different from being blind….”
Park Jinseong reflected on the government-provided shamanistic materials, finding them strikingly similar to the shamanism he saw long ago in Shanxi Province, yet distinctly different. If that previous content concerned rituals, then this leans toward observation and preparedness… This aligns more closely with the essence of divination, he thought with a satisfied smile.
Despite still suffering from the side effects of shamanism, that joy overshadowed even the pain, creating the enthralling ecstasy of satisfaction.
Everything was proceeding delightfully well, so how could he not rejoice?
Though he could not obtain the shamanism held by Ashtosh Singh after his death, the shamanistic knowledge he had never accessed or even known before was now falling into his hands, which was a happy occurrence indeed. Other matters, too, would soon become more accessible; that brought him joy as well.
What is gained through learning is bliss. What is understood through realization brings forth joy from within the heart.
Park Jinseong repeated the process of reading and memorizing the shamanism materials, awaiting the time when the cost currently burdening him vanishes, allowing him to conduct astrological readings with a clean body.
The moment he would foresee the fates of warriors embarking on battle, with the camera and countless spectators before him.
Thus, Park Jinseong waits.
Unlike before the return, he waits patiently.
For the day to conduct his Ritual of Magic.