Black Corporation: Joseon

Working together with Won, Man-bok literally had his fortune in work overflow.

“They named me Man-bok (滿腹, full stomach) hoping I wouldn’t starve, but instead of food fortune, my work fortune exploded… Already have so much work… sigh”

Man-bok sighed while lamenting his situation.

While forming a connection with the Crown Prince’s son was good, he had no rest as Won would chase after him with questions whenever possible. Initially, many craftsmen answered Won’s questions, but somehow Man-bok ended up becoming the dedicated tutor.

“Why just me…”

“You know Area 51’s overall work best. Put up with it a bit.”

“Wouldn’t it look better if you, who has the smallest age gap with His Highness, stepped up?”

This was how Man-bok became Won’s dedicated tutor.

And now, Won had dropped a bomb on Man-bok.

***

“Uh… er… um…”

Standing like a roadside statue in a daze, Man-bok barely gathered his wits and stammered a question to Won.

“Uh… so… that… did you say you’ll fly in the sky?”

“That’s right!”

At Won’s confident answer, Man-bok asked another question.

“Then how do you plan to fly in the sky?”

“That’s what we’ll figure out together from now!”

“Shi-“

Desperately swallowing back the curse that tried to escape, Man-bok pointed out reality.

“As far as I know, no one has ever put the idea of human flight into practice. As the elders say, we would be taking an ‘untrodden path.'”

“Isn’t that even better! A great man harboring lofty ambitions should sometimes walk such untrodden paths! Work ends soon, so we’ll start right away – get ready!”

After finishing his words like a downpour, Won turned and left excitedly. Man-bok watched his retreating back and sighed while looking at the sky.

“Whew~. Damn it! The sky, of all things!”

Glaring at the sky with eyes that could devour it, Man-bok soon made a decision.

“I can’t die alone! Right! That’s what master did too!”

That evening, Man-bok proposed his opinion to Won.

“Your Highness, I’ve been thinking…”

“If you’re suggesting we do something else, I won’t listen.”

“No, as I mentioned earlier, flying in the sky means walking an untrodden path. It’s too much for just Your Highness and this humble one.”

At Man-bok’s point, Won nodded with a serious expression.

“That’s true.”

As Won agreed, Man-bok got to his main point.

“Therefore, we should gather people. First register it in the Challenge Records, then gather those who will contemplate and experiment together.”

After briefly calculating upon hearing Man-bok’s suggestion, Won soon nodded.

“That would be better. They say ‘even a piece of paper is lighter when lifted together.'”

Agreeing with Man-bok’s words, Won spread out paper.

“First we should write up a proposal. We can’t just register in the Challenge Records as we please.”

“That’s right. That’s right.”

At Won’s words, Man-bok kept nodding while internally rejoicing.

Yes! If this goes well, we might be able to shut this down completely!

However, Man-bok’s expectations were beautifully off the mark.

His mistake was forgetting about Hyang’s existence.

***

Jeong In-ji and Lee Chun’s reactions upon receiving Won’s proposal were as Man-bok expected.

“Would this be possible?”

“Well…”

Both shook their heads simultaneously. However, they couldn’t simply reject it. The one proposing was the Crown Prince’s son, their highest authority.

“We’ll need His Highness’s judgment on this.”

“His Highness…”

Though Lee Chun, who knew Hyang’s eccentricities well, showed a negative reaction, Jeong In-ji continued with a resigned expression.

“What can we do?”

Though it was a short phrase compressing multiple meanings, Lee Chun immediately understood and nodded weakly.

“That’s the biggest problem. Hah~.”

***

After carefully examining Won’s proposal, Hyang looked at Jeong In-ji and Lee Chun.

“Let’s register it in the Challenge Records. Grade it as Moving Mountains, high level.”

“Even if it’s Moving Mountains grade, is human flight possible?”

“Didn’t people initially think carriages moving without horses or oxen were impossible too?”

Struck speechless by Hyang’s counter-question, the two bowed their heads and withdrew.

The next morning, a new notice appeared on the Research Institute and Area 51 bulletin boards.

“New Challenge Records registration?”

“A new registration? How long has it been?”

At the news of a new item registered in the Challenge Records, researchers and craftsmen crowded around the bulletin board.

The researchers and craftsmen gathered before the board with curious eyes couldn’t hide their surprise upon confirming the contents.

“Flying in the sky?”

“Humans flying? Is it possible? Who proposed this?”

After confirming who conceived it, the researchers and craftsmen soon nodded.

“Well, that figures…”

They immediately understood, thinking of Hyang and Jinpyeong.

“They say you can’t steal good breeding…”

After understanding this far, the researchers and craftsmen soon entered into serious contemplation. They all pondered the same thing:

Looks interesting, should I join in?

The researchers and craftsmen had already become addicted to Hyang.

***

Before long, researchers and craftsmen began gathering one by one in front of Won’s office.

Interestingly, among those gathered were two monks and even a Muslim.

When it seemed everyone had mostly gathered, a court eunuch came out and arranged a meeting room.

“Thank you all for responding!”

Entering the meeting room, Won sincerely welcomed the volunteers.

After welcoming them, Won sat down and immediately got to the main point.

“‘Humans flying in the sky.’ What do you think we should do first to make this plan successful?”

At Won’s question, those gathered in the meeting room all began contemplating what to take as the starting point.

When no opinions came forth after quite some time, Won spoke up.

“Might the thought that human flight is impossible come from someone trying and failing in the past?”

The volunteers all nodded at Won’s observation.

There must have been eccentrics like His Highness the Crown Prince in the past too!

As the volunteers agreed, Won soon moved on.

“Then let’s start by gathering and examining related tales and myths.”

“Yes.”

***

Thus, Won and the volunteers began analyzing the gathered tales and myths.

“Remove ascension to heaven, and likewise remove stories of becoming a sage and flying to heaven.”

“Yes.”

“Next, remove riding cranes to fly, riding clouds to fly, and riding winged horses to fly.”

Won and the volunteers filtered out everything they could from Eastern and Western myths, tales, and legends.

After filtering everything out, what remained as most plausible was the ‘Myth of Icarus’.

“Though it’s a myth like the others, the manufacturing process and limitations all seem plausible, don’t they?”

“That’s true.”

The volunteers all nodded at Won’s assessment.

“Then let’s draft a plan based on this myth. How about calling it ‘Project Icarus’?”

At Won’s suggestion, one of the monks stepped forward in opposition.

“Icarus ultimately fell to his death. I think Daedalus, who crafted the wings and succeeded in flight, would be more fitting.”

“You’re right. Thank you.”

Thus, ‘Project Daedalus’ got on track.

After receiving the plan detailing the flying device’s structure, materials, manufacturing process, and test schedule, Hyang carefully reviewed it and approved it with several added conditions.

-Initial test jumping height must be within 1 chang (about 3m).

-When increasing height, safety devices must be installed on the ground.

“This isn’t something that ends with a back smashing or a cast if it goes wrong – it’s life or death!”

Once Hyang’s approval came down, Won and the volunteers moved busily.

Well-flying pheasants were captured and dissected, and the design room buzzed with busy calculations using counting rods and abacuses. When the design was somewhat complete, chickens in Hanseong’s farms were completely plucked.

As Project Daedalus’s results gradually took shape, Hanseong’s prominent figures began showing interest.

However, Hyang had no leisure to pay attention.

Because Ouchi had finally entered Kyoto.

***

After achieving a great victory in the battle known as the ‘Battle of Ikuta Shrine’ in Japanese history, Ouchi immediately pressed forward to advance on Kyoto.

“Stop them! If we can’t stop them, it’s over!”

The shogunate’s clans desperately resisted to stop Ouchi’s advance. However, unable to replenish their greatly diminished forces, they were helplessly pushed back.

As the shogunate’s defeat became apparent, domain lords began switching sides to Ouchi one by one.

“We had no choice under their pressure!”

“We didn’t want to collude with them!”

The domain lords who switched to Ouchi uniformly made excuses that it wasn’t what they wanted, and Ouchi’s head Mochiyoshi soothed them with a kindly face.

“Is that so? I understand, I understand. It’s all the fault of those treacherous shogunate officials, isn’t it?”

After thus soothing and sending back the converted domain lords, Mochiyoshi looked at his retainers with a cold face.

“Prepare to settle accounts as soon as the pacification of the realm is complete.”

“Ha!”

***

With defeat in the Battle of Naniwa (Osaka’s old name), the shogunate forces completely collapsed, and Ouchi’s army finally entered Kyoto.

“Execute the treacherous officials!”

“Uwaaa!”

Under the pretext of ‘executing treacherous officials,’ Ouchi’s soldiers swarmed the mansions of the Muromachi shogunate’s core families.

Many lost their lives at the hands of these swarming soldiers, and looting followed.

And as the allied domain troops who entered afterward also joined in the killing and looting, flames began rising here and there throughout Kyoto.

Watching the scene from horseback, Mochiyoshi ordered his subordinates.

“Secure as much available treasure as possible, and make sure to burn what needs burning. That will make moving the capital easier.”

“Ha!”

Mochiyoshi was implementing the ‘capital relocation’ proposed by the civilian faction.

***

Upon receiving reports that Kyoto was firmly under control, Mochiyoshi rode toward Heian Palace.

“Now then, shall we meet the Emperor?”

***

Receiving reports that ‘Ouchi has entered Kyoto,’ Hyang immediately discussed future matters with his ministers.

“Should we consider the Ouchi clan to have seized power now?”

“Yes, Your Highness. However, we’ll have to wait and see about their control over all of Japan.”

At Heo Hu’s answer, Hyang immediately followed up with a question.

“All of Japan… Will it work well?”

To Hyang’s question, Hwang Hui stepped forward to answer.

“For now, it seems possible as the Ouchi clan’s military power is strong. However, I see long-term rule as fifty-fifty.”

“Why?”

“Because their base with everything the Ouchi clan has is far from Kyoto. It’s like how branches farthest from the roots wither most easily.”

Hyang nodded at Hwang Hui’s observation.