Chapter 22:

It was the weekend, and Jung hee, who is now 9 years and 8 months old, has no class to worry about at the moment. With his obsession with his system, Jung is indirectly sabotaging his enjoyment of his school by being too advanced. he already finished all the long-term assignments and projects that the school gave their students to make them do something at the weekend. Most kids barely even started with their tasks, but Jung hee is already finished with them. Coincidentally, coach Dongyun in the Gung-ho gym is also planning to visit some relatives in the next province over, so the gym is closed. When Jung offered to clean the place anyway, he got shooed away instead.

His clear schedule allowed him to hang out with his father in his small office outside the town and near the farms. The Guanzi Farm Collective is made up of 289 men and women, all of them farmers and serving the fatherland.

The farmlands, like most lands in North Korea, were owned by the state. There were around 40,000 collective farms and 9,000 state farms created by the government, and the collectives worked about two-thirds of all farmlands.

These agricultural cooperatives are all technically employees of the state, and each one of them is under the direction of party-approved plans and leaders. The co-op was paid in wages that are based, in part, on the success of their harvest.

Jung Hee's dad, Kim Hyu Sil, is the nominal leader of the cooperative based on his experience and the fact that the other peasants trusted him.

Right now, planting season was already done a few months ago, and harvesting is still a month away. So, the cooperative has nothing much to do except maintain their equipment, diligently patrol the crops, and worry about the weather.

Jung arrived early in the afternoon to deliver his father's lunch, and he greeted the farmers near the cooperative building. He knew every one of them since he was a baby. These are his Dad's childhood friends, and they all grew up together.

"Ah! Its young Jung Hee!" An older lady said as jung walked in with a huge bundle.

"Are you bringing food to Hyo again? Give it here. Boss Hyo doesn't appreciate good food anyway," Uncle Dae-Yun said. He is an old farmer of about 50 and has a bad leg. His father said he used to be a real bastard because of his bad leg, and he made the life of his wife a living hell. One day, his wife and children left him in the middle of the night, and he has been all alone ever since. He mellowed down in his older years and sort of accepted everything as his fault for not taking good care of his family back then. Now, he lives in the co-op building, doing odd jobs now and then. Jung learned a lot because of him.

11 months ago or so, Jung received useful skills called “Repair,” and “Disassemble,” because of uncle Dae-yun’s ministration and teaching. Now it is one of Jung hee’s most favorite skills, despite the fact that the skill is a specialist one and needs a lot of points to improve.

"What! You good-for-nothing barely do anything here already! Now you are even stealing the boss' food? Go die already!" Auntie Min-Cha answered back. Mincha is a 46-year-old lady and his father’s dedicated secretary. For years, Jung had to stay in the co-op because his mother also has lots of work, and auntie Min-cha is like Jung’s second mother.

Jung Hee smiled at their banter, but he did not stop. If he did, these guys would really steal his dad's meal.

He found his dad talking to old man Sung at the back of the building near the garage. The weather-beaten man is thin as a scarecrow, but there is still spring in his step despite reaching the age of 70. Jung's dad used to work for him, but old age forced Sung to retire from his position and recommend Jung's dad for his former job. Now, Old Man Sung works as the cooperative's part-time mechanic since he likes tinkering with any form of machine. And the fact that he does it for free. The party officials in the province didnt pay him anything, so as far as they are concerned, he is just an old man staying in the co-op.

Jung is old Sung's sort-of apprentice. When Jung was younger, he asked permission to observe the man tinker with an old tractor inside the garage. By merely watching, Jung suddenly received the "Mechanic" skill just before the age of 8. By continually asking the man about all the things he is doing, which old Sung didn't mind since he considers Jung as a good company, he noticed that the skill is increasing. Not very fast, of course, but an average of 1 skill point every 2-3 months. Uncle Dae-yun taught him how to disable and reassemble things like a wall clock, but it was Old man Sung who made him understand the intricate machine parts inside and how each of them works as a whole.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

By the age of 8 and a half, he is already assisting the old man as an unofficial assistant mechanic. One of the three tractors leased to the cooperative stop working, and they used the old tractor as a source of spare parts. When they revive the broken tractor, Jung received a hefty amount of XP. Now he is the main mechanic of the cooperative, although old man Sung is still the only registered one. The old man simply advised and reminded Jung every now and then while the young kid did most of the heavy lifting. Part of it is because his father was too busy to see what he was doing, while Old Man Sung simply forgot about Jung’s age as he competently became better and better at fixing... well, everything.

He started disassembling and reassembling the entire tractor engine from scratch since the very exercise gave him XP, gradually increasing 3 skills, including his mechanic skills. Jung gave the excuse that he wanted to understand the smaller parts and how each part works in conjunction with the whole. Old man sung absently didn’t mind and was happy to find an avid student.

His father almost blew a gasket when he learned that one day, the younger farmers were using the old truck, and it died on them in the middle of the town. The helpless idiots actually went to Jung hee’s school and asked him to fix the truck for them. In a span of an entire lunch break, Jung bleed off the brake fluid, replace the fan belt and plugged a hole in the radiator with a gum. The truck was purring like brand new when he was done with it. Of course, he got an earful from the teachers when he returned to school with grease on his shirt and face. They reported it to his mother, who then beat his ass with a stick.

As time passed, he mastered the machine so much that it barely gave him any XP anymore. 7 months ago, before winter, Jung used his charm to receive permission to detach the engine and use it as part of a makeshift generator for the cooperative building since blackouts at night still happen a lot in North Korea.

More than a year of unofficially working in the cooperative made him fixed everything from the electric fans, electric sockets, bicycles, rice cooker, heater, and even the old telephone. The three tractors and a single transport truck leased to the cooperative are all at least four decades old now, but they are still in tip-top condition due to Jung Hee's efforts. By the age of nine and eight months, 14 months after receiving the mechanic skill, Jung reached level 9 in that skill and was nearing the threshold.

"Dad, I have your lunch," Jung announced. His dad is buried in paperwork, but he acknowledged him with a wave and absently told Jung to leave it somewhere on his desk. He and old man sung were discussing how to best use the leftover fertilizer they were not able to use during the planting season.

"Maybe... Maybe Dong Sun's own cooperative can buy it from us at a discount, or we can exchange it for the service of their transport truck during harvest?" His Dad suggested.

Old Song shook his head. "Our maize and their tobacco plants are too close in harvesting time for that old goat to risk letting his beat-up truck away from him. Just sell it for a straight-up profit. Make sure you mention that Daekma from the Sungbin province is also interested in the fertilizer. That will make Dong-Sun less stubborn than usual."

"Father, eat" Jung hee admonished. "Mother said I would make sure I saw you eating before I left you alone."

His father sighed and turned to his work table, where the meager bounty was spread out for him.

Jung Hee turned to the old man. "What about you, uncle? Please sit down as well. Mother made enough for 3 people."

"Ah, don't worry about me; I've already eaten."

"What? The apple?" His dad asked incredulously. "Sit down and join me. That harpy will give me another tongue-lashing if I don't finish all of this!"

With a reluctant smile, the old man sat down. Jung tried to be as helpful by offering them water in a nearby container. They talk shop a little bit more, but then their attention is caught by the nearby radio and they both went silently. Curious, Jung listened as well.

"At midnight, March 2, 2003, the zionist forces led by the United States of America, attack the peace-loving nation of Iraq, despite the protests of the United Nations," announced the state media. "Massive air raids have been reported, bringing with it the untold casualties on both sides, and there is no indication that the raid will stop anytime soon." The female voice showed no emotion as she reported the news as she was trained to. According to his teacher, they do this so that the news stories that they are reporting are supposedly untainted by bias and opinion.

Jung notices the concern on both adults' faces. Jung Hee initially assumed that they knew someone in Iraq, but it soon dawned on him that they fear that the fatherland will be attacked next after Iraq. Jung Hee expresses his concern about the sudden silence in the room.

"Surely, the Americans will not..."

"Invade us?" Old man Sung smiled at him. "It depends on whether they believe the great leader's words or not," he said. Both men used to be soldiers in the army.

Jung Hee frowned at him. "Believed the great leader?" Jung asked. "Why would anyone not believe the great leader?"

His father sighed. “According to the news, the Americans are invading Iraq because they are close to having their own weapon of mass destruction. Mr. Saddam is denying it, especially now. But our great leader is claiming for years that we have the weapon of mass destruction and we are prepared to use it. So, why do you think they can attack Iraq, but they never gave any impression that they plan to attack us?”

“Well, that is easy,” Jung said, full of pride. “That is because our great leader is a great strategist and a cunning tactician. They wouldn’t dare fight him!”

Jung Hee is a product of his own society, and as such, he followed the teachings of his parents and elders that had been given to him as part of the community he lived in. As a result, this also became one of his core beliefs and values. Jung is devoted to the great leader.

Like many North Koreans, Jung Hee is filled with deep filial love when he thought about the great leader. For more than sixty years, he, as well as his father before him, have battled with the world and survived. The great leader had outwitted and outfought US presidents, the EU, and the UN combined. He may have been spat on, declared a madman by so-called experts, and reviled abroad, but his family had kept Jung's family safe and strong, and more importantly, free from the yoke of foreign invaders.

Visibly distraught, his dad and old man Sung, change the subject with difficulty, but they were able to do so. The topic of conversation became the lowering prices of maize, and maybe it is time for the cooperative to change what they plant next season to wheat or cotton.

But Jung could not forget about the worry on their faces as he walked back home alone. He nodded to himself. Maybe the system given to him was made just for this reason. He must grow strong in order to protect his loved ones, and to protect his loved ones, he needs to strengthen himself as well as his nation so no one will threaten its existence once again.

He did not know it then, but his resolve to protect the fatherland solidified within him that day and changed the path of a nation forever.