Mu Ssang slowly closed his eyes.

  “On the other side of the world is a land 300 times larger than Korea called Africa. There are plains and jungles to the south, and the vast Sahara Desert to the north, empty and stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. To the west of this vast and majestic desert is the Ennedi Plateau, a breathtaking land full of mystery. To the north-east, there’s a land where milk and honey flow called Novatopia. Utopia manifested in the spot where the universe’s brightest star fell, and that is Novatopia. It is a land where the sunrise marks the beginning of the day, and the setting sun paints the skies sadly in orange hues.”


  He continued, “When Hypnos’ curtain falls, the stars stretch from horizon to horizon like a feast, and the meteor showers reveal the mystery of the Creator. If the camel’s bells continuously ring, that is Novatopia. It is a place where the heartbroken and tired caravan sleeps in the sandstorm, and only the strongest and macho men are accepted.”


  “A desolate rocky desert, a mysterious sandy desert, a place where the fight for survival is intense, a place where 18 wonderful and beautiful lakes interconnect, a place where groundwater shoot up to wet the land, a place where you can get as much land as you want, a place of freedom that rewards one as much as they have worked, and a place where there’s no better or worse. Novatopia is where you’ll be going, Sang Chul hyung.”


  The fact that the hot sun left one with blisters on their skin within 30 minutes, sand dug into every hole of the body, flies dropped their eggs on wounds like a bomber, the plateau left no corpses behind for people to find with one wrong step, and death followed after one was bitten by a horned salmusa or yellow scorpion were excluded from the explanation. Mu Ssang concluded his long explanation and glanced at the crowd to see their reactions.

  “Hmmm…”


  “Hoooo…”


  “Ahhh…”


  There were various explosive reactions. Of course, there were. His words carried interference wavelengths that evoked their sympathetic responses. Different kinds of exclamations poured out.

  Both men and women who were under Mu Ssang’s evil hypnosis looked dazed. That was obviously Utopia even though they hadn’t actually seen it. The negative descriptions such as desolate lands, better treatment for strong men, and the intense fight for survival were all lost on them. Their knowledge of Canaan, a land where milk and honey flowed, was also forgotten.

  “Mu Ssang, thank you, really, thank you. Just you wait, Novatopia, Kim Sang Chul is coming for you!”


  Sang Chul jumped to his feet and started dancing the mambo and twist. Mu Ssang smiled. Sang Chul was well-known for his loyalty since his youth. He used to secretly give him some of his family’s rice. Sang Chul had also kept his promise, which was to take good care of his father’s grave in agreement that his rent was being paid off. He even injured his body trying to protect it. If it hadn’t been for Sang Chul, his father’s remains would have sunk to the bottom of the Nakdong River.

  Sang Chul was the macho type who only sought loyalty from others, which made him a terrible businessman. He could be an onsite division manager, at most. His actual work would require him to gather heavy machinery and people. He could head over to Novatopia’s construction site and be instructed by Professor Shernion. If he provided him with a separate business specialist on top of that, it would be like swimming on land.

  A position in Wakil Commerce Company was promised in return for protecting his father’s remains. Sang Chul only had to sit on the wheeled chair. Sitting on a wheeled chair on such a rough land wouldn’t be easy, so retaining that position depended on him.

  Mu Ssang didn’t hesitate when starting something. He took out a checkbook and signed a check for 50,000 francs. He also wrote an introductory note before handing both items over to Sang Chul.

  “Hyung, you head straight up to Seoul and go to the French Embassy. If you show them my note at the entrance, they’ll help you. The check is seed money. It’ll convert to around 1,400,000 won. I’m lending this to you, hyung, so you need to take good care of it and start working immediately once you get an office.”


  “Wow! This is like roasting beans over goblin fire. I must be mad.”


  Sang Chul used to run around with a monkey wrench and spanner in hand at a textile company. Now that the ground was laid, he grew scared, and his face turned yellow.

  “Why’s a man so timid? Someone went abroad with a picture of a non-existent Joseon shipyard site and returned with an order for a Joseon oil tanker.”


  “Sang Chul oppa, you should buy him a meal. If you’re good to our oppa, luck just pours down from the sky.” Gye Soon glared at him with envy in her eyes.

  “Hehehe, yes. Why can’t a man do so? Men are about loyalty, you get it? Loyalty. Ssang, I’m a man of loyalty. I’ll earn a lot of money and spend it on good things.”


  “Sang Chul oppa, don’t be immature. Unni had a difficult time fixing the stroller’s wheels because they fell off the last time. Buy her a baby stroller instead,” Ou Soon intervened and scolded.

  “Haha, ye…yeah. I need to buy a stroller. Still, this is start-up money.”


  Sang Chul laughed off his embarrassment and carefully placed the check and introductory note in his inner pocket. It had been a month since his bank account ran out of money. His hand was about to pop out of his throat when the savior arrived. He grabbed the rope from heaven tightly.

  “But oppa, how much water do you need to turn that vast desert into Utopia? Is there a lot of groundwater?”


  “There is water in the desert, it’s just hidden. There’s a large water vein hidden deep underground called an aquifer, and it’s 10 times larger than the Nakdong River. Like oil fields, there are also places where the amount of water collected is 10,000 times more than the water in Andong Lake. A project to obtain groundwater to build forests, plains, and farms is already in the process. The day isn’t far until a large oasis called Novatopia emerges in the middle of the desert. The world will be surprised.”


  “Wow!”


  The five siblings were completely immersed in Mu Ssang’s story. They had never dreamed of a world that was on an entirely different scale.

  “Oppa, who is this person doing such a great job? I want to meet him.”


  “What are you going to do when you meet him? Ou Soon, I don’t think you’re going to like him very much.”


  “Why?” Ou Soon’s eyes widened.

  “Because he eats like a pig.”


  “What about that? I like oppa, who eats much more than a pig. Hehehe!”


  “That person’s really busy. He travels around the world for his business.”


  “Tsk, I wanted to ask for a job too.”


  Jin Soon’s brows arched at Ou Soon’s complaint about looking for a job, which came sooner than expected.

  “What job are you talking about, you small rat? What about school?”


  “Big sis, you also got a job at a department store instead of going to high school.”


  “What? You brat, you don’t know how comfortable your life is right now, do you? Your big sister went to work in tears trying to earn enough to let you all study, and you want to do what?”


  Ha Dong Daek grabbed the broom, shouting.

  “Ou Soon, you’re only saying that because you want to buy makeup, right?”


  Mal Soon glared at Ou Soon with piercing eyes.

  “N…no,” Ou Soon stuttered at the truth.

  Mal Soon leaped to her feet, grabbed Ou Soon’s ear, and dragged her outside.

  Ha! It seems like her dark past is still being mentioned.

  The comedic sight of the sisters made him laugh. Jin Soon started working at the department store at the age of 17 because of him. Without anyone’s knowledge, she had given up her education and headed to Daegu to take care of her oppa. It was debatable as to whether she was confident or passionate.

  “Oppa, I’m curious too. What kind of person is Novatopia’s owner, no, king who’s doing such a great job?” Yeon Soon, who rarely spoke, asked.

  “He’s the great Mahdi, apostle, and leader, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa,” Samedi said solemnly as he lowered his spoon.

  “Ddu-bai-buru-pa, the same person that the goblin, no, Samedi mentioned? That Ddu-bai-buru-pa?”


  Sang Chul stared at Mu Ssang. Despite being clumsy most of the time, he had a good sense when it came to business-related matters.

  “No one knows his identity. He has too much money that even international terrorists are after him. That person will never reveal his identity. Samedi mentioned him by accident, so he’s probably going to get in a lot of trouble.”


  Sang Chul nodded, and Samedi’s dark face magically grew pale.

  “What do you do in Novatopia, oppa?”


  “I’m the leader of the secret guards attending to Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. I’m going to repeat myself, but Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa can never be disclosed to the public because he has many enemies. You guys can’t mention his name either, okay? Oppa will be in trouble.”


  He said that intentionally for Samedi to hear. As though attached to springs, the five sisters and Sang Chul nodded their heads at his offhand explanation.

  Jin Soon smiled. She’d been with her oppa since they were little, swimming naked in Nakdong River. He could fool a ghost but not her. There were many great people in the world, but who else other than her oppa would come up with such an absurd situation?

  “He must be a really great person. How big is this land if it’s Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do combined?” Jin Soon asked, feigning ignorance.

  “It’s not that big. It only seems big because Korea’s small. Try looking us up on the world map. You’ll realize how small our country is,” Mu Ssang said, smiling.

  It was true. Wandering around the continents of Africa would make them realize how small Korea was. Korea was as small as his palm in which if he sprinted, he could complete the entire distance in five or six hours.

  “Even a desert can be developed, so why is our country still behind?”


  “It’s because the small country is divided into the North and the South, and the southern side is divided into Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do because of their conflict, which prevented anyone from doing anything properly. There are too many pathetic people, that’s why.”


  “Why is that the citizen’s fault? It’s the fault of those horrible politicians and the military government.”


  “The citizens are the ones who elected those pathetic politicians.”


  “No, the biased media and pro-Japanese are at fault.”


  Jin Soon and Yeon Soon, who were knowledgeable enough, picked up on an old debate. Their conversation moved to the topic of the government’s treatment toward the descendants of the Korean Independence Movement.

  “I heard our friends in the Soviet Union are having a hard time.”


  “Do we have the peace of mind to take care of them? Thousands in the country are jobless too.”


  “I want to go live in this country called Novatopia,” Gye Soon jumped in.

  “You’re going to surprise a ghost to death. Do you know how many scary animals and insects there are in Africa?”


  Mu Ssang shook his head from side to side. There was a saying that a plate would shatter when more than three women gathered.

  “Oppa, can people from our country move to Novatopia?”


  “Why not? Novatopia will accept people who have nowhere else to go.”


  Koreans, Goryeo people, or Joseon people—there was no discrimination. Strangers were welcomed, so there was no reason for him not to welcome people of the same ethnicity. Despite their unending curiosity for that unfamiliar land, they concluded that their own country, Korea, was still the best.

  Hwaseong Gungpyeong Port,

  It was near midnight. The darkness, which was as black as ink, pressed down on the port. Sodium security lamps hanging around the entrance elongated the shadow of the seafood market. There wasn’t a single person at the port. Although the night curfew was lifted in early 1982, control over the Gungpyeong Port, located on an island in the West Sea, was not completely lifted.

  Two other shadows appeared in the seafood market’s shadow.

  “F***, there’s no wind, and the fog’s still thick.”


  A short man wearing a red duck-down parka complained to another man wearing a leather jacket and red scarf.

  “It’s good to work when the fog’s thick. Our boss really knows how to pick good days,” the man wearing the leather jacket murmured.

  The one in the duck-down parka was Nam Myung Soo, who took charge of actions, and the one in the leather jacket was Lee Dae Gil, who took charge of rumors. The two were members of Tefal, an illegal ship route faction in the West Sea. They had earned the name “Tefal” after illegally smuggling large quantities of Tefal frying pans from Japan. Food didn’t stick much to the Tefal aluminum frying pans coated with Teflon. They were popular among housewives.

  The Tefal faction, who used to work around Busan’s Dadaepo and Gamjeon port, encountered their archenemy—the military government. Due to the momentum of eradicating social evils, even the police, who used to support them, turned their backs on them. Finding it unbearable, the Tefal faction gave up illegal smuggling and resorted to organizing smuggling ship routes. Their illegal smuggling routes influenced the planning of the ship routes.

  They were having fun when some strange guys with yakuza funds suddenly forced their way into the region. The Tefal faction, who had been defeated in a single fight, gave up on Busan and moved to the Yellow Sea[1].

  “Dae Gil, if you make a mistake, you’re not the only one who’s going to die. You sure you told Captain Kim about the meeting point?”


  “Gosh, I did. You’re going to talk my ears off. The more hardships there are, the more we need to provide good services to solidify our position, yes?”


  “F***, there are so many flies. They said they’re going to send out a small patrol boat too.”


  “In this time and age, are there easier jobs apart from this?”


  “What kind of person is this guest of ours?”


  “It’s not like you brought him in, so what’s the point of knowing? I only received orders from Moray, so I don’t know either. Apparently, he got a gold bar in advance.”


  “Wow, whoever he is, he must have done something great somewhere.”


  “It’s not our concern whether he uses a light pole as a toothpick.”


  Lee Dae Gil checked his wristwatch.

  “F***, there’s still one hour left until the next tide. Time used to fly when I was on that b****, Choon Shim, and now, it’s passing by slowly.”


  “B*stard, isn’t it good now that the curfew has been partially lifted? If it was like the past, we would be squatting in the sand and breathing in the sea breeze.”


  “That’s true. That’s one thing Jeon Du Hwan did well.”


  “F*** well, he’s putting on a show to earn the public’s trust. Wait, shh!”


  Nam Myung Soo grabbed Lee Dae Gil’s sleeve and hid in the storage building’s shadow. A young man with a slim frame appeared around the corner. The man wore a Ray-Ban in the dark. The Ray-Ban man’s lantern flickered twice.

  “Dong Pal!”


  Nam Myung Soo came out of the shadow. Ray-Ban was Go Dong Pal, who worked in the same action division as he did.

  [1] Also known as the West Sea.