Chapter 3: Wernher von Braun (Pak)
It's a funny thing. I never actually graduated from high school in my previous life. I never received my Mittlere Reife, even though I had already graduated college.
When I was 15, I started taking classes at Munich Technical College. I became intrigued by the newest developments in aviation. The concept was as magnificent as it was daunting. Just a century ago, who would have thought that human beings could fly into the stratosphere? The idea of machinery carrying humans ten miles above the Earth was pure science fiction. And the idea of such machines battling each other at this altitude was sacrilege. The sky was supposed to be the sacred realm of god.
But as time passed, beautiful dreams turned into living nightmares. Machines that were once made to carry passengers and hope were converted to carry weapons of war. Bombs fell from the sky. Airplanes fell too. Humanity fell.
It was just too tragic.
I spent most of my day looking over my world history textbook. I've memorized most of it by the end of the day. The war ended in an Allied victory. Germany capitulated on May 8th, 1945. Japan surrendered on September 2nd, 1945, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, tensions developed between the Soviet Union and America. Korea was split in half, the communists gained power in Eastern Europe and China, and most European colonies in Africa and Asia eventually gained independence. My textbook went on to describe the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The events of the 21st century were only mentioned in passing.
For some reason, none of this really surprised me. I hadn't known about the atomic bomb, but people were always looking for quicker ways to kill each other. I was, however, acquainted with Wernher von Braun and his experiments in rocketry. I met him once at a conference at Pennemünde in 1943. We even got to share a few drinks together afterwards. He encouraged me to study National Socialism and to chase me dreams. He seemed to be a friendly and charming fellow, but deep-down, I hated him; I hated his long-range offensive missiles. I hated the idea of strangers killing each other from thousands of miles away. Now, at least according to my textbook, there are tens of thousands of his death devices waiting below the surface, ready for mankind's final day. Humanity has guided missiles and bombs; we have weapons that never fail and never hesitate. We have weapons that never ask and never question. The day when the entire world is destroyed is but a nightmare away. This nightmare became reality because of Wernher von Braun and his lackeys. This nightmare became true because of men like me.
The more I thought about this stuff, the more depressed I felt. Throughout the day, I tried a variety of means to distance myself from the conundrums of philosophy. I tried listening to the teachers, but it was hopeless. Mathematics was a cinch, especially with the new compact hand-held computers known as TI-84s. Those things were so small, and yet they were multitudes more powerful than the best supercomputers during the war. You could draw graphs on them too! If I had one of those things during my time at Messerschmitt, my productivity could have easily improved ten-fold. Germany could have won the war. What impressed me the most, though, were the laptop computers. Like the TI-84 calculators, those things could do complicated mathematical computations in mere seconds. They all had large color screens that could do everything from playing movies to word-processing. It took me a while to figure out how to use those the computers, but their capabilities were unparalleled.
I was less impressed by the developments in chemistry and physics. Newtonian physics was still Newtonian physics. Force still equaled mass times acceleration, and voltage still equaled current times resistance. The ideal gas law was still the ideal gas law, and Le Chatelier's Principle was still Le Chatelier's Principle. The chemistry textbook mentioned that there were some impressive developments in biochemistry, but I cared little for microtubules and the Krebs Cycle.
During Japanese class, though, I was hopelessly lost, as I hadn't used hiragana in years. Maybe it was a blessing since Yurippe told me to not act like a model student. English, on the other hand, was a piece of cake; I was fluent in the language and could recite many of Shakespeare's works from memory. However, the teacher, a limey named Ellen Baker, wasn't too impressed when I handed in essays written in Shakespearean English. I had to endure her slings and arrows of outrageous commentary.
Most of the NPC students were friendly. Some acted as if they've known me for quite a while. Many boys went out and played soccer together during lunch break. They seemed so peaceful and happy, just chatting away about the latest movies, exams and baseball games. There were a few other Koreans in the school as well. They really liked talking about this one "video game" called Starcraft and this genre of music called K-pop. It was pretty catchy stuff, I have to admit, and the girls made me drool. I really wanted to hang out with them after school, but I remembered that I had to go see Yurippe in the principal's office.
The map Takamatsu gave me was pretty clearly marked, but I still had a hard time finding the place. The school was absolutely enormous, and it contained a mind-boggling labyrinth of hallways and corridors more complicated than the mechanics of a Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II. But eventually, after numerous dead ends, I finally reached at the destination.
There was another guy ahead of me though. He wore a uniform similar to the ones Takamatsu and Matsushita wore. I figured that he was also a member of the SSS. In contrast to most of the NPCs, this guy looked somewhat… eccentric. He had disheveled purple hair and equally messy attire. He ran forward and pushed the door open. Without any warning, a huge pendulum hammer dropped from the ceiling and crashed into him. He was sent flying window at the end of the hallway. There was a slowly fading scream, which was followed by a dull thud as his body hit the ground.
"Noda is a moron," Yuri emerged out the door, rubbing her temples in frustration.
"This was his own trap too," I heard Takamatsu's voice from the inside of the room, "I'll remind him to reset it after he recovers."
"This is so stupid." Another girl emerged from the doorway. She wore a seifuku like Yuri's, along with a long black scarf. She looked somewhat strange as well. The weather was not cold enough for scarfs, but it could have been just another fashion statement. I've never really cared for that fancy stuff, anyhow.
The scarf girl was the first to notice me. I saw her face twitch slightly when she saw me. And then, she was gone, fading into a dark blur.
I didn't even have time to think. There was a sudden zipping sound. The next thing I knew, I was pinned to the ground. There was a searing pain in my throat. I tried to call for help, but no sound came out. I looked down. There was a 4-inch shuriken lodged deep in the side of my neck. Dark blood oozed out of the wound. I could feel the blood and saliva pooling at the back of my throat as well. I could barely breathe. I was drowning in my own blood.
The girl with the black scarf was standing over me, with her foot pinning my chest to the ground. She held what seemed like a katana, with the tip pointed straight at my trachea.
"Prepare to die, thy dastardly Joseon spy," she said coldly, "Jeong Mun-Bu shall fail: Hamgyong shall fall." Great. After running into one rifle-toting militia leader and one psychotic student body president, I bump into one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ninja assassins. What were the odds? I guess I was just really bad at staying alive. Or maybe I was just really unlucky. Or maybe it was the fact that I was facing a real ninja from feudal Japan.
The ninja lifted the blade and flung it down at my neck. I struggled, but to no avail. I couldn't do anything. Couldn't move. Couldn't scream. I could only watch as the tip of the katana rapidly approaching my throat.
"Stop!" Yurippe called out. The ninja reacted instantly. The blade seemed to freeze in midair. "He's one of ours."
The ninja girl froze. She slowly stood up and put her sword back into its scabbard. Yurippe approached me. She flinched and grimaced when she saw my wound.
I sat up, trying to ask for help. The blood that pooled in my throat shifted downwards. I started coughing violently. Blood sprayed into the air. The feeling of the jagged teeth of the shuriken grinding into my flesh made me want to vomit. I watched numbly as the blood from my wound flowed down my shirt and pooled on the ground. It looked like a scene from a macabre horror film. I started to feel faint.
"Sorry, Pak. This might hurt a bit," Yurippe approached me, putting her hand on the shuriken, "Fujimaki? Matsushita? Restrain him." That wasn't not a good start. The two grabbed my arms and held down my legs. I didn't struggle this time. I just gave up trying to fight and focused on chocking back the screams of agony.
Yurippe grabbed the shuriken and played around for a few seconds, reigniting the fire in my neck. She tried to tilt the blade, to no avail. More blood sprayed into the air, but she only managed to sink the shuriken deeper.
"What do we do?" a panicky-looking boy asked, "That blade is pretty deep."
"We could just cut off his head," Fujimaki suggested, "He's gonna die anyway. Might as well make it quick."
Yurippe shook her head. "No, Decapitations take too long to heal. Looks like that we'll just have to wing it."
Without warning, Yurippe yanked the shuriken as hard as she could. The disk was dislodged, but it also ripped a long strip of flesh all the way down to my shoulder. A geyser of blood erupted. My body seized at the unexpected trauma. A loud, unending melody of pain filled the hallway. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the horrified expression on Yurippe's blood-covered face.
Jargon Dictionary:
Mittlere Reife
A certificate awarded to students after ten years of schooling in Germany. It's roughly comparable with the American high school diploma or the British GCSE.
Pennemünde
The Pennemünde Army Research Center was a German military testing ground operation ground operating from 1936 to 1945. Located on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom, the facility was widely used to test guided missiles and rockets for the German military. It is most closely associated with the infamous V-2 rocket, the world's first long-range ballistic missile and is widely considered to be the birthplace of modern rocketry and space flight.
Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II
The Tiger II was a heavy tank used by the Germans towards the end of World War II. A successor to the famous Tiger I, it combined thick, sloped armor with a long barreled 88 Kampfwagenkanone 43l/71 gun. The tank was protected by 100 to 180 mm of frontal armor, and its gun was the most powerful anti-tank gun to be put on a tank with a rotatable turret to reach service. The tank's mobility, armor, and armament made it a fearsome opponent. However, the tank suffered a host of reliability problems, which were caused by the complicated and overburdened drivetrain originally designed for a lighter vehicle. The over-engineered tank was also very difficult to manufacture, and fewer than 500 units were produced.
Jeong Mun-Bu (1565 – 1624)
Jeong Mun-bu was a Korean statesman and general known for his achievements during the Imjin War. He passed the civil service examination in 1585 and became an officer of the military training department. In 1561, he was appointed to the position of the Bukpyeongsa of Hamgyong Province (in modern-day North Korea), promoting public education. After the Japanese occupied the province in 1562, Jeong formed the Righteous Army. His army of six thousand men defeated the Japanese soldiers in successive victories, eventually forcing the Japanese to retreat. After the war, he was later falsely accused of abetting Park Heung-gu's revolt and put to death. Today, however, he is honored as a war hero, humanitarian, and patriot.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536/1537 – 1598)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a prominent daimyo and statesman of the Sengoku period. He is known for completing the 16th-century unification of Japan. Born into a peasant family, Hideyoshi enlisted as a foot soldier in Oda Nobunaga's army and distinguished himself in combat. In 1573, he overthrew two powerful daimyos to become the lord of Nagahama. After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Hideyoshi took over his army and set out to conquer the other provinces of Japan. His conquests marked the beginning of the Momoyama period. He successfully formed an alliance with Tokugawa Ieyasu and conquered the provinces of Kii, Shikoku, Etchu, and Kyushu. In 1590, he defeated the Late Hojo clan at the Seige of Odawara, thus eliminating the last resistance to his authority and unifying Japan. During his rule, he launched a number of political and cultural reforms that would shape the Japanese political and cultural landscape for centuries to come. However, his attempts (in 1592 and 1597) to conquer China and Korea were unsuccessful, and the Japanese forces withdrew after his death.
Closing Skits
Pak: Dima! Why did you kill me again? I've died three already. In two days, no less. How many more times will I have to die throughout the story?!
Dima: As many times as I want. What are you going to do about it?
Pak: I can't go on like this. My throat is still hurting from Shiina's shuriken. Can't I at least get a weapon to defend myself?
Dima: Fine. I'll give you a weapon in the next chapter if agree to read me these fan mail letters. (Hands over a few envelops.)
Pak (sighs): Alright. Fine. (Starts to view letters.) A man named C.V. Ford would like to ask why I still wear an eyepatch, even though Yui's paralysis healed in the afterlife. Yeah, Dima. Why do you not give me my eye back? Do you enjoy tormenting me, you little sadist?
Dima: A very good question. If you haven't done so already, I would encourage you to go view my own sketch of Pak. Go search "Ralf Jin Pak" on Google Images. It should be the first result. C V Ford asked whether Ralf will get his eye back, since many "previous life" injuries and disabilities, including Yui's paralysis, are "healed" in the afterlife.
It is my theory that only extremely debilitating injuries are "healed". Minor injuries and disabilities may continue to exist. For instance, Takeyama and Takamatsu still wear glasses, which suggest that their visual problems persist in the afterlife. I reasoned that, for Pak, the loss of his eye was not a life-changing incident. And as a result, he does not get his eye back in the afterlife.
Pak: Not a life-changing incident? How about I rip out one of your eyes, huh? I suppose you'll just write it off as a minor ordeal? Don't you know how much it hurt? To be hit by a…
Dima: No spoilers!
Pak: Oh, right. Fine. But I would still really like to have my eye back though. And a decent weapon.
Dima: And to our reviewers, we would really like to thank you for your support. The reviews and faves have been very encouraging. The private message conversations with other authors have been very rewarding as well. Especially the ones with C V Ford. I might publish those conversation logs in a separate file for your entertainment. They made me laugh so much.
Pak: Please don't. They were so embarrassing. Please do not publish them.
Dima: Nonsense. They were hilarious. In any case, I still have not yet received any requests for new characters. If you would like to add your own OC into the story, please see the instructions in the Prologue chapter.
Pak: Preferably a girl! A hot one. Like the ones I saw in the K-Pop music videos this morning. And have her be my girlfriend. Please! I've never had a girlfriend, and I'm nineteen. Von Braun was always surrounded by ladies. I felt so envious… But anyway, please submit an OC. I would really like a girlfriend. Or maybe even a harem. (Starts drooling).
Dima: I'm also nineteen, Ralf. And I also have no girlfriend. How do you think I feel? I have to spend Valentine's Day in my chemistry lab, working on PCRs and calculous problem sets. I tried making milkshakes last year, but no one came to my yard.
Pak: I feels. But at least you can look forward to the sale on chocolate next week.
Dima: Yeah. I suppose that's true. Please leave a comment and/or add this story to your favorites. Enjoy Valentine's Day!