Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 1

Former Warrior is a Mega-Actor – Episode 1 (1/199)

Prologue: The Kidnapped Warrior

* * *

May 12, 2022.

7:13 AM.

In the early morning, soldiers in combat uniforms gathered on the parade ground.

Except for those on duty or on leave, everyone was present.

“Hey, gather around quickly! The battalion commander will be here soon!”

“What about the military band?”

“They’re on standby, sir! They can come up as soon as the ceremony starts!”

Normally, discharge ceremonies aren’t this grand. Especially if the person being discharged is just a soldier.

At most, the remaining unit members gather to give the discharge plaque and certificate, ending with well-wishes for a good life in society.

But today was different.

Because it was the day Sergeant Park Geon was being discharged.

Who is Park Geon?

Arabian Gulf pirate suppression.

Rescuing hijacked merchant ships.

Participating in dozens of overseas operations.

Resolving diplomatic disputes with outstanding performance amidst various sensitive external factors.

He enlisted as a non-commissioned officer but achieved higher results than most officers and is recognized as the one who has greatly enhanced the unit’s honor among his peers.

That’s why today, the company commander and even the battalion commander were scheduled to attend to grace the occasion.

7:22 AM.

An officer glanced at his wristwatch.

Soon, Park Geon and the other discharged soldiers would come forward to receive applause, and today’s event would be over.

The discharge ceremony, which would have been filled with all sorts of courtesies and luxuries, didn’t take long to be thrown into chaos.

The protagonist had disappeared without a trace.

“Hey, where did Park Geon go!”

“I don’t know! I definitely saw him preparing in his combat uniform earlier, but he’s not in the barracks either!”

The personnel sergeant, his face pale, shouted. Captain Kim, who was in charge of the event, gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.

“Can’t you see the battalion commander is waiting! Find him right now! What if the reason for gathering all those people disappears!”

“Yes, sir!”

The personnel sergeants hurriedly ran off. Watching the stars looking at their watches with bored faces, Captain Kim anxiously bit his nails.

“Park Geon, you bastard… what are you doing on your discharge day, a guy who never gave me trouble…!”

* * *

Captain Kim’s hopes were shattered.

Park Geon was not in the unit, nor in the bathroom, nor on any CCTV around the unit.

Two hours later, the unit was turned upside down by the unprecedented situation of a discharged soldier’s disappearance.

Park Geon was found unconscious at the foot of the company’s hill.

He was wearing all his gear, including the uniform, combat boots, and military cap he had worn for the discharge ceremony.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital. After being given an IV drip and treated for about thirty minutes, his closed eyelids finally opened.

“Oh, you coming to?”

The doctor, who was speaking, suddenly felt his vision darken.

What happened? Before he could even recognize it, his consciousness faded, and his body lost strength.

Park Geon, reserve sergeant.

The first thing the awakened discharged soldier did was lift the doctor up to the ceiling with one hand.

“I’m not doing the warrior thing, you bastards.”

Reserve Sergeant Park Geon (1)

* * *

Geon thinks.

Who am I?

Park Geon. Age 26.

Graduated from Yongnam University with a degree in Security Service, former team leader of the Naval Special Warfare Flotilla’s Special Mission Battalion.

Parents are Park Yeol-ho and Han Young-shin. Siblings include a younger brother, Park Seon, who is two years younger.

What was I doing?

It was finally the day of his discharge. He was heading to the auditorium for the discharge ceremony.

He put on his combat uniform, fastened his belt, and pressed down on his discharge cap, checking his appearance in the mirror.

Everything was perfect. He came down the stairs and turned the corner when….

‘That’ appeared.

About 1 meter above the ground. A black hole swirling in the air.

The moment Geon saw the hole, which looked like a black burning fire pit or a distant underwater passage, he was sucked into it.

‘What is this…’

Amidst a blinding flash of light, thousands of voices buzzed and echoed.

Sorry for choosing you… Please don’t break down… In their cycle… The kingdom and the world….

When he came to, Geon was lying naked in the middle of a huge marble hall.

ㅡYou succeeded, Holy Maiden!

A man wearing a vulgar, large golden crown shouted so loudly that the hall seemed to shake. Seeing his chubby cheeks trembling, Geon’s stomach, which had just been queasy, started to churn again.

‘Where is this, who are these people?’

Instinctively cowering, Geon was startled.

Right next to him, a blonde woman, equally naked and wearing only a thin piece of cloth like Hanji paper [traditional Korean paper], was kneeling and gasping for breath.

ㅡWarrior, I’m sorry.

Black eyes met blue eyes.

That was the Iron Kingdom of Eldorn. It was his first memory of meeting the Holy Maiden who summoned the warrior.

*

“…So, what about the Iron Kingdom?”

The doctor asked irritably, but the crazy guy in the combat uniform didn’t answer.

Until just now, he had been rattling on about the Iron Kingdom of Eldorn, the fourth Great Demon’s descent, and some game-like story, but now he was silent.

“Excuse me, Mr. Park Geon.”

“No, I think I just had a dream.”

“Does everyone who wakes up from a dream try to break someone’s neck right away?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll compensate you for the medical expenses if you contact me later.”

The doctor glared at Park Geon, who was bowing his head, and wondered whether to get angrier or not.

He heard that he had slipped and hit his head on the day of his discharge. It was bad enough that he got hurt on this good day, but now he was trying to kill someone else.

‘No, didn’t they push him to death because he was in the special forces? This isn’t PTSD, it’s a delusion.’

Isn’t it a problem that they’re letting such a person out, putting a good professional at risk of being strangled?

He cursed the irresponsible command system in his mind, but there was nothing to gain from nagging further.

In the end, the doctor gestured while stroking his neck, which was turning blue from the handprints.

“Okay, if you feel better, go.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…If you keep doing that after you leave, be sure to visit a psychiatrist.”

Park Geon bowed his head and walked out.

After coughing a few times, the doctor suddenly scratched the back of his head.

“But did he say where this is…?”

*

“Oh, you must have been discharged. Congratulations.”

“Yes.”

“Did you hang out? Or is your home far away? Why are you going in at this hour, when the sun is already setting.”

“Yes.”

The taxi driver hesitated for a moment. Was the young man in the combat uniform in the back seat only capable of saying ‘yes’?

After much deliberation, he threw a curveball.

“Your parents must be happy. Like this, huh? A handsome and reliable son has returned.”

This time, there was a reaction.

The eyes that had been staring blankly out the window moved to look at the rearview mirror.

As if he knew where the driver was looking.

“Returned, you say.”

“Yes?”

“Me? Or who?”

“…Excuse me, sir?”

“Right. I did return.”

The young man nodded slowly and turned his gaze away.

Although his fixed gaze had shifted, the taxi driver decided not to test him any further.

Instead, he turned off the air conditioner and lowered the window.

In a few seconds, goosebumps the size of rice grains had appeared all over his back under his clothes.

He felt like if he spoke to the soldier again, he would pull out a wire and strangle him.

*

Geon acts.

Within the unit, Sergeant Park Geon was known as the Terminator.

This was due to his steely concentration, superhuman dynamic visual acuity, and unparalleled physical abilities.

In fact, he had been deployed on numerous missions, leading his comrades.

In the dark compartments of pirate ships, on the sandy shores searching for kidnapped hostages, on the rooftops of buildings in Syria confronting terrorists.

As was his ingrained habit, he grabbed a weapon, charged in, and pulled the trigger.

Because ingrained memories last a long time, Geon soon found himself in front of his house in Dongjak-gu [district in Seoul].

Dongjak-ro 532-4.

He checked the address, but somehow it felt unfamiliar to go up to the apartment.

It felt like being trapped in a long tunnel… no, like an old man who had returned after living a different life.

‘I’m back, to Earth.’

Was it a dream?

No. Geon shook his head.

It couldn’t have been a dream.

The hellish landscape of screams, the omnipotent feeling of harmony surrounding his body, the bursting flesh of demons, skin, and the blood of those who were not demons.

Later, he learned that he had disappeared for exactly 2 hours and was found at the foot of the mountain next to the company.

During those 2 hours, Geon had fought for as long as 20 years on a continent in another dimension.

ㅡExcuse me, Warrior.

Between the lofty heavens and the burning hell, the ‘Middle-earth’ where humans lived was engulfed in the flames of war due to the onslaught of the five Great Demons.

Geon was summoned to the continent as a warrior summoned by the Holy Maiden of the Iron Kingdom.

A warrior from another dimension commanding the human army. A bio-weapon and a living sacrifice that confronts demons with the power of angels.

ㅡYou were chosen. I’m sorry too… Anyway, to return to your world, you have to kill all five Great Demons. Otherwise, there’s no way to send you back.

A normal person would have resisted that oppressive sentence, but the special forces soldier, accustomed to obeying orders, quickly made a decision.

One, this is reality.

Two, there’s no way to escape anyway.

Then, he had no choice but to fulfill what they wanted.

At the time, he had willingly accepted it, fully displaying his military spirit.

Protecting his country was similar, and if he thought of it as a long-term service due to the outbreak of war, it wasn’t too unfair.

Helping the weak. Overcoming injustice.

That was the supreme task of Park Yeol-ho’s eldest son, Park Geon.

After experiencing his first death, that thought was shattered.

“Ah.”

Geon stared blankly at his reflection in the glass door.

No wonder the house didn’t feel like home; he couldn’t remember the front door password even when he tried to go up.

What number did he live in?

As he frowned, someone called him.

“Oh, hyung [older brother]!”

Turning around, he saw a small young man getting out of a car.

Park Seon. His younger brother. Two years apart.

Fortunately, the twenty-year gap had not damaged the memories between siblings.

While checking the circuits in his head, Park Seon walked over with a happy face and hugged him.

“Where have you been? I heard you were being discharged this morning, did you miss your train ticket?”

Apparently, the unit hadn’t contacted his family.

A special forces soldier who even received an unofficial medal went missing on the morning of his discharge?

Of course, it was something to hide.

“I had some business to take care of on the way.”

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? Mom was so worried, saying why our proud eldest son was so late.”

Geon held up his turned-off cell phone.

“The battery died.”

“…Yeah, it did. Let’s go in for now. Our Lady Han bought a lot of things last night because it’s your discharge day. Braised short ribs and king crab, she must have prepared a feast by now.”

Park Seon, who was excitedly talking, pressed the front door password, and the security was released.

It was when Park Seon was about to open the door and go inside. Geon, who had taken a step closer, grabbed his brother’s arm.

“Were you beaten?”

“Huh? Did I win the lottery?”

Seeing his brother talking nonsense cheerfully, Geon was convinced.

Of course, this body is not the body of a warrior with the blessing of the Holy Maiden, who has trained harmony to the extreme.

However, even if he wasn’t a special forces soldier, he could recognize the torn corners of his mouth.

‘His lower lip is torn. Judging by his movements, he also has bruises on his abdomen.’

But it’s not to the point where he can’t walk, so it can’t be an accident. It’s just about the level of being slapped and having his joints twisted by someone.

ㅡDesertion is subject to immediate execution! Warrior, show your majesty by personally beheading them!

The voice of the 3rd Commander, who was shouting at the top of his lungs while handing him a sword, echoed loudly.

He racked his brains, but he couldn’t remember what his brother was doing.

In the end, Geon just chose to ask.

“Did you become a gangster?”

* * *