14th Year of King Hye of the U Kingdom, April. The Shang Kingdom attacked the border cities in the east.

Myeonseong, Eastern U Kingdom.

“Hurry up. Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused us?”

Two soldiers dragged a boy bound tightly with ropes through the streets of the marketplace. They seemed impatient, pulling the rope from the front while pushing him from behind.

The boy’s clothes were torn, his hair tangled and dirty. He staggered forward, clearly exhausted. His bare feet, caked in dried mud, pressed into the ground. His blackened toes trembled as he barely managed to support his body.

‘If I hadn’t been starving, they never would’ve caught me. Just one handful of rice, and I could’ve beaten them all and escaped!’

The boy trudged along, his thoughts racing. It had been nearly a month since he fled eastward, hiding in the mountains to avoid being seen.

At night, he snuck into villages, stealing food from kitchens and granaries to survive. But after going three days without eating, his weakened body betrayed him. He was caught stealing and beaten by the villagers before being handed over.

‘They say hunger brings anyone to their knees… Damn it, they were right.’

“Hurry up. We’re almost at the barracks. The garrisons are scrambling to recruit soldiers to fight those Shang bastards. Orders say anyone without identification, like you, gets sent straight to the frontlines. Don’t hold it against us too much.”

One of the soldiers shoved him forward again. He glanced at the boy with an uneasy expression, as if pitying him.

Less than a month had passed since the war with the Shang Kingdom broke out near Myeonseong. The nation, already reeling from recent turmoil, now faced invasion.

The streets of Myeonseong were eerily empty.

Normally, this time of day would see crowds buying and selling food or looking for work. But today, even the marketplace in the city center felt abandoned.

After walking for a while, they came upon a group of men gathered in the middle of the street. The few passersby hurried past, afraid to linger.

The boy spotted soldiers in armor standing guard around a large banner. As they drew closer, he saw the words written on the wooden board beneath it—a recruitment notice for soldiers.

The reason people avoided the area became obvious—they were conscription officers. One of the soldiers escorting the boy spoke up.

“Perfect. They’re here. We won’t even need to go all the way to the barracks.”

The soldiers dragged the boy toward the recruiting party.

“What’s this?”

The officer in charge looked them over. Unlike the others, he wore sturdier armor and carried a sword at his waist. His harsh expression made the two soldiers bow their heads without thinking.

“Sir, we came from Mugugol, outside the city. We caught this boy who’s been hiding in the mountains and stealing grain from villages. We were ordered to bring him in.”

They untied the boy’s ropes as they spoke. The officer’s sharp eyes swept over the boy from head to toe.

“Where are you from?”

The boy, unlike the nervous soldiers, answered calmly, as if he had already resigned himself to his fate.

“I’ve lived in the mountains since I was little.”

“What about your parents?”

“They died last winter.”

“You’re a runaway slave, aren’t you?”

At those words, the boy yanked off his ragged shirt and exposed his upper body.

“See for yourself.”

His body was filthy from weeks without washing, but there were no scars or brands from whips.

More than that, his expression didn’t match that of a slave. He showed no fear—only defiance.

The officer studied him for a moment before speaking.

“Fine. Orders say to send anyone with no place to go to the battlefield. You’ll be given food, clothes, and a place to sleep. Just fight hard, and you’ll survive. It’s better than starving or getting beaten to death as a beggar. Go wait back there.”

‘Better, my ass…! Getting stabbed with a spear or shot with arrows is a thousand times worse than starving. Damn it.’

And just like that, the boy’s fate was sealed.

The soldiers who had brought him bowed to the officer and left without hesitation. The boy, meanwhile, was shoved into a group of a dozen or so ragged men surrounded by spear-wielding soldiers.

A soldier, huh? And I’m supposed to fight the Shang Kingdom I was planning to run to? Damn it… Whatever. At least they’ll feed me. Once I’ve recovered, I’ll escape and head for the Shang Kingdom.

The boy let out a sigh, closing his eyes and firming his resolve.

 

An Era of War.

A time when invasions and retaliatory wars left nations devastated.

With armies running low on men, kingdoms began conscripting civilians by force. The result was catastrophic—farmers and taxpayers were dragged off to war, leaving entire nations weakened and their treasuries empty.

To make up for the losses, they started rounding up vagrants, criminals, debtors, and anyone without identification, sending them to the frontlines. They even allowed slaves to enlist voluntarily, offering freedom in exchange for service.

The slave owners tried to prevent this, but the recruiters went from house to house to ask the slaves if they would volunteer.

The recruiting party, which had secured another military resource, stayed there for a while. Once no more volunteers or captured men appeared, they led the group to the barracks.

*****

The boy marched with the other conscripts, walking endlessly until they finally arrived at the military camp located northeast of Myeonseong.

The first order of business there was to verify the conscripts' identities and register them as soldiers.

“Name.”

The officer’s command came sharp and fast, demanding the boy state his name for the registry and his military tag.

The boy hesitated.

He had already thought about how he would survive in the future during the long walk here. But now, standing at the edge of losing his old identity and living as someone else, he found it hard to speak.

Even more so because he had decided to live under the name of Makjeong—the loyal servant and friend who had sacrificed his life to save him.

—Young Master Yegum, I can’t believe I’m wearing clothes this fine. Today must be the luckiest day of my life…! Haha…

Makjeong’s final moments replayed in his mind. That forced, stiff smile on his face, laced with sorrow and fear. Makjeong shoving him into the cold crevice between rocks and covering him with damp branches.

The boy clenched his fists.

He had always eaten better than Makjeong and trained harder in martial arts. So why was he now lying in the dirt, too weak even to run?

And Makjeong—despite not having had a sip of water in days—where had he found the strength to protect him?

His thoughts spiraled.

His heart pounded as though it might burst, and he still couldn’t believe this nightmare was real.

His father’s death. His brothers’ deaths. The deaths of the loyal warriors and Master Jangjo, who had fought to protect him.

And now, even Makjeong was about to leave him.

Makjeong, who was ready to throw away his life for him.

—Makjeong…

—Young Master! From now on, you can’t make a single sound. And don’t move for at least one full day. No matter how unbearably cold it gets, you must stay hidden tonight. Then head east. Stay in U Kingdom, and you’ll die sooner or later. So head to Shang Kingdom… head there and…

Even Makjeong couldn’t finish his sentence.

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew better than anyone that the boy’s future would be hell.

Branded a traitor, Han Yegum had lost his entire family. Now he was penniless, friendless, and trying to flee to Shang Kingdom alone.

And even if he made it there, how could he survive as a stranger in a foreign land?

But Makjeong’s tearful eyes sparkled with determination as he spoke.

—Meet a nice girl, have kids, and live happily. Or… make sure you get revenge. Got it?

The boy didn’t even nod. He was too stunned, too hollow, to move.

—Thank you for everything. For saving my family… I’m so glad I could repay that kindness. Now, Young Master, I’ll go ahead and join our general. Please… stay safe…!

Makjeong bowed deeply one last time and turned without hesitation.

Still wearing the boy’s fine silk clothes, which he had hurriedly thrown on, Makjeong grabbed a single sword and sprinted toward the enemy’s pursuit.

“Name! Hey, you bastard, I asked for your name!”

The officer’s shout snapped the boy out of his thoughts.

“Makjeong… It’s Makjeong.”

“Makjeong? Mak… jeong…”

Without asking for the meaning, the officer scribbled down the name using characters that matched the pronunciation.

What meaning could a name like his possibly hold?

To the officer, the boy in front of him was nothing more than another nameless face soon to be sent off to die in battle.

The officer handed the freshly written military tag to a soldier, who dipped a thick brush into some kind of heavy ink and carefully painted it onto the tag. It seemed like a coating to prevent the writing from washing away.

“Here. This is your military tag. If you lose it, you’ll be treated as an enemy, so keep it safe. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Next!”

Makjeong took the tag from the soldier.

From this moment on, this tag defined who he was.

He was no longer Han Yegum, youngest son of General Han Jin. He was now Makjeong—a nameless boy with no parents, no home, and nothing to his name.

Han Yegum had died, and Makjeong was born.

Justice and loyalty no longer mattered.

Now, survival came first.

Not dying a meaningless death on the battlefield. Escaping to Shang Kingdom and living no matter what. That was his only goal.

Makjeong’s mind drifted toward Shang Kingdom—the place he needed to go.

Shang Kingdom.

A nation to the east of U Kingdom, locked in endless war with them for generations.

The two nations, similar in size and strength, had fought countless battles but never managed to conquer each other completely.

Whenever one grew weak from internal strife or famine, the other would strike, leading to endless cycles of revenge.

But General Han Jin had dealt Shang Kingdom two crushing defeats.

Since those losses, Shang had not dared attack or provoke U Kingdom again.

Then, Han Jin—the hero of U Kingdom—was framed for treason and executed. His family was slaughtered.

And just a month later, as if waiting for the opportunity, Shang Kingdom launched a large-scale invasion.

‘Damn this cursed country. Let it burn for all I care!’

For the first time, Makjeong felt no fear or anxiety.

He had no loyalty left for a nation that had executed his father and wiped out his family.

Even after barely escaping with his life, he knew he could never live in peace while remaining in U Kingdom.

Even while hiding in the mountains, he’d been plagued by nightmares—soldiers finding him, cutting off his head.

And even if he lived as Makjeong instead of Han Yegum, even if he farmed fields or worked himself to death, he refused to do anything that might help U Kingdom.

He’d rather cross into Shang Kingdom and serve his former enemy than lift a finger for U Kingdom.

Makjeong couldn’t forgive this country.

But whether he farmed in Shang or labored in obscurity, survival came first.

Dreaming of one day rising to power in Shang and avenging his family was just a distant fantasy.

‘Survive first. That’s all that matters!’

Makjeong took his military tag and stepped outside to wait with the other conscripts in the open yard.

The registration process wasn’t finished yet, and more than half the recruits were still waiting their turn.

The chilly April wind swept through the yard, but the conscripts paid it no mind. They sat on the ground, scratching at lice and running their fingers through greasy hair.

Of the nearly one hundred conscripts gathered, fewer than twenty wore proper straw shoes.

To anyone passing by, the group looked less like soldiers and more like a horde of beggars.

As Makjeong scanned the area, his eyes fell on a man sitting nearby.

“Damn it, they could at least give us a meal. I joined because I figured I wouldn’t starve as a soldier… Shit.”

One man, who had taken off his shirt to pick lice, grumbled in a low voice—too quiet for the soldiers to hear.

Everyone probably felt the same way. Not a single one of them had likely eaten two full meals a day before coming here.

Another man, who had rolled his pant legs up to his thighs and was furiously scratching from his calves to his thighs, replied.

“Well, since we’re here, I guess getting stabbed to death is better than starving.”

“Hmph.”

“Heh.”

Scattered chuckles, tinged with self-mockery, rippled through the group.

No one had come here out of loyalty to the country.

Most had either been captured or volunteered out of desperation, simply to avoid starving. A handful might have dreamed of earning merit and rising through the ranks, but those were rare.

As the boy looked around, he saw a few men trying to act nonchalant, but most of them wore hopeless expressions.

‘Will these people even fight properly when they get to the battlefield?’

They looked so defeated that the boy couldn’t help but wonder. He let out a quiet sigh.

‘Sigh… Running away really is my only chance to survive… But what if the Shang soldiers capture me? They’ll probably work me to death, barely feed me, and then kill me when I’m no longer useful. Hmm… In that case, I’ll have to move through the mountains and avoid their patrols as much as possible.’

While the boy was lost in thought, making plans for his escape, the officer returned with several soldiers. It seemed the registration process was finally complete.

“Stand up! Get up!”

At the officer’s shout, the soldiers glared menacingly and forced the conscripts to their feet.

The boy, stomach growling from hunger, struggled to stand but eventually joined the others.

“Listen up! From this moment on, you are soldiers of U Kingdom!”

The officer’s booming voice echoed through the yard, pounding in their ears.

To the conscripts, his voice felt like invisible spears pressing against their throats.

“Tonight, you will eat here and sleep here! Tomorrow morning, we move out of the city! Understood?!”

Some had secretly hoped they might be stationed in Myeonseong rather than sent to the frontlines. But it was clear now—they were headed straight for the brutal, blood-soaked battlefield.

“Desertion will be punished by immediate execution! Disobeying orders will also result in immediate execution! Do not act without permission! Anyone caught talking back to a soldier or causing trouble will be cut down on the spot! Do you understand?!”

“Yes…”

“Louder!”

“Yes, sir!”

Han Yegum, now living as Makjeong, had resigned himself to his new identity.

Yet fate had once again pushed him toward a battlefield where countless lives would be snuffed out.

And so began his first day as Makjeong, a soldier of U Kingdom.