SONG OF THE BANDITS
IN 1905, THE KOREAN EMPIRE SIGNED A FORCED TREATY WITH JAPAN.
KOREANS FORMED RIGHTEOUS ARMIES.
JAPAN'S MILITIA ANNIHILATION CAMPAIGN DROVE SOLDIERS TO MANCHURIA AND YEONHAEJU.
From now on, you all must obey and follow the Japanese Empire!
GYEONGSEONG, OCTOBER 1915
Trust in the Government-General of Joseon and the Oriental Development Company!
Extra!
Under the principle of equality, you must report and declare your land!
And rightfully enjoy your rights as landowners.
Move, please! Move!
You will all become rich!
Mister!
It's here.
I think they're here.
The person you're looking for.
TAEPYEONG-DONG, 18-JEONG, 30-RI MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE, NORTH GANDO
Die!
Lieutenant Lee.
Major Miura is waiting for you. You should get ready, sir.
This is an important occasion for you,
and I've been ordered to make sure you attend.
Oh, you are required to wear your uniform.
The man I want to introduce to you today,
as some of you may already know,
used to be my slave.
Without the help of the great Empire of Japan,
he would have remained a nameless slave for the rest of his life.
And he would not have become my dearest friend,
my fellow comrade, and brother.
He's a war hero who annihilated the Russian artillery unit at Sapyeong
and a true patriot who suppressed
the rioting mob during the Militia Annihilation Campaign.
Please welcome him with a big round of applause.
Second Lieutenant Lee Yoon.
Did you say, "Don't do it again"?
I had gone to so much trouble to arrange that event,
and you were getting yourself plastered?
It's been six whole years.
For six years, I waited for you.
I never said I wanted to go back to the army.
How can you say that to me?
I'm leaving tomorrow.
There's someone I have to meet.
I might not be able to come back.
What are you on about?
What do you mean, you might not come back?
Am I a joke to you?
Am I? Because I freed you and let you be my friend on top of that?
Watch yourself.
I used to be your master.
If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here right now, you idiot!
I was the one who burned your slave register in 1894.
I made you into a soldier,
dubbed you a war hero, and helped you build all the connections, you clown!
The youngest Joseon-born major in the Japanese Army, Shohei Miura.
Who do you think got you that title?
I did more than enough.
So let me go now.
What? Let you go?
Wait, is this…
is this about that incident?
Gurye, six years ago?
We were following orders back then.
I told you, again and again, there was nothing I could do!
Damn it.
I should've killed you that day, you bastard.
Why are you so loud?
I can't hear myself talk!
This won't do.
Get up for a moment. Do you have a gun?
Hey. Hold this. Hold it and stand there, all right?
So I can blow your damn head off this time.
Either you kill me and go, or you snuff it here.
Let's decide once and for all. Okay?
What's wrong?
Are you scared that I'll shoot you again?
If you're scared, don't go.
Just stick close to my side, damn it!
Things are very different now.
Back then, I had no reason to live.
But I do now.
Do we really have to decide our fates here and now?
Firsty, you little bastard.
We would not be here if you had killed me then.
It is much overdue…
but I, Firsty, thank you for freeing me, Master.
Hey, Lee Yoon. Stop right there.
Lee Yoon!
Major, you must not!
Let go! Let go of me!
Lee Yoon! Hey!
GYEONGSEONG
WONSAN
CHŎNGJIN
HOERYŎNG, MYEONGJEONG
Yoon!
You've grown so much, kiddo!
Look at you, Seon-bok. Money sure is a good thing.
Oh, well, money's the only way a slave girl can get some respect.
So, are you getting respect?
Sure!
But I must've been too hard on them. They all call me a bitch now.
The slave girl's a bitch now, bitch!
Well, you must be tired.
Get in.
Gosh, you came up here so quickly.
Wait, have you been
waiting for my letter for the past six years?
You must have gone through a lot to find the person. Thank you.
Oh, it wasn't hard at all. No need to thank me.
But did Master let you leave without a fuss?
I threatened him.
-I said I'd kill him if he stopped me. -You should have just killed him off.
Do you remember how he beat me up?
How could he beat me up for not heating up the room?
That bastard was one rude boy.
My lower back hurts to this day.
I may have made a ton of money,
but my body still remembers poverty.
Damn.
Those pricks got caught again, for heaven's sake.
Why bother fighting for independence if you're just gonna get killed like that?
Did the Japanese do that?
I wouldn't know if the Japanese or the mounted bandits did that.
Why would mounted bandits kill them?
To make money.
Here, the independence fighters aren't humans. They're money.
Don't consider Gando the same as Gyeongseong.
Whether we like it or not, Japan took over Gyeongseong.
But here, even though everyone's drooling buckets over it,
no one has actually taken over.
There is no clear master.
Chinese land, Japanese money, and Joseon's people.
Which one do you think will take over this place?
What is it?
Yoon. Here.
Have it on at all times. Sandstorms here are no joke.
It has died down. Let's go.
Is that the village?
Yeah.
That's Myeongjeong. The best city in North Gando.
Awesome, huh?
MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE
We'll have two noodles here.
Have a seat. The noodles here are amazing.
I don't see many Joseon shops here.
No one has the money to open one.
I'm the richest Joseon-born around here.
Did you make money with that?
Gosh. No, that barely makes me money.
I sell guns these days.
A lot of battles break out nearby.
Let's say an independence army tore a Japanese troop to shreds.
They'd take all the weapons and stuff since they are worth money.
I buy them cheap, then resell them to the Chinese warlords at a premium.
When times are tough, I sell to the mounted bandits.
I sell them everywhere.
Thank you.
All right, let's eat. Here.
By the way,
how do you plan to live here?
Finding the person's one thing,
but how do you plan on making a living?
I didn't come here to live.
What do you mean?
Did you come here to die?
Who the hell is that?
Don't do this! No!
What's up with them?
Darn it, not again. I'm eating here.
Hey, get up.
Nothing good will come out of being involved.
It's best to avoid them.
Bye. Come on, get up!
Hold up.
Yoon!
Oh shit. I was fucking scared to death!
Why on earth were you standing there and staring at them?
Who is he?
Jang Ki-ryong. He's a mounted bandit.
The dead ones over there are Nodeoksan's men.
They have been fighting nonstop
to take over the markets in Myeongjeong and Gando.
-Fuck. -What are the police doing?
Gosh, those morons are just…
There they come.
Do you see him? The man in the front?
Superintendent Ōoka from the consulate. He's the one in charge of the main street.
A son of a bitch. The worst kind there is.
Hey. Clean this up.
They're just moving the bodies? Are they not going after the killer?
Not when the killer is Jang Ki-ryong,
the best mounted bandit in North Gando at killing independence fighters.
Oh darn.
So they turn a blind eye because he kills independence fighters?
It's always the Joseon-born who die out.
Still, it's not too bad right now.
Soon there will be a bloodbath.
Rumor has it that the Japanese Army will be arriving any day now.
They plan to take over Manchuria and Gando.
My goodness.
With the mounted bandits, the police,
and the Japanese Army running wild,
imagine what will happen to us and the independence armies.
So, Yoon,
be careful of the independence fighters and stay away from any Joseon people.
We don't have a country to protect us.
We have to fend for ourselves and survive, you know?
Burn it.
Let's go.
Let's go!
Yoon.
You're leaving already?
I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd leave early.
Why are you up already?
Some idiots were shooting in the middle of the night, and that woke me up.
Everyone knows it's rude to shoot guns while people are asleep.
They're always shooting, those crazy bastards.
But you sold them the guns, right?
Business is booming.
No matter how nice money is, people need their sleep.
I should write in the contract that they can't use guns after 8:00 p.m.
Bandits are not the type to follow the rules.
I'll be off now. I owe you a big one.
Goodness me. You don't owe me anything.
I'm just glad I got to see you.
But Yoon,
about what you told me yesterday…
what did you mean by it?
Nothing much. It's just like what I said.
If you're not here to live, what are you here for?
You left everything behind and came here to--
No, right?
Who is this man you're going to meet?
Who on earth is Choi Choong-soo?
TAEPYEONG-DONG
Who are you?
Did Nodeoksan send you?
I apologize.
I didn't know you were a fellow countryman.
Anyhow, I'm relieved that you're not hurt.
Right. So, what brings you to our village?
I came to this village…
to meet you and tell you something.
The thing is…
Her name is Eon-nyeoni.
She arrived here a mere five days ago.
She lived as a peasant her whole life
but ended up all the way here after the damned Japanese ruined her life.
But she ran into mounted bandits on the way,
and her entire family was killed by them.
I know everyone has a story to tell in this day and age,
but whenever I see her, my heart aches a bit.
Anyway, you were saying?
What is it that you need to--
Choong-soo!
-Choong-soo! -Honey?
You need to come. Quick.
No need to yell, you fool. What is it?
Kang Du-man, that scoundrel, says he's going to leave town!
That makes as much sense as a wildcat eating rat poison to die.
-Why would Kang say that? -What do you mean, "Why?"
He's afraid that Nodeoksan might kill him!
What you need to say to me,
could it wait a little?
Yes. I will wait.
Follow Eon-nyeoni. She'll guide you. I will see you soon.
-All right. -Eat up.
The pastor left for Yeonhaeju three or four years ago,
so the church is empty now.
You can stay here.
And even if you hear something outside, don't go out.
The mounted bandits might kill you.
Why does Nodeoksan have his eyes on this place?
He's a bandit doing banditry.
What other reason could there be?
I mean, to be honest, we Joseon people are the easiest targets.
They don't get punished for killing us.
I heard you got here five days ago.
What did you do in Joseon?
You heard him. I was a farmer.
Were you even listening to him?
I saw you two looking at me as you talked.
Your hands aren't those of a farmer. They've held guns.
How can you tell just by looking at my hands?
Are you a shaman?
-Who are you? -What do you mean?
Why did you hide your true identity and come to this village?
What are you on about?
Who's hiding what?
What am I, then? An independence fighter?
I guess you're not one of them.
I will ask you again.
Who are you?
You wouldn't like it if I told you.
Is that right? Then let's just do what we're good at.
Who are you? Why are you here?
I'm here to kill you.
I get paid to kill people, you see.
Who paid you to kill me?
I can't tell you. It's against the rules. Just know that I'm from Gyeongseong.
How did you know I was here?
Taepyeong-dong, 18-jeong, 30-ri, Myeongjeong Village, North Gando.
You ever so kindly left a note.
You should have left without a trace.
How could you be so sloppy?
A Mauser C96. You carry a nice gun.
A Type 14 Nambu.
You carry a lousy gun.
You know that the Type 14 Nambu has a lot of issues with misfiring, right?
There's a 30% chance you alone will die.
And a 70% chance that we'll both die.
Are you willing to play a game where you have a 30% chance of living?
You have the guts.
This complicates things though.
Not at all.
Things will get simple once you drop the gun.
Hey, you're talking to a bitch who gets paid to kill people.
I have to finish my job, don't I?
Are you trying to end my career?
There is someone else who has to kill me.
And who would that be?
You saw him just now.
Mr. Choong-soo is going to kill you?
What on earth have you done to him exactly?
Something one should never do to another.
That's what I did.
And that is why I can't let you kill me.
I heard you used to be in the Japanese Army.
I think I know
what it is that you did to Mr. Choong-soo.
Fine.
I'll do as you say.
Not because I was moved by your words.
I think it's only right that Mr. Choong-soo gets to kill you.
That's why.
He has been really good to me while I've been here.
I will tell my client that I killed you, so that's that.
But if you ever happen to run into me in the future,
then you will really die.
I can shoot you from behind, you know, like a coward.
Oh, right.
My client wanted me to tell you this before I kill you.
"A dog dies
when it leaves its home."
Die well.
Hope you're born in a better place in the next life.
Don't stop me!
Oh, come on, Du-man!
If you leave, too, how will the rest of us go on?
-Let me go. I'm leaving! -Gosh!
What are you waiting for? Let's go already!
What are you doing here?
It's pouring. Go on inside.
I was going to wait, but I couldn't.
Let's talk now.
I'm here because of what happened in Gurye six years ago.
I am quite taken aback right now.
What do you have to say to me about what happened six years ago?
As you are also aware,
the Militia Annihilation Campaign was carried out at the time
to suppress the righteous armies in Joseon.
Countless soldiers died due to the campaign.
And I heard that those who survived moved to either Manchuria or Yeonhaeju.
Like you, sir.
And how do you
know about that so well?
I was there at that time.
As a soldier in the 14th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army.
I led a special duties unit,
and my job was to find those suspected to be in a righteous army
and track them down.
Then one day, I was given this order.
"Track down the base of Choi Choong-soo, the Invincible General, apprehend him,
and take him to Gwangju Prison."
The one who found your village and reported it to the superiors…
was me.
Everything that happened in Gurye six years ago…
was all my doing.
Nobody move!
Don't move!
Nobody move!
What's gotten into you, you jackass?
I told you many times that Choi Choong-soo is not here!
Then we should head back!
The order has been changed.
"Burn the Invincible General's base to the ground."
That's the new order.
They are civilians.
Civilians who have never held a gun in their lives!
Civilians
might eventually join a righteous army.
Nobody is born into a righteous army, all right?
We are all born innocent and become sinners as we live, okay?
Gwang-il, let's go back.
I don't have time to argue with you.
Put your gun down.
Gwang-il, please.
Fine, then. If you want to stay out, you do that.
Get started!
Yes, sir!
-Iguchi. -Yes, sir!
My entire life,
I have only taken and obeyed orders.
As an uneducated lowborn unable to learn anything,
I thought I couldn't know right from wrong and that I shouldn't try to.
But because of me,
so many of my compatriots died.
And…
your family as well.
Die!
Foolishly,
that's when I finally realized…
Kill both the woman and the baby.
…that I had committed wrong.
I will not ask you to understand my ignorance.
Damn it, Lee Yoon!
Nobody move!
Give us the order to open fire on that barbaric Joseon scum!
Shut up and put your gun down!
I cannot do that, sir!
Are you taking his side because you are also Joseon-born?
Hey.
If you say shit like that again, I will kill you first.
Understood?
You heard them, right?
If you take this any further, I can't cover for you.
So put that gun down.
Calm down, and let's talk--
You motherfucker!
It's all my fault.
Why are you telling me this right now?
Are you asking me for forgiveness because you are repenting for your past?
I have no right to repent for my past
or ask for your forgiveness.
Did you…
come here to be killed, by any chance?
Is that why you said everything so matter-of-factly?
Because it might ruin your plans
if you became emotional as you spoke?
This is one twisted world we live in.
Both you…
and I.
If you weren't the one who made my wife and family die…
I would have embraced you and comforted you.
I'm sorry.
Don't! Stop! Go away!
Leave this place, or you'll all die!
Do you understand?
Mother.
Mother!
Mother…
Ye-bun!
My goodness!
I said, my Ye-bun has disappeared!
Choong-soo, are we going to sit here and do nothing?
They took my Ye-bun!
Choong-soo, there's no time for this.
Let's go after Nodeoksan now. It's not too late.
Please? Choong-soo!
Say something, Choong-soo! Please!
Oh! Dear, no!
Nam-chun! Come quickly!
My love!
My love.
-Do something! -My love!
Oh my!
Are you not going to do anything?
There is nothing I can do.
We fought and lost.
People have died.
When we tried to do something
because people had died…
more people ended up dying.
You know that too.
Don't think about getting killed by me.
Leave and try living like us.
Get things taken away from you every day. Run away every day.
Try living in pain every day.
You should live like that too.
MYEONGJEONG VILLAGE
I fold.
Let's see.
Play again!
Deal the cards!
Yoon?
Let me see your guns, Seon-bok.
Will your friend be all right, ma'am?
No matter how much I think about it, fighting Nodeoksan's gang alone is just…
In the Battle of Sapyeong,
Yoon single-handedly destroyed a Russian artillery unit, you see.
That's when he got the nickname "Guardian Grim Reaper."
He's the Grim Reaper who watches over.
In passing, it certainly sounds nice,
but who would the Grim Reaper be watching, exactly?
The ones who are meant to die, of course.
A thunderstorm was raging that day, just like today.
Yoon snuck around to the back of the artillery unit alone,
and when the thunder struck,
bang.
When the thunder struck again,
bang.
Another bang.
Then another.
That's how he crushed the entire unit.
Do you get what I'm saying?
To go against Yoon,
the size of your gang doesn't matter. You need to play smart.
If you try to beat him by simply outnumbering him,
you will die…
What was that?
Get your guns! Hurry!
…one by one, silently…
Shoot!
There he is!
…until none of you are left.
So stop worrying and start thinking about how to get rid of the bodies.
Shoot!
There's a good chance that today
will be the end of Nodeoksan's gang as we know it.
Let's go.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses…
What is that?
Ye-bun!
What is that?
Oh goodness!
Father!
Did you want to die so badly
that you would go off and fight Nodeoksan's gang all by yourself?
That's not entirely the reason why.
I was just reminded of the past.
I saw the same faces here that I saw in Gurye six years ago.
The faces, like you said,
were of those who had their things taken away,
who had to run and live in pain every day.
Ye-bun!
That's why I went.
I gave them those faces,
and I wanted to make them go away.
What happened six years ago,
was it that remorseful and unforgettable for you?
I am sorry.
It's all my fault.
What is your name anyway? I didn't even get to ask you.
It's Lee Yoon.
I suppose you wanted to live like a king
now that your country has fallen.
Lee Yoon.
It was King Gyeongjong's name.
He didn't have any major achievements during his reign.
A sickly and incompetent king who was swept up in politics and purged everyone.
Even so, there was one thing he did well.
He protected the Crown Prince to the end, even though he was his political rival.
In the midst of the biting wind of political warfare,
he protected his family to the end.
So, what do you say?
Would you like to live up to your name?
Will you consider your compatriots here as your family
and protect them and care for them until the end?
You never know.
One of them just might bring
the reign of peace over the land of Joseon like Yeongjo and Jeongjo the Great did.
You've already decided to die anyway.
You might as well die for your family.
Would that not be a way to repent for your past?
Soon there will be a bloodbath.
Rumor has it that the Japanese Army will be arriving any day now.
They plan to take over Manchuria and Gando.
My goodness.
With the mounted bandits, the police, and the Japanese Army running wild,
imagine what will happen to us.
I don't think I can do that right now.
"Right now"?
What do you mean by that?
I don't have anything to my name right now.
No power, no money, no land.
To survive in a place like this…
we need to gather people.
That's all we have.
But who would be willing to join us?
Those who can no longer stand always getting their things taken away,
running away, and living in pain.
Those people will come to us.
They'll take as much as they've lost and fight back instead of running…
to get revenge on those who inflicted pain on them.
Those who have hit rock bottom
with nothing to depend on and no hopes in life.
Those are the ones we need.
People like that will make nothing but ignorant, wild bandits.
What will you do with them?
We fight.
If you fight for your country, that would make you a soldier.
But if you fight to protect your family, that would make you a bandit, wouldn't it?
ALL PERSONS, LOCATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS, TERMS, EVENTS, AND EPISODES
MENTIONED OR DESCRIBED IN THIS SHOW ARE FICTIONAL
ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REALITY IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL