The film's opening sequence shows the following timeline, which is an alternate history from the events that actually occurred: It will soon be 100 years since Korea was incorporated into Japan.

In the capital of Korea, Keijo (on the site of Seoul), in front of the palace of the Japanese governor-general stands a monument to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The exact motivation for the hostage situation is unknown, but during the investigation, Sakamoto discovers a museum artifact, a crescent-shaped rock known as the "Lunar Soul", found by one of the slain terrorists.

After discovering that the Hureisenjin has a long history of targeting the Inoue Foundation, a group founded around the artifacts collected by the second Governor-General of Korea, Sakamoto begins to suspect the Hureisenjin were attempting to steal the Lunar Soul, although both he and Saigo are puzzled as to why a terrorist group would put so much effort into stealing historical artifacts.

A wounded Sakamoto stumbles into the Hureisenjin's hideout and Saigo is visited by the head of the Inoue Foundation, with both learning the truth: that they are living in an alternate timeline.

In 2009, a large stone temple uncovered by a joint Chinese-Korean-Japanese archaeological expedition, is found to facilitate time travel, and through its exploitation by the Japanese right-wing nationalist group Uyoku dantai, a man named Inoue travels back in time exactly 100 years and prevents the assassination of Resident-General Itō Hirobumi on October 26, 1909.

As one of the victorious powers, Japan becomes a military and economic superpower with a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, with its colonial empire intact.

Bok Geo-il, author of the source novel Bimyeong-eul Chajaseo ("Looking for an Epitaph") (1987), refused to be associated with the finished product, and successfully sued the film-makers to have his name removed from the credits.