41. Hellgate

Lighting a cigarette in this kind of underground space wasn’t a good idea, but he nonchalantly took one out and lit it.

Thick smoke billowed into the relatively bright subway car.

 

 

“Now, the only remaining variable… is her, enraged, trying to defy my will no matter what… Is praying the only option? I hope he does well.”

 

 

If everything goes according to plan, Han Sarang will inevitably be extremely angry.

And perhaps that anger will be so intense that she might try to defy the President’s wishes at any cost.

 

 

“What happens after this is just… fate.”

 

 

If that happens, then the fate of the Korean people ends there.

 

 

You might curse that as bullshit, but if they can’t become a member of the Galactic Empire anyway, they’ll be forever distanced from revival. So, he thought, shouldn’t they at least increase that possibility?

And he firmly believed that what he had done maximized that possibility.

 

 

In other words, he had tried his best.

 

 

You know, there’s a saying, isn’t there?

That if you’ve put in all your effort, done your best, even if you don’t reach it, you won’t have any regrets.

 

 

He tried his best.

He endured enormous damage,

Sacrificed his own life,

And took into account the dissolution of the community and the collapse of the nation,

And played a historic gamble.

 

 

At this point, he’s done as much as he could.

But if they still can’t enter the last remaining path of this era,

Then that’s just how far it goes.

 

 

“Survive… people…!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seoul ablaze.

Although it’s only a part of it, and the sight of the city burning is familiar due to the dungeon outbreaks, the spectacle of countless lives disappearing is still terrifying.

 

Still, is it fortunate that there are few civilian casualties?

The apartments where most Koreans reside are surprisingly well-defended, so if you hunker down, it’s safer than you think.

 

 

The reason why there are few civilian casualties now is thanks to this.

 

 

However, if this situation continues, those civilians will inevitably suffer great damage.

 

 

 

Is the fortunate thing that it will end soon?

Han Sarang has intervened, and Yoo Eun’s honor guard is also deploying to the metropolitan area under the pretext of saving Eun Yul-ryung.

No matter how strong the Korean army is, it’s impossible to withstand these two.

 

 

 

 

 

“He’s barely conscious. It seems like he’s moving only on instinct, without thinking.”

“…”

 

 

Han Sarang arrived at the National Assembly building.

After subduing the half-crazed soldiers and entering the building, it was all covered in blood.

 

As if they had been fighting each other inside.

 

 

Of course, there must have been a fight. They forcibly occupied the National Assembly.

But that doesn’t explain the amount.

 

 

“I heard that a zombie outbreak occurred on a large scale in the Middle East recently, sacrificing over a billion people… Maybe something like that happened here too?”

“If they’re zombies, wouldn’t there be some kind of change in their appearance? They died too beautifully?”

 

 

Han Sarang shook her head at one of the squad member’s words.

According to what she had been briefed, the zombies that appeared back then looked even more grotesque, and above all, they weren’t communicating and moving with a clear purpose like these coup plotters.

 

 

“But it’s suspicious. What happened?”

“Judging by the state of the inner walls, there was definitely a gunfight.”

“Well, it’s the National Assembly. There must have been some security forces, so maybe that’s the trace. Let’s think simply for now.”

 

Han Sarang put aside the creeping feeling in one corner of her mind and ordered the soldiers to search the building.

She also searched here and there with her executives, but the more she did, the more the questions grew.

 

 

They’re the ones who switched the TV broadcasts to make criminal statements nationwide and even carried out public executions, but apart from the external forces, they haven’t encountered a single one so far.

Isn’t that too strange?

 

 

 

“Scan results show there is a life reaction. But it’s quite large.”

“Large? How much?”

“It seems to take up about a room.”

“Then it’s not human. Is it a monster? Did a dungeon reverse happen in the meantime?”

“Or maybe they’re all gathered in one place.”

“Hmm. Let’s go.”

 

 

Han Sarang, holding a pistol and walking briskly, and the executives following behind her with rifles.

Soldiers who heard the news gradually gathered one by one.

 

 

In such a group, they opened the magnificent door of the plenary hall, which can be said to be the flower of the National Assembly, where the life reaction was detected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What is this.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hellish landscape finally revealed before their eyes.

Surely, the public execution of the congressmen was also done here.

 

 

But that wasn’t the problem.

 

The mass of human bodies filling this wide space densely.

And the huge lump of flesh in the center.

 

At first glance, it seemed dead, but the pulsating blood vessels on the outside seemed to convey its heat just by looking at it.

 

 

“…”

 

 

At the grotesque sight, the executives and soldiers deployed shields and aimed their guns.

So that they could shoot and eliminate it at any time.

 

 

In contrast, Han Sarang was staring at the monster with a cold expression, and at first glance, she seemed to have no emotions.

 

 

 

“…Since when has it been like this? What happened?”

 

 

 

Then she suddenly moved her feet and spoke.

Then the violently shaking mass vibrated as if opening its eyes.

 

 

 

『 …Have you come… You’re late… My daughter… 』

“I’m asking what happened.”

 

Surprisingly, its identity was her father.

One of the Republic of Korea’s army generals, and a man who once controlled the army.

But now his appearance was just one of the monsters.

 

 

He was clearly a normal human when he appeared on TV wearing a mask, so when did he become like this?

No, before that, why is he in this state?

 

 

 

 

『You still recognize me. That’s a relief.』

“Did that President bastard make you like this?”

『Sacrifice is inevitable for a noble cause.』

“Ha. Noble my ass.”

 

 

As Sarang’s words became rough, the monster’s body shook once.

 

 

『I’ve always said, nothing in the world is achieved without bloodshed.』

“Enough, shut your unnecessarily huge mouth. I’ll figure something out.”

 

 

It’s uncertain whether it can be restored to its original state with the technology of Han Sarang’s civilization (the Korean Empire), but it will definitely be fine if they borrow the power of the Galactic Empire. Above all, there is the Saintess (Yoo So-ra) there, who can even revive lost arms. If she can get her help, she will be able to turn her father back into a human.

 

 

What happened, what the President did, can be found out then.

 

 

 

But the world didn’t flow as she thought.

Or rather, the President’s scheme was deeper.

 

 

When she got a strange feeling that the huge lump of fat was shaking its head left and right, it was already after things had started.

 

 

 

 

“Commander-nim!! Get out of the way!”

 

The monster’s sudden expansion.

The executives wrapped shields around Han Sarang and hugged her, then broke through the ceiling and flew into the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Mommy!!”

“Hey! Don’t look!”

“Taekwon V! Taekwon V!”

 

A child whining while looking out the window.

The housewife, surprised by the sudden noise, hugged the child and tried to close the curtains.

It was because she didn’t want the child to see the violent situation unfolding now.

 

 

But,

 

 

“W-what?!”

“Taekwon Veee!!”

 

 

The child’s giggling voice and that damn Taekwon V he was shouting.

The robot in the animation she used to show him whenever it was hard to see him was now becoming a reality.

 

 

No, to be exact, that appearance scene was appearing far away in Yeouido.

 

 

 

 

The dome of the National Assembly splitting (or rather, being destroyed), and a giant rising through it.

The sight was like Taekwon V’s launch.

 

 

“Oh my god…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What! Suddenly!!”

『I told you! Sacrifice would be necessary!!』

 

 

Had he hatched?

A decent human, the appearance of her father she had always seen, but he looked at least 1 km tall.

 

He looked around and shouted as if to be heard by the citizens of Seoul.

 

 

『I am the emperor of this era! The era of incompetent and stupid congressmen is over! From now on, it will be governed solely by me and my capable staff!!』

 

A shout as magnificent as his physique.

The shockwave from that sound alone was enough to shatter the windows.

 

 

“What are you doing!!”

『What else! I’m reviving the nation according to a noble cause.』

“What bullshit!! Don’t make things bigger and stay still!!”

『My army, already spread throughout the country, has been transformed into its final form. Ordinary armies can’t stop it. We will abolish the incompetent and hateful democracy and become the best elite nation on earth, governed by capable elites!!』

 

 

As he passionately shouted and clenched his huge fist and swung it, a powerful gale swept through and completely demolished a building nearby.

 

“……Is this it… This is… the real intention.”

 

 

Han Sarang finally fully grasped the President’s plan.

 

By having her father stage a coup and spreading that fact, he made it so that only by destroying the judiciary of the Republic of Korea could it be saved.

But that alone is not enough. In order not to be manipulated by the President’s intentions, she could literally just destroy the judiciary.

 

 

But what if it was her father’s will, not the President’s?

What if that father sacrificed his life and honor for one cause?

 

 

 

 

『Now! Try to stop me, Han Sarang!!!』