Ch.186186. A Day on the Korean Peninsula

In truth, there were plenty of reasons to establish the special forces unit Hwarang, even without considering feminism or political correctness issues.

The news of Seorabeol’s founding had drawn the attention of numerous warlords across the Korean peninsula.

Most were tempted by Seorabeol’s wealth and planned to invade, while the more level-headed warlords…

“To think they’ve already established a nation.”

They responded with surprise that Seorabeol had already conquered a region and founded a country.

This was because the Republic of Korea still existed in name, and although Seoul’s hero Kim Su-ho had suffered one defeat, he had maintained an unbroken winning streak ever since.

The suspicious gazes directed at Kim Su-ho quickly disappeared, and believing that no one could stand against him, they knelt before his power.

It was pragmatically wiser to submit to Kim Su-ho, who was maintaining the Republic of Korea, and wait for an opportunity when he let his guard down rather than opposing him directly.

However, the fact that Seorabeol had enough power to establish a nation…

“The Korean peninsula is now in the era of Seorabeol.”

This was sufficient confirmation that Seorabeol now held sovereignty over the Korean peninsula.

Even if Seorabeol wasn’t the strongest force on the peninsula, it had become the wealthiest after successfully establishing a new nation—something even Kim Su-ho hadn’t achieved.

In this apocalypse, wealth meant available resources.

The more resources available, the more Awakened fighters they could naturally support. Calculating warlords turned away from Seorabeol’s expansion direction.

They knew that confronting Seorabeol now would be like getting hit by an 8-ton truck they couldn’t handle, and being reincarnated into another world as a hero.

“Is Seorabeol really that wealthy? Boys! It’s hunting time!”

“Oww!”

Conversely, bloodthirsty warlords began coveting Seorabeol’s wealth with bestial hearts.

Rather than fearing Seorabeol’s wealth, they believed that obtaining it would help them survive longer in this apocalypse, and so they marched toward Seorabeol.

Of course, Seorabeol’s headquarters in Gyeongju was protected by Daegu, Pohang, and northern Ulsan, so most warlords began attacking Daegu, which served as Seorabeol’s shield.

“Eliminate them all.”

Heo Jin-ho, appointed as governor of Daegu, was thoroughly defending against the warlords attacking the city. Using abandoned buildings on the outskirts of Daegu as barricades to repel external attacks, the warlords’ movements began to change as they received this news.

They realized they couldn’t break through head-on.

“Then, can you handle all of this too?!”

“This crazy bastard!”

They needed to use tactics shocking enough to break the enemy’s spirit.

The warlords Heo Jin-ho encountered were so evil that Gyeon Gwan-im seemed angelic in comparison.

While Gyeon Gwan-im had tried to win over Daegu citizens and build a foundation for governance, strictly prohibiting his subordinates from looting as he prepared to establish himself as a warlord, those attacking Daegu didn’t deserve the title of warlord.

They had no intention of winning over Daegu’s citizens—they were simply looters like hungry demons, desperate to survive just one more day.

The most frightening aspect was their frenzied tactics, including…

“To think they’d lure the undead all the way here!”

They used the undead—humanity’s enemy—as siege weapons to attack Daegu.

Though luring the undead was dangerous for the warlords too, they exploited the undead’s tendency to chase larger groups of humans. They would lure the undead near Daegu and then transfer the undead’s aggression to the city.

Naturally, the morale of Daegu’s citizens plummeted, and resentment grew toward both the warlords who lured the undead and Seorabeol, which maintained silence without implementing any policies.

“Aaaaargh! Conscription! Switch to conscription! All dissidents will voluntarily enlist as new recruits!”

“How pitiful.”

The creation of Hwarang as a specialized special forces unit was practically inevitable to end such suspicions.

They needed soldiers specialized in decapitation operations targeting rampaging warlords, and they needed more troops to protect Seorabeol.

It was no wonder that Prime Minister Hwang Geun-chul went overboard and changed from a volunteer military system to conscription, and even Park Cheol-gon of the Constitutional Democratic Party, a political opponent, deliberately turned a blind eye to Hwang Geun-chul’s excesses.

“They’ve already established a country called Seorabeol. The Balhut Cult is quite ambitious.”

“What shall we do?”

The news of Seorabeol’s establishment as a nation had reached Kim Su-ho’s ears.

From Kim Su-ho’s perspective, maintaining the Han River defense line in Seoul and blocking all enemies coming from beyond the Han River, this was essentially news that a hostile nation had been established in his rear.

Naturally, as the successor to the Republic of Korea, Kim Su-ho should have been greatly surprised or trembling with anger at what was essentially a declaration of independence.

“Well. Not bad at all.”

“Sir?”

Kim Su-ho actually thought it wasn’t a bad thing.

The person who should have been most angry simply smiled with pleasure, thinking Seorabeol’s founding was a good thing.

After all, what he had been waiting for had finally appeared.

‘Finally. Someone who can end this Republic of Korea has appeared. Haha. The time for this Republic of Korea to end is finally approaching!’

A nation that would end this insufferable Republic of Korea.

Kim Su-ho thought “finally” at the emergence of a force that would guide the Republic of Korea—which had become worse than the undead—toward a comfortable and honorable end, and spoke to his aide.

“Certainly, a new country has suddenly appeared in our rear. However, the warlords and undead hordes in Chungcheong will act as a buffer zone. Seorabeol’s founding isn’t particularly problematic for us. Rather, it’s Honam, Hoseo, and Chungcheong that should be worried.”

Thinking coolly, there was no reason for Seorabeol, having conquered Gyeongsang Province, to target the Gyeonggi region right away.

Seoul and Seorabeol were separated by Chungcheong as a buffer zone, and considering Chungcheong’s current state, the undead there blocked Seorabeol’s path to Seoul.

So if they wanted to expand their territory diligently, they would likely target Busan or Ulsan, which they hadn’t yet conquered, or focus on internal consolidation.

“From our perspective, there’s a good chance that the undead and warlords in Chungcheong will head south toward Seorabeol. They could become good friends who lighten our burden.”

Conversely, they could be expected to partially relieve Kim Su-ho’s burden of dealing with the Chungcheong region.

Although Kim Su-ho said they could become good friends, his concerned aide advised him once more.

“But they’ve conquered most of Gyeongsang Province. Even if they don’t take Busan or Ulsan…”

“Yes. That could certainly be dangerous. But would they be more dangerous than the current demonic Seoul?”

“That’s…”

The aide’s point wasn’t wrong.

But from Kim Su-ho’s perspective, the demonic Seoul was more important than Seorabeol, which he didn’t need to worry about due to the buffer zone.

Currently, Seoul had essentially become a demon realm due to internal political struggles.

Political chaos was constant, and due to power struggles over tiny scraps of authority, people suddenly disappeared or died suddenly—a commonplace occurrence.

When Kim Su-ho said that Seorabeol would be safer than Seoul, the aide couldn’t respond.

After all, from Kim Su-ho’s perspective, current Seoul was indeed more dangerous than Seorabeol with its buffer zone.

“Well. In the end, it’s my fault for abandoning management and supervision. But if the Balhut Cult… no, Seorabeol is truly the nation that will end the Republic of Korea, then as a worthy opponent, they’ll either come to Seoul…”

“Or come to us?”

“Or we’ll be defeated. If Seoul collapses, then we could become partners who can cooperate under them.”

So Kim Su-ho began to think of Seorabeol as the force that would end the Republic of Korea.

He quietly expressed his intention to seek asylum in Seorabeol if they reached Seoul or if Seoul collapsed.

“The collapse of Seoul… As long as you remain, sir, Seoul will not collapse.”

“I don’t intend to collapse easily. But…”

The aide was adamantly declaring that Seoul wouldn’t collapse and that with Kim Su-ho’s skills, it was impossible.

But Kim Su-ho sighed with trembling eyes and shared recent news.

“A report came in from an agent dispatched to the border region. They spotted undead coming down from the border.”

“Sir, does that mean… North Korea has fallen?”

The aide’s face turned pale at those words.

The Republic of Korea shared a border with only one entity, which had still survived in this apocalypse, so they hadn’t paid much attention. But undead coming down from the border after a year since the apocalypse began meant…

“Yes. It seems something has happened in North Korea too. We should actually be grateful they held out surprisingly well in this apocalypse with all its variables.”

“Could Pyongyang have fallen? Wasn’t it a more solid entity than the tattered Republic of Korea?”

It signaled the end of the North Korean regime.

But the aide said that North Korea, with its Kim family dictatorship, unlike the Republic of Korea with too many leaders, wouldn’t collapse so easily.

As long as Pyongyang remained safe, the Kim family dictatorship would never fall, even if other regions were sacrificed.

Considering they had maintained their nation despite numerous economic sanctions, the aide thought it strange that they would suddenly collapse without warning after just one year of the apocalypse.

“But weren’t they a more contradictory entity than our Republic of Korea? Both before and during the apocalypse.”

“Ah.”

If the Republic of Korea had fallen due to lack of unity, North Korea was an entity with even more contradictions.

Even if the Pyongyang dictatorship was solid, there was still plenty of possibility for collapse due to other issues.

Especially in this apocalypse full of variables unknown to humanity, it wouldn’t be strange if the North Korean regime collapsed due to variables they couldn’t identify.

“If Pyongyang collapses, it essentially means the North Korean regime has collapsed. We should prepare ourselves mentally from now on.”

“Sir…”

They couldn’t be certain that Pyongyang had completely collapsed right now.

It was possible that Pyongyang had simply dumped undead into other regions, or tried to pass them on to South Korea.

But if the North Korean regime had truly collapsed, Seoul might have to deal with the undead that North Korea had been containing.

In a situation where they were barely maintaining the Republic of Korea by relying solely on the Han River defense line, if they had to handle undead from North Korea—and even those crossing the Yalu River beyond—there was a good chance that Seoul would not withstand and would collapse in succession.

“Don’t worry. There’s no news of collapse yet. We have agents dispatched to Pyongyang, so let’s calmly wait for their report.”

But there was no news of complete collapse yet.

Kim Su-ho reassured his aide, calmly stating that he had dispatched agents to Pyongyang and suggesting they wait for their report.

However…

‘Well, sooner or later, the moment all resources in Pyongyang are consumed, regime collapse is certain.’

Kim Su-ho sensed that the North Korean regime would collapse eventually, sooner or later.

‘Unlike us who could at least manage mechanized farming, I wonder if they could do the same there.’

After all, even Seoul was experiencing food supply problems after a year, and he judged that North Korea, with its weak light industry technology, would struggle to solve this problem.