Ch.252247 – Messiah

Even the same incident can be viewed from different perspectives.

The Republican Party strongly advocated for border closure, defining the incident as a challenge to Korea and foreign terrorism, while the Democratic Party called for stricter regulations on lethal magic, seeing it as an extreme case of magical crime targeting vulnerable individuals.

With such fundamentally different arguments from the start, normal dialogue was impossible.

The media sharply criticized this absurd comedy while introducing the incident timeline to the public based on police briefing materials.

“NoName, the victim of this terrorist attack, began internet streaming last August and has become so popular that she now ranks first in daily viewership in Korea.

Just before the bombing, viewers collectively tried to stop her when she put on President Lee Jo-won’s campaign hat that she received as a gift.

NoName then innocently wore a Democratic Party scarf simultaneously, maintaining the positive atmosphere.

And here is the problematic music box bomb.

Before even turning the lever a full rotation, NoName shouted for her fellow streamer to leave the room.

Currently attending the Academy, NoName showed quick thinking by wrapping her body in aura and even attempted to dismantle the bomb.

However, the bomb eventually exploded, causing a strong magical wind before the broadcast ended.

Fortunately, the magic was incompletely cast, so NoName’s life wasn’t in danger.

According to police officials who responded to the scene, she held onto the magic circle until the end to prevent it from exploding.

Some voices express concern that this might be Walpurgis’s retaliatory terrorism against NoName, but politicians remain silent about countermeasures.”

Ironically, Detective Ma Beom-il made the greatest contribution to capturing the perpetrator.

When the police special forces requested assistance with checking magic usage records, the Violent Crimes Unit was in disarray.

The problem was that no one knew the procedure well, as this was the first application of the ordinance created after the Walpurgis incident.

In contrast, Detective Ma went directly to the Magic Power Corporation to identify the perpetrator, despite orders to step away from frontline duties.

Through swift joint operations with Paju Police Station staff, he captured the criminal efficiently, earning him the spotlight in the media first.

Citizens who knew him from “Genius Discovery” criticized the Police Commissioner and Minister of Public Administration and Security for trying to dismiss such a talented individual for political reasons.

“That’s great, Detective Ma. Beyond reinstatement, you’ve achieved a triumphant return.”

“Great? What’s great about it! Do you know how worried your father was? If something like this happens again, I’d rather leave for Incheon!”

“I appreciate your concern. But I’m really fine.”

Detective Ma frowned and shook his head.

“Why has this kid lost all sense of fear…”

He then handed me a piece of pre-cut apple with a small fork.

I took a crunchy bite of the apple and chewed.

Though my heart was racing at the time, probably because my body is still young, my reason and experience kept my head cool.

Looking back, even I’m amazed that I managed to devise a barrier magic circle in such a brief moment.

Meanwhile, the news reported that former rapper and Gangnam District Councilman Um Jun-yong had been appointed Vice Chairman of the Walpurgis Special Investigation Committee.

His bleached blonde hair was gone, replaced by neatly dyed black hair.

“What about accomplices?”

I called Detective Ma to the hospital room to hear about the ongoing investigation as quickly as possible.

Though the interrogation was taken out of his hands due to the nature of the case, Detective Ma still maintained his connections.

“They recovered the chat logs, but couldn’t identify the user.”

“Pfft- I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”

Expectations come with disappointment.

Still, I’m somewhat curious about those chat logs.

When I stared at Detective Ma, he maintained silence before letting out a deep sigh.

He seemed to have complicated feelings about telling me.

“So they all wanted me dead?”

Hearing my words, a melancholy light flickered in Detective Ma’s eyes.

As the only surviving victim of the terror attack, it was clear that Walpurgis would view my very existence as a thorn in their side.

Ultimately, the outcome of war depends on public opinion.

Just as Joan of Arc united the French army, they probably couldn’t trust me using my status to pressure Walpurgis through the Korean government by spreading international public opinion.

“No, the opposite.”

“What?”

“He said he hoped you would survive the bomb attack.”

“That’s not sarcasm…?”

They sent the bomb but want me to live? These people are truly insane.

Walpurgis seemed to far exceed my concept of fanatics.

My chest feels tight.

How am I supposed to release this indescribable anger?

* * *

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله (There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.)

Flags bearing the Islamic declaration of faith, “Shahada,” fluttered throughout the streets.

Walpurgis, an Islamic extremist terrorist group spanning across Arab nations and North Africa, centered in Syria and Iraq.

Their original name was much longer and more complex, but they became widely known after causing 5,000 casualties in a terrorist attack during the Swedish traditional festival “Walpurgis Night,” which became the catalyst for their notoriety.

Eventually, they began calling themselves Walpurgis.

Among locals, Islam has a greater degree of blind faith compared to other religions.

This is largely because the contents of the Quran (Islamic scripture) can be directly proven.

The fundamental reason people can use magic is because there is a mana stem in the overlapping dimension that periodically supplies mana.

If you trace the outline of the mana stem, you can easily find in textbooks across countries that it resembles a hedgehog’s spine piercing the Earth in a straight line.

One end cuts across the middle of the Pacific Ocean, while the other end emerges across Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and parts of Saudi Arabia.

In other words, the reason Walpurgis can maintain its notoriety despite comprehensive diplomatic pressure is because they’ve unilaterally occupied the place with the highest mana concentration on Earth, calling it “the place chosen by God.”

With Walpurgis’s leader occasionally visiting the “holy land” and acting like a god, a third of the world’s population has no choice but to bow to him, whether they like it or not.

Walpurgis’s overall strategy is to secure followers through religion, obtain resources by selling mana and drugs, and gain diplomatic advantage through extreme terrorism.

In that sense, Korea was no longer of interest to Walpurgis.

A barren land that the great Allah didn’t even glance at.

They thought Koreans were all atheists, making them an uncivilized nation unworthy of salvation.

They only established a few branches for financial support since Korea was where drugs sold at the highest prices globally, but they didn’t engage in any doctrinal propagation or terrorist activities.

Then what about the series of terrorist attacks eight years ago, including the Banghwa Bridge bombing?

Walpurgis consistently maintained that Korea received divine punishment for the sin of joining hands with infidels under the name of UN forces.

But only some high-ranking leaders knew about experiments secretly conducted in Korea.

Al-Zarqawi, a terrorist with an Egyptian surgeon background, was one of them.

“Oh Messiah! Ohhh!”

The man’s mouth split wide in ecstasy as he exclaimed in the solemn prayer space.

It was the moment he found the candidate for the Messiah he had so desperately sought.

His mouth stretched from side to side with joy that squeezed his heart.

He had been irritated by the kid who claimed to be a Walpurgis survivor in Korea and was causing chaos across various countries.

Due to the butterfly effect, the United States directly intervened to end the “Sudan War,” causing only Walpurgis, which had been supporting the war, to suffer massive losses.

It’s truly laughable.

No matter how important talent is in this world, it can never surpass the grace bestowed by nature.

But now Western European countries, which had been cautiously observing, were one by one declaring to sever diplomatic relations with Arab nations, creating an extremely awkward position.

It’s time to set an example again after a long time.

It started with Korea.

To instill the fear that Walpurgis could easily eliminate someone without lifting a finger, they urged their own citizens to carry out a bombing.

They used an anonymous “Captagon Drug Den” as their communication channel.

Even if one failed, there were plenty of others willing to die for drugs.

A young person full of resentment toward the world willingly sacrificed their body and sent a music box bomb to the girl.

[I hope it succeeds. I’m really nervous right now.]

[Well… I’d rather it failed.]

[What do you mean?]

[Atheists don’t need to know.]

Al-Zarqawi licked his lips, suddenly remembering an experiment that had been futilely abandoned after thirty years and tens of billions of dollars in losses.

If that child were truly the Messiah, a magic bomb wouldn’t have left even a scratch on her skin.

And his wish soon became reality.

The bomb definitely exploded, but the child survived without a single hair harmed.

“Seraph (שָׂרָף)! I knew you weren’t dead! Did this apostate think he could deceive even Allah!”

He had thought the Messiah project had ended in failure.

Al-Zarqawi replayed NoName’s broadcast several times with bloodshot eyes.

Why hadn’t he recognized it earlier?

This child was born with abilities that would terrify the world.

Above all, NoName’s deep-colored aura caught Al-Zarqawi’s snake-like gaze.

‘There’s no doubt. This child is the new humanity.’

Al-Zarqawi decided to scrap all the plans he had made regarding this terrorist attack.

Additionally, to quell the controversy, he recorded an interview stating that the bombing in Korea was an independent action by a subordinate and not Walpurgis’s official position.

He couldn’t take NoName while she was in Korea due to the country’s enhanced security.

If the nation felt threatened and decided to protect her, the situation would become even more difficult.

The opportunity would come when she left for a foreign country again.

“Great Sheikh, I believe I’ve found the Messiah…!”

Al-Zarqawi uploaded his interview to VTube, conveying to the leader his plan to halt all external activities of Walpurgis and remain quietly hidden.

When you don’t know what to do, doing nothing is the best strategy.

Al-Zarqawi kept watching for opportunities like a hyena, using his cunning mind.

But this turned out to be a bad move.

Twelve hours later, NoName uploaded a survival update on her VTube channel,

“Scared?”

With an extremely provocative expression that seemed to taunt Walpurgis.

Soon, signs of division began to appear within Walpurgis.

Strong discontent started to pour out among low-ranking members who didn’t understand the leadership’s intention behind the apology video.