Ch.258Chapter 10. I Don’t Know About Chaos, But We’re Taking It Easy (2)

“Hey, there’s a coup in Thailand!”

“Like that’s something new in Central America.”

“Hey, Thailand is in Southeast Asia, you idiot!”

“What? A coup in Thailand? Ah, I was planning to travel to Taiwan.”

“Taiwan isn’t Thailand!”

Sometimes, people don’t care whether war breaks out or a coup happens in another country.

“You should pay attention to what’s happening in the world!”

“What are you talking about? Will my life magically become spectacular if I care? I’m already busy trying to make a living. America is different! I care about America because I’ve invested in NASDAQ. Is there anything worth caring about?”

“The Korean Marine Captain, Red Brassard, is currently training Laplace’s abandoned children with his instructors!”

“What? Marines? Ugh, I hope they’re not spreading that ACEY stuff to other countries.”

Even though the news reports on various stories and interested people discuss them online, they rarely spread to the general public.

“Anyway, that’s… Wow! The Sephirot Knights! They’re so cool!”

“This new knight seems quite modest. The last one was someone who went berserk with his own pride.”

“Is that so? No self-restraint… I see…”

But when it comes to superpowers and global issues, the story takes on a different feel.

As soon as I got off the private jet, the conversations of passersby and the content in smartphones and earphones were filled with discussions about the Sephirot Knights.

Not just in private conversations, but in the media too.

“As soon as we arrive at the airport, the first thing we see in the lobby is an analysis article about the Sephirot Knights.”

After leaving the lobby of Yangyang Airport, the first Korean broadcast Yoon Hye-ra and I saw upon arriving in Korea was a current affairs program on a wall-mounted TV.

[Sephirot, What Is It?]

Since the word or concept of Sephirot is unfamiliar to ordinary people, analysts were explaining what Sephirot is and who John da Art is in terms that the general public could understand.

“So what is Sephirot, you nerd?”

“The Tree of Sephirot is a symbol used in Kabbalah, a mystical sect of Judaism…”

“I don’t need someone to read Wikipedia to me, you know?”

“Tch. Just think of them as ten archangels!”

“Oh, that gives me a rough idea.”

This much is fine.

“So is the Dark Charisma an angel too?”

“…Let’s just say he’s an angel who came from the future to save humanity. In that sense, isn’t he an angel? If the future is destroyed by demons, God could designate one human as his only begotten son.”

“The world of superpowers, the appearance of a future Second Coming of Jesus… it’s complicated.”

If in another country, say America, an organization called the “Red Guards” were to carry out a terrorist attack, we could deduce their purpose or principles from the name.

“Still, unlike the others, the Sephirot Knights must be good guys. At least they’re angels, beings meant to oppose demons, right?”

“Let’s hope so.”

The actual name might be different, but one can somewhat guess their nature from where the name was borrowed.

“Oppa. Seems like people in Korea are interested in the Sephirot Knights too?”

“Well, they did show their power by smashing Susanoo’s head in the waters off Busan. They’re satisfied with the appearance of another Sephirot Knight… wait.”

Just as we were about to leave the airport lobby, a man with a red megaphone was shouting at the top of his lungs.

“The Sephirot Knights are salvation sent to us by God!!”

“……”

It’s something you often see in crowded places, but it was an unusual sight in the age of superpowers.

“Believe in God!”

[In this age of superpowers, S+ rank superhumans sent from the future to the past are meant to deal with demons. That is, the demons of Pandemonium are extremely dangerous and serious entities…]

Intersecting with the man’s shouts, a journalist’s analysis flowed through the speaker of a woman’s smartphone as she stopped beside us.

“Demons are everywhere around us! Starting with Dueoksini, the world now faces the threat of demons! Believe! And gather here to pray! If you come to our church…”

Whether the analysts’ actual analysis is correct or not, the effect achieved by the Chairman publicly revealing the Sephirot Knights is clear.

“That’s scary… So something like Dueoksini caused that chaos in Thailand?”

“I wondered why the Goblin went to Thailand, but it turns out he went to execute Dueoksini’s friend.”

“Judging by the lack of mention from the Syndicate, it seems they missed him? Ah, this is maddening. I hope he’s not coming to Korea out of anger?”

“Hey, Korea has the Dark Charisma, so we should be fine, right?”

People are getting agitated.

Civilians who have heard the stories from the media are worried, and those in Korea are concerned that the trouble might spread to Korea.

“Damn. Demons popping up is already a headache, and now there are more serious demons that require monsters like these to step in?”

“It’s fine. Dueoksini is dead in Korea. One appeared in Thailand, so the next one will probably be in some other country, right?”

“I hope so? Damn. Please let them pop up in some other country.”

In a way, it’s a natural concern.

“Preferably in a neighboring country… hehehe.”

“Why would you say something so scary?”

“What’s the big deal? We’ve already suffered once. As long as it’s not us, it’s fine. As long as it’s not meeeee!”

No matter how much we talk about a global village, disturbances in Phuket, Thailand, or missiles falling on a city there don’t directly affect the Korean Peninsula.

“Honestly, I want to see another Sephirot Knight. Aren’t you curious about what kind of superhuman came from the future?”

“Hmm… It would be nice if we could make future technology our own. People are already trying to replicate the Dark Charisma’s technology.”

“Exactly. Now we’ll see more people walking around with claws on both hands, hehehe.”

Even if a meteor were to fall on the opposite side of the Earth right now, if its impact had no effect on this side, it would just be an interesting issue to watch.

“Oppa. Let’s just go.”

Yoon Hye-ra pulled my hand.

Perhaps realizing that I was listening to people’s voices, she covered my ears with her hands and pulled me away.

“There’s no need to stress yourself by listening to such things. They don’t understand because they haven’t experienced it firsthand. Those people would think differently if they saw what happened in Thailand with their own eyes. Right?”

“…I suppose so.”

“Oppa.”

“Sometimes, I have these thoughts.”

I held Yoon Hye-ra’s hand and left the airport.

The car that Hye-ra’s subordinates had prepared was waiting for us in the parking lot, and after helping Hye-ra into the passenger seat, I sat in the driver’s seat.

“They say knowledge is power, but sometimes knowledge is poison.”

“You mean ignorance is bliss?”

“Yes.”

That’s what I think.

I’ve felt this way whenever I encounter the darkness of this world, that the ‘protagonist’ would have their mental health chipped away each time.

“Even someone with strong mental fortitude would feel stress. I do too. But I feel more stressed now than when I entered the underground of the Succubus Island.”

“When you see people who know nothing?”

“Yes. It’s not their fault, but it still feels a bit…”

The women by his side might have seemed to provide healing, but I wonder if the protagonist’s heart was truly healed each time he witnessed the terrible human malice in the dark world.

“The stress is really something else.”

Sometimes I have such thoughts too.

“There are times when I think it would be right to just blow everything away.”

The meteor was right.

If all humans on Earth were to be euthanized simultaneously through a meteor collision and the destruction of Earth, wouldn’t that bring peace to those suffering all over the world?

Sometimes I think that the answer might be for everyone to go to the afterlife together in harmony.

But.

“…Still, the Chairman probably worries about this more than I do.”

When I think of one person who has worried about this more than me, suffered more, and felt more pain, my thoughts change.

A woman who knows everything about the world, and has even seen the future, did not give up on this world.

Instead, she decided to save this world by creating the Syndicate.

She decided to conquer the world herself to unify the system, and by revealing the Sephirot Knights, she instilled a sense of vigilance in the world.

If that’s the case, I will only support and follow the Chairman’s decision.

“Hye-ra.”

“Yes?”

“If the Chairman wanted to destroy this world instead of conquering it, what would you do?”

“…Hmm.”

Yoon Hye-ra, who was booking a ferry to Ulleungdo from the passenger seat, let out a laugh.

“Oppa. Do you know?”

Yoon Hye-ra, with an innocent face, winked at me.

“Just a year ago… around this time. Before you started making a name for yourself, we had a conversation like that among ourselves.”

“What kind of conversation?”

“Just, whether we should eliminate everything except one country.”

I flinched.

“All the other executives agreed. Why? Because they had all been betrayed by humans, by nations, by people. They only wanted to wipe everything out.”

For a moment, my hand on the steering wheel froze.

“And now?”

“Not anymore.”

Yoon Hye-ra’s hand stroked my thigh.

“Because I found a reason to live. Hehehe.”

“…That’s a relief.”

I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

“Oppa. Until we get to the ferry, let me replenish my magical energy.”

“If there’s a checkpoint, wrap it up quickly.”

“If we say we’re going to Ulleungdo, they’ll just let us through, right?”

“……..”

“Stop. …You may pass!”

Why did that work?