Ch.277Chapter 11. Where There Is Light, There Is Also Darkness (1)

At that moment, in the basement of the Busan Hero Association.

“Miss Yoon Yi-seon. I’m sorry for calling you here when you must be busy with final exams.”

“It’s fine, Director. I finished studying for my finals before coming.”

Yoon Yi-seon had been summoned to the Hero Association.

It wasn’t a sudden call, but one that had been scheduled in advance.

“And thanks to Yi-rin keeping me company on the way here, I had a pleasant trip.”

“You’ve become friends already?”

“Yes. We’re not that far apart in age, and we’ve seen each other often since I was A-rank. We became closer through this opportunity.”

“I had many questions about various things.”

Princess Bari, Tae Yi-rin, subtly looked Yoon Yi-seon up and down.

After glancing at both of them, the Association Director felt he understood why Tae Yi-rin had developed more interest in Yoon Yi-seon than before.

Ah.

Even among S-ranks, which measure overall combat ability, there are still differences in magical power between them.

“Director?”

“Ahem. I was just pondering how to introduce the place I’m going to show you today.”

“That doesn’t seem to be it…”

“No, it is.”

The two women didn’t particularly mind the Director’s calm lie.

What mattered was why Yoon Yi-seon had been invited all the way to Busan today.

“You said you had something to show me?”

“That’s right. The material I’m about to show you is top secret, accessible only to S-rank heroes. It’s confidential information that must not be revealed to anyone.”

The Director pointed to the wall of his office.

“As you can see, Miss Yoon Yi-seon, the Director’s office has photos of S-rank heroes hanging like this. From 8th-ranked Armored Taejo to 1st-ranked Lord of Radiant Wings.”

“Yes, yes. I’m there too. Is that empty space below for more S-ranks that you hope will appear in the future?”

“…Huh.”

The Director, who was about to continue speaking, swallowed with a moved expression.

“It’s been a long time since an S-rank didn’t interrupt me and even asked a question.”

“Who else was there that makes you so touched?”

“I called you here to talk about those S-ranks. …S-ranks who no longer exist.”

Click.

When the Director snapped his fingers, the space below the wall opened from side to side.

“……!”

And below were numerous photos hanging.

The pictures, each distinguished by different colors, were framed in the same format as the eight portraits hanging above, but they were divided into three categories.

One.

Memorial photos.

“These are S-rank heroes who died in the line of duty. You might recognize some faces.”

“Yes…. There’s someone who passed away last year. And over here….”

“Those who defected. People who naturalized to other countries, left Korea for marriage immigration, or simply abandoned Korea altogether.”

One.

Below the portraits, the Korean flags decorated with red X marks and replaced with other national flags.

“Do you recognize all these faces?”

“…I do. There are current villains, some who’ve gone missing, and others whose life or death is uncertain.”

“That’s right. The problem is that there are… quite a few of them.”

Besides the current 8 members.

Besides the deceased.

The number of those whose Korean flags had been replaced with other national flags or marked with question marks exceeded 30.

“It’s quite funny. If you gathered all the Korean S-ranks spread across other countries, probably at least 70% of the world’s top 50 S-rank heroes would be Korean.”

“They’re not Koreans if we’re talking about nationality.”

“…That’s true.”

The Director shook his head with a bitter smile at Yoon Yi-seon’s point.

“Do you know why they left?”

“…Because the government kept harassing them? That’s what I heard.”

“That’s right. They were harassed. Quite severely. Take Heavenly Demon who went to China—his parents were forced to quit their jobs. And they actually did.”

“Out of patriotism….”

“Yes. Patriotism. With the oh-so-magnificent logic that if you don’t act patriotically, you’re a traitor—that’s how they tormented people.”

Tae Yi-rin, who had been listening quietly, approached one of the frames with a sarcastic tone.

“They deliberately pushed heroes into extreme situations, deciding that only those who could overcome such extremes would remain in Korea. When you’re treated like garbage, who would want to stay?”

“Since you’re an adult, Miss Yi-seon, I’ll speak frankly.”

The Director pointed to the frames containing an unusually large number of women, speaking in a serious voice.

“Haeguneul and government officials will come after you. And when I say ‘come after,’ it can be replaced with the vulgar expression ‘lusting after.'”

“You mean they’ll make advances toward me?”

“‘Making advances’ is quite a euphemistic way to put it. Well, to be precise….”

“Why keep beating around the bush, Director? Sis, can I just say it directly?”

“Go ahead.”

“Everyone’s going to be desperate to get you pregnant.”

Yoon Yi-seon’s expression immediately twisted at Tae Yi-rin’s blunt statement.

“Get me… pregnant?”

“Yes. You’re 20, an adult now. People from Haeguneul, celebrities, whoever—or they’ll find a male A-rank ability user—they’ll try to get you pregnant. To make an S-rank have a baby.”

“…….”

“I know. It’s disgusting. That’s why all these people here couldn’t stand it and left Korea.”

Tae Yi-rin pointed to the photos of numerous women with a bitter smile.

“They’ll publicly propose on your social media, and if they find your address, they’ll show up at your home playing matchmaker and begging you to marry them. If your parents run a business, they’ll go there and make a scene proposing, and if you refuse, they’ll keep bothering you until you accept.”

“It’s better now, but until about four years ago, it was truly extreme.”

“Why do they want to get me pregnant?”

Yoon Yi-seon barely opened her mouth, her voice stiff.

“Whether it’s pregnancy or marriage, I’ll have children when I’m ready, with someone I love. Why force pregnancy on me?”

“Because they think it’s ‘efficient.’ They worry that if you don’t have children at a young age, you’ll be too old and won’t give birth to an S-rank ability user.”

“That’s insane. Just because they’re not the ones getting pregnant….”

“Exactly. I feel the same way as you. In three years, they’ll start gathering public opinion to pressure me to get pregnant too.”

“But Yi-rin, you’re the president’s granddaughter.”

“That’s a separate issue. If anything, being the president’s granddaughter means they’ll pressure me to set an example for the citizens.”

Tae Yi-rin placed her hand on her stomach and bit her lower lip.

“…At least in my case, Taejo has been working hard to keep the heat off me, but soon people will start casually asking you if you’re planning to serve your country.”

“If that happens, leave that place. And come to us anytime to curse those who tell you to be patriotic. We can at least listen to your complaints.”

“…So you’re telling me not to defect even if I hear those patriotic demands?”

“That’s right. And above all else….”

Tap tap.

The Director pointed to the portraits hanging against the black background.

“No matter how much you hate hearing such things or how annoyed you get, don’t become a villain.”

“…….”

The final category.

Cases of Korean ability users who became villains.

“It seems a bit unfair. The ones who drove heroes to extreme choices are living just fine, while the heroes have to suffer like this.”

“…That’s not true, sis.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“They’re not living just fine. They’re dead.”

Tae Yi-rin pointed to one empty frame with a calm face.

There was a trace of an S-rank hero—a memorial frame hanging with only a name, but no photo inside.

“Tae…Yoo-hyun?”

“Yes. Tae Yoo-hyun. Him.”

Tae Yi-rin’s eye corners trembled slightly.

“My younger brother who was sold to North Korea right after birth. …He was S-rank.”

“What?”

“There was a secret unknown to the public. A spy secretly sent a child with nuclear missile-level power to North Korea.”

“Wh-what… That’s absurd….”

“Nothing is absurd in this world. It’s reality. And….”

Crunch.

Tae Yi-rin clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

“The person responsible was the father and mother of Taejo and me. More precisely, our mother.”

“……What?”

“Yes.”

Tae Yi-rin trembled as if even mentioning it disgusted her.

“There was this crazy woman who gave birth to Taejo and me, then had our youngest sibling, and when she discovered the child had S-rank potential, she handed him over to North Korea.”

A being who wasn’t even an ability user.

* * *

This novel is a “national pride” novel.

And to stimulate national pride, it tries to portray the most Korean things as inherently great.

Such aspects can be considered positive stimulation.

It’s understandable when it fosters patriotism and pride in one’s country.

But whether to create a simple device to stimulate national pride, the author created very provocative settings designed to inject nationalism.

Rather than standing tall on its own merits,

The story develops by tearing others down and stimulating antagonism.

Beyond having the protagonist claim heroines from various countries, the protagonist makes readers feel a catharsis of national pride.

Anti-Japanese. Anti-Chinese. Anti-North Korean.

These three elements are provocatively utilized and incorporated into the actual setting.

A descendant of a pro-Japanese family.

Someone who received political and economic support from the Chinese Communist Party during studies in China, along with protection from violent bodyguards.

And finally, a “woman” who committed terrible acts against North Korea to secure her political position.

“Her name, Min Ji-young. Mother of Armored Taejo and Princess Bari Tae Yi-rin. She sold her S-rank baby to North Korea.”

And.

“She died.”

She died in an explosion in Pyongyang with the collapse of North Korea.

“She died, but her ideology remains, shaking the roots of this country.”

The Min Ji-young theory.

“The ideology that women with higher ability ranks should have children every year to increase the number of ability users.”

Min Ji-young is dead, but her ideology still remains in this world.

“Saying they should have children as quickly as possible before getting too old.”