Ch.288288. Civilian (3)

In Seoul’s Gwanghwamun area, there were many temporary tents set up, but since it was where the Dragon Priestess stayed, Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan were able to enter a proper building upon Yuna’s invitation.

This wasn’t the first time they had encountered Yuna on the streets. They had frequently met her during the early days of the Balhut Cult. But now she was the ruler of Seorabeol and the successor to South Korea, which made the normally confident Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan look intimidated in her presence.

Yuna wasn’t wearing her usual Dragon Priestess attire but instead a comfortable white dress. She personally brought drinks for the two intimidated men and began speaking.

“It seems you’ve come to Seoul to settle down, just like the three major guilds.”

“Yes. Since Seoul will become the center of Seorabeol, we came to prepare in advance.”

“Haha. I haven’t officially announced that Seoul will be the capital yet.”

When Yuna asked if they had come to settle down, Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan openly shared everything. Although it was essentially a gamble since there had been no official announcement that Seoul would become the capital, Yuna smiled brightly at their words and eased their anxiety.

“No. Seorabeol’s capital will eventually be Seoul. You made a good choice.”

“R-really?!”

“Wait, isn’t telling us this problematic?”

Their concern was understandable since Yuna’s statement was essentially leaking internal Seorabeol policy to civilians. However, Yuna reassured the two men that there was no problem at all.

“Not at all. Lord Bahamut himself declared it. Regardless of what the Korea First Party says, Seorabeol’s capital has already been decided as Seoul. It just hasn’t been publicly announced yet.”

“L-Lord Bahamut?!”

“Are you saying the Dragon God personally intervened in this matter?”

With Lord Bahamut’s intervention, Seoul was now definitely going to be Seorabeol’s capital. Yuna explained that while it hadn’t been officially announced, Seoul had already been unofficially designated as Seorabeol’s capital. Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan were extremely surprised that Lord Bahamut had personally involved himself in Seorabeol’s capital issue.

From a civilian perspective, Lord Bahamut had provided general direction for Seorabeol’s policies but had delegated the details to the cabinet or the Dragon Priestess. This was a rare instance where he had proactively determined the direction of a policy.

Lord Bahamut had maintained neutrality and “reigned without ruling.” The fact that he had taken the initiative shocked Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan, but they also understood why Yuna was telling them this information. Regardless, Seorabeol’s cabinet had followed the Dragon God’s will and designated Seoul as the capital, and they were now just choosing the right time to officially recognize Seoul as the capital.

“Yes. In terms of governance and practical benefits, Seorabeol would have eventually moved to Seoul, sooner or later. Lord Bahamut simply accelerated the process.”

Hearing that the cabinet was following the Dragon God’s will regardless of what the Korea First Party said, Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan nodded gravely and shared their opinions.

“Well, if Lord Bahamut has decided so, it’s only right to follow. Doesn’t this mean we’re guaranteed success?”

“In a democratic country, this might be considered dictatorship. But we’re more of a theocratic constitutional monarchy than a democracy. So the monarch’s authority is stronger… making this possible…?”

“When you list it like that, something seems off? It feels like a collection of words that don’t go together.”

“I think so too.”

Kim Tae-hyun was optimistic, saying there was no problem if it was the Dragon God’s doing, but journalist Kang Jae-wan noted that while this might be considered dictatorship in a democratic country, Seorabeol was a theocratic constitutional monarchy, making it possible due to the monarch’s stronger authority.

Kim Tae-hyun then remarked that these terms seemed mismatched, and Kang Jae-wan agreed. However, the contradiction was that to accurately describe Seorabeol’s system, “theocratic constitutional monarchy” was the easiest explanation. Seorabeol was a country formed by the unlikely combination of a theocracy and a constitutional monarchy.

“Anyway, before long, Lord Bahamut’s will shall be known throughout Seorabeol. Even if it were revealed right now, it wouldn’t change the overall situation.”

“I-I see.”

Realizing their gamble had essentially succeeded, Kim Tae-hyun nodded with a bewildered expression. After pondering for a moment, Kang Jae-wan thought about what he had seen in Seoul and offered congratulations.

“Congratulations on the victory in Seoul. You’ve driven out all the evil forces that had taken root across the Korean Peninsula.”

“Y-yes! The Balhut Cult has won, and all that remains is reconstruction before the end! As the president of the Dragon Priestess fan club, I’m truly delighted by Yuna’s victory!”

Yes, Seorabeol had won. They had recaptured Seoul as the Seoul Allied Forces and, with the concession of Seoul’s hero Kim Su-ho, gained the right to govern Seoul.

With General Jeong Dong-geon already working on pacifying South Korea, no one could deny Seorabeol’s dominance. All that remained was to widely proclaim that Seorabeol would be the nation to succeed South Korea on the Korean Peninsula.

The two men, who had already left South Korea in their hearts and become Seorabeol citizens, had high expectations for Seorabeol’s future. But…

“I can truly feel that a new beginning is upon us. With Seoul and now us…”

“…Regarding that… it can’t be considered good yet.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Yuna’s expression wasn’t very positive as she received their congratulations. When the two men expressed confusion, Yuna silently pointed to a corner of the square.

As the two men turned their gaze toward where Yuna was pointing, they saw a large crowd gathering. They were holding the Taegeukgi, the symbol of South Korea, and shouting something loudly with megaphones in hand.

Due to construction noise, their shouts were being drowned out, but when the two men focused on listening, what they heard was:

“The Seorabeol people are Gyeongsang Province nobles who sold out South Korea!”

“Huh?”

Hearing this, Kim Tae-hyun seemed to experience a moment of brain freeze. Calling the heroes who recaptured Seoul “Gyeongsang nobles”? What was that supposed to mean?

Thinking he had misheard, he listened carefully to the protesters again.

“Seorabeol isn’t South Korea but the Silla Dynasty! We are citizens of the democratic Republic of Korea!”

“What’s this Dragon God? We are the Korean people, not some Chinese-style dragon-worshipping tribe!”

“…”

They wanted to believe they had misheard. But the ears of the two Awakened men could accurately hear the hate speech from the protesters, and they stared blankly outside with expressions that showed they were at a loss for words.

From their perspective as Seorabeol citizens, those words were complete nonsense. What era did they think this was? There was no way the Silla Dynasty could still exist, and what was this about the Dragon God being from China? What nonsense.

“They’ll make all Seoul people learn the Gyeongju dialect, is this a country?”

“The Seorabeol people are all descendants of Silla nobles trying to rule Seoul through bloodlines!”

“All Gyeongsang people should be expelled! Send them all to Yeongnam!”

What was this about bloodline supremacy, and what was the Gyeongju remark about?

The protesters were making inflammatory statements in front of cameras while also seemingly soliciting donations. Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan finally realized the identity of the protesters and were shocked that such protesters had survived the apocalypse.

“W-what is this? I can’t understand these words with my brain.”

“They’re extremist forces I wouldn’t want to interview. By our standards, they’re like the Korea First Party representing the warlords’ position.”

If their claim had simply been anti-Seorabeol, it would have been a common story, and they could have let it pass despite feeling uncomfortable. Yuna was used to being cursed by others and would have ignored it, saying they could spout nonsense as they pleased.

She was confident that no matter how much they shouted, the overall situation wouldn’t change. But…

“The Seorabeol leadership is all from North Korea! They’ve already made deals with the Kim family!”

“Dragon Priestess? That’s all fake! Dragon worship is an alien conspiracy!”

“Seorabeol has secretly joined hands with China. They plan to sell the Korean Peninsula!”

The extreme conspiracy theory-like incitement was making people who fell for it angry at Seorabeol. They wanted to believe no one would fall for such flimsy incitement, but in reality, many people did fall for such low-level claims.

Ironically, among their arguments was China, but as everyone knew, China had already been torn into dozens of pieces and separated into multiple countries. In a situation where Seorabeol had nothing to lose, why would they sell the Korean Peninsula to China? Why would they recapture and rebuild Seoul then?

“Seorabeol is trying to colonize and enslave us Seoul citizens. If you look at Seorabeol’s laws, they’re all special provisions for Gyeongju nobles! Seoul citizens, unite! All you have to lose are your chains!”

“Politicians from Gyeongju secretly joined hands with North Korea’s Kim family to plan South Korea’s downfall!”

Even from the perspective of Seorabeol’s capitalist and journalist, these were statements not worth engaging with. What nobles did Seorabeol have?

Most absurd of all was the incitement blaming Seorabeol for joining hands with North Korea, with whom they were still hostile and occasionally engaged in combat, and for the downfall of South Korea.

To be frank, Seorabeol had done nothing, and Seoul had Kim Su-ho, a national hero who could have saved South Korea. But South Korea had perished because it didn’t follow the hero’s advice and acted recklessly.

“Seorabeol’s economic plan is all about the Chinese Dream. They’re trying to absorb Korea into the Chinese Dream!”

“Everyone, Dragon God worship is actually a culture from Chinese Taoism. Korean culture is Buddhism and Christianity, but that is all Chinese Communist culture! So the Dragon Priestess is Chinese!”

“Seoul reconstruction project? That’s all a show to distribute jobs to the children of Seorabeol nobles! The leader of the pseudo-cult should leave Seoul immediately! Long live the Republic of Korea! Long live liberal democracy! We are the bastion of South Korean liberal democracy!”

At the same time, they were denigrating the Dragon Priestess, another hero of Seoul, as the leader of a dangerous pseudo-cult, downplaying her achievements.

That wasn’t all.

“How dare you betray the Republic of Korea and cling to national traitors!”

“Traitors who betrayed the Republic of Korea! We can never forgive you!”

“Die! Die! Die!”

Behind them, some masked individuals were looting street vendors and even directing verbal abuse and violence at Seoul workers participating in the reconstruction project, calling them national traitors.

Most Seoul workers were strong Awakened, so the violence from mostly non-Awakened protesters was laughable. However, some Awakened had also fallen for the incitement, and clashes between Awakened were occurring, resulting in bloodshed.

Each time, Jin A-yeon, who was in charge of public security, would intervene and subdue everyone. Kim Tae-hyun and Kang Jae-wan could see that these people were the troublemakers causing Yuna’s concerns.

“These crazy bastards.”

Kang Jae-wan cursed through gritted teeth. As a journalist, he was supposed to record the truth, but this was too ugly a scene.

He wanted to ask if they didn’t realize that their actions were hindering Seoul’s reconstruction. He thought not many citizens would sympathize with their extreme violent protests, but…

“If the President were alive, this wouldn’t be happening! He is our true leader!”

“We must revive the old military! Declare martial law and return Seoul to military rule!”

Contradictorily, they were making statements that ignored even the democracy that modern South Korea had achieved.

He wanted to question if these were things real people would say, and despite wanting to suppress them right now, Yuna wasn’t forcibly suppressing them but was guaranteeing their freedom of assembly and protest.

Of course, from Yuna’s perspective, listening directly to that noisy clamor made her want to raise her finger several times to unleash a maximum-power Yuna Death Beam, but what could she do?

Lord Bahamut had said to maintain neutrality as much as possible, so the Dragon Priestess also had to maintain neutrality.

“I thought the war with the Cult of Immortality was over… but the war between people never ends.”

However, in Yuna’s mind, they were enemies and opponents who would eventually need to be subjugated.

A rage that even Bahamut couldn’t stop had taken root deep within her, and understanding her feelings, Kim Tae-hyun nodded and spoke.

“Whatever choice you make, Yuna, I will follow you to the end.”

“Thank you for that. It’s really reassuring.”

“I too will work to expose their behavior and help resolve this issue.”

As the two young men declared they would help Yuna, she said their help was valuable and shared her feelings with a lonely expression.

“I’m not a god, nor am I a savior. I just wanted to rebuild a collapsed world.”

But reality was cruelly showing that the Seoul citizens they had saved were now turning the heroes—the Dragon Priestess and the Dragon God—into symbols of hatred.

They could be criticized as truly ungrateful, and among them were even those who had been treated or saved by Yuna.

“This is the real reality of the apocalypse.”

“…Indeed.”

But surprisingly, this was also a common sight in the apocalypse.

Just as there were dark shadows living parasitically beneath Seorabeol, the same existed in Seoul.

“This is Seoul.”

Yuna said this with a voice filled with many emotions.

Hope and reconstruction, and the hatred and division hidden within.

At Yuna’s words, the two men looked at the scene and sensed that the path to Seoul’s reconstruction would definitely not be smooth.