Ch.289289. Conflict (1)

Kim Su-ho’s reaction to the emergence of people with extreme ideologies was:

“The same old taste.”

“Pardon? What do you mean…?”

He didn’t have any particular thoughts about it.

As if he truly had no thoughts on the matter, he only showed the reaction of someone who saw that the same old beggars from last year had returned without dying.

Yu-na was rather taken aback by his reaction, which suggested he had known all along about the existence of such groups in Seoul. Bahamut, who was quietly observing from the side, didn’t show it outwardly but thought, “What strong mental fortitude!” while giving him a look that seemed to ask how he had endured it all.

And the one who answered their questions was an unnamed young woman who was there as Kim Su-ho’s aide.

“Well, His Excellency, even if people opposed him, would save any life he could.”

“So you’re saying he saved the lives of his opponents too, risking his own?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Bahamut and Yu-na finally showed expressions of understanding.

Of course, when it came to saving people, it wouldn’t be right to refuse to save someone just because of their ideology.

Kim Su-ho had worked to save everyone in Seoul regardless of their beliefs, and this could be seen as a result he achieved by throwing himself into dangerous battles.

The problem was that this result was heading in a direction that was not at all favorable for the Seoul Allied Forces.

“…It is morally the right thing to do.”

Bahamut couldn’t criticize Kim Su-ho’s actions either and honestly evaluated them as morally correct.

Of course, Kim Su-ho couldn’t have known who he was dealing with in emergency situations, and saving powerless citizens before him was morally the right thing to do.

Even though it might now be choking him, if Kim Su-ho had ignored the citizens before him and focused only on eliminating the undead, the title of “Hero of Seoul” that made Kim Su-ho who he is today would have been tarnished.

Rather, it was because he saved people equally regardless of ideology or belief that Kim Su-ho could be who he is today.

“But those who were saved show no gratitude whatsoever.”

The real problem was with those who had been saved by Kim Su-ho.

Despite having their lives saved by Kim Su-ho, not only did they fail to support his path forward, they actually hated and insulted both Kim Su-ho himself and his allies.

In a way, rather than facing the reality before them, they were trying to find a moment’s peace by indiscriminately criticizing others to escape from reality. During the apocalypse, it wasn’t uncommon for people to escape reality and fall into extreme ideologies.

Even Seorabol, which had quickly overcome the apocalypse with the Dragon God’s blessing, had people falling into extreme ideologies, becoming villains, or descending into dark worlds. Considering this, perhaps they should be grateful that these people weren’t causing trouble during the war.

“Yes. They are truly ungrateful bastards. Because of them, His Excellency’s northern Seoul expedition collapsed. The reason a power holder who could have been easily suppressed was able to get involved in the Han River defense line was because of their voices! I simply cannot tolerate it. His Excellency fought so hard for the citizens, and yet the gaze directed at such a hero is one of hatred and insult. Can this truly be considered democratic citizenship!”

“Well. You seem to have been holding that in for quite some time.”

“Even Bahamut would feel the same if you had to listen to their nonsense for over a year. I admit I’m being a bit extreme.”

Even if Kim Su-ho himself had no thoughts on the matter, his subordinate had clearly endured unbearable insults multiple times.

Naturally, she began to pour out criticisms colored with anger towards them, claiming that the northern Seoul expedition and the collapse of the Han River defense line were due to the support of those who clung to the power holders.

Although it was a somewhat extreme statement, even Bahamut and Yu-na, who had witnessed Kim Su-ho’s abilities firsthand, inwardly thought it was a plausible claim.

After all, Kim Su-ho had already surpassed level 20 at that time, and if he had reached an even higher level, they believed that the Awakened led by Kim Su-ho could have successfully completed the northern Seoul expedition.

Considering how many achievements Kim Su-ho had made on the battlefield when all his restraints were removed, the aide’s claim was certainly not far-fetched.

“I understand. I’ll try to resolve it myself. But… even as we speak, the protests continue. This time, it’s not about Seorabol, but about Kim Su-ho.”

While Bahamut himself promised to closely monitor and resolve the issue of extremist forces, unfortunately, violent protests continued even as they were in their meeting.

In the heart of Seoul, amid buildings that were just being reconstructed, protesters were tearing up banners with Kim Su-ho’s name, hanging them up, or burning them in drums—literally putting on a show.

“Kim Su-ho OUT! Kim Su-ho OUT!”

Shouting extreme words in front of cameras and making a flashy appearance, the protesters chanted slogans and waved flags at Gwanghwamun Square, where the reconstruction headquarters was located. They began to advance, ignoring the instructions of the police controlling the protest, becoming a cancerous presence in Seoul’s reconstruction.

Even the flags symbolizing the Seoul Allied Forces and Seorabol that were hung everywhere were torn to shreds and set on fire. In their place, banners reading “We are the true owners of the Republic of Korea” fluttered.

“Did we ask to be saved? Kim Su-ho, you red commie dictator, how dare you save those leftist commies as you please!”

“…Sigh. What nonsense from a man who sold his conscience for money.”

A man with a reddened face shouted towards the headquarters.

The aide looked at the man’s face and, as it happened to be a face she recognized, she couldn’t help but sigh.

“Do you know him?”

“He’s someone His Excellency saved. I remember him as someone rescued before the Han River defense line was properly established, during that chaotic period.”

The man was someone who had been rescued by Kim Su-ho.

Apparently, he was a man whom Kim Su-ho had saved after dealing with the undead before the Han River defense line was established, when all of Seoul was in chaos.

The female aide could remember because she was an original member who had been with Kim Su-ho at that time, and now the man whom Kim Su-ho had risked his life to save…

“Kim Su-ho is a dictator! A dictator! Who gave him the right to save everyone? That traitor is a puppet of the Seorabol nobility!”

He was inciting the public, broadcasting himself on camera, and making a scene.

“He certainly talks well. But can he make a living from that?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t care.”

But at the same time, Bahamut became curious about why they had fallen into such meaningless behavior.

Even on the surface, there was a fundamental question of whether their hate speech and conspiracy theories had any meaning, and in reality, it was very difficult to earn a living from livestream videos alone in this apocalypse.

This was an era where immediate supplies were more important than cash or finance, and the reason Bahamut coins were so popular was because they could be melted down to create powerful weapons, making them valuable even during the apocalypse—in fact, their value had increased.

“Look! Kim Su-ho is a dictator! He’s a deified tyrant who imposes his own justice!”

Moreover, their voices had no logic to persuade or evidence to convince. There was only anger, confusion, and hatred.

Kim Su-ho, who had taken up the sword to save more people than anyone else, was now being incomprehensibly criticized for saving people regardless of good or evil—being asked why he had saved people at all.

“He should have killed all the leftists too! Kim Su-ho is a man who can’t distinguish between friend and foe!”

They were wielding cruelly distorted logic, branding Kim Su-ho as a dictator, traitor, Seorabol puppet, and North Korean sympathizer.

And behind them, war correspondent Kang Jae-wan, with tired eyes, was calmly covering this and muttering to himself.

“None of you ever picked up a sword to fight…”

Yes, Kim Su-ho was the hero who had reclaimed Gangnam and created the Han River defense line after Seoul fell.

It was because of Kim Su-ho that they could live comfortably, and even when the Han River defense line collapsed, they could evacuate to other cities that Kim Su-ho had pioneered in advance.

But could it be said that any of them had followed Kim Su-ho and fought risking their lives?

For all their cries of death and hatred, it was questionable how many among them had participated in the grueling Han River defense line, or how many nameless soldiers had joined the Seoul Allied Forces and fought risking their lives on numerous fronts.

Especially since the final battle with the Cult of Immortality had not been long ago, all soldiers who had served in the Seoul Allied Forces knew.

“Do these damned people know that my comrade’s head was smashed and died instantly, unable to receive proper treatment from Ms. Yu-na? Do these cursed people know that colleagues who were fine just moments before were cursed and are still suffering from the aftereffects? Have they ever experienced being pierced by Death Knight units, becoming pieces of meat, or having their intestines spill out of their bellies?”

Especially the aide, who had fought alongside Kim Su-ho on the most dangerous frontlines as a superhuman who had surpassed level 20, knew better than anyone how horrific war was and that it should never happen again.

“Well. Calm down.”

“I apologize. But their claims do not repay the hearts of the warriors who risked their lives to reclaim Seoul.”

Despite fighting so hard and risking their lives, the citizens did not praise them as heroes or even offer a word of praise for fighting well.

Of course, their claims could not represent the citizens of Seoul, and Kim Su-ho’s aide knew that well, but hadn’t the war just ended and the era of reconstruction begun?

Their claims were essentially calling for a new war… a civil war, and the Seoul Allied Forces wanted to devote all their efforts to reconstruction rather than more war.

“Dismantle Seorabol!”

“Kim Su-ho is a dictator!”

“The Republic of Korea is not over yet!”

And amidst the chaos, Seorabol’s war correspondent Kang Jae-wan stood alone.

He had a microphone in his hand, and his friend Kim Tae-hyun was recording Kang Jae-wan with a camera.

The camera lens persistently captured those faces filled with madness.

“This is Gwanghwamun. Seoul is being reconstructed. But in this square… there are people who have lost their reason.”

At that moment, a man from the protest crowd shouted.

“Hey! I told you to turn off the camera! Who are you? A commie? A Seorabol spy?!”

“I am a war correspondent. That is, I’m press.”

“Press? Aren’t you the ones who write articles praising Kim Su-ho? Don’t lie!”

With a thud, someone struck Kang Jae-wan’s shoulder as he was explaining his identity.

Kim Tae-hyun, who was holding the camera, wanted to intervene right away, but Kang Jae-wan raised his hand as if to say it was okay, stopping Kim Tae-hyun’s intervention and quickly regaining his composure.

Being an Awakened, it couldn’t really hurt him, and the attacker wasn’t an Awakened either.

But Kang Jae-wan’s eyes were burning hot.

“You people.”

It was a look that combined fatigue, disgust, and despair rather than anger.

Kang Jae-wan closed his eyes, calmly thought about what he was about to say, and opened his mouth.

“Where were you when Seoul fell? When the Han River defense line collapsed, did you fight to protect the Han River? Or when even Gangnam was about to fall, did you take up arms to defend Gangnam?”

The surroundings fell silent at those words.

“Ah, of course, you could claim that you acted independently without following Kim Su-ho’s words. Then let me change the question. Have any of you ever taken up arms and fought against the undead? What about the named undead that were called mutant zombies at that time? Or is there anyone among you who has ever fired a gun or swung a sword at the Cult of Immortality? Or is there anyone who has lost even one friend?”

It was a cold and precise criticism of their contradictions.

How many among them were not chicken hawks?

Kang Jae-wan prayed that there would be at least a few citizens who could proudly declare that they had fought, but the answer that came back made his carefully considered response meaningless.

“Why should we have to do that?! That’s Kim Su-ho’s job to fight! We are citizens of the Republic of Korea! Seoul was originally ours!”

Hearing the claims of cowards who had contributed nothing to this fight, Kang Jae-wan finally let out a bitter laugh.

“Yes, you are citizens of the Republic of Korea. But as citizens, you naturally have a duty as reservists to respond to war or natural disasters. So, have you fulfilled your duty as citizens of the Republic of Korea?”

Kang Jae-wan seemed unable to contain the rising anger within him, and his words began to grow harsher.

“If you haven’t fulfilled your duty, you should at least apologize to those who have fulfilled their duty as soldiers or reservists! And you should also be sorry to those who lost family members in this apocalypse! Many people died in the apocalypse, and many more were sacrificed because of the Cult of Immortality that exploited it! And can you confidently call Seoul’s hero Kim Su-ho, who minimized those sacrifices as much as possible, a dictator? Isn’t the hero of Seoul, whom you so despise, the very person who saved your lives, protected your existence, and has clothed and fed you until now?”

At Kang Jae-wan’s desperate appeal, some of the protesters turned their heads away, seemingly in sympathy.

This could be seen as a sign that they still had some conscience left, but it was short-lived.

A figure who appeared to be an agitator shouted in response to Kang Jae-wan’s passionate speech.

“So what! Why did he save the leftists too! Kim Su-ho is a dictator who took the side of leftist commies! Seoul is now full of commies! Kim Su-ho is the one who ruined the Republic of Korea!”

“Please stop bringing up outdated factional logic! Do we need that precious ideology now? Do you sincerely think that shouting pre-apocalypse ideology will work in this post-apocalyptic reality?”

Finally, because they had brought up pre-apocalypse factional logic, Kang Jae-wan, as if he could no longer bear it, criticized them for bringing up outdated factional logic here.

However, his words seemed to act as a catalyst, and a flood of curses and hate speech erupted among the protesters.

“Aren’t those Seorabol people descendants of Japanese?”

“That Kim Su-ho is a CIA spy. He’s trying to sell the country to America.”

“It’s all planned! The Dragon God Bahamut is just CG! It’s all fake!!”

It was truly nonsense.

But when that nonsense was spewed from the mouths of crowds cloaked in desperation and emptiness, it spread like truth.

“Do you sincerely believe that?”

But Kang Jae-wan didn’t give up.

He turned his gaze toward Kim Tae-hyun for the benefactor who had saved his life, and called out self-deprecatingly to Kim Tae-hyun, who was considering whether to intervene even now.

“Film it. Film it to the end! How you stood in this square, with what faces, what expressions… Make sure to show it to your children later. ‘This is how crazy Dad looked.’ I wonder what your child will think of your appearance!”

That was the moment.

A metal pipe flew toward Kang Jae-wan, and an Awakened who could easily dodge bullets wouldn’t be hit by such a pathetic throw.

He avoided it by simply ducking, but the fact that they had resorted to physical attack rather than words made his breath catch.

And seeing Kang Jae-wan dodge the protesters’ attack, the crowd excitedly shouted.

“Kill him! Kill him!”

Whether it was someone’s instigation or not, the protesters rushed toward Kang Jae-wan, and the police special forces, realizing that the protest was turning violent, were immediately deployed.

“Back off now! If you take one more step forward, you will be treated as rioters, not protesters!”

Jin A-yeon warned the protesters, and Awakened police officers armed only with riot shields began to push back the protesters.

It was a demonstration of the overwhelming difference between Awakened and ordinary people, but even then, some continued to foam at the mouth and shout.

“Down with Kim Su-ho! Drive out Seorabol! Seoul is ours!”

Capturing their images on camera until the end and trying to incite others through the livestream, Kang Jae-wan turned his gaze to look at Kim Tae-hyun.

Seeing Kim Tae-hyun glaring at the protesters with a cold expression, Kang Jae-wan simply said in a resolute voice:

“Film it to the end. The truth of this incident must be preserved so that they cannot refute it.”