Ch.291291. Roadmap (1)

However, this was evidence that side effects were appearing in Seoul’s reconstruction, and it was true that countermeasures were needed.

Although they couldn’t stage a rebellion, if their outcries influenced the opinions of Seoul citizens, it would leave a significant challenge for the future reconstruction of Seoul.

So Bahamut firmly asked one question to the Seorabeol official.

“So if they’re a political force, you’re saying we don’t need to worry much about them if we show solid results regarding Seoul’s reconstruction?”

“That’s correct. They don’t represent the opinions of Seoul citizens. Rather, they only represent the opinions of their own faction.”

“…Then. It’s a simple matter.”

All the Seorabeol officials nodded in agreement with the statement that if Seorabeol demonstrated its power to rule the Korean peninsula, the dissatisfied factions would gradually disappear.

In the end, Seorabeol’s gentle governance had only seemed laughable to extremist groups, and this situation required demonstrating Seorabeol’s power more firmly than anyone else to make resistance impossible.

Therefore, Bahamut made one request to the Seorabeol officials.

“All officials, listen. From now on, you must create a roadmap for Seoul.”

“A roadmap?”

“Anything will do. Convenience, policies for Seoul citizens, there are many options, aren’t there? Ah. For the Seoul citizens, I will implement the nationwide Awakened project that was conducted in Gyeongju.”

A roadmap to show the Seoul citizens!

He was essentially ordering them to create something that would visually show the citizens the measures needed to produce desirable results, and accordingly, it was natural to request a roadmap from the officials in charge of Seorabeol’s administration.

Bahamut would also help with creating the roadmap, and what he proposed was none other than the Awakened project that had made all citizens of Seorabeol support Bahamut.

It was a revolutionary project that artificially created Awakened, allowing even those without talent or even those with disabilities to awaken as Awakened, rather than waiting for natural awakening.

“…If so, the opposition in Seorabeol will also gain the power of the Awakened.”

Conversely, if this benefit were given to the opposition, they would also gain power. Han Seong-geun, who was in charge of all security in Seorabeol, rarely expressed his opinion to Bahamut, but…

“It doesn’t matter. If the entire population becomes Awakened, quality becomes more important than quantity. And if you consider that party composition also has a massive impact on Awakened, even if they gain power, it will be difficult for them to prosper significantly.”

“Indeed. I understand.”

Bahamut emphasized that even among Awakened, quality was more important than quantity, and stated that it would be extremely difficult for extremist forces to acquire that level of skill.

When the dragon god himself declared they wouldn’t prosper much, Han Seong-geun stepped back with a relieved expression.

It was certainly a logical argument, and considering the enormous gap between ordinary Awakened and superhumans who had surpassed level 20, Awakened loyal to Seorabeol would become stronger, while those opposing Seorabeol would grow much more slowly.

There was no need for suppression; the state could sufficiently control the growth of civilian Awakened simply by monopolizing the experience points and training methods necessary for Awakened to grow.

“At the same time, don’t we need policies that will make Seoul citizens recognize Seorabeol as a trustworthy state and the new nation of the Korean peninsula, just as we gained the support of Gyeongju citizens?”

“That’s true.”

And it wasn’t just extremist forces who would receive these benefits.

Those who had little interest in politics or were moderates would greatly cheer for Seorabeol’s policy and could develop sufficient patriotism for the new country.

Considering that Awakened had established themselves as a privileged class in this apocalypse, Seorabeol’s policy was breaking down that privileged class and extending a ladder so everyone could become privileged.

Of course, it would be impossible to prevent new privileged classes based on levels from emerging in the future, but that was a problem for future cabinets to solve, not the current Seorabeol, so I’ll skip mentioning it here.

“To announce a fresh start for Seorabeol, not South Korea, I believe the nationwide Awakened project is necessary.”

“Understood.”

Despite these side effects, it was true that a bold policy was needed to announce the establishment of a new country, and thus a roadmap for Seoul’s reconstruction was created to show to the Seoul citizens.

Not long after, Seorabeol extensively promoted that they would reveal a roadmap related to reconstruction to all citizens living in Seoul, and accordingly, not only did numerous crowds gather, but drone cameras and countless broadcasting equipment began to be installed.

Among these were official Seorabeol channels, but most were from private media outlets, all focusing on Seorabeol’s first steps.

Receiving so much attention, Lee Su-a, Seorabeol’s spokesperson and administrative minister, momentarily tensed at the intense gaze of the Seoul citizens as she stood on the platform, but telling herself this was routine, she gradually began to speak.

“Respected and beloved citizens. Today, Seoul will be reborn in a new form as the capital of Seorabeol.”

Starting with conventional greetings while simultaneously making a statement recognizing Seoul as the capital of Seorabeol.

This officially ended the claim that had worried Seoul citizens—that Gyeongju would be Seorabeol’s capital—and most citizens were pleased with the fact that Seoul would be Seorabeol’s capital, while some citizens who had thought Seoul’s land values would collapse looked somewhat disappointed.

Of course, now that it was decided as Seorabeol’s capital, Seoul’s golden age would return, and accordingly, real estate prices would gradually rise, so it was natural to think that if one continued to hold land through redistribution, its value would increase.

However, the official announcement wasn’t made just to say this one thing, and the statement that Seoul was Seorabeol’s capital was merely the opening remark.

“First, Seorabeol promises you. We will implement a nationwide Awakened project. The post-apocalyptic world is not one where only the strong survive. It should be a world where the weak can also protect ordinary people.”

“Awakened project?”

Awakened project.

From the sound of it, it could be seen as benefits given to Awakened, but the internal content was so incredible that all Seoul citizens were shocked.

“Accordingly, I promise that we will implement the policies outlined here exactly as stated. We will integrate all medical institutions nationwide and provide free testing for Awakened potential to citizens above a certain age. Those with potential will be organized into state-run protection agencies and simultaneously receive education as official Awakened. And civilian Awakened who register with government agencies will receive the same benefits. Please check the PPT being presented now for details. And even if you don’t have talent as an Awakened…”

At first, people thought these were just benefits for Awakened, and citizens who weren’t Awakened began to feel increasingly negative toward Seorabeol with expressions that seemed to say “of course.” But the last sentence completely flipped public opinion.

“Seorabeol’s dragon god Bahamut has a method to awaken even ordinary people as Awakened. Don’t give up because you think you have no talent. The dragon god will not abandon you!”

They claimed to have a method to awaken ordinary people as Awakened.

Even if one had no talent, awakening was possible—at these words, all Seoul citizens who weren’t Awakened began to cheer.

Some factions who had hoped this roadmap announcement would fail made sour faces at the cheers, but they quickly convinced themselves that these words would prove to be an illusion.

However, the roadmap related to Awakened that Seorabeol announced was impressively structured even from an Awakened perspective.

“From this day, this moment, awakening will no longer be a privilege. Awakening will become a right of survival. Even ordinary citizens will now have their own means of survival!”

This alone showed that Seorabeol had prepared thoroughly to capture the hearts of both ordinary citizens and Awakened in Seoul, but there was still more to come.

People thought this alone would require the full capacity of a newly established nation, but Seorabeol’s limits were not yet in sight.

“Next, we have determined that the current constitution of South Korea is no longer suitable for the present world. Therefore, the Seorabeol cabinet will propose to revise the constitution to suit the apocalypse. First and foremost, the highest power of the state will maintain a constitutional monarchy with the Dragon Priestess as monarch. We will strengthen the legislature so that the existing cabinet and parliament can check each other, maintaining democratic elements. And we will codify the right to survival necessary in the apocalypse, specifying rights to food, housing, and medical care in the constitution. As long as many monsters and undead remain on the Korean peninsula, we have determined that civilians need weapons unlike in the past. Therefore, we will allow civilian armament, but implement a national registration system to prevent potential accidents.”

This was truly about establishing a new constitution as a newly formed nation.

From the perspective of Seoul citizens suffering from numerous special crimes and villain appearances that couldn’t be punished under South Korean law, it was impossible not to like the fact that laws to punish them would finally be created.

Above all, citizens were beginning to trust Seorabeol as a country because it wasn’t ignoring substance and was even revising the most important constitution.

Laws are important for governing a country, and without laws, there could only be chaos in a lawless zone, so this could be seen as the most necessary policy for Seoul citizens who had experienced a chaotic world for more than a year and a half.

“Through this, all citizens of Seorabeol have the right to lead a humane life, and those who threaten this will be judged in the name of the dragon god Bahamut.”

This was essentially the moment when the constitutional monarchy of Seorabeol was officially born, and now Seorabeol was established as a country befitting the apocalypse.

With Seorabeol’s declaration of establishment, they also left room for the dragon god Bahamut to intervene by stating that enemies threatening Seorabeol would be judged in the name of the dragon god Bahamut.

Especially from the perspective of Awakened who had witnessed the Northern Seoul recapture operation, this sounded like the dragon god could directly intervene if chaos was caused in Seorabeol, making some preemptively fearful.

“And we will propose a special law for Seoul’s reconstruction. Rebuilding Seoul is Seorabeol’s duty and responsibility. We will launch a special organization for Seoul’s reconstruction and accelerate rebuilding as the heart of the nation by concentrating nationwide resources. Simultaneously, we will confirm land reform while nationalizing existing property to redistribute wealth, reducing the gap between rich and poor, and reorganizing public assets. At the same time, we promise to establish an Awakened-centered security system to eradicate crime established in Seoul and prevent meaningless violent protests.”

This was a policy that all citizens… no, all citizens except the privileged 1% couldn’t help but cheer for.

Wealth redistribution!

Since a new country had been established, it was natural in East Asia to completely destroy the privileged class of the previous country to prove that it was completely different from the previous one.

Seorabeol wanted to create patriotic citizens loyal to Seorabeol through wealth redistribution, and indeed, many citizens of Seorabeol were falling in love with this policy.

“Isn’t this nation-destroying populism! You’re saying you’ll buy citizens’ votes with money!”

It’s true.

This much was indeed populism as the extremist forces claimed, and even Seorabeol would have nothing to say in defense this time.

Seorabeol was trying to buy the hearts of Seoul citizens with money.

However, the problem was that the newly established Seorabeol had all land and wealth nationalized, and they could distribute it as they pleased.

That was the privilege of Seorabeol, which had won this war, and Seorabeol was simply using its privilege to win the hearts of Seoul citizens.

“Long live Seorabeol! Long live dragon god Bahamut!”

However, it couldn’t be denied that the effect was tremendously good, and as soon as the announcement ended, the square was covered with massive cheers.

And wealth redistribution was ultimately a process that occurs during nation-building, so what was wrong with packaging that process to gain citizen support?

Moreover, while repeated wealth redistribution would be dangerous, wealth redistribution during nation-building was extremely natural, close to class mobility.

Thus, except for a very small minority, the rest of the citizens greatly cheered for Seorabeol’s policies and deeply accepted it as the beginning of a new country.

“Survival is no longer a choice. Everyone must become Awakened, and everyone must raise the fallen world again. Seorabeol fights for its citizens. And it will continue to do so. I swear in the name of the dragon god Bahamut.”

Simultaneously, a purple flag waved above Gwanghwamun Square, cutting through the sky.

On that flag was engraved the dragon emblem, which could be considered the symbol of Seorabeol.