Ch.306306. The First National Assembly General Election (3)

Two days after the Seorabeol Vigilante Corps suppressed the extremist demonstration at Gwanghwamun.

This time, apparently targeting the police who hadn’t stopped the Vigilante Corps’ suppression, the extremists rushed to the police headquarters in Seodaemun District and forced their way in to protest.

Their movements had now degraded into a kind of show, with people gathering to mock their behavior, and the press beginning to report on their every action.

Either unaware that Seorabeol citizens were laughing at them, or perhaps thinking these people were their supporters, an extremist representative took the microphone on stage and began speaking.

“Whose side are the police on? Citizens are being attacked by thugs in the streets, but the police did nothing! Utterly incompetent police! Are you truly the people’s staff?”

This was a statement targeting the Seorabeol Vigilante Corps, which had forcibly suppressed the extremist demonstration two days ago in the name of restoring public order, while simultaneously criticizing the incompetence of the Seorabeol police for not stopping them.

At the same time, video footage of the vigilante corps’ forceful suppression during the demonstration was being shown on the platform as evidence. As the footage played, the extremist representative, with a triumphant expression, began shouting about police incompetence in a spirited voice.

“Why didn’t the police stop them? Those aren’t vigilantes, they’re thugs! If there are laws, enforce them! Is this a country?”

“Right! Right! Right! Is this a country? Are these the police of this country?!”

“Or were you not the people’s staff but just the dictator’s dogs? Hahaha. Citizens, look! This is what divine dictatorship looks like!”

At that moment, a woman with an annoyed expression walked out from the tightly closed police headquarters door.

Wearing an ordinary police uniform without any armament, the woman’s expression quickly soured when she saw the extremist representative, and the representative’s expression also gradually turned fierce at her disrespectful attitude.

The representative’s expression seemed to say, “How dare you not show respect in front of citizens who are like heaven?” or “How dare a young female officer not bow her head before an elder?”

Even when the extremist forces glared fiercely or threatened her with weapons, the woman remained calm with an expression that seemed to ask, “Is a fly passing by?” Her arrogant demeanor made the extremist forces feel they were being completely disrespected.

In fact, she seemed to be completely ignoring their threats.

“So, despite the great task of rebuilding Seoul, you self-proclaimed citizens who don’t participate in reconstruction efforts and only create noise pollution—what brings such lowly people to this precious place?”

Her calm manner of speaking to the extremist forces, showing no fear despite the threats and roars before her, only served to provoke them further.

Some wanted to charge the police headquarters, as the female officer’s attitude was beyond their comprehension, and they wanted to beat her down with their weapons and turn her into a bloody mess.

But seemingly unaware of this fact, the female officer calmly questioned their logic even in such a brutal situation.

“So, are you people actually citizens we should protect?”

“What?”

“I mean, you say you’re citizens of the Republic of Korea, not Seorabeol citizens. We’re the people’s staff for Seorabeol citizens, aren’t we?”

At that moment, silence fell.

In fact, the female officer’s logic could be somewhat correct.

They had always denied Seorabeol and claimed to be citizens of the Republic of Korea, so from Seorabeol’s perspective, they could be considered illegal immigrants.

But when such an explosive statement came from the mouth of an unknown female officer, the extremist representative was at a loss for words and began to rage.

“Now, everyone, please look at this carefully. Here’s a list of vigilante corps members based on Seoul city standards. They’re all either retired Seorabeol soldiers from after the war, civilian former National Intelligence Service agents, or activists cooperating with Seoul’s reconstruction efforts. They’re all Seorabeol citizens registered with Seorabeol resident IDs. Calling such ordinary citizens ‘thugs’ is going too far.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Then what about the weapons they pulled out? Why are civilians carrying guns and sabers as big as people?”

“Oh, that’s not against the law. It’s actually legal.”

“What.”

While before the apocalypse there would have been discussions about gun laws or knife possession permits, in the current post-apocalyptic world, all were legal.

What Seorabeol strictly monitored were Bahamut Bullets that could threaten even Awakened individuals, or heavy weapons that guaranteed strong firepower. Rifles below that level weren’t much of a threat to the Awakened, so laws had been established allowing any Awakened person to own them.

Above all, since monsters or undead could appear in the city, the government was actually encouraging citizens to possess weapons for their safety.

“Rather, isn’t it disgracing public authority to allow armed thugs to pose as unarmed citizens? Our Seorabeol has extremely strong public authority, you know? If those people were really armed thugs, wouldn’t we have deployed long ago?”

In fact, Seorabeol’s public authority might have been stronger than the old Republic of Korea.

Since the opponents were armed with firearms, the police confronting them were naturally armed with Bahamut Bullets and, if necessary, equipped with gear enchanted with Bahamut coins to exercise overwhelming violence in the name of suppression.

The police riot squads on the front lines were all high-level Awakened, and Seorabeol’s guilds greatly feared their deployment, working hard every day to avoid getting caught by the police.

Naturally, since many of the vigilantes were also Awakened affiliated with Seorabeol’s military or related agencies, they knew Seorabeol’s public authority well and never crossed the lines set by Seorabeol.

“But we were attacked by those thugs! We were suppressed—how do you explain that?”

“It’s the apocalypse, isn’t it? Isn’t that ending relatively mild? I really don’t understand.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Is this what you call a country?”

The funny point was that being “suppressed” really did end mildly.

Even if they claimed excessive suppression, from an Awakened person’s perspective, no matter how many ordinary people gathered, they had the power to easily slaughter them. If such Awakened individuals ended things by simply subduing them without crippling anyone, it could truly be said that they had shown mercy.

The female officer—no, the Special Police Squad Captain Jin A-yeon—sighed with an expression of genuine incomprehension as she looked at the extremist representative.

After all, if an Awakened person had truly resisted or fought with determination, losing limbs would have been the minimum, and it wouldn’t have been strange if someone had been left disabled.

Yet the fact that everyone’s limbs were intact, no one had been disabled, and they could move normally after just two days meant that the vigilante corps had strictly adhered to the lines set by Seorabeol to prevent Seorabeol’s public authority from deploying.

“So. We’re letting potential traitors like you be. Isn’t that country enough?”

“What era do you think this is, talking about traitors! If anything, Seorabeol is the traitor that usurped the Republic of Korea!”

“The Republic of Korea collapsed long ago, didn’t it? A year ago, only corpses remained.”

Eventually, the word “traitor” slipped from A-yeon’s mouth, and the extremist representative foamed at the mouth in protest.

A-yeon was so baffled by this reaction that she openly asked if the Republic of Korea truly still existed.

Sure, now one could see new buildings rising in place of destroyed ones, but just a few months ago, this place had been a battlefield, showing a landscape where anyone could tell that the Republic of Korea had perished.

The abnormal order and unstable authority had been maintained thanks to the Hero of Seoul, and that Hero of Seoul was now acknowledging Seorabeol’s superiority and staying quiet. Seeing the losers repeatedly raising their voices, A-yeon looked at the protesters before her with a headache.

“Times have changed, mister. Now, those who threaten order and survival are evil, and it’s natural to suppress such evil.”

“So the police are on the side of those vigilantes?”

“Yes. They’re following the law and have registered their names on resident IDs. That makes them citizens of our country.”

Of course, the police were on the side of citizens, and since the vigilante corps were also citizens, naturally they were on their side.

At this simple logic, just as the protesters seemed unable to tolerate this outrage any longer and were about to charge the police headquarters…

“By the way, after clashing with the vigilante corps two days ago, you started a riot to vent your frustration, didn’t you? Running to the shopping district, attempting looting and arson. We received all the reports from the shopping district. When the Geass Scroll arrives, it seems many people will have something to say. In this situation, do I have any reason to like you?”

“You female cop bitch!”

After mockingly revealing the criminal acts of the extremist forces, the representative, seemingly unable to tolerate this insult, charged at A-yeon with a blade, but it was a grave miscalculation to think that would work.

A-yeon literally crumpled the incoming blade with one finger and subdued the extremist representative with that same finger.

It was literally a case of restraint on her part, as a serious punch could have killed someone, but to ordinary eyes, seeing a slender woman easily crumple a blade wielded by a large adult male with just one finger left them dumbfounded.

With the realization of how great the difference was between Awakened and ordinary people, the fervor directed at the police headquarters instantly turned into a chilling silence.

“R-run away!”

There were no brave Mencius-like figures willing to stand and fight against such a monster, and at someone’s word, the protesters dispersed.

Watching the extremist forces flee with their tails between their legs, A-yeon said:

“Worse than villains.”

It was a sight that naturally drew a sigh.

However, their fear of A-yeon alone was very brief.

“That’s right! This is all Seorabeol’s tyranny! Because Seorabeol takes everything, poor people like us have no choice but to exist!”

All of this was the tyranny of the police, and the extremist forces called themselves oppressed people, beginning to attempt connections with political circles like the extremist forces of the old apocalypse.

After all, these extremist forces weren’t just one or two people, and since they could bring a significant influence to elections, they judged that there would certainly be forces trying to contact them.

Once again, they were thinking in terms of the old apocalypse standards, and according to that common sense, they expected it to work this time too.

Yes, eventually, to win elections, the political circles would reach out to them first.

“Yes, we must fight in the way we know best!”

“Anywhere is fine! The Dragon God Association is good, the Constitutional Democratic Party is good too. We’ll be your party’s kingmakers!”

Yes, that was their specialty.

Inciting hatred and agitation through radical gatherings, and staged public opinion on the internet were their main specialties.

It was also their specialty for that public opinion to be disconnected from the actual scene, and politicians would benefit from such staged public opinion, and they would receive compensation from politicians who benefited.

During the election period, which still had a month left, there would certainly be those who would use them to gain votes, and politicians who received their help would say:

“I saw it well. It was helpful.”

Yes, this one line would be enough.

But unfortunately, unlike their imagination, the composition of Seorabeol’s National Assembly after the apocalypse was very different from the old Republic of Korea.

As it happened, both major parties they were counting on—the Dragon God Association and the Constitutional Democratic Party—were completely new parties that had broken away from the past Republic of Korea.

Of course, the people were local council members from the old Republic of Korea, but even those local council members had been called reform-minded independents before the apocalypse, and for such reformists to appeal as a new party after the apocalypse, they had to completely break away from existing parties.

To such independents, the consolidation of extremist forces was:

“Absolutely not.”

“If they knew how much trouble we went through because of them. That’s a poisoned chalice!”

They knew how dangerous it was to join hands with them.

Above all, the imperial presidential position that symbolized the Republic of Korea had already disappeared, and all that remained was the position of Prime Minister. To receive help from extremist forces that denied Seorabeol in order to ascend to that position?

Before that, they would either physically receive a Yunadeath Beam from Yu-na, or before it reached the ears of the Dragon God Bahamut, they would be physically beaten to death by other fellow council members.

No matter how much influence they could bring to the election, knowing that their lives could literally be at stake:

“I’m sorry, but our party has declared a break from that kind of politics.”

“We will not return to the Republic of Korea era. We will move toward a new future.”

There was no hesitation in those voices, only firm separation.

“No! There must be parties that need our help!”

But despite both major parties thoroughly excluding the extremist forces, they weren’t disappointed.

After all, there were other parties that wanted their forces.

“The Korea First Party would like to invite you all.”

Yes, the Korea First Party, which had barely secured a seat in the parliament, began absorbing these extremist forces to inflate their power.

However, contrary to expectations, only the Korea First Party, which had been classified as an extremist force in Seorabeol from the beginning, actively engaged with them. The rest of the non-parliamentary parties didn’t even attempt contact.

Rather, they were classified as the number one target to be wary of, for the practical reason that joining with extremist forces would make it impossible to aim for parliamentary seats.

“Moreover, do those who say they aren’t Seorabeol citizens have the right to exercise a precious vote?”

Yes, this upcoming vote was to elect members of Seorabeol’s National Assembly, not the Republic of Korea’s, and there was no way the votes of those who claimed not to be Seorabeol citizens would have any influence.

“T-that’s election fraud! Why can’t we exercise our right to vote?”

As the election gradually approached, the extremist forces belatedly realized this and began claiming it was election fraud based on that logic.

But with just that one thing, they had to realize, knowingly or unknowingly, that the world was changing in the opposite direction from what they knew, and politics was being recorded in the name of those who survived.

As always, it was the apocalyptic reality where the inept do not survive.