Ch.571Chapter 22. The Price of Labor (3)

Someone speaks to me from the sky.

“Goblin, have you deceived people again?”

The heavens rage, condemning me.

“What about the upset feelings of those you’ve deceived?”

Someone severely criticizes me for deceiving and misleading people.

To this, I would answer:

[A villain simply did villainous things.]

I have never claimed to be a hero.

My identity is that of a villain, and while there are degrees of evil deeds, I don’t refrain from committing them.

Knowing my actions are evil, I conscientiously call myself a villain.

Therefore.

“Shocking! A mecha clone created by The Syndicate?!”

“Is it an android, a bioroid, or perhaps a homunculus?”

“Does Black Taejo dream of electric sheep?”

Even if the whole world questions Black Taejo’s identity, it’s none of my business.

Just.

The truth is simply that Black Taejo is Tae Jo himself.

People aren’t interested in the truth.

For people, rather than the truth that “Black Taejo is actually Tae Jo’s split personality, who committed an unavoidable sin against his parents when young, and created this dual personality at that young age as psychological protection, lived recklessly with a childish personality but occasionally worked as a hitman for important national matters, and after the Goblin called him Black Lord of Radiant Wings and worked with Lord of Radiant Wings as an ability consultant for S-rank heroes’ problems, giving various advice that led him to reveal himself to the world as Black Taejo, and during the raid on Haeguneul’s blood factory, his interests aligned with The Syndicate’s, so he pretended to be a fake while actually being the real one, deceiving everyone”…

“Black Taejo is a clone!!”

This explanation is much easier for people to understand.

“The Syndicate created a clone!”

How light and easy is it to say that?

Just blame everything on The Syndicate.

“How did they create a clone?”

“Who knows!”

“But can we really call it a clone?”

Some people raised questions.

“Look! It says ‘TZ-039’! That means Tae Jo model 39! It’s a serial number!”

“Can you see it in this video? Black Taejo’s face got damaged. After taking a hit from Tae Jo and surviving the explosion, his synthetic skin peeled off revealing mechanical parts underneath!”

“It looks slightly photoshopped. Doesn’t it seem to be floating above the skin?”

“That’s just because of the poor image quality!”

However, suspiciously frequent internet dwellers continued to upload evidence to resolve these doubts.

And so.

Many people began to believe the clone theory.

While people still question how such a clone could be made or controlled, the clone theory has become the established theory thanks to various plausible pieces of evidence.

“Everyone! This is all nonsense! Black Taejo is actually Tae Jo himself, and that Armored Taejo is just an actor in disguise!”

Occasionally.

“Tae Jo joined hands with The Syndicate and with their help pretended to be a clone! The Black Taejo who fought Cheok Jun-gyeong on Ganghwa Island and the one who made that rude comment at the press conference are the same person!”

There was about one person making such unfounded claims, but they quickly disappeared from people’s attention due to comment terrorism by those who suspiciously had more time resources than others.

[Internet public opinion battles are ultimately about quantity. The more people spreading an opinion, the more advantageous the battle becomes.]

Didn’t Sun Tzu’s Art of War say something like that?

The best strategy is to secure more numbers than your opponent.

Before discussing the training condition of soldiers or the quality of weapons, securing more soldiers than your opponent generally gives you an advantageous position.

That’s the situation now.

“Hey, have you guys heard about those ‘blood-suckers’ that came out of the underground in Hwanghae Province?”

“Ah lol, are you talking about those infuriating leeches?”

“Oh my, the sunlight is so strong! Is there any shade? Your Honor, this post was written by the Goblin.”

Suspiciously, Haeguneul-related topics are rolling around everywhere.

And these aren’t positive news like Haeguneul’s suspiciously timed discount events, but clearly negative news.

Yet the usual “mindless Haeguneul defenders” who protect Haeguneul with any logic aren’t appearing.

The time wizards who guard internet communities 24 hours a day, from dawn to dawn, have all disappeared as if by agreement.

“Where did user ‘OO’ go? Did they die? Finally, the ghost has vanished. Did they achieve enlightenment?”

“This guy who used to upload videos every day suddenly stopped. All the other content creators are coming out to explain the clone theory, but what happened to this guy?”

“The time of his last comment was just before the fire in Hwanghae Province when the leeches escaped…”

And people began to notice one by one.

“Hey, could these guys be the Hwanghae leeches?”

Those who seemed to have three times more time than others were actually people working in three shifts sitting in front of computers.

“I heard Haeguneul was running a comment army, and it seems that was true.”

“This channel was said to be sponsored by Haeguneul, but it turns out it was operated by Haeguneul employee leeches…”

“No! They’re not bots! Not factory-made mindless shield comments, but handcrafted three-shift operations!”

Without the usual rebuttals calling such topics nonsense, people burst out with what they had been holding inside and laughed wildly.

“Haeguneul hired former North Korean cyber warriors and hackers, and they’re controlling Korean online communities from underground!!”

It’s just a humorous post on the internet.

Everyone’s just saying it for laughs.

“Hey, gallery admin! Aren’t you managing the Hero Gallery? Don’t you see the state of the gallery while getting paid 2 million won a month?!”

“All the part-timers are dead now. We should confiscate all their salaries.”

“But who pays their salaries?”

“Dunno. Probably Haeguneul.”

It was just a joke.

However.

[Why is this true.]

Everything was true.

Even more than the Goblin deceiving the world, Haeguneul had already been deceiving people.

“Hey!!!”

In front of Haeguneul headquarters in Busan.

“Aren’t you ashamed of writing comments while getting paid by Haeguneul?!”

Tens of thousands of people gathered, shouting with veins popping in their necks.

“Some people work more than 10 hours a day breaking their backs, while you sit in front of computers underground making personal attacks and getting paid 3 million won regularly?!”

The driving force behind gathering in this plaza on a precious weekend is none other than ‘anger’.

“You praise us as employees to our faces, but behind our backs, you mobilize comment armies to call us ‘2 million trash’! Is that what headquarters should be doing?! You filthy headquarters people!”

What kind of anger is this?

It’s clearly a sense of deprivation.

And the same goes for the “established media” that Haeguneul had carefully oiled.

“This is Hojeong Plaza in front of Haeguneul headquarters. As allegations that Haeguneul mobilized comment armies have been confirmed as ‘fact’, angry citizens…”

“I’ve worked at Haeguneul for over 30 years. But I’ve never been as ashamed of my business card as I am now. Working in the factory for 30 years, covered in oil…”

“What is this if not leeches? When we buy expensive Haeguneul products, the margins all become their blood and flesh, right? The leeches that suck the people’s blood were there in Hwanghae Province…”

Leeches.

Coincidentally, the means by which they exported their blood became the word that symbolizes them.

[No matter how much the Great Catastrophe has ushered in an era of ability users, what ordinary citizens care about is money.]

No matter how much money sports stars make, it feels like a separate world, so there’s little emotional impact.

But the story of the leeches is different.

If ordinary people can directly compare it to their own lives, that story hits harder than any tragedy.

“I heard the neighbor’s son Cheolsu won the lottery jackpot.”

You might feel envious, but it doesn’t provoke murderous impulses.

But.

“I heard the neighbor’s kid watches V-tube for 8 hours a day and just defends Haeguneul in comments, but gets 3 million won a month.”

If that’s the case.

[Of course they’ll flip out.]

Currently.

Regardless of the upcoming World Cup, those who have been jolted awake by the reality of the leeches are the first to come to the plaza to denounce Haeguneul.

[It’s burning well. Blazing. Even more than the land of Hwanghae Province.]

As the situation continues to worsen to the point where violence might break out if the problem grows any larger.

“Manager Do? The preparations are complete.”

Qiongqi, Yoon Hye-ra, held the switch to the bomb that would materialize everyone’s anger.

“Should I detonate it now?”

[Now would be perfect. Ah, this is Goblin. Respond, ‘Electrician’.]

[…Electrician, ready.]

[Begin.]

[Roger.]

The moment a woman with a familiar voice responded to me, the screen on the wall of Haeguneul headquarters flickered.

“What, what is this…?”

“Is that…The Syndicate?”

As The Syndicate’s emblem appeared, the video showed a certain location.

“That place is…”

[I was a leech.]

A suspiciously ordinary young man appeared before everyone in a studio-like setting, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.

[I’m making a conscience declaration. I will tell everyone exactly what happened underground in Hwanghae Province.]

Whether the words from this unnamed young man’s mouth, presumably from a hacked video prepared by The Syndicate, are true or not is unclear.

[I received 3 million won monthly for comment work. And…I had one syringe worth of blood drawn every day, earning an additional 2 million won per month.]

“!!”

Everyone in the plaza gapes in shock.

“Damn, I’ve worked at Haeguneul for 30 years and make 5 million won a month…!”

And their anger, with the next words:

[Net income.]

Exploded.