Chapter 149: This is what you call brainwashing. (2)

If I gather these people and use them as labor, then convert them into members of the Kanora religion and replant them back into China, the Kanora religion will spread everywhere.

If that happens, the plan I originally had—to just lightly plant the seeds—will become a massive success.

But then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Oh, but wait. Isn’t Cheonma from the Murim world? Murim, you know.”

“Even if Murim is set in China, she was still Korean by blood. Besides, that world and this one are different.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

In that case, I can accept it.

Might as well give it a shot.

It’d be good to demonstrate it just once in Manchuria and let it spread.

For that, I’ll definitely need the help of the propagandist leader.

So first, I headed down to Pyongyang to meet up with Lee S-iyeon.

Pyongyang was just as devastated, but at least some buildings still remained.

“Kanora! Kanora! Kanora!”

The entire city was buzzing with noise.

There were tons of people.

After gathering from the surrounding areas, it was clear we had quite the crowd.

Looks like Lee Si-yeon and the revolutionary leader did a great job.

Yeah.

This is more than satisfying.

They both did their part really well.

Especially while we were working, it seems they had a church built—one large building was fully dedicated to the Kanora faith.

There’s even a statue of the goddess.

Looks like they made it quite well.

Maybe it’s thanks to the revolutionary leader doing a good job earlier, but everyone was now looking at me like I was the goddess.

I turned on my angelic wings and halo and addressed everyone:

“Please do not look at me, dear believers. Look at our Mother who stands behind me! The Goddess Kanora, our Lord and Mother, watches over all her children. If you always pledge your love and loyalty to her, she will bless your families with peace and good health. Now, everyone, embrace her as your Mother and fall into her arms! Long live the Kanora faith!”

“Long live the Kanora faith!”

Did everyone’s shout reach the goddess?

All of Pyongyang shimmered in purple light.

As expected of our goddess—true to her demonic nature—she seemed to enjoy the dark.

For a brief moment, all the citizens of Pyongyang turned black before returning to normal.

“Lee Si-yeon. You’ve done quite a good job.”

“Thank you.”

What’s with the silly smile? It’s not like she’s a lovesick girl.

“Please keep working hard for the Kanora faith.”

“If you want me to, I will.”

‘Hehehe.’

Perfect.

Lee Si-yeon is driven by guilt toward Park Si-woo, and now she willingly plays the role of a slave—makes her easy to use.

Later, I’ll make use of the hero too and try to stabilize North Korea.

“And revolutionary leader… What’s with your face?”

“Don’t even ask. Ugh, it’s just… look at my mouth. It’s so dried up, like I haven’t had a single nutrient this whole time.”

Looking closely, the revolutionary leader’s lips were cracked and shriveled.

Hmm… but honestly?

“That’s not my problem.”

“Well, I need your help again.”

“Again?”

He licked his parched lips and answered.

“The situation up here in the North isn’t great, you know. Someone’s gotta rebuild the ruins, right?”

Lee Si-yeon and the revolutionary leader had already cleared out the major monsters in the key cities of North Korea.

So now, all we had to do was start reconstruction around those cities.

Well, that’s mostly a job for South Korean construction companies.

In any case, I decided to make the revolutionary leader work even more.

Since we’ve started the propaganda, we might as well see it through to the end.

At my words, the revolutionary leader’s face twisted in frustration, but he stepped back onto the stage.

At this point, the North Koreans saw me as an angel and him as their guide.

Unlike before, when they had some resistance, they now looked at us with absolute devotion.

Then, the revolutionary leader shouted.

It was the very moment when the power of revolution activated.

“Believers! Under the banner of Kanora, let us labor! So that our Mother need not worry! Let us build a new world upon the ruins of the land our Mother watches over!”

“Kanora! Kanora! Kanora!”

The fanatical cries of the children continued.

All of North Korea, north of the DMZ, was shaking in the name of Kanora.

—Ah, yes, this is it! I finally found the right follower to vent my old frustrations!

…Although, really, was that frustration even necessary?

“But there is something I have yet to tell you all. It is about none other than the President of South Korea!”

“The president who just watched us suffer from across the river?”

“Why bring up a guy like that now?”

“Yeah, he’s useless anyway.”

As expected, Han Sang-jae isn’t exactly well-liked.

Honestly, from my perspective, his response wasn’t that bad.

Maybe before the cataclysm it would’ve been questionable, but right now, Korean Hunters aren’t exactly obedient to the President’s will anyway.

He’s still way better than those kings in Ukraine who just sit around flapping their mouths.

“But now, it’s different! The President of South Korea is the Pope of the Kanora faith! As the firstborn son of the Goddess Kanora, he will lead us!”

One single act of propaganda.

“Pope! Pope! Pope! Wooooooo!”

The brainwashing spreads as smoothly as flowing water.

Han Sang-jae, once reviled by North Koreans as human garbage for failing to fulfill his promise to aid their refugees, was suddenly anointed as the Pope of Kanora.

Heheheh.

Mr. President, you can’t escape Kanora either.

As I watched the North Koreans, Battle mage wiped sweat from her forehead.

“Isn’t this… just madness?”

“As long as we eat well and live well, who cares?”

After all, it’s they who believe in the Goddess Kanora, not us.

So really, nothing bad about it.

“That’s how it works?”

“I mean, if a country with hundreds of millions of people next door gets destroyed like that, you’d better show at least this level of madness.”

In any case, I summoned Gumiho to Pyongyang as well.

Lee Si-yeon alone wouldn’t be enough.

My plan was to use the unusual presence of Gumiho to try something new.

Then, I went north with the Returnees—up into Manchuria, into the northeastern provinces.

And there, we stirred the people up the same way.

“You too are now children of the Goddess Kanora, our Mother.”

“Woooooo! Kanora! Kanora!”

It took a bit more time here, but still, one by one, two by two—we converted a handful of believers, sent them off with hastily made goddess statues, and soon the number of believers grew.

And those new believers, frothing at the mouth, went on to create even more believers.

A revolution, you could say.

They became proud children of Kanora.

“But still… there are just so many Chinese people.”

Tempted by the pride of Korea, the propaganda and brainwashing of the revolutionary leader, and the sight of a real angel—I drew in the starving and ignorant Chinese and North Koreans from these regions into the Kanora faith.

Soon, their numbers reached tens of millions.

Yeah, it’s worth worrying about.

But I know—they’ll all accept it even if I smash in their skulls in the name of the Goddess.

“So we finish developing the North Korean land, then send them back. After that, we hand everything over to the President. If he suddenly falls into a wave of nationalism, crying out, ‘Ohh, Manchuria!’ and starts dreaming of reclaiming the full peninsula—well, then he’ll have to be the Pope of Kanora, even to the Chinese living in Manchuria.”

Honestly, it’s a guaranteed checkmate.

Han Sang-jae’s campaign promise did include absorbing North Korea, and since he advertised it himself, he won’t pass up this opportunity.

Any ambitious leader of the Korean Peninsula will eventually want that unclaimed land.

I tapped on my smartphone and sent a message to the President’s chief secretary.

‘Heheheh. Please do your best as the Pope of Kanora on the Korean Peninsula.’

***

Blue House

Han Sang-jae was in a great mood today.

Unusually good.

He didn’t know why, but he just felt great.

Maybe some days are just like this.

His home life was peaceful, his children had grown up well, and one of them was even a fully-fledged Hunter now—not like those trash hybrid Hunters from the Guild Union.

Yeah, this is probably why he felt so good—because everything was going well.

Come to think of it, how’s that Awakened Education Program going?

He couldn’t trust the idiots, so he only picked the smart ones among the Hunters, created a custom curriculum for them, and made them professors at the academy.

Han Sang-jae glanced sideways at Park Chun-seok, who was walking beside him.

“How’s the Awakened Academy education program going?”

“Yes, sir. The Department of Awakened Education said the program will greatly help cultivate the next generation of Hunters.”

Hmm, a satisfactory answer indeed.

“As expected, no president is quite like me. I’m satisfied.”

“Ah, also… the Saintess has sent word.”

“Hm? What is it?”

If it’s from the Saintess, it must be good news.

Even when only interests align, as long as you cater to someone’s mood properly, the benefits come naturally.

Those dumb Hunters couldn’t even properly compromise with the Saintess because of their pride over something as petty as their own position.

“Um… Your dream has come true.”

“Dream? Aside from crushing those ignorant Hunters with short tempers and even shorter educations?”

“Yes. You know… that dream.”

Park Chun-seok glanced at the map of the Korean Peninsula hanging on the wall.

No way.

He couldn’t be talking about the Peninsula, right? No way…

“The Peninsula? You mean we secured North Korea?”

“Yes. They captured the dragon at Mount Baekdu and made it the guardian dragon, and the North Koreans have been persuaded—brainwashed, essentially.”

“Hah… incredible. At this pace, did she target North Korea instead of China from the start? How could something like this… So, could I get my hands on that unclaimed territory sooner than expected?”

Human greed knows no bounds.

Han Sang-jae suddenly turned his eyes north of the Yalu River, intrigued by how swiftly the Saintess had absorbed North Korea.

“Th-that might not even be necessary.”

“What?”

“The Chinese in Manchuria have also been converted to the Kanora religion. They’re now within Korea’s sphere of influence.”

Han Sang-jae couldn’t believe his ears.

If that were true… wasn’t that effectively gaining control over Manchuria?

With North and South China tearing each other apart like colts stuck in a swamp, and Taiwan lacking the clout compared to Korea, no one could exert influence over Manchuria now—except Korea, the homeland of the Kanora religion.

But wait… let’s think rationally here.

‘Bullshit.’

This was utter nonsense.

No matter how amazing the Saintess was—how long had she even been gone?

Has it even been a month?

He hadn’t really kept track.

As president, he didn’t have time to sit around monitoring what the Kanora Church was up to.

Was this some kind of April Fool’s joke?

He checked the calendar—it wasn’t.

Jokes have limits, don’t they?

Hey, Park Chun-seok.

April Fool’s Day is over.

Are you seriously telling me the Saintess managed to take back what’s been lost for over a thousand years in just a few days—

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

“Sir…?”

But when he saw that Park Chun-seok’s expression was completely sincere, Han Sang-jae had no choice but to accept it.

“Yes. And she’s also sent a Portal Stone. She said if you arrive at the appointed time, everything will be ready. Oh, and she left a message.”

“What is it?”

“Since Your Excellency has permitted the Kanora faith, she expects you to play along with their messaging.”

Well.

They probably used the Kanora religion to stir people up.

Otherwise, there’s no way they could’ve pulled off North Korean unification this fast.

Religion tends to hold enormous meaning in times of hardship.

Yes… if the Saintess has already prepared the feast and is even feeding me the spoon, how can I not eat?

“Hm. Alright. Let’s go, then.”

President Han Sang-jae and Chief Secretary Park Chun-seok used the Portal Stone and arrived in Pyongyang.

And when they entered a lavish room, they saw Hunter Lee Si-yeon waiting before them.

“You’ve arrived, Your Excellency.”

“Oh, Hunter Lee Si-yeon. It’s been a while. Is this our first private meeting since your medal ceremony?”

So she had gone to North Korea and joined forces with the Saintess.

What a patriot.

If only all Hunters could be this cooperative.

Now then—it was time to see just what was waiting for him here.