Chapter 129 – 21. Jeong Ye-Won (1)
On June 13, a research facility belonging to the National Intelligence Service was attacked by unknown terrorists.
As a result, there is speculation that the government’s regulatory legislation regarding Awoken will also become more severe than before.
Reporter Lee Min-hyung reports.
As you can see, small sinkholes are being discovered one after another in downtown Seoul.
As if the ground had completely collapsed, there has recently been an incident where buildings in the area where the sinkhole occurred completely collapsed.
According to the government’s official announcement, after a terrorist group occupied a research facility belonging to the National Intelligence Service on the 13th, the most likely hypothesis was that the sinkhole occurred due to excessive shock to the ground during the fighting.
Accordingly, the government has put forward a position that “Citizens who have suffered material damage will be compensated in proportion to the amount of damage in accordance with the Special Disaster Act.”
On the other hand, the criticism of citizens who have doubts about the government’s response to the accident that occurred again also rose strongly.
A domestic Awakened group called the ‘Monster Response Committee’ maintains that it will continue protesting until the government devises reasonable countermeasures and promises to prevent a recurrence of the incident.
Regarding this, Director of the National Intelligence Service, Yeo Joon-min, announced directly at the protest site, “We are currently putting all our efforts into securing the identity of the terrorists, and we will actively accept the opinions of the people and strengthen the manual for the Awakened.” This is a situation where citizens’ anxiety is getting bigger because this is not made public.
“Even if you try to do that… You’re just going to make it a nuisance.”
Pod—
The screen is off.
* * *
A week has passed.
It feels like more than a month has passed, but why does the hard time always pass slowly?
It seems that I have been living without knowing what is going on around me for the past few days as I have been so busy.
“But since I said I’m going to work a little less intense from this week… I’ll have time to play with Ha-yul, right?”
Even after all the lectures were over, I was still thinking about making time for a date this week because I was still bothered by Ha Yul looking at me with pitiful eyes as I was being called to the principal’s office for special training.
Of course, if I asked if training with Sanya had any effect, even if it took away the precious time with the heroines, I think I could of course nod my head.
It felt like the way I saw the world was changing just by learning how to use magical energy in the past week.
If the method Sanya taught me is like cutting and eating steak with a fork and knife, then perhaps the method I’ve been using so far has been at the level of tearing off meat with my hands.
“It wasn’t even a hand, it was actually a foot…”
Anyway, now that I realized how to use a small amount of mana as efficiently as possible, it was time to learn how to use waves in earnest.
It is Sanya’s unique ability, the sonar detection system.
It is said that it is the ability to grasp the information of sound waves occurring within a certain radius and analyze it in real time, but honestly, I was a little worried that it would be difficult to learn just by listening.
“I did it for a full week, but… Would you mind subtracting one day?”
Last week, I couldn’t speak properly because I was too conscious, but today, I headed to school, determined to get permission without fail.
However, the front gate of the academy was very crowded today.
Usually there are no people in the early morning like this… Has something happened?
The moment I ignored it and tried to pass through the front door, a sad-looking man stopped in front of me and held out a stiff stack of papers.
“Hey, it looks like you’re a student, but I’d like to ask for your signature.”
“A signature?”
“Ah, we are members of a group called the Monster Response Committee, did you see the sinkhole news this time? I think this will be the case. Also, when things like this happen, future awakened people should reach out their hands so that we can straighten our shoulders and work hard, right? Ahaha.”
As for the sinkhole news… Oh, that’s it.
There was a news story that said that the ground collapsed as the classified facility was destroyed.
I had seen it on TV, but my memory was hazy, probably because I was so distracted these days.
“Uh… I’m sorry, but I’ll just let it go. I’m not very good at that kind of thing.”
“Ayu, well, it’s okay. It’s not compulsory, so think about it slowly and come back whenever you feel like doing it! Now, I’ll give you my business card, so if you have any business, please contact me on my cell phone. Study hard!”
The man took out a thin business card from his wallet, put it in his hand, and left immediately.
When he turned his head, he still had a smile on his face.
Even though he would be offended if he refused openly, he seemed to be smiling as if it was no big deal.
‘I wonder if I’m holding a business card…’
If it was the Monster Response Committee, I had heard of it a lot.
It was necessary to pay attention to the fact that he was scheduled to lead the large-scale event ‘Evil Killing Case’.
Although he refused to sign, it was not a big problem since it was a task that could be done at any time later.
“Please sign only once!”
“Can I use it here…?”
“Yes! Thanks for signing! Have a nice day!”
Even though it was morning, I hurriedly headed to the building where the lecture room was located, avoiding the man’s loud voice.
“By the way… Did this kind of news come out in the original story?”
After walking for a few minutes along the wide clearing, I suddenly had that thought.
The same incident probably happened in the original work, but apparently there was not a single sentence about the raid in the novel.
Even I, who was more of an avid reader of the original work than anyone else, was unaware of Xian’s plan until I overheard his conversation with Ray.
“Couldn’t it be… Because the public’s suspicions grew because of the appearance of the sea dragon, this incident couldn’t be covered…?”
As I reached that point, I suddenly felt a chill.
I thought the subjugation of the sea dragon itself went well with media control, but I never expected that it would become a butterfly’s wings and bring about a huge storm of disclosure of the circumstances of the raid.
If people’s anxiety is further amplified, and hostility toward monsters soars and becomes unbearable…
Perhaps even the massacre of the demons could have happened much earlier than in the original work.
“Anyway, I’m still on the moderate side, so I think I’ll be able to get over it if I coax it well…”
It’s also really difficult.
No matter how you get a chance to meet the head of the organization, you can’t say ‘Please lower your guard against monsters a little bit’ face to face, so it was a very complicated problem.
Perhaps the only good thing is that they haven’t resorted to drastic measures yet.
It is mandatory to detect magical powers to hunt out demons.
The time when the bill was adopted based on strong opinions despite the opposition of some citizens as invasion of privacy, that was the starting point of the case.
“Sanya will deal with it on her own, so just give her a few words, and Joo-ha… Whoa.”
I tried to breathe in the crisp morning air, but my head is still complicated.
No matter how much I think about it, the answer won’t come out anyway, so it’s right to put aside for now and focus on training.
I’m just making people worry.
I wondered if I should have gone to school a little later, but my body was already in a state where I passed the long hallway and reached the front of the classroom.
“Good morning… Nobody’s there.”
It was still quiet inside the classroom, probably because I arrived early today.
I unpacked my bag on the seat and got up, still sulking, to take a short walk during the spare time.
And the moment I opened the door, what caught my eye was a well-groomed girl with purple hair.
“D-I finally met you…”
Jeong Ye-won blocks the door and looks at me with a very nervous expression.
What the hell is this morning?
“Would you like to come to my house…? No, please come to my house…!”
My head started pounding again.
