## Chapter 2402 – 2402. Eternal Eden
“Kill the president? What on earth are you thinking? Sometimes I want to crack open your head and see what’s inside. …Can I crack it open now? I don’t think you’d die anyway.”
Na Chae-young’s glare at me was fierce. I understand. It’s out of the blue to suggest killing the leader of a country.
Has President Jung Woo-hyun ruined Korea? Quite the opposite. Korea suffered damage due to the D virus, but it handled it better than other countries. His capabilities have been sufficiently proven.
Is President Jung Woo-hyun directly using his power to interfere with Sungak Elementary School? That’s not the case either. He hasn’t personally called me even once. He hasn’t made any significant proposals. Rather, it wouldn’t be strange to see him maintaining a good relationship through the NIS. I don’t know how much influence the president has on the NIS’s course of action yet.
“The current president is doing well. His approval rating is over 70%. If the president dies now… Korea’s situation will definitely worsen. Why do you think we need to kill the president?”
“There’s no basis. It’s more of a feeling. That guy probably won’t step down even when his term ends.”
I can’t explain it in detail. It’s a gut feeling. But there’s a saying that gut feelings are the manifestation of the subconscious based on experience. And I have an overwhelming amount of experience.
“A presidential dictatorship. Given the circumstances, it’s not impossible. But is that really the case? It’s not easy to become a dictator without considerable preparation. This isn’t just any country, it’s Korea.”
“The world is changing. It’ll be even more different in two years.”
“……”
Na Chae-young rested her chin in her hand, lost in thought. I like this about her. She takes even absurd things seriously.
“What you’re saying isn’t entirely impossible. During the summit terror incident, the president had Awakened Ones as his bodyguards. Thanks to their protection, the president was unharmed. …It’s still just speculation, but what if the president is gathering Awakened Ones to train as his private army? There’s only one reason for that.”
“So you agree?”
“No. Nothing is certain yet. Even if it were, attacking the president now is dangerous.”
“I can just go and assassinate him myself.”
“We don’t have any information about the president. There are too many variables. Can you assassinate the president without leaving a trace? I’m asking seriously, so answer seriously.”
I looked down at my body. Even in my current state, I could kill dozens of ordinary people with just a knife. But they’re not ordinary people, they’re trained soldiers, and on top of that, they’re Awakened Ones with abilities and excellent equipment.
“……Unless I’m as lucky as winning the lottery, it’s impossible.”
It’s bitter, but there’s nothing I can do. This is reality. It seems like I could easily assassinate him if I had a space-shifting scroll, but… I can’t use it in this world.
“The opportunity to kill the president will come. It’s just not now. More than that, what we need to do is strengthen our foundation. We have many enemies. Oh, what were the results of interrogating those guys?”
I hadn’t explained it to Na Chae-young yet. I explained about the Signals I had learned about this time.
Signals was an organization in the United States.
An organization of entrepreneurs, politicians, and officers. It’s different from a criminal organization. They commit crimes, but their goal isn’t money. Signals was preparing for the coming age of destruction.
There were at least 30 players gathered in Signals. They were scattered throughout the United States. Neither Jo Jung-hong nor Marcus knew their exact headquarters.
Signals’ goal this time was to capture me alive. If that was difficult, they would kill me and take my corpse. Signals’ plan was to freeze the corpse and create a clone with cloning technology that would be developed later.
“30 players…. Among them, there must be at least 10 Technologists and Bionics. I understand why their technology is ahead of ours.”
Politicians and entrepreneurs gathered. They could spend money and resources lavishly on investments. It was natural that Signals’ technology was more advanced than ours.
“Shouldn’t we have at least one Bionic?”
Na Chae-young, a Technologist, was specialized in machines.
“It would be good to have one. We could deal with various situations. The combat stimulants that Bionics make would be a great help to the soldiers. What are you going to do about Signals? You’re not thinking of contacting them directly to protest, are you?”
“I won’t do anything meaningless like that.”
“We can’t retaliate. The scale of their power is different. Besides, Signals is in the United States.”
“And Signals will become more dangerous as time goes on.”
“…In the original game, an organization like Signals couldn’t appear. In the game, players are bound to become enemies in the end. Signals’ potential is too dangerous. In a few years… the world might be under Signals’ control.”
The ruler of the world, not me? I can never allow that.
I curled up the corners of my lips.
When I learned about Signals’ existence, I was dumbfounded. Signals’ assets were comparable to those of a small country. Such an entity was secretly growing its power in the shadows of the United States.
The reason for growing it secretly? No matter how great Signals is, it can’t feed the entire United States from destruction. Entrepreneurs and politicians want their power to be eternal, and they don’t want to share their privileges with others.
‘They’re going to create their own utopia and live lavishly.’
Right. Signals has concluded that the United States will eventually perish.
“I’m going to release information about Signals on the internet.”
“……Huh?”
“They weren’t completely low-level. Even though they don’t know Signals’ headquarters, they know a few high-ranking officials and the locations of some secret bases. When all the information about Signals is released, will the United States just stand by?”
If they had a coveted treasure hidden in their room, would they just stand by? Of course, they would try to get their hands on it and use it.
“The worst case is that Signals is completely absorbed by the United States. The power of the United States will become stronger. Can you handle that?”
“There’s no reason to fight the United States. My goal is to first dominate and develop Korea.”
It’s a bit annoying, but I can endure it. Considering the distance between the United States and Korea, the influence of the United States doesn’t reach Korea that much. The world will be destroyed even more in the future.
“But Signals is a no-go. Those guys touched me.”
“…The existence of players will be revealed.”
“Everyone who needs to know already knows.”
“People who think this world is a game world and despair might make extreme choices.”
“If they want to, let them.”
“……Okay. Instead, I’ll be the one to spread the information. I need to spread the information as anonymously as possible. You haven’t told anyone else about this, have you?”
“I haven’t. Only Doctor Na knows.”
“Don’t tell anyone else. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”
I nodded. Choi Hye-jin or Irina? They wouldn’t be interested. I don’t care about the rest.
• • •
The next day. The world was in chaos.
The existence of players, different from Awakened Ones, was revealed. The power and abilities that players possessed were also revealed. Naturally, information about the game [Eternal Eden] was released. People were thrown into confusion when they learned that the world they lived in was a game.
Countries rushed to explain that their world was not a game world.
The important thing was about Signals.
The United States was more of a mess than I had imagined. There were organizations similar to Signals, but smaller in scale. Organizations where a few players had joined hands. They were growing their organizations in their own ways, preparing for destruction.
They attacked Signals first before the confused US government could step in. Their goal was the technology and resources that Signals possessed.
After that, the US government hurriedly summoned the head of Signals. He was the CEO of Banana, a major US corporation. I couldn’t be sure if he was the real head of Signals or a stand-in.
And a few days later, shocking news hit the world beyond the United States.
It was the news that Signals had conducted human experiments in a remote area.
A video was leaked of an experiment in which a mutant serum was injected into ordinary humans to turn them into superhumans.
The moment I received the information, I had a feeling. It was the work of another force hostile to Signals. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for such top-secret information to be released at this timing.
‘Heh heh. This is something. The situation in the United States is more of a mess than I thought?’
Perhaps because of the Signals incident, the US’s information control was lifted. The internal situation of the United States began to be revealed.
The relationship between the US federal government and state governments was faltering. The problem was that the federal government had discriminated against the states when the D virus first spread. The conflict between the federal government and the state governments deepened.
‘If the US doesn’t properly patch this up, a nationwide war might break out?’
I never thought that releasing information about Signals would lead to this. Is this the butterfly effect?
I enjoyed the US’s downfall while looking at the news. How could I not be happy when a competitor of Korea, which I will rule, is collapsing!
-Yujin. Are you not busy? Something important has come up. Come to the lab.
Na Chae-young’s call through the speaker. It wasn’t urgent, so I slowly headed to the lab.
“You’re here? Watch this video first. It’s a video that came out after deciphering an encrypted email sent to Sungak Elementary School’s email.”
I looked at the monitor.
There was a woman. She looked middle-aged, but she had taken good care of herself, so she had few wrinkles on her face. She had soft light brown hair and amber eyes. Overall, she had a gentle impression. She must have charmed quite a few men in her younger days. She had a mixed-race look. Of course, she was still quite beautiful.
“Who is she? Do you know her?”
Na Chae-young shrugged once and continued the video. The woman in the video opened her mouth.
“Since we don’t have much time, I’ll get straight to the point. I’m Yoo Seo-jung, a Bionic working at the Daema Secret Research Institute of Ilwoo Group. I need your help. If you meet my conditions and help us… I will work for you.”
I stared intently at Yoo Seo-jung in the video. The fact that she was old was a flaw, but… I had recovery. A power that even mocked aging.
“Accepted.”
“You crazy bastard. Watch the video to the end first.”
At Na Chae-young’s scolding, I focused on the video again.
