Chapter 2421 – 2421. Eternal Eden
I kicked the door of the presidential office, smashing it to pieces as I entered.
President Jung Woo-hyun was with a man. The man wore a black suit and was relatively young. Before starting the operation, Jung Woo-hyun’s aides had already been briefed.
That man was the Chief Secretary. He was a new figure who had become Chief Secretary about four months ago. His name was Jo Sung-han.
“Seeing you with a sword, it must be Sung Yu-jin. As Korea’s greatest hero, have you come to deal with me personally? Hahaha! What luck!”
Jung Woo-hyun laughed heartily from a distance.
“A dying man laughs.”
“Die? No. That won’t happen. Thanks to you, you fool. The coup was unexpected, but… it doesn’t matter. You’re here. Looking at it, you must have incited the military to start the coup. Using youth as bait, you could easily do that. You should have just watched from behind. Showing up here is a foolish act. Hahahaha!”
“Are you perhaps trusting the Chief Secretary?”
“Hahaha! Chief Secretary Jo Sung-han! Use your ability on him! If we can get him, the situation can be reversed!”
Jo Sung-han, who was facing me, took a stance with his right hand extended towards me with a serious face. And with an even more serious expression, he said,
“Don’t move.”
“……”
I see.
Now that I look at it, this guy was the mental ability user cooperating with Jung Woo-hyun. Frankly, mental ability users are troublesome even when they’re on your side. You could be mentally controlled without even knowing it. If you’re a person of power, you’d be even more likely to reject mental ability users.
‘That guy became Chief Secretary four months ago, and Jung Woo-hyun got the Haechi’s horn around that time too. The timing is perfect.’
The Haechi’s horn that limits the abilities of Awakened. Believing in that, he can use a mental ability user as his subordinate.
Jo Sung-han’s face is full of confidence. Since I’m standing still, he seems to think I’ve been affected by his mental ability.
“You will now become a subordinate devoted to President Jung Woo-hyun.”
“……”
It goes without saying, but I didn’t feel anything. As long as I have Absolute Spirit, mental abilities are…
It was amusing to watch, so I decided to observe for a moment. Shouldn’t he feel something strange by now? Jo Sung-han repeated without concern.
“You will now become a subordinate devoted to President Jung Woo-hyun.”
Not all mental Awakened have the same abilities. Even if it’s an ability that interferes with the mind, it’s different in detail.
‘Is this guy’s ability brainwashing?’
Brainwashing is most effective when used consistently on a target. Once completely brainwashed, there’s no way to escape even if the ability is released.
“Now, show proof of your loyalty! Disarm yourself and kneel on the floor!”
“I’m tired of this. Just die.”
I strode forward and swung my sword. Jo Sung-han, surprised, stepped back. That was the swing I had anticipated.
*Swish!*
Jo Sung-han’s head fell off.
I kicked the corpse aside and slowly walked towards Jung Woo-hyun. There were no soldiers to protect him, and there was nowhere for him to run.
*Crackling.*
Blue lightning sparked from my right hand.
“I’ll fry you to death with electricity. Isn’t electrocution supposed to be so painful? Look forward to a painful death.”
“I, I surrender! I surrender! Even if I started a coup, if I die, you’ll have trouble ruling Korea!”
That might be true. But if there was a problem, I could just bring him back to life.
*Crackling. Crackling!*
“If you have a trump card, use it quickly.”
“D, damn it. How can you use your ability when I have the Haechi’s horn?!”
“Huh? The Haechi’s horn limits abilities, it doesn’t nullify them.”
It was actually affecting me too. I didn’t show it, but the output of my lightning was weaker than usual. But this was enough to kill Jung Woo-hyun painfully.
Step by step. I approached Jung Woo-hyun. He backed away until he hit the wall.
“W, wait a minute. Sung Yu-jin. Why don’t we join hands? If we join hands, we can rule not only Korea but the world!”
“Do you think I’d believe the words of a guy who tried to kidnap and brainwash me? You stupid bastard. You should have knelt on the floor and begged. Maybe I would have laughed at your pathetic state and spared you.”
Of course, I had no intention of sparing him. I was planning to revive and torture him for as long as he had bothered me.
“D, damn it!”
Jung Woo-hyun took something out of his pocket.
It was a medicine bottle. It contained various pills, and he dumped them all into his mouth as if it was his last resort. There were pills I had never seen before, and some I recognized mixed in.
I watched without stopping him.
‘I’m curious what happens when you take so many different kinds of pills in large quantities.’
It was a chance to watch a free human experiment.
The combat helmet had a recording function. This would definitely be useful data for technological advancement.
Jung Woo-hyun’s body grew larger. His muscles swelled explosively, tearing the suit he was wearing. The Haechi’s horn in his pocket was also crushed by the increased muscle.
‘Oh, crap!’
I was planning to take the Haechi’s horn, but I didn’t expect it to break like this.
I was disappointed for a moment, but then I let it go. The Haechi’s horn I had experienced myself wasn’t a big deal. It limited my abilities, but I could still use them.
“Kuh, kuhuhuhu. Power. I feel power!”
Jung Woo-hyun shouted excitedly. His voice was closer to that of a beast.
‘A variant. No, is he turning into a mutant?’
This is how dangerous a drug overdose is.
‘Should I kill him before he becomes a mutant?’
It was the moment I held my sword.
*Pop!*
Jung Woo-hyun’s muscles burst like water balloons. I was horrified and stepped back. I barely avoided his dirty blood.
*Pop! Pop! Pop pop pop!*
“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”
Jung Woo-hyun’s body swelled, burst, and regenerated repeatedly. Muscles? Now it was just a mass of mushy flesh.
“Aaaaaaack! S, stop! Just, just kill me!! Kuaaaack!”
He was torturing himself.
This was Jung Woo-hyun’s end. It was a bit absurd.
“You can’t even mutate properly.”
I mocked Jung Woo-hyun.
Jung Woo-hyun’s body, which seemed to repeat regeneration and destruction forever, also had its limits. After about two minutes, the regeneration stopped, and Jung Woo-hyun died with his head buried in the floor. Unlike his body, his head did not mutate. I cut off his head. I was planning to take it with me for now.
‘It’s over. No, is it just beginning?’
There are still many big and small problems in South Korea.
The increase in zombies has stopped, but the number of mutants continues to increase. The weather is a mess, and earthquakes happen every now and then. On top of that, the Japanese archipelago is approaching the Korean peninsula.
It’s okay for now. China, Japan, the United States, Russia, and all other countries are focusing on internal affairs, so they can’t exert much power externally.
‘I’ll leave the cleanup to Jin Su-hak.’
Some of the Korean people may object, but the justification is clear. Jung Woo-hyun brainwashed Awakened with a mental ability user and even traded with Japan.
In addition to various other issues, Jung Woo-hyun’s approval rating was plummeting.
• • •
Three days later.
I sat in the chair in the presidential office. The Blue House was still not restored, but the office was intact.
As a behind-the-scenes power in Korea, I sat in the president’s chair once.
‘It’s not very comfortable. My gaming chair is more comfortable.’
I put my feet on the desk and crossed them, showing off. I checked my smartphone. The former President Jung Woo-hyun’s corruption dominated the news. Koreans almost wanted to believe it was all fabricated and propaganda. But the evidence was clear.
Embezzling public funds? That was basic. Videos of mentally controlled Awakened were released, and most people were cursing the already dead Jung Woo-hyun.
‘Hmm. As a behind-the-scenes power, I should do something. Should I start by raising taxes? The excuse… yeah. Let’s say that North Korea’s Kim Jae-ji provoked a war, so it’s unavoidable.’
In fact, I had no interest in budgets or taxes. But as a behind-the-scenes power, shouldn’t I do something?
That’s when it happened.
The door to the office opened, and Lee Yeon-hee entered.
“You were here.”
Seeing her smiling, she must have already known I was here.
“Entering the presidential office without knocking… you’re very bold.”
“You’re not the president, Yu-jin.”
That was true.
“What’s going on?”
“Carlo Schiavone, the Bionics who created Xenode, has disappeared. After investigating, a teleporter took him.”
“A teleporter? From Japan?”
“It would have been easy to recruit him. He was hostile to Korea. If I had managed him, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“…That’s a shame. More importantly, wasn’t he Korean?”
“Just because a player appears in Korea doesn’t mean they’re necessarily Korean.”
“That’s true. What about the other players in Korea?”
Lee Yeon-hee said with a bitter smile.
“There are none. One committed suicide, and one escaped to China a long time ago. The players were supposed to be managed by the head of the National Intelligence Service, but…”
“Right. The head of the National Intelligence Service. I wish I could see that guy’s face.”
“He escaped to China right after the coup. Judging by how well prepared he was, it seems he had planned to escape to China from the beginning. The fact that the players escaped to China must have been thanks to him.”
“…How much information does the escaped head of the National Intelligence Service have?”
“There’s no chance of your information leaking, Yu-jin. I’m controlling all of your really important information.”
“Okay. It’s reassuring to have you. I was thinking of raising taxes, can you help me with that?”
“No, you can’t. Jin Su-hak’s regime is not stable yet. If you need money, you should rather collect donations through the Sungjin Church.”
Lee Yeon-hee said firmly with a smile. If I ignored Lee Yeon-hee’s words here, our relationship would definitely worsen, so I decided to accept her advice. I didn’t care about taxes in the first place.
“I want to do something as a behind-the-scenes power.”
“A behind-the-scenes power shouldn’t reveal their existence.”
“That’s true. First… I should start by growing the Sungjin Church.”
