Chapter 294: Chapter 294 - Seoul (3)
Seoul (3)
“The worst,” Park Jong-sik muttered .
No one in the conference room refuted that remark . During the break, the conference room fell into silence .
“Let’s get things organized first . ” Kim Min-hyuk, desperately attempting to brighten the mood, clapped his hands .
It was the first meeting since the situation had been revealed . Kim Min-hyuk knew that the situation was that serious, but he had to lead the meeting somehow and gather opinions .
“The first problem is that the Tutorial is closed . I don’t know what’s going on, but since last month, no one has been invited to complete the Tutorial, and no one from before has returned . ”
No one was being called to the Tutorial . It was difficult to accurately count those summoned to the Tutorial since they disappeared on the spot in just a few moments . They received reports of missing relatives or neighbours, but it was only a rough count .
However, last month, there had been two reports of missing people due to a summoning by the Tutorial . And both of those cases proved to be simple disappearances .
No new Awakened came out, and no humans were forced to enter the Tutorial . At this point, a discussion was needed to solve the problem, excluding the Tutorial itself .
It was a severe problem, but the cause was undiscovered, and a resolution didn’t seem to be apparent .
“The second problem is that a G-class was detected near Pyongyang . ” Unavoidable sighs erupted from every corner of the conference room .
After the cataclysm, they had only succeeded once, and since then, all attempts at G-class eradication had failed .
It was a colossal loss . It had already been years since the steady rise in the Awakened’s power allowed the city to defend itself from the monsters’ offense . But still, the G-class remained an inextricable and intangible existence .
“From what we’ve learnt, I don’t believe the existing G-class has moved into a nest . ”
The G-class’s domain was spread throughout the world . That meant that signs of a G-class appearing in Pyongyang meant that it was a newly born G-class, which had never been seen before .
“That is the third problem . It’s a new one because I’m not sure if it’s going to act the same as the others . ”
All of the existing G-class had one common feature . They set up their territory outside the country and didn’t leave it . But was this one the same as them? If it were someone ready to go outside of its area, the situation would spiral downhill .
“It’s a problem, even if it’s no different from the others,” Lee Jun-seok said while solitarily munching on shrimp snacks .
Kim Min-hyuk had no choice but to ask, “Why?”
“Its territory reaches Seoul . ”
Kim Min-hyuk shut his mouth in response to Lee’s answer . He had nothing else to say . Neither Kim Min-hyuk nor the others in the conference room were able to speak for a while .
Only the sound of Lee Jun-seok grinding on shrimp snacks echoed quietly throughout the conference room .
* * *
“Are you alright?” Lee Sung-eun asked the team leader .
Park Min merely shrugged . Then, he put down the newspaper in his hand .
As expected, the government failed to give up on Seoul . Seoul was too essential to give up on, even though it was dangerous .
The same was true of the people . Seoul’s population had been steadily increasing since the cataclysm . Instead, more people started living in Seoul than before the cataclysm .
The reason was simple . Seoul was the safest place . The largest number of Awakened stayed there, and the most significant amount of military units surrounded Seoul . But this was before the G-class appeared .
After reports of the G-class in Pyongyang, people searched for countermeasures . Instantly, convenience store items went out of stock, and problems broke out .
Housing prices plummeted, and loans in local cities soared . A thought came to mind among those who were confused . Can’t we just get rid of the G-class?
It seemed like a less risky option than abandoning their homes and the largest city where the nation’s resources were concentrated .
It was the Awakened and the soldiers who launched the attack . They thought it was worth a try even if the success rate dropped . It was something the U . S . had already succeeded in more than a decade ago .
There were many skeptical thoughts . Talks about the differences in defense capabilities between the U . S . and South Korea and their international political positions broke out .
The U . S . had mobilized all of its naval and air forces to combat the G-class and gathered Awakened from all over the world . South Korea could not emulate them . Thus, it had been repeatedly said that the attacks were theoretically impossible .
However, talks of eradicating G-class did not subside . People’s fears soon transformed into madness .
In sympathy for the panicking, the media talked about Korea’s unprecedentedly powerful Awakened group . They assured that the group of Awakened gathered under Kim Min-hyuk’s guild were like that of the U . S .
Citing South Korea’s previous record of sending troops overseas, they said other countries would also support the awakening as if it were natural and logical . Overseas aid was reported as if it had been scheduled .
Finally, the fact that the G-class was a newborn was taken advantage of . They said that it would still be young and weak compared to the existing G-class . And people believed the loose-lipped media .
The demonstration took place at Gwanghwamun Square(Seoul), in front of the Guild and association building . They had been urging them to prepare for the G-class’s attack .
Every day, whenever the association and the guild’s silence continued, voices of criticism poured out, calling them cowards . The Awakened had become shameless for not fulfilling their duties .
The association and guild building began to smell like the fishy scent of raw eggs . The Awakened, who had a high social status and lived like celebrities, had their reputation quickly spiral into the abyss .
Their SNS’ were spammed with abusive tests and had to be shut down . Kim Min-hyuk’s guild members were bewildered when they heard people’s voices telling them to pay the price if they lived well off their tax dollars .
They were not part of the government . Some of them had already given up their Korean nationality and never paid taxes . Most of them were freelancers from overseas, not from Korea . They had already left their country for better terms .
There was no way they’d sympathize with citizens’ protests that forced patriotism, responsibility, and duty .
On the contrary, the opposition only increased . When the decision that it would be better just to leave Korea began to circulate quietly within the guild, the association moved first .
“The association will do its best to fight the G-class . ”
“We’ll use all the available power . ”
That was how the situation changed .
“What’s wrong with you?” Park Min asked relaxedly, lifting a cup of coffee to his lips .
Lee Sung-eun could not understand his composure .
“Isn’t it just us?”
The association had begun preparations for the G-class attack . They had formally asked the Associations of Other Countries for assistance and issued a call-up order for the Awakened members .
Of course, the number of Awakened gathered was small . The foreign associations all asked whether guilds, not governments or associations, would participate .
This meant that the guild’s Awakened was superior . It seemed like the association could force the guild’s Awakened to participate in the current situation, but it was actually impossible .
The association didn’t have the authority, nor the power . They could only ask them not to participate in the attack . And the guild had the option of resisting . Then, they could very well forget about the support from other countries’ associations .
The association may have to go after them only with its strength . But maybe the association’s power would only further weaken .
“Anxious?”
“Yes . ”
Park Min smiled at the team leader and pointed to the middle of the map . The place that had been indicated was Pyongyang . Team leader Lee Sung-eun felt a sense of déjà vu .
“What if there’s no G-class here?”
Park Min’s words contradicted what had been said in the past .
“…yes?”
“Think . What if there’s not actually a G-class here, and people are all being fooled?”
“…yes?”
Lee Sung-eun repeated the same word, so Park Min continued to explain as if he were talking to himself .
“There’s no harm if the guild doesn’t participate . That alone will raise the position of the association in people’s eyes . We will have people’s support . ”
Lee Sung-eun felt like it’d indeed be better if the guild didn’t participate at all .
“If they don’t participate, the guild’s reputation will be stuck in sh*t . They’re already halfway through, but they’ll probably relocate their base overseas . ”
And then, the association, alone, would try to attack . Their reputation would rise, and there would be several defectors within the association . But let’s not talk about it .
All they had to do was bravely move to Pyongyang . It would push out the guilds in the country and raise the political standing of the association .
The Tutorials had already been shut down, and it was expected that the value of the remaining Awakened would soar soon .
“Great . ”
It was the best situation . There was no better news .
* * *
“What are you going to do?”
“Well…”
Kim Min-hyuk had yet to make a decision . He was unsure what was right and didn’t want to send guild members to their deaths with his hasty judgment .
He thought the best way would just be to give up Seoul . But neither the citizens of Seoul nor the government would tolerate it .
“How are the guild members feeling?”
Park Jong-sik smiled on being asked this .
“They’re a mess . If you leave them alone, there’ll be a truck-load of people leaving right away . ”
Was that so?
But it was hard to blame them . They weren’t precisely shameless and immoral people . They were well aware of responsibilities and duties, and also had an attachment to their hometown .
Perhaps when they first heard the news, some were determined to participate in the G-class’s attack . As people said, to risk their lives at times like this, they had lived a happy and wealthy life .
But would they try to stand up while enduring the public’s sudden outburst of contempt and ridicule? He didn’t think so .
Kim Min-hyuk trusted his guild members, but he was sure that no adult would be that generous .
“How is Japan?”
“It’s about to collapse . The kids there were begging to join us, but Japan might lose the miniscule amount of support it has left if they did come here . ”
Japan was the country that could be said to be at the front lines . Every day, the battle to stop monsters crawling up from the Pacific Ocean, which had been entirely hoarded by underwater monsters, continued .
Japan would suffer indirect damage if it tried and failed to target Pyongyang, destroying Japan’s Awakened .
“That’s why the offer came from Japan . ”
“To the association?”
“No, to the government . They say we’re always welcome to move to Japan . There’s a lot of perks . ”
No, you’ve already pushed the contract in . It was both ridiculous and funny .
“Well, that’s a good offer for us . What about China?”
“Refused to cooperate . ”
It was a little surprising . The G-class territory in Pyongyang would also invade China’s territory, so Kim Min-hyuk had thought China would cooperate with the attack .
“The situation is terrible . ”
As he continued to think about it, he concluded that it wouldn’t be enough to attack G-class with just the guild’s power . Kim Min-hyuk wondered if he should really give up on Korea and go abroad . The guild and its members would lose their prestige, but it was better than risking their lives on unwarranted attacks .
“I wish this had happened after Lee Ho-jae had arrived,” Park Jong-sik grumbled .
Kim Min-hyuk replied to Park Jong-sik, “Hey, that would have been a serious problem too . ”
“Hahaha, that’s right . ”
The two laughed as if they found it funny for a moment .
Lee Ho-jae could have been an all-around key to solve all problems at once, but on the contrary, he would have become a bigger problem than the G-class .
As a member of the Order of Vigilance in the Tutorial, they laughed with Lee Ho-jae because they shared the memory of trying to avoid problems and making sure that he didn’t get caught up in other issues .
Just then, the cell phone on the table vibrated . Text messages popped up on the cell phone’s screen: ‘Seoul Station’s Portal Launching . ’
Seoul (3) Finished
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