Savior (2)
The sudden appearance of the supplies cast a heavy silence over the conference room.
The first to break the silence was Commander Lee Hak-ki.
He strode over to one of the nearby boxes, opened it, and examined its
contents.
The flickering candlelight inside the room revealed what it was—just barely.
Upon seeing the cup noodles, he let out a short scoff.
"Huh."
Only after confirming that the contents were indeed intact cup noodles did Commander Lee turn to ask Moon Byung-ho a question.
"Are you Kim Jae-hyun?"
"No, I'm merely his representative, delivering his message."
"Then did you make all of this?"
"No. These were all made by Mr. Jaehyun. Even now, he is watching this place and listening to our conversation."
"Haha... from Busan?"
"Yes, that's right."
Commander Lee pulled a chocolate bar from another box and unwrapped it.
The crinkling of the wrapper echoed softly in the quiet room.
He took a bite and muttered,
"Truly... a savior.'
"He's a good man."
That was all it took for the room to erupt into a frenzy.
"Is this for real? All of this...?"
"You can actually eat it?"
"There's nothing poisoned in this, right?"
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
"Here! There's water-clean water right here!"
The people began rummaging through the supplies with wild abandon, relying on the dim candlelight.
Only Commander Lee, who had been the first to inspect the goods, stood still-gazing steadily at Moon Byung-ho.
Then he spoke.
"Everyone, quiet."
At the sound of his charismatic voice, the senior officers immediately froze mid-motion.
In the sudden hush that fell over the room, only the commander's voice rang out.
"You said that man is watching this conversation-did I hear that correctly?"
"Yes, you did."
"Then I'd like to ask him directly-what is it that he wants from us?"
Until then, I had simply been observing the situation. Now, I activated the Ring of Communication and spoke to Moon Byung-ho.
[Tell him this: Accept citizenship, and join our faction.]
Moon Byung-ho relayed my message word for word, and after a brief pause, the commander asked again.
"Is that... truly all? We've been pushed to the edge of a cliff. To be blunt, if all it took to survive was to become slaves, we'd seriously consider it. So please, be honest. Tell us what you really want."
"Commander!"
"Slaves? That's going too far!"
Voices filled with concern erupted from all corners of the room.
But Commander Lee paid them no mind.
"Do none of you want to live? Or do you have some other way to save the citizens?"
""
After firing off his challenge to the officers, Commander Lee turned to Captain Ahn Ki-tae.
"Captain Ahn. I have a few questions for you."
"Yes, sir. Ask away.'
""
"Since joining their group, have you developed any sense of admiration for this 'Kim Jae-hyun'?"
Captain Ahn hesitated for a moment before answering.
"... To be honest, yes. But it's not in the way you're worried about. It's a genuine, personal judgment on my part."
His words stirred another round of murmuring in the room.
"Isn't that basically admitting he might've been brainwashed?"
"I knew he was speaking way too favorably about that group."
"Some of it might even be exaggerated."
But Commander Lee swept all those comments aside with a single retort.
"Even if he was brainwashed, are you all willing to throw away these supplies sitting right in front of you? Lieutenant Colonel Um Jin-soo, are you planning to return to your starving family empty-handed?"
"...No, sir."
"Exactly. That's the wise choice. Don't worry too much."
Having regained full control of the room, the commander turned back to Moon Byung-ho.
"As you can see, we're ready to accept whatever terms may come. Still, I have
to ask, out of pure curiosity: if we do join your organization, will we be
subjected to... 'brainwashing'?"
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that.
Because I knew exactly why he was putting on this little act.
Lee Hak-ki (Lv. 25)]
Awakening Ability: Ear of Truth
-An ability that can determine the truth of what he hears.
Moon Byung-ho replied,
"I'm not sure exactly, but... there may be some effects like that."
Huh?
He answered with total seriousness.
"I've felt a kind of awe and respect for you since the first time I saw you, Jaehyun-nim. But I'm not sure if that was because of your strength... or because you used all your power to help save my grandmother. In the end, it was thanks to the power you gave me that I was able to save the only family I had left. That's why I pledged my loyalty to you."
Commander Lee Hak-ki's eyes deepened at the overly honest and straightforward answer.
***
But inside, Commander Lee Hak-ki was unsettled.
'Everything he said is true.'
The words of the mysterious man who introduced himself as a representative
of "Kim Jaehyun"-every single one of them was the truth.
'Even if there were special circumstances, it's unnatural to feel awe and respect from the very first encounter.'
Monsters had appeared, and the world had changed.
Even he himself now possessed the power to discern truth from lies just by hearing someone speak. So, it wasn't far-fetched to think someone out there might possess powers that could manipulate the human mind.
'But that man's answer... it's not something a brainwashed person would say.'
If he were truly brainwashed, he would've denied the existence of such a thing-saying, "There's no such thing as brainwashing in our organization."
'Strange.'
He'd just been told the man might be brainwashed-and yet somehow, it had made him trust him more.
Lee Hak-ki glanced around the meeting room at the boxes stacked high.
With this much, they could at least put out the immediate fires.
'Even Captain Ahn Gitae's words were all true.'
They still didn't know the true nature of this Kim Jaehyun's power-but it could block monster invasions, provided abundant food, stored up weapons and ammunition in bulk, and even the refugee shelters had running electricity, water, and gas.
And all of it turned out to be real.
'This is...'
The answer had been obvious from the start.
'There's no choice but to accept.'
If they didn't accept the offer, they'd all die.
There were no other options.
Even if he himself were to be brainwashed, Lee Hak-ki had already made up his mind to lead the citizens and join that organization.
The reason he'd been so persistent in asking questions... was because there were people who still had other options.
A special organization of Awakened individuals.
He wanted to give those who could still fend for themselves the freedom to
choose.
'But...'
After hearing the man's response, he began to think-maybe it wouldn't be so bad if everyone joined the organization together.
It was just a gut feeling, but something told him it might be okay to trust the man standing in front of him.
Still, the lives of hundreds of thousands who believed in him couldn't be wagered on a mere feeling.
After a long and heavy silence, Lee Hak-ki finally spoke.
"Would it be possible for me to meet your leader in person?"
The man answered without hesitation.
"Of course."
Lee Hak-ki was a bit surprised at how easily he agreed.
"For now, let's head outside."
Before leaving, Commander Lee Hak-ki turned to his officers and gave an order.
"Distribute all the supplies here to the citizens."
"Yes, Commander."
As he followed the man down the hallway, they walked for quite a while before reaching a window that revealed the sky.
Then, the man said something strange.
"Please take my hand."
...?"
"This way is faster."
Lee Hak-ki could feel the man's sincerity, so he grabbed his hand without much thought.
And then-
Shoosh-
"Urgh!"
A sickening dizziness overcame him, accompanied by the sense of the ground vanishing beneath his feet.
Before he could even vomit-
"Just hang in there."
Shoosh!
A second teleportation hit him, making his head spin even worse.
It wasn't until the third teleport that Commander Lee Hak-ki finally landed on solid ground.
"Blaaaargh!"
And promptly threw up the chocolate bar he'd eaten earlier.
The dry heaving continued, but since that was all he'd eaten in days, nothing more came out.
Just then-
Step. Step.
Footsteps echoed from below the stairs leading into the subway station.
Lee Hak-ki stopped retching and looked down, as if in a trance.
There, slowly walking up the stairs, was a man with an air of mystery.
His hair was neatly trimmed, not a trace of oil or disorder.
A flawless, spotless face.
Clothes so pristine, not a single smudge could be found.
And above all, those clear, serene eyes that looked as if they could see straight through everything.
"Ah..."
The moment Commander Lee Hak-gi faced him, he found himself overwhelmed by an inexplicable emotion.
In an instant, he knew-this man was someone special.
And it wasn't just because of his appearance.
There was something about the atmosphere around him, his presence, his charisma. It stirred a deep sense of reverence from within.
Then, the man spoke.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kim Jae-hyun."
***
Ever since that face-to-face meeting with Commander Lee Hak-gi, his entire organization had swiftly been absorbed into ours.
The result-
[The number of citizens has reached 500,000.]
[As the population has reached a certain threshold, 'Inventory' will now be unlocked.]
Eventually, the citizen count surpassed half a million.
[Insufficient level in the skill 'Homebound Absolute's Storage' to activate citizens' inventories.]
[Please level up the skill.]
Even without further explanation, the word "Inventory" was enough to understand what it meant.
'So the citizens are going to get personal storage?'
Judging by the system messages that followed, it seemed the inventory function couldn't be activated unless the storage skill was leveled up.
'No need to rush it.'
Right before entering Seoul, I'd already used up all my skill points.
Besides, the current level of Homebound Declaration was only 37.
I'd still need to level up three more times to get new skill points.
'No reason to waste points just for this.'
Citizens had already found workarounds that functioned similarly to inventory.
They were using the exchange market.
Out of the 20 item slots assigned per person, people would list their own gear or items at inflated prices and simply wait 24 hours.
Naturally, if an item was listed way above market price, it wouldn't sell.
Once the 24-hour timer expired, the unsold item would be transferred to a personal holding box-where it could be retrieved at any time during a one-week grace period.
Food and other perishables wouldn't spoil while listed, either, so the method had become quite popular-especially among those who hunted monsters.
'So there's no real need to waste skill points just to unlock inventory. Unless some free skill points fall from the sky or something...'
And then-
[Citizen Moon Byung-ho has used up all available quests for today.]
[Evaluating the quests completed by Citizen Moon Byung-ho.]
[... Evaluating ...]
We'd simply assigned him his usual daily quests-helping escort citizens led by Commander Lee Hak-gi safely to Konkuk University Station.
He'd done nothing out of the ordinary.
[Evaluation complete.]
I'd seen that same alert dozens of times a day, now that we had more vassals. I hardly paid it any mind.
But then-
[Jackpot!]
[Congratulations.]
[You have received a skill point.]
An unexpected windfall.
'Byung-ho... again? You little rascal.'
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]