Episode 7: Monster Hail / Chapter 107: New Land, New Era (1)
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
There were no longer any objections.
Beginning with the collapse of the Sovereign of Dark Secrets Lao Ban, they had overcome the eyeless observers, completed the advancement evaluation, subjugated Cayenne Star, and had even experienced the Chu Youngjin incident. Everything was verified from the endless waves of fights and wars.
It was impossible to confront Choi Hyuk and the Berserkers. There wasn"t a force on Earth that could take them on.
As expected, the world was changing as well. The world order reorganized itself under the 6 overseers and the 9 great sovereigns, who confined Overseer Nasir, as they possessed exclusive rights to trade with the alliance.
Those who had been reading the mood as they took a wait-and-see approach began to make their move.
"Let"s go our separate ways."
President Shin Woojin became disheartened at Choi Hyuk"s reply. He tried his best to persuade him.
"However, South Korea will perish then."
"Is that name so important? Then you continue its name."
Choi Hyuk"s mind was resolute. Well, he was right. With the entire earth collapsing, the life or death of a 70-year-old nation on the Korean Peninsula could be considered a trivial problem.
"But…"
"No. My answer will not change. I don"t have any thoughts on accepting the president into the Berserkers, nor do I have any thoughts on an alliance or treaty of administrative duties. Even if you put down your authority as a great sovereign and wanted to join the Berserkers as my follower, I wouldn"t accept. The Berserkers are literally an organization of crazy warriors. And it needs to be. The president, as well as those following you, aren"t suited for it. You are people who have too much to become crazy warriors. Let"s go our separate ways. If you really don"t want to, then give up your privileges and live in my territory as a regular colonizer. That is all I can say."
In the end, Shin Woojin had no choice but to give up.
To be honest, Shin Woojin"s position within the Korean Peninsula until now was ambiguous. He was the president. He used his own ability and didn"t lose his authority within the confusion. He won over a majority of the military, who had disappeared, and used civil service to maintain order in South Korea. He was truly the leader of South Korea. Choi Hyuk"s power was limited to the colonized lands in Dragonic. On Earth, within South Korea, the Berserkers were instead the minority.
However, this whole situation had instantly been flipped on its head since the advancement evaluation. During the advancement evaluation, the world"s population had been drastically reduced by a half. There was nowhere on Earth that could endure that kind of chaos. The anarchic situation continued. On the other hand, after actively partic.i.p.ating in the advancement evaluation, Choi Hyuk"s influence had expanded on its own. Citizens of South Korea began to mentally depend on the Berserkers rather than the president. Many citizens moved to Choi Hyuk"s colonized land. Korean citizens who were under Choi Hyuk"s banner numbered more than half the population.
From then on, President Shin Woojin had to focus on his reign. It was distressful.
As Shin Woojin had joined and fought alongside the Anti-Berserker Alliance, he had been able to become one of the nine great sovereigns who shared Nasir"s rights. Normally, the 9 great sovereigns possessed the commanding authority over their respective countries. Yamato of j.a.pan did and so did Zhang Ziyin of China. However, Shin Woojin couldn"t as South Korea had Choi Hyuk.
Because of this, he simply watched. He knew that the clans under Choi Hyuk were dissatisfied with his forceful rule, and he even had hopes for their rise. Yet, everything became clear after the Chu Youngjin incident. No one could face the Berserkers.
In this situation, Shin Woojin proposed an alliance with Choi Hyuk to maintain his authority. It was a proposal where policies such as public order and internal affairs within their colonized lands would be shared and combined. It was a type of federal government. As he was well aware that the Berserkers lacked administration and political abilities, he planned to use this federal government system to bring over his own authority over the South Korean citizens completely intact. Choi Hyuk would handle the war, and he would handle the mundane politics. That was his plan.
However, Choi Hyuk denied his proposal. He demanded a secession.
Shin Woojin had no choice but to abide.
"Overseer Choi Hyuk declares to secede from South Korea. Following Overseer Choi Hyuk and President Shin Woojin"s agreement, the citizens of South Korea are free to choose their affiliation."
Although the world was in such a mess that the press and internet communications networks couldn"t function properly, the news of the secession quickly spread throughout Korea.
The time had come for them to choose sides. Those who had dipped their hands in both sides until now were busy thinking about what decision to make.
"I, Shin Woojin, will take responsibility and return you to your daily lives."
President Shin Woojin a.s.serted the legitimacy of South Korea. He stimulated the longing people had to return to their safe and familiar lifestyles in order to draw people in. To gather even one more person, he prepared all sorts of favors.
On the other hand, Choi Hyuk had an att.i.tude of "come if you want".
"I don"t care whether those who join me are old, young, male, female, handicapped, or not. You will fight without rest. And you will win."
People couldn"t tell whether he wanted them to join or not by his pledge. However, the number of people whose hearts wavered at his pledge wasn"t small.
They were living in such times.
One of the problems which arose during the process of handling the doppelganger queen was the conflict between the Berserkers and the minor clans.
Choi Hyuk set an extreme measure regarding this problem. This was also the reason why he had no choice but to secede from South Korea.
Choi Hyuk planned on creating and controlling a 3rd troop comprised of all the colonizers within his scope of authority. With the authority of an overseer, which could establish strategies, he planned on dispatching them to the war against the monsters and then leaving Berserkers to control them. There would be a clear difference in rank between normal colonizers, minor clans, and Berserkers.
Also, there were no exceptions to this measure. Whether they were miners, farmers, or cooks, they would be drafted and then partic.i.p.ate in the war.
"Will it be okay? If that"s the case, then our rate of production will drop."
Artillery Captain Handke had a defensive att.i.tude.
Choi Hyuk nodded.
"Earthlings" production is like a speck of dust compared to the alliance"s. If the only thing we can sell is our strength, then we need to focus on it."
His voice was resolute.
Yet, his followers still had many worries.
Guardian Bae Jinman said,
"There will be tremendous chaos. Although it could be said that they are somewhat tolerant after the large-scale expeditions during the advancement evaluation, either way, there are still a lot of people with occupations that aren"t combat-oriented. It"ll be difficult for those in the mining, farming, service, and manufacturing industries to adjust after being blindly sent to war."
"That"s why we"ll establish a warrior school. It"ll be the greatest training school on Earth. If they still can"t adjust, then they can just follow Shin Woojin. Berserkers are our ident.i.ty. Those who want to live in my colonized lands must partic.i.p.ate in the war. I"m thinking about sending them once every week or two. Even if they can"t become formal Berserkers, they should at least be able to act as the second or third string or even trainees."
Silently listening to Choi Hyuk"s explanations, Baek Seoin slowly raised his hand.
"But… To ultimately make humanity more powerful, I think that it might be necessary to strengthen humanity"s overall capability. Military power isn"t everything. Even at the Cayenne star, as we don"t have the skills to personally extract karma, we ended up handing it over to the alliance at a dirt cheap price. Even if it is possible for Naro to move between dimensions, its efficiency is still not great, and we are in a situation where we have no choice but to rely on the alliance"s military gate system to move large-scale armies. In the end, if we aren"t able to possess any of these key technologies, then we will never be able to move away from the alliance"s grasp."
His words, which started cautiously, became filled with more certainty as he spoke. Yes. He made sense the more they thought about it. If they only focused on raising their military power without these technologies, they might end up only becoming a useful tool for the alliance. Choi Hyuk couldn"t help but fall into a state of deep thought at Baek Seoin"s points.
Then he shook his head.
"Baek hyung words are right as well. However, Earth"s technology is hundreds of thousands of years behind the alliance"s. Even if we have Naro, the situation doesn"t change. Even looking at the military gate system, Naro said that it had no idea how it worked. What I"m saying is that we don"t have the time to start researching these technologies right now. My thoughts are that, with military power as our footing, we increase our position within the alliance and use it to learn those technologies."
"Hmm…."
Everyone was quiet. Choi Hyuk"s thoughts were extreme. However, it was difficult to say that his thoughts were wrong. At the same time, it was difficult to say he was right, but they could understand where he was coming from.
"Understood."
With Ryu Hyunsung, who had been listening quietly, raising his hand as a start, the others followed, raising their right hands as well.
Even Baek Seoin, Handke, and Bae Jinman, who gave opposing views, raised their hands. They said, "Understood."
It was a common sight in meetings comprised of the top ranks among the Berserkers.
As long as they had the most convention-defying person on Earth as their leader, no one thought that they could make him yield. If they held these thoughts, then they wouldn"t have stayed under Choi Hyuk"s command from the start.
Meetings were often times not a place to decide on something but rather a means to clearly understand Choi Hyuk"s motives. Only then could the executives do their work according to his motives. Well, if Choi Hyuk changed his mind in the process, then that was good as well.
So, even if they weren"t completely convinced, it was normal for them to move on with an "Understood" once they understood Choi Hyuk"s motives.
Just as the meeting was about to end like this, Lee Jinhee poked Ryu Hyunsung"s side. As she was trying to behave herself these days, she had simply attended the meetings and hadn"t opened her mouth once. However, it seemed that there was something she wanted to bring up.
Surprised by being poked by Lee Jinhee"s finger, Ryu Hyunsung stared at her before revealing an "Aha!" expression. He cleared his throat and asked Choi Hyuk,
"Aren"t we going to secede? Have you thought of a country name?"
His question changed the mood.
Figuring out a name was a headache yet also an exciting process. The executives of the Berserkers looked at Choi Hyuk with expectant expressions.
Choi Hyuk received their gazes unenthusiastically as he replied,
"It"s fine. Tell them to call it whatever they want."
That was how the "crazy law" characterizing the "Berserkers" land" was decided. Everyone living in the Berserkers" land had to partake in war missions once every two weeks. It was literally a crazy law. Someone said,
"Crazy… It"s not like Choi Hyuk is the only overseer in the world, who will go live in that crazy place?"
However, there were people who headed towards that place. There were many.
"Hyungnim{1}, do you remember hitting the jackpot in real estate when you listened to me before?"
"I do. That"s why I bought you beef. When others lost money that time, I earned a lot. I bought it since you kept rambling on about a rapid change or something… but you did well. When I think about it now… Well, it all went to ruin once the world became like this."
"Hyungnim, there is currently a change even greater than that time. You must choose Choi Hyuk."
"Choi Hyuk? I was going to choose Shin Woojin… They say that we need to go out to the battlefield once every 2 weeks if we choose Choi Hyuk. How can I do that? Although I"ve awakened, I"ve never even seen a monster yet."
"Even if it"s difficult, you have to, hyungnim. There is no future staying on Earth or Dragonic. Look at Choi Hyuk. He"s insane, right? But what about it? He"s on a roll. Why is that? Isn"t it because he"s good at fighting?! Isn"t that why he"s acknowledged by the alliance and has become an overseer? It is now the era of s.p.a.ce. Only those who can trade with the alliance can survive. But does Earth have the technology? Or the resources? Currently, the only method for an earthling to advance in s.p.a.ce is to fight. Although it"s scary, you must. Just think of it as an initial investment. It is now an era where you need to know how to fight. Hyungnim, don"t you trust me?"
"Hmm… Since you put it that way, your words do seem correct… But what if I die?"
"Ehh, why be frightened of that? Wasn"t it the same in the past? Didn"t people die when their investments failed? There"s no need to be scared. Only, you need to prepare yourself. We are of a different cla.s.s. We can"t run around like rookies, can we?"
"Prepare?"
"Yes. You said your relative was a Berserker? I think I heard you say he was a Berserk Roach under Baek Seoin… Let"s first contact him and ask for private lessons. Well… It"ll be nice if we could ask him to help us during the mission, but let"s not hope for that yet and rather learn skills that can ensure our survival. Hyungnim has to trust me. If we go to Shin Woojin for immediate comfort, we"ll definitely die within 5 years. You saw it too. Non-awakenees turning to ash and dying. That"s the kind of world we live in now. It"s a world where you"ll die if you"re weak. There is no better investment than getting stronger."
"Okay, I got it. Yeah, I"ll try calling him."
There were conversations like this everywhere.
A world you couldn"t survive in unless you were strong.
Within this world, Choi Hyuk, who had no losses, might be the most suitable leader to follow.
People who decided to throw away their livelihood and start a new challenge were gathering under Choi Hyuk.
{1} What a young man calls an older man. More respectful than "hyung".
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