Chapter 60

39. Campaign (1)

When we listen to news or information announcements, we often see expressions that have been exaggerated or downplayed, reflecting the will of the editors.

This exaggeration and concealment is a form of communication.

The methods of communication are as varied as human thoughts, and among them is the method of not mentioning certain facts at all.

Anonymous84: Damn, how many people died?

Dolsingnam: I lost contact with a friend who lived on the outskirts of Seoul. He was still alive even during the war.

Anonymous458: I heard that most of the military faction members had already evacuated before the monsters arrived.

Keystone: Didn't they say at least a million people lived there?

Dies_irae69: It won't be a million. At most, it would be around 300,000. But why isn't the government announcing anything?

...

...

The government had announced the approach of the monsters but did not mention the damage caused by it.

Even PaleNet went down.

I was worried about Jonnae's safety and sent a message to my subordinate.

Message from 183cm88kg18cm: Oh, I'm still alive. The super-large type monsters went to the area controlled by the National Assembly faction, not the military faction. But a lot of people lived there. Many must have died.

It seems that PaleNet went down due to its own network issues, not the monster attack.

The real problem came next.

*Static*

The government conducted an emergency radio broadcast.

"Starting this Wednesday, we will hold a national representative election. Voting will take place at polling stations set up in each evacuation center. Citizens who wish to vote should bring their old ID or evacuation center registration card to the polling station. I repeat..."

That was all the broadcast said.

Despite the possibility that hundreds of thousands, or even millions, might have died, the government only talked about the election.

As expected, the bulletin board was filled with intense criticism.

Dentist_Kim: This doesn't seem right.

tntn_Orthopedics: How can they hold an election when so many people have died? They're crazy. This is...

berkut_break: Yeah, they were trying to extend their term indefinitely.

Denis_Oldman: Why don't they die? Why do they stubbornly survive?

...

...

Even those who usually don't write posts were posting.

Among them were many nicknames I had never seen before.

Defender: I want to kill them all.

The fact that Defender's complaint became a popular post was significant in several ways.

The number of likes exceeded the highest he had ever received.

It means that even those who usually viewed Defender negatively were genuinely supporting him this time.

Feeling the pressure of the expectations placed on him, Defender posted a weaker message than usual.

Defender: No, don't put me on a plane. No matter what, I can't go into the temporary National Assembly building guarded by the military and start shooting.

A short while later, PaleNet was restored.

Though they are a bit different from us, they have the same feelings.

On the popular post board of a site that is a melting pot of Korean society with a diverse range of genders and age groups, the criticism of the election was even more intense and sharp.

The highlight was the popular board - the Grill - of PaleNet, the alpha and omega of PaleNet.

I read the post with the most comments.

Anonymous: I'm going to kill the National Assembly members (23,123)

- So many people died, and they're still holding an election? Go ahead.

My ballot is a bullet.

A muscular man with a masked face revealed his gun and posted a murder announcement, threatening to kill the election committee and candidates.

The post had an astonishing 23,000 comments.

*Gulp*

"Wow."

An incredible number of comments.

It received 10,000 more comments than I did...

I briefly considered posting something similar but gave up after reading the posts listed below.

Propofol: I'm a former hunter. I'm starting my hunt today (19,839)

Anonymous: I'm from North Korea. I can't stand the South (13,234)

LimHyochang: I'm LimHyochang from Busan (11,320)

Monster: Hello, I'm a monster (10,232)

KILLER: I'll see you on election day (9,327)

Anonymous: I'm an Awakened who hides my strength (8,234)

...

...

There are so many posts threatening to kill the national representatives.

But these people...

They don't seem to be serious...

Most of them are just joking around.

Still, what exactly are these monsters?

Why are they writing posts on the internet?

"......They have a sense of humor."

I envy their ability to turn even such a situation into a joke, but on the other hand, I feel the bitterness of those who can only express their anger in this way.

A day passed amidst confusion and anger.

Jonnae's great work performed its intended function as expected.

Most PaleNet users went to the ruined Seoul to check the situation.

Soon, dozens of information posts were uploaded, and our reporter filtered and edited the information to post it on our board.

gijayangban: Summary of the Seoul damage from this eruption.txt

Since most people don't like reading long posts, I'll summarize it briefly.

1. The damage was concentrated in the southwestern part of Seoul - the area controlled by the National Assembly faction.

2. The military faction had evacuated before the super-large type monsters appeared.

3. A few large type monsters were observed in the area controlled by the military faction, but they were all eliminated, causing almost no damage.

4. The Hope did not collapse.

The exact number of deaths was not mentioned.

Since there was no proper tally, all figures are estimates.

However, it is generally estimated that at least 500,000 people died.

The only reason this can be estimated is that there are no bodies.

When exposed to the destructive light of the super-large type Kraken, human bodies turn to ash, leaving no trace.

"Hmm."

I sat in my chair, drinking the coffee left by Mr. Dragon, lost in thought.

The only light in the dark shelter came from the sun shining through the open door.

As the shadow gradually extended to the deepest part of the shelter, reaching my toilet on the raised platform in the center, the K-walkie-talkie emitted a unique signal.

Personal ID: REDMASK

Is it Woo Minhee again?

She's been contacting me more frequently lately.

Could she have figured out my identity...?

That's unlikely.

Jonnae's subordinate said it was impossible.

I calmed my pounding heart and answered the call.

"Hey, Minhee!"

"Senior! You're alive!"

"Thanks to you. I would have been dead if it weren't for you. The Kraken type even came to my house. Wow..."

"I feel accomplished. Still, I didn't think my senior would be killed by such a monster."

"Thanks."

They say you die when you do something you've never done before.

Could it be? Is Woo Minhee going to do something drastic today or tomorrow?

I entertained this outrageous thought while waiting for her next words.

Soon, a soft, scattered laugh came from the speaker.

"I told you before, I still have a high opinion of you."

She did say that.

But at the time, it sounded like mockery to me.

Woo Minhee is that kind of person.

Still, it seems I've become quite soft-hearted.

"......Just an old school."

I couldn't help but blurt out the words in my heart.

Maybe I'm tired.

Or maybe I'm impatient.

In an era where everything dies, collapses, and disappears, there aren't many opportunities to speak from the heart.

When will I have another chance to have such a conversation?

Of course, I regretted saying it.

I'll probably be mocked.

Woo Minhee, who became an Awakened, evaluated me and other old hunters as worthless.

Well, if she wants to mock me, let her.

I'm not the delicate, prideful professor I used to be.

I'm an internet soccer ball skeleton who gets cursed on both PaleNet and Viva! Apocalypse! at the same time.

Honestly, what damage can Woo Minhee do to me, who even lost to Lim Chang?

But...

"Is the old school method really wrong?"

An unexpected statement came from my junior.

I had to determine if she was serious or joking.

After a moment, she murmured in a low voice.

"Upon reflection, it is a bit wrong... "

"......"

"Too many people die, right? I almost died five times in the old school era. Look, I even have bullet wounds on my side."

Why did she say that?

"Anyway, Senior, can you help me? Can you?"

This seems to be the main point.

Let's hear the details first.

"......What kind of help?"

"It's nothing much."

A high, annoying laugh echoed faintly from the speaker.

"Campaigning."

The moment I heard her words, I recalled the various murder announcements that decorated the Grill on PaleNet.

*At the agreed location, an armored vehicle was parked.

The soldiers with their faces visible waved at me.

"Hunter Park! It's been a while! Are you well?"

I accepted Woo Minhee's strange proposal for various reasons, but the biggest factor was Woo Minhee herself.

The past Woo Minhee was an uncontrollable madwoman.

She was never a pleasant person, but after awakening, she became someone hard to approach.

She seemed like a non-human entity in human form.

The scene of her driving her favorite male junior to his death and then going crazy and taking psychiatric medication was the decisive factor that made me cut ties with her.

But perhaps because she's older now.

Woo Minhee has improved in character.

Her personality is still terrible, but she seems to have returned to a human level from something inhuman.

I've also changed a lot.

I've become much softer.

To the point where people who only knew me from my professor days can't even imagine it.

My first motivation was the naive thought that since I've changed, she might have changed too.

Of course, the decisive factor was the favor Woo Minhee showed me during the monster eruption.

I never imagined she would personally contact me for my benefit.

The information she provided was extremely accurate.

Even my most trusted junior, Kim Dalram, didn't do what she did.

At least in front of Lim Chang, she was just an ordinary, unpleasant older sister.

"......"

I decided not to think about what she was doing.

It's not something I need to know, and I'm not in a position to pick and choose.

After Kim Dalram disappeared, I felt the importance of having influential connections.

I would be completely blind without them.

If Viva! Apocalypse! didn't exist, I would have lived a life not much different from a primitive.

I might have been completely isolated and died in a storm.

I don't fully trust Woo Minhee, but maintaining a slight connection with her doesn't seem bad.

It's a bit of labor for that purpose.

I won't lose anything.

In fact, I might gain something.

"Seoul, right? It's a pity. Mainly the elderly and the sick died. They had nowhere to go and no will to leave. Even when the evacuation sirens sounded, they chose to die in their homes."

I listened to the information.

"This is something Director Woo Minhee asked me to give you."

I also got a can of juice that Su likes.

"Seoul is coming up. There's nothing to be surprised about. People just disappeared cleanly."

I saw the Seoul everyone talks about.

"Now we've arrived, Hunter Park."

The scenery of Seoul unfolded before me again.

It has been 2 years and 7 months since the war began.

Seoul has essentially fallen.

A few people, who managed to escape the disaster, wander the empty streets.

"Ha ha ha......"

A mad woman was walking down the street.

Her hair was messy, and her clothes were torn, exposing her breasts, but she didn't seem to care as she walked down the empty street.

The soldiers watched her but didn't stop her.

A piece of metal, like shrapnel, was embedded in the back of her head.

"This way."

I never imagined I would be doing something like a campaign.

Fortunately, the campaign Woo Minhee asked me to do is not a typical one but something I'm good at.

"Our candidate wants to hunt a monster as a campaign achievement. He thinks he'll lose the election if he doesn't do something like that."

Of course, what she asked for was "campaigning," not "winning."

Just helping is enough.

Whether it helps that person or not, just being there and pretending to help is enough.

"That person is threatening us with a weakness they found. There's nothing we can do. In the past, Dalram handled it. He was good at it. If it were me, I would have killed them."

The problematic candidate was standing with his hands behind his back, staring blankly at the ruins of Seoul.

A familiar back.

It was a face I recognized.

"Ah, the hunter introduced by the National Assembly."

The man turned to look at me.

"Huh?"

His expression turned sour.

It couldn't be helped.

This man, Park Sangmin, had a conflict with me during the Jeungpho incident.

I had seen him during the school demolition, but this is the first time Park Sangmin has seen me since then.

"Y-You?! That time, that?!"

"If you don't like it, I can send him back."

Actually, it's for the best.

I don't want to be involved with such a person for even a second.

But it seems that our Mr. Park, unlike two years ago, is in a bit of a bind these days.

"Ha ha. What are you talking about, Hunter?"

His face, looking at me with suspicion, says it all.

"Let's go! The vehicle is ready!"