Chapter 61

39. Campaign (2)

When Park Sang-min entered the monster-controlled area with Jeungpungho, his presence was formidable.

He rode in a limousine, had a bodyguard, and even a secretary who would shout and grab people on his behalf.

Now, he is alone, and the gasoline in his car is almost depleted.

The exhaust pipe emits a foul-smelling black smoke like a forest fire.

"People look at proportional representation candidates with such disdain."

After swallowing his dry throat several times, he finally managed to bring up the topic.

He silently confirmed the direction of the passing vehicles.

They seem to be heading towards Yoido.

"But proportional representation candidates are legitimate representatives of the people, determined by law and public opinion. They play a role in diversifying policies and expanding the interests of minorities, a system first adopted by advanced countries like Germany and Northern Europe."

"Where are we going?"

"To the National Assembly."

"Are we the only ones?"

"No. There will be supporters in front of the National Assembly."

As soon as the short conversation ended, he turned his head to look outside the window.

Park Sang-min is at least perceptive.

From the way he tightly closes his mouth, it's clear he knows I don't want to talk to him.

In front of the National Assembly, where the roof is half-collapsed, a group of people, including soldiers, have gathered.

They seem to have arrived by bus.

"Mr. Park!"

"Mr. Park~!"

Middle-aged men and women welcomed Park Sang-min with broad smiles.

They appeared to be his followers.

What stood out was the larger number of middle-aged women compared to men.

Park Sang-min bowed deeply to one of the women, but I didn't pay much attention.

There was someone far more important present.

"It's been a while."

My senior, Baek Seung-hyun.

Even though my blood had already turned as cold as a reptile's during the ride, seeing his face made it freeze even more.

For a moment, I thought about how to deal with this person while bowing.

First, I need to hide my home.

Yes, that's a good idea.

"Ah, Senior Baek. It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Senior? That's inappropriate."

He offered me a cigarette.

It's a pre-war item with a filter.

I held it in my mouth for a moment before he lit it, but it made me feel nauseous.

I'm not a non-smoker.

I've smoked quite a bit.

The reason I felt nauseous was because the unlit cigarette emitted a pungent smell of a corpse through the filter, which entered my mouth.

"Good. The cigarettes from the past."

I expelled the corpse-like smell from my mouth with the nicotine-laden smoke and thanked him.

"They were hard to come by."

Baek Seung-hyun replied with a calm smile.

I wanted to ask how he got them but didn't.

We stood side by side, smoking and watching Park Sang-min's actions.

It seemed he had come here not to hunt monsters but to campaign, shaking hands and hugging each supporter who had come with him.

Baek Seung-hyun watched Park Sang-min with a indifferent face and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

"Were you called here too?"

"Yes. Through some connections."

"I see. Are you still in the air-raid shelter?"

"No, I went to Incheon."

"Ah, I'm in Incheon too. I'm in Michuhol."

"Jeyang."

"Jeyang?"

Baek Seung-hyun looked at me in surprise.

"That area has become a war zone, hasn't it? Didn't a giant monster come that close?"

"At that time, I evacuated to the south."

"I see. Was your home safe?"

"I need to check. I don't have much to lose, so it shouldn't matter. What are you doing here?"

I changed the subject naturally.

Baek Seung-hyun didn't seem to suspect my intentions.

Instead, he revealed a faint smile, indicating that the new topic suited him, and answered my question.

"In a word, it's a show."

Baek Seung-hyun looked up at the sky.

Above the blue sky, a line of indifferent clouds drifted slowly.

"Mr. Park wants to be a national representative, but he has nothing to offer, so he's planning a show to hold a vote in the National Assembly. But there's a capsule inside the National Assembly, isn't there?"

"Removing the capsule to build a record?"

"Something like that."

"I heard it's a monster."

"Officially, it's a capsule."

Baek Seung-hyun spat on the ground.

He looked at the children in the corner of the crowd, who were in a pitiful state.

"Maybe he put it there himself."

"Something a fanatic would do."

"Would you do it?"

Baek Seung-hyun looked at the National Assembly.

"I don't know."

He smiled faintly.

Soon, several vehicles arrived in front of the National Assembly.

<9th Pioneer Team>

The flags fluttering on the cars revealed who they were.

"I'll go now. I wasn't called by Park Sang-min, but by those people over there."

Baek Seung-hyun had connections with the Pioneer Team.

Not just connections, but they were a team.

Next to the bandit-like men in civilian clothes, Baek Seung-hyun laughed more sincerely and heartily than he did with me.

"Then, Mr. Park. I'll go on a reconnaissance mission."

A short while later, Baek Seung-hyun entered the National Assembly with the Pioneer Team.

While waiting for them to return, Park Sang-min approached me.

"Hunter Park."

"Yes."

"It seems you know Hunter Baek."

"We went to the same school."

"Ah~."

"Are you not from a school background?"

I asked, knowing the answer.

"I'm from the Evaluation Board."

"I see."

"We're about to start the operation."

"Let's hear the briefing."

I had no intention of joining Park Sang-min's game.

What I was asked to do by Woo Min-hee was to campaign, not to get elected.

So, I just need to pretend.

Seriously, would all these people gathered here vote for Park Sang-min?

I don't think so.

Without knowing what I was thinking, Park Sang-min smiled and naively talked about his plan.

"The plan is simple. Hunter Park and I will enter the National Assembly together. There's a capsule inside. We'll deal with it. It's not a difficult task. Honestly, it's much easier than when Jeungpungho was the president."

"Mr. Park, do you have combat experience?"

I asked Park Sang-min.

He looked surprised and shook his head.

"I won't participate in the combat."

"Why not?"

"Hunter Park has to do it. I heard you can destroy a capsule alone, and quite easily."

I suddenly felt skeptical.

What kind of life must one live to be able to smile and demand sacrifices from others as if it were natural?

"Hunter Park?"

He tilted his head, demanding an answer.

I sighed and replied.

"That's an old story. Now, I... "

Just as I was about to make an excuse and leave,

"It's for the people."

Park Sang-min interrupted me.

"Huh?"

I didn't want to show my emotions to this person, but hearing those words, I couldn't help but reveal my true feelings.

"What nonsense is this?"

It was a rather sharp remark.

But this Park Sang-min.

He is unshaken.

"It's not nonsense. It's for the people."

At that moment, I strongly suspected that the "people" he was talking about was a Park Sang-min-style transformation of the first-person "I."

"No, what is this for the people? Isn't it for your election?"

"Even that is for the people."

"Huh?"

"Right now... "

Today seems to be a lucky day.

I didn't have to get angry at Park Sang-min; someone else did it for me.

"We can't do it!"

Baek Seung-hyun and the Pioneer Team members came out of the National Assembly in a rush.

Their voices were so loud and fierce that Park Sang-min and I stopped our conversation and turned to look.

"It's too dangerous. A capsule? We don't even have Hunter equipment."

It was Baek Seung-hyun's voice.

He was shouting.

I know from previous conversations that this is not something he would say to a colleague next to him.

He usually speaks in a soft but clear voice and, being a school graduate, rarely swears.

"What the hell. Are you trying to get us killed?"

In other words, Baek Seung-hyun is talking to Park Sang-min.

"You have Hunter equipment, don't you?"

A Pioneer Team member next to him asked with a smile, also in a loud voice.

It seems they had planned this in advance.

"What we have is for hunting mutations. We need something stronger. You might think a capsule is a joke, but it's not. It's a summoning beacon. Without close-combat equipment, we need to prepare a lot of ricochet bullets or have two snipers who can intimidate."

As he passed by me, Baek Seung-hyun gave me a meaningful look and winked.

"Going in without any of that is a death sentence."

I was a bit confused.

The last time Baek Seung-hyun appeared near my territory, he only emitted the stench of a plunderer, but here he is, opposing Park Sang-min and helping me.

A Pioneer Team member turned to look at us.

"But what if that guy complains?"

He said it loudly, even though Park Sang-min was right next to him.

The supporters behind Park Sang-min protested, but the Pioneer Team member just smirked.

Meanwhile, Baek Seung-hyun delivered the final blow.

"What can that scumbag do?"

I looked at Park Sang-min's face.

The man who had tried to force me into a dangerous situation with a shameless smile was now pale.

"Originally, he's just a nobody with no constituency. He's just riding on connections. His supporters are all busy saving themselves, and he doesn't even have any real supporters. Look at the faces of the people gathered here. That's all he has. That's all the supporters he could scrape together."

Baek Seung-hyun put a cigarette in his mouth and turned around.

Park Sang-min couldn't say a word.

The Pioneer Team members, enjoying his helpless reaction, flattered Baek Seung-hyun.

"Bro, isn't that a bit too much of a fact bomb?"

"Yeah, you're not trying to beat him with facts, are you?"

Laughter followed, but Park Sang-min could do nothing.

He couldn't even protest.

That was the reality of the once arrogant man.

Soon, a young man who seemed to be the leader of the Pioneer Team approached us.

"Ah, Mr. Park."

His attitude was disrespectful, and his eyes were challenging.

"Our Hunter can't do it. We need more support."

I looked at Park Sang-min's face.

He was trying to maintain a poker face, but his face was flushed red, which he couldn't hide.

"......Just go."

Park Sang-min said in a strained voice.

The Pioneer Team member didn't even respond and turned around.

"Hey, the job's done. Let's go!"

Several vehicles started their engines competitively.

Rumble—

The crude flags fluttered uselessly with the engine's vibrations.

Baek Seung-hyun, wearing a German army helmet and goggles, rode his vintage motorcycle towards us.

"Hunter Park!"

"Yes."

"Do you have a personal identification number? Let's have a drink sometime."

"No, I don't have one."

"Didn't you?"

"I did, but I lost it. A lot has happened since then."

Park Sang-min looked at me strangely, but the expression was brief.

"Is that so? That's a shame."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. Senior Baek's identification number. I thought I might contact you if I get one in the future."

As far as I know, Baek Seung-hyun, unlike me, hasn't been given a personal identification number.

He seems to have one now.

The way he emphasizes it suggests he has one.

So, I expected him to answer.

Sure enough, Baek Seung-hyun, with a mature yet childlike smile, answered cheerfully.

"DARAM."

"DARAM?"

"Yes, I like squirrels."

"Huh?"

I glared at him.

Baek Seung-hyun, noticing my expression, quickly erased the smile from his lips and answered.

"......Actually, I got it from Hunter Kim Daram."

It's a lie.

Why would that possessive woman give it to you?

"Ah, I see."

"Let's have a drink sometime. You said Jeyang? I'll visit when I have time."

I have many questions, but he has more friends than I do.

Friends with guns, numbering over a dozen.

Still, there was one thing I wanted to confirm.

"Commissioner Kim Daram. Do you have any news about her?"

I glared at him.

"Maybe."

Baek Seung-hyun revved the engine loudly.

"I heard she went to the Legion faction."

He looked at me.

"You made the wrong bet."

Is that true?

Kim Daram is a smart woman.

No one around me is as sharp as her.

I'm sure she's not dead.

Baek Seung-hyun's motorcycle roared as it left.

Park Sang-min approached me with an awkward smile.

"Hehe...... Hunter Park."