Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: The Truth Always Makes the Heart Race
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The truth always makes the heart race, doesn't it?
A long time ago, the Union had been dreaming of a grand plan.
To one day become a massive, powerful organization encompassing the entire world.
To establish a headquarters that even the governments of various countries couldn't touch recklessly.
"To achieve that, we must first win the hearts of the world's citizens."
We need to solidify our image as a group of justice fighting alongside heroes.
Then, naturally, politicians and corporations will follow suit.
Power and wealth. That means we can seize both and command them at will.
At the same time, we can't rely on heroes forever.
Even if we win over the heroes' hearts, they ultimately belong to their nations.
We need to secretly create and operate a new armed force.
But we must never get caught. We need a groundbreaking plan.
And that armed force must consist of Ability awakeners.
So, what could fulfill both of these conditions?
"Securing human resources no one could imagine. It's tricky."
"Excuse me. How about this approach?"
One internal Union member made a proposal along these lines.
Let's establish an orphanage or support existing ones.
To the outside world, it would look like fulfilling social responsibility.
No one would suspect it. No, they couldn't suspect it.
Who would ever find orphanage support suspicious?
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we select Ability awakeners.
These are kids with no family, no dreams, no hope, no future.
They would be perfect as those loyal solely to the Union.
If we indoctrinate them from childhood, they won't betray us!
"The moment we're exposed, we're done. This is essentially child soldiers."
"And that's not all? This is a private army. We could be attacked as no different from villains."
To leave no gaps whatsoever, the Union did its utmost.
As a result, the secret agent training program proceeded successfully.
Sometimes through persuasion, other times through pressure, they perfected it.
They can't betray us. For them, the Union is everything.
With the power secured, it was time to win public opinion and the people's hearts.
We fully utilize the image we've built and accumulated over time.
We emphasize that we exist solely for heroes.
We provide numerous welfare benefits for heroes and show it directly.
The Union cares for your heroes.
Supporting the Union is supporting the heroes!
"Perfect. Praise for our Union is at an all-time high worldwide."
"Heroes are starting to listen to the Union's opinions too. As expected, nothing can't be solved with money, and no one can't be convinced with social perception."
Once one person believes, two do, and two become four.
Those four swell into tens of millions, hundreds of millions in an instant.
If things continue like this, our dream will become reality soon enough.
The Union grasping the entire world felt just around the corner.
But something the Union could never have imagined happened.
A villain who should naturally be evil. Who should naturally dwell in darkness.
A being who should make heroes and the Union shine even brighter.
He directly threw doubt and a challenge right at them.
At first, they thought some lunatic was doing something bizarre.
But no. This was no product of madness.
The Smiling Man was meticulous. He was moving with calculation.
He knew how to steal their justification, shake public opinion, and alienate the people's hearts.
Especially by repeatedly using the buzz he himself created.
People instinctively seek out interesting and stimulating topics.
The Smiling Man exploited that. He stayed constantly on people's lips.
If he's not forgotten, doubts arise, and doubt is the start of reevaluation.
He was someone the Union had tried to firmly label as a mere villain.
At some point, the Smiling Man became a massive social phenomenon.
He cast doubt on a world divided solely into heroes and villains.
Crash!
"Damn it! Goddamn it! This can't happen!"
Chaos erupted among the Union's high-ranking officials.
It would have been somewhat better if it were another country.
Of all places, it had to happen in South Korea.
No good. Korea is off-limits. We must protect it at all costs.
It's the country that first comes to mind when you think of 'heroes.'
It's essentially a superpower of awakeners leading the world.
That's why the Union paid special attention to Korean public opinion.
Over 30% of support and welfare was concentrated in Korea.
And now, this Korea was being swayed by a single villain.
Doubting the Union, even turning hostile.
"Spread provocative videos again! If public sentiment turns against us like this, opinion will completely flip! Remember, losing Korea means losing influence over heroes entirely!"
"No can do. We've overused that tactic, and it's backfiring. The more negative articles and opinions we put out about the Smiling Man, the more Korean citizens' interest grows."
"Idiots! The Korea Branch's evaluation was spot on! They're just pigs and dogs!"
Public opinion manipulation failed. They needed another method.
The next was pressuring the politicians they'd bribed so far.
You've eaten well until now, so time to pay up, right?
Make your citizens see heroes, not the Smiling Man.
But the Union underestimated the nature of politics.
"Ahem. I want to help, but public opinion seems different."
"Can't we just wait and see? Timing's not right."
Politicians will make deals with the devil himself for votes.
Let alone when the opponent is a person—not even a devil—despite being called a villain.
He's ambiguously a villain at best. He has public support.
This makes it extremely awkward for politicians to act rashly.
"Smiling Man. Smiling Man. Smiling Man!"
In the end, the Union executives could only grind their teeth.
They grew anxious as Union support ratings dropped day by day.
'If something new breaks out in this climate, we're truly finished.'
'The secret agents haven't been exposed yet, right? Training is ultra-secret, so we're safe.'
'Even if there's a traitor inside, they couldn't know details. It's known only to the top echelons. Top-secret among top-secrets.'
The Union, preaching justice, was secretly operating what amounted to child soldiers.
The moment it's exposed, everything ends. The Union is no longer just.
But fortunately, that would never happen.
Almost no one knows, and surveillance is thorough.
Reassured by this, the Union pondered ways to turn public opinion around.
But there was a fatal flaw they couldn't even imagine.
"Oh. Found some stinky kids."
The one who saw through everything had begun to move.
"Hahaha."
This laugh wasn't the Smiling Man's. It was Yushin's.
Yushin burst into laughter at the sight before him.
"Really. You're impressive in all sorts of ways, Union."
A certain orphanage in Gangwon Province. On the surface, it looked utterly ordinary.
True to being Union-funded, it was impeccably clean.
Even the local community's atmosphere around the orphanage wasn't bad.
The Union must have poured a lot of money into the community too.
In hopes they'd view the orphanage and kids positively.
"It's hard to call them superficial for falling for money when nothing expresses sincerity better than cash. Tricky to even criticize the locals."
The orphanage Lee Bora mentioned was right there.
Where the Union secretly raised their own soldiers.
Any child who awakens an Ability is immediately taken to a secret training ground.
Even if they don't awaken, that's fine. They have their uses.
Orphans who grew up splendidly thanks to Union support and attention.
People love those kinds of stories.
"They must be confident it won't be exposed. Even if info leaks internally, access is restricted, so no solid evidence can be secured."
Even Lee Bora wouldn't have changed her mind without that incident.
For her, raised in an orphanage, that place was home and hometown.
The kids left behind must feel like siblings or nieces/nephews.
Essentially holding her family and hometown hostage.
"Well then. Shall we get moving?"
In novels or movies chasing down evil deeds, they go through all sorts of hardships to uncover them, right?
Gathering info, investigating, infiltrating, sometimes getting caught and chased.
But seriously, when do you ever get results that way?
For Koreans, things gotta wrap up lightning-fast to feel satisfying!
Crunch!
He recalled the Union had put considerable thought into it.
Well-known executives only appear at orphanage events.
Handlers selecting kids are unknowns to the outside.
Impossible to impersonate as a Union member.
So no one could fool them, but the Smiling Man was different.
"Ahem."
Yushin instantly transformed into someone else and smiled.
The handler scheduled to check today's awakened kids was in the trunk.
Not killed. Needed as a witness later.
Replacing him, he entered the orphanage's secret facility.
Then cause a ruckus, call heroes, and done.
"For Koreans, fast pacing is a must, right? Hahaha!"
Exposing the truth was getting him too excited.
...Too easy? Tension's gone?
Oh, come on, why? This is only natural.
If a slit-eyed badass makes things hard, he ain't a slit-eyed badass!