Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Wake Up!
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It started with a story about the son of a high-ranking Union official.
It was nothing out of the ordinary for the political world—no need to look far.
The congressman's son had basically treated his military service like a vacation.
He'd done drugs but got off with a suspended sentence and strutted around like he owned the place.
That was why people were sick to death of the news.
Such disgusting, filthy rot had seeped into the Union too.
A place solely for heroes. A place made for heroes.
They claimed to strive for world peace and people's happiness.
But in the end, the rotten elements there were causing all sorts of problems.
"Ugh! The Union is a huge disappointment! How can you claim to support heroes after this?!"
"Reveal who that high-ranking official is right now and punish them severely!"
"Don't tarnish our heroes' images! Who do you think you are, leeching off them?!"
The idolization of heroes had been subtly encouraged by the Union.
Not just as police protecting citizens from villains.
But as celebrities in their own right, commanding overwhelming support.
And naturally, the Union behind them reaped some benefits too.
But with idolization came these side effects.
Fanbases formed, and heroes became virtually sacred.
What the Union wanted was mutual support with popular heroes.
But from the fans' perspective, the Union was completely unrelated.
Efforts for the Union ended up pushing it away.
And when internal Union corruption broke, resentment deepened.
Attacks on the Union naturally cast suspicion on heroes too.
"This crazy fandom! We made them popular, and this is how they repay us?!"
Furious outbursts erupted immediately within the Union.
But it was fine. They had an ace up their sleeve.
All those arrows of criticism aimed at the Union?
Just bury them under a bigger incident!
They hadn't directly joined hands with the villains, but they'd given them a covert push.
Ensuring those bastards would cause a massive incident right now.
As a result, South Korea took a huge hit from the villains.
Precisely the Brigade of Evil's doing, but no one knew that.
Even if they did, it didn't matter. To people, they were all the same villains.
And the ones facing those villains were none other than the heroes.
Supporting those heroes was the Union they'd been cursing.
In this situation, attacking the Union was attacking the heroes.
Attacking heroes was clear proof of supporting villains.
That was exactly why the Union had used the Brigade of Evil—to push this logic.
As expected, articles targeting the Union vanished in an instant.
Videos came down, and cries to investigate Union corruption lost steam.
"Perfect. Yeah, that's how it should be. Who do they think they are, messing with the Union?!"
"Keep pressuring the journalists and video makers so they never pull this again. Subtly threaten them—say it looks like the villains put them up to it!"
Not stopping there, the Union pushed for a state of emergency.
They had to take Korea. It was a global hero powerhouse.
Once they seized it, other places would fall one by one into the Union's hands.
Up front, gripping the executive branch and heroes in both fists.
Behind the scenes, maintaining order with their secretly nurtured Ability squads.
A colossal organization spanning the world, something no one had ever achieved.
The glorious name: Union. One step closer to that dream...
"Th-this is bad! Look at this! It's really bad!!"
At first, they thought it was holdouts trying one last scratch.
Understandable. A juicy scoop like this wasn't easy to let go.
But the villains' massive attack had just happened yesterday.
No other topic could divert the public's attention...
What the hell is this? Wait, how did this video spread to the world?
We'd sent a team to collect and clean up everything related.
This was disastrous. The Union's upper echelons were horrified, tearing at their hair.
Something they absolutely had to hide. An incident they believed could never be exposed.
It exploded—boom!—before they could even react or find out.
This was on a whole different level from high-ranking corruption or abuse of power.
A corrupt hero colluding with the Union. And deliberate cover-up.
This alone would deal a severe blow to the image they'd built up!
"Reactions? What's the reaction like?"
"The worst. Even with hundreds of casualties from yesterday's villain raid, this is dominating search trends!!"
Villain terror attacks were routine by now—happening every so often.
People hated villains, but they'd grown numb to it.
But the Union? No one saw this coming.
Who would've thought a hero was such a criminal?
That the Union covered up and manipulated the truth!
Nothing made people angrier than betrayal from those they trusted.
And that betrayal was now aimed squarely at the Union!
"First, spin it as a fake video! Something with AI!"
"Video experts are already saying it's not manipulated."
"Then say it was made later! Villains trying to undermine heroes' public support..."
"That's been debunked too—it's confirmed as footage from that day."
"..."
"The Korean government keeps asking if it's true. If we knew about Holy Knight's crimes and covered them up..."
Those damn politicians. What? Planning to cut ties?
How much graft money had they shoveled from the Union?
Now they wanted to jump ship like rats abandoning a sinking vessel?
"Tell those who took our money: If they don't want to go down with us, control this properly. Remind them next week's payment could be bribery or a donation—think carefully."
"Got it."
"And contact every hero who's benefited from the Union. If we shake, they're done too—tell them to watch themselves."
Not every hero had tight ties to the Union.
But many had received Union support.
Some, like Holy Knight, had gotten info manipulation and cover-up services.
Used to hide their unreported misdeeds.
If that came out, their hero careers were over.
Fine. Let's see who crumbles first.
We have plenty of Union fans and heroes...
"Damn it...!"
They hadn't expected Valkyrie to turn hostile like this.
Still, if they could shift focus back to villain crimes...
The tailwind that had pushed the Union so far...
Was now a headwind, shoving it into a typhoon.
*Ring! *Ring! *Riiiing!!
"..."
Sunday morning. Seo Ha-eun had been tossing and turning since dawn.
Thanks to her messenger blowing up nonstop.
A weekend when everyone rested. Extremely rude.
But the notifications kept coming...
The truth about Hero Holy Knight had spread worldwide.
Behind the mask of a good, righteous hero...
He'd committed all sorts of atrocities.
The backlash that should've erupted had been thoroughly buried by someone.
If not for that video released yesterday.
No one would've known this massive truth.
Valkyrie had tried to cover for Seo Ha-eun's video release.
But Seo Ha-eun had already been questioned as a witness back then.
So people easily pieced together that she'd been there that day.
*Ring!
Scary. How the hell did they get her phone number?
She wanted to stay inside, but she couldn't.
She'd permitted it herself—and wanted it too.
Heroes existed for people and justice.
An unjust hero wasn't a hero. It couldn't be.
"...Hoo."
Seo Ha-eun finished preparing and stepped outside.
Reporters waiting in ambush swarmed her instantly.
Video creators rushed in aggressively too.
"Cadet Seo Ha-eun! Weren't you with Holy Knight on the day of the incident?!"
"What happened? Please answer—for the people's right to know!"
"I heard you were close to Holy Knight. Did you know about his crimes?"
"Some of Holy Knight's supporters say you approached him for his halo effect! Care to comment?!"
Yeah. It was just like when her parents died.
People blinded by sensationalism over the truth.
Hyenas trying to tear off even a scrap more.
Dizzying. Chest tight. Hard to breathe.
She'd stepped out on her own, but she still wasn't quite ready.
Anyone would do. Just a momentary hold to lean on.
Time to draw courage, gripping her arm briefly...
"Hold on tight, Cadet Seo Ha-eun."
"...?"
A soft whisper rode the breeze.
Something suddenly whooshed in front of her.
Then it shouted loud enough to be heard on purpose.
"So, uh. This is it! Ah, yeah! Exactly! Kidnapping the witness? Hahaha!!"
In the blink of an eye, the Smiling Man whisked Seo Ha-eun away.