The Broken Resolve
Yeomyeong quietly began his story. "Saintess. There are too many things wrong with this world."
He calmly laid bare his past. He had been born without parents—a common tragedy. The solution had been equally simple: stain his hands with filth and blood. Fortunately, he possessed talent. He acquired skills. He acquired how to fight. He acquired deceit, lies, and pretense.
"I lived like a rat, and I was treated like one. But there was one person... He actually invited me into his home."
He was an eccentric man. An old man who had bought a bunker, muttering about how the commies were ruining the country, and how none of this would have happened if the General were still alive. He was the type to shout that the youth of today had no manners, and that the world had gone to ruin because soldiers were allowed to use cell phones in the military, rotting their minds.
"And yet, a man like that was incredibly kind to young children like me. He would grumble, asking why he had to babysit brats at his age, but he always prepared meals for us."
Whenever mealtime came, he would always talk about the glorious days of the past.
"...That was also when I first heard about the law. He told me that in this land's past, such a thing existed—an absolute standard that brought order to the world simply by being followed."
Of course, the young Yeomyeong had not paid much attention to the old man's words. Law. Morality. Order. To him, a single meal was far more important. But need always precedes loss. Disaster struck—an event that would make him desperately yearn for even those brief, past conversations.
"A gang came."
A wealthy, frail old man. There was no way a rapidly expanding gang would miss such an easy target. They took everything. Water. Food. The bunker and the generator. And one more thing.
"There was a young girl who, like me, had been taken in by Shin Noin. Her name was Sora... and she happened to catch their eye."
The man who called himself the gang leader took the girl. Yeomyeong fought back with everything he had, but his adolescent body was no match for all of them. A sudden, brutal parting. Yet, ironically, even that parting did not last long.
"Only a week. It was just one week. I found a familiar corpse discarded in a back alley. Her skin was covered in burns and bruises, her lower body caked in blood and filth..."
Stray dogs were gnawing on her corpse. Blinded by rage, the young man stormed the gang's hideout. He fought. He was captured. He was tortured. He gave up the location of his home. The makeshift thatched cottage he had barely managed to build after being kicked out of the bunker was set ablaze. The gang deliberately left Yeomyeong alive, dumping him at the ruins of the old bunker. The boy rolled on the ruined ground. Ash and bone dust swirled in the air. As deep despair settled over the boy's face, the gang leader laughed uproariously.
"...He told me that this is what happens when you are weak. So, I became desperately, relentlessly strong."
He trained his abilities and grew his strength. By the time Yeomyeong had fully grown, the gang that killed Shin Noin had already disbanded and vanished. Of course, that did not extinguish the man's thirst for vengeance. The world was still chaotic, and there were always those who acted arrogant, relying on their own strength.
He gathered those who had been scarred just like him. Naturally, the group was given a name: Haninhae. The Association of Grudged People. Time passed quickly. Overthrowing gangs, saving people, moving on to other places... He spent an immensely satisfying time. Then, one day, when he executed a gang boss as usual—
"I still remember it vividly. A child came out and screamed at me, asking why I killed her father."
A girl who looked to be about thirteen. Wearing a spotless dress, holding a piece of candy in one hand, she pointed at him arrogantly. Her body was plump. He must have sucked the lifeblood of the local residents to feed his own child. Yeomyeong stared the child down with contempt, and one of his subordinates acted first. Bang!
"...Did you intend to kill her from the beginning?"
"I didn't intend to go that far... but well, even after the child died, I didn't really scold my subordinate. If anything, I felt a sense of relief."
He had hated seeing her act so arrogant, completely ignorant of how the world worked. He hated the look in her eyes that believed she was a princess. He hated her skin, which didn't have a single callus. It forced him to look back at his own past. What had he been doing at thirteen? What about the members of Haninhae? What about Sora? What did they look like at thirteen? What had they been forced to look like?
"The subordinate who pulled the trigger was around the same age. He had joined Haninhae after losing his parents to that girl's father."
"..."
"So, I let it slide. Ah, I did scold him for wasting a bullet. I told him to use a knife if he was going to kill someone..."
"Then, why did that child stay in your memory?"
"Because as I was about to leave the room, I saw it. Behind the corpses of his father and sister, hiding inside a closet, were the trembling eyes of a young boy."
Yeomyeong pressed his hand to his forehead as if nursing a headache. Although the current situation and Shin Noin's case differed in justification, cause, and circumstance, one thing was exactly the same.
"The boy's eyes... they were light brown. Just like mine."
Eyes of the exact same color as his own, harboring the exact same feelings, were glaring at him. The eyes of someone who had just sworn vengeance.
"That was when I realized something was wrong."
Doubt had crept in. Had he not been fighting to rid the world of that look? Then why was he lighting a new fire with his own hands?
"So, I looked back. I revisited the areas I had traveled through."
"How was it?"
"It was exactly the same. Nothing had changed. The children I had saved had become the bosses of new organizations, tormenting the powerless once again."
It was laughable. He had hoped that simply killing the wicked would bring order to the world, but humanity was not so simple. Not all weaklings are good. Once the weak become strong, they inflict the exact same pain they received onto others. The cycle of revenge, hatred, and corruption would continue forever.
Yeomyeong was certain of it then.
"...Saintess. This world is broken. Every human living in this world is broken."
Humans are evil. They are despicable beasts that practice the law of the jungle more viciously than any animal. They are wretched creatures that forget their own deeds, remembering only the harm they suffered as they continue the chain of hatred. How, then, should these wicked beasts be guided? Surely, the only way is the whip.
"I needed an absolute standard. An absolute power that could break the cycle of revenge, one that could not be challenged by mere petty abilities or pathetic luck."
No matter how much he looked around the world, there was no sign of a keeper. He thought that was only natural. If there had been a keeper, the beasts would not have been ruined like this. If there had been a god to guide them, humanity would not have fallen so low. In that case, he had to do it. Having realized the true nature of humanity, he had to step forward and establish order. Only then did the words Shin Noin often said come back to him.
"Though they are beastly humans, I heard that the world was not always like this. I hoped that if there was a whip called the law, even these wretched animals could become human."
"..."
"If order could be restored to the world like that... wouldn't that be the perfect revenge for Shin Noin's death?"
The young man's methods changed. Recalling faint memories, he altered the nature of Haninhae. He changed the meaning of its name. He expanded its scale, accepting anyone who wished to join. In the process, talented individuals also entered. Lee Seokin—a man who had made a name for himself as the youngest judge during the days of the Republic of Korea. Whether that introduction was true could not be certain, but at the very least, his administrative abilities were peerless. Gradually implementing past laws, they laid the foundation for a new order. The presidential election was also held in this manner.
Yeomyeong did not run as a candidate. It was a matter of belief. It was not right to stand above others simply because one possessed power; if he became president himself, his ideology might become distorted. Instead, he publicly supported Lee Seokin. He argued that the person who did the most to restore order should rise to the highest position. With an overwhelming majority of votes, Lee Seokin was elected president.
"For the next few years, I worked hard as well. Since there was no Awakened stronger than me in Seoul, I believed that if I set an example, others would follow."
A life controlled by a beast with power is akin to hell. If so, he had to be the first to walk into that hell. Yeomyeong put a leash on himself. He took the incredibly tedious path to resolve matters that could have been settled with a single punch. Even when he was angry, even when he was frustrated, he endured and followed the rules. Because he believed that by doing so, order would eventually be restored to the world. Thanks to that, Seoul was a little safer today than it was yesterday. He thought that was enough. He believed it—until he met Nisyona.
"But Saintess, even the law could not bring order to the world. It may seem better on the surface, but fundamentally, it is the same. It merely created a different kind of strong and a different kind of weak..."
The metric that distinguished the strong from the weak had simply shifted from physical power to something else. The victims still cowered. The perpetrators still held their heads high. Neither power nor law could establish order. The method of revenge had merely changed from swords and guns to pens and paper. Humans still butchered one another. Yeomyeong turned his head. Looking at Nisyona, who lay asleep on the sofa, he muttered.
"So, yes. I will admit it. My belief was wrong. My revenge has failed. Saintess... the path I walked was incorrect. So please, give me an answer."
"..."
"What should I do?"
At Yeomyeong's sorrowful question, the Saintess could not easily open her mouth. She merely gazed at the sky with deep eyes, as if lost in thought. Was she contemplating something? Perhaps even this Saintess had a revenge of her own to fulfill? Just as Yeomyeong was wondering, the Saintess slowly smiled and spoke.
"Yeomyeong, do you see these notes here?"
She reached out and pointed to three slips of paper resting on the desk. They had been prepared from the moment Yeomyeong entered the room. Though bewildered by the sudden shift in topic, he turned his head, following the Saintess's gesture. The Saintess calmly began to explain.
"As you seem to know, Yeomyeong, there is a God we serve. A God in that high place, looking down upon this world with a single eye."
"...In this world?"
"Yes. Even in this world, which may be an otherworldly realm to us but is home to you. God exists. Even now, He is watching us."
At the Saintess's words, Yeomyeong could not hide his disappointment. He had come here, swayed by Nisyona's words. Was this ultimately just a pitch to recruit him into her religion? His faint hope shattered. Yeomyeong muttered, letting out a sigh.
"Saintess. If there is a God in this world, let me ask you: why is the world in this state?"
"How could I dare to judge the will of the One on high? Moreover, I am not even of this world."
"...Is that all?"
"That is all I can say. But perhaps it is different for God."
The Saintess continued, pointing to the notes. "Yesterday, these sentences were written following God's gaze. They are written in the language of the other world—that is, your world."
"Does that mean—"
"Yes. I do not even know the meaning of the words written here... but you, Yeomyeong, will surely understand the words of God."
A note with the words of God. Normally, he would have dismissed this as a trick. But Yeomyeong had already seen a similar note before. The note delivered by the Saintess when she had secretly visited him. Along with the revelation that Lee Seokin had violated Nisyona, it contained information that no one but Yeomyeong or Lee Seokin himself could have known. Since that incident had been the catalyst for all this chaos... he could not easily ignore the note before him now. Yeomyeong reached out hesitantly. He flipped over the note the Saintess pointed to. Inside, written in crooked, awkward Korean, was a short sentence.
Recall Shin Noin's last words.
"...This is."
"What does it say?"
"...It says, 'Recall Shin Noin's last words.'"
"May I ask what his last words were?"
At the Saintess's question, Yeomyeong recalled the past. The old man burning in the fire. Covered in burns, approaching him just before drawing his final breath to speak. Because the situation had been so dire, he could not remember every single word. Yet, if there was one phrase that stood out...
"...He said, 'Karma.' He said it was because of my actions that we ended up like this."
With a face contorted in agony, the old man had screamed that it was all his fault. His end had not been noble like the characters in stories. Rather, it had been filled with resentment and hatred. He had screamed, asking why Yeomyeong had stormed the gang's hideout. Why couldn't he have just forgotten about that one brat? Did he have to get all of them killed over one dead girl to be satisfied?
Yeomyeong did not find his reaction strange. Were humans not all inherently evil? Shin Noin was no exception. They might show mercy when they were prosperous, but in the end, they would turn ugly like that. That was why he had thrown himself even deeper into revenge. He resented the world that had made Shin Noin ugly—the world that had left a final stain on the life of the adoptive father he wanted to respect. But for this sentence to appear now...
"...Saintess. Is God saying now that the world being in this state is our fault?" Yeomyeong muttered.
"That the world became like this because of our mistakes? That the glorious era I grew up hearing about was the very cause of this ruined world?"
He wanted to dismiss it as a lie. He wanted to call it all a cheap trick. But deep down in his heart, he knew. He knew that the world Shin Noin spoke of was not so beautiful. Not all history books had been burned to ashes. He, too, knew of the past world, if only in fragments. He had simply averted his eyes. Because there was no other way. Because he did not want to admit that the utopia he desired was impossible. But the moment he heard this directly from the mouth of God, the core of the man—which had held on with sheer force of will, never bending—could no longer withstand the cracks and snapped.
After agonizing for a long while, the man finally managed to open his mouth and ask, "...Saintess. I ask you again. What should I do?"
Without a word, the Saintess pointed to the next note. Yeomyeong flipped it over without hesitation.
Every action has a cost.
"What does it say?"
"...'Every action has a cost.'"
It was a common phrase. If he had looked at it without thinking, he would have dismissed it as a trivial, cliché quote written just to sound profound. But at this moment, those words sounded entirely different to Yeomyeong.
"...If only the price is paid. Anything can be done."
He had failed to establish order in the world. Perhaps everyone in the world would fail. As long as they were born human, there were clear limits to what they could see and hear. The only one who could establish absolute order was, without a doubt, a being worthy of being called 'God'. And just now, that God had spoken the first doctrine of the church that served the Evil God.
"...If a sufficient price is paid, it will be done."
Life returned to the hollow eyes of the warrior. It was a vitality of a slightly different color than before.