Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Has the Republic Perished?
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As anyone could tell from a history textbook, the word "revival movement" carried an ominous echo on the Korean Peninsula.
The Baekje Revival Movement and the Goguryeo Revival Movement both ended in failure. Silla and Balhae followed suit into bankruptcy, though not as well-known.
The people who had lived on the peninsula had always been an early adopter nation from ancient times.
Rather than clinging to the ragged tails of a fallen kingdom and dragging it out, they preferred the refreshing taste of simply changing the signboard altogether.
The "Republic of Korea Revival Movement" could be no exception.
"Dictator No Do-ha, step down!"
Jo Young-su had been granted permission to exist.
He had permission to hold up protest signs and shout, and even to recycle scrap paper for waste separation purposes.
Busy survivors just trying to get through each day would chuckle and spare a moment to respond when Jo Young-su approached with his so-called opinion poll scraps.
People's goodwill extended exactly that far.
"Dictator No Do-ha, step down! End the guild leaders' nepotistic city management! Establish a National Assembly and enact a constitution!"
Jo Young-su always remained alone.
Even after a year, three years, or seven years passed, the membership of the "Republic of Korea Revival Society" never grew.
SG Net treated Jo Young-su the same way.
-Anonymous: Welcome, constitution simp
-Goryeo Jang: Greetings to you, great signboard man^^ Your little brother Goryeo bows deeply
-Anonymous: Honestly had no strong feelings about the Highway Management Corps leader, but lately my thoughts have changed. Seeing that old guy not killed but kept alive... the Corps leader must be a real madwoman, a total psycho...
└Literature Girl: The tiger dies and leaves its pelt; the Republic dies and leaves Jo Young-su
-Anonymous: Dang Seo-rin, No Do-ha, cult of normalcy, Jo Young-su, let's go
└Anonymous: Fuck lololol
└Anonymous: All-time national pride lineup ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
└dolLHOuse: ?
Mockery, contempt, grumbling about named individuals.
Pity for a fellow being barely surviving in the same era. A rare sprinkle of goodwill, scarce as rainwater in the Gobi Desert.
Nowhere could one find any serious movement wishing for the Republic of Korea's restoration. There was no yearning for democracy, either.
"Why are the democratic citizens of this land so dissolute!"
Sometimes, when he scraped together some money, Jo Young-su would head to a street stall and drown himself in booze. Then he would lament.
"With the nation on the brink of collapse, how can nostalgia for the dictator still linger!"
"Hmm."
Eventually, in one regression turn, I couldn't stand it anymore and had to intervene.
Bumbling around the world was the privilege of the young (Jo Young-su was still a kid in my eyes). But offering unsolicited advice was the specialty of the old, wasn't it?
I sidled up to Jo Young-su, who was drinking alone at a Haeundae street stall, and matched him drink for drink.
"Mr. Jo. People may seem to show you goodwill, but you mustn't mistake it for what it is."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"People generally overpackage both goodwill and malice in their actions. Plenty give you scrap paper as charity, but no one will join you in shouting 'Republic of Korea.' Mistaking that for real support for your activities would be a problem."
"......"
His face flushed red from the cheap alcohol.
Like all survivors of this era, Jo Young-su was only in his late fifties but looked eighty on the surface. Skin care had long been deleted from the dictionary.
With a sound mind trapped in a body that had aged on its own, the Korean man before me raised his voice.
"Why say such things? Thanks for covering the tab, but if you think a few drops of this booze can stop my activities, you're sorely mistaken!"
"I'm not trying to hinder you. Just offering advice. You see yourself as a social activist, but others treat you as an entertainer."
"Entertainer?"
Jo Young-su blinked.
"Me?"
"Yes. The surveys you've diligently prepared give people something to gossip about for at least a day or two. They might feel a twinge of nostalgia for the past. You're the only one providing that taste, so people tolerate you."
"......"
"Fundamentally, it's no different from gathering in groups to watch old movies. No matter how you define yourself, your objective role in this little society is that of a clown."
"Clown......"
"That's why no one joins your revival movement."
I refilled Jo Young-su's empty glass.
"Imagine someone rushing the stage during a stand-up comedian's performance. It would kill the vibe, wouldn't it?"
"No, I'm serious about......"
"That's exactly why they like it. They like it because you're sincere."
Jo Young-su stared at me blankly.
"This isn't your personal failing, Mr. Jo. Talk of the Republic of Korea itself has become a joke. It's just the environment of the times."
"Are you saying I'm out of touch with the era?"
"Not at all. That perspective is too focused on your own position. There's a huge gap between the 'you you think you are' and the 'you others see.' In a way, you're providing such exquisite entertainment for this era that you've carved out your own niche."
"......"
"......"
Blink.
The middle-aged man's booze-soaked eyelids moved slowly.
The poor commoner's disguise couldn't withstand the long-overdue alcohol assault and soon lost consciousness.
I paid the bill and carried him back to his shack.
"Mr. Jo, I'll set you down here."
"Ugh...... Uh......"
Rustle. Drip drip.
A drizzle had started.
Jo Young-su's shack was crammed together from tarps, tents, and construction waste. It was about two pyeong in size.
Instead of bedding, thousands of sheets of scrap paper occupied the prime spot.
As if determined never to let them get wet no matter what, the papers and cardboard were enshrined like sacred relics.
[Republic of Korea 91st Opinion Poll]
[Question: Do you believe that arrests, sentencing, and execution of punishments for criminals can all be carried out based on the personal judgment of guild leaders or the National Highway Management Corps leader? Also, do you think the separation of powers should be implemented in the current situation?]
Below were Jo Young-su's densely packed notes.
-Concern 1: Must explain to citizens the issue of legislative, executive, and judicial powers concentrated in one person (but that makes the question too long)
-Concern 2: The phrase 'personal judgment' may carry a negative nuance and bias respondents
-Concern 3: Need to discuss the right to appoint a lawyer, but not enough space (defer to 92nd poll?)
→Idea: Supplement issues too big for print by posting on SG Net!!
└Regular reminders on the issue, build consensus, persuade citizens (important!!!)
"......"
Suddenly, I felt these scraps resembled the shack itself.
Just as the shack was too cramped to fully contain one person's body, the papers were trying to hold too much.
When I laid Jo Young-su on the bedding, half his legs stuck out of the tent.
His soles stayed soaked all night.
5
I don't know exactly what impact that night's drinking had on Jo Young-su's psyche.
But one thing had definitely changed.
"Huh?"
The content of his opinion polls.
[Republic of Korea 91st Opinion Poll]
[Question: Do you think the nation known as the Republic of Korea has perished?]
[① Yes.]
[② No.]
If my memory was correct, the 91st poll had definitely been about separation of powers.
Yet the new poll Jo Young-su was carrying around had not only completely changed topics but also shortened the text dramatically.
Has the Republic of Korea fallen?
"No, obviously it has fallen, so why......"
"Why is this survey like this?"
Even citizens who usually took the polls for fun tilted their heads.
If the Republic hadn't fallen, was it still thriving? Some wondered if Jo Young-su was pranking them with the survey.
But Jo Young-su was serious. More than ever.
"Please take the poll! Citizens! Busan residents! This is the most important survey yet!"
"Uh......"
It wasn't just seriousness.
Normally, Jo Young-su polled 1,000 to 2,000 people, selecting a representative sample from all walks.
Not this time.
"Kid! Hey kid! Wanna answer my question real quick?"
"Me?"
Jo Young-su madly asked everyone he saw, even shoving the "Has the Republic of Korea perished?" poll at a child barely five years old.
"I'll give you 100 won if you participate!"
"Wow!"
Even kids who had never experienced the Republic joined their first-ever opinion poll.
It didn't stop there.
-趙泳洙: Conducting the 91st opinion poll! Requesting participation from all SG Net members and non-members!
Jo Young-su, who had always stayed anonymous, signed up for SG Net and posted a poll thread.
His nickname: Jo Young-su (趙泳洙). Everyone was shocked by the audacity of using his real name as his ID.
-Anonymous: ?? Why'd this old guy sign up?
-Literature Girl: Didn't you say last time SG Net is a slanted playing field community for awakeners only, and you'd stay anonymous forever?
└趙泳洙: Sorry! I was wrong! So please, just participate in this one poll!
-Goryeo Jang: Ah... So you've finally resolved to become a 'named.' Welcome, Jo Young-su. You've joined SG Net's 'first string.'
└趙泳洙: Thank you! Please, just one poll participation!
Jo Young-su truly went mad collecting responses.
He didn't lead alone. He handed polls to passersby, familiar National Highway Management Corps members, roadside shop owners—everyone.
"Please ask your customers to answer just once!"
"No way, how can I bother customers with that?"
"Please!"
About fifteen months later.
Jo Young-su had gathered responses from a staggering 120,000 Busan residents.
Considering Busan's population had reached 200,000 to 300,000, it was a terrifying sample size.
――Even more astonishingly, Jo Young-su's rampage didn't end there.
[Undertaker.]
"Yes. What is it?"
[Jo Young-su has moved to Changwon.]
"Huh?"
Jo Young-su, who had lived and died in Busan in every turn, had crossed to another city.
"A low-level awakener who can barely light a Zippo lighter crossed the Void?"
[He rode along with a National Highway Management Corps caravan.]
"Ah, that makes sense. But why Changwon all of a sudden?"
[Seems he's planning to poll residents in other cities too.]
"...For real?"
[Yes.]
I was stunned.
Changwon wasn't even his destination. Just a stopover.
Jinju, Yeosu, Suncheon, Boseong, Haenam, Mokpo, Muan, Yeonggwang, Gwangju, Jeongeup, Jeonju, Gunsan, Iksan, Daejeon, Gimcheon, Gumi, Pohang....
Jo Young-su was literally mopping up the peninsula from south to north, sweeping left and right.
"No way this guy.... Is he planning to poll the entire peninsula? Even getting answers from those who didn't participate via SG Net?"
[Probably.]
This guy's completely insane.