Regional Balance (1)
Chapter 2 of the world had ended.
Only twenty-four percent of the Awakened had survived.
It was a better outcome than expected, but for those actually living through it, the event was a catastrophe.
Imagine working at a company where three out of every four employees get laid off in a restructuring.
Among those who had just begun solving their livelihood problems as Awakened, three out of four had lost their jobs.
Even Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, notorious for their brutal firings, would not have conducted layoffs on that scale.
Yet such a thing had happened in this world, and that was why this post had climbed to the number one spot on the community board.
Throughout Chapter 1, surviving and living as an Awakened, there were naturally many difficult moments.
Especially since I was a melee class. The first time I killed a goblin, it felt as horrifying and grotesque as murdering a person.
But what could I do? Back then I killed them to survive. Goblins were swarming all around my house.
When I formed a neighborhood watch team and hunted them one by one with the residents. When the residents cheered me on, I discovered the joy of living as an Awakened. I wish I had never reached level 10 back then...
His final sentence summed up all the conclusions and emotions.
In the end, today I am leaving the Awakened Board.
The comments contained plenty of playful jokes.
Yet beneath them, their true feelings could still be felt.
The entire community was practically in a funeral mood.
It was like people laughing and chatting loudly at a funeral for someone who had lived a good long life, desperately trying to forget the sadness.
The outside world, however, was the complete opposite.
Far from a funeral, it was a festival atmosphere.
News portals were flooded with articles celebrating the World Boss subjugation, busy shining spotlights on the heroes.
The comments were filled with nothing but praise for Kang Hae-il.
The Awakened were holding a funeral.
The world was throwing a festival.
It was ironic.
This world had only been able to reach this point thanks to the Awakened.
Posts like these gradually began gaining traction.
2. Awakened Have Become a Complete Privileged Class
3. Kang Hae-il <<< National Traitor
4. What Will Happen in the Marriage Market From Now On
5. No Matter How Many Survived This Time, Kang Hae-il Will Probably Be Ostracized Among Awakened
6. Kang Hae-il Can Never Be Forgiven
They were posts blaming Kang Hae-il.
He could have waited a little longer before killing the World Boss.
The fact that he had killed it right then and there was naturally something these people resented.
Somewhere he was a national hero. Somewhere else he was a national traitor.
It was a chaotic world.
In the end, posts like this even appeared.
10. The Awakened Can Only Survive If Kang Hae-il Disappears
It was quite an extreme ideology.
But with three-quarters of this community burning with anger, there was no room for restraint, and it still climbed all the way to tenth place.
However—
News arrived that people had already put those words into action.
Most of the comments seemed skeptical.
* * *
The incident site in Mok-dong.
Countless reporters and curious Awakened crowded the ruins of the collapsed building.
Gu Haeyoung, a rescue team member who pushed through the crowd, was now asking with a dumbfounded expression.
“...What? You’re saying they took him? Who did?”
Lee Suyeon shrugged.
“The rescue team members. They even abandoned me and took only Kang Hae-il and Junil oppa. Something about guardians or whatever...”
Though she didn’t show it openly, she seemed quite displeased that Junil had vanished along with Kang Hae-il.
“J-Junil oppa? Who is that?”
“Moon Junil. Moon Junil.”
“Who is that...”
Suyeon had not referred to Junil as the porter or that F-rank.
That was why Yu Jihun, who had been listening from the side, cut in.
“The porter. She means the porter.”
“...Ah! That F-rank!”
“Yes.”
“So what you’re saying is that a helicopter came and took the porter and the Awakened Kang Hae-il... Is that correct?”
“Pretty much.”
Yu Jihun was about to wrap it up there and move to another location when Gu Haeyoung said something strange.
“That’s... that can’t be right... The only doctor helicopter here is ours...”
“What do you want us to do about the fact they took him?”
“Ah, um, I’m not saying that... One moment? I just received a call?”
Gu Haeyoung spoke urgently into her radio, then her face turned deathly pale.
“We... we were told we were the first responders. What kind of helicopter did you see them leave on?”
One of the reporters on site raised her hand.
“Me! I filmed it!”
It was reporter Do Juhye.
“Here... look at the photo.”
“Ah, yes.”
Gu Haeyoung examined it.
“This is an Incheon helicopter? Why would one from there be here...”
“!”
Yu Jihun frowned and asked again.
“Incheon?”
Perhaps it was a reporter’s intuition.
Do Juhye sensed that Yu Jihun knew something and immediately thrust her microphone at him.
“Mr. Yu Jihun. Do you have any insights into this incident?”
“There have been strange rumors circulating about the Incheon area.”
“...Strange rumors? What kind?”
“That’s... something I can’t say.”
“?”
Yu Jihun knew exactly how massive the repercussions of this rumor would be.
* * *
The article appeared shortly after.
Since it was a breaking news report, it contained almost no details.
It is presumed that immediately after the battle, the unconscious Kang Hae-il was taken away by individuals disguised as paramedics.
That was all.
The comment reactions were not much different from those on the Awakened Board.
Everyone reacted with disbelief and utter bewilderment.
Right then, another breaking news alert exploded.
Yet another article from reporter Do Juhye.
This one had no content at all, only the headline.
The moment the nation’s hero was born, he was suddenly kidnapped.
This was a shocking incident not only for the Awakened but for every citizen.
And then strange rumors began to spread.
Killing higher-ranked Awakened gives insane experience, right? Isn’t that why they kidnapped him?
* * *
‘Gives experience?’
Creak.
At that moment, the scales inside Junil’s mind shifted.
“What’s with that surprised face? Eh~? Did you perhaps think I haven’t killed people before~? Are you having those naïve thoughts? Uahaha!?”
The boss joked around, unaware that his own neck was now on the scale.
Every time he moved, the gaudy gold accessories clattered noisily.
And with every clatter, the scale tilted further by exactly that much weight.
“Of course I have. Once you become an Awakened, if you can’t even kill a single person, does that even make sense? We’re the privileged class, aren’t we? Without us this world is finished! Finished!”
He was letting his guard down completely.
He revealed his filthy true self and mocked the world.
All because the person before him was the F-rank porter.
“Awakened rights? Awakened union? Seriously, I don’t know what the hell the Seoul kids are thinking. Wouldn’t it be easier to just destroy everything? If we go around killing everyone, what can the trash do about it? We are nobles! Celestial Dragons! Ah, of course... that doesn’t apply to you. Since you’re F-rank! Uahaha!?”
Creak...!
The scale had now tilted to a dangerous degree.
Junil thought that cleaning up scum like this would be no different from cleaning up the black mages.
The Constellations were already looking forward to it.
“Anyway, I’ve told you my reasons, so there’s nothing unfair about dying now, right?”
Crackle!
The boss summoned lightning in his palm.
He seemed to be a mage-type.
He must have devoured quite a few people by now. The mana flowing from him was no joke.
However, he could not have known this would lead to such a result.
The scale had tilted completely and touched the ground.
Clang...!
‘Decision made.’
Junil had made up his mind.
He prostrated himself and shouted.
“Y-You are truly amazing!”
“...?”
Not only the boss but everyone present stared down at him in confusion.
“I... I have lived pathetically as an Awakened until now, never once thinking of enjoying such privileges... But you, great hero, have grand ambitions!”
“Oh?”
The boss grew interested.
“Porter. You mean you agree with this ideology?”
“In chaotic times there must always be a hero, and the path of a hero is paved with blood.”
“Hoh?”
The boss’s face flushed for a moment at the perfectly tailored flattery.
However, not everything went so smoothly.
“But aren’t you Kang Hae-il’s right-hand man? I’m about to kill Kang Hae-il now. Is that really okay with you?”
It was a perfectly natural question. The kind of question that had been prepared for.
“That guy doesn’t have even a speck of interest in Awakened rights. That’s why he killed the boss ahead of time. He even treated me like trash and called me a porter. Why would this porter care about a guy like that?”
“What? He said ranks are just numbers... but he actually looked down on you? Uahaha!? Then you won’t have any complaints if we kill him~?”
“None. From this porter’s perspective, Kang Hae-il deserves to die. However...!”
“However?”
“Well...”
Junil hesitated before speaking.
“It seems Sagosul has a slightly different opinion.”
“...What? The fuck did you just say?”
“Exactly what I said. Sagosul seems to have a slightly different opinion.”
“What does that have to do with—”
At that moment, Junil slowly rose from his prostrated position.
A mask had appeared on his face.
“!”
Everyone present froze in shock.
They had instantly understood with their minds.
The porter’s true identity and—
‘The porter... is Sagosul?’
And what fate awaited those who had learned that truth.
Dramatic orchestral music filled with tension and menace echoed through the area.
Junil struck a pose.
Clack!
“That’s right. I have a slightly different opinion.”
At Sagosul’s sudden appearance, the Constellations cheered wildly and poured out coin sponsorships.
Clink! Clink!