The Man Who Saved the World (2)
The researchers all stared in a daze at the single man striding through their workspace.
“That guy’s Kang Hae-il? Isn’t he the porter?”
“Yeah. He’s the porter. The one floating behind him is Kang Hae-il…”
“What the hell is going on? Didn’t that guy just kill all the executives?”
“I… I don’t know…”
No reasonable explanation came to mind for how a mere porter could have taken down those elite fighters.
So the only thing they had to go on was what the porter himself had claimed.
“He said a Seoul porter is obviously stronger than an Incheon executive. What the hell…?”
“Anyway, they’re all dead. Doesn’t that mean we don’t have to work anymore?”
“Pretty much.”
Research and production had completely stopped.
These people had been threatened into working here without receiving a single proper paycheck. With no one watching over them, there was no reason to keep going.
“What’s going to happen to us? Are we… free? Should we make a run for it?”
“I don’t know. Something’s been ringing from upstairs for a while now. Wouldn’t we die if we left? Let’s just wait and see how things play out.”
“Y-yeah. If we run, those organization bastards will chase us down again.”
Even so, none of the researchers dared to actually leave.
Even with dozens of meters of concrete between them, they could still feel the tremors of Grozya rampaging on the first floor.
Thud… Boom…
It felt like getting involved any further would drag them into something even worse.
“W-what the? He’s coming this way.”
“Huh?”
“Shit. What now?”
The murmuring researchers tensed up immediately.
The porter who had been wandering around like he owned the place was now walking straight toward them.
He stopped in front of one man and asked,
“Are you… the portal technician?”
“Y-yes!”
A young man who looked like a fresh graduate, wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses, snapped to attention.
“That posture screams military service.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And he seems pretty well-educated too…”
Park Researcher whispered beside him, apparently filling him in on the man’s background.
“Ah. From there? Not bad.”
Junil nodded.
“Alright. Did you make that portal over there?”
Tap.
Junil placed a hand on the horn-rimmed man’s shoulder and pointed at the red gate.
“Ah, yes… It wasn’t supposed to be a portal, it turned into a gate… It was a huge mistake… Because of me, they had to lock it up…”
And so on.
His delivery was awkward, but the logic connecting the process to the outcome was sound.
He’s the textbook definition of a research nerd.
After roughly sizing the man up, Junil asked,
“Then can you make it again?”
“Excuse me?”
“I asked if you can make it again.”
“I… I might be able to. But it’s still a work in progress…”
Judging from the pattern of their conversation so far, this type didn’t usually spout nonsense.
Even when asked in a threatening tone whether he could remake it, he hadn’t blindly said yes. He’d answered that he wasn’t sure yet.
He was bad at lying.
Seems decent enough.
Maybe it was because he’d only been dealing with gangsters upstairs, but the guy had potential.
Junil moved on to the next question.
“How did you end up here? Money? Blackmail?”
“Ah… well… I went to a job my professor recommended, and it turned out to be here… The moment I arrived I was locked up and beaten… I’ve just been eating and sleeping here while doing research and production. Still, I worked like crazy so my level rose quickly, and thanks to that the chapter’s been going well…”
Listening to his story, it was a clear case of being scammed by his professor.
He’d seen plenty of similar stories among his seniors.
The kind where you go to a company your professor recommends and your life ends up mortgaged.
In truth, Junil hadn’t paid much attention to such tales.
A professor’s recommendation was still better than a Story Fairy’s recommendation.
But the Constellations were reacting with considerable sympathy.
Of course, there were plenty of good professors too.
At least, that’s what Junil—who had survived the hell that was the orphanage—believed.
But deciding who was a good professor and who was bad wasn’t something a mere undergraduate like him could judge.
That was a problem for at least a master’s degree or higher.
In other words, it was exactly what the people gathered here were thinking.
“Did everyone here come through the same route as you?”
“About… half of us, I think…”
Looking around, it seemed a significant number were in the same situation.
Deceived, poorly treated, forced to labor.
To move their hearts, he needed to release the emotions that had built up deep inside.
Just like what Junil was doing now.
“What?! Treating you like E-rank is completely insane?!”
“?!”
Junil deliberately raised his voice in anger.
[Mana Roar]
For people trapped in such dire circumstances, you had to show ‘excessive’ empathy by ordinary standards.
Only then would their hearts begin to move.
“The foundation of this country is manufacturing! It’s a production industry! And these thugs who can only swing their fists are treating these highly skilled talents like E-rank awakeners and working them to the bone?! You asked for a job because you couldn’t find employment, and these so-called professors sold their own students to gangsters?!”
A murmur spread.
As expected, voices of agreement began rising among the researchers.
“H-he’s right.”
“My chest feels so much lighter…”
“I’m getting emotional…”
“Damn it… ugh…”
The corners of Junil’s mouth curled up.
Got the flow going.
Riding that momentum, Junil headed for the highest point in the research facility.
“Everyone! Please listen to me!!”
During his time as a hero, there had been many situations where he needed to sway the masses.
Were medieval people stupid?
Simple logical arguments rarely worked on them.
You had to stir their emotions, and Julian had, of course, mastered that art as well.
“You all deserve far better treatment! You are not talents who should be working under high-school-dropout—no, middle-school-dropout, elementary-school-dropout thugs in a place where sunlight never reaches! This is not where you belong!”
All the researchers quietly stared at him.
Then where exactly did they belong?
Did he have an answer? Or was he simply appealing to emotion?
Some watched him with coldly analytical eyes.
Is this a scam?
He might be just like the rest.
However, Junil had an answer.
“No matter which way you go, head for Seoul, right?!”
They would go to Seoul.
“It may look like all public authority has collapsed, but Seoul is still being safely defended! If you take all your research data and facilities there and show them to Seoul, everyone will acknowledge you and massive support will pour in!”
Junil smoothly laid out a plan he had never even considered before coming here.
Even so, it was a genuinely feasible plan.
“Everyone! Did you know that the quality of the products being produced here completely overwhelms Seoul?!”
Because the products here really were that good.
The moment he arrived in Incheon, he had noticed that the organization members’ awakened weapons were on a completely different level from those in Seoul.
“The government will definitely provide support.”
The atmosphere grew increasingly heated thanks to the persuasive power of Mana Roar.
The researchers’ eyes were shifting from anger to hope.
“If you create a guild with that support money and sell your products in Seoul—the massive market that it is—what do you think will happen? What if the money that only filled the bellies of these gangsters turns into your salaries instead?!”
At that moment, someone raised their hand and asked,
“Um… With this many research facilities and materials, when exactly are we supposed to move everything? The organization will send more men from upstairs soon. We can’t hold out long. The boss is dead too.”
It was the question he had been waiting for.
“What are you worried about? I’m a ‘porter,’ remember?”
“!”
Whoosh!
Without asking permission, Junil stored an entire table from someone’s workstation into his inventory.
“Holy shit.”
“What? That actually went in?”
“Oh. Porter Emperor…”
Hope bloomed on the researchers’ faces.
They looked like they had truly seen salvation.
Good. But wait…
At that moment, Junil quickly checked the chat.
He had seen a particular comment.
Yu Jihun’s party was coming to rescue them.
There was no time.
Junil spoke with serious eyes.
“Everyone! If we don’t leave now, we’ll lose our chance! If you go to Seoul right now and work just like you did here, you can buy a house! You’ll at least be able to enter a second-class district!”
All the researchers’ eyes changed.
They now carried the same ambitious gleam as Park Researcher.
Let’s go… to the Demon King’s Castle.
We’re going to Seoul.
I… I’ll buy something in Jamsil at least.
Rat-tat-tat-tat…!
Yu Jihun, Kim Ri-el, and Lee Suyeon were flying in a helicopter.
They were on their way to rescue Kang Hae-il.
However, they weren’t the only ones on board. The cabin was packed with reporters.
It made sense. These three were now celebrities.
“Mr. Yu Jihun. Could you tell us about the resolve you had when you first set out to defeat the World Boss?”
“Ha…”
Yu Jihun looked like he was wondering why this nonsense mattered right now.
But he had no choice.
This helicopter belonged to a broadcasting station, not a rescue team. They had only been allowed on board under the condition that they give an interview.
The actual rescue helicopters were already full of rescue personnel, so there was nothing he could do.
“At the time, my only thought was to buy as much time as possible. I never imagined we would actually kill it…”
He answered as best he could.
In the meantime, the helicopter reached its destination.
“We’re almost there!”
“It appears they landed on the hospital rooftop… We’ve determined it’s far too dangerous! We will disembark on the building across the street!”
They didn’t head straight for the hospital building. Instead, they landed on the opposite structure.
After they got off, countless broadcasting staff poured out of the other helicopters.
The actual number of people who will go in is probably less than fifteen.
A few awakeners who had come along claiming they would rescue Kang Hae-il, plus an awakener-only rescue team.
That was the entire group that would actually enter to save him.
In his eyes, everyone else was just a swarm of flies gathered to film this story.
“Filming is fine, but if you get in the way, I’ll kill every last one of you. Understood?”
Yu Jihun spoke with a chilling tone and took the lead.
Having once led one of the strongest parties in the country, he naturally assumed command.
“Tell me where it is.”
“It’s that hospital building over there.”
One of the rescue team members pointed at a hospital.
A massive hole had already been blown through the first-floor lobby. The sight was ominous from the start.
“Move in!”
Tatata-tat-tat!
Yu Jihun broke into a sprint.
“The most important thing is Kang Hae-il’s safety! Ignore the porter next to him! Secure Kang Hae-il first!”
“Yes!”
Everyone nodded firmly at the powerful command.
“W-who said we’re ignoring Junil oppa?! Of course we have to save him too!”
Lee Suyeon ran up beside them and cut in.
“…What? When did you get this fast?”
Lee Suyeon, who wasn’t a combat-type awakener, had always been physically slower than the others.
Yet now she was running at nearly the same speed as Yu Jihun.
“Who cares about that?! Tell them to save Junil oppa too! Hurry!”
“No. Kang Hae-il comes first.”
“…What?!”
Yu Jihun had never been fond of the porter.
He even thought it might be better if the man died here.
Why would he bother giving such an order to the rescue team?
But then—
Rumble rumble rumble…!
“?!”
The hospital building suddenly began collapsing.
“What the—?”
“Huh?”
Kiiiiiiing!
An enormous surge of magi shot toward them in a straight line.
Anyone hit by it wouldn’t survive.
“Get behind me!”
Suyeon thrust out her hand and created a barrier.
A shield far larger than before enveloped all the team members.
Booong…!
The magi slammed into the barrier as if trying to shatter it, then scattered apart.
“I… I almost died.”
“She blocked it…”
“What the hell was that?”
As if answering the question, a massive figure emerged from the collapsing hospital.
“It’s Grozya!”
“Crazy. Why is it still here?”
“Didn’t its level go up too?”
While countless cameras focused on Grozya,
blurry figures appeared in front of the lenses.
“Huh…?”
Rumble rumble rumble…!
The sound of many people running echoed loudly.
At the front, one man shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Save the porterrrrrrrrrr!”
Lee Suyeon recognized the voice first.
“O-oppa!!”
As the thick dust cleared, the situation became visible.
Run, Grozya.
Thud. Boom. Thud. Boom!
The giant monster Grozya was chasing after them.
Porter Moon Junil was sprinting with Kang Hae-il on his back.
Behind him, roughly fifty people were running together.
They were the researchers.
“Hiiik! S-save us! It’s a monster! A monster!”
“What the hell is that thing?!”
Convinced that Grozya was about to trample them, the researchers ran with everything they had.
Every broadcasting camera focused on them…
Click!
The next day.
The news ran a massive feature on Moon Junil’s story.