A Kingdom Proclaimed, a Mother's Wrath

The land would grow fertile, and every crop would flourish. A buff of this magnitude was staggering on its own, but the cascade wasn't finished yet.

Roughly eighteen thousand of the twenty thousand assembled awakened on the spot — simply because they had been there to hear the kingdom declared with their own ears.

But still, it wasn't over.

I'll keep the momentum going.

Before the shock of the mass awakening could fade, I decided to show them something even greater.

"These two are the divine beasts of our kingdom."

With those words, I lifted Cheong-ah, who had been seated below, into the air. And at the same moment, a dragon-like imugi descended from the sky.

"This dragon and this gumiho are the divine beasts of our kingdom!"

"A gumiho AND a dragon?!"

"The Hero King truly is peerless!"

The crowd erupted in cheers all over again at the appearance of the two divine beasts. The moment the introduction ended, a new message appeared.

Being set to "fair" didn't simply mean sunny skies — it meant the weather itself would cooperate, bringing rain when rain was needed and snow when snow was welcome.

Complete immunity to mental attacks. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A strange thought crossed my mind — that this might be the single most valuable effect for me personally.

With this, Lust will be easy to catch.

Mental assaults were the very core of Lust's power. This was a hard counter to his entire arsenal. With the message still hanging in the air, complete resistance to mental attacks settled over every citizen of the kingdom, myself included.

Carrying the flow forward, I raised the national flag then and there — a black banner emblazoned with a white gumiho at its center, encircled in a ring by the dragon that coiled protectively around her.

"This is our flag!"

The moment the flag rose, the stats of every citizen in the kingdom — myself included — climbed higher. And not just the awakened. Every single citizen's abilities were boosted, which meant even those who had never awakened at all grew stronger.

What kind of effect is this, exactly?

A buff that raised the stats of ordinary, unawakened people — I had never heard of such a thing in my life. All of today's pageantry had been prepared as a kind of event to lift the people's morale, but the event had paid out dividends far beyond anything I'd imagined.

"This is more than I expected…."

"I didn't anticipate buffs of this scale either…."

Baek Hyuk seemed genuinely taken aback by the unbroken chain of blessings as well. Beyond mere morale, our bodies and minds themselves had been strengthened. If there was ever a moment for the phrase "a delightful surprise," this was it.

"Shall we move on to the next item?"

"Excuse me? There's more?"

No one knew what was coming next. I hadn't told a soul.

"I hereby grant titles to the following three: Jin Won-ae, Jin Baek-rim, and Baek Hyuk!"

"What?"

"Titles, Your Majesty?"

"To... to us?"

All three received their titles. Won-ae and Baek Hyuk were made Marquesses, while Baek-rim was granted a Countship. My original plan had been to elevate all of them to Marquess, but Baek-rim had only just crossed level 100, and Count was his ceiling for now.

"I appoint Jin Won-ae as Minister of Intelligence, Jin Baek-rim as Captain of the Royal Guard, and Baek Hyuk as Chancellor."

"Your Majesty?"

"Me? Captain of the Royal Guard?"

"Chancellor... hm. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠position suits me perfectly."

The other two were flustered, but Baek Hyuk smiled with evident satisfaction. After several days of discussion, I had concluded that no one was better suited to the chancellorship than he was. The other two I had placed in positions that put their own talents to the best possible use.

"Won-ae, you're the heir to the black market, aren't you? If we're doing this anyway, I figured somewhere similar would suit you. And Baek-rim, you have to stay by my side if I'm going to teach you martial arts."

"But…."

Still, the two of them wore expressions of clear displeasure. If they could have managed even half the delight Baek Hyuk was radiating over there, it would have been nice.

In the end, I resorted to a slightly more heavy-handed method.

"Marquess Jin Won-ae, Marquess Jin Baek-rim. Are you defying a royal command?"

Invoking the authority of the crown, I half-threatened them into compliance. They sighed and reluctantly accepted.

"You could have just said so from the start."

"Haah…."

"Where did this bolt from the blue come from?"

They groaned and grumbled, but I just beamed. With this, things could run smoothly even if I disappeared for a while.

"That concludes today's ceremony!"

With those words, I stepped back into the balcony's interior. The roar of the crowd outside still rang out, but I didn't turn back.

"You detonated a far bigger bomb than I expected."

"'More than you expected,' is it? So you had some idea what was coming?"

"Well... I had a rough guess. I knew you'd hand out positions, but I never even considered you'd go so far as to grant noble titles."

Honestly, noble titles were a card I wasn't thrilled to play either. A monarchy in the twenty-first century was strange enough; aristocracy on top of that bordered on the absurd.

Then again, I did find it somewhat inevitable….

Before my regression, every nation had already shattered, and order was a forgotten word. In that chaos, the rise of kings and nobles had been the natural course of things. Humanity was, after all, nothing more than a monster born of greed.

I remember asking Greed once whether he was the one who created mankind. He was absolutely furious.

That counted as a memory too, I supposed — an unpleasant one.

"I'm from a democratic country myself, so nobility rubbed me the wrong way at first as well."

"Then why grant us titles?"

"Because we need them to rebuild this land."

The mere existence of nobles made the nation stronger — and made me stronger too. I couldn't tell you why, but that was simply how it worked.

The reason a territory's lord grows stronger was never explained even before my regression.

It was just a fact: when citizens multiplied and nobles were created, the lord of that territory grew stronger in some way beyond mere stats and skills. In my case, the territory in question was the whole nation.

"That's part of it, but the real reason I gave the three of you titles is to entrust you with the country while I'm away."

"I beg your pardon?"

At my words, Baek Hyuk stopped dead in his tracks.

"What... did you just say?"

"I said I'm entrusting the country to you while I'm gone."

For a moment, it seemed as though a terrifying pressure radiated from Baek Hyuk, as if I'd stepped on a landmine.

"You're telling me you're leaving — five minutes after the kingdom has been declared?"

"Hmm... home?"

"Your home is this royal palace, Your Majesty!"

The thunderous shout made my ears ring. But the palace still didn't feel like home to me. The only place that was truly my home was the apartment where my family lived.

"I'm going to see my parents."

"Ah, then just bring them here."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're Your Majesty's family, are they not? That makes them royalty. We should protect them."

"Oh—"

I almost let out an impressed sound before my brain caught up with me.

"Don't try to bewitch me with your twisted logic."

"Tsk."

Word of my identity as king hadn't leaked to the outside world — what exactly was I protecting them from? Far better not to disrupt their current lives at all.

If anything dangerous happens, Dad will handle it somehow.

For all his looks, he was a top-tier A-rank awakener. Retired now, but that power hadn't gone anywhere.

"Bringing them here can wait."

"Understood."

Baek Hyuk yielded gracefully at that. Until we formally introduced our kingdom to the world, my family would be left to live freely. Having your freedom stripped away was a suffering beyond measure.

"So... Association President, what do you think the problem might be?"

"Honestly, I don't know either."

The Association President answered the President's question candidly. The two had known each other for many years, so they spoke without reserve.

"Just when it seemed that poison fog might be lifting, now they're saying entry is completely forbidden."

"And? What exactly are you trying to find out?"

"Couldn't you force your way in with your skill?"

"I doubt that's possible."

Descent of the Sun King was a powerful skill. But even so, he didn't believe it could pierce a barrier protected by the System itself.

Descent of the Sun King is, at the end of the day, a skill realized through the System's power. There's no way it can break through that shield, which IS the System.

Even the world's rank-one hunter couldn't manage that. The only means of learning anything about the situation inside was…

"I suppose we should attempt contact…."

"Something on your mind?"

"It's pure speculation, but…."

The man who had played the greatest role in capturing Envy would surely be connected to the upheaval in North Korea as well. That much, at least, his gut told him.

"So now you show up at my home?"

"And yet... you don't look very happy to see me."

"You barge in out of nowhere at this hour of the morning and expect me to be pleased about it?"

"Ahem."

The Association President cleared his throat, as though something had pricked his conscience, and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Anyway, about why I've come... has there been any word from your son?"

"Word? Whatever the Association passed along last time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the end of it. That ungrateful wretch hasn't called once."

At his father's words, cold sweat poured down the Association President's back. Rushed as he was, he had picked the worst possible time for a visit.

"Ah... my apologies."

"If you're sorry, would you kindly leave?"

"R-right, of course."

The Association President turned on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his heel and descended from the apartment. Only after he had fully disappeared from view did Dad close the door and come back inside.

"He really does show up, huh."

"Did you think I was lying?"

There, lying face-down on the floor with pain-relief patches stuck across his back, was me. The price of getting my backside beaten the moment I'd returned home yesterday.

"Your mother really is something else."

"Mom has to be an unregistered awakener. There's no other explanation."

The pain that had cut clean through my physical durability — beyond even S-rank — was something no ordinary human could ever have delivered. That was why I remained firmly convinced my mother was an unregistered awakener.

"Still, from my perspective, you had that beating coming."

"Well, that's…."

Honestly, when she put it that way, I had no rebuttal. I had spent nearly two months ghosting my own family under semi- duress.

"But hitting your son like this? Is that really acceptable?"

"Oh, and whose fault is that? You should have just called."

Just then, a bone-chilling voice drifted in from behind me. I turned my head slowly — and saw it. My mother, fully darkened.

"Hearing you talk like that, it seems you still haven't come to your senses?"

"I-I oppose violence in all its forms!"

I shouted my protest, but it never once reached her. That day, my backside burned like a field set ablaze.