Chapter 67. A Tremendous Military Force.
Chapter 67. A Tremendous Military Force.
Everyone who heard Choi Jae-hyeok's plan thought it was a fairly solid approach.
"In that case, we'll need to gather all the single men and talk to them first."
The group summoned every unmarried man to one of the unused vinyl greenhouses. The assembly hall would have been cramped, which decided the venue.
"What I'm about to discuss is extremely sensitive, and it must remain secret. I'll be using a somewhat coercive measure on all of you for a moment. Naturally, your lives aren't in any danger."
The men, already familiar with the miracles and power I'd demonstrated, looked at me with trust clear on their faces.
"You will never be able to reveal what's discussed here, nor will you be able to lie about your gender. Do you swear?"
Every man spoke in unison.
'"I swear."'
"Now I'm going to ask each of you whether you are a man. I'd like all of you to tell me a lie."
The crowd looked confused, as if trying to figure out what I meant. But they simply nodded and waited.
I asked the question, and they told the lie. Naturally, the Word Spirit activated, a faint squeezing pain flaring around their hearts while a chill crept down their spines. I'd deliberately dialed the intensity down a notch, so they were spared the full-blown agony.
"If you divulge what you've heard here... the pain that finds you afterward will be nothing like what you just felt."
I spelled out everything that had been said in the assembly hall meeting. I explained why only single men had been summoned and why this approach had been adopted — and, one by one, they nodded in understanding.
We handed out ballots and collected their votes on whether they were in favor or opposed. The result surprised me: the ayes won by a landslide. I thanked them for their trouble and impressed upon them once again the need to keep the secret absolute before sending them on their way. Then we reconvened in the assembly hall.
"So now we need to solve the anonymity problem."
"Jae-hyeok, couldn't we just use the Word Spirit the same way the Representative just did?"
Terion tossed out the remark in his usual offhand manner.
"Or why not just cast perception-inhibition magic on the room? Wouldn't that settle it?"
"Perception-inhibition magic? Could you elaborate on that, please?"
What Terion proposed was to cast perception-inhibition magic on the room so that, once the act was done and she stepped outside, the woman's face wouldn't remain in memory. The physical encounter itself would be remembered, but the fact you couldn't recall her face — and consciously recognized that you couldn't — meant there would be no real issue at all.
"Then we'll go with that. The men's tongues are already bound by the Word Spirit anyway, so it won't matter. And the women can simply say they were dispatched for other duties — we'll gloss over it."
With that, the meeting came to an end. To press forward with the actual arrangements, we summoned Lee So-eun for a further discussion. Lee So-eun, having heard the entire plan, asked a question none of us had anticipated.
"Then... what do you intend to do if a man falls in love through this arrangement, or if a couple breaks up?"
Wow... I never even considered that.
Once again, Terion — who had plumbed the depths of the demonic arts — supplied the answer.
"Set a trigger within the Word Spirit. If love blooms, let the memory of the encounter fade. If they break up, let the memory return."
Why hadn't it occurred to us to embed a trigger in the Word Spirit from the start? I'd never imagined that kind of application.
With the meeting truly over at last and everyone preparing to depart, Lee So-eun turned back to look at us, a sly smile playing on her lips.
"By the way, even among the sections, married men cannot use the facility. Naturally," she added, "that includes the Representative — no exceptions."
What, does she think I'm cruising for a fight at home...?!
Anyway, the only married men around here to begin with were my father-in-law and me. Apart from Seo Ji-hoon, Choi Jae-hyeok, and those two, everyone else was a mature, older adult. Though... I'm not so sure about the younger Advisors.
A little over a week passed. For the women's health, we conducted regular medical checkups, and, naturally, we had the doctors take the vow as well, while the perception-inhibition magic ensured they couldn't identify faces. We called the same roster of men back to the same vinyl greenhouse, where we reviewed the content of their suggestions — improvements, positive effects, negative effects — in a joint meeting.
What surprised me was how overwhelmingly positive the response was. Men who'd drifted through each day with no pastime, no distraction, spoke of feeling a genuine sense of vitality. The only complaint? Once they stepped outside, the women's faces simply wouldn't come to mind. Well, that particular feature I had precisely zero intention of changing. The most common request for improvement was that supply simply couldn't keep up with demand.
If a woman actually volunteered to participate, maybe I'd consider it... but who knows?
I had no intention of forcing anyone into this. It was never conceived to achieve some grand objective, so I'd ruled out any thoughts of expansion from the beginning.
Still, I suppose it's a relief there's been no trouble.
"Representative, the positive functions are working better than we expected."
"A relief, if anything."
Lieutenant General Go Seong-hyeon cautiously requested permission to speak.
"Ah... the men keep sending reports about what to do with the man who was an Advisor for the Hospital Group."
Ah, that's right. That bastard was still here...
"His punishment is, of course, a matter for the people who belonged to the Hospital Group."
We would let them know his execution date and allow those who wished to witness it to carry it out themselves. Naturally, I had no intention of granting him a quick, clean death by a single stroke. Returning what you've been given, measure for measure — isn't that only proper?
The President once again raised his hand and requested the floor.
"Sihu, I've been mulling over the idea of gradually expanding our occupation range."
"Even with how much our group has grown, wouldn't that prove more challenging than expected?"
"At a minimum, we must secure Incheon, Bucheon, and Seoul."
"Do you have a specific method in mind?"
"That's the crux of it. Sihu, would it be possible to teach magic and martial techniques to the wider population as well?"
"..."
"I have nothing to offer in return. I can only lean entirely on your goodwill."
"Even if I teach them, growing strong in a short time isn't easy. My companions are special to me — I used precious elixirs on them. The rest are different."
At that, Terion spoke up.
"What if we teach them basic military martial techniques and magic, and whenever a special entity becomes a problem, issue an artifact engraved with concealment magic?"
It would certainly be impossible to give one to everyone. But issuing one to a single soldier and having their squad use it as a group tool would be entirely feasible. And even with just rudimentary martial techniques and magic, they'd manage to handle zombies without firearms.
"That much... would be possible."
"Sihu-nim, how do you intend to divide the personnel between martial techniques and magic?"
"We simply pick those suited to martial techniques and those suited to magic and teach them accordingly. We can use my origin essence to form their basic dantians and mana circles."
At my mention of parting with a piece of my origin essence, Terion looked genuinely startled.
"You...! Giving away part of your origin essence... No, wait. It's like dipping a single gourdful of water from the ocean. Not even a ripple would show."
I know all too well what can happen to someone drunk on power. If a problem arises, I can simply reclaim the power — that's all.
Unexpectedly, my father-in-law spoke up, his face alight with excitement.
"Does that mean I could be wielding a sword like something out of a martial arts novel?"
"It isn't easy for someone of advanced years... to ascend to a high realm of mastery..."
"Ah, well..."
"That said, you'll be free of minor ailments and become far healthier. Tearing apart an ordinary zombie with your bare hands will be nothing, and you'll feel young again."
Then, with careful concern, someone else raised a point — utterly befitting a President to think of it.
"But if there are people who become drunk on power and run wild..."
"You needn't worry about that. And if any such person does appear..."
They'd serve as an excellent cautionary example for everyone else... At that remark, a chill swept over the entire party.
It wouldn't hurt for someone to run wild at least once. Besides, even those who call themselves Awakened are ultimately powerless before a gun unless they've ascended to a certain realm of mastery.
"Then please issue a public notice to everyone. We'll begin in earnest tomorrow."
A day passed, and every soul in Gimpo gathered in the open lot. The news that they would all learn martial techniques and magic had their faces flushed with excitement. Yet, contrary to their expectations, not a single person among them showed promise of reaching the higher realms.
After reciting the foundational mind techniques and the secret formulas, I walked to their very center. The crowd parted to left and right as naturally as waves.
I closed my eyes for a moment, drew a breath, and raised my hand into the air, focusing. At my fingertips, a jewel of the deepest black began to coalesce — a gem that could stir greed in anyone who laid eyes on it.
A person who understood mana better than anyone else could not help but covet it. How, then, would they see an origin essence that had already transcended even divine authority...?
I have prided myself on living a life that bows to none, and I believed I had glimpsed the ultimate end of the demonic arts... but the origin essence of 'the Calamity' is...
I exhaled the breath I'd been holding, clenched my fist around the jewel, and crushed it utterly. In that instant, wind and mana whirled into a tempest and began to absorb into the bodies of everyone present. For a moment, they all stared blankly into the air in unison.
"All of you should now be Awakened."
As if they had witnessed an outrageous miracle, the crowd erupted into murmurs among themselves. After calling them back to attention, and to stoke their motivation, I announced that anyone who achieved outstanding results or worked especially diligently would be taught the formulas and spells of a higher realm.
Swordsmanship was to be taught by Min-cheol and Seok-hyeon; magic by Chaeyeon and Terion.
And so, as the apocalypse endured and the sweltering season faded into the brisk chill of early winter, a preposterous new group came into being.
Thus was born a formidable armed group — with every last member of the faction an Awakened.