The World Is Not Equal
While I was busy playing around with Suhyang, there wasn't any massive, world-shaking chaos that made the world go completely mad. For now, we were only hearing sporadic news. Assault, assault, and more assault. Incidents happening several times a day. Accidents and crimes that people just brushed off because they were becoming too common. Of course, some people might have noticed the frequency increasing, but no one could be sure. It was easy enough to just dismiss it as the result of the algorithms in the videos they were watching. Even if major media outlets asked about it, people would just shrug and say, "Oh, I see?" A spore that makes people violent? Who would believe that? Surely, experts, hospitals, and research labs on this side might have caught on by now. But even so, they wouldn't be able to announce it immediately. Who would take responsibility for the ensuing chaos and the aftermath? Naturally, the government and similar institutions would block it. They were probably working hard to figure out how to handle the situation so it wouldn't spread further.
The golden time was slipping away. Humanity, as a patient, was gasping for air because of a few types of spores. Would a cure for these spores actually appear right away? Could they develop and distribute a cure or a preventative before the spores caused the entire global population to break out in madness? No way. In my view, it was impossible. For one, there was the issue of "safety." There was no physical time. Even now, the countdown to destruction was ticking away second by second. Anyway, after confirming that, I flopped onto my bed. The first thing that came to mind was Suhyang's naked body. The things that happened yesterday. The electrifying sensations I had tasted for the first time in a while. It was definitely different. A top-tier woman who dealt with rich men was different in some way. She felt like a very plush sofa. A high-end piece of furniture where you could feel absolute comfort and softness just by sitting on it. But that was a sofa that many people had sat on. No matter how high-end it was, it was still that. So, I couldn't fully understand that bastard Baek Jin-ho. Yeah, I get that those kinds of women are nice. But is there a need to have fantasies about them like a pubescent boy?
My thoughts shifted to Baek Jin-ho. Baek Jin-ho. That slippery, snake-like bastard. No, calling him a snake doesn't quite fit. A despicable bastard? I feel like I should mix in a bit more negative emotion. I don't regret giving him the information. It was necessary. Even if I don't know what will happen later, I prepared it like an insurance policy. But the things he does are a bit unsettling. Using a honey trap? To recruit me? If there's a carrot, there's bound to be a stick. If the honey trap didn't work, he probably would have used physical coercion. Thinking about it that way, it wouldn't be strange if he knew the location of this place. It means that turning off the satellite phone and quietly crossing over under the cover of night might have been meaningless. I handled things this way to prepare for the possibility of construction company thugs showing up, but I got caught from a completely unexpected direction. How annoying. Of course, I haven't crossed swords with Baek Jin-ho yet. He's still being friendly. We parted ways after talking like that yesterday. But in six weeks, I'll have to go into the place he built. If I don't? I don't know what might happen or how. I don't think it would be anything good.
I could try to comfort myself by saying, "No, Baek Jin-ho is a good guy. He won't do me any harm." But I can't afford to be that complacent. I'd rather doubt and stay on guard until the very end. I should at least try to prepare something. The problem is that there's nothing suitable. Still, I have six weeks, so I should be able to try something... Anyway, for now, I need to get some sleep. My head feels stiff. I need to think about Baek Jin-ho more deeply. I can't do anything impulsively. And so, time passes again. Cases of eyes turning red and aggression increasing are becoming more frequent. Ridiculously, the media linked these people to a new type of drug. They announced that people high on drugs were causing such commotions. It was too simple. Looking at that, I thought it wasn't a bad method. Yeah. It's easy to just blame everything on drugs. People's vigilance would at least be lowered. But that's just a temporary measure. If the families or people around those affected by the spores say, "He didn't do drugs," it only adds to the confusion. Ah. Is that possible through media control? I don't think so. There are always journalists who want to reveal the truth. Even if it's not out of a thorough journalistic spirit.
Even while observing such situations, I didn't neglect training my body. In the end, all I have is my body. My body is my greatest asset and my core. Everything else is just secondary. Before the world ended, I already had a comprehensive medical checkup. Fortunately, there were no problems and I didn't need any medication. So, I just need to maintain this state as much as possible. That day, too, I woke up early in the morning, went for a long run, and returned home. A house already covered in earth. There are no villages or houses nearby. It's that desolate of a place. And I look at the grass growing on that earth. There's lawn and weeds. There were even nameless stems that had already grown up to my shoulders. The growth rate of the plants has definitely become incredibly fast. Even if it is June, this level of growth makes no sense. How can they grow differently day by day? Looking at this, it's clear that IBRA's Project C.E. was a failure. The growth promoter doesn't just affect the places they sprayed. It's already spreading across the globe and having an impact. If it's like this even in a country on the other side of the world, it's right to believe that the whole world has become like this.
I entered the house, took a shower, and sat back down in front of the computer. And I searched for this and that. The keyword was plants. Then, videos popped up one after another. The videos I wanted to see. Most of them were content I had anticipated. Content about plants growing quickly, content about plants becoming unusually large, content asking what kind of plant this even is. It's natural since they were hit with a growth promoter. Furthermore, it's been a few years since it was sprayed, and the Doctor was certain there would be genetic mutations. Mutations that no one knows how they will change. Infinite possibilities with the upside wide open. So, the plant invasion had already begun a long time ago. We just didn't know because they were always by our side. Our country just noticed it later because of the distinct four seasons. I can clearly feel that there isn't much time left. An invasion of nature that cannot be resisted. And it's an attack twisted and mutated by human hands. Will humanity be able to solve this? Just spraying herbicide won't be enough.
And about three weeks after meeting Baek Jin-ho, the world finally realized the severity of this situation. The one who officially pulled the first trigger was a U.S. Senator. That Senator really pulled a trigger. And quite a few times at that. It's said that he was relaxed, no different from usual, while attending a charity event. However, he suddenly got up, went outside, pulled a pistol from a security guard's holster, and fired indiscriminately. Since it was a pistol, there weren't many casualties. Even in total, it was less than ten people. But the fact that he was a Senator was significant. Senators are pretty important people, after all. Media across the U.S. was on fire. Of course, it wasn't just the U.S. The whole world paid attention. Though, in other countries, they only reported it heavily the next day and moved on. It was a shocking event, but not something worth covering for several days. However, the situation across the U.S. was unusual. Not only was there a truth investigation, but intense attacks from political circles continued. In the meantime, similar incidents kept happening, but those were all buried by this one. But a week later, no one cared about things like Senators anymore.
It was a stadium. A U.S. basketball arena. The Final Stage. It was the day basketball players boasting huge salaries were playing the final game of the championship. Nearly 20,000 spectators. A nail-biting game. One second before the game ended, the score was a two-point difference. A player from the losing team threw the basketball from outside the half-court line, pouring his hopes into it. And that ball, like a lie, went *swish* into the hoop. A buzzer-beater comeback. The atmosphere in the stadium changed in an instant. Spectators shouting in a frenzy, spectators with expressions like the world had collapsed. The cheers were hot. The players who succeeded in the buzzer-beater and won hugged each other and shouted, and the defeated players looked bewildered, as if they couldn't believe it. The shouting of the spectators grew louder and louder. The stadium was like a crucible of excitement. But amidst those shouts and cheers, a scream was heard. And several spectators suddenly started swinging violence madly at those around them. At first, they thought it was an unexpected situation caused by excited fans. But the scale was unusual. It wasn't just a few people doing it. Gradually, the screams grew louder and more people started rushing in. The stadium became a scene of chaos. Screams, profanity, blood splattered everywhere, and people collapsing. The problem was that it was being broadcast live. And the cameras didn't turn off either; they kept filming that scene. Of course, the broadcasting station stopped the transmission not long after. But that scene had already been watched by countless people around the world. No matter how you look at it, hundreds of millions must have watched it. The screen stopped, but it remained a shocking scene in their minds. It wasn't just a simple commotion. It wasn't a riot because they lost the game. It was an act closer to the abyss, beyond that level.
That event was a huge shock. It wasn't on the level of the Senator's shooting incident. Furthermore, when news broke that there were people who died among the players trying to escape the stadium, the chaos grew even larger. An incident that shook the entire world. An unbelievable thing. However, I had no interest in the death of a basketball player. What I focused on was that situation. The reason why countless people simultaneously fell into a frenzy. About the cause. I can only think that there is a trigger. And that is probably... It might be excitement, stress, or something like adrenaline. I sent my opinion to the Doctor, and a little later, I received a reply that P, who had seen the situation, was thinking similarly. Good grief. Are we not even allowed to get angry now? This is quite tricky. Why is everything so cumbersome?