Savior (4)
[Citizen Yoon Sung-min's Trust has increased.]
[Citizen Yoon Sung-min's Trust has reached 100.]
[You have gained an enormous amount of experience.]
"Again?"
This was the third time now.
The third time someone's trust had reached 100 before their loyalty.
It had started with Lee Jun-young, the man with clairvoyance, and now two more had achieved 100 trust since then.
In the case of non-Awakened citizens, they granted experience instead of special abilities-but just how much was still hard to estimate.
Judging by the phrase "an enormous amount," it certainly wasn't a small gain.
"Citizen Management: Yoon Sung-min."
With the command, two citizens named Yoon Sung-min appeared before him.
As the number of citizens grew, duplicates in names were starting to pop up here and there.
Thankfully, identifying the correct one wasn't difficult.
Only one of them had reached 100 trust.
"It's this guy."
He was a chubby, kind-looking man with glasses.
"His loyalty is high too."
Yoon Sung-min's loyalty was at 63—a surprisingly high number considering he'd only recently gained citizenship.
Through the Eye of the Absolute, he peered into where the man currently was.
And what he saw was-
"...Huh."
A cult preacher was praising him, spreading his dogma to the gathered crowd.
After checking on the citizens there, it became clear they all had high levels of trust and loyalty.
"A church, again."
Coincidentally, the woman who had reached 100 trust a few days ago had also been at a church.
She was praising him and praying devoutly.
Maybe it was because they had already been religious, but their trust in him was growing far faster than others.
It was almost laughable—but many cult followers were surprisingly kind and naive at heart.
Most of these former JHS believers had turned to faith simply to survive, but some of them were genuinely devout.
People seeking to overcome hardship through religion.
The faith they once directed at Jung Hyun-soo was now being turned fully toward him, causing their trust levels to spike rapidly.
"It's a bit much, but... it's not a bad thing."
Relying on something isn't inherently wrong.
Ha Dong-geon overcame the grief of losing his family by leaning on his wife, Kim Ga-young. Kang Deok-soo and Kim Gun got through tough times with drinks. Oh Un-joo said she lived by clinging to the single day of memories he had given her.
Good food. Fun games. Cherished friends. Loved ones. Memories. A sense of duty.
Maybe, in the end, all humans need something to rely on to find the strength to keep going.
For these people, that something just happened to be religion.
Then it happened.
Ding!
[You now have 12 citizens with Trust at 100.]
[Condition met.]
['Priest' has been unlocked.]
A new profession had just been added to the Job Research Lab.
"Huh."
The description was simple.
-Priest: Gains the skill 'Heal'.
Simple and stunning.
"Heal, huh..."
This was on a whole different level compared to the Hunter, who left behind intact corpses.
If this really granted the power to heal, it meant creating a genuine Awakened individual.
"And it's Heal of all things."
This was a must-unlock.
Honestly, it could be even more impactful than the Inventory feature.
It would've been great to apply the Priest job immediately, but that wasn't possible.
[Priest Research - Inactive] (Unlocks at Level 5)
"So I need to level up the Job Research Lab."
Among all the constructible buildings, the Job Research Lab was the only one with an actual level system.
"But I don't even know how to level it up."
And Priest wasn't the only inactive job.
-Warrior Research - Inactive (Unlocks at Level 2)
-Gunner Research - Inactive (Unlocks at Level 2) -Spearman Research - Inactive (Unlocks at Level 3) -Archer Research - Inactive (Unlocks at Level 3)
As certain conditions were met, new jobs would occasionally become available.
When over a hundred citizens reached level 30, Warrior was unlocked. When over a hundred were skilled with guns, Gunner became available.
Each new job had been tied to specific requirements.
But since he didn't know how to upgrade the lab itself, he'd left it alone.
None of the previously unlocked jobs had seemed particularly special, either.
And truthfully, he'd just been too busy managing everything else.
"But if it allows us to awaken healing powers? That's different."
This was worth pushing for, even if it took extra effort.
"I need to discuss this with the others."
Just then-
[Jaehyun-nim.]
A telepathic message came from Kim Dabin.
[Yes, go ahead.]
[Commander Lee Hak-gi has requested a meeting.]
With the Eye of the Absolute, I could see Commander Lee Hak-gi waiting in the conference room of the Administrative Management Office.
[I'll head there right away.]
I teleported into the conference room, and Commander Lee Hak-gi looked slightly startled before bowing his head.
"It's good to see you."
""
"We meet again."
Looking at his composed expression, I asked,
"Is your assigned accommodation to your liking?"
"It couldn't be better. When I took a warm shower... it honestly felt like I'd returned to the past."
"I'm glad you're comfortable."
Just then, Yoo Hye-rin walked in with two cups of coffee.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Jaehyun. Enjoy."
Savoring the instant coffee for a moment, I turned to Commander Lee Hak-gi and got to the point.
"So, what did you want to see me about?"
"There's something I'd like to say."
"Feel free."
After a short pause, Commander Lee Hak-gi finally spoke.
"I heard you plan to accept all the citizens from Seoul."
"Yes, that's correct."
"You mustn't."
His firm response took me slightly aback.
"Is there a particular reason?"
"Yes. People have changed far too much."
Lee Hak-gi continued in a calm tone.
"People have become disturbingly accustomed to stealing, raping, and killing. At this point, humans are more dangerous than monsters. If you accept people without any sort of filter, a serious incident is bound to happen."
"Because a flood of murderers will come in?"
"That's right."
In truth, the concern he raised was something I had already discussed in detail with Kim Dabin and come to a conclusion on.
I looked straight at Commander Lee Hak-gi and said,
"Then, by the same logic, you're aware that I shouldn't accept your organization either, correct?"
"...I understand. But we're different."
"Can you guarantee that no one in your organization has killed for personal gain?"
""
Commander Lee Hak-gi couldn't answer.
Looking at him silently bowing his head, I asked,
"Why do looting and murder happen in the first place?"
"...Because people reveal their true nature in extreme situations."
"Some may be like that. But far more often, it was likely an unavoidable choice for the sake of survival."
It wasn't that human nature was evil-it was that people were forced into making impossible decisions.
"What forced people into those situations was largely the government's failure. Our government collapsed far too quickly."
At that, Commander Lee Hak-gi flinched ever so slightly.
...Because the basic social infrastructure collapsed so rapidly, people were pushed to make desperate choices. Either starve to death or loot. Sometimes they had to kill to get food-or to protect themselves."
""
"But this place is different. Here, people can live within a stable infrastructure. And we have strict punishments for violent crimes like murder and rape."
I looked him straight in the eyes and continued.
"I want to give people a chance. I just want to return them to a normal life."
And then-
"To do that, I have a request for you, Commander Lee Hak-gi."
"...Please, go ahead."
"Use your ability to discern truth and help filter people as best as you can."
"["
His eyes asked how I knew about that ability.
"Can you do it?"
"O-of course."
I appointed him with the title of "Chief" and assigned him the role of Evaluator.
Having lived through all the trials of Seoul firsthand, he would more than be able to distinguish between those who should be accepted-and those who absolutely shouldn't.
"There are two conditions under which a person will be denied citizenship. One is if they've committed rape."
It might have sounded strange, but in the case of murder, there was at least some room for extenuating circumstances.
As I mentioned earlier-killing for survival, for self-defense, or under extreme duress.
But when it came to rape, there was no room for compromise.
It was a matter completely unrelated to survival.
"The other is intentional murder committed for pleasure or a specific purpose. In these two cases, expulsion will be absolute and non-negotiable."
Personally, I planned to hunt them down the moment their citizenship was revoked.
In some ways, they were even more harmful than the monsters.
To prevent a second or third victim, it was better to nip the problem in the bud.
"For all other matters, I'll leave the judgment to you, Commander."
"Th-thank you."
Just before wrapping up the conversation, I asked Commander Lee Hak-gi a casual question.
"By any chance, do you know why our government collapsed so quickly?"
""
Commander Lee froze in place.
After several seconds of silence, he finally opened his mouth with some difficulty.
"There are two possibilities."
"Interesting. Let's hear the first one.'
"J
"Among the monsters that appeared in Seoul, there were abnormally powerful ones. If those monsters wiped out all the key figures who held the backbone of
the nation..."
"That would be a plausible explanation."
Seoul, as I had seen through my retainers, was swarming with excessively high-level monsters.
There were so many level-30 monsters they could trip over each other, level-40 monsters had carved out their own territories, and in some places, even level-50 monsters were roaming freely.
In a city that had turned into scorched earth, it wasn't surprising that the bigwigs all met their end.
But-
"What's the second possibility?"
Even so, more people had survived than expected.
Wasn't it strange that it was mostly politicians and other elites who had died disproportionately?
Commander Lee slowly spoke again.
"There are several massive underground shelters that were built in complete secrecy. They were constructed under the assumption of a nuclear war, but..."
That was enough for me to piece together the rest.
'...So you're saying the people who were supposed to run the country probably holed up in there?"
"I can't say for sure. I've only heard rumors."
"How big are these facilities?"
"I heard the largest one can hold around a thousand people."
"...Then that means the top 0.01% of Korea's elite are all hiding in there."
Amazing.
Why is it that, whenever this country faces a crisis, the people at the top are always the first to run?
It wasn't even unprecedented.
Everyone knew the story of how King Seonjo abandoned his people and fled during the Imjin War.
...Sheesh.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]