Chapter 89: Back in My Day, There Was No Time to Mourn
Scrunch!
– The next news is about the recent Hokkaido incident.
The voice of a news anchor was heard from my earbuds.
– The Association has officially decided to give up the Hokkaido area. Although the Japanese government has strongly protested…
Tap.
Someone elbowed me, and I opened my eyes. Turning my head, I saw a Western lady sitting next to me, tapping her finger in her ear.
Nodding in understanding, I touched my phone to lower the volume, and satisfied, she turned her head to look out the window.
Looks like I managed to focus unusually well. I raised the volume high enough to catch the news spilling out.
– In response, the Association promised to increase the number of defense forces, prioritize hero deployment, and build a new branch in Aomori Prefecture.
A new branch, huh? The Association is going big this time. The Infinite Architect must be struggling now.
– There were criticisms within Japan about the lack of the Great Barrier, but with no other options, they ultimately decided to accept it…
Political discussions continued, but that’s not what I was interested in.
Japan and the Association. Following that, intricate matters of international relations dragged on for a good ten minutes.
By the time the foreign woman beside me got off, finally the words I’d been waiting for flowed from the news anchor.
– There has been a lot of chatter within the Association about this incident, right?
– Are you referring to the “chatter”…?
– As the era of peace ends, there’s growing concern that we might face another wave of Otherworld entities like in the past.
Looks like Chung Solim and Yumil are managing well.
I skimmed through some interviews, but I didn’t bother gathering information on internal matters of the Association.
If I were to justify my actions, it’s simply that I had no urge to dig into it.
I didn’t think I was wrong. However, I was afraid to ask about the consequences of my actions within the Association. Maybe I feared hearing that my deeds had failed.
What would have happened if the results of cutting someone off turned out to be wrong?
– That’s nonsense. The invasion of Otherworld entities is just a natural phenomenon. The peaceful era we’re in now is thanks to the Association’s efforts…
– But the Hokkaido branch eventually collapsed, didn’t it?
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t have happened. Everything’s smoothly in accordance with the plan.
– That’s why there’s talk about reflecting on this incident within the Association.
– Reflecting, you say? What does that entail?
– The argument is that the Association also needs restructuring. Like the heroes from the past who protected the world, we must thoroughly train ourselves and reinforce the heroic spirit…
Looks like Chung Solim hasn’t twisted my ideology inappropriately. I was worried that if they said heroes must act heroically, it might lead to some fascist nonsense oppressing individuals.
– It sounds reminiscent of recent proclamations by a certain monster. You seem to agree that heroes should act heroically, right?
– But can’t you understand? The Association hasn’t clarified the exact reasons for this incident, and citizen discontent is piling up…
His voice was rising.
– Isn’t it an extraordinary incident? It’s a 0-Rank monster appearing at a time when the Great Barrier was invincible. Of course, they might not know the cause! And what do this incident and the notion of “heroes must act heroically” have to do with each other…
Good point.
The ideology planted within the Association stems from Chung Solim and his group, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say there’s no real connection between that ideology and this incident. However…
– Does it make sense that they might not know? Haven’t there been various leaks? There are claims that Hokkaido could have actually been defended, but they fled under the pretext of protecting civilians, and that the Hokkaido branch was staffed by veterans who were simply building up the careers of their connections…
The octopus head executed this brilliantly. I thought they were just recording to tease me, but it was used for internal leaks.
Thanks to that, I received positive responses from the public. Of course, there had been insider reports due to this incident, too. Through that, I could see just how immersed the Association was in peace.
Right now…
What do you mean “right now”?!
Yes! I’m saying it’s right now!
What a mess.
I couldn’t see the screen, but I could feel the commotion in the news studio just from the audio.
Shouting at each other during a live news broadcast? I couldn’t hear the sound of fist-to-face impacts, but it was enough to guess how wildly excited they were.
Could it be that I’m the last to know? Is there a big controversy brewing?
It seems things are going much better than I imagined, so I finally let go of the burden from my heart, took my phone out of my pocket, and as I closed the news video showing the two yelling at each other, I opened an internet browser.
A warning popped up about additional charges while staying at the Association, saying it might incur extra fees, but…
I didn’t care.
I’m not paying for this, and even if the rate hikes, does it fall on me or that octopus?
On the search bar, I typed in a few words.
Association. Factions. Hokkaido.
Since that incident, I was searching for the first time.
Scrolling down, I noticed a particular portal site and clicked it.
A post with hundreds of replies appeared on the screen.
Though it had been a few days since it was posted with no more updates, just the sheer number of replies gave a palpable sense of heat.
Terminal 35.
Is that the terminus?
Listening to the overhead announcement in French, I slowly took my phone and started to exit the subway.
Without looking directly, I scrolled on my smartphone while navigating through the crowd.
There was stupid content with no logic arguing about whether a certain hero was right or wrong. There were weird opinions spreading hero hatred, simply because they didn’t like something.
On the other hand, some productive views claimed that restricting a bit of freedom is necessary to protect people.
Just a little while ago, there was a consensus of unconditional support for heroes, making it hard to imagine such varied opinions were circulating now.
After browsing through a few news articles and sites, I found that the new opinions were still a minority and there were claims the Association’s official stance hadn’t changed, but those facts didn’t matter to people or me.
What mattered was that people were starting to recognize a new direction.
That alone made me feel slightly good, and as I continued to browse the site, my vision gradually shifted toward the alleys of Paris.
I was drawn to a particularly eye-catching reply.
– Leaked information says the Black Marauder was the one who held off the enemies in Hokkaido.
– Enough with the lies, why would a monster go there? Why would they be fighting among themselves?
– They do fight each other sometimes. But I don’t believe the Black Marauder was there.
As the writer began to be treated as a liar or a troll, I thought the post might get buried, but…
– It’s true, look at this!
The author posted a short video that looked like it was shot in the dark of night.
Someone in black clothes was flinging a hammer between soldiers and monsters.
The quality of the video was poor, and the camera was wildly shaking, looking like it was recorded from a soldier’s personal cam.
Since it didn’t seem there were any further replies after that, and considering the time difference, it appeared to have just been posted recently.
With that thought, I refreshed the post.
– What is this? It looks real!
– Of course, it’s a hoax. You think we’re that dumb?
– Which idiot would go hunting for battle footage to fake it? Looks real!
– Better believe it. Why would the Black Marauder be there?
– Think about it. The Black Marauder said during the interview something was about to happen. That’s why he went there.
– Does the Black Marauder have foresight? Or did he just do it by coincidence? Then he’s the culprit, right? Applause!
– What would he gain from doing something like that?
A surprisingly on-point response was updated, but I tapped refresh again, wanting to see it once more.
Deleted post.
Instead of the warm presence of people, an inhuman phrase was displayed.
The author who had been fervently replying moments ago must have deleted the post themselves…
Is this information control by the Association?
Of course, that seemed to be the case. This incident was an unprecedented blunder in the history of the Association.
For the perfectionist-focused Association, this incident shouldn’t have occurred.
A monster appearing in such a location and helping themselves?
Even if it was a monster unofficially managed by the Association, any incident could spiral out of control, especially a hostile monster. Naturally, they would move to control the information. However…
“There can’t just be one piece of footage like that.”
Now that it’s been leaked, the questions would spiral out of control.
Even if they tried to delete the material, at some point they would have to relent. The more they concealed information, the more trust the Association would lose. And, the Black Marauder’s stock would rise even more.
This is an unexpected gain.
Finally relaxing my focus and lifting my head, I found myself in a dark alley.
So narrow that it looked like even sunlight couldn’t break through.
“This must be it.”
The place where sighting information was reported to the Association.
And simultaneously, where permission for the monster’s free hunt had been issued.
“Though I forced that free hunt permit out of my hands…”
Borrowing the hands of these hopeless guys and making sure information gets delayed.
Thanks to that, I was now in a rush from Seoul to Paris.
“Can’t be helped…”
I tossed my body into that repulsive place, trying to convince myself with my thoughts.
Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was the rancid stench and the rats scurrying beneath my feet, with fly buzzing around in annoyance as usual.
It was even worse than before.
The usual smell of a dump that can be found in every country.
France is notorious for having one, particularly near the capital, but it’s just your ordinary dump smell otherwise.
At the entrance, no one was managing things—how chaotic it was. But as I shifted slightly, I caught a whiff of something humanoid.
Across the street, vendors trading Otherworld contaminated goods lined up.
Turning my head to look the other way…
A monster is looting a bottle.
This place really has changed.
The monster that was pouring out the bottle suddenly fell to the ground, struck by a shining sword.
Seems like there’s a runaway hero here too.
Seeing such ordinary scenes, I walked on.
Noticing me, the approaching monsters seemed ready to attack, but every time, I swiftly dealt with them, sending them spinning into the sewers.
How many times has this cycle of implementing justice repeated by now?
In this dreadful place, I was about to murmur my complaints when…
Crackle!
A faint sound of electricity buzzed through.
That small sound was entirely different from the common sounds of electric sparks heard in such a transient dump.
Having found what I was looking for, I dashed toward the source of the sound. After all, I came to France for this.
Crackle!
“Aaaahhh!”
With a spark sound, I heard someone scream.
I had hoped it wouldn’t be the case.
Crackle!
The electrical noise grew louder.
The noise was coming from around the corner, and I quickly rounded the turn.
“AAAHHHH!”
Someone was on fire under a black bulb.
It was a precise and controlled scenario; their neck seemed stiff while their head convulsed wildly.
No, I had hoped it wouldn’t be like this…
I rushed in, kicked aside the man undergoing electric torture, then shifted my gaze to the one looking dazed and confused.
A familiar face popping up in my memory, smiling brightly, the black-haired girl.
“Divine One.”
“It’s been a while, Haram Lee.”
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