Chapter 90 – Development

Chapter 90 – Development

Lately… strange rumors were circulating on Ganghwa Island.

And it was about me, in video format on Apoin.

[Our great Leader who will save Humanity.]

[Let’s drive out the Monsters and usher in a new era of independent Unification!]

These videos, with their colorful, somewhat hastily written, provocative content emblazoned in large letters…

“Last night, our beloved great Leader Comrade Leader once again saved the people of the southern lands.”

It was a video of a woman in a traditional Korean dress praising someone.

And it was me.

“Our great Leader, who resides in our land, in Daejeon, and could no longer tolerate the tyranny of the wicked Landlord Scum who were implementing a feudal class system under the pretext of the Monster Invasion…”

She spoke with great force in her voice, looking as if she was about to cry—

“Commanded that the luxurious residences of those disgusting Capitalist Pigs, built with the blood and sweat of the people, be turned into a sea of fire.”

…she added.

“Oh my goodness…”

I slapped my forehead upon hearing that, making a loud sound.

Thwack!

But that wasn’t all.

“However, our great Leader Comrade Leader, taking pity on our compatriots in the southern lands who were being exploited by the tyranny of such Landlord Scum, commanded that not a single one of our people be left behind and that all of them be saved before that merciless sea of fire fell.”

I heard that and leaned my head back into the couch.

“Please… stop it…”

“Why? It’s all true, isn’t it?”

Seoyeon chuckled at that, turning up the volume.

“Those who waited with a Blue Hood on at exactly twelve o’clock…”

Click—

I couldn’t take it anymore and turned off the video.

“Why?! Even for ‘The Man’, the latter part was quite fresh.”

According to the woman, the part that happened in Daejeon was equated with the concept of ‘Rapture’ in Christian doctrine, where one ascends to heaven, and this was linked to the Day of Judgment.

‘I never intended to be ‘The Man’…’

In fact, I had already heard that a kind of New Religion was being founded on Ganghwa Island, with people shouting about whether they were of the songpyeon or mandu lineage, all while praising me.

Since they were North Korean refugees accustomed to propaganda, I thought it would just be ‘The Man’ and soon fade away…

But this time, the situation was a little different.

Somehow, this strange religion had begun to spread from Ganghwa Island to the mainland, operating in the shadows.

They even held strange religious ceremonies where they wore blue hoods at exactly 12 o’clock and gathered at the JeongMiracle.

I pressed my temples and asked Seoyeon,

“Delete everything.”

“Ah… this too?”

Seoyeon’s expression seemed to show regret.

It seemed to be a video she really liked.

But I ruthlessly told her to delete everything.

‘Whew… when people live better, things like this happen.’

It was something unimaginable in my Previous Life.

It wasn’t just this that was unimaginable.

“Gwak Sangyong, back off! Back off!”

[Small Business Artifact Manufacturing Workshop Association]

Workshop artisans, with red headbands, were in a dispute.

They protested Gwak Sangyong’s entry into Artifact Manufacturing, calling it ‘Corporate Tyranny’, and fought against it.

In the end, Gwak Sangyong stepped back, actively hiring artifact manufacturing workshop artisans, and also decided to invest in small business owners who were not hired, encouraging research and development.

Gwak Sangyong would handle large-scale mass production, while the workshops would handcraft items requiring high quality and customization.

‘Artifact Manufacturing… I never imagined such a thing.’

Actually, I didn’t think it was a simple problem that I could get involved in, so while watching, I was secretly worried. But in the end, I was relieved that they were able to coexist and prosper.

I had caught two rabbits: quantity and quality.

Machines with large numbers could compete on quantity, and machines with small numbers could compete on quality, which was an incredibly good phenomenon for me.

‘May the Castle grow and prosper……’

In small workshops, they had recently been showcasing so-called ‘luxury’ Water guns that excelled in both quality and style as a differentiation strategy.

The Men would approach Minju or Sua, offering a massive amount of Worker Bug Coins, and ask them to film promotional videos.

When they asked me what they should do, I told them to do as they pleased. In the end, it seemed they refused. They said they lacked the confidence to wear them because they didn’t measure up to the Artifacts I was looking for.

Meanwhile, there was also a problem due to the significant increase in population.

The Dungeon’s capacity was gradually becoming insufficient!

‘Something unimaginable in the past.’

There had been times when there weren’t enough people to enter the Dungeon, but never once had there been a problem because there were too many.

Ultimately, I decided to disseminate some Dungeon exploration information along with Nest Mana Stones on Apoin. Since I was the only one who knew the lucrative Dungeon patterns anyway, there was no loss to be incurred.

However, I stipulated that registration was required to open a Dungeon due to concerns about Counter-Invasion.

It was, in fact, the implementation of the ‘Dungeon Registration System’.

Meanwhile, when uploading information to Apoin, I no longer needed to post under my own name. This was because I could create fake IDs with Seoyeon’s recruitment.

The method was revised so that a fictional precognitive ability user would post directly, and Seoyeon The Man would then announce the post.

This was possible because, thanks to the private Apoin, Seoyeon knew and understood all situations.

I also deleted the posts I had previously uploaded and re-uploaded them under the name Precog, which Seongjae, who was unaware of the exact circumstances, seemed quite disappointed about.

“Ah… another Castle post disappears like this.”

I refused The Man’s request to at least leave the comments.

***

Meanwhile… night fell once again.

Thanks to the Monsters, the brilliant light of Humanity was fading into the night. Of course, the only exception to this rule was Korea.

Especially Incheon, where Magitech Civilization was flourishing, and The Man’s sphere of influence.

But among The Man, there was yet another exception……

“Stringer, is Gwangju also under The Man’s influence?”

The place was Gwangju. The Stringer, under the Pentagon, who had brought the latest night-vision castle photos, shook his head.

“Mr. President. Admiral William and the newly acquired Apoin system indicate no exchange between Gwangju and the Magitech Civilization.”

“Then why is the fire manipulation light in Gwangju growing so much?”

It was then that the US President asked.

Stringer answered carefully.

“In Gwangju… the number of monsters is overwhelmingly high. No human activity has been reported.”

“Does that mean… you don’t know the cause?”

“We will continue to monitor the situation.”

In other words, they didn’t know.

An awkward silence fell between them for a moment. But the questions about the situation in Korea didn’t end there.

“So, how is that trade deal progressing?”

“The conditions haven’t been perfectly set yet. However, we’ve requested that if a specific mana stone is acquired, it can be received without any issues.”

“A specific mana stone, you say… like a Nest Mana Stone?”

The US President was also paying attention to Apoin, specifically the writings of the precognitive ability user. And not just the Apoin auto-translation, but the original text…

Interpreter officers and intelligence analysis officers gathered, dissecting and analyzing the original text down to the word level, repeatedly reviewing its contents.

As such, he knew that a specific mana stone might possess special power, such as a Nest Mana Stone.

But Stringer shook his head at that.

“No. They said it’s probably not a Nest Mana Stone. However, if there are large mana stones like Villain’s Mana Stones or Nest Mana Stones, they asked to be consulted without fail.”

“That’s quite… a peculiar person…”

“They said it’s a very important matter for humanity, closely related to their own abilities.”

“An important matter for humanity…”

“What will you do?”

At that, the US President bowed his head for a moment. After a long period of deep thought, he looked up at Stringer.

“Do you… have a family?”

“Ah, yes? My family, sir…?”

“Tell me about it.”

“I have a wife, a 6-year-old daughter, and a son who was recently born.”

Stringer was momentarily flustered, then answered obediently.

“Recently born, huh… It must have been tough in a world like this.”

“Who would have known the world would change like this… Hahaha…”

Stringer chuckled awkwardly.

At his words, the US President likewise gave a bitter smile.

“Indeed. Who could have known the world would change like this…”

“……”

“As you know, I also have two sons and a daughter.”

“Yes, of course I know.”

“My daughter also recently gave birth.”

“Congratulations!”

Stringer offered his congratulations.

The US President waved his hand at Stringer’s words and continued.

“Thank you. But you know.”

The US President’s expression was serious.

“Please speak.”

“At this rate… I doubt whether my grandson can become a Castle person.”

“……!!!”

Stringer was not the only one surprised.

“How can you say such a thing!”

“No, we will be able to do it.”

The ministers who were receiving the report with him also stepped forward.

But the US President’s expression remained firm.

“The Man says that, but deep down, you all know it too. If things continue like this… Humanity will be defeated.”

What The Man said was true.

The situation on the front lines had been grim recently.

Canada was crumbling under increasingly strong hordes of Monsters. In particular, the emergence of the ‘Civilization Bulldozer’ was overwhelming. While The Man was accepting refugees, that was ultimately just a story for after The Man’s defeat.

And everyone knew that if Canada completely fell like that, it would only be a matter of time before the North American Front continued to advance southward and seize control of major Cities like New York, Boston, and Washington D.C.

While everyone remained silent, having been hit where it hurt…

The US President spoke.

“Only one, Magitech Civilization. Excluding Seong Siwoo, that is.”

“……!!!”

“The Man, you mean!”

It was a moment of shock for everyone.

“Yes. Promise full support.”

“We will do so!”

“I’ll contact them right away!”

Ministers immediately began working with Castle-like urgency.

The US President watched them and whispered.

“Yes… For Humanity. If that’s the only way to save my grandson, I’d sell my soul to the devil… Selling it to Seong Siwoo is a cheap price to pay.”

He was sincere.

***

Meanwhile…

On the other side of the world.

“If it’s Gwangju… then that kid must be there.”

I quietly observed the Observation Ship. Gwangju, a City completely overrun by Monsters, where no humans could be found.

Despite being a City where a considerable population once lived, there was only one reason it had been taken over by Monsters, Fire Manipulation.

Villain, [Oh Yuhyeon].

This city, where The Man was, was definitely different from the other cities where other villains resided. For example, the level of the Nest was clearly different from other cities, and the location of the power was not properly identified.

Perhaps it was natural.

Oh Yuhyeon…

He was a professional gamer who always defeated me and took first place in the strategy simulation game that was popular like a National Game in the past.

The funny thing was, almost everyone agreed that I was superior in skill. I wasn’t just overwhelmingly number one with only macro management for nothing.

However, I had to suffer ridiculously from The Man’s The ManCastle play, which exploited various systematic loopholes in E-Sports, which was still in its infancy.

‘Dirty bastard.’

Even when dealing with such The Man bugs, the game that I thought I would somehow win was forfeited due to a power outage. It was to the extent that conspiracy theories about match-fixing circulated, so that says it all.

‘Back then, did I say that the heavens refused for me to win?’

I reminisced about the past.

“This time, I won’t let that happen.”

Of course, the past was just the past.