The shadowy figure spent time and effort undermining the honor and will of the yers and the Jin tribe.
However, even amidst the chaos, there were yers who remained unwavering.
One of them was Seong Guk-eon.
In <em>Plmago</em>, Seong Guk-eon was trusted by the people both as a yer and a member of the National Assembly.
His upright and sincere actions maintained his strong support, and even when the shadowy forces engaged in political maniption, they often faced bacsh instead of sess.
Seong Guk-eon faced the unreasonable demands from the government and otherworldly forces, and through his media efforts, he managed to sway public opinion in favor of the yers, bing a thorn in the side of the shadowy figure.
"That''s why they tried to eliminate Seong Guk-eon before revising the yer Special Law."
In <em>Plmago</em>, through the Dream Auction, a figure expanded their connections and sessfully received the ruling party''s proportional representation nomination to be a member of the National Assembly.@@novelbin@@
After Seong Guk-eon''s death, that member of the National Assembly took action.
With the obstacle of a yer representative gone, the newly appointed politician proposed an amendment to the yer Special Law.
The amendment included provisions for dealing with rogue yers.
Until then, police and military involvement was only possible when there were casualties or property damage, or if it was expected.
Normally, rogue yers were dealt with by the yer Association ording to their regtions, unless the incident escted.
However, under the revisedw, even without damage, as soon as a yer was deemed to be acting rogue, the police and military would have the authority to immediately administer summary punishment.
"Even to a murderer caught in the act, summary punishment isn''t permitted, and such orders aren''t easily given even during wartime..."
It seemed unbelievable that such aw would pass, but surprisingly, absurdws often got proposed in modern times.
By causing a major incident to divert public attention from the legitive process, distorting the actual content of thew and spreading misinformation, and making those who actively opposed thew appear as tiresome and excessive figures, public opinion would quickly shift.
Thus, the unjustw was presented under the guise of ensuring public safety.
The results were due to the financial power of those who lobbied for it, and the skill of the newly elected National Assembly member who mediated through the Dream Auction.
Thinking that the funds driving thew to kill yers came from money made by selling yers at the Dream Auction still made my blood boil.
"Because of thatw, Yeom Jun-yeol was targeted and killed as soon as he started rampaging."
After thew was announced, there was no significant public reaction, but the bacsh from the yer Association and pro-yer teams was considerable.
As public opinion began to shift under the influence of the yers, the National Assembly member who proposed the amendment to thew teamed up with the shadowy figure to orchestrate an incident.
They nned to create a situation where they could sessfully eliminate a "strong yer who had caused massive damage," thus portraying the image of protecting the public''s safety.
The shadowy figure chose Yeom Jun-yeol as the sacrificial pawn.
With Cheon Dong-ha and Ma Jin-seung dead, it would have been easy to trigger Yeom Jun-yeol''s rampage.
"After beating the Red Lion and the Dragon Tribe, I was the first to reach the rampaging Yeom Jun-yeol and killed him. I even filmed it."
Yeom Jun-yeol''s rampage, and his transformation into the Red Dragon, unable to control his power, was edited in an exaggerated and provocative way for the media.
It felt like they were threatening us to the point that it seemed like we''d be in danger if we didn''t kill him.
Yeom Jun-yeol was killed almost immediately after his rampage started, and although he didn''t harm anyone, he was treated as a murderer.
Even his fans, grieving, had to fight off trolls.
And after realizing the media and military forces had been waiting for Yeom Jun-yeol’s rampage, the National Assembly member who had orchestrated his death was revealed as the mastermind who had killed his own son.
When Yeom Bang-yeol learned of this, he swore revenge.
"When Yeom Bang-yeol''s revenge failed, many pro-yer teams left the Korean Penins."
The yers who had hoped for something to change when Yeom Bang-yeol took up arms eventually gave up.
The fear that running a pro-yer team on the Korean Penins could lead to an unpredictable death loomedrge.
The yer Association''s Korean branch made continuous efforts to respond, but the association in <em>Plmago</em> was too corrupt and ipetent to take meaningful action.
"Some yable characters still resisted, believing in the power of thew..."
The yable character, awyer, along with others from hisw office, filed constitutionalints, protested, and did everything they could to fight back against the absurdw.
But no one paid attention to the efforts of the smallw offices that survived by targeting otherworldly dungeons, and they had limited capacity to act.
Still, they dug deep into the case, uncovering the ugly lobbying activities involved in the legitive process, only to be eliminated.
This series of events began with the death of Seong Guk-eon.
"If Seong Guk-eon were here, he wouldn’t let the lobbying within the National Assembly slide. Before the shadowy forces could secure the necessary seats for revising the yer Special Law, Seong Guk-eon would have stopped them."
When I shared an outline of the events that would unfold in <em>Plmago</em> that year with the Tigers, Kim Shin-rok''s expression darkened.
With his strong sense of justice, he would probably have followed Seong Guk-eon, even though he had graduated.
It was typical of Kim Shin-rok to call his former student by his title, even though Seong Guk-eon had been out of school for a long time.
"I understand that Seong Guk-eon is in danger. In that game, don’t assassinations alwayse with detailed circumstances?"
"To some extent, yes. But to stop it for sure, we’ll need a rey."
"Is that so..."
Stopping the incident with only the information from <em>Plmago</em> wouldn’t be enough.
Additionally, Seong Guk-eon and Jeon Mu-young would act separately in the assassination case, and we would need detailed information about the process and the results.
Although I didn’t want to show them the moments when they would die, it would be better than having the actual incident happen.
"Assassinating a member of the National Assembly is not easy. And this one is the mighty Seong Guk-eon. They will probably prepare ruthless measures. We’ll need time to prepare."
"Jo Uishin, when will that incident happen? Is it possible that the day will be changed to target him?"
I was sure about when the incident would happen.
That day was special for Seong Guk-eon.
"No, he will probably act on the same day as in <em>Plmago</em>. Seong Guk-eon visits the same ce every year on that day, so it’s easy to target him then."
"Please exin in detail."
This must be rted to Kim Shin-rok.
I was sure Kim Shin-rok would immediately recognize it if I mentioned Seong Guk-eon''s routine.
"Seong Guk-eon visits Eun-gwang High every year on Teacher''s Day after finishing all his schedules. He was herest year in the evening too."
Seong Guk-eon had visited Eun-gwang High on Teacher''s Day and was assassinated on his way home.
Onst year’s Teacher’s Day, Seong Guk-eon and Seong Si-wan had this conversation in front of me:
— "Brother Guk-eon! Did you meet the teacher who used to be your homeroom teacher? Did you get hurt again? Aren’t you using recovery items?"
— "Long time no see, Si-wan. Yesterday, while conquering another world, I broke my arm, so I just had it in a cast. No need for the teacher to worry. I just came back after skipping out."
Seong Guk-eon casually dismissed it, but considering his background and situation, it was different.
Seong Guk-eon had been in ss 0 for all three years, and his homeroom teacher had been Kim Shin-rok in his past position.
In his third year, Kim Shin-rok had often been absent, so Ham Geun-hyeong had been in charge, but the homeroom teacher Seong Guk-eon was referring to was Kim Shin-rok.
Seong Guk-eon had visited Eun-gwang High to pay respects to his deceased teacher.
"That promise must have been one he made on his own. He must have said that he would visit the school every year on Teacher''s Day."
Although he saidst year that he broke his promise because of his injury, he had still visited near Eun-gwang High, and he would definitely show up this year as well.
And in May, the amendment to thew could barely pass by the end of the year, so it was spected that they would make their move before May.
Among that period, Seong Guk-eon’s schedule was most fixed on Teacher’s Day.
"Since Seong Guk-eon spent time connecting, I think it’s time we express our intention to cooperate."
"Hmm, he did show up frequently."
Seong Guk-eon had changed his views on the Jin tribe, even ying chess with Yong Je-geon during the school festival.
Now, it was time for Hwang Ji-ho, representing the noble faction, to meet with Seong Guk-eon.
Seong Guk-eon and Hwang Ji-ho were ready, but there were still tigers who hadn’t fully prepared.
"Son, what do you think?"
"Uh, I…"
Kim Shin-rok hesitated.
Seong Guk-eon had already noticed his identity and was waiting for him to reveal it, but it seemed he was still hesitating.
Butpared to the time when Seong Guk-eon’s name used to make Kim Shin-rok’s face turn pale, he had improved a lot now.
At that time, revealing his identity would have been unimaginable, but now he was hesitating, showing how much he had grown.
"I’m not in a rush, so take your time to think."
"…Understood."
It would be better to hurry, but I decided to wait.
Although Seong Guk-eon had changed his views on the Jin tribe, his attitude would vary greatly depending on whether Kim Shin-rok was present or not.
The next morning.
Eun-gwang High was in an uproar from the first day of the school year due to an ident in ss 0.
The school’s general bulletin board was flooded with posts summarizing the details of the incident and reactions.
Among the posts that received many rmendations, one caught my attention.
The title was:
[Comparison of Ji Ik-hwa’s Response Speed (Past vs Present)]
Inside the post was a videoparing two situations.
One was fromst year’s first day of school incident, filmed by a student assigned to a room near mine, capturing the moment after a scream when Seong Si-wan arrived.
The other was from yesterday’s explosion, showing the process of ''Gye'' arriving.
"This bastard is crawling."
Both Seong Si-wan and ‘Gye’ must have used the same airboard as the president of Ji Ik-hwa, but the speed was iparable.
‘Gye’ was 3 minutes slower than Seong Si-wan.
With the explosion that hadn’t urredst year, it was easier to notice, which was absurd.
Since Seong Si-wan was highly regarded, many students leftments mourning his absence.
Of course, considering the current president of Ji Ik-hwa, I too missed the former president.
"Hello, Uishin-hyung."
When I arrived at the Ji Ik-hwa dormitory dining hall, I ran into Eun-ho by chance.
It reminded me of when we used to run into each other at the student cafeteria during my days as Cheon Seong-heon, even though we didn’t share the same ss schedule.
It felt awkward now, though, since we looked younger than before, even though a long time had passed.
Thanks to this encounter, we had breakfast together, and I bought him a drink, ying the role of a senior.
Eun-ho, holding the warm can of coffee, spoke.
"I heard about what we discussed at the mansion yesterday. I’d like to hear more detailster."
Eun-ho had forgotten much about <em>Plmago</em>, so I immediately agreed.
After we walked together to our separate areas, I headed to the second-year, ss 0 ssroom.
The students there wore troubled expressions.
I asked if something had happened, and Kim Yu-ri, who had been hovering over a hologram, erasing and writing words, replied.
"We need to set our ss motto and elect our ss officers today."
Upon hearing that, I started pondering as well.