816

 [Chapter 206]

[Behind-the-scenes Maneuvering(2)]

Major events that can cause social ripples often attempt to change social classes.

The Seoul Disaster.

The Mana Church's Anti-Soul Festival terror.

The 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War.

These three events that have occurred so far became opportunities for people to actively rise in social status if they put their minds to it.

However, it depended on people's will.

Ains and foreigners who had strong desires for social advancement used this opportunity to expand their social spheres they could advance into.

The same was true for other people, but the aspirations of those at the bottom of society were even more intense.

On the contrary, there were also those who settled for their given situation in such circumstances.

Some criticized their laziness, while others defended their diligence.

However, if we discuss the emotions they must have felt in a changing society, there was only one.

Relative deprivation.

"Let's reclaim the rights given to pure Koreans!!"

"Down with Ains, eradicate foreigners!"

Humans are also animals.

These rational animals are sometimes dominated by emotions rather than reason.

The recent incident was like that too.

When Ains and foreigners they had always looked down on as beneath them rose to higher positions, their reason flew away.

Even animals care about hierarchy, and humans are no different.

They showed extreme aversion to the trend of people they considered uncivilized standing above them.

Of course, some of them just kept it in their hearts.

They were animals, but also humans.

These social and rational beings knew that the feelings they harbored were base.

So they sealed them in their hearts.

But the seal came undone with a very trivial trigger.

No, they also inwardly needed justification to defend their feelings.

"<Azure Wind> step down from the Twelve Seats position! That position is for humans, not Ains!!"

"A telepath as a Twelve Seats, what nonsense is this! Make a navigator a Twelve Seats!!"

Then people with extreme thoughts threw eggs at Jin Pa-rang.

Among the people watching that broadcast, those who couldn't vent their inferiority complex had a great realization.

They realized what the identity of the inexplicable feelings they had been harboring towards Ains and foreigners was.

And they learned how to resolve it by watching the broadcast.

As a result, people took to the streets and the situation grew uncontrollably.

Of course, Ains and foreigners who were being criticized wouldn't stay still.

Especially Ains reacted severely.

"We're people too! Pure Koreans!? What bullshit! I'm also a person born to Korean parents in this land!"

"We rightfully took those positions! We have nothing to be ashamed of!!"

Ains also took to the streets.

Recently in Gwanghwamun, you could see movements of people shouting "Ain" on one side and "pure Korean" on the other.

They hadn't clashed yet.

But that was only a matter of time.

And when they clash, the side that will suffer the most damage will be the Ains.

The number of Ains was small.

No matter how strong they were, they who had to use force with restraint couldn't overcome the number of enemies.

Therefore─.

"─<Azure Wind> player, I'll bow my head and ask like this. Please come to the rally and be a great strength for us."

Baek Jin-ho, the representative of the National Ain Federation holding protests in Gwanghwamun, came to find Jin Pa-rang.

There were three rising stars among Ains.

Jin Pa-rang, Jin Seo-na, Ariel.

Jin Pa-rang was the Ain with the greatest influence among them.

Moreover, he recently stimulated sympathy from Ains and some people by being hit with egg bombs on broadcast.

There was no one more suitable than Jin Pa-rang.

"Come to think of it, isn't the reason we're taking to the streets now because we're outraged that you suffered from those people? So you should join in and lend us strength."

An old man with tiger ears.

He bowed his head and asked.

Jin Pa-rang looked down at him with a troubled face.

"I'm sorry."

"...Can you tell me the reason?"

Eventually Jin Pa-rang gave an answer completely different from the representative's expectations.

Jin Pa-rang also bowed his head.

Baek Jin-ho asked in a fierce voice.

By then Jin Pa-rang had raised his head too.

"I'm one of this country's Twelve Seats. Someone like me can't go to protests to support a specific group's interests. That's... ah, what was it. Ah, it means putting the Fairy in a difficult position."

"A specific group's interests... You, aren't you going too far? Are we a specific group? How do you think you rose to that position? You're able to be in that position because of Ains' support too. Are you going to betray those who supported you?"

Baek Jin-ho thundered.

Jin Pa-rang had only one answer.

I'm sorry.

That was all he could say.

He was a public figure and the Fairy's sword.

The Twelve Seats should exist publicly, not privately.

He also had to think of Pandora Clan's image.

"Jin Pa-rang player. If you want to expand Ains' rights, you shouldn't come out like this. I'll consider your position too. Then at least say indirectly that you support us."

"I'm sorry, representative."

"You, are you really going to be like this?"

To this, Baek Jin-ho took a step back.

Still, Jin Pa-rang's intention didn't change.

Raise Ains' support by putting Jin Pa-rang at the center.

Baek Jin-ho's thoughts had gone awry.

He frowned.

"You've changed a lot. Before you even jumped into the activist movement for Ains' rights..."

"..."

"Where did that you go?"

Baek Jin-ho tried to stimulate Pa-rang's memories.

He mentioned the memory of Pa-rang participating in a movement led by the former Ain Association a few years ago.

That was rather a mistake.

"I learned a lot since then."

Jin Pa-rang was even more unshaken.

At that time, he had failed.

Not just himself, but many Ains experienced failure then and were disappointed in the former Ain Association.

In the end, many Ains lost their ideals and turned their backs on the former Ain Association.

As a result, the former Ain Association's influence has greatly diminished now.

Therefore─.

"─I wish you wouldn't come to other people's clans and cause trouble like this, former Ain Association representative."

"Jin Seo-na player..."

"And you should speak correctly. It's true that Pa-rang oppa became a Twelve Seats thanks to Ains' support. But that's not thanks to the former Ain Association."

"Isn't the former Ain Association the representative of Ains?"

"That might have worked in the past. But isn't it an almost nominal organization these days? How many organizations are there now for Ains' interests including the former Ain Association?"

"Can you say that when you were also in the former Ain Association?"

"I'm saying this because I'm not in it now. It's not now. Neither I, nor Pa-rang oppa, nor Riel have anything to do with your organization anymore, so please stop trying to drag us in?"

"...You've changed a lot too. Becoming a direct descendant of a large corporation, you seem to have forgotten your past life..."

"You're the one who's changed a lot, representative. You didn't seem like this before."

<Golden Tiger> Jin Seo-na.

She who was helping Jung Ha-yang's work came down to the 1st floor after hearing the news.

She spoke proudly to Baek Jin-ho who was much taller than her.

She didn't back down in words.

Furthermore─.

"─I'm telling you right now, Ains of our generation will absolutely not participate in the movement you're leading."

Jin Seo-na went hard unlike her usual self who respects elders.

Baek Jin-ho snickered.

"With what power..."

"Academy connections say it all."

"..."

"So go back, quickly."

"...Ains need to unite. You don't understand that. I'm disappointed."

Currently, Ain society was composed of several factions.

Among them, the former Ain Association was the largest and most active.

On the other hand, most Ains who joined the former Ain Association were in their late 30s.

Conversely, Ains belonging to the younger generation often joined organizations with freer rules or didn't join any organization at all.

Nevertheless, they tended to think of Jin Seo-na, Jin Pa-rang, and Ariel as spiritual pillars.

"Pa-rang oppa, you did well. Don't pay any attention to those people from now on."

"Thanks for helping! I would've had a hard time chasing that old man away without you."

In the end, Ains were largely divided into two groups in this situation.

1st generation Ains who follow the former Ain Association and participate in the movement and.

2nd generation Ains who follow Jin Seo-na, Jin Pa-rang, Ariel and respond with silence.

For reference, since Ains appeared after some time passed after the world was destroyed, only up to 2 generations of Ains existed currently in terms of Ain generations.

☆

The situation for foreigners wasn't good either.

People calling themselves pure Koreans came to Yongsan-gu and Jung-gu to hold protests and provoke foreigners.

They entered areas where foreigners lived and cursed at them.

"Go back to your land! You bastards! Return to your countries!!"

"These bastards..."

Childish and petty remarks.

But that was the effective way to make people angry.

Activists who gathered in droves shouted like that for the residential area to leave.

Foreigners were getting heated while ignoring them.

"Should we just shoot them with guns? Or forcibly disperse them... Should we just stay still when those bastards are causing a ruckus in a residential area without protest permits?"

"Don't. Stay still. Don't disobey the Pandora Clan Lord's orders."

A foreigner fumed.

Several people pulled gun slides.

Dominic saw their actions and stretched out his arms to block them.

"Didn't you listen to father's words? The moment we use violence first, public opinion won't side with us. I understand how you feel but endure it."

"Kuk..."

Dominic soothed people.

He knew his position well.

In the past he would have rushed at the activists unable to control his hot blood, but now that he had become a proper Clan Lord, he could read the situation.

Those activists were probably aiming for that and deliberately provoking them.

"Absolutely do not disobey the Pandora Clan Lord and father's orders. Just ignore them. No matter how much those bastards make noise, this land is our land now anyway."

Soon Dominic snickered.

No matter how much those activists shouted, he and the foreigners wouldn't move according to their intentions.

6 years since Pandora Clan was founded.

In other words, it had been 6 years since Pandora Clan guaranteed foreigners' activities in Yongsan-gu and Jung-gu.

There were many changes during that period.

District residents now welcomed foreigners like their neighbors.

Ridiculously, the people gathered there now were people who came from other districts.

Dominic believed activists wouldn't arise in the place they had settled, at least if not other districts.

Rather─.

"─Hey! You bastards! What are you doing coming to someone else's neighborhood! Don't make the neighborhood atmosphere unsettled and get lost!!"

"Oh, the laundromat grandma came out."

"Ah, it's the grandma kids these days call the Sword Master of the laundromat."

"That grandma really can't be stopped... Kids! Make sure the grandma doesn't get hurt!"

""""Yes!!""""

Including the grandma rampaging with rolling pins in both hands.

District residents rushed out in place of the foreigners who couldn't move.

They fought with the activists.

"Pure Koreans my ass! These bastards are disgracing the country now!"

As Dominic expected.

Yongsan-gu and Jung-gu sided with Ains and foreigners.

It was proof that Pandora Clan was governing the two districts well, and that Ains and foreigners had been continuously helpful to them.

In the end, the activists had no choice but to flee from the laundromat grandma's rolling pin strikes.

Unfortunately, the situation the activists hoped for didn't happen.

However, despite foreigners' efforts, it wasn't so for Ains.

"─Guherk!! Ah, the Ain bastard hit me! Those bastards finally showed their true nature!"

"Our side is being attacked! Beat all those bastards! How dare you, mere humans!"

"Ains are rushing in! Everyone fight!"

"Humans are attacking! Let's fight back without getting hit!"

In the middle of Gwanghwamun.

A fight broke out between activists and Ains who had only been facing off.

It was unknown who instigated it.

Either side cited justification saying the other side attacked first.

In the end, the situation worsened even more.

☆

Society has been unsettled recently.

Activists came to Pandora Clan and held protests cursing Jin Pa-rang.

It was an illegal protest and business interference.

They were caught and dragged away by police.

And the next day, new people came to hold protests.

Don't those people have anything to do?

Why are they saying things to stupid oppa?

Ha Baek-ryeon's security was also strengthened.

Ha Baek-ryeon passed through the 1st floor of the hall with increased bodyguards.

Activists outside the clan hall were holding pickets with their mouths covered by black hoods.

She couldn't understand them.

They're all good people....

Stupid oppa is not a bad person except for throwing clothes around anywhere, this is too much.

These days he doesn't even try to take off his clothes recklessly since he became a Twelve Seats.

Ha Baek-ryeon felt resentful towards the protesting people.

To her, Ains and foreigners were the same as other people.

They weren't people who needed to be distinguished.

Honestly, she wanted to run to the activists right away and say something.

But she shouldn't get entangled in political issues.

"Baek-ryeon, where do you want to go?"

"Please press 3rd floor. I'm going to the cafe to do the task the Fairy gave me."

"Okay, got it."

In the end, Ha Baek-ryeon decided not to look at the activists' faces.

They wouldn't be visible from the 3rd floor cafe.

Gong Baek-gi smiled bitterly as if reading her feelings and pressed the button.

Eventually she got off on the 3rd floor and headed to the cafe.

There was someone who arrived first at the cafe.

"Huh? Riel unni?"

"Ah! It's Habae-gi! You came to see me? Come to my seat, quickly!"

"What were you doing here, unni?"

It was time clan members should be working.

Ha Baek-ryeon was puzzled seeing Ariel alone loitering in the cafe.

Then Ariel laughed hehe.

"I was originally going to go to a meeting. But there are too many people outside so the kids stopped me? I'm fine though..."

"Ah."

Ariel swung her legs.

Ha Baek-ryeon sitting across from her soon realized her circumstances.

Recently, Ains in Pandora Clan were refraining from external activities.

The sub-lords recommended it.

It was because of the activists.

So Ariel couldn't work and was here.

"This is great! Play with me!"

"I have to do my task..."

"Task? What task?"

"A task the Fairy gave me."

"Oh, that must be difficult."

"It's not difficult. She just told me to think about what laws I would make when I become the Fairy later."

"Oh, that sounds fun! If it were me, I'd make a law to relax regulations so we can freely make alcohol without government permission! That way we can make various delicious alcohol!"

"Hmm, I shouldn't do that."

"Ah, what? How can you do this when I gave you a hint? Future Fairy! Please make a law requiring clan dinners once a week when you become Fairy!"

"I don't want to."

Ariel grabbed Ha Baek-ryeon's arm.

She whined like a child.

Then Ariel's interest changed and she focused on touching Ha Baek-ryeon's arm.

"Your arm is so soft!"

"Unni, you're too scattered... Ah."

"Hm? What? What? What's wrong?"

"I just thought of something I'm curious about."

"What is it? What is it? What is it? Tell me!!"

Ha Baek-ryeon who was being treated like a toy by Ariel suddenly became curious.

She asked.

"Can't Ains go to school? I heard people outside say before that Ains can't even go to school."

"Ah, that? They can go to school. It's not that they can't. Sit-na-ser-na and Pa-rang oppa went to school, you know? I didn't go to school though."

"Why?"

"Hmm..."

Ariel lies down on the table.

She seemed lost in thought for a moment while rubbing her cheek on the cold table.

Soon she answered the question while laughing ehehe.

"It's not just Ains... If you're born in a slum or abandoned like me, there are often cases where you don't receive a resident registration number."

"What? How can that be?"

"In a world where people are dying to monsters, how can things like population surveys be done properly?"

"...Is that so?"

"That's how it is. So I heard some people only make resident registration numbers for children several years after they're born. They could die in the meantime, or just be abandoned."

"..."

"Especially Ains like me are often abandoned when born. We can't even find our parents since our genetic information is different. Aren't people like us troublesome for the government?"

"Why? The government protects people..."

"Wouldn't it be a huge loss if they took in kids like us? People would probably protest if they raised us with taxes. So they deliberately ignore us."

Through Ariel speaking nonchalantly.

Ha Baek-ryeon learned what Ains' lives were like.

It seemed there were quite a lot of people without resident registration numbers for various reasons besides Ains.

And the Fairy Government is ignoring their existence as much as possible.

"You can make resident registration numbers by going to the district office yourself, right?"

"Would kids abandoned in slums know that? I only learned letters when I was 10 years old. I didn't even feel the need to learn until then."

"..."

"It's not like our lives improve by making that. So I and other Ains didn't try to make them even if we knew how. We lose quite a lot in proportion to that."

"But you have one now, unni."

"Because I wanted to become a player."

"..."

"I needed a way to prove I was a person of this country to apply for the academy entrance exam. So I got one for the first time then."

"..."

"Ah, but the situation has improved a lot these days. Sit-na-ser-na and Pa-rang oppa are sponsoring young Ains."

It was a world Ha Baek-ryeon who received bodyguards' protection knew nothing about.

Baek-ryeon was absorbed in the story Ariel was telling nonchalantly.

She felt sympathy for people who didn't receive government protection.

"Ah, but unni. What was the meeting you said was canceled earlier?"

"Ah, that? They said they want to cast me for a variety show this time! You might see me on TV soon!"

"What kind of show is it?"

"Hmm.... They said the person who planned this also planned a program called Catch Your Player before, do you know it?"

"What's that?"

"Wow, I just felt a generation gap!"

No matter how the situation flows.

Ariel didn't lose her smile.

☆

Meanwhile, at that time.

Somewhere between Bomun-dong and Sungin-dong.

"Okay, I'm sorry... I must have been crazy then. I didn't know things would blow up this big..."

Eun-ha, Twenty-five, Han Chang-jin.

The three people used people from the alleyways to torture several people.

They were the people who threw eggs at Jin Pa-rang.

"So besides apologizing. Tell us everything you know about the organization you're in now."

Pure Korean Clan, PKK Group.

They were shouting for Jin Pa-rang to resign from his Twelve Seats position.

And as the world turns, their claims were gradually gaining strength and becoming public opinion.

Eun-ha didn't like it at all.

Especially the man in front of him threw an egg at Jin Pa-rang's face.

That alone was enough reason to torture the man.

"Master, I've asked several times but these guys don't know anything. It seems they were just sacrifices put forward by the PKK Group."

"Hah..."

Then Twenty-five finished torturing and whispered to Eun-ha.

There wasn't much information.

The people being tortured were just small fry.

"Then we have to dispose of them."

"P-please just spare my li... Guerk..."

If they're not helpful, just dispose of them.

Eun-ha placed his hand on the man's head.

He instilled fear in him.

Then the people injected with fear trembled.

They collapsed on the ground convulsing.

Eun-ha turned his back on them.

"What kind of fear did you instill? Those guys' expressions are a sight..."

"It's nothing much."

"So what is it? Let me know too."

"It's really nothing."

Twenty-five pestered.

Eun-ha answered roughly.

It really was nothing much.

They had to forcibly pluck out their own eyes in a dream until Eun-ha's anger subsided.

Then they throw those eyes in the air.

And catch them with their eye sockets.

The eyes find their place.

Next they pluck out the other eye.

Throw and catch the eye again.

Then continue, continue, continue...

They would go insane repeating that process.

"...You call that nothing much?"

"It's just in a dream."

"..."

"Have people send those people home gently. They won't remember anything that happened today so don't worry. They'll probably take their own lives when they come to their senses. Or..."

"Or what?"

"They might not be able to distinguish between dream and reality, and try to do that act of their own will this time."

"..."

Twenty-five clicked his tongue.

He held back his words.

He knew he would get hit by Eun-ha if he said something wrong.

"More importantly."

"Yes, master."

"Did you say PKK Group? These bastards are inflating their forces too quickly. There's something behind this."

"I'm currently tracking them with the kids."

"Let's do it together. I need to infiltrate their organization myself."

"...I'll get a black hood then."

"Can't I just change my face?"

"They always wear those."

"It can't be helped. Chang-jin hyung. Will you go in together?"

"No, I'll investigate separately. I have some suspicious points too..."

"Okay. Then please look into it your way, hyung."

Something that didn't happen in the previous life.

Is it just a simple butterfly effect?

Eun-ha felt uneasy about something.

Outwardly it was a protest denouncing Ains and foreigners, but─.

─Our clan is the main subject suffering damage from this movement.

It seemed to be strangely targeting Pandora Clan.

And in Eun-ha's experience, his intuition had never been wrong so far.

That was why he was tracking the organization with Twenty-five and Han Chang-jin.

Therefore, Eun-ha decided to infiltrate the PKK Group with Twenty-five.

Meanwhile, Han Chang-jin decided to conduct an independent search after parting with the two.

"I hope my hunch is wrong..."

Covering his face with a hood.

Han Chang-jin disappeared into the darkness of the city.

As Eun-ha said, it was suspicious how rapidly this civilian organization called PKK Group had spread.

This was almost like─.

─No, that can't be.

It feels like there's darkness behind this.

Han Chang-jin tried to erase the suspicion that came to mind.