Chapter 98
Chapter 98. National Power Level (1)
There's a saying that the best revenge is living better than the one who wronged you.
"Nonsense."
I don't believe that.
The best revenge is only complete when the other party is utterly destroyed.
Comforting yourself by living well alone is nothing more than a mental victory—it's not a real victory.
That's what the word ‘victory’ means.
Win, benefit.
It only counts as victory when there's a tangible, beneficial outcome.
Muttering ‘I won’ alone in the corner of a room is just self-gratification.
This is all because of the system in this society—one that prohibits self-help remedies and eliminates private vengeance.
In a sense, the people of Gangho in my previous life may have been happier.
"At least it was a world where an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth worked."
The reason I didn't kill Park Je-hwang was for the sake of true victory.
If I just wanted to turn him into an obedient, dim-witted sheep, I could've sliced his head off or fed him Gu Poison—that would've done it.
But that wasn't real revenge.
Park Je-hwang was incomparable to the likes of Bae Da-in or Na In-pil.
I had to give him several times—dozens of times—the suffering he had inflicted on me.
【Kim Tae-yang says, ‘You're right’ +1,000,000 Happiness】
In my previous life, I had cut off the Alliance Leader's arm, severed the Evil Path Alliance Leader's legs, and gouged out the Heavenly Demon's eyes.
Relentless revenge.
Kim Tae-yang's revenge couldn't be wrapped up easily either.
The day had to come when Park Je-hwang and his gang of tormentors crawled on the ground, prostrated themselves before me, and rubbed their hands together in desperate supplication.
The moment they wept and begged—’please, just this once, I'm sorry’—
I would smile and rip their heads clean off.
Rather than tossing them into boiling water.
I would peel their skin first, then boil them slowly in water that rises to a simmer.
Only then—
Ding!
【Kim Tae-yang says he looks forward to that day. +5,000,000 Happiness】
Since that kid Kim Tae-yang would pour out the points too.
【Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art level has increased.】
【Ten Thousand Streams Return to Origin Divine Art level has increased.】
【Two Principles Limitless Divine Art level has increased.】
"Wait for me. Alliance Leader, Evil Path Leader, Heavenly Demon."
***
[Blue House]
President Park Jae-yeol was in seclusion, receiving an IV drip.
The Prime Minister remained at his side, and members of the cabinet streamed one by one into the Blue House amid the unprecedented crisis.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked Pyeon Jae-yeong,
"Just what was His Excellency thinking? He even fired a gun!"
"Ahem. The firearm was an accidental discharge. Did we not say it was fired by a bodyguard?"
"We did issue the press release that way, but the crowd witnessed it with their own eyes—"
"It was an accidental discharge."
Pyeon Jae-yeong said it firmly.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs closed his mouth, then sighed.
"It was a tournament we pushed too hard to hold. Who could have imagined it would end like this……. Why isn't His Excellency saying anything at this critical moment?"
"The plan has been completely unraveled, so he must be drawing up Plan B."
"What was Plan A, then?"
Pyeon Jae-yeong smiled and said,
"His Excellency is currently preparing for a constitutional amendment, isn't he? One that allows consecutive terms."
"That's true. His approval ratings were higher than ever before."
It was thanks to the Golden Tower, the Ghost, and the Nameless Hero.
"Since relations with the Nameless Hero were good too, he planned to coax his way to an introduction to the Ghost, and once he took just one photo in front of the Ghost and the Golden Tower, the game would be over."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked back,
"Well, even if that were possible, it's not like the President could stay in power forever, could he?"
"That's right. Dictatorship would be difficult, so he'd need a successor—someone reliable who wouldn't betray him."
"Only family would do. But it's well known that His Excellency's son and daughter-in-law are a pair of disasters."
Pyeon Jae-yeong wore a meaningful expression and said,
"The son may be that way, but there's also a grandson, isn't there."
"The Martial Alliance Leader!"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs's eyes snapped wide open for a moment.
Pyeon Jae-yeong raised a finger to his lips in warning.
"Shh. Many people still don't know."
"That may be so, but……If he's a classmate of your son, Minister Pyeon, then the grandson is barely 27 years old."
"That's right. Once His Excellency completes one term of reelection, he'll be in his 30s. After that, if another person serves a consecutive term and 10 years pass, he'll be in his 40s."
"He'll be eligible to run for president!"
"Just like in America, the power of this nation passes from father to son."
"That's like……royalty."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs groaned softly.
"The Martial Alliance Leader, Park Je-hwang, would also stop climbing at some point. The plan was to gain popularity and then retire under the pretense of injury."
"The difficult climbing would be left to the Nameless hero and the Ghost."
"That's what they're for. Base creatures like them—that's what they were born to do."
"Ahh."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs nodded as though finally understanding, but then suddenly wore a puzzled expression and asked,
"There's something strange. Even assuming what you said is correct, Minister Pyeon, someone would still need to hold the presidency for at least 10 years after His Excellency before handing it over to the Martial Alliance Leader. That would require enormous trust—is there really someone that reliable?"
Pyeon Jae-yeong said nothing, just chuckled—huhuhuh.
"……That would be you, Minister Pyeon."
"I haven't said a word."
Pyeon Jae-yeong folded his arms.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs looked at Pyeon Jae-yeong's face and clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Power passed from father to son.’
For President Park Jae-yeol, it was from grandfather to grandson.
In other words—the hidden meaning of Pyeon Jae-yeong's words had been grasped.
‘Pyeon Jae-yeong has no intention of ever returning power to Park Jae-yeol.’
A terrifying web of political scheming was unfolding.
While Park Jae-yeol received his IV in anguish, Pyeon Jae-yeong's eyes gazed at something far beyond.
• * *
President Park Jae-yeol lay receiving his IV, staring up at the ceiling.
‘The Ghost is the only hope for the Republic of Korea.’
Words he had uttered himself, just a few months ago.
He had clearly said that.
It had felt like a dream.
Today should have been the perfect day—yet it had turned into a nightmare.
If not for the bodyguards and Pyeon Jae-yeong, he would have actually shot and killed the Nameless Hero.
"Damn it. How did I……"
He hadn't dreamed of a constitutional amendment and long-term rule from the beginning.
He had simply wanted to be a respected president—the kind whose name appeared in history books read by children.
He had tried to take the helm as captain and somehow steer the Republic of Korea through its collapse following the appearance of the Murim Tower.
"That rotten son of mine."
He hadn't even imagined that his greedy son and daughter-in-law had taken bribes from the Miraejegwa Group.
"Five billion won. Did they really think land that large wouldn't be discovered?"
The foolish couple had even registered the deed in their own names.
And on top of that, claiming it was for their father—they had registered a one-third stake in his name too.
"Damn it all!"
Park Jae-yeol was overcome with fury and slammed the bed—thud!
He had managed to bury it before it became an issue, but he'd been anxious throughout his entire term.
He feared the opposition party members watching with burning eyes, waiting for his term to end.
"I was completely played by Chairman Ye of the Miraejegwa Group."
As a result, he'd had to funnel all manner of lucrative deals their way.
He had even arranged a betrothal between his hidden trump card of a grandson and that idiotic youngest granddaughter of the Miraejegwa Group.
Only with the appearance of the Golden Tower had he been able to break free from the stranglehold the Miraejegwa Group had on him.
No—he had even been able to go on the offensive.
The bungeoppang dispute between the Miraejegwa Group and Baekgyeong a while back was proof of that.
"What a laughable fight that was."
And so he had dreamed of the constitutional amendment.
One more election win, just one reelection, and everything could be resolved.
He would use Jang Ae-guk as a sacrificial offering to place his grandson Park Je-hwang on an unshakeable foundation—
He himself would become ‘Taejo’, and his grandson would become ‘Taejong’.
Using the Ghost, using the Nameless Hero, he could have placed the Miraejegwa Group beneath his heel and become the king of this land.
"It was the perfect plan……"
Park Jae-yeol buried his face in his hands.
This couldn't go on.
His ending couldn't be a cold prison cell—it had to be a spot on a bookshelf lined with history books read by children.
"Minister Pyeon."
Park Jae-yeol called for Pyeon Jae-yeong, the man he had designated as his ‘Jeongjong’.
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"I said something once. That 'the Ghost is the hope of Korea'."
"Yes."
"What do you think about that?"
Pyeon Jae-yeong smiled faintly and said,
"The hope of the Republic of Korea isn't necessarily our hope, is it."
"……True enough."
"The Nameless Hero is not the Ghost, either."
"That's right."
Pyeon Jae-yeong read Park Jae-yeol's mind like a ghost.
He then offered the words Park Jae-yeol wanted to hear.
"The Nameless Hero has clearly crossed a line. His actions will become a burden to the Ghost's faction. Leave it to me."
"Are you confident?"
"I will cut down the Nameless Hero. Then the Ghost will have no choice but to negotiate directly with us."
"You'll need to approach it carefully."
"Rest easy and get some sleep."
Pyeon Jae-yeong straightened Park Jae-yeol's bedcovers for him.
***
The incident rippled outward and spread endlessly, plastering the news all day long.
The people had watched that fight, and everyone shared a single burning question.
‘Why on earth?!’
First, the government issued a statement.
[The Nameless Hero forcibly seized the Iron Instrument God's sword.]
The people had seen that scene clearly with their own eyes.
Comments poured in immediately.
└ Wasn't the Iron Instrument God's sword the prize for the tournament winner?
└ That's right, but the final match is already over.
└ Then what about the Nameless Hero's fight?
└ That was a special match. Winning a special match and taking the Iron Instrument God's sword makes you a thief.
└ Sir, you're at least a Supreme Court justice.
"Master! Did you see this announcement?"
Lee Won-ryong and Jo Je-bin came rushing toward me, phones in hand.
"I saw it."
"Isn't this going too far? They're tearing the Nameless Hero down as a full-on thief."
The shift in framing—downgrading the Nameless Hero from ‘hero’ to ‘thief’.
Looking at the comments, a fire had ignited over the debate of whether it was theft or not.
"Huhuhuh."
I laughed without a word.
It was as I had expected.
In Gangho in my previous life, I had always been publicly slandered and defamed.
Most of it was for things I had actually done, of course, but there was much that I hadn't done.
Wild rumors spread through the information networks of the Haomun Sect and Haomun—stories that I devoured children alive and bathed in the blood of virgins.
But there was no way to set the record straight.
In my previous life, I was alone.
Even if I told a hundred people it wasn't true, when a thousand spread the lie, that became the truth.
The war of public opinion was a battle I could never win in my previous life.
"Now is different."
Because this is an era where I can speak to ten million people just as easily as a hundred or a thousand.
"……Pardon?"
"You faithless sheep. Watch your shepherd closely."
Watch how I flip this board.
***
Soon, a new topic emerged.
[Pay attention to the Nameless Hero's statement.]
He said Park Je-hwang (presumed real name of the Martial Alliance Leader) is unworthy. We need to look into what that means.
└ So what does it mean exactly?
└ No idea.
└ You're at least a dog with no job, sir.
Then a post appeared on social media.
It was uploaded under the ID of a certain Chief Han from the National Martial Affairs Headquarters.
[The Iron Instrument God's sword is a sword entrusted to me by the Nameless Hero. He asked for no reward whatsoever and made only a single request.‘Give the sword to someone worthy’The Martial Alliance Leader is not worthy in the slightest.]
The internet erupted once again.
[Super Climber K! The worthy one! Take the national treasure of the Republic of Korea!]
So that's why the advertisement concept was like that. I thought the ‘worthiness’ talk was out of nowhere.
└ So the original owner of the Iron Instrument God's sword was the Nameless Hero?
└ He donated it to the state, they say.
└ But he attached a condition—’a worthy person’ That's called a conditional contract. If the condition isn't fulfilled, it's void.
└ Another Supreme Court justice has arrived.
└ Why is the Martial Alliance Leader unworthy?
└ Justice is raining down from the heavens!
└ Will you please be quiet.
└ Anyway, isn't Chief Han in prison right now? How did she post this?
└ Our Poison Spider unnie can do anything.
A video then went up on NuTube.
It spread and went viral almost immediately.
[The Martial Alliance Leader is the Cheating Alliance Leader]
The video showed scenes of the Martial Alliance Leader competing in matches.
And it explained in detail how, just before the green light flashed, something sparkled in the audience.
The Martial Alliance Leader had always displayed astonishing Sword-Draw Art.
The video argued that his reaction speed, which exceeded the limits of a human, was actually the product of rigged signals in the form of that ‘sparkle’.
The government immediately issued a rebuttal.
[This is nothing more than coincidence.]
It is merely coincidence. We urge citizens not to be deceived by this.
└ They say it isn't?
└ But it really does sparkle, before every single match.
└ Could it be a coincidence?
└ It sparkles from the same seat in every match?
└ Then that's cheating for real! Unworthy confirmed.
└ There's a simple way to verify.
└ What is it?
└ Just find out who reserved those sparkling seats.
└ Sir, you're at least Sherlock Holmes.
Public opinion rose demanding that the person who had sat in those seats be revealed.
But the government gave no answer.
└ Makes it even more suspicious.
└ Don't trust the government. Trust NuTube.
└ Stop inciting people.
└ Conspiracy theorists getting worked up, hilarious.
More and more people were beginning to doubt.
Then yet another NuTube video appeared.
[I was not defeated by the Cheating Alliance Leader.]
It was Choi Jae-hwa of the Goryeo Sword Sect.
In the video, Choi Jae-hwa's face was wrapped heavily in bandages and he was dressed in a patient's gown.
First, he secured sympathy.
He calmly explained the full story.
The quiver he had purchased from the National Martial Affairs Headquarters' Item Exchange.
The listening device hidden inside it.
He even showed the purchase receipt and the scene of him smashing the quiver open to discover the listening device.
"I had devised a perfect strategy. Of course, having a strategy doesn't mean victory follows. But if someone wiretapped and leaked that strategy—it leads to defeat."
Choi Jae-hwa held the listening device up to the camera.
He said with force,
"The Cheating Alliance Leader is despicable. He is not the champion, and he has no right to possess the Iron Instrument God's sword!"
└ What, seriously.
└ Is this actually true?
└ So now we can't even trust the National Martial Affairs Headquarters Item Exchange.
└ Don't trust the government. Trust NuTube.
└ I said stop inciting people!
└ This time I mean it.
The government once again failed to put out a response.
At this news, climbers rose up in immediate outrage.
The major factions began issuing statements of condemnation one after another.
"M-Master……"
"Do you believe in me now?"
"I, Jo Je-bin, believed from the very beginning. I'm not so sure about this Gate Master here."
"Hey!"
The tide of public opinion was clearly turning in my favor.
On the TV screen.
Park Jae-yeol and Park Je-hwang continued to be covered in the news.
Park Je-hwang's face, writhing and groaning in pain as he lay collapsed.
……Is he already showing that much pain?
‘This is only the beginning.’
Swish—Thwack!
I sent a throwing blade flying and buried it in Park Je-hwang's forehead on the TV screen.
"……Why the perfectly good TV?"
"I, Jo Je-bin, will go out and swap it for an 85-inch right away!"
"Hey! Elder Jo! I—I'll get a 100-inch!"
Lee Won-ryong and Jo Je-bin scrambled over each other to rush out.
Looks like I'll be getting 2 TVs.
Looks like I also gained 2 subordinates who are desperate for my affection.
I was definitely a loner.
I clasped my hands together, rested them behind my head, and leaned back in the chair.
The feeling was strange.