Chapter 188

Chapter 188

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The Patriot I

Have you ever heard this saying?

"Crisis is an opportunity."

While this phrase is widely known and often quoted, I find it overly kind and somewhat misleading.

Reality is harsh. To accurately reflect this cruel world, the saying needs a serious makeover.

"Find an opportunity in a crisis. If you can't, then you'll die."

An apocalypse is a continuous series of crises, much like the incessant survey calls during election season. But while election season lasts a month at most, the apocalypse is a never-ending, thrilling ride with new surprises every day.

The weak humans who couldn't adapt to the newly updated environment of Earth all perished.

It wasn’t just individuals that died either. Entire professions were wiped out. If we were to list the jobs that disappeared from the elementary school career aspirations list in the face of the apocalypse, it would include members of parliament, election commission members, union leaders, stock traders, physicists, graduate students, hikikomori...

And we must not forget "journalists." In the modern media world, which could no longer survive without advertisers, the apocalypse was too harsh.

That said, large guilds did publish quarterly newsletters when the occasion struck. "Hogsmeade News" of the Samcheon World gained some popularity, for example.[1] However, it was hard to consider these true media outlets. It’s not exactly prestigious journalism when Dang Seo-rin’s autumn witch fashion items make it to the front page.

Nevertheless, it took a considerable amount of time for "journalists" to disappear from the job market, and that was all because of one man.

Jo Yeong-su.

The last journalist remaining not only not just on the Korean Peninsula but in "Republic of Korea" was quite active for a long time.

However, if I were to grab any citizen of Busan and claim, "Jo Yeong-su is actually a journalist," I would likely receive a strange look.

"Him? A journalist? Why?"

In Busan, Jo Yeong-su could always be found in the square in front of the National Road Management Corps headquarters. It was there that one could find a middle-aged man holding a protest sign and shouting every day.

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step down! Step down! Step down!"

"Ugh, there he goes again. Doesn't he ever get tired?"

"Dictator Noh Do-hwa, step dooown!"

Yes, that man was Jo Yeong-su.

To the people of Busan, Jo Yeong-su wasn’t recognized as a journalist. He was just the "crazy guy in the square."

This crazy guy had a distinctive outfit. Not only was he holding a protest sign, but his shirt was emblazoned, front and back, with:

[Republic of Korea 大韓民國]

[Democracy 民主主義]

The shirt, which was more armor than clothing, was covered in large and small characters:

[The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic]

[The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea belongs to the people, and all power comes from the people]

[All citizens have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly and association]

[No permit or censorship shall be imposed on speech, the press, or assembly and association]

...

Truly the embodiment of democracy!

If there had been a "Jesus = Heaven, No Jesus = Hell" Evangelism team in Myeong-dong, Seoul, during the civilized times, now Busan had Jo Yeong-su.

No matter how liberal Busan was with fashion, Jo Yeong-su stood out more than any witch cosplayer from the Samcheon World.

"Can't someone do something about that guy?"

"He's such a nuisance."

"When will that man ever lose his voice?"

Naturally, the members of the National Road Management Corps detested Jo Yeong-su. Even if they didn’t worship Noh Do-hwa as the savior of the Korean Peninsula, they couldn’t stand a human alarm blaring at them on their way to and from work. If Noh Do-hwa had said, "Get rid of that nuisance," the members of the National Road Management Corps would have gladly done so and left no trace.

"Just leave him alone..."

-Anonymous: Do the National Road Management Corps and guilds have power? Yes. Do they have agreements? No. Do they have a constitution and laws? No. Do they have agreed procedures?

No!

-Anonymous: Thus, these organizations won’t last 100 years. They clearly lack the qualifications to represent the current Republic of Korea!

-Anonymous: Former Busan Mayor Jung Sang-guk, who fled to Japan, has more legitimate qualifications!

└dolLHOuse: ?

No matter how passionately he poured out his arguments, no one agreed with Jo Yeong-su. It was only natural, really.

-Anonymous: LOL 100 years? We’re struggling to survive 10 years and you run your mouth about "the inevitability of forgetfulness" LOL

No one expected a nation to endure for over 100 years. The Republic of Korea, which Jo Yeong-su revered so much, had collapsed just over 100 years after its founding. The "constitution and laws" he cherished couldn’t stop the arrival of the void. Dang Seo-rin’s Cursed Song Incantation could protect the public order and far more people than a few agreed-upon sentences.

That’s the world we live in.

Humans were no longer great but merely part of nature. Laws were luxury items for humanity, which found itself at an overwhelming disadvantage in nature.

In other words, we were animals. Beasts.

Awakening abilities weren’t something grand or a sign of being chosen by heaven; they were just claws for beasts or wings for escaping.

One had to humbly acknowledge this fact to face the current reality.

-Anonymous: Difficulty in current times cannot excuse procedural deficiencies! The former Republic of Korea declared independence and established a constitution even when the country was lost and occupied by foreign forces!

In short, Jo Yeong-su was an idealist. To the SG Net members, whose families, friends, and colleagues had died and were still dying, his idealism was almost unbearable.

-OldManGoryeo: Thanks to the old-timer, the night shift is warm again LOL

Thus, he earned the nickname "Old-timer."

"Republic of Korea" + "Old-timer," a mocking term.

Along with OldManGoryeo, Old-timer was one of SG Net’s three major villains.

Who was the third? That was debatable, but sometimes the WitchJudge would be tossed around as an option. Some factions even dared to nominate me, the Undertaker, as a Three Kingdoms villain, but those were all baseless slander.

-Anonymous: Noh Do-hwa, the head of the National Road Management Corps, should wake up!

└OldManGoryeo: Wake up! Wake up!

Anyway.

As usual, the night shift on SG Net was filled with OldManGoryeo causing chaos and Jo Yeong-su breathing fire. Normal people were asleep, preparing for the next day’s labor. Only two villains were passionately debating the "future of the nation" through their posts and comments.

-Anonymous: Even now, the National Road Management Corps and guilds should seriously discuss the direction of the Republic of Korea, considering public opinion!

└OldManGoryeo: Public opinion? LOL how would you do that?

└Anonymous: Through the media, of course!

└OldManGoryeo: Oh, gotcha. But we don’t have any media or news in our proud Republic of Korea, do we? lmao...

At that moment, Jo Yeong-su’s keyboard, which had always unhesitatingly voiced the truth, suddenly fell silent.

One minute, three minutes, five minutes.

No matter how long they waited, there was no rebuttal to OldManGoryeo’s comment.

-OldManGoryeo: Last hit done.

Finally, OldManGoryeo, satisfied with getting the last word, moved on to another topic.

-OldManGoryeo: Hey guys, what song are you listening to right now?

└ZERO_SUGAR: Three Kingdoms theories, go.

└OldManGoryeo: Go to sleep.

Of course, OldManGoryeo didn’t realize it.

That he had just inadvertently given birth to the last "journalist" on the Korean Peninsula.

Footnotes:

[1] Hogsmeade is an all-wizard village featured in the world of the Harry Potter series.

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