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103. National Assembly Member Lee Seong-hyeon
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‘It’s not even Sunday—what’s going on?’
Even though it wasn’t the day of their regular meeting, Ryu Min was on his way to Lostyak’s place.
Because an emergency summons had come down.
‘No way… Are they already carrying it out?’
He had an idea what it might be, but for now, he had to join the meeting.
Sluuide—
After entering the one-room apartment, he released his invisibility.
‘Disguise.’
Wobble-wobble—
After perfectly changing his outward appearance into Lostyak, he sat down in front of the computer.
[Lostyak has entered the chatroom.]
When he entered, Yamtti and the Chairman were waiting.
-You’re here?
-Ah, sorry I’m late.
-It’s fine. I was worried you might not come. We’re in a situation where every single person matters.
As the Chairman said that, his expression looked darker than usual.
‘What is it? Did something happen?’
It was a shame he couldn’t read thoughts because it was video chat.
-Yamtti. How did the executive interviews we said we’d do last time go?
-Yep! We’re doing them right now, and for now three people passed the murder test safely.
-Does that mean they don’t have any aversion to our café?
-Yes, yes. They’re favorable enough toward our café that there’d be no problem seating them in a meeting right away.
‘Three? What trash are trying to aim for an executive spot again…’
They’d probably gotten tempted by the words “executive test” and committed murder without hesitation.
-In other words, you’re saying we can use them as manpower immediately?
-That’s true, but what’s this about…
With a grim expression, the Chairman continued.
-We’ll execute the plan tomorrow.
‘The plan?’
Ryu Min asked, half-disbelieving.
-Chairman. The plan, you mean…?
-National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon. The plan to kidnap that man.
‘Ah… So that’s why he seemed impatient.’
Just as expected.
He’d been saying for a while that he didn’t like National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon and that they needed countermeasures.
‘So he finally decided to go with kidnapping.’
National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon was a target Plseba had been keeping an eye on.
Not only had he made remarks that ignored and despised players, he’d also been submitting unfavorable bills.
-I saw the recent articles. They said National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon passed the anti-player bill.
-Anti-player…?
-It’s a bill that says they’ll create a special organization to effectively suppress players who commit crimes—force them into submission with power.
-Ah.
-The ironic part is that the members of that special organization are public-servant players selected from the police.
-In other words, the idea is to catch criminal players using players made up of police.
When Ryu Min said that in agreement, the Chairman nodded.
-That’s right. The problem is, now that the bill has passed, it’s clear that Plseba’s foothold will shrink.
-So that’s why the kidnapping…
-Yes. If we kidnap Lee Seong-hyeon and show the public an example, the voices of protest will also lessen.
‘An example? Are they saying they’ll hold an execution?’
Internally startled, Ryu Min raised a hand and presented an opposing opinion.
-But Chairman. If you show a public murder like that, wouldn’t it instead prove that the anti-player bill is necessary?
-Of course, I know. That it would backfire. And so, we won’t be the ones taking the role of kidnapper.
-What? Then…
The Chairman smiled faintly.
-The ones who will kidnap and kill National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon are civilians. We’ll buy off civilians with criminal records with money and make it look like they did the kidnapping. Of course, the actual kidnapping will be done by us.
-…So you’re saying you’ll stage it?
-Exactly. We’ll secretly kidnap the assemblyman, then make it look like he was kidnapped by civilians, and we’ll even hold an execution. At that point, we’ll step in late and try to kill the criminals and save the assemblyman… but Lee Seong-hyeon will already be dead.
-Ah…
-This way, not only do we achieve the objective of killing Lee Seong-hyeon, but we can also officially inform the public that Plseba is not the enemy.
In short, it was an operation to kidnap him, then run a self-staged act where they pretended to rescue him afterward, to win public sentiment.
‘Hmm, I don’t think something like this happened in the previous run.’
Even in the future Ryu Min knew, National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon showed hostility toward players.
And then Plseba proceeded with the kidnapping the same way.
‘But back then, I didn’t know it was this kind of plan. Because I saved Lee Seong-hyeon before that.’
Ryu Min had saved the assemblyman and even gained a connection with him, but who would’ve thought there was this kind of inside story?
He could know because he’d transformed into Lostyak—otherwise, he would’ve had no idea.
‘Good thing I got the Assassin’s Mask early.’
Setting a time-attack record and obtaining a Unique item selection ticket had led to this kind of result.
-But Chairman. The bill already passed—would killing Assemblyman Lee change anything?
-Hmm. That’s a question befitting Lostyak. Of course things will change. First, with the assemblyman who was raising his voice dead, the bill will lose momentum. And perhaps when selecting members for the anti-player unit, the opportunity won’t be given only to the police—maybe it’ll be given to us as well.
-Ah, I see.
-And we can block all the bills unfavorable to players that Assemblyman Lee would propose in the future. Just that alone makes Assemblyman Lee worth killing. Do you understand?
-Yes, Chairman. I understand clearly.
Having grasped the Chairman’s intent and the overall plan, Ryu Min asked about the details.
-Then how do you plan to find the civilians to use for the show?
-I have connections in the police, so I can easily look up civilians with red lines drawn on their records. I plan to ask them if they want to make a lump sum and recruit five or six.
The Chairman had a plan for everything.
It seemed this wasn’t an improvised plan, but something he’d been considering for a while.
-Yamtti. You said you can mobilize those three executives right away, correct?
-Yes, yes.
-When you kidnap National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon, have them participate as well. Explain the entire situation to them so they can be deployed in real combat. Yamtti, you take overall charge of the assemblyman kidnapping.
-Understood. Leave it to me.
-Lostyak, you also help Yamtti and prepare the kidnapping together. I’ll send you the location to kidnap him and Assemblyman Lee’s schedule.
-What time is the execution?
-The execution time is when National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon goes to work…
One corner of the Chairman’s mouth lifted slightly.
-Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.
-Hello, viewers. Today we have invited National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon to join us. Please greet the viewers, Assemblyman.
-Nice to meet you. I’m National Assembly member Lee Seong-hyeon, who represents the people’s voice.
-Do you know that you’ve been hot on the internet lately, Assemblyman?
-I know I’m popular with reporters. I wonder if there’s still anything left for you people to tear into me about…
-Haha, your blunt remarks are impressive, Assemblyman. Recently, the bill you proposed has become an issue.
-You mean the anti-player bill.
-Could you explain what kind of bill it is?
-To put it simply, it’s a bill to catch players and beat them into submission. Of course, good players don’t need to worry. It’s a bill that applies only to trash-like players who commit crimes.
-Haha… It really is a despair-inducing bill for criminal players. Do you have a reason for proposing such a bill?
-I consider players to be like cancer cells in society, you know? Of course, I mean criminal players. In any case, now that six months have passed since players appeared, aren’t indiscriminate murder, rape, robbery, and theft happening? 77.5% of those acts are carried out by players. The statistics say so. So it’s not an issue we can just sit and watch.
-So you’re saying you proposed the bill to remove cancer cells.
-That’s right. Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t pass, but fortunately it passed?
-That seems to demonstrate just how serious the situation is.
-You know your stuff, host. That’s right. These days, it’s truly serious.
-But Assemblyman. Players go through Rounds in another world every month, don’t they? And the rule is that only half survive. If so, wouldn’t their numbers sharply decrease even if we do nothing? Does this bill really have meaning?
-So you think that way too, host. Whenever reporters ask me that, I ask them back. If a fire has broken out at your feet, would you wait for that fire to go out on its own? No. You’d shake your foot to put it out quickly. That’s the current state of our country. If you’re in the position of a bystander, you can talk like you are now. But from a victim’s standpoint, they’ll want to catch players and beat them into submission as soon as possible—even a day sooner.
-Ah, so you’re saying waiting until players disappear isn’t a fundamental solution?
-That’s right. In this world, players must all be rooted out. Of course, I mean only criminal players, so please don’t misunderstand.
Beep—
The TV screen turned off.
“Misunderstand?”
Lee Seong-hyeon recalled himself from a moment ago and sneered.
“What misunderstanding. All players should fucking die. Dogshit bastards.”
Buttoning his shirt and tying his necktie, Lee Seong-hyeon put on the suit jacket he’d had cleaned.
And finally, he pinned on the gold National Assembly badge.
As he looked into the mirror, Lee Seong-hyeon’s gaze shifted to the side.
He saw a photo of his son, holding onto his pant leg and smiling brightly.
“Our Seung-hoon really liked pinning my badge on when I left for work…”
His son, who had been an elementary school student, had died five months ago at the hands of a player.
A vagrant who’d suddenly gained superhuman strength had kidnapped him to extort money, then killed him by mistake.
Simply because he couldn’t control his strength.
Naturally, Lee Seong-hyeon had wanted to take revenge on that bastard, but absurdly, the vagrant died in Round 3 right after that.
‘I should’ve killed that son of a bitch with my own hands.’
Crunch—
After losing his chance for revenge, Lee Seong-hyeon turned his eyes toward criminal players as a whole.
To prevent victims like his son from appearing again, he proposed a bill, and fortunately it passed.
But as he’d said on the broadcast, he didn’t think only criminals were bad.
‘There’s no such thing as a good player. All players are trash—potential criminal bastards who can unleash the power they’re hiding whenever they want.’
No one knew when they might use that hidden power to shake the world.
Ordinary civilians couldn’t be dragged around by players like that.
‘All players should die.’
Lee Seong-hyeon knew it was a twisted ideology.
But the honest truth was that if it was a player, he didn’t even want to see their face.
More precisely, he hated the supernatural power itself that had brought chaos into the world.
And yet, he proposed a bill to draft player public servants from the police to punish criminal players.
‘I hate players so much my teeth grind, but for now I have no choice but to use players against players.’
Players were something ordinary people could never possibly handle.
Even mobilizing the army had its limits, so he decided to use players.
Using a hunting dog to catch a hunting dog.
Fortunately, the bill had passed, so now it just had to proceed smoothly.
‘In the eyes of criminal players, I’ll look obnoxious.’
Not just obnoxious.
They might even plot a crime to kill him.
But there was nothing to worry about.
‘In case something happens, I brought along young bodyguards made up of players.’
With the world feeling dangerous, security companies these days were also composed only of players.
The price had become absurdly expensive, but in a situation where your life was at risk, what did money matter?
‘It’s not like I can take money into the grave.’
Money or anything else—if he could just achieve the objective of rooting out players, that was enough.
Because he had nothing to lose anyway.
‘Let’s just grow the bill properly and wrap it up well.’
He headed to the parking lot to go to the National Assembly.
On both his left and right, one hired player bodyguard each, and one in front and one behind—four in total—walked protecting him.
It was an ironic situation.
That he, who despised players, was being protected by players.
‘If this goes well and a world without players comes…’
He wouldn’t ask for anything more.
Click—
“Please get in, Assemblyman.”
“Thank you.”
When the bodyguard opened the rear door, Lee Seong-hyeon got in without suspicion.
But in the driver’s seat, there was a woman he’d never seen before.
“Who are you?”
“Hello, Assemblyman? I’m so happy to meet you like this~”
“I said who are you, you—”
Thwack—
Lee Seong-hyeon could no longer speak.
Because he’d been knocked out by the knife-hand strike of the bodyguard who’d opened the door a moment ago.
“Yamtti-nim. We’re ready.”
“Yep. I’ll go first~ Follow slowly.”
“Yes, my master.”
Vroooom—
The car carrying the assemblyman smoothly slipped out of the parking lot.