Damn Necromancer-Chapter 293
Chapter 293: North Korea (2)
Pyongyang Central Broadcasting Station.
Passing through the corridor marked with bullet holes, Kim Minwoo entered the broadcasting control room. Technicians were trembling while pressed against the wall.
“Prepare transmission.”
It was a short command.
One technician moved his lips.
“W, what should we broadcast…….”
“What that gentleman says.”
Kim Minwoo gestured. Park Ildo was dragged, stumbling, next to the anchor's seat.
North Korea’s next leader.
The man standing at the pinnacle of the 3rd generation succession.
Supreme Commander of the People's Army and Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee.
That incarnation of power was now standing with his two legs trembling violently.
“I trust you know what to do.”
It was a short remark.
However, simultaneously with the end of that remark.
Thud!
Park Ildo knelt like lightning.
His forehead touched the cold broadcasting station floor.
Prostration asking for forgiveness.
The technicians' mouths dropped open.
The hands holding the cameras shook violently.
“I, I…….”
Park Ildo’s voice cracked. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Snot flowed down. Tears fell down his cheeks. It was a face where dignity had evaporated long ago.
“I deceived the people. Above the starving people, only I and my family filled our stomachs.”
Sobbing burst out.
“I threatened the world with nukes and trampled innocent lives in concentration camps. I am not qualified to be forgiven.”
His forehead dug deeper into the floor.
Thud, thud.
He started banging his head himself.
“Feeling responsible…… I will…… transfer the regime. I will transfer all authority to Comrade Kim Minwoo, lay everything down, and sweetly accept the price of my sins!”
One broadcasting station employee sank down.
Strength had left his legs.
An existence deified for decades.
One whose name they dared not even call carelessly.
He was now confessing his sins while wailing, looking at the camera in front of a strange young man.
Kim Minwoo looked at the camera.
“You saw it.”
It was a calm voice.
“This is the bare face of the one who ruled you.”
Kim Minwoo sat in the anchor's seat.
A red light came on the camera lens.
The screen of the Korean Central Broadcasting Station changed.
“People of Joseon.”
A black-haired young man filled the screen.
It was an unfamiliar face.
However, the things standing behind him were even stranger.
Skeleton knights clad in jet-black armor.
A silver-haired woman floating a blue magic circle.
“The era of the Park family is now over.”
It was a calm voice.
“As of today, a new system begins. From now on, this land will become one with the South. There will be no more purges or retaliation. You no longer have to live trembling in fear day by day.”
Kim Minwoo raised a finger.
“I, Kim Minwoo, will end the people's starvation. I will restore power. I will protect you from gates. From today, your lives will be different.”
The screen was transmitted nationwide.
＊ ＊ ＊
Pyongyang Downtown Military Officers Command.
Officers gathered in front of the television were staring at the screen with dazed expressions.
A name that, until yesterday, one would be punished for even daring to mention, was now apologizing repeatedly with a tear-stained, ugly face.
“……Is it really over?”
Someone muttered.
No one could answer.
Instead, the noise coming from outside was the answer.
Soldiers were turning in their weapons, and some were secretly taking off their caps and throwing them away.
＊ ＊ ＊
North Hamgyong Province, a rural village.
Ri Chunbok squatted on the dirt floor and listened to the radio. The signal crackled, but the voice was clear.
“……The era of the Park family is over.”
The bowl of corn porridge in his hand tilted. Lukewarm soup spilled onto the back of his hand, but he felt no sensation at all.
It felt like his heart had stopped.
No, maybe it really did stop.
“Father, what does that…….”
His son asked.
Ri Chunbok could not answer.
Only his lips trembled violently.
70 years.
That name which had trampled this land for 70 years, just now, is ‘over’?
It felt like a lie.
But, the voice that just flowed out was really…….
‘It was exactly like Park Ildo…….’
The voice apologizing while wailing.
Is this real?
It was then.
The sound of trucks was heard from the village entrance.
Three military trucks.
Ri Chunbok’s spine went cold.
He reflexively pushed his son back.
Nothing good happened when trucks came.
Conscription, search, or being dragged away.
Moreover, since such tremendous content flowed out through the broadcast, the village might be massacred if things went wrong.
However…….
It wasn't the People's Army mark.
A pattern seen for the first time, a black skull drawn on a white background.
People got off the truck.
They were ones wearing black robes.
“It is food and medicine.”
A woman wearing a robe spoke.
A pale face and silver hair.
Eyes that somehow didn't seem like a person of this world.
“Sent from the Death Cult. Please take it.”
The village people froze.
No one moved.
It’s a trap.
It’s definitely a trap.
If we take that, we’ll be branded as reactionaries.
Fear learned over decades held their ankles.
Ri Chunbok’s eyes turned toward the truck’s cargo bed.
It was rice.
White rice.
And that, by the sack.
“Th, that…….”
Someone spat out like a moan.
Ri Chunbok’s throat went completely dry.
It had been decades.
When even corn porridge was precious, real white rice.
“Th, this, really…….”
Ri Chunbok asked in a trembling voice.
“Are you really giving it to us?”
Han Siah nodded.
“Yes. We are giving it all to you.”
Only then did the village people approach carefully.
One step, one step.
While gauging the mood like terrified beasts.
Ri Chunbok’s hand touched the rice sack.
It was real.
White rice grains flowed down between his fingers.
“Ah…….”
His knees buckled.
It wasn't that he collapsed.
It was that they knelt automatically.
“Th, thank you……!”
His voice cracked.
Snot flowed.
Tears flowed down his face, shriveled from hunger.
“Thank you, thank you so much……!”
When one person knelt, two knelt.
Three knelt.
The entire village prostrated on the dirt floor.
The sound of weeping burst out.
It seemed like things endured for decades were pouring out all at once.
Han Siah looked down at that scene.
And spoke softly.
“If you are truly thankful…….”
Ri Chunbok, who was swallowing his tears, raised his head.
“Please pray to someone other than me.”
“P, pray……?”
Ri Chunbok’s eyes wavered.
In this country, prayer was something permitted to only one existence.
And that existence had just collapsed.
“To, to whom are you telling us to pray…….”
Han Siah smiled brightly.
Silver hair fluttered in the wind.
It was a smile that seemed like a saintess, and also like a reaper.
“The Greatest One. The One who rules death, and is infinitely more merciful than anyone else. Kim Minwoo. Our Cult serves Him as a god.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Pyongyang People's Palace of Culture.
North Korea’s Awakened gathered in one place.
Three A-ranks, twelve B-ranks. It was the entirety of the force North Korea possessed.
Kim Minwoo stood before them.
“There are two choices.”
He spread two fingers.
“Cooperate, or disappear.”
Silence flowed.
One A-rank Awakened gritted his teeth.
“Why should we follow a South Korean bastard's orders…….”
It was before he could finish speaking.
A cool wind blew.
An arrowhead was touching his neck.
Seo Yerim stood with her bowstring drawn.
“Don't cut him off.”
She spoke coldly.
“Oppa is speaking.”
Kim Minwoo smirked.
“Thanks, Yerim. But you don't have to shoot.”
As he raised his hand, Dragon Tooth Soldiers surrounded the Awakened.
“If you cooperate, I’ll treat you well. Pass on gate clearing know-how, and support with equipment too. Well, if you want to die, I won't stop you. Could you tell me quickly? Because I have to decide whether to kill you or not. Right now.”
The face of the high-ranking North Korean Awakened turned pale white.
There was no choice.
＊ ＊ ＊
At the same time, conference room.
Han Siah was organizing documents.
Park Siwoo tilted his head from the side.
“Noona, what is that?”
“It’s a role division chart.”
Han Siah answered quietly.
“The Death Cult takes charge of education and welfare. Schools, hospitals, orphanages. And…….”
Her eyes shone.
“Propagation is the same.”
Park Siwoo smirked.
“You said the North Korean population is over twenty million? If we give rice to starving people, I think it will be a total jackpot. The number of believers will explode.”
“Mr. Minwoo’s power will become stronger.”
Heat lingered in Han Siah’s voice.
“If faith gathers, divinity accumulates. Then…….”
She gathered her two hands.
“His power will also become stronger. Truly like a god…….”
Park Siwoo took a step back.
Noona’s eyes were a bit scary.
“Ilsung is in charge of infrastructure. Roads, power, communication networks. They say Pyongyang area restoration is possible within 3 months.”
Han Siah turned the document page.
“Our guild and Ilsung Guild take charge of gates and military. All gate management rights within North Korea are ours.”
“Oh…… We’ll become very busy from now on?”
“Since it’s a picture painted by Mr. Minwoo, we have to do the coloring. He is a busy person as it is.”
Han Siah answered while smiling brightly.
Then, Kim Minwoo entered the conference room.
“Organizing the Awakened is finished. There were no guys resisting particularly.”
“True. Would they resist unless they were crazy? Even Park Ildo ended up like that.”
“Right. Siwoo, you'll also have to be active in North Korea for a while. There are quite a few gates.”
“Haha! If there are many hunting grounds, that's good for me. Just trust me.”
Park Siwoo banged his chest confidently.
Kim Minwoo looked out the window.
Pyongyang’s night sky. Stars were pouring down.
Since there were no lights due to power shortages, the stars were clearer.
‘Population twenty million. Dozens of gates. Undeveloped resources.’
Numbers spun in his head.
‘Divinity rises if converted to believers. Magic stone supply if gates are monopolized. Economic power if infrastructure is seized.’
The corners of his mouth went up.
There was more to gain than he thought.
Just looking at the number of believers exploding crazily even at this moment proved it.
Compared to Korea, where the number of those worthy of being called ‘believers’ didn't increase easily even if propagated to…….
‘Here, they’re going crazy saying they’ll believe just by planting a flag.’
Thanks to the Chinese side sending ample food and manpower, it seemed there would be no major setbacks in occupying North Korea.
“Ah, Mr. Minwoo. Do you happen to have time tomorrow?”
Suddenly, the Demon God’s voice overlapped in his head.
―One week until the next Ranking Battle.
There was still plenty of time left.
Since North Korea was occupied in less than half a day.
“I do. Why?”
“We are planning to conduct our Cult's first mass…… and I thought it would be good if you could attend, Mr. Minwoo.”
“As much as you like.”
The massive board called North Korea had come into his hand.
Now it was time to paint a new picture on that board.
