NOVEL NEXT Chapter 53
Two years since the first flood.
At the time, there were those crying out about certain destruction, but humans are creatures of adaptation, and many people are still adjusting to the world after the collapse.
“Wow, this is a really scary monster, you know?”
“A hunting method anyone can follow! Please subscribe!”
“What? Why don’t I speak formally like other streamers? They helped me out and now they’re climbing up? That’s just because Genie is a noob!”
Streamers are searching for abnormalities they can hunt, while the powerless live in strongholds, producing food or managing their strongholds, just another ordinary day with streamers broadcasting and viewers tuning in.
There was a somewhat major incident when China conquered Tibetan monks and good Chinese people flooded into Beijing, but surprisingly, the world didn’t change much.
Well, that’s to be expected.
The national conquest notifications spread among survivors worldwide were astonishing, but everyone was too busy trying to survive to focus on that.
Two years.
It was a long time, and survivors had enough time to adapt to the current state of the world, but it was also short in terms of regaining stability in a world that had turned chaotic.
The land is limited, and the worthless things popping up in the tutorial zone are different from Korea, which has stabilized quickly.
At least those who gained strength formed alliances, and now, to some extent, life has recovered…
But just so you know, those who were selfishly trying to build their power like in Korea have long since perished.
Anyway.
The incident in China was indeed surprising news, but it oddly didn’t attract much attention and was buried.
Survivors in this era were too busy struggling to survive to turn their eyes overseas.
The main streamers who had regained some power in their countries paid a little attention, but…
In that sense, South Korean survivors are truly peculiar.
“Hey, is that thing with China okay?”
“They’re really wild. What if they invade Korea?”
“Don’t worry, King God General will smash them with a single punch.”
While other countries barely notice the top streamers, in Korea, even the average survivors A and B, who aren’t streamers, are overflowing with interest in what’s happening in China.
“Wow, live viewers are over 500!”
Not even a hunting broadcast, just the viewers habitually tuning in to a game stream.
One might wonder if that’s a lot, but how many people are there to watch game streams in this era?
At first, there were many questions pouring in, but now, amidst abundant information, it’s rare to see that many tune in for anything other than a hunting broadcast.
That just shows how much leisure the South Korean survivors have.
Even the struggles between streamers show that it’s not at the stage of worrying about survival anymore.
Except for a few heavily controlling factions, even ordinary survivors are in a relatively comfortable situation.
Well, that’s good.
That means Korea is rapidly returning to normal.
“Isn’t there really no need to worry?”
Well, the massive mobile fortress-like mountains and those beam cannons that leave everyone gaping.
I personally want to collect them, but I can’t exactly break them.
Even if they come to attack as they worry, it’s going to be easy to handle.
“Besides, there weren’t any rumors about them attacking Korea.”
Even if they did attack, they’d have to get past North Korean territories first, and that’s something you can’t just ignore, so the worry about surprise attacks didn’t exist.
The viewer claiming that I’d solve it with one punch isn’t wrong.
Well, handling it isn’t particularly difficult.
“Still, I do want one.”
Go grab one?
“That feels a little off, doesn’t it?”
I’m not some punk.
Sigh…
Isn’t there something similar I could make if I rummage through the legacy of the Alliance?
Just as Han Yu-seong was thinking about this, the door opened and a bear-shaped creature began calling for him.
“I think you need to come over here?”
*
At the moment when Han Yu-seong was drooling over the Tibetan monks’ war machines, various incidents were occurring worldwide.
The conquest of China by the Tibetan monks was only the beginning, as the sparks of war were igniting.
In a certain dictatorship, the leader, who had adapted successfully during the initial crisis, had been hanged by the empowered citizens.
In the ruins of a once holy European nation, the center of religion was crumbling, and demons were pouring out with demon worshipers rampaging.
In a certain legendary lake in England that had been completely destroyed and parched, a witch emerged, claiming she would reconstruct the old kingdom and began slaughtering people.
Samurai enraged in the ruins of a castle, where they witnessed the end of an ancient ruler, joined forces with the right-wing faction, igniting a civil war.
Those regions seemed oddly familiar…
Regardless, just because it isn’t as stable as Korea, wars among humans began to break out in areas like that for various reasons.
It truly is an era of chaos!
And Korea couldn’t escape that turmoil.
No, the situation is somewhat different from the events occurring in other countries.
You could say it’s a side effect of survivors having some leisure…
As life became a bit easier, they started turning their attention elsewhere.
In many ways, it’s an extension of what the ordinary city experienced previously.
“Why am I doing this?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
In a stronghold of a high-ranking streamer.
A woman was raising her voice to a male survivor in the same situation.
“You’re a man, right? I’m a woman. Of course, you should be doing the hard work!”
Surrounding women nodded in agreement.
Watching this, a woman who was close to the man stepped forward and spoke up.
“Is gender really that important in this world? And since everyone is in the same boat, why should men shoulder the work? Didn’t you use to offload your work onto men too?”
The glances of those who had agreed with the woman arguing with the man now shifted to the forward-advancing woman.
As if they had just seen something utterly absurd.
“Hey, aren’t you a woman?”
“Excuse me? What does that even mean?”
“Why are you siding with the men instead of our side? Were you brainwashed to think men should be glorified? If you aren’t going to step up for the rights of women, at least don’t get in the way!”
Asserting that women have it harder in the same labor and thus deserve more food, insisting that the male stronghold leader discriminates against women, and even claiming that it’s discrimination against women for them to do the same work as men due to bodily differences.
The woman began her speech before the public.
By the way, this stronghold had quickly stabilized as one of the major powers in Seoul, with a streamer governing it being a rare character of integrity in this era, and the officials managing its internal affairs being equally capable and decent individuals.
In terms of livability, it was one of the best spots of this era, but…
Apparently, it didn’t feel that way to this woman.
She argued that women should receive more food because they suffer more than men.
Not having any women among the officers was said to be discrimination against women.
A streamer who had received word from the officers to assess the situation approached from behind the babbling woman.
It was a bewildering situation.
Having worked hard to treat everyone fairly in these tough times and create a place where everyone could live a bit more comfortably…
“Is there something uncomfortable for you?”
“Ha, isn’t that obvious?!”
Seeing the woman boldly laying out her demands to the arriving streamer…
The streamer felt his head spinning.
‘Is she out of her mind?’
To sum it up, she was saying this:
Men should work harder due to their physical abilities, get less in return, and that means the women should receive more as their work load decreases.
She added that since women are smarter, they should kick out all the current officers and replace them with a female-led leadership.
Faced with these absurd demands…
The streamer, smiling politely, said, “Hey, get lost.”
Even the most decent person of this era could not help but curse.
She had to make a reasonable point.
He was undoubtedly a person of integrity who tried to accommodate people’s needs, but he wasn’t a fool who would entertain such outrageous demands.
The woman who caused the commotion and her supporters were thrown out of the stronghold…
“You, that’s sexism! Do you understand?!”
While being forcibly dragged out, they proudly shouted, and the streamer shook his head.
In any case, to not get a grip even in this era…
The streamer, who had decided to quickly forget the commotion, began to reassure the people once again.
However, what he didn’t know was…
This incident wasn’t just happening in this stronghold.
*
“So, what’s this about?”
What are those?
I asked while watching the footage shared from the CCTV set up in the ordinary city and the entity’s視點.
A group of women, looking easily over a hundred, had illegally occupied part of the facilities in the ordinary city, armed with signs, raising their voices.
They even wrote slogans like “No Discrimination!” in large letters with spray paint on the illegally occupied buildings or roads and committed the outrageous act of throwing garbage towards the interior of the city.
“Uh… I don’t know? Protesters?”
Even the bear-looking creature watching the scene seemed baffled and stuttered.
“Protesters, my foot… they’re just rioters.”
After issuing orders to the soldiers to clear them away, I turned to the employee of the Company, who was sweating nervously beside me.
“So what do you think?”
The reason those people were able to invade the city.
“I can’t help but think what they’re wearing is made by the Company.”
At my words, the trembling employee rolled his eyes.
“W-well, I don’t know?”
“Don’t know, huh?”
As I repeated the question, the Company employee, looking like he might cry, forced himself to speak.
“W-why are they even there? Hahaha!”
Under the icy stares of Han Yu-seong and the bear-shaped creature…
The Company employee finally shut his eyes.