[Citizen Yoon Sung-min's trust level has increased.]
[Citizen Yoon ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Sung-min's trust level has reached 100.]
[You have gained a massive amount of experience points.]
'Again?'
This was already the third time.
A case where trust reached 100 before loyalty.
Starting with Lee Joon-young, who had clairvoyant abilities, two more had now achieved a trust level of 100.
For non-awakened individuals, instead of gaining the abilities they possessed, experience points were awarded. But exactly how much was difficult to estimate.
Considering the descriptor "massive amount," it was certainly not a small sum.
'Citizen management, Yoon Sung-min.'
With the command, two names appeared before me.
As the number of citizens grew, cases of people sharing the same name started to appear.
Fortunately, identifying the right person wasn’t difficult.
After all, there was only one with a trust level of 100.
'So it’s this guy.'
A plump middle-aged man wearing glasses with a friendly impression.
'His loyalty is high too.'
Yoon Sung-min’s loyalty was at 63, which was incredibly high considering he hadn’t been a citizen for long.
I activated the Absolute Dweller’s Eye to check his location.
And there,
‘...Hah.’
A cult preacher was fervently praising me, spreading his doctrine.
The citizens gathered there all had high trust and loyalty levels.
'Another church.'
A few days ago, the woman whose trust had reached 100 had also been in a church.
She had been praying, offering devotions to me.
Perhaps because they had already been believers, their trust level had risen at an astonishing rate.
It was absurd, but many people in cults were surprisingly pure-hearted and earnest.
The former believers of JHS had initially joined for survival, but among them, some genuinely believed in the doctrine and prayed sincerely.
People seeking to overcome trials through religion.
The faith they had once offered Jeong Hyeon-su was now directed toward me, causing a steep rise in trust levels.
'It's a little burdensome, but there's nothing bad about it.'
Having something to rely on wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Ha Dong-geon had relied on his wife, Kim Ga-young, to overcome the pain of losing his family.
Kang Deok-soo and Kim Geon had endured hardships by drinking together.
Oh Eon-joo had said she clung to the memories of the day I had gifted her—a single day of happiness.
Good food. Fun games. Precious friends. Loved ones. Memories. Responsibility.
Maybe all humans needed something to rely on in order to keep going.
For these people, it just happened to be religion.
At that moment—
Ding!
[The number of citizens who have reached a trust level of 100 has reached 12.]
[Condition met.]
[‘Priest’ is now available.]
A new profession had been unlocked in the profession research facility.
‘...Huh.’
The explanation for the priest profession was simple.
‘Heal, huh.’
This was on a completely different level from the Hunter, which ensured that the hunted prey left a corpse behind.
If it truly granted a healing ability, that meant it could create awakened individuals.
‘And it’s healing.’
This was something that had to be activated no matter what.
Honestly, it had even greater potential impact than the inventory system.
It would have been ideal to immediately apply the Priest profession, but that wasn’t possible.
Priest Research [Inactive] (Unlocks at Level 5).
‘So I have to level up the profession research facility.’
Among the available facilities, the profession research facility was the only one that had levels assigned to it.
'But I don’t actually know how to increase its level.'
The Priest wasn’t the only inactive profession at the moment.
When there were over 100 citizens above level 30, the Warrior profession had been unlocked.
When over 100 citizens had firearms proficiency, the Marksman profession had been unlocked.
Every time specific conditions were met, new professions would become available.
However, since I didn’t know how to level up the profession research facility, I had left it as it was.
Up until now, the new professions hadn’t seemed particularly significant, so I hadn’t paid them much attention.
There were simply too many other pressing matters to deal with.
‘But if it allows healing abilities to awaken, that changes everything.’
This was something worth going out of my way to figure out.
‘I need to discuss this.’
At that moment—
[Re-hyeon-nim.]
A telepathic message from Kim Da-bin arrived.
[Yes, go ahead.]
[Commander Lee Hak-gi is requesting a meeting.]
I activated the Absolute Dweller’s Eye and checked.
Inside the administrative office’s meeting room, I saw Lee Hak-gi waiting.
[I’ll head there right away.]
I used Teleport and appeared inside the meeting room, causing Lee Hak-gi to flinch slightly before bowing his head.
“It’s an honor to meet you like this.”
“We meet again.”
I looked at his serious expression and asked,
“Is your assigned lodging satisfactory?”
“It’s beyond my expectations. When I was taking a warm shower... it really felt like I had returned to the past.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Just then, Yoo Hye-rin entered the room carrying two cups of coffee.
“Thank you for the coffee.”
“Yes, Re-hyeon-nim. Please enjoy.”
After taking a moment to savor the mixed coffee, I turned to Lee Hak-gi and asked directly,
“So, what did you want to discuss?”
“There’s something I need to say.”
“Go ahead, speak freely.”
He hesitated briefly before finally opening his mouth.
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“I heard you intend to take in all the remaining citizens in Seoul.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You must not.”
His firm response surprised me slightly.
“Is there a particular reason?”
“Yes. People have changed far too much.”
Lee Hak-gi continued in a calm, steady voice.
“People have become too accustomed to stealing from others, to committing murder and even rape. Right now, the biggest threat isn’t monsters—it’s people. If you continue accepting people without any sort of screening process, a catastrophe will occur.”
“You’re saying a large influx of murderers will put us at risk?”
“That’s exactly right.”
To be honest, this was a concern I had already discussed in depth with Kim Da-bin.
I looked at Lee Hak-gi and spoke.
“By the same logic, you must also realize that I shouldn’t accept your group either.”
“...I understand. But we are different.”
"Can you guarantee that not a single person in your organization has killed for their own benefit?"
"......."
Lee Hak-gi remained silent.
I watched as he bowed his head, unable to respond.
"Why do looting and murder happen in the first place?"
"...Because extreme situations bring out one's true nature."
"Of course, there are people like that. But in most cases, it was an inevitable choice for survival."
It wasn’t that people were inherently evil—it was that they were forced into impossible choices.
"The fact that people ended up in such situations is largely the government's fault. Our government collapsed far too quickly."
At that moment, Lee Hak-gi's body tensed ever so slightly.
"...The rapid collapse of fundamental social infrastructure forced people to make desperate choices. Either starve to death or steal. Sometimes, they had to kill for food. Sometimes, they had to kill just to protect themselves."
"......."
"But things are different here. We have a stable society and infrastructure. Crimes like murder and rape are strictly punished."
I met his gaze directly and continued.
"I want to give people a chance. All I want is to return them to a normal life."
And—
"I have a request for you, Commander Lee Hak-gi."
"...Please, go ahead."
"Use your ability to discern the truth and help me filter people as much as possible."
"!"
Lee Hak-gi's expression immediately shifted—his eyes filled with disbelief. As if to say, How do you know about that?
"Can you do it?"
"Y-Yes, of course."
I assigned him the title of Department Head and put him in charge of screening.
Having experienced firsthand the brutal realities of Seoul, he would undoubtedly know who could be accepted and who absolutely could not.
"There are only two cases where citizenship will be revoked. The first is for those who have committed rape."
It might have sounded strange, but unlike murder, there was at least some room for consideration when it came to killing.
As I had said earlier, some killed to survive, to protect themselves, or because they made a mistake in an extreme situation.
But rape—there was no excuse.
It had absolutely nothing to do with survival.
"The second case is for those who have committed murder for pleasure or for a specific personal gain. In these two cases, removal will be absolute."
Personally, I had no intention of just exiling these people.
I would hunt them down immediately after stripping them of their citizenship.
Because in the grand scheme of things, they were worse than monsters.
I had to cut them off before they created more victims—before they spawned a second or third tragedy.
"As for the rest, I'll leave the judgment to you, Commander."
"Th-Thank you."
Just before wrapping up the conversation, I casually asked him,
"By any chance, do you know why the government collapsed so quickly?"
"......."
Lee Hak-gi froze in place.
After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke with some difficulty.
"There are two possible explanations."
"Interesting. Let's start with the first."
"There were monsters in Seoul that were beyond classification. If these creatures wiped out the key figures running the country, that could explain everything."
"That’s a plausible theory."
From what my retainers had seen, the monster levels in Seoul were absurdly high.
Level 30 monsters were common. Level 40 creatures controlled entire territories. And in certain places, there were even monsters exceeding level 50 roaming around.
Given the state of the city, it wasn't surprising that all the high-ranking officials had been wiped out.
But.
"What’s the second possibility?"
Even so, there were still a significant number of survivors.
Wasn't it odd that only the politicians and high-ranking officials had died in such disproportionately large numbers?
Lee Hak-gi took a deep breath and finally spoke.
"There are several massive underground bunkers that were built in secrecy. They were originally constructed under the assumption of a nuclear war..."
I didn’t need to hear the rest to understand.
"...So, the key government officials who were supposed to be running the country most likely hid there?"
"I can't say for certain. I only heard rumors."
"How big are these bunkers?"
"The largest one is said to accommodate around a thousand people."
"...So, the top 0.01% of the country is all gathered underground?"
Amazing.
‘Why is it that every time a war breaks out, this country’s leadership runs away with their tails between their legs?’
Historically, it had always been this way.
During the Japanese invasions of Korea, King Seonjo had famously abandoned his people and fled.
‘...Seriously.’