novelraw Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Chapter 247: Preparation (1)
I could not bear to press the play button, my lips twitching before I asked Wolf Fang.
“We can’t stop it, can we?”
“It was already spread all over the internet hours ago. Yes. It won’t be possible. There are probably tens of thousands of people who have already recorded it.”
That video being uploaded to the internet and circulating on nationwide news was something that happened dozens of minutes ago.
Right now, the most I could do was check that video.
I moistened my lips with my tongue again and pressed the play button on the video.
With a crackling sound, the screen shook before turning clear.
A smiling mask looking at the camera.
It was a mask that anyone who had lived in this country for at least the last 10 years could not fail to know.
[Hello-lo-lo! Everyone! Smiley is here!]
Smiley in the video waved her two hands vigorously, exuding the same cheerful, lively, and positive energy from her whole body as in the past.
Up until this point, most citizens probably had no choice but to question her identity.
She was a hero who died nearly 10 years ago.
Since she suddenly revealed herself on the screen, let alone understanding the situation, it was bound to be bizarre.
And as if anticipating their suspicion, an awkward laugh flowed from beneath Smiley’s mask.
[Ahaha. People watching this video right now probably have question marks popping up in their heads first, right? Suddenly me? Why? Wasn’t she dead? When on earth did that happen? A feeling like that? So, to explain first, this is a video I filmed while I was alive. And this is…….]
She reached her hand outside the camera’s view.
In her returning hand was a thick stack of papers.
[The corruption of the Hero Association that I found out while working as a hero until now. Irregularities and corruption. Their dark sides.]
This direction, situation, and background.
It was all a production configured by So-hee racking her brain for ideas.
Simply leaking this information to the press would take a long time, and there was no guarantee they would move as we wanted.
Not only would it take a long time to verify the authenticity, but they might even try to make a deal with the Association holding that information.
For Smiley, who didn’t have much time left, So-hee’s idea was quite pleasing.
Smiley flipped through the stack of papers—chwararak—and let out a sigh.
[How could such terrible things……. Since the children of this new nation might also be watching this video, shall I pick out only the ones with a mild level and recite a few?]
Like that, she read a few dates and a list of incidents that happened on those days.
And even the names of the Hero Association executives related to those incidents.
From the names of already retired executives like the Information Bureau Director and the Deputy Director of the Secretariat Office to the high-ranking officials still on active duty, she did not distinguish between names.
And those were the corruptions of the Association that I had already presented.
The Association had issued a statement saying it was all my fabrication and such things never happened, so it was merely a suspicion until now.
Since I was in the position of a villain, that had worked quite well on the citizens.
But it was different this time.
The citizens’ trust toward the Association originally comes from the S-rank heroes.
Furthermore, Smiley enjoyed such overwhelming support and popularity that she still maintained 1st place in the retired hero popularity poll for 10 years.
That ripple effect and credibility could not be compared.
Smiley let out a sigh.
[Whew. They really took a lot, for a long time. Right?]
Even though she had only read a few pages, it took almost over 5 minutes.
And what she had read so far wasn’t even 5% of what she had collected.
[Actually, I wanted to solve these problems while I was alive. But if I die from an unavoidable accident or something, it can’t be helped, right? So this is basically an official will sent to the citizens.]
[Why am I revealing this now, you ask? If this video were released abruptly as soon as I died, would the citizens or the Association pay any attention? Even if it got attention, they would probably squash it roughly saying it’s a fabrication. So by the time this video is released, it will probably be a point in time when the Association’s corruption has been publicized once separately from this video. I don’t know when that will be, though.]
She spread her index finger and thumb to make a gun shape and aimed it at the camera.
[If there is someone else besides me who has faced this problem, I waited for the timing to give strength to that publicization.]
While Smiley was chattering about implementing justice and whatnot.
A sound of someone whispering came from outside the screen.
However, the voice was so small and the sound quality wasn’t good, so only the sound of leaking wind could be heard.
Smiley, who shared a conversation with someone outside the screen, snapped her fingers as if realizing belatedly.
[Is the me wearing a mask like this the real Smiley? That must be the problem from the start. It’s an obvious story, but there is no way for me to prove I am Smiley in this video. People who don’t want to believe will deny it in the first place no matter what evidence I present, so what.]
As she thrust her head forward, the yellow mask filled the screen.
[So I won’t prove that I am Smiley myself. Instead, I told another trustworthy and influential hero that I am Smiley while I was alive. If that hero testifies, that should be enough evidence, right?]
Smiley, pulling her head back again, tapped the stack of papers lightly.
[You can check the other contents I didn’t just read on the internet. It’s complicated because you have to bypass through overseas servers a few times. I have to do at least that much so the Association can’t delete it immediately.]
Smiley waved both hands and said goodbye.
[Then, bye-bye-bye!]
As if that was truly the purpose, the screen turned black.
It was a short video less than a few minutes long, but at least I knew the power this video possessed better than anyone.
I mumbled quietly with my gaze still fixed on the cellphone.
“If you say a hero with public confidence?”
It was too quiet a voice to be a question, but Wolf Fang immediately knew it was a question directed at him.
“That…….”
Wolf Fang saw my serious expression and spoke cautiously, feeling even more intimidated.
“It is the Sword Demon. His statement has actually been uploaded too.”
“……Ha.”
I immediately looked for the related news.
Simultaneously with this video being uploaded to the internet, the Sword Demon’s office had actually released the Sword Demon’s statement.
The person in the video is clearly Smiley, and the content of the video is her intact remarks without any fabrication mixed in.
The Sword Demon guaranteed that.
Is it a fabricated video, or the truth?
There was no longer even a need to distinguish that.
A hero’s remarks are enough to be adopted as evidence in court.
Furthermore, it’s an S-rank, the current No. 1 hero.
Now, a guy who doubted the Smiley in this video would conversely become a guy with a problem in his head.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“It’s over.”
It couldn’t even be compared to the countless evidences I had prepared.
To think the final blow to bring down the Association would be delivered by Smiley’s hand, not mine or another S-rank hero’s.
Wolf Fang spoke as if he couldn’t understand at all.
“But why is Smiley suddenly acting as if she’s taking Boss’s side?”
“Do you not know Smiley’s Trait?”
“Yes. Is there anyone who knows that?”
“True. I guess you wouldn’t know since I’ve never told you.”
If I didn’t know Smiley’s Trait either, I probably would have racked my brain to understand her true intentions.
“She probably wanted to make her face known to the whole country. Because there’s nothing like that for gathering power with her Trait.”
Smiley’s Trait, ‘Cheer’.
Among the hundreds, thousands of Traits I had seen so far, it was the most uniquely bizarre and abstract one.
She gets stronger the more sincere support and cheers she receives.
The power she gains increases exponentially according to the number of people cheering.
The number of people cheering for her must have decreased over the last 10 years, but she revealed her face to the whole nation like this.
On top of that, the justification was also plausible.
Although citizens would treat that video as something like a will and still think Smiley was dead, there was no reason not to cheer for her just because she died.
I didn’t know for sure, but she must have pulled her power up to the level of her prime.
I clicked my tongue.
To have a sudden power-up event ahead of the final decisive battle.
It’s not welcome at all.
I definitely gained some benefit through this video as well.
However, compared to Smiley, it was so trivial it was practically no different from nothing.
Thanks to my explanation, Wolf Fang understood Smiley’s actions, but he had more questions.
“But then why did the Sword Demon suddenly act so cooperatively toward Smiley?”
Simply because he dislikes me, so he helps Smiley who is trying to kill me.
—He wasn’t a human who moved with such one-dimensional emotions and thoughts.
Above all, currently, the Sword Demon’s daughter, Da-yeon, was kidnapped by me, even if just nominally.
This was also fully within scope, so I answered briefly without hesitation.
“She must have used resurrection as bait. Since he seemed to still have lingering attachments to his wife.”
“Goodness. No matter how much he misses his dead wife. Is he saying it doesn’t matter what happens to his daughter?”
“Because he vaguely guesses that I actually have no intention of doing anything to her. Above all, he only helped Smiley. He didn’t become hostile to me. He used his brain in his own way.”
While I was analyzing the current situation like that.
A faint sound of footsteps came from the video that had been pitch black.
In the first place, the screen had only turned black; the video hadn’t ended yet.
The cover covering the camera lens disappeared, and Smiley’s face entered the screen again.
[Ah, almost forgot this.]
She added with a clap of her hands.
[See you next time! I’ll be looking forward to it!]
And with a click—sound, the video truly ended.
Citizens who watched up to here would probably expect that this video wasn’t the last and that there would be a sequel.
However, I could tell.
There are no more videos of hers.
Saying let’s meet next time was purely a word directed at me.
And she must be looking forward to the moment we actually meet face-to-face, not in a video like this.
“What will you do?”
Wolf Fang’s question was interpreted in two ways.
I shut my mouth for a moment and pondered.
Whether to turn my gaze toward the Sword Demon who had formed some kind of relationship with Smiley anyway.
Or, whether to continue focusing only on Smiley.
The contemplation was short.
“Leave the Sword Demon be. Just keep the people attached to monitor him.”
As long as Da-yeon is still held hostage on this side, even if just nominally, he won’t be able to take a blatantly hostile stance against me.
I crossed my arms and sighed.
“If she acts to that extent, I’m not in a situation to keep my pride and be picky about means.”
My gaze, mumbling so, turned to the Purple Crystal Sword hanging at my waist.
Anyway, there were only about four days left until the decisive battle with Smiley.
It was virtually impossible for me to get stronger here.
Then I had to look for a corner to get stronger in a different way.
I drew the sword.
The sword shone faintly with purple light and reflected my face.
Purple Crystal Sword.
It’s not a bad weapon.
No, it’s definitely an excellent weapon.
However, compared to Smiley’s ‘Peacemaker’, it was also true that it fell behind in weight class to some extent.
But switching to another weapon now would only decrease efficiency as my hand wouldn’t be used to it.
After thinking for a moment, I returned the sword and spoke.
“I need to go out.”
What I needed right now was a hidden card, a secret move that could stab at a weakness.