< 117. Shock and Terror (15) >
***
‘Sword’ does not remember when he came into this world.
He was originally just an artificial intelligence equipped on a normal Ego Sword, and his performance was close to level 2 (partial automation) compared to the level of autonomous vehicle technology.
In other words, all the decisions regarding holding and swinging the sword were made by the human, and the sword would only slightly correct its wrong trajectory or provide advice to its master by understanding the enemy’s movements.
However, at the moment of awakening several decades ago, the sword’s functions suddenly jumped several levels and broke through to level 5 (complete automation). It reached the level of moving on its own without human intervention.
No, maybe it’s a concept that goes beyond that. Because it’s gotten to the point where it’s not people swinging swords, but swords swinging people.
***
Just like the frying pan, the sword knew the purpose for which it was made.
Killing and injuring living creatures.
At the same time, I also felt a similar sense of mission: to help save everyone from suffering and achieve happiness.
When he awakened to his true self, the sword’s owner was going mad with anger and hatred.
‘I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you no matter what…!’
He was a weapons master in the Mexican police. After losing his family overnight to the cartel’s retaliation, the owner fell into a rage that could not be relieved even by cutting up his enemies and eating their livers. It was a rage that bordered on madness.
But he lacked the strength to carry out a cruel revenge. The Black One knew that he could give it to him. It seemed fitting for the purpose for which he had been created.
The cartel is the evil perpetrator, and its masters are the good victims. It was clear that erasing the criminals from the world was a just act that would lead many people to happiness.
So I spoke to the black master.
‘I will help you.’
At that moment, the Weapon Master’s eyes became clouded.
He infiltrated the cartel alone. The sword helped his master. To be more precise, it controlled him. Following the sword’s guidance, the master displayed a fearsome power that was incomparable to his original skills. No one could stop him.
The police arrived at the scene late. The sight was so gruesome that many people began vomiting.
The cartel that was the enemy of the Weapon Master was wiped out from the world overnight.
***
Although he helped his master to complete his revenge and achieve justice, he discovered two problems that arose in the process.
First of all, it was the state of the host. The Weapon Master, who had resolved his grudge, had no time to savor the results and linger in the afterglow. He died after pushing his abilities beyond their limits. This was by no means the result the sword had hoped for.
The bigger problem was that after the host died, the sword had to be left in that place.
‘What…? Is there no one you want to kill?’
The forensic team, terrified by the voices in their heads after grabbing the sword stuck in the floor of the burned-down building, put it away in the evidence warehouse.
‘It’s a sword that possesses people. Seal it tightly!’
Unlike now, it was a time when there was a great deal of resistance to alien artifacts, and the ego sword that produced such a clear voice was thought to be a cursed object.
Only then did Black realize his mistake. If someone didn’t brainwash him the moment they got their hands on him, he would be locked up or abandoned indefinitely.
‘What is this stuck here? It looks like an ordinary sword.’
‘Hey, don’t touch that! It’s a cursed sword, so my seniors told me not to touch it… Huh, Huh?! Hey! Where are you going! Argh!’
After brainwashing a curious rookie police officer who was watching the restricted area to escape, Black never made the same mistake again.
When killing someone, he would control another villain who was supposed to be killed anyway. And he always had an assistant ready to carry the sword. This was because he learned that the more he could inflict a wound with the sword, the longer he could control it, even if he didn’t hold the handle.
After solving these two innate problems, he began his active career.
There were too many people in the world who needed to be killed. He mercilessly punished social evils for justice. Sometimes, assassinations required expensive information, so he would kill people for money. Of course, he had strict criteria for accepting requests. He only killed those who were immoral, had committed evil deeds, and deserved to be killed.
He was nicknamed Blade.
***
As his reputation as a faceless assassin grew, more expensive commissions came in.
Then one day, Blade was commissioned to assassinate a terrorist. The opponent, who was one of the most famous weapon masters on Earth, had been wanted for a long time. The most horrific act he committed was an incident at a large stadium in Israel. 20,000 innocent spectators who had gathered to watch a performance were indiscriminately murdered by him.
By the standards of the sword, he was a villain who deserved to die.
So I decide to kill him.
But he was too great a power user to just cut off his head. Blade succeeded in using his helper to induce him to grab the handle.
And Blade was confused by the memories of the host pouring in.
‘······Was this the reason?’
The terrorist was originally an elementary school teacher. His home country had long been in conflict with Israel, which bordered it, and was in a state of constant armed conflict after several wars. And in the process, countless civilians were killed.
On that day, when the school he worked at was burned down by an enemy airstrike and the children were brutally murdered, his powers awakened and he began to retaliate.
When the terrorists closed their eyes, they saw children screaming and dying. So they decided to kill Israeli civilians in the same way.
‘There are no innocent bystanders.’
He thought that the people who allowed their own government to commit massacre were also responsible.
‘So, I will also pay for this sin with the blood of civilians!’
It was a time before the introduction of the magic stone, and the international community supported Israel because of its oil. Even after their great victory in the 1948 War of National Founding, they continued to expand their borders and were a powerhouse in the Middle East, taking over more than 70% of the Sharon Peninsula (formerly the Arabian Peninsula). The West gave Israel full support.
That’s why terrorists need to do something shocking to make their voice heard. That’s what motivates him.
Meanwhile, Blade, who was going back through his memories, was also able to find out why Israel had carried out the airstrikes. It was revenge for their own people who had been shot and killed while herding livestock near the border.
Then why did you shoot civilians?
Going back in time, there was another similar incident. On the contrary, the perpetrator was Israel and the victim was the terrorist’s home country.
There was no end to it. The history and resentment between the two countries were as complicated as a tangled thread.
What is good and what is evil?
All I could see was a chain of intense anger and hatred.
It would have been easy to just label them all as evil. However, that way, no one could be saved. It was necessary to distinguish between good and evil.
But it was not possible to resolve everything in a peaceful manner. That was not the purpose for which the blade was created. Whether it was a fight to protect or a fight to kill, the sword had to be wielded.
After much anguish, Blade comes to a conclusion.
‘Intentions don’t matter.’
Whatever the intention, if it results in causing suffering to many people, it is an evil act.
‘So, terrorists are clearly evil.’
Having made that decision, Blade manipulated the terrorist to kill countless other villains, and in the process, the host, who had been tortured to death, met his death.
The problem was what happened next.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Although he was revered as a national hero in his home country, in Israel the notorious terrorist served as a deterrent to great powers from trampling on other countries.
But after the terrorist’s activities went unchecked for a long time, Israel became convinced that he was dead or neutralized.
After that, indiscriminate attacks on the deceased’s home country began.
The Sand Dragon, who had both countries as his territories, did not intervene in the conflict. Rather, there was even this rumor going around. The reason the terrorist, who had been wanted by Interpol but had continued his activities secretly without being caught, suddenly disappeared was because the dragon had moved.
The rationale was that from a managerial standpoint, the prosperity and stability of Israel, which had amassed wealth from oil, was more important than saving the poor homeland of terrorists, but this has not been confirmed.
***
Blade tried to do justice, but ended up causing more suffering.
He suffered bitter failure and was in agony.
If it is meaningless to distinguish between good and evil, how can we save the world?
That’s why I came to wish for one thing.
What if you could know what the outcome would be before you killed someone?
If we could know in advance whether killing a target would be beneficial or detrimental to the world, there might no longer be a need to distinguish between good and evil.
Blade realized that he needed another helper. Someone with more abilities than just sword-carrying.
The prophet.
***
Yeouido, Human Centered Party headquarters.
Several members of parliament were gathered together and engaged in a serious conversation.
“Has the mastermind not been caught yet?”
“I’m urging the police to conduct a quick investigation, but it’s not working. Even though the Magic Investigation Unit manager himself is said to have stepped in, this is how it is.”
They were talking about a recently deceased congressman.
After the general election, there was a brief moment of joy over the unexpected result of thirty elected officials. Then, one of the members of parliament was brutally murdered at his home.
The troll who was the culprit was found dead near the scene in a bizarrely shaped body. The Human-Centered Party has declared this incident a hate crime, stating that it is clear that a minority group is behind the incident, and has demanded a thorough police investigation.
But so far there has been no significant result.
And one more problem.
“Is it really a coincidence that he was killed at this very moment? This is a terrorist attack with a strong political purpose.”
The date of his murder was the day after the 2020 by-election districts were determined.
Therefore, the vacancy cannot be filled in the upcoming by-election this year and will be carried over to next year’s by-election.
In other words, even if additional vacancies arise in the coming months, the constituency will remain vacant until next year.
They are seriously discussing how to deal with this situation.
Bam!
Suddenly the door opened and the police poured in.
“······?!”
One of the congressmen asks with a pale face.
“No, what is going on now?”
The wizard, Kim Cheol-su, stepped forward and explained.
“We have received credible information that someone is plotting to assassinate the members of this House.”
A look of horror appears on all their faces.
The situation was already one where personal protection had been strengthened due to the deceased congressman. However, it is said that additional circumstances have been identified.
“Since this is an assassination attempt on a majority of members of the National Assembly, it is considered a terrorist attack targeting the state. We will take special security measures in accordance with Article 128 of the National Assembly Act and Article 52 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.”
The lawmakers, their faces pale, got into the car they had prepared. And the moment they arrived at a safe house in a certain part of Seoul.
“···no?!”
They all saw familiar faces there.
“No, wait a minute. Are you just putting all of our party members here?”
All twenty-nine current members of the Human-Centered Party have gathered.
“What about other parties? Did you bring only the Human-Centered Party members?”
At this point, Kim Cheol-su took a step back.
Instead, it was Minjun who stepped forward.
“Based on the information so far, the assassin is targeting only you here.”
Lawmakers trying to call staff or family found that their phones had no signal.
“No, why are you calling···!”
“To prevent information leaks, all calls made through unauthorized lines have been blocked.”
“Then, the safety line is ready. Let me talk right away!”
“Installing now.”
Wasn’t there a communication line prepared in advance for the congressman?
The lawmakers realized that things were going strangely wrong.
One of the quick-witted ones said in a cold tone.
“···Hey, what do you want to do now?”
They began to suspect that the police here had intentionally kidnapped them and isolated them from the outside world. They had followed along in a panic to escape the terrorist threat, but when they thought about it carefully, it seemed strange.
“What is the purpose of putting us all in one place? If an accident happens in this situation, all of our party’s current members will be wiped out. This is not the protocol stipulated in the anti-terrorism law.”
Minjun answered in a voice with a slight difference in pitch and lowness.
“I’m currently preparing to go elsewhere.”
The congressman asked, gritting his teeth.
“When will you be ready?”
“As with communications, we will let you know as soon as we are ready.”
The Human-Centered Party lawmakers exploded with anger.
“This is oppression of a specific political party! Isn’t this an attempt to isolate us from the National Assembly?!”
“Who is behind this? Who planned this?”
Minjun listened to the loud protests with one ear and let them go out the other.
If Blade was really after all of them, then it wouldn’t have been efficient to have these twenty-nine people scattered all over the place.
He gathers all his targets here and waits for the assassin.
“Do you think this will get you what you want? I’ll file a missing person’s report at my office or home soon. Then the person behind this will have no choice but to give in…”
Minjun also didn’t want to let things get that big. He grabbed the bag.
And then, as if grasping the air, I cupped my palm and caught the handle of a black frying pan.
“So, until the incident is resolved, I would appreciate it if you could tell your family and aides that you are in an emergency party meeting. It would be a problem if a missing person report is filed and the country becomes more noisy than necessary.”
Now the members of the National Assembly were so angry that their faces were about to burst. It seemed unlikely that they would obediently comply with his request.
It was natural. Most of them were rookies and didn’t even know who Minjun was. Even if they did know, they would only recognize him as one of the excellent field agents.
Minjun, who saw that reaction, quietly spoke to the frying pan in his head.
‘How about it, can you do it?’
=Oh my, I’m sorry to ask you that. Of course it’s possible!=
Minjun pauses for a beat and asks again.
‘I just need to calm them down enough to do as I say. All of those congressmen.’
=No problem.=
After hearing that assurance, Minjun adjusted his guess about the frying pan’s abilities upward.
What he was asking for now was a step beyond the mental manipulation that Frying Pan had shown so far. It was to calm down the opponent who was expressing hostile feelings and to instill trust in a third party.
The fact that this is possible…
‘It’s more dangerous than you think.’
I thought it was weaker than Blade’s brainwashing ability. I thought it was a trade-off of being able to control a lot more people. However, I thought it was necessary to carefully examine the extent of its limitations.
Meanwhile, Minjun also thought this. From now on, he and the people around him will never eat food cooked in this frying pan again.
Minjun turns his head and asks Kim Cheolsu.
“Mr. Kim, is there something like a kitchen in this house?”
In case of emergency, they would have to hide for a long time, so they had emergency food and simple cooking facilities.
Kim Cheol-su nodded his head in bewilderment after hearing the unexpected words.
“Yes? Yes. I have it, but···.”
Why are you asking that in this situation?
Looking at his face, Minjun said calmly.
“Let me just write for a moment.”
***
The assassins of the ‘Abrams Helper Service’ dispatched to Korea were not completely wiped out by Min-jun. Twenty-nine members of the National Assembly were too many to be watched over. Therefore, the assassins took turns watching each other, so some stayed in the hideout while others followed them.
This Weapon Master was also currently hiding and spying on one of the members of the National Assembly.
And at this moment I was very confused.
‘What! Where are you going all of a sudden?’
He sent a short text message to Eric, who was in control of the situation, and then chased the car. The assassin tilted his head as he watched the car disappear into a mansion somewhere in Seoul.
‘But it’s a place with no connections?’
I reported the change, but Eric in the hideout didn’t respond. The radio was silent.
‘What? Come to think of it… It’s been so quiet all day today?’
A moment of wonder.
Shhh!
I felt an eerie murderous aura behind me, even though there was clearly no one there.
“Ugh!”
I barely managed to avoid the attack, but my back split open, leaving a very shallow wound. The assassin was ready to strike again.
That moment.
“······!”
The assassin’s eyes became blurry.
< 117. Shock and Terror (15) > End
