Before contacting reporter Nam Ju-hyeon, there were many things I needed to look into separately. Because of this, unfortunately, I couldn't go to IKEA together.
—Is it really unfortunate? Your mouth corners are turning up.
'What are you saying? How could I want to miss out on fun shopping time with our kids!'
Yeah, right! As if I'd miss having to watch Han Seo-hyeon's reaction every time something is put in the cart and Kim Jae-ho's reaction every time we pass the stuffed animal corner.
Besides, now there's a reliable guardian even without me. I passed the guardian hat to Cha Song-jin.
"Um, do you really think I'm enough?"
"Of course, you're the oldest hyung among us."
"Well, that's true, but..."
—You're using the 'hyung' card quite efficiently at times like this.
'Well, I realized having a hyung isn't as bad as I thought.'
It's nice, this hyung thing. The resistance I felt calling someone a few years younger than me 'hyung' disappeared, buried under overwhelming comfort.
Besides, Cha Song-jin was hyung-like. Well, yes! Though he's a bit timid, if you look closely, he has a strong personality that says what needs to be said, and, um, he's somewhat responsible too, and at least...
'He's so happy when you call him hyung.'
I smirked watching Cha Song-jin pat his chest with both fists, repeating "I'm the guardian!" several times.
"Ah, right. If Jae-ho asks to buy stuffed animals, buy him up to two."
"T-two?"
"Yeah."
I'd like to buy just one if possible, but I had no choice because of the in-flight meal incident.
'Even though I gave up my food once to send him down, he still made such a fuss. Come on, I need to eat too...'
We split the two in-flight meals that came, but why was he so upset? Am I supposed to starve? Especially since the in-flight meals ran out and we couldn't order more, what was I supposed to do!
But Kim Jae-ho didn't understand my situation and exacted fierce revenge on me. My bruised calf from then still hurt.
'But he did endure well.'
So two.
"Buy him exactly two."
"Why limit the number? We shouldn't be short on money, we could buy as many as..."
"If we do that, our base will be packed full."
It's not like I haven't thought about that. Yeah, how much could stuffed animals cost! But Kim Jae-ho never threw away stuffed animals that came into his hands. Even now, the first stuffed animal I bought him was still by Kim Jae-ho's side.
No matter how many times it was washed, the stains wouldn't come out, and even though the outside was already all torn, Kim Jae-ho hugged it tightly and wouldn't give it to me. He was adamant even when I said I'd throw it away and buy a new one.
"Jae-ho will keep asking to buy stuffed animals in the future. We can't not buy them! If we don't, he'll sulk! If we keep buying stuffed animals like that..."
They'll end up covering the entire Weltschmerz base! Besides, Kim Jae-ho only buys ones as big as his body. I wouldn't say anything if he collected small ones! Even now, Kim Jae-ho's bed was covered in stuffed animals with no room to put a foot down.
"If we buy everything Jae-ho asks for, our base will eventually become a house of dolls..."
Cha Song-jin nodded with a slightly paler face than before at my mumbling.
"O-okay! I'll definitely only buy two!"
* * *
After sending everyone out, I slowly looked through news articles. There was nothing better than looking at the society and politics sections of the news to grasp Seol Rok-jin's movements.
—What is that Seol Rok-jin trying to do now?
'Well...'
The future changed with my intervention.
People who should have died lived, and people who should have lived died. Because of that, history has already changed and the timeline I knew was shaken.
'It means we can no longer comfortably rely on my knowledge alone. But I can roughly predict what Seol Rok-jin will do next.'
Seol Rok-jin's primary goal was to bring down Sirius. From his perspective, it couldn't be a good thing for a huge guild in South Korea to remain strong.
But Sirius was still going strong, though not as much as before, as I overturned the incident where Yoo Seon-je should have died, and successfully resolved the shopping mall terror incident.
Moreover, they were being very cautious, so it was difficult to mess with them again.
'That's why I'm looking at the society and politics sections.'
—Why?
'What Seol Rok-jin does at times like this is always the same.'
"'Safety Tax' to be introduced from this month. How will the taxes I pay change?"
I muttered looking at that article.
'He does what he's most confident in. Plans may go awry sometimes, but everything that happens in the National Assembly goes according to his expectations.'
The world with a selfish ruler at the top was becoming a little harder to live in bit by bit.
The world doesn't collapse overnight. It just walks towards destruction very slowly. The temperature that was bearable yesterday becomes unbearable today, and tomorrow it will be hot enough to take your life.
By the time you realize it, you've become like a frog boiled in hot water.
To summarize very simply the 'Safety Tax' that Seol Rok-jin's group has come up with this time, it can be said to be a policy to impose additional taxes on dangerous areas.
At first glance, it sounds reasonable.
Dangerous areas will inevitably require more frequent hunter dispatches and incur higher costs for damage recovery and such. So it might sound rational to collect more taxes from such dangerous areas.
But if you dig a little deeper, you can see how cruel this Safety Tax is.
Because in the end, it's the poor who are driven to dangerous areas with nothing to their name who will pay this Safety Tax.
The rich already live in areas that are safer and more problem-free than anyone else, so they won't have to pay this Safety Tax. Most of those who support this law don't think much of it because they don't live in areas dangerous enough to pay the 'Safety Tax'.
Those who actually have to pay this Safety Tax, living in the most dangerous areas in this country, have no strength to raise their voices even though they know about this.
So this law will pass smoothly without anyone's opposition and become a noose that tightens around the necks of the poor.
'Isn't it really strange? That this world is so quiet even though such a law has been created?'
—As you said, it's because no one stands up for the weak.
'Yes, and it's also because Seol Rok-jin set up the board very well. If the weak say it's hard to live, they'll say this. So are you saying we who live in safe areas should pay for the recovery costs because of you?'
Because of the logic that looks so sound on the surface, people easily forget.
Oh, Seol Rok-jin loved to exploit the gaps between people.
No one will think this law is 'evil'. Even if this law contributes to actually killing someone, it will be considered 'fair' to them.
Yeah, of course.
If more taxes are used because of certain people, of course it's right for them to pay more.
If you don't want to pay the Safety Tax, couldn't you just move to a safer place?
Are you saying you want to live on cheap land, but receive the same, no, more benefits than others?
Before you know it, the issue of the lawmakers who made and supported this law disappears, and it makes citizens fight among themselves by dividing into factions.
In the end, it will be the marginalized who have to pay this Safety Tax who will keep their mouths shut.
Because they too will realize that the more they open their mouths, the more they will be branded as shameless trash.
This was always how Seol Rok-jin worked.
Seol Rok-jin takes one step forward very slowly. For the people around him, it's just taking one step back. Depending on the direction, it might not be a retreat but an advance.
But at the end of the path Seol Rok-jin walks, there is a steep cliff. On the cliff crowded with people, one step forward that Seol Rok-jin takes will be enough to push someone off the cliff.
Most of the people standing on this cliff don't know. Why? Because they haven't reached the edge of the cliff yet.
'People standing a bit far from the cliff edge will feel at ease. There's still some space behind me. It's not my turn yet.'
I too didn't think to look behind me until I was hanging on the edge of the cliff of destruction. But as people fall off the cliff one by one like that, they'll realize that no one is left behind them before they know it.
'It's not just Seol Rok-jin's problem.'
There is a huge flow.
I don't know if I can overturn that huge flow or not. Honestly, I'm too powerless and stupid to overturn that flow. All I learned living by Seol Rok-jin's side was that there is a dirty bottom in this world that I don't even want to dip my feet into.
I hoped Jeong Ho-san would live without knowing such a world as much as possible.
Though he came from an orphanage, Jeong Ho-san was a guy who shone brighter than anyone. A face that anyone would find likable, wonderful talent. He was a guy with charm that drew people in.
As an honor student at Babel, considered the best academy, I hoped no shadow would be cast on his future as he joined the Crimson Hound Guild right after graduation. Fortunately, my wish wasn't too difficult. Because a shining sun named Kim Myeong-cheol was shining directly on Jeong Ho-san.
But in the end, to understand someone like me, Jeong Ho-san stepped into the mud...
I had no intention of leaving Jeong Ho-san alone.
* * *
"Are you crazy."
Nam Ju-hyeon unconsciously cursed at the contact she received. Lee Hye-won, who was next to her, tilted her head and said:
"Did the stocks fall again?"
"No, they haven't fallen ye... It's not that."
"Then what's the matter?"
"I got a contact from that person..."
At those words, Lee Hye-won's pupils narrowed. There was only one person the two of them called 'that person'.
"Did he finally contact you?"
Lee Hye-won checked the small shadow moving behind them and lowered her voice.
"Is it hopeful news by any chance?"
"Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with that friend. No, this is really ridiculous. What's the most urgent thing right now... Telling me to do this kind of thing now? Ha!"
[What's this. Why are you whispering without me?]
"Aaaagh!"
Nam Ju-hyeon screamed and fell backwards at the head that popped up between the two. Xie Haozhu's eyes turned dirty seeing that sight.
[You're not plotting something without me, are you?]
[It's not like that. Just, it's because of other business.]
[Other business, what? When on earth can I meet Shen?]
Nam Ju-hyeon put her hand on her pounding heart at Xie Haozhu's words. She could understand that sentence right away without interpretation because she had heard it so many times.
[Shen, no! Not!]
Xie Haozhu's eyes narrowed at Nam Ju-hyeon's oversensitive reaction.
[What, it's more suspicious...]
Lee Hye-won poked Nam Ju-hyeon's side and said:
"It looks suspicious even to me, so you'd better stop."
"W-what should I stop!"
"That behavior right now."
"What did I do!"
Nam Ju-hyeon shouted as if wronged, but Lee Hye-won just raised an eyebrow.
Xie Haozhu, who took in all the body language between the two, puffed up her cheeks like a pufferfish.