Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 157

Chapter 157: S-rank Outbreak （1）

Thump.

As if telling him never to come back, the Sun God Church people slammed the door shut.

The promise with Oh Min-yeong.

Even if he went back to try and change Priest Oh Man-seok’s mind, would he be able to solve the problem in just fifteen days? It would be impossible. Despite his efforts over the past two and a half months, their trust was so fragile that it crumbled with just one fake news report. The same went for Jeong Mun-cheol. Even if it was a problem that could be resolved by refuting and responding, a question mark hung over the fifteen-day limit.

In the end, there was no time.

Even the luxury of staring blankly at the Sun God Church building like this was not allowed for the current Kang San.

‘I have to give up what I have to give up.’

His current reputation.

The Sun God Church.

He turned away from the complicated problems.

There was a lot to do now.

Kang San turned and headed towards Pohang City Hall.

The cooperation of the City Hall was essential in this desperate moment, so he met with Pohang Mayor Park Mun-do once again.

However, Mayor Park Mun-do’s reaction was different from before.

“…Didn’t you mention ‘crisis response training’ last time? I also think that repetitive training to prepare for contingencies is necessary in this dangerous world, but the atmosphere at City Hall isn’t very good right now. They say it doesn’t look good to take outside advice just because we received funding when we are already sufficiently prepared on our own. Anyway, we plan to include it naturally in the annual training, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

Kang San’s advice.

It was just a suggestion.

Among the various pieces of advice, he made common sense remarks without revealing any secrets.

Mayor Park Mun-do, who had clearly been receptive at the time, was now subtly distancing himself from Kang San.

In the end, he was also someone who relied on public opinion.

With the atmosphere surrounding Kang San being ominous, it seemed he had decided it was time to keep his distance.

Kang San’s face contorted.

Just fifteen days.

There was no time to solve the problem amicably.

“Mr. Mayor, does that mean it’s okay if I cut off the funding?”

“Huh? No, of course not. I’m saying we’ll handle things sequentially, why are you being so scary?”

“I’m quite offended. I readily offered a large sum of money because I considered Pohang my hometown of the heart, and the conditions I requested were also for the public good. But if you find my goodwill disagreeable, is there any reason for me to waste money on this?”

“…Hmm.”

Mayor Park Mun-do looked troubled.

In truth, he had met with Priest Oh Man-seok.

Ever since he learned that the “hometown of the heart” justification was a lie, he instinctively realized that he had to reconsider his relationship with Kang San. It was a politician’s instinct, you could say. The problem was that Kang San hadn’t stopped with the 100 million won he donated last time, but continued to readily offer large sums of money. In fact, since he had only made reasonable and legitimate requests on the surface, there was a conflict within him about what to do.

Public opinion?

Or reality?

After much deliberation, he smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

“Alright. I guess I was just lost in thought for a moment. Of course, for the future of Pohang, we will actively accept the advice you gave us and implement it immediately. By the way, how many days will you be staying in Pohang this time? As a matter of fact…”

Park Mun-do chattered on.

Once he made a decision, he was a man of his word.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

As the saying goes, rumors spread like wildfire.

After Kang San entered the mayor’s office, the City Hall employees gathered in small groups and gossiped about him.

“Is the rumor true? That Kang San is being backed by Japan.”

“It’s strange, to be honest. Being an F-rank human shield means he was born with the lowest level of talent among Awakened. But not only did he grow exponentially in just one year, he also happened to be present at the scene of Japan’s Kitakyushu incident. It’s quite suspicious to call it a coincidence.”

“Hey, look at this. Jeong Mun-cheol is broadcasting again.”

One person showed their phone.

Jeong Mun-cheol was excitedly talking about the suspicious circumstances, and as the story progressed, people’s eyes became filled with suspicion.

“He’s right. It definitely doesn’t make sense. There was no connection between Kang San and the ‘blacksmith’ in his past actions, but suddenly his relationship with Yu Jeong-yeong popped up. How could Kang San, with the little money he had at the time, have sponsored Yu Jeong-yeong and created such incredible technology? There must have been Japan behind the scenes.”

“What’s the reason for doing all this? It means Japan has an ulterior motive for promoting Kang San.”

“…Maybe they’re planning to have him publicly naturalize later. After Kang San gains a reputation as a national hero in Korea, if he supports the Japanese government and changes his nationality, people will be shocked. ‘Japan is such a great country’, ‘Korea is so corrupt that it lost its hero’. They might have such dirty intentions.”

If one thing was said.

Two or three more were added.

The increasingly exaggerated story, at some point, accepted the initial ‘doubt’ as fact.

Unless someone was particularly sensitive to political issues, this was just a topic of conversation during break time.

Whatever the truth was.

They excitedly chewed on the gossip someone had thrown out.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t realize how much time had passed.

The man who had been talking excitedly suddenly made eye contact with someone.

“It’s true, I’m telling you. Kang San is definitely… Gah!”

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

He quickly turned his head away.

When the man across from him turned his head with a puzzled look, he finally discovered the cause of the surprise.

It was Kang San.

He was standing there with a calm expression, watching the City Hall employees.

Kang San started walking.

As he passed by without saying a word, the employees started whispering again only after he was completely out of sight.

“He didn’t hear, right?”

“If he heard, would he have stayed quiet? Of course he didn’t hear!”

“Phew, that’s a relief. But when did he get there? My heart dropped for a second there.”

They ended their conversation.

As if they had lost interest, they dispersed.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Kang San left the building.

As he looked up at the sky, an inexplicable bitterness could be seen on his face.

‘…Where did it all go wrong?’

Jeong Mun-cheol’s suspicions?

He could explain them.

Whether he disclosed his bank account, explained his past actions one by one, or had people related to him testify, if they dug a little deeper, they would find nothing but flimsy suspicions. The problem was, why should he even have to do that? The fact that he was put in a position to explain himself was infuriating.

It was all just suspicion.

Just because he showed abnormal growth, just because the Kitakyushu incident was too coincidental.

There was no reason for people to say those things to him.

In the end, based on the confirmed facts, Kang San had endured sacrifices to help countless people. The truth behind the Trials didn’t matter. Whether Kang San acted with whatever intention, the people whose lives were saved wouldn’t disappear, so the people talking about this situation should be judging based on the truth in front of them. Not Jeong Mun-cheol’s suspicions, but the things Kang San had done.

He felt disgusted.

Facing the S-rank catastrophe, he wondered if he really had to sacrifice this much.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh my, our hero is here.”

It was a familiar face.

It was the grandmother he had met while volunteering, the one who lost her family early and had lived alone for decades.

“Ah, Grandma.”

“Here, take this. Quickly.”

“This is…”

“It’s yakgwa. The young lady who was volunteering last time gave it to me, but it’s too sweet for me, so I thought of our hero. Take it quickly. It’s really sweet.”

It was the grandmother who always called him “hero.”

Kang San felt a lump in his throat as he received the yakgwa from her wrinkled hands.

Public opinion was like that.

When it raged, it seemed like there were only suspicious gazes directed at him, but as he went around Pohang, people like the grandmother welcomed him. It was the same in Seoul and Japan. People who were truly grateful for Kang San’s good deeds were close by. Whenever he faced their warm hearts, Kang San didn’t think his sacrifices were meaningless, even if they were forced Trials.

The two sides of public opinion.

He shouldn’t only look at one side.

The people Kang San wanted to save weren’t the ones who doubted and criticized him.

He hoped that people like the grandmother, who cared for him and put a yakgwa in his pocket, would be safe.

‘This is something I have to endure as a Trial. If it’s an unavoidable reality, let’s look at the positive side, not the negative.’

However.

If he survived this time.

If he came back alive after facing the S-rank catastrophe.

Even if it meant throwing his reputation as a hero to the ground, he would make sure to get his revenge on the people he considered enemies.

He swallowed his emotions.

In front of the grandmother, Kang San showed a bright smile that reminded her of her grandson.

“Thank you, Grandma.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

The world was in an uproar.

As President Jang Beom-seok wished, Kang San was on everyone’s lips, but his expression wasn’t very good.

“He still hasn’t made any attempts to explain himself?”

“No. Considering his past actions, we expected an immediate response, but he hasn’t made any response since going down to Pohang.”

“Hmm.”

He stroked his chin.

The public opinion war.

Jang Beom-seok’s intentions were twofold.

If Kang San showed a reaction of succumbing to public opinion, he was thinking of reaching out once again and accepting him into the Guardians. Kang San was worth that much. His narrative, his explosive potential. He was too valuable to be thrown away like this, so there was an element of intentionally cornering him.

And if he resisted until the end.

Then he would bury him so that he couldn’t be called a hero. But unexpectedly, he was met with silence.

“No response is not a good approach. People take that as a silent affirmation.”

13 years.

Reelection wasn’t an easy feat.

Countless heroes had risen and fallen in South Korea, but in the end, the same government had remained in place, creating the South Korea of today. How was that possible? It was an achievement made by the busy movements behind the scenes that people couldn’t see. Jang Beom-seok truly believed that this country had to be united around him in order to withstand the disasters to come. Variables that popped up unexpectedly were sure to cause uncontrolled problems.

President Jang Beom-seok spoke.

“Add more fuel to the fire. Make it so he has no choice but to come out of his hiding hole.”

“Understood.”

He would have to respond eventually.

In this country.

In the South Korea that he ruled.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Kang San opened his eyes mechanically.

It was still before sunrise.

On his phone screen, which showed 5:00 AM, he saw a long text message that seemed to be from reporter Kim Min-yeong.

『Why aren’t you responding at all? I’ll help you. My connections, the people who subscribe to my articles. If you actively come forward and explain yourself, we can quickly clear up these ridiculous rumors. So…』

Over the past few days.

Kang San had received calls from many people.

There were many who wanted to help Kang San.

They were angry as if the absurd rumors were about them, and he knew that if he accepted their help, he could quickly clear things up. Nevertheless, Kang San remained calm and maintained a consistent attitude that he needed time. Even if people were frustrated, the current Kang San had no time to spare for anything else.

From dawn till dusk.

He lived in the Gokumsan area.

Without even checking his phone, he spent his time relentlessly, drawing countless battles in his head.

Reputation?

Public opinion?

Those were things to discuss after surviving.

With his life on the line, Kang San couldn’t think of anything more valuable than his life.

He naturally skipped over the text message.

He had to.

Not on any other day, but especially today, he couldn’t reply to Kim Min-yeong’s message.

The countdown on his phone screen.

『D-day』

Today was the day.

Whether he died or survived.

Fifteen days had passed in an instant, and he finally stood at the crossroads of life and death.