## Chapter 2608 – 2608. Eternal Eden

I’ve been busy lately.

It’s because the presidential election is next year. With the election drawing closer in real-time, I barely had any time to rest.

I deliberately sought out and killed Variants to play the hero, and visited hospitals to treat critically ill patients. My name appeared in the news several times a day. It’s a bit tiring, but… there are no critical comments.

‘I am justice, so criticizing me makes you a traitor. Those who leave nasty comments will suffer even worse.’

Saint.

That was another nickname of mine.

At least in Korea, there’s no one who can openly curse at me.

‘My election is almost certain. I changed the law early on, so I can run for president.’

I succeeded in the coup and won over other members of the National Assembly and generals. Even the National Intelligence Service is on my side. I practically hold all the power.

‘If I wanted to, I could even rig the next presidential election.’

I had no intention of doing that.

Even without rigging, my election is guaranteed. Now, I was curious about how many votes I could gather.

‘I’ll gather as many as I can. The higher the vote share, the more power I’ll have.’

I can’t let my guard down. I haven’t won over all the politicians, and not all the people of Korea follow me.

‘According to the last report, I’ve almost taken control of the military. Over 40% of the entire military belongs to the Seongjin Church. It’s growing rapidly even now. Lee Yeon-hee predicted it would be 80% by the time of the election.’

I was paying special attention to the military. In the current world, the military is the real power.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

I was traveling by helicopter. Three escort helicopters followed around mine for protection. Inside the helicopter, members of the Thunderbolt Knights, my personal guard, were on board.

Lately, I’ve been using helicopters more than cars. They were fast and safe. There are Variants that fly in the sky, but they’re not strong enough to beat fighter jets or helicopters.

The city we arrived at shortly was Sejong.

A city packed with tall buildings. On the surface, it looks more developed than Seoul.

‘It’s a city that the corporations devoured.’

If you look closely at the city, you can see that it has high military utility. It’s a city that can be fortified in half a day if ordered.

‘A city built by South Korea’s conglomerates in preparation for the world’s end.’

The conglomerates bet that South Korea wouldn’t last long and would collapse. And they failed. South Korea was becoming more stable day by day. The military was getting stronger. The number of recovered cities was also increasing.

‘As long as I’ve decided to rule South Korea, it won’t collapse.’

The current government is hostile to the conglomerates. The public opinion is the same. It’s obvious that the corporations only cared about their own survival when they took over and remodeled Sejong City. Even if they belatedly contacted the government and tried to change public opinion, it was already too late.

‘I won’t allow it. How dare corporations? A megacorp that even the government can’t touch? They shouldn’t even dream of it.’

The helicopter flew to the largest building in Sejong City.

Kuryong Group.

The top-ranked conglomerate in South Korea’s business world. It’s also one of the world’s leading conglomerates in home appliances, smartphones, and computers.

In fact, it was a place that even the South Korean government couldn’t ignore. Until the world went to hell.

‘The world went to shit, and the Kuryong Group’s options dwindled. It’s not a world ruled by money anymore. They can’t even escape to other countries.’

The helicopters landed on the helipad on the roof of the building. The Thunderbolt Knights jumped out of the helicopters first and began to secure the area, escorting me.

I was the last to get off the building.

“Welcome, National Assemblyman Seong Yujin! All the executives of the Kuryong Group welcome National Assemblyman Seong Yujin!”

The executives in black suits bent over at a 90-degree angle, bowing their heads. More than half of them were bald on top. The sunlight happened to reflect off their bald heads at that moment.

“Ugh! My eyes! Reflected light! Bald bastards, bow your heads.”

“Yes!”

The bald men slammed their heads on the ground.

I looked at a man in the center of them. A man with graying hair. Shin Woo-seop, the chairman of the Kuryong Group.

“Hello, Yujin. I am Shin Woo-seop, the chairman of the Kuryong Group. I will personally guide you.”

I sneered at him.

“It must be hard bowing to someone so young.”

“No, it’s a special honor for you, Yujin. If you order it, I will bow my head right now.”

“That’s enough. Just guide me.”

I followed him down.

The place we arrived at had a fancy door. The secretaries waiting in front of the door didn’t dare to make eye contact with me, bowing their heads deeply. As we got closer, the secretaries opened the fancy door.

Inside, there were a lot of old people.

Old men and women, at least in their 40s, were lined up, bowing to me.

“Seong Yujin! Welcome! All of us at the Sejong Businessmen’s Association welcome your visit!”

The old people had good voices. Their voices echoed loudly. I slowly walked down the red carpet. I sat on the highest chair here. It was like a throne. I looked down at the former and current heads of the conglomerates.

“Not bad. Raise your heads.”

“Yes, Yujin!”

They raised their heads. They were watching my every move. Among them, the old man in the center caught my eye.

The old man, with his face full of wrinkles, looked like he was barely standing with a cane. The old man, who looked like he would die with just a gust of wind, had deep and sharp eyes.

‘That old man looks like he has a terrible temper.’

He felt like a villainous conglomerate chairman from a drama.

Of course, I knew his information.

Shin Go-deok.

Honorary chairman of the Kuryong Group. The current chairman’s father and the true power behind the Kuryong Group. And the one who invited me here.

“Yujin. Thank you for taking the time to come. Our Sejong Businessmen’s Association has prepared a gift for you.”

“Is it a bribe?”

“It’s a gift. It’s just a way to treat a guest who has come from afar. Please accept it. I would like to give it to you myself, but… I’m not feeling well, so I’m afraid I might make a mistake. Therefore, my son will give you the gift instead.”

Shin Woo-seop, who had guided me here, approached with a fancy box decorated with jewels. Son Tae-hyung blocked his path.

“Your Excellency. May I check it first?”

Son Tae-hyung asked me.

“Go ahead.”

Son Tae-hyung took the box and opened it.

A bronze mirror that wouldn’t look out of place in a museum appeared.

I was about to curse, but something suddenly came to mind.

“Is that an OOPArt?”

A special item that you could only get with very good luck in the original game. Also called a relic, it was an item with special powers. It wasn’t an item that was so powerful that it would break the game’s balance.

“You recognized it right away. Yes, it is an OOPArt discovered by the Kuryong Group. We present it as a gift on behalf of the Sejong Businessmen’s Association.”

“You managed to get an OOPArt. How did you get it?”

“I had a hobby of collecting antiques. I invited an American player to my home, and he told me that this item was an OOPArt. According to the player, he could immediately recognize it because a faint light was coming out of the OOPArt. Also, the player could learn the OOPArt’s ability by touching it.”

“You invited an American player to your home? It seems like you were trying to recruit him.”

“…Yes. I promised him many things, but he eventually chose the United States. He said he liked the United States better than Korea.”

“What happened to that player?”

“I killed him.”

“You killed him because you couldn’t have him. That’s scary. Are you going to kill me like that too?”

Thump!

Shin Go-deok knelt on the floor and slammed his forehead. He was trembling. I wasn’t sure if he was trembling out of fear or because he wasn’t feeling well.

“How could I dare to kill you, Yujin!”

“That’s enough. It was a joke. There’s no way I’d be killed by someone like you.”

“……”

“So, what is the effect of this OOPArt?”

“It can remove the negative effects of an Awakened’s existing traits or grant a trait with positive effects. However, it’s one-time use only.”

“How do you use it?”

“I heard that the OOPArt is activated when an Awakened uses their ability on the Cheonbugyeong.”

“Son Tae-hyung. Give it to me.”

I received the old bronze mirror.

Even without using my ability, the bronze mirror reacted. Four of my traits appeared on its surface.

[Dunce, Lecher, Innocence, Agility.]

Next to them, two options appeared.

[Acquire a new positive trait]

[Remove the negative effect of an existing trait]

‘This bastard is lying to me…. Ah, is it because of Absolute Spirit?’

I had three abilities. Absolute Spirit, Lightning, and Recovery. Among them, Absolute Spirit was a passive ability. In other words, the ability was always activated. So, it reacted as soon as I touched the bronze mirror.

‘The ones with negative effects are… Dunce and Innocence.’

I was indifferent to removing the negative effects.

Even if I removed Dunce, my talent wouldn’t appear.

I basically had no intention of modifying or evolving my body. Body modification and evolution weren’t always good things. There could be problems with my sexual function.

Above all, getting a new trait seemed more beneficial. Because it meant I could get a positive trait no matter what.

I selected [Acquire a new positive trait].

[Trait Acquired: Megaphone]

It was a trait I knew. A trait that increases the volume of my voice by 50%.

‘I’m screwed.’

Crack!

The bronze mirror made a loud noise and then shattered. Nothing was reflected on the surface of the mirror.

‘It’s definitely one-time use.’

I calmly used my Recovery ability.

One-time use? Yeah. I can recover it and use it again.

I can bring people back to life, so why not an OOPArt?

‘This is a cheat.’

But the recovery speed was slower than I thought. It also took a lot of stamina. Still, I managed to recover it somehow.

“Oh, oh! He’s healing not only people’s wounds but even objects! No, that’s not healing, it’s…!”

The surroundings were in an uproar.

“It’s noisy. Shut up, all of you.”

The surroundings became quiet in an instant.

‘It’s useful. Now that it’s not one-time use, should I give it a name? Hmm. This mirror is now the Cheonbugyeong, a sacred object of the Seongjin Church.’

It took a lot of stamina to recover the Cheonbugyeong. I couldn’t do it twice in a row.

‘The recovery is complete. If I do this, I can keep getting positive traits… Why isn’t it reacting?’

It wasn’t that the recovery wasn’t complete. No matter how much I recovered it, all that disappeared were the fingerprints and minor scratches.

‘If it’s not the Cheonbugyeong… is it me?’

I used Recovery on myself.

The Megaphone trait disappeared. Then, the surface of the Cheonbugyeong’s mirror flashed once and reacted.

[Dunce, Lecher, Innocence, Agility.]

[Acquire a new positive trait]

[Remove the negative effect of an existing trait]

‘Does that mean the Cheonbugyeong can’t be used twice on the same target, even if it’s intact? Tsk. In that case, I’ll get the best trait.’

I selected [Acquire a new positive trait].

[Trait Acquired: Infinite]

This was also a trait I knew. Its effect was that the growth limit disappears.

Despite its grand name, it was a trait that was ignored in the original game.

‘Even if the growth limit disappears, it doesn’t mean growth will be faster. The higher the level, the more experience points you need.’

Moreover, the original game eventually had an end. Since there was an end, there was no point in growing an Awakened infinitely.

‘But this isn’t a game.’

I put strength into my hand on the armrest.

Crack!

The thick wooden armrest broke. It was impossible for even an ability user to do that with pure strength alone.

‘The limit of my body has disappeared.’

No matter how much I trained my body, it was blocked by the limit of being a pure human. That has now disappeared.

“I feel good. Laugh.”

The old people paused for a moment and then started laughing.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

The old people’s laughter made me feel annoyed.

“Stop. I feel bad.”

“……”

The banquet hall became silent.