Chapter 54: Statement of Position

The attack on Cheong Wa Dae.

Limon Aspelder had broken into Cheong Wa Dae alone, crushed the guards, and taken the President hostage.

It was no exaggeration to say that over the last few days, the entire country had been plastered with that single piece of news.

It was such a massive incident, and there were so many angles to delve into.

The fact that the culprit was a hero of the nation.

The fact that the motive for the crime was unknown.

The fact that Limon could not be stopped.

The sight of the devastated Cheong Wa Dae.

And even the relationship between Limon and Lee Cheon-gi.

Every single detail was full of suspicions and consequences worthy of a special report, to the point that some broadcasts even held focused discussions solely on this issue.

“Hey, Reporter Kim. Do you have any good sources?”

“I have plenty of sources. Thanks to the Guardian Deity of Humanity, business has been booming lately, hasn’t it?”

“Come on, not the common stuff. I mean something like why the Guardian Deity of Humanity committed treason.”

“If I knew that, would I be standing here? I would’ve run off to write the article already.”

The members of the press were no exception when it came to being curious about the truth of the incident.

In fact, they were even more desperate for it.

Because they were in a position to obtain information easily, they often found it harder to grasp the situation or felt more confused.

“I’m at the point where I’m starting to doubt if this is even real.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think about it. Does it make sense that he broke into Cheong Wa Dae all by himself? Just look at the President’s security detail — how many high-level Players are there?”

“He is the Guardian Deity of Humanity, after all.”

“That was back when there weren’t any Players. At the end of the day, isn’t he just an ordinary person who’s a bit good at swordplay?”

“I suppose…”

They had heard testimonies from those who fought Limon at Cheong Wa Dae.

The problem was that the testimonies sounded like nonsense.

He caught an artillery shell with the tip of his sword.

Bullets avoided him on their own.

He cut through skills with a blade.

Since every word out of their mouths was like that, one might wonder if they had all taken some kind of hallucinogen together.

Of course, the consensus was that the government had fabricated false testimonies.

To those whose common sense dictated that an ordinary person could never achieve what was impossible even for a Player, such suspicion was only natural.

“And what about the claim that he broke in through the front gate?”

“Well, they probably made that up because they’re reluctant to reveal the actual intrusion route, right?”

“Exactly. Unless their brains are made of noodles, what kind of crazy person would do that?”

Unfortunately, there were two things they were wrong about.

One, Limon was not a being bound by common sense.

And two, while his brain was not made of flour, he was a man who had been called a mad dog his entire life.

“I took this opportunity to look up old records mentioning Limon Aspelder, and the content was quite a spectacle.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah. It was all about him splitting the sea with a single strike or circling the Earth thirty-seven times in a day. Even for fiction, there’s a limit.”

“Tsk, tsk. Anyway, the exaggerations of people from the old days…”

“I guess those kinds of exaggerations worked back then. That way, they could use him for propaganda.”

“That’s a story from an era when people would believe Hong Gil-dong was real. Who would believe that kind of talk in today’s world?”

That was why the press was having such a headache.

They were experts at inflating one fact into ten and fabricating non-existent truths to create gossip and issues.

But even that had its limits.

With the public’s eye focused as it was now, it was difficult even for them to spout such far-fetched testimonies and records as if they were true.

Putting the citizens aside, their bosses would kick them in the shins for bringing in such ‘reporting.’

“Damn it, Cheong Wa Dae needs to issue a statement before we can write anything. Why are they telling us nothing and imposing a gag order on top of it?”

“Seriously. Usually, they would have at least said something plausible.”

There was another reason why the press could not recklessly publish articles.

It was the government’s bizarre response.

Originally, when such an incident occurred, the first thing the government would do was issue a statement along the lines of ‘The crisis is over, you can rest easy now.’

It didn’t matter if everyone knew it was a bluff.

The fact that they were telling a blatant lie meant that there would certainly be those who felt relieved, thinking the government was operating as usual.

Surprisingly, many people would actually believe that lie.

However, regarding this matter, the government was delaying its statement to an unusual degree.

No, it went beyond that; they were subtly silencing various news organizations.

It was as if they were afraid of getting on someone’s nerves by carelessly spouting nonsense.

Thanks to that, all sorts of rumors were circulating among the public.

That the President was already dead.

That Limon had fled overseas.

That the whole thing was a government conspiracy.

Under normal circumstances, the press would have taken the lead in spreading or debunking these numerous rumors.

But because they were busy walking on eggshells around the silent government, they couldn’t even properly handle such good material for articles.

From the perspective of the press, their insides were turning.

“Let’s just wait for now. Surely there will be something plausible today.”

“There has to be. This is the first press conference since the incident.”

That was why they were hopeful.

Depending on the content of the announcement at the upcoming press conference, they would finally be able to write their articles.

Among them, some reporters were determined to throw sensitive questions this time.

Whether it was the Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson or whoever, they intended to show the greatness of the press’s power to those who dared to ignore the public’s right to know.

*Creak.*

But a moment later.

The doors to the briefing room opened.

From the cameramen who were filming the room without much interest to the reporters who were firing off broadcast scripts in front of their cameras with burning passion — everyone in the room was forced to freeze, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

*Step, step.*

As if doubting they were dreaming.

Ignoring the vacant stares of the reporters, the man calmly stepped onto the podium.

Dressed in a white suit with half of his hair covering one eye, the man lightly adjusted his newly acquired monocle.

“What are you doing?”

A composed face and a calm voice.

Nevertheless, with just those few words, the man caused the frozen reporters to jump in shock.

Infinity Monarch Lee Cheon-gi continued speaking in a low voice while looking at the broadcast cameras.

“Begin the press conference.”

It was chaos.

It was shock.

It was bewilderment.

—

It was an emotion shared not only by the reporters in the room but by almost everyone watching the broadcast.

It was such an unexpected sight.

[Infinity Monarch? I understood this was a place prepared for Cheong Wa Dae to give an official statement…]

[That is correct.]

[…But then, why is the Infinity Monarch appearing at the press conference?]

Perhaps unable to contain his bewilderment, a reporter hesitatingly asked the question.

It was a question that spoke for everyone’s doubt.

Originally, Lee Cheon-gi was a Monarch who did not appear on television unless it was absolutely necessary.

Even for the Infinity Guild’s press conferences, he would merely send a spokesperson; it was extremely rare for him to face reporters directly.

For such a man to appear at Cheong Wa Dae’s press conference…

It was truly absurd.

Some reporters even looked around to see if they had come to the wrong room.

However, the moment Lee Cheon-gi opened his mouth, they were thrown into a different kind of confusion.

[Today, I am representing Cheong Wa Dae.]

[…???]

Question marks popped up over the reporters’ heads simultaneously.

As if doubting their own ears, or as if their brains were refusing to process the information, they remained frozen with vacant faces as if they had fallen under [Status Effect: Confusion].

After a long while, finally breaking out of their rigidity, they spoke with absurd expressions.

[No, what kind of nonsense is that?!]

Nonsense.

It was a truly fitting expression.

No matter how much of a Monarch or head of the Infinity Guild Lee Cheon-gi was, he was not a government official.

He had no qualification, right, or reason to speak on behalf of Cheong Wa Dae.

To use an analogy, it was as if a movie star, a professional athlete, or the chairman of a conglomerate had suddenly appeared as the spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae.

Therefore, the point was valid. It was something to be baffled about.

However, Lee Cheon-gi brought an end to their confusion with a short remark.

[Is there a problem?]

It was instantaneous.

The reporters, who had all looked as if their mouths were itching to speak, suddenly fell silent.

As if ready to listen to any complaint, Lee Cheon-gi slowly looked around at the reporters.

The moment they met those infinitely calm eyes, they all realized it.

Unlike other celebrities, he was not a being whose qualifications they dared to question.

Of course, few noticed that skills like ‘Dignity’, ‘Overpower’, and ‘Threat’ were secretly influencing that realization.

Even if they had noticed, it wouldn’t have mattered.

The person before them was the Infinity Monarch.

He was one of the ten absolute beings who ruled this era.

[If there is nothing more to say, I will take it that there is no problem.]

It was a simple notification.

It was not accepting silence as consent, but rather a declaration that forced consent through silence.

In the end, no one raised an objection.

Amidst the silence he had obtained so naturally, Lee Cheon-gi adjusted his monocle and continued.

[As everyone knows, I will first issue an official statement regarding the light happening that occurred at Cheong Wa Dae a few days ago.]

‘A light happening?’

‘The President held hostage?’

‘From what angle?’

The statement hadn’t even truly begun, yet the reporters were already experiencing pupil earthquakes or making strange faces at just the introduction.

If the person who said that had been the Presidential spokesperson, or even the President himself, they would have been bombarded with a barrage of questions.

[I will get straight to the conclusion.]

But they didn’t know.

That was truly just the beginning.

Compared to the shock brought by Lee Cheon-gi’s following words, that was really nothing.

[It was all a ‘show.’]

[…Pardon?]

[I am saying it was part of an emergency response drill assuming a high-level Player’s coup attempt and an intrusion into Cheong Wa Dae.]

The reporters’ jaws dropped.

However, whether their jaws hit the floor or not, Lee Cheon-gi did not care.

He simply continued his explanation with his usual calm face.

[This was done out of concern for the public’s indifference toward the increasing criminal acts of high-level Players, with the government receiving special cooperation from the PAB…]

That everything was a planned drill.

That the hostage situation itself was an act.

That through this drill, many problems in Cheong Wa Dae’s security and emergency response system were identified.

That they would reform the PAB to fix the issues and ensure a smoother response to the rampages of high-level Players in the future.

Also, that the Infinity Guild would take responsibility for the reconstruction of the destroyed parts of Cheong Wa Dae…

Although a lot of long-winded content was mixed in, the gist of his words was simple.

Since all of this was a fabricated ‘show,’ everyone should just think of it as something that didn’t happen and forget about it.

In some ways, it was a very Cheong Wa Dae-like statement, but because of that, those words, which were utterly ridiculous, eventually threw the reporters into an uproar.

[Are you telling us to believe that right now?]

[And if you don’t believe it, what are you going to do?]

[What do you mean…!]

[Are you going to bet your career as a reporter and claim that Master Aspelder suddenly committed treason and the government failed to stop him, leading to the President being taken hostage?]

The moment they heard his words, the reporters lost their speech again.

In truth, that side of the story sounded even more unrealistic.

Especially since the remark about betting their careers did not sound like a joke, their mouths naturally became heavy.

Taking responsibility and publishing an article — that itself was something too unfamiliar and difficult for them.

To those who had only been focused on creating gossip and issues, working without a speck of interest in the truth, Lee Cheon-gi spoke calmly.

[If you don’t intend to do that, shut up.]

He told them that if they weren’t going to take responsibility, they should at least think about it.

And if they didn’t even have that intention, they shouldn’t speak recklessly.

Lee Cheon-gi spoke in short, condensed words, implying that if anyone ignored this warning and blabbed recklessly, he would personally hold them accountable.

Unable to take it anymore, one reporter shrieked.

“T-This is suppression of the press!”

“Suppression… that’s an interesting word.”

However, Lee Cheon-gi didn’t even bat an eye.

He simply continued speaking while looking at the reporter with a calm face.

“I have merely told you to take responsibility for your articles. But if you call this suppression, are you saying you only intend to write rumors that you cannot take responsibility for?”

“…”

The reporter, who had spoken up only to lose out and end up with a pale face, shut his mouth.

Lee Cheon-gi took his eyes off him and scanned the briefing room instead.

“Does anyone else have a question?”

It was the final confirmation.

It was the last chance he was giving.

But in the end, no one requested the floor.

Rather, they were busy avoiding responsibility, flinching or subtly looking away.

As if he hadn’t expected anything from the start, or as if he knew it would be this way, Lee Cheon-gi withdrew his gaze from the reporters with a calm face and looked directly into the camera to conclude.

“Then, we will conclude the press conference.”

Was it because of that overly dry conclusion?

The cameramen, the studio, and even the announcers were dazed.

The TV screen only showed the empty podium until the murmuring of the reporters in the quiet briefing room could be heard after Lee Cheon-gi had disappeared.

A white-haired man stared intently at the screen.

After a long time had passed, Limon finally expressed his thoughts on this press conference.

“…Wow.”