34-49

Chapter 49 

Knock knock  

  May I come in? 

“Come in.” 

“...Mr. President, these are the documents that need your approval today.” 

“...Leave them there.” 

“Yes.” 

Thud thunk  

As the chief of staff set the documents on the desk and reached the door to leave  

“...Chief of staff.” 

Freeze  

The president stopped the chief of staff in his tracks. 

Slurp  

After a sip of coffee, the president spoke. 

“Are you still holding a grudge?” 

“....” 

The chief of staff gripped the documents so tightly it looked like he might crumple them. 

“...No, sir.” 

Bang! 

With that, the chief of staff left. 

Slurp  

“Sigh... It was a choice I couldn’t avoid.” 

[Impeachment motion passed for current president – National Assembly of the Republic of Korea] 

“This country... has slipped from my hands now. Ha ha.” 

It was the monologue of the president soon to be the former president. 

From the day the president covered for the Ja-Ae Cult, Korea began to change in strange ways. 

The Association designated the Ja-Ae Cult as villains, but then took no action, and as a result, the cult began to grow rapidly. 

In less than a year, 99% of Korean women became followers. 

And that included the chief of staff’s precious daughter. 

  “...You, you!! What are you wearing?!” 

The first time he saw his daughter’s transformation, he nearly fainted. The daughter he’d raised so carefully now acted like a low-class woman from a red-light district, and when she brought home a boyfriend who was barely younger than himself, his blood pressure nearly killed him. 

  “You little brat! How dare you go after my daughter?!” 

  “Ah, Dad!! Oppa and I are in love!” 

  “Heh, heh... That’s right... smooch, we’re in love... heh...” 

  “Break up right now!!” 

  “I hate you, Dad!” 

He only calmed down after throwing every object in the house at the so-called boyfriend, but after hearing his daughter was staying out overnight, he couldn’t eat for days. 

‘...I shouldn’t have let that guy get close.’ 

The Association’s failure to check the Ja-Ae Cult, the government’s inaction under the president’s orders both were mistakes. 

Even when the chief of staff tried to act on his own, it was already too late. 

By the time his wife, too, had joined the cult, he gave up. 

There was no way he could stop the Ja-Ae Cult with just his own power. But while he couldn’t take revenge on the cult, he could take it out on others. 

For example, the powerless president... or the Association... 

‘...I know it’s pointless...’ 

But what could he do? The daughter and wife he loved were gone. Only someone else, wearing their faces, remained. 

Tears fell from the chief of staff’s eyes. 

So... 

The process by which the Ja-Ae Cult took over Korea was simple. 

Want to try this? No? Then we’ll use force... 

That’s basically how it went. 

Jinwoo didn’t like forcibly corrupting people, but he’d already done it once with Yeon Mijin. 

“Congratulations, Jinwoo-nim. I’ve just made the very last person a member of our cult.” 

“...Alright.” 

How did Jinwoo feel after successfully conquering Korea? 

Surprisingly, what he felt wasn’t joy, but emptiness. 

‘...It was as easy as eating cake.’ 

Even with the late help of the “Sage,” it hadn’t taken much effort to corrupt all the women in a country. 

‘Is the real ordeal still ahead...?’ 

Even now, he could feel it in real time. The presence that had been faint just a few months ago was now overwhelmingly vivid. 

In terms of numbers, it felt more than ten times stronger. 

‘That must mean it’s getting closer to me.’ 

According to the “Sage,” it would take about three years for that thing to reach Earth. So there were about two years left. 

‘...What a ridiculous being.’ 

He imagined it: in less than a year, its presence grew tenfold. In another year, another tenfold. By the time it arrived, it would be a hundred times stronger than now. 

‘...To fight something a hundred times stronger than it is now...’ 

The “Sage” called him Earth’s only hope. And as the one who had conquered all the women on Earth, he supposedly had a fifty-fifty chance of winning. 

‘I’ve only corrupted thirty million.’ 

There were still 3.5 billion women left on Earth. And he had to corrupt them before that thing arrived. 

‘Can I do it?’ 

His shoulders felt heavy. His precious women each one had been with him at least once. Their power was sleeping inside him. Could he protect them? 

Squeeze  

Someone grabbed Jinwoo’s penis. Maybe to comfort him after seeing his serious expression. 

“Everything will be fine.” 

Pfft  

“...Yeah.” 

Sometimes Han Ji-young dropped the formal speech and talked to him like before. It helped him regain his focus. 

“Let it come. If it’s a woman, I’ll corrupt her too.” 

The Sword Saint. 

She was reflecting on what her friend Mir had said. 

  This is the way to save the world. 

“...Is that really true?” 

She watched the people living on this land. 

Wearing the “invisibility cloak” she’d received from the Association, she could avoid people’s gazes. Her skin was too pale to blend in. 

After observing for several days, she found that people were living surprisingly well. 

Some went to school, some went to work, some went to cafes... 

Life was as normal as ever. The only difference was... 

‘Were there always this many women...?’ 

There were far more women than she remembered. Korea was known for having a slightly higher male-to-female ratio, but now it looked like 3:7, overwhelmingly female. 

‘...Did women who used to stay home start going out?’ 

After being “saved” by Jinwoo, gaining confidence, women who’d hidden themselves started going out. 

“....” 

And women always had one or two men with them. 

Sometimes, several women hung out with the same man. The “alpha male” monopoly Jinwoo had worried about had become reality. 

With traditional views on chastity weakened, women who had been corrupted didn’t care if they shared a man, as long as they got the one they wanted even if it meant 3P or 4P. 

Previously, the idea of sharing a man with a rival was unthinkable, but after corruption, that aversion disappeared. 

After all, they’d already shared Jinwoo himself. 

This was the side effect Jinwoo had feared. 

“...Is this really how women become happy?” 

Judging by their faces, they looked happy. The men with many women looked full of self-esteem. 

Of course, if lots of people want you, it’s only natural your confidence would soar. 

‘...But what about the other men?’ 

Now she noticed that there were quite a few men surrounded by women maybe even more than half. 

The Sword Saint finally realized what felt off. The reason there were so many women, and why it wasn’t just because they gathered in certain places. 

In every group she saw, there were no all-female groups. 

It was always one man and one woman, or one man with many women. 

Every woman had a man with her. 

“...This isn’t a normal society.” 

The Sword Saint slowly backed away from where she stood. Suddenly, the citizens looked darker to her (even though they’d always been dark). 

“...What’s wrong?” 

Someone approached her. 

“...Mir.” 

“Lena, you still can’t let go of those old ideas...” 

“...They’re not old-fashioned.” 

“...Lena, you should leave Korea soon.” 

“Why?” 

“Soon, every woman in this country except you will be corrupted. If you don’t leave, you’ll be the last one.” 

“...I won’t go down so easily.” 

“No, you’re too weak... Come back when you’re stronger.” 

“....” 

Flash  

‘That way... Jinwoo’s chances of beating that thing go up.’ 

If she became a follower, Jinwoo would take her potential. Then the corrupted Lena would never grow again. 

‘...It’s for Lena’s own good.’ 

The Sage began rationalizing it that way. She, too, couldn’t escape Jinwoo’s influence.