Past Life Returner

The street facing where the Congress was holding the hearing was crowded with special correspondents from around the world, relay vehicles, civilians, and police officers.

The police officers were on edge in the seemingly chaotic atmosphere, as if something could happen at any moment. As a result, they were exchanging radio messages, preparing for any possible situation. One officer, who was shouting at civilians not to come closer while pushing them away, had one hand on the holster. The protestors were trying to enter the facility, so it was natural for the police to be on high alert.

The situation was as terrible as expected. A collective uprising of the public… Perhaps Jonathan had willingly attended the hearing to try to address the issue before it got even worse.

Of course, it was completely natural for the public to feel injustice, fear, and anxiety. The world’s wealth was concentrated in the hands of an extreme minority…no, actually just one person. It was clear that capitalism had reached its peak in a negative way.

If a totalitarian ideology were to be combined with this, then it would have been more than enough to move toward the terrifying future shown in George Orwell’s [1984] and Aldous Huxley’s [Brave New World]. The reason why politicians at the hearing were attacking the founders of Googol and Facenote was that they knew those companies could replace the telescreen in [1984] and the Soma drugs in [Brave New World].

Therefore, I a hundred percent understood why the public was targeting John Doe and asking for the Jonathan Investment Finance Group to be dismantled. The world could easily fall into a true dystopian society with a single decision from me.

Starting with punishing those who dared to oppose me, what if I were to use the current protests and ongoing war as a pretext to emphasize the interests of the collective over the individual and exert direct control over all of humanity?

There would never be anything more frightening than such a world. It was a different kind of horror from the world destroyed by the Seven Demon Kings and their corps in the past.

Anyway, we achieved our current wealth solely because of a single idea as Jonathan mentioned. The world where all wealth was concentrated on me now was a result of us defending on the Day of Advent. I didn’t actually want this to happen.

But would I give up my current wealth as the public wished? No way.

Even if I dismantled the Jonathan Group and distributed my financial power as they demanded, the beneficiaries would not be the public. I could set up various devices to make them feel that they had benefited, but the truth was, the world would not change significantly. The few elites who received that power would only try to use it for their own good.

It was unnecessary to talk about what kind of catastrophe people like them had created in the past.

Even if someone who realized the truth of the world appeared and pointed their finger at me as in terrible self-righteousness, I could still argue that the Earth would be better off under my leadership, as I believed that I would be a benevolent dictator. In my opinion, the world needed to be governed this way.

I would also say that I was the only person who had directly witnessed the extinction of humanity and that it would be impossible to create a world where everyone would be equal. However, at least the world I ruled would be safe, and it would seem as if nothing had changed.

The hearing ended.

“Tell me the date. I will be in court.”

Jonathan’s firm voice came out from my clenched cell phone and from the phones of the crowd, which was hard to distinguish between protestors and ordinary citizens.

***

I felt sorry because I could tell how much Jonathan was suppressing himself in order to follow my commands from his short glances and every word he spoke. I was relieved as he didn’t show any signs of mistakenly understanding my intentions and declaring the dissolution of the Jonathan Group.

Out of all the choices I had made since traveling back in time, choosing Jonathan as my partner was the most favorable decision I had made.

Jonathan’s statements and attitude brought shock not only in the members of Congress but also to the people on the streets here. I could feel people’s attitudes beginning to change. The voices condemning Jonathan were still loud, but in between, some supported him. Tension started to form between the minority who supported Jonathan and the majority who did not.

As the entrance to the building was flooded with lawmakers and reporters, the flow of people on the street began to shift in that direction. Not only protestors but also foreign correspondents from around the world led their teams toward the politicians, like military reporters rushing through gunfire.

The police shouted in a louder voice.

- Seon-Hu: I’m here.

Yeon-Hee appeared, taking off her press ID that was hanging around her neck. She smiled as she looked at my bone ring, but she appeared to be angry towards the surroundings.

“Why didn’t you come in when you arrived?”

Yeon-Hee replaced her greeting with that question. She then cast a sharp gaze at those still shaking placards and condemning Jonathan. Since people like that could be seen everywhere, Yeon-Hee looked around in annoyance. Then, her gaze became fixed on the Awakened who were blending in with the crowd.

She seemed to have realized why I hadn’t entered the session to watch in person. Yes, it was because I was keeping an eye on the possibility of the Awakened breaking into the room. They had terrifying expressions and a formidable aura, which proved that they had fought monsters with Jonathan in the Final Stage.

In fact, they showed signs of trying to break into the session when Jonathan used his flames. They barely restrained themselves though.

We moved away from the Awakened to a quieter place. The area that the government had given to the association started just a few blocks down the street, where the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, but the Awakened could see and hear us there.

We turned in the opposite direction and went into a hotel.

***

With just three months remaining until the United States off-year election, the hotel had already implemented a targeted marketing strategy. They advertised a ‘Race to Congress’ package, priced at six hundred dollars per night, which included a variety of amenities and a tourist information brochure featuring attractions in Washington D.C. They also mentioned they would provide more discounts for media personnel.

“The hotelier here lacks discernment.”

Yeon-Hee briefly commented on the hotel service and asked about the most expensive package. The employee replied that there was the deluxe package worth about twenty thousand dollars per night, which included a top-class suite room, dinner personally cooked by the hotel’s executive chef, and various massages available at the hotel’s spa.

As the unnecessary explanation continued, the smile disappeared from Yeon-Hee’s face. She was unusually irritated with the hotel staff and showed an unwelcoming gaze toward other guests who had come to stay due to the hearing. It seemed that the criticism Jonathan had received during the hearing had been quite frustrating for her as well.

While Yeon-Hee was taking care of the check-in process, I was listening to the conversations of the other guests in the lobby. As I mentioned earlier, many of them were staying due to the hearing. Most of them appeared to be professionals working in media who were planning their own coverage in Washington, separate from the correspondents on the scene.

There was already interaction between them, and it was reasonable for the hotel staff to mistake us for journalists from Asia, as the majority here were reporters.

Anyway, the main point of their conversation was that they had set their reporting direction to be favorable towards Jonathan and the Jonathan Group. Of course, there were murmurs of astonishment and complaints that the reporting guidelines handed down from above were the same and that the Jonathan Group was already exerting pressure.

However, no one was indiscreetly talking loudly about such things. They were whispering secretly as if plotting something, rolling their eyes and quietly exchanging opinions among themselves.

By coincidence, a group of protestors was passing by the lobby’s front window. I wasn’t sure what the journalists would think when they saw them, but if they wanted to succeed in the media field, they had no choice but to follow the reporting guidelines from their bosses. No matter how open the world was through the Internet, public sentiment naturally swayed when major media outlets started to speak in unison.

The battle Jonathan was waging against the public had already begun. As the protestors swept through the street in front of the hotel and passed by, Yeon-Hee returned after paying the accommodation fee with her card.

- Yeon-Hee: Jonathan went that far, and they are still doing this?

The momentum of the protestors had clearly diminished. To be precise, the voices that supported Jonathan could now be heard.

Moreover, those voices would gain strength if the media got involved. It was a matter of broadening one’s perspective. Yeon-Hee knew about this, but she still grumbled. Anyway, we had other tasks at hand.

- Yeon-Hee: Are you not angry? Or are you holding back? Be honest.

Yeon-Hee asked in the elevator going up to the room.

- Seon-Hu: Honestly?

- Yeon-Hee: Yes.

- Seon-Hu: I just feel sorry for Jonathan. He is bearing the burden that I should be carrying.

- Yeon-Hee: I don’t know.

- Seon-Hu: It is not that we are wrong or the public is wrong for condemning us. Both sides think they are justified. In fact, in a situation where the truth is unknown, one could even say that there is justice for the public.

- Yeon-Hee: Why are you saying it like it is someone else’s business?

Then, she shook her phone. She showed me a missed call from a Korean number, saying it was a call from Seong-Il.

- Yeon-Hee: We all think the same. You and Jonathan shouldn’t be treated like this. You understand that it is really hard for us, right? Although it is Jonathan who stands in court, in reality, it is no different than you standing there.

- Seon-Hu: But we cannot destroy humanity either.

- Yeon-Hee: But…

- Seon-Hu: It’s not ‘but.’ Woo Yeon-Hee, we must not forget what we have been trying to protect, even though we have left the Stage of Advent. If you have any intention of intervening in Jonathan’s work, forget it completely from this moment on.

There must have been a hint of aggression in my voice because Yeon-Hee’s eyes trembled.

- Seon-Hu: Let’s leave the matter here to Jonathan. We should focus on our own tasks.

I held out the bone ring in front of her as I spoke. The bone ring had been reacting to the Life Vessel within her since early on.

[Doom Entegasto’s Bone Ring that the Dead Revere has detected the Life Vessel.]

[Would you like to reset the Life Vessel?]