Chapter 19
The meeting with Bahamut was regarded as the day that would determine the fate of Gyeongju by many survivors, and they reminisced about it.
“From this moment on, our Balhut Cult will carry out the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project!”
The Balhut Cult, which absorbed and unified many survivor camps, grew into the most powerful force in Gyeongju, and the first declaration they made with their rapid growth was the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project.
It was a large-scale civil engineering plan to rebuild the ruined city of Gyeongju into a new city.
This ambitious project attracted the attention of the survivor clubs and wandering survivors who had never faced Bahamut directly, while some survivor camps that had not even considered joining showed their discomfort.
However, the Balhut Cult ignored all complaints and pushed forward with the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project.
“With advice from Gyeongju’s esteemed experts, we will undoubtedly succeed in the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project.”
Now officially the leader of the Balhut Cult, Choi Yuna, under Bahamut’s command, invited experts from various administrative fields who had survived the Zombie Apocalypse.
Economy, law, culture, administration, construction, politics, and military.
Among them were people who had retired or were active in the political world, those who taught students as professors in architecture, and even retired soldiers.
While it could be seen as recruiting the best elite agents that the Balhut Cult could muster,
‘Now that I think about it, those guys managed to survive this mess too.’
it was realistically closer to inviting the experts who had survived in Gyeongju.
Those invited by Choi Yuna recognized the faces of other invited experts and thought nonchalantly, ‘All familiar faces.’
They thought it was impressive how they survived such a catastrophic disaster like the Zombie Apocalypse, but as soon as Choi Yuna entered the conference room, they all turned their tense gazes toward her.
Had the Balhut Cult not eradicated all the zombies in Gyeongju and reclaimed the city, they might have been labelled as useless.
“For us to fulfil the pledges of the Balhut Cult, we need a large number of personnel. However, due to the large number of survivors joining at once, we are severely lacking civil servants to manage them.”
“In that case, let’s rehire those who were previously civil servants. If more are needed, we can recruit people from within the Balhut Cult.”
Therefore, they had to prove their worth to Choi Yuna… no, to Bahamut, who was surely watching this scene.
For those who had vivid memories of being abandoned in the harsh environment of the Zombie Apocalypse, the Balhut Cult was a lifeline and their chance for survival.
Lee Sua, who had become an administrative official for the cult, reported the information she had gathered with a desperate attitude, pointing out various issues.
“Although all the zombies within the city have been eliminated, there are still zombie hordes coming from outside into the city. Additionally, we need security forces to police criminals within the city and troops to liberate the villages on the city’s outskirts.”
“I will form a force composed of Awakened individuals. Mr. Jung Dong-gun, please select personnel who can become soldiers or police officers.”
“Understood, Ms. Yuna.”
Some were desperate to prove their abilities, while others displayed a more relaxed attitude.
Jung Dong-gun, who had previously made a significant impact in the survivor camps, spoke confidently to Choi Yuna with a more composed demeanour than Lee Sua.
The points Jung Dong-gun raised were genuinely necessary, and Choi Yuna nodded, agreeing to support his policy.
While Bahamut’s descent had eliminated the zombie horde within the city, troops were still needed to deal with incoming zombies, maintain internal security, and liberate the nearby villages overrun by zombies.
Above all…
“What about the movements of the survivor camps that did not join us?”
“There is no movement yet. Our staff assumes that they plan to act in response to the Balhut Cult’s actions.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Please continue to monitor their movements closely.”
“Understood.”
There were still survivor camps that did not join the Balhut Cult.
Of course, they declared themselves neutral both internally and externally, and the Balhut Cult had no intention of attacking them unless they initiated hostilities.
Furthermore, there was even an order from Bahamut to resolve issues with them as diplomatically as possible.
Therefore, the only military action the Balhut Cult could take was monitoring.
“Since it will take time to draft new laws, it seems we need temporary laws to apply during the city’s reconstruction.”
The next speaker was Hwang Seung-man, who had taken charge of the Balhut Cult’s legal affairs.
He mentioned that creating legislation suitable for the Zombie Apocalypse era would take time, and thus proposed temporary laws for immediate application.
“Temporary laws, you say?”
“If we were to use the laws from before while the city is being reconstructed, it would inevitably lead to great confusion and many unjust outcomes. Therefore, I intend to abolish all existing laws and apply three temporary laws.”
Hwang Seung-man argued that simply applying South Korea’s laws from before would lead to injustices and chaos.
In reality, actions that were considered serious crimes before the Apocalypse had become common occurrences in the current era.
If they adhered strictly to South Korean law, it would inevitably cause significant turmoil, so he proposed to abolish all previous laws and implement three temporary laws instead.
“The first law is to punish murder as a serious crime. The second is to punish those who harm others as a minor crime. The third is to punish those who steal as a petty crime. Anyone who abides by these three laws will be protected in the name of God Bahamut.”
“Will that be sufficient?”
Hwang Seung-man presented a set of three laws, often referred to as the Three Rules of Law.
In comparison to modern legal standards, it was rudimentary at best.
“Yes, this will suffice for now. These are merely temporary laws to be applied during the city’s reconstruction, and new laws will be established once the reconstruction is complete.”
“Understood. Following Mr. Hwang Seung-man’s suggestion, we will temporarily adopt the three laws. Now, moving on to the next…”
Applying modern laws as they were was impractical, given that the Zombie Apocalypse situation had not yet concluded and was still ongoing.
Although the zombies within Gyeongju had been eradicated, external threats remained, and internally, the focus was on the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project.
Therefore, until the situation was resolved, it was best to keep the laws as simple as possible… or so Hwang Seung-man believed.
“It’s us.”
‘Wow. I can’t believe those two are working together.’
The next to speak were the political and social experts.
In response to Yuna’s words, the two men raised their hands together, and the other officials, watching them stand up, wore expressions as if witnessing a rare sight.
“Han Geunchul here.”
“Park Cheol-gon here.”
These two had different political affiliations, inclinations, and ideologies.
Even the representatives who once fought extreme left-right conflicts before the Zombie Apocalypse now seemed to form a united front, working together for a national cabinet.
Of course, it would be strange to still be divided by ideologies or factional conflicts in the current situation.
However, other officials who were accustomed to the extreme left-right conflicts seen in the media and daily life found it odd that these two were working together to make an announcement.
‘I understand, man….’
They were truly an odd pair.
The two themselves, who were receiving attention, thought the same.
“First, our cult needs positions. We must clearly define the authority and responsibilities for leading others, and we need to restructure the organizational chart.”
“And ranks. The grades within a role, or the types and difficulties of tasks, must be properly distinguished.”
“Lastly, titles. The internal hierarchy of the cult must also be clarified for proper work efficiency.”
Positions. Ranks. Titles.
As they argued that the Balhut Cult needed these three, Choi Yuna made a troubled expression.
‘How should I respond to this?’
She fell into thought about how to answer.
‘The roadmap from Lord Bahamut didn’t include anything like this.’
Before the meeting, Yuna had received a sort of cheat sheet from Bahamut, which helped her hold her own in discussions with those who were considered elites.
However, when the topic of politics… specifically ranks, came up, it diverged greatly from what Bahamut had anticipated, leaving her flustered.
Moreover, Yuna was still a sixteen-year-old girl with no real-world experience.
Her understanding of ranks in society extended only as far as her school teachers.
“…I will leave this matter to Mr. Han Geunchul and Mr. Park Cheol-gon.”
She declared that she would leave the issue to Han Geunchul and Park Cheol-gon.
It was an admission that she couldn’t address the matter herself, so she decided to hand it over to those who seemed like experts.
Yet, she maintained a composed and dignified appearance, akin to the dragon she served, putting on airs before the senior officials.
“Understood.”
“Leave it to us.”
Apparently, those airs were well-received, as the two men smiled slightly and bowed respectfully to Yuna’s decision to delegate the matter to them.
Thanks to their good presentation, they believed they had earned the trust of Choi Yuna, the leader of the Balhut Cult.
Of course…
‘I’ll use this as the first step in my political career within the Balhut Cult.’
They had no dark thoughts of betraying the cult or Yuna.
The dominant force in Gyeongju was clearly the Balhut Cult and their god, Bahamut, and the two politicians believed that their influence would last for quite some time.
‘Certainly, with a dragon on our side, there’s no way we’d lose in a war. This is definitely the path to success!’
These two, wanting both survival and power, hoped that the Balhut Cult would rise to become the leading power of the new Korea.
With Bahamut on their side, they believed they would never lose in any conflict and sought to rise to high positions within the cult, wielding authority.
‘If things go well here, I might even get a chance to become second only to the leader!’
Yes… they were aiming for the position of Prime Minister within the Balhut Cult.
As provincial lawmakers from Gyeongju, with no ties to the central assembly, they harboured ambitions of attaining high ranks.
“How is the reconstruction project progressing?”
Leaving behind the two secretly burning with ambition, Yuna turned to listen to the report from Professor Yoo Soo-sung of the Department of Architecture.
“I will report on the Gyeongju Reconstruction Project. Currently, there are no major issues with the project itself. We are quickly demolishing buildings that have collapsed or have severe odors and repairing usable ones, pushing toward making the city liveable as quickly as possible.”
“With your abilities, how long do you think it will take, Mr. Soo-sung?”
Yoo Soo-sung had awakened as an Awakened and gained skills related to architecture and construction.
His abilities naturally provided bonuses when constructing buildings or making tools.
For example, if an ordinary Awakened could build one building a day, Yoo Soo-sung could do it several times faster and with higher efficiency.
“Even with my abilities, to bring life back to the pre-Apocalypse conditions for the number of people currently registered in the Balhut Cult, it will take at least 20 days. There is a lot to do, from demolishing unusable structures to cleaning up the debris and dust from the demolition.”
Even with such abilities, returning to the previous state of living was a challenging task.
The city was in ruins, and rebuilding it required a lot of manpower.
“Fortunately, the city’s infrastructure, such as electricity and water supply, is intact, so as long as we maintain it properly, we can provide electricity and water within the city. But until then, we will need Bahamut’s help.”
“Lord Bahamut has promised to support the cult as much as possible.”
What offered a glimmer of hope was the fact that the foundational infrastructure of the city was still intact.
If they could restore the infrastructure, then they could return to the pre-disaster way of life…
“However, as for gas and fuel… Although we have managed to recover some supplies from nearby gas stations, if we use them at the pre-disaster level of consumption, they will run out quickly.”
“…This means we need alternative energy sources for gas and fuel.”
Returning to the old ways was far from easy.
Even if they managed to secure water and electricity, the problem remained with the gas for cooking and fuel for vehicles.
There was no way to procure those energy resources in Gyeongju, and if the city’s stockpile ran out, they would no longer be able to use machinery that relied on gas or oil.
“Yes, thanks to Bahamut, we can receive an unlimited supply of purified water and electricity for home appliances and electric vehicles… but as for gas and fuel, even he can’t provide those.”
“I will work on finding a solution as best as I can.”
Realizing the difficulty of securing fuel, Yuna turned her attention to the last official.
“Lastly… Ms. Lee Hyuna.”
“Yes. I am Lee Hyuna, the economic official.”
Unlike her sister with gentle eyes, she had sharp eyes and wore a neat secretary outfit, embodying a professional demeanour.
“I believe that the Balhut Cult needs a currency.”
Lee Hyuna argued that the Balhut Cult required a form of currency for economic activities.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Comment