Chapter 173 – Brainwashing (2)

Once we found the culprit, the rest was not difficult.

We started by freeing the President from the brainwashing, and once the President regained his senses, he called in the others who had been brainwashed, and we freed them as well.

From the ministers to the now-figurehead Chief of Staff.

After freeing those who had been brainwashed, our party, along with Representative Yang and the “Jeju Defense Commander,” gathered in the State Council Room next to the President’s office to hear the story from the President’s son, who had initiated the brainwashing.

“When I came to Jeju, everyone was only looking out for themselves, not listening to my father. But then I gained this power, and I thought it was my duty to save this country.”

Contrary to expectations, the mastermind behind the brainwashing was an ordinary young man.

He seemed like the spoiled son of a wealthy family from a previous life, someone who had never known hardship and thought he was the master of the world. With a somber expression, he obediently explained what had happened.

“At first, I used my ability on the Chief of Staff, who opposed my father at every turn. I told him not to oppose my father, the President. Fortunately, no one noticed, and as my power grew, I used it on one more person at a time.”

“Damn it.”

Those who had been brainwashed glared at him.

At that moment, Representative Yang, who was still in the meeting room, asked him, “But why didn’t you use it on us?”

The young man bowed his head and replied, “M-my ability was limited to five people at first. I could only use it on someone else if one of the existing targets died, but I couldn’t kill anyone… Recently, I managed to increase it to six, and I was trying to decide who to use it on next.”

It seemed I had suddenly become the sixth target.

Still, the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to kill anyone to free up a slot for a new target suggested that, for an Awakened with brainwashing abilities, he wasn’t a completely evil villain.

Rather, he seemed like an arrogant child who believed only he could save the country.

“My God…”

The President looked at his son with a hollow expression. After being freed from the brainwashing, the President seemed to have aged ten years.

“So, you tried and it didn’t work out?”

In response to the President’s question, the son nodded.

“At first, I thought I could do much better, but it didn’t go as planned. So I waited, hoping my power would grow stronger…”

At the young man’s words, all the politicians in the room clicked their tongues.

They were all politicians who were often criticized by the public, but they still took pride in their work and profession.

The young man’s actions must have seemed pitiful to them.

Of course, from my perspective, there wasn’t much difference between them.

The politicians who fled to Jeju as soon as the zombie outbreak began, and the young man who brainwashed people because he was disgusted by their infighting.

It was hard to say who was worse.

As I watched them with disdain, the people continued their conversation.

“Even if you had good intentions, you made a huge mistake. It’s a mistake you’ll never be able to atone for, even if you spend your whole life trying.”

“Yes, I know.”

The father scolded the son, and the son apologized with tears in his eyes. The ministers began exchanging glances with the President.

“First, I will take responsibility and step down.”

“Father!”

“That’s the right thing to do. Your mistake is that big.”

At the President’s decisive words, the son cried out in despair, and about half of the ministers tilted their heads, deep in thought.

“If the President has made that decision…”

Moreover, one of the ministers, who had always been on the President’s side, already seemed to have forgiven the son.

However, the old Chief of Staff interrupted their conversation.

“That’s not enough. I don’t want to be brainwashed again.”

At his words, most of the ministers nodded with stern expressions.

It seemed they weren’t so much concerned about holding someone accountable for the mistake as they were worried about being brainwashed again.

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. Once someone has been affected by my ability, they can’t be affected again. My father couldn’t, and neither could any of you.”

In response to the Chief of Staff’s concern, the President’s son quickly explained his ability.

Hearing this, the ministers who had been opposing the Chief of Staff subtly changed their expressions.

“In that case…”

Amusingly, one of the ministers glanced at Representative Yang and the self-proclaimed “Jeju Defense Commander.”

Could it be that they were hoping to brainwash those two?

As I watched them continue their conversation, one of the ministers sighed.

The Foreign Minister, Minister Yang, spoke up.

“We can’t make this public, so we can’t hold a trial, but given his abilities, it might be best to lock him up in a prison without guards.”

It seemed I hadn’t misjudged him.

In this situation, his words, though naive, were at least somewhat reasonable.

However, his reasonable words were quickly buried under a pile of garbage.

“Hmm, hmm, considering what he did to us, Minister Yang is right, we should lock him up…”

“But in this crisis, don’t we need every Awakened we can get?”

“It’s a serious mistake, but he’s just a young man trying to save the country. Shouldn’t we give him a chance to atone for his mistakes with his own hands?”

Just moments ago, those who had been glaring at the President’s son now defended him after hearing that they were safe from further brainwashing.

The ministers and even the Chief of Staff.

They directed their words at the Foreign Minister, and upon hearing them, Representative Yang spoke with a stern expression.

“Is that atonement supposed to mean brainwashing us?”

“No, you heard him. Once you’ve been brainwashed and freed, you can’t be brainwashed again. And since we have someone here who can undo the brainwashing, you two don’t need to worry.”

At Representative Yang’s words, the Minister of Culture, as if he had found a great solution, spoke up with a bright face.

“Is that so?”

Amusingly, the “Jeju Defense Commander” seemed to be tempted by the idea.

Fortunately, Representative Yang didn’t accept it.

“No, I can’t accept that. Brainwashing people? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

“No, think about it. This is the world we live in now. Outside of Jeju, people are enslaving others, selling their own children for food. In such a world, using a little power to maintain order is justifiable.”

“If we manage it strictly, it will be for the sake of this country, South Korea.”

“Hahahaha.”

I finally burst out laughing.

For the sake of the country?

At my laughter, the people frowned and looked at me.

“For the sake of the country… Then what was the deal with preparing the escape plane?”

I asked the people looking at me.

“That was…”

“Do you all remember? Why did you order the American plane to be held?”

“That was… in case the situation got worse, so my family and acquaintances could escape…”

“Ahem. Ahem.”

The guy who reflexively answered my question stopped speaking at his father’s cough.

I looked around the room.

As I looked at them, some people met my gaze with unpleasant expressions, while others subtly avoided eye contact.

Only the Foreign Minister bowed his head and sighed, and Representative Yang shook his head in disbelief.

I couldn’t help but sigh.

They say that out of five people, one is bound to be trash, but with politicians, it seems to be the opposite.

The people before me were political monsters who calculated even their own suffering for political gain and sought profit from it.

I no longer felt the need to engage with them.

That said, I didn’t need to kill the President’s son either.

If I wasn’t going to kill the others, there was no point in harboring unnecessary resentment.

Of course, I had no intention of releasing him, nor was there any reason to keep him in a precarious prison.

I placed my hand on the young man’s bowed head.

He looked up at me with startled eyes, his face still bearing traces of youth.

*Whoosh.*

I pushed mana into his head.

As the mana surged in, he grimaced and trembled.

“Ugh… please… spare me.”

“What… what are you doing!”

At his son’s scream, the President jumped up, but I raised my other hand to stop him.

“Stay still. I’m not going to kill him.”

If I wanted to kill him, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.

The President stopped, and as the people watched in shock, my mana tore through the young man’s mind.

If he had mana circuits in his body, he might have been able to block my mana, but as a simple Awakened, he couldn’t resist.

*Crack, crack, crack.*

One by one, I destroyed the mana in his brain, shattering the virtual organs that generated mana.

A clean mind.

Now, there was no mana left in the young man’s head.

When I removed my hand, he looked at me in shock.

He must have realized it immediately.

“…What is this?”

“I made it so you can’t use mana anymore. You won’t be able to use your abilities again.”

I explained to him in a kind tone.

Since he was Awakened, he would still be stronger and more athletic than an ordinary person, but without mana, he wouldn’t be able to use his abilities.

He was now just a slightly stronger ordinary person.

Instead of the stunned young man, his father shouted at me.

“What… what have you done!”

“He tried to brainwash me. You should be grateful I didn’t kill him.”

“But…”

Though I wasn’t brainwashed, I was still a victim.

Under different circumstances, I would have killed him immediately, but this time, I only took away his abilities.

Partly because he still had family, but also because I was curious about what would happen to a brainwasher who lost his powers.

In this room were the victims of his brainwashing.

For political reasons, they had held back, but there was no way they would let the brainwasher go unpunished.

Even now, they were looking at the President and his son with cold eyes.

Moreover, the story of government officials being brainwashed by the President’s son wouldn’t stay hidden.

After seeing the Foreign Minister, who had been brainwashed, along with Representative Yang and the general, many people wouldn’t keep it quiet.

They would spread the rumors.

In the end, the existing government would inevitably collapse.

And what would happen after that?

Would Representative Yang seize power, or would the general take control, or would they join hands to form a new government?

There were many possibilities, but I wasn’t interested.

I had reunited with the people of Busan and resolved my curiosity, so now it was time to return to Daejeon.

Now, all I had to do was rest and wait for the hero’s party to defeat the Demon King.