Chapter 42: Normalization (2) |
An American daily newspaper office.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, Department Head. Hell of a piece I pulled together, right?”
“Scrap it and rewrite it.”
At Department Head Harry’s firm words, Daniel reflexively shot back, “What?”
“What’s missing from it? Isn’t this plenty eye-catching?”
– Savior Person123 Shows His True Colors? Using Nightmare-Difficulty Climbs as Leverage to Blackmail Every Nation on Earth…
Department Head Harry rubbed his forehead and let out a sigh.
“Eye-catching is fine, but not like this, not right now. Listen to me. Don’t even think about running a negative article about Person123. Not a speck.”
“Unless you want your neck and mine rolling off the block together, just go rewrite it.”
Daniel’s eyes went round. Department Head Harry glared, as if his temper had just flared all over again.
“I mean, however clueless you are about how things are going, this kid, you actually want to write crap like this? Huh? About a man who’s saved the world how many times over?”
“Since when did you start caring about a conscience…”
“One more smart remark and someone’s gonna get fired. Get out!”
Once he’d chased Daniel out of his office, Department Head Harry exhaled another long sigh.
It had been the current state of affairs ever since Person123 had made his shocking declaration that he would no longer challenge Floor 4.
Major outlets, minor outlets, all across the American press: eerily, not a single negative line about Person123 was coming out anywhere. And anything that did slip through got buried in no time flat.
Department Head Harry didn’t know the full picture either.
All he’d caught, through something the editor-in-chief had let slip, was roughly: weeellll… the highest figures in political circles, regardless of party, were all of one mind, throwing everything they had into controlling public opinion.
It was strange enough to make him wonder whether there had ever been a case quite like it.
Still, after close to twenty years knocking around the media world, he had a nose for these things.
It wasn’t hard to piece together with a moment’s thought.
Person123 was saying he wouldn’t challenge Floor 4 unless the governments and the Association came to an agreement.
The mere fact that Person123, who all this time had silently done nothing but his Nightmare climbs, had opened his mouth on this issue was unprecedented.
Looked at another way, it could be read to mean that he viewed this whole affair with that much displeasure.
And if, in this situation, someone tried to whip up negative public opinion against Person123?
And if, because of that, he really did end up walking away from the Nightmare climbs?
It would be something no one could handle, and no one could take back.
Waging a PR war against the man who held the lifeline of eight billion human beings was nonsense from the outset.
Agreement? Well, they’d have to, wouldn’t they.
The very fact that they were taking this much care to keep loose talk from leaking into the news was proof they’d already arrived at that conclusion.
They had to wrap this whole mess up carefully, without provoking Person123, and they couldn’t afford for the mood to shift.
Things were likely much the same over at the Climber Association.
Both sides had been digging in their heels for so long that they’d probably dress it up nicely and tie the bow with everyone’s face intact.
From the government’s standpoint, wasn’t this actually a small relief?
At least Person123, Climber though he was, hadn’t come out siding with the Association.
“…Terrifying, really.”
Department Head Harry muttered as he sank deep into his chair.
One cough from Person123 and every one of those figures at the top was scrambling, holding their breath.
He felt it anew. Exactly who it was holding up this present world, all on his own.
*
After Person123 posted on the Communication Channel, the Channel itself exploded as well.
[Tyrannosaurus: Wait, hold up, is this actually happening?]
[Hanata: What are you saying, Person123… why are you doing this, it’s scary]
[Jobless: Person123 is legit pissed af, yikes]
[Windmill: No joke, this is serious. Has Person123 ever spoken up this aggressively before?]
[Counting Numbers: Aggressive or not, he’s barely ever said anything at all. This is unprecedented.]
Over the past several years, setting aside his informational posts, the times he’d actually written anything could be counted on one hand.
And this was the first time he’d ever stuck his hand into anything political.
[Goldfish: Honestly both sides need to give it a rest. How long are they planning to fight?]
[Trace of Radiance: But honestly shouldn’t Person123 be siding with the Climbers…? Is neutral really the right call?]
[Li Yan: Kinda disappointed. He’s an Unregistered Climber himself and this is how he plays it?]
A handful of Climbers on the Channel did voice complaints against Person123, but:
[Galaxy: These bastards are actually out here shit-talking Person123 now. Have they lost their minds?]
[Ruby: Did y’all forget whose ass you can thank for still breathing right now?]
[Conviction: Person123 stepped up at the right time. The Channel’s been a dumpster fire lately anyway]
Swept away by the overwhelming tide of defense, they vanished almost at once.
Who was qualified to curse out a man who had already saved humanity three separate times?
The Association had been the ones manipulating opinion on the Channel all along, so they in particular had been quick to rally favorable sentiment.
Because the Association too wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath if the mood tilted into censuring Person123.
“Person123 really laid down the hammer, I hear? Told the government and the Association to hurry up and settle.”
“They’ve been at each other’s throats for so long, Person123’s had to step in himself.”
“…But surely, if they can’t agree, he wouldn’t actually skip Floor 4, would he?”
Those who had sided with the government, and those who hadn’t paid much mind to the affair, now all turned their attention to how it would play out.
On this side too, those cursing or criticizing Person123 made up only a sliver of opinion.
A man who had been doing Nightmare climbs without asking for anything in return, saving humanity in real time.
Political issue or not, Person123 was not the kind of figure anyone could dare say “who the hell are you to butt in?” to. Everything he had done and achieved up to this point made that unthinkable.
And it wasn’t as if he had simply taken the Climbers’ side because he was a Climber himself.
He had only stepped forward out of public interest, to break up the fight between the governments and the Association. Even if the threat he had tacked on was a touch terrifying.
Anxiety and fear also gnawed at people: what if he really didn’t challenge Floor 4?
And so there was only one direction left for the arrows to fly.
“Hurry up and settle it! How long are you going to drag this out?”
“People are going to die because of you!”
As public opinion condemning the governments and the Association swelled at a rapid clip, articles began appearing as if on cue.
– US Government in Active Talks with Association…
At a discreet meeting in Washington.
The President of the Climber Association and the White House Chief of Staff sat across from one another, wrapping up a long conversation. It was the pre-alignment before the official negotiations.
“…So then, it’s settled: we accept up to Mandatory Registration, and no further.”
“Just keep the noise down. You’ve whipped the Climbers into a frenzy, after all.”
“Oh please, that goes for both of us, doesn’t it?”
Setting aside the substance of the negotiations, both sides had gotten something out of this affair.
The government had been able to confirm Person123’s stance.
That he, a Climber, had professed neutrality rather than siding with the Climbers was at least a small blessing for the government. Had he openly backed the Climbers… the thought alone was horrifying.
For the Association’s part, too, this kind of resolution was a fairly satisfying knot to tie.
Person123 may have claimed neutrality, but at the end of the day he was a Climber himself.
His threat not to climb the Tower had, in its own quiet way, branded into people’s minds exactly who held the hilt of the sword between Climbers and governments. From now on, the governments would never dare to casually stir up the Climbers.
Each with his own thoughts, they exchanged a polite handshake and parted ways.
*
After I posted, the Communication Channel and the media went into an uproar, as expected.
Honestly, it didn’t sit well with me.
At the end of the day, what I was doing amounted to blackmail with people’s lives in my hands.
Sure, I had no intention of actually refusing to climb the Tower, but the fear my words were going to stir up in people was real.
Which is to say: quit the damn bickering already and sort it out.
But what if I’d gone this far and it still didn’t make a dent? That was the worry.
Fortunately, though, the medicine seemed to be doing its job.
[Chicken Sandwich: Word is, negotiations between the two sides are already underway beneath the surface. This is intel from inside the White House, so it might be worth sitting tight and watching a little longer.]
Bilon passed along that the agreement wouldn’t take long.
From what I heard, the Association would accept Mandatory Registration and only that, and it would wrap up from there.
“Good.”
What surprised me was that there was hardly any negative news or articles about me to be found anywhere.
I’d figured I’d catch at least some flak. Strange.
There was something else stranger still.
Actually, maybe “baffling” was the better word than “strange.”
Yesterday, while I was out walking, I saw a handful of people on the street holding picket signs and staging a protest.
“The Climber Association and the governments must wake up and, in accordance with His will, reach an agreement at once!”
“It is the revelation of our Savior, Person123! Settle the deal!”
…A protest, of all things, being staged by members of the Person123 Church.
I’d gotten the general idea from the news.
Lately there had been cultish religions cropping up worshipping me… was “cult” the right word, or what was I supposed to call it?
Anyway, religions like that had apparently been springing up all over the place.
The Person123 Church was said to be the flagship among them, growing faster in scale than any other in the world.
“Noona?”
The baffling part was that a face I knew was among the protesters.
“Huh? Seo-hyeon?”
“…What are you doing here?”
Jiu noona, a senior I’d been fairly close with back in my university days.
Running into her again like this, in a context I never could have imagined, left me dumbstruck.
I’d thought she was the last kind of person to get tangled up in something like this. What on earth could have happened?
“Oh, oh, this isn’t anything weird! You know about the Person123 Church too, right?”
When we spared a moment to talk, noona launched eagerly into an explanation of the religion.
“So basically, Person123 is humanity’s savior, and we just faithfully believe in Him and follow Him.”
“I mean… isn’t that pretty much what a cult is…”
“Hey! Watch your mouth! He’s actually out there saving the world!”
“Ah, yes, right.”
“You, me, every single one of us is getting through today safely thanks to His devotion. Right? How can it be a cult when we’re believing in someone who actually exists?”
And then she tried to rope me into joining.
“It’s really nothing weird, and everyone who joins is honestly just a good person, okay? Don’t think of it as all that religious, just think of it as a group that believes in and cheers Him on.”
“Ah, no, I’m good, thanks.”
“Aww, well, if you ever change your mind later, feel free to reach out!”
It was weird enough that a religion worshipping me existed, and now someone I actually knew was calling herself one of the faithful. How was I even supposed to put a name to that feeling?
At any rate, that sort of thing had happened too.
– The US Government and the Climber Association have reached a dramatic agreement. Through genuine dialogue, the two sides have reportedly been able to narrow their differences…
Just as Bilon had said, the fight between the governments and the Association finally seemed to be winding down.
Starting with the US government, the governments of other countries that had been at odds with the Association ended their standoffs one after another.
And so, thankfully, everything seemed to be coming to a tidy close.
Of course, the fundamental problem was one nothing could do anything about.
At minimum, tens of thousands every year.
With every single floor of Nightmare I cleared, the Climbers who refused to climb the Tower would have to keep on dying. Or else turn into monsters.
That was the reality, and it would not change.
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