Chapter 139 - Rapidly Changing Situation
[BREAKING NEWS. Brazil has collapsed! The President, Vice President, and all high-ranking government officials are reported dead, while the Brazilian Association and heroes have been neutralized, and the capital and major cities have been completely destroyed.]
[ADDITIONAL NEWS. A massive fire has broken out in Brazil's Amazon rainforest with no signs of being extinguished. Neighboring South American countries have all declared states of emergency, and survivors are reportedly fleeing as refugees.]
A nation had fallen at the hands of ability users.
This event began sending shockwaves throughout the international community.
[Governments worldwide are declaring states of emergency, creating tension across the international community. The Republic of Korea has also declared a state of emergency...]
[The United Nations and the International Hero Association Oversight Committee have issued a joint statement calling the Brazil incident "a shocking and horrific crime against humanity" and announced they "will take all necessary measures to resolve the situation." They added that they will devote all resources to investigating the truth and eliminating the villains in cooperation with Association heroes.]
[The United States has also described this incident as a "Horrible Disaster" and apologized for not being able to help as a member of the international community, announcing they will immediately dispatch heroes from their national association to help resolve the situation. Currently, tens of thousands of refugees are still evacuating from Brazil, and the Amazon region continues to burn fiercely.]
[The International Hero Association and the United States have released their initial investigation results. According to the report published by UHN, Brazil's destruction was caused by foreign S-class villains who apparently planned this attack after the Brazilian government refused to give in to their threats.]
[These individuals have been assessed to be among the highest tier of S-class villains. Brazil was considered a minor hero nation with only one A-class hero as their strongest, and had few high-level heroes relative to its population.]
[The United States Association has confirmed they will send two S-class heroes and five A-class heroes to track down the perpetrators, resolve the situation, and provide aid. This represents a significant expenditure and is considered unprecedented for the US Association, which is extremely reluctant to send its heroes abroad. This is interpreted as an indication that North America is taking this incident very seriously...]
[Reports from local media this morning confirm that three of the four criminals who destroyed Brazil have been successfully eliminated. One is reportedly still at large.]
[The Amazon fire has finally been extinguished! Local media reports that the US S-class hero Watermel put it out.]
[Citizens worldwide have started a #pray4brazil movement. Along with the hashtag, there are messages of support for Brazil and news of relief supplies and donations... In our country, Yu-seong Corporation is reported to have joined this effort.]
[Twenty-seven national branches of the World Hero Association have gathered to issue a statement condemning the US Hero Association. The statement essentially claims that "despite having overwhelming paranormal ability user forces in the world, the United States made no effort to help Brazil, its immediate southern neighbor, resulting in Brazil's collapse. The US must take responsibility for this."]
[In response to this emergence of accountability claims suggesting that America's typically defensive stance regarding the deployment of their heroes abroad caused them to miss an opportunity to prevent Brazil's collapse, the US Association is strongly pushing back, calling these claims "nonsense."]
***
It was a chaotic era.
To the extent that events happening on the opposite side of the globe significantly affected our small country in the East.
[The stock market continues to plummet daily. With the international community frozen, experts predict extremely difficult times ahead. Our government is doing its best by immediately lowering interest rates and establishing currency swap agreements with various countries.]
[The Korean Paranormal Ability Association is entering a 24-hour emergency meeting. This meeting, attended by the Director, three A-class heroes, and all B-class heroes, was called due to the frequent occurrence of terror attacks caused by the recent amplification of anxiety...]
[Paranormal ability user regulation bills are emerging, centered around South American countries. Unlike existing measures, these propose mandatory screening of all citizens to forcibly identify paranormal ability holders, with extreme proposals suggesting imprisonment for non-compliance.]
"How can an entire country collapse so meaninglessly like that..."
Choi Se-hee muttered in disbelief as she watched the news.
These days, turning on the TV meant nothing but news and breaking reports. The internet was no different. Brazil, territory unrecoverable, and so on.
The reason for all this commotion was that this was the first time in international society that villains had successfully overthrown an entire nation.
So it wasn't strange that the internet was in chaos.
If our country, far removed from Brazil, was talking about this all day, what about other South American countries or the United States that were right next to it? They were completely turned upside down.
"Oppa, there's so much information that I can't tell what's what. What exactly happened?"
Seo-eun, who was looking at her laptop, asked me with a confused expression.
"Well, to explain it simply. Super strong villains destroyed all the government heroes, burned down forests, and demolished cities."
"That doesn't make sense... Just a few villains did all that?"
"...Well."
To be honest, I don't know the details either.
In the original story, this was briefly mentioned as "while Stardust was wandering, this happened in the world" and then moved on.
What's certain is that from this point forward, not just Korea but the international community starts to go crazy.
The power balance begins to break down, and increasingly powerful villains start to emerge.
Anyway, although Brazil's territory was destroyed, people are still alive, so they'll somehow manage by establishing a new government.
The important thing is:
Starting with this incident, international-scale terrorism will become increasingly frequent.
Until now, national heroes only had to deal with their own country's villains, but now they must also prevent invasions from villains of other countries. In a way, this could be seen as a problem of globalization.
"So, from now on, international-scale terrorism will gradually increase."
And we have to stop it.
I swallowed those last words.
I'm still hesitant to say this much. I've never openly shared my plans with others, and I don't want them to feel unnecessarily responsible.
Honestly, it's kind of funny that villain alliances are doing this. Discipline might become lax. Actually, it's already lax, but still.
Still, seeing everyone looking at the TV with worried eyes, I felt that I should try to prevent some of this myself.
...Honestly, we can't let things proceed exactly as in the original story where Yu-yeol becomes a broken character. If we continue on this path, our country is also destined for destruction like Brazil.
In other words, among the many international villain alliances that will start competing for power, Ego-stream's role will become increasingly important.
The world will become chaotic, and ultimately what matters is power and information.
Which country has more powerful ability users, and how the relationships between different villain alliances develop can significantly change the international situation.
I think it was Latis, an underwater terrorist organization, that conducted simultaneous attacks on oceans worldwide.
By the way, the reason they're called an underwater terrorist organization is simply because their headquarters is actually built somewhere deep in the ocean.
Ah, I'll have to prepare for this slowly.
I started thinking about it gradually.
How should I approach this...
And as I was pondering these things,
Time truly flew by like an arrow.
***
[A provisional government has been established in Brazil. This interim government, which has made territorial recovery its primary goal, has expressed its determination to run the country from scratch. People around the world are sending messages of support...]
"Phew... It seems the situation is finally settling down."
The Director wiped the sweat from his forehead as he muttered.
The Brazil crisis that lasted for weeks.
Finally, the last villain who destroyed Brazil was eliminated by the United States, and a new Brazilian government was established.
The situation had entered a phase of relative calm.
"That's a relief. Now we can finally get some sleep. But Icicle... what are you doing?"
"Just a moment. I need to buy more stocks before the market crash ends."
"...You're certainly busy buying."
As Lee Seol-ah had made significant contributions as the head of a major corporation by connecting other countries, companies, and governments, Shadow Walker decided to just nod and understand whatever she was doing.
Ignoring Lee Seol-ah, who was fixated on the fire sale of foreign companies, Shadow Walker spoke to Stardust.
"Stardust, why don't you get some rest too? You've barely slept lately."
"Huh? Oh... I should."
Shin Ha-ru, sitting with tired eyes, quietly nodded.
Due to the fear spreading nationwide from the Brazil incident, security had become quite unstable, forcing many heroes including Stardust to work overnight shifts.
However, now that the situation had officially calmed down somewhat, and prices and public safety were gradually stabilizing, it was natural that this emergency standby would be disbanded.
The Director was crying tears of joy about returning to normal life, Lee Seol-ah was muttering about buying everything while smiling, and Shadow Walker had already closed his eyes and started sleeping peacefully in his chair.
Amidst the relaxed atmosphere in the Association meeting room, only Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, felt a sense of unease.
...Something bigger seems to be coming.
Though she wasn't sure what it was, something that would directly affect them.