Violent incidents filled the newspaper pages.
Because of Ascend, Chinese society was changing rapidly.
China had already been selfish enough, but now it had crossed that line.
In China, there is a saying: shì bù guān jǐ (事不關己).
It means not caring about things that have nothing to do with you.
Even if someone collapses on the street.
Even if someone is in danger,
even if someone needs help, people do not step forward.
In China, more than a few people have suffered after helping someone, only to be turned into the perpetrator instead.
They helped a fallen old person up and took them to the hospital, only to be sued under the logic of, “This person knocked me down,” and had money taken from them.
The logic was that if they hadn’t been the one to knock the person down, they would never have brought them to the hospital.
There had been more than one or two such incidents.
Good people who tried to help others were instead branded perpetrators and forced to pay compensation, and some who could not endure the stress even ended their own lives.
Perhaps that was why people did not concern themselves with others’ affairs.
As long as it isn’t me.
As long as I’m fine, it doesn’t matter what happens to anyone else—that culture had taken deep root.
But Ascend changed that.
Now it had changed into “Only I am right.”
Only I was correct, right, valid, reasonable, and justified.
For people who had taken Ascend and were immersed in the perfect world unfolding inside their heads, there was no room for anyone else to enter.
They had no room to accept other people’s opinions.
Nor did they want to.
Saying that only I am right means that everyone else is wrong.
But the same was true for the other party.
They would continue repeating only their own opinions instead of having a conversation, and when that did not work, they would belittle the other person and curse at them.
If even that did not satisfy them, they would resort to violence.
The answer to this world was themselves.
Everyone except themselves was the wrong answer.
In companies, on roads, and in schools, it had become common to see people pointing fingers at one another and raising their voices.
Fights were breaking out everywhere.
But shì bù guān jǐ.
Many Chinese people still had no interest in those fights.
Whether they fought or not, if it did not harm them, it had nothing to do with them.
It was something completely unrelated to themselves.
******
I went to Unity Town.
I reflect on myself.
It was my first visit.
I was the one who said we should build it, so I did feel a bit sorry for only coming now.
I had only received reports.
It was a cowardly excuse, but honestly, I had been busy.
Because of Ascend, I had to keep going back and forth to China, and I had to check on the factory as well.
Maybe because I had been paying so much attention to it, I had no room to look around anywhere else.
I had no time, but more than anything, I had no peace of mind.
It felt like I was constantly being chased, like I had a heavy burden sitting on my heart.
I couldn’t even think about doing anything else.
But now I had gained a little breathing room, and thanks to that, I was able to come to Unity Town.
Unity Town was not an entirely new village built from scratch.
We had simply moved people into an empty place where no one had been living.
We built a factory, and around it, we placed residential containers where people could live.
We had not brought people here to make them live in containers.
We planned to provide proper housing.
It was just that the town construction had started so suddenly, as if roasting beans over a lightning fire, before anyone knew it.
The factory had been built, but there was nowhere for people to live.
We were putting up apartments, but that took time.
So we had no choice but to temporarily bring in containers.
Even so, they said this was far better than the houses they had been living in.
They said they had lived among garbage.
They said they had only blocked the wind with wooden boards.
They said they were so happy to be given such a good home.
They were grateful.
Unity Town was a kind of new city.
First of all, the roads had been designed systematically.
Since there was a factory, roads were necessary.
There were nicely paved asphalt roads.
And the districts were divided around those roads.
We built a school, a library, parks, and playgrounds.
We operated a childcare center where mothers could safely leave their children when they went to work.
A hospital that sick children could use opened as well.
We also made a vocational training center for children who had no interest in studying.
We made a vocational training center for mothers too, so that mothers could learn skills other than factory work.
We built a plaza and a community center where people could gather.
They needed many things.
They needed education, food, clothing, and shelter, but more than anything, they needed comfort and consolation.
They needed people they could talk to, people who would empathize with them, people to whom they could confide their pain.
They needed people they could endure and live alongside.
There were many such people in Unity Town.
They gathered at the community center, shared their own stories, and listened to the lives of others.
It felt as though the knots in their hearts were being healed, if only a little.
The mere fact that they were in the same space as me, in similar circumstances, was comforting.
Maybe ten years later it would be different, but right now, Unity Town had overwhelmingly many young children and mothers.
We had to make a city for children and mothers.
We had to make it a city where they could live comfortably.
We had to build a city where children could run around and play comfortably, learn, and gain experiences.
We had to build a safe city.
The rebel army agreed to protect the city’s safety.
They agreed to patrol regularly and protect the town from outside threats.
If there was work that required strength, or if help was needed, they did not hesitate to lend a hand.
The rebel army was close to being Unity Town’s heroes.
Whenever something happened to someone, anywhere, they would always appear.
I was surprised when I saw Unity Town.
It was far better organized than I had expected, clean, and full of energy.
The atmosphere was good.
“It’s much better than I thought. I’m surprised.”
“Patrick put a lot of care into it. Daeyeon Development also started construction here first.”
Simon answered beside me.
“Is anything difficult?”
“No. If anything, it’s rewarding. This is unexpectedly fun too.”
“Keep paying attention to it.”
“Sure. Got it.”
I visited the school with Simon.
I wanted to take a look around the school and fill in anything that was lacking.
Unfortunately, all I had was Ascend and money.
Since I could not give Ascend to the children, I wanted to make up for my guilt with money at least.
The school was heated with the students’ passion for learning.
They really studied without lifting their heads even once.
“What is this? Why are they working so hard? Were there this many kids interested in studying?”
“Well… there are a few reasons.”
“What are they?”
“The rebel army walks around here, patrolling and protecting the place.”
“Right. I told them to prepare for any possible danger.”
“I guess the kids thought the rebel army was cool. Around here, they’re practically heroes. The kids said they wanted to join the rebel army too.”
“That won’t do. They’re too young.”
“Of course. So we didn’t accept them.”
“And?”
“They kept asking. How they could join the rebel army. On top of that, I think they found out that if you join the rebel army, you get insurance and a salary. After that, even more people wanted to join.”
“So you told them they had to study well to join the rebel army?”
“Something like that. We said there would be a test, and that the test would mainly cover what they learned at school. And that they’d have to be at least eighteen before they could take it.”
“So that’s why they’re studying so hard? Because they want to become rebels?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a bit bewildering. But you did well. You handled it well. You’re very dependable, Simon.”
“When I looked at the children and thought about how I wanted them to grow up well, the answer came pretty quickly.”
It was reassuring.
That there were people like this beside me.
That there were adults beside them who worried about the children’s future made me feel secure.
I thought it had been a good decision to create Unity Town.
“And this is something I heard from the schoolteachers, but apparently there are quite a few kids who are actually studying. They started studying because of the rebel army, but once they tried it, some of them turned out to be suited for academics.”
“Really? That’s good. If they want to, let them study more. Send them abroad to study too.”
“But do you know what their dream is?”
“What is it?”
“To work for Unity Town. They say they like this place so much. That they’re grateful. They want to live here for the rest of their lives, work here, and work for the development of Unity Town.”
“It’d be nice if they grew up like that.”
“And because of that, a lot of people ask who made this place. So right now, I’m compiling a critical biography of your life, Alex—”
“Don’t!!!”
“But at least letting them know who made this place…”
“I said don’t. Absolutely don’t. No matter what happens, don’t. Just don’t do anything.”
“……”
“Good. Don’t do anything like that.”
Simon did not create a critical biography about Alex.
However, anecdotes about Alex spread by word of mouth, not as a biography.
The stories that spread not through writing but through people’s mouths gained flesh with every person they passed through, swelling and becoming exaggerated.
Before long, Alex had become a myth.
More and more children in Unity Town wanted to work for Alex.
They wanted to create a myth together.
.
.
.
“But why is it so hot in here? Isn’t the air conditioner on?”
While looking around the school, that thought suddenly occurred to me.
It was too hot here.
If it was this hot, it couldn’t be easy to concentrate.
But Simon answered as if it were only natural that it was not on.
“Air conditioner? How could we turn on the air conditioner at school?”
“Why can’t you? They turn it on at hotels, they turn it on at resorts, everyone turns it on. This place should turn it on too. Do you not have air conditioners? Should I buy them?”
“The air conditioner isn’t the problem.”
“Then?”
“The problem is the electricity bill.”
“The electricity bill? What about it?”
“The electricity rates here are almost twice as expensive as in Korea. Considering prices in the Philippines, they’re extremely high. So most households can’t even dream of air conditioning. It’s the same for schools and government offices.”
“Seriously? They can’t run air conditioners because of the electricity bill?”
I hadn’t known.
That electricity rates in the Philippines were this expensive.
I would have had to pay an electricity bill to know.
I had only lived in hotels.
In hotels, the air conditioning ran well twenty-four hours a day.
I had never even thought about it.
It was absurd, but on the other hand, I could understand.
They had never even turned on air conditioners because of the expensive electricity bills.
So they might not even have been able to imagine turning on air conditioners at school when they did not normally turn them on at all.
“Isn’t there some school discount? Or can’t we just pay it even if it’s a little expensive?”
“We brought it up carefully too, but apparently it won’t work. They said they don’t have any margin either.”
“Who?”
“The Zamboanga Electric Company. It’s a kind of cooperative. They said they just receive electricity from outside and distribute it, so they don’t have anything left over either.”
Heh heh heh.
They don’t have anything left over?
You believe that?
If that were true, they wouldn’t be running an electric company.
They would have sold it off.
When I sold Ascend, my margin was over a hundred times the cost too,
but every time, I would spout bullshit like, “The production cost is too high. Labor costs a lot. The facilities are expensive.”
They were just whining for no reason.
Now that I thought about it, buying an electric company seemed like it would have many benefits.
These days, there were too many kinds of home appliances.
Everything ran on electricity.
Phones, computers, air conditioners, even refrigerators and washing machines all used electricity.
The problem was not air conditioners, but electricity.
I wanted the people of Unity Town to be freed somewhat from housework through home appliances, and to have the chance to experience new appliances.
I did not want such a precious opportunity to be lost simply because of electricity bills.
I considered creating a small-scale electrical system for Unity Town, but that did not seem like a good idea.
If we added the cost of building the system to the costs incurred during production, it would likely be far too inefficient.
And unless we built an eco-friendly power plant, maintenance costs would continue piling up, and the tail might end up wagging the dog.
But if we bought an electric company?
We might be able to supply electricity at a low price.
We just had to lower profits.
Maybe it would not work.
The costs might already be too high, making it impossible to lower prices.
If it didn’t work, then I would simply own an electric company.
At the very least, wouldn’t we be able to prevent electricity rates from rising to some extent?
Once my thoughts reached that point, there was no need to agonize over it.
I had money, and more than anything, I had one supreme negotiator who was excellent at negotiations.
The best negotiator, someone who had never gone anywhere and come back fleeced.
I called him.
“Sandro~ What are you doing? Want to go buy an electric company with me?”
******
A container port near Zamboanga.
In an empty lot in one corner of the port, an enormous number of containers were stacked.
Despite being an empty lot, security was fairly tight.
There was barbed wire, and there were people standing guard.
And Sin Junggi was standing in front of those containers.
Creeeak.
When the container doors opened, the inside was packed full of weapons received from China.
Looking at those weapons, Sin Junggi wore a strange smile.
.
.
.
What annoyed Sin Junggi the most while working at ADD was the regulations.
Honestly, they were making weapons for the purpose of killing people, yet apparently the weapons couldn’t be too cruel.
When he first heard that, Sin Junggi thought about it for a long while.
He couldn’t understand it.
Were they saying it was fine to kill people, but not to make it hurt?
Then wouldn’t it be better to make an even stronger weapon that could kill everyone?
But they said stronger weapons weren’t allowed either.
They said the goal was to make weapons that could precisely strike designated targets.
What kind of bullshit was that?
If that was what they wanted, they should stop making weapons and just meet up to have an argument or something.
That was why he’d transferred to the radar development department instead of weapons development.
He had no confidence in making safe and humane weapons.
It wasn’t as if they were talking about a hot iced Americano.
But here, there were no such restrictions.
No restrictions whatsoever.
For arms dealers, killing power was the right answer.
Everyone wanted stronger weapons.
It didn’t matter if the safety mechanisms were a little lacking.
As long as they were powerful.
The very first thing Sin Junggi did was increase the size of gun magazines.
Honestly, when he watched movies, it was strange how people stopped shooting because they had to change magazines.
All they had to do was make the magazine longer and put in more bullets.
It was strange that they didn’t do something that simple, as if they didn’t know how.
Of course, there were a few minor inconveniences.
The weight increased, and the center of gravity shifted, making the weapon slightly awkward to handle.
Since it was longer, it got in the way a bit when moving around.
Apparently, some people had been injured because they couldn’t fire in time because of that,
but that was something the users had to endure and overcome, and it had nothing to do with Sin Junggi.
And unexpectedly, the long magazines received favorable reviews.
Orders kept coming in.
Emboldened by this, Sin Junggi wanted to improve even more weapons.
But there weren’t enough weapons.
Rifles, pistols, and bullets were truly easy to obtain.
Even grenades could somehow be procured, but once you went beyond that, it wasn’t easy.
Even something on the level of a rocket launcher was difficult to get.
Except, of course, for the RPG-7, known as the Allabong.
But an enormous quantity and variety of weapons had come in from China.
They had even said distribution would proceed smoothly.
That meant he would be able to keep receiving weapons.
Dennis had already gone on a business trip for door-to-door sales, and Sin Junggi was taking the weapons apart, researching how to modify them so they could inflict damage on even more enemies.
For Sin Junggi, it was the most thrilling and enjoyable time.
The smile on his lips simply would not disappear.