Voting Preparations (2)

I watched from a distance as the golem sprinkled nutrient solution into the tank.

"...What's good is good."

I turned my gaze away and, since I had the panel open anyway, slowly looked over the train modification list.

Thanks to how busy we'd been running around everywhere and helping the new safe zone this time, satisfaction had gone up quite a bit.

Thanks to those accumulated points, a peculiar modification option that hadn't been visible before had now been unlocked.

[External Camera Upgrade]

- Install additional high-resolution cameras all around the outside of the train.

- Zoom and photo functions are added.

- When enabled, photos taken are automatically sent to your phone.

"Nice."

Until now, I'd relied heavily on a single reconnaissance drone for outside situations, but there were also many times when I had to send it far away.

If the train itself had high-resolution cameras attached, it would be much easier to keep track of what was happening around it.

More than anything, I wanted the zoom function.

'There are even photo quests the Constellations post sometimes, and it'd also be useful for sharing information with the Gallery people.'

Whirr—clack!

The moment I approved it, I heard a sound coming from outside the train.

Then the main monitor in the cockpit split into several windows, beginning to show the scenery around the train in crisp high definition.

When I zoomed in, even the lettering on signs hundreds of meters away was crystal clear.

"Nice."

After confirming that the photo function worked too with a light click, I nodded in satisfaction.

While I was testing the cameras, the train had already headed for Seoul and entered Singil Station, from which Yeouido was visible.

The train stopped at Singil Station again this time.

But the atmosphere felt different from before.

"...Huh?"

"There are a lot of people... ugh..."

The inside of Singil Station, which was usually bleak and quiet, looked unusually busy today.

Haseon, who had been looking at the station beside me, seemed to have had her phobia triggered again by the crowd, so she shut her eyes tight and went back to her bed.

"Eek!"

"What is that...!"

When the black train with its viciously spinning shredder rolled in, the many people inside the station stared at us in shock.

I opened the door of Car 1 and stepped down into the station with the kids, the drones, and the golem.

On closer inspection, the clothes of the people controlling the station had changed too.

In the past, soldiers from the Management Bureau had stood at attention, but now everyone busily moving around the station and making something was dressed in plain clothes.

"Where did all the soldiers go... and what on earth are they working so hard on?"

I approached a man standing there, mouth hanging open at the overwhelming sight of the train, and asked him,

"Excuse me, where did the soldiers go?"

"...Huh? Ah..."

The man glanced at the drones floating beside me, swallowed hard, and answered hesitantly.

"Oh, that is, a few days ago the soldiers all moved to the central part of the Yeouido Safe Zone. Our Awakened Union is in charge of Singil Station and the outer stations now."

"The Awakened Union?"

"Yes. Our union officially joined the Management Bureau this time too."

Ah.

They'd probably gone under the Management Bureau entirely in order to run in this election.

The Management Bureau had probably called the soldiers to the center of Yeouido and left these people with the relatively outlying Singil Station.

"Anyway, what are you all gathered here making?"

At my question, the man carefully lifted up a thin piece of cloth he'd been laying out on the floor and painting.

Crooked, uneven painted letters came into view.

"Candidate No. 3, Hwang Duhan?"

"Yes. It's a campaign banner for our Awakened Union representative."

"The name..."

"It's his real name."

"Ah..."

It sounded like the kind of name that would be good in a fight.

The man scratched his head and gave an awkward, embarrassed smile.

"We couldn't find any large-format printer to produce a big banner. So we're all gathering here and making it by hand instead. Since there aren't many people using the station, it's spacious, and we're putting our heads together to make the banner here. It's a relief that the small printer that prints A4-sized posters is still fine, at least, but..."

As the man said, people were sitting closely together in one corner of the station, busily writing letters and drawing pictures with brushes and paint.

The interesting thing was that the quality varied greatly from person to person.

The best-looking banner would probably be hung somewhere near central Yeouido, while the banner of the man answering me now would probably only be hung here at Singil Station, wouldn't it?

So they really are voting and campaigning even in a situation like this.

Banners and posters—it gave me a slightly strange feeling.

"You've all got your work cut out for you."

"Ha-ha. Still, it's pretty manageable."

I offered some words of comfort, but his expression actually looked quite bright.

After fighting monsters and bleeding every day, sitting down to paint a banner for once seemed to be a simple, peaceful task that he found satisfying.

'Yeah, it'd be better to pick up a brush instead.'

I stared blankly at the name on the fluttering banner again.

Hwang Duhan.

The man who was the Awakened Union's representative—was he also moving quickly to seize power in this apocalypse?

Then it happened.

Dada-dat-!

I heard someone rushing down the station stairs in a panic.

The man who had been jumping down the stairs two or three steps at a time stumbled badly on landing, but the moment he spotted me, he ran straight toward me.

"Huff, huff... Are you Choo-Choo-nim?"

"Ah... yes."

Breath rising to the very tip of his throat, he shouted urgently in front of me.

Had someone heard the news that I was here even though I'd only just arrived?

...Still, even if seen only faintly from far away, my appearance was the kind that would spread by word of mouth.

"The chairman... the chairman said to bring you in urgently!"

The chairman, huh.

I nodded at the title.

There was one person who came to mind as someone who would call me over in such a hurry, someone worthy of being called chairman.

"Understood. Lead the way."

I followed the hurried man's back out of Singil Station.

Where he led me was a park not far from the station, with a fairly large open space.

Even as I followed, I couldn't shake my inner confusion.

'If the chairman called for me, why are we going to a park...'

As I entered the park, I spotted a familiar old man among the throng of survivors.

It was the chairman who had ridden my train all the way from Suwon Station to Yeouido.

That chairman was handing something out to the survivors.

While I was watching, our eyes happened to meet.

"Oh!"

The chairman noticed me standing there blankly and approached with a kindly smile.

I was just about to greet him back with a light bow.

"Oh, there you are. You've been working hard."

The chairman simply passed me by and went over to Jiwoo and Sua, who were standing close behind me, then crouched down to meet their eye level.

"..."

Leaving my hand awkwardly frozen in the air, the chairman began speaking to the children in his usual kind, grandfatherly voice.

"Oh my... what a handsome little one. Have you eaten?"

"...Yes."

"Good. You need to eat well and stay healthy. That's how you grow tall."

At first, the kids had hidden behind my legs and been thoroughly on guard, but the chairman's attitude quickly put them at ease, and they soon smiled bashfully.

Only after patting the children's heads and chatting warmly with them for a full three minutes did the chairman straighten up and finally greet me.

"Ho-ho, it's been a while. I've been hearing all about your exploits."

"Yes, you haven't changed either, Chairman. But what brings you to this park?"

I asked while casually looking around.

A few trucks were parked on one side of the park, and people were standing in a long line receiving something.

"Can't you tell by looking? We're handing out some surplus daily necessities and food to the survivors living near Singil Station."

The chairman chuckled with a good-natured smile and joked lightly.

"And, of course, there's a little ulterior motive mixed in to gather votes for the upcoming election. Ho-ho-ho."

It was a cool, open admission that he was campaigning in broad daylight.

The people around us smiled at those words.

If anything, his frankness seemed to have won them over.

But I could see there was more to it than that.

Beside the supply distribution line stood Awakened people with especially sharp eyes.

They handed items to the survivors while checking the other person's face, build, name, and so on, whispering among themselves.

It seemed to double as a kind of census for figuring out the population around here.

"Chairman, you joined the Management Bureau too...?"

At my question, the chairman clasped his hands behind his back and answered with a bitter look.

"It was an unavoidable choice. If I wanted to run for minister in this election, I had to join."

There were currently four minister candidates known in the Gallery.

Two politicians from the existing Management Bureau, Hwang Duhan of the Awakened Union, and the politician old man who had been with the chairman.

"Um... do you have a chance?"

"A chance?"

At my tentative question, a smile spread across the chairman's lips.

He leaned slightly toward me and whispered in a small voice that seemed meant for only my ears.

"About 90%?"

"...Excuse me?"

I instantly widened my eyes.

Isn't that too high?

It wasn't just confidence; there was certainty in his expression.

"If you want to do politics well, you have to understand the situation. Those two Management Bureau bastards are trying to gather only Awakened people, and they're doing all sorts of things to make it happen."

"Yes..."

"That's their mistake."

I made a face as if I had no idea what was wrong with that.

Seeing that expression, the chairman gave a faint smile.

He said there were two problems with it.

"They dug their own grave."

The first was that, in order to keep the Awakened Union in check, they'd been putting Awakened people down too much.

Because of that, all the competent Awakened had gone to the union, and the problems he'd mentioned with Awakened would now apply to them too.

And second, he said the people they needed to gather now weren't Awakened, but someone else.

"Then, who should we gather...?"

"Well... people who are good at making songs, writing posts in the Gallery, and making meme stuff on their phones."

"Huh?"

"You'll see."

The chairman seemed brimming with confidence.