Only I Am A Reader
chapter-378

"The details of a spontaneous event like this are often hard to confirm, but even the inaccurate version of his speeches make a pretty solid point. To be honest, I would also be convinced if I were to look at it from the point of view of the group of people that he is targeting with his words."

The warrior from the Intelligence Department relaxed his somewhat uptight attitude after getting a read on Yeon, sharing his objective look on the topic.

'Convincing them is just the hook, the real magic starts a bit later.'

Though he couldn't exactly read Yeon's mind, Leo felt like he got the gist of her analysis of the topic from her expression, and he completely agreed with these thoughts.

After going through the 'conversion' process, things would never be the same. Not everybody would be convinced at the start, but at one point, even the ones that were initially hesitating would start feeling like they were losing out…

What would be the end of this? And was there really any chance to go back? With the consecutive success that the protagonist's plan was achieving, it would be hard for the recruits to see themselves losing!

Telling a person an exaggerated dream is usually bound to leave them unconvinced. However, letting them see that dream become reality in an even more exaggerated manner was bound to completely win their hearts!

With all the trust and belief they would harbor following the incredibly stable early steps, everyone's mindset would lean towards earning a proper spot in the new world that they would create in the end.

Whether it was to be part of the select few who would keep their Martial Arts for the sake of protection and order or to be close to the ones who would administer that and obtain a few perks… All of that was worth fighting for.

After all, anyone and everyone's daily fights against hardships… Was it not all for the sake of achieving a better future? This was not a bloody path but a race to glory!

'He didn't record merits for nothing.'

Knowing how Geochin controlled all of this from his side, Leo had a finer understanding of the way he handled his uprising.

Contrary to the more generic novels that just put out statements and made them happen in one way or another, Murim Supremacy's author had certainly thought through the proper mind erosion methods that the protagonist could apply to his favor.

"If it worked all the way up to this point, this speech could only be defined as a very fertile seed. Once it sprouts and these listeners truly start to believe that the fruit is theirs, their devotion would be infinite. The belief that their role, as meager as it might be, is indispensable… Is probably what this leader is aiming for."

Since he had to establish his presence as the new Society Leader's right-hand person and advisor, Leo didn't keep all his thoughts to himself, explaining how the chain reaction started by Geochin escalated that quickly.

The way his process worked was actually pretty similar to something that Leo read before. In simple words, it could be said that Geochin had built up his army into a colony of bees.

The position of the queen and the colony's 'awkward' relation to her didn't really fit, but those who truly made up the actual mass of the colony were none other than worker bees, and these were exactly the best way to describe the converted recruits!

The reality of an individual worker bee was that it was easily dispensable, no one would bother to care for its death, unlike the queen. However, every worker bee remained fully confident that its role was the most important thing in the world!

Though that would be the truth to an extent if all worker bees went on a strike like a certain movie once hypothesized, such a thing would never happen.

In the end, all bees would end up wasting away their whole lives in the overproduction of honey that is no longer necessary for their consumption, and so was the case for Geochin's recruits, putting their all for a goal that was inserted in their head.

'Well, that could be their true calling, but…'

Truthfully, whether this was exploitation or motivation was to be debated, but it wasn't like Leo could share these thoughts in the council for more opinions without explaining that he was from a certain 'future' where all of these facts had been researched.

"Ah… Baekho-nim seems to be very familiar with the League Leader's thought process. Is it because you have crossed swords once?"

"Oh?"

Leo had to pretend to be slightly surprised by the reveal since he wasn't told the League Leader's identity just yet, but a part of him was truly surprised that they had managed to dig into Geochin's past so quickly.

After all, thanks to his intervention, the true start of Geochin's rise to fame had transitioned from the Mount Hua Sword Conference to his heroic extermination of monsters and demon worshippers alike, making it easy to overlook his first appearance.

'The Society's Intelligence Department is pretty active for a secluded organization.'

"If he started with the Namgung Family, then could it be… Kim Geochin?"

"Correct, Baekho-nim's memory is good!"

Playing along to make things easier to discuss, Leo turned to look at Yeon who looked deep in thought, likely trying to remember who that was.

While a Martial Artist's memory was better than most, the importance of the information still played a vital role in remembering it, and aside from harboring some resentment for opponents that were hostile towards Leo, Yeon didn't remember much of the actual tournament.

"...Alright, I can see how he can be considered a dangerous individual, but why does that have to pose a threat to us?"

Having found her answer within the next mind, Yeon directly dove to the core of the problem. To a place like the Heavenly Strength Society, the definition of a threat could never be something simple.