Read Online Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim, Chi-Young Kim - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Young-Ha Kim, Chi-Young Kim
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former spy turned religious fanatic. But the man didn't recognize him. When Ki-yong approached him, he was handed a pamphlet describing the end of the world. It was crudely laid out, studded with excerpts from the book of Revelation.
Ki-yong asked, "Don't you recognize me?"
The man glared at him. Without answering, he turned away to preach to another person. Ki-yong tugged at his
arm. He looked back at Ki-yong, annoyed, and tossed back, "What? You think I'm crazy?"
"No, I met you once in Tongbu Ichon-dong."
The man's face tightened slightly. "What's the use? None of it matters. Read the pamphlet. We will soon be beamed up. That day will come soon."
Feeling a little abandoned, Ki-yong started to leave the square. The man got off his box and trotted after Ki-yong. "I do know who you are."
Ki-yong stopped.
"But it doesn't matter. I discovered the secret of the universe. Before, I was just frustrated with life. But I knew, as soon as I received the Holy Spirit, that everything about this life was useless. I was fooled. Look at the faces around you. See any happy faces? They're all kicking and struggling and living each day like pigs. Why? Because they don't know why the world exists. That's why they keep walking on aimlessly. If they knew why, they wouldn't have to wander. You just have to walk the path pointed out by our Lord."
His harangue wasn't coming to an end anytime soon. Ki-yong interjected, "So you're saying that before this year is over, people will be beamed up to the sky from their cars and their empty vehicles will fall off the overpasses and the people left behind will want to be dead, howling in pain?"
"They'll regret being born as a human."
"How do you know that before you even experience it?"
The man pointed at his ear, small and ugly like an unshapely gourd. "Do you only believe in things you see? I heard with this ear here. The Lord told me. Listen hard. Our Lord speaks only to those who listen." He climbed back on his box and cleared his throat.
The end of that year was not met with bodies being lifted to heaven. The New Year began with thirty-three citizens
ringing the bell in the Bosin Pavilion, just like every previous year. Despite the millennium bug, planes didn't plummet to the ground and trains didn't derail. Nuclear power plants didn't break down and satellites didn't malfunction or accidentally launch nuclear missiles. Ki-yong thought of the red-cloaked man when he saw on the news that an assembly of 166 churches was to take place, for the devout to pray as the world ended. What happened to the man betrayed both by the revolution and Armageddon? And to all the people who congregated in the 166 churches? Why didn't they take their own lives when it became clear that the world was not coming to an end? Could Armageddon be held at bay that easily? But soon, everyone quickly forgot the large signs saying PERFECT PREPARATION FOR Y2K that hung on tall buildings in Kwanghwamun. Nobody thought twice about the millions of people around the world who barricaded themselves at home with generators and basic necessities. Of course, some people reaped profit from fear. One trillion won was spent in South Korea alone; even more was spent in the United States and in Europe.
Fear and greed propelled people to act at the end of the century. It was trepidation of the unknown, not of war or disease or riots. It sounded scientific that a four-digit number starting with a 2 would shove the world into chaos, but shamanism was at its core. Ki-yong wasn't affected at all by the anxiety that reigned in those days. Maybe it was because a stranger's identity cloaked him and his world was tangled with codes. Or maybe because he grew up ignorant of the Christian worldview. In any case, he didn't think a god of catastrophe and destruction, if one existed, would appear in that way. Why would he come at a predetermined date? A true disaster would march forth from the unknown, like
Burnham Wood attacking Macbeth's
Ki-yong asked, "Don't you recognize me?"
The man glared at him. Without answering, he turned away to preach to another person. Ki-yong tugged at his
arm. He looked back at Ki-yong, annoyed, and tossed back, "What? You think I'm crazy?"
"No, I met you once in Tongbu Ichon-dong."
The man's face tightened slightly. "What's the use? None of it matters. Read the pamphlet. We will soon be beamed up. That day will come soon."
Feeling a little abandoned, Ki-yong started to leave the square. The man got off his box and trotted after Ki-yong. "I do know who you are."
Ki-yong stopped.
"But it doesn't matter. I discovered the secret of the universe. Before, I was just frustrated with life. But I knew, as soon as I received the Holy Spirit, that everything about this life was useless. I was fooled. Look at the faces around you. See any happy faces? They're all kicking and struggling and living each day like pigs. Why? Because they don't know why the world exists. That's why they keep walking on aimlessly. If they knew why, they wouldn't have to wander. You just have to walk the path pointed out by our Lord."
His harangue wasn't coming to an end anytime soon. Ki-yong interjected, "So you're saying that before this year is over, people will be beamed up to the sky from their cars and their empty vehicles will fall off the overpasses and the people left behind will want to be dead, howling in pain?"
"They'll regret being born as a human."
"How do you know that before you even experience it?"
The man pointed at his ear, small and ugly like an unshapely gourd. "Do you only believe in things you see? I heard with this ear here. The Lord told me. Listen hard. Our Lord speaks only to those who listen." He climbed back on his box and cleared his throat.
The end of that year was not met with bodies being lifted to heaven. The New Year began with thirty-three citizens
ringing the bell in the Bosin Pavilion, just like every previous year. Despite the millennium bug, planes didn't plummet to the ground and trains didn't derail. Nuclear power plants didn't break down and satellites didn't malfunction or accidentally launch nuclear missiles. Ki-yong thought of the red-cloaked man when he saw on the news that an assembly of 166 churches was to take place, for the devout to pray as the world ended. What happened to the man betrayed both by the revolution and Armageddon? And to all the people who congregated in the 166 churches? Why didn't they take their own lives when it became clear that the world was not coming to an end? Could Armageddon be held at bay that easily? But soon, everyone quickly forgot the large signs saying PERFECT PREPARATION FOR Y2K that hung on tall buildings in Kwanghwamun. Nobody thought twice about the millions of people around the world who barricaded themselves at home with generators and basic necessities. Of course, some people reaped profit from fear. One trillion won was spent in South Korea alone; even more was spent in the United States and in Europe.
Fear and greed propelled people to act at the end of the century. It was trepidation of the unknown, not of war or disease or riots. It sounded scientific that a four-digit number starting with a 2 would shove the world into chaos, but shamanism was at its core. Ki-yong wasn't affected at all by the anxiety that reigned in those days. Maybe it was because a stranger's identity cloaked him and his world was tangled with codes. Or maybe because he grew up ignorant of the Christian worldview. In any case, he didn't think a god of catastrophe and destruction, if one existed, would appear in that way. Why would he come at a predetermined date? A true disaster would march forth from the unknown, like
Burnham Wood attacking Macbeth's
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