The Fundamentals of Alt Farming in a Dead Game (5)

Jo Geon-uk, the investigator who had come to the scene, frowned at the blood-soaked landing. Having witnessed numerous murder scenes during his time as a police officer, he was no stranger to corpses, yet few were as grotesque as this one.

“Were they trying to create some kind of artwork?”

“…I don’t know.”

Kang Do-young, the Bureau employee who had been assigned to monitor Nam Juyeon, was now a corpse. That alone would have been bad enough, but the culprit had suspended the body in midair. The pose eerily resembled da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. At a glance, it looked as though a human body had been used to draw a hexagram—a magic circle. The artist responsible for this horrific masterpiece had even left a signature: letters scrawled in blood across one wall.

“Actor…”

Jo Geon-uk felt a wave of dizziness. Actor. It was a name no one living in this world could forget. The master of one of the worst disasters, the Scorched Saint Selene.

“…This is the worst.”

Jo Geon-uk summoned his Moss Hunter and used its detection skill, but nothing came up. Either this wasn’t the work of a disaster, or it was the work of a higher-order disaster beyond even the Moss Hunter’s detection. He judged the latter far more likely.

“…What should we do? Should we assign more surveillance?”

“No… I don’t think that would be wise. Just keep an eye on the situation for now. We’ll probably meet again soon enough.”

The sudden disappearance of the Cheonan Nest. The Storm Dragon Tempestra. And now the Lord of the Abyss, Actor.

“…Something’s off.”

Every single incident traced back to the human named Nam Juyeon.

As expected, the media outlets scrambled to cover the incident. They never bothered reporting on people dying to disasters or the devastation in the provinces, yet they were lightning-fast when it came to this kind of story. That was the kind of attention the two syllables “Actor” commanded.

The internet was ablaze with debate. Two theories stood out as the most plausible: either the Lord of the Abyss Actor was sending a warning to the Awakened Management Bureau, or it was the work of some lunatic who thought he was Actor. The former was impossible. Because that very Actor was currently clutching his head right here.

“…Shit.”

That Actor was me. Overnight, I had become the world’s shadow ruler and was now being framed for a murder I didn’t commit. The fact that it happened right in front of my house, and that the victim was a Bureau employee, made it even more lethal. I still couldn’t forget the meaningful look Jo Geon-uk had given me at the Bureau building a few days ago.

“Selene.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think this was Mirien’s doing?”

“I cannot give a definitive answer without examining the scene, but if it was that woman Mirien, it is entirely possible.”

Selene gave an unusually rational reply.

“However, Mirien would never kill people without reason. Not unless the dead human harbored ill will toward My Lord.”

“…Even if you say that…”

Someone had died right in front of my house, the perpetrator was one of the subordinates I had fired, and that same subordinate was still obsessed with me to the point of carving my name into a murder scene. It was even more troubling than when Selene had stabbed a civil servant in the gut.

Selene, seeing my troubled expression, hardened her face and placed a hand on the Wedge Sword of Hellfire at her waist.

“It seems that magic sack has done something unnecessary. My Lord, if you give the order, I will bring that woman’s head immediately.”

“No, forget it.”

Always with the heads. I couldn’t understand why she was so obsessed with killing. What was wrong with getting along?

“Right now we don’t even have solid proof it was Mirien.”

At my words, Selene reluctantly nodded. It could just as easily have been a copycat pretending to be Actor, exactly as the internet theories suggested. That was entirely plausible too—there were apparently doomsday cultists who worshipped the Lord of the Abyss Actor. I’d even heard rumors they were calling him the Second Coming of Jesus or something.

“Selene, it looks like we’ll have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stay at the house instead of the Abyss for the time being.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to draw any more suspicion.”

Jo Geon-uk was definitely suspicious of me. With a Bureau employee turning up dead right in front of my house on top of that, his suspicion would soon become certainty. The Abyss was a separate dimension accessible only through Selene. For now, staying home and building an alibi was the better option.

“Just hold out until next week’s Storm Dragon subjugation.”

“…Then what should I do?”

“Stay in the Abyss.”

“What if someone tries to harm My Lord while I am away?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be in any real danger.”

I summoned the Ashen Ripple Deer I had obtained last time. With the 2-star Starlight Dust Golem I already had, I should be fine in most situations.

“If it really gets dangerous, I’ll call you.”

“Then… understood.”

I sighed and opened the status window. The experience points from synthesis had piled up quite a bit, so I decided to upgrade the base. The barracks were already sufficient, so for now I would expand the synthesis slots and have Selene handle disaster synthesis.

I pressed the upgrade button three times without hesitation.

Disaster Order was what people called a dead ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠game. An idle collection game wearing the skin of a dead game. Gathering high-grade characters required pouring in insane amounts of time, and if your luck was bad, even that wasn’t enough. Back when I was actively playing, it took three months just to get a 4-star disaster. It took over a year after that to obtain Selene.

“…Haa.”

That was why I was saying all this. Because the results of the synthesis spree, in which I had thrown in over thirty disasters, had been a complete bust.

The only thing I got was a single 2-star disaster. And it was fire-attribute on top of that. Completely useless when I already had Selene and the Hellfire Watchdog as vastly superior alternatives.

“…How can someone have this little luck?”

“I’m sorry.”

Selene knelt with her hands neatly folded, looking dejected.

“It’s all my fault. My Lord, please kill me.”

“…No, there’s no need to go that far.”

I had known Selene’s synthesis aptitude was low. I hadn’t really expected much. Still, the results were far too poor for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number of disasters I had sacrificed.

“…I was hoping to at least secure one 3-star before the Storm Dragon subjugation.”

While I was clicking my tongue and fiddling with the status window, Selene cautiously spoke up.

“My Lord, may I make a suggestion?”

“What is it?”

“This world operates on the law of the jungle. If we kill those pathetic creatures who dare to falsely claim the name of the Ruler and take their disasters…”

“Rejected.”

My head was starting to throb. Both Mirien and Selene—why could they never think any other way? No, maybe the real problem was me trying to force normal ethics onto disasters in the first place.

“…Anyway, I have to participate in the Storm Dragon Tempestra subjugation in two days.”

Five days had passed while I was busy synthesizing. I had also received a summons from the Bureau: B-class Awakened Nam Juyeon, assemble at the Bureau building by noon in two days. Mirien would be controlling Tempestra, so she probably wouldn’t harm me, but I still felt uneasy.

“Before that, I want to reinforce my forces for sure.”

At the very least, I needed one decent 2-star disaster to feel secure. Even within the same star rank in Disaster Order, there was a huge gap in performance. The difference between named disasters and ordinary ones. For example, the Hellfire Watchdog and Storm Dragon Tempestra were both classified as 4-stars, but the Hellfire Watchdog was treated as trash because it wasn’t named, while Tempestra was considered a staple because it was named.

In that sense, most of the 2-star disasters I currently possessed were just fodder. If I at least had one with its own unique name, it would make operating under a disguise much easier.

“In that case, My Lord, how about subjugating a nest? I’ve heard there are nests with stronger disasters to the south.”

“…That would draw too much attention.”

Back at the Bureau building, Jo Geon-uk had grilled me about the Cheonan Nest. I had managed to dodge it then, but if another nest disappeared, he wouldn’t stay quiet. Selene seemed to understand my concern.

“…That only happened because My Lord went in person last time.”

“What?”

“Send me alone. I will subjugate the nest without anyone noticing.”

In other words, she was asking to be sent on an expedition. It was tempting. I hadn’t seriously considered it before because of what Selene had done to those people during the Hellfire Watchdog expedition. But given the current situation, it might be worth trying.

I thought it over, then nodded.

“…Fine. Selene, just don’t kill anyone.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Selene smiled brightly and dissolved into particles, vanishing. The next day, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had to hear the news that five nests located in the provinces had all disappeared overnight. And that the one who had conquered them all was a woman with ash-gray hair.

“…This is actually insane.”

Once again, I felt the urge to die.