Two Households
After Mirien and Selene reluctantly withdrew, only Jo Geon-uk and I remained in the room. I approached him and removed the gag from his mouth. He immediately shot me a glare.
“Hah… So you’ve been hiding among us all this time, calmly commanding two 5★ disasters?”
I’d expected him to beg for his life first, but Jo Geon-uk’s resolve was firmer than I thought. His eyes were sharper than when he’d interrogated me before. Of course, being tied up didn’t exactly make him intimidating.
“Well, I’ll admit my subordinates were a bit rough. Sorry about that. I didn’t tell them to treat you so harshly—they must have misunderstood. Anyway, it’s just the two of us now, so feel free to speak your mind.”
I chatted lightly while undoing the chains wrapped tightly around his body. Mirien had bound him so fiercely that angry red bruises covered his bare skin. It must have hurt terribly, yet Jo Geon-uk only grimaced and made no sound.
“So. You probably have a lot to say. Shall I hear it?”
At my question, Jo Geon-uk frowned.
“Fine. Nam Juyeon—was it Actor? How does it feel to have reduced the world to this state?”
Even locked in this grim prison, Jo Geon-uk hadn’t lost his composure. Unlike Yu Junseo, who’d bolted the moment he saw the 5★ disaster Selene, he was clearly a former detective—experienced and steady. The way he casually dropped the name “Actor” showed he was fishing for information about my past actions. Even in this dire situation, he was still trying to gather intel.
Of course, I had no intention of answering honestly.
“As you suspected, I am indeed Actor. But I’m not the villain you think I am.”
“Bullshit. Your hellfire watchdog killed a thousand Seoul citizens. And those two disasters? Have you forgotten the video of you stabbing a civil servant in the stomach?”
Jo Geon-uk growled.
“And you still mingled among us like nothing happened? Killing Han Tae-geon with Tempest the Storm Dragon, eliminating Kang Do-young who was watching you—that was all your doing, wasn’t it?!”
“…”
“Using Tempest to become an S-class Awakened was part of your plan too, right? Forming a cult to avoid suspicion? I don’t know your exact goal, but one thing’s clear: you made Seoul ‘safe’ just to fatten up and devour the Awakened here!”
Jo Geon-uk’s logic was spiraling wildly.
“This Tower eruption—wasn’t that part of it too? Slitting the Awakened’s bellies to harvest disasters… What the hell are you planning? World domination?”
“…Hah.”
Listening to his rapid-fire accusations made my head throb. His suspicions weren’t entirely baseless. Hearing my own actions recounted like this, they did sound pretty villainous. The funniest part was that almost none of it had been my intention.
“I won’t bother correcting you, Jo Geon-uk.”
I had no plans to explain the details. He’d already branded me as evil, and nothing I said would change his mind. Still, I couldn’t just release him. He knew I was Actor, so I had to keep him quiet. The ideal scenario would be convincing him to become my eyes and ears inside the Management Bureau, but after this conversation, it was obvious he’d never cooperate.
What I needed now was time.
“Jo Geon-uk, I’m not going to kill you. I’m human too, and killing people gives me nightmares.”
“Now you’re playing the saint? Do you even know how many people your disasters have slaughtered?”
I shrugged.
“The world’s already like this. What’s one more murderer? You can’t catch me or kill me, Jo Geon-uk. You don’t have the power. If anything, you should be grateful I’m sparing you.”
A few months ago, this would have been unthinkable—kidnapping a burly former detective, holding his life in my hands, and feeling no real guilt. The whole situation felt so unreal that a bitter laugh escaped me.
But what could I do? The world now revolved around the Awakened, and I was at the very top.
“I’ll say this once: I have no intention of destroying the world, contrary to your suspicions.”
I stood up and continued.
“Nothing you’re worried about will happen. I guarantee it.”
“…”
“I’ll prepare a comfortable room in the Tower for you. You can stay there. If you change your mind, just say so.”
“Nonsense. Who would ever cooperate with the likes of you?”
“Then you can live there for the rest of your life.”
I left the interrogation room without waiting for his reply.
“Actor, did you get all the information? Can we kill him now?”
Mirien and Selene were waiting outside. Their heightened senses might have caught every word of our conversation. That would explain why Mirien could so innocently suggest murder even after I’d declared I wouldn’t kill him. It was infuriating.
I sighed and shook my head.
“…Mirien, that man must not be killed. Give him a room and treat him as well as possible. There was that maid-like disaster, right?”
I glanced at Selene for confirmation. She nodded.
“There is. We took her from another Awakened a few days ago.”
“Good. Have her attend to him.”
At my order, both Mirien and Selene looked deeply displeased.
“But my Lord, why spare that man?”
“There’s no reason to kill him either.”
“He knows your true identity. He must be silenced.”
She had a point. But I wasn’t enough of a psychopath to stab someone I’d greeted warmly just days ago without a second thought—especially not compared to these two disasters.
“It’s an order. Follow it without question.”
“Yes.”
Selene bowed her head. Mirien tilted hers, puzzled.
During the Tower eruption, I’d realized something. The disasters I’d used most in Disaster Order—especially the four 5★ ones—were powerful enough to destroy entire nations single-handedly. Even the injured Selene had allowed none of Seoul’s Awakened to land a meaningful blow, and Mirien had altered the weather across the entire Korean Peninsula with a single spell. The other two wouldn’t be much different in raw power. In some areas, they might even surpass Selene or Mirien.
Once again, I was reminded that 5★ disasters were beyond the standard scale. They were more dangerous than nuclear weapons. At least nukes didn’t move around on their own or threaten to detonate at any moment.
That meant, at the very least, I had to present myself as the ideal leader Mirien and Selene wanted me to be. And not just them. All the disasters who remembered the old world still saw me as the player from Disaster Order. In the end, I had no choice but to become the Absolute Ruler—strong, cold, domineering yet kind. The great ruler, Actor.
“Selene. Mirien.”
At my call, both disasters turned toward me. The words I was about to speak couldn’t be taken back once said. But given the situation, there was no other way.
I took a breath and spoke slowly.
“I’m going to become the Absolute Ruler.”
The moment they heard the word, Selene’s eyes widened.
“…The Absolute Ruler, my Lord?”
“Yeah. That’s what you both want from me, isn’t it? The Absolute Ruler who commands all disasters and the world. The ruler of every dimension.”
It was an absurd goal. It felt like chasing clouds. But ironically, right now, I was closer to becoming the Absolute Ruler than anyone else in this world. The two powerful beings before me were proof of that.
“Will you follow me?”
I didn’t need to hear their answer. Selene looked ecstatic, while Mirien’s cheeks flushed as if I’d just confessed my love.
“Good. Then what do you think is the first thing we need to do to become the Absolute Ruler?”
“World conquest, perhaps?”
“Ascension? Mass slaughter?”
Terrifying suggestions, but I shook my head. Of course, becoming the Absolute Ruler would eventually require facing powerful Awakened from around the world, but that could wait. What I needed most right now was…
“Asteria. Karne.”
The two 5★ disasters who weren’t here. Asteria, the Queen Who Devoured the Stars. Karne, the Mother of Ill Omens. I needed to locate them. We still didn’t know where they were or what they were doing, but they were likely to act on my behalf just like Selene and Mirien. If I left them alone like I had with Mirien, who knew what kind of chaos would erupt. It would be wise to at least find out where they were and what they were up to.
But the moment I finished speaking…
“Those two are vicious. It would be better to eliminate them.”
“We don’t need those bitches, do we? They won’t be much help anyway. I can just do the work of both of them for Actor.”
Selene and Mirien each added their own comment. Their words were so vicious that I was momentarily speechless. It seemed there was no such thing as camaraderie among my disasters.
“…More importantly, Mirien, Selene. You two don’t get along, do you?”
“We get along just fine.”
“I suppose we don’t.”
Instant answers.