Armchair Deliberations (End)

Executive 1: "We must select candidates for both the 'Protagonist' and the 'Demon King.' And preferably as quickly as possible."

Executive 2: "Ah...!"

Executive 3: "Ah, sh—good heavens! I didn't use a swear word, did I!? But hang on...we actually have to do this!?"

Executive 4: "Ugh...so that's what it was. I'd completely forgotten."

Executive 1: "To explain briefly...as you all know, the original Demon King candidate was that monster. Among all monsters, the one strongest and fastest at building and expanding its power base — a being more than worthy of descending upon Earth as the Demon King...the Vampire Lord."

Executive 3: "And then that irregular named 'Jeong Hoon' snicker-snack! Sent him straight to hell! One Demon King candidate, eliminated!"

Executive 2: "You have a truly unpleasant way of stating the facts, Executive 3..."

Executive 4: "Uh, Executive 1? Then who was the Protagonist candidate?"

Executive 1: "There were several Protagonist candidates...but the majority of them have died, leaving us in a position where we must select new ones. In particular, the man who defeated the second Field Boss — a man who is now dead and gone — 'Kim Jaehoon' was the leading first-choice candidate."

Executive 2: "Oh dear...of all things, both sides had to drop dead on us...this has become a genuine headache of an issue."

Executive 3: "How do both ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of them just get wiped out? Is this for real? Wait — what about the other candidates? There have to be second- and third-stringers, right?"

Executive 1: "As for the second- and third-ranked Demon King candidates...the Minotaur held the second rank, but it too was killed in an instant by that same survivor's hand. The third-ranked Skeleton King met the same fate. The fourth-ranked candidate died in a mutual kill with the man named 'Kim Jaehoon.'"

Executive 2: "And the Protagonist candidates?"

Executive 1: "Individuals whose names are not even worth remembering."

Executive 2: "...Meaning they're all dead. Ah — by any chance...those Protagonist candidates are the survivors whose system quality differs from everyone else's, right? Given that you mentioned Kim Jaehoon, I assume that's correct."

Executive 1: "Precisely."

Executive 3: "This goddamn—! Once again, that 'Jeong Hoon' bastard is a huge—a massive part of why everything's gone to hell! Aargh, that Administrator A son of a—!"

Executive 4: "Even after getting disciplined, Administrator A keeps giving us grief...he's a complete pint-sized sack of garbage. Ugh...whoops, I'll watch the language. My apologies..."

Executive 2: "...So in the end, we have to select both from scratch? And for the Demon King candidate, we're in a situation where we have to create one even if it means deploying additional monsters."

Executive 1: "That is the case. We must decide it in today's meeting."

Executive 2: "H-huh!? In this meeting...you mean?"

Executive 3: "We're screwed, we're totally screwed. Today's meeting is going to last forever. We'll burn through, what, two hundred forty Earth-hours just trying to pick a single candidate — everyone's cool with that, yeah?"

Executive 4: "This is insane...you'll at least give us time to eat, right?"

Executive 1: "Do not worry. For the moment, we need only settle on one candidate each for the Protagonist and the Demon King. More importantly, for the Protagonist...I have already prepared a shortlist in advance. The Demon King is somewhat more ambiguous, but...in reaching a conclusion on Agenda Item One earlier, I was able to glean a few hints."

Executive 2: "O-ohh...! Really?"

Executive 1: "We must pull forward and apply the June update as early as tomorrow, so of course."

Executive 2: "What a relief...!"

Executive 3: "The early update is saving our hides here."

Executive 4: "Executive 2, please make sure to leave the seat next to you empty at mealtime from now on. I'll be taking it."

Executive 2: "Would you like me to send you up before the disciplinary committee?"

Executive 4: "Oh, come on...what's with the attitude between friends..."

Executive 3: "Would you look at that — flipping on a dime and sucking up. Honestly..."

Executive 2: "Got it!"

Executive 3: "I said I got it!"

Executive 4: "Yes, understood..."

Executive 2: "More importantly, Executive 1? Could you introduce the 'Protagonist' candidate and the 'Demon King' candidate?"

Executive 1: "First, for the 'Demon King' candidate...once flying monsters are added, I intend to put forward 'this monster' as a candidate. Would you all kindly review the data display?"

Executive 2: "Let's see...ah, excellent. I approve immediately. If 'this monster' rises as the 'Demon King'—or rather, as a 'Demon King' candidate—we can rest easy. And the spawn location is...good. I like this as well!"

Executive 3: "Hmm, right. You don't avoid dung because you're scared of it — you avoid it because it's filthy. This placement is genuinely satisfying. The candidates have been so concentrated in that one region that I was honestly starting to suspect favoritism."

Executive 4: "Same here. If a 'Demon King' candidate appears in a region like this, it'll grow fat and strong all on its own. It'll wipe out, what...a hundred million?"

Executive 1: "I would ask that you refrain from excessive overestimation. If that is the consensus, then I shall elevate 'this monster' to the 'Demon King' candidate pool. And as the first-ranked choice, no less."

Executive 2: "I second that."

Executive 3: "No reason to oppose."

Executive 4: "Same!"

Executive 1: "Very well. Next is the Protagonist candidate pool..."

Executive 3: "Protagonist candidate? Just checking here...that 'Jeong Hoon' bastard isn't on the shortlist, is he?"

Executive 2: "Excuse me?"

Executive 4: "Executive 3...have you lost your mind? That would be like giving wings to a tiger."

Executive 1: "...He is not. Why would you assume that survivor would be on the list, Executive 3?"

Executive 3: "He's not? Well, that's a genuine relief if so...but look, based on what's in this top-secret dossier you handed us, the single most viable person for the Protagonist seat at this very moment is that guy and nobody else. Looking at everything he's pulled off so far, he's been doing nothing but 'Protagonist'-worthy stunts left and right."

Executive 1: "I can sense a rational thread in that opinion. However — no. He cannot be placed in the Protagonist candidate pool. And as a precautionary note, the same applies to the 'Demon King.'"

Executive 2: "That's the most reassuring thing I've heard all day."

Executive 4: "If that 'Jeong Hoon' bastard became the 'Protagonist' or the 'Demon King' or anything at all...mama mia, that gives me chills."

Executive 1: "You may rest easy on that point. In the first place — if someone were a Protagonist candidate, their name would hardly appear in a top-secret dossier like this, would it?"

Executive 3: "Well...that's true enough."

Executive 1: "The moment a name is entered into this 'top-secret' file, that individual can no longer assume the 'Protagonist' seat. Besides, his system is not even based on Brave Saga Online, is it? As you know, the assignment of the 'Protagonist' and 'Demon King' roles was inspired by a type of 'event' that was actually held within Brave Saga Online."

Executive 2: "That...is certainly a reassuring point."

Executive 3: "Honestly...an irregular having an irregular system is what's saving us here?"

Executive 4: "Whew..."

Executive 1: "In any case...please review this individual's data."

Executive 2: "Let's have a look...huh? Who is this guy? No — how...?"

Executive 3: "Whoa, what's with this kid? His level's this low, and yet...he's somehow stubbornly survived this long? He used to have companions, too...though it looks like there's nobody left at his side for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment. Tch, every last one of them abandoned him in the most ridiculous way. Poor bastard..."

Executive 4: "How is this possible? He received a class like that...and it's not as though there were few zombies or monsters in that region...and he's still alive?"

Executive 1: "That very point — that survivability — is what I wish to evaluate highly. He possesses neither a special system nor anything of the sort...and yet the tenacious, clawing will to live that has kept this man alive. Unlike the man named 'Jeong Hoon,' he has never stepped outside the game-based system of Brave Saga Online, and above all, he has survived this long with such a non-mainstream class. And this, despite monsters swarming in the vicinity of this man."

Executive 3: "Well, it's not like this class does nothing for survivability...but still, impressive, right? Though his track record is a bit...not very Protagonist-like, is it? Not quite 'evil,' but you couldn't really call it 'good' either?"

Executive 2: "It's an apocalypse, isn't it? How do you cleanly separate good from evil? No — from the start...'good' and 'evil' and the act of labeling and dividing things by those names are nothing more than the common sense of the inferior humans playing around in the Earth sphere. They have nothing whatsoever to do with our moral framework."

Executive 4: "...Please keep in mind once again that we are currently residing within the worldview in which Earth exists, Executive 2."

Executive 2: "Whoops...that was an excessively outer-space-centric remark. My apologies."

Executive 3: "Can't be helped. It's not as though we've spent any significant stretch of time living on Earth."

Executive 4: "We've been observing for eighty years — is that not a significant stretch of time?"

Executive 1: "Ahem. In any case...I wish to place this man in the 'Protagonist' candidate pool. If possible. I would like to select him as the 'final candidate,' but...that would be an excessively hasty judgment."

Executive 3: "Wouldn't it be fine to watch him a bit longer before putting him up? He's definitely interesting, I'll give you that. This guy — if he's still alive a month from now, I'd genuinely want to give him a standing ovation. Though if he becomes a 'Protagonist' candidate, he'll almost certainly survive anyway."

Executive 2: "This man...he won't run into 'Jeong Hoon,' will he? Surely not, with this much distance between them...but the landmass of this 'former Republic of Korea' is so absurdly cramped that it's hard to say with certainty."

Executive 1: "The survivor 'Jeong Hoon' has thus far operated only within his own territory and the surrounding regional sphere. The probability of the two encountering each other within a month — or even two — is exceedingly low."

Executive 2: "That's a relief, then. I do hope...'Jeong Hoon'-nim remains so preoccupied with the females of his own species that he doesn't go wandering off elsewhere."

Executive 3: "He won't even have the leisure to move. Look at this. Look at where the other survivors are flocking...and check the movement routes of that 'Kim Jaehoon's companions while you're at it. Oh look, there are some dangerous types hanging around here too. He'll be so tangled up sparring back and forth with these people that he won't even think about heading south. Guaranteed."

Executive 4: "True enough — he'll be stuck dealing with those people over one issue or another for at least two months. And if they ever try to form an alliance or stabilize things, we can just give things a little nudge. So the only remaining question is...whether that prospective 'Protagonist' candidate survivor will still be alive by then."

Executive 1: "...Once that much time has passed, a new candidate might well spring up out of nowhere instead."

Executive 3: "That's fine by me. As long as we don't get the nightmare future where that 'Jeong Hoon' suddenly snatches the 'Protagonist' seat, anything is a blessing."

Executive 4: "Executive 3...please tone down the nightmare fuel."

Executive 3: "Tch..."

Executive 1: "I shall conclude Agenda Item Three as follows. As a leading 'Protagonist' candidate, I hereby register the male 'Kang Siwoo,' currently surviving in the southeastern tip of the 'former Republic of Korea,' in the 'former Busan' region. Furthermore, as a leading 'Demon King' candidate, I hereby register the monster currently roaming the open skies — and which, after the forthcoming update, will be capable of attacking humans...the 'Red Dragon.' With this, all of today's meeting agenda items are hereby concluded."

Executive 1: "Yes, ◐＊◑. The meeting ends here. Well done, everyone."

Executive 2: "Whew, we can talk freely now, right?"

Executive 3: "Ha, fuck...! What a goddamn shitshow of a meeting! Finally I can cut loose with all those Earth-born swear words I worked so hard to learn. Motherfucker!"

Executive 4: "Um...I know this is tone-deaf, but...may I beat a bit of a dead horse?"

Executive 2: "Pardon?"

Executive 3: "Huh? Dead horse? Did something suddenly occur to you?"

Executive 1: "Have you thought of an opinion you were unable to voice during the meeting?"

Executive 4: "Ah, it's nothing that grand. It's about that survivor named 'Jeong Hoon.' Couldn't we just put a 'bounty' on him and have other survivors kill him? As long as we don't kill him with our own hands, it should be fine, right? And a 'bounty' is also an 'event' that quietly fits the system of Brave Saga Online."

Executive 2: "Ah, aah...! That actually makes sense!?"

Executive 3: "Ha, fu-u-uck! That was an option!? Why didn't I think of that? This is all because the meeting got called so suddenly! My brain went blank thanks to the emergency session!"

Executive 1: "...Had it come up during the meeting, it would have been a rather tempting proposal. Of course, it cannot be realized."

Executive 2: "Oh? Is that so?"

Executive 3: "You're awfully good at shutting down every single approach to dealing with that 'Jeong Hoon' today. Executive 1. Why are you being so cautious? Do you actually like that 'Jeong Hoon' guy or something?"

Executive 4: "Honestly, Executive 3...as if higher-order beings like us would harbor romantic feelings toward a lower-order specimen like that. You might as well ask whether you've ever felt sexual attraction toward the 'female forms' of World-2400. At least those ones are similar to us."

Executive 1: "...Allow me to state first that I harbor no special feelings whatsoever toward the man named 'Jeong Hoon,' and that the 'female forms' of World-2400 are considerably removed from my personal tastes."

Executive 3: "I know. I know! The meeting's over, so I was just joking around lightly...! No need to get so serious, tch..."

Executive 4: "Then why...are you saying that even the proposal I just made cannot be realized?"

Executive 1: "The man named 'Jeong Hoon' himself is the problem."

Executive 4: "Pardon?"

Executive 1: "If, as per your suggestion, Executive 4, we were to place a 'bounty' on the man named 'Jeong Hoon,' there would be three methods by which survivors could kill him. First: one-on-one combat. However, the man named 'Jeong Hoon' is already strong enough to instantly defeat any survivor in single combat. So that is naturally impossible."

Executive 4: "Ah...you're right. And he's still growing even at this very moment. Infuriatingly so..."

Executive 1: "The second method would be for a party or...a guild-scale force to ambush 'Jeong Hoon.' But 'Jeong Hoon' himself already has companions substantial enough to be called a 'guild.' Of course, if a traitor emerged from among them it might be a different story...but even so, 'Jeong Hoon' himself already displays strength equivalent to dozens of survivors, so the odds are slim. On top of that, the moment 'Jeong Hoon' personally sends countless survivors screaming to their deaths, any ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠coalition formed to kill him would panic and collapse in an instant. Given that he has already killed two of his own kind with his own hands, this is hardly an unreasonable assumption."

Executive 4: "Ugh...what kind of monstrous survivor even is this...W-what's the third method, then?"

Executive 1: "That leaves the third: 'assassination.' In truth, given the disparity in individual ability, it would be the best method — but the sticking point is that Brave Saga Online has absolutely no assassin or thief classes or skills specialized for 'assassination.' Among the extremely small number of survivors who, while based on Brave Saga Online, possess systems divergent from others — not a single one was granted a class or skill related to 'thief,' was there?"

Executive 3: "Hmm? Is that right...ah, yeah, you're right. Nobody has a class or skill suited for 'assassination,' do they? Instead..."

Executive 1: "Correct. Ironically...the man named 'Jeong Hoon' — the very person who most ought to be vulnerable to the threat of 'assassination' — possesses a 'thief' class, and that is fatal. So the third method also has a low probability of success. That is why I did not even consider something like a 'bounty.' There would be no point. On the contrary...bear in mind that the man named 'Jeong Hoon' could reverse the situation through his 'Quest System' and place a 'bounty' on the people targeting him."

Executive 2: "Aaaagh...what doesn't this guy have? That survivor 'Jeong Hoon'! He's got everything, absolutely everything! He can be a lord, he can be a thief...is this bastard trying to become some kind of Overlord? Should we just slap a 'Savior of the End Times' title on him already?"

Executive 3: "The second I walk out of here, I'm going to beat the living crap out of the bastard who raised him up this big. I'm genuinely too pissed off to hold back. Fuck...!"

Executive 4: "That rotten Administrator A really did leave behind a troublesome legacy in every possible way. Not that he's dead."

Executive 3: "We ought to make it so we can genuinely call him a 'legacy' soon enough!"

Executive 2: "You can't kill him, you know? No matter how much of a superior he is to you..."

Executive 3: "I know, damn it. I was just saying."

Executive 1: "A troublesome legacy...hmm. And yet...is it not also a legacy that leaves one no choice but to harbor a certain anticipation?"

Executive 2: "Pardon? Anticipation...you say?"

Executive 1: "Indeed. Anticipation."

Executive 1: "Whether the survivor named 'Jeong Hoon'..."

Executive 1: "...is someone who might climb all the way to the positions we ourselves hold. Whether he is someone who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might reach this place where we reside. That kind of anticipation."