The Fifth Scenario (2)
The Constellations who have just learned that you are an Incarnation without a Sponsor open their eyes wide!
A great number of Constellations gaze upon you with greedy eyes!
A great number of Constellations wish to become your Sponsor!
“…What a pain.”
Answering Han Sooyoung’s question honestly had come back to bite me. The message spam from the overeager Constellations far outstripped anything I’d endured so far, and I scowled.
A great number of Constellations……….
“Enough.”
I lifted my head and glared at the messages still flooding in.
“Do I look like the kind of guy who’d work under someone else? Cut it out, you little brats.”
A Constellation unfamiliar with modern slang asks what “brat” means.
“Brat means a noisy little shit, basically. That’s exactly what you are. You bunch of brats who are even worse than brats.”
The Constellations who did not know the meaning of “brat” flush at your words.
A small handful of Constellations insist they don’t care about any of that and still want to become your Sponsor!
“I swear, if a passing meteor would just smash every one of your skulls open, I’d have nothing left to wish for. O God, please drop one meteor on each of these brats’ heads…”
I quietly closed my eyes, folded my hands with solemn reverence, and prayed. I begged—truly, desperately begged—for meteors to fall on those bastards’ heads.
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, makes an awkward face at your prayer.
Constellation, Lily Blooming in Aquarius, says she has no idea how to react to your prayer.
Constellations of the Absolute Good camp avert their eyes from your prayer.
I ignored the Absolute Good Constellations’ messages and focused on the prayer. At the same time, I made a quiet vow to myself.
If no meteor fell on their heads right now, then someday I would drop one on them myself.
Fortunately, after a few minutes other Constellations grew sick of the spam and started snapping at the offenders, and the message terrorism finally stopped.
Once the spam died down, the four of us walked in the direction the werewolves had fled. Before long, iron cages identical to the ones on the Mino Soft rooftop came into view in the distance.
It was the “Coin Farm” the werewolves had set up.
Seeing it, I called to Shin Yooseung, who was perched on my shoulder. From here on, this was a sight she must not see.
“Yooseung.”
“Yes?”
At my call she looked down at me. I spoke to her with a hard expression.
“Wait inside My Room for a bit. Don’t come out until I call you this time. Got it?”
“…Okay.”
Confirming the seriousness on my face, Shin Yooseung went into My Room without any of her usual fussing.
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung looked a little puzzled about why I’d suddenly sent her inside, but they didn’t comment.
The three of us approached the Coin Farm, thick with the stench of blood.
“…This seems to be the place. The werewolves’ main base.”
“Looks like we’re a little late, though. Someone beat us here? No sentries either.”
“……………”
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung surveyed the dark-red bloodstains covering the ground and the insides of the cages. Unlike the two of them, I fixed my gaze on one particular spot and my expression hardened.
Han Sooyoung, glancing around and then noticing my face, asked,
“What? What’s wrong?”
At her question I quietly pointed with my chin. Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja followed the gesture, then their faces crumpled.
“Ugh, what the hell is that?!”
“………”
Confronted with the horrific scene before us, both their complexions darkened noticeably.
It wasn’t just them—anyone who saw it would have gone pale, and anyone with a weak stomach would have thrown up on the spot.
In front of the three of us, human body parts hung from rubber cords the way meat is suspended in a slaughterhouse or butcher shop.
The variety of parts dangling before our eyes was staggering. Human thighs, arms and hands, legs and feet, and other pieces hung in midair, dripping dark-red blood.
It wasn’t a metaphor. It truly looked like a butcher shop or slaughterhouse with every cut of meat on display, and for a moment we were all speechless.
After a beat, Han Sooyoung twisted her face into a snarl and spat curses at the werewolves.
“These fucking animal bastards…”
“So even you get angry when you see something like this.”
“Of course I do. If you can look at this and feel nothing, are you even human?”
“The other Prophets said all you ever think about is using the information you know to rule the world.”
“Who said that? That’s as ridiculous as the plagiarism accusations.”
“Our Sooyoung was a plagiarist author?”
“Who’s a plagiarist author?!”
Thwack!
“Ow?!”
The atmosphere had gone stiff because of the atrocity the werewolves had committed, so I’d tried to lighten it by teasing her about being a plagiarist. Han Sooyoung immediately flared up and cracked me across the knuckles.
Even after smacking my knuckles she kept glaring at me, breathing hard, then turned her head toward Kim Dokja.
“World domination? Sure, it’d be nice. But first priority is stopping the destruction. You think I gathered the Apostles for fun?”
“Those Apostles were all trash.”
“They were total amateurs.”
“They were trash and amateurs from the start! How is that my fault?!”
“You gathered them… so of course it’s your fault…”
“Shut up! Are you a fucking T or something?!”
“…Fine, fine. I’m sorry for everything.”
Faced with Han Sooyoung’s wide, furious eyes and growling, I raised both hands a little.
If I teased her any more she was going to crack my knuckles again or lunge for my arm with her teeth.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out in the distance. The moment they heard them, Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung’s hands went reflexively to their blades.
I activated Clairvoyance at the sound of the gunfire and the faint, agonized howls of werewolves.
Female prisoners with assault rifles were mowing the werewolves down. I immediately relayed the fact to Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja.
“Up ahead, female prisoners are wiping out the werewolves with assault rifles.”
“What? How do you know that?”
“I got a skill called Clairvoyance from a blue meteor. That’s how I checked.”
“A meteor?! A guy who already has tons of coins found a meteor too?!”
Han Sooyoung seemed shocked for an entirely different reason. She turned her head slightly and muttered,
“The rich really do get richer… I wandered all over and never even saw the first letter of ‘meteor’…”
“Um… hang in there?”
“Don’t pity me… you silver-spoon bastard.”
“I started as a dirt-poor spoon too, but fine. Our genius beautiful-girl author can just suck her thumb forever!”
“Do you actually want to die?! I told you not to pity me and now you’re cursing me?! Get over here!!”
When she told me not to pity her, I kindly obeyed—and dumped curses on her instead. Han Sooyoung’s face twisted with rage as she grabbed both of my cheeks and started yanking.
“Die! Die!!”
“Ow! Hey, hey! Time-out! Let’s be reasonable and just grab the cheeks, Sooyoung?! You’re pulling my sideburns too!”
“So what?! Die!!”
“Gyaaaaaaah!!”
“…Haa. I want to leave them behind.”
Kim Dokja let out a small sigh at our comedy routine that wasn’t quite a comedy routine.
A little later, once her temper had cooled somewhat, Han Sooyoung released my cheeks and sideburns while still huffing.
“Curse me one more time. Next time I’ll just yank all your hair out.”
“…Our Sooyoung only hates me.”
“You started it, you bastard!”
“All right, all right. That’s enough, both of you. We need to move now.”
Kim Dokja intervened, then looked at me and asked,
“Park Jinwoo, where are those female prisoners?”
“Close. Four buildings ahead, then immediately to the right.”
“Let’s approach carefully.”
Han Sooyoung and I nodded at her words and started running in the direction I’d indicated.
After four buildings we cut hard right—and there were the werewolves’ corpses.
But the corpses had turned pitch-black.
“…Attribute rounds.”
“Holy power in the bullets…?”
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung each muttered as they stared at the blackened werewolves.
“More importantly, I think you two should look ahead.”
I whispered, eyeing the female prisoners who were now aiming their guns at us.
The two of them belatedly tore their gazes from the werewolves and looked at the women leveling rifles in our direction.
Female prisoners of various ages held modern assault rifles with the muzzles pointed at us. Han Sooyoung spoke to Kim Dokja with a slightly tense face.
“Hey, remember when I said there was someone like you over by Seodaemun Prison? That’s her group.”
Han Sooyoung jerked her chin toward the woman in the middle of the prisoners—wearing an ornate mask and a brown trench coat—and continued.
“She’s the leader. Looking at her growth rate and what she does, she’s clearly a dropout, but no information about her pops up for me.”
“So that means she isn’t a dropout?”
“Yeah, that’s why it’s weird. Anyway, they’re Wanderers too. Pretty strong ones operating around here—and just now they became the strongest Wanderers I know of.”
At that moment a female prisoner in a navy jacket stepped forward with her rifle. Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja flinched and tensed to draw their weapons.
But the woman aimed at the pile of werewolf corpses beside us and opened fire.
Ratatatatatat!
““………?!””
The bullets she poured out collapsed the heap of werewolf bodies, revealing something that had been hidden among them.
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung, however, seemed not to have seen it.
Even though the gunfire wasn’t aimed at them, they ducked their heads and bodies to protect themselves. I snapped a few photos of the two of them with my camera and jotted a note in my notebook.
Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung flinching at gunfire PNG.
When I photographed the two of them cowering at the sound of guns, the female prisoners watching us shifted their gazes to me and all wore identical expressions of utter disbelief—but I ignored them.
I was shameless, after all.
And thankfully the gunfire was loud enough that they didn’t notice I’d taken pictures of the two.
They were still ducking and twitching, after all.
A moment later the shooting stopped. Kim Dokja, who had squeezed her eyes shut, opened them and turned her gaze toward the werewolf corpses beside us.
From among the bodies she spotted a large yellow stone roughly two meters on each side, and her eyes went round.
“That’s…!”
The yellow meteor Kim Dokja was staring at right now was exactly the “Guide Meteor” that Lycaon, who would teach me the Path of the Wind, carried.
“Are you Kim Dokja?”
The female prisoner who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties—no, Jo Yeongran, right hand of Kim Dokja’s mother—looked at Kim Dokja and asked.
Kim Dokja looked a little flustered that Jo Yeongran knew her name, but she quickly composed her face and spoke with calm composure.
“You seem to be mistaken. My name is Yoo Joonghyuk. Kim Dokja is the name of the woman I hate most.”
At the “professional Yoo Joonghyuk impersonator” Kim Dokja’s claim, Han Sooyoung stared at her with an expression of pure incredulity.
Han Sooyoung sidled up to me and whispered,
‘The second she opens her mouth, lies just pour out automatically.’
‘Dokja’s always been like that.’
‘Are we sure we can trust her?’
“Ahem… I can hear everything, you know…?”
Kim Dokja gave a small cough, clearly having overheard our muttering, and shot us a look.
Jo Yeongran tilted her head at Kim Dokja’s words.
“Yoo Joonghyuk?”
“That’s right. So tell that dropout of yours not to get cocky. If you don’t know what that means, just pass the message along first.”
“………”
Jo Yeongran, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth.
“I already know you’re Kim Dokja. Stop with the unnecessary lies.”
Incarnation Han Sooyoung has confirmed that the statement is true.
Han Sooyoung, who had used Lie Detection on Jo Yeongran, nodded toward us. It meant Jo Yeongran’s words were true.
Still looking at Kim Dokja, Jo Yeongran pointed at the Guide Meteor and said,
“His Majesty has said that this meteor will be entrusted to you.”
Kim Dokja, wearing a face that didn’t quite understand, asked Jo Yeongran,
“Who are you people?”
“We are those who serve the King of Wanderers.”
“Is the one wearing the mask over there your king? You don’t seem to have a flag.”
“His Majesty does not concern himself with such trivial objects.”
Kim Dokja looked taken aback at Jo Yeongran’s words. Jo Yeongran watched her flustered expression for a moment, then continued.
“His Majesty bade me tell you this: ‘We will handle the Disaster of the North. But the other four disasters we leave to you.’”
“Wait…!”
Having finished everything she wanted to say, Jo Yeongran turned her back without the slightest hesitation.
Watching from the side, Han Sooyoung shouted,
“Hey! What the hell was that? You should explain properly before you leave!”
At that moment I strode past Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung and approached Jo Yeongran.
“Hey, hey?!”
“Park Jinwoo! Where are you going?!”
Ignoring the voices calling me from behind, I called out to Jo Yeongran. I had something to deliver to her.
“Excuse me!”
“Hm?”
At my call, Jo Yeongran and the nearby prisoners tightened their grips on their guns and eyed me warily, but I ignored their caution and handed her a few photographs.
“Please give these to your king.”
“These photos?”
Jo Yeongran examined the pictures I’d handed over with a puzzled look, but I simply nodded.
The photos I passed her were all the pictures of Kim Dokja I had taken so far.
The one of Kim Dokja flinching at the gunfire just now, and ordinary shots of her going about her day.
Of course I didn’t hand over the ones of Dokja wearing bunny ears or any nude shots.
I had a strong feeling that if Dokja’s mother ever got hold of those, she would light both eyes on fire and kill me on the spot…
“And while you’re at it, it would be nice if you could also tell her that Dokja is doing well.”
“Who exactly are you… Do you know about the relationship between our king and Kim Dokja?”
“Heh heh heh… Who knows? I really have no idea.”
I only shrugged and grinned at Jo Yeongran’s question.
She stared at me for a moment with eyes full of suspicion, then let out a small sigh.
“I’ll let it slide this time. But there won’t be a second. Understood?”
“Yeees~”
“…Go on now. The two behind you are glaring daggers at you.”
“Thank you for letting me know. Please stay healthy until we meet again.”
I politely bowed my head at Jo Yeongran’s warning, then moonwalked slowly backward toward Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung.
The reason I’d given Jo Yeongran the photos of Kim Dokja was very simple.
The story of Kim Dokja and her mother, Lee Sookyung, was fucking tragic.
I hope these photos can heal her heart even a little.
From a fair distance away I could see Lee Sookyung flinch in surprise as she received the photos from Jo Yeongran. Lee Sookyung turned and shot a look at me as I moonwalked back to Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja’s side.
I glanced at her for a moment as well, but soon she turned again and walked north with the female prisoners.
Having finished what I needed to do, I smiled and focused on the moonwalk—only to feel a sudden impact against my back.
Slap!
“Ow?!”
“Park Jinwoo! Who told you to pull dangerous stunts like that?!”
“Hey, you handed something to them. What did you give them?”
Kim Dokja smacked me hard across the back with her open palm, face huffing, while Han Sooyoung was curious about what I’d passed to Jo Yeongran.
I did a good deed this time… sob…
But since I couldn’t explain my circumstances, I held back tears inside, forced a smile, and said,
“Nah, I just had some 5mm rounds left over, so I asked, ‘Want to buy these for coins?’ And I sold a few…”
““………….””
At my explanation Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung eyed me with suspicion for a moment, then sighed quietly and turned to each other to talk.
“Never mind him. So what, do you know that woman or something?”
“How could I?”
Kim Dokja looked toward the female prisoners who had already put considerable distance between us—more precisely, toward her mother Lee Sookyung—and her expression went blank.
Poke.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“H-huh?”
Han Sooyoung jabbed her elbow into the side of the dazed Kim Dokja, and thanks to that Kim Dokja finally came back to herself.
“What is it? Are you okay?”
“…Yeah. It’s nothing.”
Han Sooyoung asked worriedly of Kim Dokja, who still didn’t seem fully present.
At the question Kim Dokja forced a smile and pretended nothing was wrong.
“………”
I quietly watched that version of Kim Dokja for a moment, then opened the door to My Room to find Shin Yooseung, who had been waiting alone inside.
“Yooseung? You can come out now… Hm?”
When I opened the door and looked for her, I saw a small doll on my bed.
The identity of the little doll sleeping on my bed was Shin Yooseung.
Right now she was deeply asleep on top of my bed, making tiny soft breathing sounds.
“………….”
Click! Click! Click!
At that adorable sight I put on a dad smile, snapped a few photos, and quietly closed the door to My Room.
Even my little sister’s napping face is so cute.
When I closed the door and stepped back outside, a rustling sound came from beside me.
Turning toward the noise, I saw Wanderers who looked like survivors of the Coin Farm carefully cradling blankets and daily necessities in their arms.
And they were gazing with reverent eyes in the direction the female prisoners had gone.
A little later Kim Dokja was examining the yellow meteor, and Han Sooyoung was treating the injured Wanderers with her Avatar.
And I—
“Here, Nakak crab legs.”
“Th-thank you!”
“Hey! Get in a proper line over there! No line, no crab legs!”
“S-sorry!”
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, rejoices at your good deed of distributing food to the Wanderers!
You have received 1,000 coins in sponsorship.
Constellation, Lily Blooming in Aquarius, rejoices at your good deed.
You have received 500 coins in sponsorship.
Constellations of the Absolute Good camp are moved by your good deed.
You have received a total of 2,000 coins in sponsorship.
I was in the middle of volunteering for the starving Wanderers.
Back at the Field of Nakak I had torn off hundreds of legs from the small Nakak. Seafood spoils if you don’t eat it quickly.
Well, with My Room’s giant refrigerator and the cold-enchanted food storage, the small Nakak meat wouldn’t actually go bad.
But with hundreds of Nakak crab legs, the sheer quantity was ridiculous.
So I decided to do a little volunteer work—partly to milk some sponsorship from the Absolute Good Constellations, partly to clear out the warehouse a bit.
And the most important thing.
Sizzle—!
“Hey, Prisoner of the Golden Headband. The ancient Nakak meat and the small Nakak crab legs will be done steaming soon, so get ready to eat.”
Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband, says he understands and prepares his utensils.
To fulfill the request from the Great Sage Equal to Heaven back at the Field of Nakak—that I cook and offer him ancient Nakak meat good for hair loss—I had set a giant steamer on the Magic Hearth and was steaming both ancient Nakak and small Nakak crab legs.
And then the starving beggar horde started clinging to me with messages.
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, drools while staring at the Nakak crab legs you are steaming.
Constellation, Bald Righteous Army Commander, begs you with pitiful eyes to give him just a little too!
Constellation, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, drools while staring fixedly at the deliciously steaming Nakak crab legs.
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, nods while watching the Nakak crab legs that are beginning to cook well.
A small number of Constellations currently suffering from hair loss complain that they would like just a little too.
…Were these guys who look like they eat better than me actually total beggars?
It wasn’t even “just one bite of ramen.” What the hell was this?
I let out a small sigh. Fine. They did sponsor me coins, and I had hundreds of Nakak crab legs, so I’d give them a little.
“If you want some too, get your utensils ready. And wash your hands first, obviously.”
A great number of Constellations hurriedly prepare utensils and wash their hands at your words!
A great number…? Not a small number or a few?
I asked with trembling eyes at the Constellations’ messages.
“Do you guys not eat normally…?”
Many Constellations make awkward faces at your words.
I stared at the message floating in front of me with an expression of pure disbelief.
Not just beggars—absolute super beggars.
A little later, once I confirmed that all the Nakak crab legs inside the steamer had cooked deliciously, I shouted to the Constellations.
“Hey, it’s done! Get ready for distribution!”
A great number of Constellations drool as they gather their utensils!
Watching the modifiers of the Constellations floating before my eyes, I began distributing the Nakak crab legs to them.
You have offered ancient Nakak crab legs and small Nakak crab legs to Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband.
Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband, is extremely delighted as he looks upon the ancient Nakak crab legs and small Nakak crab legs offered to him!
Sway-sway!
“Hm?”
A lock of yellow hair appeared in front of my eyes. I reflexively caught it, checked what it was, and nearly jumped.
It was the very strand of hair that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had handed to the male Kim Dokja in the Revolutionary arc.
Just as Kim Dokja had described, a tremendous energy could be felt in that single strand.
“…Well I’ll be damned. You’re giving me something this precious just for Nakak meat? Thanks. I’ll put it to good use.”
Constellation, Prisoner of the Golden Headband, grins at your words and says that as long as you know, it’s fine.
I quietly thanked the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—who, despite fretting over his ongoing hair loss and wanting to eat Nakak meat, had still pulled out a single strand of his own hair containing his Probability and given it to me. After receiving my thanks he sent a short message and then stopped replying.
He had probably already dived in to eat the ancient Nakak meat right away.
I continued distributing Nakak crab legs to the other Constellations.
You have offered small Nakak crab legs to Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire.
Constellation, Demon-like Judge of Fire, is extremely delighted!
You have received 3,000 coins in sponsorship.
You have offered small Nakak crab legs to Constellation, Bald Righteous Army Commander.
Constellation, Bald Righteous Army Commander, is extremely delighted to receive Nakak crab legs said to be good for hair loss!
You have received 1,000 coins in sponsorship.
You have offered small Nakak crab legs to Constellation, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.
Constellation, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, rejoices as he looks at the small Nakak crab legs that have appeared before him!
You have received 2,000 coins in sponsorship.
You have offered to Constellation, God of Wine and Ecstasy…………….
You have offered to Constellation, Lily Blooming in Aquarius……….
You have offered to Constellation, Lord of the Riffraff…………….
You have offered to Constellation, Adventurer Who Stands Eggs……….
You have offered to Constellation, One Who Overcomes Trials a Step Late…….
You have offered to Constellation, Maritime War God…………….
You have offered to Constellation, King Heungmu…………….
You have offered to a Constellation related to love ……….
You have offered to a Constellation currently suffering from hair loss…………….
…
…
…
Total coins received in sponsorship: 105,620
All told, over a hundred Constellations cleaned me out of small Nakak crab legs.
“Fuck… I tore off almost four hundred small Nakak crab legs, and in one go the Constellations snagged a hundred and forty-one of them. Go eat some real food once in a while, you bastards.”
A great number of Constellations scratch their heads with awkward expressions at your curses.
I never imagined that the so-called Constellations would turn out to be super-beggar bastards who didn’t even eat properly.
After sharing with the Wanderers and the Constellations, I clutched my own empty stomach and put small Nakak crab legs into the giant steamer so that Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Shin Yooseung, and I could eat—
Ding!
“What now?”
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, asks whether you can offer him just a few small Nakak crab legs.
“Raw?”
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, nods.
“Well… I don’t mind.”
At a reaction different from the other Constellations, I offered a few small Nakak crab legs to the Plotter without much thought.
You have offered raw small Nakak crab legs to Constellation, Secretive Plotter.
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, thanks you.
You have received 5,000 coins in sponsorship.
“Yeah. Thanks for the coins, and cook those well before you eat them.”
Constellation, Secretive Plotter, says that he is a good cook so unnecessary worry is uncalled for.
“Sure~ Ah, no one else left? I’m not giving any more.”
Apparently everyone was busy eating the Nakak meat I’d given them, because no more messages came flying in.
I let out a sigh of relief and began steaming the small Nakak crab legs that Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Shin Yooseung, and I would eat.