Future War (9)
Lee Seongguk, who had claimed their representative was inside the tent, suddenly turned his back and began fiddling with something.
…He's straight-up messing with his phone.
It was a cellphone.
After Seoul collapsed and the internet went dead, I hadn't touched a phone in over a week. Watching him handle one right in front of me made me suddenly crave listening to music, reading a novel, or watching YouTube on my own phone for the first time in ages.
Still, the NEET King's ability really is something else.
In Ways of Survival, the novel Kim Dokja had read in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, one of the Seven Kings of Seoul was the “King of the Hidden Shadow,” Han Donghoon.
How had a reclusive shut-in like him been crowned a king? It wasn't as if he possessed overwhelming combat strength.
But once you heard about his ability, it became somewhat understandable.
His power was literally human “Wi-Fi.” He was the only being left in Seoul who could reconnect the severed internet.
As a living Wi-Fi router, he was exceptionally formidable when it came to information warfare.
Han Donghoon's ability made it clear why he excelled at info wars, yet contrary to that power, he never really displayed any major feats in Ways of Survival.
If anything, the lingering question was simply how a shut-in NEET like him had managed to become a king in the first place.
Yet contrary to my thoughts, he truly had held the title of one of Seoul's Seven Kings in Ways of Survival.
This was pure speculation, but he had probably used his ability to link internet access to his subordinates' phones, letting them track one another's locations and situations, while secretly infiltrating other stations with underlings to stir public opinion—expanding his influence until he became king.
Even so, being a reclusive NEET, his combat power was probably lower than the other kings'.
While I was briefly organizing what I knew about the NEET King “Han Donghoon,” I saw Kim Dokja swiftly move behind Lee Seongguk—who was still staring at his phone—and speak to him.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“H-Huh?! Nothing at all!”
Startled by Kim Dokja's voice right behind him, Lee Seongguk hurriedly hid the phone behind his back.
…Does that guy actually want to get caught as a Prophet?
Seeing him openly mess with his phone even with Kim Dokja standing that close made me suspicious.
If not, then he was a legendary troll who had screwed over the Prophets. Either way, he was a troll who had screwed over the Prophets.
Lee Seongguk stuffed his phone into his inner pocket and, face full of anxiety, pointed at the tent while calling out to Kim Dokja.
“Th-This way! The representative is waiting inside!”
“Understood.”
Kim Dokja regarded Lee Seongguk's anxious face for a moment, snorted lightly, and slowly began walking toward the tent he indicated.
As Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, and I followed Kim Dokja toward the tent, a voice rang out from the side.
“Move it, move it!”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
A man holding a weapon was yelling at and hurrying several people who stood in front of meat with butchering knives in hand.
Curious at the sight—and unable to open my mouth because of the punishment Kim Dokja had inflicted—I bought a sketchbook and a black board marker from the general store, then wrote on the sketchbook to show the group.
- What are they doing right now?
Everyone turned their heads toward the place I had been watching after reading my question.
When I had seen this scene in the webtoon, I assumed they were simply assigning chores like butchering to people who didn't want to fight. But looking at them here in person, it didn't feel like that at all.
That looks more like how you'd treat slaves. Or is it punishment for those who committed crimes at Dongmyo or rebelled against Lee Seongguk?
As I carefully observed them and wondered, Kim Dokja—still cosplaying as Yoo Joonghyuk—answered.
“They're probably wanderers from other stations who've lost their groups. They capture them and force them into menial labor like that.”
- So they're being treated as slaves right now?
That attitude definitely wasn't how you treated comrades. Under the watchful eyes of Dongmyo group members holding weapons, they butchered mole-cricket meat or disassembled monster corpses to craft equipment exactly as ordered.
“Haa… This isn't even a real kingdom…”
Jung Heewon frowned as if the whole thing left a bad taste in her mouth. Looking at her and me, Kim Dokja said,
“Don't act rashly. Stand by here and observe the situation for now. Especially you, Park Jinwoo.”
- Yeeees~.
“Keep your answer short. Just write ‘Yes.’”
- Nod.
“Haa……”
When I offered a tiny bit of resistance as petty revenge against the Kim Dokja who had hit me with that punishment, she sighed softly with tired eyes.
Kim Dokja walked toward me and Jung Heewon, closed the distance in a few strides, brought her lips to our ears, and whispered softly.
‘And keep that guy's mouth shut properly. Got it?’
After speaking, Kim Dokja quietly glanced at Kang Ilhun, who was being carried on Lee Hyunsung's back.
At her words, Jung Heewon put on a mischievous smile, then—exactly the way I had once done to Kim Dokja at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station—dropped to one knee, bowed her head toward Kim Dokja, and shouted.
“Yes, Joonghyuk-nim! As you command!”
“?!”
- Got it! Our leader! Milk-skinned Yoo Joonghyuk-nim♡
Startled by Jung Heewon's display, Lee Hyunsung hurriedly followed suit, and I wrote on the sketchbook and copied her pose as well.
Kim Dokja glared at me and Jung Heewon with truly exhausted eyes, then looked at the bewildered Lee Hyunsung behind us, sighed softly, and followed Lee Seongguk into the tent.
Watching Kim Dokja disappear inside, we waited for her in front of the tent entrance.
- So what do we do now?
“Hmm? Well… By the way, Jinwoo-ssi, when does that punishment end?”
- At least twenty minutes left, I think?
If I had a watch I could have checked the time and counted down until the punishment ended, but I didn't feel like buying one. My own phone had long since died from a dead battery, so I couldn't check the time anyway.
“Still, there are a lot of people here.”
- Yeah. I want to sell some food or daily necessities here and earn some coins.
“Hey, didn't you hear what Dok… ahem! Joonghyuk-nim said earlier? Don't act rashly and stand by here.”
- It's such a shame. If I set up shop here I could've earned at least three thousand coins.
While I was chatting briefly with Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung—who had carefully leaned Kang Ilhun against the side of the tent—spoke up.
“But this tent seems a bit special.”
“What do you mean, Hyunsung-ssi?”
“With a tent of such thin material, it's hard to completely block sound. So even we, standing this close to the entrance, should be able to hear at least a little of the conversation going on inside… but…”
Lee Hyunsung carefully examined the tent as he continued.
“I wonder if this tent is made of special material, or if someone with a sound-blocking item or a skill of that sort has done something to it.”
Oh? Unexpected.
I looked at Lee Hyunsung with genuine surprise. I never expected him to figure it out so accurately.
Indeed, this canvas tent had a sound-wave blocking skill cast on it. That was why the conversation inside currently couldn't be heard at all from outside.
Of course, there are skills in the Dokkaebi Bag that can pierce sound-blocking skills. But I don't particularly want to spend coins on that.
- Hyunsung-ssi's words make sense. This tent isn't high-quality material, so there's probably a sound-blocking skill on it.
“Hmm… Then even if something happens inside, we might not hear Joonghyuk-nim calling for help at all.”
“Should we go into the tent right now then?”
- Our Joonghyuk-nim will be fine.
“How do you know that, Jinwoo-ssi?”
Jung Heewon asked after reading the words on my sketchbook.
- Among the people here right now, no one has better stats or items than Yoo Joonghyuk-nim. Even Lee Seongguk who just went in with her has pretty good items and stats, but not better than Joonghyuk-nim.
“But the representative inside might have better items, stats, or skills than that Lee Seongguk guy, right?”
- That makes sense too… but let's wait and watch for a bit. If we barge in for no reason and nothing happens to Joonghyuk-nim, it'll just make both her position and ours awkward.
“Th-That's true.”
Unlike me—who already knew exactly what kind of person was inside and what conversation was taking place, and thus wasn't worried about Kim Dokja at all—Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung were purely fretting over her safety.
Oh dear, why is everyone so kind like suckers.
As someone standing by their side, taking advantage and using them, I felt a slight pang of conscience.
Still, I help them out quite a bit too. Maybe we're even?
As I was admiring how incredible Kim Dokja's luck with people was—looking at companions who were kind like suckers yet possessed ridiculously outstanding abilities—someone spoke from behind us.
“Huh? Faces I haven't seen before…”
At the presence and voice from behind, the three of us turned our heads toward the sound.
“Who the hell are you people?”
When we turned, there stood a tanned, muscular man in a gray tracksuit with a Hahoe mask hanging across his chest.
Found him. The second Prophet.
He tilted his head while looking at us, then stuck both hands into his pants pockets and slowly walked toward us.
“Hey, are you all deaf? Can't you hear me? Who the hell are you?”
Having approached us, he demanded to know who we were in a confrontational tone.
“What's this guy's problem, picking a fight with us?”
“P-Please calm down, Heewon-ssi!”
- Fight! Fight!
“J-Jinwoo-ssi! Why are you egging on a fight…!”
At the man's confrontational words, Jung Heewon's expression crumpled, and she glared at him with a face that looked like she'd chewed a lot of gum back in the day.
Lee Hyunsung fretted and tried to stop her, while I cheerfully egged the fight on. At my reaction, Lee Hyunsung looked at me with a thoroughly betrayed expression.
“Ah shit, are you deaf? Who are you people, loitering around here like you own the place?”
“And who the hell are you to pick a fight out of nowhere?”
In the end, Jung Heewon—whose fuse was short—exploded at the man's confrontational words.
The man made an incredulous face at her reply.
“What did you just say?”
“I said, who the hell are you to pick a fight, you bastard.”
“What? Bastard? Is this bitch crazy…!?”
The Prophet also had a short fuse like Jung Heewon. Veins stood out on his face as he glared at her and reached for the sword on his back.
“A no-name extra dares talk back to me?!”
At his words, Jung Heewon dug at her ear with an uninterested expression and said,
“What the fuck have you been yapping about since earlier, you dog-like bastard.”
“What? Dog-like… bastard? This dog-like bitch is really crazy?!”
At Jung Heewon's curses, the man finally drew the great curved sword from his back and swung it down at her.
Bang!
“Yeah, you bastard.”
Jung Heewon lightly dodged the man's attack, then drew the sword hanging at her waist and swung it toward his neck.
Clatter!
“Eh?”
Just before Jung Heewon's blade could sever the man's neck, I manipulated Gleipnir to wrap around her body and her sword, blocking her completely.
“Jinwoo-ssi? Why all of a sudden…”
Jung Heewon, floating in the air thanks to my Gleipnir, looked at me with eyes full of questions.
- Time out, Heewon-ssi.
Clatter.
I carefully controlled the Gleipnir wrapping her body and sword and gently set her down on the ground.
“This fucking shit! I almost died to some no-name extra bitch?!”
The tanned Prophet, who would have lost his life to Jung Heewon's blade if I hadn't stopped her, wailed. Then he glared at Jung Heewon while fuming.
“That bastard still doesn't know his place…”
Jung Heewon, heated up again by the Prophet's gaze, spat curses at him.
“Fuck! Let's go again! That was a mistake! There's no way I'd lose…!”
It seemed he still couldn't believe he had lost to Jung Heewon. The Prophet was busy denying reality.
Tsk… Dokja and Lee Seongguk are about to come out.
I slowly approached him. When I got right in front of his nose, he raised his head and glared at me.
“And who the fuck are you? Shi—”
Slap!
Mid-sentence, the man took a slap from me. His head snapped to the side from the blow, and he glared at me with disbelieving eyes before asking in a voice trembling with rage.
“Did you just hit me? Ha… fuck, is today the day? Getting smacked by no-name extras…”
Slap!
- What are you yapping about, small fry.
I slapped his other cheek. After taking double slaps from me, veins stood out on the man's face and neck. He put force into the great curved sword he had slammed into the ground, lifted it, and swung it at me.
Gleipnir.
Clatter.
Gleipnir, reading my thoughts, moved on its own, wrapped around the great curved sword swinging toward me, and stopped its movement completely.
“Wh-What the hell is this! This wasn't in the Revelation at all!”
The time limit for the punishment imposed by Chungmuro Station's representative ‘Kim Dokja’ has ended.
“He's going to announce he's a Prophet to the whole neighborhood. Oh? Finally the punishment's over.”
The tanned Prophet's face stiffened, and he looked at me with trembling eyes.
“Y-You…! How did you figure out I'm a Prophet…!”
Are these guys really idiots? Lee Seongguk was openly staring at the Prophets' group chat, and this guy openly mentioned the Revelation, then asks how I knew he was a Prophet.
I looked at the tanned Prophet with cold, dead eyes.
“Who knows? I don't feel like telling a small fry.”
“You…! How dare you look down on me?!”
“Yeah, hyung can look down on you. 'Cause I'm fucking stronger than you.”
As I looked at him for a moment with a rotten smile and provoked him, the tent entrance opened.
Flap!
“Park Jinwoo—!!”
“Ah…”
Kim Dokja, who came out of the tent at the same time as Lee Seongguk, looked at me and immediately shouted.
Shit… I'm definitely getting scolded this time.
Kim Dokja was glaring at me with tremendous force, truly angry this time.
Ehh… Still better than Jung Heewon getting scolded.
Originally, this was the scene where Jung Heewon got scolded by Kim Dokja with this and that. But I had decided to steal that role.
Why? The reason was extremely simple.
Beauties are beings that must be protected.
Yep yep, of course. Gaining favor with a super beauty like Jung Heewon, gaining favor… not two birds with one stone, just one bird with one stone, but still, gaining a beauty's favor was something.
Look even now. Jung Heewon was looking at me with a dazed face from a bit of a distance, wasn't she?
I secretly gave Jung Heewon a thumbs-up behind the back of Kim Dokja, who was striding toward me.
“Jinwoo-ssi…”
Look at this. Just because I gave her a thumbs-up, she was looking at me with a slightly moved face.
Kim Dokja, who had already come right up to my nose, looked at me with chilly eyes and spoke in a cold voice.
“I'll hear what happened inside. Everyone follow me.”
- Yes.
I wrote on the sketchbook, covered my face with it, and quietly followed Kim Dokja and Lee Seongguk into the tent.