Night of the Prophets (3)

At Kim Dokja's signal, the three of us drew our weapons and stepped out of the lodging.

"Heh heh~♪ Time for some delightful chaos!"

"Um, Jinwoo-ssi? Just so we're clear — no throwing grenades like last time, okay?"

Jung Heewon said it with a worried look, having caught just how much I was enjoying myself.

"Huh? But…"

"Why are you drooping like that…"

I let both arms hang limp and put on my most dejected face. Jung Heewon stared at me like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Haa… Fine. Guess I've got no choice."

"What are you about to pull now?"

I bought a black balaclava from the general store, then added an HK 416 and a hundred and fifty rounds of 5.56mm ammunition.

"Starting today, my dream is to be a bandit. Watch over me, Joker!"

Ignoring the two of them staring at me like I'd lost my mind, I yanked the black balaclava over my head and strode up to a sentry dozing peacefully nearby — then kicked him.

Thud!

"Wha—?! What the hell suddenly—"

Click.

I quietly leveled the rifle at the sentry. The moment he saw the muzzle pointed at him, his mouth clamped shut.

"Just a bandit passing through. Hand over five hundred coins and I'll spare your life."

"I-I'll give them… please, just spare me…!"

"Good. Coins first."

Once the sentry paid the five hundred coins as promised, I smiled.

"Th-then… you're letting me live?"

"Sure. Get some sleep instead."

"Huh? What do you me—"

Thud!

I cracked the buttstock of the HK 416 against the sentry's head. He went out cold on the spot and crumpled to the floor.

"This is the moment for the line. It's chaos time. Coins and more coins — present them! This is the hour of the coin-raking hero!"

Bang bang bang bang!!

I sprayed rounds into the platform ceiling. People startled awake by the noise began rising from their spots one after another.

"Wh-what was that? Was that a gunshot just now?"

"What the hell is going on all of a sudden?!"

"I heard it over there!"

The sound of several people running toward me reached my ears. I walked out to meet them.

"Over there! That's where the shots came from!"

"Who's that? Hey — there's a guy in a black balaclava!"

"That looks just like those bank-robber outfits you only see in America…"

Bang bang bang bang!!

I looked at the people standing there staring blankly at me, then fired into the platform ceiling the same way as before. They dropped flat to the floor in shock.

"Waaaaah!"

"H-holy shit! That was a real gun?!"

"G-get down!"

I approached the people pressed flat against the ground and spoke.

"Relax. I'm just a simple bandit. Pay five hundred coins and I'll let you live."

"W-what if we don't have five hundred coins…?"

One of the people on the floor asked. I looked down at him as I answered.

"Then you die."

"…If we just pay five hundred coins, you'll really spare us?"

"Of course! I keep my promises."

The man who'd spoken exchanged a glance with the people around him, then they all nodded at once and pointed their index fingers at me.

"Thanks for your patronage. I'm going to walk past you now. If I so much as sense any of you trying to get up, I'll punch you an express ticket straight to the afterlife. Everyone clear on that?"

I said it with a smile in my voice. The men's faces went pale, and they all nodded vigorously up and down.

"Heewon-ssi, Hyunsung-ssi! Keep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an eye on these guys for a bit! I'm heading a little deeper in!"

"……Go ahead."

"Ahaha… Understood."

Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung looked at me with the faces of people who had already transcended worldly concerns, then waved me off with a have a nice trip.

Alright. Time to rob to my heart's content.

Being a station that housed two Prophets, Dongmyo Station was packed with people. In just a few days they'd swollen their ranks enough to snatch up wanderers who'd lost their groups and put them to menial work — no further explanation needed.

And what did that mean? Exactly. It meant there were a decent number of coins floating around.

"Shake down twenty people and that's ten thousand coins. A goldmine like this — a coin event made just for me — there's no way I'm letting it slip by."

Kim Dokja would finish her business and come outside soon enough. If I wanted to maximize the haul, I had to hurry.

I sprinted toward the denser crowd further inside.

Wait for me, my little golden goblins. Big bro's coming to collect those coins!

Jung Minseob was resting in a private lodging with his friend Lee Seongguk. Jung Minseob tipped his head back and muttered a small complaint.

"Aah — this shitty stretch is almost over. Tomorrow and it's done. Perfect time for a bottle of soju."

"No kidding. You see the look in that bastard's eyes earlier?"

Lee Seongguk agreed.

"He put on the Sage's Eye and just stared me down. I nearly had a heart attack from how hard I was shitting myself."

"Haha, how would some guy who dropped out at the prologue even know what the Sage's Eye is?"

The two Prophets were grinning ear to ear, already savoring the thought of properly sticking it to the Apostles — the ones who'd sweet-talked Yoo Joonghyuk (Kim Dokja) into reading past chapter fifty.

What they didn't know was that Kim Dokja was watching them right then, wrapped in the Cloak of the Hermit.

Oblivious to that fact, Lee Seongguk frowned and turned to Jung Minseob.

"Hey, but the other Prophets keep getting suspicious. How do we talk them down? They've been freaking out since earlier about going to check Chungmuro themselves…"

"I'll handle it — give me the phone. Honestly… huh?"

Jung Minseob took the phone from Lee Seongguk and started tapping at the group chat, then scowled.

"What the hell. The internet just died?"

"Ah, come on — is that kid dozing off again? Go check."

"Ugh, what a pain…"

Thud.

Jung Minseob stood to head toward Han Donghoon and walked straight into something in midair. Startled, he clutched his head and stared at empty space.

"Uh…?"

"What? What's wrong?"

"No, th-there's something here…"

Whoosh.

Kim Dokja looked down at the dazed Jung Minseob, then threw off the Cloak of the Hermit she'd been wearing.

When Kim Dokja suddenly appeared out of thin air, Jung Minseob and Lee Seongguk stared at her in pure horror.

"Wha…?!"

"Y-Yoo Joonghyuk-nim? Why are you here…"

Kim Dokja regarded the two of them in silence — until Jung Heewon poked her head in from outside the tent.

"Excuse me, Yoo Joonghyuk-nim. How much longer will you be?"

"What's the matter, Heewon-ssi?"

Jung Heewon hesitated at Kim Dokja's question, then steeled herself and spoke.

"The people outside are looking kind of pitiful…"

"What are you talking abou—"

Kim Dokja, completely lost, stuck her head out of the tent.

And there stood Park Jinwoo, rifle in hand, mugging people in broad view.

"Hey, you bastard! You don't even have five hundred coins?! Are you a beggar?! You got a death wish?!"

"P-please spare me! I-I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really don't have five hundred coins! Please, just forgive me this once…!"

"Not my problem! If you don't have five hundred coins, go beg someone else for them, you piece of shit!"

"Waaah… I-I'm sorry… please just spare me once…"

"Stop crying and go get those five hundred coins! You've got ten minutes! Run!"

At Park Jinwoo's words, the man bolted off somewhere in tears.

Watching him go, Park Jinwoo turned to the person standing behind him.

"Next."

"H-here, five hundred coins…"

"Ahh, much obliged. See? When you just hand over the five hundred coins nice and clean, everyone's happy, right?"

Bang bang bang!

Park Jinwoo answered in a voice dripping with manic glee, then fired happily into the ceiling.

The people lined up single-file in front of him flinched and trembled, watching his face for any sign of what came next.

"Next."

"What the hell kind of insane stunt is that supposed to be…?"

Kim Dokja stared blankly at Park Jinwoo in pure astonishment.

In a certain sense, the way Park Jinwoo was exploiting these people was even more vicious than anything Yoo Joonghyuk would do. It was the picture of a tyrant.

As Kim Dokja reeled at the sight of Park Jinwoo shaking down the people of Dongmyo Station for coins, Jung Heewon sighed and spoke.

"See? Jinwoo-ssi's gone off the rails again. Finish up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here and go rein him in, please."

"Understood…"

Kim Dokja gave a bitter smile and nodded at Jung Heewon's words. Then she turned toward Jung Minseob and Lee Seongguk, who were still staring blankly from behind her.

"Th-this is…"

"Y-Yoo Joonghyuk-nim! What on earth is the meaning of this?!"

"Can't you tell by looking?"

Kim Dokja drew Unbreakable Faith and sliced only the outer layer of Jung Minseob's clothes. He screamed in shock.

"Aaaagh!"

Jung Minseob's gray tracksuit tore open, and a flag marked Dongmyo tumbled from inside onto the floor.

"H-how…"

"So the real representative of Dongmyo Station was you after all."

Kim Dokja walked toward the two Prophets, who were staring at her in a daze.

"No matter how stupid you two are, there's no way you'd put a flag on open display like that."

Kim Dokja picked up the Dongmyo Station flag from the floor.

Realizing the flag had been stolen, Lee Seongguk shouted desperately at Kim Dokja.

"Yoo Joonghyuk-nim! I-if the other Prophets find out about this…"

"The internet's down. How do you plan on telling them?"

Every plan they'd built up to this point collapsing in a single instant, Lee Seongguk asked Kim Dokja in a voice thick with despair.

"Why… why are you doing this to us?!"

"Well. I don't know if that question even means anything at this point."

Kim Dokja answered Lee Seongguk's despair-soaked voice with an indifferent expression.

"Even if I were the real Yoo Joonghyuk, I wouldn't have formed an alliance with the likes of you."

"Th-that means…"

"No way…?"

Understanding the meaning behind Kim Dokja's words, the two of them went wide-eyed with shock. Kim Dokja looked at the two Prophets and grinned.

"You should've read it all the way through."

Having said her piece, Kim Dokja stepped out of the tent. There was a certain someone raising hell among the people who needed to be stopped.

"Hahahaha—! You goldmine bastards! That's right — keep bringing those coins right over!"

"You look like you're having fun, Jinwoo-ssi."

Park Jinwoo flinched hard at the voice from behind him. Then, like a rusted machine, he slowly turned his head.

Kim Dokja smiled at him without a word. Cold sweat beaded on Park Jinwoo's forehead.

"Ahem… Dokja-ssi, all finished? You came out pretty fast."

"I did, didn't I. Though I had to wrap things up in a hurry thanks to a certain someone."

"Really… who might that certain someone be? Daring to interrupt Dokja-ssi… shall I give them a stern talking-to?"

"Are you seriously asking because you don't know…?"

Park Jinwoo put on an awkward face at Kim Dokja's words, then — with the look of a man who'd done this before — dropped to his knees in front of her.

"I was wrong, Dokja-ssi…"

"Haa… I'm the one who asked you to make a scene in the first place, so I won't come down on you too hard. However."

"However?"

"Dongmyo Station is ours now, so stop the bandit act. Understood?"

"If I just finish shaking down these people…"

"What……?"

There were still about twenty people behind him, so Park Jinwoo tried a little greed and asked if he could just clean those ones out — but under Kim Dokja's icy stare he lowered his eyes and continued.

"Understood…"

"But you're already loaded with coins. Why the sudden bandit spree?"

Kim Dokja asked out of genuine curiosity. Park Jinwoo answered.

"I just suddenly thought of King God General Emperor Joker's bank-robbery bit."

"Ah. Right……"

Kim Dokja decided she really shouldn't have asked.