War of the Kings (1)

I was currently moving while using Agile Footwork. With little time remaining, I needed to reach Dobong Station as quickly as possible.

Even if I arrived at Dobong Station swiftly and one-shot the Tyrant King, I still had to stop by the stations he had occupied and plant at least ten flag holders.

Only then could I acquire the King's Attribute.

In any case, I passed through Jongno 3-ga and Jongno 5-ga, arrived at Dongdaemun, switched to Line 4, and finally reached Hyehwa Station.

What time is it now? It felt like it took a little over thirty minutes.

With my Agility at 43 and the slight speed boost from Agile Footwork, I had arrived at Hyehwa Station quickly. Of course, not running into any monsters along the way helped too.

"Let's see… is this the Tyrant King's territory…?"

Hyehwa Station was a bit of a distance from the Tyrant King's main base at Dobong Station, but I couldn't ignore the possibility.

If not, oh well. If it is, I can just carve out the flag holder like I did with Jung Heewon and dump it in My Room. No real loss either way.

As I climbed onto the Hyehwa Station platform and looked around, a voice suddenly called out from beside me.

"Halt!"

"Huh?"

I turned toward the voice and found men in ragged, beggar-like clothes pointing weapons at me.

"Who the hell are you?! Identify yourself!"

"Hmm?"

I smiled at the tense men aiming their weapons at me.

"My apologies. I'm currently a wanderer by the name of Park Jinwoo. Might I ask whose territory this is?"

"This is the territory of the Throwing King, Lord Park Cheoljung!"

I'd never heard of a king with the moniker Throwing King. He might have been an original king who got killed by the Tyrant King, or one of the ones Yoo Joonghyuk would eventually cut down.

In that case, no problem killing him either way.

I kept my friendly smile and asked the men in front of me another question.

"Throwing King…? Hmm… first I've heard of him. Might I ask where he makes his main base?"

Whether they were naive or simply simple-minded, I couldn't tell, but the men put their heads together and whispered for a moment before glaring at me and answering.

"Our king has made Gireum Station his main base!"

"Ah, is that so?"

Gireum Station wasn't that far. If I kept going straight up to Changdong Station, transferred to Line 1, and moved just a little farther, I'd reach Dobong Station where the Tyrant King was.

Then I can kill the Throwing King first and head to Dobong. Lucky me.

Having finished my thoughts, I smiled and spoke.

"Thank you so much for kindly answering my questions. As a token of my gratitude, I'll offer you all one chance."

"A chance…? What kind of chance?"

"From this moment on, I will seize the flag holder of Hyehwa Station. So if you all step aside onto the platform tracks without any resistance… I will spare every last one of you."

At my arrogant words, the men fell silent for a beat, then burst out laughing together.

"Hahahaha! We might look like beggars, but we're veterans who've survived this long! You think one guy can take us all on?!"

"We're just the guards. Behind us, more than twenty people including elites are standing by!"

"Hey, kid. Turn around and leave right now."

"No weapon and still talking big……."

It was true—my hands were empty. Weapons got in the way of running, so I'd stuffed them all into My Room.

I looked at the men dismissing me and asked,

"So, you're refusing my chance, is that it?"

"You think we'd accept a ridiculous offer like that?"

Hock, spit!

The ugliest-looking man among them spat on the floor and glared at me with murderous eyes.

I felt deep sorrow that my sincerity hadn't gotten through to these foolish men.

"Truly regrettable… I never imagined the people who kindly answered my questions would turn out to be this stupid…."

I wiped the corner of my eye with my index finger. No tears came, but I pretended to wipe them anyway.

Hearing my words, the men all raised their weapons and took stances as if ready to charge me at any second.

Seeing that, I let out a small sigh.

"Gentlemen… underestimating an opponent just because they have no weapon in hand is a shortcut to death."

Since things had come to this, I decided to test the new skill I'd acquired.

"Activate Blackening. Then Enchant the gloves with the flame attribute."

"I really don't get why people don't start with their strongest attack from the beginning."

Mixing Blackening and Enchant gives a total of 25%? No, more importantly…

An intense heat began to gather in my hands. I was a little taken aback by it.

"Wait, this wasn't supposed to be a breath from the mouth? Why is it firing from my hands?"

I'd thought it would come out of my mouth like a dragon's breath, but the flames erupting from my hands left me a bit deflated.

Seeing the massive flames rising from my hands, the men in front of me panicked and started backing away.

Watching them, I quietly smiled and offered my final farewell.

"Well then, everyone—Bye, Bye~"

I thrust my palm toward where they stood, and from it erupted a flame that, while weaker than the Flame of Destruction Ignir had used, was still quite powerful.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA———!!!

A wave of dark crimson hellfire instantly engulfed the men, then began filling the entire Hyehwa Station platform.

To the group members of Hyehwa Station, this was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Thanks to the men's poor judgment, twenty innocent people vanished without leaving so much as a handful of ash.

"Ugh… using the skill like this burns almost 25% of my mana in one go. Can't use it back-to-back…."

The enormous amount of mana draining all at once left me briefly dizzy.

"Tsk tsk… if only you'd stepped aside when I gave you the chance. Would've been so much better."

I clicked my tongue as I looked at the spot where the men had last stood, now completely gone without a trace.

"Hmm… well, aside from the mana consumption, the destructive power and range are both solid."

As expected of an S-grade skill. At only skill level 3, if this was the power, reaching skill level 10 might let me match or even surpass Ignir's destructive force. The anticipation bubbled up inside me.

I looked around Hyehwa Station for the flag holder.

"Ah, found it."

I located the flag holder in the middle of Hyehwa Station, pulled Barisada out of My Room, carved around the flag holder, and stuffed both the flag holder and Barisada back into My Room.

"But I can't use this carelessly…."

With the flag holder secured, I took a closer look around Hyehwa Station.

The station was blackened and scorched by the Flame of Destruction I'd fired.

The equipment, clothes, and food the other incarnations had been using had vanished without a trace. That meant no looting was possible.

"In that case… I should refrain from using it directly on the kings…."

Especially not on the Tyrant King. If I carelessly used Flame of Destruction, I wouldn't be able to snatch some of the hidden items he possessed.

Especially Samryunhwan—I really want that one…

How could I resist a weapon that moved according to its master's will, just like Gleipnir?

Hmm~ but if I take Samryunhwan, it'll cause problems for Kim Dokja's use of the Unbroken Faith…

I'd have to look for an S-grade item that could restore the usage count of Unbroken Faith for her.

If I took down the Throwing King and the Tyrant King, at least one S-grade item should drop, right?

"I've wasted too much time. I'll change the plan a bit and go take out the Throwing King at Gireum Station first."

I had to hurry. Everything needed to be finished by at least the next morning. Only then could I meet Min Jiwon! I'd never seen a celebrity in person even once—shouldn't I at least get to meet one here?

I reactivated Agile Footwork and dashed toward the next station, Hansung University Entrance Station.

Several hours passed. It felt a little awkward to suddenly say this, but…

I was probably someone overflowing with the qualities of a tyrant.

"Drive faster."

"Y-Yes, sir!!"

I was currently sitting on the back of a motorcycle, ordering someone around. That someone was none other than Kang Il-hoon.

Having arrived at Gireum Station quickly, I had beheaded the no-name Throwing King with Barisada in a single stroke, seized his flag, and successfully entered the Flag Capture battle.

I then seized the flag holders of the stations that had been the Throwing King's territory. I looted a few items as well, and finally arrived at Suyu Station—where, of all things, Kang Il-hoon came riding up on a motorcycle.

So I grabbed him, threatened him, and was now using him as my servant (motorcycle chauffeur).

With Kang Il-hoon's "cooperation," we were currently racing toward Dobong Station.

Oh, and for the other stations, I just quickly cut down a few necks and looted the flag holders. Killing everyone would have earned more coins, but the time and mana investment wasn't worth it, so I chose efficiency.

The flag holders I've obtained so far total ten: Hyehwa, Hansung University Entrance, Sungshin Women's University Entrance, Gireum, Miasageori, Mia, Suyu, Ssangmun, Changdong, and Banghak.

Up through Ssangmun it had been the Throwing King's territory, so I could just plant them, but Changdong and Banghak were the Tyrant King's territory, so I couldn't plant them yet.

Ah, and the station I needed to occupy was Changdong Station. Just killing the Tyrant King and planting my flag on Changdong Station's flag holder would clear the Flag Capture.

So before meeting the Tyrant King, I planted my flag into the eight flag holders.

"Everything's going smoothly."

"Y-Yes…?"

"I wasn't talking to you. Just drive properly."

"Th-That's… as you ordered—no, as you requested, we've arrived at Dobong Station, Jinwoo-nim…."

"Oh, already?"

"Yes…."

At Kang Il-hoon's words I turned my head, and sure enough, we had arrived at Dobong Station.

"Hey, did Dokja ask you to do anything—any orders or requests?"

"Well… she said that once I arrived at Dobong Station, I should leak information about it and call out her name while picturing her in my head."

"Alright. If that's what Dokja wants, do it her way."

"U-Understood."

"You go in first. I'll enter a little later."

"Yes, sir!"

"Ah, right. After you leak the info, stick yourself tight into a corner near the entrance."

"Y-Yes?"

"If you don't mind getting caught in my attack and dying, feel free to ignore me."

"I-I understand!"

As soon as I finished speaking, Kang Il-hoon hurriedly rushed into Dobong Station. Noisy sounds soon came from inside, but with his silver tongue, he should be able to infiltrate safely. And if he had any sense, he'd listen to me. Otherwise he'd really die.

"Well then, I need to meet that famous Tyrant King myself, so I should prepare a bit, right?"

I placed my hand against a nearby wall, opened the door to My Room, and stepped inside.

I put on the suit, shoes, and gloves I'd bought from the General Store, and finally placed the clown mask on my head.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"

I hummed a little tune while adjusting my appearance in the full-length mirror.

"Perfect. I'm finally ready to meet our Tyrant King."

Of course, I hadn't changed into a suit just for the Tyrant King. More precisely, I was dressing like this to deceive Kim Dokja, who would be looking around Dobong Station through Kang Il-hoon. Well, it would be found out soon enough anyway.

Preparations complete, I left My Room and walked steadily toward the Dobong Station platform entrance.

"Hey, you. Stop right there."

"?"

A man in front of the Dobong Station platform entrance called me to a halt. He looked me up and down, then slowly opened his mouth.

"A clown in a suit…? Looks suspicious as hell."

Faced with the guard's maxed-out wariness, I clasped my hands together and rubbed them like a haggling merchant as I spoke to him.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm merely a passing clown. I came here after hearing rumors that the Tyrant King resides in this place."

"Our king is not a man of leisure. Leave at once."

"Really? Then I have business with you instead of the Tyrant King."

"With me?"

"Yes. Do you by any chance believe in Elation?"

"Elation…? Wait, more importantly, that sounds exactly like a cult recruiting line. Are you a cultist?"

"Oh dear, oh dear… to think that even in this apocalypse, this ruined world, there are those who do not believe in Elation… this clown is deeply saddened…."

I touched the eye area of the clown mask and performed a sad act. The guard's eyes turned cold.

"Bullshit… if your business is pointless, get lost right now. Final warning."

"Pointless business, you say… but this is a very important matter."

"What could be so important?"

"Because it concerns your life."

"What……?"

Crunch.

"Ugh…? Uwaaa…!"

I grabbed his jaw and crushed the bone. As pain and a dangling jaw left him making panicked noises, I whispered softly.

"Shall we play a little game?"

I forced a model grenade I'd bought from the General Store into his widely opened mouth.

"Mmph…?!"

I pointed toward where I estimated the Tyrant King would be and continued.

"The two of us are going to go to where the Tyrant King is. Then I'll stand behind you and say whatever I want to the Tyrant King."

"……………."

Cold sweat began pouring down the man's face and back, but I ignored it and kept talking.

"If the Tyrant King hears my words and doesn't get angry, you win. Otherwise, I win. Understood?"

I whispered into the ear of the man whose pupils had begun trembling wildly.

"If you win, I'll spare your life. If not, you die. Quite a fun game, isn't it?"

I moved behind him, pulled the HK416 out of My Room, and aimed the muzzle at the back of his head.

"If you understand, then let's move."

"………."

The man squeezed his eyes shut, gave a small nod, and began walking toward where the Tyrant King was.

"Enchant, explosion on the 416."

I slowly climbed the stairs with him. Toward the place where a delightful party was about to begin.

A short while later, we arrived where the Tyrant King was. The moment we arrived, at least dozens of people were staring at us.

"Then let's head to Gwanghwamun…… what the hell is that?"

Right in front of me, a man wearing a splendid dragon robe and a bizarre golden crown sat on a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠luxurious sofa, attended by the women around him.

I quietly stared at the "Tyrant King." The man who had been giving orders to his subordinates (slaves) blankly stared back at the clown in a suit looking at him.

"Tsk… what a disgrace of a guard. Getting subdued by some clown and becoming a hostage instead. A man not worth keeping alive."

"Mmph…!"

The guard made an unfair expression and gestured in protest, but was ignored.

The Tyrant King issued an order to a man nearby.

"Hey, get those two out of my sight right now."

"Yes, sir! Understood!"

At the Tyrant King's command, the man drew the mace hanging at his waist and strode toward us.

"Hey, guard and clown. I'll take care of both of you in one—"

Bang!

Mid-sentence, the man's head suddenly exploded and vanished without form.

Seeing that, a few of the more faint-hearted people screamed.

"Kyaaaaak!"

"Uwaaaak! His head just blew up?!"

The atmosphere of Dobong Station flipped in an instant.

Looking at the serious expressions of the Tyrant King and the Dobong Station group members, and at Kang Il-hoon who had stuck himself tightly into a corner by the entrance just as I'd told him, I shrugged my shoulders and said,

"Why so serious?"

"You bastard… what are you?"

"My apologies… I am merely a simple clown. Please, when you address me, call me the Joker."

To the Tyrant King's question about my identity, I politely bowed at the waist, then placed my right hand over my left chest and formally introduced myself.

"I'm not asking for your nickname or moniker—"

Click.

"And please say your farewells, Tyrant King. There will be no more concubines or slaves left to serve you."

"What do you mean… you bastard, don't tell me?!"

I cut him off and aimed the muzzle—not at him, but at his group members. The Tyrant King wore a look of pure shock as I pointed the gun at his concubines and slaves.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boooom!

"Kraaaak?!"

"S-Save me! Please save me, Your Majesty!!"

"Hwaaaak?! Everyone run!"

In an instant, the bullets (bombs) I fired turned Dobong Station into pure chaos.

Every window in Dobong Station shattered. Fragments of the floor and windows broken by the explosions flew into people, wounding many, and the shockwaves from the blasts sent people flying in all directions like bowling pins, creating a horrific scene.

Those who took direct hits from the bombs met even more terrible ends.

Swoooosh!

"!"

Through the black smoke created by the explosions, something fast came flying toward me. I shoved the guard forward and said,

"Unfortunately, you lost the game. The Tyrant King got angry… if there's a next time, let's play another game."

"Mmph… mmph!!"

"Farewell."

Slash!

I mercilessly shoved the guard, who was shedding tears and making silent pleas, forward.

Something instantly shredded the guard's upper body. I recognized what the object was and stared at it greedily.

"How dare you run wild on my land?! I'll kill you right here and now!!"

"Oh… so that is the S-grade item you squeezed out of the Prophets—Samryunhwan?"

A weapon consisting of a brilliantly shining golden ring with a glowing red jewel set in its center: Samryunhwan.

"Heh heh, hahahahaha! Today is truly a joyous day! The fact that if I kill you, I get the King's Attribute and those hidden items become mine makes me so happy!"

"Who said you get to kill me?! The one who dies is you!!"

Swoooosh!

Responding to its master's will, Samryunhwan came flying at me at high speed. Watching the ring hurtling toward me, I quietly opened my mouth.

"O Tyrant King, Samryunhwan has two fatal weaknesses. Do you know what they are?"

"Nonsense! My Samryunhwan has no weaknesses!"

I smiled at the Tyrant King's arrogant words.

I placed my hand on the floor, created a door to My Room, then lifted the entire door that had formed on the floor and opened it toward the direction Samryunhwan was flying from.

Whoosh.

With perfect timing, Samryunhwan slipped right into My Room. I immediately closed the door and reverse-summoned it.

Having safely secured Samryunhwan, I smiled faintly. Of course, with the clown mask on, no one could see my expression.

"First weakness. Ranged throwing weapons like Samryunhwan are extremely easily neutralized by space-related skills, stigmas, or items."

"M-My Samryunhwan………?!"

"The second is that even if you possess defense so sturdy that Samryunhwan can't pierce it, the weapon becomes useless—or so I was going to say…. Have you already given up? How disappointing."

Having lost his S-grade weapon so futilely to my scheme, the Tyrant King wore a hollow expression. Looking at him, I put strength into my legs.

"Grr…!! Even without Samryunhwan, the likes of you…?!"

Coming to his senses too late, the Tyrant King picked up a weapon that had fallen nearby.

But I had already hidden my body within the black smoke created by my explosive rounds.

However, the Tyrant King, who had lost all reason to rage, was full of openings.

I simply walked through the smoke and stood openly behind him, yet he was so far gone that he didn't notice and merely looked around while staring only forward.

He was so defenseless that it actually made me feel hollow. I pulled Barisada out of My Room and cut his neck.

Slash.

"It's impossible. After all, you're weaker than me."

The Tyrant King's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head, severed by Barisada, slowly fell toward the floor. I watched the final expression on the Tyrant King's face as it plummeted.

Filled with hollowness and resentment, that last look of the Tyrant King received my quiet farewell.

"Farewell, Tyrant King."

Crunch!

And then I quietly stomped on his head. Once he was dead, I picked up the flag that had fallen near him.

"…………."

In just a few hours, I had eliminated two kings—the Tyrant King who had made a name for himself, and the Throwing King.

I took the flag holders of Changdong and Banghak Stations out of My Room and planted my flag into both of them.