War of Kings (5)
A heavy silence hung over the front of Gwanseongmyo.
Aside from me—who had deliberately teabagged both my companions and the King of Beauty’s forces right in front of them—and Lee Gilyoung, who was still young enough not to care much about money, everyone else was staring at me with faces full of disbelief and shock.
Those expressions were pure ecstasy.
On the faces of the people who had just confirmed my coin balance, I could see disbelief, sheer astonishment, greedy desire, awe at my wealth, and even fear of a fortune so overwhelming it set me apart from everyone else.
“What? Don’t you all have at least this many coins?”
I flashed them a bright smile and openly mocked them. A few incarnations looked ready to snap, but in the end they chose silence.
“Well, Your Majesty? I’d say this is more than enough value and qualification, wouldn’t you?”
“………….”
I quietly smiled down at Min Jiwon, who was staring up at me in a daze, and released the hands that had been cupping both her cheeks.
Something felt off. Min Jiwon just kept staring blankly.
I waved a hand in front of her face. Whoosh, whoosh!
“Hey~ Your Majesty?”
Even with my hand waving right in front of her eyes, there was no reaction.
With a bored look, I pressed my hand to her forehead, curled my middle finger, and locked it in place with my thumb—the classic ready stance for a forehead flick.
Thwack!
“Ow?!”
Min Jiwon flinched hard at the sudden pain blooming on her forehead and finally snapped back to her senses.
She looked back and forth between me and the hand that had just struck her. Then she straightened her rumpled clothes, composed her expression, and opened her mouth with a faintly embarrassed smile.
“Ahem… I’ve shown you a rather undignified side of myself. Or would it be more accurate to say I committed a grave discourtesy just now? Looking at the situation, the old saying ‘a newborn puppy doesn’t fear a tiger’ fits perfectly.”
Min Jiwon gave a bitter smile and bowed her head deeply.
Huh? She’s giving up way too easily…
Her instant surrender actually threw me off. At this rate, didn’t I just look like some trash who had bullied her for no reason?
All I’d done was shoot fire into the sky, flex my coins, and give her one forehead flick. This was getting awkward.
Finished thinking, I crouched down in front of her so our eyes met and spoke.
“Listen, Your Majesty. There are plenty of things money can open doors to in this world. But that doesn’t mean money can solve everything.”
“…………….”
“I figure that holds true whether it’s the world before the apocalypse or the one after.”
“……You’re right.”
Min Jiwon gazed into empty air as if recalling something. The look in her eyes right now was a tangled mess of emotions.
What she was remembering, what she had been through, what she was thinking—I had no idea.
She and I were strangers. We had lived in different worlds and walked completely different lives.
Before I came to this Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint world, I had been nothing more than a civil service exam student. She had been a famous actress in this very world.
And yet, paradoxically, there was one thing I did know about her.
She was a good person who cherished her own people.
I quietly held out my hand to her as she sat on the ground.
“Still, I can tell you’re a good person.”
“……Pardon?”
Min Jiwon looked up at me, startled by my words.
“If you were the kind of person who always looked down on others and threw your weight around the way you just did, there’s no way that many men would follow you, right?”
I quietly glanced at the men in Hwarang attire standing behind her.
“Well, that little display just now was still pretty ugly, though.”
“Heh… I have nothing to say about that.”
She smiled faintly and took my hand. I put strength into my arm and pulled her to her feet.
Once upright, Min Jiwon brushed the dirt from her backside and stared straight at me.
“What?”
She kept staring for a moment, then closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. A few of the Hwarang looked flustered by her sudden behavior.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“Your words have opened my eyes. I will most certainly repay the discourtesy I committed earlier.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Anyway, I was right—you really are a good person. A truly bad person wouldn’t be able to recognize their own fault, reflect on it, and apologize like this.”
“Heh… Thank you for the compliment. Ah, and though it’s rather late, would you mind introducing yourself properly now?”
“Ah, right. I never did give you my name, did I? My bad.”
Come to think of it, I had never introduced myself to her. The world might have ended, but as a citizen of the former Land of Courteous People of the East, I figured I should at least show some manners belatedly.
“I’m Park Jinwoo, the King of Pleasure. Nice to meet you.”
“I am Min Jiwon, the King of Beauty. The pleasure is all mine.”
Min Jiwon and I extended our hands toward each other and shook. And whether it was just my imagination or not, I thought I heard someone clear their throat behind me.
Did I drag this out too long?
With a wry smile at whoever was giving me the side-eye from behind, I prepared to say goodbye to Min Jiwon.
“Well then, let’s each go our own way. My companions are giving me looks, so I can’t stick around much longer.”
“Understood. Please take care until we meet again.”
“Yeah, Your Maj—”
“Min Jiwon.”
“Hm?”
“I’d prefer you call me Min Jiwon, not Your Majesty.”
Min Jiwon curved her lips into a seductive smile, covering her mouth with her sleeve as she spoke with a faintly disappointed air.
It wasn’t a difficult request, so I opened my mouth again to oblige her.
“Alright, Min Jiwon. You take care until next time too.”
Looking satisfied with my answer, Min Jiwon replied with a smile in her eyes instead of words.
Farewells finished, I turned my back on her and walked back toward my companions. The atmosphere, however, was strangely frigid.
“………….”
“………….”
“What is it?”
Two women and Lee Gilyoung were staring at me in silence, while three adult men including Lee Seongguk had clustered together, whispering and shooting me dirty looks. I tilted my head.
“…It’s nothing. We’ve wasted too much time. Let’s move quickly, everyone.”
Kim Dokja, who had been wearing an ambiguous expression, composed herself and gave orders to the group. We followed her lead and started walking toward Gwanghwamun.
Once we had put some distance between ourselves and Min Jiwon, Yoo Sangah turned her head back toward where the woman had been and spoke.
“By the way, is that woman someone famous? Both Dokja-ssi and Seongguk-ssi recognized her, but I don’t know her at all…”
Caught off guard by Yoo Sangah’s sudden question, Kim Dokja hesitated.
“Pardon? Um… probably… yes?”
“I’ve been pretty diligent about watching historical dramas, so why can’t I remember her at all?”
At Yoo Sangah’s words, Kim Dokja’s pupils trembled. Right on cue, Lee Gilyoung cut in.
“I don’t know her either, Noona.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief.”
Apparently reassured that she wasn’t the only one in the dark, Yoo Sangah answered Lee Gilyoung with a smile.
“I don’t know who she is either, Sangah-ssi.”
I chimed in right after Lee Gilyoung. I wanted to see Yoo Sangah’s smile head-on too, after all.
“For someone who doesn’t know her, you certainly seemed to be chatting quite comfortably.”
Reality, however, was not so kind. Unlike with Lee Gilyoung, a shadow fell over Yoo Sangah’s face as she smiled coldly. That icy smile left me flustered.
So this is the difference between a child and an adult woman…
Saying the exact same thing and getting such drastically different reactions—time was a cruel mistress.
While Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and I were talking, Kim Dokja addressed Lee Seongguk, who kept glancing behind us.
“Lee Seongguk-ssi, stop peeking and come over here. You said you were a fan of Min Jiwon-ssi earlier.”
“Pardon? Haha, yes, that’s right. Didn’t you know? She’s an incredibly famous actress… huh?”
Lee Seongguk’s expression suddenly turned strange. He kept tilting his head, thinking hard about something, and began muttering to himself.
“Min Jiwon… ssi? Wait? Why do I know Min Jiwon-ssi? Or… did I always know her…?”
I quietly eyed Lee Seongguk, then shifted my gaze to Kim Dokja.
It’s started…
Kim Dokja stared blankly at Lee Seongguk with a look of pure bewilderment.
The ‘Ninth Apostle’ trait must have disappeared from Lee Seongguk’s attributes.
Lee Seongguk had now become a complete character of Ways of Survival. As I watched him with complicated eyes, a system message appeared.
Ding!
“What now?”
Incarnation ‘Min Jiwon’ has developed a favorable impression of you.
Huh…? What’s this?
I propped my chin on my hand and stared at the system message floating in front of me, lost in thought for a moment.
“Ah…….”
Now I remembered. Right—Min Jiwon had a slight masochistic streak, didn’t she? I’d been so focused on just wanting to see her face that I’d completely forgotten she was into that.
Even in the original Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, there had been that scene where she trailed after Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja after they treated her roughly, saying, “You’re the first people who’ve ever treated me like this”…
But something felt off. I remembered her affinity for Kim Dokja had only been mild.
Looking back, I could see Min Jiwon chewing out her Hwarang about something or other.
“Well, does it matter?”
If a pretty woman like that was showing interest—just like the women in Kim Dokja’s party—then all’s well that ends well.
“Jinwoo-ssi?”
“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
Crap. I’d stopped walking without even realizing it. Thanks to Yoo Sangah tilting her head and calling out to me as I stood frozen in place, I quickly snapped back to my senses and hurried after the group.
An hour later, we finally arrived at Gwanghwamun. We quickly hid ourselves among the forest of buildings nearby.
I carefully scanned the surroundings of the building cluster with wary eyes.
Thankfully, the Gwanghwamun area is quiet.
Since I had killed the infamous Tyrant King, the balance of power had shifted. The “Anti-Tyrant Alliance” that had formed in the webtoon wouldn’t be happening either.
I’d expected at least some minor skirmishes here, but fortunately nothing of the sort had broken out.
Or are they just sizing each other up? Makes sense—the Absolute Throne scenario is about to update soon.
While I was lost in thought, Kim Dokja—who had been checking something on her phone—spoke with a cringing expression.
“Wow, even though we wrote it ourselves, this is seriously secondhand-embarrassment levels of cheesy.”
“Heheh.”
Lee Seongguk scratched his head with an embarrassed look at Kim Dokja’s words. She immediately straightened her face.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Lee Gilyoung, who had been conversing with some cockroaches, asked Kim Dokja a question.
“Noona, but if it’s an item like that, shouldn’t we grab it first?”
“We don’t need it right now.”
Kim Dokja looked over the party and whispered quietly.
“Everyone’s going to start moving once they finish gauging each other. We’ll move in sync with them.”
Crackle!
Just then, the familiar sound of sparks crackling filled the air.
The ugly mid-grade dokkaebi who had slapped a penalty on me at Anguk Station appeared.
I really want to smash that face in.
I glared hard at the mid-grade dokkaebi who had screwed me over so thoroughly at Anguk Station.
When the Disaster of Floods hits, I’m definitely going to beat the living hell out of that bastard. Hope for that day and wait. The moment of revenge will come for sure.
While I was silently swearing vengeance on the mid-grade dokkaebi, the ugly little bastard continued speaking.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shattered with a violent tremor. At the same time, a golden throne began rising from the center of Gwanghwamun.
A single throne gleaming with antique gold light.
That throne was an item that borrowed the power of one of the “Outer Gods” roaming the Dark Dimension.
And it’s an item that absolutely must be destroyed.
In the original story, Kim Dokja had looked at it and said this: if that thing was used, Seoul—no, the entire world—would be destroyed.
I didn’t know why using it would destroy the world. For now, I just needed to remember that I had to believe Kim Dokja’s words and destroy it.
The Main Scenario has been updated.
King’s Qualifications
📂 Category: Main
⚔ Difficulty: A
📍 Clear Condition: Seize the Absolute Throne located at the Gwanghwamun intersection.
⏱ Time Limit: 8 hours
🎁 Reward: 10,000 coins
💀 Failure: —
* This scenario can only be challenged by those who have completed the Hidden Scenario ‘Path of the King’.
* The king who seizes the Absolute Throne gains absolute command authority over all other kings.
* This scenario contains additional special clear conditions.
Lee Seongguk muttered in a flustered voice at the updated main scenario.
“Another new scenario already…”
The mid-grade dokkaebi surveying us from the air spoke in a bland tone.
Everyone listened closely to the mid-grade dokkaebi’s words.
The mid-grade dokkaebi continued his explanation while walking through the air with his hands clasped behind his back.
Wearing an unpleasant smile, the mid-grade dokkaebi looked down at all of us and opened his mouth.
Ding!
The Absolute Throne never desires a ‘weak king.’
To challenge the throne, you must at minimum be a king who possesses a Black Flag.
* Additional qualification conditions will be revealed shortly.
Among the kings gathered at Gwanghwamun, every single one except for one person checked the system message before their eyes with looks of dismay.
The mid-grade dokkaebi vanished after dropping one last irritating line. Yoo Sangah spoke up with a worried face.
“Doesn’t a Black Flag require occupying more than twenty stations to obtain?”
“That’s correct.”
Kim Dokja answered with a troubled expression. Yoo Sangah continued.
“Then what do we do? We still need to occupy ten more stations to make a Black Flag, and there’s no way there are empty stations nearby…”
“The condition exists precisely because there are no empty stations.”
“Pardon?”
“Did you forget? There’s more than one way to change a flag’s color.”
“Ah…!”
Listening to Kim Dokja and Yoo Sangah’s conversation made my mouth itch.
This is bad… I want to tease Kim Dokja so badly right now…
I desperately wanted to announce that I was already the owner of a Black Flag. I wanted to teabag so hard.
But I had to hold back. Just an hour ago I’d nearly been crucified by Kim Dokja. If I teabagged about having a Black Flag now, something truly catastrophic might happen this time.
Soon the sounds of weapons being drawn rang out from all across Gwanghwamun. Then someone’s roar echoed through the plaza.
“Attack!!”
Waaaaaah—!!
That voice became the starting gun. The clash of weapons erupted from every direction. The War of Kings had truly begun.
The sounds of people fiercely swinging their weapons, the death cries of the dying, and the cheers of those who had seized flags all reached my ears.
“It’s started. Let’s head west.”
Watching the kings swing their weapons at one another for flags and better items, Kim Dokja calmly issued instructions to the party.
Lee Seongguk asked in a voice thick with fear.
“Somehow this is terrifying. Is this really still Korea…?”
“It was Korea. And it still is, in a way.”
“Aren’t you scared, Representative?”
“I’m scared too. But…”
“But?”
At Lee Seongguk’s words, Kim Dokja lowered her head slightly and fell into thought for a moment. Then she smiled faintly and spoke.
“But at least right now, it feels like I’m truly alive.”
With those words, we began running blindly toward the west.
“Over there! A king!”
“Chase them down, kill them, and seize the flag!!”
“Damn…”
As we ran west, members of a hostile group spotted us and started shouting. They soon charged toward us with weapons drawn. Seeing Kim Dokja’s troubled expression, I stopped running and spoke to the party.
“Go on ahead.”
“Jinwoo-ssi?”
“I’ll clean these ones up and catch up. Hurry.”
“…Thank you.”
The party glanced back at me with worried eyes for a moment, but at my firm words they murmured quiet thanks and continued running west.
“Hey, everyone else is running except for one guy!”
“Ignore that one and keep chasing the king!”
The hostile group charged toward me, gripping their weapons with murderous intent.
Trait, King of Pleasure, opens its eyes.
I pulled the black flag from my coat and activated the newly acquired trait.
Shrrrk!
The moment the trait activated, a dark crimson mask settled over my face. At the same time, my spirit began to soar.
Trait, King of Pleasure, wears a smile full of madness.
“Enchant—imbue gloves with the Fire attribute.”
Enchant has been activated.
Temporarily imbues gloves with the Fire attribute.
“Next, Blackening.”
Blackening has been activated.
“A war needs a spectacular opening salvo, after all.”
And I had the perfect skill for the job.
Flame of Destruction has been activated.
Flame of Destruction reacts to the Fire attribute enchantment.
Attribute stacking effect: Flame of Destruction attribute damage increases by 20%—
Trait, King of Pleasure, intervenes mid-process.
Trait, King of Pleasure, smiles.
Trait, King of Pleasure, has altered the attribute of Flame of Destruction!
Due to the influence of Trait, King of Pleasure, the attribute of Flame of Destruction is temporarily fixed to Wind.
The sudden attribute change causes the stacking effect to fail.
“…Fucking hell, this insane random effect.”
My trait, King of Pleasure, had two effects total.
1. Increased resistance to mental attacks, plus additional correction to mental attacks of my own.
2. When the trait is active, a mask covers my face, and any skill used in that state receives a random effect suited to that skill.
—However, when the effect is applied is entirely up to the trait’s whims.
I sighed quietly at the trait’s interference, re-enchanted my gloves with the Wind attribute, and thrust my palm toward the enemies in front of me.
Attribute stacking effect: Flame of Destruction (Wind) attribute damage increases by 20%!
Influence of Blackening: Attack power increased by an additional 5%!
Influence of Weapon Refinement: Attack power rises by an additional 5%!
“I’ll make this strike the opening salvo of the war.”
Whoooooosh———.
A fierce wind began to whirl with my palm as its center. The wind gradually grew in scale until the wind speed became strong enough that an adult man could no longer stand against it.
“Aaaagh! Where the hell did this wind come from?!”
“E-everyone, hang on so you don’t get blown away!”
At the reactions of people who never even imagined that all this wind was being generated by a single person, I wore a chilling smile.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA——!!
A small tornado tore through the center of Gwanghwamun toward the people. Those caught in it were shredded without any chance to resist.
Even those who managed to survive being swept up were struck by building debris, sidewalk blocks, and shattered tree fragments spinning inside the tornado—suffering grievous wounds, or in the worst cases, being completely impaled and killed by the flying wreckage.
Rumble rumble rumble!!
A deep silence fell over Gwanghwamun at the sudden natural disaster that had erupted there.
Because the tornado that swept through Gwanghwamun had swallowed a full quarter of the people present in an instant.
And from the place where the tornado had formed, the only man still standing smiled toward the silent Gwanghwamun.