War of the Kings (6)

As silence settled over Gwanghwamun, I went around collecting the King’s Flags that had fallen to the ground with Gleipnir, stashing them one by one into My Room as if I were casually shopping.

“Hey, what are you glaring at? You wanna die too like those kids?”

“……!!”

A few of them kept twitching their hands toward the fallen flags while shooting me furtive glares, but the moment I put real force into my eyes and glared right back, they dropped their gazes.

Once I had scooped up most of the flags on the ground, I waved both hands dismissively.

“Kids, thanks for the flags. I’m taking them. Whatever’s left is freebies, so help yourselves.”

“Eat shit.”

The moment I put a little distance between myself and Gwanghwamun, the clash of weapons started up again behind me. I shook my head.

“Honestly, all that excess bloodlust for nothing.”

“Shut it. I’m still in my mid-twenties and young. I’m not even in my late twenties like Dokja or Yoo Joonghyuk, and I’m definitely not pushing thirty like those two.”

“………Says the Constellations who are all, what, ancient—no, venerable—ah, forget it.”

“What? If we’re going by physical age alone, every Constellation in this channel is older than my great-great-grandfather or great-great-grandmother. No? Should I start calling you all Ancestors from now on?”

Trying to act cute, damn it!

For reference, “great-great-grandfather” basically means your great-grandfather’s father—or your grandfather’s grandfather’s father. In other words, an ancestor five generations back.

So what’s the takeaway? I just roasted the Constellations for being ridiculously ancient by physical age.

After a long-overdue round of verbal sparring with the Constellations, I sprinted toward the Seoul History Museum.

A short while later I finally arrived, only to find my companions under attack by a hostile group right in front of me.

“………….”

I propped my chin on my hand and thought for a moment.

Tsk. Using Flames of Destruction again would be a bit much. But watching my people get attacked is pissing me off.

Part of me wanted to wipe them all out in one shot with Flames of Destruction and look cool in front of Kim Dokja and Yoo Sangah, but there was a real risk of catching my own side in the blast.

“How dare you who bear the names of the Three Kingdoms oppress the king of a mere weak nation? Have you no shame?!”

A woman’s voice rang across the battlefield. I lifted my head toward the sound.

Min Jiwon and her Hwarang had stepped between Kim Dokja and the man whose sponsor was Gyebaek.

What was that guy contracted to Gyebaek called again…?

If he’d been a pretty woman I would’ve remembered the name for sure, but I only remembered the face. The name itself was a complete blank.

“Well, whatever. Min Jiwon looks pretty cool, and she’s got loyalty too.”

I started walking slowly toward the battlefield that had frozen thanks to Min Jiwon.

“Well, well. To what do we owe the pleasure of the Queen of Twin Swords herself?”

“As expected of a general from a fallen dynasty—your speech is vulgar.”

After finishing her line, Min Jiwon glanced around as if searching for someone. When she couldn’t find “him” no matter how hard she looked, her expression briefly turned dejected. She quickly pulled herself together and spoke to Kim Dokja.

“Ahem… It’s a shame Park Jinwoo isn’t here, but I also owe you a debt. I will repay the discourtesy I showed you at Gwanseongmyo right here and now.”

“…Excuse me?”

Kim Dokja tilted her head with a baffled look at Min Jiwon’s words.

Watching the exchange, Chu Wangin let out a booming laugh of mockery.

“A king swayed by personal matters? This is why Silla—”

SMACK!

“Guh?!”

Someone had suddenly cracked him across the back of the head. Chu Wangin clutched the spot and groaned for a long while.

“Your eyes broken? You dare mock a woman that cool? I’ll rip off whatever’s between your legs, you bastard!”

I finished smacking the back of Chu Wangin’s head and walked over to where Kim Dokja and Min Jiwon stood.

“Hi. I have descended.”

“So cool…….”

“…Excuse me?”

Kim Dokja shot me a look that clearly said What kind of idiot is this? at my dramatic entrance, but then she flinched at the words Min Jiwon breathed beside her and glanced over with an expression of pure disbelief.

“What took you so long?”

“Collecting loot.”

“Loot?”

“I’ll take it out right now.”

I pulled a whole pile of flags out of My Room. Twelve brown flags tumbled onto the ground in a cascade.

“Ha……?”

“…Huh?”

Kim Dokja and Min Jiwon’s eyes darted back and forth in open panic as the brown flags piled up at their feet.

“This should be enough for a black flag, right? Let me know if you need more.”

“W-wait, no? Wait, what is this even…”

For the first time, Kim Dokja looked completely short-circuited, staring alternately at the brown flags on the ground and at me.

She kept looking at me and the flags for a long time, like someone who had just seen something that simply should not exist.

“Min Jiwon.”

“Y-yes?”

I picked up five of the brown flags and held them out to her.

“I saw you and your people helping Dokja earlier. Thank you. And you looked really cool out there.”

“Y-yes…….”

Min Jiwon covered her face with her sleeve as if embarrassed. The sight made me snort a laugh before I could stop myself.

I snatched her other hand and pressed the five brown flags into it.

“This is my repayment. I’d like you to accept it.”

“A-ahem…! I only came to repay my own debt. Is it really all right for me to take such a large gift…?”

Even as she said it, Min Jiwon kept sneaking glances at the brown flags. I smiled.

“Of course it’s all right. We’ve already introduced ourselves, so I’m giving these with the hope that we can stay on good terms. Take them.”

“G-good terms………”

A flush rose on Min Jiwon’s cheeks. After a moment she nodded.

“Then I will gratefully accept them.”

I handed over the flags and walked toward Kim Dokja, glancing at a message that made me smile wryly.

Hmm… Isn’t she falling a little too easily…? This is starting to worry me a bit…

Well, having a beauty like Min Jiwon—on the same level as Kim Dokja or Yoo Sangah—show interest in me wasn’t a bad feeling at all. Still, the speed of it made me a little uneasy.

Anyway, I reached Kim Dokja’s side and pressed the remaining seven brown flags into her hands.

“This much should make me fashionably late at worst, right?”

“…How on earth did you get twelve brown flags in that short amount of time?”

“I just used an AoE skill and they all dropped dead. After that I just casually picked up the flags.”

“…………….”

Kim Dokja opened and closed her mouth for a long while, looking like she had a thousand things she wanted to say. In the end she let out a small sigh and bowed her head slightly.

“…I have a lot I want to say, but thank you, Jinwoo.”

“Don’t mention it. Just think of it as a gift for mercifully forgiving me back at Gwanseongmyo.”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept them.”

Kim Dokja took out her own flag and began absorbing the contribution points from the ones I had given her.

Once she finished, her brown flag fortunately evolved into a black one. I glanced back at Min Jiwon and saw that hers had turned black as well.

“Congratulations, both of you. You’ve made the second and third black flags.”

“Thank— wait. Second and third?”

“D-don’t tell me…?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I pulled the black flag from inside my coat and held it up for the two of them. Both of them managed only slightly hollow smiles when they confirmed the color of mine.

Then a booming voice roared from behind me.

“Grrraaah…! Who the hell are you?! No—more importantly, you dare strike me from behind?!”

“Ah, right. I forgot about you.”

“You bastard…!!”

I flicked a glance at the man shouting at me, then looked down at Kim Dokja’s arm.

Her clothes were torn, and blood was seeping through the gap.

“………….”

I stared at it with a slightly colder gaze. Kim Dokja tilted her head when she noticed me looking at her injured arm.

I tore my eyes away from her and locked them on Chu Wangin.

“Hey. You, the general.”

“What?”

“I’ll give you a chance. Drop to both knees and surrender right now. Do that and I’ll spare your life.”

“What……?”

Chu Wangin’s eyelids twitched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at my offer of surrender. He glared at me with clear irritation, then let out a short laugh.

“This is hilarious. You think I’d surrender to the likes of you just because you hit me from behind?”

“Oh, is that so? Then…”

Die.

I opened My Room to pull out a weapon for killing the man who had rejected my final ultimatum, and took out Samryunhwan.

“Enchant—grant lightning attribute to Samryunhwan. And activate Blackening.”

Kiiiiing—!

The golden rings of Samryunhwan began spinning at high speed. The red gem at the center flared brightly, and from it a circular blade of blue mana—sharp enough to cleanly sever a human body—shot straight at Chu Wangin.

Shwaaaak!

“Wh-what?!”

Chu Wangin ducked the instant he saw the mana blade flying for his neck.

Pshuk! Crack-crack-crack!

The people behind him never even saw it coming. Their necks were severed and their bodies fried by lightning in the same instant. Not everyone died instantly, though.

Those unlucky enough to lose an arm or a wrist instead of their head stared at their severed limbs and were about to scream in agony when the lightning attribute on Samryunhwan electrocuted them next.

“Kraaaagh?!”

“Uwaaaaah!!”

“Th-that’s the Tyrant King’s… Samryunhwan? How?”

Chu Wangin was drenched in cold sweat, staring blankly behind him. I walked toward him slowly.

“I’ll give you one last special chance.”

“A-a chance…?”

I shrugged off my suit jacket, then pulled the black T-shirt underneath over my head and tossed it aside.

“J-Jinwoo?!”

“Oh my… Oh my, oh my!”

Kim Dokja’s voice cracked behind me as she called my name, and Min Jiwon made a dramatic fuss, but I ignored both of them and kept my eyes only on Chu Wangin.

He was staring at me with the same baffled look, clearly wondering why I had suddenly stripped.

I held up three fingers and declared,

“From this moment on, I will take exactly three of your attacks without dodging. If you can kill me within those three hits, you win. If you can’t, I take your life. Understood?”

“Wh-what…?”

“Ah, but I’ll designate the hit locations. Getting my eyeballs or balls popped is a bit scary.”

I slowly pointed with my index finger to my head, neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, legs, arms, and waist.

“Any of these spots, any method, any weapon—I’ll take three hits. Exactly three.”

“A-are you serious…?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you some kind of lunatic?! Why would you set conditions like that?!”

I looked down at him coldly, whether he was shouting or not.

“Harsh words. Without this, it wouldn’t even be a game.”

“A g-game…? What are you talking about?”

“The gap between us is so big that if we just fought normally, you’d die without even getting a chance to resist. So I made it fair with these conditions.”

Kim Dokja, Min Jiwon, Chu Wangin, and every Constellation behind me were probably wondering why I was pulling a stunt like this.

The first reason was simple: I didn’t like that Kim Dokja had gotten hurt.

The second reason was that I didn’t like how Chu Wangin had tried to insult Min Jiwon earlier.

Min Jiwon had followed me out of goodwill. On top of that, she had come to repay the discourtesy she once showed me.

She had tailed Kim Dokja just to find me, and even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after arriving and realizing I wasn’t here, she could have simply left Kim Dokja behind. She didn’t. She kept her loyalty. I refuse to let anyone dismiss a woman that cool.

And the third and final reason, of course, was to earn coins. While progressing through the scenarios I had cleared most of them like pure soda—smooth and refreshing. Even when I hit a wall, I smashed through it.

But would the Constellations really enjoy eating only one menu forever?

Even the soda-loving Constellations would eventually get sick of the same dish every single time.

So how do you fix that?

Simple. Feed them a different menu in the middle—something dry and starchy, like sweet potato.

And the moment you see them choking on the sweet potato, you blast them with soda again to wash it down.

This is my money-making method.

I smiled coldly inside and looked down at Chu Wangin.

“What’s it going to be? You accepting?”

“………….”

Chu Wangin trembled for a moment as if swallowing his rage. Then he clenched his fists tightly and asked,

“You’ll really take three attacks?”

“There are a few exceptions, but I keep my word. Especially in a situation like this.”

“And if I attack somewhere other than the spots you named?”

“I’ll consider it you forfeiting the bet and kill you on the spot.”

“Ha…! So I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Whether he had realized I was far stronger than him or not, Chu Wangin accepted the wager without much resistance.

He drew his sword with a look of resignation, then fixed me with eyes full of grim resolve.

“I’ll make you regret giving me this chance.”

“Do whatever you want.”

I watched him for a moment, then slowly crossed my arms.

“Come.”

“Hup…!”

Chu Wangin poured strength into both arms and charged, swinging to cut me down.

Shwaaak!

His blade skimmed across my abdomen. A flash of light appeared in his eyes—then immediately drowned in despair.

“H-how…?”

He stared blankly at my stomach. There wasn’t a single scratch.

The reason he couldn’t cut me was simple: the gap between his Strength and my Stamina was far too large.

“Chu Wangin. Your Strength is roughly 18 to 19, right?”

“……How do you know that?!”

“One of my skills lets me roughly estimate other people’s stats. Judging by your reaction, I was pretty close.”

Chu Wangin’s Strength was 19. My current Stamina, boosted by Guan Yu’s blessing, was a full 48.

I looked down at the despairing man and sneered.

“The reason you can’t even scratch me is simple. Right now your Strength and my Stamina are three times apart.”

“…………What?”

Clang!

His face went deathly pale. Strength left his hands, and his sword clattered to the ground with a dull, muddy sound. I reached down, picked it up, and held it out to him again.

“I told you. If we fight normally, you’ll die without even getting a chance to resist.”

Tremble-tremble-tremble—!

I mercifully pressed the sword back into his hands. He began shaking all over.

Looks like the fear was finally hitting him. The sight was both pathetic and pitiful, but I had no intention of letting him live.

“Just so we’re clear. If you run, you die. If you attack anywhere other than the spots I pointed out, you die. If you try to go past me and attack my companions or Min Jiwon, you die.”

I leaned in close to his ear and whispered,

“And now you only have two chances left.”

A spark lit in Chu Wangin’s eyes. I could feel the resolve not to die easily here.

“Hyaaaaah!!”

With the Stigma ‘Baekje Swordsmanship’ active, Chu Wangin clenched his teeth and swung for my neck this time.

Clang!

“Th-that’s impossible…….”

He put everything he had into the strike, desperate to live, but the blow was stopped cold by the skin of my neck.

“One left.”

I spoke in a calm voice to the man whose face had gone completely white.

“U-uuuh… uuuuh…”

He was shaking even harder than before. I whispered quietly to the terrified Chu Wangin.

“It’s all right. Death always comes suddenly. For you, Chu Wangin, that moment just happens to be now. That’s all it is.”

“D-don’t screw with me! I-I’m going to live! I’ll cut you down and live no matter what!!”

Chu Wangin squeezed out every last drop of strength he had left and charged me while using two Stigmas at once.

Using multiple Stigmas simultaneously normally puts a heavy burden on the body. But this was his final chance, so he had no other options. He forced both Stigmas and swung his sword at me.

I quietly watched him deliver a vertical slash aimed at my head for this third and final chance.

Using two Stigmas at once really did put more power into the blade than the first two swings.

Clang!

But that was all. The moment his sword met my head, it snapped cleanly in half.

Chu Wangin stared blankly at the broken blade that had shattered against my skull.

In truth, a strike powered by two Stigmas should have at least left a shallow cut on my scalp. It didn’t. Why?

There was a small trick hidden here.

Good thing I got it. Tough Skin.

The trick was the skill I had extracted from the Tyrannosaurus corpse in the Theater Dungeon: Tough Skin.

It was only a C-grade skill, but Tough Skin was a defensive mastery-type skill.

In simple terms, a passive. A passive that further raised my defense.

My Stamina was already three times his Strength, and on top of that I had a passive that boosted defense?

How was he supposed to break through that?

It was like charging a massive fortress wall with nothing but a single spear.

I looked down at Chu Wangin, who had dropped to both knees with the empty eyes of a man who had given up on life.

“Good work. Rest now. Samryunhwan.”

Kiiiiing—!

The red gem of Samryunhwan began to glow, slowly gathering mana and forming a circular blade.

“Ha… one thing…”

“Hm?”

“Just tell me one thing. H-how… how did you get that strong?”

“Hmm… Fine. I’ll tell you.”

Seok.

“Uh……?”

The circular blade fired from Samryunhwan cleanly severed Chu Wangin’s neck. I looked down at his head as it slowly fell toward the ground and whispered,

“You just have to earn a lot of coins.”