A World Without a King (6)
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung hurried down toward the first floor. They were going to scold the lunatic who had jumped off a rooftop with a child in a stunt that could have gotten them all killed.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“So what are you going to do about that kid?”
“………!”
Kim Dokja stopped mid-step on the stairs at Han Sooyoung’s sudden question and turned to look at her. Han Sooyoung stared straight back and said,
“You know who she really is.”
“…Yeah. Of course I know.”
At those words, Kim Dokja recalled the ‘Disaster of Floods’ that appeared in Ways of Survival.
The Disaster of Floods. The final disaster of the fifth scenario—and among all the disasters, the most dangerous and the saddest.
Watching Kim Dokja’s face carefully, Han Sooyoung continued,
“Looking at that expression, you already know how terrifying a disaster her future becomes. In the third turn, Yoo Joonghyuk nearly died to her.”
“…She didn’t die, though.”
“Same difference.”
“The important part is that even Yoo Joonghyuk can’t beat that kid head-on. The only reason the third-turn Yoo Joonghyuk won was because the Delusional Demon Kim Namwoon killed her at just the right moment. And right now….”
“I know. Right now that Delusional Demon Kim Namwoon isn’t here.”
Han Sooyoung made a bitter face and spoke roughly.
“So what are you going to do about her? If we kill her now, we can take care of the Disaster of Floods—the one rated as uniquely strong among the disasters—without any trouble.”
“Did you already forget who’s standing next to her right now? How exactly do you plan to persuade Park Jinwoo?”
“………….”
At Kim Dokja’s rebuttal, Han Sooyoung clamped her mouth shut.
“The Park Jinwoo I’ve seen so far has a lot of heart. Especially with the younger ones in the party—Lee Jihye, Gilyoung. He dotes on them. Now imagine telling him that the kid who calls him Oppa and follows him around is a future disaster, so we have to kill her right now.”
What kind of reaction do you think he’d give?
At Kim Dokja’s words, Han Sooyoung let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Ha, shit… So what then? Is there any other way right now?”
“No. Not yet. And in the first place, this isn’t the time to focus on the Disaster of Floods. Did you forget? Right now we have to deal with the first disaster—the ‘Disaster of Questions’—first.”
“Tsk! Fine, we’ll talk about this again after we handle the Disaster of Questions. So what are we doing from here?”
“From now on, we go get the meteorite.”
“The meteorite?”
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung kept talking as they started down the stairs again.
“Hey, but.”
“What now.”
“Doesn’t Park Jinwoo seem a little off to you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“When he came to Dobong Station to kill the Tyrant King and take back the flag. He already knew I was the First Apostle.”
Halt.
“What?”
At Han Sooyoung’s words, Kim Dokja stared at her with a startled face. Han Sooyoung propped her chin in her hand and whispered carefully,
“Looking at that reaction, you didn’t tell him. So how the hell did he know I was the First Apostle?”
“Tell me everything. Park Jinwoo knows your identity?”
“Yeah. After he killed the Tyrant King, he walked up to him using an Avatar and said, ‘So it’s you?’ Then he immediately cut my Avatar’s throat.”
Han Sooyoung rubbed her neck as if she could still feel the memory and the sensation.
“That’s surprising enough. The bigger problem is that he knew about my Avatar skill.”
“What the hell…?”
“And lastly, when the kings were fighting in the secret room of the National Palace Museum of Korea. Park Jinwoo pinpointed me perfectly and shoved me into My Room. Even though I had never once shown my real face.”
The longer Han Sooyoung talked, the more confused Kim Dokja’s eyes became as she stared at her.
“Even with all that, he doesn’t seem suspicious to you?”
“…………….”
“Just what I said is already plenty suspicious. But you know better than anyone that his growth rate is completely absurd, right?”
At Han Sooyoung’s words, Kim Dokja recalled the coin balance she had seen on Park Jinwoo in front of Gwanseongmyo.
What Han Sooyoung said isn’t wrong. Back then I was holding sixty-eight thousand coins…. But the amount Park Jinwoo was holding in front of Gwanseongmyo was over two hundred thousand….
The sixty-eight thousand coins Kim Dokja had scraped together with pure miser spirit for the Absolute Throne contest hadn’t been a small number. Park Jinwoo had already gathered more than three times that.
From that moment on, Kim Dokja had also started thinking something about Park Jinwoo felt off.
After quietly sorting her thoughts, Kim Dokja slowly opened her mouth.
“So what do you want to do? You know perfectly well that if we end up on bad terms with Park Jinwoo, there’s nothing good in it for either of us.”
“What I want is simple. Let’s check with ‘Lie Detection’.”
“Lie Detection?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
At Han Sooyoung’s words, Kim Dokja closed both eyes for a moment, thought deeply, then opened them again.
“Fine. But first, swear on this.”
Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’ uses the item ‘Temporary Contract’.
“……….”
Han Sooyoung carefully read the Temporary Contract floating in front of her eyes, then crumpled her face.
“You think I’m going to sign something like this?”
“If you don’t like it, don’t.”
“…But why am I the subordinate party? I’ve never been the subordinate even once in my life.”
“Good. First experiences are important.”
“This bitch…!”
Han Sooyoung ground her teeth while glaring at the Temporary Contract. After a moment she let out a small sigh.
“…Fine. I’ll sign. But I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
“We share information with each other. How about it? I’ve got plenty I want to ask you too.”
“Fine. But we include Park Jinwoo and do it together. That way he’ll be less suspicious.”
“Well, fine.”
Having finished saying everything they needed to say, Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja quickly reached the first floor, opened the door, and stepped outside.
And both of their eyes went wide as they blankly stared at the scene in front of them.
Park Jinwoo was kneeling on both knees on the ground with both arms raised high. There were two slightly peculiar details.
The first was the wooden sign hanging around Park Jinwoo’s neck. Written on it was: “I am a bomb maniac who jumped from the 25th-floor rooftop of a building, blew up several buildings, and kidnapped Yooseung. I’m a doggy.”
And the second was Shin Yooseung, who was hesitating while gauging Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja’s moods… and kicking Park Jinwoo’s back with her foot.
A little earlier, while Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung were still talking on the stairs.
Park Jinwoo had been waiting with a bored expression for the two who still hadn’t come down.
Then his eyes suddenly lit up and he turned to Shin Yooseung.
“Yooseung-ah, I just had a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
Park Jinwoo, who had been deep in thought alone, suddenly lifted his head and looked at her with that announcement. Shin Yooseung tilted her head.
“Yeah. With this, Dokja and Sooyoung will have no choice but to forgive me.”
“What kind of method is it?”
“First, I’m going to kneel on both knees, raise both arms high, and show them how sorry I am.”
“And then?”
“And then….”
Park Jinwoo pulled a wooden sign and a pen out of My Room and started writing something on it.
“Ta-da! Want to try reading it?”
“Uh… ‘I am a bomb maniac who jumped from the 25th-floor rooftop of a building, blew up several buildings, and kidnapped Yooseung. I’m a doggy’?”
Shin Yooseung read the words on the sign he handed her, then looked at Park Jinwoo with an ambiguous expression.
“How is it?”
“Will they really forgive you with just this…?”
Shin Yooseung carefully offered her opinion while avoiding his eyes. Then Park Jinwoo suddenly lifted her up and said,
“Of course this isn’t the end. The next part is the most important.”
“The next part?”
“Yeah. When Dokja and Sooyoung come out, Yooseung, you kick this Oppa’s back as hard as you can.”
“What?!”
At the sudden strange request, Shin Yooseung stared at Park Jinwoo with a startled face.
“And then our Yooseung says this: ‘Unnies, I already scolded Oppa for you, so can you please just forgive him?’ Like that.”
Constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ glares at you, asking how you can use a child like that.
Constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ looks at you and says, “Woo woo, trash!”
“Hey! Peanut gallery, quiet! How about it, Yooseung-ah? This Oppa’s life is on the line. Can’t you do it just once for me?”
“B-but…….”
At Park Jinwoo’s sudden request, Shin Yooseung lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands.
Looking at that, Park Jinwoo grinned.
“If you do this Oppa’s favor, I’ll let you eat dragon meat.”
“Dragon meat?”
“Yeah. This Oppa happens to have some. It’s really delicious. Way better than pork or beef.”
“Better than pork and beef… d-dragon meat….”
Whether she was imagining the taste or not, Shin Yooseung swallowed hard while thinking it over. Park Jinwoo smiled in triumph.
Still young, just like I thought. She’s almost there.
Then, just when he thought she had nearly given in, an unexpected answer came from Shin Yooseung’s mouth.
“Still… I can’t kick Oppa….”
“!”
Looking up at him with pure eyes and saying something so admirable, Shin Yooseung made Park Jinwoo’s face soften with emotion.
“Then let’s just pretend, okay? This Oppa will take off his suit jacket, so just step on this a few times.”
“If it’s only that much….”
At Park Jinwoo’s pleading, Shin Yooseung finally made a reluctant face and stomped on his suit jacket a few times.
And now, in the present.
When Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung hurriedly came down to the first floor, Shin Yooseung was pretending to kick Park Jinwoo’s back. When the two of them blankly stared at her, she stepped in front of Park Jinwoo, spread both arms as wide as she could, and said to Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung,
“I-I already scolded Jinwoo Oppa. So can you please just forgive Jinwoo Oppa now, Unnies?”
When Shin Yooseung spoke with tears welling in those big eyes, Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung took a small step back.
The destructive power of Shin Yooseung’s overwhelming cuteness was simply too much.
(For the record, the tears hanging at the corners of Shin Yooseung’s eyes were water Park Jinwoo had dabbed on.)
“…What are you going to do?”
“…When the kid is saying that, could you scold him? If you’re going to, do it in secret.”
Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja whispered while glancing at Shin Yooseung.
Park Jinwoo smiled with a “just as planned” expression at the two of them, then scooped up the Shin Yooseung who was cutely blocking his path and carefully wiped the water he had put on her eyes with his sleeve.
As expected of Shin Yooseung. Cuteness overload.
I carefully wiped the moisture I had put on Shin Yooseung’s eyes with my sleeve and whispered,
“Thanks, Yooseung-ah. You saved me.”
“…Next time don’t ask me for something like this, Oppa?”
“Of course. In a little bit I’ll grill you some delicious dragon meat.”
She crossed her arms and tried to sound stern, but she was so cute that it had zero effect.
Once the atmosphere had softened thanks to Shin Yooseung, I walked closer to Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung.
“Park Jinwoo.”
“Yeah?”
Kim Dokja crossed her arms and glared at me.
“While we were talking on the stairs, Sooyoung and I made a contract. As a condition of the contract, she has a few things she wants to ask us.”
“Me too?”
“Yeah. She said she has things she wants to ask you.”
At Kim Dokja’s words, I already had a pretty good idea what Han Sooyoung would ask.
…Ah, damn. Why did I have to mention the First Apostle and Avatar back then.
But refusing would only make me look more suspicious, so I nodded.
“Got it. Dokja, you go to Sooyoung first. I’ll talk to Yooseung for a second and then come.”
“Okay. I’ll go ahead and wait.”
Kim Dokja finished speaking and immediately walked over to Han Sooyoung’s side. Watching that, I turned back to Shin Yooseung standing in front of me, crouched down so our eyes met, and said,
“Yooseung-ah, you heard just now, right? Wait here for a little bit. Can you stay by yourself?”
“I’m not that little, Oppa…. I’ll wait quietly, so go ahead.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
I patted Shin Yooseung’s head and walked over to Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung.
Alright then. How am I going to get through this hurdle?
Feeling half worry and half thrill, I stood next to them. Han Sooyoung looked at me and said,
“You heard what Kim Dokja said?”
“Yeah, I heard. But are you the only one asking questions?”
“Why, you got something you want to ask me too?”
“What if I do?”
“Hmm… Then you can ask me too. If it’s something I can answer, I’ll tell you. That way it’s fair.”
“Fine. So who goes first?”
“I’ll go first.”
At Han Sooyoung’s answer, Kim Dokja and I both nodded. Once we did, Han Sooyoung held up her index, middle, and ring fingers and said,
“From now on I’m going to ask each of you three questions. You’d better answer honestly. I got ‘Lie Detection’.”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ activates ‘Lie Detection Lv.1’!
Han Sooyoung activated Lie Detection and first looked at Kim Dokja.
“You. What the hell is your attribute?”
Kim Dokja shrugged at the question.
“I don’t know either.”
“…What?”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Kim Dokja’s’ words are true.
Han Sooyoung made a dumb expression, then tapped near her temple with her fingers.
“…What is this. Is it broken?”
“No, it’s working fine.”
“No, how does someone not know their own attribute?!”
“I really don’t know.”
“……….”
Han Sooyoung narrowed her eyes and glared at Kim Dokja for a long time, then whipped her head around and looked at me instead.
“Next question. How did you know my identity?”
“What, you’re just going to keep asking one after another?”
“Just answer!”
Han Sooyoung glared at me with her pupils narrowed vertically like a cat’s. I shrugged at her.
“I heard everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Before I left Chungmuro, I dropped a wiretap there.”
“…What?”
I smirked at the flustered Han Sooyoung.
“I couldn’t hear everything because of the fight between the Apostles you led and the people of Chungmuro, plus the bomb explosions in the middle. But I heard all the parts where Dokja quietly said things to you like ‘Avatar’ and ‘author’.”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Park Jinwoo’s’ words are true.
Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung stared at me with trembling eyes as I casually spat out the lie. Inside, I laughed at them.
In truth, I was lying to both of them right now. So why was the lie registering as truth? It was very simple.
Everything I was saying right now was a story from before I entered the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint world.
Lie Detection is a pretty useful skill. In a world full of betrayal and schemes, it tells you who is lying and who is telling the truth.
But even this skill has weaknesses.
The first weakness is its hard counter, ‘Poker Face’.
The second is that if you phrase it as “it’s not a lie,” it works.
And the last third method is to hypnotize yourself into believing that every word you are saying is the absolute truth.
What I was doing to Han Sooyoung right now was the second and third methods.
When I used to read Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, I listened to music with earphones.
Earphones are often used as wiretaps in reality, movies, dramas, and so on.
So I kept repeating in my head until the recognition stuck that earphones were actually wiretaps.
I lied that the earphones I accidentally dropped while reading the Prophets’ Night and the protagonist’s POV chapters had been dropped in the Chungmuro (scene).
And while recalling the dialogue between Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung that I had seen in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, I mixed half-lies and half-truths that I had heard them speaking. That way it registered as truth.
…Honestly it was half a gamble. Luckily the gamble paid off.
I snickered inside at the flustered faces of Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung staring at me.
I already expected that someday Kim Dokja or the other companions would ask questions like this. There’s no way I wouldn’t have prepared countermeasures.
“Well? Did that clear up some of your doubts?”
“………….”
After hearing my answer, Han Sooyoung roughly whipped her head away and asked Kim Dokja her second question.
“…Second question. Why did you give up the ‘Throne’?”
Han Sooyoung glared at Kim Dokja with a thoroughly pissed-off expression and continued,
“Because of you two, all my plans went to shit. If it hadn’t been for you…. Do you have any idea how hard I prepared, dragging those idiot Apostles around just to stop the destruction? If I had sat on the Throne, I would already be preparing the next scenario step by step and by now….”
“If you had sat on that Throne, Seoul would have been destroyed.”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Kim Dokja’s’ words are true.
When Lie Detection again floated a message saying Kim Dokja’s interruption was true, Han Sooyoung pounded her temple with her fist again.
“Why does this keep breaking?”
“I told you it’s not broken. And it wouldn’t have mattered who sat on that Throne—we all would have been screwed.”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Kim Dokja’s’ words are true.
Hearing Kim Dokja’s answer, Han Sooyoung looked like she had taken a huge shock. Her eyes went round as she blankly stared at Kim Dokja.
In a trembling voice, Han Sooyoung asked,
“…How do you know that? You, which drop-out are you? How do you know something even I don’t know?”
“I’m not a drop-out.”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Kim Dokja’s’ words are true.
Han Sooyoung looked at Kim Dokja with a deeply shocked face, and Kim Dokja looked back at her without a word.
“You… how far did you read the ‘Apoc’—no, the Revelation?”
“That’s three questions.”
“This is the most important question! Just answer!”
Han Sooyoung grabbed Kim Dokja by the collar with wildly excited eyes.
“Don’t tell me… no way? You… there’s no way a crazy bitch like that exists….”
“Crazy bitch…. Just figure it out yourself. More importantly, hurry up and ask Park Jinwoo the remaining two questions.”
At Kim Dokja’s words, Han Sooyoung looked at me with a startled “oh right” face.
She cleared her throat lightly, then asked me her second question.
“Second question. How did you know I was the First Apostle in the secret room of the National Palace Museum of Korea?”
“Why are you asking such an obvious question?”
“O-obvious?”
“Sure, the Avatar I saw at Dobong Station and your real appearance look pretty different. But there was a reason I recognized you at a glance in the secret room.”
“What is it?”
“Your way of speaking, and the way you freaked out when you saw my face.”
“Huh?”
“The way your Avatar spoke at Dobong Station and the way you spoke in the secret room were extremely similar. And in the secret room you completely freaked out when you saw me. If we were really meeting for the first time, you wouldn’t have reacted like that.”
“Th-that’s….”
Incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has confirmed that ‘Park Jinwoo’s’ words are true.
Han Sooyoung looked at me again with a deeply shocked face.
“You… you… are you actually a detective or something? No, how do you figure someone out just from their way of speaking and reaction the first time you meet them?”
Constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is greatly shocked by your unexpected side.
Constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is confused, saying the crazy bastard suddenly looks smart.
Constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ asks who you are, saying you don’t seem like the Park Jinwoo he knew.
Constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is greatly flustered, asking if you were originally this smart.
“These bastards… are they making fun of me.”
I crumpled my face at the constellation messages that felt like they were teasing me. Then I let out a short sigh and said to Han Sooyoung,
“That’s the last question. Hurry up and ask. Then I get to ask you.”
“Umm….”
Han Sooyoung closed both eyes and thought deeply, then hesitantly asked me her final question.
“Th-then. Last question. You….”
“Me what?”
“Looking at you… it seems like you’ve made a ton of coins. What’s the secret?”
“The secret?”
This time I made a flustered face. I never expected Han Sooyoung would ask something like that.
The first and second questions were ones I had prepared for in advance because I figured she would ask them someday, so I answered easily.
But suddenly asking for the secret to making coins well….
I shifted my gaze sideways to look at Kim Dokja, but she was also staring at me with a face full of curiosity.
“Umm… it’s not exactly a secret, but there are a few methods?”
“What are they?”
“First, tell the Constellations straight-up to hand over the coins.”
“What?”
“???”
Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja both looked like they were wondering what the hell they had just heard. But I ignored them and continued,
“Second, do something completely insane. Then the Constellations sponsor a lot of coins. For example, massacre monsters, or jump off a 25-story building like I did. Third, complete achievements. They give a lot of coins for those. And….”
“No, no, no! Wait! Hold on!”
“Why? You asked for the secret.”
“This is pure lunatic talk! That’s the secret? That’s the secret?!”
I scratched my head while looking at Han Sooyoung yelling at me.
“No, I really made a ton of coins this way though?”
“You, this bitch! How much did you make?!”
“Hey, that’s three questions already….”
“Shut up! This is the most important question! Just answer!”
At Han Sooyoung’s reverse-victim yelling, I made a flustered face.
But it was a pretty girl’s request, so with a “well, I guess I have no choice” feeling, I checked my current coin balance.
“Hmm… right now the coins I’m holding are 518,183 coins.”
“…………Wh-what, what?”
“…………What did I just hear?”
Hearing my current coin holdings, Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja looked ready to faint from shock.
Was this the difference between a rich person with lots of coins and a beggar with few coins?
I looked at them with an extremely leisurely expression. Whether it’s money or coins, having plenty of them really does make the heart peaceful.
Or maybe I just enjoyed teasing those two?
Ding!
“Hm?”
Just then, a system message suddenly floated in front of my eyes.
◈ Sold on the Exchange
◈ Acquired 199,998 Coins
“Oh!”
“…What, what is it?”
Han Sooyoung, who had no idea about my situation, asked grumpily. I answered her with a happy heart.
“An item I put up on the auction house just sold.”
“How much did you make?”
“199,998 coins!”
“…I think I misheard. Can you say that again?”
“199,998 coins!”
Han Sooyoung suddenly made a face like everything in the world was empty, then covered her face with both hands and started sniffling.
“Life is fucking… a genius pretty-girl author like me is holding a measly fifty thousand coins right now, while that lunatic has seven hundred thousand… life is so fucking bitter….”
I patted the back of the pitifully sniffling Han Sooyoung and said,
“Don’t cry. Life is just like that. Someday you’ll make this much too. Probably?”
“Shut up! Who are you teasing right now?! Get lost!”
I had patted her back and tried to comfort her, but she reacted prickly, told me to get lost, and snapped at me.
That look was exactly like a fierce little cat. It was fun to tease.
“Well, jokes end here.”
I hardened my face and glared at Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja. When I suddenly hardened my expression and glared at them, their faces hardened along with mine.
“Now it’s my turn to ask questions.”
I looked at Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja and spoke seriously.
“Do you two intend to kill ‘Shin Yooseung’?”