Gangnam Station Gate (2)
“Damn it! He actually found the phone!?”
Ram cried out in shock.
She wasn’t an idiot. By now she had pieced together Julian’s entire strategy.
As the porter Moon Junil, he planned to stick close to Kang Hae-il and switch into his Sagosul persona the moment it mattered, stealing the biggest rewards for himself.
The only real question was why he was going to such lengths. What he intended to do was obvious from everything that had already happened.
After all, everyone had seen him beat the hell out of monsters while wearing the Sagosul mask, then take the mask off and casually pour potions afterward.
‘That bastard is seriously terrifying.’
Ram shuddered at the thought.
Kang Hae-il now believed the very man who had beaten him senseless and killed his father twice was his savior.
The Constellations were losing their minds.
No one had left yet, but she couldn’t just sit back and let this continue. If things kept going this way, her viewer count could crash straight down.
She had come up with several countermeasures. The first was to make sure Kang Hae-il and Moon Junil never met again—or at least delay the meeting as long as possible.
“Sam! I told you to get rid of that phone properly!”
“Y-yeah… I hid it pretty well, though.”
“What!? Hid it!? I said get rid of it! Erase it, you idiot!”
“I wanted to… but the phone’s role in the story has gotten way too big. It’s bringing in too many coins.”
The story was slowly slipping out of Ram’s hands.
That was how stories always worked. Only the very beginning was ever fully under a fairy’s control.
“Agh… D-damn it!”
In the end, Kang Hae-il’s unbreakable will had found the phone Sam had worked so hard to hide.
Zzzt…!
The call finally went through to Junil.
“Ah, seriously. Hae-il ham~ You’re calling this late?”
Junil stared at the phone for a moment before answering.
“If I pick up too fast, I’ll look desperate.”
He deliberately spoke the words out loud so the Constellations could hear.
How pissed would Kang Hae-il’s fans be if they caught even a glimpse of this?
The comments split cleanly into two camps: Kang Hae-il’s fans, burning with rage, and Moon Junil’s fans, thoroughly entertained.
Actually, three camps.
Quite a few Constellations still didn’t realize Junil was Sagosul. They were too influenced by Kang Hae-il’s perspective.
‘Yeah. Fight it out.’
Whether the Constellations started a Three Kingdoms-style war or World War III in the comments, Junil would be the one profiting as long as the total number of Constellations rose.
Smiling, he answered the call from “Hae-il ham.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
“Hey, Junil. Nothing happened, right?”
The way he addressed him had changed from “porter” to “Junil.”
“Of course not. What kind of trouble could a porter get into? No one’s even calling me for work.”
Junil tried to slip in a subtle reminder that he needed a job, just like they’d agreed.
“You’re a porter. Isn’t trouble exactly what happens to you? Well, anyway… good that nothing happened.”
‘What the hell is this guy’s ideology?’
“Anyway, I was thinking we could go together this time. There’s a big incident in the city.”
“Huh? An incident!? Where?”
Junil already knew exactly where, but he pretended not to.
“Gangnam Station. Apparently some orcs showed up. Sounds rough.”
“Oh no. We should head to Gangnam right away. Real estate prices are high there, after all.”
When it came to real estate, Junil’s true feelings slipped out immediately.
“?”
“Ah, I mean… that’s great! The skyrocketing housing prices might finally get corrected.”
“……”
“So you can come, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then Exit 3… I wonder if it’s still there…”
Kang Hae-il hesitated for a moment.
“Let’s just take my car.”
“Oh…! That works.”
Just like last time, Hae-il would be driving.
Click.
Junil hung up and moved immediately.
‘Finally… it’s starting.’
He was finally being recognized as Kang Hae-il’s companion.
‘The real thing starts now.’
He could properly carry out Pam’s request.
If he traveled as Kang Hae-il’s companion, he might have a chance to push his Constellation count all the way to the side-character limit of 5,000.
‘Time to prepare.’
Whoosh, whoosh.
Junil packed his things with practiced movements.
The Constellations were impressed by how natural he looked.
It wasn’t just that he packed quickly. The placement of every item and even the layout of his apartment had been optimized for rapid deployment.
Like someone who had done this countless times before.
‘Mask, coat… boots…’
He opened his inventory and double-checked everything.
Then he opened the front door to confirm something.
Even in a ruined world, two things never changed in Korea: Gangnam real estate prices and rocket delivery.
‘It’s here.’
The package he had ordered earlier had arrived.
It was a fairly large box.
He tore it open with his bare hands and shoved the contents straight into his inventory.
Junil suddenly clasped his hands together and prayed, as if the item were extremely important.
“Lord.”
This prayer wasn’t actually directed at any god.
It was essentially a prayer to the Constellations.
“Please allow me to be a righteous thief again today.”
It sounded like a request, but it was really a declaration of war.
‘Perfect. They’re pissed.’
Grin.
While he was smirking to himself—
Beeeeeeeeep!
“?!”
A car horn blared from outside the window.
He opened it to see Kang Hae-il’s car parked below.
Beeeeeeeeeep!
Hae-il honked again, clearly telling him to hurry up.
“Never seen such a crazy alpha male.”
Worried the neighbors might notice, Junil called Hae-il while running outside.
“Hae-il hyung! What are you doing? Just call me!”
“Why? This is faster.”
“……”
On the way to the incident site.
It sounded like there were countless Kang Hae-ils around—honking erupted from every direction.
Beeeeeeeeep!
Beep! Beeeeep!
“Haa… We’re not moving at all.”
Kang Hae-il muttered while gripping the steering wheel.
The car had stopped completely at some point.
“Is this traffic, or did everything just stop? Can’t tell since I can’t see ahead.”
He kept hinting, but Junil didn’t move an inch.
“Someone needs to get out and check.”
Kang Hae-il finally said it outright.
The only “someone” in the passenger seat was Junil.
‘What? He wants me to check?’
Junil, who had always been the one giving orders as a hero, wasn’t used to doing menial tasks like this.
“Ah, yes, hyung-nim. I’ll get out and check.”
What choice did he have?
Right now, he was just a porter.
“Huh? You sure? You’re a porter, though…”
“……”
‘Fuck.’
Thud.
Junil closed the car door and walked forward.
“Looks like we’re just gonna have to walk the rest of the way.”
No matter how he looked at it, the traffic was because of the incident at Gangnam Station.
He walked a little farther.
Police officers came into view.
‘They’re blocking the area.’
It wasn’t just regular traffic.
“Citizens! You cannot proceed any farther! It’s extremely dangerous! Please follow the control measures!”
The officers tried their best to maintain order, but citizens were opening car doors and shouting.
“What the hell is going on!? Are you saying we have to stay stuck here!?”
“How dangerous can it be? It’s just goblins, right? Just call the Awakened!”
Humans were creatures of adaptation.
It wasn’t that they adapted because the environment was harsh.
Humans adapted to anything.
They adapted to comfort, too.
Maybe even more easily than to hardship.
‘They did the Free Chapter… and already forgot?’
Back during the 4th Line incident, when goblins were pouring out and blood was flying everywhere, no one had wanted to go outside.
“I have an appointment, okay!?”
“Ugh. Damn it. The department store’s gonna close!”
Now they refused to follow orders even for things that had nothing to do with survival.
They had already gotten used to this brief peace.
“Hey, you walking over there! You can’t come this way!”
A police officer approached Junil, pointing at him.
“Turn around and go back!”
“Ah. I’m an Awakened.”
Ding~
[F]
When he showed the Awakened symbol, the officer didn’t even hesitate before waving his glowing baton.
“Are you messing with me? No! Go back!”
He had expected the F-rank treatment.
‘Still, I’m over level 10 now.’
He thought being an Awakened would at least get him some basic respect.
Apparently not.
“Come on, kid. Just go back. I’m already at my limit here.”
Thud.
The moment the officer grabbed Junil’s shoulder to turn him around—
“F-rank is still an Awakened.”
“……?”
A man spoke up, displaying his own rank.
Ding~
[S]
It was Kang Hae-il.
“Huh… S-rank!?”
The two officers practically jumped into each other’s arms in shock.
“Eeeeh~!?”
It wasn’t just them.
Citizens started rolling down their windows and shouting, eyes wide.
“The only known S-rank so far.”
“K-Kang Hae-il…!”
“A national-level Awakened!”
Their reactions were so perfectly scripted it was suspicious.
This was the power of the protagonist designated by Storyboard 3.0.
Salute!
The officers snapped to attention and shouted.
“We’ll escort you on a motorcycle right away! Please come with us!”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Vroooooom!!
A motorcycle appeared in an instant.
“What about this guy?”
When only one bike arrived, Hae-il pointed at Junil.
“Huh? He’s F-rank, though?”
“……F-rank is still an Awakened. He came with me.”
“Eeeeh!?”
The officers jumped again.
‘Did you not hear what I just said.’
Junil was dumbfounded, but stayed quiet.
“Uh… we only have one motorcycle right now…”
“I’ll drive. Hand it over.”
At that moment, Hae-il casually asked for the motorcycle like it was the most natural thing in the world.
‘Would the police really hand over their bike?’
Junil smirked at the hero’s innocence.
In the medieval era, if you asked a guard to borrow a halberd for a second, they’d split your head open with it.
What nonsense was this?
Just as Junil was about to turn around and look for another way—
“Yes! That works! Please take it!”
The officer simply handed over the motorcycle without hesitation.
‘What?’
Hae-il gestured like this level of treatment was completely normal.
“Ya, ta.”
“Ah, yes.”
As Junil climbed onto the motorcycle, he casually flicked the saluting officer’s helmet in petty revenge.
Thud.
“Hey. Get it together. Next time.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Vroom!
Hae-il started the engine and weaved between the cars.
“……Wait! Hold on. That guy’s F-rank!?”
The officer only realized late that the person he had been scolding was the porter.
Whether the officer liked it or not, Hae-il and Junil sped toward the gate.
They arrived at the scene shortly after.