Chapter 193
Chapter 193
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: ACT. 36 Twisted Justice (1)
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“A rebellion?”
Lee Min-hwa asked, dumbfounded.
“To be precise, it was an internal conflict within my faction. Since my faction was the largest in the east, the impact was quite significant.”
“It seems different from... a guild.”
“Yes. It's not a guild.”
“We've confirmed that the cause of the rebellion was one of the escaped L Team members, Eida. She apparently incited people by slowly planting suggestions.”
“No wonder...!”
Jun Bo-ra bit her lip.
“When I was ambushed, the rebel faction only had about a hundred members, but if they're still at it, their numbers must have grown immensely.”
“...So the enemy can attack us freely, but we have to hold back, and now their numbers are formidable too.”
“Why? Because of the angels watching? But they were trying to kill us, weren't they?”
“The important thing is that their actions are due to suggestion. They aren't acting of their own free will, so they're considered innocent.”
“Really? Nuna. Is that true?”
Jeong Ha-yeon slowly nodded.
*Zadkiel must have said so.*
Her expression wasn't great, suggesting she didn't personally agree.
“So if we end up fighting, we have to subdue them without causing serious injury.”
“Then if the guilds mobilize and suppress them with numbers...”
“That's difficult. The monsters have become more active since the fight with Paradise. We don't have many people to spare for that.”
Seeing Lee Min-hwa's troubled expression, Jo Min-woo couldn't say any more.
In any case, a large-scale offensive by the guilds wasn't even a consideration.
Subduing someone requires you to be much stronger than them, after all.
Bringing a bunch of mediocre guild players would only lead to a situation where they couldn't hold back and would rack up massive penalties.
“Uh, wait a moment. Unni.”
Jo Min-ah raised her hand as if she'd thought of something.
When Jun Bo-ra nodded for her to speak, Jo Min-ah continued cautiously.
“Do you happen to know what happened to the kids our age, Jeong Su-ji and Go Yeong-jun...?”
At Jo Min-ah's words, the faces of Jo Min-woo and Jeong Ha-yeon subtly hardened.
Everyone had forgotten.
But hearing about the chaos in the east, it was impossible not to worry.
Among them, Go Yeong-jun in particular kept weighing on my mind.
*'Tainted by Darkness.'*
A trait that was different from 'Madness' in name only, but essentially the same.
Go Yeong-jun possessed that trait.
He was a ticking time bomb, which was why I had separated him from the party by sending him to the east.
And the 'Madness' chapter was not yet over.
Jun Bo-ra spoke in a subdued voice, looking ashamed.
“I'm sorry. It all happened so suddenly, and I was in no state... I don't know what happened to the others who were left there.”
The atmosphere grew considerably heavy.
It seemed like the right time to bring it up, so I naturally changed the subject.
“If Roberto's first aid is complete, the other L Team members might intervene again. I'd like the guild members to prioritize defending the residential area and investigate the L Team and... a certain organization.”
“A certain organization, you say?”
“It's a secret organization that believes they know parts of the future and aims to reign supreme over the world.”
Jun Bo-ra gave me a panicked look.
*Is it okay to tell them that?*
Of course, it is.
They'll inevitably clash with them, even without us.
As long as their goal is the destruction of Korea, the five major guilds needed to know.
“An organization like that exists...?”
“The L Team is just a small part of them. From what I've gathered, they've infiltrated major guilds around the world and are preparing to devour everything. Most importantly, they are particularly hostile towards Korea.”
There could be progressors in Korea who share their goals.
Yet, the fact they're trying to eliminate Korea, ignoring that possibility, suggests they're extremely wary of the existence of the Strategy King.
I took out a drawing and placed it in the center of the table.
“I saw this symbol when I fought them.”
“Did you draw this yourself, Hyung?”
“From memory.”
“Is it... an alphabet? It looks like an S and a V.”
“Could it be Savior?”
“Savior? As in, a rescuer? Nah, no way.”
“...It would be disgusting if people like them went by the name 'Savior'.”
Various opinions were exchanged.
'Savior' was one of the words I had considered, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't right.
They don't see themselves as saviors.
They know their objective all too well.
“Salvátĭo.”
When Jun Bo-ra muttered something, the commotion abruptly stopped.
“That's probably it. I was investigating it on my own.”
“What does that mean?”
“It's Latin for 'salvation of the world'.”
Hwang Chan-jin answered instead, frowning.
In the end, the meaning itself isn't much different from 'Savior'.
But if there's a difference between 'savior' and 'salvation of the world', it lies in the target.
“We will stop the apocalypse. But we will not save humanity. Interpreted that way, everything makes sense.”
I found myself nodding at Hwang Chan-jin's summary.
An organization name that perfectly matched their objective.
Just then, Jo Min-woo shot to his feet.
“Then let's make an organization name for ourselves too!”
“Do we have to?”
“Come on, Hyung. Formality is important for things like this. What we do won't change, but there's significance in acting under such a name, you know?”
I shifted my gaze to Jo Min-ah.
When I asked her silently what she thought, she surprisingly nodded too.
“I don't think it's a bad idea.”
“See, Hyung? Min-ah says so too.”
“Hmm...”
I'd never considered it before, so I was hesitant.
It was related to why I never joined a guild.
I didn't know if Hwang Chan-jin and Jun Bo-ra joined guilds knowing that or not, but either way, they weren't the right people to consult.
Giving ourselves a name is the same as becoming an official group.
In that case, the current group includes me, the twins, and Choi Yeon-soo, making four of us.
It's still a manageable size.
*'As long as it doesn't exceed ten people.'*
“It's not a guild, so why not just think of it as a team name? Take it easy.”
Thinking I was worried about the name, Hwang Yu-jin said with a relaxed smile.
Hwang Chan-jin's eyes were sharp.
I tried not to look his way and slowly opened my mouth.
“...Rebellion.”
Considering my objective, there was no more fitting name.
“Rebellion...? What was that again?”
“We learned it in English class, you idiot.”
“Does it mean 'idiot'?”
“...It means 'rebellion'. Rebellion.”
“I see. So, Hyung, who are we rebelling against?”
“Maybe those people called Salvátĭo?”
When I avoided answering with a subtle expression, the twins started whispering among themselves.
It didn't seem like they disliked the name; no one voiced any opposition to it.
The others also seemed curious about the target of this rebellion, but they naturally seemed to settle on Salvátĭo, just like the twins.
I quietly recalled the 00th ending.
As for who the rebellion was against...
It had been decided ever since the world became like this.
***
“Drive out the fake Strategy King!”
“Bring in our true king!”
“Hey, you bastard! What's gotten into you!? Are you crazy!?”
“You face the truth too! We've been played for fools by lies all this time!”
The east was in a state where it could no longer function as a residential area.
It was a chaotic mess with people who disagreed fighting each other all over the city.
It was fortunate that Jun Bo-ra had always done a good job clearing out nearby monsters; if a monster wave were to hit in this situation, they would have collapsed helplessly.
If I hadn't dealt with the followers of 'Tarwi' back where we chased Eida and Dwayne, the army of test subjects might have attacked the east in its current chaotic state.
If that had really happened, it would have had a significant impact on their goal of destroying Korea.
“The fact that you're the fake Strategy King has spread everywhere. I thought you were good at deceiving people, but you got found out quickly.”
“You're the one who said they weren't found out, but incited through suggestion and mind control.”
“Is it really incitement if they're speaking the truth?”
“...”
Jun Bo-ra was struck speechless by my teasing words.
It wasn't entirely wrong.
While the process and means were indeed incitement, looking at the conclusion, their struggle had become one for revealing the truth.
*'Simply saying that Jun Bo-ra isn't the Strategy King wouldn't be very effective.'*
That's why Eida added the extra detail that she was the real Strategy King.
*I am the real one. That one is the fake.*
She probably came up with plausible reasons to plant that suggestion, so it wouldn't be easy to break.
“Let's move without drawing attention. If I use teleport carelessly, my location could be identified, so we have to walk.”
Jun Bo-ra pulled her robe down low and entered a nearby alley.
The small elite team that infiltrated the east consisted of me, Jun Bo-ra, the twins, and Jeong Ha-yeon—five of us in total.
Hwang Chan-jin had started acting on his own, saying he would figure out how 'Tarwi's' actions had changed due to the L Team's intervention.
He probably changed his mind because he heard we couldn't hurt people and realized he wouldn't be able to earn coins, but it was necessary work nonetheless.
Hearing that Tarwi was still around, Lee Min-hwa also actively offered to help Hwang Chan-jin.
Strange signs would start appearing near the gates soon, so they wouldn't have much leeway. I wondered if they could really catch them.
“By the way, hasn't there been a weird smell for a while now?”
Jo Min-woo sniffed the air and gagged.
An unpleasant, rotten stench that had been wafting through the air ever since we started moving through the alley.
“It's the smell of corpses.”
“...Ugh.”
Jo Min-ah's hand, which was gripping my collar, tightened.
The main streets were mostly cleared, but in the alleys where even light couldn't properly reach, you could catch glimpses of neglected corpses.
Seeing such things, it was only natural for my worry about Jeong Su-ji and Go Yeong-jun to skyrocket.
“To manipulate people's minds and make them fight each other...”
A thick sense of disgust was evident in Jeong Ha-yeon's voice.
The conditions for activating 'Judgment' are steadily being met.
It could be a game-changing move in a pinch.
I summoned darkness and made the neglected corpses vanish.
“This way. If that woman Eida is leading the rebellion from here, she must be where I used to be...”
“They're here too!”
“Gather here! The fake Strategy King's forces are here!”
At one point, as Jun Bo-ra confidently led the way through the maze-like alley, more than ten people appeared, their eyes flashing wildly.
A faint green light emanated from around their eyes.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when a suggestion was deeply embedded in the subconscious, causing them to think and act entirely according to the caster's will.
“H-How did they find this path...? This is a passage few people know or use!?”
“It's suggestion, not domination. One of your close associates must have fallen under the suggestion and spilled all the important information.”
Jun Bo-ra bit her lip.
If it hadn't reached her inner circle, it wouldn't make sense for Jun Bo-ra to have been ambushed so completely without any way to respond.
Perhaps Jun Bo-ra simply didn't want to believe it.
“Don't follow the fake Strategy King! Follow our real Strategy King!”
“She is the true king who will lead us!”
They were no different from fanatics.
Jo Min-woo clenched his flame-wreathed fists, a weary look on his face.
“Hyung. You said the angels would look down on us if we hurt these people, right? What should we do?”
“Just subdue them without hurting them.”
I stomped my foot once.
*Sssshhh.*
Darkness spread along the path, and in the brief moment of their confusion, the people standing on it were bound by it.
If they had a certain amount of mana, they could have broken free on their own, but they weren't that skilled.
“Ugh...!”
“Agyagyak!!”
They were busy struggling, letting out strange groans.
I should probably shut their mouths too.
I manipulated the darkness to gag them, and only then did the grating noise stop.
Jun Bo-ra exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow, that's convenient.”
“They'll be tied up like this for a few hours, so we can just walk past them.”
I was about to walk past the people bound in darkness.
But I couldn't.
*Shhhink!*
Someone appeared from the opposite direction, completely erasing their presence, and cut down the restrained people.
“Keoheok!”
With death screams, they all collapsed forward.
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't find the words.
Killing people under suggestion so indiscriminately.
Who in their right mind would make such a decision?
“What have you done...!”
“It's been a while. Jo Min-ah, Jo Min-woo. And...”
Just as Jeong Ha-yeon came to her senses and was about to reprimand him, the person responsible spoke.
A voice as devoid of emotion as Hwang Chan-jin's.
Just then, the wind blew, and from beneath the fluttering hood, a familiar face was revealed.
“Se-hyeon hyung.”
Go Yeong-jun was there, his appearance changed beyond recognition.