Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Betray Them?
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"B-betray them?"
A few days before the four players met.
Runda met with Seong-un alone.
Seong-un answered Runda's question.
"Why are you so surprised? Isn't this the natural progression here?"
"...Hmm."
"Don't pretend to agonize over it."
Runda cleared his throat and said,
"No, even so, suddenly telling me to betray them is pretty shocking, isn't it? We're in an alliance with the others, at least for now."
"Not with me?"
Runda opened his mouth to say, Of course not, but paused.
As he was about to speak, he caught a subtle nuance in Seong-un's tone.
To Runda's ears, Seong-un's words sounded like:
You probably thought I was just using you this whole time, but actually, I treated you warmly because I saw you as an ally. You thought I was only exploiting you, didn't you?
Runda said cautiously,
"Of course... we're something like allies with you too."
"You have to choose between me and the other four players."
"I know that."
"If you're choosing, wouldn't you want to side with the one who can win?"
Runda fell silent for a moment.
Runda considered himself a realist.
He knew he couldn't keep up amicable relations with everyone forever, maintaining a semblance of peace.
Eventually, he'd have to pick a side, and when that moment came, he'd join the winners.
He even had his own calculations and plans.
"No, but what can I say..."
"If you have something to say, spit it out."
Runda said,
"Can't you understand my position? The others will brand me a traitor. Our relationships will sour badly. They'll think I've been deceiving them all along and despise me for it."
Seong-un stared at the empty air above Runda's head.
So that's what he's hesitating over.
Seong-un said,
"That's unexpected."
"Yeah?"
"Back at the start of the game, you were ready to ruthlessly ditch Krampus."
"That was early game. We were allies, sure, but we hadn't even met a few times."
"And now?"
"Well... I've grown a bit fond of them."
Seong-un nodded.
"But you wouldn't want to lose because of that petty fondness."
"...Where on earth does all that confidence come from? It's 5 against 2. Eldar can't do much, and Heukrin's sharing the elves' resources, so it's basically 5 against 1. If you're trying to convince me, shouldn't you at least explain how you plan to win?"
Seong-un turned his head slightly as if annoyed, then looked back at Runda.
"I figured you already knew about the big plan."
"What plan?"
"First, I need to show that you've been steadily sharing information with me all this time."
"I'll just say I had no choice because you were blackmailing me."
"Doesn't matter. If you claim blackmail, they'll rationally decide not to abandon you. But the other players won't know where the schemes end and the truth begins. You'll end up isolated."
"...Huh?"
"And while that's happening, I'll crush you."
Runda thought he understood, then second-guessed himself and asked,
"So what you're saying is..."
"Yeah. I might not beat all five for sure. But I can definitely beat you. So this isn't persuasion—it's blackmail."
Runda shouted,
"Hey! If you put it like that, what am I supposed to think of you?"
Seong-un replied instantly.
"'Scum bastard'?"
Runda gaped blankly, unable to speak for a moment.
When he finally managed words, it was an unintended exclamation.
"Wow... seriously. You're something else."
"Think whatever you want."
"Don't you have any emotions?"
Seong-un ignored Runda's question.
Instead, he calmly finished what he wanted to say.
"Runda. The reason I'm saying all this is because I see you as someone who judges rationally. I believe you won't make the wrong choice based on unnecessary sentiment or moods. For example, even if you're branded a traitor by Krampus and the others, even if the scum in front of you is blackmailing you, you can judge where your interests lie and act accordingly."
Runda clenched his fists, desperately trying to think of a retort.
But after careful consideration and deep thought, he concluded Seong-un was right.
No matter what Seong-un said, he viewed Runda positively.
I wonder why he has to scrape at people's nerves like this... Is he just born rotten?
Runda cooled down and said,
"Fine. So, what do I do?"
Runda recalled his conversation with Seong-un from a few days ago, feeling his heartbeat quicken.
But the key wasn't the conversation itself—it was the plan that followed.
Seong-un had vaguely said he had several plans, but he didn't know which would work.
He just said Runda would know when the time came.
Runda had planned to get mad and say he should've been properly informed if it wasn't clear, but with Jangwan accusing AR1026 of being a traitor, he couldn't ignore it.
This must be the moment.
Runda followed the plan.
"Um, Jangwan. You're saying this with solid evidence, right?"
Jangwan withdrew his pointing finger at AR1026 and stood still for a moment.
Then he said,
"Solid evidence? Not exactly. That's why I said it's suspicion."
AR1026 said,
"Suspicion is fine. As long as you're not just pushing blindly—that means you have reasons for thinking that. Right?"
Jangwan replied,
"If it's reasons you want, I have them."
Jangwan manipulated his system window and shared some information.
Runda checked it.
The window showed a Nix man sneaking into Golden Eye's capital.
Krampus said,
"What's this supposed to mean?"
"Did you check the Nix's face? The next screen is older footage."
Everyone reviewed the info.
It showed the same Nix man conversing with Lizardmen with black scales.
The location was marked as Orzan.
AR1026 said,
"No, with just this..."
"There's more. This Nix went back and forth between Golden Eye and Heukrin several times—I confirmed a few myself. Roughly checking, he doesn't have any special status. He was originally a merchant, but he has a history of meeting influential Orzan families. After that, it's unclear."
Krampus asked,
"So he's a special individual? Or did you make contact?"
"He's dead."
"Dead?"
"I sent my kobold priests to capture him. But Nebula must have been watching—Heukrin's Lizardmen called him in first and killed him. AR, care to explain?"
AR1026 responded incredulously to Jangwan's words.
"Explain? There's nothing to explain. I don't even know who that is."
"Then why did the Lizardmen meet that Nix? And why did they kill him the moment I tried to make contact?"
"No idea."
Krampus said,
"It is suspicious. Killing him right as Jangwan tried to contact him means Nebula was paying special attention."
As AR1026 glared at Krampus, he waved it off.
"No, not saying it's definitely betrayal."
Jangwan said,
"Nebula spending faith resources means it was valuable. We need to investigate more. This is about trust too. Everyone agree?"
Runda interjected,
"Honestly, I think it's overkill."
"Runda..."
"Isn't it? This could be Nebula's divide-and-conquer ploy. Or maybe a bigger plan that got exposed midway and scrapped."
"No, sure, it's petty suspicion. But don't even small suspicions need resolving?"
Krampus said,
"In peacetime, maybe. But with battle looming, the timing's off. If it's minor, why bring it up now? And with the individual dead, how do we get answers?"
"...Hmm."
AR1026 said,
"Frankly, it's a trivial scheme. Nebula put effort into making us doubt each other. You say resolve it, but how?"
"Simple. Share information."
AR1026 frowned visibly, even through her veil, at Jangwan's words.
"That's rude. Honestly, if you're the traitor, isn't this making the game too easy for you?"
"What?"
Jangwan shot back in disbelief.
As things went smoother than expected, Runda covered his mouth to hide a smile.
Right on plan.
Seong-un's mission for Runda was to "defend the suspected traitor."
"What? Not join in accusing the traitor, but defend the suspected one?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Seong-un thought for a moment and said,
"You know in Lost World, loose alliances with similar power are weaker than a single force?"
"Yeah. Because alliances can dissolve?"
"Let's call a single force's attacks to break alliances 'shaking.' I've done a lot of that, right?"
Runda nodded.
"So every time I try something, the alliance worries about shaking?"
"Yeah."
"This could happen too: Every time I shake, they tighten their bonds to counter it."
"Honestly, it feels like that's already occurring. They don't meet for council much now, but they used to often. No special affection, but they share a sense of being partners, comrades."
This time, Seong-un nodded.
"So we change the approach."
"Change the approach?"
Seong-un said,
"For example, what if we both point out the traitor?"
"Well? They'd thoroughly investigate the accused."
"Right. But among the remaining allies, the only real traitor is you."
Runda flinched at the sudden sharp point.
"...Uh, yeah."
"Not blaming you. Either way, no traitor will turn up. You can make someone suspected moderately, but not prove a real one."
"Then what if you defend the accused traitor?"
Seong-un said,
"First, it becomes hard to verify if they're really a traitor. Skipping verification is key—talk about trusting comrades. Then the accuser keeps suspecting the traitor, while the others think the accuser's overreacting. The accused brands the accuser a paranoid disrupting the alliance."
"Ah."
"So in this plan, the one really attacked isn't the accused traitor..."
"It's the accuser who pointed them out."
Seong-un nodded and continued,
"That shakes the alliance itself. After that, you can do whatever with plausible excuses."
"Like?"
"For instance, to check if the accuser's right about traitors, you station your army right next to the accused's and mine. No one will suspect it."