Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Fake God Strategy
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"You were a high school teacher?"
Choi Seong-un's question was answered by Kramphus.
"Yeah."
"And a science teacher, no less?"
"Yeah."
Choi Seong-un looked Kramphus up and down.
Kramphus spoke up.
"I can tell you're thinking something rude again."
"No, not at all. I just naturally assumed you'd be unemployed... you know, a job seeker."
"...Jangwan, this guy doesn't have any friends, right?"
Jangwan, who was sitting nearby, nodded silently.
He had taken off his usual lion mask.
It would get in the way of the work they were doing.
"Anyway, that's not the point. Just because I was a science teacher doesn't mean I know everything about science."
"Then?"
"Look at this."
Kramphus lightly tapped the dining table with the tip of his knife.
The table was laden with a lavish spread of dishes.
With Choi Seong-un seated at the head, the players were gathered around individual tables, enjoying the meal.
Players didn't need food.
Players didn't need sleep or even breathing.
They could change their appearances at will if they wanted.
So Choi Seong-un had thought this kind of 'dining' was completely useless. That's why he had grumbled about the players' proposal, led by Runda, to create a dining hall.
His opinion was straightforward.
The desire to eat was just a habit, an inertia.
The brief time spent building and running a restaurant was a waste, even if it didn't consume much Faith resource, so there was no reason to do it.
But Runda and the other players insisted it was necessary work.
They no longer felt human, but since they had once been human, performing these rituals provided mental benefits, much like when they were human and tackling tasks.
Choi Seong-un pointed out that they'd managed fine without such things so far, but that was a mistake.
As it turned out, only Choi Seong-un lacked hobbies outside the game; the other players were extending their past hobbies, not just dining.
In the end, Choi Seong-un said something else he shouldn't have.
"So, you lost, right?"
Runda ended up punching him in the face, and Jangwan kicked his shin.
Eldar scolded him to watch his mouth around the Eldar.
The one who mediated the conflict was Wisdom.
Wisdom acknowledged it wouldn't be a perfect experiment but secretly divided the players—excluding Choi Seong-un—into two groups.
One group he convinced to secretly enjoy their hobbies without Choi Seong-un knowing, while encouraging the other to forgo hobbies to humor Choi Seong-un.
Then Wisdom quantified the players' performance, documented changes between the groups, submitted it to Choi Seong-un, and presented it to all players in the Pantheon.
The results showed variation by individual, but not hugely so—the hobby group outperformed the non-hobby group.
Choi Seong-un created the restaurant, made servants to work there, summoned post-mortem spirits skilled in cooking, and allowed a broad range of personal hobbies in private quarters.
It was then they decided to hold banquets when the entire Pantheon gathered for meetings.
Choi Seong-un said,
"What's wrong? Is there a problem with the steak?"
"No... Players don't need to eat anything, right?"
"True."
"But as long as we exist, we can't ignore the laws of physics. If we're fine without energy input, doesn't that mean energy is coming from somewhere else?"
Choi Seong-un shook his head, as if he didn't quite get it.
"We've seen plenty that doesn't fit what we knew on Earth. So yeah, there are things we can't explain."
Kramphus was about to say more when Im Chunsik, sitting beside him, spoke up.
"By the way, what's the status on Hwikyung?"
Choi Seong-un gave a brief rundown.
Hwikyung hadn't been spotted despite searching the Second Continent while evading Hegemonia's eyes, but clues were finally emerging.
To draw Hegemonia's attention, Apostles, Creations, and the Empire's armies were spilling blood across battlefields—but they weren't getting one-sidedly crushed.
With a favorable exchange ratio, finding Hwikyung in the end would make it a net gain, in Choi Seong-un's view.
"But why is this Hwikyung in a labor camp?"
"There's a suspected reason. Need to confirm, but it's probably spot on."
"What reason?"
Choi Seong-un said,
"Ever heard of the 'Fake God Strategy'?"
Rubail had once been the heart of the Garang Kingdom.
But now, traces of its former prosperity were hard to find.
Unlike the Empire's general policy of appeasement in occupied territories, the Union Kingdom did no such thing.
When the Union Kingdom captured cities and nations, they simply imposed their own system.
Kings and nobles were killed or enslaved, their bloodlines dragged to labor camps scattered across occupied lands.
This approach sharpened the divide between the Yumi and Mumi classes.
The Union Kingdom's brutality fueled many nations' resolve for total resistance and stoked discrimination against its dominant races.
That discrimination, in turn, fueled the rage of the Union Kingdom's dominant races.
Those fueled by rage grew stronger on the pain and hatred between races, true to their name.
Labor camps were the result of that rage.
The Empire decided basic resource sourcing based on economic viability. If a site was too dangerous or required excessive labor, they abandoned it for richer alternatives, even if promising.
This caused friction with local managers, residents, and merchants, so from a player's perspective, 'resource output' was never fully satisfactory.
But the Union Kingdom had slaves work until death, eliminating such issues.
Even among slaves, population exploded thanks to medical advances and increased grain production.
From the Wrathful's viewpoint, it was utterly rational.
"Security's tight."
Gorgota peered ahead through binoculars and spoke.
Lamine and his group had entered the Rubail Valley.
Bushy undergrowth beneath exposed rocky mountains and cliffs provided ample cover for the three.
The area Gorgota was eyeing was a small building at the base of the cliff.
Cluster of dilapidated stone structures from a bygone era, with people coming and going between them.
Lamine said,
"Because of us?"
"Maybe. For a labor camp, internal security should outpace external, but there are signs otherwise. Patrol posts, even external scouts."
The overland trek after the train hadn't been pleasant.
The Union Kingdom's fang operatives no longer hid their pursuit; wherever people lived, inspectors searched; elsewhere, soldiers did.
It was rough going, but not impossible.
From here on, though, willpower alone wouldn't suffice.
Gorgota said,
"That outpost is likely a logging camp outpost. Rubail's main output isn't timber but coal. To reach the center, we pass that and go much deeper."
Lamine turned to Juran.
"What do we do in this situation? Ask higher-ups?"
Juran replied,
"No signals from the earthworms. Too far from the nearest exchange post. We decide ourselves."
Gorgota sighed.
"We've done our best. But I can't ask you two to risk your lives storming in. If the fang operatives are smart, they're waiting inside for us. Too dangerous."
"Then?"
To Lamine's question, Gorgota said,
"I'll escort you to safety, then go alone. If I find him, great; if not back in time, contact other agents for better support."
Lamine frowned.
"Let's switch."
"Switch?"
"Only we two can find Hwikyung, not you, Gorgota. If Juran's fine, we go in; you stand by."
"Pardon?"
As Gorgota blinked, Juran nodded.
"I'm good. And sis isn't just talking big; she has a plan."
"How'd you know?"
"You don't seem the type to sacrifice for the greater good without reason..."
"..."
Lamine gazed at distant mountains, then turned to Gorgota.
"Hear me out."
Labor camp routine was simple.
Three groups: overseers, guards, laborers.
Overseers fewest but commanded both guards and laborers; guards, military, kept laborers from escaping.
But that alone was insufficient.
Even armed, overseers and guards were outnumbered twenty-to-one by laborers.
Thus, laborers moved in supervised teams, mutually watching each other.
Violate internal rules? Report for rewards and punishments.
Lamine's idea was straightforward.
"If external security outstrips internal with the same guard numbers, internals must be laxer, right?"
"Not necessarily... but yeah, somewhat."
"Eyes confirm: logging spreads teams thin, escape routes visible. Some must want out."
Gorgota said,
"Escape attempts are common. Even the Union Kingdom can't fully control it. Their underbelly's full of runaway slaves. Many flee overseas... to the Empire, say."
Lamine nodded.
"So we can help them."
Gorgota skeptically,
"Use the chaos to slip in? Not enough."
Lamine cut in,
"Not that. Specifically..."
As Lamine explained, Gorgota found it hard to buy but admitted it had the highest odds yet.
"...Fine. Let's do it. Starlight's blessing upon us."
A minor disturbance erupted at Rubail Labor Camp's logging site.
Five labor teams fled during lapsed internal security.
But it drew little notice because none of those five teams fully escaped.
Guards, lacking rosters, just counted heads—no shortfalls.
Guards herded the five teams together toward the old Garang castle ruins at the camp's heart.
Among the dragged slaves were Lamine and Juran.