The Secret of the Apocalypse (1)
“Oppa, are you really not going down?”
“Yeah. Go and take care of Mom and Dad, okay?” “Got it. I’ll be back soon?”
“Of course.”
After saying that, I handed the teleportation scroll to Kim Min-sung and Kang-mi.
“You need to tell Jin-hwan what happened. Got it?” “Got it. Then I’ll go?”
“Yeah.”
With those words, Kim Min-sung and Kang-mi vanished using the scroll.
“Well, then, shall I go look for it?”
The direction the Golden Compass was pointing to.
It didn’t seem that far from this place.
Kim Ha-jin couldn’t find this with it, but if it’s that guy…
Kim Ha-jin who had turned into stone.
I didn’t know if Kim Ha-jin was still a stone or dead, but the Golden Compass couldn’t locate him.
That’s why I chose this.
Finding Gong Jin-sa.
I didn’t know how this guy ended up in 5th place in the voting, but the main opinion was that he would be most suitable for the 7th floor of Falsehood.
Of course, his ability to change into anyone’s appearance seemed perfect for deceiving others, but I wondered if this guy would even cooperate with people.
If I find that guy, maybe the doubts will be cleared.
Still, the fruit I got after defeating the Death Knight.
I needed to figure out what the secret of this fruit was and how the scenario quest would progress.
The guy who had the fruit.
If it was that guy, he probably knew something about this, but I couldn’t be sure.
Let’s see.
As I walked in the direction the compass pointed, people around me noticed me and started whispering.
“Is that the person?”
“Looks like it.”
“Wow, the rank 2, it’s so cool. It’s probably the job bonus, right?” “Probably not? Look at the equipment he’s wearing. It looks amazing.”
Because the broadcast about the rankers had aired, almost the entire nation knew his face.
Of course, those who say that are just people.
There are those who treat you well and those who don’t.
“Hey. You’re Kim Min-sung, right?”
Exactly these kinds of people.
The guy who suddenly appeared in front of me checked my face a few times and then drew the sword he was carrying and stabbed towards me.
Whoosh.
I naturally moved the sword he swung to the side and dodged, then turned my head to look at the person who attacked me.
Whoosh.
This person didn’t seem to have a very high level.
I didn’t know why he suddenly drew a knife at me, but I took out my knife as a rough way to deal with the opponent and stood in a somewhat defensive stance and spoke.
“Why are you attacking me?”
“Because of you, our Baek Joongwon fell!”
Baek Joongwon who fell just a few votes behind me.
Of course, I knew that guy was excellent, and it was true that he fell because our concepts were similar, but why was he blaming me for it.
“Hah. You know this is the third one today, right?”
This wasn’t just this person.
I don’t know how many followers Baek Joongwon had, but there were people who kept bothering me.
Only three had come in person, but there were really many people who said all sorts of things to me through the bulletin board messages.
I don’t know how many followers Baek Joongwon had, but if there were such followers, it probably wouldn’t be worth it.
“Baek Joongwon is my benefactor!”
Shouting that, the man raised his sword again and approached.
“Hah.”
First, I dodged the man’s attack, quickly turned around, and lightly hit the man’s neck with the handle of my knife to knock him unconscious.
“Please take care of this person.”
Leaving those words, I quickly moved and headed towards the direction where Gong Jin-sa was.
As expected, it was good that I sent Kim Min-sung and Kang-mi.
Kim Min-sung and Kang-mi also wanted to come with me, but I had no choice because of these people.
Since the scene with me was already broadcast, I might be retaliated against because of me.
“White Dragon. Please.”
“I’ll do it later, okay?”
“Got it, so let’s go. If I stay below, people will keep doing that.” “Okay. Deal complete.”
After exchanging those words, I got on White Dragon’s back.
“Then let’s go! Hold on tight.”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
White Dragon took me and immediately started flying up into the sky at high speed.
“Whoa. It’s nice that you’ve grown.”
When White Dragon was small, I never imagined this situation.
As we flew into the sky, refreshing wind brushed my cheeks.
“Hey! Go! White Dragon! Straight north!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
White Dragon started flying at full speed as per my words.
How fast his speed was, if I didn’t hold on tightly, I would fall off.
After flying for a little while.
“Let’s start descending.”
Since the compass indicated this area, I landed with White Dragon.
Where is this?
When I looked around, it was a desolate place that looked no different from a wasteland.
A land that was so dry it seemed like it could be in Korea.
Is there such a place?
I didn’t know why Gong Jin-sa was here, but I followed the compass’s direction and slowly walked.
“Hmm?”
After walking for a little while, I saw an old-looking building in front of me.
Is he inside?
There was no reason for the Golden Compass to lie, so I followed the compass’s guidance and walked while being cautious around.
“White Dragon. Be careful.”
“Got it.”
I wondered if this bratty White Dragon would start acting up again, but since he had grown in size, he seemed to have learned some wisdom and didn’t act recklessly.
After cautiously approaching the building, I heard a voice.
“Don’t stand there in front and come in.”
It was a natural remark as if he knew I was coming.
Even if I said that, I had caution and slowly went to the door and carefully pushed it open.
Creek.
Looking inside the door, there was a person sitting in front of a round table.
Gong Jin-sa.
With the red-haired man I saw on the broadcast, he was looking at me with a relaxed expression.
“Long time no see. Is this the first time since Ulsan?”
Ulsan.
Seeing the guy who treated Ji-ah that way sitting with a relaxed expression, I felt a bit irritated, but I calmed down and continued the conversation.
“Did you know I would come?”
“Of course. Naturally.”
“How?”
“I deliberately exposed this for you, so.”
While saying that, Gong Jin-sa showed me the fruit.
At that time, the one who had been exposing this fruit on the broadcast was mocking me.
“Why did you expose it to me?”
“Because I saw you get this after defeating the Death Knight.”
When I defeated the Death Knight.
That means this guy was at the gathering place at that time.
“Did you change your appearance back then too?”
“Well, of course. They don’t know my true appearance, so.”
Listening to the guy’s words, I had a bit of a strange feeling.
Anyway, the cult leader guy and this guy weren’t on the same team, were they?
I wondered why he needed to hide his appearance to participate there.
“You’re probably curious why I did that.”
The guy gestured for me to sit on the chair.
It seemed the conversation would be long.
There didn’t seem to be any special device on the chair or table, so I sat on the chair and listened to the rest of the story.
“Well, to be honest, it’s not that I was on the same side as those guys, but I used the information they had.”
“You used the information?”
“Yeah. Information from ‘them’.”
“Them?”
After listening to Gong Jin-sa’s story, I had some doubts.
Them.
Was the cult leader not the leader of these guys?
“That cult leader guy is just one of them.”
“Who are the ones you’re talking about?”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like I need to tell you that.”
Gong Jin-sa, who had been answering well so far, suddenly changed the topic.
It seemed that the information about these people he was talking about was more important than I thought.
“Others besides the cult leader.”
I didn’t know who Gong Jin-sa was talking about, but it was obvious they would be dangerous guys.
Even the cult leader had tried to sacrifice many people, so they wouldn’t have been any different.
“Yeah. That’s true, but then what is this fruit? How did you get it?”
“This fruit. This is important. They want this fruit.”
“You want this fruit? Why?”
“This guy gives you the power to escape from the apocalypse.”
The power to escape from the apocalypse.
Is it believable that this small fruit allows you to escape the apocalypse?
“Wait a minute. Is the apocalypse the same as the one the planetary administrator mentioned?”
“Yeah. Exactly that apocalypse. Did it seem like the planetary administrator suddenly appeared?”
“Not suddenly?”
“In our country, if five or more people have this fruit, it activates.”
“……”
When the Death Knight appeared.
It was said that it was a sign of the apocalypse.
That means, according to that guy’s words, there are five people with this fruit.
“Who are the others?”
“You don’t need to be so curious. Probably coming this way?”
“Here?”
“You don’t think I broadcasted only for you, do you?”
Yeah, that’s right.
The broadcast itself was vividly aired nationwide.
That means other people with the fruit also know that Gong Jin-sa has the fruit.
And this guy broadcasted to target that.
“What are you going to do by calling people with the fruit?”
“There’s one thing I want to propose here.”
“Propose?”
“How about joining hands with me?”
“Joining hands with you?”
The guy was spouting nonsense.
Did he forget what he did to Ji-ah?
I couldn’t understand how he could say that after doing such things.
“I refuse.”
“Puhaha. I knew you would.”
The guy clapped as if it was natural that I refused.
I didn’t understand why he asked me if he knew that.
“What’s so funny?”
“Do you think I made Ji-ah like that?”
“Then it’s not?”
“No. I just played along with their requests.”
“Playing along?”
I didn’t understand what this guy was saying at all.
The guy who said he didn’t make Ji-ah like that.
“I just played along with what they told me to do. Like, as instructed by the guys who are coming here with the fruit.”
“How can I believe that?”
“If you’re that curious, first hide and watch from behind.”
As per Gong Jin-sa’s words, I first went behind and hid, and then one person arrived.
Eh? That person?!