I left Aileen, Mark and Jang Hayoung to clean up outside and dragged the unconscious Han Myungoh back to the office.
To be honest, it was a revelation. I never thought Han Myungoh would still be alive.
Department Head Han Myungoh. Before we reached the third scenario, he was cursed by Demon King Asmodeus after killing the dark keeper. I thought he had died before I entered Chungmuro and hadn’t expected to meet him in the Demon World.
I placed Han Myungoh on a chair in the meeting room. I used a story suppressor that I had borrowed from Aileen.
「 Kim Dokja thought: The department head has aged a lot. 」
There were many small wrinkles on Han Myungoh’s face. Moreover, his whole skin was blackened. Putting aside the wrinkles, the skin discolouration was a sign of a species variation. The longer I looked, the more I could see the old face. Still, many human traces were missing and it was hard to know without looking closely.
Yoo Sangah. Lee Gilyoung. My mother and Song Minwoo… They were the people I couldn’t confirm using Character List.
All of them were people who were involved with me before the scenario or at the start of the scenario. Han Myungoh was also one of them. They survived in this world because of me. That’s why I couldn’t read their information with Character List.
“I know you’re awake so get up.”
“Uhh… you…”
Han Myungoh… I asked the spy, no, the self-styled Aurelius. “Aurelius. Did you pick the name personally?”
“…!”
Han Myungoh opened his eyes and I was filled with a vague feeling of certainty. Aurelius. This was the decisive clue that convinced me this person was Han Myungoh.
「 A web novel? Hey Kim Dokja-ssi. How much time do you have to read this shit? 」
During my days at Mino Soft, I had heard these words after I was caught reading a web novel.
「 If you are going to read a book then you should read something like this. Read a good book if you want to build up your specs. 」
Han Myungoh was holding the book called ‘Meditations’, written by Marcus Aurelius. The first few pages of the book were completely discoloured…
“You usually carried the Meditations book that you can’t read. Your bluffing still remains.”
“W-Who the hell are you?”
Han Myungoh didn’t recognize me at all. It was because I changed my face ahead of time. If I hadn’t done that, I might be the one to fall into the trap.
I smirked and asked, “Who do you think?”
At this moment, something flashed through Han Myungoh’s eyes.
“D-Don’t tell me…!”
As expected, Han Myungoh was Han Myungoh. Even the parachute department head needed to do some work to survive. I quietly brought a finger to Han Myungoh’s lips that were opening.
“Shhh.”
“Oof. Oof. Ooof!”
“If you say anything then you will die here. Think to yourself. Do you understand?”
I was worried about another transcendental existence listening. There were no dokkaebi channels here. However, the lack of a channel didn’t mean there was no way for other beings to peep.
[The Fourth Wall says that the demon king ‘Demon of Rage and Lust’ is looking at stupid Kim Dokja.]
…Better than expected. It could tell me something like this?
「 A hem. 」
Demon of Rage and Lust…
Like constellations, the demon kings had their own modifiers. After all, they were fallen constellations. Of course, there were those who didn’t use the modifiers as resistance against the constellations…
If I remembered correctly, ‘Demon of Rage and Lust’ was the nickname for Demon King Asmodeus. Han Myungoh seemed to be his subordinate. It was a high-level position where his vision was shared.
“Shouldn’t you pay coins if you want to keep peeking?”
Han Myungoh’s eyes widened again when he saw me speaking towards the air. He noticed who I was talking to.
Small sparks appeared in the air. If this continued, Asmodeus was likely to gain my information. One day I would reveal my story but now wasn’t the time.
I thought for a moment before pulling a sword out of my coat’s subspace. It was the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword.
It had been a really long time since I used it to destroy the Absolute Throne. It was a sword that could temporarily evolve to a star relic if the power of the Big Dipper was borrowed.
It was a sword that could break through the constellation’s affinity with the star relic. Originally, I required the help of the Big Dipper to manifest that strength. Now that I was a constellation, I could use the power of this sword without their help.
[The Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword has responded to your story!]
“If you aren’t going to pay then get lost.”
I swung the sword over Han Myungoh’s head. The message appeared as I swing the sword and strong sparks appeared in the air.
[The connection between the Demon King ‘Asmodeus’ and his household member is temporarily disconnected.]
Han Myungohwas now shocked beyond surprise. He never thought I would have the power to break off his link with the demon king. I warned Han Myungoh.
“Here, my name is Yoo Jonghyuk.” Nod if you understand.”
Han Myungoh stared at me with a complicated gaze and barely nodded after thinking about it. He made the correct judgment because he knew that his life was precious. I released his mouth and Han Myungoh gasped as he looked up at me.
“H-How the hell… I heard you were definitely dead…”
“I’m not dead. Thus, I’m alive.”
The terrified Han Myungoh asked, “W-What are you going to do with me?”
“We’ll see. I’m thinking.”
“H-Help me! The years we spent together aren’t short!”
“I don’t have any good memories of those years.”
“I-I am a spy. I can help your revolution! I can see other people’s positions!”
It seemed to be true that Han Myungoh was a spy. Indeed, the spy didn’t emerge in the 111th regression. It wouldn’t be strange if a surprising person appeared as the spy.
“I don’t need a spy. I found the executioners without you.”
Han Myungoh’s eyes once again shook at my words. Then Han Myungoh spoke the question he had been curious about. “That reminds me… how did you find the executioners?”
I roughly knew what was going on but I decided to be fooled for a bit. “I didn’t know they were executioners…”
“What? Then how…”
My words were true. The descriptions of some executioners appeared in Ways of Survival but it was written in passing and I didn’t remember them. It would also be hard to recognize just based on the description.
I didn’t kill them because I knew they were executioners. I just used a skill to figure out that they had a special position.
「 That information was enough for Kim Dokja. 」
Han Myungoh didn’t know anything and exclaimed, “The people you killed could’ve been innocent or have important positions! Y-Yes! For example, a fighter or…!”
“Stop talking about useless things. If you are trying to drag out the time because you think other nobles will come to rescue you… they won’t come.”
“Ha, haha. What do you mean?”
“It is only the executioners that the citizens are afraid of. Without them, the nobles can’t easily invade the civilians’ area.”
Now that he realized that things were wrong, Han Myungoh’s struggles became worse. He stared at me with red eyes and yelled,
“If you kill me, you will receive the demon king’s wrath!”
My previous self would’ve been afraid.
“Do I look like I’m afraid of the demon king?”
I raised my constellation status. It was to such a slight extent that the dukes of the industrial complexes and the demon kings of other demon realms wouldn’t notice. No matter how light, I was a constellation and it was sufficient to kill Han Myungoh.
Han Myungoh trembled before finally giving up. “…What do you want?”
It was the question I had been waiting for. In any case, Han Myungoh was someone who had made contact with the demons here. It would be wiser to use him as much as possible.
“Make an Oath of Existence. Do you know what it is?”
“T-That…”
“Do it if you want to live. Or you can go out and be beaten to death by the common people.”
Han Myungoh sighed. “What do you want me to swear?”
“You won’t interfere in the revolution. You won’t lie. You will truthfully answer any questions I ask and cooperate with me wholeheartedly.”
“…For how long?”
“One year.”
“Shit…”
It was better to have a deadline when making such a violent oath. If I forced a permanent oath then the object of the oath might go crazy. If they were given hope that the oath would one day end, the other person would agree to the oath more easily.
“…I understand. I will make the oath.” Sparks sprung from Han Myungoh’s heart and the oath was completed.
Now there was a question I wanted to ask Han Myungoh. “Department Head Han Myungoh. How are you still alive?”
Han Myungoh started telling his story. The hardships he suffered after separating from us at Chungmuro and how hard it was for him…
He tried to make himself look as poor as possible and I interrupted in the middle.
“Tell me the important things.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“At that time, you obviously received the demon king’s curse. How did you become a subordinate of the demon king? Asmodeus isn’t that simple an existence.”
The 72nd demon king, Asmodeus. No matter how long Han Myungoh’s tongue, he didn’t have the ability to bewitch the demon king.
In addition, Han Myungoh didn’t have a unique story. The demon kings were just as jaded and bored as the constellations. The story of a department head of a big company wouldn’t be sufficient to even talk to the demon king.
Han Myungoh licked his lips for a long time and his expression distorted in a miserable manner. I was about to rush him when Han Myungoh opened his mouth. “…I gave birth.”
“Huh?”
“Kuock… I, I…
I thought I heard wrong. I was about to ask again when Han Myungoh burst out crying. “I gave birth to a child!”
TL: Rainbow Turtle
