Episode 12 – First Person Protagonist’s Point of View (3)
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ applauds your spirit!]
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ praises your courage!]
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is curious about your tactics.]
····.
[Some constellations are greatly impressed by your performance.]
[20,000 coins have been sponsored.]
I frowned as the indirect messages poured in without a filter. No one disliked praise. However, dozens of praises pouring in at once was too much.
Where did Bihyung go and why didn’t he manage the messages? Ah… he would’ve been called by the Administrator Bureau right now.
There was no compensation for the hidden scenario and the intermediate dokkaebi disappeared without saying something.
By the way, the total number of sponsored coins was 20,000 coins… The ‘minority channels’ were different from the ‘large channels.
I quickly looked at the fire dragon’s body and pulled out the core.
[5th grade Fire Dragon’s Core]
A core surrounded by a soft red light. The quality of the core that came out from the disaster was unusual.
It was deteriorated but it was still a dragon. There were many beneficial parts. For example, the bones and leather. It could be processed by a good blacksmith or exchanged.
I looked down at the body of the fire dragon. I had caught a disaster but to only obtain this much…
Then there was a sudden pain from my back as well as a cheerful voice.
“Dokja-ssi, what game character are you?”
I turned around and saw Jung Heewon standing behind me.
A cough came out.
“…My physical state is so bad right now that I will die from one hit from you.”
“You will live even if you are killed.”
“That isn’t necessarily the case.”
I expected Jung Heewon to ask but she was somewhat quiet. I realized that she was greatly shocked when I died.
She seemed to have cried… no, Jung Heewon wasn’t crying. She lowered her voice like she was conscious of the other party members.
“…Did you know this and acted?”
“Not everything…”
“I really thought you were dead!”
“But I survived.”
Once again, her strong palm slapped against my back. Lee Hyunsung came running out late.
“Dokja-ssi! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Lee Sungkook and Jung Minseob were far away and came together. In fact, I wanted these guys to die here but they were really lucky. Well, they were in my group now so I could control them at any time. But…
Silence fell as everyone stared at me. I sighed and said, “…You can ask one by one. What are your questions?”
A sudden hearing began.
***
“Resurrection is a new privilege I have gained. It isn’t due to my sponsor.”
I moderately avoided the difficult information and only told them what I thought they needed to know. Jung Heewon muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
“Resurrection every time you save someone… isn’t this a scam?”
“It is one resurrection per one hundred people but a scam is a scam.”
I honestly admitted it. However, the King of No Killing also had a fatal weakness.
As long as I had this attribute, I couldn’t ‘directly’ take the life of another person.
It wasn’t a problem to injure, oppress or make them unable to fight, but he couldn’t kill them. The King of No Killing would be deprived of his throne when he killed a person.
Of course, I didn’t talk about these things. No good would come from it being known.
“You have to work hard to save people in the future.”
“In some cases, people need to be killed…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll kill them for you.”
Jung Heewon stated in a confident voice.
In fact, I was able to choose the King of No Killing with ease because of Jung Heewon. It was the reason why I raised the Judge of Destruction in the first place.
It wasn’t a big problem to keep the King of No Killing until the middle scenarios, although there might be frustrating moments when playing solo.
As time went by, there would be more fraudulent attributes. I got a good attribute in the beginning so it would be hard to miss the timing to change it.
“But this is really like a fantasy novel. Now you have all types of abilities…”
Lee Sungkook, Jung Minseob and Lee Hyunsung were watching. I intentionally stared at them. It was a warning to Jung Heewon not to say anything.
She accepted it and Lee Sungkook opened his mouth.
“What did it feel like when you died?”
“…It was terrible of course.”
I wanted to ask why he asked this but Lee Sungkook spoke again in a serious voice. “Honestly, I was a bit scared when I saw you rising alive again.”
“You are scared?”
“Yes. Strictly speaking, your entire body disappeared and was restored. Common sense says that such a thing can’t happened. I don’t know what the principle of this world is but if your existence can be duplicated in the entirety… you might not have been ‘resurrected’ but ‘cloned.’”
He spoke a creepy story in a calm voice. It was something I never thought about…
It reminded me that this guy’s attribute was ‘Hypnotist.’
…Wasn’t he interesting?
Jung Heewon started scolding him, “Have you been watching too many movies?”
“This is an important matter. If there is no continuity between your death and resurrection, there is no guarantee that pre-death Representative-nim is the same person as post-resurrection Representative-nim.”
They were difficult words. Several memories crossed my mind. This brat, was he the one who got offended by the pedantic prologue?
“You have a very quaint idea but… there is no need to worry. I was still conscious after my death. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a real death.”
“Did you experience a soul state?”
“I don’t know if it can be called a soul but…”
I felt a bit of unease as I talked. Ways of Survival was a world created by the author.
This world became a reality. A world in which the soul wasn’t proven now became a world in which the soul was taken for granted.
In such a world, what was ‘my’ existence? Me, my soul. Did it exist from the beginning? Or was I party of the story that the author made?
I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about this.
“In any case, are the useless questions over?”
“Ah, can I ask one more question?”
“What?”
“Why are you suddenly using honorifics with me and Minseob…”
“My Yoo Jonghyuk concept is over.”
Lee Sungkook made a surprised expression as he belatedly realized.
“Eh, come to think about it…”
I didn’t need to hear his words. The concept of over but their treatment wouldn’t dramatically change. I reached out a hand towards Lee Sungkook.
“Give me your smartphone.”
“Yes?”
“I want a phone.”
Lee Sungkook stuck out his phone. It was a good model. It was better than what I used.
“Can I have this?”
“…Wasn’t the Yoo Jonghyuk concept finished?”
“This is my original concept.”
Lee Sungkook was on the verge of tears.
“Everybody rest. I have to look at something for a while. We will move in 10 minutes. You can also collect the items.”
The party members gathered the items scattered all over the place while I used the smartphone to access the Internet.
I pretended to be unconcerned but I was actually a little nervous.
[The hidden scenario compensation settlement will be delayed.]
[The ‘plausibility’ request is currently underway at the Administration Bureau.]
It was due to these messages.
The plausibility judgment. This was why the coins compensation from the hidden scenario weren’t received.
I wanted to check the relevant parts in Ways of Survival but my smartphone was burned.
It was a mistake that wasn’t like me. This was ominous. What if the mail sent by the author was erased…?
At this moment, a message appeared on the screen of my smartphone.
[Synching to a new device is available.]
[Do you still want to proceed with the sync?]
…What is this?
I pressed OK, the download of the file proceeded and a new file was created on the background screen.
[Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World.TXT]
I see. There was this. Indeed, a file that couldn’t be read by the dokkaebis or constellations couldn’t disappear so easily.
I looked at Lee Sungkook and Jung Minseob collecting the items. I suddenly wondered. Would they be able to read this? Still… I should be careful as possible.
I opened up Ways of Survival and started to read.
[Your reading speed has increased due to the effect of the exclusive attribute.]
I found the ‘plausibility’ request that took place during Yoo Jonghyuk’s 6th regression.
「 The intermediate dokkaebi of the Seoul Bureau ‘Baram’ frowned upon reading the scenario in front of him. (TL: Baram=Wind)
The top of the document had the name ‘Regressor Yoo Jonghyuk.’
‘A regressor… damn. The dokkaebis and constellations noticed quickly…’
Baram looked over at the dokkaebis. No senior dokkaebis or great dokkaebis could be seen.
It was natural. This was a ‘plausibility request’ that occurred at the level of a local dome. The principle was that the world of the district should be solved in the district. Baram asked the nervous looking dokkaebis.
“Who petitioned the bureau?”
“Aooni of Japan.”
“Why is he worrying about a foreigner instead of his own country? Doesn’t he have any business?”
“There is a lot of fierce fighting between the low grade dokkaebis these days…”
Baram frowned.
Certainly, according to the report, it was worth doing a plausibility request for ‘Yoo Jonghyuk.’
There was also a lot of important information that was automatically filtered from the beginning.
In addition, the skill Sage’s Eyes meant that some items couldn’t be accessed by the system. The data survey required the help of a higher level administration.
Baram sighed and covered up the report.
“It’s okay. This guy is someone who has received permission from my superiors. Leave him alone.”
“Is it okay? The aftermath…”
“He has a sponsor that we can’t afford to go against.”
“We can’t go against a single constellation? What if the constellation alliance…”
Baram laughed.
“How can you lecture me? Do you know who his sponsor is?”
“T-That’s not it.”
“It will soon be the fifth scenario so take care of it. The plausibility will be gradually offset as the scenario progresses.”
The atmosphere suddenly became cold and he said to the intermediate dokkaebi.
“Don’t you have work to do these days?”
“Uh…!”
“Why do sales in the United States and India look like this? Isn’t there the prophet in the US and the constellation alliance in India? Why are the sales like this when they are so many rich targets? Are you not making the products well?”
“T-That…”
“Shit, don’t give excuses! Quickly sell the coin goods!” 」
A laugh emerged. I was reminded of Minosoft when looking at the dokkaebis working. The planning division wasn’t a joke.
In any case, I was now in a situation similar to Yoo Jonghyuk in Ways of Survival. I thought that this would happen someday but… this was why it wasn’t good to be noticed.
This… what if the judgment caused me damages?
At that moment, a trembling voice was heard in the air.
[How many times do I have to be called to the Bureau because of you…]
Bihyung. I opened the dokkaebi communication.
“How did it go?
