Episode 10 – Future War (3)

…It hadn’t been long since the scenario began and already?

I tried to recall the original story but there was no recollection of such an early invasion. It meant variables had appeared.

In the darkness, the headlights turned off and there was the sound of people talking.

“Ah, we finally made it to Chungmuro.”

“Really, it took them a long time to break the scenario.”

“Hey, be quiet. They are going to hear. And don’t you know that the scenarios are different between stations?”

I watched as the people came closer with weapons. The most important thing in a battle was to take the lead first. I went forward, followed by Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, then Yoo Sangah in the rear. Lee Gilyoung was still sleeping.

How many seconds passed? The four men and women in the darkness walked towards this side. I opened my mouth.

“Stop there.”

“Eh? Well well.”

The people stopped in their traces when they saw the blade I was pointing. There were white bikes beside them. I heard weapons being pulled out but a man’s voice was faster.

“Wait a minute. Calm down. Oh, I can’t even talk because I am too scared.”

“Put down your weapons and slowly come this way.”

The man put down his weapon and approached with both hands raised. Once he entered the light, the man’s impression wasn’t bad. He gave off a reasonably favourable impression. His thin eyes were in a gentle curve.

“Don’t be too wary. We didn’t come here to fight.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Let’s start with the introductions. I’m Kang Ilhun and I help manage the Dongdaemun Group.”

Kang Ilhun? Nobody popped up in my head straight away. Furthermore, the representative of Dongdaemun… things were becoming strange.

[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]

Since the skill worked, he was certainly a character in the novel.

[Character Information]

Name: Kang Ilhun

Age: 31 years old

Constellation Sponsor: Shameless Good Gossiper

Private Attribute: Rumours Expert (General)

Exclusive Skills: Weapons Training Lv. 2, Art of Communication Lv. 3, Spread Rumours Lv. 1.

Stigma: Making a Commotion Lv. 1.

Overall Stats: Stamina Lv. 12, Strength Lv. 13, Agility Lv. 13, Magic Power Lv. 10.

Overall Evaluation: Unfortunately, he didn’t develop his character due to the wrong sponsor. But he is a person with good ability who can be used. He spreads rumours regardless of truth or lies, so be careful.

Rumours Expert… It was time for these guys to start acting. Kang Ilhun looked at me with slight impatience.

“Your name is…?”

“Kim Dokja.”

“Ah, Kim Dokja-ssi…?”

A flash of wonder corssed Kang Ilhun’s face as he heard my name. However, it was only for a short moment.

“Nice to meet you, Dokja-ssi. Since you have a flag, you must be a station representative?

“That’s right.”

He looked closely at the colour of my flag and then the people around me. It was to confirm the power on our side. He was keen eyes but unfortunately, he met the wrong opponent.

“If you have seen enough, get to the main point.”

“Hahat. I beg your pardon. We also need to be concerned about safety.” Kang Ilhun continued speaking without any panic. “Once again, we didn’t come to fight. What if we came with a good offer?”

I watched Kang Ilhun’s party. None of them had a flag.

“How can I believe that?”

“Hmm, won’t you know if you check the rules? If we came to fight, we would’ve come with the representative. Only the representative can occupy the flagpole.”

It was true. It was obviously true.

“What is the offer?”

“We came to ask for an alliance.”

At these words, the members of Chungmuro started murmuring. Kang Ilhun shook.

“Ah, you are uncertain because Chungmuro just opened. In fact, the fourth scenario has already been in progress for two days.”

“…Two days?”

Yoo Sangah reflexively muttered. Kang Ilhun nodded.

“Yes, the third scenario is slightly different in content and duration between stations… perhaps you didn’t know this?”

“Ah…”

The third scenario was just over but I already knew this. In the original story, Chungmuro was a latecomer in the scenario compared to other stations. In other words, we started with some losses in terms of information.

In that sense, Kang Ilhun’s alliance offer was a timely temptation. Information was required and this was beyond our strength. The problem was what did the other side gain?

“It is a difficult offer to accept. I don’t know if you have an ulterior motive.”

“Hrmm, Dokja-ssi’s words are definitely right. You won’t believe in the alliance so I will first state what we will get from the alliance. In short, Chungmuro isn’t our ‘target’ station.”

“How can I believe that?”

“You can believe it or not. But please think about it. If Chungmuro was our target, we would’ve dragged the main force of our station here. To be honest, the flagpoles are most vulnerable just after the station is open.”

It wasn’t very persuasive.

“What will you do if our target station is Dongdaemun?”

“Haha, there is no need to worry about that. We already know the station that is targeting us. We didn’t come to you for no reason.”

“I see. Let’s clear the scenario by helping each other, since our targets are different… is that what you mean?”

“That’s right. Isn’t it good to help each other at this time?”

Kang Ilhun smiled and nodded. I was silent for a moment and Yoo Sangah opened her mouth.

“I have a question.”

Kang Ilhun grinned at Yoo Sangah.

“Yes, what is it pretty girl?”

“Why did you come to Chungmuro? If you came from Dongdaemun, you could’ve made an alliance with other stations.”

It was an unexpectedly sharp point. Kang Ilhun looked slightly confused.

“Oh, that… as I told you, Chungmuro just opened. I mean… um, the other stations have already formed alliances. But I thought that Chungmuro wouldn’t have… haha, I have to ask, has Chungmuro already made an alliance?”

Hrmm…

“No, we haven’t.”

Kang Ilhun looked happy at my words.

“Then form an alliance with Dongdaemun. You won’t regret it. Above all, we have a ‘winning solution’ for this scenario.”

“A winning solution?”

“Yes, in fact, our group knows the hidden secrets of this scenario.”

Kang Ilhun grinned and drove in the last nail.

“We will tell you if you agree to an alliance with us.”

*     *     *

After a while, I sat with Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon to exchange opinions. Yoo Sangah spoke.

“What do we do? Should we establish an alliance?”

“I’m going to disagree. I can’t believe them. I feel uneasy.”

Once Jung Heewon spoke, Lee Hyunsung gave his opinion.

“But it wouldn’t be bad if they have information about this scenario. Certainly, we can’t fully trust them as Heewon-ssi said…”

Finally, they looked at me. I shrugged.

“Then for now…”

Once we made a decision, we called over Kang Ilhun and the Dongdaemun Group, who were looking around Chungmuro Station.

“I will make a decision once I have met your representative.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Where is your representative?”

“At Dongdaemun. If you don’t mind, I will guide you…”

“Please do so.”

We got on the back seats of the bikes they came on. The people I took with me were Lee Hyunsung, Yoo Sangah and Jung Heewon. Lee Gilyoung was left behind with Gong Pildu. It was because he overused Diverse Communication and hadn’t woken up yet. Of course, I didn’t forget to give an order to protect Lee Gilyoung.

“Then let’s go.”

There was the sound of the bikes turning on and we started moving. Once 20 seconds had passed. I opened my mouth.

“By the way Kang Ilhun-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Those people, did they say anything else about Chungmuro?”

“Huh? What does tha…”

“For example, if you come here then there will be a very scary man called Yoo Jonghyuk…”

“Haha, what are you sayin…”

I gave a signal and our party jumped from the back seats of the bikes at the same time.

“Yoo Sangah-ssi!”

Yoo Sangah used Binding Thread and tied the four bikes together. There was a roar as the bikes collided with each other.

Kwaaaang!

“Aaaagh!”

The Dongdaemun members screamed as they crashed down.

Fortunately, our party was safely hanging in the air due to Yoo Sangah’s thread tied to the ceiling. It was a type of seat belt. It was an incredible feat that made Yoo Sangah seem like Spiderman.

Kang Ilhun was covered in dust as he lay on the ground and shouted.

“W-What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? That is what I want to ask.” I looked at the dark tunnel. “In order to ambush us, you should raise the level of the stealth a bit more.”

It was enough for me to detect despite not having Absolute Senses. Kang Ilhun noticed something was wrong and screamed.

“Attack them!”

At almost the same time, people hiding all over the tunnel emerged. I knew it. They were aiming for my flag.

[The character ‘Jung Heewon’ has activated the exclusive skill ‘Judgment Time.’]

[The Absolute Good constellations have agreed to the use of this skill.]

[’Judgment Time’ has been activated.]

“Eh? I thought it might not… isn’t this a complete mess?”

Jung Heewon laughed with a surprised expression.

“It is hard to find bad people.”

Jung Heewon spoke in a cold voice and her sword flashed through the dark tunnel. Her eyes were red from using Demon Slayer. The bloody light swept through the darkness as people were slaughtered.

“W-What?”

“This crazy girl…! Aaaagh!”

Seokeok! Seokekeok!

There were 10 peope but Jung Heewon killed them without a hitch. It was a scene that showed how much Jung Heewon’s stats had risen after the hidden dungeon was cleared.

I also used White Pure Star Energy and easily suppressed Kang Ilhun. A few hours ago, I was dealing with Yoo Jonghyuk. This guy wasn’t very difficult.

“Dokja-ssi, Chungmuro…!”

I looked back at Lee Hyunsung’s cry and saw that there was a commotion in Chungmuro. They were ambushed as soon as we left Chungmuro. I left Kang Ilhun to be tied up by Yoo Sangah and rushed to Chungmuro.

There was already a melee happening on the platform. But I decided to watch the situation for a while. There was something I needed to check first.

“What are these bastards!”

Dozens of group members that ran from the Myeongdong direction waved weapons at the people of Chungmuro. By the way, the weapons they were carrying were familiar.

“That is Kim-ssi’s weapon!”

The Landlord Alliance members who headed towards Myeongdong had already been hit by these guys. Indeed, the wanderers who lost their group were just seen as living coins.

The most noticeable enemy was one wearing a red flag around his head like a bandana.

“Gain control later! It will be over if I just put the flag in!”

That’s right. He was the ‘representative.’