Episode 14 – Master of the Throne (3)
We were going to enter the dungeon but not to get the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword.
Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung immediately understood what I meant.
“You are going to take their flags.”
“Then you will kill them.”
They had different interpretations.
Yoo Sangah looked down at Lee Gilyoung with surprised eyes. The interesting thing was that Lee Gilyoung looked up at Yoo Sangah with disappointment.
“Hyung, leave the finis.h.i.+ng touches to me.”
This boy… he already noticed that I couldn’t directly kill a person.
[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]
[This person isn’t registered in ‘Character List.’]
[Currently collecting information about the corresponding figure.]
Lee Gilyoung’s information still wasn’t available.
I turned my head and encountered Yoo Sangah’s worried eyes. She looked between Lee Gilyoung and I before bowing her head. I spoke to Lee Gilyoung, “Do as you please.”
I could see what Yoo Sangah was worried about. Lee Gilyoung wasn’t even in middle school yet. But she should be aware of it. The morals that we used to have were now useless in this world.
“This isn’t a game. Be careful.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
I listened to Lee Gilyoung’s voice and hid the flag on my back.
Until now, the flag was a good bait to attract the small kings. However, from now on, it would just be bait for predators. There was nothing good about advertising that I was a king on this battlefield.
The intermediate dokkaebi’s voice was heard.
[Huhu, everyone is doing well! So many people are doing hidden scenario then what is the meaning of ‘hidden’?]
It had no nerves. I would find it embarra.s.sing now and again.
[Someone has already fulfilled the requirements for the first qualification. Once again, this is interesting.]
A king had already achieved the black flag. It was probably one of the Seven Kings.
[After a while, the requirements of the second qualifications will be revealed.]
I turned to look at the party members and said, “Quickly. The dokkaebi’s ‘after a while’ might not be long.”
I put together the Sang Pyong Tong Bo coins in the lobby one by one.
[You have entered a hidden field using 10 Sang Pyong Tong Bo coins.]
[Do you want to enter the hidden chapter, the Big Dipper?]
Right now, I had the purple flag. The kings with the same purple flags would flock to the Big Dipper. In other words, my prey were all gathered in one place.
[You have entered the Big Dipper chapter.]
My vision waved and the lobby soon changed. The white marble lobby was transformed into a s.p.a.cious waiting room.
There were seven doors at the end of the waiting room.
“Uh…!”
Yoo Sangah let out a brief groan and took a step back. There were bodies at Yoo Sangah’s feet. They were the bodies of group members who had fought each other. Lee Gilyoung looked down at the corpses with an expressionless face.
There were so many bodies that it was hard to walk straight. Hundreds of bodies were scattered all over the place like graves. There was a wave of blood already.
I felt a bit strange. If I hadn’t spread the plagiarist writer’s textbook, they might not have died. Then didn’t they die because of me?
“Hey, there are people.”
The centre of the waiting room contained a huge body using the bodies of people as fuel.
I could see the faces of some survivors. I didn’t know if they were allies or held a truce, but they weren’t fighting.
I looked at the group of people and spoke to my party members. “Be careful.”
A group stood up. Greed could be seen in their eyes.
“You are a newcomer. Who is your king?”
Some people secretly moved behind out party while others drew our attention. The encirclement was gradually becoming narrower.
“Is it you? Or maybe the woman next to you? It can’t be the kid.”
[Many of the constellations are annoyed by the pests.]
[A few constellations want you to take serious action.]
I was already planning on that.
“Hey, why aren’t you answering… aack!”
The white light of Unbroken Faith filled the air. The unstoppable trajectory cut off the limbs of a person. A confused person shouted, “d.a.m.n! Just kill him!”
The people took out their weapons like they had been waiting. But it was too late.
“W-Why are you so fast?”
There were few people were agility higher than me right now.
They didn’t have high level skills so no one other than the Seven Kings could follow my movements right now.
The Blade of Faith swung in a semicircle and cut five or six people at the same time.
The attack that followed cut off a hand holding a weapon. I pierced another wrist.
“Kuaaaak!”
The severed limbs flew unrealistically through the air. I walked behind a man screaming painfully and used a skill.
[The exclusive skill ‘Hit a Pressure Point Lv. 1’ is activated.]
I had cut off the man’s limbs but there was no need to be cruel.
There was a dark blue dagger hidden in the man’s arms. This was the poisonous dagger that could be obtained at the end of the 5 person dungeon, the ‘Dongui Bogam’. If my response had been even a bit late, this would’ve been us.
As soon as the people collapsed, I called to Lee Gilyoung.
“Please.”
Lee Gilyoung nodded. Lee Gilyoung’s hand stopped the people’s breathing one by one. He moved his hand like he was killing insignificant insects. I was also a little surprised.
Then Yoo Sangah came forward.
“I’ll do it Gilyoung…”
“…Can you do it?”
“I will still do it.”
Yoo Sangah’s tone was unusually stubborn. She looked grimly at Lee Gilyoung. She held a knife and turned her back to me. Maybe Yoo Sangah despised me.
Perhaps it was fortunate that I couldn’t read Yoo Sangah’s mind.
Yoo Sangah moved even more efficiently than Lee Gilyoung and took the lives of the remaining people. Her fingertips trembled as the work finished.
“…Will we continue in this fas.h.i.+on?”
“Yes, probably.”
“I will do it in the future instead of Gilyoung.”
“Can you do it?”
“…There is no problem. It is just like breaking an egg.”
Yoo Sangah used an a.n.a.logy as she pretended to be calm.
“I can do it better.” Lee Gilyoung grumbled, making Yoo Sangah place a hand on his head.
There would be many twists and turns in the future. Sometimes we might feel like collapsing or want to give up. But we had to overcome it.
Most of the Seven Kings we would soon meet would have higher stats than us and they would also possess unique skills. There would certainly be situations where we couldn’t win without being hit by the enemies.
We silently picked up the items that the group dropped.
[You have earned 2,300 coins.]
[The item ‘Dongui Bogam – Various Diseases (Upper Half of the Body)’ has been acquired.]
As expected, they were people who cleared the five person dungeon. A total of eight books were available from the five person dungeon, each with different usages. I was sure there were a few people who cleared the five person dungeon so the others should be moderately easy to find.
Unfortunately, there was no ‘king’ in the group I just killed.
Clap clap clap.
Then the sound of clapping was heard.
One of the men watching from the big bonfire approached me with a smile on his face. He showed no signs of panic despite the other group being wiped out.
I raised my item and warned them casually.
“What do you want?”
The man took one step back and raised both hands as if he had no intention of fighting.
“Uhh, calm down. I don’t want to fight.”
I took a closer look at the man. There was a large spear on his back. The firm chest muscles were revealed by the clothes and his long hair was tied back.
“You have great skills. You don’t seem to have any pa.s.sive skills but you wiped out the Chungjeong group… those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they are one of the groups that lost their king.”
Of course, that’s why they came forward so recklessly.
“But you’re a little late. The major kings have all entered the dungeon. They will be busy fighting now. Well, the winner is almost decided but… the last king who pa.s.sed through here was incredibly fierce.”
“Who is that?”
“Do you know the Tyrant King?” The man continued to speak. “He is currently the most powerful king in northern Seoul. This is a story between those who already know. The owner of the Absolute Throne will surely be the Tyrant King.”
A person might think so if they saw the Tyrant King in person. The Tyrant King’s armed force was certainly the top among the Seven Kings.
But it was laughable for him to be the owner of the Absolute Throne. The Tyrant King was strong but he wasn’t the strongest among the Seven Kings.
As if reading my mind, the man opened his mouth.
“But I don’t think so. I think that the Tyrant King will never become the owner of the Absolute Throne.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“I saw it myself. He has a strong power but he doesn’t know how to handle people. A king must know the hearts of the people.”
The hearts of the people?
“My king is able to do that. It is why many incarnations follow him. I am sure that my king will become the master of the Absolute Throne.”
I followed the man’s glance. The Big Dipper chapter consisted of seven entrances. Perhaps his king was moving in one of the pa.s.sages.
“What is your point? Do you want us to join you?”
“Haha, that would be nice but you won’t follow me just like that, right? I just want to make an offer. If you don’t mind, why don’t you ally with us?”
I realized why this man was still in the waiting room. This guy was a bait.
“Why should I?”
“The Tyrant King is very strong. I believe in my king but I don’t think he can defeat the Tyrant King alone.”
In contrast to his loyalty, he was a very realistic guy. But he was a ‘real’ loyalist.
“Think about it. What will happen if we can’t stop him from holding the legendary sword? What if he gets the Absolute Throne and controls all the kings in Seoul? Don’t you think that you should stop this no matter what?”
I dimly remembered.
It didn’t happen in the third regression but the ‘Anti-Tyrant King Alliance’ had formed many times in Ways of Survival.
Once again, the future had changed.
“You have a point.”
“That is why I’m making this suggestion. Our group will soon be acting against the Tyrant King. We have already talked with several other kings. I don’t know what group you belong to but you won’t lose anything by joining us. You just need to give us a spoonful.”
It was exactly as he said. The problem was that the price of the spoonful was bigger than he thought…
The man took my silence as my acceptance.
“If you are serious, you can meet our king and think about it. It is almost time for him to return to the waiting room… Oh, there he is.”
In fact, one of the seven doors opened and the group that entered the Big Dipper returned.
“King…”
The people standing at the door knelt down at once. Then the man in the centre of the crowd approached this side.
He was a clean shaven man. There was a brown club in his hands.
Wait. This guy, was it him?