Chapter 117: Episode 23 – Abandoned World (2)
Along with the message, the contents of the scenario emerged in my head.
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[Main Scenario #6 – ????]
Category: Main
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: ???
Time Limit: ???
Compensation: ???
Failure: ―
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“Eh? There isn’t a difficulty level or clear conditions.”
“...What the hell do they want us to do? Why is everything question marks?”
The confused people summoned the window several times but the contents of the scenario were still covered with question marks. I wasn’t surprised because I already expected this. It was because this scenario...
“This scenario can only be done by a few people.” A tall, middle-aged man standing near me declared.
“You...”
“It has been a while, Kim Dokja-nim. This is the first time I am greeting you formally.”
...This ahjussi was here as well. I wanted to speak but the man asked me to shake hands first.
“I am Jeon Ildo and I’m called the Neutral King.”
“I am Kim Dokja.”
The Neutral King, Jeon Ildo. He was one of the few kings remaining in Seoul who survived the Absolute Throne struggle along with the Maitreya King Cha Sangkyung and the King of Beauty Min Jiwon.
I had an impressive memory of Jeon Ildo. He was the only king who gave up the throne of his own will.
“During the struggle for the throne and this time as well. I was very impressed with Dokja-nim’s performance. You don’t know how much my sponsor talks about Dokja-nim. Half the time it is about Dokja-nim.”
He gave a good-looking smile. That reminded me, who was his sponsor? I immediately used a skill.
[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]
It was a summary list that only contained the attribute and sponsor.
[The settings of the summary list have been changed.]
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[Character List Summary]
Name: Jeon Ildo
Private Attribute: Clumsy Intellectual (General), the Neutral King (Hero)
Sponsor: Expert at Sitting on the Fence
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...Now that I saw it, I had a question. Of course it would be this constellation. Expert at Playing Both Sides seemed to be an old-fashioned person with complicated internal relations but it was actually the modifier of a ‘king.’
[A constellation who advocates neutral diplomacy has revealed his modifier.]
[The constellation ‘Expert at Playing Both Sides’ shows good intentions towards you.]
It was the modifier for Gwanghaegun, a king of Joseon famous for his neutral diplomacy. (Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwanghaegun_of_Joseon)
Jeon Ildo had the title of Neutral King for a reason.
I said to him, “I want to hear your story a bit more. What do you mean by only some people can carry out the scenario?”
“Ah, you didn’t know.”
The kings had quickly obtained information. Of course, I knew it the best but I still needed to listen to them. Maybe things were different from the Ways of Survival that I knew.
“According to information provided by the low-grade dokkaebis this morning, the participants of this scenario will be decided from volunteers.”
“Volunteers?”
“Yes. This scenario doesn’t require everyone to participate. There is also no penalty for not participating. It is incredible considering the scenarios we’ve experienced so far.”
It was like what I expected. I pointed at the screen and asked, “Will the participants be going there?”
“That’s what I heard.”
I could hear relieved voices all over the place after Jeon Ildo’s words.
“What? Not all of us has to go?”
“Shit, I’m glad. I saw those monsters... why are they so big?”
At this point, the incarnations were divided into three broad categories. First, there was the type that furtively watched. Most of them didn’t have an affiliation and probably thought they could survive by hiding.
However, this idea was wrong. All scenarios in the Star Stream increased exponentially in difficulty from a certain point in time. Perhaps these incarnations would face a terrible future in exchange for not participating in the scenario.
“...Isn’t it interesting?”
Then there was the second category. They had somewhat adapted to the harsh environment of the scenario. People strengthened their resolve by looking at the screen or checking their equipment in advance. Maybe they would be able to survive in the meantime.
Finally, the third category...
“Jeon Ildo-nim! Where are you?”
There was a shout from outside the crowd. Jeon Ildo looked at his watch and groaned. “The time has already come.”
“You can go. I’m fine.”
“No, I can’t go alone. It doesn’t make sense.”
“...What do you mean?”
“Dokja-nim, I actually came here to find you.”
“Find me?”
Jeon Ildo nodded. “A world without kings.”
He looked around. It was only a moment but it felt like many people’s gazes were focused here. Jeon Ildo gaze a mysterious smile as if he noticed the gazes.
“The kings left in this unfortunate world are waiting for you to come.”
This was the third category. They were the people who used others in order to survive.
***
I followed Jeon Ildo to the kings’ gathering place.
They gathered at the central platform of Yongsan Station and the meeting room was covered by a big tent. There were dozens of guards around the tent. Every one of them were formidable. They were the elite troops of the kings. They were probably hunting the monsters in other areas while we were fighting Shin Yoosung.
“I’m sorry but only the kings can go inside.” The sentries stopped us and I looked back at my party members.
Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung understood the situation and nodded. I left Yoo Sangah with Lee Hyunsung.
“Dokja-ssi. Scream if anything happens. Understood?” Jung Heewon told me.
I smiled at her and opened the door of the tent.
[Sound Wave Blocking is activated in the area.]
They even had Sound Wave Blocking? There seemed to be a pretty good assortment of people. I walked in and saw a round table in the wide space. There were a few biscuits and beef jerky on the table.
The chairs that people were sitting in were different. Some were plastic chairs, some were wooden chairs and there was even a sofa. Still, no matter where they sat, it was definitely a throne.
The surviving kings were here.
“You said that our group has an advantage? South Korea will be a latecomer. Do you think we can deal with those who are already present? However, it will be different if our group goes. I will go...!”
The booming voice of the middle-aged man faded away at my appearance. All the kings were staring at me.
“The last king has come.” King of Beauty Min Jiwon stated.
I lightly greeted her and looked around at the kings. There was no Yoo Jonghyuk. Well, it was obvious. Apart from me, there were a total of five people present.
King of Beauty, Min Jiwon.
The Maitreya King, Cha Sangkyung.
The Neutral King, Jeon Ildo.
The King of Wanderers.
This was four people and the remaining person...
It was strange. I didn’t know him?
“Who is this person?”
“I am Kim Dokja.”
“Oh, you are... hum, hum. I am the president of Yeouido, Yoo Hyunho.”
Yeouido’s president? The president already died. What was this bullshit? Min Jiwon added in a sour voice. “...Yoo Hyunho-ssi isn’t a king but he leads a large force. That’s why he is here.”
“What king? Do you really think this is the Joseon Dynasty? We are living in the era of a democracy. Please wake up!”
I quietly activated Character List.
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[Character List Summary]
Name: Yoo Hyunho
Private Attribute: Corrupt Politician (Rare)
Sponsor: Master of Manipulating State Affairs
Exclusive Skills: Bribery Lv. 5, Military Command Lv. 4, Corrupt Power Lv. 6, Control of the Masses Lv. 7...
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I suddenly remembered. A politician who survived the first scenario. There had clearly been such a person in several regressions. Usually Yeoido was erased during the monster flood so he was lucky this time.
[The constellation ‘Maritime War God’ is angry with the corrupt officials of Joseon.]
[The constellation ‘Bald General of Justice’ hates the incarnation Yoo Hyunho.]
These messages probably had something to do with Yoo Hyunho’s sponsor. A master of manipulating state affairs who lived during the Joseon period...
I would’ve been able to ask Yoo Sangah if she was here.
“This person called Lee Sookyung is attending for a similar reason. I don’t know if you’ve heard but she is called the King of Wanderers.”
The King of Wanderers looked at me. She was still wearing a mask. I stared at the mask for a moment before turning my head to the left.
“Please stop the introductions. I would like to know why you called me.”
Jeon Ildo sitting at the centre of the table spoke after hearing my words. “We are here to select the representatives who will participate in the sixth scenario.”
This was their purpose. Yoo Hyunho spoke after Jeon Ildo. “The people gathered here are those with the greatest forces in Seoul Dome at present. Kim Dokja-ssi is relatively small but you received the great honour of a special invitation due to your contribution to the scenario.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Special? Honour? What a ridiculous guy. He hid somewhere while I cleared the scenario... Now he wanted to say these words?
Yoo Hyunho looked around and kept speaking. “Once again, it is time for us to escape from the barbarians. For a while, we went back to the primitive era and repeated the struggle of society. However, our essence is that of citizens who act according to strict social contracts! Then wouldn’t it be better to pick the next scenario participants using the democratic process?”
It was a dog barking but it sounded plausible because he mixed in several plausible words. Min Jiwon replied, “What democratic process are you talking about?”
“Like I said before, I think it is right to allocate the participants according to the size of the force.”
Jeon Ildo immediately retorted. “I know that Yeouido’s group is the greatest simply looking at numbers. That proposal isn’t fair.”
“Jeon Ildo-ssi, I am saddened by your words. Aren’t we all Koreans? It doesn’t matter if a certain amount of people from a particular group is selected. Once we enter the scenario, we will be facing foreign opponents. Then the group we belong to won’t matter. Are we going to fight each other when the enemy is in front of us?”
He truly was a politician but Jeon Ildo wasn’t that easy. “If it doesn’t matter who is picked then there isn’t a reason to pick from your group.”
“Uhum, according to the democratic process, we have many powerful people...”
I became annoyed when I heard it. “We are here to talk about this? I don’t know why we are picking people in the first place. Just send everyone who wants to go.”
“We originally thought like that but things changed.”
“Changed?”
Min Jiwon nodded. “The scenario has a limited quota.”
Limited?
“The kings received a message from the dokkaebis but you must not have received it yet.”
At this moment, a system message flashed in my head.
[Seoul Dome’s initial allocation is 10 people.]
[Additional numbers will be decided depending on the incarnations in the scenario.]
Oh, this was why they were fighting. Unlike the other incarnations, the kings knew that an early preemption of the scenario was important. If they could put their own forces into the initial quota then they thought the initiative of future scenarios would come to their group. In the end, this place was set up as a fight to take away the king’s seats.
“My group will go. I heard there are a lot of Japanese people in the scenario area. I think it is right for me to take the lead as a descendant of Silla.”
“No, I will go. Baekje had many exchanges with Japan since ancient times.”
“That’s Baekje. Your sponsor is from Later Baekje.”
“What does that mean? Of course I have to go. How can I believe in your antiquated sponsor...”
“Everyone, wait a minute. Please calm down...”
Jeon Ildo came forward but couldn’t calm down the confusion. I looked around with a sigh and saw the King of Wanderers. She was watching me without saying a word. I could see a slight smile below her half mask.
I had to settle this. The arguing kings had a fierce atmosphere like there was going to be bloodshed.
“There is no use in us arguing here.” The kings looked at me the moment I said these words. Yoo Hyunho’s eyes were saying, ‘What do you mean by that?’
I could feel the faint vibration of the ground and picked up a biscuit on the table. Now he was coming. Why did he always show up late?
“The last king hasn’t come yet.”
The moment I broke the biscuit, one side of the tent exploded and the self-styled president of Yeouido fell down with a scream.
“Kuaaak!”
A person appeared behind Yoo Hyunho. I moved through a hole in the tend and I saw dozens of collapsed guards behind him.
This was our regressor. His temper was the same, no matter the regression. The peculiar ferocious eyes swept through the group and soon focused on me.
“K-King!” Some of the kings groaned.
Then the king, Yoo Jonghyuk opened his mouth. “I will announce the people who will participate in the next scenario.”