Chapter 33

「 Lee Hyunsung was dozing like an officer on duty, 」

Perhaps there would be such a description in Ways of Survival . And maybe there was this sentence .

「 Maybe Lee Hyunsung didn’t know . What would happen to him today . 」

“Hyunsung-ssi?”

“…Ah, hmm, I fell asleep for a moment . Dokja-ssi, are you well rested?”

“Yes, I’m fine . By the way, you were talking . Officer on duty…”

“Eh, really?”

“Something about Second Class Soldier Lee Hyunsung…”

Lee Hyunsung’s face turned red .

“T-That… Just a trauma from my days as a soldier . ”

“Days as a soldier? Isn’t Lee Hyunsung an officer?”

“That…I was transferred to the third unit when I was a corporal . ”

“I heard these cases are rare . You must’ve been well-suited for the army . ”

Lee Hyunsung laughed . It was a laugh that I could understand . There were few people well-suited for the army . The people who remained didn’t fit elsewhere .

Then it was time to throw a small stone .

“Still, I’m glad that Lee Hyunsung-ssi is here .

“Huh?”

“I’m relieved when Lee Hyunsung-ssi blocks in front . It feels like someone is protecting me . ”

“…Is that so?”

Lee Hyunsung smiled slightly . It was a weak smile, but it was certainly a comforting smile . After exchanging brief greetings, I separated from Lee Hyunsung .

In the original third round development of Ways of Survival, Lee Hyunsung experienced a character evolution by protecting the people at Gumho Station from the Cheoldoo Group . But Jung Heewon took that chance .

Now Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon and Lee Gilyoung were approaching me . I faced them .

“Did you see the demonstration? Just do what I did . ”

“Yes . Well…pretty much . But why do we have to do this?”

There was a reason for it .

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ has started to feel responsible . ]

Lee Hyunsung was currently wiping his shield with an innocent expression .

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint was a scam . At least, as far as ‘characters’ went .

“I want to help Hyunsung-ssi . He looks a bit down these days . Won’t he feel better if you cheer him up?”

I said this for Lee Hyunsung’s sake . The innocent Yoo Sangah nodded her head .

“Is it the saying ‘dance like a while at praise?'”

“It is similar . ”

“I understand . I’ll give it a try!”

Unlike Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon had an uncertain expression .

“Dokja-ssi . ”

“Yes . ”

“Dokja-ssi’s sponsor isn’t something like ‘One-Eyed Fortuneteller’, right?”

“…What is that?”

“You don’t know?”

Well, there was something like this . For a moment, I thought that Jung Heewon might be the writer of Ways of Survival . For example, Gung Ye was the ‘One-Eyed Maitreya . ‘

“It isn’t that . I have a special skill . It is a skill that understands people well . ”

“…I don’t know if I want to ask, so I won’t . ”

“Thank you . ”

“But have you ever used it on me?”

I almost showed emotions on my face . It was fortunate that Jung Heewon didn’t have Lie Detection . I looked at Lee Gilyoung and said .

“I only use it on men . ”

“Oh my . ”

It wasn’t a lie . I haven’t read Jung Heewon’s heart . So far .

“Anyway, I am asking everyone to do this . First is Jung Heewon-ssi, then Yoo Sangah and Gilyoung is last . Please take it in turns to speak to him . ”

“‘Oh my, I really believe in Hyunsung-ssi!’ That type of feeling?”

“Please don’t go so far . ”

“Sigh, I am really going to die . ”

Still, she needed to do it . In order for this plan to succeed, Lee Hyunsung’s ‘attribute evolution’ was absolutely necessary . I would’ve planned a bit sooner if I knew Yoo Jonghyuk would act like this… but if we tried hard, I should be able to see the result today .

In fact, they seemed to be doing well .

“Hyunsung-ssi is really dependable . You are like a pine tree . ”

“Haha, thank you Heewon-ssi . My favourite song is Green Pine . ”

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ feels proud . ]

“I didn’t ask . ”

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ feels a bit sullen . ]

“I don’t think I’ve seen a righteous person like Hyunsung-ssi . ”

“Ah… that isn’t the case . Still, thank you . Yoo Sangah-ssi . ”

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ has started to worry about justice . ]

“Hyunsung hyung has the best muscles . ”

“Thank you, everyone . ”

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ has increased his self-esteem . ]

It was fortunate that Lee Hyunsung was a simple person and such empty praises worked well . After repeating the same conversation several times like this, the system messages started to change .

[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ is waiting for a chance to evolve his attribute . ]

Okay . It went smoothly .

Yoo Sangah asked in a slightly worried tone . “But I think Hyunsung-ssi is a bit burdened…”

Yoo Sangah was really nice . Even in this situation, she was concerned about someone else’s heart . I didn’t have that ability .

“Maybe a bit . But It is necessary . There are some people in the world who become stronger as they carry more burdens . ”

“Ah…”

“Don’t worry . And…Gilyoung, did you do what I asked?”

“Yes Hyung . ”

Lee Gilyoung replied from next to Yoo Sangah . On his head, there was a pair of small cockroaches like they were antennae .

“That noona, she is on B1 . ”

“Thank you . ”

Lee Hyunsung was good . Now it was time to steal the power of others .

I walked up the stairs alone . The people of the Landlord Alliance welcomed me as I went up .

“Haha, who is this? If it isn’t the illegal tenant . ”

“…”

“You are coming up here after doing well . Did you really survive yesterday without a room? Did Yoo Jonghyuk help you?”

I ignored them and kept walking . The Landlord Alliance members kept talking, as if they thought I was scared .

“Isn’t it hard to live with Yoo Jonghyuk? Enter our alliance . Pildu-ssi said he would let you . ”

I didn’t care and counted the remaining green zones on every floor . One, two, three… in order for this plan to succeed, I couldn’t miss a single one .

“Of course, under the condition that you bring both women . ”

Now there were 11 green zones remaining . The number had reduced a lot after yesterday’s scenario . It was a close number to carry out the plan .

“Hey, are you ignoring me now?”

“I’m listening . Tell him I’m thinking about it . ”

The alliance members looked at each other and chuckled at my words . They could laugh like that now .

I was walking up the escalator when a blade suddenly reached my neck . I felt very few signs it was coming… there was only one skill that boasted this type of concealed movements in the beginning .

[Ghost Walk . ]

“I’m disappointed, Ahjussi . ”

Lee Jihye . A proud girl with outstanding fighting skills . She wasn’t chosen by the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare for nothing .

“Ahjussi, don’t you know what will happen to those women if you make a deal with them?”

“I know . ”

“Do you really know? Yesterday, wouldn’t you rather die?”

I shrugged .

“Put away the sword . Let’s talk . ”

“Talk? You came to find me on purpose . ”

“Yes . ”

Lee Jihye put away the sword . I followed behind Lee Jihye . Lee Jihye walked from B1 to the ticket barrier at the entrance . We seemed to walk for a while .

“What did you want to talk about?”

“But why are you standing there?”

“Master told me to defend this place . ”

“…Defend?”

“That’s why I can’t let you pass . ”

Lee Jihye touched the ticket gate and drew her hand across her neck . I looked at the passage beyond the ticket gate . There were exit numbers leading to the ground . But not all numbers led to the ground . At that moment, I had an ominous feeling .

…That Yoo Jonghyuk, surely he wasn’t trying that route?

If Yoo Jonghyuk wanted to protect this place, there was only one reason .

As the scenario was in progress, he was secretly trying to attack the ‘hidden dungeon’ of Chungmuro . Hidden dungeon attack . It sounded good . In fact, it wasn’t bad if the main character became stronger .

The problem was that this dungeon was a place that Yoo Jonghyuk couldn’t clear until the end of the third regression . It looked like I should finish this quickly .

“I need your help . ”

“My help?”

“Today, I will shatter Gong Pildu’s party . ”

“…Are you serious?”

Lee Jihye looked at me like she was trying to see my heart .

[Your understanding of the character ‘Lee Jihye’ has increased . ]

“Ahjussi isn’t strong enough . You won’t be able to get rid of them . ”

“Even if you help me?’

Lee Jihye’s head jerked like her pride was damaged .

It was natural . Lee Jihye had already challenged Gong Pildu the first day she came to this station . Then she ran away . If Yoo Jonghyuk hadn’t appeared to rescue her, she would be dead .

“I have a way . I can do it if you help me . ”

“…Master told me to stay here . ”

“If you don’t help, most of the people here will die . ”

“People will die anyway . ”

“Did Yoo Jonghyuk say that?”

Lee Jihye’s eyes shook .

“The boy we talked to yesterday is dead . Do you understand?”

“…I know . ”

“Maybe he could’ve lived . Then today, he would be rushing at us to tell us about Yoo Jonghyuk . ”

“That…”

“Yoo Jonghyuk killed him . He could’ve saved him . ”

I felt complicated while talking . I noticed that I wasn’t much different from Yoo Jonghyuk . The subway, Gumho Station… I ignored people I might’ve been able to save because my safety was being threatened .

But hypocrites could speak plausible words .

“I saw the video of your scenario when I was on the subway . ”

Lee Jihye’s small shoulders shook .

“It was a video where you killed your friend to survive . ”

“…Stop . ”

“In fact, you didn’t want to do that . ”

[The character ‘Lee Jihye’ is greatly disturbed . ]

“What do you know?”

“I know what I know . Of course I don’t know . I’m just talking to myself . ”

“…”

“But since I am talking, I wanted to say this . If you turn away today, you will regret it for the rest of your life . Definitely . ”

[The character ‘Lee Jihye’ has fallen into deep agony . ]

I didn’t know the ‘human’ Lee Jihye but I knew the ‘character’ Lee Jihye . This girl was a loyal subordinate of Yoo Jonghyuk . But that was a story for the future, not now . She admired Yoo Jonghyuk’s strength but she was essentially different from Yoo Jonghyuk .

Lee Jihye opened her mouth a few minutes later .

“If I help, people can live?”

“Not everyone, but some will survive . ”

“…What should I do?”

“I will start at 7 o’clock this evening . ”

I told her the plan . In order to implement this plan, Lee Jihye needed to do the things I told her .

Lee Jihye stared blankly and opened her mouth .

“Are you sane? You will really do this?”

“Yes . ”

“…Honestly, I don’t think it will work . I’ll tell you in advance . I don’t think I can help . ”

“The choice is yours . ”

She said this but Lee Jihye would surely move . She was the person who was chosen by the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare .

[The constellation Secretive Plotter likes your impudence . ]

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[Lee Jihye’s sponsor likes you . ]

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Now all the preparations were finished .