Chapter 44

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 . ’