Chapter 228

[Who is… the industrial complex’s… new master?]

The colossal voice was heard and Yoo Jonghyuk and I simultaneously looked out the window . Judging by the noisy streets, the use of a true voice was quite tough . Yoo Jonghyuk muttered in a small voice, “A constellation of Papyrus . ”

“If it is the Last Pharaoh, it is probably that woman?”

A giant mummy with an old, golden crown . Everything was covered with bandages apart from the high nose . It was just like what I read in Ways of Survival . It was clear that the body belonged to Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt .

[Who… is… Yoo Jonghyuk?]

Once again, the true voice rang out through the industrial complex . It was certainly great but neither of us were discouraged . Cleopatra was a great-grade constellation at most . Yoo Jonghyuk and I were no longer nervous regarding great constellations .

“Yoo Jonghyuk . Can you win?”

It was an opponent I couldn’t afford to go against while I currently had story packs hanging from my body . Yoo Jonghyuk shook his head . “It is impossible right now . It will soon be time . ”

“Are you talking about the penalty? The one where you disappear for 10 minutes a day?”

Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t answer . I accepted it as agreement and looked at Cleopatra . “Then that person…”

“She won’t do anything . ”

“Why?”

“The Demon King Selection hasn’t started yet . ”

Naturally, the incarnation bodies of the constellations who weren’t part of the scenario were constrained by probability . As long as the giant story hadn’t opened yet, they couldn’t act freely . Even so…

“Hey, have you already forgotten about Asmodeus?”

“Not everyone can act like Asmodeus . ”

I knew that much . It was because the demon kings had much fewer restrictions than the constellations in the Demon World . The problem was the constellations could consume extra probability to overcome these constraints .

“Isn’t Cleopatra a member of Papyrus? If she borrows the probability of the nebula…”

“Kim Dokja . You have already forgotten what they have done . ”

“What?”

Before Yoo Jonghyuk could answer, I heard Cleopatra’s voice in the air .

[Tell the… new ruler of the industrial complex . He will surely die… if he participates in the Demon King Selection . ]

Cleopatra’s body started to disappear with these words . Like a massive sand castle collapsing, the body returned to dust .

[Keep this in mind… Papyrus will never… warn you twice . ]

Then why are you leaving so gently? It was strange . Usually, she would leave after killing hundreds of incarnations .

Yoo Jonghyuk opened his mouth like I was pathetic . “Have you forgotten? They forced fate on you . ”

“Ah . ”

That reminded me, there was such a thing . Papyrus, Vedas and Olympus used a massive amount of probability to force my fate on me . It was the reason why Cleopatra easily disappeared . They now lacked probability .

Yoo Jonghyuk spoke in his distinctive somber voice, “We’ve bought some time before the Demon King Selection . ”

I nodded . At least for now, the constellations wouldn’t attack this side . I checked the message logs .

[The ‘Demon King Selection’ is currently being prepared . ]

[Remaining Preparation Time: 28 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes . ]

If my prediction was correct, the Demon King Selection would consume the 21st to 24th scenarios . It was a giant story so it was natural to eat the scenarios . I measured the time remaining and said,

“The two of us alone isn’t enough . ”

“I know . ”

Once the Demon King Selection started, the constellations would start to flock here . A great-grade constellation might be lacking in strength but they were still much stronger than normal incarnations . Moreover, once many of them started to appear, it would be difficult for only Yoo Jonghyuk and I to deal with them .

“Do you have an idea?”

Yoo Jonghyuk shook his head . There was a way to bring colleagues from Earth but Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon still lacked the ability to fight against transcendents or constellations . They needed time to become stronger by alternating between personal scenarios and main scenarios . A full-scale power management would be possible when they entered the latter scenarios . I needed to find colleagues I could use right away .

“Have you gathered any colleagues here?”

“Ah, there is…”

Speaking of which, where was Jang Hayoung? I twisted my sore body and looked around . “I told him to search for group members . It is time for some results…”

“Be prepared . I’ll be leaving in a second . ”

Before I could ask where he was going, Yoo Jonghyuk disappeared from my view .

***

I worked out my plan and left the treatment room after sorting out my bandages . Aileen said I should rest for two more weeks but my physical condition wasn’t that bad, perhaps because I was relaxed .

[The attribute ‘Lamarck Kirin’ has increased the recovery effect . ]

…Ah, it was due to the effect of the attribute . The alarmed Aileen rushed over as I stepped outside and stretched . I interrupted her before she could open her mouth . “Don’t worry . Rather, can you heal this?”

Aileen received the Uriel doll and cocked her head . “…What is this?”

“A constellation’s symbolic body . ”

Aileen made the mistake of dropping the doll to the ground . She hurriedly picked up the doll again and asked me, “…Will I be punished for dropping it?”

“Don’t worry, she is a good constellation . Please firmly repair it . ”

The constellation was nice . The words were strange to say but I was talking to Uriel, not other constellations .

I said I would go for a short stroll and emerged onto the streets of the industrial complex . The streets of the industrial complex were bathed in a dim light and seemed different from before .

A few people recognized me and nodded lightly . I could see a vigour that I never saw before on their faces . Perhaps this was the expression of those who decided to live .

“Hey Yoo Jonghyuk! Did you wake up?”

I turned around and saw someone running over here . Jang Hayoung walked up to me and gave me a clumsy headlock . I tried to pull Jang Hayoung off me . “My name isn’t Yoo Jonghyuk . ”

“Oh, now you want to reveal your real name?”

“…You know?”

“Well, I’m not the only one using a pseudonym . ”

I stared at Jang Hayoung for a while before speaking in a meaningful manner . “My name is Kim Dokja . ”

I spoke nice words but Jang Hayoung had a dazed expression . “It is a strange name . I seem to have heard it before…”

“…It’s fine . What were you doing?”

“Oh, I was chatting to a few people and got a tip about this area . ”

“A tip?”

“You don’t know because you have been sleeping? Interesting things have happened in the industrial complex in the meantime . ”

I heard from Jang Hayoung about what happened in the past week . Of course, the most interesting thing was about Yoo Jonghyuk .

“He rejected the ruling rights?”

“That’s right . He said he would become the duke but he wouldn’t rule here . Thus, everyone was in an uproar . ”

The situation was clear . Maybe Yoo Jonghyuk was practicing his motto of ‘dominate but don’t rule . ’ That’s what he said . The idea was good . However, the situation was bad .

“The order of the industrial complex must be out of control . If the situation isn’t organized, that declaration would just create a security problem . ”

“That’s why the citizens are excited right now . ”

A powerful dictator had the power to control people’s desires . Since a dictator gave up his power,

the piled up desires of the citizens would burst out at once .

「 “Do you think the darkness of the industrial complex will disappear if I die?” 」

These were the words of Duke Syswitz in Ways of Survival . I once again thought he was right . The industrial complex wouldn’t suddenly change just because the ruler changed . Rather, the oppressive dictatorship had vanished and the people’s hidden desires would become even more exposed .

“Hey, give me that fragment!”

“I-I don’t want to . I picked it up . ”

Voices burst out like they had been waiting and Jang Hayoung and I simultaneously turned our heads . A large number of people were lynching an incarnation in an alley . The situation was obvious . They were fighting over a story fragment that came from the Factory . I was about to move when

Jang Hayoung restrained me . “Wait . Just watch . ”

“…What?”

“I told you, there was a tip . ”

“What is the tip?”

“The ‘Punisher’ will show up here . ”

“Punisher?”

I had never heard of such a position . There was no such position in the Revolutionary scenario or Ways of Survival . Jang Hayoung noticed my doubts and added . “It’s a nickname created by the citizens . A great beauty appeared a few days ago and has been maintaining the peace…”

At this moment, a man’s shout was heard from inside the alley .

“Kill him and steal it!”

The men pulled out their weapons and it seemed to be a full-fledged lynching . I would rather move first instead of waiting for the punisher . The moment I moved my hand to the sword at my waist, a slender shadow appeared in the alley .

“Stop . ”

A woman with a black cape covering her body was standing on the wall . I wasn’t sure about her equipment because of the cape but her face was very clear . It was a face that seemed to be on a different dimension from the world around it . I watched the woman’s waist-long hair flapping in the wind and moved slowly in great shock .

…Was there such a figure in Ways of Survival? All of a sudden, the meaning of every praise word became clear .

Deep sultry eyes were set beneath neat eyebrows . All the standards that determined beauty in the world were collapsed at the same time . It was a face that couldn’t be described using the modifiers of a constellation . To my chagrin, there was only one way to express this face .

「 There was no doubt it was a beauty that would slap Yoo Jonghyuk on the cheeks three times . 」 (Tl: In other words, put Yoo Jonghyuk’s beauty to shame by three times)

There wasn’t such an expression in Ways of Survival . In Ways of Survival, Jang Hayoung was at most described as ‘two slaps on the cheeks . ’ I was stunned with shock while the person who would slap Yoo Jonghyuk twice whispered, “She came . That person is the punisher . ”

The men were overwhelmed by the woman’s beauty and belatedly woke up . Their lips moved and I knew what would emerge . Before their mouths could open, something moved . Then something fell . It was a little bit later that a man screamed . “U-Uwaaaack!”

The man who had his arm cut off screamed terrible while the other people identified the situation and started fleeing . They noticed it was an enemy that couldn’t deal with . Even the rescued man was terrified and ran out of the alley . In an instant, only the man’s fallen arm and the woman remained in the alley .

Jang Hayoung watched the woman silently holding the sword and let out a burst of admiration . “Look, isn’t she really amazing? You told me to look for some useful people . I tried to talk to her yesterday but she just disappeared―”

The swordsmanship was brutal but moved along a fixed course . The amazing thing was the speed of the swordsmanship . I murmured, “An incarnation can’t have that level of swordsmanship . ”

“What?”

Jang Hayoung might’ve missed it but I definitely noticed . At this point in time, this speed was only possible for transcendents . My heart thumped loudly .

I didn’t know the identity of this woman but if I could make her my colleague, she would surely be a great power in the Demon King Selection . The moment the woman in the black cape turned around, I jumped into the alley without hesitation . “Hey!”

I was planning to use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint to get information while talking to her . It would be easier to persuade her if I could see her Attributes Window . Then if I was lucky―

“Kuek…”

Before I could approach the woman and use the skill, I had to stop in place . The woman’s eyes were looking at me . I trembled from the terrible emotions that were transmitted to me . Tremendous resentment and anger shot towards me . I was struck dumb by the sheer waterfall of emotions .

…What was this girl? Did I know her?

…Rather, why did she hate me so much?

TL: Rainbow Turtle