Not long after Dokja went inside.
Would there be many more moments ahead where I could sit this peacefully and hum to myself?
Spending time in peace like this gave me room to look back on what I'd done in this world.
I am violent.
No, not violent. Cruel.
The kind of cruelty that makes a Demon King cheer and even absolute evil recoil.
What is this, some ridiculous patriotic highlight reel?
To be honest, there had been signs even before the world turned out like this.
Ever since I ground down the trash who used to bully Dokja.
But even I had to admit that lately, I'd been going too far.
The ones who tried to lay a hand on Dokja?
They were trying to touch my family. That much was understandable.
The demonic beasts?
They were just mindless animals rushing in to kill.
But when I went around searching for flags to become king, I couldn't shake the feeling that I hadn't merely killed the ones who got in my way. I'd killed them cruelly on purpose.
'Damn it. I'm starting to resemble that person.'
Maybe the reason Mother had subtly kept her distance from me after Dokja was born was because she'd noticed this violent side of me.
She would have been the one most sensitive to violence.
In the original world, maybe there wouldn't have been an answer. But in this world, there were old, wise counselors everywhere.
"Judge, got time for a consultation?"
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' tilts her head.]
"It's the same problem I mentioned last time..."
.
.
.
[Constellations of the absolute good alignment seriously agonize over your worries.]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' sinks into thought for a long time.]
[Constellations of the absolute evil alignment try to dissuade you, saying you look better as you are now.]
Actually, I'd had a similar concern before, and they'd comforted me, saying it would get better.
But even that had its limits.
Right now, I was standing on the line.
If I stepped even one pace farther, I had the feeling I really would stop being myself.
Was this... instinct?
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she suspects this is your nature, and worries that you will grow more violent as time passes.]
"But before the world turned into this mess..."
[Constellations of the absolute good alignment lament that you had only been suppressing it until now, and that it merely surfaced once an environment appeared where you could express it freely.]
[The Constellation 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius' explains that because it was suppressed for so long, the rebound is stronger as well, to the point that even you can feel yourself becoming more violent.]
"Then shouldn't I be rampaging even more instead?"
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' carefully says that Dokja is wearing away your humanity, but at the same time she is also the one keeping you from crossing the line.]
Dokja was wearing away my humanity?
What bullshit.
"Don't talk nonsense. Dokja is wearing away my humanity?"
[The Constellation 'Heavenly Scribe' says sacrifice is never gained for free, and that it continuously carves away at the self.]
[The Constellation 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius' worries about you, saying you are so obsessed with protecting Dokja that you are gnawing away at yourself.]
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' calmly says that whenever Dokja is in danger, you are bound to become sensitive, and that the nature stirred up that way is mixing with your obsession over Dokja's safety and eroding your humanity even faster.]
So what they were saying was that my feelings for Dokja were eating away at me, and in the end would make me stop being myself.
But if they were right, then there was no solution.
If my nature was 'violence,' then there was no way to survive in this world without fighting.
"Damn it. So there's no answer."
Usually, this was where some meditation or ascetic training would show up as the cliché way to suppress your nature... but who had time for that?
And suppressing your nature wasn't easy in the first place.
Unless it was proper training, it would only be a stopgap, not a fundamental solution.
More than anything, the wrong kind of training always went off the rails.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' thinks for a while, then says it isn't true that there is no solution at all.]
"What is it?"
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says that for judgment, one must always be able to control oneself.]
[Constellations belonging to the nebula Eden realize the intention of 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' and nod.]
If only the ones from Eden were reacting like that, then was it something Uriel possessed?
Judging by how no one seemed especially shocked, it probably wasn't a huge problem to give it to me.
"What is it?"
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' advises that if you had the attribute 'Emotion Regulation,' you would be able to suppress your nature.]
"Since you said 'if you had it' instead of 'I'll give it to you,' I guess there are conditions?"
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' says she will give it to you if you 'swear' to grant her request.]
...Someone like Uriel should be trustworthy enough.
If I remembered right, Uriel was also the one who had given me the [Cleanliness] attribute.
Probability had probably been spent because of that, too.
She'd already poured this much into me even though I wasn't her Incarnation, so I decided this much was acceptable.
"Like Asmodeus? Fine."
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' cheers.]
[The Demon King 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust' is delighted, asking if that was a nickname you gave him.]
"I swear that I will grant one request from 'Demon-like Judge of Fire,' exactly once."
If it had been anyone else, I would've refused out of sheer disgust. I'm only doing this because it's you.
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' has sponsored the attribute 'Emotion Regulation.']
Since it was an attribute, it activated automatically.
[The attribute 'Emotion Regulation' and the attribute 'King of ■■' create a synergy!]
[It becomes extremely difficult for you to let go of your reason!]
[Your exclusive attribute 'Support Raised with an Abandoned Dream' cheers!]
That... I hadn't expected.
In practice, it wasn't much different from placing my life in Uriel's hands as collateral, but it was an unexpected gain.
It'd be nice if things stayed quiet like this...
"Huh? I haven't seen your faces before... whose show is this?"
As if that would happen.
"Who are you people, loafing around here however you please?"
"..."
[The attribute 'Emotion Regulation' activates.]
For a moment, I almost snapped, but thankfully I managed to hold it down.
Good thing I got this, even at the cost of a vow.
"And who exactly are you, picking a fight out of nowhere?"
But Jung Heewon beside me couldn't hold back.
"What?"
At this point, wasn't Jung Heewon more like Yoo Joonghyuk than Dokja was?
"You're not even supporting-cast level, and you dare mouth off to me?!"
'Ah~ so this one is a Prophet too?'
"What the hell has this bastard been babbling about since earlier?"
"Agreed. As if he's a supporting character. He doesn't even qualify as an extra."
"Exactly."
To begin with, since he came from reality, he wouldn't even appear in the background.
Did they think they were the only ones who'd read Ways of Survival?
On our side, we had a loyal reader who'd gone all the way to the end.
You must think reading a few chapters makes you impressive.
This is why people who've read only one book are scary.
They think that one book is the truth of the world.
"What? Bastard?! Extra?!"
Boom!
A sword stabbed into my shoulder.
But of course, the sword couldn't do a thing to me. It couldn't even manage to leave dust on me, let alone a scratch.
It had been like this before too, but when I looked at people like this, I felt more pity than anger, enough that the attribute didn't even activate.
Still, an attack was an attack, right?
Shing.
People were supposed to know their place.
Only the strong, people like Yoo Joonghyuk, could stir things up however they pleased.
For stupid deceivers, it was arrogance, and the starting point of ruin.
I raised my axe where everyone could plainly see it—
"Kim Dokyun!"
My little sister—no, my nemesis—had arrived.
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