"I'm sorry! My friend didn't know anything and just..."
I was dumbfounded.
So that meant they had brought us here without properly informing anyone.
If they were bringing in strangers, wasn't it common sense to tell the people at the station in advance that they were guests?
These so-called Prophets seemed so drunk on the illusion that they knew the 'future' that they couldn't even make a simple judgment like that.
"Hey, you apologize too. Hurry!"
"...Sorry."
If Dokja had been even a little later...
That bastard's head would have split in two.
The proof was that even while staring at an axe that was practically announcing, "I'm about to smash your skull in," he hadn't moved at all.
"Jung Heewon, Kim Dokyun. I told you not to act rashly."
"That bastard started it first...!"
"Jung Heewon!"
Wow, Dokja was really immersed in the role.
Since it was all an act, this wasn't going to ruin their relationship or anything, but it still wasn't pleasant to watch.
"...My apologies, Yoo Joonghyuk."
"And you? You have nothing to say?"
"Nothing to say? I've got plenty. We're equal partners, not your subordinates, Yoo Joonghyuk."
A little softer than how I normally treated Yoo Joonghyuk, a little harsher than how I normally treated Dokja.
"We only made a deal."
"You bastard...! Looks like you want to die!"
Shing!
Srrk!
Even Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, who knew this was an act, looked flustered.
Well, I guess that was only natural. We had both drawn our sword and axe like we were about to start killing each other on the spot.
Whoosh!
My axe slammed into Dokja's body.
[Exclusive attribute, [Support Raised with an Abandoned Dream], has activated!]
[All stats are fixed at 0!]
But of course, nothing happened.
"Done?"
The mouths of everyone watching fell open.
What shocked them most was probably this: my attack had done nothing to someone who had shrugged off my own blow, and now even the attack I threw back had no visible effect at all.
On the other hand, Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, who knew exactly how strong I was, stared at Dokja with expressions that clearly said, "She tanked that?"
I hadn't told them about my exclusive attribute, so I guess that reaction was only natural.
"Pray you survive even after taking this. Not that it will happen."
Thud
A fist so ordinary it looked laughable compared to my own attack struck me instead.
Normally, I would've mocked an attack like that and asked what the hell it was supposed to do...
But right now, my stats were 0.
Any attack was a critical hit.
Boom
KWA-BOOM!
I tore straight through the tent and slammed into the wall.
An overwhelming difference.
Not just the people inside the tent, but the people throughout the station saw it.
Fear bloomed in their eyes.
"Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung. If that bastard is dead, leave him. If he's alive, move him inside the station."
"...Yes."
The two of them slowly stepped out through the shredded tent.
There was a faint trace of dissatisfaction in Jung Heewon's eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"Other than the pain?"
"Then that means you're not okay."
I had probably cracked two or three ribs just now.
But no need to worry. Hands are faster than eyes.
[You have acquired a mid-grade potion.]
I bought a mid-grade potion from the Dokkaebi Bag so quickly that even the Constellations couldn't catch it.
[A few Constellations ask if something just flashed by.]
"Damn, I feel alive again. Fantasy really is the best. Potions rule."
The people around me stared with blank disbelief.
So what?
.
.
.
"You made it?"
Clap
We high-fived like a scene out of some basketball manga.
The guy who had fought me had been suspicious of Dokja, so we had coordinated in advance and staged things to make Dokja look 'strong.'
Yoo Joonghyuk was defined by her appearance, sure, but also by the fact that she was the strongest among the Incarnations.
If someone shrugs off his attack like it's nothing, and then that same person's attack also does nothing to her...
Then anyone watching would see her as an overwhelmingly powerful figure.
"My god, private quarters? How did these people build up a force this large?"
Of course, I explained everything separately to the two of them.
Trying to explain it in secret while everyone was watching us was a pain in the ass.
"So they completely believe Dokja is Yoo Joonghyuk..."
"Wait."
"[Kim Dokja: Let's talk through this.]"
"[Jung Heewon: Wow, a group chat?!]"
"[Lee Hyunsung: Oh....]"
"[Kim Dokyun: Feels familiar.]"
So my name showed up when I typed in here?
That was a little different from when I talked to Bihyung.
"[Kim Dokja: What about what I told you?]"
"[Kim Dokyun: The brown flag. I'm a real king now.]"
"[Jung Heewon: What about the subjects?]"
"[Kim Dokyun: ....]"
"[Jung Heewon: ...You didn't kill them all, right?]"
"[Kim Dokyun: ....]"
"[Jung Heewon: Right?!]"
It's not like I killed them because I wanted to.
I only needed to take the flag and leave, but even after losing it, they kept trying to grapple with me.
I had clearly told them, "Give me the flag, let me occupy the station, and I won't hurt anyone."
Even so, they were the ones who drew their blades and charged me.
"[Kim Dokja: Looks like you've become the King of Massacre.]"
"[Kim Dokyun: ....]"
"[Kim Dokja: ...Are you actually the King of Massacre?]"
"[Kim Dokyun: It was... on the list of candidates.]"
I really didn't choose it.
It felt like if I did, I'd just become the King of Tyrannical Obsession version 2.
And I wasn't weak enough to need an attribute like that in the first place.
"[Kim Dokja: Then what did you choose?]"
"[Kim Dokyun: Secret. You're hiding things from me too.]"
"[Kim Dokja: Haa... fine. It isn't absolutely necessary for the plan anyway. Let's move on to the real point now.]"
The real point.
What to do about these so-called Prophets.
"[Kim Dokja: The Prophets claim they can know the future through something called a 'revelation.']"
"[Jung Heewon: Good lord. That's hard to believe. There are people who know part of the future?]"
"[Lee Hyunsung: Is that why you were pretending to be Yoo Joonghyuk, Dokja?]"
"[Kim Dokja: Ah, yes. That's right.]"
"[Kim Dokyun: But judging by how badly they're failing to grasp the current situation, I think there's a high chance that prophecy has already gone badly off course.]"
That so-called revelation was obviously referring to [Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World].
But Jung Heewon wasn't in that revelation. Neither was I, or Dokja, or Yoo Sangah.
In a situation like this, where real people had gotten mixed in, the information from [Ways of Survival] was still definitely useful, but it wasn't something you could blindly trust.
But those bastards were blindly trusting it...
In [Ways of Survival], it explains why Yoo Joonghyuk keeps repeating Regression. Maybe they were like this because they hadn't read that part.
"[Jung Heewon: Hoo... then I suppose we'll be staying here for a while. We need to learn more about them....]"
"[Kim Dokja: No.]"
"[Jung Heewon: What?]"
"[Kim Dokja: We're dealing with them tonight.]"
"[Kim Dokyun: I like that.]"
Looking at her, Dokja really could be pretty ruthless.
"Kim Dokyun. You know what you need to do, right? The thing you're best at."
"What's with calling your brother 'Kim Dokyun' like that?"
Srrk
"I just start now, right?"
"Of course."
With me in the lead, Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung stepped out of the tent.
Even after we left, the entrance flap of the tent kept fluttering.
'I hope you succeed in persuading them, Dokja.'
I thought that, but I never doubted that Dokja would succeed.
After all, someone like me, who had carried that kind of grudge and fury myself, knew better than anyone that people driven by pure resentment were usually easy to persuade.
"You're not getting cold feet, are you?"
"You're not saying that because you're even more tense yourself, right?"
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