"Who are you bastards, and how do you know my name?"
Black eyes, black hair, a slight natural wave, thick eyebrows, subtle double eyelids, long, narrow eyes, a sharp nose, and a sleek jawline. He was an elegant, devastatingly handsome man.
Hmm... Did Kim Dokja anticipate a situation like this?
I had become Yoo Joonghyuk.
Now this is something! I’ve always dreamed of becoming a handsome man like this at least once!
If Asmodeus were here, he would probably be delighted and say, Now I can enjoy multiple flavors in one person—
[The constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ is delighted that she can enjoy multiple flavors in one person.]
Why is an archangel the one saying that...?
[The constellation, ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius,’ is utterly disgusted.]
[The story, ‘■■■ ■■■■ ■■,’ is embarrassed.]
I blanked out for a moment, but quickly pulled myself together.
"I’ll ask you again. Why do you know my name?"
"W-Well, that’s..."
If it were Yoo Joonghyuk...
Slash!
I cut the throat of the man standing beside him with a spear.
[You have obtained Na Seokjo’s 2,000 coins.]
"I’ll ask you one last time. How do you know my name? If you don’t answer, I’ll kill you."
The man hurriedly opened his mouth.
"How could I possibly not know Yoo Joonghyuk?"
"...What?"
His shoulders flinched, but after calmly looking at Lee Hyunsung, he turned to me with certainty in his eyes.
"My name is Lee Seongguk. I serve as the deputy representative of Dongmyo Station."
"So what?"
"I possess important information. If you would accompany me to Dongmyo Station, I would consider it the greatest honor of my life."
At Lee Seongguk’s words, I silently looked at Kim Dokja. Kim Dokja pointed toward her flag.
"Hand over this station first. And Dongdaemun Station as well."
"I-I have the authority to give you everything up to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station! However, I cannot hand over Dongdaemun Station immediately. Would you come to the aforementioned Dongmyo Station and meet our representative?"
I glanced at Kim Dokja again, and she nodded.
"...Lead the way."
Lee Seongguk’s expression brightened dramatically.
"Please do not trouble yourself with even the slightest concern. On the honor of the king I serve, I swear that no harm whatsoever will come to you."
[Lee Seongguk, deputy representative of Dongmyo Station, has staked his king’s honor.]
...Is he allowed to stake his king’s honor without permission?
[If he violates this oath, Lee Seongguk will be subjected to punishment.]
Ah... So that’s why.
---
After claiming the territory of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, we followed our guide into Dongmyo Station. For the sake of our plan, we kept Kim Dokja out of sight.
I strode at the head of the group, the nearby whispers serving as my spotlight, while the others explained our plan to Lee Hyunsung behind me.
...This is rather unpleasant to watch.
Seeing people treated like slaves made me uncomfortable. Perhaps this, too, was a result of my alignment shifting toward Good. Meanwhile, Kim Dokja’s expression turned grave as she watched the smartphone Lee Seongguk kept checking.
Lee Seongguk, who had repeatedly glanced at me to gauge my mood, finally spoke.
"Um, Yoo Joonghyuk?"
"What?"
"We’ve arrived. Our representative is waiting for you inside."
I spoke while looking at the crude, medium-sized tent erected in the center of the platform.
"Lead the way."
Lee Seongguk guided us inside, pulling aside the tent flap. I entered with Kim Dokja and found a surprisingly lavish interior.
Did they decorate it like this because he’s a king?
As I looked around, I spotted a young boy using a computer. There was a flag beside him, so that child seemed to be the king... No, that wasn’t it. Rather than the true power behind this place, that boy was...
I drew my sword and pointed it at Lee Seongguk.
"You lied."
I could tell because I had used illusions myself. The boy was under some form of hypnosis.
"...Yoo Joonghyuk, you truly are no ordinary man. Please forgive my mistake."
"You must be the one who actually holds the power here. Why did you bring me to this place?"
"To avoid the eyes of the people."
"As you have undoubtedly noticed, the [Soundproofing] skill has been cast around this tent."
"And?"
He took a deep breath, then opened his mouth.
"I am one of the [Prophets]. To be more precise, I am one among their ranks."
"Was this the important information you mentioned at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Then he launched into a grand speech. It began with flattery toward Yoo Joonghyuk, then moved on to how the Prophets had received a special blessing and come to aid him. He spoke of a single book of revelation that recorded Yoo Joonghyuk’s past and future. Though its original text could no longer be found, fragments of it remained in their memories.
"I’d prefer it if you got straight to the point. Let’s say you bastards really did receive revelations of the future. So what? What do you expect me to do about it?"
Lee Seongguk answered immediately.
"We wish to form an alliance with you. O-Of course, it would only be called an alliance in name. In practice, it would be no different from entering your service..."
I let his words go in one ear and out the other as I looked at Kim Dokja. She mouthed, Leave it to me.
I smiled brightly, nodded, and opened my mouth.
"Yes, please take care of it. Now then... Mr. Yoo."
"W-What? What do you...?"
I deactivated [Illusion] and slipped out of the tent, making Kim Dokja look like Yoo Joonghyuk instead. I had originally intended to make her look like him from the very beginning, but Kim Dokja had insisted this was what Yoo Joonghyuk would do.
Well, she knows him better than I do.
When I emerged from the tent, I found Jung Heewon confronting someone.
"Jung Heewon, did something happen?"
"Seoyun! You won’t believe this! That man picked a fight with me!"
At Jung Heewon’s words, I looked to the side and saw a tanned thug staring in horror at me as I emerged from the tent.
"N-No way..."
"...? Do you know me?"
After nervously studying my expression, the tanned thug rushed into the tent. A moment later, the sharp sound of a slap rang out from inside.
Smack!
"...What’s with that guy?"
"...Who knows? For now, let’s wait until Mr. Yoo comes back."
"Yeah... Let’s do that."
And so, the three of us waited outside until Yoo Joonghyuk—Kim Dokja—emerged.
---
After we had waited outside for a while, Kim Dokja emerged and guided us to another tent.
"Goodness, private accommodations? How did those people manage to build up this much power?"
"So, Dokja, what did you talk about in there—"
"Wait."
["Let’s use this to talk from now on."]
["Whoa, a group chat?!"]
["Oh..."]
["Wow... This is ■ing amazing... It even gets censored in here."]
Within what we had dubbed the group chat, Kim Dokja and I explained everything we had discussed inside, including what had happened after I left.
["My goodness, that’s unbelievable. To think there are people who know parts of the future..."]
["Is that why Seoyun and Dokja were pretending to be Yoo Joonghyuk?"]
["Ah, yes. That’s right."]
["Then are we going to stay here for a while and gather information about them?"]
["No."]
["What?"]
["We’re going to deal with them today."]
["Should I kill them all?"]
["...There’s no need for that..."]
What a shame. It felt like I could have raised my Evil Synchronization Rate...
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