< Episode 15. The World Without a King (4) >
Han Sooyoung collapsed limply after being thrown into the iron cage.
After having her flag stolen by me in the annex building, it seemed she had exhausted her mana and passed out.
Judging by the fact that she'd been transported here, Han Sooyoung must have had some connection to this area. She was a writer, after all—perhaps her management company or publisher had been nearby.
"She's pretty decent-looking, huh? Hey, you didn't already touch her, did you?"
"Of course not. You know all the constellations are gathered here."
[A constellation that enjoys obscenity and indecency is excited.][A handful of constellations gleam with lewd interest.]
Some of them had already started playing rock-paper-scissors.
I stared at Han Sooyoung inside the cage.
Torn jeans. A ripped shirt.
No matter how I looked at her, there was no sign she would wake up.
...
If left alive, she would become an obstacle.
In this world, aside from me, she was the person who knew the most about history.
The branches of the story had diverged completely from the third or fourth regression, so much of the knowledge she possessed had likely become useless—but still…
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I recoiled at my own disgust.
…Why was I even thinking something like this?
Do you kill someone because they'll be dangerous later?
Do you spare someone because they'll be useful later?
I wasn't Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Want to go too, Dokja-ssi?"
Misinterpreting my gaze, Assistant Manager Yoon was smiling.
A look that said, 'Well, of course—even you can't help it.'
"If you promise me one thing, I could let you go first. How about it?"
"…What promise?"
"You've got a group, right? Introduce your group to us. We're thinking of expanding our faction. From the looks of it, you've got some pretty good items too… Seems like a fairly large group?"
I quietly studied Yoon's face before answering.
"If you want, I'll introduce them. But I'd like this to stop here."
"Huh? Hahaha, Dokja-ssi. What are you talking about?"
"Let that woman go."
Realizing I wasn't joking, Yoon's eyebrows twitched.
"Hm… Dokja-ssi. Why are you acting like this with people you know? If you've survived this far, isn't it obvious by now?"
"..."
"I've watched you for a long time, Dokja-ssi. I always thought you'd survive anywhere."
A strange sneer tugged at the corner of Yoon's grin.
"You were always reading web novels alone, weren't you? Always going to and from work in those gloomy clothes. The only people you ever talked to were me or a few colleagues who joined at the same time. And even then, it was usually someone nice like Yoo Sangah."
"…What does that have to do with this?"
"You're enjoying this situation too, deep down. Aren't you?"
Enjoying it?
Those words struck my chest like a dagger from an entirely different angle.
Yoon continued, gripping my shoulder.
"I'm just like you, Dokja-ssi. We were both QA team, remember? Always getting nagged at, living in humiliation. You remember what the other departments called us, right? The guinea pig team. Cheap labor with no specs, only good for testing games."
"..."
"Dokja-ssi. Do you really not know who those people trapped in there are? Look closely. They're the bastards who used to look down on us."
In that instant, my vision widened, and screams rang loudly in my ears.
Looking more closely, it was true.
The people trapped inside the cages.
A large number of them were people from Mino Soft—people I knew, and people I didn't. People who likewise didn't know me, or didn't care to.
"It's all over now. Finance team, planning team—it doesn't matter what they were. In this world, the most advantageous ones are us in QA. Haha. You tested bugs long enough too, so you know, right? This world is a game. A game riddled with bugs. It's full of loopholes—if you want to exploit it, you can."
Countless messages from constellations echoed in my head.
Messages demanding more stimulation, more obscenity, more decadence—quietly overlapping with Yoon's face.
Some forms of inferiority turn people into monsters.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. This world is a game made for us! Do you know how many coins our group earns from that per day?"
"I don't."
"A whopping 5,000 coins a day. Five thousand coins… can you even imagine it? Without clearing a single scenario, 5,000 coins just roll in. All we do is make people fight and breed—and we get 5,000 coins. It's exactly like pumping out cash items back in the planning department. Don't you get what that means?"
One by one, men began approaching the collapsed Han Sooyoung.
I exhaled slowly.
Listening to everything until now had been a courtesy—to a colleague who, once upon a time, had shared rooftop sighs with me.
I brushed Yoon's hand off my shoulder and spoke.
"If what you want is to earn coins, there's a better way."
"…What?"
Assistant Manager Yoon's face lit up.
"Did you find a bug too, Dokja-ssi? What is it?"
"The principle is the same as the 'coin farm.' You use the constellations who like things."
"Oh? You're saying there's something even more stimulating than this? No way."
"There is. Want me to show you?"
"Well, I won't complain if you're sharing the know-how!"
"What the constellations really like is…"
['Blade of Conviction' has been activated!]
"…this kind of thing."
Kagagak!With a screeching sound, the iron cages were severed like bundles of straw.
I swung my sword indiscriminately at the wanderers surrounding the cages—cutting their escape routes, severing Achilles tendons.
The men, unable even to prepare a counterattack, collapsed as their knees gave out.
"Aaaagh! What the hell is this bastard?!"
"My foot! My foot!"
Amid the violently erupting fountains of blood, I continued to swing my blade.
"This too."
I cut off the hand that had been fondling an HR employee, and severed the arm of the man who had been undressing Han Sooyoung.
"And this kind of thing as well."
Pshht!Blood sprayed onto my cheek. I quietly wiped it away, then kept cutting—arms, legs, one after another.
Yoon's voice rang out.
"W-what are you doing?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm saying thank you."
I turned toward Yoon as I spoke.
"For creating a situation the constellations would truly enjoy."
Slash!Shrrk!
In just two strikes, not a single man who had entered Han Sooyoung's cage was left standing.
[The constellation 'Demonic Judge of Injustice' is pleased with your judgment.][The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' snorts at the merciless retribution.][A large number of constellations who had been displeased by the atrocities of certain constellations are greatly satisfied with your decision.]
[You have received 8,000 coins in sponsorship.]
Assistant Manager Yoon went pale and collapsed onto the ground.
I smiled faintly.
"Why bother running a farm? Making coins is this easy."
"…K-kill this bastard!"
There were many wanderers.
In an instant, about twenty armed wanderers formed ranks and slowly tightened the encirclement.
It was an awkward number to deal with without violating my "no killing" principle—but I wasn't particularly worried. If things went bad, I could always withdraw.
I stepped back slightly and lifted Han Sooyoung's light body into my arms.
Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open.
"…Why did you save me?"
"You were awake? Then stand on your own two feet."
Han Sooyoung sneered weakly.
"If you save me, all the constellations watching your channel will run away. Don't you know they hate getting secondhand embarrassment?"
"Some of them like it."
[A constellation that has been waiting for a harem carefully clasps both hands together.][A constellation advocating 'the enemy of my enemy is my ally' rejoices.]
Han Sooyoung's expression twisted.
"This is a cliché, you know? The moment when a beautiful girl is about to be violated and the protagonist swoops in to save her. You said you hate clichés, but your actions say otherwise."
"There are two things wrong with what you just said."
I spoke while casually slicing through the leg of a charging wanderer.
"First, I'm not the protagonist. And second…"
[You have saved the life of a fellow human.][Karma Points have increased by 1.][Current Karma Points: 14/100]
Karma points increase when the system judges that you have 'saved' someone.
In other words, if I had left her alone, Han Sooyoung would most likely have died.
"You're not a beautiful girl."
"…Put me down!"
Without hesitation, I dropped her onto the ground.
She shouted angrily.
"You actually put me down?!"
"Fight."
"What?"
"Fight with me. You like clichés, don't you?"
"I like clichés, but former enemies becoming allies and fighting together is way too overdone."
Despite her complaining, our coordination was surprisingly good.
When I cut down the legs of the approaching wanderers, Han Sooyoung followed up, finishing them off by slitting their throats.
Calmly, one by one, we took lives—until only a handful remained.
Terrified, the wanderers abandoned the coin farm and fled.
"This is totally worth it."
Staggering but grinning ear to ear, Han Sooyoung looked at the coins obtained from killing the wanderers.
[You have obtained a total of 18,400 coins.]
Thanks to contribution sharing, she wouldn't have received as much as I did—but she would have gained a decent amount. It was a bit of a waste, but without her, I wouldn't have gotten the coins either, so I decided to treat it as payment for her work.
Looking ahead, I saw Assistant Manager Yoon still sitting on the ground.
"Haha… you psychopath bastard. I knew you'd be like this. I should've realized when those rumors started…"
"What the hell are you saying, you idiot. You're just an extra with too many lines."
In an instant, Han Sooyoung rushed forward and stabbed Yoon straight in the neck.
A thick jet of blood spurted from his throat, and the light in his eyes quickly faded.
Another person who remembered the 'real-world Kim Dokja' disappeared like that.
Han Sooyoung looked at me and grumbled.
"…What's with that face? Are you disappointed he's dead?"
"No."
"Then why do you keep listening to things that are only going to hurt you?"
It was a line I hadn't expected to hear from Han Sooyoung, and it caught me off guard.
"Back there, you listened to all the bullshit that bastard was spewing too, didn't you? Why even listen to crap like that? Constellations don't like that kind of sweet-potato frustration, you know."
I stared blankly for a moment, then let out a short laugh.
Was that really what it was about?
"You don't know anything either. You have to let them spew their nonsense for a bit before killing them to get more coins. There's no such thing as refreshing soda without first choking on sweet potatoes."
"That's not true! Readers—no, constellations—like it better when you kill them right away! You're not even a writer, what do you know to be talking so big?"
"I know better. I'm a reader."
"Y-you…!"
Leaving the growling Han Sooyoung behind, I began rummaging through the dropped items one by one. Most of it was junk, but I did find a suit that was wearable.
[Old Gentleman's Single-Piece Suit]
It was only a B-grade item, and the defense boost was minimal, but it was still better than nothing. I couldn't keep relying on [Master Saimyeong's Burlap Robe] forever… And now that I thought about it, I really should start farming equipment too.
Judging by the wanderers fleeing into the distance, that direction was probably their hideout.
If I was going to clash with wanderers anyway, this worked out nicely.
If my memory was right, I could acquire several 'meteors' to be used in the Fifth Scenario in Seocho District. Since I'd already ended up here, I might as well grab those.
First things first, I needed to find a spare battery…
[You have saved the life of a fellow human.][Karma Points have increased by 11.][Current Karma Points: 25/100]
The people who had been watching cautiously began to approach one by one—all of them former prisoners from the cages.
Some of them seemed to recognize my face, their expressions brightening.
Before they could speak, I waved them off.
"I can't help you anymore. From here on, survive on your own."
A flicker of despair crossed their pupils, but there was nothing I could do for them. It might seem cold, but in the end, everyone has to save their own life.
"Since I didn't pick up all the items, take what you need. And if you can, try heading toward Chungmuro. There might be people there who'll help you."
Before I even finished speaking, they hurriedly began grabbing the fallen items.
Driven by the single-minded determination to survive, the fire returned to their eyes.
Watching them, I suddenly understood why the dokkaebi had brought me here.
"That's mine! Put it down!"
"I—I picked it up first!"
The people who had been victims just moments ago were now gripping weapons and facing one another.
Without hesitation, they aimed at each other, showing no reluctance to become perpetrators themselves.
This was a world without a king.
A world where no one controlled them.
This was the scene the dokkaebi had wanted to show.
How close a world without a king was to savagery—and how fragile, flimsy, and inadequate the laws, ethics, and trust in humanity that we once upheld truly were.
What stopped the people who were about to swing their weapons was an unexpected voice.
"You all wanna die or what?"