I remembered the first time Soo Jinyoung encountered Jang Hyunseok. At first, he was a king candidate that proclaimed himself as a peaceful Buddha and ran mad after taking a glimpse of Soo Jinyoung's Soul. It seemed the Soul Itself was something far beyond what the human mind could handle alone.
I looked at the slit-eyed man and asked. "So what was that about? Why did he react that violently? In addition, why did he call me a demon?"
"Haha! Sorry about that. You see, my king sometimes see certain things and mistakes it for something entirely different. Not anything he sees is accurate."
"But he saw something that made him think I was a demon?"
In response, the man nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing important.
"As I said before, this is not the first time such a misunderstanding has happened. The <Soul> holds mysteries that not even the mind can fully comprehend. You can't fully understand the existence of another person by what's shown at face value. Just like how you can't fully understand a character by reading about them."
I thought his words were rather interesting. Did he mean to say my entire understanding of Soo Jinyoung as a whole was nothing but a lie? What about that asshole Song Jaewon? Or the master of this territory, Ollerus Izzard?
More importantly...
"By the way, you never mentioned your name."
"I didn't?" The long haired man looked surprised, "Ah, silly me. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Shin Joonkyung. I'm Jang Hyunseok's assistant."
He was the assistant of the Temperance. Maybe he was drawn to Jang Hyunseok because of his support Constellation. Was he one of the King candidates? Major series or Minor series?
I needed to be sure so I silently activated a skill.
[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Wall has activated.]
[The Omniscient Wall has failed to read this person's information.]
[This person is not a character registered in the Story.]
...What? Not registered in the story? I see. So It was he was that bastard in disguise all along.
"Huh? What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
"It's nothing. I thought I saw something behind you."
"There's something behind me? Where?"
The man turned around as if looking for something behind him. What was this? Was this bastard really messing with me now?
As my hand slowly reached for my gun, another message appeared infront of my nose. This time, It was a rather strange message than the previous one.
[Enough Information has been gathered about the target.]
[Information update will commence.]
What's this?
+
[Character Information]
Name: Shin Joonkyung
Age: 25
Chosen Constellation: Forgotten Swordsman
Private Attribute: 998th Apostle to Drop the Torch (???)
Exclusive Skills: Swordsmanship Lv. 3, Martial Training Lv. 4, Weapons Training Lv. 3, Reading Attritude Lv. 2, Memory Fortitude LV. 2...
Divine Protection: Sword Projection
Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 20 (Currently Lv. 10), Strength Lv. 18 (Currently Lv. 10), Agility Lv. 17 (Currently Lv.
I studied the king candidate representing the [Hermit] and narrowed my eyes.
Yoo Sookyung. He looked around 17 of age and had dark circles. In all honestly it did not seem that he could fight, let alone lead a group. He looked like the type that would prefer solitude than any interaction with the outside world.
It was obvious that boy couldn't be the main power with just a single glance. Someone else was pulling the strings from the shadows.
I looked at the members of the Hermit group and spotted a cloaked figure, too peculiar to ignore, walking behind the Hermit representative.
「 The man wearing the same hood like a chunni smiled mischievously. His dirty white hair seemed to sway gently as he moved, catching the faint light with each subtle motion 」
It's him. He that manipulated the entire situation and shifted the narrative to his advantage. The true reader that had read the story from the beginning to the end. The king candidate representing the [Devil], Park Joonhyuk.
His gaze landed my way for a few seconds before he shifted his gaze somewhere else as if he was disinterested.
As I thought, since I disguised myself as Soo Jinyoung at that time, he didn't know my real Identity.
I was tempted to pull out my gun and shoot him three times in the forehead but I resisted the urge.
Showing any signs of violence now would be meaningless. Most likely, the Anti-World Alliance that's about to be formed will be shattered. More importantly, even if I killed him right here and there, It was possible that what I was seeing was just a duplicate or a puppet.
He was right infront of me yet I could literally do nothing.
"Tck! In the end, It seems I have to be a little patient."
"What? Did you say something?"
"Nothing. It looks like they're about to give a speech."
Lee Dokho who was besides me shifted his gaze forward and I did the same. The members of the Maitreya group had gathered at the middle and someone stepped out.
"Everyone, listen here!"
It was Jang Hyunseok. As the crowd slowly turned his way, he opened his mouth and continued.
"You've all gathered here because you have a single enemy in common. Maybe your motives were different from the beginning but you must have lost something because of him, isn't that right? Some of you must have even lost your kings to him."
That was why some of the people here looked lifeless.
They had come here to kill the World but had their kings taken instead and became 'Wanderers'.
"The enemy is The World. He's a terrible man that kidnapped the Sookmyung Highschool girls and forced them to do his dirty work. Such a person cannot become the King of the New Seoul. If he get his hands on the [Yellow Dragon Sword] and becomes the Master of the Holy Grail, It will be all over and we'll become the puppets of an arrogant god!"
The World has already killed five man king candidates and collected their cards. It meant he would soon obtain the Emperor Sword.
Jang Hyunseok looked at the mumbling people one by one.
"As we speak, the World is undoubtedly preparing for our arrival. He's expecting us to be divided. To fight among ourselves and pick us out one by one. Thus, we must prove him wrong and fight as one."
"It might be too late to live a righteous life. We have committed many sins already, that I know. Even so, we can still change our way of life. The first step towards that life will be preventing the birth of the worst king! So let's take the next step to the new world together!"
At the end of the speech, the crowd cheered. Some sympathized with his words while others seemed moved to tears. It was strange. In fact, the speech itself didn't have much substance but the people were moved regardless. It was as if they were revolutionaries fighting to dethrone the corrupted ruler.
I silently watched the scene alone.
「 Everything felt like a dream 」
Just a month ago, these people were going about their normal lives. Some of them would have been working at the department store, some worked at the family restaurant, some worked at the pet store while some worked as salary workers.
No one would have thought the world would be destoryed. But, In just a month, the people can now wield swords and spears, and fight for their freedom.
"March forward!"
Hundreds of survivors entered through the path leading to the Master's room at once.
「 They did not know what was waiting for them at the other side. But if they knew, perhaps they wouldn't have taken the next step 」