novelraw Chapter 39 : Chapter 39
Chapter 39 : Chapter 39
Chapter 39
[The 2nd set Search Time has ended.]
[The ranks have been finalized.]
[We are now entering the 2nd set of Rule Time.]
[Your rank is King.]
Welcoming Rule Time, August leisurely left the room.
Moving from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor, she cleared her throat with an ahem.
Depending on how well she manipulated public opinion during this Rule Time, the outcome of this mission would vary.
The other players were already gathered in the 1st-floor lobby.
The head count was eight.
With August joining the lobby, there were nine people.
Perhaps because everyone's survival was confirmed, everyone's expressions were bright.
As they didn't have to move as if being chased for survival, they had gained peace of mind.
The atmosphere of harshly suspecting each other in the 1st set was nowhere to be found, and light conversation passed between the players.
“Oh? Your hometown is Daejeon? Which high school did you graduate from?”
“Oh, really? My hobby was riding a bicycle when I was in society too. How many kilometers do you pedal a day?”
“I'm going to return to society as soon as the commission drops. It should drop a lot in one go though.”
At the center of the conversation was No Tae-jin.
He displayed a mysterious talent for talking to others at the timing they wanted someone to talk to them, and listening to them at the timing they wanted someone to listen.
It was enough to even make one think that the term born talent was made for people like No Tae-jin.
If you look closely, the fact that No Tae-jin could remain at the center of the conversation was all thanks to Lee Ju-seong.
I had adopted No Tae-jin's wish as the strategy for this game, and I had proven he was a harmless human with skillful speech.
As proof, the topic of conversation had shifted to praising me before anyone knew it.
“Honestly, I'm relieved that Lee Ju-seong is a decent person.”
“I'm telling you, I knew from the start. If that person wasn't there on the first night, we all would have been ripped off of a huge amount of money by Yoon Ji-ho. It was Lee Ju-seong who prevented the worst-case scenario.”
“About what happened during the 1st set Rule Time. I wonder how it would have been if it were me. If it were me, would I have shared 200 million won so coolly? Sigh, it's hard.”
August felt a momentary chill while listening to the conversation.
‘Scary fellow.’
Naturally, it is several times more effective to have one's good deeds heard through a third party than to appeal that one is a good person through direct contact.
Every single move I made didn't just stop at aiming for everyone's survival, but it was a god-tier move intended to copy multiple abilities at once by utilizing the Windsor Effect.
What if her decision was late and she fought me in the 2nd set instead of the 1st set?
She would have ended up in a 1-on-1 battle with me, having secured several more abilities.
Stalking me immediately without a moment's hesitation was the right answer.
However, it takes 30 minutes.
Thanks to making a quick decision 30 minutes early, she was able to overpower me.
The effect of making a quick decision appeared quickly.
When about half of Rule Time had passed, the players began to have doubts about me not appearing.
“But somehow Ju-seong is late? Why isn't he coming?”
“Has anyone seen Ju-seong on the way here?”
“It's strange. Since it's a path he's already traveled once, there's no way he'd get lost.”
Now, when the players were wavering, was the opportunity.
Favorable and unfavorable reviews are flipped in one go by a small trigger.
Just like how 100 becomes -100 instantly when multiplied by -1.
August threw out a word to flip the evaluation of me in one go.
“Could it be that he suddenly changed his mind?”
Don't underestimate the dealer's experience.
She has monitored countless games where suspicion and betrayal were rampant.
In what cases people waver the most, in what way one should act for people to be most suspicious.
From the observer's point of view, she has lived while looking at the answer sheet every time.
Manipulating a few naive players was nothing.
One possibility thrown out by August as if in passing revived the players' suspicion.
“Lee Ju-seong betrayed us? At this point, why of all things?”
“Thinking about it again, it's not a story that makes no sense. Right now we are all gathered in the lobby. If Lee Ju-seong finds and hides the Slave chair while we are wasting time, the remaining 3rd set is automatically Lee Ju-seong's victory.”
“Wait a minute. Don't leap too far with the story. Why does this situation lead to Lee Ju-seong's 3rd set victory?”
At someone's question, another person shouted in irritation.
“Are you really saying that because you don't know? If Lee Ju-seong finds the Slave chair and hides it right now, we can't stop that guy in the 3rd set!”
The King could grant a 10-minute ability use prohibition penalty to each player except the Slave.
In other words, it meant that Lee Ju-seong alone could massacre everyone no matter how many players there were.
The players who understood the situation were horrified.
“No way. Was he quiet in the 1st set because he really didn't know if we would gather in the lobby?”
“I perfectly understand. Even if he shared the prize money fairly in the 1st set, he distributed it without hesitation because he could recover the full amount if he massacred everyone in the 3rd set.”
“That damned scammer bastard! He's even worse than Yoon Ji-ho in terms of being bad!”
They were players who changed their attitudes as if flipping their palms, forgetting the time they were praising.
Just like how the contents put in a nickel-silver pot boil easily and cool easily.
In the midst of this, there was only one person claiming my innocence.
It was No Tae-jin.
“You can't do this! How can you jump to conclusions when there's nothing confirmed! What if it's a misunderstanding!”
“So what should we do? It's too late after we're hit by Lee Ju-seong!”
“There is still a chance to achieve everyone's survival!”
“Everyone's survival, my foot! Are you going to take responsibility if we're massacred in the 3rd set? Can you take responsibility for sure!”
No Tae-jin faltered at the words asking for responsibility.
No Tae-jin knew himself too well to say he would take responsibility with confidence.
His capacity was insufficient to handle the responsibility that had grown like a snowball.
While No Tae-jin was speechless, the players changed their policy with swift determination.
“First, let's leave the lobby. It's a priority to check if the Slave chair has disappeared.”
“There's not much time left. After checking for the Slave chair, the time is too tight to set out looking for Lee Ju-seong. Perhaps making us go check the Slave chair is Lee Ju-seong's aim.”
“He might not hide the Slave chair?”
“Lee Ju-seong has many options. Because that guy has the power to defeat us individually during the 3rd set Search Time.”
“If that's the logic, we only have one option left.”
Just as a coin has a tails side if there's a heads side, they were players who simultaneously affirmed and denied their own ideas.
They presumed that if they could think of it, Lee Ju-seong could also think of it, and conversely, he might strike their blind spot.
The players chose the simplest and most convenient option.
“Throw it all away and just kill Lee Ju-seong within this 2nd set! Right now, there's a person with the Slave privilege, and we're all gathered in one place!”
When it becomes the 3rd set, they will end up scattering to avoid the fine penalty.
If Lee Ju-seong set his mind to it, defeating the players individually would be nothing.
Because he was the monster who suppressed Yoon Ji-ho, not anyone else.
“If we've decided, let's move! Anyone with an ability helpful for searching?”
“It might be possible if I apply my ability!”
“There's no time! Discuss the details while moving!”
Every player agreed to the Lee Ju-seong hunt.
Except for No Tae-jin.
No Tae-jin tried to persuade the players until the end.
“Everyone! Please listen to me! Killing isn't always the only way!”
However, the players had already taken out their own weapons.
Along with a murderous intent, the direction of the weapons turned toward No Tae-jin.
“What's with you? Is it suspicious that you're trying to defend Lee Ju-seong until the end? Are you an accomplice by any chance?”
“What kind of nonsense……”
“If you're not going to join, get lost. Instead, know that there will be no share for you.”
Rather, it was a sign that they hoped No Tae-jin would drop out so the money obtained after killing me, which had to be divided by 9, would be divided by 8.
No, Tae-jin did not have the courage to persuade the many players with murderous intent.
No Tae-jin hung his head in silence.
The players treated the despondent No Tae-jin as a dropout and left the lobby.
In a place far from the lobby, the players' excited voices echoed and were heard.
“That guy has 2.5 billion won including the 2nd set prize money! If 8 people divide it, it's 300 million won per person! Since it's Lee Ju-seong who betrayed us first, we are not at fault at all!”
In the midst of boisterous shouts as if they had obtained a hunting license for Lee Ju-seong, No Tae-jin muttered with a sorrowful face.
“Where are you, Ju-seong. Did you really betray us? Please tell me it's not true.”
The eight players swarmed around during the remaining Rule Time.
But in the end, they could not find me.
[The 2nd set Rule Time has ended.]
[The ranks have been reset.]
[We are now entering the 3rd set of Search Time.]
When it became Search Time, August threw out a prepared line with the intention of perfectly finishing this game.
“Excuse me. How about we each go our own way from now on instead?”
Because they had been hurriedly searching for me, they were in a situation where they didn't know whether Lee Ju-seong had hidden the Slave chair or not.
If he had hidden it, gathering in one place during the 3rd set was like handily providing an environment where it was easy for Lee Ju-seong to massacre the players.
In that case, going solo had a higher survival probability.
In particular, those with Noble or Knight chairs could take at least 50 million won or more and leave, so it was profitable to increase the survival probability as much as possible.
The two people also had going solo in mind, but they were hesitating because they were afraid of being considered traitors.
But as the citizen August took the lead instead, they gained the opportunity to change the policy to going solo.
“That lady's words are right. This game site is very wide. Even if Lee Ju-seong goes around individually, the people he can run into will be at most one or two.”
“It was impossible for everyone to cooperate until the end anyway. Let's each go our own way now.”
Just as Lee Ju-seong ended up being a stranger, the opinion that the people currently forming a group were also strangers in the end was prevalent.
If No Tae-jin, who is not here, is included, a total of four people were walking the path of going solo.
There was no clear solution even when nine people were together, so it would become even more hopeless if it was reduced to five.
In the end, the players chose the path of going solo.
And while heading to the room where their chairs were, they poured out resentment toward me.
“Sigh, what kind of hardship is this because of that bastard Lee Ju-seong.”
August, who had moved away from the players, internally sneered at them coldly.
‘This game fundamentally requires one to pursue money tenaciously. At the moment you dreamt of a ridiculous dream like everyone's survival, defeat was finalized. Because you don't know that, you are only being used.’
She went up to the 3rd floor of the game site alone and entered the room in the center, and she took out and sat on the throne she had hidden just before Search Time ended.
The moment she sat on the throne with her legs crossed, a message finalizing her rank flew in.
[The 3rd set Search Time has ended.]
[The ranks have been finalized.]
[We are now entering the 3rd set of Rule Time.]
[Your rank is King.]
She hid the throne back in the place where she took it out, and afterward, she leisurely walked around the room and watched the stairs connected to the 2nd floor.
Now that they had decided to seek going solo, the options given to the players were two.
First, staying in one's room and avoiding encounters with others as much as possible.
Second, defeating people weaker than oneself and scraping up even a single penny more.
She had taken the throne on purpose to prevent the latter case.
Right now, the Slave must be holed up in their room, trembling.
Every player except for the King could seal their ability at any time; would they really have the courage to step out into the hallway and snipe the King?
Therefore, the players who would choose to go around to scrape up even a single penny more would be limited to Citizen to Noble.
She could neutralize whoever it was with the King's privilege.
‘The prize money obtained from this game will become my bonus as it is. A salary earner outside the game site, a King inside. The bonus is 400 million. Sometimes it's not bad to return to the player days.’
The dealer's salary isn't on the low side, but the story changes if it's an amount around hundreds of millions.
Furthermore, unlike players, dealers do not pay commission.
It was the thing commonly called employee discount.
While the victory was being finalized as 30 minutes flowed by like this, suddenly someone came up through the stairs.
August said toward the person who was coming up.
“Your luck in the draw is the worst. Of all the many other rooms, you chose this room.”
She pitied the opponent because there was no way she could lose no matter who it was.
Feeling pity was only for a moment; as soon as she saw the person who came up the stairs, August's eyes widened.
The person who came up was not just one person.
A whopping seven people.
Everyone except for me and No Tae-jin.
The man who took the lead of the player group glared at August and asked.
“Excuse me. Could you perhaps show us the balance of your Money Watch?”
While saying so, he held the Money Watch in his hand and pushed it forward.
“While we were parting ways after promising to go solo, one player picked up an interesting item. I thought Lee Ju-seong had betrayed us, but it wasn't the case. So we are going around checking everyone's balance to find the culprit.”
On the Money Watch screen the man pushed forward, the account status was displayed.
The owner of the Money Watch could be known through the displayed content.
The name of the person who should be confined and unable to move an inch, in other words, the three characters of my name, Lee Ju-seong, were clearly written.
[Lee Ju-seong's Money Watch Account]
[Current balance : -10 million won.]