"What?!"
Everybody exclaid almost at the sa ti. It was good to see that everyone was in high spirits.
"What do you an by doing nothing? We can't just sit still in a situation like this."
"What do you want us to do then?" I countered, locking eyes with Kim Hyunwoo.
"T-That..."
He tried to open his mouth a few tis but nothing ca out. Seeing this, Angelica opened her mouth and explained her point of view.
"After that last attack, most of our group's numbers were decimated. Since recruiting more people isn't an option, wouldn't it be better to form alliances with other groups to compensate for our loss in fighting power?"
"It's a solid idea, but it only works under normal circumstances. This situation is different."
"What do you an by that?"
"Don't tell you haven't figured it out already?"
I looked at the faces of the party mbers one by one. "The current situation in Seoul is pure chaos. If my assumptions are correct, that explosion likely happened to multiple groups simultaneously."
"So, other groups are going through the sa thing as us?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but it's a strong possibility. Rember the earlier ssage?"
"I'm not too sure but that's a good guess. Don't you all rember the earlier ssage?"
"The difficulty change announcent?"
I nodded. "Exactly. Because of the explosions, multiple groups might have lost most of their fighting power or been completely wiped out. In this scenario, do you really think cooperation is still possible?"
"Wait... Don't tell ... I get it now."
Angelica's eyes widened as the realization sunk in. I decided to pull the last wedge and opened my mouth.
"There are two possible strategies the groups might adopt after the explosion. First, they could try to form alliances with other groups. In this scenario, the weaker group would likely be absorbed by the stronger one.
The second option is to eliminate other players to boost their points, but with only 24 hours to act, this would lead to an all-out war, especially since every group would be facing the sa desperate situation."
There was a dreadful silence afterward. Everyone must have understood by now—the terrible war that would turn Seoul upside down was about to begin.
It was then that a realization struck . The explosions that occurred simultaneously... this was the endga of the King of Apostles.
Was he deliberately inciting chaos among the groups? Wasn't he scared of getting caught in the crossfire? What exactly was he planning?
Finally, Kim Hyunwoo broke the silence with a shaky voice. "So, if we try to form an alliance, we might just be walking into a trap... or worse, we could be the ones getting eliminated."
"That's right." I swept my gaze around. "We have to assu that trust is out the window now. The only people we can rely on are the ones standing in this room. Any attempt to ally with any other group could be a death sentence."
"So, what's the plan then? Do we just bunker down and hope we can ride this out?" Jung Yunhee, who was leaning her body at the corner, suddenly jumped into the conservation.
"I'm not saying we should be passive." I paused, then continued. "But we can't also make any unnecessary moves or else we will be swept away under the conflict. Our best bet is to keep a low profile, and wait for the others to make the first mistake. If they tear each other apart, we might just be able to pick up the pieces and survive this."
"What about Soo Jinyoung? Wouldn't she be helpful in this situation?"
I shook my head. "She must have probably gone sowhere else. In any case, she won't be able to help us so we're completely alone."
"Damnit."
Kim Hyunwoo clicked his tongue in an irritated manner. I could understand where he was coming from. Our current situation was harsh with no silver linings whatsoever. What to do? What to do?
Wait a minute...
Sothing suddenly occurred to . I thought about it for a few minutes and realised it must be a good idea. But it was also a risky plan.
"Everyone..."
The party mbers looked at one by one. Jung Yunhee, Angelica and Kim Hyunwoo— all their gazes were focused on my figure.
"I have a solution but it might be risky. Are you interested?"
* * *
10 minutes passed since I explained everything to the party mbers. As expected, they all thought I was crazy to suggesting such a plan. Looking back, it was a suicidal plan no matter how I looked at it.
"Um, excuse ."
A voice snapped from my reverie. Lee Dokho was looking at with a confused expression.
"You suddenly said you wanted to talk but who are you again?"
That's right. I had decided to approach Lee Dokho without my mask. I thought it was useless to pretend to be Soo Jinyoung any longer. Besides, I was getting tired of wearing the mask.
"Sorry about that. My na is Kim Jakga and I'm the deputy representative of the Soo Jinyoung's company."
"So you're the deputy representative?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right."
"And your na is Kim Jakga?"
"Is it unusual?"
"Yes."
What a brutal answer that was. How could he answer so quickly without any second thought? I understood where he was coming from. But even so...
"Wait a minute..." Before I could say anything else, he suddenly asked, "Are you an apostle as well?"
I nodded and his eyes lit up like a torch.
"Is that so? I didn't think Soo Jinyoung would already have an apostle on her side. Where did you drop off? Do you perhaps have the novel file?"
I shook my head. It was the truth. It seed nobody had the novel file in this world. And even if I sohow got my hands on the file, I wouldn't have given it to him.
"Well, that's a sha."
Lee Dokho sowhat looked disappointed.
"Sigh... If only I knew sothing like this would happen, I would have read to the end."
His regret was apparent. However, if soone walked up to him and told him the events of a novel would beco a reality, would he believe such a person or would he refer to that person as insane?
In any case, there were a few things that I wanted to confirm.
I pretended to cough to get his attention and opened my mouth. "Soo Jinyoung-nim has already explained the situation to including the alliance."
"She said that? Where is she now?"
"I don't know. She said she'd be stepping out for a bit. But there are a few things I want to ask you. Do you mind?"
"I don't really mind, but make it quick though."
I nodded and then tried to see through this person using a skill.
[Exclusive skill – Omniscient Wall has activated.]
[The Omniscient Wall has failed to read this person's information.]
As expected, I couldn't read his private information. In that case, let's try using that skill.
[Exclusive skill – Endless One has activated.]
[The Endless One had failed to activate on this person.]
Again, no luck. It seed that both of my trump cards were ineffective against readers of "Song of Nightmares" or was it those outside the story.
Was there so kind of 'Wall' blocking the skill activation? In any case, there was still one other way of obtaining information.
[Exclusive skill 'Sound Sensitivity Lv. 2' has activated.]
"Is your na Kim Suwon?"
I waited for his response. At the sa ti, I was also listening to his heartbeat.
When a person lies, their heart rate tends to spike. If I used Sound Sensitivity to eliminate any surrounding sound and listen to heartbeats, I could potentially detect lies without the Lie Detection skill.
Lee Dokho wore a strange expression and opened his mouth.
"No, my na is not Kim Suwon. Didn't Soo Jinyoung tell you already? My na is Lee Dokho."
Thump! Thump!
I listened to his heartbeat but it seed pretty fine so far. According to Song of Nightmares, puppets and duplicates don't possess hearts in their bodies so the fact I could hear heartbeats ant that this person was definitely human.
However, I had to be sure this person was not a faker or one of Kim Suwon's subordinates hiding under my nose.
"Sorry, I didn't hear your na properly so I had to be sure."
"Ah, it's alright. I understand."
"But have you heard anyone called Kim Suwon? He's my brother, you see and I have been looking for him ever since the nightmare began."
"Is that so? Unfortunately, I've never heard of anyone with that na. I'm the leader of a large group, and it's difficult to rember all their nas."
Thump! Thump!
I continued to listen to his heartbeat but it seed to be still beating at a calm and steady pace. Lee Dokho looked at my face and wore a dark expression.
What I told him was a lie. I didn't have any siblings but this person must have thought my words were genuine. It was useless if he beca sad on my part. Maybe he had lost his siblings during the chaos and my words reopened a deep wound.
But I was also confused. Didn't he say he t soone that happened him during the first nightmare trial? Could it be that Kim Suwon wasn't his real na as he said?
When I thought about it, It was foolish to expect that person to reveal his na. Would I have given my na if I was in the sa position?
In any case, I continued speaking. "Soo Jinyoung-nim also told what might be the source of the explosion. She said the na of the person responsible was Kim Suwon but I doubt that is that person's real na."
"It's a lie. I may not know your brother but Kim Suwon was not that person's na. I actually t him when I was inside a train carriage and he introduced himself as Park Joonhyuk."
Park Joonhyuk, was it? As expected, Kim Suwon was not that person's real na. But there was also a possibility that na was not his real na as well.
Damn, this was why dealing with puppet masters was extrely exhausting. It was almost impossible to locate the main man without proper information.
I looked at Lee Dokho and opened my mouth again. "Do you know any other apostles apart from No. 1999?"
In response, Lee Dokho only shook his head. "I knew a few but most of them got swept away inside the Seoksu Station. And the remaining apostles won't want to cooperate with us."
"Have you tried contacting them?"
"Yes. That's why I'm telling you this."
Thump! Thump!
The steady flow of his heartbeat supported his words. If his words were true, then that ans the other apostles were probably keeping a low profile.
It seems my first plan was no longer an option. It seems I have to make use of 'that' suicidal plan after all.
I turned my head and saw Kagura treating the injuried survivors one by one. She was not a doctor but it seed she was proficient with treating small injuries.
I asked Lee Dokho the question that kept slipping my mind.
"How did you get that person to help you? If I rembered correctly, she's just as strong as Soo Jinyoung and Song Jaewon so why would she need your assistance?"
"It's simple actually." Lee Dokho shrugged. "You're not the one who is looking for sothing. The character 'Kagura' is the sa. I just used that fact to my advantage, that's all."
"So she knows you are an apostle?"
"Yes. I promised to help her find her missing sister in exchange for her help."
Her sister? I rembered reading sothing along those lines in Kagura's private Information.
According to the original story, Her sister went missing during the chaos. She was found later but she was no longer alive. Lee Dokho must have used his status as an apostle and made a deal with Kagura.
"Are you sure you would be able to find her sister?"
"I don't know but I'll try my best. You know, I discovered sothing rather interesting during this past few days."
"What's that?"
Lee Dokho stared at Kagura and he spoke calmly without a change in emotion.
"The characters in a story are actually simpler than they seem from the outside. Since they're born from a collection of written words, they behave according to the settings they're given. It's like programming a robot, but these characters act more like humans than simple machines."
"What are you trying to say?"
"The characters are humans yet they are not. The constellations are gods yet they are not. Despite that, they have the sa behaviour and emotions as humans. Love, hate, sadness, laziness, despair, wrath, indifference. Despite being characters inside the fiction, they feel everything a human would. Of course, Its depends how the author writes these characters.
For Kagura, her setting has already been written. No matter how tough she appears on the outside, she will always be the caring big sister that could not abandon her little sister. And the thought of losing that person, drives her crazy indeed."
My brows furrowed as he ntioned the characters were not humans. I wanted to argue but his words were completely true. No matter how human these people appeared to be, they were all simply characters within the fiction.
I rembered the story of Soo Jinyoung and Song Jaewon. I wondered if all their struggles and misery was just for the entertainnt of the readers. Perhaps the readers and the author were the true villains in this story.
"Huh? What's this?" Lee Dokho suddenly tilted his head, frowning as if he saw sothing unpleasant.
What was he looking at? A system ssage or perhaps a ssage from 'that' place?
"Did sothing happen?"
"Tck. Soone uploaded the revelations in the Exclusive Shop."
"What? How?!"
I was rather taken aback from the words that ca of Lee Dokho's mouth.
Soone posted the novel on the Exclusive Shop? To upload the novel in the exclusive shop, one must have the text file first. If there was soone that has the text file...
Wait, could it be...
I summoned the system window and opened the exclusive shop without delay. As expected, I saw sothing completely beyond my expectations.
[Exclusive Shop: New Product]
Na: Dream of Nothing (TXT)
Rating: ???
Description: A text file containing the divine revelations. Read at your own risk.
Price: 500 Coins
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