<<Detected multiple individuals breaking the 1st rule>>
Dohyuk didn’t understand immediately, but he heard a scream and turned.
“What is this?!”
“Why is it transporting me out-”
Dohyuk opened his eyes in shock. Many people around him were shining.
“What is this…”
Kyuho was one of them. He looked down at himself becoming transparent and turned to Dohyuk. He had realized something.
“I see… Listen, Dohyuk.”
“…”
“I…”
And right after he spoke a few more words, he disappeared, with new words popping up for Dohyuk.
<<Punishment – Expulsion>>
People disappeared instantly.
-Forbid any act that resembles beasts
Dohyuk’s newborn city. The wish he had was now the rule of the city. That’s why the city bound to the master’s will acted upon it, resulting in the expulsion of all ‘beasts’, including humans and Bermurans.
Dohyuk came out of a liquor store. The store had been covered deep in the sand, but it still had many things from the time before the world changed. Dohyuk unwrapped the plastic cover and ate a piece of bread and drank some water. Then, he walked. Half a day passed after the people disappeared. This city was good. There were parts of the city where it was mixed with otherworldly stuff. There were farms and an oasis in between the city buildings and Bermuran’s various foods.
The only problem was that there were no humans. Dohyuk looked around.
<<Detected individual breaking the 1st rule>>
<<Punishment – Expulsion>>
The messages popped up again. It had been popping up constantly, as someone walked into his city and was expelled. It seemed these people were being teleported out someplace far where it wasn’t visible from the top of the city wall. It seemed like the ‘beasts’ or the people who lost their ‘sanity’ were not allowed to enter. Everyone was a beast. But it was only natural since it had been only a few days since the city appeared in this world and the only one who knew that they needed to get to the city would be those who had survived long enough in the previous world.
The only exception was…
“Did you find any?”
Dohyuk shook his head.
Heeyun also shook her head, “Me neither. I saw many of them walking to the city gate but…”
“They’re gone.”
“Yeah,” Heeyun agreed. She was drenched in sweat.
“Let’s get some rest.”
There was still time left before the sun went down. Dohyuk and Heeyun found a spot in one building with no light source to rest.
“D-Dohyuk! Look at this!”
Heeyun came running with teary eyes while they were searching the building just in case. It was a laptop computer.
“It still has battery!”
The Internet didn’t work. But it seemed like it was originally the owner’s way of enjoying entertainment as there were a series of dramas and other TV programs.
“Can we maybe…”
“Yeah,” Dohyuk nodded.
“But… wouldn’t it be a waste of…”
“It’s okay. You’ve done enough today,” Dohyuk assured her. Heeyun had risked her life without knowing anything, and she did her part. She was now trying to find a peace of mind with a trace of the old world that she had stumbled upon after months (in her standards).
“T-then…”
Heeyun pointed at a folder on the computer desktop.
“D-do you want to see this together? Just one episode… I really wanted to watch it before…”
“Sure.”
And the two of them watched. Within the dark building in the city that had no one, they watched one season of the drama. It had 8 episodes, with 40 minutes each. Both of them forgot about everything else as they watched. And on the last episode, after the characters in drama reached the end-
The machine shut off as the battery was out. The two were silent for a while until Heeyun spoke.
“This place… is a good place. We have no bas-… I mean bad people. No monsters.”
“Right.”
“But you don’t plan to stay here for long, right?”
“…Right.” Dohyuk answered. This city was safe, but that was it. He had searched all parts of the city, but there was no way for him to acquire coins or items. The only thing it had was ‘peace’ and nothing else. As such, Dohyuk couldn’t stay here, at least for now.
“I have a goal,” Dohyuk said. He still remembered the surge of energy that filled him.
“I killed the bastard that gave me such power.”
He killed the god. He now realized how incredible it was, but he could do it. If he did it before, he had the chance. Besides, he now had the power that he did not have in his previous life. The Nature from Casita- the power to use god’s miracle.
“I will kill him. Again.”
“…”
“So, if I can gain his power…”
He would do whatever it took to do it. He would change this world, as he did with the city.
“Maybe I can even change the people back to their old selves.”
This was his goal. And for that, he needed to venture out. He couldn’t even imagine how treacherous that path could be, but he still had to do it.
“But if you decide to stay, I…”
“I’ll go.”
There were probably cases like Heeyun around. People with no power or knowledge, but their minds had not been corrupted. They could safely stay in this city. With Heeyun’s power, she would easily be their leader.
“I don’t want to be a leader or anything,” Heeyun said as she folded the laptop. “…I’m not a good person.”
Her hand was now shaking, trembling. “D-did yours do this too?”
“…”
“I-it wasn’t the first time I killed a person…”
She killed others in defense of herself in most cases. But the killing she did in this city was different. Her Nature had given her tremendous power, enough to massacre people with a flick of a hand, and she did. As such, her sanity was at maximum level. It was obvious. Heeyun then pulled up the bag. It was the sleeping bag that Dohyuk gave to her. It helped restore ‘sanity’.
“You t-told me that if I use this, I won’t go mad like the others.”
“…”
“But… I thought, including that K-kyuho… those crazy people seemed to be happy. They didn’t need to use this.”
It was true. Corruption allowed one to adapt to this world. Even when one massacred a whole bunch of people, it didn’t inflict any damage to the mind.
“A-and I know you won’t hate me even if I c-change…”
“Yeah.”
If Heeyun wasn’t going to stay within the city, she didn’t need to use the sleeping bag. Using it would only make her feel more uncomfortable. Even if she restored her sanity, she would have to rely on the sleeping bag every time something like this happened. But only-
“I-I’m a bad girl. I mean… you’re fighting back, but I don’t want to…”
Dohyuk was relieved. Heeyun wasn’t the only one who was happy for having someone to enjoy a TV show within this crazy world.
“It’s okay,” Dohyuk calmed her down and took the bag from Heeyun. “It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry…”
Tears rolled down her face and she soon fell asleep. It seemed her energy had run out. Dohyuk then walked out to see if there were any rugs or pillows around. When he returned, Heeyun didn’t need any of that.
“…”
She was sleeping inside the sleeping bag. Dohyuk turned, and after he distanced himself from Heeyun enough so he would not disturb her sleep, he pulled out the paper.
<<Summoning Wandering Merchant: Marie>>
“T-thank you, customer- KYAH!”
Marie gasped as she saw Dohyuk.
“C-customer…”
“…”
“Did… something bad happen to you? You don’t look too…”
“It’s nothing. Sorry about that.”
Dohyuk smiled and pulled out his pair of swords and handed them over.
“We made a deal.”
“A-already?”
Marie was shocked. But that was only the beginning. As she identified the item she was handed, she became even more shocked.
“…..!!!”
Dohyuk quickly covered Marie’s mouth before she could scream.
“Quiet.”
“Sssss.. ssss…”
“What?”
“SS rank…. Godly Item… I’ve never even laid my hand on one before…”
“And the price?”
Marie couldn’t answer immediately.
“W-wait a minute!”
“How long?”
“I… I think I need to go back for a second. I don’t have enough to…”
Dohyuk nodded as Marie reluctantly let go of the item and took the paper to return. She then asked, “B-but are you really okay? I mean, if this is SS rank… then the god’s wrath will be upon you… through the 9th generation or so…”
“I don’t care. I can’t be scared of some chickenhead.”
“…Okay. Then I’ll be back.”
Marie then readied herself and disappeared. Dohyuk then remembered that he had not checked his wallet yet.
‘That body was an elite monster.’
And from his experience, he knew all those monsters with such titles had given him a huge amount of coins.
“Wallet.”
Dohyuk spoke and it was as he expected.
-Coins: 151040
Body of Aruga had awarded him a hefty amount of coins. But-
“What…?”
The thing that shocked him wasn’t the coins. It was the one that had appeared as 0 the last time he checked.
-Faith: 3663
The number grew without him knowing. And-
-Faith: 3711
It was still growing as he watched.
“…What happened?”
“Huh?” Marie asked as she had just reappeared. It seemed she was panting and was blushing from being in a hurry. In her hand was the ‘payment’.