"Really, that happened?" Jung Heewon questioned.
Passing time, Lee Jihye proceeded to explain what had happened in the station the past few days.
"Hearing this, others' attitudes toward Van now make sense."
No wonder they were so scared of him.
As for Kim Dokja, a particular detail caught his attention.
"He knocked out Yoo Joonghyuk?"
That was impossible.
Lee Jihye nodded her head.
"I didn't believe it either, but I had no choice but to accept reality after seeing it a few times."
It happened many times??
Kim Dokja wondered if he was dreaming.
Maybe he was still unconscious after using the Specter's Stone but didn't realize it.
How could there be anyone stronger than Yoo Joonghyuk at this point in time?
No matter how many times he looked through Ways of Survival, there was no such character.
Then who was it? An unknown variable? The author?
…Or a reader, like him?
Gehrman Sparrow was also someone who had never show up in the original.
"I wonder what Van did before the apocalypse started," Jung Heewon pondered.
"Wasn't he a serial killer?"
Ignoring Lee Jihye's hypothesis, Yoo Sangah made a more reasonable guess.
"Maybe a policeman? There are many jobs where people are used to deal with corpses."
"Like the forensics in movies?"
"Or a butcher?" Lee Gilyoung proposed.
Kim Dokja put his hand on the boy's head.
"Wasn't he a doctor? He seemed quite knowledgeable about medicine," Jung Heewon recalled.
On the side, his team members seemed to be enjoying the topic.
"He could have been a soldier."
The women looked doubtful at Lee Hyunsung's hopeful gaze. Seeing their reactions, Lee Hyunsung shrunk on himself.
"Why don't you guys ask him yourself?" Kim Dokja intervened.
However, he was ignored.
But it was true that he was also curious about Van's past. Did he have some mental barrier skill that helped him adapt to this apocalypse so quickly, or was it as his team members hypothesized?
With stars in her eyes, Lee Jihye continued, "He could have worked in the dark side of society and been involved in illegal activities. In that case, it would make sense that he doesn't answer even if we ask."
The others nodded.
"He could have been forced into it, or maybe he was abused in his childhood and got into crime, starting drugs and having to lie about his age to even get a job…"
…Weren't they getting a little too imaginative?
They then starting saying that Van had been in the mafia.
Hearing all this, Klein was increasingly glad he had already said he was a historian.
At the same time, he had also overheard another conversation where Lee Jihye had theorized that Gehrman had 'escaped from a mental asylum and pretended to be normal to blend into society again' behind his back.
Klein lampooned in his mind. At least being a mafioso sounded cool, why did Gehrman have to be an asylum escapee as his background?
From the side, Van came back to the group. Jung Heewon immediately spotted him and asked, "Van, were you a criminal in the past?"
Lenoch was dumbfounded by the question.
Apart from why were they asking and that the answer was actually 'yes', he thought about what to say for a moment.
"…"
The prolonged silence made everyone have different thoughts.
'No way… right?'
"…I was joking."
In the end, Jung Heewon backed down first and Van never answered.
Kim Dokja stared at Van for a few seconds.
…It couldn't be that he was really a criminal, right?
Actually, the main reason Van didn't straight up lie was due to an incident with Yoo Joonghyuk before. He was thus aware of the existence of 'Lie Detection'.
Lee Jihye had been asking him about personal information, and he was making small talk with her (by lying about the information in question) when her master had suddenly activated the skill.
It was a relief that he had only been caught lying about his age. At most, Lee Jihye now thought he had claimed being older than he actually is.
Lee Jihye ran up to him.
"Van, is there someone you like?"
Maybe because he was stronger than her master, once her initial wariness had passed, she had been bombarding him with personal questions.
This attitude reminded her of the mercenaries in his old world so he didn't dislike it, but the problem was that she was quite focused on finding out gossip about him.
Particularly love gossip.
She had tried the same with Yoo Joonghyuk, but the man had put a wall immediately, so she soon gave up and turned her attention to Van.
"It doesn't matter if you like men."
Jung Heewon choked.
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' watches with interest.]
Lee Jihye was also sponsored a few coins for asking this question.
Van finally responded to Lee Jihye, "I don't like men."
"You can't know unless you fall in love. So was there actually someone you like? Who is it? Did you get dumped because you were addicted to smoking?"
This girl seemed bored.
Van had the best remedy for it.
"If you have enough free time to think about my love life, you should train. I'm sure Yoo Joonghyuk will be delighted to hear you want to increase your training's intensity."
Lee Jihye groaned and shut up.
Three seconds later, she opened her mouth again.
"But Gehrman looks so intimidating. You didn't kill anyone before the apocalypse, right?"
The person in question deliberated a little but chose to speak up. Anyway, he had already said he was a historian.
"No."
Klein didn't want to deal with the headache of having the group speculating behind his back if he didn't answer like Van. It was better to slowly earn their trust by building Gehrman's personality in a slightly different direction.
[The skill 'Lie Detection Lv.2' has determined that this statement is false.]
Silence fell over the group.
Belatedly, Kim Dokja noticed that Yoo Joonghyuk had arrived behind Lee Jihye.
That's how Klein also fell victim to the Lie Detection skill due to ignorance.
Everyone's gazes were focused on Gehrman, some even taking a step back.
Watching the scene, Lenoch—who had killed far more than one person before the apocalypse—observed their reactions, a cigarette in hand.
If they were so startled just by learning that Gehrman had been a murderer, it was a good thing that they didn't know his own kill count.
Meanwhile, Klein felt wronged. At least, he had never killed any innocent person.
…But it was true that he had killed people.
He resolved himself to speak only half-truths from now on to not be caught again.
Some looked like they had their suspicions resolved.
[The constellation, 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon', says he knew it from the beginning.]
[The constellations have sponsored you 800 coins.]
Lee Gilyoung also nodded, having expected it.
Kim Dokja watched on, not knowing how to react.
Should he be surprised, amused, or scared that such a person was with them?
But in a way, weren't most people murderers due to the first scenario now that the apocalypse had started?
Having been one of the people who didn't have the luck of having insects in the first scenario, Jung Heewon was the first to brush it off.
As for Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah, who had yet to kill anyone, their faces were pale.
"Hmm…"
Shin Yoosoung stirred from her sleep, interrupting their thoughts.
Then, Yoo Joonghyuk, who had come for Lee Jihye, spoke up first.
"Follow me."
Lee Jihye left with Yoo Joonghyuk.
Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah still occasionally glanced toward Gehrman.
Maybe feeling their gazes, the child sleeping in the madman's arms stirred again.
The group finally refocused on the scenario.
"What should we do today? Like yesterday…"
"No, not today. That only works for one day."
"Then…"
Jung Heewon's expression became dark.
However, different words from what she expected came from Kim Dokja.
"Today we will completely end the third scenario."
"Huh?"
The reader stood up and looked in Van's direction.
If the man was really stronger than the current Yoo Joonghyuk, wouldn't it be good to have him as an ally?
"Van-ssi, could I ask for your cooperation?"
Van's gaze settled on the man. The smile on Kim Dokja's face didn't exactly inspire trust.
"What will I get in exchange?"
The reader thought for a few seconds.
"5000 coins."
Van nodded.
After all, forming a connection with someone who knew about hidden green zones wouldn't be a bad thing.
Kim Dokja hid the bitterness of losing 5000 coins and explained his plan.
At the same time, he thought.
'Gehrman doesn't seem different from usual.'
His behavior toward the reader was the same. If he had noticed Kim Dokja had tried to get rid of him, the madman probably wouldn't act this way, right? Wouldn't he do something like immediately threatening him to make him spit out the truth, or kill him?
…Although Gehrman was still fixedly staring at him.
Kim Dokja avoided looking in the madman's direction and continued his explanation, pretending there was nothing wrong.
'He didn't find out…'
Right?
Kim Dokja had chills just thinking about it.