'…I survived.'
Thankfully, after explaining why he was acting as Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja managed to convince Gehrman Sparrow to pretend to be Kim Namwoon in exchange for money.
'My coins…'
He didn't even expect Gehrman to act well. As long as he didn't expose Kim Dokja's identity, it was alright.
Of course, he still provided information—from Ways of Survival—on Kim Namwoon's behavior patterns and appearance when Gehrman questioned him about it.
Then, Gehrman's face changed to Kim Namwoon's based on how Kim Dokja had described him.
…It was very close to the real thing.
Not knowing how Kim Namwoon looked like, the prophets would definitely be fooled by that appearance.
Kim Dokja stared at Gehrman, his mouth agape.
Of course, the prophets were definitely going to ask questions about why Gehrman's appearance suddenly changed, but Kim Dokja could make up an excuse that Kim Namwoon had been using an item because he wanted to look cooler and white hair didn't suit Lee Jihye's tastes. He was the 'Delusional Demon' after all; for people who had only read the beginning chapters, that could surely convince them.
Meanwhile, Klein was thoughtful.
He had leveled up his Faceless skill enough and unlocked the next Sequence, so keeping up an act wasn't really necessary anymore, but earning money for pretending to be Kim Namwoon would be good.
"Yoo Joonghyuk-nim. I apologize for my previous disrespect. I will greet you again. I am Jung Minseob."
The man bowed and Lee Sungkook glanced at Gehrman inquisitively.
"And this is?"
Acting out his role as the 'Delusional Demon' Kim Namwoon, Gehrman guffawed like a teenager.
"Keke. You didn't even recognize me."
Addressing Jung Minseob, he pointed at himself.
"My name is Kim Namwoon. Remember it."
Kim Dokja was stunned.
Despite the sharp contrast with his personality earlier, Lee Sungkook nodded.
He queried, "But why did you hide your appearance?"
Gehrman scratched the back of his neck and gave the practiced excuse.
"Jihye said she preferred guys with black hair. I thought the cold and intimidating kind was more her type."
The prophets were completely convinced.
'This must be Kim Namwoon.'
Lee Sungkook's doubts were solved so easily.
Meanwhile, Kim Dokja was struggling to conceal his shock.
'This.'
Gehrman's acting skills were far better than he thought.
By only following his advice, the madman could imitate the teenager so well. It was almost as if Kim Namwoon had come back to life.
Although there were occasionally inconsistencies with some details from Ways of Survival, since Gehrman hadn't read the novel and couldn't know about it, he was doing an excellent job.
Moreover, faced with prophets who had only read the early chapters, it was more than enough to fool them.
"Give me Changsin Station."
"Huh? Changsin Station…"
"It is the station right above Dongmyo. Haven't you eaten it already?"
"Ah, then Chungmuro's target station… Excuse me, Yoo Joonghyuk-nim. I'm really sorry… this is a bit difficult."
"Why?"
"The owner of Changsin Station isn't a member of our group."
"It isn't yours?"
Lee Sungkook said with a sigh, "The 'Tyrant King' has occupied it."
"…He has already become a king?"
"Captain, who is this 'Tyrant King'?" 'Kim Namwoon' asked.
Lee Sungkook supplemented, "He is one of Seoul's Seven Kings. At this point in time, he is probably the closest to the black flag and trampled on many other stations…"
Kim Namwoon cracked his knuckles and grinned.
"Then we only need to beat him."
At the sight, the reader had chills.
'I can't get accustomed to it…'
And he felt like Gehrman may really be able to win against the Tyrant King.
"It isn't that simple…"
Lee Sungkook felt Kim Dokja's gaze asking for an explanation and resumed the argument. He looked down.
"Actually… some of the prophets made a few mistakes and his power suddenly rose. In the midst of taking some prophets, he took the station… at the time, the prophets had 53 members."
Seeing Kim Dokja's expression worsen, Lee Sungkook tried to mend his mistake.
"D-Don't worry too much about it. We are preparing a powerful weapon to eliminate the Tyrant King. It isn't just the Tyrant King. It is a weapon to deal with the Twelve Apostles."
Klein listened.
'A weapon?'
Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.
And a Seer's intuition was never wrong.
"Maybe Yoo Joonghyuk-nim doesn't know it well. We worked very hard to figure out the revelations… Ah, this is good. Sooner or later, you will have a chance to see the weapon."
If only he didn't have to act as Kim Namwoon, then he would be able to do a divination. However, now he would need to wait until he was left alone to do it.
"A chance to see the weapon?"
"Tomorrow, with the exception of the Twelve Apostles, the Night of the Prophets will be held. I-If you don't mind… Yoo Joonghyuk-nim, I want you to come with us."
After the talk, they reunited with Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung and Shin Yoosoung.
They waited until the prophets left and they were alone in their accommodations before asking.
"Who is this?"
At Jung Heewon's question, the soldier also showed doubts.
"He seems familiar…"
Did he remember Kim Namwoon in the first scenario?
Kim Dokja gestured toward the madman.
"This is Kim Namwoon."
Lee Hyunsung tilted his head in confusion, but Jung Heewon recalled how Kim Dokja had called Gehrman earlier.
"Ah, I see."
Shin Yoosoung also approached Gehrman and stayed beside him as usual.
Lee Hyunsung seemed to understand.
"If you hadn't been a historian, you could have started a career in acting," Jung Heewon marveled.
[You have used the benefits of the navy flag.]
[From now on, you can use the 'group chat' with the group members.]
Afterwards, Kim Dokja finally explained the situation to the other members as he had done to Gehrman and decided that they would attack the prophets that night.
Then, he left to free Han Donghoon from his hypnosis.
***
Jung Minseob's face stiffened as he fiddled with the keyboard.
"Huh? Why is the Internet not working all of a sudden?"
"Is that brat sleeping again? Go check it out."
Jung Minseob was about to leave the tent when his body hit something. The moment he stretched out a hand.
"W-What is this…?"
Chiiiiiing!
"Aaaagh!"
Jung Minseob fell onto the ground with a scream.
"Y-Yoo Joonghyuk? How come?"
The confused Lee Sungkook stumbled while Jung Heewon poked her head in from outside the tent.
"I took care of some of them… Although there are many people, Kim Namwoon is taking care of them just fine."
It was so one-sided that she didn't even need to intervene.
"D-Don't you know what will happen if you do this? Yoo Joonghyuk, you won't be able to deal with all of us!"
"All? I don't have to deal with everyone. I just need to handle you."
This remark made Lee Sungkook's lips twitch.
"I'm sorry Yoo Joonghyuk but I can't let―"
Kudududuk!
Kim Dokja lightly swept the ether blade towards the fallen Jung Minseob and cut the armour he was wearing. Jung Minseob screamed.
"Aack!"
His flesh was torn and a piece of cloth fell out. Kim Dokja picked up the piece of cloth that had fallen out.
[You have won the flag of the 'Dongmyo Group'.]
[Your navy flag has absorbed the cumulative achievements of the navy flag.]
[Your navy flag has evolved into a brown flag.]
[A strong flag protects you.]
"You are the real representative of Dongmyo."
"H-How…?"
"No matter how stupid you guys are, you wouldn't show the flag so proudly."
Outside, the sounds of fighting had completely ceased. Gehrman must have defeated everyone.
[The remaining members of the Dongmyo Group are waiting for your decision.]
Now the guards were meaningless. The hopeless Jung Minseob stuttered. "Y-Yoo Joonghyuk! The other prophets will know this…"
"How will you let them know when the Internet doesn't work?"
Lee Sungkook cried out as he realized that all their plans were broken.
"Why… why are you doing this to us?"
"Let's see? This question is meaningless. Even if I was the 'real Yoo Joonghyuk', I wouldn't form an alliance with guys like you."
"W-What… don't tell me…?"
Kim Dokja grinned at the pale-looking duo and laughed.
"You should've read to the end."
At that moment, Jung Heewon came back to the tent.
Gehrman was finally left alone and could make a divination.
'Is there a trap… Is there a trap…'
After repeating the divination statement seven times, he got a negative result.
'Is this situation dangerous… Is this situation…'
The pendulum turned slightly counterclockwise.
'Is…'
To avoid ambiguity, he continued asking from various angles.
All in all, except if there had been interference, there should have been no problem with checking out the weapon.
"The weapon you have hidden. I will check it first," Kim Dokja stated.
"Ah, here it is."
The prophet excitedly moved to the centre of the platform and removed the cloth covering something. There was a big stone present.
"Is that a meteorite?"
Yet, why was his danger intuition now ringing alarm bells in his mind?
Gehrman had an ominous feeling.
Only high-level existences could interfere with his divination.
And since he didn't have Sefirah Castle, it wasn't impossible for the divination results to be wrong.
Kim Dokja's expression beside him progressively became colder.
"We have to get out of here."
"Huh?"
"Right now."
Then, the platform started vibrating.
"Run away!"
It was the first time Klein saw Kim Dokja show such urgency.