Proof of Value (1).
I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again.
Thinking that surely, this scene must be a dream.
[Ah, ah. Can you hear me? Goodness. It was a struggle because the Korean language patch wasn't installed. Everyone, you can hear me well, right?]
However, the scene before my eyes didn't change one bit.
The flickering lights of the subway, the citizens engulfed in chaos, and the strange creature floating in the air—wearing a small straw mat, covered in soft fluff, and possessing two small horns.
Everything was not fiction, but reality.
"Hey, what are you doing right now?"
[…Huh?]
"Is this a movie shoot? I have an audition, so I need to get going quickly."
[Ah, an audition. I see. People audition even at this hour. Haha. My research was lacking. I was definitely told that if I entered around 7 PM when the Euro initiates, I'd get the most followers.]
"What? What are you talking about?"
[Now, now, everyone. Please calm down and take a seat for a moment. Please listen to me, because I have something important to tell you starting now!]
There is a saying: If goodwill continues, people think it's their right.
Why did that saying suddenly come to mind?
…Ah, probably.
"Someone call the captain!"
"What are you doing without citizen cooperation right now!"
"Mom, what is that? Is it a cartoon?"
Perhaps it was because of the disgust embedded in the eyes of that goblin-like creature floating in the air.
[Haha, so noisy, really. I told you to be quiet.]
At that moment, the Dokkaebi's eyes turned red.
Simultaneously, a sound of something bursting—peo-beo-beok—was heard. Then, the man who had just been grumbling about needing to go to an audition twisted his body and slumped onto the floor.
It was because a large hole had suddenly been bored into his forehead.
[This is not a movie shoot. It's not a dream, it's not a novel, and it's not the reality you knew. Do you understand? So everyone shut up and listen to me.]
Along with the Dokkaebi's words, the heads of the citizens began to explode one by one.
Among them was the one who said to call the captain, and the one who talked about citizen cooperation.
-Splatter—!!
-Drip, drip….
Something soaked my pant leg and slowly rolled down.
Just seconds ago. It was that young child who had pointed at the Dokkaebi and asked his mother a question with an innocent face, who was alive just moments before.
"Ah, sh*t."
Seeing someone's corpse for the first time in my life.
Smelling someone's blood for the first time in my life.
Feeling the temperature of the blood scattered by someone for the first time in my life.
From one to ten, everything was unpleasant, but for some reason, because of that feeling of familiarity, I frowned and quietly cursed.
"Huuu…, fuuu…."
[Everyone, life must have been quite good until now!]
Leaving the Dokkaebi, who was spouting more words, in the background, I quietly began to take deep breaths.
Even though a middle-aged man, who perhaps hadn't seen the scene just now properly or simply had guts spilling out of his belly, started talking back to the Dokkaebi, I ignored that too and began to calm my body, which was becoming increasingly excited.
-Thump, thump…!!
My heart beat as if it were about to burst.
Cold sweat flowed down my forehead as if I had been soaked in rain.
And for some reason, the corners of my mouth kept creeping up.
All of it.
After a moment of effort, did all my physical reactions return to normal?
-Ring!
[Channel #BI-7623 has opened.]
[The Constellations are entering.]
Once again, a majestic scene that could not be believed by two eyes unfolded.
[The Main Scenario has arrived!]
[Main Scenario #1]
Kill one or more living things.
Category: Main
Difficulty: F
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Reward: 300 Coins
Failure: Death
[Then, good luck everyone. Please show me an interesting story.]
-Flash!
With those words, the Dokkaebi vanished in a flash of light.
But that is not what's important.
What matters is the blue window floating right in front of my eyes.
Its appearance is similar to the quest window in games I used to play. The content as well.
However, since all of this is approaching as reality and not anything else, the feeling is completely different.
It feels as if my body, which had barely calmed down, is heating up like iron being struck by a blacksmith.
"…Quest window. Game. If that's the case…."
Just in case, I pushed through the confused citizens towards the corner, leaned against the wall, and muttered cautiously.
Status window, skill window, status, trait window….
[Activating Attribute Window.]
Got it, it was the Attribute Window.
Name: Kang Yuhyeon (姜遺玄)
Age: 23
Sponsor (Backing Star): None
Exclusive Attribute: Jujutsu Sorcerer (Rare)
Exclusive Skill: [Shrine LV.1]
Stigma: None
Overall Stats: [Physique LV.6], [Strength LV.6], [Agility LV.6], [Magic Power LV.8]
"…Hmm."
The overall stats are all in the single digits; I don't know yet if that's good or bad.
Leaving that aside, what are this 'Jujutsu Sorcerer' and 'Shrine' (Mizushi)?
I began to fall into deep thought.
"Have you all calmed down? Please pay attention to me for a moment!"
Even as a soldier tried to calmly settle the citizens.
[Everyone, I told you. This isn't a prank like a terror attack!!]
Even as the Dokkaebi, distorting its face while mocking such people, reduced the time limit.
"…Good, I completely understand the Jujutsu Sorcerer attribute."
Fortunately, when I focused on the keyword 'Jujutsu Sorcerer' and recalled it in my mind, information about that attribute mysteriously began to drift in.
Replacing the Magic Power in the Attribute Window with Cursed Energy, and the fact that negative emotions influence that Cursed Energy…. It was quite interesting.
"…By the way, what on earth is this 'Shrine'?"
'Shrine'—a process much more difficult than acquiring information about the Jujutsu Sorcerer.
If 'Jujutsu Sorcerer' was basic common sense like addition and subtraction, 'Shrine' was like learning a major subject at a university.
But if there is one fortunate thing, it is that among them, I definitely understood 'Dismantle' (Kai/解).
The chant is: Scale of the Dragon (龍鱗), Recoil (반발), Twin Meteors (한 쌍의 유성).
A technique that fires invisible slashes at high speed, cutting as if with a formless sword. That is Dismantle.
"…Should I test it out? But where should I do it…."
[Due to an additional penalty, if the first act of murder does not occur within the next 5 minutes, all living things in this carriage will be annihilated.]
At that moment, Ring-!—the scenario window updated with a sound.
Looking closely, the time limit that was 30 minutes had changed to 10 minutes.
Was that the cause?
The interior of the subway, which was already confusing enough just moments ago, began to descend into even greater chaos.
Is that all?
-Thud, thud! Smack!!
"Fck, my mood is already shtty, so why does this old hag keep sobbing and making noise! Won't you shut up?"
"S-Save me—"
"I told you to shut up, didn't I?"
A male student with impressive white hair grabbed a grandmother by her collar and began to beat her to death.
Someone is beating someone else as if to kill them.
If that scene is unfolding before one's eyes, everyone here would have learned what action they should take.
However, hardly anyone moved.
"You young bastard, doing this to an elder right now…!!"
Unexpectedly, a man who had fearlessly talked back to the Dokkaebi stopped him.
"What, old man? You want to die?"
"…What?"
"You still don't grasp the situation?"
"What kind of bullsh*t is that? You rude little punk!"
After looking the man who grabbed his left hand up and down once, the male student scoffed with a voice mixed with ridicule.
Then, pointing his finger at the ceiling of the subway, he continued.
"That, can't you see it?"
When gaze turned to where he pointed, the hologram screen turned on by the Dokkaebi was playing there.
"You still don't get it? The army isn't coming to save us. And someone has to die."
"W-What are you saying…."
"We have to choose the person who will die."
If you don't want to die, you must kill someone.
A thought that would never be tolerated in the modern 21st century began to be spat out by a male student.
But just as there was no one trying to save the dying grandmother, this time too, there was no one raising a banner of revolt against that male student.
"Of course, I know what you're thinking, old man. Kill your own kind to survive? That's something only dogs would do, right?! That's correct. But, does that apply in a situation like this? This is force majeure. If we don't kill, we die, so who can blame us?"
The male student, caught up in euphoria, frantically poured out his opinion.
At that sight, I cautiously looked around.
People who, though they hate to admit it, are agreeing. People who, tempted by his ideology, are looking around to see whom to kill.
"Think carefully. The world you all knew just ended. And in a new world, new laws are needed."
"…."
In a new world, new laws are needed.
I don't admit to everything that male student said, but I liked that one phrase very much.
Right, that is how it is.
"How long are you all just going to watch? You all want to die?"
At the male student's words, those who were standing blankly began to move gradually.
The direction was none other than towards the grandmother whom the male student was kicking.
All of them with ferocious eyes, fallen a step further into madness.
"Yeah, that bastard is right. If we stay like this, everyone dies."
"Did you all forget? Someone has to die! That way we live!"
"Ah, sh*t. I don't know anymore…."
-Smirk.
I laughed without realizing it.
But it can't be helped, can it?
Seeing those foolish figures, who would have ignored that male student's words normally, now rushing one by one to trample that grandmother simply because the situation has changed and blindly believing his words—anyone else would laugh too.
Are they even incredibly stupid?
Let's say that grandmother dies. Then, what next?
To live, one must kill one living thing. In the end, even if it's not that grandmother, other people have to die.
Then, does that mean they don't know the fact that 'that person' could be themselves?
"Well, it doesn't matter."
A world that perished overnight.
If you are stupid, you will be killed by someone, and you will become an opportunity for someone else.
In other words.
"Dismantle (解)."
-Swaaaaaah—!!!
The more stupid people there are, the more opportunities there are for me.
['First Kill' achievement unlocked!]
[You have obtained 100 Coins as an additional reward.]
[You have killed a living thing.]
[You have obtained 100 Coins as an additional reward.]
[You have killed a living thing.]
[You have obtained 100 Coins as an additional reward.]
.
.
.
"…Ha?"
"Why the face? Isn't this the scene you hoped for?"