Coins holders (2)

Zhou Mingrui blinked.

"You know her?"

Yoo Jonghyuk paused and slowly turned to the Lord of Mysteries. 'Her'? As expected, Kim Dokja couldn't be here.

"What?"

Cale also wondered if he had mistaken the man's gender and apologized to 'Kim Dokja'.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were a man."

"…?"

Zhou Mingrui was confused.

Yoo Jonghyuk interrupted them and questioned the Lord of Mysteries.

"Why are you calling him 'her'?"

"Huh?"

'Wasn't she a woman?'

The pillar of the universe began to realize that something was wrong.

"Doesn't she obviously look like a woman?"

Yoo Jonghyuk narrowed his eyes.

"Describe her."

Confused, Zhou Mingrui absentmindedly told them was he was seeing.

"She is a beautiful woman with short black hair that just reaches her shoulders, a beauty mark underneath one eye… Is anything wrong?"

His voice got lower as the regressor's gaze became sharper and sharper.

'Kim Dokja', whose cover was just blown: Thank you for at least calling me beautiful…?

Yoo Jonghyuk glared at 'Kim Dokja' with murderous intent.

"Han Sooyoung."

'Kim Dokja', who was apparently one of Han Sooyoung's avatars with a disguised appearance, backed away.

"What are you doing here?" The regressor menacingly continued.

Cale and Zhou Mingrui (+Sharron) stepped away to let the protagonist and the writer spend some time alone (with one trying to murder the other) when suddenly, Han Sooyoung realized that her flag had disappeared due to a system message.

Nothing was going her way today.

The intermediate dokkaebi's voice was heard.

[Someone has already fulfilled the requirements for the first qualification. Once again, this is interesting.]

[After a while, the requirements of the second qualifications will be revealed.]

Zhou Mingrui and Cale silently watched Yoo Jonghyuk and Han Sooyoung's battle.

"Shouldn't we stop their fight?" Cale queried.

"Would you prefer fighting Yoo Jonghyuk in her stead?" Zhou Mingrui retorted.

"You have a point."

Then, Yoo Jonghyuk swung his sword at Han Sooyoung's head.

'Isn't this going a bit far-'

And decapitated her.

'…'

'How vicious.'

Cale frowned.

Suddenly, the head began talking.

"Hey! Did you really have to cut off my head?!"

The two were speechless.

Yoo Jonghyuk glared at the talking head. As he thought, this wasn't her main body.

"Explain."

"Shit, what do I have to explain?! You're the one who died and regressed! I can do what I want."

'Regressed?' Cale and Zhou Mingrui thought.

Zhou Mingrui now knew what the protagonist's secret was. He was a regressor.

"But why are you here in this round?" Yoo Jonghyuk argued.

The head silently stared at the regressor.

At that moment, the dokkaebi's voice resounded.

[From now on, the second qualification test will begin!]

+

[King's Qualification]

1. 「 The owner of the throne should be braver than anyone else. 」

-The Absolute Throne never wants a 'weak king'. To challenge the throne, you must own at least a black flag.

2. 「 He who dreams of the throne must desire it. 」

-The number of 'kings' that can challenge the throne is decided. In order to gain the right to challenge it, you must remove the other kings around you.

+

The intermediate dokkaebi laughed.

[Please note that only five kings can challenge the final qualification of the Absolute Throne. The remaining number is… let's see.]

[Number of kings remaining: 12.]

The people started murmuring.

"T-twelve?"

"Are there still kings here?"

Yoo Jonghyuk left the head and slayed a king to complete his brown flag.

[The number of remaining kings has been reduced.]

[Number of kings remaining: 11.]

[Your brown flag has absorbed the cumulative achievements of the black flag.]

[Your brown flag has evolved into a black flag.]

[You are able to use the perks of the black flag.]

[Congratulations! You have completed the first king's qualification.]

"Damn it! Don't leave me here! You could at least kill me!"

However, the head was mercilessly ignored.

Suddenly, Yoo Jonghyuk paused.

[Number of kings remaining: 10.]

The signboard in the air changed.

[Number of kings remaining: 9.]

However, it wasn't his doing.

Yoo Jonghyuk's gaze scanned the crowd, searching for the culprit who had caused this anomaly. Was Han Sooyoung acting up again?

However, it wasn't Han Sooyoung.

The head stared at the decreasing count while thinking that Yoo Jonghyuk should be responsible for this.

Zhou Mingrui, Sharron on his shoulder, and Cale also stared at the decreasing count.

[Number of kings remaining: 8.]

"W-What?"

"Why is the number dwindling suddenly?"

None of the variables were responsible for this anomaly, so who was it?

Somewhere, someone shouted:

"For the lord!"

[Number of kings remaining: 7.]

"There is someone. Someone is killing the kings!"

[Number of kings remaining: 6.]

Yoo Jonghyuk decided to swung his sword and killed the remaining king, putting an end to the massacre.

[Number of kings remaining: 5.]

The intermediate dokkaebi appeared at this moment.

[The 'Last King's Qualification' has begun.]

The bodies of the remaining kings started to be forcibly moved through space.

Zhou Mingrui, who had used the Error Pathway's abilities to steal Han Sooyoung's black flag earlier, was also included.

[The qualified kings will move to the final testing place.]

A message popped up as a king's qualification was added.

+

[King's Qualification]

1. 「 The owner of the throne should be braver than anyone else. 」

-The Absolute Throne never wants a 'weak king'. To challenge the throne, you must own at least a black flag.

2. 「 He who dreams of the throne must desire it. 」

-The number of 'kings' that can challenge the throne is decided. In order to gain the right to challenge it, you must remove the other kings around you.

3. 「 A single king stands alone without any help. 」

-The king who can challenge the throne must be able to prove his strength with just his body.

+

[From now on, all kings can't receive the support of their sponsor.]

[From now on, the attack and defense of all items will be limited.]

[From now on, all skills, stigmas and special item options will be sealed.]

[From now on, the total stats of all kings will change to 10/10/10/10/10.]

[The Last King's Qualification will continue until one person is left.]

In the king's battlefield, Zhou Mingrui was separated from Sharron and scanned the other kings' faces. After all, Sharron didn't meet the qualifications to be transported to that place.

The people present there were:

King of Deceit Zhou Mingrui.

Supreme King Yoo Jonghyuk.

Hermit King of Shadows Han Donghoon.

Neutral King Jeon Ildo.

[The Neutral King has abstained from fighting for the throne.]

His gaze swept over the two unfamiliar faces when he arrived at the last one.

The anomaly who had killed the kings instead of Yoo Jonghyuk.

Zhou Mingrui froze.

The stunning blond woman also noticed him and smiled. She lifted the hems of her skirt and bowed.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~."

Her joy was evident in her tone as she finally saw her god after a long time.

…Hypnotist King Audrey Hall.

[The Hypnotist King has abstained from fighting for the throne.]

[The Hermit King of Shadows has abstained from fighting for the throne.]

The young man with dark brown eyes and short black hair, who was covered by an invisible layer of gray fog and still appeared mysterious as he stood barefoot, stared at the noble lady.

"What are you doing here?"

Miss Justice smiled.

"I merely followed the guidance of a gold coin you left to one of your angels."

Zhou Mingrui still didn't move, staring fixedly at the lady with smooth blond hair and emerald eyes.

The gem of Backlund.

The noble lady, Audrey Hall.

Miss Justice of the Tarot Club.

…Someone who died in the war.

Was she reincarnated here?

Apparently, it wasn't the case. How could she receive a gold coin from one of his angels if she was dead in the first place?

His heart tightened as he forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Is anything wrong?" The noble lady worriedly inquired.

Zhou Mingrui was trying hard to ignore the possibility that was gradually appearing in his mind.

A world with 'her' was a world without Audrey Hall.

…Then, was a world where Audrey Hall was alive a world where 'she' didn't exist?

Zhou Mingrui was trying to forget the dreadful possibility. However, he couldn't help but open his mouth to say the question he hadn't dared to ask Sharron before.

Using his clown abilities to maintain his image as a lofty god, he spoke in a calm tone.

"Miss Justice…"

Audrey stared back at her god politely, eagerly awaiting his next words.

"…"

At some point, Zhou Mingrui wasn't able to remember 'her' name.

"…Have you met Miss Devil?"

As if it was a casual question, Zhou Mingrui repressed his fear. However, the answer arrived instantly.

"No."

Zhou Mingrui felt something shatter in his mind.

"Mr. Fool, who is Miss Devil? Is she one of your angels?"

As always, Miss Justice curiously inquired.

After a brief pause, Zhou Mingrui calmly answered, hiding his emotions.

"Yes, that's it."

Audrey thoughtfully nodded, wondering if they should add her in the Fool's Holy Bible.

Then, Zhou Mingrui added.

"However, don't call me Mr. Fool. Here, my name is Zhou Mingrui."

Audrey acknowledged his words and respectfully replied:

"I understand, Mr. Zhou Mingrui."

Zhou Mingrui forced himself to focus on the present situation. He could think about Miss Devil later.

He turned to Yoo Jonghyuk who was looking at them. He was the only one who still hadn't abstained from the throne.

Zhou Mingrui followed his spiritual intuition and ended the scenario.

[The King of Deceit has abstained from the throne.]

[Congratulations! You have passed all the tests of the Absolute Throne.]

The ward in the air slowly disappeared.

[The temporary stats added by the coins are reset.]

[All constraints on the kings have disappeared.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is amazed by the interesting development.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is awaiting your choice.]

Then, Yoo Jonghyuk broke the absolute throne and reunited with his sister who was unexpectedly waiting for him there. He had become the king of a kingless word and his first story bloomed.

"Yoo Mia, what are you doing here?"

"Someone told me to wait here for you. I'm hungry."

However, their short reunion was interrupted by the voice of a dokkaebi.

[A world with no kings? Okay. Let's try it once. I will see how well you can survive without a focal point.]

The intermediate dokkaebi flicked his finger. Then the people in Gwanghwamun started to disappear like smoke. People screamed and ran away.

"What? What is this all of a sudden?!"

Yoo Jonghyuk held Yoo Mia tightly in his arms before disappearing and being moved elsewhere.

[10,000 coins have been earned as settlement for the fourth scenario.]

The two were sent to their old home.

The people in Gwanghwamun were moved to places they had an association with. That's why Lee Jihye was at a school, Cale was at an orphanage and Zhou Mingrui appeared in a subway.

Staring blankly at the destroyed buildings outside the window, Zhou Mingrui didn't move for a while.

Behind the scenes:

Before the end of the scenario, Xin Jian, who wanted to change her job into a head bodyguard, picked up Han Sooyoung's head. Then, she told Yoo Mia to wait for her brother there and left.

"Hello, Han Sooyoung. My name is Xin Jian. Why don't we have a talk?"

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is interested by this development.]

Xin Jian was silent for a moment.

'…No, seriously, why did you tell me that Secretive Plotter was Yoo Jonghyuk?!'

「…」

The Oldest Dream didn't answer.