An in-depth study of Gehrman (1)

Unexpectedly, Yoo Jonghyuk took the people Zhou Mingrui had saved with him once they had crossed the bridge. (Fortunately, it seemed that the regressor did not have time to try to kill Zhou Mingrui this time).

The group then headed in another direction than where the station was, leaving him behind, and Zhou Mingrui took this opportunity to stack up food at nearby convenience stores.

Two days after the end of the first scenario, Zhou Mingrui came back to the familiar 'Exit 4' leading to Geumho Station and forced it open.

There, ten men with pipes were attracted by the sound and shone their flashlight on the store bags he was carrying.

"Leave that to us. Then you can live."

After some remarks from these guys that passed through one ear and went through the other, an interesting message appeared.

[A bounty scenario has occurred at the request of the constellations!]

+

[Bounty Scenario – Remove the Interference]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: The constellations feel great anger at the disruptors who are obstructing your rapid movements. Neutralize them within the time limit.

Time Limit: 5 minutes.

Compensation: ???

Failure: ???

+

"It looks like he won't give it. Hey, go ahead and kill him!"

Since the constellations had so nicely asked him to do so—I mean, as an ordinary person merely defending himself against a whole group when he was alone, he put on some gloves (the Error uniqueness), took out a cane (which also was coincidentally the Door uniqueness) and lightly beat up the gangsters who wanted to steal the food he had picked up on the way.

Tang! Kaaang!

Puok! Puok!

Lightly. Only enough to leave them half-dead.

After all, it was only polite.

Why else would ordinary people charge at the Lord of Mysteries other than having a death wish?

Ah, right, they didn't know his true strength.

Then they should've been prepared to die if they wanted to kill someone.

[The constellations have sponsored you 100 coins.]

A little bonus also came with it.

[You have met the conditions to clear the sub scenario.]

[You have earned 300 coins.]

[The constellation 'Monarch of the Small Fries' is satisfied and has sponsored you 100 coins.]

His cane disappearing, Zhou Mingrui then picked up the convenience store bags he had put down and joined the people inside.

The others' attention turned to him as the appearance of someone coming in with bags full of food was quite unusual. Some time after, their leader, Cheon Inho, also came forward accompanied by his group of thugs.

"Nice to meet you. Can I ask what your name is?"

"It's Zhou Mingrui."

"Zhou Mingrui. I see. I am Cheon Inho. I heard the story from the others. You fought a monster and saved my group members."

…What?

Zhou Mingrui was surprised.

He hadn't really paid attention to the situation at Geumho Station until now and didn't know Cheon Inho's personality.

The lord of mysteries was in disbelief after hearing that bullshit.

"Everyone, please gather! We have a brave new group member!"

That man was indeed skilled with his words.

Hearing Cheon Inho's words, people started to turn this way one by one.

But did he really think he could get out of this situation uninjured after provoking the Lord of Mysteries?

Zhou Mingrui made a cold smile.

'Let them come.'

Cheon Inho didn't know that the presence of other people could be a double-edged sword to him.

Even though he hadn't observed everything in detail before, Zhou Mingrui still had a very basic grasp of the situation, and it was enough.

"Wah! It is food!"

It was time for Zhou Mingrui to let his Gehrman persona resurface.

Hungry eyes fell on the convenience store bags, then Cheon Inho spoke as if he had been waiting.

"He delivered it exactly to us. He is a rare good person."

Zhou Mingrui kept on the smile that didn't reach his eyes as everyone looked at him like he was a savior.

"Welcome to Geumho Station, Zhou Mingrui."

Cheon Inho was laughing deeply while gazing at him and shook Zhou Mingrui's hand.

Now, Zhou Mingrui was a relatively calm person.

As he had said to his sister, 'a true professor can communicate gently and politely, but he can also educate the other person using the principles of physics by raising a cane to convince someone when there is an obstacle in communication.'

And in this situation, it was obvious that there was an obstacle in communication.

Zhou Mingrui released Cheon Inho's hand and his smile disappeared.

Then, abiding by his values, he kicked the people around him and made them fall to the ground by the sheer strength of a Great Old One.

'It's indeed refreshing to beat up people with my bare fists once in a while…'

After thinking dangerous thoughts (for the others, not for him), Zhou Mingrui sat on the piled up boxes of food next to him and turned his gaze to Cheon Inho.

The icy eyes devoid of any emotions seemed to look down on him. It was as if they didn't belong to a human being but to a higher existence that was staring at insignificant bugs.

As he met that gaze, a shiver ran down Cheon Inho's spine and the temperature seemed to decrease by several degrees.

Maybe, just maybe, he had provoked an existence he couldn't afford to antagonize.

Cheon Inho snapped out of his trance. He had to think of a plan to get out of this situation now that his subordinates were on the ground.

However, the mere stare of that man prevented him from moving.

Then, Zhou Mingrui's indifferent voice resounded.

Sitting cross-legged on the boxes, the man coldly looked down at them and addressed Cheon Inho.

"Kneel."

Cheon Inho gritted his teeth.

He could read between the lines, so he knew what choices he was presented with.

Obeying this order may be the only way for him to survive, but it would also mean that he gave up being the leader of this station.

***

After making Cheon Inho submit to him and distributing the food in his possession, the next days were quite peaceful.

At least, that is until the fourth main scenario began.

When the flag appeared, Zhou Mingrui took it, thus becoming the representative of the station.

Even though he had abolished the concepts of 'main group' and 'marginalized group' before, he could now keep everyone under control simply by using the authority of the flag and be sure that Cheon Inho's group wouldn't act up.

"Do you need anything?" Cheon Inho reluctantly asked, trying to keep a friendly smile on his face.

Zhou Mingrui shook his head. Now that he had the flag, he was finished here.

"I'm going to leave the station. I'll leave the role of representative to you."

He glanced at Cheon Inho.

"I trust you will take care of it well while I'm away."

Cheon Inho already knew that he wouldn't be able to beat Zhou Mingrui even if everyone in the station joined forces, so he agreed.

Anyway, this wasn't a bad deal for him either since he could be in a position of power.

Cheon Inho bowed his head, a fake smile still on his face.

"Have a good trip, representative-nim."

He then watched as Zhou Mingrui left the station.

Due to his knowledge of the previous rounds, the Lord of Mysteries had changed his appearance to Gehrman's to not be recognized by the regressor who passionately tried to murder him as if he had killed his lover of something.

It couldn't be only because he was too strong and that made him dangerous, right?

Zhou Mingrui, now Gehrman, shook his head, thus committing the crime of being ooc.

Thankfully, nobody was looking at him at that moment (if you ignore a few constellations, the Oldest Dream and Xin Jian).

Actually, he hadn't used this appearance until now because he thought it would be quite awkward to be called 'Gehrman Sparrow' here. Now, he hesitated whether he should think of another name to give to the people here if he had to introduce himself.

Maybe 'Gehrman Moretti', or 'Klein Sparrow'? Or should he behave so coldly that he doesn't even have to introduce himself? But that wouldn't be polite…

After neutralizing the specters on the way and arriving at the end of the tunnel, Zhou Mingrui entered Chungmuro Station.

He looked around and realized that, since he arrived quite late, Sharron had already left. Yoo Jonghyuk wasn't there either.

He didn't know if he should be relieved about it or not.

As he leaned on the wall, Gehrman noticed a familiar person out of the corner of his eye.

(Gehrman: ???)

He unnoticeably made a divination to check if it was really him as that person approached.

That man looked young, had a medium build with blond short hair that was split seventy-thirty and a pair of emerald-green eyes.

Xin Jian blinked.

"Hey, isn't this the pervert who harrassed me sexually?"

The Oldest Dream nodded.

"It is."

The man approached Gehrman.

"Anderson Hood?"

Anderson Hood, who had unknowingly been branded as a pervert by Xin Jian, greeted Gehrman with a smile.

"Gehrman, it's been a while. What are you doing here?"

The Lord of Mysteries wanted to ask him the same question.