Omniscient Reader 28 Episode 7 – Landlord 1

We followed Lee Jihye and entered Chungmuro. Yoo Sangah saw the shattered screen door of the platform and said, "…It is a chaotic atmosphere."

As we climbed up from the tracks of railway line 3, we saw some people sitting down.

[You have entered Chungmuro.]

[The third scenario is currently in progress.]

[#GIR-8761 channel is active.]

[#BIR-3642 channel is active.]

From Chungmuro onward, the size of the scenario grew and the dokkaebi channels increased. That naive Bihyung would have a hard time from now on. Some middle-aged people saw us and waved their hands. "Oh, little samurai. You brought new people?"

"Yes." 'A samurai.' I guess Lee Jihye could be called that if the sponsor behind her wasn't known. Sooner or later, they would be punished. Lee Jihye frowned at the middle-aged people. "Are you drunk again?"

"Hahahat! What is there to do other than drink when the world has become like this?"

The middle-aged people seemed relaxed, unlike those who were experiencing a disaster. It was natural since they were wearing the uniform of soldiers. This was definitely different from Gumho Station. It was truly beginning now.

"But did your friends come through the tunnel? How great… Won't they have a lot of coins?"

Then one of the middle-aged men turned to Yoo Sangah. "Young lady over there, what is your name? Would you like to rent a room for cheap?"

"…Room?"

"Haha, you don't know the system here yet? This place―"

Lee Jihye cut off the middle-aged man's words. "Ajuss.h.i.+s. Don't try to trick the newcomers."

"Uhuh, they must know anyway. This is what everyone is doing to live…"

"If you don't want to be injured, then get lost."

The middle-aged man paled at Lee Jihye's words. "This… young child has already learned bad things."

"Hey, Kang-ssi. Stop it."

The middle-aged people turned away. They disappeared into transit line 4, and Lee Jihye put away her sword.

"I brought you here, so take care from now on. I'm not a babysitter," this child spoke so indifferently.

I looked around. Chungmuro—this was the stage of the third scenario, where completely different rules were in play.

"S-s.h.i.+t! I'll kill you if you come close…" A man was in the middle of the platform for subway line 3, waving a knife around and threatening people. At his feet was a tile that was 1 pyeong (3.306 m2) in size. It emitted a green light that stretched into the air.

Yoo Sangah asked, "…Why is he doing that?"

"I don't know." I could guess but there was no need to scare her just now. There were many people sitting down with a knife on subway line 3. Unlike the previous middle-aged men, the faces of the people here were filled with despair. I glanced at them and asked Lee Jihye, "Is Yoo Jonghyuk here?"

Lee Jihye, who was about to leave, turned her head at 'Yoo Jonghyuk.' There was vigilance in her eyes. "…Who are you?"

Yoo Jonghyuk had already ruined this child. Well, I could understand. It was difficult to find a constellation on the level of Maritime War G.o.d, even if he searched through all of South Korea. If I were in Yoo Jonghyuk's position, I wouldn't have found her so soon after coming to Chungmuro.

"I am a companion of Yoo Jonghyuk who came back alive."

"…Companion? How is that possible?" Lee Jihye stared at me with suspicious eyes.

I shrugged shamelessly. "That guy will understand if you tell him. Where is Yoo Jonghyuk now?"

"…Master isn't here right now."

"Really? This is difficult. I have something I need to say."

Lee Jihye's expression distorted as she stared at me with something like feelings of betrayal. Ah, I knew very well what she thought of Yoo Jonghyuk. Moreover, she was already addressing him as 'Master'… It will be difficult to get her this way. Lee Jihye called out to a boy squatting in the corner, "Hey, over there!"

"Eh? Yes, yes!"

"Watch over these people right here! I'm going to find Master."

The boy looked at us with puzzled eyes. "…Who are they?"

"I don't know. Master's friends?"

At Lee Jihye's words, the eyes of the people on the platform became bigger. They looked at us with amazement and awe.

"…Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi's friends?!" The boy ran up to us and exclaimed. It was a boy who looked roughly around Lee Jihye's age. "Are you really Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi's friends?"

I couldn't lie when I saw the boy's clear eyes. At least, that would be the case if I were an ordinary person.

"He is a good friend."

Recently, I didn't seem to be an 'ordinary' person. At least, that was the case here.

* * *

While taking care of the unconscious Jung Heewon, I heard about Chungmuro from the boy. Along with Lee Jihye, this boy was one of Yoo Jonghyuk's followers.

"…Thus, we followed Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi. Are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

Of course, I wasn't listening properly. The story of psychopath Yoo Jonghyuk's heroism wasn't interesting. The short summary was something like this.

"Three days ago, Yoo Jonghyuk appeared and saved some of you, including Lee Jihye, from the monsters. Isn't that the story?"

The boy frowned at his story being summarized so simply. "Uh, the story isn't that simple…"

He was surely spellbound by Yoo Jonghyuk. A presence with overwhelming force had rescued them suddenly. It would be strange if they didn't follow him. Yet the boy didn't know that he had survived not because Yoo Jonghyuk was a good guy but because he had been lucky to be with Lee Jihye.

"Now can I ask you a few things I am curious about?" Lee Hyunsung started asking politely while I was locked in my thoughts.

"Yes. Just ask."

"How is the food supply here?"

"That… It is a bit embarra.s.sing to say… Some people, including me, are dependent on Jihye. Jihye hunts and asks Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi to cook…"

It was unknown when he made a checklist but Lee Hyunsung took out his notes and started to write something. He really was a soldier.

"Then how is your drinking water?"

"We give food or coins to the 'Landlord Alliance' upstairs in exchange."

"…Landlord Alliance?" I sat straight up. Now the story was becoming interesting.

The boy hesitantly opened his mouth, "They are the landlords in charge of the Chungmuro area. They occupy the upper floors, and we call them the Landlord Alliance."

Chungmuro's Landlord Alliance—it was a name that appeared in Ways of Survival.

"What type of people are they?"

"Well, what should I say…" In fact, there was no need for me to ask. Perhaps, according to my expectations, one of the '10 Evils' was in Chungmuro right now. "They are just landlords."

This answer was the correct answer in a sense. They were landlords, building owners who received fixed taxes. At this moment, the quiet Lee Gilyoung opened his mouth, "Excuse me, Hyung."

"Yes?"

"I want to go to the toilet."

"Is it urgent?"

"Yes."

The timing was a bit unexpected. It was even more puzzling because Lee Gilyoung normally didn't say something like this. Then I noticed that Lee Gilyoung was standing next to a blus.h.i.+ng Yoo Sangah.

"…Excuse me, can I also go with you?"

At the moment, the image of Yoo Sangah and Jung Heewon securing secret necessities at Yaksu Station came to mind. I thought I knew what was going on, but that kid, Lee Gilyoung, quickly noticed it first. The boy overheard the conversation and said, "You need to go up to the second underground floor for the toilet, but it won't be easy to enter."

"…Has something happened?"

"Yes. I think it is better to see directly… I'm going up to, would you like to go with me?'

"Let's go." I was the one who said it. Of course, it wasn't to go to the bathroom. I had to go up and check a few things. Recently, Yoo Jonghyuk's movements were different from the 'third regression' that I knew. If so, I needed to be clear about the gap. I went up to the third underground level with my friends while carrying Jung Heewon who was still unconscious.

"Oh, I heard that there were new faces. Have you come to see the rooms?" A middle-aged man standing near the escalator for line 4 whistled.

The boy shook his head and replied, "Ah, I'm sorry. We are going upstairs…"

"Eh, too bad. Be careful." The middle-aged man waved his hands without hesitation.

Yoo Sangah watched the middle-aged man moving away and asked, "That… By the way… what exactly is the 'room'? I don't think it is the same as the room that I know."

"It is easy." The boy pointed to a square tile. The tiles were also present on the platform of line 3. They were green tiles that were 1 pyeong in size. Looking at the details, I saw something written in the air above the tile.

[Green Zone 0/1]

"The scenario name is 'green zone,' and these tiles are called rooms."

Near the tile, two men were fighting each other over the tile. It was Lee Hyunsung who asked this time, "What is that? Why are those people fighting over it?"

The boy looked a bit reluctant to answer, as if talking to us would be a threat to his survival. "You will know once you arrive at the second underground floor."

As we climbed up to the higher floors, there were more fights over rooms. The room numbers were different. There were small rooms labelled (0/1) and large rooms labelled (0/7). The latter number was probably the capacity of the room. I looked around carefully and asked, "The third underground floor to the first underground floor is all the area of the Landlord a.s.sociation?"

"…Yes. They are small forces, but the Landlord a.s.sociation has obtained most of it."

All the infrastructure of Chungmuro was located on the second and first underground floors, yet a single alliance occupied all of it.

"Yoo Jonghyuk didn't take any action? Didn't he save you?"

"That…" The boy's face became noticeably darker at my question. The boy looked sullen for a while before barely being able to speak. "He told us to stand on our own…"

I knew it. Of course, Yoo Jonghyuk would say something like this. Perhaps Yoo Jonghyuk never told them to follow him. Fascinated by the overwhelming force he displayed, they went on to have hopeful dreams. How pitiful.

Not long after, we arrived at the second underground floor. There was tension on the boy's face. "We have to be careful from here onward."

There were many more rooms on B2 than the lower levels, and there were no groups of people fighting. Instead, there were people guarding the green zones with scary eyes.

[Green Zone 7/7]

We pa.s.sed by the people and headed toward the bathrooms.

"Uh… Why stop here?"

Our pace came to a stop as we approached the last pa.s.sage to the bathroom. Like a bottleneck, dozens of people were gathered in the pa.s.sage.

"Let's go forward," I said while pus.h.i.+ng people out of the way.

"Pildu-ssi! Please accept it! I won't do it again! Please, please! Please let me stay one more day. I'll go into debt to get the coins!" The leader at the head of the line was facing the agitated people.

"Now now, back off. Back off." On the opposite side, people who seemed to be from the Landlord a.s.sociation were gathered there. I could feel it instinctively. One of the 10 Evils was here. I tried to find the '10 Evils' member through the novel's description, but it wasn't easy since all of them seemed to fit. Did their impressions become similar after becoming landlords?

I was shaking my head when someone grabbed my leg. It was Lee Gilyoung. I sensed some danger and was about to grab his shoulder when someone pushed Lee Gilyoung.

"Ah." Lee Gilyoung lost his balance and fell down.

[The character 'Lee Gilyoung' has invaded private property!]

Suddenly, the atmosphere became cold, and some of the 'Landlord a.s.sociation' members in the front looked at Lee Gilyoung.

"What is with this child?"

At almost the same time, the crowd of people screamed and withdrew.

"Crazy!"

"B-Back! Quickly!"

As if they were never there, the crowd of people rushed back like a tide. The people disappeared, and red lines shone where they used to be standing. One man looked between the boundary and Lee Gilyoung in turn. "Hrmm. You seem lost. Do you know where this is?"

"The way to the bathroom?"

"The bathroom? Haha, at one time. By the way, that kid… Where are your parents?"

"…Huh?"

"Didn't you learn that you shouldn't intrude on other people's land?"

Other people's land…

Oh, it must be true. The man stroked Lee Gilyoung's head with an unknown look.

"Since you don't know, I will teach you from now on."

[The character 'Gong Pildu' has activated 'Armed Zone Lv. 3!]

There was a whirring sound, and mini turrets resembling gatling guns rose from the ground.

[The character 'Gong Pildu' demands 500 coins for invading his private land.]

[If you don't follow the recommendations, all nearby turrets will fire immediately.]

The man said, "Give me money."

The loaded turrets were all aiming at the same point. The confused Lee Gilyoung stood up and moved to my side. The man saw me and laughed. "Ah, so you are his guardian. Then shouldn't the guardian pay 500 coins instead?"

I smiled at the hand that the man brazenly stretched out.

…How funny, Yoo Jonghyuk. You let these jerks go?