# 040. The King’s Arrival (11)
Jaehee could feel Park Yong-pil and Kim Ji-su beside him flinch and look at him, but he didn’t care.
Watching what Kim Shin was doing made him feel foolish for all the worrying he’d done before.
No matter how stupid he might be, he couldn’t be compared to a person like that.
Just what criteria did the system use to select kings? While emphasizing how important kings were, a candidate for king was someone like that? The system’s standards were completely incomprehensible.
It would be a hundred times better for him to step up than to watch someone like that running wild claiming to be king.
“I can’t stand watching this nauseating scene anymore. Stop it! Even if you’re going to be crazy, you should be crazy in a decent way, not like you!”
A moment of silence fell. Everyone looked stunned at Jaehee’s aggressive words. Then, realizing what he’d just said, Jaehee turned pale. Especially the survivor group, who scrambled about as if they had done something wrong. When he turned his head, his eyes met Aram’s, who was staring at him with his mouth wide open. Judging by his lip movements, Aram seemed to be saying he’d lost his mind.
“Are you talking to me? Who is this? What did you say your name was?”
“Leader, his name is Shin Jaehee. He’s one of the two people who came out of the tutorial last, as I mentioned before.”
As Kim Shin frowned and pointed at Jaehee, someone beside him quickly provided the information.
“Ah, right. That’s it. Shin Jaehee. Jaehee-ssi, you seem to have a lot of complaints about me? But what can you do? Your complaints don’t mean much.”
“Oh my, young man. Don’t be disrespectful to our leader. I, I just chose the better side, that’s all. As long as my children live well, I’m satisfied.”
The old woman who had voluntarily come forward first continued to insist everything was fine while trembling. Seeing her like that made Jaehee’s blood boil. Why did that old woman have to bow her head so subserviently? And what was she so afraid of?
“Grandmother, what are you doing this for? Because he’ll accept your son as his subject? What if that’s a lie? How will you check after you’ve changed into something strange?”
“Oh my, don’t say such things. O-our leader isn’t that kind of person. Young man, please don’t do this.”
“Well, from what I can see, he looks every bit like a scammer and more. Grandmother, you shouldn’t trust guys like that so easily. What kind of world do we live in now?”
“Oh my, young man, wh-why are you doing this? Our leader is a very compassionate person, quickly apologize. Leader, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
The old woman now bowed so deeply her forehead touched the ground, as if apologizing on Jaehee’s behalf. After looking at her, Jaehee turned to face Kim Shin. Kim Shin was sitting in a large chair, enjoying this scene with a relaxed smile.
That guy was clearly a low-quality scammer. If kings weren’t being chosen on Earth, it wouldn’t be the fault of Earth’s people, but clearly the fault of the system for giving opportunities to scammers like him.
“Grandmother, no, not just the grandmother, but all survivors and even the Doomsday Cult members, please think carefully. Don’t you think this ‘Doom Baptism’ is just a show, a trap set with bait to catch prey? If discarding the human body through the Doom Baptism is so important, why don’t Kim Shin, that guy, and Ju Se-rin, along with the Doomsday Cult believers, receive it? If it’s such a good thing?”
“Oh my, student, I told you not to do this. Leader! He’s just a child who doesn’t know any better. Please take pity on him.”
“Everyone, think carefully. Why do they need to wave the smoke from burning those herbs for you to inhale? They talk about the Doom Baptism as if it’s some important tradition, but I think it was probably just created when this Daejeon Station dungeon appeared. Huh? Say something, scammer?”
[! Using passive skill, Oratory! ]
A notification window popped up. Jaehee snickered as he saw it. It seemed that despite being a passive skill, it activated automatically in situations like this.
Kim Shin’s expression turned grim. Seeing him like that made Jaehee laugh.
He hadn’t noticed when thinking about it too complexly. He had thought that clearing the dungeon, rescuing people, and dealing with the Doomsday Cult were all separate problems to solve.
But watching what Kim Shin was doing made him increasingly perplexed. At first, he just thought it was bizarre and puzzling, but soon he began to wonder why they were putting on such a show. Then he made an assumption.
[Instant Dungeon (S-Rank): Daejeon Station (Temporary owner: Dawn of Whispers)
Shares in Daejeon Station by contribution: Dawn of Whispers 90%, Dark Night 8%, Earth 2%
Note: With shares exceeding 90%, Dawn of Whispers has become the owner of the dungeon.]
Jaehee called up the system window he hadn’t checked since entering the dungeon. Seeing the changed shares, he snickered. Everything was so predictable. He hadn’t thought this far before. He had thought, surely a human wouldn’t do that. But humans always seemed to exceed his expectations.
“I just checked the system window and something strange has happened. Even though we haven’t done anything since entering the dungeon, a particular constellation’s share has risen dramatically, creating a temporary owner of the dungeon. But this owner isn’t the constellation that had the highest share when I first entered the dungeon. Isn’t it amazing how a dungeon’s contribution rate could rise so suddenly in such a short time?”
“Huh? That’s true… What’s going on?”
Park Yong-pil and Kim Ji-su must have checked their system windows too, as they looked shocked. Kim Shin’s face hardened. Jaehee quite liked seeing that arrogant expression wiped from his face.
“I wonder what could have happened for one constellation’s contribution to rise so high that it reversed the standings? And everyone, did you know this? Although king candidates are selected by the system, there are actually other ways to become king.”
People stirred at the sudden mention of kings. Kim Shin stood up, flustered. Seeing him fluster made Jaehee feel delighted. That human was nothing special, yet he had been acting like a king, no, like a god.
“We still don’t know much about kings. Most of you know that kings are selected by the system. But there isn’t just one way to become a king. However, not many people seem to know about that. Is anyone interested in learning about this method with me today?”
Jaehee stood up and approached Kim Shin. Even the Doomsday Cult members whispered among themselves as they saw Kim Shin flustered.
Jaehee could barely contain his laughter at the sight of Kim Shin.
Despite being of such limited caliber, he had been so arrogant.
If it had been Jeongwoo, he wouldn’t have shown any reaction no matter what Jaehee said.
In the end, this person called Kim Shin was just that kind of person.
Yet with such limited capacity, he treated others like livestock and used them as his tools. It was utterly disgusting.
Jaehee opened his clenched fist and then closed it again. In the process, a solid knife appeared in his previously empty hand. Some of the survivors watching Jaehee gasped at the sight. Although Awakened Ones had been around for several months, they were still rare encounters for ordinary people. Most only saw their activities through TV broadcasts. Seeing such an impossible sight in reality was not just fascinating but even frightening.
“Why are you so scared when we haven’t even started yet? How about changing your surname to병 (Byeong)? I think that would be a name that suits you perfectly.”
“You bastard…!”
Kim Shin’s face turned bright red with excitement at Jaehee’s crude provocation. Jaehee chuckled at the sight. Looking at him again, this person called Kim Shin was not suited to be a king. Kim Shin was a deficient person. When a deficient person gained power, he started doing bad things.
Jaehee calmly assessed his own condition. He was surprisingly calm, even to himself.
His anger toward Kim Shin was cold rather than hot. Despite wanting to beat him to death right away, his mind was working coolly.
“You’ve all been deceived. King? How could that sort of person be a king? Everyone, come to your senses. He’s just a traitor, a traitor to humanity.”
“What are you talking about! You, it’s too late for an apology now. I won’t let you off easy.”
“That’s what I’ve been waiting for. Bring it on.”
