Chapter 196 — Landscape of the Demon World (2)

“Uwah! An exile!”

“What, how did he get in?”

The incarnations who saw me yelled.

I ran through the crowds and hid myself in the shadows of the city. Due to the exile penalty, pieces of the story fell from my body like blood. The area around my right arm and heart was stabilized from the absorption of new story fragments but the rest was different.

The incarnations probably saw this and realized I was an exile.

“Where are you going? Shouldn’t we report it?”

“Well... he will die soon. Let’s just go.”

It wasn’t strange. This wasn’t the first time they had seen an exile. They were afraid of exiles because they didn’t know what the exiles would do.

I leaned against an alley wall and the people looking at me quickly dispersed. The magic locomotive that appeared also played a role in calming the situation.

The incarnations found the locomotives covered with ominous black paint and withdrew in dismay.

“Back off! A noble is coming!”

A locomotive was running through the centre of the industrial complex. I didn’t know for certain but it seemed to be a guest from another industrial complex. Maybe a high-ranking noble of the Demon World was on board. A person as strong as Reinheit of Paradise might be riding on that locomotive.

I didn’t know what was going on but it was rushing towards the factory for some reason. The locomotive accelerated without caring there were incarnations crossing the road. The frightened commoners started grumbling.

“It looks like Gilobat’s locomotive. Hasn’t it been seen often?”

“How would I know? It is the work of the noble scum.”

“We need to know this time. There is a story that the 73rd Demon Realm is being integrated.”

It was a fairly interesting story so I focused my hearing on the drifting words.

“The Demon Realm is being integrated? Those dukes are moving their heavy asses?”

“Yes, Melledon and Bercan are moving. Won’t Syswitz be really nervous?”

At the mention of the duke who governed the 73rd Demon Realm, the other incarnations also intervened in the conversation.

“Hah! That rumour was real? But... we haven’t had a demon king ruling this realm for thousands of years?”

“Then this time, the demon king will emerge from our turf?”

Questions poured out and the incarnation who first brought it up spoke in an embarrassed manner.

“I don’t know for sure. Rumour has it that a message from an oracle is passing among the demon kings. The emergence of a new demon king...”

“The dukes seem to think they will be the one.”

I saw a similar conversation in Ways of Survival. It was time for this type of rumour to emerge. I had come at a great timing.

Demon king...

I looked at the locomotive moving away. The industrial complexes also had ranks. The ‘nobles’ were those who dominated the industrial complexes.

The ‘citizens’ were the incarnations at varying levels. The citizens who lost their stories and fell were the ‘removal slaves.’

Now there were only these three classes but the story was completely different once a demon king came.

Demon king. A ruler who governed a demon realm, a person with absolute power in one world. There was no way for the species here to disobey the demon king.

In the demon realms, the demon kings had the same powerful status as a narrative-grade constellation. Perhaps the dukes of the 73rd Demon Realm were trying to keep the emergence of such a demon king in check.

Once a demon king emerged, it was only a matter of time before the current power system collapsed.

However, a demon king must be created. It was why I came to the Demon World.

-The second piece of information. Look for the Etika Clock Store.’

A new message arrived and I raised my head to look at the sky. In the darkness, the faint energy of the wenny man could be heard. Fortunately, the wenny man wasn’t lacking common sense.

There was a saying among the dokkaebis that ‘they learned morality from a wenny man’ but this was because the dokkaebis hated the wenny men...

-There you will be able to obtain what you want.

I nodded lightly and the wenny man disappeared again.

The Etika Clock Store. It seemed the wenny man was aware of the method to get the scenario of the Demon World.

In fact, there was information on the clock store in Ways of Survival. Even so, I asked for information from the wenny man in order to not attract unnecessary attention. It was necessary to move in accordance to probability.

I looked down at my left arm that was about to break. I couldn’t get the scenario right away just because I was going to the clock store.

Instead, there was a way to alleviate the exile penalty. The Etika Clock Store was a place that existed for that purpose from the beginning.

I moved without delaying.

It wasn’t here. Not this alley.

I pulled up my collar so that the broken story wasn’t visible and ran through the alleys of the industrial complex.

However, I couldn’t find the clock store. It was natural. There was no such thing as a clock in the Demon World. Such things were only meaningful to beings with lives as short as humans.

It would’ve been easier to find if I could read Ways of Survival. There was no way to read the text file because there was no smartphone. If I knew this, I would’ve asked Bihyung to prepare a smartphone for me in advance...

In the end, should I take the risk and ask someone for the location of the Etika Clock Store?

Suddenly, someone hit me in the shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with your eyes?”

“Ah, I’m sorry...”

“So what if you’re sorry? Damn, I dropped the parts because of you! Shit!”

The person was roughly 15 years old. A beautiful young man was glaring at me with cold eyes while carrying mechanical parts.

“Uh... well, I’m sorry.”

I was wondering if it was necessary to curse but the boy spoke faster than me.

“If you’re sorry then quickly pick them up!”

I was overwhelmed by the fierce words that poured from the handsome lips and picked up the fallen parts. It felt like the old ‘Kim Dokja’ had suddenly emerged.

I guessed I picked up the parts too quickly, causing the boy to laugh. “Damn, I’ll let you off this once. Be careful next time.”

The boy took the parts, glanced at me with distinctive eyes and rushed forward again. Then why? I saw his face and felt like I had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer. It wasn’t because I was scolded by someone younger than me.

That guy...

Like every fantasy novel, there were pretty and handsome characters in Ways of Survival.

Among the pretty and handsome characters, there were those who were described as ‘equivalent to Yoo Jonghyuk.’ Kyrgios Rodgraim who I met in Peace Land was such a case.

By the way, this world contained people who were more beautiful than Kyrgios. In such cases, what expression should be used?

「The boy was so beautiful that Yoo Jonghyuk had to hit his cheeks twice. 」

In addition, this description was only attached to three people in Ways of Survival.

“I found you.”

***

There was a huge road and the entire shelf of the store was broken. Damn, this was already the third time. It was also a shelf with work on it.

Aileen, the watchmaker of Etika, suppressed a curse and asked with a calm smile. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? Shouldn’t you already know after experiencing it three times?”

“No, that’s what I want to say. What do you want from a clock store owner?”

Aileen was nervous as she confronted the two demons in front of her.

Demon Baron Melen. Demon Earl Silocke. The two demons were famous nobles in the Syswitz Industrial Complex. One of the demons laughed as he stretched out elongated arms.

“Keuk!” Aileen groaned as she was hit in the jaw.

The demon earl Silocke laughed as he carefully examined the wound left on Aileen’s white skin.

“You’re definitely not an ordinary watchmaker. However, you’re not great enough for the duke to visit three times. This isn’t three humble visits to a thatched cottage. Do you know what a ‘lying down dragon’ is?” (TL: famous episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Liu Bei recruited Zhuge Liang by visiting him three times)

“....I didn’t know who that is but didn’t I make it for you last time? This time I can’t help you.”

The air inside the clock store started to freeze. It was the power of a demon noble. Aileen trembled as her face turned pale with fright.

“What is this Aileen? Is this a personal loan?”

Someone was standing in front of the clock store. Silocke saw the young man standing at the door and frowned. “You are the foul-mouthed guy of the clock store. Do you want to be executed?”

“I’ll take care of him.” Demon Baron Melen grabbed the boy’s neck and lifted him up.

The beautiful boy looked down at Melen, who told him. “I feel it every time I come but you are really pretty.”

“I feel it every time I see you but you are really disgusting.”

Melen’s left hand hit the boy’s belly. There was the sound of something bursting but the boy’s eyes didn’t change at all. Melen stared into those eyes and laughed. “This is enough to become the duke’s concubine.”

“What is the hourly pay? If it isn’t sufficient then I won’t go...”

Once again, there was the sound of something being hit. Aileen’s expression hardened as she looked at the boy’s bloody mouth.

“Let’s take him hostage.” Then the demon removed his hands like he had been joking. “Huhu, who would do such a thing? We are gentlemen.”

The young man fell to the ground and groaned.

“So the offer will be rejected? Can I tell the duke?”

“Yes. I’m sorry but...”

Surprisingly, the atmosphere smoothed out and Aileen sighed deeply. She hadn’t wanted to do this task. If she accepted the job, she would be sacrificing thousands of citizens.

Then Silocke nodded like he understood. “Then I will receive the taxes that you are behind on. The duke asked me to do this.”

“Tax? Until now, I have been tax-exempt...”

“It was until now but not anymore.”

As expected, there was no way she could just walk away. Aileen bit her lip until it cracked as she asked, “...How much?”

“50,000 coins.”

50,000 coins.

It was a huge amount of Aileen. It might be different in other scenario areas but coins were one of the most valuable currencies in the Syswitz Industrial Complex.

“There are almost no constellations here! Such a huge amount of money...”

“I will take this little boy if you don’t pay. If he becomes a concubine then you can get 50,000 coins.”

The threatened boy was unconcerned and whistled at the threat. “Wow! 50,000 coins! Aileen, don’t pay the tax and get the money.”

“...I will make that cheeky mouth scream soon.”

“Really? Shit, I’m looking forward to it.”

Despite the young boy’s words, Aileen’s expression was filled with despair. She had a long relationship with this boy and knew that no matter his dirty words on the surface, deep inside he was thinking differently. An ultimatum emerged from the mouth of the demon earl.

“Aileen Makerfield. Accept the duke’s proposal. For reference, this is the last offer.”

Aileen was the chairman of the citizens. She could get to this position because of her strong heart. Aileen hesitated before opening her mouth.

“I...”

Rattle.

Then someone entered the clock store.

***

“What?”

The first thing that greeted me wasn’t the owner of the clock store. I saw the demon nobles who were uncomfortable with the uninvited visitors. I had roughly heard the situation outside and knew what was going on.

The beautiful young man was lying on the ground with eyes full of hatred.

I replied while staring closely at the beautiful boy instead of the demons. “A customer...”

My answer was polite but the demon’ expressions turned fierce.

“Is it a citizen? I don’t know where you came from but leave. We’re collecting taxes now.”

“Taxes... making a lot of money and paying higher taxes. Why is it suddenly making a low amount of money and paying higher taxes?”

“What?”

I passed by the demon nobles and approached the shopkeeper.

“Hey! Wait!”

The bewildered demon nobles stretched out their arms to grab me but they didn’t reach. The demon nobles made expressions of surprise as I lightly shook them off. Instead of dealing with them, I glanced at the clocks on the broken shelf. I carefully picked up one of them.

“There are many good things.”

Aileen seemed to sense something and approached me. “...There are always good things. A good owner rarely appears.”

I couldn’t help smiling. This was really the tone of Ways of Survival.

The planet Lindberg’s magic engineer, Aileen Makerfield. I glanced at the nervous Aileen.

Inside her, the needle must be ticking. Would the suspicious customer who suddenly appeared be the rope of hope or the person who dropped her into hell?

I decided to relieve some of her worries. “I would like to order something special. Can you make one for me?”

Aileen’s eyes grew bigger at my words. There was only one type of customer who would come here for a ‘special’ thing.

Aileen saw the demon nobles and asked carefully, “...What is the commission fee?”

I smiled at her before staring at the demon nobles who were staring at me.

“50,000 coins.”