Beyond the Eternity

[You have gained the qualifications of a king.]

[You can now participate in the boarding games.]

Boarding games, card holder, territory.... They were terms from the novel that held premonition. Now everyone in gwanakgu will be participating in a battle royale.

A troublesome arc was about to begin. There was this certain sense of unease in my heart that I couldn't accurately pinpoint.

Even though I've solved the issue by assuming Soo Jinyoung's identity, challenges would arise if she reappears or if I encounter an unexpected variable. Additionally, there's the concern with the apostles or false prophets— whatever they called themselves. Before addressing those issues, I needed to secure all my cards.

With that in mind, I faced the survivors and spoke with an indifferent expression.

"Now that the situation has become like this, I'll like to say a few words."

The survivors looked at me one by one. As the king of this territory, they were waiting for me to announce their fate.

After the previous nightmare scenario, the total survivors was now 65. The members from Donghyun group, members of Lee Suhye's group, the normal survivors, the party members and me. The maximum number for the pieces was 16 just like in a standard game of chess. Meaning, there were too many survivors.

I was going to resolve everything now.

"Everyone, you all have two choices: leave or stay. Pick a side."

"Eh? Soo Jinyoung-ssi, what are you saying so suddenly."

The survivors' eyes widened in realization as they grasped the gravity of the situation. My cold gaze and harsh tone. It was clear that I was forcing them to leave the warehouse.

Naturally, the people reacted with disbelief and protested immediately.

"That's not fair."

"Please, be reasonable, Soo Jinyoung-ssi. We can't go outside."

"Why can't we stay with you?"

I looked at their defiant faces and frowned. At that moment, they seemed especially repulsive to me.

"Why would I let people like you stay here? I never invited any of you to follow me. Did you really think I would keep protecting you without any cost? Am I your mother? No, that can't be right— I don't recall ever raising useless children like you."

"T-That..."

"I refuse to fight for people who will slow me down in the end. The situation is completely different this time. Can't you see? The boy that used to wander around is no longer with us."

The survivors trembled. In fact, that was the first thing I noticed at the end of the defence scenario. I continued speaking.

"Certainly, some individuals may choose to stay behind, but this will require additional effort and a demonstration of your value. If you're not on board with this, you're welcome to leave."

"Do we have to pay taxes if we stay with you?"

It was a man bullied by the gwanak group. Well, it was natural since no one wanted to pay taxes.

"No. I'll no longer tolerate the presence of tax collectors. Also, I won't tolerate conflicts between individuals anymore if you have a problem, settle it among yourselves."

Everyone looked at me. The survivors wore a good expression while the gwanak group members seemed upset. Since they heard they couldn't collect taxes anymore, it's natural that they'll be displeased.

"Also, there is a way for you additional members to stay. All of you don't need to leave."

Someone asked. "How can we really stay?"

"Yes. You'll have to create another group and select someone to be the representative."

"Can you be the representative as well?"

In response, I shook my head.

"It's not possible to have two representatives. However, it is possible for me to become the leader. Once the representative is chosen, he will give me his card then I'll become the representative."

"I see."

"There's not alot of time so decide quickly. Will you stay here or will you create your own group and go elsewhere? The choice is yours."

In fact, there was no need to say this because the people had already made up their minds. In the end, two groups were formed while the rest decided to leave. A few people approached me and bowed— they were the members of the former New Wave group.

"I see, so you people decided to stay behind."

"Of course, you saved us during a rough time. The least we can do is stay with you to the end."

"The situation is different. You might die."

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"Yes. Even then, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

I felt strange while receiving the gratitude of the New Wave group.

They were people that survived because they were lucky. Even so, they were thankful. It was funny I was feeling this way since their words were directed towards Soo Jinyoung, not Kim Jakga.

One of the men in the New Wave group noticed something and opened their mouth.

"Soo Jinyoung-ssi, where is Lee Suhye?"

"I sent her on a mission. She'll join us shortly."

"Ah, I see. I'm glad."

Lee Suhye was the leader of the New Wave group so it will be obvious they would ask about their leader's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the rest of the people were leaving the warehouse one by one. It was depressing seeing them go away but I can't keep them with me. Naturally, I couldn't force them to stay.

Among the fleeing people, I spotted the gwanak group. They were tax collectors so it was obvious that they'll leave to collect tax somewhere else. Then I spotted Jung Donghyun among them.

"Donghyun."

Jung Donghyun heard the cold voice of the false Soo Jinyoung and trembled, before turning his head back.

"Y-Yes."

"Where are you going? Did I say you could leave?"

"But you said we can leave..."

"Everyone but you."

"T-That... Yes, I understand."

Donghyun seemed scared. Even so, he nodded his head and came close once he was called.

In the novel, Soo Jinyoung punished Jung Donghyun because he tried to challenged her but the punishment itself was never stated so I can only imagine what Soo Jinyoung did to make him this dominant. Once again, I realised Soo Jinyoung was a very scary person.

The gwanak group frowned at what was happening.

I knew what they were thinking so I opened my mouth.

"You guys can leave. Only this one stays."

What I was trying to tell them was simply. Abandon your leader and go away. It was unreasonable but I couldn't let Jung Donghyun leave.

They hesitated at first but they understood the situation and walked away. The thought of resisting didn't even cross their minds. It was because I was Soo Jinyoung even though it was an illusion.

They cursed a few times and went through the entrance. I silently wanted the back of the retreating gwanak group. They would go somewhere else and become tax collectors. Unfortunately, they won't live past the fourth trial.

A few minutes passed then a system messages popped and announced a few things.

[The time limit has been reached.]

[1,000 coins has been given as compensation.]

[The group's representative can now use the power of the assigned card.]

[The representative should choose a name for the group.]

"I'll name my group as the Soo Jinyoung's Company."

[The Soo Jinyoung's Company has been created.]

[The group representative should choose the members of the Soo Jinyoung's group. Only 16 members can be in the group.]

It was easy since I already knew who I was going to choose. I selected all the group members quickly.

[Current Members: 14]

Indeed, this was a game of chess. Each group had 16 pieces, representing the players just like in a chess game. I needed to complete the group by filling in the gaps.

[Assign a chess piece for the group members.]

In a typical chess game, there are six distinct types of pieces: the Pawn, the Rook, the Knight, the Bishop, the Queen, and the King. Each player has eight Pawns, two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops, one Queen, and one King— sixteen pieces in total.

Although I haven't played chess, I learned the rules some time ago out of curiosity. And since I had the perfect memory skill, I was able to remember all the rules.

I looked at the group members and studied their expressions.

There were the New Wave group members who were looking at me. Then there was Angelica and Jung Yunhee who nodded. Lastly, there was Lee Jongho and Han Sanghoon.

As expected, Lee Jongho stepped forward and opened his mouth.

"Sorry, where is Kim Jakga?"

I answered like Soo Jinyoung and shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know since we seperated. He said he had to go somewhere."

"Ah, I see. I understand."

Lee Jongho released a breath of relief. Indeed, he was a very simple guy. I think I know which chess piece to assign to him.

I summoned the system window and made my choice.

[Lee Jongho has been appointed as a Rook.]

It was a great choice. Lee Jongho possessed the gigantification skill so he was great for both attack and defence.

Now for the next choice.

[Kim Sungwoo has been selected as a Rook.]

Kim Sungwoo had the crafting ability so he was perfect for the defensive position. Next, I'll select the main damage dealers.

I inputted the names of the individuals and assigned him a chess piece.

[Jung Yunhee has been selected as a Knight.]

[Jung Donghyun has been selected as a Knight.]

This was something I decided after thinking about it carefully. Jung Yunhee and Jung Donghyun were perfect as the Knight piece. One of them possessed the Demon Slaying skill while the other possessed the Berserker skill. Meanwhile, Angelica was not assigned a piece because I was reserving her for later.

Now only two main pieces were empty. A Bishop and the Queen. I already had two candidates for those pieces but they were not here.

I inputted their names on the system window infront of me.

[Lee Suhye has been chosen as a Bishop.]

[Soo Jinyoung has been chosen as the Queen.]

[The chosen individuals are not present.]

[A party invitation has been sent to following individuals.]

Soo Jinyoung was unconscious and Lee Suhye was still recovering. Lee Suhye might accept the invitation but I wasn't sure about Soo Jinyoung. She was a prideful person so she would be angry that her group was taken over by me. Maybe it would be great if she didn't accept the invitation quickly.

I looked at the New wave group. There were exactly eight of them so they were perfect as pawns.

I quickly selected them as pawns. I looked at the group members one last time. It was not what I expected but it was not a bad start.

Shortly afterwards, a system message appeared with an announcement.

[The Fourth Fable will begin right away.]

+

[Fourth Fable — Throne Wars]

Category: Main

Difficulty: C

Clear Conditions: (The contents will be revealed below.)

Time Limit: 168 hours (7 days)

Compensation: ???

Failure: ???

+

I remembered the Fourth Fable was like this. There were too many details so it had to summarised.

I continued reading the contents of the fourth trial.

+

[Clear Conditions]

1. There are a total of 78 groups participating in the trial. Each group is assigned a 'Mythical card' which is protected by the group representative.

*Either the King or the Queen can hold the mythical card, but only the King can make use of the mythical card.

2. Points will be rewarded according to the piece eliminated. The King is 10 points, the Queen is 9 points, the Bishop is 3 points, the Knight is 3 points, the Rook is 5 points, the Pawn is 1 points.

*The mythical card of the group representative must either be destoryed or taken by the King of the opposing group.

3. You need to protect the King from other groups. If a card is taken away by another group, the losing group will be absorbed and become extra pieces.

4. Groups can form alliances with other groups, but only up to three groups can be in an alliance. Alliances can be broken at any time.

5. The target goal is 100 points. The first 10 groups to acquire 100 points will proceed to the next stage.

6. Failure to reach 100 points during the time limit will result in the death of all group members.

...

+

"Why is it so long?"

"King? Queen? Are we in the Age of the Kings?"

The people read the contents of the trial to the end and began talking. It was different from the previous three trials.

Lee Jongho rubbed his chin and spoke out his thoughts.

"So the setting is similar to Janggi (장기). There is the Janggun (general) but in this case, it's called the King. The Knights are the Horse (gibyeong), the Chariot (cha) are the rooks and the Soldiers (po) are the pawns. What about the other pieces? And what are the tarot cards?"

"It's a deck of illustrated cards, each of them represents their own spiritual meaning but you can simply refer to them as tools used for divination. It seems like the system has given those cards certain powers representing their meaning." Angelica explained.

"I see."

Jung Yunhee asked impatiently. "So the goal is to steal those cards from other groups while protecting the representative. Did I hear that correctly?"

"Yes. That's what I understood from the message. It says that only the King and the Queen can hold the tarod cards so the group representative must have one of those cards."

"That's correct." I opened my mouth. "You guys catch on quick."

"Which card did you choose, Soo Jinyoung-nim?"

Jung Yunhee looked towards my direction and I answered indifferently.

"The Fool card."

"The Fool?"

"Yes."

"Why did you choose such a card? Why didn't Soo Jinyoung-nim choose a card with a better name?"

I shrugged.

"Choosing a card based on names is stupid. I have information about this card. It's a useful card so I chose it."

"..."

Jung Yunhee closed her mouth and tilted her head like a penguin. Was this strange girl thinking?

"Wait..." Angelica suddenly realised something and became stiff. "Do we have to kill to obtain those cards?"

"Not necessarily. The trial didn't specifically tell us to kill the other generals. Stealing those cards will be enough to earn points."

"So we don't need to kill?"

"No. That's if everything goes well."

"I see. That's good. So this is a trial where we don't need to kill."

I silently watched Angelica as she was talking nonsense. She can perform when the time was right but she's still naive. Too innocent.

The 4th trial was a battle royale scenario. I have never seen any scenario in this life where a battle royale can be cleared without killing. However...

"Everyone, gather around."

I raised my voice to get the attention of the survivors.

"I'll give out tasks for group 1 and group 2."

It is possible to conquer the battle royal scenario without killing. That was my goal.