### Chapter 439 – Room 206, The Room of Curses – ‘The Demon King who Revives after 100 Days’ Re (4)
—
– Kim Ahri
—
The lights flickered in the dim space, and the stale air carried a distinctly unpleasant odor.
In such poor conditions, hundreds gathered in the underground assembly, for today was the day of the Demon King cult’s meeting.
—
“Everyone! Today’s teaching is about ‘equality.’ All are glorious descendants, and beneath the great gaze, each class is merely a facade—”
—
As the shepherd on the podium loudly preached, I drifted into my own thoughts.
This was the second attempt in Room 206, and we were divided into two major groups.
Yoo Songee, Lee Eunsol, Cha Jinchul, Kim Mooksung, and Park Seungyub.
Let’s conveniently refer to this group as the ‘City Domination Team.’
—
Using Songee’s identity as the mayor’s daughter to seize real power in the city, the goal is to obtain various hidden information from the mayor.
—
Han Kain and I will be the ‘Cult Leader Team.’
Our first objective is to secure a multitude of followers for Kain so he can wield the Sacred Sun.
—
What happens when he can use the Sacred Sun?
From there, we’ll cook up various plans, but let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.
—
Finally, Kim Sanghyun and Elena are the ‘Support Team’ who can hop back and forth between both sides.
—
Sanghyun, being a Level 2 citizen and secret agent, had the liberty to move around easily.
He was likely infiltrated somewhere in this ongoing underground meeting, hidden in plain sight.
Elena, though a popular actress, couldn’t act as freely as Sanghyun. But with her wealth and large house, that made things a lot better.
—
Now that we’ve covered our companions, let’s focus on our roles, Kain and I.
How the heck do we establish a cult?
I thought I had seen a ton of bizarre things during my time in the Administration Bureau, but this was an entirely different beast.
I had come across various bizarre entities claiming to serve a god, but all I did was eliminate them; I had never tried to create a group like that.
—
Surprisingly, as we exchanged ideas, Kain and my thoughts aligned.
—
“This is exactly how I know the most renowned ‘new cults’ operate!”
“Hmm… There’s some logic to that.”
—
It’s far easier to gobble up what others have painstakingly gathered than trying to build something from scratch.
And in Room 206, everything was laid out like a delicious feast, perfectly prepared.
—
The Demon King cult, that is.
—
— Clap!
—
From the platform, the sound of applause echoed.
—
“Everyone, pay attention! Apostle Ahri is here to share some amazing news.”
—
As rumors of miracles swirled around me, I took to the podium, the apostle of the cult who rarely spoke during meetings.
In the buzzing atmosphere, all eyes turned to me.
—
“…”
—
Instead of jumping straight to my speech, I maintained eye contact with the crowd for about a minute, savoring the tension.
—
“People, I come today to share glorious news.”
—
Soon, the underground hall fell eerily silent.
—
“The prophet who has received the genuine revelation of the Savior has finally emerged!”
—
According to our doctrine, the prophet of the Demon King does not descend from the heavens, but rises up from the underground.
After all, the Demon King is right here, beneath the city!
—
*
As soon as the meeting ended, the higher-ups of the cult swarmed around me.
—
“Apostle Ahri! To suddenly raise such a topic without discussion—”
“Discussion? I merely relayed the truth that the prophet has arrived; there’s nothing to discuss!”
“But…! Shouldn’t we at least see who this person is?”
—
I boldly challenged their incredulous expressions, and they started to flounder.
—
“I’m not suggesting I’ve deceived you! Am I wrong for seeing things as I see them?”
—
Some thought I had been deceived by someone who looked good on the outside.
Others assumed I failed to catch on to the mayor’s plot.
—
The higher-ups wondered if they simply couldn’t accept that I was a teenage girl, given our setting in Room 206.
—
“Let’s stop this nonsense and follow me.”
“What do you mean—”
“Paulo, earlier you mentioned that we should see who that person is, right?”
“… Yes.”
“Then let’s go see!”
—
At that, the crowd fell silent.
After a moment, someone finally spoke up.
—
“Where is that person?”
“Out of Paradise.”
“Out? Did you really reveal the location of the ‘Door of Truth’ to them?”
—
The ‘Door of Truth,’ a secret of the cult, led to the outside world. It was only natural that they would be appalled by such news being shared with outsiders.
—
But I stood firmly.
—
“Do I have any reason to hide secrets from the prophet?”
—
“Apostle Ahri! What in the world—”
“Enough!”
—
Just then, a deep voice filled the chamber.
It was Raymond, the elder with the most authoritative voice in the cult’s upper echelons.
—
“Let’s see what kind of person it is. Who knows? Perhaps the Demon King truly has sent a prophet.”
—
*
– Yoo Songee
—
Stepping into the garden, I inhaled the refreshing air, feeling my mind clear.
It’s quite extravagant to enjoy such a wide garden in a city-state like Paradise!
Thanks to my title as ‘Kadiruf,’ it was all possible.
—
With rights come heavy responsibilities.
I began to learn from the mayor about the responsibilities of ‘Kadiruf.’
—
This was the beginning of my ‘inheritance.’
Leon had spread this news around, and my status changed from princess to heir to the throne.
—
Thanks to that, everything became much more convenient.
—
For instance, Eunsol no longer needs to struggle just to see me.
She merely has to say I called for her!
—
“Hey, Songee! Does Leon really know nothing about the Demon King’s identity?”
—
With our conversations, I didn’t even have to worry about information leaking out.
Instead of the mayor’s guards, I swapped them for Jinchul and Mooksung grandpa.
—
Ha! Is this the real difference between a princess and an heir?
I just have to give Leon a request without needing to explain in detail!
—
“Songee? Why the sudden cheerful expression?”
“Cheerful? I’m just….”
—
Eunsol shouldn’t be so sassy in front of someone who’s now a sky-high level heir after all.
—
…
—
Time to tone it down a bit on the dramatic acting.
I might just end up with an informer punishing my dear sister.
—
“Ahem. Dad, I mean Leon said that the Demon King supposedly broke apart like a meteor and landed all over Earth.”
—
“There are many shocking revelations in the documents. Humanity itself restrains the Demon King….”
—
The mayor shared many secrets with me.
—
How exactly does humanity keep the Demon King, curled up deep within the abyss of the stars, contained?
—
If the Demon King is water, then unyielding reason is merely the bottle cap.
The entity that seals the water, or rather the Demon King, isn’t the cap but the bottle itself.
—
The bottle is the very humanity of Paradise.
With millions of humans crammed together, this spiritual mass keeps the fragments of the Demon King in check.
—
Of course, that doesn’t mean unyielding reason isn’t important.
Even a working bottle cap can leak when it opens.
—
“What’s this ‘spiritual mass’ supposed to mean?”
“I have no idea either.”
“Hmm… Maybe Ahri or grandpa would understand. I’ll have to ask them when they return from their punishments.”
“Isn’t it enough if we just grasp the conclusion?”
“Right, we need millions living atop the shattered pieces of the Demon King.”
—
“That’s it.”
—
Eunsol sighed deeply.
—
“With all this, many questions I had about Paradise are starting to clear up.”
—
Why is life in Paradise so harsh?
With millions crammed together in what amounts to a city, it’s bound to have its drawbacks.
—
There must be consequences to such mass urbanization and overpopulation.
—
“If this document is accurate, then Paradise isn’t a naturally occurring city.”
“What do you mean?”
“Normally, a city develops by finding an efficient location over time, typically near rivers and ports.”
“Like Seoul?”
“The Han River, Incheon. Exactly, like Seoul.”
—
“… But there are no rivers near Paradise.”
—
“This is not a city born of an efficient location. It just so happened the pieces of the Demon King fell here, and then they forcefully built a city of millions atop it.”
—
While I may not be as knowledgeable as Eunsol, even I could tell that a city built in such a non-natural setting would likely have even worse side effects.
—
“There must be cities worse off than Paradise too.”
“Probably.”
“Look at this map. This is where the Himalayas are, right?”
—
“…”
—
“They built a city of over 30 million people in a place like this? These folks must be suffering way more than anyone in Paradise.”
—
The reason the class system was formed is rooted in a similar context.
Just like how ships sailing the vast ocean grant authority to their captains, this must have been a means to maintain order in a closed environment.
—
They’re even using various justifications to consume people to keep the unyielding reason’s ‘fuel’ burning. Life would seem even more bizarre if the quality of life were high.
—
“Now I see why the city’s leaders are keeping the outside world a secret.”
“… Out of fear they might escape?”
“They have to prevent lower-class citizens from escaping. No matter how painful, they must die within the city while keeping the Demon King in check.”
—
Jinchul, who had been listening from the side, finally spoke.
—
“Whoa… Listening to this is giving me a headache. It’s a fascinating yet terrifying story, but ultimately this is all background info about Room 206, right?”
“True.”
—
“Basically, our goals are first to escape and second to find a solution.”
“Exactly.”
—
“Now I understand why they warned us that Room 206 is infinitely harder than other cursed rooms.”
“….”
—
Why is Room 206 tougher than the others?
It’s not simply because the prisoners are stronger.
There may be weak prisoners, but even if that were true, they’d be way stronger than us.
—
“Maybe it’s due to the Demon King’s nature.”
“…”
—
I began to think back on the other prisoners I encountered in the hotel.
—
The prisoner in Room 101 seems to be a ‘hospital director’, but he never showed up, so I’ll pass on that.
—
As for Room 102, the Dragon of the Nebula or the
Unborn? They’re both just corpses.
One is practically dead, and the other is the spawn of that corpse.
—
The teacher from Room 103 was actually an ally.
—
Room 104’s subject is ambiguous, though in terms of solving the room, it’s likewise an ally.
After all, it was a crazy god who had put himself in a copy of humanity’s inheritance to exit.
—
Room 201’s ‘0-dimensional eye’ is a crazy god, but negotiations through human sacrifice were on the table.
Room 202’s sea god was similarly communicable, and reflecting back, it was indeed humanity’s sin.
—
Room 203’s Adravita was considered a kind of new-world god rather than a strictly evil being.
—
The prisoner in Room 205? Just too pitiful even to mention.
—
“… Comparing one by one, the Demon King in Room 206 truly is a tiring being.”
—
A creature that swallows all of humanity upon emerging from the depths, it is far more hostile than even the eye of the zero dimension, being unfathomably powerful.
—
However, the Demon King’s most terrifying aspect lies elsewhere.
—
Eunsol sighed and muttered.
—
“Ugh… Communication and negotiation—none of that worked against it?”
“According to Leon.”
“Sounds just like what Kain said.”
—
There’s a commonality between the family records passed down through the Kadiruf bloodline and Kain’s experience in touching upon the nature of the Demon King.
—
The Demon King is an entity entirely incapable of communication.
It is a collection of endless rampaging impulses, an incomprehensible being.
—
When awakened, it annihilates humanity, with overwhelming strength, and communication or negotiation is impossible.
We have to find a way to ‘resolve’ this beast.
—
“…”
“…”
—
After a heavy silence, Eunsol finally spoke.
—
“Thanks to this, we’ve gathered a lot of information, but something important is missing.”
“What part is that?”
“What’s the force currently suppressing the Demon King? Is it really just the millions of humans living atop the scattered pieces?”
“Correct.”
“Was this city always here?”
“Eh?”
“A city can’t just appear overnight. So the pieces of the Demon King must have fallen first, and then a long time later, humanity built the city.”
“That makes sense.”
—
“Then how did they suppress the Demon King before the city was built?”
“…”
—
“And who figured out that a mass of densely packed humanity could suppress the Demon King?”
—
Who actually realized that building a city atop the fragments of the Demon King was the key to suppressing it?
Before its construction, how did they manage to keep the Demon King at bay?
—
“There’s more to this. I feel like the Kadiruf family serves as some kind of ‘Administrator’. Something must have appointed these administrators, so….”
—
At that moment, Eunsol, Jinchul, and I all spontaneously came to the same realization.
—
“The Administration Bureau!”
—
A group that designed all of this, a collective that appoints administrators like the Kadiruf family.
There must be an organization like the Administration Bureau within Room 206!
—
Who knows, maybe it’s lurking somewhere even now.
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