### Chapter 466 – Room 206, The Cursed Room – ‘Demon King Revives After 100 Days’ Re (25)
—
– Yu Songee
A middle-aged man in a suit, the 2nd class citizen and Master Enforcer, Tobias, was struggling to conceal his panic despite his lofty title.
Why? Because the mayor had been assassinated out of the blue!
“So… you’re saying an Apostle of the Demon King infiltrated the wealthy mansion?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Songee, you must be absolutely certain in your recollection.”
“It’s not just a memory! That demon, Ahri, definitely showed up on the mansion’s security cameras!”
“Understood. Bring Songee here at once!”
Well, it wasn’t a complete lie.
During my observation of the mayor’s duties, Ahri had indeed cleaned up the sect and bolted out of Paradise using those winged boots to crash with the wealthy mansion.
However, the twist was that when Ahri showed up, the mayor was already a past tense—aka, a corpse.
“Checked the security footage!”
“Conducting a field verification!”
The shouts of Enforcers rang out from various corners.
Curiously enough, nobody suspected me.
There were two main reasons for this.
First, Ahri had completely botched the scene she crashed into just last night.
According to Ahri, it’s ten times easier to muck up the place and create uncertainty about who the criminal is, rather than gathering evidence to identify the culprit.
Second, my image was stamped as the quintessential clueless little girl.
After just half a day shadowing Leon, the mayor thought I was adorable, meaning I hadn’t acted like this at all before.
Also, c’mon, look at me—who’d think a cute high school girl would assassinate her own father?
Firstly, from a “common sense” perspective, there was absolutely no reason to kill him.
Ahri had eliminated any physical evidence, and there wasn’t a shred of circumstantial evidence either.
It was a full-blown crime scene with a suspect that looks like a cultist captured on the cameras.
Perfect crime!
As for how the Enforcers would chase after Ahri? Well, I figured she’d manage quite fine on her own.
I still had something more important to take care of.
—
By evening,
While staring out of a window overlooking the garden of the mansion, I sensed a presence.
Naturally, it was Shijō.
With the mayor dead, it would be weirder if she didn’t show up.
I wasn’t confident in my acting skills like my brother Kain or Ahri, so I fretted over how to pull off a “surprised” face, but luckily, I didn’t have to!
Shijō suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Ah! Oh! Th-This is an Enforcer—uh!”
Mei rushed in, quickly covering my mouth.
“Stay quiet! I have things to ask.”
Then, she briefly scanned my appearance.
Disheveled hair: hadn’t washed since yesterday.
Tears-streaked face: tears from chopping onions repeatedly.
Shabby clothes: searching for something decent to wear was a hassle.
How do I look? Like a girl whose parents suddenly kicked the bucket, right?
“…”
“Uh!”
“Kiddo, I’m Mei, a long-time friend of your father’s.”
“…”
Despite having met her several times, she acted like she was meeting me for the first time.
It’s a strange feeling I get often at the hotel.
“According to the memory of Leon that I accessed, he was with you not long before he passed away.”
‘What do you mean by accessing Leon’s memories?’
Is it possible she read his consciousness from a corpse?
I hadn’t seen that coming, and it caught my breath.
No chance we could do something like that, after all.
“After you said, ‘Good night,’ he was killed not long after.”
“…R-Really?”
Well, I guess so.
I kinda pulled the trigger!
“So, the timing of the mayor’s death is different from when the infiltrator from the Demon King sect entered the mansion.”
“…”
Heart-stopping tension!
It felt like Shijō was catching onto the truth that I killed the mayor.
Room 206 was already in its fourth cycle, and I wouldn’t expect her to suddenly show off this ability at this point!
Well, we hadn’t had any reason to examine a corpse until now.
Yu Songee: Shijō seems to have figured things out! Get here ASAP.
Cha Jinchul: What in the world is going on now?
Kim Mooksung: I’m on my way! Just hold on.
“Whoever killed Leon must be one of the staff managing the mansion or an Enforcer guarding it. So, can you allow me to interrogate the staff using your authority?”
“Eh?”
“Pardon? Can you repeat that?”
After seeing my flustered reaction, Mei cautiously came closer and ruffled my hair.
“…”
“I understand. You’re in quite a predicament, so I get it. But aren’t you a descendant of Kardiroff? Now’s the time to pull yourself together.”
…
Yu Songee: Stop! Don’t enter! Hold it right there!
Cha Jinchul: What are you talking about now?
Kim Mooksung: What’s going on?
“Within Paradise, my status is somewhat ambiguous. It’s not easy for me to show myself in public. So I’m considering an agent, and you’re the only one who can provide the necessary authority.”
“…”
Mei explained as if she were a caring older sister.
Since Leon was down for the count, someone had to manage the city, but they also needed to uncover the truth behind Leon’s death.
Even if she had an agent to deal with related issues, the lawful authority rests with me, the mayor’s sole daughter—
I figured it out while she was talking.
She doesn’t suspect me at all!
I understand now.
She read back the memories from Leon’s corpse, but because he couldn’t envision me being anyone’s killer until his last moment, she held no information about me as a murderer, just a “last bonding time” with the daughter.
Kim Mooksung: So what’s the deal?
Yu Songee: I’ll explain later. Looks like we’re in the clear.
I sensed again that Mei, with her plethora of powers—a touch quirky—had some intricacies about her.
What background did the mayor have?
In past cycles, he accepted I had brainwashed him while still acknowledging me as his heir, and then went on to get himself killed. Such quirks made him hard to pin down.
That’s why we decided to pick Mei as our city manager instead of the mayor himself.
“Please handle this.”
“Right. But Mei!”
“Got something to say?”
“Would it be okay if I took some time off? You know, at a friend’s place…”
“Friend?”
“Elena! You might know her—”
“Ah, I have heard of her. Isn’t she a famous actress? Sure, I suppose you need time to heal from everything.”
So, we would take down the unpredictable mayor and have the straightforward and transparent Mei take over controlling the city.
And that completed my role.
—
– Elena
I’m loaded with cash.
My social rank is 3rd class, and I’m technically lower than both 2nd class citizens like Eunsol and my teachers, but status and wealth are entirely different matters.
To put it in perspective, even combining the salaries of Eunsol, Kim Sanghyun, Enforcer Cha Jinchul, and Kim Mooksung, it wouldn’t scratch the surface of one of my appearances.
And what about the 4th class miner, Han Kain?
Sorry, but his whole monthly salary wouldn’t even be enough for my daily skincare routine!
Let’s not even bring up Ahri or Miro, and Seungyub? Out of the question.
Songee’s situation is a bit different.
As the mayor’s daughter, her “nominal assets” likely exceed mine.
But she’s in a highly political position and can’t just spend money freely.
So, looking at it this way, I’m the one with the most “freely available resources” in Room 206.
And thus, I took on a rather unique role in the fourth attempt.
“Wow! It really is you, Elena!”
“…”
“I’m sorry! Where should I put this?”
“Just drop it in this room here!”
A mountain of preserved foods and drinks began stacking up in my home.
Of course, these were just some supplies for the future.
“Whoa! What are all these?”
“…”
Despite my hint, the delivery guy, Ranton, couldn’t hold back his curiosity and continued asking.
“These are long-lasting foods that don’t require refrigeration! Are these tools? Are you, Elena, prepping for the apocalypse or something?”
“Well, you could say that…”
I thought I’d need some excuse to avoid unnecessary suspicion.
“Mr. Ranton, these are actually for the next drama I’m working on.”
“Oh! So it’s a survival-themed one, huh?”
“Shhh, it’s a secret!”
“Of course! I’ll take this amazing scoop to the grave!”
The grave, huh?
Knowing how he carries on, I can almost picture him rushing to his computer after getting home to tap-clack away.
Something along these lines?
「ㅇㅇ(111.111): Elena’s new project info is out!
ㅇㅇ(222.222): No verification? What is this?
ㅇㅇ(111.111): I got a picture of Elena’s house entrance. I’m the delivery guy for the ~~ area…」
I mean, whatever.
It’s not like it’s going to stay hidden until the end anyway.
Speaking of which, since the conversation was going, should I ask him about a few things?
“Are you interested in survival-themed media?”
“Haha! It’s my favorite genre, whether it’s survival stories or dystopian tales—”
“Well, in the event of an actual apocalypse, what preparations should one make?”
“Hmm…”
His love for survival stories wasn’t a lie; he gazed around seriously before responding.
“In gathering supplies, you’d need to prepare to defend your food from rioters, right?”
“…”
“If the stage is your house, you’d need to fortify it. If you’ve got a basement—”
It turned out to be quite a useful conversation.
So at the end of our talk, Ranton blushed and stammered.
“Uh, could I get your autograph? My wife is a huge fan of yours—”
“Of course!”
Looking at the happy expression on his face, I recalled what he initially asked.
“Are you prepping for the apocalypse?”
Nailed it!
—
– Han Kain
The first evening after entering Room 206.
Other folks, especially Ahri and Songee, would be busy from the get-go, but not me.
There’s no need for a revolution like in the first round, and I don’t need to start a religion like the second time either.
Stirring up trouble would only complicate things.
So I just killed time playing the role of a lazy miner.
… Not that I’m saying it was easy!
“Huh? What’s going on? At this hour—”
The murmur outside soon became apparent, and then a familiar figure in a suit appeared.
— Click!
“Kain, let’s go.”
It was my brother Sanghyun coming to get me.
—
The 4th-class miners suffering in the Mirconium mines dream of freedom every day.
They pray for the endless toil to at least halt for a day, hoping for a little peace in their lives, far from their cog-like existence.
There’s no hope in a 4th-class life.
Their meager salaries don’t even cover the bare minimum, while the likes of their tiger-like foreman and mining supervisor lash out at any hint of discontent.
Even if they made a miraculous escape, it wouldn’t mean much.
In Paradise, there’s no place to run to.
Of course, all of this assumes there’s no external intervention.
To the miners, the ‘2nd class’ citizens are like stars in the sky, untouched by their struggles.
“Did you get a good rest today?”
“Rest? In the Mirconium mine? You must be joking!”
“Haha! Glad that tickled your fancy.”
“You’re only here for a day, and it’s already starting to feel revolutionary.”
“…”
“A ghost of some mustachioed guy is waving a red flag in my heart, and I can hear his voice.”
“A mustachioed ghost?”
“A specter haunting Europe: a ghost called communism!”
“…”
“Anyway, how did you get here?”
“I just walked through the front door. I told Rupert, the mine supervisor, that I was taking Kain with me.”
“Did he bother asking why?”
“I’m a 2nd class citizen and an Enforcer. The 2nd class doesn’t need to explain their actions to 3rd class citizens.”
That’s how it works in Paradise’s simple, straightforward hierarchy.
“Thinking of your words makes me remember: all of human history is a history of class struggles—”
“That’s boring, let’s stop at that.”
“…”
Touché, I suppose.
“How about everyone else?”
“Songee got the mayor sorted out. Heard there was a bit of an ‘incident’ regarding Shijō, but it’s well managed. Tomorrow or the day after, the mayor’s death will be made official.”
“What about Elena?”
“She seems to have stocked up quite a bit. Eunsol, the 2nd class commisioner, is cooperating, so they’ll create quite a good hideout.”
I didn’t even bother asking about Ahri.
I was due to meet her in due time.
—
— Splash!
“…”
“Since there are plenty of puddles, it’s better to walk along the pipes.”
“Or I could fly over! Oh, wait, can’t use my powers yet?”
“…”
In the underground of Paradise, where the Demon King sect lingered—or rather, ‘used to linger’—
Seeing all the pools of blood and corpses made me feel nauseous.
Ahri and my brother Sanghyun remained unfazed.
Well, it would be ridiculous for the culprits to get squeamish over their handiwork.
“By the looks of it, you all have strong stomachs.”
“Hearing that from you is kind of disheartening.”
“What? There’s no one more human than me!”
“… The sanctum is this way.”
Soon, we arrived at the entrance to what could be considered the heart of the Demon King sect.
“Kain.”
“…”
“What I explained outside also applies here; there’s a bizarre place reminiscent of a curse.”
“I know.”
“Eventually, a truly strange entity will appear in the last room. At the time, I didn’t know who they were, but after gathering information outside—”
“Must be the Ultimate Entity, right? That guy wants to see me, doesn’t he?”
The leader of the Order of Reason and the first Demon King devotee.
“There’s definitely something brewing.”
I spoke confidently to reassure my companions.
“At this point, he can’t threaten me. The charge of the Holy Sun is complete, after all.”
“Thank goodness.”
Just before we entered, Ahri grabbed my arm.
“We don’t have much time. You know we will have to head deeper when we get back, right?”
“I know.”
“Try to analyze everything as quickly as possible, ideally return within a day or two.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Until yesterday, I had nothing to handle specifically, but starting today, I’ll be the busiest one in the party.
— Click!
The sanctum door swung open.
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