Chapter 62: Long Live the Queen – (2)

As the execution began, the awakened members of the Busan clan gathered one by one in the square. 

Clan leader Shin Dohee, after taking in the sight of them all, walked to the center of the hall with an excited expression. 

The man hanging upside down from the chains seemed to sense his fate and struggled. 

The leader of the awakened group from Gimhae City was a middle-aged man with a half-shaved head that left a strong impression. 

“Mmmph! Ugh!” 

Of course, his silent screams, muffled by the gag, didn’t reach the audience. 

But Shin Dohee, who had approached closely, seemed to understand what he was saying. 

“Kids, this old man told me to go to hell.” 

Shin Dohee, who spoke with a bright smile, looked like a demon or a devil. 

No, she might as well have been one. 

“Old man, you know what? Hell is right here. There’s no need to go far.” 

Shin Dohee grinned and continued. 

“Mmmph!” 

“Yeah, yeah. You don’t seem to have much will to live anyway, so I’ll make it quick.” 

With that, Shin Dohee gestured toward the air. 

Though invisible to us, she was likely manipulating the Disaster Order interface. 

[4★ Lady of the Deep, Eluma, has been summoned.] 

As expected, a massive disaster appeared, enveloping Shin Dohee. 

The 4-star named water-attribute disaster, Lady of the Deep, Eluma. 

I had often used this disaster while playing Disaster Order. 

“Ugh.” 

One of the awakened groaned at the sight.

In reality, the Lady of the Deep, Eluma, had a rather grotesque appearance. 

Contrary to the term “lady,” she took the form of a mermaid—no, a half-human, half-fish creature straight out of Lovecraftian lore. 

—Kaaaaah. 

The Deep One, Eluma, opened her slit-like mouth wide toward the offering presented to her.

Even from a distance, the strong stench of blood wafted through the air.

Shin Dohee, however, didn’t seem to mind the foul odor emanating from the mermaid at all. 

“Wait, Eluma. Don’t kill him right away. This is a performance, so we need to give the fans some proper service.” 

Shin Dohee clapped her hands. 

[4★ Lady of the Deep, Eluma, activates the skill “High Tide.”] 

The mermaid coiled her long tail around her body, enveloping the awakened from Gimhae. 

At the same time, a thin, cylindrical membrane covered his entire body. 

Soon, green streams of water began to flow from between Eluma’s scales.

It seemed to be filthy seawater. 

The man’s body was already covered in wounds, so the saltwater seeping in would cause excruciating pain. 

“―――.” 

The Gimhae awakened, drowning inside the thin membrane, twisted his body and screamed.

After a few more minutes, the man stopped moving. 

“Good. Not bad.” 

At Shin Dohee’s words, the membrane burst, and foul liquid spilled out. 

From it, the bloated, decaying corpse of the man was dragged out.

Throughout it all, Shin Dohee remained calm. 

This wasn’t her first execution.

On the other hand, the expressions of the clan’s awakened watching this were far from pleasant.

I naturally came to understand how this Busan clan operated. 

“So, how was it? Nam Jooyeon, isn’t it fun?”

“Fun, you say? There’s no worse taste than turning someone into a drowned corpse overnight and then laughing at the body.”

“Really? You seem pretty calm for someone who thinks that.”

Well, I had no choice but to be calm.

The thug who had threatened me had been turned to ash by the Hellfire Hound, and the awakened Han Taegeon had half his body eaten by the Storm Dragon. 

There were many others. 

I’ve committed a few murders myself. 

Having witnessed such horrific scenes multiple times, there was no reason for me to be particularly shocked by Shin Dohee’s killings. 

“Haha. I guess you have to be like this to be an S-rank, huh?” 

Shin Dohee nodded slightly, as if inwardly impressed, then turned her gaze to the corpse she had killed. 

“Hmm. Maybe I should’ve left the body in better shape. It’s not very presentable for display.”

“Display?”

“I’m planning to hang it in front of the building for a while. It’s a kind of message. ‘This is what happens to those who defy us.’ It’s quite effective. I tried it a few times as a demonstration, and they all surrendered pretty quickly.” 

Displaying corpses is something only a madman would think of.

But South Korea has regressed to a feudal-like social system.

The Busan area is a kingdom ruled by the lunatic Shin Dohee, and the citizens are essentially her property. 

“…Why? Do you think it’s strange? Because Seoul is still safe?” 

As if reading my thoughts, Shin Dohee tilted her head and grinned. 

“But the world is kind to us awakened, isn’t it?”

That smile was, as always, unpleasant. 

* 

The Queen of Busan, Shin Dohee, lent me a high-rise building near Haeundae. 

Not just a room—she lent me the entire building, so there was no need to worry about eavesdropping or anything.

I suppose it was her way of being considerate. 

“Huh.” 

But Shin Dohee’s consideration only made me more uncomfortable.

My impression that Busan was a city of the dead was no illusion.

I began to understand why the residents feared my presence and why the city was unnaturally quiet. 

“This is a kingdom.” 

The Busan Kingdom, ruled by the tyrant Shin Dohee.

With an overwhelmingly powerful ruler governing through fear, the people under her—whether awakened or not—could only tremble in terror.

The expressions of the clan’s awakened who attended the execution were also dark. 

I heard that such executions happen at least once a week. 

Busan, once the second-largest city on the Korean Peninsula with a prestigious reputation, had become a city of terror, reeking of blood, in less than a year since the collapse began. 

“…What do you think?” 

I asked about the disasters in the room.

 “Honestly, it’s not a bad method. Ruling through fear—there won’t be many who dare to defy her.” 

The North Sea’s Storm, Mirien, offered a rational judgment.

After all, the world Mirien lived in before entering the rift was a fantasy world where such fear-based rule was the norm. 

It wasn’t strange for her to accept this scene naturally. 

“My lord, I’m… a bit uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” 

I was surprised by Selene’s reaction.

Unlike the previous Selene, who had said that the rule of an absolute being should be maintained through fear, her face now showed a hint of discomfort. 

“I agree with the magical brat that this method is the most efficient and fitting for the virtues of an absolute being, but…” 

Selene hesitated. Her expression darkened slightly. She seemed to be debating whether to speak her mind.

Selene’s condition was indeed strange. I gestured for her to continue. 

“Selene, it’s okay. You can speak freely.”

“Yes. I too… was once executed.”

“…What?” 

My eyes widened. 

“You were… executed?”

“Yes. It was a bit different from today’s execution, though.”

“Different how?”

“I was burned at the stake.” 

At her words, I immediately recalled the background setting of the Charred Saint, Selene. 

[5★ Charred Saint Selene is the witch who burned the world. Selene’s flames turned entire continents to ash in seven days and nights, and in the end, she turned her back on the world and headed for the rift. She is a living flame and a great sinner who falsely claimed the name of God.] 

The background description only explained that Selene had burned everything and led to destruction.

But hearing Selene’s words, I realized that there was likely a more tragic reason behind her burning the world than I had anticipated. 

Whether she was burned at the stake before or after she set the world ablaze.

Information that wasn’t available in the game.

Not just Selene, but Mirien, Karne, and even Asteria must have their own hardships.

And as the Rift Lord, Actor—that is, me—I have a duty to take them all in. 

“…I’m sorry, Selene. I didn’t realize.” 

When I apologized sincerely, Selene’s eyes widened. 

“M-my lord, there’s no need for you to apologize! I just…” 

Selene trailed off and bowed her head deeply.

I couldn’t see her expression, but the way her clasped hands fidgeted suggested she wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. 

“Child, you’re quite the player.”

“Huh?” 

Karne chimed in with a sly smile.

In any case, we were now uninvited guests in the kingdom of Busan.

And Karne had filled me in on the details. 

“Mother, I think Shin Dohee, the leader of the Busan awakened group, wasn’t originally such a tyrant.” 

The 3-star named disaster I had seen in Daejeon’s nest, Belganoth, the Descendant of the Meteor, had gained immense power after obtaining a fragment of the crown.

Similarly, Asteria’s crown provides explosive stat boosts, but for those who are unworthy, the debuffs are equally severe.

If a human were to use it… 

“Indeed, it could make one’s nature more violent.”

“Yes. Shin Dohee must have obtained a crown fragment during the last eruption.” 

Like Mirien’s skill, “Blessing of the Thunder,” the crown fragments can corrupt the mind of their owner.

It’s like in that movie, you know? 

Horcruxes or something.

Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces. 

Coincidentally, the fragments of Asteria’s shattered crown also number exactly seven.

And two of them are already in my possession. 

‘…Then why am I still sane?’ 

I also possess crown fragments. 

In fact, I have one more than Shin Dohee. 

So why haven’t I become as unhinged as her?

No, maybe I’ve already started to lose it. 

Not too long ago, I casually left the residents of Beijing to their fate. 

“Huh.” 

The trivial thought actually cleared my mind.

I organized my thoughts. 

Alright, what should I do?

Honestly, what happens to Busan is none of my business.

But Shin Dohee’s plan to attack the Daejeon clan isn’t exactly welcome. 

‘Daejeon is my workshop.’ 

As the center of the Korean Peninsula, it needs to function as a social hub.

And above all, dealing with the simple thug Jeon Taemin is much easier than dealing with the tyrant Shin Dohee. 

“I’ve decided.” 

I raised my head. 

The gazes of the three were fixed on me. 

“First, our top priority is to take the crown fragment from Shin Dohee.”

“So, we’re killing her?”

Mirien’s face lit up, but I shook my head.

I wouldn’t feel any guilt over killing Shin Dohee.

But the problem lies in what happens after her death.

As seen in the execution earlier, the Busan clan is a loose coalition. 

What holds them together is the presence of the tyrant Shin Dohee. 

Without her, the clan would likely collapse. 

And if that happens, they won’t be able to defend against the upcoming sixth eruption.

It would end up just like Sejong City.

I abandoned Beijing because there was no hope, but the situation with the Busan clan is a bit different. 

“Let’s gather information as stealthily as possible. If we can manipulate Shin Dohee, that would be ideal. If not, we’ll set up a puppet.”

Under normal circumstances, this would be impossible.

There’s no way to pull off such a bold move in a city with so many eyes.

But fortunately.

I now have a disaster specialized in espionage and covert operations.

“Mother, can I ask for your help?”

“Don’t worry.”

The Mother of Misfortune, Karne, nodded as if she had been waiting for my request.

Her black wings fluttered.