12 [Sub Scenario]

[Skill Blood Lust Lv. 3(+1) has been activated]

A silence dawned upon the surrounding area, the aura emitted by Blood Lust must have been very intimidating because the people running towards me just a moment ago were quietly backing away in fear. Their grim expressions told me all I needed to know, my plan was succeeding, a few people dropped their weapons and completely froze in their place, incapable of moving a muscle, they probably hadn't figured out how to use coins yet.

"AHHHHH" A war cry entered my ears, I turned to face the source finding a person had begun to charge forward positioning his sword behind his back ready to strike. His eyebrows curled upwards denoting an expression of fear, but bearing the eyes of determination, something to be admired. Blood Lust had worked on him, there was no way a Lv. 4 skill wouldn't affect someone not even in the second scenario.

This person was brave, capable of inspiring others, the type you'd want leading an army but not a kingdom he seemed too honest for that, if I didn't want this spark to turn into a flame I had to subdue him in a way that would make even people as brave as him think carefully before stepping forward.

[Skill Mana Manipulation has been activated]

I changed the shape of my mana sword from a long sword to a baseball bat, I could use time-lapse but it felt like a borrowed power, using it made me feel like shopping on borrowed money. Although brave, the man was attacking in fear, perhaps his actions were closer to instinct than decision, making it easy to dodge his attacks as they lacked any logic or thought behind them.

I dodged to the right and knocked him out with one clear swing to his back. It would be a waste to kill him here, if I was gonna be king this is the kind of man I'd want leading my army.

"Anyone else wanna have a go?" I looked at the crowd staring at me and thankfully what greeted me was silence.

Time remaining: 2 minutes 3 seconds.

I examined the knocked-out body before me. The man was heavily built, it was easy to decipher his muscular status from the silhouette of his formal white shirt. His hair was neatly trimmed leaving no room for any styling. Even though knocked out he gave off a calming aura that would make people trust him in the blink of an eye, if I had to take a guess he was either police, army, or a not-very-trustworthy lawyer.

[Skill Character List has been activated]

「 [Character Summary]

Name: Æthelred

Age: 29 years old.

Sponsor: - Whispered Knight of Legends

Exclusive Attributes: Ex-Militay, Gym Rat, Loyalty, Corona Aurea...

Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv. 6, Kickboxing Lv. 5, Swordmaster Lv. 5....

Stigma: -

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 37, Strength Lv. 34, Agility Lv. 24, Magic Power Lv. 1.

Overall Evaluation: The overall stats are Excellent. He is extremely loyal and has a sense of family with his friends. 」

[The viewer count is increasing the limits of the channel Ask-#98715]

Wow, his stats are something else, how did I manage to subdue him in one strike? Maybe Blood Lust had more of an effect on him since his magic power is very weak. It seems that luck was on my side this time around, otherwise, this would have marked the end of my journey.

[The sub-scenario has ended.]

[You have earned 1,000 coins as compensation.]

[The white flag will show its true effects to the Uttarkshetra representative.]

[You have gained control of the Uttarkshetra Area through the effect of the white flag.]

[You can punish a group member who goes against you.]

[Current Group: 27 people.]

[Your reputation is still too weak to gain the title of king.]

Great, [You can punish a group member who goes against you.], meaning I had the authority of judge and jury here now. [Your reputation is still too weak to gain the title of king.] title of king? hmm, does it mean that I should increase the number of people in my group or spread stories about me to increase my reputation? The second option looks easier, I just had to act the role of the psychopath that the damn dokkaebi has already painted me out to be. Although, I'm grateful that nobody here seems to recognize me.

"Wait a minute, I just can't accept this. This is not how civil people choose their representatives. We are different from barbarians." A person spoke from behind me.

I turned around to find a man dressed in a black suit and tie, a silver watch hung from his wrist, his black hair was neatly combed backward and a pair of spectacles perfectly fitting his facial shape rested on his nose showing a pair of brown eyes, giving him a very educated and high-status look.

[Skill Character List has been activated]

「 [Character Summary]

Name: Niven

Age: 35 years old.

Sponsor: - The Architect Of Chaos

Exclusive Attributes: Corrupt Politician, Manipulator, Narcissist, Makeup Artist...

Skills: Incite Lv. 8, Fabricated Facts Lv. 8, Public Speaking Lv. 9, Propaganda Lv. 7,....

Stigma: Dice of fate

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 5, Strength Lv. 2, Agility Lv. 1, Magic Power Lv. 10.

Overall Evaluation: The overall stats are average. His mastery over his skills is almost maxed out due to their use in daily life. He is extremely talented in swaying the masses in his direction while destroying his opponent's reputation. 」

This was going to be troublesome 

[Incarnation Niven has used the skill Incite]

[Incarnation Niven has used the skill Public Speaking]

[Incarnation Niven has used the skill Propaganda]

[Attribute Manipulator is increasing the effect of Incarnation Niven's skills]

"We are civilized people and should select our representatives via elections to ensure that every person is heard and has a say in the turn their life takes, that decision should not be taken from us by some barbarian who forced us to submission" He gave me a devilish smile comparable to that of the dokkaebi's. "I say we decide who will represent us. It concerns our lives"

[There are more indirect messages than the current level of channel Ask-#98715 can process]

[Sponsored coins are being calculated]

"And I will certainly not hand my life in the hands of a psychopath. We killed in the first scenario because we had no choice. You all have seen the video he was laughing after killing two humans. Rumor says one of them was his brother"

[Incarnation Niven has used the skill Fabricated Facts]

[Skill Propaganda has increased the effect of skill Fabricated Facts]

"How can we trust someone who was laughing after killing his own blood with our lives, not to mention the blood lust he was emitting just moments ago, strong enough that we couldn't move a muscle. Remember how he killed that person in one strike showing no remorse at all. Wake up people!" He pointed at the unconscious body of Æthelred all gazes on him turned to see the body lying beside me covered in blood the effect of his skill fabricated facts.

[Skill Fabricated Facts is taking effect]

Of course, framed for murder by murderers yet again. It was the crowd that spoke this time.

"That's right we can't trust that psychopath" Someone shouted in a broken voice.

"We're as good as dead in his leadership" Another continued with urgency.

"A psychopath's no representative of mine" This one was angry.

"Liberty"

"Freedom"

"We will choose our representative" A few chanted in unison

"We're not barbarians, this isn't the jungle"

"We are intelligent beings, not mindless beasts who surrender to the strongest"

[Indirect messages in channel Ask-#98715 have been temporarily disabled]

My heartbeat was growing louder, I could hear it without having to touch my chest. My jaw was growing heavier. My face was burning with a familiar but an emotion I could not comprehend. A thought popped into my head. Why me? Why always me?

Oh, I see what's happening here. This is how it's always been, ever since I was young. The time when I wrote a poem about my parents in elementary school.

"It's because he has such good parents and teachers. If we had the same, we could do it too." My parents showed off how good parents they were, my poem was no longer a part of the discussion.

The time I came first in the sports meet. "It's because all his opponents were slow, if I was in his class I could do it too"

"It's because of the P.E. teacher's hard work. Anyone can do it if the P.E. teacher trains them diligently"

The time I was an honor student in middle school.

"It's because of my teaching methods"

The time I got into coaching for a college. "Anyone can do that"

The list just goes on. Every time I achieved something I was never praised for it, it was always the people around me who got the credit while I stood in a corner just like today. The parents who didn't even know I wrote a poem. The P.E. teacher who always paid attention to the bullies. The subject teachers who didn't even know my name until I got a perfect score in the finals. I hate the word 'we'.

It was probably then that I started rejecting any sort of relationship, be it friendship or a parent-son bond. This was why I was always alone and it was happening again. I am not their representative even though I hold the flag. I had completed the scenario as perfectly as on could, yet somebody who was hiding in a corner the entire scenario was deemed more qualified than me? Am I just a side character who is cast aside after their role is completed? Is this all I would ever amount to no matter how hard I tried

Speaking of relationships, when was the last time I talked to my parents? A year before graduation? They didn't even attend my graduation. To be honest they didn't even know I was graduating, they were too excited by my brother clearing middle school to spare a glance at me. I don't even remember what they sound like. I had one real friend in the past few years. He died in before my eyes and I was publically framed for it, in such a perfect way that I have no way to prove my innocence.

Why am I alive again? Wouldn't it be better to just die? How many times have I dreamt about it? One day I would go to sleep and dream of nothing, you know, the kind where you sleep late and wake up just before work or school all while it doesn't even feel like a minute has passed. Except this time, I would never wake up, the dream of nothing would last forever. The nothing devoid of any feeling, any concept of time, any memories of my past, incapable of reflecting any more wounds on me, where I had no consciousness whatsoever and this nightmare of a life would come to an end but it never did.

I've done enough, haven't I? I gave my best every time. I don't want to clear the next scenario, hoping the failure condition be death. You want your precious flag? You can have it! A dead man needs no bearings.

On that thought a voice rang in my head.

Dark brown eyes that appeared black unless you took the time to look at them carefully shone at the back of my mind. Black hair dancing in the wind, a few loose locks separated from the flock falling in front of the eyes to reveal a mole, like an ink drop on an empty canvas which was usually hidden by her hair. Her lips parted to say something.

"The only reason I live is to see your death"

What would happen to Thalia if I died? Would she stop clearing the scenarios like I'm about to? Would she drown in survivor's guilt? For some reason the thought of another pained expression on Thalia's face was painful to me. She knew what it felt like to be alone, she understood how I felt.

A person can go without any food, water, or love for some amount of time but a person can not live a second without hope. Hope makes them want to wake up yet another day. What would happen if I took that hope away from Thalia? After losing everything to the scenarios only the goal of killing me had kept her alive.

No, these are just excuses I'm making to myself, the last attempt to convince myself to live. What do I care about someone I met yesterday and knew for but an hour? But as a dying wish, I would like to give meaning to her life, it is my last hope of amounting to something in this life where I have been nothing but useless.

This has become my hope, a desire to amount to something, something that would give meaning to my existence. A man on the verge of killing himself, if presented with the faintest of hope, the size of a twig to float on in the vast ocean when he doesn't know how to swim will survive.

All I would leave behind will be a regret, that I wasn't able to form a connection with someone, a connection more than that of give and take. Something more than If he performs well I will get a promotion. Something more than I can use his good grades to increase my reputation. Something more than he is only a loved son if he does well. Something that dosen't have to be logical.

My gaze landed upon the blue scenario window after a long time, upon which written in white was the word King, not representative. King.

The chants of the crowd had now turned into voices of discussion. An audience had gathered around Niven who was now campaigning for his spot as the representative.

A king was never elected. A king didn't have voters he had subjects.

[You have activated the King's authority on all incarnations in the Uttarkshetra area]

A king would punish those who stage a coup.

Especially a king who was a psychopath, what was the word for it again? A tyrant.