Card towers are meant to fall down (1)

Having made a detour to the storage room, we were picking up boxes of food to bring to the ones waiting outside.

I recalled what I heard about Cheon's entourage and addressed Mr.

Scammer.

"How should I call you then? Was your name here Asmodeus?"

"My name is Andras."

"Sure."

Now that I think of it, 'Leraje' must've been a fake name as well.

As we arrived at the front door, I spoke up again.

"I have a favor to ask."

He turned his head toward me. Taking it as an indication to continue, I explained,

"I'd like you to spread a rumor around. As Cheon's subordinate, you should have a certain amount of credibility. Tell people that the monsters come from the system. Even if they are killed, they will only spawn endlessly, so it is useless to fight them. I trust in your rhetorical skills."

More precisely, they come from the human souls roaming the area, unable to find rest. Even if a 'monster' is killed, the soul remains intact and will only come back as another monster.

For this reason, there can only be a set number of monsters at the same time; it will neither decrease nor increase—except if another person dies.

"If they observe for a while, people will see that the number of monsters outside doesn't change."

This is information that doesn't appear in my novel.

Mr. Scammer, aware of the loophole in my words, side eyed me.

In the empty hallway, he asked me a question.

"What do you get from this?"

I gave him the same reason I told Cheon.

"To survive."

However, Mr. Scammer didn't accept it. He sneered.

"I think there are better ways to survive than spreading around unverified information to stop fighting monsters."

I replied perfunctorily.

"Then, for fun…?"

Now I sound like a psychopath. Don't tell DHB.

"Is it a question? You don't seem sure of yourself."

"If you're so smart, guess the reason."

At my retort, Leraje only smiled provocatively.

"What will you give me if I succeed?"

Why are you trying to extort me?

Shaking my head, I gave in, putting an end to this argument.

"If you get it right, I'll tell you how I recognized you."

Recalling the crowd waiting outside, I focused my attention back to the issue at hand. Then, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The first thing that caught my eye was the rankings floating in the sky, blending with the sunset.

[1. Player #259969912: Wiliam Ackerman (782)]

With a number twice as high as the previous day for the unknown player in first place, the previously green system window had now completely turned red.

My face darkened.

At this rate, even if the operation succeeds, the situation will be worst than in my novel.

I raised my head, facing the crowd, and spoke to them.

"Everyone, the negotiations have concluded."

Wearing a triumphant smile, I voiced out the words I had thought of in the hallway.

"You are now free of Cheon's tyrannical rule."

Placing myself as their representative, their central figure, I was the perfect person to receive the blame if a problem occurred.

"He has agreed to give us all the reserves of food and step down from his position. There are no more privileges and you don't need to fight monsters and risk your lives against your will any longer! Now, you can eat to your hearts' content! We are free!"

With the rumor on monsters Leraje is going to spread tonight, they should accept to stop fighting defending the barrier more easily.

Mr. Scammer looked at me with pity.

"Were you supposed to be yelling? Because it wasn't very loud, do you need a microphone?"

In an aggrieved voice, I replied, "…I know."

I want to hit you.

Picking up the heavy box of food I had put down—even though my help in carrying the food seemed unneeded as Leraje easily lifted a few boxes by himself—I concluded.

"Let's enjoy a feast tonight!"

Then, I struggled to hoist up the box on top of the ones in Leraje's arms and let him deal with the rest, ignoring his mocking gaze.

Entering the crowd, I looked for Norwood.

"Are you finished?"

I turned back and saw him.

"Not really."

Convincing Cheon was only the first step of the operation—even though I feel like there's a lot of 'first steps' since this operation began. Who knows? Maybe there are only two steps.

Around us, people were cheering and eating, celebrating the occasion.

Listening to the happy voices of others, I stared at Norwood who was observing the joyful scene, lost in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry."

Because card towers eventually fall.

***

The next day, I stayed cooped up in a room all day, eating the leftovers from the feast I had kept from the previous day.

Then, the following morning, as expected, there was a commotion.

"What?!"

"They're lying! How could there be no food left?"

"We want an explanation!"

As the person who freed them of Cheon's tyranny, I was given a room in one of the rare intact houses.

However, with all the people yelling outside, I feared this one would be burned soon. And me in it.

I rubbed my eyes, tired.

Why are people up this early?

Can't you see you're waking up others?

To me, what was even more disturbing than this was the uninvited guest staring at me from the window.

"You…"

It's like a horror movie. I didn't sign up for this.

Mr. Scammer smiled cheekily.

I considered throwing on him whatever I had on hand but realized I was bad at aiming and would have to retrieve the object in question if it fell through the open window.

From now on, I don't like windows.

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching you sleep, why?"

Bam!

Nevermind, I'll let him retrieve it in my stead.

As I watched the pillow hit the wall next to his head, his insufferable face unscathed, I regretted that decision.

I mean, I missed you on purpose…

"How violent. Though, you'll need to practice if you want to hit someone."

Thank you for volunteering to be my practice target.

Calming down, my mind was completely awake now.

"Sorry, it was a reflex. So, what are you doing here? And give back the pillow please."

"If you're sorry, you should compensa-"

Actually, I don't feel sorry at all.

As he tried to extort me again, I cut him off.

"And you should compensate me for the emotional damage you caused me to see you watch me sleep like a psychopath just after opening my eyes."

Mr. Scammer nodded.

"I guess we're even then."

He finally came to the main point.

"I simply wanted to see how you would react to what is happening outside."

And you needed to come to my bedroom? Through the window? On the second floor?

You have a problem, man.

Curious, I inquired, "For how long did you wait?"

Mr. Scammer responded immediately.

"Not long. Maybe 15 minutes?"

I imagined that guy staring at me for 15 minutes and thought about putting up some security measures for the rest of the scenario.

Nah, I'm too lazy.

I yawned and got up.

Then, I realized that the window actually led to a balcony and approached it.

Briefly observing the surroundings, I mentally sighed.

Right, it may not have been too hard to climb up…

Mr. Scammer entered the room and stepped behind me, out of sight, as I attracted people's attention.

Clap.

I simply clapped as hard as possible, in a way that made the most sound.

With my palms red, I shook my aching hands while some people's gazes turned toward me, the rest following suit.

Then, after a few seconds, I calmly interrogated them.

"So, what did you come here for? Didn't you get what you wanted?"

Someone spoke up.

"There is no food left! Where are you hiding the rest?"

"Yes! We want our food!"

"You're revealing your true colors! You are just a tyrant like Cheon who wanted to monopolize food to control us!"

"Calm down, I'm sure there is an error. It is a misunderstanding, right? You were going to give it to us."

I wiped my face, exhausted, and sneered.

"Ha."

Then, I looked down at everyone for a while and slowly opened my mouth.

"Are you dumb?"

They protested, offended, but I had to shatter their delusions. In the crowd, a few people who had guessed the truth remained silent.

I waited for people to quiet down and enunciated each word to make them understand.

"Why did you think Cheon's group rationed food in the first place?"

I laughed again.

"'Monopolizing food'? Why did you have this idea? What if there was only that much food in the first place?"

Did they think the privileged had entire caves of provisions stocked up in the middle of an apocalypse? But where would they find it?

They had already been here for a while now, so they were running out of provisions.

With contempt, I declared the harsh truth.

"There is no food left. The boxes I brought were all that remained."

In a mix of shock and horror, people had stopped speaking. They wanted to deny the truth.

"You wanted to eat to your hearts' content? Now you have to pay the price."

I turned back and left the balcony, ignoring the protests behind me, and bypassed Leraje who was staring at me with amusement.

Exasperated, I complained.

"Go away… I don't want to deal with you so early in the morning."

Mr. Scammer retorted, "It's 10 a.m. already."

Right, it's not 2 p.m. yet.

The notification that had appeared since earlier disappeared.

[Imagination Lv.2 is activated.]

I sighed.

This is going to be a long day.