RTN 18

The civilization here far surpassed the place I used to live.

I’d guessed that from the moment I first ran into the soldiers, but the view outside the window was eerily vast.

Endless stretches of darkness. Countless faintly glowing stars cutting across the sight.

I never thought I’d see a view like this in my life.

The road to the prisoner camp was smooth. People coming and going glanced at me attentively—maybe on Baek Ihyeon’s orders—but didn’t stop me, and through the wide window on my right the universe stretched out without interruption.

It was an astounding sight, but only one thought occupied my head.

“We won’t interfere with assignments. We’ll leave it to autonomy — if you make the final decisions, we’ll carry them out exactly as you decide.”

Baek Ihyeon’s proposal wasn’t hard to accept. All the tasks listed had unfamiliar names, but the remarks column contained detailed explanations. I could roughly figure things out.

Besides, they wouldn’t likely entrust important tasks to a stranger; and since they had to keep me alive for now, they wouldn’t give me anything too risky. So I could put healthy adults on manual labor and assign the weaker folks to clerical support…

Still, I didn’t want to. Doubts kept surfacing.

Did this really have to be me?

Setting aside whether I could place people in the right positions, there was a more fundamental problem: people’s resistance.

For the moment, no one might object if I tried to control them — I’d saved their lives, after all.

But gratitude doesn’t last. Over time it dilutes and changes.

It’s true I rescued people from the gate. But someone eating an S-grade weapon was thanks to other people’s knowledge, and even I didn’t know why I could see the status window.

At first we may have survived because of me, but continuing to live now was by no means thanks to me.

If I stepped forward in this situation, the gratitude would soon sour into resentment. I’d rather avoid involvement where possible.

I tightened my grip on the tablet in my hand as the huge hold of the ship stretched out before me.

So what should I do?

There was a way to let people decide autonomously: give them the list and let everyone discuss and choose.

By now a proper leader had surely emerged.

It wasn’t the people who called me their leader — it was the soldiers. Perhaps, while I was away, they’d formally elected a representative.

If so, I could just hand the task list to that leader and be done with it. That would make things easier.

While I was thinking, we arrived at the prisoner camp.

This damned ship was so enormous that it took over an hour to get here even though I’d checked the location on the tablet Baek Ihyeon gave me. I hadn’t gotten lost, yet it still took that long.

The soldiers guarding the entrance opened the door without a word when they saw me. The instant the people inside turned their eyes toward me, a small child tumbled toward me and threw themself into my arms.

It was the child who had been rendered as a hologram in the test. I hugged the kid and checked their body.

“You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The child squeezed their eyes shut and shook their head hard.

“You were pretty startled, weren’t you? Not scared?”

“They just attached something to my body.”

“Oh? I didn’t see that.”

“Big sister didn’t see it.”

The child mumbled and burrowed deeper into my arms. I stroked the child’s back and felt relieved. It seemed they were only modeled after the child’s appearance.

Just as I thought that and looked up, I met many pairs of eyes.

People had already gathered in a circle around me. Every face looked like it desperately wanted to speak, yet for some reason no one opened their mouths.

Instead, a man stepped briskly forward and stood in front of me. He wore glasses and had a gentle impression. He was taller than most by at least a head, so I remembered he’d stood out even in the crowded gate.

“My name is Jeong Jin-won. It looks like there will be many times Seol A-yeon will be absent, so there was talk of deciding on a representative. I volunteered. I’ll be in charge. Please take care of us.”

I put the child down, stood up, and faced Jeong Jin-won. So a leader had indeed appeared. Jeong Jin-won spoke.

“First, let me explain our situation…”

“Please speak casually.”

“It’s easier.”

Jeong Jin-won answered with a smile. I wondered what process had selected him — a vote? A recommendation? Volunteers?

“As you can see, we were moved here from the transport ship and are being given sufficient food and rest. We assume it’s thanks to Seol A-yeon.”

“I ate an S-grade.”

Silence fell for a moment. Then reactions burst out all around like a flood.

“S-grade?”

“There’s an S-grade here?”

“Are you sure you didn’t get it wrong? This isn’t even the capital.”

“What S-grade? What did you eat?”

“You must be mistaken. There are only exactly three S-grades. Only the emperor can make them…”

“No. Two.”

A hoarse voice said it. Everyone’s eyes turned toward that certainty.

“There are only two S-grades left now.”

A man sat in a corner. He was gaunt, as if he could collapse at any moment, but there was an odd sparkle in his eyes.

He stared at me intently and continued speaking.

“When the game first started it showed three S-grades. But as time went on it changed to two. It’s not an error. The guidebook clearly says there are two S-grades left.”

I recognized him. He was the man who had boasted to the soldiers right after we left the gate that he knew a lot about the game.

“The emperor used one a long time ago and intentionally hushed it up. That’s why few people know. As levels rise, information increases, and that’s when the S-grades change from three to two.”

The man stood. He staggered toward me and his pupils shone with a strange light. He seemed unhinged.

I tried to relax my body. It wasn’t good to imagine knocking this man out; whatever he did, it would be better to take it. The man took another step toward me. I could feel his harsh breathing.

“Why you?”

As expected, he grabbed my throat. Veins stood out on his dry hand. I had braced myself, but his grip was so strong I couldn’t breathe the moment he seized me.

This wasn’t strength from stamina. It was sheer will to kill. Between clenched teeth he muttered.

“Something’s wrong! It should be me! It should be me — the protagonist is supposed to be someone who’s good at the game. Right? You’ve never even played. You know nothing about this place!”

The eyes fixed on me were bloodshot and wide.

“You’re not the one. You didn’t come here because you wanted to. I was happy. I liked being here. It’s the place I longed for. Why, why is it not me? Didn’t you steal what’s mine? If only you, only you weren’t here!”

“This is insane!”

“Tear it off! Tear it off!”

“Help me! Hold them!”

People around tried to pull him off me, but the more they did, the harder he clutched my throat.

My airway tightened and I couldn’t breathe. Without thinking I grabbed his wrist. I could have twisted it enough, but I didn’t. I simply endured until it passed.

“You’re not the one! It should be me!”

The man screamed as if coughing up blood. I forced myself not to pass out and opened my eyes wide, then saw something.

Beyond the people trying to pry him off me, Jeong Jin-won could be seen. He stood one step back and stared at me blankly. He made no move to stop it.

As if he wanted me dead.

“If only you, only you weren’t here…”

The man clutching my throat muttered like a prayer. At that moment I realized: he wasn’t the only one thinking like this.

“If only you were gone, a chance would come to me!”

That was when Jeong Jin-won moved.