"This doesn't make any sense."
Haide paced around the bedroom as I lay quietly on the bed watching him go back and forth in front of me.
A sharp sting had been burning the back of my hand – a sign from this crest that acted as a signal to warn me of an enemy from the opposite faction.
Each of the pawns had the ability to recognize their enemy through this signal. It would burn endlessly once you were in 5-meter radius.
Including Haide in front of me now.
Biting his fingers, Haide spoke his mind. "Uola must have made a mistake when choosing my opponent, how could I fight you Yolan?" He sat beside me and grabbed my hand, his voice carried a slight tremble, "I could never hurt you."
It was already the second time for me, so I wasn't that surprised, but that wasn't the case with Haide, so he became restless. I had now accepted the reality that no matter how I want to attain happiness, there's no way for me to achieve it. At least not when Uola ruled this world.
So was there a need for me to play the Gods' game and heed their rules?
"What if we trick Uola instead?"
"Huh?"
In this war, you had no choice but to join, because if you didn't clash with the opposite faction for at most three months, you would be teleported to an enclosed empty area and forced to fight each other on the spot. That was what happened to me in my past life and the aftermath of it was disastrous.
So to not repeat the same mistake, we need to make a show of us trying to kill each other – blow up a building or two then set up some trap here and there to entertain Uola.
"I'm not afraid of getting hurt, and you should too. It's better than actually ending each other's lives, right?"
Haide looked at me with an indescribable expression. Gently touching my head on his, I brushed his cheek as I closed my eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm strong, and so are you. We won't back down just from a few injuries, aren't we?"
I could feel a tremble from his warm breath, just as I could feel my hand trembling as I touched Haide's face.
"So let's face this together."
I opened my eyes and gave him a resolute gaze, conveying every determination I had in my heart.
As long as both of us were still alive, that was all I needed.
.
.
[Yolan, I got the Queen's crest again.]
Cassius informed me through a call and I immediately moved my feet.
Telling others my plan to not fight Haide would be a stupid decision, as it could spark tension between members who wanted to gain their wish and me, who wanted to maintain our status quo. It could lead to betrayal that might lead to my death. But prolonged unserious fights would also raise suspicions so I needed to plan each and every one of our fights seriously.
'We are not only fighting Uola by bending His rules, but it is also a war between me and the members of the pawns.'
After making a phone call and renting the whole building of a soccer field, I stood quietly in the center.
I focused my attention on the crest on my hand. With a command from my mind, I could summon the other members.
That's the authority of the king.
[Come forth.]
With a wave of my hand, a bright light immediately enveloped the empty building. Silhouette of people slowly formed as they manifested into this place – right here and now.
"What the heck?!"
"Where is this?!"
Of course, chaos would erupt when people who were enjoying their daily lives were suddenly teleported to an unknown place in the middle of the night. They were all bearers of the crest – the ones that would be my lifelong companions in this life.
Most of them were on their pajamas, but some were ready, holding a bag with a determined faces ready to fight.
'A group of completely new faces.'
There were only two people I recognized in this life's chosen people, like Cassius and…
"Azazel."
"Yolan…?"
Azazel widened her eyes when she realized my presence – completely didn't expect me to be standing here. I broke eye contact with her and swiped my gaze toward all the members of my faction before landing my gaze on Cassius.
Cassius gave me a nod, urging me to start my speech.
"Attention everyone!"
All eyes turned toward me when I raised my voice.
"First, I'll apologize for summoning you this late in the night, but you have to learn early the urgency of War of Throne and how precious every second is in this war. That's why I immediately summoned you here as soon as dawn arrived."
Showing the crest on my hand, I spoke, "My name is Yolan Carnel, I'm chosen as the King of this faction, and I want to convey my plans to my members as soon as possible."
"Waitwaitwait! You're telling me I'm chosen as one of the pawns? And moreover, my King is an omega?!" One of the members raised his voice. He looked like someone in his late thirties, judging by his build and tone of voice, he might be one of those alphas who judge people based on their secondary gender.
'There would always be people like this in both my lives.'
"What did you-"
"Cassius."
Cassius, being the emotional man that he was, frowned in anger. But I immediately cut him off and told him to back down with my eyes.
I shifted my gaze back to the man while addressing the others in the room, "Yes, each one of you has been chosen by Uola. The fact that you stood here and answered my call was proof. So how about we do some introduction first?"
Checking my wristwatch, I continued, "30 minutes should be enough. Or are there any other questions you guys want to ask?"
A woman dressed in a one-piece black dress raised her hand, "Aren't you skipping the most important part?" Her eyes under her sunglasses sharpened as our gaze locked, "What wish are you trying to achieve in this war?"
'There it is, the one thousand dollars question.'
I didn't mind telling them my wish, but the problem was, even I myself didn't know what desire Uola saw in my heart that made Him choose me again as the King. Unlike my previous life, there was no goal that I wanted to achieve. There was only one vague desire I wanted the most right now.
Individual happiness.
And that would be the wish I ask on behalf of my members too.
I pondered for a bit before answering her question, "You know that when you are chosen as a pawn, your wish will likely align with your King right? Don't worry, if my wish is fulfilled, it will benefit you either way."
"Do you even know what I wished for?" the woman asked, a slight caution in her eyes.
'Well, that's not a good sign.'
I guess my answer was too vague to be acceptable, nevertheless, I wouldn't pursue this matter further. It's fine if they were wary in the beginning, it's a good trait to have in a psychological war like this. If they were too naïve or too trusting from the beginning, they wouldn't survive the years of war we would be having.
Giving her a silent smile, I shifted my gaze to the others.
"Any other questions?"
"Um, excuse me."
A girl raised her hand, judging by her youthful look, she was a high schooler at most.
"Pawns… King and wish… Um… Are we playing in a TV show or something? I don't know what this is all about…?"
'Oh, and there would always be an ignorant one like this.'
A click of tongue was heard from the same man who had spoken before, "Kids these days, they don't even know what War of Throne is."
The girl lowered her head as she fidgeted her fingers, unable to speak even a word of protest.
'I guess this one has a timid nature, just like Cassius.'
"What's your name?" I asked in a soft voice.
"Jessie." She answered quietly.
"I'll tell you in detail later. In short, we are in a game where we could die meaninglessly or live with our wish fulfilled."
"What?! We could die?! You're joking right?!" Jessie gave out a startled cry – her face was still full of skepticism.
Swiping my gaze once again at the crowd, I noticed a few youngsters glancing around and whispering to each other.
That made me frown.
I raised my hand once again, pointing at the crest, "Anyone who doesn't know what this crest on your hand or what War of Throne means, raise your hand please."
It was silent at first, but once Jessie rose hers, one by one rose, following her.
"One, two… A total of three people."
'What a mess.'
Unlike my previous life, where all of my members had already anticipated the War of Throne to come, this group was still full of greenhorns who hadn't researched that deep about War of Throne – even though it was already part of history and religion.
This meant I had to educate them from the start again.
'Guess this is Uola's way of spitting karma in front of my face.'
To gain my wish of obtaining happiness, I had to give everything I had.
'What a laughable turn of fate.'
Uola was truly a bastard of a god.