I, Lee Ju-seong, stood in a narrow and humid gap where the surrounding sunflowers covered the sky with a height that exceeded mine, and there were only the two of us there.
As I took a deep breath and exhaled, the chilly smell of iron mixed into the thick scent of earth and stung my nose.
Park So-yul glanced at the gem held in my hand.
"You can't make big money just by being a smooth talker. Why should I trust you?"
Park So-yul took a half-step forward.
The hwando drew closer to my neck as she advanced.
Park So-yul's dark brown pupils glistened intensely, as if trying to observe my reaction under pressure.
I spread both arms to the left and right, voluntarily leaving myself defenseless.
Like a wild animal threatening a natural enemy through mimicry.
"If you can't trust me, cut me down and take the gem. In exchange, the opportunity to expand the gems to ten will disappear forever."
"This sword is real. If I cut you, your flesh will tear and blood will flow."
"That would hurt a lot. But wouldn't the heartache you feel every time you think about the money you lost later hurt even more?"
I held the gem out as if pointing a weapon.
Park So-yul flinched as if she had been targeted by a real weapon.
"Now, I'm telling you to take it."
It was truly a situation filled with paradox.
An inversion occurred where the side holding out the gem was threatening, and the side holding the blade felt threatened.
My silhouette reflected in Park So-yul's pupils blurred.
It was because her pupils were shaking.
As a rule, people measure the tendencies of others based on their own experiences.
She seemed quite confused because the equation to measure a person like me was not entered into the human measuring device she possessed.
However, Park So-yul in the script was quick-witted, fast at calculating profits and losses, and had a refreshing personality.
Rather than being confused for long, Park So-yul chose to experience the unknown.
"You're not just spitting out anything because you're in danger right now, are you?"
Park So-yul lowered her hwando.
It was a signal that she would sit at the negotiation table.
A deep smile appeared around my mouth.
"Just now, even though you could have been attacked by surprise at any time, you hesitated on purpose. Seeing that, I judged you to be someone with a conscience remaining. I figured if you had a conscience, you would be someone I could communicate with."
"For a normal person, not being able to kill others easily is standard."
"What the organization did to release that psychological break was exactly the lottery paper test."
As the Money Game players passed the test, they harbored the psychology of I've killed once, so why can't I do it twice?.
The organization's trick to artificially release the players' psychological limits had worked perfectly.
However, it wasn't that everyone became unable to control themselves.
Several people were still controlling themselves.
Park So-yul was one of them.
Park So-yul pointed at the gem I was holding.
"That gem, can it really be expanded to ten?"
"It might be impossible alone, but with two people, the possibility increases significantly."
"I'll judge whether to join hands or not after listening. I hope it's not some pie-in-the-sky talk."
I showed her the compass that had completed its given mission and no longer functioned.
"This compass makes a loud noise instead of telling you the location of the gem."
"A tool that assists in the strategy... where did you get it?"
"I picked it up. It was hidden deep in the bushes."
"From now on, I'll have to walk around while being conscious of that too."
"Please do. Returning to the main point, until a while ago, I used the compass so that it overlapped with the timing of someone else using a compass. Earlier, I just waited vaguely and then used it, but if there's a collaborator, we can use two compasses at the timing we want."
Using a compass once the wrong way by oneself made it easy to be relentlessly pursued by the cop.
But what if two people used them from different directions at the same time?
It was obvious the cop would lose their way and only waste time.
Park So-yul quickly understood what I was trying to say and added her opinion.
"I understood well what you're saying. Besides that, the fact that there's a comrade to rescue you after being caught by the cop will definitely act as an advantage."
"While other players are still moving alone, if we form a cooperative system one step ahead, we'll be able to sweep up the gems easily."
"Hmm, at least I can see that we can safely secure three or four more. If we're really lucky, securing all ten won't be a dream either."
"Exactly. Would you like to try it?"
Although she had withdrawn the hwando, Park So-yul's hand was still gripping its hilt.
It felt as if the sound of a calculator being tapped inside her head could be heard all the way here.
After a moment, Park So-yul narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly.
"Fine. For now."
The 'for now' contained at the end of her speech was as light as a single thin sheet of paper.
She took a step back, but she did not let go of the hwando in her hand.
It was a gaze where wariness and curiosity coexisted at a ratio of 6 to 4.
It was an improvement compared to when it was 100 percent purity of wariness.
With this, the possibility of copying a 2nd-rank ability opened up.
'It's a small but deeply meaningful first step. For now, let's be happy about successfully persuading Park So-yul.'
It was clear that the situation was flowing as desired.
How far I could fly while riding this favorable wind depended entirely on myself.
I held out the gem in my hand to Park So-yul.
"Since words alone won't be enough, I'll give you this gem."
Both of Park So-yul's eyebrows rose noticeably.
She was surprised by the boldness of treating the gem like a stone.
"I learned that there's nothing free in this world. If you're too nice, it makes me suspicious instead."
"I've already secured one, and this gem is the second one. Isn't our contract to split it half-and-half no matter how many we get? I want to make you feel that the contract is valid through your skin."
When I dropped the gem onto Park So-yul's palm, she stared at the gem blankly without realizing it.
The gem rolled half a turn on her palm and stopped.
Park So-yul hesitated before putting strength into her fingers and gripping the gem.
"Heeh~ already the second one..."
The poison Park So-yul was emitting softened slightly, and the tone of her voice became more diverse.
Out of wariness and curiosity, the ratio of curiosity must have increased, even if just by a little.
It was worth acting to give the impression of a man whose depth could not be measured.
I boldly turned my body and revealed my back to Park So-yul.
"Since I've used all the compasses I had, let's start by securing new compasses."
"Is there a trick to finding the compasses?"
"Open your eyes wide. Look while focusing. About that much?"
"I don't know about anything else, but I can tell you have a sly personality."
"Lee Ju-seong."
"Yes?"
"Lee Ju-seong."
"Yes?"
"It is my name. Lee Ju-seong, Ju-seong, Ju-seong-ssi. Well, call me however you are comfortable."
There was no answer returning from behind my back.
While Park So-yul was silent, I set my course to the east and walked to escape the sunflower flowerbed.
The current location was the northern edge of the game site.
I planned to thoroughly search the outskirts of the game site while heading east and circling clockwise.
When I pushed through the thick sunflowers to the left and right and escaped the flowerbed, a short word was heard from behind my back.
"I'm Park So-yul."
When I turned my head, I could find Park So-yul feeling awkward with her gaze fixed elsewhere.
She really is Park So-yul, not Jung Ah-young.
I knew it in my head, but exchanging names directly made the feeling special.
Thanks to that, Park So-yul no longer overlapped with Jung Ah-young in my eyes.
In that way, after securing one gem each and confirming the minimum profit, we set out on a journey to gain additional profit.
While moving from north to east in the game site, we occasionally found new compasses.
"Found a new compass. With this, the spares have increased to two."
I snatched the compass that was hanging on a tree branch at the bamboo walking path in the east of the game site.
I found one in the bushes in the northeast 10 minutes ago, and as I found another one in the east this time, the new compasses increased to two.
On the other hand, the number of compasses found by Park So-yul was still 0.
Park So-yul found my minor talent for finding compasses thoroughly to be strange.
"How can you find them so well like that?"
"Open your eyes wide. Look while focusing."
"I heard that earlier too. We're looking the same way, but only you are finding them, Ju-seong."
"That's because you haven't been able to take your eyes off me since a while ago."
"Please refrain from remarks that leave room for misunderstanding."
Park So-yul was slightly flared up at the words I threw as a joke.
I maintained a sly tone but spoke with seriousness.
"It seems you can't fully focus on the compass search because you're curious about my ability."
"It would be a lie to say I'm not bothered by it."
"It's good for both of us to have a hidden card one by one. Appropriate tension will help in maintaining a good relationship."
"I know that with my head, but it's not as easy as it sounds."
"Rather than that, I'm concerned about the game site being quiet for quite a long time."
An hour and a half had already passed since the game started.
Even though half the time had flowed, the interior of the game site was quiet.
The last commotion was when I used the second compass in timing with someone else's siren sound.
Silence was soon another type of commotion.
It was clear that invisible machinations were going back and forth in our blind spots.
The prediction was correct.
While moving from the east to the south of the game site, we witnessed a special situation as we passed a vacant lot surrounded by trees.
Two men were confronting each other inside a small vacant lot with a radius of about 20 meters.
One was a middle-aged man in hiking clothes.
"Mr. Cop, I brought a negotiation plan. I hope you'll listen, as it's a proposal with nothing bad to hear."
The man called the cop was familiar for some reason.
A tracksuit with greasy, clotted hair.
It was Yu Jin-cheol.
An armband with the word 'POLICE' written on it was attached to Yu Jin-cheol's right upper arm.
'The cop role for this game was Yu Jin-cheol.'
It was interesting that the person who was more sincere than anyone else about making a team took on the role that benefits from being lonely.
Park So-yul and I each took a large tree and took cover.
The conversation being shared in the vacant lot reached my ears faintly.
"If there's nothing to lose even by listening, I should listen. Please speak."
"I'll let you know first that we thieves have formed an alliance among ourselves."
"It's a good thing to be harmonious. But I feel left out hearing that you're harmonious except for me. Are you planning to gather together and do something to me?"
"The original opinion was to eliminate you and find the gems comfortably until the time limit ends. But our goal is money, not slaughter. So I persuaded them to give you a chance too."
"Ho-oh~ you were a savior of my life. If it weren't for you, mister, I would have surely been surrounded by thieves and had a hard time."
I wondered why the game site was quiet.
It seemed the other players except for us had gathered one or two at a time and were discussing a plan to clear the game safely.
After the discussion, the person who became the leader of the allied forces had come out to negotiate with Yu Jin-cheol as a representative.
Park So-yul and I were not included in the 'thieves' the leader mentioned.
However, to persuade Yu Jin-cheol right away, he spoke as if everyone had formed an alliance, and he must have judged that it wouldn't be too late to slowly persuade the two of us after making the negotiation successful first.
The allied leader proposed to Yu Jin-cheol.
"This game is designed so that everyone can benefit without shedding blood. If we receive the prize money and later pitch in to give you a portion of it, everyone can share the money fairly."
It's a sound argument.
If the cop and the thieves cooperate with each other, they can safely aim for fair profit.
If nine people distribute ten gems, about 6.6 million won per person falls into their hands.
It's a value similar to each person obtaining 1 gem, including the cop.
Added to this, any amount of additional pay is added according to the contents of the hidden mission.
Yu Jin-cheol worried while stroking his chin.
"About 6.6 million won just for staying still comfortably..."
"I'll see to it that every player definitely deposits into your Money Watch after the game ends. Now is the time to trust each other."
"What happens if I refuse?"
"Prioritizing taking you down would be the result. I'm telling you clearly, we didn't form an alliance just by trusting in numbers without any preparation. This proposal itself is an exceptional consideration, so make a wise judgment."
It was not an easy thing to guarantee a certain victory against Yu Jin-cheol, whose ability was strengthened tenfold.
He seemed to have secured a basis for a certain win in an invisible place.
Yu Jin-cheol scratched his greasy, clotted hair roughly to mess it up and let out a sigh.
Then, with a much more relaxed expression, he held out his hand.
"I don't want to shoulder unnecessary risks either. It's a shame the prize money decreases, but it can't be helped."
"Let's cooperate together and safely rip money off the organization."
"Rather than that, depositing after the game ends. I look forward to it."
The leader hesitated upon seeing the hand Yu Jin-cheol held out.
He expressed displeasure for a moment at the hand covered in grease, but he accepted the handshake while forcibly managing his expression.
"Uh, yeah. Just trust me."
The conviction that the negotiation was concluded lasted only for a moment.
Suddenly, Yu Jin-cheol's skin turned into a stone-like material.
He had used his ability.
Yu Jin-cheol rammed the leader's face with his forehead before the leader had any room to react.
Crack!
From the leader's perspective, it was as if a stone the size of a watermelon flew in and collided with his face.
In the sudden surprise attack, the leader fell backward while scattering a nosebleed and broken teeth.
The leader fell to the floor starting from his back and tried to exert his ability while clutching his face with his hands.
"Argh! You petty bastard! When a person goes as far as to show kindness... Aaaack!"
Yu Jin-cheol stomped on the leader's face strongly as if stamping it with his foot.
While the weight increased by turning into stone pressed down on the leader's head strongly as if to crush it, a fishy sneer formed around Yu Jin-cheol's mouth.
"You idiot, where is the sucker who would be satisfied with 6 million won after receiving a 10-times ability perk? You should only wish for things that are possible."
I watched the situation in the vacant lot from behind the cover and suddenly felt certain.
There is definitely a reason why the leader became sloppy all of a sudden.
The timing when Yu Jin-cheol revealed his true colors as if he had been waiting was by no means a coincidence.
'That guy used his head quite a bit. If my guess is right, this game, the end is not far off.'