Chapter 127: Betrayal and Accusation

“Y…you want me to betray them?”

A few days before the four players met, Lunda and Sung-Woon had a private conversation.

Sung-Woon replied to Lunda’s question.

“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t that an obvious step to take here?”

“...Umm.”

“Don’t pretend to think.”

Lunda cleared her throat and said, “Well, wouldn’t it be disconcerting for you too if someone told you to betray someone? I’m in an alliance with them.”

“And you’re not with me?”

Lunda opened her mouth to say that they certainly weren’t, but when she thought about it, there was a subtle nuance to Sung-Woon’s words. To Lunda, it sounded like Sung-Woon meant, ‘You may think that I’ve only been using you until now, but honestly, I’ve always thought of you as an ally, and that’s why I was kind to you. Did you really think that about me?’

Lunda carefully said, “Of course…we’re also…something similar to allies.”

“You have to choose between me or the other four players.”

“I know that.”

“If you have to choose, wouldn’t you want to be on the winning side?”

Lunda stayed silent for a moment. She had thought of herself as a realist until now. She knew that she couldn’t maintain decent relationships with everyone and continue these somewhat peaceful days forever. She would have to choose one of the two, and when that moment came, she knew she had to choose the side that was winning. She had done her calculations and even had a plan.

“No, but what can I say…”

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“Isn’t my situation understandable too? I would be marked as a traitor by the others and end up having pretty bad relationships with them. They’d think I’m horrible once they learn that I’ve been tricking them until now, wouldn’t they?”

Sung-Woon looked above Lunda.

‘I was wondering why you were hesitating, but I see what the issue is.’

Sung-Woon replied, “That’s unexpected.”

“Really?”

“At the beginning of the game, I thought you were going to cold-heartedly abandon Crampus.”

“That was only the beginning. We’d only seen each other a few times then despite being allies.”

“What about now?”

“Well…I guess he’s kind of grown on me.”

Sung-Woon nodded.

“But you wouldn’t want to lose because of that kind of fondness.”

“...Where does your confidence come from? It’s 5 against 2. In fact, there’s really nothing Eldar can do, and Black Scale is sharing the Elves' resources, so it’s no different from 5 against 1. If you want to persuade me, shouldn’t you at least tell me how you plan on winning?”

Sung-Woon slightly turned his head as if he was annoyed and then looked at Lunda again.

“I thought you would know well about the bigger plan.”

“What plan?”

“First, I would show them that you have been sharing information with me until now.”

“Then I would just tell them that I had no choice because I was being threatened.”

“I don’t care. If you make the excuse, I guess the other players would think rationally and wouldn’t just abandon you. But the other players have no way of knowing where the lie ends and the truth begins, so you’ll be isolated.”

“...What?”

“During that time, I will destroy you.”

Lunda thought she understood what that meant, but at the same time wasn’t sure if she understood him right.

So she asked, “That means…”

“Yes. I don’t know if I’ll beat all five of you for sure, but I know I can certainly beat you. I’m not convincing you, but threatening you.”

Lunda yelled, “Hey! What do you think that would make me think of you?”

Sung-Woon immediately replied, “‘A piece of trash’?”

Expression blank and mouth open, Lunda was stunned into silence for a moment.

And unintended words of admiration tumbled out of her mouth.

“Wow…really. You’re incredible.”

“Think what you want.”

“Do you not have any feelings?”

Sung-Woon didn’t reply. Instead, he quietly said the rest of what he wanted to say.

“Lunda. I’m only saying this because I think you’re a rational person. I believe that you wouldn’t make the wrong choice simply because of unnecessary sentiments or emotions. For example, even if you become a traitor in the eyes of Crampus and all the others, and even if the piece of trash in front of you threatens you, I know you will be able to judge and act on where your own interests are.”

Lunda clenched her fists and tried to come up with a counterargument. But after giving it more thought and a thorough consideration, she realized that Sung-Woon was right. However he put it, his impression of her was accurate.

‘I do wonder for what reason he provokes everyone…was he just born with a bad personality?’

Soon, Lunda calmed herself down and said, “So what do I need to do?”

***

Lunda recalled the conversation she had had with Sung-Woon a few days ago and felt her heart racing. What was important wasn’t the conversation itself, but what came after it.

Sung-Woon bluntly said that he had a few plans, but wasn’t sure which one of them would come into fruition. He simply told her that when the time came, she would know.

If she ended up never getting an answer, she had planned to drop it and later get angry at Sung-Woon, telling him that he should’ve told her about it. Now that Jang-Wan had pushed AR1026 into a corner, however, she couldn’t just let things go.

‘This is the time.’

Lunda did as planned.

“Um, Jang-Wan. You’re saying so with a solid basis, right?”

Jang-Wan pulled back the finger pointing at AR1026 and stood still for a moment.

Then she said, “I can’t say that I have a solid basis. That’s why I said before that I simply have strong feelings about it.”

AR1026 then said, “That is good enough. That means you have a reason to think so instead of just going off of nothing. Don’t say that’s not true.”

Jang-Wan replied, “I do have a reason.”

Jang-Wan clicked around the system window and shared a couple pieces of information. Lunda took a look. In the window, a male Nix was sneaking into Golden Eye’s capital.

Crampus said, “What is this supposed to mean?”

“Did you check the Nix’s face? The next image is a bit older than that one.”

Everyone took a better look. The male Nix was chatting with a Lizardman with black scales. And the location was labeled as Orazen.

Then AR1026 said, “You’re accusing me with this kind of information…”

“There’s more than this. This Nix went back and forth between Golden Eye and Black Scale several times. I’ve spotted him doing that myself. After a rough investigation, it seems that he isn’t someone with a special identity. He used to be a merchant, but then he has a history of meeting the influential families of Orazen. The records are unclear after that.”

Crampus asked, “Does that make him special? If not, have you tried to face them?”

“He died.”

“He died?”

“I was going to send my Kobold priests to capture him, but perhaps Nebula was also paying attention. The Lizardmen of Black Scale called this Nix first, and then he died. AR, can you explain?”

AR1026 became bewildered at Jang-Wan’s request. “Explain? There is nothing to explain. I don’t even know who that is.”

“Then why did the Lizardmen meet with that Nix? And why did they kill him as soon as I tried to confront him?”

“I wouldn't know.”

Crampus said, “It is a bit suspicious. The fact that the Nix died as soon as Jang-Wan tried to face them means that Nebula was paying careful attention to him.”

When AR1026 glared at Crampus, Crampus shook his head.

“No, I’m not saying that it implicates you as a traitor or whatever.”

Jang-Wan said, “The fact that Nebula used some of his Faith points to do such a thing likely means that it was worth it. I need to look into the matter a bit more. This is also a problem of trust. Everyone agrees, right?”

Lunda then interrupted and said, “To be honest, I think it’s a bit excessive.”

“Lunda…”

“Isn’t it? That itself might have been Nebula’s way of driving a wedge between us. Or it might have been a part of a bigger plan, and he gave up on it because he got caught in the process.”

“Well, I guess so. I do think it doesn’t warrant great suspicion. But isn’t there a need to resolve even minor doubts?”

Crampus said, “Normally, yes. But we have a battle ahead of us. I don’t think it’s the best time. Rather, isn’t there no need to resolve such a minor thing at a time like this? And the individual involved is dead, so with what are you going to find an answer?”

“...Hm.”

AR1026 said, “Honestly speaking, I think it’s a lame trick. Nebula probably put in his efforts to make us doubt each other. You said you would resolve this matter, but how exactly do you plan on doing so?”

“It’s simple. We can share our information.”

At Jang-Wan’s suggestion, AR1026 scowled so intensely that it could be felt through her bridal veil.

“That’s rude,” said AR1026. “If you’re the traitor instead, aren't things going too smoothly for you??”

“What?” Jang-Wan retorted like she was bewildered.

Seeing that things were going better than expected, Lunda covered her mouth and smiled.

‘It’s going as planned.’

The task that Sung-Woon had entrusted to Lunda was to defend the traitor.

***

“What? You want me to defend the presumed traitor instead of helping push them into a corner?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Sung-Woon thought for a moment and said, “With power being equal, you know that loose alliances are weaker than a single force, right?” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes. Because alliances can be broken, can’t it?”

“Let’s call breaking up the alliance with a single force Shaking. I’ve been Shaking the alliance a lot until now, haven’t I?”

Lunda nodded.

“Then whenever I try to do something, the alliance would worry about Shaking, wouldn’t they?’

“Yes.”

“There’s also the possibility that the alliance will become stronger in response.”

“To be honest, I think that’s already happened. We don’t gather to have meetings at the moment, but we used to meet up quite often. I don’t think there’s affection involved. Still, I believe we see each other as partners or companions.”

Sung-Woon nodded.

“So the way of thinking should be changed a little.”

“The way of thinking?”

Sung-Woon replied, “For example, what do you think would happen if you accuse someone as a traitor with the others?”

“I don’t know. We would look more into the person who got accused?”

“Exactly. But the only real traitor among the alliance is you.”

Lunda was thrown off by what sounded like a sudden jab.

“...Y…yes, okay.”

“No, I’m not criticizing you. Anyway, an investigation would lead to them becoming free of suspicion. Because even though I can create suspicion of them being a traitor, I can’t make them into one.”

“Then what happens if I defend the suspected traitor?”

Sung-Woon replied, “First, it becomes difficult to check whether that person really is a traitor or not. It’s important to skip that confirmation process by saying that you should trust your allies or whatnot. In that case, the accuser will continue to suspect the traitor, and the rest of the alliance would think the accuser is being excessive. Then at this point, the person accused of being a traitor would say that the accuser is messing up the alliance by doubting others for no reason.”

“Ah.”

“So the real target isn’t the one being accused of being a traitor, but rather…”

.

“The accuser who’s calling another player traitor, isn’t it?”

Sung-Woon nodded and continued his explanation.

“That alone would shake the alliance. And after that, you can do whatever you want with a good enough explanation.”

“For example?”

“Say that you’ll check whether the accused player really is a traitor instead of the accuser. Then you’ll be able to keep your army close to the presumed traitor. No one would suspect you then.”