Chapter 59: The Stillness After the Storm
Location: Seoul Metro Tunnel → Safe Zone
Scenario: Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value (Completed)
Casualty Rate: 87%
Survivors Transferred: 91/713
Sukuna was grinning.
Floating mid-air like a blood-painted god, soaked in the remains of what had once been regenerating giants. All seven trolls — mutated, horrific, towering beasts — had been reduced to splattered meat and cracking bones.
Then, as the last of their roars faded into choking gurgles—
TCHK—
Like a mechanism snapping shut, the cursed energy cut off.
Sukuna blinked.His grin dipped slightly.
"Oi."
"What the hell, baldy?"
The cursed marks faded from the body.
The smirk dissolved. The glowing red eyes dimmed.
And standing in the aftermath, in the exact same place, was the man in the black suit and red tie.
Clean-shaven. Cold-eyed. Unfazed.
Agent 47.
Back in control.
He adjusted his cuffs with mechanical precision. Blood dripped from his sleeves onto the cracked pavement. He didn't even glance at the troll corpses around him.
"I warned you."
"You pull that again—I'll tear you apart from the inside."
Sukuna growled in the back of his mind.
"Tch. Stiff bastard. You should be thanking me. I made it fun."
47 didn't reply.
Around him, no one moved.
Yoo Joonghyuk's sword arm was trembling — from tension, not fear, though his jaw was locked like steel.His vision flicked over 47's clean, calculated stance. No hint of exertion. No wasted energy. Nothing made sense.
That was not an incarnation.And it wasn't a constellation either.What kind of existence… can house something like that?
Kim Dokja, a little behind him, was still watching silently — his mind spinning.
There was no mention of this in Ways of Survival.Not even a footnote. Not even an author's throwaway detail.
The 1386st regression.And not once had this man ever appeared.
"...Dokja-ssi?" a soft voice.
It was Yoo Sangah, pale but unharmed, stepping forward as the last embers of combat flickered out.
"Is it… over?"
Kim Dokja looked around.
The smell of burnt flesh. Blood on the cracked cement. Metal twisted and half-melted by raw energy.Only a few people were still standing.
Lee Hyunsung limped forward, covered in dust, dragging a shattered steel pipe like a shield.Han Myungoh was being treated by an incarnation healer, barely conscious.
Dokja nodded.
"The scenario's over."
A moment later—
[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value COMPLETE]• Total Points Earned: 10,000• Bonus Reward: 1,500• Achievement Unlocked: "Predator of Predators"
⚠ Survivors below 15% threshold. Emergency Migration initiated.
And then—
Snap.
The dokkaebi appeared again, his form now stabilized. His glow returned, if dimmer, and his face — for the first time — wasn't amused.
He looked down at 47 with a mixture of unease and calculation.
"Unregistered entity. You've caused… considerable deviation in the script."
"We'll be reviewing this incident."
47 didn't answer.
He simply holstered his Silverballers, one click at a time, and turned away.
Constellation "Watcher of the Fourth Wall" is laughing.Constellation "Prisoner of the Golden Headband" is intrigued.Constellation "Sword Demon of the Abyss" is requesting more footage. Constellation "The Last Horizon" has bookmarked Agent 47. Constellation "King of No Home" offers 2,000 coins in tribute. Constellation "??? ??? ???" simply writes: King of Curses??
With a snap of the dokkaebi's fingers, light flared.
The survivors vanished one by one.
The train.
The tunnel.
The troll corpses.
All dissolved into smoke and ash—
And the survivors reappeared in the safe zone.
It was once Seoul.Now it was a ruin.
Burned towers. Cracked highways. A sky darkened with ever-flickering messages from the Star Stream.Old smoke drifted across a demolished plaza where tents and fires had been set up.
A refugee camp for the end of the world.
47 walked forward slowly, eyes sweeping the area.
Scanning.
Assessing.
No threat yet.
The others appeared behind him, coughing from the relocation shift. Kim Dokja held Yoo Sangah upright. Joonghyuk landed in a crouch, blade out — still not taking his eyes off the intruder in the suit.
47's system window flickered softly.
[New Scenario Generating...]Estimated Time Until Start: 3 Days
[Quest – Undefined]Awaiting directive. No contract assigned.
Mail from: [Administrator ███]
[Lucky Box x1 attached]
47 opened it with a blink.
Inside?
Something… unidentifiable.
Yet potent.
We'll see what it's for soon enough.
Behind him, Joonghyuk finally stepped forward.
"Who are you?" he asked, voice like granite. "What are you doing in this story?"
47 turned his head slightly. His face unreadable.
"Confidential."
Then walked off into the ruins.
The rest were too stunned to follow.
Not yet.
Not after what they'd just witnessed.