└ This room isn’t filter‐free? Peace in Police Commissioner uniform @ [email protected]!!!! Too cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Ah, refreshing

└ Cute but murderous lolololol

└ What’s this? Give me back the Seong Hyunjae I know

└ Even if we told every hunter around here that Seong Hyunjae is the slave now that the filters are gone, they’d just scoff—like, what non‐awakened clears an S‐rank dungeon with only a straw?

└ I came here to vent because only this room isn’t filtered… Han Yujin, wake up—you’re in front of the Sesung Guild Leader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

└ Outlaws arrive in Manhattan soon

└ Let’s live diligently. Like Chief Song Taewon, who became a Disney princess at 34…

└ Our Noah is scouring around the auction remains now

└ Gochichijoo isn’t joking… another one got ended. At this rate Gochichijoo will win

Though the slave’s actions were restricted, the chat was not. With no information blocked, even sitting still I could track every participant’s movement. But the slave could speak aloud only once.

– Gyeol can speak once too.

Han‐gyeol glared and stared Seong Hyunjae down.

– If you persuade Dad I can stop you.

“Of course,” Seong Hyunjae said, muting his own voice. One slave victory condition is for the master to free the slave by direct command. Knowing all information, he could easily persuade and fulfill it. But if he tried to deceive Han Yujin, Han‐gyeol would expose the truth immediately.

Another win condition was wiping out all asset holders. He could sow the seeds of discord at the right moment and achieve that—if there were no fairy dragon to blurt out the truth.

With perfect knowledge, swaying people by words alone would be easy for Seong Hyunjae. If he’d been alone, he’d already be moving. His eyes turned toward the tiny dragon glaring at him.

“My conscience is larger than I thought.”

– What nonsense now? Anyway, don’t get in Dad’s way!

Han‐gyeol snarled and Seong Hyunjae patted his teammate’s head. His finger was bitten.

[The auction has ended.]

Not long after the bomb, the system message appeared. The impossible situation of continuing the auction was declared over. Then came the alert that the outlaws were beginning to destroy Manhattan.

“Probably if the outlaws destroy enough of the city, they’ll win, right? Looks like Riette and Kang Soyeong’s team.”

Riette really fits that role—like a colossal black dragon sweeping away New York. Haven’t I seen something like that in a monster movie? It’s such a kaiju cliché.

└ Outlaw □□□□□□!!

└ Isn’t this room overloaded with filters? lolol time to tear open the box lololol

└ Gochichijoo □□□□□□□□□ room just got □□□□! Ah shit □□□!! That’s a curse

From the reaction, it seemed not to be Riette’s team. Then could the Police Commissioner be Riette’s team? They’d smashed all the valley, gotten the highest score, and thus been assigned Commissioner first. If not Riette, the outlaws could be… Hyunah? Or maybe Yuhyun melted everything. Unlikely for Seong Hyunjae—his skill seeps into the ground outside its concentrated area, so low chance. If there’s a water source in the valley, maybe Park Yerim.

Anyway, the countdown had begun.

“We need to move fast. Other thieves will start hunting for the slave soon.”

└ Yujin… I came from Song Taewon’s channel… Chief Song was sighing…

“Ah, Chief Song, sorry~ Yerim, please look after him!”

…Unconsciously I laughed. Chief Song, I’ll do better from now on. I used to be a truly diligent, moral model citizen. I scanned the area and headed down. The twins waited quietly in the back alley. When I stood before them, another message appeared.

[Transport the slave to Governors Island.]

[Thieves may not use movement skills.

Must transfer at least three times when using transportation.]

“Great, so they want us to get caught three times.”

Of course it was Governors Island again. Without movement skills and required to transfer three times, it meant they expected us to cross by swimming. And carry two kids for free ride transfers.

“This difficulty is insane. It basically means—if you’re confident you can beat every cop and thief, go for personal victory. But the strongest hunter must be either the Police Commissioner, an outlaw, or a cop!”

If Riette were the thief, she’d grab the slave and dash to victory. That’s why the thief role went to hunters who hadn’t directly fought monsters—relatively weaker ones.

└ Strongest hunter lolololololol

└ !! Ah Jin‐yu! Hey‐ye‐no □□□□□□

└ Filtering staff… if you’re Korean, wave a carrot for us

I peeked at the twins through the still‐wild chat. Surely not Yuhyun, Seong Hyunjae, Riette, or Chief Song. And it didn’t feel like a support A‐rank either. They wouldn’t be fussing otherwise.

“Um, do you know me?”

One twin made a heart with their hands. …Yerim? The other looked displeased—like Chief Song perhaps. But Chief Song wouldn’t lightly tap Yerim’s arm.

‘Maybe they’re disguising strict advice as grumbling to hide their identity?’

Hmm, I wasn’t sure. But one thing was clear: they were not strangers. In the police uniform, I reached out my hand to them.

“The slave’s win condition is separate, but if you cooperate and I win, I’ll give you extra gold coins. As you know, I have plenty of coins.”

At “help me,” the twins simultaneously tried to grasp my hand. Definitely not Chief Song.

“Okay, this way—ah, hold on.”

I struck the back of my dagger against the wall to crumble plaster into dust. Then I dusted it over the twins’ faces, hair, and clothes. Guiding them along the alley one block over, I surveyed the surroundings. I spotted a shop run by a pleasant‐looking couple.

“This is fake, everyone. Our poor kids!”

I held them protectively and crossed the street, wearing a concerned expression.

└ Ah, Han Yujin is so kind lololol… later break the walls to your heart’s content, Yujin…

└ Yujinnnnn, everyone’s a high‐rank hunter except you lol the slave is high‐rank too

└ If I were the slave, would I get a gentle escort from Chief Han? I’m already that rank…

└ Laugh‐cries lolol Yujin, I’m like a slave too—I still work at a companyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Oh god, please not a Korean shop. What time is it?

“Hello.”

I greeted as we entered the shop.

“These are victims of the earlier explosion. They can’t speak, so they’ll need guardians. Could you look after them briefly? Officials will arrive soon.”

If they looked like teenagers to me, Americans would think them even younger. The shop owner readily nodded.

“This wasn’t terrorism?”

“No, seems like a gas explosion.”

I asked them to watch them closely—they might bolt from shock—then left the shop. They followed obediently, apparently non‐awakened illusions. Civilian bystanders, so thieves and police wouldn’t suspect them as they roam the neighborhood.

To contact # Nоvеlight # asset holders, I shed the police uniform and returned toward the auction hall.

“If too many gather, it’ll be uncontrollable. I’ll set off a couple more bombs to scatter the participants.”

└ Yujin, if you get an mbit test it’d show BOMB ^^~

└ □□□! □□!

Suddenly the chat filled with squares. I tossed the bomb upward and rolled along the ground.

Boom!

The bomb detonated, spreading smoke. This time it was a smokescreen to draw attention. As I scrambled to dash through the mist—

“Yujin‐ssi!”

Someone grabbed me. A woman’s voice.

“Who—”

“Me!”

The hunter holding me couldn’t speak and looked exasperated. Red hair, quite like Kang Soyeong… no way.

“Does this really change your gender too?!”

└ lololololol

└ Right now we’re □□□□□□□□□, right? With □□□?

Approaching from above, a flight‐skill type, friendly to me—must be Noah. Not Yuhyun, not Yerim, not Peace or Gyeol. It was Noah. He smiled at me. I am male, right?

“You really are Yujin‐ssi.”

“Noah‐ssi?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Once his identity was certain, his restrictions lifted.

“I started looking for you as soon as the building blew.”

Anyone who knew me would notice—though skills could mimic it, still. Didn’t expect to meet so easily, but avoiding Noah’s gaze would be impossible.

“You’re a thief, right?”

I asked just in case. If Noah were police, he’d be one of the most advantaged here—flight, stealth, debuff first‐strike. Which thief could avoid that? But since he was here, he must be a thief or asset holder.

Noah nodded and continued.

“I’m teamed with the police.”

“What? Police and thieves can be on the same team? You can bribe them, but victory conditions….”

Could it be.

“…Asset holder?”

“Yes. Police can co‐win with asset holders. So asset holders—”

“You can hire both police and thieves to win, huh.”

In other words, peaceful joint victory is possible. Excluding Commissioner and outlaws.

“Hyunah‐ssi must be the cop, and the asset holder is?”

“I’m contacting them. Another thief, besides me.”

Another thief besides Noah. Someone I knew, whose team had been conspicuous. Probably that team also had a police–thief pairing: one monster catcher, one support.

“…Soyeong‐ssi? And Riette is the cop?”

“That’s correct!”

Noah answered, relieved. The chat had the same vibe.

└ Moon Hyunah and Riette are police! Kang Soyeong and Noah are thieves!!!!!!!!!!!

└ Chief Han hurry, get the slave too!!!!!!

“Yujin‐ssi, come move with us. Right now—Soyeong‐ssi?”

Noah brought out a radio. From it, Kang Soyeong’s voice… but a man’s voice came through.

[They’re gathering the asset holders now! Hello, Chief Han!]

“Hello—asset holders?”

[Listen up!]

A crackling sound, then another man spoke quietly.

[As I said, one asset holder victory condition is to gather 100 gold coins. Ten asset holders joining hands can achieve that instantly.]

One hundred coins? That meant each asset holder started with ten coins.

[Of course it’s an individual win, but when you win by 100 coins, all those coins convert to real gold coins. So nine asset holders, even if they don’t win, share coins per the contract.]

Wait. So the plan is to let one person win, then split the coins?

[To protect the slave without first‐strike, asset holders must cooperate with police and thieves. But do you really need to share coins with them? Remember that the main rewards so far have been coins. We already hold the victory reward in our hands.]

[I’m almost convinced too.]

Kang Soyeong whispered. Who was this asset holder? It was a fast way to end the game. You’d get coins as promised, and easily choose the solo winner.

[The solo winner will be chosen by fair drawing—]

“Stop that, Soyeong‐ssi!”

[What? I’m A‐rank! I’d die if counterattacked.]

“Noah‐ssi!”

Noah scooped me up and flew. Since we were nearby, the ruined auction hall soon lay below. I saw an asset holder in a white suit standing among the wreckage. That must be them. There were just over ten asset holders—enough to end the game immediately.

By now most thieves would be scattered seeking the slave. There were no police here. In other words, this was the perfect moment for asset holders—who couldn’t first-strike—to band together and win. We can’t allow that.

“Oh dear, my hand slipped! If that counts as first-strike I’d be unfairly treated.”

I scattered bombs from the air. Boom, ka-WOOM! Even the remaining structure was blasted away in the roar. Torrents of hot, round smoke surged and a massive cloud of dust swept like a wave.

“Who now?!”

“Did they raid a military base?!”

Amid the disgruntled shouts, Kang Soyeong murmured.

[Peaceful joint victory seems out the window, huh?]

Indeed. Though I’d upset their plan, would asset holders now cooperate more willingly? Even worse, by role, thieves were weaker than asset holders. Once they grasped the better path, thieves would ignore them. The one relief was—

“Officer Moon Hyunah~”

On our side we still had a cop and a slave. Noah handed me the radio.

“I’ve secured the slave. Interested?”

[As expected, it’s him. The cops are gathering here.]

“What? Gathering here?”

[It’s a death sentence. The cops sent out on orders never returned. They were told to come alone, so no one else could go. It’s already half them gone.]

Ah… the Police Commissioner. S-rank hunters rarely cooperate, but they were truly all doing their own thing. It’s chaos—total chaos.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep