“Your worlds… That sounds interesting. There are others waiting for me, but I can spare a moment.”
“Good, I’ll be brief.”
The Clown’s attitude changed. It meant that he was highly interested.
“The Games you host aren’t that bad. But they are too small in scale. For example, think of a life-threatening battle. It sounds manly and exciting, doesn’t it? But, what if the fighters are three-year-old kids? What if the battle takes about ten seconds? Who would be interested in that?”
“…So you think my Games are that insignificant?”
“Yes. To be exact, your worlds are too trivial. They aren’t fun at all, and the results are predictable.”
From now on, I wasn’t Jeong Si-woo. I was a newly transcended moron who was hooked on world games—an idiot with big goods. I was a rich idiot.
“I have quite a few worlds. I can’t hand over some of them…… But there’s one that’s too big for me. It’s too difficult for me to handle but too valuable to give away for free.”
“Oh, I understand. Some of the worlds that end up in my hands are like that. Their owners die from getting caught up in fights between Transcendents, and they become worlds without owners.”
“Yes. Luckily, I happened to get one of those worlds. And this one is quite special.”
The Clown gulped. It looked like he wanted me to continue quickly.
But I kept rambling, stalling on purpose. Talking excitedly and hurriedly wasn’t effective. During negotiations like this, you were supposed to walk on thin ice and play hard to get.
Of course, I wasn’t looking to gain anything from this deal. I was just baiting him. The more I behaved this way, the more the Clown would think of me as a ‘sly and greedy individual’ instead of suspecting me.
Deflecting attention. That was the basic skill of lying.
“You can watch for over 100 years and still don’t know which world will get destroyed. somehow manage to overcome those hardships. It reminds me of my old mortal days and a well-written novel. It’s so captivating that just thinking of it excites me. Haha!”
“Tell… tell me more.”
“Rifts occur between the dimensions, and humans fight against it. The humans have also existed for a long while. They created weapons with metal and gunpowder and created their own civilization. And then, a miracle happened. So…….”
“…….”
My intentionally slow words caused the Clown’s eyes to widen. Unlike his fancy name, he wasn’t very sly. I could probably manipulate him easily with three of the best negotiators I knew.
But since I was the one who taught those three, the outcome was obvious.
“Clown, how long are you going to keep us waiting? I have my money for the bet here, and I’m tired of waiting!”
“Oh, yes. Sorry, I just…!”
Just as I was about to get to the important stuff, a Transcendent sitting at another table cut in. The startled Clown moved over to soothe him.
The small world he was controlling began to change. The tip of the shiny chandelier cracked. The world that was flowing perfectly under his control became slightly disjointed. And even the slightest hitch was bound to destroy the entire cluster of moving parts.
According to my assessment, it wasn’t hard to analyze images. A constantly perfect individual could be viewed differently with a single mistake. And likewise, one misstep could lead to destruction.
And inducing that was my specialty.
“Well… Everyone looks impatient. Why don’t you buy a round of drinks, and we can talk outside? That should calm things down.”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I will. I’m sorry, everyone. We’ll take a short break to prepare for a perfect Game. All drinks are on me, so drink and enjoy!”
Everyone cheered at his words. The Clown looked relieved.
‘What an idiot.’
He was wrong to be relieved. Things were better now, but it wasn’t his idea. It was a solution derived from a clear stranger with different values and notions.
The solid image he made was now affected by me. The sturdy table cracked. His small world slowly broke down. He didn’t realize it, but he was being consumed by my strong image.
‘When he notices, he’ll already be too deep in the swamp.’
That was how gaining control over someone worked. The victim didn’t need to know. Believing that things were going smoothly, he would only notice at the very end that everything was a mess and heading in the opposite direction.
I tapped the table a few times. Manipulating Transcendents, despite their grand name, was easier than I thought. My eyes gleamed. Transcendent or not, I had never lost at mind games like this.
“Let’s head out. There’s a lot I would like to hear.”
The Clown calmly smiled again and led me outside. Following him, I barely held back from laughing. It was like watching a moth flying into a flame.
* * *
In an empty alley, I described the world I had to the Clown. Of course, I was talking about the world I owned. The world that was invaded by monsters, where humans awakened powers to overcome the Disasters.
It was a world that, according to the Traveler, a very high-level Transcendent had an eye on. I explained in detail the history that I had experienced myself.
“…Amazing. Quite amazing. Plenty of Transcendents will be willing to pay to hear your story without even having to hold a Game. Ah…….”
“Do you understand now why I said yours was small in scale and insignificant?”
“Of course. But… how interesting.”
“What’s so interesting?”
The Clown’s eyes twitched.
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