Give a Doe and Receive a Mal
While we were all sharing a bag of snacks for dessert after breakfast, the Crow—who had been wearing a serious expression all morning as she stared at the laptop screen—spoke up.
Master, the meeting that was going on upstairs has ended.
“...Meeting? What meeting.”
The patch notes announced as the prologue ended and the main story kicked off were just that god-awful. Original Necros plus Wild Necros. And on top of that, even Alpha Types.
Normally it’s two kinds at most, and one of them is something minor. Looks like that damn Administrator finally lost it. A few of the Transcendents even fretted that the balance was going to collapse.
Of course, plenty of them were thrilled that things would get more entertaining...
At the Crow’s trailing-off tone I gave her a dubious look. I had zero interest in the reactions of those voyeuristic bastards.
“So what’s the conclusion? I told you to summarize when you talk to me. You run your mouth too much.”
Argh, seriously! Do you know you’re the first human who’s ever treated me like this, Master? Back in my old dimension people used to worship me as some kind of savior.
“Worship? Why would anyone worship a brat like you? Do they hand out free prizes if you prop someone up that hard?”
No. Of course not. The humans of that world just needed something to lean on. Anyway!
The Crow waved a wing-hand once, then rapped the blackboard inside the monitor, telling us to focus again. I had zero desire to watch her act like some teacher, but the others—especially the girls, Yejin included—were cooing over how cute she was, so the Crow doubled down on the bit.
Ahem, please focus, Student Sijun!
Has she finally lost it?
Whether I stared at her like that or not, she kept going.
This is really, really important information! I’m the first Welfare Helper activated on this Earth, so the leftover crumbs of intel I get are pretty solid.
Anyway, that mummy of an Administrator went and dropped a bomb on purpose, so our Welfare District figured we had to scatter merits of equal weight to keep the balance. We submitted a proposal to the higher-ups of the Great Dimension, and the meeting about it just finished.
“That so? That mummy bastard spouted off from the sky and vanished less than thirty minutes ago. Guess even those lofty beings don’t like dragging meetings out?”
Your guess is right, Master, but the meeting didn’t actually end that fast. At that level they have artifacts that stretch the time inside a single conference room.
“...Wait, that kind of thing is possible in reality?”
Yep. Whether you believe it or not, Master, it’s still reality.
She gave an adorable little shrug with her wing-hands that sent the girls into another round of squeals, then pulled a stack of documents out from behind the blackboard and flipped through them a few times.
Let’s see... Korea... South Korea... and inside that, the Suwon region... the drop points closest to this place...
Found it! Right here. Master! Memorize the spots marked on this map carefully.
“Out of nowhere, what’s this supposed to be? So you’re not even going to tell me the result of that meeting?”
This is the result of the higher-ups’ meeting! The Great Dimension side acknowledged the need for merits, and the type they settled on was Air Drop.
“...What kind of drop?”
Air Drop! Aerial supply crates! Ugh, trying to translate it straight into this world’s language is a little rough.
I ignored the Crow rubbing her wing-hands against her head in exaggerated frustration and fixed my gaze on the map displayed on the screen, roughly understanding her explanation.
“Huh. Supply crates. So they’re really starting to make a proper mess of things.”
I counted the drop points marked with X’s on my fingers and muttered,
“But these... the numbers seem clustered toward our side. Am I imagining it?”
The density was starkly different from other regions. The Crow, still checking her documents, looked a little sheepish.
Ah, about that... I’m not sure if I should say this.
“What? Do I have to pay for this kind of info too?”
No! It’s not that. Um... Master, earlier I said I was the first Helper activated on this Earth, right? You remember?
“It’s not like you said it two days ago. Of course I remember.”
But that first activation time was so... extremely skewed that it pulled a lot of aggro.
“...Aggro from who?”
...The Transcendents, of course. The only ones watching this world’s end.
Once I heard that much, my lips twisted on their own into a crooked sneer.
“Ah. That’s more depressing than any information you’ve given me so far.”
No! It’s not negative! Look, there are benefits like this. The reason the supplies are piled up so abnormally is all because of the Transcendents’ interference.
“You said those bastards can’t intervene in the apocalypse at all.”
That’s only for direct routes. They’re beings from a fundamentally higher dimension than us—you think they wouldn’t have at least that much influence? By the way, Master! It would be good for your health in many ways if you fixed that snide title of yours!
The Crow kept glancing nervously at the ceiling—no, at something even higher than the sky—but of course I didn’t give a single damn.
“So what? Be grateful I didn’t just curse them out. For a bunch of assholes who snicker while watching someone else’s apocalypse. Right, Im Chaeyeon?”
“Oppa’s a hundred percent right! Gods my ass—what honorifics for a pack of voyeur patients? Just call them fucking bas—mmph!”
“Please keep it moderate, you bitch...”
Beside her, Soeun ground her teeth and clamped a palm over Chaeyeon’s lips as the girl spat whatever came to mind. We were already rattled from the mummy man’s performance earlier; listening to her friend invite a bolt from a clear sky made me think “friend” was too kind—more like a mortal enemy.
I watched the two high-schoolers horse around with mild amusement, then asked the Crow, who was only fidgeting her wing-hands.
“Anyway, so if we head to the spots on that map, there’ll be some grand original-product goods from that Great Dimension or whatever?”
Yes. Well... Great Dimension-made products? There won’t be supply crates that ridiculous. But at the very least you should be able to get food and the like.
“Hmm.”
I listened to the Crow’s explanation with a blank face and said one thing.
“I’m not really in the mood to eat alien food.”
Hey, what kind of human facing the end of the world is a picky eater! You don’t even have aura or qi techniques, yet you take down Beta Types and handle all the food supply by yourself. Does that make any sense?!
Master, be honest. You bought a regression item from the far future and you’re on your second run, right? Or you reincarnated from another dimension! Right?
“I have no idea what bullshit you’re spouting. Somebody copy this map. I’m going to take it and do a lap of the area.”
“Ahem. I’ll do it, Hyung-nim.”
“Good. Jo Hyeonmin. Our top student. Even if your body’s a glass cannon and you can’t go toe-to-toe with zombies, show us you can still pull your own weight.”
“...Yes, Hyung-nim.”
The words were encouragement, but my expression was pure indifference, so it didn’t seem to help much. Still, Hyeonmin put on an awkward smile and started sketching the map into a notebook.
“All right, then let’s decide today’s assistant. Yesterday was Jo Hyeonmin. Day before was you, Park Jonghun, right?”
“That’s correct, Hyung-nim. After the patrol I handed what I’d gathered to Yejin, and she said it was the best haul of junk items we’ve collected so far. She praised me.”
“...Uh, that was just empty words. Jonghun, honestly, compared to Oppa Sijun it was all pretty much the same.”
At Yejin’s careful remark he visibly deflated. I watched him for a moment, then pointed at Chaeyeon, who was smiling brightly and raising her hand.
“Im Chaeyeon. And Kang Soeun next to her. You two go together.”
“...What? M-me too?”
“Yeah. Last night I heard something interesting from Im Chaeyeon.”
Physical ability alone, she said, far outstripped her own. She wanted to fight side by side and see.
At my words Soeun kept her mouth tightly shut, then fixed a long stare on Chaeyeon. Chaeyeon, unfazed, strapped on her sword with the personal belt she’d picked up from the clothing store last time and spoke with perfect nonchalance.
“What? It’s true. Swordsmanship aside, her physicals are way better than mine. She’s just as skinny as me but stupidly strong. And those tightly wrapped boobs of hers too...”
“Aaaah! Shut up, you bitch! Shut up!”
In the end Soeun couldn’t take it anymore and threw a clean straight punch; Chaeyeon dodged it with natural ease and winked at me. Her little performance was the only thing that kept my gaze from sliding any lower on Soeun’s face.
“Kang Soeun. Anyway, you can do it, right? I’m not asking for anything grand like Im Chaeyeon. Just checking the possibilities.”
At my words she stopped swinging her fist, looked at me, hesitated, and finally gave a careful nod.
“...Yes. I’ll do my best. If that can pay back the debt I owe Oppa.”