148. Cold War
148. Cold War
One man, five women.
On top of that, a family of four had come to live with them.
But in the current situation, that wasn't particularly important.
The women had gathered in one place, leaving Jin Yu-ha out.
Lee Yu-ri, Shin Se-hee, Kang Do-hee, Im Ga-eul, Sofia.
Just the sight of their faces was a lineup that made your heart swell with awe.
"Hm-hm—."
"Hmm-hm."
"Ha."
"Ahaha......"
"Hehe..."
On the surface, they all wore awkward, sheepish smiles,
but inside, every single one of them was thinking the same thing.
'......What the hell are these girls? In my case, my house got destroyed, so you could say I had no choice but to come. But why have the girls whose houses are perfectly fine set up camp here?'
'......In my case, going back to the Shin family would only bring me misery, so you could say I have no choice. But are you all planning to just settle in here? How shameless.'
'......In my case, I'm the type who can't stand sudden changes to my training schedule, but aren't you bitches different? Don't these girls have any sense of shame?'
'......Hmph! I never took my hoobaes for such shallow materialists. Even if I did make a promise to Yu-ha hoobae to check on and watch over his growth, the rest of you have no such excuse! You're all already capable of pulling your own weight. Wouldn't it be better for you to be independent?'
'......Hmm, I don't really have time to be sitting around here. I need to scout out good spots for taking pictures... Can't I just get up and leave?'
Crackle—
Invisible sparks flew from their exchanged glances.
The one who broke the heavy silence and spoke first was Shin Se-hee, who had called this meeting.
Her displeased eyes swept over the party members before she clicked her tongue.
"Tsk. Since you all seem to have already made up your minds to settle in here... I called you together to share what I've figured out."
"Something you figured out?"
"Yes. No matter what, I am Utopia's Operator. I'm responsible for rules and management, after all."
Shin Se-hee nodded in answer to Lee Yu-ri's question.
"First of all, even after the vacation ends, we'll be able to attend the academy from here."
The party members' eyes widened at that.
They understood that Lee Yu-ri's family would continue living here from now on.
But for us, who had already been assigned dorms or secured lodgings, to attend the academy from here?
The ones who had felt like they were just on a light vacation during the break looked utterly stunned.
"Se-hee hoobae, I suppose we could commute from here, but... is that really necessary? It's pretty far from here to the academy, you know?"
"From what I've checked, there's a Warp Gate here connected directly to the academy. I've also confirmed in advance that we can get separate permission from the academy side to use it."
"......!"
A Warp Gate inside the house—something rare even in Korea?
They'd already known this was an incredible house, but this easily surpassed their imagination.
Shin Se-hee cast a sidelong glance toward Lee Yu-ri.
Because she was the decisive reason Shin Se-hee had chosen to live here.
'If Jin Yu-ha continues to commute to the academy from here... he'll inevitably get closer and closer to Lee Yu-ri's family as well.'
Even in her own family home, the Shin family, there was a custom of bringing a person they'd marked as a potential match into the household early.
It was groundwork to gradually acclimate them to the Shin family atmosphere and make them feel close to the whole family.
Lee Yu-ri had, similarly, hatched that cunning plan to get closer to him by placing her entire family at Jin Yu-ha's side.
Of course, Lee Yu-ri hadn't thought up such a complicated scheme,
but in Shin Se-hee's eyes, it was a shameless act using her own weakness as a weapon.
'Lee Yu-ri's younger sister, Lee Yu-na, was it. That child has already started brazenly clinging to Jin Yu-ha.'
But in Shin Se-hee's case, she couldn't call her family here.
Even if she did, creating a warm and cordial atmosphere was out of the question.
And hadn't she already promised to overturn the Shin family together with Jin Yu-ha?
That was why she had released the information that "we can live here even after the vacation ends,"
information that originally only she knew was advantageous to Lee Yu-ri, to the entire party.
If the whole party, not just herself, stayed here, Jin Yu-ha's attention would be dispersed.
"And, since we're living here together, maintenance costs are split evenly. You'll each have to shoulder 1.67 million won per month."
'Hmm...... So it wasn't free after all.'
Lee Yu-ri seriously pondered Shin Se-hee's words.
Every month, 1.67 million won.
Compared to the shabby one-room she'd lived in before, it was double the rent.
'......Even if leaving for the academy eased the burden on our household, the place was getting cramped as Yu-na and Yu-hyeon grew up. And we didn't even have separate rooms.'
A move was necessary at some point anyway.
If this incident hadn't happened, she probably would've tried to hold out in their original place as long as possible, but now that they were moving anyway,
there was no better residence than this.
What was best of all was that her family's safety was guaranteed.
Even though crimes targeting the families of academy cadets were said to be almost non-existent, having been caught off guard once made her head spin.
'There's no law saying something that happened once won't happen twice.'
In that case, a residence like a sky fortress, protected by the Magic Emperor's magic and inhabited by the Utopia Party members, was the optimal choice.
Originally, she would have been trembling at the thought of an extra 800,000 won in sudden expenses,
but Jin Yu-ha's constant gaslighting—In the future, you'll make money beyond your wildest dreams!—and the steady income that came in every time they cleared a dungeon had made Lee Yu-ri far bolder than before.
Right now, she was even indulging in the luxury of ordering a 30,000-won premium chicken once a month, not just a cheap rotisserie!
'And with my whole family struggling, I felt guilty being the only one living in a comfortable place...'
Having quickly finished her calculations, Lee Yu-ri nodded.
"Alright. I can handle that much."
And for the others besides Lee Yu-ri, the idea of living in a place like this for 1.67 million won a month was practically free, so they readily agreed.
Once everyone had nodded,
Shin Se-hee brought up the main topic.
"Then, next, we need rules."
"Rules?"
"Yes. No matter how separated the floors are, this is now a space we officially share."
Hiding her true feelings, Shin Se-hee put on her mask.
"Jin Yu-ha is a man. No matter how unreserved and easygoing he is, that doesn't mean crossing the line is acceptable."
Indeed.
Because this building was originally designed to be owned by one person, every floor was equipped with a Teleporter.
And within the building, access to each other's floors was possible at any time without permission.
If anyone here wanted to sneak onto Jin Yu-ha's floor—
in other words, the top floor—there was no way to stop them!
"When moving floors, you must always announce it in the Group Chat before moving."
That was why Shin Se-hee considered this rule absolutely necessary, above all else.
"This is a rule that must be followed, save for truly urgent situations. Failure to comply will mean immediate expulsion."
Everyone nodded firmly.
Expulsion.
It was an incredibly light restriction.
But was there anyone who wouldn't take those words seriously?
And everyone agreed with Shin Se-hee's words.
At the very least, the sight of another woman secretly visiting Jin Yu-ha's floor and coming out together with him was absolutely unbearable.
"And, I apologize to you, Lee Yu-ri, but I intend to prohibit your family members from registering on the Teleporters. Because this building is the property of the 'Utopia Party'......"
And Shin Se-hee used the excuse of the 'Utopia Party' to ban Lee Yu-ri's family from using the Teleporters.
"Uh, yeah. Ah, I understand! We live on the 2nd floor anyway. I'll tell them to use the stairs!"
"Hm."
Kang Do-hee, who had been listening quietly, let out a murmur.
"What is it?"
"......So, you're saying, in an urgent situation, moving without notice is permitted."
"Yes, that's right. If a sudden, hair-trigger situation occurs, or if it's a decision by Jin Yu-ha, or an urgent matter requiring help, I will allow exceptions."
"I see."
"What do you think? Does everyone agree?"
And so, a political drama unfolded.
A system where everyone kept each other in check was created.
Of course, each harbored their own ulterior motives inside.
'Heh, how naive. Why do you think I made exceptions like this? I am the Operator who discusses strategies with the Party Leader, am I not? If a situation arises where I need to hold an emergency strategy meeting with Jin Yu-ha, exceptions are perfectly permitted.'
'Hmm, if Yellow Dog happens to be late for a training session we agreed to do together, that would certainly constitute an emergency.'
'Hmm, but the thing is, while me going to find Jin Yu-ha is a problem, would Jin Yu-ha coming to find me not require a separate notice?'
'An urgent situation? Then isn't my situation the most urgent right now? Being a sunbae falling behind my hoobaes—isn't my situation the most urgent?'
'So, basically, it's fine as long as we don't get caught?'
* * *
"Aaargh! W-what did we do wrong to deserve this?! We were just sitting still, I tell you!!!"
"Sitting still? Then I'll ask you just one thing."
"T-that kind of thing, before you cut us—"
"If you really were sitting still, I'll let you keep your lives. Have you ever kidnapped a hunter's family?"
"W-we haven't done anything like that......"
"As I thought, you have."
Slice—
With cold, sunken eyes, Baek Seol-hee stared down at the Demonized Human's corpse.
"Commander, what on earth is going on? The number of kidnapping cases has been increasing exponentially without us even noticing......"
"Rotten to the core. The Demonized Human bastards."
Baek Seol-hee clicked her tongue.
"This is the job the youngest asked us to look into, right?"
"Not the youngest. My disciple."
"How did that kid even know about this? Seriously, these guys were operating right under our surveillance network......"
Baek Seol-hee didn't answer the squad member wearing a Fox Mask.
Because she'd known for a long time that her disciple possessed a wider information network than her own.
With cold eyes, Baek Seol-hee surveyed the area before issuing an order.
"Extract information from the ones still alive. And continue the search for the rest."
Swish—
The extermination squad members scattered out behind Baek Seol-hee.