167. Swimsuit Festival (8)
167. Swimsuit Festival (8)
"......A M-Monster Wave?! Here, at Haeundae?"
Shin Se-hee asked, her face flustered.
"Yeah, it will be."
I answered in an unconcerned voice.
"W-what do you mean, all of a sudden....... No, even if we assume that's true! Then we don't have time to just be sitting around here! Nothing's prepared right now!"
Shin Se-hee turned pale and shot up from her seat.
"Huh? Do what, exactly?"
"If you knew a Monster Wave was coming, you need to immediately contact the Hunter Management Bureau for cooperation, issue a civilian evacuation order, and request support from the academy......."
Suddenly, Shin Se-hee whipped her head around and spoke.
"Jin Yu-ha, is it that requesting all that support is difficult right now?"
I nodded.
As expected of Shin Se-hee.
Without any detailed explanation, she instantly and accurately deduced the situation.
"Yeah, the civilian evacuation can happen right away, but requesting backup will be tough. The Hunter Management Bureau and the academy both went to handle the Japan situation, so they don't have the capacity to help."
"Ha, I see......."
Shin Se-hee recovered her composure in an instant and sank into deep thought.
"Yellow Dog. Could you not have warned us in advance? Frankly, it's pretty alarming to hear something like this is suddenly going down with zero preparation."
Kang Do-hee spoke as if spitting the words out.
'Hmm, Yellow Dog, not honey? Well, now's not the time to squabble over how you address me. Let's let it slide for now.'
Thinking that, I gave the excuse I'd prepared ahead of time.
Even in the actual game, you notice the Monster Wave this way, so there wasn't really any issue.
"Kang Do-hee, you can't feel it?"
"......What do you mean?"
"Close your eyes and focus. There's a powerful Mana fluctuation spreading right now."
At my words, Kang Do-hee closed her eyes gently. Then her eyes snapped wide open.
Right now, a tremendous amount of Mana was drifting through the air.
And the other party members also seemed to notice only then, their faces looking aghast.
"Just when did this—!"
"Just now."
At that, Kang Do-hee said, Ah, and opened her mouth.
"......You only noticed a moment ago too. Sorry for interrogating you."
Kang Do-hee scratched her cheek, looking a little sheepish.
"Yeah, no problem."
'Well, actually I knew in advance.'
Honestly, if I had wanted to, it would have been possible to prepare for this incident ahead of time.
Telling the party members early and requesting help from various sources.
I might get some suspicious looks about how I could detect a Monster Wave with no warning signs, but, well, I'm past the point of worrying about that. Anyway, the Utopia Party members would trust me and follow my lead.
And if I'd asked my Master, who takes my word at face value,
or even Chairwoman Rina, giving them some reasonable excuse, they would've been able to take measures beforehand.
However, there was a reason I kept this event a secret from my party members and everyone else.
Having personally experienced the butterfly effect, I couldn't help but be cautious.
The Demon incursion not long ago.
It was because of the shocking event where a Demon—an enemy from the mid-to-late game—suddenly appeared in a chapter that was only early-mid-game.
Thankfully, the Demon that appeared back then was the less formidable Yeon Woo-jin, and thanks to Im Ga-eul's Black Magic Stone support, we got through it well,
but I still think we were lucky.
If it had been another Demon, not Yeon Woo-jin, and without Im Ga-eul's Black Magic Stone awakening,
just thinking about what could have happened still makes my blood run cold.
Of course, the gains from that butterfly effect weren't small either, but that didn't mean I wanted to take that kind of uncertain gamble every time.
'Especially since this incident is just an event-level thing that wasn't that damaging even in the original game.'
A light incident that a skilled Player could resolve completely with zero casualties.
Honestly, I might have felt differently about a main story event that causes major damage down the line, but I really didn't want to trigger a butterfly effect for this kind of event-level incident.
Shin Se-hee, who had been pondering, asked with a serious face.
"If that's the case, where is the epicenter of the Monster Wave? If we could go there first and take action....... Is it impossible to pinpoint?"
"No, I know that already, but we can't do anything about it."
"Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"It's over there. Inside the ocean."
I said, pointing out at the sea.
"In-inside the ocean?!"
"Yeah, the Gate erupted inside the ocean. So we can't directly raid the dungeon itself or use a tactic to block off the entrance."
"......Which means."
As if struck by an intuition of the grim future awaiting them, the party members' faces darkened.
"Yeah. We beat down and kill every single monster that was inside the Gate. That's the only way."
"......Ah, geez. For once I thought we came out to relax in peace, but if I come out with you, it always turns into this somehow."
Lee Yu-ri let out a hollow laugh and pulled her shield out from her Subspace Tattoo.
"Hm, a fight where we kill monsters until the enemy runs dry. That sounds more fun than messing around in the water."
Kang Do-hee, on the contrary, curled up the corners of her mouth in anticipation.
Just then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, Im Ga-eul swallowed hard.
"H-hoobae! What do we do? I always have my weapons in my subspace, but we put all our clothes in the locker room! W-we have to go right now, right? At this rate, we have to fight in our swimsuits!? What if we get weird nicknames like the Pervert Mastermind or something......!"
Im Ga-eul spoke, her face on the verge of tears.
'That's the good part, though.'
Pretty girls hunting monsters in swimsuits rather than their usual outfits. Is that not the whole appeal of the Swimsuit Festival!
"......I only barely managed to bring my bow with me."
After Sofia's whining, I clapped my hands to focus everyone's attention.
"Alright, we have to move right now, so I'll keep the briefing simple."
At that, the party members, who had been grumbling, nodded with trusting faces.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the site where preparations for the Haeundae Beach Festival were in full swing.
Shouts flew back and forth, and staff members busily scrambled around, readying the venue.
"Hey! The lighting!! You've got the angle all wrong! Aim it at center stage! No! You've tilted it too far!!!"
"S-s-sorry!!!"
"Did you re-confirm the lineup schedule for today!?"
"Yes, yes! Well, they said one person might be a little late......."
"Oh, for crying out loud! Why are you telling me this now?! Who is it?"
"It's Woo Jae-hyeok!"
"Woo Jae-hyeok? That ice boy, or whatever he is?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Ha, goddammit, that bonehead. He's a Hunter singer with a celebrity complex, always got that stiff shoulder swagger."
"Um, so, what should we do......?"
"What do you mean, what should we do?! First, just keep calling him and nag him! If he still says no, then ask the act before him to buy us a little time. Ah, shit."
Among them, the woman overseeing the entire festival, Seo A-yoon, took off her glasses and pressed down on her eyelids as if exhausted.
Then she spoke in an irritable voice to the subordinate standing next to her.
"Ha, well, never mind that. Is the VIP seating all set up?"
"......Yes. We set it up with the utmost care, just as you instructed."
"Good."
"Um, but, do you think that person will really come to a place like this?"
The subordinate asked, implying it was too much effort.
No matter how they thought about it, they didn't expect that person to come all the way here.
And they couldn't understand why they had to squeeze their already-tight budget this hard.
At that, Seo A-yoon snorted.
"Would she come? The Magic Emperor. She's already busy enough; she likely won't come to a mere event like this."
"......Then why."
"Well, for the basic noise-marketing effect that comes with sending an invitation to the Magic Emperor. And if, by any chance, something goes wrong with our festival, wouldn't the Magic Emperor pay a little extra attention? Knowing it was a place that sent her an invitation?"
"......Ah."
At those words, the subordinate looked at her with fresh respect.
She truly lived up to her reputation as someone who, in only her thirties, had become a mogul in both the broadcasting and stage industries.
They could sense that she had weighed multiple circumstances into a single move.
"And also, it's in case the Magic Emperor transfers the ticket to someone else."
"Ah! Because if the Magic Emperor gives someone a ticket, someone who is absolutely not ordinary will show up......!"
"Well, that's right."
'Actually, it's more because of a personal debt of gratitude.'
Recalling the past for a moment, she let out a small laugh, then quickly hardened her expression.
"Enough chit-chat. Now, check all the hologram projectors, powered speakers, water cannon drones, and safety Hunter personnel one more time, top to bottom!"
"......Under-understood!"
Just as the subordinate scurried off for inspection.
"Excuse me, could I have a word with you for a moment?"
"......Who—Che-Cheonhwa!?"
At the sudden appearance of this unexpected figure, Seo A-yoon's eyes went perfectly round.