Gold Sun Becomes a Knight
It was around the time Gold Sun and the guy from 702 were climbing the stairs to the fourth floor. There was this weird sight of that rude girl from earlier clinging desperately to the stair railing.
She went up first, so what the hell is she doing here?
"Student, hurry home! The monsters are coming up!"
The 702 guy rushed past her up the stairs, clearly worried about his family. I tried to follow, but I caught a glimpse of the girl's face—it was something else. She was panting like she'd just summited Everest or some shit on these ordinary apartment stairs, barely crawling her way up.
Fuck, am I really worrying about someone else right now?!
I overtook her in a sprint, but a desperate voice called from behind.
"Hey, wait."
The situation was urgent, but ignoring her pricked my conscience, so I turned back. Our eyes met.
"My body's hurting—I can't go any further. Carry me."
"What? You think I'm crazy?"
Karduk—! The monsters must've ripped the fire door apart; a chilling screech of bending metal echoed through the stairwell.
"If you leave me, I'll die to those things. You sure you won't regret ditching me?"
"……."
"Regret letting me die, or regret carrying a burden like me. Either way you'll regret it, so might as well take the burden, right? At least no guilt."
This crazy bitch…!
Dadadada—! Heavy footsteps thundered up from below as massive bodies charged wildly.
"Damn it!"
In the end, I hoisted her onto my back and bolted up the stairs. Luckily, her slender frame wasn't as heavy as I'd feared.
"Good choice. Now you can sleep with your legs stretched out at night."
"Shut up."
This rude girl was clearly batshit insane. Spouting nonsense so calmly in the middle of this was infuriating.
Dadadada—! The monsters' footsteps grew dangerously close.
I raced up mindlessly when she spouted more madness.
"Go to the tenth floor."
"What?"
"No point hiding anywhere else. Just get to the tenth floor, no matter what."
"Fuck, you think we'll survive if we hit the tenth?"
"Yeah, trust me. Hurry! I see an orc head!"
The footsteps were right on our heels now. Every nerve screamed as I felt the monster's hot breath.
"Uwaaaah!"
I screamed and kicked my legs like a maniac. Ninth floor… finally, the tenth came into view.
We're good!
No guarantee we'd live even at the tenth, but a strange relief washed over me. But it was fleeting.
"Watch out!"
Kwajik—!
Her shout hit just as agony tore through my back. My legs buckled from the dizziness, balance shattering. I knew falling meant death, but I couldn't hold on. As consciousness faded, I vaguely heard her yelling.
"Jangbi! Save us!"
Tenth-floor hallway.
As Gold Sun collapsed, I tumbled with him onto the cold floor in a tangle.
"Ugh……."
Two Black Orcs arrived in the hallway at the same time. One's axe dripped blood onto the floor—probably from slashing Gold Sun's back.
They approached leisurely, like we'd already been caught.
No time to hesitate. I pulled out my trump card.
"Jangbi! Save us!"
Kwang—!
My apartment door exploded open as a massive head burst out.
"My liege!"
Jangbi glared at me and the Black Orcs alternately, then bellowed.
"How dare you…!"
His enormous body charged the orcs at unbelievable speed. As they faltered in shock, Jangbi gaped his jaws wide and chomped one whole.
Kwaduduk—!
The bitten orc's upper body vanished into Jangbi's maw; only the lower half slid out, spilling blood across the tenth-floor hall.
"Kuaaa?!"
The remaining one turned to flee in terror, but Jangbi gave no quarter. He leaped and tore out its entire neck.
Kwajik, kwajijik—!
Blood gushed from the mangled stump. The headless Black Orc tumbled down the stairs, leaving a sticky trail.
"Ptooey."
Jangbi spat the leftover head down the stairs. Then he approached me with a worried expression.
"My liege, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Get this boy inside, quick!"
"Yes, my liege!"
Jangbi gently picked up Gold Sun like a treasure chest and carried him inside. I followed, double-locking the door.
Jangbi set Gold Sun down quietly in the middle of the cramped living room.
"Oh no……."
Up close, his condition was way worse than I'd thought. The gash on his back was shredded to the bone, blood pouring nonstop.
"Jangbi, can you… heal this guy?"
"I'm sorry, my liege. I have no healing abilities."
"……Right."
Left like this, he'd die 100% for sure. I grabbed every towel from the bathroom and pressed the wound. They soaked crimson instantly.
Truth be told, I'd sized him up the moment I saw him in the first-floor lobby. Flashy delinquent on the outside, but soft-hearted underneath. My old job had honed my ability to gauge people from looks and vibe alone.
That's why I picked him over the 702 guy. The uncle was a solid survival pick, but someone prioritizing family over all was riskier than this tender-hearted punk. Statistically, better odds betting on Gold Sun.
Paradoxically, dragging himself up those stairs to death's door had snapped my rationality back into place. I'm the type who navigates the world through reason, analysis, and logic.
But lately? My body turns into a bug larva, crammed into an avatar's mouth, toilet spawns a giant head, breaker box has a sexy toad, trapped in a gate with 83.3 billion won monthly payments starting next year. Then the whole building and tenants get sucked in too. And now Black Orcs crashing the murder party.
Who wouldn't lose their shit and fly off to Andromeda?
And it's still weird thinking about it now.
I'd never click a shady scam email normally. Why the insane curiosity then? But with the situation grasped, time to reclaim cold reason.
Decision time.
I hesitated briefly, but one path forward.
"System. Tell me how to save this boy. Immediately executable methods only. No bullshit quests."
The system I'd seen wasn't just alarms and warnings. Ask sloppily, and it'd smack the back of my head. Felt it.
Answering this query will incur a fee of 10 million won. Proceed?
"Proceed."
10 million won was blood money to me now. But I couldn't ignore the guy dying to save me. Against my values and pride.
Searching for immediate methods to save the boy.
The simplest way to save the boy is to designate him as a Subject.
However, designation requires a minimum loyalty level.
The boy's current loyalty to the Gate Lord is 0.
Thus, no suitable answer exists for this query.
"……."
Unbelievable. Burned 10 million for "I don't know"?
No… think. The system never spoon-feeds. There's a loophole.
Its core is notifications and warnings, but always with nasty caveats.
There has to be another option.
"System, your answer's wrong. I asked for immediately executable methods. I didn't burn 10 million for bullshit."
"Quite right, my liege!"
Jangbi bobbed his massive head in agreement. Yeah, logic time. Kings have subjects, so kingdoms exist. Can't be just king and subjects—lords, citizens, merchants, hookers, the works. Diverse jobs.
Cold sweat trickled. One wrong choice, one life and 10 million gone.
I paused, untangling my thoughts.
"System, no need for 'suitable' answers. Just give what matches my conditions. Isn't that the 10-million-won deal?"
My threat worked; new text scrolled across my retina.
Appointing the boy as a Knight fulfills the conditions. Knights can be forcibly appointed regardless of loyalty.
However, this is not 'suitable' for fatal reasons:
1. Unlike infinite Subjects, only 4 Knights total.
2. Knights provide 2x to 100x+ more EXP and rewards than Subjects.
3. Up to 50% tax from Knights.
Wasting such privileges on a human with pathetic stats is highly inadvisable.
"Wow, yeah, hearing it out loud… almost made a huge mistake."
I glanced at the blood-soaked towel staunching Gold Sun's shredded back. His unconscious face was corpse-pale.
But I smirked and snarled at the system.
"So why the fuck are you making the choice?"
Decision made long ago.
"I appoint Gold Sun as my Knight."