All I Wanted Was to Do a Good Deed (3)
Was it just a joke, or did she really mean it? Either way, it put me in a good mood. They say even a whale will dance for praise, and sure enough, Yumir's words had me feeling unnecessarily cheerful.
"Thanks, Yumir. This might be the first time anyone's called me handsome anywhere."
"Huh? For real? You're kidding."
"I'm serious."
In the organization, I always wore the Dokkaebi mask, so the only one who knew my face was Chongsu. Come to think of it, after I dropped the transformation and met her, she seemed to favor me a bit more. Still, she'd never once said I was handsome, so Yumir's comment was probably just polite flattery. Best not to take it to heart...
"You're pretty cute yourself, Yumir. I'm sure plenty of guys are lining up to confess to you. Watch out for the high schoolers. Your classmates must all have fire in their eyes."
"Huh? I'm not in high school. I'm a freshman in the college division."
"...I thought you were a high schooler."
"I'm an adult. Freshly 20, a hot-off-the-press college student this year."
Yumir made a V-sign with her fingers under her chin, and her sun-like bright energy seemed to invigorate me too. Now that I thought about it...
The original protagonist was also a college freshman.
"Still, Yumir, especially watch out for guys. Men are all wolves, you know. Beasts who'll do anything to seduce a woman."
"What about you, sir?"
"I'm a wolf too, but not in that sense. I'm a noble, solitary wolf."
An outsider dropped into this world. A lone wolf who could never fit in among the sheep.
"I heard you gotta watch out for guys who say they're not that kind of wolf."
"Then watch out for me too. And not just me—all guys. I'm saying this like you're my little sister."
"I heard guys who say that end up wanting to be called 'oppa' and try to seduce you later."
"That's not it. It's purely well-intentioned."
"They say it's purely intentional seduction."
"You have a bit of a playful streak, Yumir."
"Heehee."
Yumir winked and picked up her cola.
"Got it. I'll be careful around guys, like you said. You too, sir."
"Good. Seems like you get what I'm saying a little."
I'd said it meaning she should watch out even for me, and luckily, she seemed to understand.
If she falls for the protagonist later and gets in my way, that'll be a problem.
What if Yumir fell for the protagonist? The moment I tried to assassinate him, she'd throw herself in the way yelling, "No!!" My love, Yumir! Then, "Uwaaa, this shitty world, just get destroyed!!" And boom—a meteor might crash down.
It was the same for the other heroines, but even non-heroines could end up as the protagonist's first pick. This world's backdrop was a light novel, but reality didn't follow those rules. Worst case, the protagonist could suddenly awaken to dark desires and fall for a guy, or get into mecha and fall in love with machines.
This world's ending was seriously dangerous. The meteor ending was bad enough, but the process of the protagonist "blackening" and dropping the meteor was risky too.
It was a spoiler I hadn't put in reviews, but the author had made a massive mistake no writer should. Readers who'd begged for more extreme nationalism daily suddenly flooded the comments with 5,700-character manifestos in a fiery "flame war" outbreak—what they called going "full Yeol-sang."
In the end, mentally broken, the author rushed a meteor ending for abrupt closure, but I couldn't understand why they'd written the protagonist going insane like that. The protagonist's madness was hard to buy, but the author who penned that plot was the real lunatic.
So I had to be careful. Make sure the protagonist's heroines didn't get "NTR'd." No heroines kidnapped and brainwashed by villain Dokkaebi, parasites implanted in their necks, declaring, "I offer my body and soul to Lord Dokkaebi," and attacking the protagonist.
...Even though the organization told me to seduce heroine-level girls and recruit them. Ironic.
That's why I had to kill the protagonist. So if I seduced one of his heroines—or some non-heroine—and he didn't go "My girl got NTR'd! I'm raging! Graaaah!" and blow up the planet.
That's the easiest for me.
Instead of coddling and caring for the bastard, just cleanly lop off his head. Way quicker.
That's what makes me the villain. If I'd wanted to persuade and care for him, I'd be a hero.
"Yumir, mind if I ask about something romance-related?"
"Whoa! Fun topic. What is it? I'm no expert, but I can counsel you!"
"This is about someone I know."
"When people say 'someone I know,' it's usually themselves."
"...It really is someone I know."
This wasn't working. Instead of the protagonist losing his girl, I should frame it as the guy stealing her—Do Taeyang style.
"There's Guy A and Girl A. They're kinda in that ambiguous flirt phase. But Guy A has Girl A, plus B, C, D... up to around F."
"Wow, total player. Is that guy you, sir?"
"I'd love that, but no. Then there's Guy B."
"Is that you, sir?!"
"...No. Guy B seduces Girl A. She's disappointed in Guy A, who doesn't look at her, and falls for Guy B."
"Ooh..."
Yumir's eyes sparkled.
"So Guy B and Girl A fall in love, but then Guy A shows up. He snaps at Guy B: 'She loves me—why'd you steal my girl?' What should B say to A?"
"Psycho bastard? ...Oops. Sorry for the language. Guy A is way too much. Creepy."
Yumir gave a raw, vivid reaction.
"He's dating this girl and that girl, a total player, but flips out when his flirt looks at another guy? Total mental case, psychopath."
"That bad?"
"Obviously. Oh, but it'd make sense in some cases."
Yumir gripped her pasta fork and grinned fiercely.
"Like if Guy A thinks he's way better than Guy B?"
"......?"
"Say Guy A is an S-rank ability user, and Guy B's just a normal guy with no powers. Or Guy A's a landlord and cafe owner, while B's a delivery rider for that cafe."
Why were her examples so specific?
"Imagine you're Guy A, sir. A girl head over heels for you falls for some ugly, inferior guy. How'd that feel?"
"Well."
Obviously.
"Isn't it natural for her to fall for a guy who actually loves her back?"
"......Whoa."
Yumir covered her mouth in shock.
"Didn't expect that answer."
"What'd you expect?"
"Something like, 'How could she fall for that ugly jerk? Am I worse than him?'"
"If it really happened to me, maybe I'd complain... but."
I shrugged lightly.
"Not even stealing a girlfriend—just a flirt. Eh."
"So you're Guy B, and you've stolen a girl from someone a bit better than you?"
"That's not quite it, but whatever. Better than being Guy A, the pathetic player. I'd rather be the less impressive one in a mutual loving couple."
"Hehe. You really are fun, sir."
"Really?"
"I thought you seemed special the moment I saw you."
Yumir raised her cola glass toward me.
"Like, not of this world? That kind of vibe?"
What was with this girl?
"...Beating around the bush that I'm a global loner?"
"Busted."
"Ever heard of Confucian etiquette and the land of Eastern courtesy?"
"I'm Canadian."
"But this is Korea."
Unbelievable. This otherworld was turning me into a stuffy traditionalist.
"I have friends too. Hard to meet, but we keep in touch."
"But no one on Sejong Island to eat with?"
"Know what 'rude' means?"
"Pfft."
Yumir made another V-sign and extended her hand.
"Comrade! I'm a global loner too."
"Real loners don't admit it."
"No friends to eat with."
"You can make some going forward, right?"
"We just did today? Friends."
She wiggled her hand up and down. I reached out and shook it.
Tricky. Was this what an "innie" was like? Or had she sensed I was an outsider in this world? Mind reader? Psychometry? Did she figure me out from the handshake?
No way. I hadn't felt any mana use.
"Mr. Do, from now on I—"
Yumir turned her head sharply mid-grin, about to say something.
And then.
"Watch out!"
Yumir jumped up from the table and tackled me. I toppled backward with the chair—
Splat.
Something soft hit my face, and—
BOOM—CRASH!!
A massive explosion rocked the restaurant, shattering the wall.
Weeee-ooo-weeee-ooo——
Sejong Island Emergency