Declaration of War (3)
“Broooother!”
Late in the evening, a girl covered in wounds burst through the front door, bawling her eyes out.
She looked like she'd been physically beaten by someone. Her brother flew into a towering rage.
“W-Who was it! Who the hell did this to you!”
“I was playing at the playground up front with my friend, and then this lady in a school uniform came up and told me to empty my pockets. When I said no, she punched me in the face and stuff!”
“What? These cafeteria trash punks... There are still assholes like this around? Stay right here. Bro's gonna handle it quick and come back!”
At school, the brother was known as the handsome model student who doted on his little sister like crazy. So he set off to find the culprit who'd given her that massive bruise around her eye.
“Hey! You the one who hit my sister?”
“Hm? What's this little shit?”
“You're fucking dead! Get on your knees and beg in front of me right now. Or I'll beat you into the dust today.”
But the height difference between them was a whopping 20-30cm. She was a whole head taller. And the gap in athletic ability was even wider.
The brother, who'd been puffing up with anger, soon realized he had to look up at his opponent.
‘W-What the hell kind of height...’
But the words were already out. No taking them back. And the girl who'd heard them was a little pissed off now.
“I smack that squirrel bitch once on the head, and now her hubby shows up? Ha, these fuckers for real!”
The delinquent, already in a foul mood from getting cussed at out of nowhere by a little girl, now swung her fist in earnest.
Even though the opponent was a smaller guy.
“Bite down hard, or your corn's gonna pop?”
“Eek!”
“...”
She grabbed him by the hair, raised her palm high.
And that's when she saw the terrified face staring back at her.
“Hm.”
Not bad at all. It reminded her of a frightened little animal. And that was right up the delinquent's alley.
“Come with me for a sec.”
She grinned wickedly. Realizing something was off, the brother tried to bolt, but it was too late.
He got dragged straight to the bed. And right there, a condom got rolled on.
“F-Forgive me. Not this, please...”
“Forgive you? Why the fuck should I?”
“But this is a crime!”
The brother desperately clung to his morals. But to an immoral person, it was just fuel for her lust.
And so the brother got utterly ravaged. Begging her to spare him did nothing...
‘Ha.’
Meanwhile, Hyunwoo was getting pounded on the bed, clinging to his master like a cicada on a dead tree.
‘Why the hell does Master like this kind of situation?’
Sure, he played along with the roleplay because she liked it. But Hyunwoo couldn't wrap his head around it.
‘Way more intense than usual. That's the problem.’
Sex while fully dressed and in character like this was brutally intense—hard to endure. They went through two whole boxes of condoms, which said it all.
“From now on, you're gonna live as my sex slave! Got it?!”
Watching his master revel in the fuckfest without a care in the world, Hyunwoo thought to himself.
That he was the only one who grasped how serious the situation had gotten.
So if anyone was going to fix this mess, it'd have to be him.
‘It has to be me.’
When a player faced crisis, there was only one way to overcome it: level up and get stronger.
‘Master, I'll protect you.’
As his hips ground against her ass, he vowed it once more.
After the incident, Master became a wanted woman.
More precisely, she was on the underworld's hit list, along with a bunch of intel.
Stuff like her using the Clone Technique trait, plus others. How deadly that was... impossible to even gauge.
No telling when an attack targeting Master might come.
“Hyunwoo? You look pale today.”
“I'm fine.”
Floor 61, the Dwarf Kingdom.
The term for those short fantasy races you see in media.
“For the Demon King!”
Except these were black dwarves allied with the demon king's army. And their weapons were packed with gunpowder.
The kicker? Enhanced by traits.
“Get your head in the game. See those snipers? They shoot through equipment gaps and one-shot even tanks. One slip and you're dead.”
Drrrrrrrrt—!
The trait-boosted machine gun spat fire. Player gear could tank direct artillery shells no problem.
But with traits like Perfect Accuracy, Low-Intellect Enhancement, Infinite Ammo, even I couldn't push forward.
‘No time to waste here.’
Couldn't squander time on things smaller than me.
Needed to be bolder... more overwhelming.
[Champion, we'll cover you. Go on ahead.]
I took the barrage from dozens of barrels head-on with my body, advancing step by step.
Moments later, an obsidian axe flew, piercing a dwarven gunner's forehead and splattering brains.
The bullets paused. The muzzles had turned to the Valkyries.
“Whoa, you can use them like that?”
With Sun Armor buffs maxing their defense, a few bullets were no big deal.
‘Blade flows smooth.’
My main weapon was a massive scythe. Trickier than spears or swords—demanded finesse.
To fight right, I had to master spinning it fluidly.
‘Cut like flowing water.’
Shlick—!
Dwarf gear was trait-reforged, tough as hell. Needed centrifugal force to slice easy.
Meanwhile, life force absorbed from their bodies... Bullets kept pelting me, wounds healing bit by bit.
“Uh... you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Thought I could handle it solo, so I went ahead. Won't happen again from the next floor.”
Leveled up one thanks to it. Body ached like hell... but gains were gains. Lucky.
“Not like you, Hyunwoo. Fighting reckless like that. If you get hurt, it's not just you— we're all screwed.”
“...Sorry.”
“You seem extra rushed today.”
They wouldn't get it. What mess I was in.
No need to spell out that Master was now the underworld's enemy.
‘Plus, I kinda hate how they look down on her...’
For some reason, it pissed him off when other women mocked Master. No logical reason.
Like it was ridiculous. No matter how much they trashed her, Master would shine untouchably.
‘Am I losing my mind? Feels like I'm going crazier by the day.’
...No. Probably just overthinking. Never liked her this much before.
Just stress from the situation. Priority was leveling up fast.
“Seem sensitive today. Probably stress. Uh... mind if we call it and head out?”
“Yeah, let's. Cleared the floor anyway.”
Part of him wanted to farm the floor more, but overdoing it was dumb.
Leveling mattered, but so did remembering he and those around Master were underworld targets now.
“Then...”
And so the day's Babel run ended. Stepping out, the sun had set—it was late evening.
Higher floors warped time sense. Felt like two hours, but over twelve had passed.
‘Was gonna shop on the way back. Stores are probably closed by now.’
Maybe whip something up from what we had stocked.
Dinner was probably yesterday's stew or whatever. Somehow ended up worrying about Master's meals too. Ugh... not like I'm her mom.
‘...Hm.’
Mid-thoughts on dinner, he sensed a presence nearby.
“Who's there?”
Stepped into a back alley, and boom—footsteps.
Not super strong. Probably targeting weaklings first, yeah.
“No grudge here.”
“Hm.”
“Gonna need you as a hostage for a bi—gurk.”
“Pass.”
I flung my blade at the kidnapper's throat without hesitation. Weak as expected.
Judged wrong. Time to let kidnappers know I wasn't the old me anymore.