Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Baek A-rin's Night
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Of course, they didn't use torches.
The ghouls don't move around at night because even if they tried, their degenerated eyesight makes it impossible to do anything properly.
'Night blindness, huh.'
That's why they usually rely on their pathetically weak hearing at night.
So what happens if you light a fire among those guys?
It turns into a literal hellscape.
I turned my head to look at Erina, and she frowned as she spoke.
"What! Why are you looking at me like I'm an idiot?"
"You've got some real good instincts."
"Tchhh!"
Erina aside, I figured Baek A-rin wouldn't miss it either.
I glanced at her, and she quickly averted her eyes before saying,
"It's cold. What can I do?"
"...."
Apparently, the cold came first for her.
"This is why you can't trust kids who grew up cozy with the boiler blasting. It's because you never experienced Seoul's real combat compressed cold—sleeping on a concrete floor in a half-built apartment abandoned after the construction company went bankrupt, no insulation, not even a window to block the whistling wind, just layers of newspapers spread out for bedding."
"Wha—what? Why do you know it in such detail?"
Baek A-rin looked flustered at my words, and Erina, sitting beside her, chimed in curiously.
"Boiler? Our house has a fireplace."
Fireplace. What bourgeois nonsense.
I pressed my cold hand against Erina's neck.
"Gyaack!"
"You think you'll survive with this level of cold? Nah, doesn't cut it. Next time, you're coming with me to experience K-real-combat-cold."
Teaching Erina the joys of a cold concrete floor would have to wait until after we survived 'Ameris's Night'.
"Here, take this."
I tossed a sturdy silver cylinder toward Erina and Baek A-rin, who were still shivering from the cold touch.
"What's this?"
"It's not food. Don't eat it."
"What do you take me for!"
Baek A-rin caught the tossed item and said,
"It's warm."
"Yeah, hand warmers. They'll stay hot for a good three days, so carry them without worry."
Oil hand warmers.
More precisely, a heating device using refined mana stone liquid with a platinum catalyst.
It's basically highly efficient oil, even if called refined mana stone liquid. It lasts way longer than regular ones.
When it comes to survival, heat is the top priority to solve.
'Someone like me, with real-combat-compressed insulation muscles, doesn't need such frail tools.'
Still, maybe a little heat on the waist.
I pressed the hand warmer against my aching lower back.
'Feels good.'
Heaven.
Erina spotted me and sneered.
"You know real-combat cold, my ass. You're weak."
"Not everyone's as sturdy as you. Walking this much makes my back ache."
"My lower body is pretty tough."
While Erina bragged about her long, toned legs, Baek A-rin examined the hand warmer curiously, turning it this way and that.
"This is a hand warmer? It's way different from what I know."
"The metal gets hot, so be careful."
I wrapped it in cloth for her, and Baek A-rin said, flustered,
"Ah, thanks."
Time to get started, then.
"Alright, let's pitch the tent."
At my words, Erina looked at me with a despairing expression.
"Wh-what about dinner!"
"Hand warmers have limits too. Better set up sleeping arrangements before it gets pitch black."
Erina pretended to think for a moment, then nodded as if struck by an idea.
"Okay. Makes sense. I spotted a good spot earlier. I'll check it out, so wait here. Si-woo!"
"Wait, hold on…."
She was gone before I could stop her.
'That scaredy-cat Erina won't go far. She'll come back on her own.'
Now, to pick a spot for the tent.
As I looked around, Baek A-rin touched the ground with her fingertips and said,
"This seems good? No creepy moisture, and it's flatter than elsewhere."
If this weren't the ghoul field, that is.
"Not bad, but tonight we're sleeping up there."
I pointed up at the sky, and Baek A-rin gave me a look like I was speaking nonsense.
"In the sky?"
"On the trees, obviously."
"That high up…?"
The trees in the ghoul field were tall, but they grew competitively, spreading their branches wide.
Meaning, if we set up the tent right, we could spend the night comfortably without worrying about ghouls.
That alone would give us a condition edge over the other clubs.
I smiled at Baek A-rin, who looked worried.
"Trust me. When it comes to survival, I'm the master."
"Master, my foot."
Baek A-rin chuckled, then asked as if something occurred to her.
"Erina went to find a decent campsite, right?"
"She just left, so it'll take a bit for her to get back."
At my words, Baek A-rin looked satisfied and muttered,
"I see."
"What's up?"
Baek A-rin swung the hand warmer I'd given her gently.
"It's nice and warm."
Watching her smile made me look away without thinking.
Was it because her role in the original story was the heroine? Her face was a beauty you wouldn't see in real life.
'Acting like that with a face like hers is troublesome.'
As I turned my head, I caught Baek A-rin's lips twitching upward.
"What's wrong? Got something to be embarrassed about?"
"Go away, you demon."
Why was she suddenly like this?
Baek A-rin clasped her hands behind her back and leaned in, bending at the waist.
"Hey, Kim Si-woo."
"Yeah?"
Was it because of the encroaching darkness?
The faint forest scent felt almost fishily seductive.
"You know, you might not realize it, but I'm the heir to a major clan."
"Nah, I know better than anyone."
Baek A-rin brushed off my words lightly and continued.
"Guys don't just line up for me—they propose left and right, too many to count."
Yeah, that tracks.
The Snow Mountain Clan was one of Korea's top giants. As their heir, people would swarm for the prestige or a piece of the pie.
'Well, with Baek A-rin, even without that.'
She leaned her face closer to mine.
"Probably 'cause my looks stand out, right?"
"...."
She knew it best herself.
My heart started pounding irregularly.
"I've never been interested in guys before. Just thinking about the Snow Mountain heir position was overwhelming enough."
"Y-yeah, I bet."
Was it her alluring, almost bewitching gaze? I slipped into polite speech without realizing.
Moonlight filtering through the leaves made her already pale face and hair seem silver.
"Kim Si-woo, I'm curious about you."
Her eyes sparkled a clear, translucent blue as she said my name.
My chest pounded irregularly.
My chest….
No, fuck.
Think about your age. Snap out of it, Kim Si-woo.
Heart racing? That's arrhythmia.
If it hurts, go to the hospital—not play around with girls.
I backed away, my messy thoughts unresolved, when Erina's voice rang out from behind.
"What are you doingggg! Erina Banana Kick!"
"Ah."
Baek A-rin let out a short yelp and took Erina's soccer kick... no, banana kick, flying back.
"You okay, Chew-woo?!"
"I was fine to begin with."
I turned to look at Baek A-rin sprawled on the ground.
"But over there? Doesn't look okay."
Erina finally snapped to and spotted Baek A-rin, panicking.
"Why is A-rin collapsed here?"
"You kicked her."
"No, it was definitely a ghoul! I thought Chew-woo was showboating and about to get eaten…!"
"Nah, that was a person. Pure 100%."
Erina looked up at me with a trembling voice.
"D-did I kill A-rin?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
In the end, Erina grabbed Baek A-rin and burst into snotty sobs.
"G-get up, A-rin! From now on, I'll treat you right! If you die like this, how am I gonna face Grandpa?!"
Baek A-rin's grandpa? Even Kang Hwa-yeon didn't know that story. When did they get so close?
Erina desperately gave her CPR, sniffling.
I didn't mention that she hadn't been kicked but just startled into falling—it wasn't a bad sight.
'What's that?'
Watching Erina draped over her, I noticed the weird stick in her hand.
"What's that?"
"Oh, this. You said your back hurt. Found the perfect stick."
...Just a random branch everywhere.
But yeah, it looked pretty good—straight, perfect length. And that one leaf like a decoration.
The kind of shape that gets a guy's heart racing.
Wonder where she picked it up.
"Thanks."
Erina wailed on, not hearing me.
"I should've been more careful! I'll be extra careful from now on. Get up, Baek A-rin!"
Erina holding the fallen Baek A-rin.
Looking at their faces made my chest ache.
"...Should've been more careful, huh."
It sounded like she was talking to me.
What if someone loses their life living this life on the line?
Once I wrap up this damn story and get booted back to the original world?
Of course, that's not a possession cliché.
But since this isn't just a novel, I can't be sure.
Can't be sure, so it makes me anxious.
If we get deeper, could she handle my empty spot?
No idea.
Even without me, with her personality, she'd dive headfirst into some tragic downfall arc.
Knowing that and still not snapping out of it? I'm beyond saving.
"Hoo, why am I craving a smoke so bad today?"