It's My Fault Again
The apartment management committee chairperson had come to visit me without any reason.
She had been discussing the follow-up issues stemming from my case in the apartment management chat room.
The words that seemed oddly insulting toward me were, in reality, meant as support.
- 714: So the ramp is only being built in the building where the incident happened this time?
- 302: That's urgent for now, but we really have to build them in all the other buildings too.
- 1211: Right. We don't know when we'll be using a wheelchair either.
- 801: Is the elevator button height appropriate?
- 408: One is in front and the other is at handle height on the side, so even with a wheelchair I can reach them comfortably.
Alongside that, discussions about renovations for other facilities that had been triggered by me.
- 505: But did they just let those kinds of people walk right in?
- 601: Probably because it was labeled as a delivery person, but I bet they were let in without thinking twice... realistically, it's not easy to manage every single one manually.
- 412: Exactly. They call it a delivery, but having to keep calling the management office to pick up packages from home is such a hassle.
- 806: Still, if they had cameras watching outsiders entering the building, couldn't they have caught it right away?
- 1111: Because the doorman opened the door and went on patrol... from now on, when someone asks an outsider to open the door, we should at least ask them to check the cameras.
- 406: The problem is when residents let them in together...
- 702: Let's tie the two buildings' CCTV cameras together and watch them at the same time.
- 702: When a security guard goes out from one building, another guard can watch the cameras on both sides.
- 905: It's fine, lol. But how exactly do we do that?
- 702: Um... do you have access to this? Is it possible?
The conversation about the issues from this incident and the follow-up measures was clearly lively.
It didn't feel like they were simply moving for my sake, or like it was just someone else's story and they were busy.
After all, no one could promise that something bad like what happened to me wouldn't happen to them someday.
They were preparing in advance, thinking about that time.
Thinking that way, none of this fuss felt like it was fake.
People who moved for their own sake were trustworthy no matter what.
I just didn't jump into the discussion right away.
Because my game wasn't over yet.
In the League of Champions, where the battlefield could change minute by minute, the one minute and a half I had with the chairperson felt almost too short.
To make up for that lost time, I had to run around the chat room busily until the game ended.
Planting poison mushrooms at key chokepoints, peeking out slyly when a fight looked likely.
Using my high base movement speed to sneak away for a quick lane check the moment things looked like they were cooling off, then slipping back in fast.
Planting more unexpected poison mushrooms in out-of-the-way spots, and guiding the battlefield in our favor that way.
The enemy team would chase fights only to step on mushrooms, then scatter looking for a route and step on more.
The problem with my team's installed poison mushrooms wasn't just that they hurt a little.
It was that damage kept ticking down, and on top of that the movement speed penalty.
On top of that, the item build made the situation even more frustrating.
It was no wonder people hated poison mushrooms so much.
Of course the teammates included.
In a big team fight where we all got piled on, it was hard to claim high contribution.
Usually the tanks you saw on the top lane were built tankier.
And they could threaten with the ranged damage output from poking at the enemy.
Tanks, on the other hand, sacrificed some damage output to get crowd control tools to keep the enemy ranged DPS from landing hits and to stay tankier.
But what about the poison mushroom?
It was annoying that it had a true name and the mushrooms themselves, but if you handled it right, it was just an easy-to-kill fragile body.
Of course if you went for the tank item build it would be different, but if you invested in tanking you got less of the annoying ranged DPS output in return.
So normally poison mushrooms were hated no matter what the lane, but...
For a well-grown poison mushroom it was a whole different story.
As long as you used it right, it became a strategy weapon that let you force enemies to retreat without fighting at all.
Just a few mushrooms stepped on and they were dead.
Of course my chosen item build wasn't the kind with the highest damage expectation, but...
It was still more than enough to annoy the enemy team.
- [Overall] Tomator: Mushrooms everywhere I go...
- [Overall] Kim Myung-yoon, third-year first class, Yonghyun Elementary: You were just turning the lens around and erasing it a second ago! Why are there mushrooms again?
- [Overall] SweetChildDomain: The mushrooms are hiding, real...
- [Overall] Tomator: Mushrooms are supposed to be in stealth the whole time.
- [Overall] SweetChildDomain: Yeah.
- [Overall] Cageinhamter: Yeah, sure lol.
Still, because it was a normal game with no ranked scores attached.
While everyone else stepped on mushrooms and died, they were just laughing.
The viewers watching too were chuckling and laughing.
After all, the opposing team had been enjoying even the parts where they got hurt.
But since losing the game was no fun, they fought one round of 5v5 and immediately surrendered.
It seemed they had decided there was no chance of winning if they kept playing.
It would have been nice if those who had carelessly vandalized and run away felt that way too.
If they had even a shred of conscience, they wouldn't have started cursing in the first place.
If they were going to drag things this far, normal people should just shut their tails and apologize.
I didn't get why they kept pushing the issue.
Anyway, the game was over now.
I was about to voice an opinion, but...
"I didn't need to say anything because you all were already having a great discussion."
There was no angle where I could jump in.
They had told people not to gossip in the announcements, and they were talking among themselves so hard I couldn't even greet them.
Now that it was time to greet, it felt awkward.
The topics I would have offered input on had already been completely covered.
"Ahaha, exactly. I didn't expect so many ideas to come out."
The woman from next door chimed in while looking at her phone.
Maybe her contribution was even in the chats going up right now.
In the end, the discussion was so lively there was no chance to jump in.
Both the woman and I just watched the chat scroll by.
"If you don't have anything specific to say, just stay and vote. You don't have to feel any pressure."
"Yeah, right?"
If that was the case, it was fine to just play another game.
According to the woman's words, as long as there was a vote we could do that or something, and just hear the result.
There was no need for any extra opinions; forcing them in would only add confusion.
"But it's surprising that so many people are discussing on a weekday. Did everyone leave work early?"
"Well, I'm here because I got off early. It's almost evening too, and usually things like this are handled by full-time housewives, right?"
"Yeah."
That made sense.
If it wasn't a double-income couple, the spouse who wasn't working would naturally be more involved with these kinds of things, making it efficient.
As a full-time housewife, of course she could jump straight into a discussion when a topic like this came up.
Probably the chairperson had done this kind of thing before too.
...The thought of taking my mother's place made my feelings strange, but...
I hadn't come as my mother's stand-in right now. I had just become the representative of my family's opinion.
There was no need to feel bad or burdened.
Well, even if they stopped once money ran out.
Before I died I got to experience this too, and it was fun.
Thanks to that I set my thoughts aside from the apartment management committee and could just play the game until the viewers and I were satisfied.
While that happened the woman from next door had left to eat dinner on her own.
She had suggested ordering delivery food with gift certificates to eat together, but I had said no.
She didn't want to steal my food supply or something.
If that was the reason, it became even harder to keep pushing.
I figured I still had enough gift certificates left.
If someone didn't want to eat them, there was no reason to keep forcing it.
But since the woman from next door left our house like that...
I wasn't particularly hungry, so I decided to save the gift certificates for tomorrow.
If I wasn't hungry and deliberately shortened my own lifespan, that would be stupid.
So the moment I was about to queue for the next game...
The commotion outside the door started again.
This time I didn't even need to go to the living room and check the intercom to see who had come.
I heard some rustling sound.
Then a bang as something slammed against the door.
It was obvious.
Someone had really come to hurt me.
I quickly grabbed the knife and phone, and called 112 right away.
- Hello, this is 112. Ah, were you the one who reported because of the vandalism earlier?
"Yes, it's me. Someone is breaking the door outside right now."
- The patrol officer is heading your way. Lock the door and hide as much as you can. Blocking the door with furniture could help too.
Blocking the door with furniture? What was that unrealistic nonsense.
When I was a man I would have dragged a bed over or something, but...
With this body it wasn't possible.
Still, I had to try.
Using the knife was the last resort.
I didn't want to be a murderer either.
So while I groaned and pulled the bed toward the door to block it...
The noise from outside changed a little.
It wasn't the sound of metal smashing the door anymore.
It was two men arguing.
No way had the police arrived by some teleport or something.
Had they accidentally run into a patrol guard?
Or a neighbor?
- Aaaaah!
Then, whether a real fight had broken out or not, I heard shouts.
I gave up moving the bed, grabbed the knife, and headed for the front door.
I knew it. Someone was keeping me busy out there while I would be safe if I stayed inside.
After all, the guy who was going to break the door would get arrested as a felon once the police came.
But what if while I did that the neighbor or guard outside got hurt in their fight?
I would have to pay for medical bills, but where was I supposed to get that money from?
I hated danger.
But I hated debt more.
So I had no choice but to step out.
The moment I reached for the door handle, a clever idea occurred to me.
I didn't need to attack the other side and create an incident.
Whether I got hurt or expected external help and got beaten brutally, I was worried about blackmail.
Right now the police were on their way.
So wouldn't it be okay if I just took a few hits?
After all, I was already used to getting hit.
So I boldly opened the door and stepped out.
Whatever had been used to break the door handle, the door was a bit stiff, but...
There were times when you had to step forward even though you knew you were going to get hit.
That was why I was a tank.
At that moment I was nothing but a short-legged stray-eyed kid.
I was the warrior who had always fought in the game for me instead.
...Actually, it was true that I was thinking weird thoughts because I was scared.
"Move, because of you I'm about to ruin my life!"
"Hey, calm down. I don't know what happened, but if something really bad happened we should... talk..."
"You were the one talking right now! Ah, you..."
Just like I thought, a healthy-looking man outside was shoving the security guard.
Then, bing, the door opened and both of them turned to look at me.
"Ah, student! You shouldn't come out right now, go back inside quickly!"
"You bastard, because of you I'm about to get kicked out of my house!"
The security guard didn't have time to stop him. The man strode straight toward me, raging.
The clothes he was wearing and the way his face looked, he screamed luxury, like he had grown up under wealthy parents.
I had no idea what kind of grudge he had that made him insult me like that online.
"Again it's my fault? You're funny. You dug your own grave. Who the hell were you threatening with a knife?"
"You bastard!"
So far I had wanted to say something like that to the guy, but it had always been a half-joke.
Because he had gotten too heated, he immediately reached out toward my face.
I gritted my teeth and glared at him.
If he was going to hit, he should just hit.
I would give him all the drama he wanted.
Right then.
Slap.
His palm landed on my cheek and my head rattled.
I figured he thought I was a girl and had hit me with his hand instead of a fist.
That's when it helped that I had been hit by my father.
If I just collapsed and stayed down, I wouldn't get hit again because my strength was gone.
...The cheek hurt, but the places where I hit the wall and the floor hurt way more.
Without showing the pain, I kept up the act of fainting.
Then the man, being stupid, said something.
"Eh, eh...?"
"M-murder!"
"Ah, no. I didn't kill you on purpose! No, I didn't kill anyone! I didn't!"
The fact that he panicked because of the security guard's fuss was funny, but...
While I replayed the pain from where I had hit the floor and the wall, I desperately kept up the fake-out.
Then, because I had stayed up all night, I fell asleep.
---