Walking Plaything (1)

"No complaints, right, Kim Seyeon?"

Do Minhyeok draped an arm around the beauty's shoulders as if it were the most natural thing in the world, her long black hair spilling down her back, and whispered against her ear.

Lust burned in his eyes. It was the face of a man who fully intended to throw his married childhood classmate onto his bed tonight and pour out every ounce of his desire.

"..."

"I did everything you asked, didn't I? Sent those meatheads over to the school to protect your people. Planning to move them all into this building soon enough. Every last thing, just like you demanded. So? Got some excuse lined up, Kim Seyeon?"

Flouting his superiority over the woman who had once been the elite star of their school filled Do Minhyeok with a pleasure beyond compare. And the fact that the night he would finally toy with her in his own bedroom was drawing near only sent his mood climbing higher.

"...No."

"That's what I thought. Then..."

Without a moment's hesitation, Do Minhyeok held out a cloth-wrapped outfit to Kim Seyeon.

She accepted it slowly with both hands and checked what was inside.

"...!"

The moment the contents registered, Kim Seyeon recoiled in shock. Then she fixed Do Minhyeok with a look of pure contempt. Even under the full force of her rebellious glare, his smile never faded. If anything, it deepened, as though her defiance only pleased him more.

"Put it on."

"You—you...!"

"No excuses, right? Kim Seyeon."

"Ugh...!"

Kim Seyeon bit down hard on her lower lip.

He was right. There was no way out. She had chosen to submit to him of her own will, hadn't she? Cornered by an impossible situation, she had decided this was the only way to save everyone's lives.

"...Fine."

Kim Seyeon felt as though she were paying the full price for the butterfly effect of failing to stop her delinquent classmate from walking the path of organized crime.

April 9th.

I slung the slender, athletic-looking girl over my shoulder and got the hell out of there. Any more hunting today was out of the question.

The trip back was surprisingly peaceful. Just like yesterday, only the occasional skeleton showed itself — barely a zombie in sight.

What the hell is going on? Ever since April 8th, something's been seriously off. Did they push some hidden update or patch we don't know about?

I couldn't shake the thought as I returned to the villa.

Han Sora laid a damp towel across the forehead of the athletic girl we'd rescued. The girl was still moaning weakly, nowhere near conscious.

According to Sora, not long after I'd told her to stay hidden, someone had come bolting out of a nearby fitting room. For a split second she'd nearly screamed, thinking it was a zombie — but her Level 8 eyesight, sharpened by the climb, had immediately clocked the figure as a living human woman.

That woman was now the athletic girl groaning on my bed.

A little observation made it clear enough. What she was going through looked like the full-body fever that comes with complete exhaustion.

But why, exactly...?

"U-um, Jeong Hoon... oppa?"

"Hm?"

I'd been resting my chin in my hand, lost in thought, when Han Sora carefully spoke up. What was it?

"I-I... it's fuzzy, but... this girl, I feel like I know her... or maybe I don't... anyway, she looks familiar. I don't know why, but..."

...Why can I never get used to Sora's shut-in way of talking?

But Lawful Good could accommodate even speech like that without issue. I asked her calmly.

"Sora. This athletic-looking woman — she looks familiar to you?"

"Y-yes... th-the athletic type... you know, like a track-and-field girl... that's it!"

Slap! Han Sora suddenly clapped her hands together, her face brightening.

"I-I remember! She—she's... a junior from the high school I graduated from. A junior! M-more precisely... she was a first-year who enrolled when I was a third-year! A prospect! A track-and-field prospect. I heard she got into the National University of Physical Education this year — or was it last year!"

That was solid information.

"Do you know her name as well?"

"Y-yes! I'm sure it was..."

"Park... See...un..."

The answer came from a third party — from the athletic woman lying on my bed.

With the wet towel still on her head, the girl named Park Seeun groaned and forced her eyes open a crack.

Han Sora hurried to her side.

"A-are you okay...?"

"U-ugh... a-are you... khh...!"

"D-don't push yourself to talk!"

Han Sora fretted, but she tended to Park Seeun with surprising competence — wiping away her sweat with the towel, even fetching bottled water, propping up her back, and carefully tipping a little into her mouth. She was so practiced I almost wondered if she'd nursed someone before.

"Th-thank you... I was so thirsty..."

A little water, and her speech improved somewhat.

Huh? Wait... was it actually dehydration? I've never heard of dehydration clearing up from just a few sips of water, though.

"U-um... are you..."

The woman named Park Seeun fixed her barely-open eyes on me with effort.

Hm? Does she know me? I've never seen a beauty like this in my life.

"You... are you... the one from... two days ago... who..."

"D-don't force yourself to talk. No — don't force yourself to talk, junior!"

Han Sora scolded her from the side, asserting her seniority, but Park Seeun showed no intention of stopping.

"The one who defeated the orcs... and saved the women?"

Huh? My head tilted on its own.

How does she know that? I have zero memory of saving a girl with a ponytail like this. It was only two days ago — I haven't forgotten the features of the people I rescued. There's no way I'd forget a woman this distinctive, with a ponytail and looks like that.

"Who are you? How do you know that?"

Park Seeun still frowned through the pain as she forced out an answer.

"A survivor... from our shelter... got help from you..."

Ah. So one of the survivors I saved was staying in the same shelter as this Park Seeun. Mystery solved — but of course, that wasn't all she had come to say.

"P-please help us... our—our shelter is... under attack... they're being slaughtered...! Betrayed—we were betrayed... those bastards... khh...!"

Park Seeun wrung out every last drop of strength she had left to deliver her plea, then collapsed unconscious on the spot. The content alone was enough to freeze both my face and Han Sora's solid.

"S-something must have happened at their shelter."

"So it seems."

For now, I decided we'd ask again once she woke up. We pulled the blanket over her, left Park Seeun alone in the bedroom, and stepped out.

About three hours later, the bedroom door burst open all at once.

Park Seeun had revived with a look of pure desperation on her face.

"P-please help us...! Please, I'm begging you...!"

What she did next was pure bewilderment. While Han Sora and I had been discussing the increase in skeletons we'd observed outside, Park Seeun came straight up to us, dropped to her knees, and pleaded for help as if she were petitioning for her life.

Just what kind of nightmare had she been through, to beg like this?

"H-hey, j-junior! First, first sit down here and..."

Han Sora got Park Seeun up and into a chair — the one I usually sat in when I used the computer.

I watched Sora settle her and calm her down for a moment, then locked my gaze on Park Seeun.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"What happened? Explain it to me in detail."

"..."

Park Seeun wore the expression of someone hit by a crushing wave of existential exhaustion. Anguish was painted thick across her face.

"I was... protecting the people at Daengdaeng Elementary School... together with a former middle school teacher named Kim Seyeon. But then... that shithead Minhyeok... Do Minhyeok... the bastard playing gangster boss at the Yumin Building... showed up."

And the story that followed was well worth the wait.

It was late on the night of April 8th.

Just as Daengdaeng Elementary School was settling in for the night, a group of burly men suddenly stormed in. At their head, leading them personally, was none other than their boss — Do Minhyeok himself.

"M-Minhyeok? Why so late all of a sudden...!?"

At his abrupt visit, Kim Seyeon had no choice but to scramble out to meet him.

What she found was Do Minhyeok's face, cold and set like stone. The thuggish gangsters behind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him looked just as grim.

The atmosphere was foul. Tension rippled through the people of Daengdaeng Elementary School — and Do Minhyeok's next move only made it worse.

"Hey, Kim Seyeon. Looks like you're out of options. Join our side. Now."

"W-what? What's this all of a sudden...!"

The recruitment pitch, far more blunt than before, left Kim Seyeon reeling. Could this really be because of that system update that morning — the one that had nearly blown out everyone's eardrums?

But Do Minhyeok answered with action instead of words. Not violence. He told Kim Seyeon to come up to the rooftop with him right then and there.

To his own men, surprisingly, he laid down a hard line: under no circumstances were they to lay a hand on the survivors of Daengdaeng Elementary. Anyone who did would be thrown to the zombies as feed.

Faced with that deadly serious, ice-cold demeanor, Kim Seyeon had no choice but to follow. She didn't go alone, though. Park Seeun latched onto her side in an instant and went up with her.

On the rooftop, Do Minhyeok handed Kim Seyeon a pair of binoculars and told her to take a look at the main road north of the school.

Half-doubting, Kim Seyeon raised the binoculars toward that direction — and froze in horror.

"G-good God, how is that even...!"

"W-what is it, unnie!? What's going on!"

Instead of answering, Kim Seyeon passed her the binoculars. Park Seeun quickly trained them on the same stretch of road.

"W-what the hell is that!"

Level 35 — absurdly high-tier monsters, two of each, four in total — were roaming the main road. And surrounding them was a countless horde of skeleton warriors and archers!

It was a force so overwhelming it skipped right past shock and plunged straight into despair.

W-where did monsters like that even come from...!?

"See that, Kim Seyeon? I couldn't believe it either, even looking right at them. But those things are real. Standing out there on the main road like they're waiting for someone, just wandering back and forth. What do you think happens if one of them catches you? No — what do you think happens if one of them moves from that spot and happens to find this elementary school?"

Even Park Seeun felt a chill crawl up her spine. If even one of those high-tier monsters paid this school a visit... it would be a massacre.

"At least the Yumin Building's loaded with safety measures, so we're fine. But this elementary school? Not a chance. This place is a disaster shelter — not somewhere that can stop monsters from barging in. You know damn well how people from your survivor group have been dying these past few days. Don't you, Kim Seyeon?"

"...Minhyeok!"

"Hey!"

The moment he prodded that raw wound, Kim Seyeon's face twisted, and Park Seeun erupted in fury. Even so, Do Minhyeok's monologue didn't stop.

"Mad? But it's the truth, isn't it? Go on, contradict me. Can't, right? Look, it's not like our side is high enough level to take on those skeleton knights or mages either. If I sent my guys out there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right now, I'd just be the bastard who got his own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠men slaughtered. What's the point of sending out punks who might hit Level 10 on a good day? But at least our class distribution is way more varied and combat-ready than yours. You people got a Warrior class? No Archers either, right? Ah — Warriors, you've got... just Park Seeun over there, yeah?"

"Shut your damn mouth!"

Park Seeun snapped back, but Kim Seyeon couldn't.

Because every word out of Do Minhyeok's mouth was a bone-deep, painful truth. Aside from Park Seeun and Kim Seyeon, Daengdaeng Elementary School had essentially no fighting power. Mage, Blacksmith, Lord — that was the shelter's class distribution. And even the Mage wasn't a subclass suited for immediate combat.

"Our side benefits if your people level up too, you know? So... let's call it a symbiotic relationship. If crawling under us is that repulsive, I'll frame it as symbiosis. We're all human, right? We ought to help each other survive. Yeah? Ah — that doesn't mean there's no price, though."

"..."

The more Do Minhyeok swaggered and needled, the harder Kim Seyeon's expression set. She bit her lower lip. The anxiety had peaked so hard it looked like she might give in and agree on the spot.

"No, unnie! Th-there's got to be... another way! That bastard's exaggerating because he wants to screw you!"

Naturally, Park Seeun at her side tried desperately to stop her — tearing into Do Minhyeok right to his face.

But Do Minhyeok remained unnervingly calm for a gangster boss, even under Park Seeun's defiance.

"What, those skeleton knights and mages look like trash mobs to you? Or are they all just an illusion? Or what — can you guarantee those things will never come here?"

"Th-that's not—!"

Faced with a logical counter, Park Seeun didn't lose her words... not exactly.

She launched into personal attacks instead — how was anyone supposed to know what a bastard like him would do to her unnie, and so on.

But Do Minhyeok still didn't lose his temper. He just kept answering with that same cool composure, steadily getting under Park Seeun's skin.

"That's enough, Seeun! You know it too...! Other than this... there really is no other way."

"U-unnie...! You can't...!"

In the end, Kim Seyeon cut off their argument and accepted Do Minhyeok's proposal. Park Seeun, drowning in despair, tried everything she could to stop her, but...

Just like two days ago, the feelings of two people running on parallel tracks never met.