My Resolve to Protect the Demon King
After parting ways with the skinhead and his buddies who knew Ji-su, I took her with me and headed to the camping supply store across from the mart. As expected, the place didn't look like it had been looted. Well, who the hell would bother breaking into a camping store anyway? I had Ji-su open the door and stepped inside.
Whoa, there's a ton of stuff worth grabbing. So many useful items.
I wandered around the store, picking up anything that looked practical. Whoa, a shower tent?! This is perfect. I'd been stressing about having to shower outside like some kind of animal every day. I grabbed the small tent labeled as a shower booth. It had just enough space for one person to stand, with a spot up top to hang a 20-liter water pouch. Fill it with water and you could shower comfortably. Humming to myself, I summoned the Gate of Rest and handed the shower booth over to Si-eun inside.
"Stack it neatly in there."
Si-eun took the booth from me. I glanced around and started grabbing more items one by one. Camping chairs... yeah, these are nice. I'll take one. Tents... do I need them? Eh, better safe than sorry. There's plenty of storage space anyway. A fire pit? This looks good. I'll grab some charcoal too and grill some meat later.
Camping gear took up a lot of room. Looking at how one whole side of the Cradle of Rest was now packed with supplies, I thought, I was happy when it expanded, but now that it's stuffed like this, it feels cramped again. It'd be nice if I got another expansion-related skill soon.
The Cradle of Rest was getting full and a bit claustrophobic, but my heart felt solid. With this much gear, I could live comfortably no matter where I went. While I was looking around inside, a sudden wave of hunger hit me. I left the organizing to Si-eun, unfolded one of the camping chairs, and sat down. It was time for a proper meal after way too long. I'd been surviving on nothing but bread and random snacks.
I poured water into the pot, set it on the portable gas burner until it boiled hard, then dropped in two packs of ramen. I even cracked eggs into it. A real, mouth-watering bowl of ramen. How long had it been since I'd eaten like this? I slurped the noodles down with loud satisfaction. It tasted incredible. I devoured both packs in minutes, then wiped the bowls clean with wet wipes, even polishing off every drop of broth.
My stomach was full. Leaning back in the camping chair, I fell deep into thought. I've got pretty much all the survival supplies I need. Now what?
Time to figure things out. What should I do next? It was time to set a clear goal for the future.
Like I told that guy Su who gave me my class, I had zero interest in hunting the Demon King and bringing peace to the world. I didn't have family to protect, and I wasn't attached to this world enough to feel like I had to save it. If anything, I loved how things were right now. I could pin down and fuck the arrogant beauties who used to look down on me every single night—even if they were corpses. I could have my way with Korea's top star whenever I wanted—again, even if she was a corpse. What wasn't to love about this world?
If someone started powering up to kill the Demon King, I'd want to stop them instead. Who gave them the right to end this perfect setup? Killing the Demon King and returning to the old world would mean going back to being that pathetic, loser Kang Min-gu. Absolutely not happening.
Yeah. I've made up my mind.
I had my goal. I would keep growing my skills, stronger and stronger, until I built an entire harem legion of the undead. They would fight only for me. They would obey only my commands. Using my sub-class Sex Supporter skill, I would make them unbelievably powerful. Once I had the strength of an entire army by myself...
I will protect the Demon King. So this world can last forever.
I clenched my fist tightly and made the vow. Ji-su stared at me with those blank eyes. I reached out and stroked her head.
"Hey, you should feel lucky. If the Demon King dies and the world goes back to normal, you'd just turn back into a regular corpse. This oppa is going to make sure that doesn't happen. Pretty good deal, right?"
As expected, Ji-su gave no reaction. I looked at her and muttered, "I need to prioritize maxing out that Ego Restoration skill. That's the top goal now. This is getting boring as hell..."
With my objective set, I decided to head back toward the downtown area. When I thought about the best place to level up, the bustling streets seemed like the obvious choice. The downtown area probably has way more goblins than these outskirts. Today I'll activate Si-eun's class and grind some levels while I'm at it.
After leaving the Cradle of Rest organizing to Si-eun, I stepped out of the camping store and began walking slowly with Ji-su. The streets were eerily quiet. This was normally peak foot traffic time, yet now there wasn't a single soul in sight—
Vroooooom.
"Huh?"
What the hell was that? A motorcycle engine? Definitely a motorcycle. Soon two bikes came into view. They looked expensive. Was someone seriously riding motorcycles while being chased by monsters? Actually, who would even get chased on a motorcycle? Goblins didn't seem fast enough for that.
The bikes drew closer. One rider was steering with his right hand and holding a baseball bat in his left. Two people per bike, four in total. And they were charging straight at me and Ji-su.
Fuck!
Startled, I shoved Ji-su to the side and used the momentum to roll the opposite way. The motorcycles tore through the gap between us. Even while tumbling, I caught sight of something being dragged behind one of the bikes. It was a person. Someone was tied to the motorcycle and being hauled across the ground. A rope connected to the rear seat was fastened around the victim's leg.
These crazy bastards. Driving around monster-infested streets with people tied to their bikes. Who the hell were they?
I got to my feet and watched as the bikes made a wide circle and came back toward us. Were they targeting us? No. They were targeting me. They weren't heading toward where Ji-su had been pushed.
"These bastards, looking down on me..."
Anger flared up. I grabbed my spear and leveled it at the approaching riders. Come at me again. I'll dodge and run you through. Seeing me aim the spear, they stopped their bikes and got off. Up close, they looked pretty young. One had a shaved head, the other three had messy overgrown hair. They practically radiated thug energy. With baseball bats resting on their shoulders, they swaggered toward me.
I kept my spear pointed at them. "Stop right there. Come any closer and you die."
They stopped and started snickering. These guys were actually insane. Why the hell were they laughing? The skinhead stepped forward. He seemed to be the leader. The vibe fit. Grinning, the skinhead said,
"Bro. Isn't it dangerous walking around with something like that? You could hurt someone. Keep carrying that and you'll end up dead. Looks like you activated your class and now you want to show off. Let's just part ways nicely without anyone getting hurt, yeah?"
What the hell was this guy saying? They started the fight and now they wanted to "part nicely"?
The skinhead smiled slyly. "That pretty lady over there. If you leave her with us, we'll back off quietly with no trouble. My little bro saw her and fell for her at first sight. I'm a real romantic type. Oh, and just so you know, the guys who stepped on my romance are right there—see them tied to the bikes? They ended up like that. So bro, don't get yourself tied to a motorcycle. Let's smile and go our separate ways. Okay?"
This kid looked young but talked like a reject from an 80s gangster movie. I stared at the people tied to the bikes with a bored expression. They weren't moving at all. They were clearly already corpses. I looked at the bodies.
Even I was a little shocked. The song Why are you there~ suddenly played in my head. Two corpses tied to the two motorcycles. Their faces were too mangled to recognize, but the clothes were familiar.
You idiots. You should've just gone back quickly. What were you lingering around for to end up dying so pathetically?
The two corpses were Chang-su and Jung-hyun, the guys who had left me at the mart just two hours ago. There was no sign of Ji-yun. Was she already dead?
I clicked my tongue and frowned. My mood was turning foul. Even though I normally didn't care about other people's business, seeing people I'd been talking to just hours ago—and the guy who'd been fun to tease as Ji-su's fling—reduced to this mangled state... it wasn't something I could just shrug off.
Irritation slowly built. With a scowl, I asked them, "There was another woman with them. What did you do to her?"
The skinhead's eyes widened. "Oh? Bro, you know these guys? Fuck, honestly we attacked because of that bitch. But these crazy bastards only helped her escape and fought us, so we lost her. It was really annoying, but hey, it worked out. Thanks to that, we got to meet an even prettier lady, right?"
He giggled again. This guy was completely out of his mind. Someone with a delicate and fragile mentality like mine found lunatics like him terrifying. And because he was terrifying, I needed to erase him from my sight immediately.
In a flat voice, I asked the skinhead, "So if I hand over the woman, we're good?"
The skinhead looked surprised, eyes round. "Huh? You're really just handing her over? Wow, bro. You're pretty cold. You two weren't close or anything?"
"Shut up. Ji-su. They say they like you. Go over there."
At my order, Ji-su walked toward them. The skinhead looked shocked again, staring with curiosity. "Wait, bro, lady—what? She just goes if you tell her to? That's weird. I've never seen a reaction like this before."
They looked at each other and snickered. By the way, didn't they notice the massive club in Ji-su's hand? It was three times thicker than the baseball bats they were carrying.
While I was thinking, Ji-su reached them. The skinhead grinned at her. "Wow, lady, you're even prettier up close. Don't worry. I'm a warm guy to my women. A warm man. Super warm man. Warm loner."
Fuck, how old is this guy? What kind of lines are those? Does he think he's a department boss or something?
My mood soured instantly. I called out to Ji-su, who was standing in front of them.
"Ji-su."
Instead of her, they all turned to look at me. With a bored expression, I said,
"Kill them."