The Fifth Scenario (4)

With my face swollen and my body caked in dust as if I'd been dragged through hell, I poured mana into the meteorite.

Otherwise the terrifying woman standing right behind me would never leave me alone.

"Hurry up and feed it mana, you deceptive bastard."

"Yes…"

I'd let my mind wander for even a second, and Han Sooyoung's growling voice came from behind me. I turned my head sideways and opened my mouth in an apologetic tone.

"Look… I already said I was sorry for teasing you…? Can you just drop the anger now…?"

"Shut up and focus on the mana supply, will you? Or do you want me to hit you some more?"

"…Sorry."

Faced with Han Sooyoung's eyes blazing with fury, I snapped my head forward again and concentrated everything on feeding the meteorite mana.

I never expected her to get this pissed just because I'd bragged a little (teabagged) about earning a ton of coins.

Thanks to that, my mana-supply shift got extended to eight hours, while Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung each took one of the remaining two hours.

As a bonus, the two of them had cheerfully beaten the crap out of me…

I let out a small sigh and spoke toward Han Sooyoung, who was still glaring daggers at my back.

"You should just go inside and rest like Dokja. I won't slack off on the mana supply."

"You think I'm sitting here because I want to? You know damn well why I'm stuck watching you."

"Well… whose fault is it that you lost at rock-paper-scissors?"

"…Shut up. I'm only babysitting you for one hour anyway, then I'm going in to sleep."

Once it was decided that I would handle eight hours of mana supply as punishment for teasing them, the two of them had suddenly started a game of rock-paper-scissors.

The loser had to spend one hour making sure I didn't slack off.

And so Han Sooyoung, who lost to Kim Dokja, was stuck here watching me for an hour.

"Still, thanks to me you'll finally get a proper rest for once."

"…I'll give you that much. I never thought I'd be able to take a peaceful shower or sleep in a real bed even after the world ended."

Han Sooyoung turned her head away and muttered under her breath. Hearing it, I couldn't help but snort out a laugh.

Honestly, after the world turned into this mess, it was only natural to assume that comfortable showers and soft beds were gone forever.

But my skill, My Small Hideout, made it possible. I was once again reminded just how broken my skill really was.

"My bed's king-sized, so you, Dokja, and Yooseung can all pile in without a problem. If you really don't want to share, there's a storage room with the spare mattresses my companions used. Just pull one out."

"I get it, I get it… You know you've said that twice already, right?"

"A host has to treat his guests properly."

We killed time with that kind of pointless banter, and before I knew it a full hour had already passed since I started supplying mana.

Checking the time, I turned to Han Sooyoung.

"Hey, hour's up. Go inside and get some sleep."

"Yeah. Good luck."

"Got it."

Han Sooyoung opened the door to My Room and stepped inside. I watched her go for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh.

"Finally gone."

I opened my Attribute Window for the first time in a while and started picking out skills with low mana consumption.

The reason was simple: I wanted to grind skill levels while still feeding mana into the meteorite.

"First Enchant… then Synthesis, Blackening, Agile Footwork, Naga Breathing, Amplification, and Clairvoyance, I guess?"

If I activated all of them at once, the drain would outpace my mana recovery.

But if I only ran one or two at a time, I could keep the meteorite supplied and still grind levels.

"…Damn Disaster bastards. What kind of bullshit is this?"

Cursing the Disaster of Questions I would soon have to face, I began the skill-level grind.

Seven hours of chatting with Constellations on and off while grinding skill levels had already flown by. That meant I had been supplying mana to the meteorite for a full eight hours.

"Haa… finally done."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, opened the Attribute Window, and checked the levels of the skills I'd been grinding.

After seven long hours of pure grind, the results looked like this:

Seeing all seven skills climb a decent amount, I nodded in satisfaction.

"Worth the grind."

As usual, Enchant's duration and attribute multipliers rose with the level. The best news, though, was that it gained a brand-new attribute and a new additional function.

"This is the real jackpot."

With the newly unlocked stacking function, my combat power had effectively jumped by at least 1.5 times.

Smiling as I checked Enchant, I moved on to the rest of the skills.

Synthesis improved the quality and durability of crafted items, and Clairvoyance now reaches farther.

I picked up the dagger I'd made from raptor parts using Synthesis.

"I'll give this dagger to our Yooseung…"

Next I stashed the needle-like spikes and kunai crafted from small Naga shells into My Room.

Those would come in handy later. I turned my attention to the remaining skills.

Blackening's combat-power boost went up, Footwork gave a small speed increase, Naga Breathing lets me hold my breath longer, and Amplification's multiplier rose a bit more.

I'd raised the combat-relevant skills—Enchant, Blackening, Footwork, Amplification—enough. It was a little disappointing I couldn't push them higher, but even this much was a solid achievement.

Clack.

The sound of a door opening came from behind me. When I turned, Kim Dokja was stepping out, scratching her head.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah. You didn't slack off on the mana supply, right?"

"…Even I give my assigned role my best shot, you know? Anyway, now it's my turn to rest."

"Mm. Good work. Get a solid two hours."

"Yeah. You too."

I exchanged greetings with Kim Dokja and walked into My Room. Looking over at my bed, I saw Shin Yooseung and Han Sooyoung snoring softly on top of it.

Click!

"Both of them are so damn cute."

I snapped a quick photo of their adorable sleeping faces with an instant camera, then headed straight for the shower.

The fatigue weighing on my body made me want to collapse and sleep immediately, but even so I didn't want to crawl into bed covered in dust.

Whoooosh—!

"Ahh, I'm alive again."

I stripped completely, tossed every piece of clothing into the laundry basket by the shower, and took a quick rinse.

The sticky, unpleasant feeling of dust and sweat coating my whole body was washed away by the cold water pouring from the showerhead.

"I don't know how other people live without showers."

Wanting to finish fast and sleep, I washed my hands and feet, brushed my teeth, washed my face, shampooed my hair, and finally soaped up a body towel to scrub myself down. Then—

There was a problem. Big or small depending on how you looked at it.

"…I can let Flame Dragon slide, but what the hell are you two doing?"

How the fuck are those an Archangel and a Demon King? They're just a pair of voyeuristic perverts.

"Don't the dokkaebis around here protect Incarnation privacy? I've got Constellations and a Demon King peeping on me!"

This is a goddamn invasion of privacy, you bastards.

"…………Do you guys normally peep on naked Incarnations like this?"

If that's true, I should report every last one of these bastards and beat the shit out of them. Perverts. And stop staring at other people's stuff and rating it.

…Wait a second. Does that mean…

A critical realization suddenly hit me. In a trembling voice I asked the Constellations:

"Hey, Constellations. Does that mean you've also peeped on Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon, Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, Lee Hyunsung, and Lee Gilyoung while they were showering here?"

If so, I'm jealous you got to see the beauties' bodies… No, wait, no. If you've seen my companions naked, strip those Constellation titles right now, you perverted bastards.

"…I'm actually going crazy."

My neck veins throbbed for the first time in a while. I had no idea how to even respond to the Constellations' reactions.

Should I keep this fact to myself? Or should I tell my companions…?

My head was already barely working after eight hours of mana supply plus skill grinding. Realizing something this shocking while exhausted made my skull feel like it was about to split.

"Fuck it, I don't care."

I'll just forget it and sleep.

I finished the shower at lightning speed, quickly changed into pajamas, pulled out one of the spare mattresses and pillows my party had used at Geumho Station from storage, laid them on the floor, and flopped down on top.

"I'm sleeping now. Don't talk to me."

Wanting to turn away from the shocking truth, I closed my eyes at once and surrendered to the sleep that came rushing in.

Praying that when I woke up every single Constellation would be banned for voyeurism.

Yaaa…

Park Jin… woo…!

……I'm talking to you!

Slap!

"Ow!"

The impact on my forehead made me bolt upright.

"Aargh, shit…. I was sleeping so well. What?"

I sat up and looked around. Kim Dokja was standing behind me, looking down with a smirk.

"What…? Has it already been two hours?"

"Yeah. Get up already. Han Sooyoung's turn is almost over. Wash up and come out before that."

"Got it…"

Finished speaking, Kim Dokja left My Room. I stared blankly after her, stretched, and looked around.

Shin Yooseung's figure was nowhere to be seen inside My Room. Noticing that, I muttered quietly.

"Guess Yooseung went outside with the two of them."

Clinging to the hazy remnants of sleep, I got up and headed for the bathroom.

I took care of business, quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth at the sink, then rinsed my hair with cold water in the tub.

After the quick wash I stripped off the pajamas, changed into black shorts and a black short-sleeve shirt, cracked open a Bacchus from the fridge, downed it, and stepped out of My Room.

"I'm filthy tired."

With a haggard face I walked over to Kim Dokja standing beside the meteorite and Shin Yooseung clinging to her side.

"I'm out."

"Finally? You're late."

"I came out in seven minutes…?"

"Exactly. That's late."

I scratched my head at Kim Dokja's words. Since the situation wasn't dangerous right now, she wasn't wrong that I'd taken my time.

"Oppa."

The moment I stepped outside, Shin Yooseung immediately left Kim Dokja's side and plastered herself against me.

"Did our Yooseung sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept really well thanks to Oppa."

I gently stroked the head of the smiling Shin Yooseung.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Right then, a rumbling sound came from the meteorite. Seeing it, Han Sooyoung called us over in an urgent voice.

"Hey! Everyone get over here! This thing's starting to move!"

Han Sooyoung pulled her hands off the meteorite and ran over to us.

Crack! Crrrack!

Immediately afterward, cracks began spreading across the surface of the meteorite.

The cracks slowly grew larger until the center of the meteorite split open, and a bright light erupted from within.

"…It's the middle of the night. That's some serious light pollution."

"Is that really what you're worried about right now?!"

Han Sooyoung snapped at my completely calm remark.

We glanced at the flood of system messages pouring down, then watched as a hand covered in silver fur thrust out from the crack in the meteorite.

Shin Yooseung and Han Sooyoung both gulped hard at the sight of that hand.

Crunch.

Soon a massive lifeform burst out of the meteorite.

A towering figure easily three meters tall, head and legs shaped like a wolf's, yet body taking the form of a human.

"#%#$…."

"…Alre#$dy?"

"Ah, that bastard's taking forever."

Watching Lycaon slowly, agonizingly drag himself upright was so frustrating I muttered under my breath.

Thump.

Kim Dokja elbowed me in the side and shook her head.

Fortunately he seemed not to have heard me. Lycaon looked down at us and slowly opened his mouth.

"I am one of the five ruling species of Chronos. The great first wolf. Imuntar ‘Lycaon.’"

Flinch!

Shin Yooseung and Han Sooyoung both flinched when their eyes met Lycaon's. Then the two of them hid behind my back.

I quietly watched them for a moment before turning my gaze back to Lycaon. He looked up at the sky for a second, then looked down at us and asked:

"Was it you who awakened me?"

Kim Dokja nodded at Lycaon's question. When she did, Lycaon continued speaking.

"I see…. Then the time has finally come. Congratulations on clearing the tutorial scenarios, warriors of another world."

Lycaon closed his eyes as he spoke.

"Those who face destruction. First, I express my deep regret that ‘Disaster’ has come to your world. But now that I am here, you may rest easy. I am a ‘Guide’ who has come to prevent the destruction of this world."

As he spoke, Lycaon briefly surveyed the surroundings.

"I will train you in preparation for the Disasters and teach you the necessary guidelines. And…"

No matter how much he looked around, only the four of us stood before him. Lycaon showed a puzzled reaction.

"…Yet are you the only ones who awakened me?"

"That is correct."

"Strange. Did you not clear the fourth scenario? If you had cleared it properly, I and the other four Guides should have hatched in the same place…. Where is the master of the Absolute Throne?"

Kim Dokja answered Lycaon's question in a calm tone.

"We have no ‘king.’"

"No king?"

Lycaon made an expression of disbelief at Kim Dokja's words.

"Could it be that the master of the ‘Absolute Throne’ has died? Impossible. At this point there should be no being capable of killing the throne's master."

"There was never a master of the throne to begin with."

"What do you mean by that?"

Already knowing how this conversation would go, I made a bored face and yawned widely.

"Yaaawn… Can I go back to My Room and sleep a little more? Just call me when the talk's over?"

"You've got some guts. You're not even scared looking at that huge wolf?"

Han Sooyoung, still hiding behind my back, asked.

"Not really…? He just looks like a higher species of werewolf, same as Song Minwoo earlier."

Of course Lycaon possessed stats and skills that Song Minwoo couldn't even dream of comparing to.

Right then Lycaon clenched his teeth hard and exploded in rage toward the sky.

"How… How could they commit such an unforgivable act…!"

Watching Lycaon howl at the heavens, Han Sooyoung nervously edged closer to Kim Dokja and asked:

"Hey, was it that serious? Earlier you told me…"

Before Kim Dokja could answer, Lycaon shouted at her first.

"Then does that mean there is not a single person in this world who receives the protection of that ‘great divinity’?!"

"There is not."

"Aaaah! The Constellations of the Star Stream have abandoned Chronos! This world is finished! Creatures with less intelligence than kobolds have finally done it!"

Kim Dokja stared at the despairing Lycaon with a look of pure contempt, then slowly opened her mouth.

"Prince of the Imuntar tribe, Lycaon Isparang."

Flinch.

Lycaon flinched hard when Kim Dokja called him a prince and spoke his family name.

Kim Dokja continued while staring him down.

"It is still too early to despair."

"Insolent human. Show respect before a great species! It seems you do not understand the weight of the sin you have committed!"

"After your homeland was destroyed, nothing registers in your eyes anymore, does it? Imuntar were a ruling species on Chronos, not on Earth."

Lycaon's expression stiffened at Kim Dokja's cold facts.

"There were five Disasters that destroyed your world."

"What…"

"The southern continent of Chronos where you lived was destroyed by one of them—the ‘Dragon.’ Correct?"

Lycaon twisted his face and growled at Kim Dokja's words.

"How do you know that?"

"Fire Dragon species Ignis. The Disaster of the Burning Hell. That is the name of the Disaster that destroyed your world."

Lycaon ground his teeth as he spoke.

"You speak of it as if it were someone else's story. You will regret this. Soon your world, too, will writhe in that scorching hellfire."

"Don't worry about that. Ignis will never descend on this world."

"What did you say?"

"This guy already killed… huh?"

Kim Dokja pointed with her index finger to where I had been standing a moment ago, but when she found ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me gone she looked startled. She scanned the area looking for me and soon spotted me a short distance away, grilling Ignis meat.

I looked at that expression of hers and called out to Lycaon standing in front of her.

"Want some Ignis meat too? It's delicious."

"Wh-what…?"

"If you don't want it…"

I pulled Ignis's skull out of My Room as I spoke.

"This is Ignis's skull. Want to take a look?"

"……………."

Lycaon stared blankly at the Ignis meat roasting on the Magic Hearth and at Ignis's skull.

No—he looked so dumbfounded he couldn't even form words, just opening and closing his mouth in total shock. I shrugged my shoulders and placed the finished Ignis meat onto the plate Shin Yooseung was holding.

"Leave him. Let's just eat dinner, Yooseung."

"Yes!"

And so Shin Yooseung and I began eating dinner, leaving behind the completely frozen Lycaon and the utterly speechless Kim Dokja ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Han Sooyoung staring at the two of us.