The Disaster of Flood (5)

Orcanox hung motionless in the air, staring me down in silence. I caught its gaze and returned it just as quietly, and for a moment a small stillness settled between us.

I was the one who broke it.

Glacier Molding.

Crrrack—!

A massive ice platform bloomed out of empty air. I raised ice walls around its rim and began catching the rain that poured from the cumulonimbus the Disaster of Water had summoned.

Once I saw the droplets filling the platform at a rapid clip, I turned and shouted to Lee Jihye.

"Jihye! How much water do you need to call out the Ghost Fleet?!"

"The Ghost Fleet? At least enough for the ships to float on. Why all of a sudden?"

"That so? Then get ready to activate the Ghost Fleet! This big brother of yours is going to make sure you shine today!!"

Grinning at her answer, I spun up eleven more ice platforms identical to the first. That brought the total floating overhead to twelve — enough to summon every last ship of Jihye's Ghost Fleet.

Thanks to the rain hammering down from the Disaster of Water's storm clouds, the platforms filled in no time. I watched them and yelled again.

"Jihye! Now!!"

"Got it!"

Thick steam rose from each of the twelve ice platforms.

Fwoooosh!!

Water spouts erupted from the centers of the platforms, and with them, twelve blue, translucent ghost ships took form.

The Ghost Fleet that had once dominated the Theater Dungeon's Battle of Myeongnyang film scenario revealed its majestic presence once more.

When Jihye successfully deployed the fleet thanks to my little scheme, the party stared in open shock — Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja most of all. The two of them knew about the Ghost Fleet, but neither had expected it to be used like this.

Everyone except me, Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja, and Jung Heewon — the ones who had seen it before — gazed at Jihye's stigma with awestruck eyes.

"Kim Dokja! Yoo Joonghyuk! You two are the party leaders, so handle the orders yourselves! I'm just going to go wild!"

I shouted over my shoulder at them and charged straight at the Disaster of Water — Orcanox.

"What? Hey, wait a second!!"

"Park Jinwoo!!"

Their voices rang out behind me, but I ignored them and sprinted toward the disaster ahead.

Kiiiek? Kiiiieeek!!

The giant orca must have registered me charging at it. It roared, and water droplets began to gather at its snout.

I smirked and answered with a delighted grin of my own.

"Ha! So disaster-class monsters all come pre-loaded with a breath-type ultimate, huh?"

A blizzard whipped up around my body.

"Double-stack cold attribute on the gloves."

A frigid chill spread through the gloves I was wearing. Then a black aura began to rise across my entire body.

I locked eyes with the Disaster of Water as the skill took hold. It glared back with aggressive, overflowing confidence.

"You little fish brat…"

A water-attribute monster daring to pick a fight with an ice type? You're dead.

"Shut up! It's a fish to me! Looks like a fish, lives in the ocean, swims with fins — that's a fish!!"

Don't you dare start lecturing me when I'm trying to focus on a fight! Just shut up!!

"So what? Boomers, clear out before I confiscate your dentures!"

While I was distracted by the Constellations' indirect messages, the ether packed into the water droplets at the Disaster of Water's snout spiked sharply. It was about to finish charging. I grimaced and activated my skills.

"Ghostly Cold Ice Flame. And Amplify."

Sssssss…

The SS-rank skill I'd extracted after killing the Disaster of Ice, along with the skills that boosted its attribute damage and power, roared to life. The rain-soaked ground and puddles around me froze over in an instant, and the blizzard piled snow high in a matter of seconds.

"Haaaah…"

The cold spreading outward dropped the ambient temperature so fast that white breath curled from my lips.

I finished preparing to meet the Disaster of Water's breath head-on and rolled my eyes forward. Orcanox had poured enough mana into the attack that a water bomb big enough to wipe out dozens of people sat gathered at its snout.

Then the bomb lit up blue—

KRAAAAAASH—!!!

A wave the size of a small tsunami came roaring toward me, the party, and the Nouvelle Vague led by Kim Dokja's mother.

A clamor of panicked noise erupted behind me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the sight of a wave that looked like a natural disaster.

Yeah. That's the normal reaction.

Most people, faced with a tsunami-scale wave, would freeze in shock, horror, and terror.

But.

"Not me."

I'd already crushed and survived threats like this more times than I could count. Maybe I'd just gotten used to it — the little tsunami the disaster had unleashed barely registered.

No. Only one thought crossed my mind.

"Riding that as a wave pool ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would feel amazing."

Change into a swimsuit, hop on a tube or a surfboard, and ride that wave — the thrill would be electric. That single idea dominated my head.

I lit up, flashed a thick smile at the Disaster of Water, Orcanox, and licked my lips.

"I'm definitely killing you."

And then I'd extract the skill. For my own entertainment, if nothing else. How was I supposed to resist a wave pool I could use whenever I wanted?

Swoooooosh—!!!

I'd zoned out for a second, and the tsunami was already right in front of me. The racket behind me grew louder by the second.

I smiled at the noise and said,

"Don't freak out. Worst case, you just die, right?"

"That's the problem, you idiot!!"

I flinched.

Kim Dokja's furious shout rang out from behind me. Looking sheepish, I unleashed the Ghostly Cold Ice Flame gathered in my hands.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA—!!!

The Ghostly Cold Ice Flame, compressed to the extreme and amplified in power, blasted forward in a pure-white flash.

It slammed dead-center into the tsunami Orcanox had created, froze the surrounding water solid, punched straight through, and kept going toward Orcanox itself.

Then it buried itself cleanly into the chest of Orcanox, still floating in the air behind the wave.

BOOOOM!!!

Kiiiieeek…!!

The Ghostly Cold Ice Flame lodged in its chest detonated in a pure-white flash, and Orcanox screamed in agony.

"Oh?"

Not dead, huh?

A brief dust cloud rose from the explosion, but the rain pouring from the storm clouds washed it away in an instant.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at where Orcanox was.

There it hung, a massive wound gouged into its chest, ice crusting over its body in patches.

It gasped for breath, thrashing and writhing in pain. I watched and nodded to myself.

A disaster really is a disaster, huh.

It was badly hurt, but still very much alive.

If I left it alone, it would grit through the pain of the wounds on its chest and body, explode in rage, and focus its attacks on us — more precisely, on me. That much was obvious.

But I wasn't stupid enough to just stand there and let that happen.

Clap!

I pressed my hands together, looked up at the sky, and called a certain Constellation's name.

"Prisoner of the Golden Headband!"

The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, sent an indirect message the moment I called. I glanced at it, grinned, and shouted,

"Close your eyes right now, or look somewhere else! A scene you hate is about to come on!!"

I didn't answer the Great Sage's message. I just smiled and activated the skill.

What I was going to sculpt this time was—

The bodhisattva said to possess a thousand hands and a thousand eyes.

Kuuuuuuumble!

I sketched the form and shape in my mind, and a colossal mass of ice began to take shape behind me. It looked roughly fifteen meters tall.

Great cracks split across the ice mass, and from those gaps a statue with a benevolent smile — no, an ice sculpture — revealed itself.

The sculpture was somehow different from other Buddhist statues.

It wore the same benevolent smile as any other Buddha image, but its body was made of ice, and countless hands and eyes sprouted from its back.

"Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara. Ice Sculpture edition."

"Whoa…"

"Insane…"

Hearing the party gasp in their various ways behind me left me feeling a little proud.

I looked at Orcanox, still thrashing and suffering, with a distant gaze and opened my mouth.

"This mortal world has made you suffer so terribly."

"This ice sculpture of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara shall soothe your pain."

"Fear not. It will be but a moment's suffering."

"This sacred image shall embrace you and soon grant you peace."

"Ah, just shut up for a second. Let me have my moment. And I'm not the one who's going to hit it."

I was finally getting to look cool for once, and these tone-deaf regular Constellations kept interrupting. I shot their indirect messages a look, then raised a hand and pointed at the Disaster of Water.

At my signal, the ice sculpture of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara moved its thousand hands and firmly seized the Disaster of Water floating in midair.

"Hmm. Still missing something."

Realizing it wasn't quite enough, I activated Glacier Molding again.

Clatter-clatter-clatter!!!

Thick, thick, thick ice chains materialized in the air and began wrapping around the Disaster of Water's body.

Before long, everything except its face and tail was buried under the Avalokitesvara's hands and the ice chains.

"Good, good. Now set it down on the ground."

I glanced at the Disaster of Water, which had gone completely limp as if it had given up on life, then adjusted the positions of the Avalokitesvara and the ice chains to lower its body onto the earth.

With everything ready, I turned toward the party and the Nouvelle Vague.

They were all staring at me with blank expressions. I jerked my chin toward the Disaster of Water and opened my mouth.

"What are you all standing around for? You not gonna wreck this thing? Don't tell me you're the type that needs someone to spoon-feed you."

"…I don't know whether to be happy about this or not."

"Crazy bastard."

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk snapped out of it at my words, shot me a look each, then turned and started shouting orders at the party.

"Everyone, Park Jinwoo says he's carrying us for free, so just beat on the Disaster of Water a reasonable amount and collect the rewards."

"Everyone except Lee Jihye, hit it moderately."

At Yoo Joonghyuk's words, Lee Jihye looked at her master in startled surprise and asked in a rush,

"M-Master? Why am I excluded? Huh?"

"You just activated the Ghost Fleet stigma, so land the finishing blow and kill it. That way the Ghost Fleet's proficiency will rise faster."

"Ahh! I thought for a second Master was mad at me about something. Got it, Master!"

One by one, the party lined up in neat order and started beating on the Disaster of Water. Of course, that included calling Shin Yooseung out of My Room as well.

And so, while everyone except Lee Jihye was giving the Disaster of Water a moderate thrashing—

The Nouvelle Vague people beside us were staring at us — more precisely, at me — with expressions of pure disbelief. I walked over to Lee Sookyung, Kim Dokja's mother and the leader of the Nouvelle Vague, and spoke.

"What are you doing? Aren't you all interested in the rewards?"

"…You're offering to share the rewards with us as well?"

"Yes. This was originally your disaster to take down, and I'm the one who butted in uninvited."

In the original Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint webtoon, the Disaster of Water had been defeated by the Nouvelle Vague under Lee Sookyung. Sharing a reward this minor wasn't a big deal.

And more importantly—

Lee Sookyung was Kim Dokja's mother, which made me all the more willing to split it.

I knew what had happened between Kim Dokja and Lee Sookyung, after all.

They had once been mother and son; now they were mother and daughter. Knowing their story, I forced down the bitter expression trying to form on my face, put on a perfectly natural smile, and shrugged.

"Besides, this scenario is a sub-scenario. That means the seventy thousand coins from the reward will either come out of some dokkaebi's pocket or be paid by the Bureau."

I glanced at Lee Sookyung, then at Cho Youngran and Lee Bok-sun beside her, and finally at the rest of the Nouvelle Vague, and continued.

"If not now, when else are you going to get a chance to clean out a dokkaebi — or the Bureau — of their coins?"

Lee Sookyung, Cho Youngran, Lee Bok-sun, and the Nouvelle Vague people all stared at me with their mouths slightly open.

It wasn't just the Constellations. The people in front of me were looking at me like I was insane too.

I felt deeply wronged.

"Ah, if you want the rewards, hurry up and beat on that fish. Or should I tell my cute, adorable, precious little sister Jihye to finish it off with the cannons?"

"Oppa. Don't say it like you're so proud of that. It's kind of embarrassing."

"The fact that you're cute is just a fact, though."

"Ah, seriously! Too much flattery is gross, Oppa!"

"I was being completely sincere…"

Lee Jihye, who had been standing blankly among the party, flushed red and yelled at me. Even that was cute.

Then I felt someone tugging on my pant leg from below. I looked down and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠found Shin Yooseung standing there.

"Oppa, then what about me?"

"Of course our Yooseung is the cutest of all."

"Hehe."

At my praise, Shin Yooseung clamped onto my leg and stuck to me like glue. I put on a dad smile at the adorable sight and gently stroked her rain-soaked hair.

Lee Sookyung, watching from the side, let out a small sigh, shook her head, then nodded at me and said,

"Since you've put it that way, it would be rude to refuse. Then we'll set our pride aside and claim the sub-scenario rewards as well."

"Yes~"

Under Lee Sookyung and Cho Youngran's directions, the Nouvelle Vague people lined up just like our party and took turns beating on the Disaster of Water.

Some fired guns, some stabbed with knives, some simply pummeled it — the Nouvelle Vague tormented the Disaster of Water in every way imaginable.

But there were enough of them that a full thirty minutes slipped by.

Once every last person from the Nouvelle Vague had taken their turn, only one person remained.

"My turn now, right? No one else left? I'm firing?"

Lee Jihye's eyes sparkled as she looked from me to Kim Dokja to Yoo Joonghyuk to Lee Sookyung in turn. When we all nodded silently—

She beamed, then quickly schooled her expression, raised her sword, pointed it at the Disaster of Water, and roared,

"Fire!!"

At Jihye's command, the gun barrels of the Ghost Fleet floating serenely on the ice platforms glowed pure white, then unleashed a simultaneous barrage of cannon fire at the Disaster of Water.

BOOM! BOOOOM!! BOOM! BOOOOM!!

Already battered without rest by the party and the Nouvelle Vague, the Disaster of Water slowly closed its eyes under the rain of shells and went completely limp, as if it had abandoned everything.

BOOOOM!! BOOM! BOOOOM!! BOOM!

The Ghost Fleet's cannons poured shells as if determined to erase the Disaster of Water from existence entirely.

We stared blankly at the endless rain of cannon fire for a while — and then a system message appeared before our eyes.

Ding!

My eyes lit up at the system message, full of anticipation.

What's the bonus reward settlement this time? An SSS-rank item like with the Disaster of Questions? Or a B-rank or A-rank skill selection ticket?

I waited for the bonus reward with sky-high expectations. Then another system message arrived, and I stared at it with a face full of hope.

"Ha…?"

And my expression hardened at high speed.

We killed a disaster, and it wasn't an S-rank item, or an SS-rank item, or an SSS-rank item — not even a B-rank or A-rank skill selection ticket. Just an A-rank item?

I looked up at the sky with a rigid face and opened my mouth.

"Dokkaebi, come on."

Zap! Zzzap!

Blue sparks immediately crackled in the air, and from them emerged a low-grade dokkaebi with yellow fur, small horns, and a tattered wrap covering its lower half.

I activated flight on the spot, shot toward it, grabbed it by the scruff (the fur), and spoke in a freezing voice.

"Hey. You wanna die? Do I look like some pushover to you?"

【U-Uwah…. C-Constellation-nim…! P-Please calm down for a mome—!】

The low-grade dokkaebi in my grip begged me to calm down in a trembling voice, but I ignored it and started shaking it back and forth.

"You son of a bitch. The other disasters gave out talismans, or SSS-rank items, or A-rank skill selection tickets. And this time the bonus reward is just an A-rank item? You really wanna die?"

【Ughk…! Ughk…! Th-There's a reason for all of this…!】

"Oh. You've got a reason? I've got a reason too — can I beat the crap out of you? I've got a grudge against you dokkaebis for completely trashing my mood and my expectations. So I can hit you a bit, right? I'm hitting you? I'm gonna hit you? Gonna hit you?"

【Hic… sob…. C-Could you please at least hear me out first before you hit me…?】

The low-grade dokkaebi looked up at me with its cute little eyes brimming with tears. My heart softened a little — but I clenched my fist and swung toward it—

Grab!

"Hey, Park Jinwoo! Calm down! Just calm down!!"

"Calm yourself, Park Jinwoo!"

Somehow they'd gotten up here — Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk seized both my shoulders with urgent faces and started holding me back.

I hardened my expression and spoke to them.

"Dokja. Joonghyuk. Let go. These dokkaebi bastards are treating people like pushovers. I'll beat this little shit up and make sure we get a proper reward. So just let go for a second!!"

"I said calm down already?! The kids you care so much about are watching!"

"If you go wild, I'm the one who suffers. So stop!"

With the two of them hanging off me, I could feel the soft press of their chests against my back and arms. A lecherous smile almost broke free on its own, but I forced my facial muscles to hold a rigid expression, kept up the tantrum, and slowly lowered my flight altitude.

I'd genuinely been furious at first, but the soft, yielding sensation of their chests was putting out the fire in an instant.

The moment my feet touched the ground, Kim Dokja turned with a now's-our-chance look and shouted at the party, who were still staring at us in a daze and stammering.

"Everyone, help me and Yoo Joonghyuk hold Park Jinwoo back!"

"Y-Yes!"

"Jinwoo-ssi! Please calm down!"

"Ah, seriously! Jinwoo-ssi! Try to calm down a little!"

"You're quite the troublemaker, Jinwoo-ssi…"

"Oppa!"

"Hoju!"

At Kim Dokja's call, Lee Hyunsung, Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon, Lee Seolhwa, Lee Jihye, Shin Yooseung, and finally Lycaon all piled onto me and started holding me back.

The anger was already gone, but with the whole party throwing themselves into restraining me, I rode the atmosphere and deliberately put on an even more enraged face, glaring at the dokkaebi and roaring,

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

"You bastard! You stay right there!! I'll just all-rush you with the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara ice sculpture!!"

【Eek…! Eeeek…!】

The low-grade dokkaebi trembling in terror at my words; the party desperately holding me back, convinced I'd lost my mind to rage; and me, fully immersed in the mood, threatening the dokkaebi with an even angrier face and body language — the whole scene could be summed up in a single line.