Hour of Judgment (2)
A short while later, we thoroughly ransacked the treasure vault and each held out what we had managed to find.
“I found this.”
“This is what I got….”
Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung lifted a small bracelet and a battered old shield respectively, both wearing distinctly crestfallen faces.
“It’s a lot more meager than I expected.”
Yoo Sangah’s voice carried a note of disappointment. Lee Gilyoung standing beside her said nothing, but the same letdown was plain on his face.
“Jinwoo-ssi, did you manage to snag anything decent?”
“Unfortunately, I came up empty-handed.”
“Ah….”
The atmosphere dimmed a little at the sparse rewards after all that hard work. Yoo Sangah tried to flip the mood by turning to me, only to look awkward and start reading my expression the moment she heard my answer.
“We didn’t get anything from this vault, but we can still grab something over there, right? Sangah-ssi.”
“Jinwoo-ssi’s right, Sangah-ssi. The main prize is still waiting. Let’s put our hopes on that.”
At my words, Kim Dokja nodded toward the black box glowing with violet light at the center of the vault. A spark of fresh expectation lit up in Yoo Sangah’s and Lee Gilyoung’s eyes, which had been so clearly disappointed a second ago.
We wasted no more time and opened the treasure chest.
◈ Only one may be possessed per person.
What we found inside the treasure chest was a hearth.
An elegant design with a black surface edged in gold. It was so small you could slip it into a pocket—hardly something that deserved the grand name “hearth.”
But there was one small problem.
Why are there two hearths in here?
I stared at the pair of Magic Hearths nestled in the chest and fell into thought.
As I remembered it, this box was originally supposed to contain exactly two hearths. One already claimed by Yoo Joonghyuk, and the remaining one that Kim Dokja was about to take—two in total. So why had an extra one appeared?
Well, more is better, right? Close enough.
It was only one extra hearth. I didn’t feel the need to overthink it and simply gave up on the puzzle.
“…What on earth is this?”
“Hmm. I think I have a rough idea of its purpose.”
Kim Dokja answered Yoo Sangah with a sly air, set one Magic Hearth on the floor, activated it, then sliced off a leg from a dead mole cricket and laid it on top.
“Whoa! That smells amazing!”
Less than five seconds after the mole-cricket leg hit the Magic Hearth, a rich, savory aroma began to rise from it.
“Wow, the smell…. Is this actually safe to eat?”
“Meat!”
“Huh…. It looks exactly like those cartoon steaks you see in manga.”
In an instant the mole-cricket leg had roasted to a perfect golden brown, juices streaming down its surface. Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung’s eyes sparkled as they stared at the fragrant, dripping meat.
“I’ll try it first.”
Kim Dokja was no different; a tiny bead of drool had already formed at the corner of her mouth. She bit into the meat with gusto.
“Ahh…….”
She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of pure bliss after that first solid bite. Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung swallowed hard, watching her with hungry anticipation.
A few Constellations are drooling.
A few Constellations sponsor 100 coins to Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’.
Several Constellations nod, claiming they already know that taste.
Constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ swallows hard.
Constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ bites his nails.
Constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is curious about the meat’s flavor.
Constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ whines that she’s hungry.
Demon King ‘God of Fury and Lust’ carefully watches Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’s’ mukbang.
Messages poured in nonstop at the sight of Kim Dokja’s mukbang.
“Go ahead and try it. It should be fine. It’s seriously delicious!”
The moment the words left her mouth, Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung scrambled over to the dead mole cricket, ripped off a leg each, and slapped them onto the Magic Hearth.
Just like when Kim Dokja had cooked hers, the legs roasted in an instant. The two of them lunged at the finished meat. I had been feeding them ever since I arrived at Geumho Station, but after the earlier fight with the mole-cricket swarm they must have been starving.
“They’re eating like they’re possessed. Or is the right phrase ‘scarfing it down like beggars’?”
“Pffft!! Cough…! Cough…!”
Demon King ‘God of Fury and Lust’ bursts out laughing at your words!
I murmured the comment while gazing fondly at Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung. Apparently Kim Dokja overheard me—judging by the way she sprayed meat everywhere.
I patted the back of the coughing Kim Dokja, who had just spewed half-chewed meat all over the place thanks to me.
“J-Jinwoo-ssi. I’m sorry, but… w-water, please.”
“Here.”
Her throat must have been thoroughly clogged; she asked me for water. Since I was the cause, I cheerfully handed her a bottle. She gulped it down and then shot me a sharp glare.
“What? I’m right, aren’t I? Can’t you see the Constellation messages?”
A few Constellations smile at the hearty appetites of Incarnations ‘Yoo Sangah’ and ‘Lee Gilyoung’.
A few Constellations sponsor 100 coins each to Incarnations ‘Yoo Sangah’ and ‘Lee Gilyoung’.
I pointed at the newly appeared messages with my index finger. Kim Dokja stared at me with an expression of pure disbelief.
“They’re calling it a ‘hearty appetite,’ you know?”
“What’s the difference?”
Kim Dokja opened and closed her mouth several times, then finally let out a long sigh and quietly went back to eating her meat.
“I should eat too now.”
Watching her, I put on a look of complete innocence and glanced around. Seeing everyone else devouring meat like there was no tomorrow made my own stomach growl. I tore a leg off a nearby dead mole cricket, cooked it on the Magic Hearth, and joined in.
“Oh! That smell is killer!”
The leg roasted to a perfect golden brown, releasing a rich aroma. I stuffed the delicious-looking meat into my mouth just as greedily as the others when a rustling sound came from behind.
“Hmm?”
Han Myungoh, who had been kneeling and staring blankly at the messages, finally seemed to have recovered his wits. He cautiously approached Kim Dokja, glancing at her face every other second before speaking.
“Uh, um, D-Dokja-ssi… earlier I was just temporarily out of my mind…….”
“Eat. Stop worrying about it.”
“Thanks!”
“A ghost that dies with a full stomach looks better, right?”
At Kim Dokja’s words, Han Myungoh’s face turned a sickly shade. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the fragrant meat; he cooked a piece with a gloomy expression and started eating.
And so we all sat together, each of us happily gnawing on a leg.
Among the group, Yoo Sangah was chewing the most heartily of all when she suddenly felt eyes on her and lifted her head. Looking up, she found Kim Dokja and me staring at her with open fascination. Under those gazes she made a pouting face.
“W-What is it?”
“Nothing. Just thinking how heartily you’re eating.”
“Exactly. You’re eating so adorably well. If you’d been a mukbang YouTuber, Sangah-ssi, you’d have been a huge success.”
“Jinwoo-ssi, are you calling me a pig in a roundabout way…?”
“Dokja-ssi. Once we finish this, how about we cook some for Heewon-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi upstairs too?”
“…Jinwoo-ssi? Don’t change the subject—say it properly. You were roasting me just now, weren’t you? Right?”
I desperately averted my eyes from the sulking Yoo Sangah who kept pressing me. Kim Dokja looked at me like I was pathetic.
“But I’ve been wondering for a while. Dokja-ssi, how do you know all these things? You even know how to cook a beast you’ve never seen before in your life….”
“Ah, that….”
Yoo Sangah glared at me for a moment as I continued to ignore her, then let out a small sigh and turned to Kim Dokja with the question that had been bothering her. Kim Dokja flinched at the question and looked thoroughly cornered.
“It must be because you read fantasy novels so diligently, right? Meanwhile I’m just sitting here stuffing my face like a pig with the food you and Jinwoo-ssi worked so hard to catch… not helping at all….”
Yoo Sangah shot me a quick side-eye the moment the word “pig” left her mouth, then continued speaking to Kim Dokja.
“Who knows? Maybe Sangah-ssi’s hard work studying foreign languages is why you can understand the language of the Demon Species.”
“…Do you think so? Thank you for saying that.”
Yoo Sangah smiled at Kim Dokja’s comforting words, then glanced at the treasure chest still sitting nearby and spoke again.
“You’ve been staring at that box for a while. Planning to use it for something? Huh? There are letters on the surface….”
Curious about Kim Dokja’s repeated glances at the box, Yoo Sangah turned and examined it carefully, discovering writing on its surface. She peered at the letters intently.
Kim Dokja’s face filled with pure dismay at Yoo Sangah’s words and actions.
“Random Item Box?”
“Wow, thanks to you, Sangah-ssi, I can finally read it….”
Kim Dokja looked at Yoo Sangah, who had just deciphered the writing, and offered a compliment that wasn’t quite a compliment. Yoo Sangah beamed brightly.
“Go on and use it, Dokja-ssi!”
“…Is that really all right?”
Kim Dokja asked back in a flustered voice. Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung both nodded vigorously.
“Of course! Everything we got here should go to Dokja-ssi and Jinwoo-ssi. That’s only natural. Gilyoung, what do you think?”
“I think Noona and Hyung should take everything too.”
“I’m fine with just this one Magic Hearth. Whatever comes out of that box, Dokja-ssi, you can have it all.”
“…Then I’ll gratefully use it.”
Kim Dokja looked at Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and me with a faintly moved expression. Then she took out the 7th-grade Demon Species core she had picked up from the Darkness Keeper’s corpse and the completely broken Broken Faith, placed both inside the box, and closed the lid.
【Ah, n-no. W-Why is this here?! I-It should have been banned from release ages ago!】
Biryu, who had vanished at some point, reappeared late and let out a scream of pure horror at the sight of the box. A moment later, a dazzling light burst from the closed chest.
【L-Lords Constellations, that is, I mean, I have no idea why that’s there either…! I-Ihiihihit! Broadcast ending!】
#BI-7623 Channel is temporarily closed.
Panicked by the Constellations’ chat, Biryu hurriedly ended the broadcast and vanished into thin air. I glanced at the spot where he had been, then turned back to the box. It was glowing even more brilliantly now—time for the item to appear.
A sword-type item has been inserted. An item of the same category will appear as the reward!
Random draw beginning!
The sacrificed item is related to a specific Constellation!
The probability of an item related to that Constellation appearing has greatly increased.
A higher-grade item has appeared!
The Random Item Box’s remaining uses have reached 0.
At last the box stopped trembling and the dazzling light faded.
Kim Dokja’s cheeks were faintly flushed as she stared at the messages floating before her eyes, sparkling with anticipation. Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung were just as excited, both of them staring fixedly at the box with shining eyes.
“Shall we open it, then?”
Kim Dokja glanced back once each at Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and me. Both of them nodded so hard their heads might fall off.
Seeing their reactions, Kim Dokja opened the box.
“Wooooow!!”
“D-Dokja-ssi! Even at a glance that looks like an incredible item!”
Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Sangah cried out in pure admiration at the sword that emerged—something that looked extraordinary even without a closer look.
“…Is it really all right for me to take this?”
“Of course. It’s obviously yours, Dokja-ssi.”
“That’s right. It came out using Noona’s item as the sacrifice!”
“Like I said earlier, one Magic Hearth is plenty for me, Dokja-ssi.”
Kim Dokja turned toward Yoo Sangah, Lee Gilyoung, and me with a slightly apologetic expression and asked again.
“Thank you so much.”
We all nodded firmly, driving home that the item belonged to Kim Dokja. Hearing our answers, she smiled brightly and thanked us once more.