Hour of Judgment (6)

By the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠next morning, a few things had changed at Geumho Station.

First of all, that man Han Myungoh had vanished without a trace.

Before the fighting started, I had seen him hanging back behind Cheon Inho and the Mainstream Group, but once the battle began he disappeared from view, and even after it was over there was still no sign of him.

Whether he had bolted for the next station the moment the fighting ended or was still cowering somewhere in the station, I had no idea.

Han Myungoh's got more ability than he lets on, though.

He was a coward, sure, but his brains, his instincts, and his talent for hiding were all top-notch. And after watching him finish off the Darkness Keeper in the treasure vault, I figured that if he just piled on enough stats and experience, he could pull his own weight just fine. It was a little disappointing, honestly.

"Looks like he doesn't plan on sticking with us anymore. I never liked that guy from the start. And he's not the only one who disappeared from the station."

Jung Heewon was fuming as she tore into Han Myungoh. At her words, I looked around Geumho Station.

The traces of last night's slaughter still covered the place. Thanks to Heewon, Kim Dokja, and me, a fair number of the Marginalized Group had made it through alive.

But by morning, almost everyone at Geumho Station had packed up and left without so much as a thank-you. They each had their reasons, I supposed, and I didn't particularly need to know what those reasons were.

"…Will the ones who stayed be all right?"

Yoo Sangah asked, looking at the survivors still left at Geumho Station.

Aside from our party, only five people remained.

Hearing Sangah, Heewon raised her voice toward the survivors.

"Hey, you lot. Are you really not coming with us?"

The people stirred at Heewon's words. Then Dayoung's mother stepped forward, resting a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and spoke for the group.

"…We'll go our own way. We still have some coins left. And we only survived last night because of all of you. It wouldn't feel right to keep leaning on you."

Heewon nodded at Dayoung's mother's words.

"All right. I hope luck stays with you."

As soon as Heewon turned away, relief washed over their faces. I watched their reactions and nodded to myself.

There was nothing strange about how they were acting. If anything, I understood it completely.

Kim Dokja had refused to hand out free charity, and Heewon—whatever her reasons—had butchered people without mercy. As for me, I had threatened people with a gun, sold them goods at inflated prices for coins, shot a man in the balls, and then shot people dead. The fact that my list of sins seemed the longest was probably just my imagination.

Anyway, from their point of view, we probably looked about as bad as the Cheoldu Faction—or worse.

"Hey. Catch."

"Wh-what?"

I tossed Dayoung's mother a convenience-store bag stuffed with food and water. Her eyes went wide as the bag flew straight at her, but she caught it cleanly.

"Like Heewon said. I hope luck stays with you."

"…Thank you. And may fortune favor all of you as well."

"Appreciate that."

At the Constellations' sponsorship and messages, I allowed myself a crooked little smile on the inside.

I'm the one who should be thanking you. Even at the very end, you still handed me a chance to milk more sponsorship.

I had bought a handful of basic convenience-store goods, water, and a few canned foods from the general shop for a total of a hundred coins' worth, handed the bag to those people, and walked away eight hundred coins richer.

After giving them the bag of food, I rejoined the party. Heewon looked at Kim Dokja and spoke.

"So we're leaving now, right?"

"Yes. We should get going too. Let's move out."

We answered Kim Dokja with nods. Seeing us agree, she nodded herself, turned her head, and said,

"Let's go."

We were making good time down the dark tunnel toward the next station, flashlights cutting through the gloom, when Jung Heewon suddenly jabbed Kim Dokja with her fist and grinned at her.

"This is…?"

"I'm splitting them. Felt bad keeping it all to myself. I've already given everyone else their share—except Jinwoo."

"Why not Jinwoo…?"

"………."

At Kim Dokja's question, Heewon whipped her head away. Then she looked at Park Jinwoo with something close to contempt.

"A certain someone said he wouldn't take the coins. He asked me to wear a bunny girl outfit instead…."

"Excuse me…?"

Kim Dokja spun toward Park Jinwoo with a stunned face. The rest of the party looked equally thrown by Heewon's words.

"What? A bunny girl is every man's dream. I just figured it was a legally valid window to make the request, so I asked her to put one on!"

"See?"

"You pervert…."

Park Jinwoo stared Kim Dokja down with complete shamelessness, and her face crumpled. She glared at him with pure disgust and spat the curse.

"So then, Heewon—are you going to wear the bunny girl outfit instead of giving him the coins?"

"Of course not. Obviously I have to give him the coins. How am I supposed to put on something that embarrassing?"

"Then why…?"

"I just… couldn't find the right moment to hand them over…."

"Ah…."

Kim Dokja looked at Heewon, whose ears and cheeks had gone red with embarrassment, and nodded as if she understood perfectly.

After killing Cheon Inho and ending the fight last night, Heewon had been comforted by Park Jinwoo, then thrown her arms around him and sobbed her heart out. After that full-on crying jag, she hadn't been able to meet his eyes for hours. More accurately, she hadn't even been able to get near him.

Hugging a man she had only known for a few days and bawling her eyes out had become a brand-new dark history for Jung Heewon. Even when she crawled into Park Jinwoo's My Room in the early hours to sleep, the sound of her thrashing under the blankets had drifted out now and then.

So she was too embarrassed to give him the coins after all.

Kim Dokja turned from the red-eared, red-cheeked Heewon to look at Park Jinwoo.

And that guy's a complete lunatic, honestly.

Heewon had finally managed to swallow her shame and was about to split the coins with him—and instead of taking the coins, he had asked her to put on a bunny girl outfit?

Kim Dokja glared at the deranged pervert that was Park Jinwoo, let out a long sigh, and spoke to Heewon.

"If it were me, I wouldn't have given him the coins."

"I'm not you, Dokja."

"That hurts."

Heewon laughed and lightly smacked Kim Dokja's arm with her palm.

Lecherously, my ass….

Did Heewon and the Constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' even know that this morning Kim Dokja had settled yesterday's sponsorship ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠money with Bihyung?

Thanks to that haul, she had earned a solid pile of coins and already spent them boosting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her stats.

I should be able to level up Bihyung's channel soon. More Constellation subscribers means more coins. Once we hit the next stage, the environment will fall into place fast enough.

Kim Dokja was lost in her own thoughts as she walked. They were crossing the tracks toward Yaksu when a system message bloomed in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠front of their eyes.

"A stronghold area? Where is that supposed to be?"

Heewon asked, looking a little flustered by the sudden system message.

The moment Heewon finished speaking, an additional message floated up in the air.

"Chungmuro? That's right nearby. Just three more stops and—"

"Uh, Heewon? That's a death fla—"

KRRRRRMMMM!

Park Jinwoo's face went pale as he started to warn her—and in that instant, ground rats burst up through tunnels right in front of them. A swarm of more than thirty.

Heewon's expression hardened at the sudden appearance of the ground rat pack.

"Is this my fault?"

"W-well…? More importantly, fighting them comes first."

KWOOOOAR!!

The party leveled their weapons at the ground rats as one. The ground rats roared back at the weapons pointed their way, then charged. We surged forward to meet them, swinging our weapons as we went.