Landlord (11)

"Haaah… haaah… khaak… ptooey!"

Park Jinwoo heaved for breath, then spat the blood pooling in his mouth. It hit the floor with a wet splat.

Grrr…

He must have killed at least two hundred of them, yet the Red Zone was still cheerfully spitting out fresh, lively monsters. Park Jinwoo wore a hollow smile.

Whether hours of life-or-death attrition against the monsters had finally pushed his stamina and mental fortitude past the breaking point, or whether he had simply snapped — he smiled emptily, then giggled, then broke into a full, wheezing laugh.

Grrr…?

Krrr…!

The monsters hesitated, sensing something off about the man laughing like a lunatic. Park Jinwoo cut the laughter short, looked at them with a blank expression, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and sighed softly.

"Haa… I'm seriously gonna die. Extraction. Targets: the corpses of the Grolls and Mole Crickets."

"Proceed."

"Synthesis."

"Synthesize the Groll bones into the form of an axe."

Seeing the acquisition message, Park Jinwoo opened his right hand toward empty air. A hand-axe shaped from Groll bone settled into his palm. He closed his blood-slicked fingers around the haft.

When he had first started fighting the monsters, he had used a Glock 19 and a fire axe bought from an ordinary shop. Both had eventually snapped under the endless fighting.

So had he simply bought new weapons from a regular store? No. He could not — or more precisely, he refused to waste any more coins.

Becoming a Gold Member of the Dokkaebi Bag had already cost him five thousand coins. Stamina potions and mana potions had eaten another five thousand. His coin balance, once over forty thousand, had plummeted to thirty thousand in a single stroke, and the loss had weighed on him heavily.

That was when Extraction and Synthesis had caught his eye.

Remembering how Kim Dokja had fashioned weapons from Mole Cricket bones, he had started pulling bones from the monster corpses around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him and forging them into weapons with Synthesis. At first the skill level had been so low that everything came out labeled "Crude," but repeated use — and repeated gulps of mana potions — had raised the skill enough that he could now produce weapons that were, at least, serviceable. No more coin waste. Just monsters and the tools he made from their corpses.

"Five minutes……"

Park Jinwoo's voice was thin. Every wound — torn, cut, raked, bitten — throbbed. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and collapse face-first onto the floor.

"……Ah. I don't care anymore."

Why am I putting myself through this? Why am I suffering like this? Why do I have to hold out for five more minutes? I'm so damn tired. Can't I just sleep?

Dazed, swaying on his feet, he drifted into his own thoughts for a moment.

Krrr!

Thud!

"……Ow."

A Groll that had sensed something wrong with him drove its sharp horn straight through his stomach. Even with the horn punched clean through his gut, Park Jinwoo only looked down at the creature with a blank face. He raised the axe high and brought it down on the Groll's neck.

Crunch!

He beheaded the Groll with its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠horn still buried in his abdomen, then swept a expressionless gaze over the monsters surrounding him.

Grrr…!?

Krrr…

Every monster that met his eyes began backing away in terror.

"……………"

He ignored the retreating monsters and reached for a mid-grade stamina recovery potion to treat his injuries — only to find he had none left.

Ah… right. Used them all up already, didn't I?

He bought one more potion, then yanked the Groll horn free from his stomach in a single pull.

Fwoosh!

A small hole opened in his abdomen. He drank the potion with an utterly unbothered expression. A red current of energy rose around his body; the wounds scattered across him began to close, slowly knitting themselves shut.

"………………"

Is it over? Can I sleep now? Do I not have to fight those damn monsters anymore? I got something — what even is that? Ah, I'm so tired. There's no strength left in my body.

Park Jinwoo stared up at the scenario messages floating before his eyes and simply gave up.

"———! ———!"

"——woo-ssi! ———-ssi!"

"——hyung!"

"Park——woo-ssi! ——wake up?!"

"Jin——ba?! Are you——?"

Distant voices calling someone's name reached him. He moved only his eyes toward the sound.

Far off, his companions were running toward him as hard as they could, tears shining at the corners of their eyes.

Huh… that's weird. Why does everything feel so dizzy?

In an instant, everything around him — the people inside the Green Zone, the objects nearby, the interior of Chungmuro Station itself, even his companions sprinting toward him — began to warp and distort one by one.

With his stamina and mental fortitude finally spent, Park Jinwoo let go of consciousness.

"Nngh…"

I opened my eyes to a headache that felt like my skull was splitting open.

"What the hell? Where is this?"

A pure white space stretched out before me. I was still reeling from the unfamiliar emptiness when a voice spoke from behind.

"Who are you?"

I turned toward the voice. A woman I had never seen before was standing there.

"And you are?"

"My name is Anna Croft. You appear to be Korean. Who exactly are you?"

The dazzling blonde foreigner who introduced herself as Anna Croft — a petite beauty — asked me what I was.

"……………Hmm."

I stared at the woman in front of me and said nothing.

"Excuse me? I introduced myself first. Isn't it only polite that you introduce yourself in turn?"

Anna Croft's expression twisted slightly with clear displeasure.

"Why should I?"

"…Pardon?"

Her eyes went wide with shock.

"Why do I have to introduce myself?"

"Because that is basic courtesy."

"Is it? Sorry — my head's all over the place right now. I'm Kim Dokja. Obsessive fan of Yoo Joonghyuk."

"Kim Dokja? Obsessive fan…?"

The blonde beauty studied me for a long moment, then tilted her head with an unreadable look.

"I simply… cannot understand this. No matter how many times I have looked into the future, I have never heard your name, never seen you……"

An ominous red light began to swirl in the iris of her left eye.

"I've never seen or heard of you either."

"That is only natural. We are meeting for the first time."

"Bullshit. You look like a pretty girl on the outside, but is there a flower garden growing in that head of yours?"

"B-Bullshit? To hurl insults at someone you've just met — you are an extremely rude person!"

Her small lips pressed into a thin line, and she glared at me fiercely.

Anna… Anna… Anna…? Ah. Right. Now I remember.

"Ah, I know you. Anna Kraft."

"It is Croft."

"Whatever. Not important."

"It is entirely important."

Finally it clicked. The so-called prophet of the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint world — the one who showed up for all of one panel in the webtoon and then got name-dropped forever after, pretending to be a major character (lol).

"I heard Yoo Joonghyuk has some yandere psycho who fell for her and chases her around constantly. That's you, right?"

"W-What?! What kind of nonsense is that?! Me, fallen for that bitch Yoo Joonghyuk? And who exactly is a yandere psycho!?"

The blonde beauty flushed scarlet and started thrashing at my words.

"You're not?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Got it. Up we go…"

"Why are you suddenly lying down on the floor?"

"Because I'm tired."

Anna Croft looked exhausted just listening to me.

"…You are a difficult man to deal with."

"Ah, can I ask you one thing? In exchange, I'll answer one of your questions seriously."

"…Very well. What do you wish to ask?"

I put on a completely serious face.

"Do you like bunny girls? Want to try wearing one?"

"……………In this situation, why on earth are you asking whether I like bunny girls?"

"Your face, your figure — you're an incredibly attractive beauty. I wanted to see you in a bunny girl outfit."

"…………Haa. Why did I have to get stuck with a pervert like this."

Anna Croft looked utterly drained. She covered her eyes with both hands and sighed.

"Anna Croft. There's actually one thing I need to tell you."

"……If this is more useless talk or more perverted nonsense, I will decli——"

"You cannot save this world. More precisely — you cannot save it the way you're trying to."

Because you're not the protagonist (Kim Dokja).

In the webtoon, Anna was the kind of lunatic who looked at the future and tried to redesign the entire world around what she saw. She was also the one who betrayed Yoo Joonghyuk in the second regression.

That kind of person, saving this world? I'd believe the Prisoner of the Golden Headband was a furry, that the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon got over his middle-school syndrome, that the Secretive Plotter was actually an absurdly powerful Constellation, and that the Demon-like Judge of Fire preferred pure heterosexual romance over BL before I'd believe that.

"……What?"

Anna stared blankly for a second, then whipped her head toward me in shock. Her gaze turned murderous.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Sorry, but I think we're out of time."

Her eyes went hazy. Her body began to fade.

"You! Explain yourself properly! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Ask someone named Kim Dokja later."

"What? You said you were Kim Dokja… Don't tell me you were impersonating someo——!!"

I raised one hand with only the middle finger extended and waved her off like I was seeing her out.

"You…!! You're toying with me?! I will find you and make you pay for deceiving m——!"

Anna twisted her face and kept ranting at me. Then her figure vanished completely from sight.

"What a load of crap. She barely even shows up after this."

I stared at the empty spot where she had been with pure pity. The moment the words left my mouth, the white space and my own body began to fade as well. Looks like I was about to wake up.

—Jinwoo-ssi!

——Hyung!

——Please, just wake——.

——Jinwoo-ssi! ———-ssi!?

——Oppa!

Through the fog of half-consciousness, I felt something warm, soft, and plush against my cheek and the back of my head. It felt so good I almost didn't want to open my eyes.

"I was sleeping fine… who's calling me like this…?"

I scowled at the voices still shouting my name and slowly opened my eyes.

"Jinwoo-ssi!"

"Jinwoo-ssi!? Are you with us?!"

The first face I saw was Yoo Sangah's. Around her stood Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, Lee Gilyoung, and Lee Jihye — every one of them wearing faces full of worry and fear.

"……Looking at all of you, it seems we cleared the scenario safely. Right?"

"Is the scenario what matters right now?!"

"W-What?"

Yoo Sangah was shouting with tears welling in her eyes. I stared at her blankly. I was about to turn to the others and ask for help with the sobbing Yoo Sangah when—

"Hic…! Jinwoo hyuuung…"

"Jinwoo-ssi…… I'm so, so glad you're safe…"

"……Do you have any idea how worried we were? Why would you push yourself that hard…? Why…?"

"Damn it…… why am I crying all of a sudden… khng…"

Lee Gilyoung clung to my body, fat tears rolling down his face. Lee Hyunsung roughly scrubbed at the tears in his bloodshot eyes. Jung Heewon kept her head down, tears dripping steadily as she spoke. Lee Jihye sniffled and wiped her face on her sleeve.

Wow… the guilt is actually insane right now……

Watching every single one of them break down, the guilt hit me hard. Then I noticed Kim Dokja standing quietly beside me, looking down.

"Uh, Dokja……"

"For now, just— just don't say anything… Rest. All right? Jinwoo-ssi……"

I had been about to ask her to do something about this atmosphere, but she pressed her elegant hand over my mouth. I looked up at her in surprise.

Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Dokja had small tears caught at the corners of her eyes.

……I haven't even known these people that long. And they were this genuinely worried about me?

My plan had been shortsighted — push combat experience and skill levels for the scenarios still ahead. I had known they were kind, gentle people with a lot of heart.

I just hadn't expected them to grieve and worry this sincerely.

"Dokja-ssi, how long were you watching me fight?"

"From twelve-thirty… until eight o'clock sharp…"

"So you basically watched the whole thing. Why sit through something that gory and serious? You all look exhausted — you could've just watched a bit and gone to sleep."

I was trying to lighten the mood after seeing how worn out they looked, but my tired brain made the words come out wrong. I realized it a second too late and checked their faces — already too late.

They bit down hard on their lips and glared at me with burning eyes.

"Is that what matters right now?! You almost died!"

Kim Dokja — who always kept her composure and her reason — twisted her face and shouted in pure anger.

One after another, the rest of the group raised their voices and started scolding me too.